#PLOT START CLIMAX AND FINALE JUST IN THE TITLE

[star-rie]

A somewhat proper rambling of how i want bbc merlin plot to go (a fix it au)

Season 1 : The One They Call Emrys

Season 1 is going to stay as a light-hearted season to introduce the world of Merlin. The general plot stays the same with a few additions:

merlin shows doubt in gaius / kilgharrah decisions

the old religion is more defined

Dragons and dragonlords aren’t extinct but very endangered

merlin empathizes with morgana but never decided to help her

introduction of elyan: he doesn't stay in camelot, opting to travel instead

Gwen's father didn’t die

Mordred ISN’T introduced yet

Nimueh didn't die

Morgause appears in the last episode

The Poisoned Chalice is going to be the season's finale (the episode where nimueh poisons merlin) as the climax of the season with higher stakes and it will be up to Arthur to save the day.

Season 2 : The Veils of Deceit

From here on out, the canon episodes becomes less relevant. As the title suggest, this season is more plot heavy. Uncovering hidden truths and digging deeper into the main cast's past:

the introduction of mordred: everyone loves him except for merlin, and by i mean everyone, i mean, gwen, arthur, morgana, leon, anyone you can think of, he is a lot more involved in the show than just appearing for 3 episodes

introduction of balinor on the first episode

balinor acts as merlin's mentor figure for this season and their meeting goes something like this (balinor: ...you can speak to dragons...? merlin: is that not common or something?)

balinor meets hunnith

merlin doesn't know balinor is his father until it's too late

ygraine situation happened exactly as it is in the show

ygraine acts sort of like a guardian angel of arthur but unable to fully communicate with him

Arthur has started getting skeptical towards uther.

Arthur-centric episodes: there should at least be one episode where the main lead is Arthur instead of Merlin (example: arthur's POV when merlin is at the tavern)

morgana finds out about her origins

Introduction of Percival and Gwaine

merthur kissed (they never talked about it because they're depressing like that)

dragonlords in this au are going to be a bit different than dragonlords in canon. Instead of controlling dragons, dragonlords and dragons build mutual respect.

As the season progress, kilgharrah lost hope of merlin and decided to turn to nimueh instead. Nimueh attacked the castle with kilgharrah but they lost with the exchange of balinor's life. In this battle Merlin finally acquire his dragonlord powers.

After the battle, it is shown that Morgana has joined side with Morgause. Kilgharrah has joined her too, dissapointed at Nimueh's failure.

Season 3 : The Downfall of Uther Pendragon

Season 3 follows the canon premise: morgana's corruption and uther's end:

aithusa is born (everyone adores her)

aggravaine appears as a minor character in an episode

morgwen romance

nimueh isn't really active now that morgause is taking control of things and decided to leave it up to her even if she doesn't like her

nimueh warns kilgharrah about morgause

In this AU, morgana's goal is to only get magic legalized in camelot, and the season portrays those attempts. She plans to keep everyone out of it.

But as the season progresses Morgana is getting more and more agitated at arthur's complacency, especially after gwen's father's death. Her irritation is further amplified after she found out that she's uther's bastard daughter.

She felt especially betrayed when she found out that Merlin is the legendary Emrys and he decided to do nothing for them, opting to stay to uther's side.

Following all of this, Morgana ratted Merlin out to the entire court. This goes on a back and forth with Arthur getting Merlin out of jail (he still doesn’t believe Merlin has magic) and Morgause attacking citadel.

At the end, Morgause forces Merlin to kill uther with his magic to save arthur’s life. Betrayed, Arthur banned Merlin from Camelot.

Season 4: Darkness Before Dawn

Season 4 is set about 1 year after uther’s death and the start of arthur’s journey to find out what it means to be king. S4 will went back and forth in time, switching between the present and the following events that happened:

even if merlin is ‘gone’, he actually stays in camelot, protecting the kingdom, out of arthur’s sight (this often shows in assassins showing up dead or citadel having so much harvest and resources they don’t know what to do with it)

everyone decided to ignores this

the roundtable is established

mordred becomes a knight

morgana has separated from morgause

morgana was furious at what morgause did at the finale of season three. she never wanted uther to die and didn’t want merlin to get banned. Morgana thinks arthur is not ready to be king

Kilgharrah stayed with morgause longer than morgana did until he realized that morgause is dangerous but got enslaved by her

Merlin later saves him

Morgause is now working with aggravaine who becomes one of the nobles at the house of pendragon

Aggravaine wants to take the throne from arthur and much more evil and manipulative

Aggravaine is court advisor

S4 is explores more political stuff in albion ( in depth look at other kingdoms, their thoughts on sorcery, etc etc)

merlin lives with morgana, aithusa, and kilgharrah in the woods. They made truce with each other

cendred is introduced and is working together with morgause and aggravaine

nimueh becomes merlin's mentor figure and occasionally visits him and morgana

(i’m considering to make this blank period of season 3 and 4 into a new season considering how much happened 😭)

In early episodes, there was a time where Merlin’s magic disappeared for days. Arthur got restless and decided to scout him out as a kid by drinking a youth potion that Gaius gave him.

Arthur found Merlin injured and tend to his injuries. Morgana found them days after. To stay with them, arthur keeps the pretends of being a stupid kid who visits morgana and merlin occasionally while trying to balance his life in the kingdom as king.

Gwen founds out about all of this from Gaius and drink an aging potion, disguising herself as kid arthur’s grandma so merlin and morgana wouldn’t get too suspicious. The knights are in the know and covers for Gwen and Arthur disappearance.

Arthur gets less and less involved with the throne, disappearing, falling asleep in meetings, more often than not Aggravaine has to stepped in to replace him. The court is displeased with Arthur, especially because he made choices that they considered are too soft.

Aggravaine manage to manipulate the court into favoring him and takes the throne from Arthur through majority votes. Declaring himself as king.

An assassination attempt is made on Aggravaine and he declares Arthur guilty, having an excuse to sentence him to death, he sends Arthur to be executed. Merlin with a few other people helped him escape, making them an enemy to Camelot.

Season 5: The Weight of a Crown

S5 is set right after S4 with aggravaine as king and the main cast live together in morgana and merlin's cottage:

aggravaine legalized magic

aggravaine made morgause a noble in the royal court

aggravaine ruled as a tyrant, letting magic thrive with him

arthur reconsile with merlin and morgana

ealdor's massacre: aggravaine attacked ealdor in order to find merlin and in this event, hunnith dies, along with everyone in the village

gaius dies

arthur didn't do anything in the beginning because he genuinely thinks that his uncle is the perfect candidate for a king. With magic also legalized, there's nothing left he needed to do.

Arthur will eventually see that Aggravaine's rule brings nothing but misery. He went on a journey to obtain excalibur and took the throne back from him. Morgause has managed to escape once again.

Season 6: The Once and Future King

s6 is a somewhat epilogue and wraps up loose ends with the main cast set in the following positions in the House of Pendragon:

Arthur: King

Merlin: Court Dragonlord, Court Physician, and Consort

Gwen: Court Advisor or Head of the house

Morgana: Court Sorceress

Aithusa: Court Dragon

Mordred: Heir to throne

these are some things that happened:

merthur got MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

merlin got a staff from arthur

camelot allied with the druids

we'll get to know more about morgause past

As the main cast live their happily ever after, the threat hasn't completely been eradicated with morgause on the loose and aggravaine still alive in the dungeons. The final villain for this story will be the triple goddess / destiny themselves that wants the prophecy of Arthur sleeping in Avalon for 2000 years to come true because that's how it supposed to go but merlin and arthur managed to rewrite their story

THE END!!!!!!!!! (some things to be added and changed later)

===========================================

Links to Snippets of this AU:

Merthur kiss in season 2

Uther's Death

Merlin's Banishment (to be changed)

Morgana and Merlin meeting in the blank period between season 3 and 4

Arthur Snapping to Merlin in season 4

Merthur reunion (no longer canon in this AU)

Merlin's staff

Why Merlin isn't a Queen / King / Head house in this AU

Old Masterlist

[missholloween]

Paul's fate was sealed from the beginning, and I love all the ways The Guy uses to show us.

The first scene of tgwdlm (after the title song) introduces Paul as a character: who he is, where does he work, who does he work with. In this scene, thanks to Paul actions and words, we learn that Paul isn't the nicest of the guys... And that he doesn't have much going on. He rejects Bill's Mamma Mia invitation, but so does Melissa's soft ball team proposal. As the title song said, he's a grunch.

But then, the next scene is Paul going to Beannie's. We discover that Paul wants to talk to Emma, he wants to get to know her better, to make her laugh. We are introduced to his need, to what he desires, even if Paul isn't fully contious of it by this point.

Then plot starts, we've got our inciting incident (the meteor fall) and a couple of plot beats: our heroes meet the villain, Paul valiantly resists it in their first face to face (what do you want, paul?), and the threat grows stronger and stronger until it takes the first victim our protagonist cares about, that is, Charlotte.

Join us (and die) is the moment where our main cast sees everything the hive is capable of: it's been coy so far, just presenting itself as some dancing craze that controls people. But in that song we discover that those people are dead, and that the hive won't doubt to get nasty if it has to. When Hidgens is explaining this after the song, he's interrupted by Alice's call to Bill. Had the hive gotten into her already? Was it just bad luck? Given that we don't see Alice during the call, we cannot be truly certain of that.

It is then when a fight between Bill, panicked about his daughter, and, Ted, consumed by grief, starts. The fight is different from their previous banter with the whole "kick my head" bit, as both of them are now at their limit. Thankfully, Paul stops the fight by giving Bill a meaningful way to save his daughter. In that scene, Paul decides to go with Bill to get Alice, because he wants to help him.

When Paul says "which is why I'm gonna go with you to get your daughter back", a piano starts playing on that scene. It continues quietly as the scene goes on, just to climax with Emma and Paul's last conversation, where the Inevitable leitmotif starts playing. And then, act 1 finishes.

The Guy is not a conventional musical by any means: we don't have a big act 1 finale song, nor a big leap that the characters take. It is a really modest act 1 finale, and some viewers (including myself) might not notice the change of act on their first watch. However, a big change has happened, although it is subtle: Paul has taken his first step in his hero's journey. He is not only showing his desires (to help Bill, a dear friend to him), but also he's acting. He is taking the iniciative, he's being brave! That decision it's just the beginning of his downfall, that will come to an end in "Let it Out", and the shows knows it. The only thing the score does is to make it clearer for the spectator, if they notice it... And they'll probably won't, too enwrapped in the show.

[empty-movement]

Nanami-sama, Beware!!!

It's May 7, 1997, and you're about to watch episode 6 of Revolutionary Girl Utena!!!

There was a HUUUGE data leak though, and somehow, in advance of the episode dropping, you were able to catch the storyboards!! (Hell, you even found someone who leaked the script, and screenshots of the episode!) Looks pretty exciting, lots of strange things happening here. The storyboards say episode 8 for some reason, but otherwise it all seems on the up and up!

So you eagerly crack open your May issue of Newtype Magazine to check out the plot summary:

Today's home economics class is cooking practice. At Miki's request, Himemiya and I decided to make "spicy curry." However, the curry powder we use is replaced with extremely spicy curry from India, which is so spicy that Touga's younger sister, Nanami, harasses her. What's more, the spiciness explodes into pieces! The phantom megaton of ultra-spicy curry, 900 billion times more, goes into the pot. When Himemiya and I did that, we were so blown away that our personalities switched!! Hey, hey, you're not kidding!

Wait....what????? That doesn't match the storyboards at all! Or the screenshots??? Sure enough, the episode title listed with this plot summary is Nanami-sama, Beware!...but what's curry gotta do with that?

So you hop in a time machine, and check out Ikuhara's 2011 DVD extras commentary:

This episode originally went into production as “Episode 8.” It was “in production as Episode 8” during scripting, storyboarding, and even after animation started. But it got switched in the broadcast order with “Episode 6 (”Curried High Trip”, which broadcast as episode 8)“, because that episode fell behind schedule. Because I always called this “Episode 8” during the production process, the impression stuck in my mind to this day is: “Curry is Ep 6; the kangaroo is Ep 8.” It’s a comedic story, but it shows Nanami’s feelings for Touga. This wasn’t just about Nanami; it was also about how we’d present Touga. The original plan was to connect stories with a “Touga Episodes” theme: first in episode 8 we’d show Nanami’s feelings for Touga is a comedic way, then in episode 9 we’d show Touga in contrast with [Kyouichi] Saionji, then in episode 10 we’d show Touga using Nanami’s feeling for him, and finally in episode 11 we’d show Touga facing off against Utena. I’d used a group of three identical characters before, in Sailor Moon S [the Amazon Trio?]. It was strangely fun, so I tried sticking them in this show, too. The staff liked them, too (it was probably more like the staff found them convenient), so we turned them into semi-regular characters. It’s largely thanks to Ms. Hayashi, the animation director, that the production troubles weren’t reflected in the quality of the episode. I like how Touga looks so unnecessarily cool during the climax, when he defeats the kangaroo.

Huh!!! In case you're wondering, the next issue of Newtype will have the identical description under an episode 8 titled Curried High Trip. So I guess amid the mess, they just never published an episode description for this one??

Come chat about it in the watch thread on Something Eternal, or just enjoy this weird little tour. :)

[markantonys]

fuck it, proposing an s3 episode-by-episode structure even though we barely have any info to go off of, because i'm bored and yearning for s3 news. can't wait to see how wrong this ends up being! i can't emphasize enough how much this is just me completely inventing structure ideas because, for real, we barely know ANYTHING yet, so do not latch onto anything i say here.

we know 4 episode titles so far, so i've included those.

3x01: to race the shadow

A-plot: the gang in falme

lots of relationship-building between various dynamics, especially rand & elayne (just friendship with Crush Hints for now) and nynaeve & lan (ring scene maybe)

rand and egwene's final breakup

mat's luck established during a gambling scene

mat goes through the doorway in turak's room of curiosities, is told to go to tanchico, gets his marriage prophecy & medallion & ashandarei, and gets cpr from rand

elayne and nynaeve learn something about liandrin that points them towards tanchico

rand decides to go to the waste and egwene does too after speaking with amys in her dreams, and perrin goes with them because he has no other plans as of yet

B-plot: aes sedai politics, catch up with siuan, catch up with liandrin

3x02: a question of crimson

i'd always hoped this would be a caemlyn episode, and the title points to that imo!! perfect title for elaida's intro episode, and red is andor's color as well.

so, A-plot: rand, egwene, perrin, et al pass through caemlyn on their way to the waste

egwene has been tasked by elayne with delivering a letter to her family; rand insists on coming with her; they trespass in the caemlyn palace and meet gawyn, galad, morgase, and elaida

i don't expect a forsaken here just yet, i think it's important to see Normal Morgase and Normal Caemlyn first so that we have a contrast later once they ARE under forsaken control.

perrin hears rumors of trouble in the two rivers and decides to split off from the group to investigate, with loial, bain, and chiad accompanying him

the rest of the group reaches the waste at the end of the episode

B-plot: nynaeve, elayne, and mat arrive in tanchico (they split off from the others in falme and go straight there, no caemlyn trip for them)

C-plot: more white tower stuff

3x03

A-plot: rand in rhuidean + general intro to the waste (rand's focal episode)

B-plot: perrin arrives in the two rivers and gets situated

C-plot: continued tanchico shenanigans, maybe they run into thom and/or min and/or tuon (who is undercover for reasons) if they didn't already in 3x02. my guess is min has been kidnapped out of cairhien by liandrin, who knows min figured out she's black ajah and doesn't want her to snitch, so maybe at some point in the early episodes there's a plotline of mat, elayne, and nynaeve rescuing min from the black ajah, and after that point min joins their scooby gang (because she's got a personal vendetta against liandrin now and also she wants to re-earn mat's trust and prove herself).

an alleged leak puts mat, thom, and min all in tanchico, so that's why i have them in this plotline. it's also why i have tuon in this plotline, as i can't think of a strong reason to move mat from the waste to tanchico if not to incorporate elements of the ebou dar trip and have him meet tuon who is filling an egeanin-type role.

3x04

A-plot: nynaeve encounters moghedien in TAR and almost dies but is saved by birgitte, whom elayne saves by bonding her as a warder (this whole sequence is the midseason climax at the end of the episode)

mat gets into some kind of shenanigan with tuon and they grow closer, but neither knows the other's true identity

B-plot: elaida, gawyn, and galad reach the white tower and start investigating elayne's disappearance and clashing with siuan

C-plots: the waste gang doing their thing, learning about aiel ways, developing avirand, etc; perrin doing his thing in the two rivers, meeting faile if he hasn't already

i could also easily switch 3x03 and 3x04 so that 3x04 is the rhuidean episode. just depends if they throw rand right into it like TSR does or if we get a General Waste Intro episode before sending him off to rhuidean. but based on a combination of leaks, we do just about know that the glass columns visions are during block 2 (eps3/4).

3x05

A-plot: perrin in the two rivers, maybe digging more into the whitecloaks, padan fain, laila trauma, luc/slayer, wolves & TAR, relationship with faile, etc. (potentially his focal episode)

B-plot: cold rocks hold stuff for the waste gang

C-plot: continued tanchico shenanigans; continued white tower politics

3x06

A-plot: alcair dal, asmodean identity reveal & capture

B-plot: some kind of tanchico conclusion. maybe this is when tuon finds out some of her new buddies can channel (and possibly even that sul'dam, and she herself, can channel) and heads back to the seanchan with Much To Think About. maybe the black ajah make their exit from the season to shift full focus onto Final Boss Moggy.

C-plots: perrin prepping for battle; continued white tower politics

3x07: goldeneyes

A-plot: perrin defending the two rivers (perrin's focal episode, unless it's instead an earlier one that's less about a major battle and more about his internal life as a character)

B-plot: tower coup? i'm very unsure where in the season to place this, i could see it at any point in episodes 6, 7, or 8. kinda doubt it would happen earlier than ep6 because i'm not sure if that would allow us enough time to build up to it, especially since major coup players like elaida and gawyn are being introduced for the very first time this season so we need decent time with them before shit goes down (plus, it just naturally feels like a Late Season Climactic Event). the head writer of 1x06 & 2x07 (aes-sedai-heavy episodes) being the head writer of 3x08 could potentially indicate that the coup happens in 3x08, but she is also an executive producer so it's not like aes sedai politics is The Only Thing she knows about.

C-plots: the waste gang travels back to the wetlands, rand learns from asmodean; tanchico crew takes a sea folk ship to the eastern part of the continent (same city where waste gang is headed)

3x08: he who comes with the dawn

A-plot: the climax of the waste crew's plotline, potentially a battle in cairhien or tear, but that may cause Battle Fatigue if 3x07 has just had a big battle. maybe this could point towards their destination being tear and them taking the stone in somewhat more of an infiltration operation like in TDR, as opposed to the more traditional battle for cairhien in TFOH? just to mix things up a bit with perrin's traditional battle in the prior episode.

okay yeah i'm leaning towards tear, plus there was the leaked alleged sammael audition script (i trust no audition scripts after the phony gawyn one from s2 lmao) where the person he's talking to is demanding to know where "it" is. so my vision is that sammael's sitting comfy in tear, rand & co launch an infiltration operation to take the stone, rand finds sammael and demands to know callandor's whereabouts, and sammael ultimately flees to continue causing trouble in a new location in s4.

A-plot part 2: the tanchico crew gets involved with the infiltration operation, and nynaeve battles & defeats moghedien AND breaks her block (if she hasn't already, that could be a good Early Win to include around ep5-6 ish)

after all this stuff is done, there is a Final Final confrontation with moiraine and lanfear getting yeeted through the doorway; nynaeve bonds lan straightaway rather than his bond going on a noncon detour to alanna

post-battle checkin with perrin, but not a ton of time with him in this episode

final stinger: our buddy tuon from tanchico is shown dressed to the seanchan nines and being addressed as the daughter of the nine moons. gasp, mat's fated wife is our buddy tuon from tanchico, who is in fact a high-ranking seanchan noble! dun dun dun!!!!!

elephant in the room: "emily, why are you having rand in the wetlands for 3x08 when an episode called 'he who comes with the dawn' would obviously be about alcair dal?" listen, i know, but i typed up this whole post before i found out about that episode title and was too attached to it to change it lmao plus, i genuinely can't think of enough for rand & co to do in the waste for 6 entire episodes. i could see an argument that they chose this episode title as a general "yeah that's a baller title for a season finale about rand coming into his own in a big moment" rather than as a specific "this episode focuses on rand coming into his own in a strictly-aiel-related way" (see: 2x07 just being about general political shenanigans rather than literal daes dae'mar). rand pulling callandor from the stone while surrounded by his aiel followers could still be a "he who comes with the dawn" moment, okay!

so i will leave this post as is, but if indeed 3x08 only takes us up to alcair dal (and the moiraine & lanfear yeeting which i think will be this episode no matter what), that actually doesn't change my structure too much. basically it'd just be slowing down both the waste & tanchico crew's plotlines and having their climaxes be still in the waste & tanchico respectively, and then we can do a travel timeskip between seasons and have s4 open with the waste crew taking tear or cairhien and the tanchico crew meeting up with them there. i do strongly believe that mat, elayne, and nynaeve will join up with rand & co for s4 and skip their whole salidar/ebou dar detours, because that positions mat to form the band and have his Dragon's General storyline in s4, positions elayne to spend time with rand and aviendha and potentially join rand in retaking caemlyn and then just stay there to start her succession, and positions nynaeve to spend time with lan in the immediate aftermath of moiraine's "death" and then join up with elayne's or rand's future storyline. for these 3, salidar & ebou dar are filler sidequests rather than Main Story storylines imo and it could be quite efficient to cut those out and just distribute the handful of Main Story elements from them into other Main Story storylines.

[dc-and-arfrona]

Renting a Movie

—-

Damian Wayne x GN!Reader

Type: Fluff

Word Count: 1.1k+

Masterlist

Summary: You meet at a movie rental store. Based of this prompt.

—

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and Damian Wayne found himself standing in front of the movie section at the local video store. He had a craving for a good action flick, something that would satisfy his need for adrenaline. As he scanned the shelves, his eyes landed on a title that caught his attention. It was an obscure martial arts movie, known for its intense fight scenes and complex storyline.

Just as Damian reached out to grab the last copy, a hand appeared beside his, also reaching for the same movie. His eyes flickered to the person next to him, and he was surprised to find you, looking at him with a mix of surprise and amusement.

"Looks like we have the same taste," you commented, a hint of a smile playing on your lips.

Damian raised an eyebrow, not accustomed to sharing his movie choices with anyone. "I suppose so," he replied curtly, not willing to give up his chance to watch the film.

"Oh, go ahead. You can have it," you offered graciously, retracting your hand. "I can find something else to watch."

Damian hesitated for a moment, surprised by your willingness to give up the movie. "No, it's fine. You wanted it too," he said, retracting his hand as well. "We can rent it together and watch it."

You blinked, not expecting that response. "Are you sure? I don't want to inconvenience you."

"It's not an inconvenience," Damian replied, his voice softening slightly. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have someone to discuss the film with afterward."

A smile tugged at the corners of your lips as you nodded. "All right, then. Let's rent it together."

You both made your way to the counter, renting the movie as well as a few snacks. The anticipation built as you walked back to Damian's place, finding yourselves seated on the couch, the movie ready to play.

As the opening credits rolled, you couldn't help but steal glances at Damian. His intense gaze was fixed on the screen, absorbing every detail. It intrigued you to see this side of him, the vulnerable expression that showed his genuine interest in something.

The movie unfolded, filled with breathtaking fight scenes and intricate plot twists. You found yourself engrossed in the story, sharing reactions and gasps with Damian throughout. Occasionally, your arms brushed against each other, sending a jolt of electricity through your veins.

During a particularly intense fight scene, you couldn't help but lean in closer to Damian, feeling the warmth radiating from him. It was as if a silent agreement passed between you, drawing you closer together. Your shoulders brushed, and soon enough, Damian's hand found its way to yours, his fingers intertwining with yours.

You glanced at him, surprised but not displeased by the contact. His gaze met yours, a hint of a smile gracing his lips. It was a small, rare moment of vulnerability that made your heart skip a beat.

As the movie reached its climax, your grip on Damian's hand tightened, matching the rising tension on the screen. The final fight scene played out, and when the credits rolled, you both sat there for a moment, catching your breath.

"That was... incredible," you managed to say, your voice filled with awe.

Damian nodded, a genuine smile forming on his face. "I have to admit, it was a worthwhile choice."

You leaned back against the couch, feeling a sense of contentment wash over you. "Thank you for sharing this movie with me, Damian."

He turned to you, his eyes softening. "No, thank you. I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if it weren't for you."

You smiled, feeling a warmth spread through your chest. It was an unexpected connection, formed over a shared movie experience, and you knew it was the start of something more.

From that day forward, you and Damian found yourselves sharing more movie nights, discovering new films together and unraveling different aspects of each other's personalities. It was an unexpected bond, born from a simple coincidence at a video store, but one that brought joy and companionship to both of you.

And as you snuggled closer to Damian, a bowl of popcorn between you, you couldn't help but think that sometimes, the best moments in life came from unexpected beginnings.

After the movie, Damian and you found themselves immersed in conversation, discussing their favorite scenes, analyzing the character development, and sharing their interpretations of the film's deeper meanings. They discovered a shared passion for cinema and a genuine connection through their discussions.

Their movie nights became a regular occurrence, with Damian suggesting a wide range of genres, from action-packed blockbusters to indie dramas. They took turns picking the films, enjoying the opportunity to introduce each other to their personal favorites.

As they spent more time together, Damian's stoic exterior gradually softened, revealing a more relaxed and lighthearted side of him. He opened up about his life as Robin and his struggles with balancing his duties as a hero with his personal desires. You, in turn, shared their own dreams and aspirations, forming a bond built on trust and understanding.

Outside of movie nights, they explored other shared interests, such as going on hikes, visiting art galleries, and even attending a comic book convention together. Their friendship continued to grow stronger, evolving into something deeper.

One evening, as they settled in for another movie night, Damian turned to you with a contemplative expression. "You know," he began, his voice laced with vulnerability, "I'm grateful for our movie nights. They've become an important part of my life."

You smiled, their heart fluttering at his words. "I feel the same way, Damian. Our movie nights have brought so much joy and meaning to my life too."

Damian reached for your hand, his fingers interlacing with theirs. "Perhaps... we can make more than just movie nights. Maybe we can explore the possibility of... something more."

Your breath caught in their throat, overwhelmed by the depth of Damian's words. With a mix of excitement and nervousness, they nodded. "I'd like that, Damian. Let's explore this... something more together."

And from that moment on, their movie nights took on a whole new level of intimacy and romance. They became a couple, sharing not only their love for movies but also their dreams, fears, and everything in between.

Together, they embarked on a journey, not just as partners but as two individuals who found solace and companionship in the most unexpected of places. And as they snuggled up on the couch, ready to watch yet another film, they knew that their love story would continue to unfold, one movie at a time.

[booktomoviebrawl]

We are not judging how bad the movie is, we are judging which adapted the book the worst. There are good movies that are bad adaptions.

Propaganda below the cut (spoilers may apply)

Persuasion:

They massacred my girl!! That is not Anne Elliot!! The whole point is that she's beaten down and thinks she's missed her chance at happiness and is bullied by her family, not making mean and snarky nods to the camera :( They completely missed the whole point of the dynamic and it's SICKENING! They also cut Mrs Smith who is arguably one of the most important characters as she highlights Anne's lack of focus on title and rank and her family's comparative obsession with it + it's only through her that Anne learns about Mr Elliot's true nasty nature. Also they cut the 'I am half agony, half hope' line from Wentworth's letter at the end so what's even the POINT of adapting it if you don't have that!! Oh my god!! My poor favourite Austen novel :( (I do want to make it very very clear that my issues with the movie come from the writing and adaptation and not in any way from the race blind casting. The casting is superb and I'm genuinely so disappointed that they got such a bad adaptation bc so many of the cast are literally perfect)

Where do I even start? They tried to 'modernize' both the protagonist and the love story and managed to take out everything that made it good in the first place. Anne Elliot in the novel is quiet and good and helpful, full of regret. In the movie, she constantly turns to the audience to mock everyone around her, feeling so much better than everyone, to the point where nobody understands why Captain Wentworth would still be in love with her, or have fallen in love with her in the first place. Eight years before the plot starts, she broker her engagement to him because she was persuaded by a family friend that it was a bad idea. No way would movie!Anne have let herself be persuaded. They just tried to do a Fleabag/Emma type of thing without understanding what made either the novel or those two things work and thereby ruined it completely

Whoever made this didn't understand the point of the novel at all. They completely screwed up the character of Anne Elliot (the protagonist), which in turn screws the rest of the movie, as the original story only works because Anne is the way she is. Also, it's a period piece but the characters are talking in modern slang the entire time. And not in a clever way but in a very cringey one. If Jane Austen knew, she'd probably turn in her grave, and rightfully so.

Maximum Ride:

The storyline makes absolutely no sense, and the movie is nothing like the book. You could've given the movie an entirely different name and and keep the plot I wouldn't bat an eye

the movie's just bad mate

Horrendous low budget netflix movie with effects so bad they make me feel physically ill and acting so wooden the cast is in danger of being attacked by lumberjacks. The story already wasn't the best and the film somehow made it worst. I came in with nostalgia for my dear kids with bird wings and left never to be the same again.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children:

While Miss Peregrine was one of my favorite books as a kid and incredibly unique in the way the story is written (The author basically took a box of weird antique photographs and created an underlying story behind a handful of them) the movie is incredibly boring. Like seriously I can't remember a single goddamn thing about the movie besides my extreme disappointment with it after leaving the theatres. It's probably because the original is a trilogy but they didn't want to make it a trilogy for the movie so they just scrapped the ending of the first book and rewrote a shitty climax where they threw snowballs at the nightmare child eating creatures or something. I remember THAT scene perfectly because it was so, so dumb. It was so stupid oh my God- ALSO, thank God I have a copy of the book from before the film came out because new copies don't have one of the photographs that the actual book uses as a base anymore and instead have the shitty movie poster! We truly do live in a society.

Changed way too much so it doesn't feel like the same thing. The main characters are these kids with different abilities (called peculiarities) and the movie switches around their powers and changes almost everyone's age. Emma and Olive switch powers so that Emma now floats (they also added that she can kind of control air to some extent) when she's supposed to have fire powers to match her fiery personality. Olive can make fire now and she's also aged up from an eight year old to a teenager and put her in this weird romance with Enoch. Enoch is also aged up from a grumpy thirteen year old to around the same age as Olive. Bronwyn, one of the older kids in the book and sort of a motherly figure to the younger kids, is now one of the youngest kids. Hugh and Fiona are aged down and basically have no interaction at all in the movie, even when their book counterparts had such a good relationship. The only one they didn't really change was Horace and Jacob. They also added these gorgon twins that do like two things. The antagonist in the movie is Mr. Barron who honestly isn't super memorable and isn't in the books whatsoever. The ending of the movie is weird too because they manage to turn back time somehow so Jacob's grandfather isn't dead and then he hops through loops so he can be with Emma and the other peculiars. I guess the problem of wights and hollowgasts is magically eliminated and we do not have to deal with the consequences. It took six books to fix everything. I appreciate that the movie engaged me enough to read the series but once I did, I could not believe they did my kids that dirty.

Yikes where to start. The 3 girl characters are all mixed up. There are 2 teens, one who's super strong and has a brother (I'll get back to him) and one who controls fire and is the love interest named Emma. The third girl is a child called Olive who floats. She's lighter than air.

In the movie, strong girl is the child, olive is now the fire girl and is for some reason super introverted, and Emma the love interest floats and gets given a super breath??? Power?? Like she rises a sunken ship by blowing in and keeps a man blown against a wall by blowing air at him. He makes a remark that she'll run out of breath eventually, which happens here because plot convenience, but not when she's blowing in the sunken ship.

The enemies in the book are terrifying Hollows. Creatures who have lost themselves and devour souls of those with powers... The movie decides they eat eyes now. And turn human again. And get busted up in a fair for the final act of the movie. Ugh.

The movie also decides randomly that time travelling through the loops is a thing; a loop being a pocket of time that replays the same day over and over. But apparently this means Main Character can travel back in time and stop his grandfather dying??? What?? His grandfathers death is the whole start of the movie and motivation for the character.

The movie undermines many of things that made the book amazing and even decides it's not a trilogy anymore!! Fuck the other 2 books, right?!

Tldr; it is terribly hollywood-ised and t tim Burton ruined a franchise by trying too hard to make it quirky and fun when the books already had a brilliant sombre and interesting tone to them.

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Tsunaida Koi no Kanaekata

Title: Tsunaida Koi no Kanaekata (繋いだ恋の叶え方)

Release Date: 2021/08/25

Shop: CD + Manga

Author/Artist: Yoshio Akira

Cast:

Shingaki Tarusuke x Eguchi Takuya

Nakajima Yoshiki

Oi Marie

Synopsis: The bane of my existence. Adaptation of the second installment of the same name.

Review Proper

When I was dying of an ear infection back in December, I had the most vivid dream of Morpheus from The Sandman sitting at the foot of my bed telling me that my life was one of his tools that he needed back. In exchange for my life, Morpheus promised me he would go back in time to stop me from making a mistake that I wished I hadn't done.

I chose working on this fucking thing.

Don't get me wrong, Tsunaida had the best plot out of the series and all of Yoshio Akira's works. I'd even go as far as saying it's one of the best releases of its time—it was nominated for Best Series in the 2021 chilchil awards for a reason (it was robbed, I tell you). It's just my life has gone downhill since I picked this up. HAHAHAHAHA Not to mention, older Chesk was bad and cringe. I'm sorry for arguing with you over this series, Kimmy. It wasn't worth it.

This series is still ongoing, only god knows why. I got so sick of it to the point that I started hating Yoshio Akira and forgetting all about the plot, so I didn't expect myself to cry during the climax HAHAHAHAHAHA FUCK WHY WAS THIS STILL SO GOOD???? I'M ANNOYED I still hate it tho

I forgot just how painful this was. I'm at this point in my life where if that would happen to me, I would just LEAVE.

Anyway, onto the topic of the BLCD...

I didn't think it was going to be possible, but Shingaki really changed his Hara-san tone!!! Thank god! This is it! This was exactly the tone I envisioned his Hara-san would be in! I'm not sure if it's 'cause everyone from the producers (except the director) and the sound team was changed, but Tsunaida and Kanawanu are worlds apart. I usually dislike inconsistencies in series with multiple installments, but I'll let this slide. Let's all just pretend that Kanawanu doesn't exist.😌

Egu also went a pitch higher in this. It's still far from what I wanted for Kaoru, but he was able to make the role his own. I'm not sure if it's because of the change in the mixing, but Egu finally sounds like he was recording with everyone here. I said in my review for Kanawanu that he wasn't syncing with his own brother, Kakeru, and it turns out that Egu actually was voicing Kakeru too lmao. How can you not sync with yourself, man? But that just means that the mixing for Kanawanu was that bad. I haven't listened to Tabete mo Oishikuarimasen yet, but I feel like Egu and Shingaki should've been nominated for Tsunaida. I mean, Shingaki is a queen as Yashiro and his nomination is deserved, but let's all put those older series to rest now. 😂

I also missed Nakajiki as Keiji-san!!! He promised to bring Hiro along next time, so if I'm not hearing Saitou Souma in Musunda, I will riot! No, I didn't check the cast list.

The BLCD is pretty accurate to the manga, save for that extra bathroom sex in Track 2. It's quite long, but there isn't any complex dialogue, so I suggest just closing your eyes and absorbing the bathroom bambo. 😌 I actually wished it was longer toward the ending chapter because I felt that it was rushed in the manga, but alas. I've read Renta's license, and it's accurate as well. In conclusion, get this if you like the series. 100% recommend!

[beevean]

My Metroid hot take as someone who still needs to Get Gud at playing the games: Ridley is overused and overrated as a rival for Samus. The much more interesting relationship is the one she has with Mother Brain, as per the manga where Mother helped raise her and even tried to recruit her when she (Mother) initially betrayed the Chozo.

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

A take as hot as Norfair. I respect that :P

Agree: Ridley is overused. This is true. He has pushed himself to the forefront to the point that there are only three games without him at all - and one of them, Metroid 2, was effectively replaced by Samus Returns where he's the twist final boss. In some games, it really feels like he's there just for the sake of being there... yes, I'm looking at Fusion. Other M, too, even though he's supposed to be narratively important... ehhhhhhh let's not dwell on that.

SR is perhaps the most obvious example of "why are you here. The story is done the moment Samus spares The Baby. That is the climax of the plot. Yes, Prometeus Ridley is cool and visually it connects Omega Ridley with the fully fleshy Ridley in SM, but come on.

Disagree: Ridley is overrated. I think he has earned his popularity. While the ZM manga posthumously adds the backstory of him killing Samus' mother and causing her father to sacrifice himself, he was turned into an efficient rival in SM by him being much more hands-on than the other Space Pirates, displaying intelligence and cruelty that carried over subsequent titles. Even without the personal backstory, I can feel his threat, and why Samus, of all enemies, takes him seriously (contrasting poor Kraid who Samus treats as a nuisance lmao rip).

I agree that Mother Brain was rather unused, though. Maybe it's because her design and modus operandi of just sitting there don't make for a memorable villain - yes her humanoid form in SM is scary, but that fight is mostly a glorified cutscene, sadly. (also, very personally speaking, I'm not particularly interested in AI characters, whether they learn emotions or start to believe themselves to be superior to organic lifeforms) But still, it's frustrating that the only game where Samus could have thought about her feelings regarding Mother Brain was OM, a game that even ignores her Chozo heritage for the purpose of propping up Adam.

[fanfic-lover-girl]

I Finally Watched Encanto

And it was very underwhelming. I don't get what the hype was about. It was mid at best. The best thing about it was probably the visuals. Oh, I loved the variety of skin tones! Usually, I don't care about skin colour in movies but for some reason, it stood out to me in this one. The intro and outro scenes were good too.

I am not a film expert so I can't convey what made the film fall flat for me. But here are some things that I found lacking:

The music is not memorable and I found it hard to immerse myself in it. I absolutely hated Surface Pressure. Some parts of We Don't Talk About Bruno were nice to listen to but it still wouldn't make the top 10 of my Disney songs list. It's not a song I would sing to myself. I can't even remember any of the lyrics besides the title namesake. I think my favourite piece was the Caterpillar song that played for Abuela Alma and Pedro. Maybe partly because it's in Spanish so I have lower expectations for it lol. Since I barely speak Spanish and all.

The family members kind of felt like plot devices? That just appeared when the plot called for it? I am not sure how to explain it but the main culprit for me was Isabela. She was basically a nothing character who was just there in the background being a prima donna and rolling her eyes. Then once Mirabel supposedly has to confront her, she has all this major development in like 2 mins and finally cracks? Luisa was way better because I saw her insecurities and how weakness made her feel worthless throughout the movie. I don't understand why Cousin Camilo was needed in the movie. His dad was good enough comic relief. I loved Antonio at the start and his relationship with Mirabel. I wanted to see that relationship more in the movie so much. But then even he began to feel like a cheap plot device.

How Bruno was handled was unsatisfying. The whole plot about Bruno just felt contrived. Bruno is supposed to be the family undesirable who no one talks about...but Dolores knew about him the entire time? The ending with Abuela and Bruno felt so rushed too. I thought the climax would have involved Bruno more but he just showed up at the end and now everything is ok? Bruno was just a way to show Mirabel how special she was and once that happened, everything about Bruno was wrapped up in a neat tidy bow.

The plot development was poor and felt like a plot in an adventure game. Gave me similar vibes to the plot in The Rise of Skywalker. How Luisa just happens to know Mirabel's starting point. How Mirabel just happens to find Bruno when the dude has been living unnoticed for how long. Even the ending with the butterfly almost made me roll my eyes.

The powers felt underdeveloped. I don't understand the limits of them and why only the Madrigals have them. Well, I guess it makes sense for the family to have the miracle to themselves as a kind of comfort for Pedro dying...like men don't sacrifice themselves for their families nobly all the time. How much weight can Luisa lift? What is the range of Pepa's powers? Mirabel said in her song that her mood affects the weather but the movie mainly shows the weather just affects her individual space. How do they control them? What if someone abuses their powers?

Anyway, its not a bad movie but I wouldn't watch it again. I preferred Coco over Encanto. The family relationship felt more developed and the focus was just on the family members relevant to the plot. The Abuela in Coco was more sympathetic and the generational trauma was way more justified there. Plus the music was better and the plot development felt more organic. I would watch Coco again. Encanto is just meh and seems a tad overrated.

[somekindofsentience]

a place between unreality and lucidity, or understanding the intentions of Chapter 12

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSIONS OF DEATH, SUICIDE, AND ABUSE. I ALSO TALK A LOT ABOUT LUCID DREAMING, WHICH CAN BE DISSOCIATIVE FOR READERS, SO PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

SPOILER WARNING: REFERENCED YUME NIKKI AND OMORI SPOILERS, AND OBVIOUSLY, DREAMSCAPE SPOILERS.

We're back bois, and we're back with my favourite chapter.

I love Chapter 12 so much, the same way I adore the Truth Sequence in Omori. Originally I was going to compare the two, but I realised there's little overlap other than the intentions they're written with.

...so I wrote about the intentions instead. The little bitch boy intentions. You'll see what I mean.

Buckle up, this one takes some insane turns. I had wild epiphanies while churning all this out in a couple hours. I think I may be losing my mind.

understanding what I mean by "lucidity", and discussing dreams as plot devices

Lucidity is a very particular type of plot device that I find difficult to describe - it is a specific type of fragmented narrative that fragments location, exploring an impossibility that often has links to deeper meaning. Typically it is an abstract way of foreshadowing or revealing something to the reader, and it mirrors the concept of a "liminal space".

Dreams in texts have been used as a method of foreshadowing for hundreds of years. While the human brain has no ability to predict the future, but only reframe the past, the uncontrollable fragments of memory that are spat back out at you during unconsciousness have captured human fascination since we first started sleeping.

Dreamscape itself isn't a dream, but it is a different form of consciousness, and the creator has stated that Chapter 12 draws a lot from lucid dreaming, which suggests this counts as part of the 'Lucidity' narrative trope. As someone who does not dream much, I find this shit fascinating. Like I'm sure it's horrific as hell but. It seems so fucking cool.

Perhaps some of the best examples of the use of lucid dreaming to form narrative are Yume Nikki and its fangames, as well as Omori. Yume Nikki was a catalyst for the creation of many RPG maker horror games, and it's an excellent piece of work. No concrete story, just wandering an endless abyss of Madotsuki's mind, observing the horrors within it. The fangames branched off this concept (I personally recommend .flow ) and added more aspects, but never being concrete about the trauma.

Things are illogical in the Yume Nikki dreamverse, but they don't have to be logical, and things don't have to make sense to the player - it is purely up for speculation. At the same time, we know it has to mean something. There's an innate sense of exploration and meaning in dreams, despite the real life version often being meaningless bullshit.

This is where Omori explicitly diverts - it outright states what happened on the Recital day, in a short, distorted sequence known ominously as "The Truth". While the entire game is about lucid dreaming, this section captures the horror due to the illogical nature of it, where Sunny travels from his living room, to a hospital, to stairs, his bedroom, backstage... things are wrong. At the same time, the player is focused on completing the album and collecting the polaroids, with the confusing nature of the locations building to the horror of the final moment.

Despite all this, none of these sequences are the big moment, or even nearing the climax.

Yume Nikki doesn't have a big moment, unless you see the ending as significant enough for that title. It is a game about wandering unreality, and without a plot, it can't have a climax. It uses lucidity to provide a sense of narrative, even when there isn't one, tricking the player into trying to comprehend an impossible universe.

Omori is not building up to that that one sequence, but rather, it is a stepping stone leading to the Final Duet, which is the true climax of the game. It's an emotional release for Sunny and the player, a sense of finality in a game without a proper "ending". The Truth sequence is merely a way for the player to understand plot and build horror, and without the Truth's photo album... we would understand nothing at all. An impossible universe.

This leads to my big theory...

the purpose of chapter 12 - you can't understand it

Chapter 12 is a lying piece of shit and won't admit to us more than cookie crumbs about the future of the Dreamscape universe. And I still love it. And here's why.

Due to the abstract nature of it, we can't understand it. Perhaps Sunny can, to some extent, but since we're not sure the cause nor purpose for it, we can't understand it. We can speculate, but we can't understand. Just like Yume Nikki, we might never properly understand what each segment means.

Here's some little nuggets I've been scrambling through for information.

The beginning talks about time and distortion of it, which mimics some of the issues with time Sunny has in real life. This may be foreshadowing his eviction or declining physical state.

Body horror is incredibly prevalent, particularly self-mutilation. This has several implications, but it likely hints to Sunny's feelings for himself. It may also foreshadow what Mari looked like during the Recital day scene, which I'm starting to realise hasn't actually been shown yet. Interesting.

While this is one of the first times we see Mari as more than a virus or a corpse in the text, it's also completely distorted by Sunny's unreliable narration. Despite the slightly manipulative conversation held between them, Sunny is completely frozen in grief, desperate to beg for her forgiveness.

Sunny sits there with her pain in that hospital, insisting he deserves it. It hints further to Sunny's declining mental state, but that doesn't tell us anything more than his own self-loathing. Both this and the above point foreshadow Mari's potentially abusive nature.

Sunny is completely determined to stay within the lucid dream, and is also very insistent that Mari is somewhere at the end, which turns out to be right. How he knows this is not shown to the reader.

Segments of this are related to Mari's own memory, which provides us with a better understand of the VHS system, and of the accident that lead to her suicide.

The lucid dream is a representation of Sunny's unending trauma through what he perceives to be Mari's eyes, perhaps even a representation of what he feels he needs to do for her forgiveness.

We also learn a bit more about Pianoboy, who we know is a clone of Sunny, and he specifically highlights a connected feeling of isolation. At the same time, it has to go further than that, but we're again limited by understanding. There's more, but not enough to guess what 'more' means.

But those tidbits mean nothing. And I can't do much more than spew nonsense about segments, with no ultimate conclusion.

Because Chapter 12 is not designed to be understood, but rather, it's something to look back on when you finally do understand. It's foreshadowing in its most complex form, hinting ominously to what you don't understand. It is also similar to Black Space in this way - no-one can figure out the truth of the Recital Day from Black Space alone.

I could spend hours trying to understand every symbol, every room, the essence of Chapter 12 itself, and fuck me because i totally would but ultimately, it's all fragments of a deeper narrative, more complex than our limited understanding.

And it's a horrible, horrible thing to do to a reader. An unanswerable segment, dangling understanding right in front of their nose, but making it unreachable. Haunting them with the human desire to see patterns in chaos. What utter cruelty. How could you do this to me, @omoriboii. Why would you do this to me, the analysis God, with the most overthink-y brain in existence, and yet give me, ultimately, nothing to lead to. Why leave me a crumb to look back on, something I can never understand with the information I hold. I may be stupid, but I can understand when I am beat.

It's perfection.

why even torture someone with the inability to understand?

Building horror is incredibly difficult, because it's so easy to do foreshadowing incredibly wrong. We've all seen horror movies that are so bad they're funny, relying entirely on petty jumpscares, terrible props and showing off the killer way too fast-

Wait a minute. Showing off the killer too fast ruins everything? Dammit, I wanted to flex my big sharp knife. That's right guys. I'm the serial killer of this blog. ?????

Anyway, demonstrating the inability to understand something to the reader is a common feeling that gets the emotional brain hooked and the cogs whirring in the logical segments. You need to understand. You develop theories, you discuss them with others, seeking evidence, only to find something that changes your view, ruining everything, forcing you to start again. Being teased is fun. I am kinky

That's my favourite feeling of all time. It's why I spent hours searching for that again after I played Omori. I still remember my first theories of the truth of the game, right up until the one I had just before I discovered the real Truth. Even after that, there was more for me to analyse. Analysis. I love analysis. Yk?

I love a good challenge, and analysing these segments are so much of a challenge that I actually can't do it, which is why I get so hyped over it. Why do I do this to myself?

I actually don't really know how to end this, but I think you get my point. It's fun. I like it. I love suffering. uhh. dreams cool.

new bit: song i wrote this listening to.

today's song, the main title theme from Tomorrow Won't Come for those without.

i needed a reminder of what horrible liminality feels like, and that goddamn game does it better than anyone. i love it so much. thanks, etherane, your games cursed me with a sick desire for unreality.

special thanks to all the games who ever bullied me for having boring ass dreams.

[loving-n0t-heyting]

I can’t think of a lot of other films as fixated on the architecture of the setting as much as north by northwest without actually being about the architecture. This attention increases throughout the course of the film: first the title sequence (which is obviously attention grabbing but not actually textually significant), then the bar where Cary grant meets his friends (where it is striking but not much lingered on, then the Townsend mansion (where it starts drawing more attention to the building), then the UN general assembly (where the cinematography starts treating it very indulgently), then vandamms house (where the details of the building layout become small-level plot significant, with some parkour), and finally the climax (which is just bouldering/parkour)

Which is all sort of interesting bc in giving a rough sketch of the plot and themes you are not tempted to to bring up the architecture at all. Wonder what’s up with that

[sam-glade]

Happy STS! Today I have a riddle: what comes first? The title or the story? 🤭 To expand, I'd love to hear the creation order of one (or several) of your stories. Did you think of characters first? Plot? World? What was the final piece?

Happy STS, Tori💜

That's a very good question🤔

I think it's usually the story, but more specifically a key element of a concept of it, which in my mind starts acting as a shorthand for 'that WIP', and more often than not evolves into the title. But even before that, the very first thing I come up with are a few locations that I really want to explore, so I start coming up with events that will take me to all the intriguing nooks and crannies. Since 4 out of 5 of my novel-sized projects are set in the same world, it's more about exploring an aspect of it than the world as a whole. For Days of Dusk, that's the countryside, then the city where the Army's Command is located, then the manors and palaces of the aristocracy.

As for particular stories, here's the list:

Gifts of Fate (DoD book 1) - the sequel to it was written first, and included mentions of the backstory, which was supposed to be a typical YA fantasy, but as I kept including more details, it grew more unique, until it didn't fit in the background, and stole the spotlight. So, the world and the characters were already very much developed. The title was the very last thing - I had the manuscript ready for beta readers, and only then I started brainstorming the title.

The Prince's Shadow (DoD book 2) - this story has lived in my head for 12+ years, so the beginnings are a bit fuzzy in my memory. The key thing is that it was previously titled Aftermath, because it was about the consequences of being a hero. I can't tell anymore what came first; it feels like the title and the concept were so intertwined. However, after I've written out the prequel (Gifts of Fate), I realised that the concept no longer works, so it was back to the drawing board with respect to the title.

Prodigal Children (DoD book 3) - I've written it a year or two after the first complete draft of Aftermath, as a continuation, still riding the momentum of the previous instalment, and I remember the title being there from the very beginning, and almost shoehorning the story to fit it. It also started as two independent short stories that were left as very rough drafts; the first of which became the first act (after some expanding), and the second the climax. Initially, the stories were meant to take place 50 or so years apart (bear in mind nigh-immortality in this setting), but as I started stitching them together, it became clear that if these two events are about a year apart, it puts so much delightful pressure on the characters.

The Truth Teller - it started with the concept of someone who's nigh-omniscient and simultaneously unable to lie, as in, the metaphysics won't let her say something objectively false, so the title followed very quickly. And of course to get the protagonist in trouble, I came up with the dystopian setting (DoD setting a few millennia later). The government would very much like to have access to a power like this, while the protag would go quite far to resist. I admit, this came up around the time I read Mistborn for the first time.

The Fulcrum - oh boy. That was definitely inspired by the Vivec city in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I had this image of a city inhabited by a cult that believes itself to be the centre of the universe and is obsessed with order and control, not to upset the balance of the world, while in reality it's just one of the many larger than life locations. I also visited Korea around that time, and went to all the museums, which indirectly sparked my interest in pre-Medieval cultures. Then I wanted to write a travelogue to organise all of this worldbuilding. So, setting first, then probably the title - the holy city is called Lornai, which translates to 'fulcrum' or 'pivot', and in my mind I started using 'Lornai' and 'fulcrum' interchangeably to think of this setting/story. The story came later.

[mirror-to-the-past]

Finished KH3 and Re:Mind- holy shitballs.

So *much* was happening throughout that climax, and so little of it was cohesive, and Re:Mind made it so a double narrative was taking place simultaneously alongside the base KH3 climax so yeah, it's going to be hard to discuss everything I probably would've wanted to while playing throughout those fateful final hours. I'm definitely going to accidentally skim over some details or questions I have, purely as a consequence of my head whirling.

The two biggest criminals here impacting my understanding of the plot are one- the aforementioned double narrative and two- the obfuscating nature of Sora's POV (like, the one that comes to the forefront of my mind at the moment was when he came out of the light tunnel with Kairi after resurrecting everyone via Power of Waking and looked off somewhere and appeared confused/surprised). Re:Mind explained what was going on in some suspicious moments where Sora looked like... haha I don't know how else to describe it except by saying he looked like he was dissociating? But yeah, that post light tunnel moment was not one of those so. 👀 Literally have no inkling what they might have been going with there- just a feeling of significance I can't shake. I got that a lot throughout the end of this playthrough. Pain.

The time travel in this game was one of the most bonkers usage of time travel I've seen in media, and I salute the writers for sticking to it and making their plot happen. I think my brain would've fried halfway through and I'd have cried at the keyboard. I am but a mortal stuck on a linear scale. This falls somewhat beyond me. I'll try my best to make heads or tails of it, though.

While the execution felt somewhat... sudden/rushed, I appreciated the follow-up on Sora's crumbling self esteem. 10/10 mini breakdown, you motivated Riku to such a degree that he got you spirited to the Final World- good job, lad. I know Naminé said that Kairi was the one keeping Sora tied to the Final World, but I had to wrap my mind around that statement, assuming its validity, because it felt a bit out of left field for me. I only mention this because after everything I saw (Riku's sacrifice shown twice, a good number of the star people who had very similar sounding sentiments to Riku [lemme tell you some of those stars were very telling], and I thought I was bullshiting on this one at first, but after rewatching the Final World's title card animation thingy, it ALSO looks a lot like a reflection of the composition of the Riku death scene), I felt a bit surprised that it was not said to have been Riku's contribution that kept Sora chained to the Final World- it would definitely have made sense given the context. However, Kairi's love and hope for Sora is definitely not to be dismissed, alongside Riku's love and belief in him, so upon thinking on it more, I see it as a "Riku saved and tethered Sora's heart to the Final World and Kairi helped Sora retain his form" kind of thing. And if you think about the presence of each character in Sora's life, their contributions under that lense would make sense:

Kairi is a symbol of home and memory, maintenance of stability. She would be the one to hold onto her memory of Sora- strong enough that he would maintain some level of physicality and semblance of mortal self, even in near death. Similarly to what Joshua said in DDD: "By ourselves, we're no one. It's when other people look at us and see someone- that's the moment we each start to exist. All they needed was someone to see them, connect with them." <- That fits pretty well with the situation.

Riku focuses more on new beginnings, and the casting away of things deemed as 'unnecessary' (body, home, companionship... debatablely happiness) for the sake of pursuing desires. It would match up with his history of possession and development where he learns relinquishing of control. Without Kairi's contribution, Sora would likely have just manifested as another faceless star person, as retaining Sora's heart would've been Riku's priority in that moment, regardless of what form he would take. (From moments before Riku's sacrifice- "We haven't lost them. They still have their hearts. But we have to protect them." Tie that into Riku's "Protect the things that matter" thing, and boom.)

So uh... go team! Sora may be determined to get himself killed, but with their powers combi- oh... (Looks at the ending)

Also I made sure the 111th Sora I grabbed was doing a funny little jig. I'm proud of me.

Here's a speculative blurb from a previous attempt at a KH3 climax post from earlier that ended up getting scrapped:

"Because of what Young Xehanort said (EN: the "It's already too late for you" line), now I'm wondering if Sora's being baited into an illusion where his friends are safe, because he couldn't handle a world where that wasn't the case, paralleling DDD ending. That, or Sora's just doomed himself by going to the Final World, using the power of waking a bunch and attempting to carry on, business as usual."

While I'm glad that it didn't turn out as bleak as the initial speculation, I do still wonder post ending if, given Xehanort's level of anticipation of his opponents' moves on a metaphysical level, he took advantage of Sora's insistence on breaking reality for his loved ones as a way to bait him and shove him out of the way forever, or if sending him to where it looks like Sora ended up was somehow more advantageous for his ambitions in the long run. And let it be known I predicted my boy was going to sorta-die due to his everything-ex-machina. I cracked jokes about it to cope throughout the entire finale.

Examples:

"Boy Riku, the air that I'm breathing in the Keyblade Graveyard sure is stuffy, but I feel immensely grateful for it for some reason. *coughs forebodingly*"

"Y'know Kairi, I think I'm down to reminisce with you for once. I just feel like I should really look at where life's taken me so far. Oh, no particular reason. Lovely weather today."

On a less upsetting note-

ROXASSS

XIONNN

YYEAHHHH BABEYY 😎😎😎

Literally lost my MIND when Roxas showed up. The hype I felt was immeasurable, and my day was made. The "Other Promise" rendition during the fight was sick, and Re:Mind did the Org. trio even more justice with their attacks. When Xion started crying post fight I was just like... same, babygirl. It was just a lot, and I'm so happy Roxas was yoinked back into existence.

Still extremely intrigued about all of the unknowns in the Org. XIII lore. You can't just take away all the cool guys again and not tell me anything new about them (Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx, Luxord). Especially after Xemnas previously made a big deal literally about how mysterious they all were. Dick. >:0

Very curious about when and how Luxord's wild card will come into play, considering it didn't get mentioned during Re:Mind, as I assumed it might in order to help Sora fix Kairi or perhaps get Sora out of his mess. KH4, maybe? 👀

Also XIGBAR MVP ONCE MORE LFG. OR SHALL I SAY, LUXU?? I really should've put two and two together for that one, because of how all-knowing Xigbar seemed to be at all times, but I wasn't particularly focused on figuring out Luxu's identity, so that's on me. Curious about how he summoned the Foretellers. Thought they were dead, for some reason, but I suppose there was no reason to assume so if Luxu was able to survive that long as well. Wonder what they've been up to? Ava noped out- wisest thing anyone has done this entire franchise, lol. I would assume the Book of Prophecies was inside the box, but as seen by the Union X stuff, Mr. Master was still enjoying prophetic light reading after he sent Luxu away, so all one can assume is that it's parts of the Book of Prophecies hidden away from everyone or perhaps another significant book altogether. We'll seeeee. *explodes*

Speaking of the Union X stuff, loved that moment where Ephemer phased into Sora's reality to stir the lingering wills of the deceased Keyblade wielders into action. I just felt so happy for what I assume were real players who are now forever immortalized in the game as people who come to your side to help you beat the tough baddie, y'know? I got a bit emotional- it reminded me of NieR:Automata. If you know, you know.

Riku and Xehanort's Heartless have finally finished their strange drawn out mentorship/insecurity demon/invasive clingy ex dynamic. I chuckled a little bit at Riku saying "I think I'll miss you." Oh dear, lol.

I love that one scene where all the Guardians of light minus Kairi and Sora were fighting in an Avenger-esque huddle in the sky, and they occasionally chatted with each other. Ventus complimenting Roxas made my heart warm. It's the little things!

Scala ad Caelum is so pretty! And fun to say, haha! It reminds me a lot of a The Mist/Sharlayan city lovechild from FFXIV. Very Mediterranean, bleached white coastal prettiness. Would live there- 10/10. Also, I appreciate the consistency of people's hearts manifesting physically as their homeland. You had Sora's heart in DDD as the island the kids played at in Destiny Islands, and now Xehanort where he was raised and trained (he felt more personal connection to it than say, Destiny Islands, where he seemed to have also spent part of his life). It's sweet, and a bit sad, as both have grown so estranged from their homelands.

The way I SCREAMED when I got to play as Kairi. So sad how she's been thrown into such a disastrous fray so suddenly after becoming a Keyblade wielder, her and Axel/Lea (I don't care about Merlin's time stopping magic man, I Know they needed more time) and suffered the most for it. She was really getting the Sora treatment of being talked down to by the villains (kudos to Axel/Lea, I love him so much for calling Kairi his trump card, they make me so happy), and being seen as easy pickings. It's so good that Sora was in her corner to help her, because like damn. Girlie went through it. And then she comes out the other end only for her best friend who risked life and limb for her to fucking DIE as a result of how hard he tried to make sure she was safe despite the universe working against her (gj for Sora finally stepping up as a Kairi bodyguard this game, by the way. About time 🙄 [I am light-heartedly referencing my own inside joke].)? DAMN. SHE'S PROBABLY GOING THROUGH IT EVEN MORE. Survivor's guilt, anyone? But yeah, anyway, her going "please work!" when fighting Xehanort was so sad... you're doing great, Kairi! Don't let anyone tell you different! Loved the "One Heart" attack her and Sora had! It was so pretty, and they're absolutely my little angels- they deserve the wings! Love how they're both like... the connection pieces between everyone, y'know? I love Kairi's attack pattern of her initial swipe being a long ranged hit that then zaps her to the target- thought that was great design! It was on par with Aqua's gameplay in this game, for me, and I admittedly like the feel of it a little more than Roxas' and Riku's. Side note- was Riku's AI as a party member just wack for me, or does he not have healing moves/items this game? I only ask because I remember how he was like 🫰 On It whenever Sora's health would drop a smidgen in KH2, but here he was like "I saved you in cutscene, if you die now, you die, fam."

That part in Re:Mind where Mickey becomes playable and gets a whole Price of Freedom last stand moment had me in tears, I was laughing so hard from the melodrama of it all. But also the music was genuinely beautiful. It's just... 😂 I'm sorry I loved it so much. I love these games, they're so ridiculous. If someone likes Kingdom Hearts, I can't help but assume they also have a brilliant sense of humor, as well.

Love how every day, Kingdom Hearts becomes more and more Doctor Who. That one battle line from Young Xehanort, the fanatical time traveling icon himself, where he stops time and says "Don't Blink" made me smile.

I really liked that one Vanitas line to Sora- "And I do stand by your side. I'm the shadow that you cast. How much closer could I be?" I am reminded that the main reason I love antagonistic characters is due to their cryptic and occasionally poetic speech patterns.

Speaking of antagonistic characters who are NOT poetic- Master of Masters my GUY! I am consistently delighted to see this guy on screen, he's so loveable- I don't care about his war crimes. Thought it was hilarious how he said "So you're saying the weak feel the need to justify their actions to maintain a sense of self." And it completely goes over Xehanort's head how hard he's justifying his intended actions in that scene. When a guy like the Master of Masters, who seems to pride himself on low involvement passively mentions your strong willed ideologies, I'd get the idea he's silently judging you in his head. "There's no class, really! What happened to letting human nature take its course? Kids these days just can't wait for things to fall into place over the course of millennia anymore." *Cracks open a cold one in the Keyblade Graveyard*

Oh also, Xehanort and Gaius van Baelsar from FFXIV are the same individual in goals and personality and that is immensely hilarious to me. They both have a propensity of taking in orphans that then go through psychological and physical trauma for his agenda, too. You don't understand him, guys! The weak were being propelled into a misguided agenda that controlled the masses, and SOMEONE needed to step up and be the voice of action that would allow the motherland- *ahem* Keyblade Wielders and the worlds to return to their true glory! All these teenagers and twenty-somethings raving to him about friendship and light are too sensitive- they'll give Keyblades to anyone nowadays, and he hates this new woke Keyblade society! Next time, on the Xehanort podcast-

As you can see, at this point in the post my sanity dwindles evermore. So, I'll finish by going over the last major thing that made me spiritually foam at the mouth a little bit:

SECRET ENDING CUTSCENE WAS SO WELL COMPOSED HOLY SHIT. Every single frame was desktop worthy. The LIGHTING. I also like how it looks more Final Fantasy, admittedly. The other style they had in the fancy cutscenes looked a little off-putting with everyone's porcelain doll eyes. But this one? MWAH. BELLISIMO.

The MUSIC. The COLORS. The red/blue thing Sora and Riku kept locking onto while they were gaining their bearings and trying to find each other? The warm/cool tones between each of the boys' sides, both still within an urban setting? The dynamic camera movement that started as slow, unfocused, lingering shots to reflect Sora's (especially) and Riku's disorientation of their new surroundings, all before switching to sudden, sweeping shots over the cityscape as the realization of their circumstances crashes down upon them? Them walking into each other's shots while looking around, showing how they're searching for each other even subconsciously? OH, OH, AND THE RED/BLUE THING CARRIED OVER FOR THE DEFINITELY NOT PLOT RELEVANT (it's not like the game drew attention to how he looks like Sora [I don't see it but whatever] and Riku, and this series has never made character designs plot relevant ever) HETEROCHROMIA IN THE VIDEO GAME GUY TOO, AND YEAH, HE'S THERE LMAO?? Literally did not have "the spoof Riku-esque character from the damn Toy Story World is important and potentially the MCs' secret lovechild" on my Bingo card, but I'm adaptable. I hope that once he and Riku meet there's a Spiderman meme moment. I also hope Sora's like "What? How am I talking to you? You're from a video game!" And Yozora is like "You also are from a video game" and we finally shatter this paltry meta narrative barrier we've been poking at once and for all. Give me more chaos, I must feed.

I was extremely confused as to why Riku was in the same place as Sora, and was like "maybe it's another DDD parallel world separating them from each other" thing, but still, how did he get there in the first place? But then I laughed as I envisioned the natural, sensible progression of this situation in a hypothetical post-Sora disappearance cutscene where everyone stares on, shocked, and Kairi wobbles down the Paopu tree, sobbing, to everyone else on the beach.

Kairi: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, he said he didn't have much time left, but he was happy to spend it with everyone, and he's happy I'm safe and- *sniff* and- I should've asked him something that could help us go after him and-"

Riku: "Don't worry, Kairi. I'll handle this."

Aqua: "Riku, we don't even know where to start, we need to assess the situation!"

Axel: "Aaaand, he's walking away."

Ventus: "What do you think he's planning on doing?"

Terra: "It's Riku. He's a man with a plan. He'll do what he has to to... uhm."

Axel: "Aaaand, he's walking into the ocean."

Kairi: "RIKU, NO-"

Naminé: "RIKU, YOU CAN'T DO THIS AGAIN-"

And from where I left off before getting mercilessly slaughtered by my first Data fight, it's now been a whole year of Absent Sora. Damn. One squad's in hell, Kairi might be in another coma, and Riku's probably gonna take up blindfolds again at this rate. What no Sora does to a mf part 2.

Riku: "We NeEd to BeLieVe in HiM. HiS hEaRt aNd HiS miNd aRe MaDe uP." *Puts his face in his hands* *Silently sobs*

[basedkikuenjoyer]

I Know a Magical Girl Plot When I See It

1103 is in that weird limbo of us getting a scan way before the official release. Happens end of every year. I'll leave any spoilies under the cutoff, and for now we can just take in this fun color spread. Featuring Yamato & Momonosuke. Neat. Not that these two track with anything in the chapter within or my feelings on it. It's the Year of the Dragon and all.

We all ready? Okay, diddly dee it's 1103!

Okay first off this is sweet. Bonney's really moved up into my top 10 in her own right and that doesn't get brought up enough in all the meta discussion. We get a weird answer to our question last time. What the next segment looks like. Here we get a little of the night before but well, put a pin in that. We will also end on Kuma's arrival. Right at the perfect moment as Bonney echoes the start of the flashback. That's cool. From that meta perspective though, there are two very important scenes:

This chapter will go on to mostly focus on Jewelry Bonney, Saint Saturn, and Bartholomew Kuma. But it's important to note these two panels. First, Vegapunk clearly punts the night before. We saw part of it, a discrete part that pertains to what's happening right now. But we take the time to bait Vegapunk implying there's more going on. Pairs nicely with our main moment for the main cast. Uhh...who fed Luffy? This isn't insignificant. Like, you have Saturn trying to demoralize Bonney and freaking out about this because he realizes he could be dealing with functionally two Nikas. So who fed him? Reminds me of Caribou on Wano of course but any of these little crackles are important to me for more...flowery reasons.

Especially when you have the element of becoming a game of attention. Whoever delivered the food it did it without being noticed. Just like our attention is on Bonney's unfurling drama so too is Saturn's. Setting up Luffy for a recuperative Gum Gum Willow Snacking. I like that it kinda reminds me of Katakuri even if unintended. Enough with this, let's get to the real skinny:

Hey Kuma. Sup? So he's here. It's the tone, the tone of this is so weird to me. I want you to think of the title. A magical girl show. Jewelry Bonney feels like she is at the final climax of one of those. Nah, think about it. You have Saturn laying down the bits about how the Toshi-Toshi fruit would get weaker over time. It really is a cursed ability in that it diminishes as you age. But imagine you're watching a series where Bonney is the star and you see that moment as the final villain is unravelling how all the evil was his doing. It's the stand-in for imminent adolescence. So fitting I'm talking Narnia that often gets criticized for being too on the nose about this idea with Susan.

It's a common thread for stories about young girls for a reason. It's not exactly uncommon for rambunctious, adventurous, & imaginative young girls to become a lot more sensible and down-to-earth young women very quickly. I've literally seen a full mahou shoujo series about a sick girl who stuck a deal with spirits to be able to temporarily become her future self as an idol. That one was a rehash of several others. A loss of innocence moment and time running out on being able to use that power are hallmarks of the ending there. Same with daddy coming to save the day. We got our weird meta shit going on in the background so I'm happy, hell yeah bear boy.

Bonney is fully in Yamato territory for now as far as I'm concerned. As far as story structure, honestly since we still were in the past the first part and Bonney had the thematic "better off dead" bookend you could say this is the end of the flashback. This time the little blip being the mystery pile of food instead of the end. There aren't exactly hard and fast rules here but it is a lot like the last time we came back to Egghead now more than after 1102. Even stuff like the recap. Last time it was Doberman who was a bit of an unreliable narrator, this time we split it between three groups rapid fire all with their own perspective which is cool.

[dilfsalltheway]

I've been working on this plot for a while but I don't know if I should go ahead and start writing it. I'm not sure anyone would read it

**Title:** "Shattered Bonds"

**Setting:** Post-apocalyptic world of "The Walking Dead," where survival is a daily struggle, and trust is a rare commodity. The story takes place in a small, fortified community that has recently come under the control of Negan and the Saviors.

**Plot Summary:**

*Part 1: The Enemy Within*

- **Protagonist:** A fiercely independent woman named Clara, who has survived in this brutal world by relying on her strength and resourcefulness. She lost her family to the undead and has since been a vocal opponent of the Saviors, seeing Negan as the embodiment of tyranny.

- Clara initially views Negan as the enemy, leading a group of rebels within the community to oppose his rule. The tension escalates when she is captured during a rebellion attempt and brought before Negan, who is both charismatic and terrifying. He sees potential in her defiance and decides to keep her close, believing he can break her spirit.

*Part 2: Unlikely Allies*

- As Clara spends time with Negan, she begins to see glimpses of the man behind the brutality. They engage in heated debates, with Clara challenging his methods and Negan revealing the burdens of leadership and the loneliness of power. Clara discovers that Negan has a tragic past, having lost loved ones before the apocalypse, which softens her view of him.

- Meanwhile, Negan is drawn to Clara's fire and spirit. He admires her strength but is conflicted by their opposing views. Their banter shifts from hostile to flirtatious, creating a tension that neither can deny.

*Part 3: The Heart of Darkness*

- Just as Clara starts to let her guard down, a catastrophic event shakes the community: a massive walker horde breaches their defenses, leading to chaos and loss. In the midst of the chaos, Clara witnesses Negan making a heartbreaking decision to save his own people, forcing her to confront the moral ambiguities of survival.

- Clara is left heartbroken, feeling betrayed by the man she was beginning to understand. She finds solace in her fellow rebels, who encourage her to continue the fight against Negan and the Saviors.

*Part 4: Choices and Sacrifices*

- In the aftermath, Clara learns about Negan's own sacrifices during the attack. He lost people he cared about as well, and the weight of his choices begins to take a toll on him. Clara and Negan's paths cross once more as they navigate the fallout of the attack, and Clara is forced to confront her growing feelings for him.

- A pivotal moment occurs when Clara saves Negan from a group of walkers, putting her life on the line and forcing her to acknowledge the bond they’ve formed. Negan, in turn, begins to see Clara not just as a rebel, but as someone he truly cares for.

*Part 5: The Breaking Point*

- Just when Clara thinks she can reconcile her feelings for Negan, she discovers a dark secret about his past actions that resulted in the deaths of innocent people. This revelation sends her into a spiral of betrayal and anger. She confronts Negan, leading to a heartbreaking argument where both reveal their vulnerabilities, fears, and desires.

- Heartbroken, Clara decides to leave the community, seeking to carve out her own path away from Negan and the memories of what they could have been.

*Part 6: Tragedy and Redemption*

- In the climax, Clara’s new group encounters a ruthless faction that threatens to annihilate everything she has fought for. In a desperate race against time, Negan realizes he cannot let Clara face this alone. He gathers his forces and goes to her rescue, proving that he can change and fight for what is right.

- The final battle is intense and tragic, resulting in heavy losses on both sides. Clara is gravely injured, and in a moment of vulnerability, she confesses her love for Negan as she lies on the brink of death. He promises to protect her and the world they’re trying to build, showing the depth of his transformation.

*Epilogue: A New Dawn*

- The story concludes with Clara recovering and reflecting on the journey they’ve taken. She has learned to balance her anger and love, and Negan has shed some of his darker tendencies in his quest for redemption. Together, they start to rebuild the community, learning to trust each other while navigating the complexities of their relationship.

- The final scene hints at a new threat on the horizon, leaving their future uncertain but filled with hope.

**Themes:** The story explores themes of trust, redemption, the moral complexities of survival, and the transformative power of love amidst tragedy and heartbreak.

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax A Block finals preview

Tetsuya Naito (5-3; 10 points) vs. Great-O-Khan (4-4; 8 points) - Naito is the IWGP world champion, and Khan is the KOPW champion, but titles aren't at stake during this tournament. In singles matches, these two are 1-1 against each other.

Neither of these guys can take first place in the block. But that's okay, because in this year's tournament format, you only have to make the top three to advance. The second and third place wrestlers will square off on August 15, for the right to face the first place wrestler on the 17th, to determine the A Block winner. Then the A Block winner meets the B Block winner on the 18th, for all the marbles.

Naito can secure a spot in the top three with a win or a draw. If Khan wins, however, both men will be tied at 10 points, and none of the tie scenarios break in Naito's favor. If Khan and Shota Umino both win tonight, then Khan will make the top three. If Umino doesn't win, Khan can still advance, as long as Shingo Takagi doesn't defeat Jake Lee.

It's possible that by the time this match starts, Khan will already be mathematically eliminated. But since wrestling is fake (citation needed), it's more likely that the undercard matches will just happen to work out so that the stakes in the main event are as high as possible. Khan has been on a roll lately, after a poor start in his early block matches, so I get the feeling that's a key plot point.

I'm not expecting either of these guys to win the G1, or even make it to the finals. So in that sense, it doesn't matter which of them advances to get beat by somebody else. (I mean, it matters when Naito loses, because he's the world champ, but he's bound to lose one more match in this tournament, so it makes no difference if it happens tonight or later.) I guess my personal preference is to see Khan squeak through. But every time I think it's time New Japan is going to start pushing Khan, they pull the rug out from under me, so I'll believe it when I see it. The safe bet is Naito.

EVIL (5-3; 10 points) vs. Shota Umino (3-5; 6 points) - Evil can clinch second place with a win or a draw. Even if he loses, he's still in good shape, unless Shingo Takagi beats Jake Lee. Shota is mathematically eliminated, so all he can hope to do is play spoiler for the most hated man in the tournament. So I'm pretty sure that will be the story of the match, with Umino valiantly fighting for the fans by saving us from watching more House of Torture matches.

If you've been following the tournament--or hell, if you've watched any of Evil's singles matches in the past four years--you know how this is going to go. They'll do some standard babyface vs. heel stuff, and you might almost forget about the House of Torture bullshit, and then they'll do all of that bullshit all at once. The worse part is none of those bullshit spots will affect the outcome; Shota will kick out of all of it, and then either hit his finisher or slip on a banana peel and walk into Evil's finisher. Unless you're watching live, you'd be better off just skipping to the end.

I believe New Japan is ballsy enough to tease the idea of Evil winning the G1, but I don't believe they'd take it so far as to let him reach the finals. So he could win here. But they already kind of did that tease last year, so I'm hoping they got it out of their system. Besides, it's dumb as fuck that Shota is still fighting to stay out of last place in the G1 Climax. If he can't go out with a winning record, at least let him go out with something. So Umino is the "hope for the future" pick, and Evil is the "lol NJPW" pick, depending on your point of view.

Shingo Takagi (4-4; 8 points) vs. Jake Lee (4-4; 8 points) - Both are hoping to win and get into a multi-way tie for third place at 10 points. Unfortunately for Jake, he's only beaten one of the other guys who might finish at 10, so none of the tie scenarios will do him any good. Shingo needs Naito and/or Evil to lose. Ideally, he'll also want Sanada to stay below 10 points, to avoid the more ambiguous tie scenarios.

I could base my prediction on which outcome builds up the drama of Great-O-Khan potentially advancing at the end of the night. However, I think the real bottom line is that Lee just jumped over from Pro Wrestling NOAH, and New Japan has to demonstrate that he's still a step below their best guys. I'm picking Shingo.

Zack Sabre Jr. (6-2; 12 points) vs. SANADA (4-4; 8 points) - In career singles matches, these two are tied at 3-3-1. Win, lose, or draw, Sabre has already clinched first place in the block. If Sanada wins he could potentially be tied in third place with 10 points, However, most of the tie scenarios don't work in Sanada's favor.

Sanada's best path forward would be if Naito wins/draws, Evil loses, and Takagi wins. That would leave Evil, Takagi, and Sanada tied for third place, with each of them 1-1 against the other two. This possibility comes up every year, and I don't think they've ever established how they would resolve it, because it never ends up happening.

So I don't think Sanada is going to make it into the top 3, but that doesn't mean he has to lose this match. Indeed, if Sabre wins the G1, he'll need someone who beat him in the block matches to challenge him during the fall, and I think Sanada would work well in that role. Nevertheless, I could see this bout going either way.

Gabe Kidd (3-5; 6 points) vs. Callum Newman (2-6; 4 points) - Both men are mathematically eliminated. Kidd holds the STRONG men's title, which isn't at stake here, but a win for Newman would definitely put him in contention later. To me, it seems like you might as well give Newman that win and a title match down the line. But on the other hand, Kidd has really shown me a lot in this year's tournament, so I'd rather see him go out on a win.

Konosuke Takeshita & Jeff Cobb & HENARE & Francesco Akira vs. Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi & SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - This is basically a preview for Takeshita vs. Narita on August 14. It's also something of a mismatch, with three G1 guys (Takeshita, Cobb, and Henare) on one team and only one (Narita) on the other.

It took me the whole tour to figure out why Takeshita has been teaming with the United Empire. Takeshita is in the Don Callis Family in AEW, alongside Kyle Fletcher and (formerly) Will Ospreay. Fletcher and Ospreay were in the United Empire, and are still on good terms with that faction. I guess that's also why Takeshita hasn't been portrayed as a merciless heel, the way he is in AEW.

Akira could potentially do the job in this match, but on the other side Yuj, Sho, and Nobu are all easy pickings. So this ought to be an easy win for Takeshita's team.

David Finlay & Gedo vs. El Phantasmo & Jado - Finlay and Phantasmo will meet in their final block match on the 14th. ELP has spent the whole tournament climbing out of a deep depression, and now that he's emerged he'll be finishing up against Finlay, the original author of his misfortunes. Nothing will get settled here, of course, but this should give us an idea of whether Finlay needs to be worried about Phantasmo on the 14th. If it was up to me, ELP would run wild and pin Gedo, but it's not up to me, so I could also imagine Finlay pinning Jado.

Yota Tsuji & BUSHI vs. Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi - Tsuji's next block match is against Jeff Cobb, and Goto's next block match is with Henare, but those guys are otherwise indisposed. Tanahashi was a mainstay in the G1 Climax, but he didn't make the cut this year. Bushi isn't in the tournament because it's for heavyweights and he's a junior heavyweight, which is how you know he's the guy who will get pinned here.

Yuya Uemura & TAKA Michinoku vs. Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano - This was scheduled as a preview of Uemura vs. Boltin on August 14. However, both matches were cancelled after Uemura suffered a right arm injury on the 10th.