#also messing up with the timeline I reckon???

[just-french-me-up]

im this close to reading jayvik fanfiction without context or having seen more than 5 consecutive minutes of arcane

you guys are good.

[lilia-calderus-pet-goat]

Something of note about Lilia's tarot spread is that—it's hers. The cards she pulls aren't precisely who the characters are to themselves, but who they are and what they represent to Lilia. As her coven, in her life.

Like, I don't really know my tarot that well—I'm just pulling themes from within the episode and my general understanding.

But when she was reading for Billy, he was fittingly represented by the Magician. But for Lilia, he was the “windfall.” He was the tower, reversed. Miraculous transformation. Because she, having put the sigil on him, saved him from the destruction and lead to his miraculous transformation. And to her, he was the windfall, because without him, she wouldn't be here, with her coven. She wouldn't have found herself.

Alice's is very straight forward—“full of fire, fights bravely.” It's how Lilia saw her, what Lilia had once again predicted for her. 'Wound suffered, lessons learned.' Specifically, Lilia wasn't able to warn Alice, but she learned her lesson. So, this time, she makes sure to warn Agatha. “When she calls you a coward, hit the deck.”

And why does she warn Agatha? Agatha represents her 'obstacles,' after all. Maybe so—Lilia's literal obstacle at this stage ends up being the Salem Seven, who merely want Agatha. Yet she chooses to stay behind to save a woman who probably wouldn't do the same for her. And the reason is—for her, Agatha is the Three of Swords. She looks at her and sees Heartbreak, (Rio) Sorrow, (Evanora) Grief (Nicholas). And Lilia is willing to forgive her—to sacrifice herself for her—even if the universe itself doesn't think she deserves it. This is different from how Agatha views herself, or even how Billy views her, since he initially pulls out the Chariot. One might say it's a random choice, but the Chariot is described as representing “determination, success, and control.” It's about overcoming challenges and gaining victory through maintaining control of your surroundings—which, I argue, embodies Agatha pretty well. So The Three of Swords is who Agatha is to Lilia. She doesn't hate her, or see her as a force to be reckoned with. She pities her. After all, the Queen of Cups is defined by her empathy.

Then, of course, Jen. Jen is Lilia's path ahead. Not only because she has a brilliant future of her own ahead of her in the mcu, now with her powers unbound. Because Lilia senses all the trapped light and bound power that Jen carries—“The High Priestess: Immense spiritual power, unable or unwilling to use it--” but also because Jen, the survivor, is the one who will carry on Lilia's memory. All those centuries, Lilia had been alone—there was no 'path ahead.' Everything was a jumbled mess, her “path” was non-linear and twisty. And Jen, after centuries of solitude, was her light in the dark, guiding her through the dark tunnels, as her mind wandered through her timeline searching for answers. Jen was the only person in centuries who bothered to see her as something more, to acknowledge her strength, and to help her fill in the gaps as best as she could. And so Lilia sees so much hope in Jennifer—who won't stop becoming better and better. Because for Jen, the Queen of Cups is her path behind. Wound suffered, lessons learned. “I couldn't save Lilia, I didn't even try to save Alice, I'll be damned if I let you two idiots die.”

Finally, Death, Rio. Well—it's obvious. In tarot, death isn't literal. It's mist often symbolic. Transformation, end of a cycle, new beginnings. Which is why we never see Lilia's corpse, and we never see Rio collect her. Because unlike Alice, Lilia went into the afterlife willingly. And for her, it was a beautiful release. After years of running out of time—she got to start anew—knowing that this time, she managed to save her coven. (I'd also like to think that the reason we don't see Rio collect Sharon is because it was a peaceful death—joining Mr. Davis instead of suffering further. Whereas Alice finally had something to live for, but I digress. I've already made my posts about Alice.)

I think that this is all relatively obvious—but I genuinely can't stop thinking about Lilia and her dynamics with the rest of the coven.

[cconfusedkat]

The one who wilts being a terrible person is,, probably the least expected thing of them considering how they treated both goat & ram when they were both their vessel

Kiss me son of god was very fitting for Wilt because of their desire for power, which eventually lead them to their downfall and being in Purgatory for three millenia. I guess they were a bit too ruthless

Also additional doodle to accompany this pmv because i am. Very much Not a serious person with lore things,

An actual summary: Shamura—The One Who Wilts—has heavy reasoning as to why they ended up in Purgatory the way they did.

Rather instead of just making their siblings being jealous of their rapid growth rate of the War Cult increasing, it was a mixed bag between jealousy and insanity due to losing their mind (metaphorically and literally) from holding just the Purple Crown of War.

Going so far, they didn't only kill other unfamiliar Gods to increase both fearmongering and faith, they killed their siblings for getting in their way.

Thanatos—the white dog with the other purple crown, being a God of Wisdom—Narinder, etc—was extremely critical of these ongoing events that lead into disaster. He tried to convince Wilt one more time that they weren't THIS violent. Where was that wise and sweet sibling? The one that would stay on Thanato's fur for dear life as a tiny spider, frolicking in the daffodil fields? The one who raised all four of their siblings? Giving them a place and shelter to stay at their very own palace, to eventually being able to create their own cults within palaces?

Well. They were gone. Long gone. Thanato's had been long desensitized on how cults actually worked. Wilt was the one who cared for being in higher power, they didn't reckon their siblings as people anymore.It wasn't until Thanato's panicky plan that made Wilt realize how messed up everything was. Thanatos laid down diagonally on the opening curtain of his bed, knowing fully Wilt would try to kill him in his sleep. A wisdom God still had his ways, despite preferring a pacifist life.Areem who had been on top of Thanato's bed looked over at Hadaf, him nodding as a signal to finally end this war of cults and sentence them to The Above. Wilt saw the hallucination of their dead siblings in Below (essentially an underworld heaven of sort) and actually felt some sort of relief to see them, convinced they were waiting for Wilt all this time in Below and forgave them for all their warcrimes.

Unfortunately for Wilt, it had been quite the opposite. They died slowly to the ichor loss from their already open head from their war crown, their eyes being blinded from ichor spilling in and out of it, and experiencing every painful moment of it.

Off screen, Areem would dig the sword deeper within their body, which then explains why they have a chain right in their head as The One Who Wilts. The sword went that deep to create an empty spot through their organs, the chain being the single thing to keep them alive and tortured within Purgatory for the next three millenia.

That's all to be explained for the video basically- after three millenia the wise and war (wise one referring to goat/giuseppe, where as alluring lamb would refer to lamb/allure in their own world. Twist on words! Yippee!) cult would begin, with a little ram and a goat. Cult of the goat baaaabeeeyyy 🎉🎉

But yes yep that's really it \o/ i still gotta touch up on giuseppe and aaliyah lore and how the war & wisdom cult operates compared to the death cult in allure's timeline,, fun fact there is no death god in rw&rw!! War was the replacement for death for a very long while

Ou wait name guide probably is a good idea

Thanatos is Narinder, he is a dog and is a god of wisdom

Wilt is Shamura (or shamara), they are a pink toed spider and a god of war. Thanatos took the wisdom crown

Hadaf and Bael are Aym and Baal (the white fluffy cats near the end)

Aidos is the blue cyclop squid (kallamar), Phobos is the neon green fuzzy worm (leshy), Limos is the lime green frog with eyelashes (heket), and Areem is a cotl follower oc (he's the snow leopard also at the end)

That's pretty much everyone :o) in the small doodle is giuseppe and aaliyah when they were a year staying in purgatory with wilt to train for which crown suited one or the other the best-

[soft-pine]

as the strange combination of a bitter deangirl (gn) and a deancas shipper, i cannot overstate how much i appreciate everyone's thoughtful 15.09 The Trap takes. my only contribution to the conversation is that 15.03 kills me.

at the end of s14, everything happens so fast. cas finally admits to himself something's really wrong with jack. meanwhile jack's killed nick and mary. dean is devastated. rightfully angry. then jack's manipulated into fucking with the whole world. they don't know what to do. the plan dean and sam come up with seems like the only thing with anything close to jack's power. and even cas suggests locking jack away until they have more time to work things out. like i cannot overstate how dramatically quickly everything is unfolding. chuck shows up and says jack will end the world. dean was never gonna be okay with the world ending. was never gonna be okay with anyone but himself sacrificing to make that happen. instead they find out chuck is messing with them. he kills jack, opens hell, and they spend an awful horrible week trying to fight ghosts they thought they'd dealt with long ago, while trying to keep a whole town safe and calm, while grieving jack's death, while having to talk to a demon in his corpse, while reckoning with the fact that everything they've ever known is a lie and an elaborate set-up for a cosmic being's entertainment. like it is punch after punch for weeks and weeks with no breathing room. finally culminating in cas doing something which makes sense but is also very much a pattern where he just decides what to do. which results in rowena dying and sam being entirely torn up.

the conversation dean is having right before cas leaves in 15.03 is trying to take care of a broken up sam. based on what dean says it seems like they haven't even been home for a day. like they haven't even had a moment to try to decompress from the series of escalating, terrifying events which they've been dealing with for days and days pretty much nonstop.

it always strikes me then that what cas says is "You used to trust me, give me the benefit of the doubt. Now you can barely look at me..... I've tried to talk to you, over and over, and you just don't want to hear it. You don't care. I'm... dead to you." i recognize he's parroting back something dean said in 14.18 but i don't understand, i really don't, what the timeline he's working off is. like when is dean supposed to have enough space to work through the emotional ramifications of everything above. when is he supposed to have calmed down enough settle in to feeling any one kind of way.

"You still blame me for Mary." like it just happened, my guy. like where was he supposed to work in grieving for his mom (again) and working to move on from the grief and blame, into fighting off a ghost apocalypse and finding out god is basically jacking off to his pain.

i think patience and understanding has always been one of dean's strong suits. and i think cas tends toward impatience more. and it does make sense that when dean truly does get to the edge of his patience, that feels like a breaking point to cas because he has always had access to it before.

in response, i do think cas is allowed to be reactive and hurt and angry! after all he just went through all of the above as well!!!! but i think it's a grave mistake to think that cas doesn't also need to apologize for lashing out in anger.

[blythings]

MESS IT UP | TOM BLYTH

— pairing: tom blyth x filmmaker!oc (fem.) — summary: hope that you're sleeping well knowing i'm not. — tags: exes-to-lovers, named oc, attempts at humour, mentions of other celebrities. —notes: can you tell from this instalment that i miss nicholas galitzine's social media presence? lol anyway i'm still getting used to this format so forgive me if it's a bit clumsy! lmk what you think of this chapter 💞 also, comment/send me a msg if you'd like to be added to the tag list!!

← series masterlist | send me an ask →

liked by rachelzegler, balladofsongbirds and others tomblyth HG film dump. Just some of the many people I love who breathed life into this movie. @/songbirdsandsnakes opens tomorrow 🤍 lionsgateuk this film has already become my entire personality rachelzegler i love you sweetheart user White boy of the month 🤩🤩 user pls go blonde again im so serious tom please TOM PLEASE user New crush unlocked 🤚🏻

liked by taylorzakharperez, treaclychild and others alexisnakamura Past few weeks ⏯️ mari.arai i think nick should change his profile pic on raya to that so people can know what they're getting into ↪ user NICHOLAS GALITZINE IS ON RAYA???!!!! ↪ taylorzakharperez @/mari.arai so real ↪ alexisnakamura @/taylorzakharperez @/mari.arai guys stop bullying pookie under my post user YOUR BACK??! I’M GOING INSANE 😩 user hey (with rizz) user can you announce your next movie queen i'm due for a personality change user i need to be in the alexis nakamura cinematic universe saur bad

liked by user, user and others tomblythfans old 📸 of tom with director and screenwriter alexis nakamura! user LMAO TOM IN THE LAST PANEL user oh tomblythfans dug for gold here ↪ user fr they must've combed through the internet bc tom and alexis deleted all traces of each other from their socials user does anyone actually know the timeline i'm so curious ↪ user it's none of our business ↪ user so? they're in the public eye and it's natural for fans to be curious ↪ user just because they're in the public eye it doesn't make it right to speculate ↪ user LMAOO get off ur high horse. nothing wrong w celebrity gossip

liked by filmupdatesmain, kaiagerber and others alexisnakamura missing the rockbridge fam 💋🌈 user fumbled the bag so bad by breaking up with tom right before he becomes a big deal in hollywood lol ↪ user she's literally a famous director? bye ↪ user making a mean comment still gives her clout bro user someone @ me when deuxmoi finally posts the tea btwn her and tom ↪ user i did a deep dive last night and i reckon she dumped him while he was filming tbosas ↪ user LMAOOO that wouldn't surprise me, she's way too close to her male actors it's actually kinda problematic ↪ user i think tom is better off honestly, alexis is talented and her movies are good but she seems like a lot of work ↪ user fr i feel like sometimes she puts on a persona to seem more relatable

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I love you writing and I want to know what you see oot Zelda and her husband’s relationship being like and what is her relationship with link and Malon and t one point did she and link ever have any romantic feelings for one or the other

I’m very happy to hear that you love my writing! :D And what fun questions! :D

I feel like OoT Zelda is a force to be reckoned with, while kindhearted, so she’d never let herself be put in a position she doesn’t like - ergo, no arranged/political marriages that she doesn’t approve of first. She’d probably scope out the scene of eligible bachelors, hone in on one she likes and be like “yup that’s the one” and sweep him off his feet LOL. It could be a noble from Hyrule, or someone of importance from another country.

Seeing as there’s only like, three or four other countries that Nintendo has created, I feel like someone from Labrynna would be the most appropriate - its land is a republic by the Hero of Legend’s era, but that’s far in the future of the Fallen Timeline, and it was known to have a monarchy at some point, and it’s known for a control of time, which seems appropriate for her. So I’d say her husband is from there. I’d like to think they have a decent relationship; maybe her husband helps reel her in from being too brazen, and her kind heart soothes him as he might be used to being ignored, like maybe he’s the youngest royal child in the family and therefore kind of just tossed aside. Zelda very much tries to just do everything, from ruling to being a good mother to being a sage, and her husband (and friends) sometimes has to step in and tell her to chill out. (I’ve already written one arranged marriage that’s rocky as all get out, I might as well make this one kind of work haha)

As for her relationship with Link and Malon, boy do I have some thoughts! I feel like initially Zelda and Link were on friendly terms, but Link, having gone through OoT, did not know how to separate Child Zelda from Adult Zelda and it makes things complicated for him. He starts to avoid Zelda, on his search for Navi anyway, and when he’s a teenager he’s angsting hard and having all sorts of feelings. Zelda doesn’t understand what’s wrong, and while she never got to know Link too well, she recognizes he saved Hyrule and wants to be his friend, at least. Was there an attraction there at some point? Probably, but it was definitely skewed/one sided; Link’s more mature body with his insanely messed up development/mind made him attached to Adult Zelda, but he knows this isn’t the same person, and Zelda thinks he’s attractive and all but can’t get a read on him.

As Link struggles, he reconnects with Malon, and they become friends once more. He has difficulty differentiating her too, but it’s not quite as bad because he wasn’t as directly connected to Malon from the Adult Timeline. She serves as a safe place for him to process and hang out, even if he doesn’t stay for long periods of time. Their feelings for each other would be gradual, going from friends to an attraction (Malon always did love a knight, and while Link doesn’t wear the armor he does fit the bill), and by the time they’re in their twenties they start to court. By this point, Malon also helps Link reconcile his feelings with Zelda, and he reconnects with her too, eager to continue helping Hyrule and rekindle their friendship.

Eventually, I think that would make them all friends. Link, Malon, Zelda, and maybe even Zelda’s husband could all be on good terms.

[tonydaddingham]

im losing my MIND bUT here you go have some thoughts on the second coming

so we start with the below screenshots from the trailer where we have a statue of gabriel close up holding the crucifix, and then the next shot with beelzebub where there is no cross and instead what looks to be a bundle in its arms (i don't think it's a shadow bc it looks too opaque, too human shaped (think voldemort in goblet of fire lmao) AND the lighting from above on the stone would be more illuminated???)

the clue to where this is in the storyline however is that gabriel looks to be dressed in his lighter coloured heaven clothes, so before he loses his memory/flashback?

so this is presumably where gabriel has arrived on earth to retrieve jesus, possibly tucks him into a pristine moving-day cardboard box (i feel like the 'this way up' is both literal in that one shouldnt hold christ upside down as well as being a direction to deliver it to heaven?)

and given that gabriel heralded the birth of jesus in the first place, its perhaps all hinged on gabriel himself that the second coming happens, ergo if they eradicate gabriel, then there's no second coming, and therefore there's no tilting of the scales to favour heaven in the eventual war that will follow

anyway i reckon there must be a tussle with beelzebub or demons in general in the graveyard because then it seems like beelzebub gets discorporated possibly in the graveyard (hence the marker in the opening sequence) and gets temporarily demoted back in hell for losing gabriel/jesus (leaving a power vacuum for shax???)

update: AYOO @goth-maudra had them eagle EYES and spotted this!!!!

WE SEE YOU SHAX 💅

update 18/07: ayo fucking called it???

but gabriel either gets possessed by jesus (see: funny as fuck) or something just generally happens to him in this fight that makes him lose his memory and possibly lose track of the box, so the whole thing gets all messed up and noone knows where jesus has gotten to... but god sends aziraphale a clue (✨✨A cLuE✨✨) to tracking it down, in the shape of the everyday record and the resurrectionist pub address (lmao is jesus in the JUKEBOX???) on a fucking post-it note

or maybe hell had something to do with gabriel losing his memory (shax? idk but that could be the motive for her getting chummy with crowley in the first place) (i promise I'm not hating on shax my beloved but she SCARES me) in an effort to stall the second coming and now they're trying to retrieve and kill goob to forestall it altogether

but what they didnt count on is a smart, fastidious, nosy lil angel boy sticking his oar in and getting there first, and being a good enough person to hide goob in the first place but i disgress

and beelzebub, knowing that there's a retired angel on earth and gabriel might naturally gravitate towards there, infiltrates the bookshop as a wee fly (funny af in the goob clip of him swatting them with books BUT also the fly is like centre placement in beelzebub's character poster... COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT) and feeds this back to shax, so shax gets chummy with the demon that she replaced 👀👀 and tries to get him to turn on aziraphale and pressure him to luring goob out of the shop so hell can get to him, pressing crowley's Jealousy and Possessiveness buttons to her advantage

now idk how i feel about goob getting lost/leaving the shop and aziraphale has to track him down by going to Edinburgh, ill need to ruminate on this more, but crowley saying 'ooooh hell won't like that' and infiltrating (see: strolling blithely into heaven cosplaying bill nighy in love actually) makes me HOPE that he is still fighting the good fight but something is niggling at me as to why he ends up on the throne in hell and NOT in the bookshop when the demon attack is taking place, that makes me think major angst will happen and crowley ends up inadvertently supporting hell in getting goob and preventing the second coming

sigh now i need to go update my episode timeline how the fUCK do i summarise this

[batsplat]

If Casey hadn't retired in 2012 and they put marc in with him what would of that meant for Dani like were would he have gone? probably for the best we didn't find out because while Casey Marc team mates is an amazing thing to think about it would have gone so badly

uh. maybe ducati? the way the timeline of 2012 unfolds, there was just never any situation where it looked all that likely dani wouldn't be with honda at least for 2013 - so there's not all that much available speculation about where he'd go. at the start of the year, the rookie rule is still in place and it looks like marc will have to spend a year with a satellite team. casey announces his retirement fairly early, and it's only a few months later that you get the rookie rule scrapped. which is what clears the way for marc to honda. idk, maybe there would've been less momentum behind scrapping that rule if casey had stayed, though I imagine the honda satellites' wariness of just getting marc for a one year loan deal where he messes up the sponsorship agreements and then pisses off again would still be a factor. I discuss how that silly season played out more in this post, but let's just say for a moment marc does get the factory seat and casey sticks around... well, it'd be bad timing for dani - his stocks weren't all that great at that point, having been outscored by both of his teammates the previous year (albeit partly due to injury), one of whomst had comfortably won the title. by the time marc actually joins the team, things are looking rosier for dani again within honda because of the impressive second half of 2012 he'd had, but ofc by then it would've been too late. you'd imagine a step down to a honda satellite would feel too humiliating - dovi didn't want to do it the previous year, and it would've been worse for dani given the expectations people had previously had of him and also how much that factory honda team had once been his. theoretically, there's a factory yamaha seat being freed up - but regardless of how you feel about early 2012 valentino vs dani in terms of quality of rider, yamaha already had a proven world champion on their books and were always going to go for the golden goose they had such a distinguished history with. to me, that vacant ducati seat feels like the logical place for dani to go in that scenario, and I reckon he'd get the shout for that over dovi. there's not really any other options either - all the other factories at that point are running crt bikes, and you'd take basically anything over that. in pure competitive terms, you'd choose a satellite honda in 2013 over a factory ducati, which was still around two years away from being plausibly race winning machinery in anyone-but-casey's hands. but, well, obviously it's an ego thing too where I'd imagine dani just wouldn't want to accept anything other than a factory seat. it'd have been interesting to see how far dani could've gotten with that team, how competitive he would have been by the time the bike's performances catches up etc etc

and yeah, I already talked about the casey/marc scenario in this post. my take with that is always 'I get why people would've liked to see it play out but it's really for the best that it didn't happen'. just not a good combination on any conceivable level, though on the plus side marc's feud count would be looking a tad healthier

[the-paper-shredder]

Wick: Frostbite AU

So, after years of being on here (and my biggest interest getting some traction on here too) I'm finally doing a post on one of my AUs for Wick! Hooray!

Now you may be wondering, which one? Well, I'm introducing one I mentioned nearly 3 years ago, the Frostbite AU! As seen in the title, lol. Now the current version of it is slightly different from how I described it beforehand, so I'll start with that I guess.

In late 2014, Duncan along with Travis and Sam, do a ritual on the grounds of the Weaver property. It predictably wasn't done right, thus backfiring; they get put in an alternate timeline where they're in the winter of 1927, and the Weaver family never died. However, even with that, when the trio meets the family, everything just feels so wrong.

To put it in simpler terms: time travel and a cannibal cult. You heard that right. Anyway, time to go on with the characters.

Duncan: ➵ Full name is Duncan Wallace. ➵ 16 years old. ➵ Sam's his younger brother and they have a complicated, mostly negative relationship. ➵ Very secretive about why he's going to such great lengths (i.e. the ritual) just for knowledge on Wick/the Weaver family. But he did not expect to be sent to an alternate past. ➵ Looks calm on the outside but on the inside he's freaking out about being in 1927. This combined with his anger issues, stubbornness, and great ambition makes him a force to be reckoned with. ➵ Sees Travis more as a frenemy due to some stuff Travis did a month beforehand.

Travis: ➵ 15 years old. ➵ The ritual was technically his idea, but he didn't really mean it seriously. It just happened that Duncan took it seriously. ➵ Doesn't know what the fuck he's doing at all times. He's just trying to hide how anxious he is about being stuck in 1927 by continuing to act how he usually does, a.k.a. talkative and goofy. ➵ Still sees Duncan as a best friend. ➵ Didn't really know Sam until the ritual, so he's attempting to make friends with him (a.k.a. one of the few connections to normalcy he can find). ➵ Admittedly kinda terrified of the Weaver family lol.

Sam: ➵ Full name is Samuel Wallace. ➵ 14 years old. ➵ Duncan's younger brother. Once again, a complicated, mostly negative relationship. ➵ Only got dragged into this because he was wondering what the hell Duncan and Travis were doing on private property in the middle of the night and he's also interested in urban legends. ➵ Literally so pissed about being stuck in 1927 with no way out (pun unintended) and he's making it everyone's problem. ➵ A loner and rather quiet. When he actually opens up, he's sarcastic with an eccentric sense of humor, along with being idealistic and impatient.

John & Mary: ➵ In their early 40s. ➵ With Pastor McAlroy's disappearance, Mary has pretty much taken over the role of religious leader for the small town of Pine Creek. ➵ Mary is also known for giving people in need both shelter and food. ➵ Surprisingly enough, Mary is not totally neglectful of her children. However, she is 100% emotionally abusive and manipulative. Hope she dies ← is literally the writer. ➵ John has been emotionally shut down/repressed for over a decade, even before his time in WWI. ➵ Less active of a parent than Mary, but John still takes care of his children's needs nonetheless.

Benny: ➵ 17 years old. ➵ Practically Mary's right–hand man, trusting her completely even if it's mostly out of fear. ➵ Often helps around town due to his strength, his biggest acquaintances being the Edwards family. ➵ Worried mess who still continues to preach religious stuff both from the bible and what Mary tells him. His only escape from such an anxious life is napping whenever he gets the chance. ➵ Not particularly close with his siblings, but still cares for them. ➵ Towers over pretty much everyone, even his parents.

Tim & Tom: ➵ 14 years old. Tom is a few minutes older than Tim. ➵ Actually Mary's nephews and the Weaver kids' cousins, but are close enough that they're considered basically twin sons and brothers. ➵ Were isolated from society until they were 9. With basic life skills and common knowledge taught by Caleb, they were placed in the same grade as him once put into school. ➵ However, due to Tom's illness, he's often left at home and Tim brings him the notes after school. Tim, along with Caleb, are also Tom's main caretakers. ➵ Tim also will cook meals alongside Mary, although he refuses to make what Mary's often making. ➵ Tom barely talks and is overall a boy filled with terror at the world around him. On Tim's side, he acts older than he actually is, due to the responsibilities he's had to take up.

Caleb: ➵ 12 years old. ➵ Close with Tim, Tom, and Lillian. He's considered one of Tom's main caretakers. ➵ Very aware of what Mary has been doing, he hates her but is also terrified of her, so he tries to avoid trouble. The twins are the only ones who know this. ➵ To outsiders, he's just an energetic kid full of kindness. He is one, he's just one hiding a lot of dark things about his family. ➵ Has a bunch of friends that he often hangs out with. ➵ Not only taller than the twins but overall just tall for his age.

Lillian: ➵ 8 years old. ➵ Mary's favorite child and gets away with being a little shit (particularly toward the twins) because of this. ➵ Close with Caleb and tries to get closer to Benny. Cares about the twins to some degree, but not a whole lot. ➵ Mature for her age but isn't entirely aware of what Mary's doing. She just knows her mom is doing something only a few people are allowed to know the truth about. ➵ Energetic and charismatic, learned from Caleb and Mary. Still loves rabbits. ➵ Tall for her age, but isn't taller than the twins let alone Caleb and Benny.

[ao3gobi17]

What I forgot to add to the what if maze runner,

In the books and movies before the kids get put in the maze they wipe their memory so that none of them have any memories of anything before the maze.

So obviously, spider wouldn't recognize Quaritch, would that fuel his anger even more? Or would he be glad, because that means he could keep spider in the dark about what happened and spin his own story about what happened.

Also, in the books WCKD gives the kids different names when they get put in the maze like Thomas' real name before the maze was Stephen. So in this scenario it would mean that spider thinks that his real name is spider. Would that infuriate quaritch even more? Since spider was named after him?

I'm also curious as to how quaritch and the team would handle spiders trauma.

I also think that they would be pretty impressed by what spider can do, since they were pretty self sufficient in the maze.

Maybe spider was a runner and has a great condition that could come in handy (weather it comes in handy for spider or the team remains the question lol)

You could write a good crossover fic out of this, you should consider it!!

That's a great question about Custody-Quaritch and the memory stuff. I think ultimately Quaritch would care more about Spider's wellbeing than how Spider felt about him. I know that's a tricky one because he's done things in Custody that are not beneficial to Spider's wellbeing, but he sees much of it as temporary measures (eg Spider won't be 'kidnapped' forever, because he's going to want to stay with his dad once he gets used to everything). So even though in this MR scenario Q would benefit from being able to shape the narrative to Spider however he liked, he would care more about the distress/confusion Spider would feel if he couldn't remember his past.

And in fact, depending on how you squared the timeline, if Q had only broken out of prison and the government (WCKD is the government, right?) was evil then Q is very much not the bad guy other than the question over whether he killed Paz. He's escaped the bad guys and rescued Spider. So he doesn't have a lot to defend about his actions at this point and he definitely would prefer for Spider to have his memories. Even more importantly, if Spider didn't know who Q was then Spider might feel kidnapped rather than rescued and he might feel suspicious of Q. Q wouldn't have the childhood memories to fall back on either - we cannot underestimate how much Spider's memories of those first 7 years are in Q's favour in Custody.

That was a really long way of saying Q would want Spider to have his memories LOL.

Q would not be delighted that Spider didn't know his name was Miles, he'd be pretty mad at the people who messed with Spider's head like that, but I don't think he'd be so hung up on it just because Spider is named after him. Like if Spider approached Q right now in Custody (hard with a whole cliff between them lol) and said 'I go by Spider nowadays, would you call me Spider? It would mean a lot to me' I think Q would agree to do that for him.

The recoms and Q would both be impressed with Spider indeed - I think they'd all be able to relate to eachother a bit better because some of their experiences and abilities probably align. Spider himself could have quite a different personality from the one we see in Custody too, probably more brash, less serious, less insecure, taking more impulsive risks than calculated risks. So I could see him fitting in with them well. Of course, if he was just super traumatised by everything, then maybe we'd see a different Spider again! I reckon the recoms would have some harrowing tales to tell from armed conflicts, so they might be able to help Spider find some kind of normalcy about what he'd been through and give him hope for recovery.

And needless to say, Q would be exceedingly protective! <3

[pebblysand]

Heyyyy Pebbles! Just read your latest chapter and believe me it's just so so so well written! You're a legend really. So i also had a few questions, about Dean. How do you think he felt once ginny and harry got together? Are there some underlying feelings for her still? Also I thought it was a bit rude on Dean's end to just asked harry if he's sleeping with her. Does he think Harry's just messing with her? Also how do you imagine the Weasley's to react to these two getting back together? I'm not sure they'd be a hundred percent pleased with this development since they don't know how how hinny was at hogwarts and have only got a glimpse of post war hinny.

I understand if these are a lotttt of questions, but uk I think you'll always be the best source for post war hinny metas ans headcannons. I love your works so much and as a non native English speaker I'm sooo in awe with your writing. It's of another level altogether. Amd yeah, I hope everything else is great, it's so amazing how you take time out of your busy schedule to write for us. Thanks so much for that!

hello!! thank you! that is so sweet! 🥹

.

okay, so to answer your questions, regarding Dean: yeah, he totally is being a bit of an arsehole there. i don't think he has feelings for ginny, necessarily. i think he likes her, as a person, and he is worried about her. you might not remember this but there's a scene in chapter 11 where this happens:

[Harry] keeps his thoughts to himself because he already got into a near-altercation with a couple of blokes at the Auror office the other day, and doesn’t need to get into arguments with her, too. They were walking down a corridor, bent over and laughing coarsely at a magazine held between each other - ‘Well, yeah she’s fit but wouldn’t fuck that you know, don’t know where she’s been -’ From behind them, Harry raised his arm without even thinking about it - Dean was quick, grabbed his wrist and held it down before he could aim. Thank Merlin, Ron was off work, that day.  ‘Leave it,’ Dean said. ‘Not worth your job.’  Harry set his jaw and bit his tongue and almost screamed that yes it was worth his bloody job, as a matter of fact, but by the time Dean finally loosened his grip, the two idiots had already turned the corner.  Harry didn’t ask, but he did wonder, later, what Dean thought of it all.

i think Dean feels about Ginny a little bit like Harry feels about Mia. the kind of relationship that didn't work out and it's probably for the best, but that doesn't mean he doesn't respect her or get angry when people disrespect her. the way he holds harry's wrist down in this scene, in my opinion, sort of shows that he's considered hexing them too, you know? and, i think he doesn't know what's happened to ginny during DH (obviously) but he's probably heard from seamus that it all wasn't butterflies and roses, so he feels protective. he doesn't like that people are saying shit about her, and he thinks she's clearly hurting through something. he likely reckons that harry and she being together the summer of 98 and subsequently breaking up didn't help so i think he's a bit hostile towards harry.

also, like, and this is more the fault in faulty manufacturing intertextuality so i appreciate this might not be something everyone on here has read, but harry and dean&seamus aren't, like, friends. they're acquaintances and their relationships sort of go back and forth throughout the years but they don't always get on (for various reasons, not all of them to do with ginny, obviously). and also, if you think of the timeline of both fics and where they overlap, this is happening just as seamus has basically told dean to date other people because he's not ready for a relationship, post-war. dean is obviously very much in love with seamus and so that sucks. and so he's protective of ginny and generally annoyed at life, and so i think that's what comes out in him "confronting" harry in chapter 16. he's being a bit of a dick, but it's sort of calming his nerves, you know?

.

regarding the weasleys, it's funny. it's one of those things where, when i was writing this chapter and decided to take h&g away from everyone the way i did, i knew people were going to come to me and ask lol. what do her parents think? what do her brothers think? etc. it's addressed in the chapter a little bit (what they've told her parents about their relationship, molly's reaction to them going to the US, etc.) but not that much, i agree.

i think there's two reasons for that. first, i already had 22,000 words on this monster of a chapter without addressing the question of the weasleys, and so frankly, there was no space. but second, i also think i'm not a massive family fluff/family angst person. there are people who write this kind of thing much better than i do.

there are personal reasons for this: i'm the only child of a single mother who basically has no family to speak of - writing about family drama and inter-familial relationships requires a certain amount of research and guesswork on my end which, whilst lovely, i don't always have much time for. the "found family" trope also isn't really my cup of tea. i love that harry has found the weasleys and i love that he gets on with them and finds a sense of peace in his relationship with them after the dursleys, but i don't think it's something that fascinates me in the way that i want to write about it all the time. i love harry and ron's relationship. i love harry and hermione's relationship. i obviously love harry and ginny's. but writing about the weasleys as a whole is a fun exercise, sometimes, and i do do it, but it's not something i want to spend most of my time on.

i think (and this obviously shows in the fic), my favourite weasley relationship to explore is ginny and molly. this interest actually stems from a quote from dirgewithoutmusic's the kids who chose themselves, which reads:

This Ginny had never met a diary. But she had still died once, though in a flaming home and not a cold, damp castle basement. She had still been reborn into something her mother would always love and never fully understand. 

this is obviously an AU where the diary doesn't exist, but this quote (and particularly the last sentence) has been engrained into my psyche for years since i first read that fic, and it's given me a lot of thoughts. tbh, i used not to really have a headcanon for ginny and molly's relationship before reading this, and that quote has now sort of become the foundation and the guiding principle of how i see them. i always gravitate back towards it when it comes to ginny and her mother (and, to a certain extent, the whole family). i think there's so much love between ginny and her mother, (and between all of the weasleys in general) but sometimes a lack of true understanding of each other. the love is somewhat unconditional (see how percy was welcomed back) but it's also imperfect. i think ginny's family have values with which, in light of her own personal experiences, she doesn't necessarily adhere to. as such, this creates a level of misunderstanding which doesn't eliminate the love itself, but makes the day to day harder to deal with.

having said all of the above (sorry for the long preamble lol), i think when it comes to harry and ginny's relationship, the truth of how the weasleys feel is also complicated (and diverse). i don't think there's a "how the weasleys feel", there's a "how each individual weasley feels". i think bill, imo, is the most adult of them all. he looks at harry and ginny with caution, but isn't necessarily opposed to it. i don't think he's keen on them going on the trip itself (for similar reasons as his parents - he's quite conservative) but i think he's generally alright with it. i think charlie is cool with everything, cause charlie is just cool and clearly also loves traveling. percy, i think, feels so guilty and conflicted about his own decisions that he wouldn't express any judgment. he might pass judgment in his head but he doesn't express it.

i think when it comes to george, he's actually the one who understands ginny best. the level of grief he's experienced personally has made him a lot more attuned to other people's experiences. i think george is the only one who, whilst not knowing the specifics, kind of has an inkling that "yeah, something happened in hogwarts that year." he doesn't know what that something is, exactly, but he can tell it exists. a little bit like dean above, he can tell ginny is working through something (because he knows what it looks like). so, when she gets together (again) with harry, it's like: please don't get hurt. i think he's, as such, probably quite cold towards harry at the beginning of their relationship, not because he doesn't like harry, or doesn't like harry with ginny, but more like he doesn't want her to get hurt. lastly, as we do see in the chapter, i think ron has been following this train for long enough, by then, that when they get back together it's not really a surprise. he knows why they broke up (sort of) and why they're getting back together (sort of). i think he very much doesn't like the thought of them having sex together, but yeah it's his best friend and his sister, i do agree with him that it's a bit weird lol.

regarding her parents, it's complicated. i think mr weasley sees himself and molly in harry and ginny's relationship a lot. he sees the fun they have together, how much they love each other, how much harry respects her (and obviously he likes harry as a person) so i don't think he really has a problem with it. he understands what it's like to be young and in love. you can kind of see that early on when he gives them the sex talk. i think his view would have been different if ginny has been like "harry was a dick to me and broke up with me," because he obviously wouldn't stand for his daughter being mistreated, but here ginny was the one who broke up with harry and she very much told the family it wasn't his fault. harry was clearly heartbroken, so i think mr weasley doesn't blame him for anything. i also think he has a very good relationship with ginny and trusts her to make her own decisions, knows that they "raised her well", you know? and, i think he's a bit like "well, they're adults." unlike molly, i reckon arthur understands a lot more what it's like to have adult relationships with your adult children. even when harry is a teenager, he never infantilises him. always treats him with respect and indulges his concerns and understands his eagerness to be involved. so, i think generally, he's quite happy harry and ginny got back together, because he can see they love and respect each other and hopes it'll last in the long run. he also understands that young people sometimes make mistakes, and that's okay.

molly... molly adores harry. she thinks he's a great boy who has been through terribly difficult stuff and she just loves him so much. she obviously sees herself as his mother, too. so, i don't think she sees him as a bad "option" for ginny, necessarily. but, by the time they get together, her relationship with ginny has become so difficult and strained, i think she just doesn't know what to do. if she expresses any sort of opinion (about them living together, about them going away together, ect.) she knows ginny is going to go off at her. ginny and molly have very different values when it comes to sex and relationships, and ginny obviously feels very insecure about her past, and feels judged by her mother, which doesn't help much. i think molly interpreted ginny's breaking up with harry and her partying streak as misbehaviour, rather than the sort of cry for help it was, and that caused a lot of tension. and, i think, even if she could tell something was wrong underneath the surface, she didn't quite know how to handle it. her only response was to tell ginny to "just stop," and send howlers, which wasn't much help. she is frustrated, doesn't know why ginny also quit school, doesn't approve of her decision to pursue quidditch, etc. i think what ginny needed, back then, was for her mother to pull her into a hug and rock her to sleep but molly didn't know that, and so she didn't do it. it's a whole misunderstanding.

so, i think molly has a lot of thoughts about harry and ginny, i actually think most of them are positive-though-cautious but she is walking on eggshells and so doesn't really say anything.

.

pfew, sorry this was so long, lol! hope it makes sense.

[valkyrieofsmut]

Just wanted to share how I see reader in any self insert fanfics I read

(I DID NOT DRAW THESE!!! I MADE THEM IN PICREW!! But otherwise I own... Myself basically? Just like... A different looking version of myself??? Whatever lol)

First image is her as a 12 yr old child who has a serious case of resting bitch face syndrome which may have left her with little to no friends and leads her into a lot of fights that could have been avoided but she was perfectly fine with that lol

2nd is her as a teenager (and had just beaten the hell out of someone, only applicable to some fics though otherwise she's normal and NOT covered in blood lol) but couldn't be bothered to cut her hair and barely brushes it which is why it's in a ponytail (she wakes up too early just to get to school you think she's gonna bother cutting it or/and brushing it?) She also developed a more apathetic resting face instead of angry... People find it more unnerving which amuses her and makes them less likely to approach her, much less bother or confront her lol

3rd is her as a full grown adult who has cut her hair a bit shorter than her teenage years but she still prefers to just braid it (a bit more work but it stays in and doesn't get messy as easily) and she learned to smile when amused... Which is all the more terrifying for others since it doesn't quite look... Normal and seems off.. especially if you only ever seen her other more angry looking or/ and her apathetic face and she's just fine with that and even does it to mess with what small group of friends she has

Of course this is all toned down or cranked up depending on what fic I'm reading lol

For example in Tokyo Revengers' Bonten timeline it's cranked to the max but with your bone brigade boys she's much kinder and even sweet (plus the boys can feel her intent so it don't bother them as much I reckon, at least not enough to bring it up...)

And she knows how to slide in her normal mask (any autistic folks here would know all about that... Me included) for her work/dealing with society soo...

In short she might be just a TAD unhinged in some fics, some she's a downright serial killer, and some just misunderstood lol

Wow... My self inserts are super lame and unimaginative in comparison....

Female. Long hair (mine can be tucked in my waistband, I sit on it occasionally...), usually a strawberry blond or purple in color. Eyes, two of them, usually a blue-green color. Shorter than I actually am because I want my mans to be taller than me for once!! 😭😭😭 A body that if I think about it is; Big boobs because I can't remember what life is like without them... Lol (one cup can make a hat... My friends decided to mess with them... Lol), chubby, ten fingers, ten toes... a tail and ears in reaction to situations sometimes, and... Um... Clothes... Either jeans or leggings... Big baggy shirt... Sneakers/skate shoes... Oh! Almost forgot a mouth and nose! Because she does breath, and talks sometimes... Lol

Thank you for sharing!

[veliseraptor]

top 5 favorite fucked up but somehow still soft character dynamics!!

ooooh this is a good one...let's see let's see

1. Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen is definitely the first that comes to mind because it's part of what drives me insane about them! it's the fact that the violence is real, that everything Xue Yang feels about resenting Xiao Xingchen and wanting to bring him down to earth is real, and also the incredibly deep love is also real, an ugly thing that's the best version of it Xue Yang can manage. Xiao Xingchen is his victim. Xiao Xingchen is his lover. Both those things are true, simultaneously.

And not just for Xue Yang, either! For Xiao Xingchen, tormented by the break between a man who ruined his life (and, more importantly, Song Lan's) and the man who's been sharing his life and making it better when he thought he'd never find happiness again. He doesn't have time to really reckon with that - or, well, I think part of why he kills himself is because he can't - but in AUs where Xiao Xingchen survives but Xue Yang doesn't...I don't think Xiao Xingchen comes out of it in one piece. Particularly because if Xue Yang just accepts the two things living side-by-side, Xiao Xingchen wants to reconcile them, or figure out which one was the real thing, and can't figure out how.

2. Vegas/Pete. Once again! Relationships born in ugly violence and destruction that develop into something beautiful somehow anyways. Other people have written more cogently than me about themes of dehumanization/weaponization between these two, and the way they both take turns putting the other person in the position to be a weapon that they're made to be, and then breaking that down, breaking each other down. Pete goes on a very weird voyage of self-discovery over the safehouse arc and comes back irrevocably changed and awfully traumatized (:D), but Vegas also goes on a very weird and unexpected voyage of self-discovery of his own, and comes out of it with a crisis of identity that I think is part of what has him repeatedly making dangerous and potentially self-destructive or even suicidal choices. They both broke something open that revealed something neither of them really wanted to deal with, ever, but there they are and the issue's been forced.

and out of the wreckage of self-image and expectation, they're making something new. but the sweetness of that absolutely does not overwrite the origin and foundation of their relationship and also I don't think either of them is capable of a "normal" relationship with the other person, they're deeply obsessed and codependent and it's great.

3. Felix & Mildmay. They are a mess. Felix hurts Mildmay over and over and hates himself for it but can't figure out how to stop. Mildmay keeps coming back because he has no sense of his own worth as a human being and loves Felix too much to walk away, even if he could, which he couldn't, because he asked for a binding that would require obedience. And sure, he needed it for actual reasons, but I don't think we should underestimate the Thematic Relevance of that as a narrative decision. And yet! And yet!!! They love each other so much, so stupidly much, and over the course of the series stumble into figuring out a way to do it a little better. Them, man. Now I kind of want to go reread bits of the series but I know myself and that will just end up with me reading the back half of The Mirador, again, and crying.

4. Mo Ran/Chu Wanning. I feel like this one is a little bit of a cheat because the "fucked up" and the "soft" are sort of split across two timelines, but I think it counts. Certainly they've got both at varying points over the course of the book! And that's (part of) what makes it so tasty.

5. Trying to think of a fifth and weirdly coming up empty. I feel like there should be an obvious one here. Maybe Beefleaf, though it doesn't feel like exactly the right flavor, probably because even as Ming Yi I would not describe He Xuan as "soft." He's just not. I feel like I must be forgetting something and as soon as I hit post on this I will think of it.

OH actually thought of it as I was writing this post and it's funny because it's one that I feel like was severely underutilized to its fucked up potential in canon, which is Daemon & Lucivar from the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop. Formative, unfortunately. There are like. Two scenes where the dynamic between them gets weirdly charged, and Anne Bishop gives you just a taste of the way that they simultaneously love and hate each other, are both each others' only comfort and also the people who can hurt each other the most. It's not quite the same as the other ones on this list but I'm going to say that's partly Anne Bishop's fault for passing up the latent potential in this dynamic and turning the fucked up dial at least a liiiiittle more.

[geoffreytoday]

Star Wars and Me, and You, and Ourobor-Us... Once more

Time marches on, as it always does. When last I visited this ouroboros, It had been almost two and a half years since the release of The Rise of Skywalker. That dark event is now over four years in our past.

There have been quite a few new productions since then. The most recent, The Acolyte, has just wrapped up. Time then, I think, to revisit the franchise and reassess. Where do things stand now? What's changed? Let's find out.

As always, I am including all Canon Star Wars movies and shows that I am familiar with on this list, and of course a number of classics that have been excised from the canon as well. As before, and as it ever shall be, I have not watched Resistance :p

The opinions expressed on this list are solely my own and should in no way be considered authoritative*. Your mileage may very, and my opinions are in no way meant to reflect poorly on your own. Different strokes/different folks.

Ranked in order from Worst to Best:

Number 31!

Attack of the Clones.

AotC has reclaimed its throne, and is once again securely seated on the bottom spot of this list. It isn’t only one of the worst Star Wars movies ever made, it might be one of the worst movies ever made too.

"What about The Room? What about Manos: The Hands of Fate?"

Here’s the thing: Those were never going to be good movies. They had nothing going for them. AotC is a Star Wars movie, made by the creator of Star Wars, with essentially an unlimited budget. It's one of the worst movies ever made because it should never have been allowed to be this bad.

Number 30!

Revenge of the Sith.

Marginally better than AotC, with more naturally delivered dialogue and acting, RotS is probably the easiest of the prequels to digest. However, it beats out The Phantom Menace on the lame-o-meter because it does the most lasting damage to the Saga.

The monumental mishandling of Anakin’s fall to the dark side, the betrayal of Padme’s character, and the sheer laziness of the writing all come together to make a truly disappointing entry in the Star Wars saga.

Number 29!

The Phantom Menace

TPM is a pointless movie. The story is bland and uninteresting, the performances and writing are wooden and dull, and the way the Jedi Order is depicted just makes me sad. If you can honestly tell me this is what you had thought the Jedi would be like before the prequels were made, well... I don’t have a good way to end that sentence. You could skip TPM entirely and it would not impact the rest of the series.

Number 28!

The Rise of Skylwaker.

TRoS is a mess. For a movie that is nearly two and a half hours long, hardly anything happens. The pace of the movie is ludicrously too fast. It legitimately feels like an attempt to obfuscate the lack of coherent narrative. The hope seems to be that if we zip past all of this stuff fast enough, no one will notice the utter lack of substance or sense.

The film does not live up to the final trailer, nor does it deliver on the potential of The Last Jedi. The Rise of Skywalker feels like it was generated by AI. It lacks any legitimate understanding of the material, and instead relies on remixes of familiar imagery and scenarios to pacify the audience.

Number 27!

The Star Wars Holiday Special

The holiday special is bizarre beyond reckoning. I love it, but there is no doubt that it is a truly ludicrous thing. I watch it two or three times a year around Xmas time. It’s like The Room, but for Star Wars fans.

Number 26!

The Great Heep - Star Wars: Droids – The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO

This is an hour long special that takes place within the timeline of the Droids animated series. It’s an odd thing. Distinctly kiddy-er than the rest of the Droids animated series, it’s most interesting feature is that it was written by Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt, who also has story credits on a number of other Droids episodes.

Number 25!

Ewoks

This is an animated series about, you guessed it, Ewoks. It’s cute. It follows the adventures of Wicket and his friends on the forest moon of Endor. The series, if it is to be fit into the chronology, takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It lasted for 2 seasons and is a perfectly inoffensive addition to the Star Wars universe. Not truly worth seeking out unless you are an absolute die hard fan, and even then you’re likely to think it’s worth passing over.

Number 24!

Star Wars: Droids – The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO

This series follows our favourite mechanical odd couple in the period between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars. Like Ewoks, it’s pretty cute. I loved it as a child. It holds some nostalgia for me, and it has a certain charm, but like the other animated efforts of the 80′s, it’s not terribly noteworthy. Certainly there are some interesting parallels between Kea Moll and Rey, and it can't be a coincidence that one of the villains is named Kybo Ren :p

For the hardcore fan only, more here to enjoy than Ewoks, but still pretty forgettable.

Number 23!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Movie)

A mediocre entry in the Clone Wars animated series. It should never have been released to theatres. It’s not bad per se, it’s just several episodes of the series cobbled together into a single film. They weren’t the best episodes of the series.

Number 22!

Ewoks: Caravan of Courage

A made for TV movie that came out in the years following Return of the Jedi. It’s pretty silly and the acting is mostly awful. Still, this movie has more charm than all of the prequels put together. I can’t truly recommend it to anyone who isn’t a die hard fan, but if listening to Burl Ives narrate a Star Wars story is the kind of oddity that piques your interest, this has that.

Number 21!

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

Somehow, this movie is even more ludicrous than the original, which is probably why I like it. It’s much more fun than the first attempt, and it stars Wilford Brimley! That’s weird enough to be worth the price of admission right there. Some fun creature effects and a surprisingly dark opening make this one kind of worthwhile.

Number 20!

Star Wars Rebels

I truly wanted to love Rebels, but I don’t. It has a lot going for it: Excellent designs, great villains, terrific ideas, but the problem is execution. The writing on Rebels is a mixed bag. When it's good, it's very good. It's just not good as consistently as you'd want. A frustrating series that had the potential to be so much better.

Number 19!

The Bad Batch

A sequel to The Clone Wars, following a squad of "defective" clone troopers after the fall of the republic. I've never been much of a fan of the clones or the clone wars, so this series did very little for me. Like Clone Wars and Rebels, the writing feels uninspired and contrived. Episodes stop rather than ending, and it leans heavily on standard storytelling tropes we've seen countless times in Star Wars at this point. If you dig the clone wars, you'll probably enjoy this series, it just wasn't for me.

Number 18!

Star Wars: Clone Wars

Clone Wars was a micro-series commissioned by George Lucas to fill the gap between AotC and RotS. It is slightly cooler than the CG animated series that would follow years later. On the down side, Anakin is pretty much terrible like he is in the films, so that’s a major strike against it. It would almost beat out the full animated series on the strength of the Mace Windu short, but shitty Anakin is too great a hurdle to overcome.

Number 17!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Series)

TCW did an admirable job of trying to salvage the ruined foundations the prequels gave us, turning them into something marginally workable. They made Anakin a nuanced and actually likeable character. They made the friendship of Anakin and Obi-Wan feel believable and warm. Unfortunately, there is only so much that can be done with the dumpster fire of the prequels.

Number 16!

The Book of Boba Fett

Not as well written or thought out as The Mandalorian, but still relatively fun. The series would have benefited from considerably more clarity regarding the timeline of its events. It definitely divides fans of Boba Fett. Personally, I think Boba Fett was ruined back in AotC, so I'm not really invested anymore.

Number 15!

Rogue One.

Rogue One is pretty. It is also an endless parade of continuity errors and fan service, stretched over a thread-bare plot. The movie needed at least 3 more drafts before it was ready to film. It’s okay, but it’s not great.

My personal head-canon is that Rogue One is an in-universe propaganda film made by the rebel alliance to sway people to their cause. Viewed through that lens, all the cheesy moments, musical cues, continuity and plot inconsistencies all make sense. It saves the movie for me.

Number 14!

The Acolyte

I was hopeful for this one. I've been curious about the High Republic era, so getting a show set there was quite appealing to me. IN the end, it's okay, not great, but not bad either. I was surprised and disappointed in the portrayal of the Jedi. I've never been happy with what the prequels did to the Jedi, and I was bummed out that somehow the High Republic Jedi are even worse.

This is supposed to be the golden age of the Jedi, before their fall, but you'd never know it based on how truly awful most of the Jedi are. Normally I'm all about stripping away copaganda from cop shows, and the Jedi of The Acolyte are very much the ACAB portrayal of the Jedi order, but that's not what I come to Star Wars for. Star Wars is fantasy, and I'm here to see noble Jedi knights fighting the good fight against the forces of darkness.

I'm also not a fan of the force being transformed into standard fantasy magic. The night sisters, force witches, the mortis gods, and all that bullshit is absolutely not what I want from my Star Wars. It's been cropping up more and more frequently though, much to my great disappointment. The Acolyte is probably the least offensive version of that I've encountered (up until episode 7 that is), so that's a small plus, but I'm still not a fan.

Number 13!

Solo

Nonstop fun from beginning to end. Alden is perfect as a young Han Solo. He may not look like Harrison, but he looks like Han, if that makes sense. Unlike Rogue One, the fan service in Solo is rooted in the characters and feels natural. Now I just need a Calrissian movie and I’ll be all set.

Number 12!

Ahsoka

Ahsoka is pretty mid. Visually impressive, the writing is unfortunately shallow and uninspired. It's reasonably entertaining, but it's nothing special. A more accurate title for the series would have been Sabine.

Number 11!

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Kenobi is decent enough. It does some interesting world building. The actress playing a young Leia Organa is terrific, and it's always a joy to see Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan. The series failings are largely a matter of padding. This was originally meant to be a movie, but after the box office disappointment of Solo, it was retooled to be a streaming series, to its detriment.

Number 10!

Star Wars Visions

A series of animated vignettes from famous anime directors. Visually impressive, very stylish, and more often concerned with being fun and interesting over being strictly adherent to canon. I fully approve of that approach. Worth checking out if you're a fan of anime, or animation in general.

Number 9!

The Mandalorian

A solid show with a lot going for it. It plays things pretty safe, but I don’t mind playing it safe so long as the product is good, and this one is for the most part. Season 1 is good, Season 2 is better. Season 3 is a disappointment and fails to maintain that trajectory.

Number 8!

Tales of the Jedi

A six episode anthology series that follows a few characters from pre-clone wars through till establishment of the rebel alliance. This series is a little looser than the Tales of the Empire series which came after in its narrative structure, jumping around more and involving more characters. Still, it's a very solid effort. Nothing in it quite lives up to the last episode of Tales of the Empire, but it's still pretty good.

Number 7!

Tales of the Empire

A six episode anthology series following the stories of two characters. The first three episode follow Morgan Elsbeth, the second three follow Baris Ofee. I have never been a fan of the night sisters, or the inclusion of standard fantasy style magic into Star Wars, so those first three episodes weren't really for me. They're fine, just not to my tastes. The Barriss Offee storyline is considerably better, and the final episode is terrific, exactly the kind of stuff I'd like to see more of in Star Wars.

Number 6!

Return of the Jedi.

Gasp! One of the sacred Original Trilogy NOT in the top 3?!?! “Blasphemy!”

Listen, I sincerely love RotJ. If you had asked me when I was 8 which was my favourite Star Wars movie, it would have been Jedi without me even thinking about it. But then I grew up, I learned about storytelling, pacing, editing, production design, and a million other things that, sadly, lowered RotJ in my esteem. It's still great, it's just not the greatest.

Number 5!

Andor

Wow, now this is some quality Star Wars content. Atmosphere, drama, sharp writing, and great performances. This is the level of quality all Star Wars content should be aspiring to. Considerably better than the movie it's technically a prequel to. A story of rebellion and political intrigue, cool stuff.

Number 4!

The Force Awakens.

I love TFA. Where RotJ’s reuse of tropes from Star Wars felt clumsy, lazy, and too soon, TFA’s homages to the themes and beats of the original trilogy work beautifully. The whole film feels simultaneously familiar and fresh. It’s not without it’s flaws, but none of the missteps can diminish the joy it brought me.

Number 3!

The Last Jedi

TLJ is a movie that took a while for me to warm up to. I was initially torn: I loved a lot of it, I disliked many other things. I liked the movie, but I wasn’t as in love with it like I had been with TFA. My experience since has been that the more I watch TLJ, the more I like it. I love that I never knew what was coming next. This movie constantly surprised me, which I loved. And that final act… Wow! Luke Skywalker is forever my hero.

Number 2!

Star Wars

Star Wars is a terrific movie. Some have called it a perfect movie, and it’s hard for me to disagree with them. The only thing preventing Star Wars from taking the number one slot on my list is that, for me personally, the pacing drags in a few places. Star Wars was the first of its kind though. This movie literally changed everything. The impact of Star Wars can not be overstated.

Number 1!

The Empire Strikes Back. I’m sure I’m surprising precisely no one when I add my name to the impossibly long list of people who think ESB is the best movie in the Saga. This is what I call a perfect movie. ESB is Star Wars firing on all cylinders.

And once more we've reached the end of the line. Some new stuff, a few shuffles, but not dramatically different than the previous update.

As always, future adjustments to come as needed.

*except, of course, that I'm right.

[tumblingalonggg]

6.1

Admittedly this is a challenge for me. We've entered a place that for me is uncomfortable territory, my anxiety is on high alert for reasons you do and maybe don't understand.

The thing I have that keeps two feet down in my mind is that I know on the other side of this our life awaits. Historically I am also not good at in between times, and waiting. It triggers my anxiety because there have been so many times when waiting for a little bit, turned into waiting for a long time, turned into I never got to say goodbye. But that's another reason this time is good, it is helping me grow and also this feels different, because of the person on the other end of the wait. 

None of my anxiety is coming from lack of trust for you, you are the one person I feel like I can trust. Though of course, I won't lie to you and tell you that I don't have an alarm going off in the back of my mind, warning me to run, yelling at me to let go so I don't get hurt again. My version of the dogs.

But that's not mistrust of you, that's just my own personal experiences holding on to me like a weight, my own demons that are trying to combat growth and forward movement in my life. But each time I talk to you, everyday when you don't forget me, when you've been saying hi and just letting me be a part of your day, not feeling like you are hiding me from your ex which is one of the things I was a little nervous about all these things make me more and more certain, secure, and excited in the relationship that we have started and are beginning together. 

Obviously my anxiety has gone through every scenario (good and bad), logically and emotionally, through various timelines throughout our life. I'm having a bit of an emotional day cause I'm trying to keep myself in the now, but unfortunately the now also makes me miss you. But at the end of the day I also don't see a future where you aren't in my life, unless I have greatly misread your fortitude and the way you feel about me. 

I want to thank you for continuing to silence that alarm that never shuts up in my own mind, and continuously beat back those demons with your actions. I want to tell you that you're actions are the things that have pulled me in so close - you do what you want, say what you believe in, you are a fucking force to be reckoned with :) - and that's why I don't have concerns about you doing anything that would hurt me while we are apart, because I believe you when I look into your eyes and you tell me that life with me is what you want. 

I've spent hours looking into those eyes at this point and in them I see an entire life and partner I didn't think was possible. I see a person who settles the volcano in my mind, and straightens the lines of scribble scrabble into a beautiful line drawing. I'll never forget what Leah told you about me when you first started bringing me up, "he doesn't seem like a good life partner," and at the risk of angering the board, I have to disagree. While I do agree that alone, and from the outside I may not have looked like an incredible candidate, but the thing about partners is, the reason they combine imo is because together, they allow the best of both people to shine through - assuming they are the right partners - which is what I feel like we do with each other. So I disagree, I think as far as partners go we are about as perfect of a match as you can get. We challenge each other for different reasons and I feel like have both grown for the better just in the short time we've been together. And I don't think they make words to describe the excitement I have to see where we go.

Okay, at this point I'm just rambling lol 

Idk when/if I'll send this, it was more meant to be a bit of a journal entry to help ease my own mind and think things out. But after writing it I think it's something you may like to hear and I like to give you insights into my mind and how I'm thinking cause it can be a mess when you just see the storm from the outside. I've re-read this 7 times now and I think it - still - makes sense lol

[fanficfish]

So an update to the original theory. this was written during 1.x and now it's 2.1 so time for a revisit! Screw you Hoyo for messing up my ideas slightly but it's FINE-

anyways.

I didn't put this in the original and i don't know hwere it went but space anchors do exist. I imagine that a lot of things like space anchors, calyxes, shadows, etc. are results of being on the path of Trailblaze. They're definitely viewable by others- for example, on the Space Station- but they're planted by the Trailblaze. So some you might find are remnants from old trailblazing and others are planted there. IN the case of the HSS, they were probably preinstalled but in the case of Jarilo-VI, Penacony, etc. they're probably "planted" and like technique or energy refill items are just trailblaze-viewable. Honestly it's a whole can of worms so i'll cover that somewhere else in depth. Think of it like their cellphones, the Jariloians didn't have them until recently becuase the trailblaze pulled through.

Anyways, warp jumps! We have some questsss now that involve getting on the express andg oing back to an old planet. Now, this is a bit tricky becasue you get that one quest in the loufu where we basically drag someone to Belobog. Fro that, I did some big brain thinking and I imagine that that incident happens at a later time, after Penacony where we're fairly near Belobog. Time travels differently for different planets, so in the many half a day-day of travel it took, Serval was able to get some old automatrons together an the nature people were able to have a nice long chat and get nothing done. I think there's a nother that goes from Penacony to Loufu, but I honeslty don't really remember it but I presume simillar things happened there, also....

the jump between penacony and luofu.

the loufu is a boat it's gonna move. So at the time, it was probably fairly close to Penacony, so plenty of time for Dan Heng to still be shaken (and i presume we stay the whole 7 days on the Louofu which i'm so soryr i keep mispelling). Penacony's a bit more clear about timeline, but I reckon by now it's been roughly three-four weeks of being a Nameless- still fairly young, so when we see Firefly's little incident we're very shaken about it, i mean we did murder someone but that was ifferent it wasn't someone we were friends with and were forming a connection with.

and of course same deal with space anchors. i also like to think there's acooldown, and it can only do so much, so for example we still have to use alternative methods to get to the express after exploring like using our legs, but we alsoacan use them for short distance quick travel once things are cleared up, like teleporting to a nearby comission on the luofu.

and that's really it for the update. I'll add moe if I think of it but for the most part i think my theory still somewhat holds up.

my HSR theory about warp jumps and the timeline

crossposted from my Reddit

So I was doing some thinking recently (read: last night in bed) and...I came up with some interesting ideas. And it has to do with the warp jumps. Also, Spoilers, but that should be obvious.

We know that warp jumps are basically like going through space tunnels of sorts- you go in one end and end up somewhere else at the other. We also know the train can't jump near another planet, and I assume it works kind of like the Dinosaur Train from the show of the same name. Where you travel for a bit, but to get somewhere else you go through a tunnel.

Now for timelines.

Average stops of the Express are 7 days per destination. At the Herta Space Station, the crew arrives presumably the day the Trailblazer wakes up. Within the same day, said Trailblazer manages to make some friends, defeat a giant monster, and then get knocked out for another day. I'm guessing the Express at least sticks around, to at least help clean up a little (there's a quest where you can log photos of the Express for compensation, and since the guy put together a list of several items already I'm guessing that happens towards the end of the stay). So let's asume the 7-day stop is normal. Plus, most medical professionals don't recommend immediately setting off on adventures right after something ike the Stelleron in your chest going haywire and having a guy knock you out for safety. So let's assume they stay at the HSS for a week, at the least.

Later on, March talks about how the Trailblzer is in charge of washing the coffee cups this week. And in Belebog, interacting with the luggage outside the Overworld hotel says "as a member of the Express, you know the importance of keeping luggage safe" or whatever. You have a suspicious amount of loyalty to the Express, and I'm not entirely convinced that's just your overcreative mind (cough cough hotel devil cough cough) being creative. And surely the Express won't warp jump twice in a row, it seems like it takes a bit of prep and timing and stuff. At any rate, time has definitely passed between Belebog and the Loufu.

So here's where my theory comes in.

We know that the tunnels are not like those in the show Dinosaur Train (hey look it's a good example of something simillar alright-). The tunnels in the show have a little bit inside them, like a normal tunnel, and they're not actually instant. We've seen the inside of tunnels and the outside of long tunnels. The warp jumps can't really be like this, because it's short enough that someone sitting on a couch wouldn't have too much reason to get up. And stuff on shelves and stuff like the books in the archives or the chess table seem to only shift slightly, instead of many tremors rocking them slowly off their positions.

So the warp jump is instant. And like a quick bout of turbulence, if March falling is anything to go by. So where does the time come in, because surely they don't go on and adventure, come back, maybe sleep one night in their beds, then instantly go off for another week of adventure. That'd cause burnout. And make having decorated rooms and whatever pointless. And it's also just impractical- no time to log things, clean and sharpen weapens, etc. But it's not too long a period, because you're still considered a newbie to the crew through the Jurilo-VI stuff.

My guess is there's a day or two in between leaving a planet and finding a place to warp jump from. It's probably a huge shift of energy and sending a planet off its gravitational path is never a good idea. So the Express has to travel otu to the literal middle of nowhere to warp jump. When they exit, they're able to get a lot closer to their destination, but there's still at least a couple of hours before they actually are able to dock. It's like with space rockets and space stations iRL- before any propulsion towards Earth can happen, the vehicle has to move away from the space station so that it doesn't send the station off-course or something.

So what's the timeline?

A week at the Herta Space Station, I'd give three days at the least Half a day to a day traveling out to the warp point. They hit the ice planet maybe around a noon hour, disembark (no idea how long that takes or hwo that happens), arrive in Belebog in the afternoon, explore a bit, then go to sleep. The next day, they have the whole thing and spend the next couple of nights in the underworld hotel and defeating the Stellaron.

Within a five-day period (they stay one more night at the Overworld hotel) they're back on the Express. They presumably decide where to go next the day after they return to the Express (because Dan has his nightmare on the Express), but I imagine they have anywhere from a few days to a week before they actually get to the Loufu. (I don't know how March calmed down so fast between talking to Dan and voting though...)

So in short: the Trailblazer has been part of the Nameless for around two weeks, take or give anywhere from that to a solid month. This allows plenty of time to settle in, rest between adventures (not every planet has nice hotels to stay in I reckon), enjoy a nice breakfast with the Astral Express family and get yelled at by Pom-Pom for not eating immediately, etc. Trains also have to travel some distance- surely it's not all warp jumps and long stop periods, trains runnign passanger routes tend to run for at least a bit before stopping at a station.

and wow did not expect this to be this long and I'm sure there's more info I missed and stuff, but that's my theory. I guess what me know what ya'll think. Apologies if it sounds a bit far-winded, it's a very late hour and I am definitely not awake but I had to get it out because it felt like something discussion worthy.