#and I have multiple ideas for interactions and storylines for them no one cares for

[wyrdle]

More doodles of that Ikutsuki x Maruki AU lol. Mariku doodles.

Bonus puns: Shuji: I guess that's a part of your a-peel. Takuto: Shuji: That you are so selfless you desire everyone to live... Takuto: don't say it Shuji: ...apple-y ever after.

Anyway I want the two guys with saviour complexes to kiss (Albeit this Shuji has been... defanged lol. Regardless, the idea of him find a new god to worship in the shape of Takuto Maruki is both hilarious and heartbreaking haha. Ah yes, a kinder type of death in Takuto's ideal reality, where Ikutsuki can be unmade and forced to live a life of meaning and happiness... oh boy do these scientists have issues)

[secondhandsorrows]

Some Vital Scenes to Include in a Romantic Subplot, pt. 1

I’ve been in the plotting stages of a novel I’ve been working on for some time now. It’s not a romance novel, per se, but the romantic aspect is very prevalent… dare I say important. Anyway, so as I was working on my scenes and character arcs, I began to realize that I didn’t have enough fleshed-out about romantic arc, nor deepened the protagonist’s love interest or their connection, for that matter. This led me to devise up some scenes that I felt were crucial to the story if I wanted to keep this romantic angle to it, and now that I’ve most of them arranged, I find now that I’m way more excited about my characters’ love story. 

These tips will be unnumbered because, obviously, the sequence of these events and how they will fall into your storyline will probably be different. Also, you don’t have to use only one scene for every suggestion that will be mentioned, as you can have multiple scenes of flirtations or deep conversations, for example. They usually blend all together into the narrative at this point. Just remember that there should be some relevance to the plot at hand in some of these scenes as to not derail completely from the main narrative or other conflicts.

I was going to post this all at once, but decided it was too long and wanted to split it into two parts to go more in-depth and for easy reading. /-\ Enjoy ~

- The meet-cute, or the meet-ugly:

Ah, yes, the first encounter. Or, as we sometimes like to call it: the meet-cute, or the meet-ugly if you’re feeling a little unconventional or perhaps mischievous. Though we may enjoy setting up our star-crossed characters in a whole range of moments from awkward to swoon-worthy, the initial meeting is what’s important (if your characters haven't already met before the beginning of the story, ofc, but this is useful to have in mind). Let us quickly define the two:

Meet-Cute: A charming and serendipitous first encounter between the characters in question that sets a positive, memorable, and oftentimes romantic tone.

Meet-Ugly: An unconventional, awkward, or disastrous initial meeting that adds a unique twist to the start of the romantic connection, often leading to unexpected chemistry and an added intrigue on whether or not they’ll get together.

You don’t have to nail your characters’ first encounter into a label or bubble such as these two examples, but I like bringing these up for a general idea. 

- Bouts of flirting and/or banter:

Just as the title suggests, these are scenes containing the flirtaious communication between the two characters. These kinds of interactions will, of course, develop over time and deepen the bond or relationship. Playful interactions, gazes, and witty exchanges between the characters can create a lighthearted and flirtatious atmosphere that hints at their growing attraction.

The way they might flirt or tease can reveal their personalities. For example, one character might be more sarcastic, while the other responds with quick wit, or quiet bashfulness. There’s an element of subtlety, as flirting lets the characters express their romantic interest without explicitly stating it (unless one of your characters lacks subtlety in general and prefers to shout their undying love from the rooftops, which would make for an interesting dynamic, but I’m only spit-balling). 

Banter, teasing, and romantic tension underscoring heated debates or loathsome gazes suit just as nicely, especially if you’re writing with enemies-to-lovers or rivalry tropes in mind. But be careful! A little goes a long way: too much all at once can repel any growth for the characters or narrative.

- Initial conflict or struggle:

Depending on your story’s big-picture conflict, the introduction of challenges or obstacles can create tension between the characters, adding depth to their relationship and making their eventual connection all the more satisfying. This might include cultural or class differences, opposing goals or values, history of past heartbreak, personality weaknesses such as stubbornness, or external pressures that threaten to keep the characters apart. Even a nosy family or a disapproving mother can be considered. How the characters navigate and resolve these conflicts contributes significantly to the overall emotional impact of the romance subplot, as well as allowing for some exploration of each character's strengths, weaknesses, and resilience. 

- Shared vulnerability:

This kind of scene involves the characters opening up to each other about their innermost fears, insecurities, past trauma, or personal struggles. Shared vulnerability goes beyond surface-level interactions. It involves characters revealing their authentic selves, exposing their emotional vulnerabilities, and allowing the other person to see them in an honest — and sometimes new — light.

This is a symbolic gesture of commitment we’re talking about, here… something that requires trust. As characters share their fears or past traumas, they are entrusting the other person with sensitive information, fostering a sense of trust and emotional intimacy. It might be scary, it could be out from left field, but they will end up learning something new about themselves, their situation, or about the other person, and thus deepen their connection, little by little.

[starbylers]

Mike thought Will liked Angela (and he was not happy about it)

I think a lot of us already agree on this, but I wanted to talk about how it was definitely intentional. The basis for this theory is the fact that we are shown Mike remembers multiple things from El’s letter. Why would they have him recall a bunch of information but not this specific, intriguing detail about Will liking a girl? Answer: he clearly does remember, and his behaviour in the airport (and after) is supposed to demonstrate this. (Btw I don’t believe Mike 100% understands his feelings for Will, I’m on the fence about how aware I think he is).

The audience is shown that…

Mike knows about Joyce’s new job (he was frustrated by it)

And about El missing the flowers (so he brings her some)

And about El’s ‘friends’

So why not Will’s ‘for a girl’ painting?

(Here’s a refresher of this painfully awkward interaction)

Mike enjoys Will’s art. This is canon. He has a book full of it, it’s all over his walls. Yet, after he asks about the painting-looking thing in Will’s hand, Mike awkwardly shuts down the conversation like he has no further interest whatsoever, like he wasn’t the one who brought it up. It’s the definition of pretending not to care. Why would they have Mike behave like this unless to show the topic was aggravating him on some level?

Also, hearing that your best friend likes someone is kind of a big deal. It’s something you are very likely to question and tease them about. But Mike doesn’t say anything. He’s with Will the entire season, yet he never once brings it up. That is the most incriminating part. Why would he not mention it unless he felt weird/uncomfortable for some reason?

Obviously Mike believes the painting is for a girl Will likes. Jealousy ensues (but again I don’t think Mike fully understands what he’s feeling). Now the Angela specific part. Mike gives Will this faltering look when he says Angela’s name:

Then when Angela approaches them at Rinkomania, we get this blink-and-you-miss-it glance from Mike to Will after El introduces her:

I’ve seen people say Mike was looking at Angela’s friends here, but I don’t think I agree. Plus from the perspective of this theory it just makes logical sense he would check Will’s reaction to the girl he presumably likes. Also he sneaky glanced at Will multiple times in the airport (see this post), so I don’t think it’s far fetched they’d have him do it again here.

I think this is how it happens: Mike suspects the rolled up thing at the airport is a painting (educated guess). He asks Will ‘what’s that?’ in such an abrupt, random way that it seemed as though he was desperate to know but trying to act casual. Then Will confirms his painting suspicions, and (courtesy of the letter) Mike assumes it’s for a girl Will likes, which is why Mike shuts down the conversation so fast. He doesn’t ask any more questions because he thinks he’s already got the answers. Then hearing Will repeat only Angela’s name back to El must’ve sent alarm bells off in his mind, and at Rinkomania he’s like so this is The Girl huh? (Obviously after the skate incident he finds out he was wrong lol).

This whole thing is a very subtle element of the storyline, but it’s undeniably there. I know there’s a general agreement on this idea already but I like looking at the details :)

[lemotmo]

The other side of their fandom coin. Some of them clearly do understand what's going on. Multiple questions again

Q. I have never been a part of a fandom that was called out directly by the head of a show. I'm very embarrassed to have followed so many of those blogs. And I think you're correct. I think we sunk our own ship.

Q. I feel very stupid after watching Tim's interview. I got so caught up in everyone screaming at me that Tommy was temporary and if we didn't demand more from the show we weren't going to get more of him. I never participated in the Oliver and Ryan hate but I'm very embarrassed today.

Q. I am filled with genuine embarrassment after watching that interview today. That did not sound like a man with any interest at all in continuing with a ship that he seems to believe brought so much meanness into his show. Although I did not personally participate in any of the hate comments being sent I did follow blogs that were actively participating in it. I had no idea it got bad enough to draw Tim's attention. I'm mortified.

A. People being excited over a new ship was never the problem. We have been waiting a long time for canon queer Buck or Eddie. People were bound to go overboard. The problem was how quickly some of those people completely lost all concept of reality, and demanded complete and total legacance to their new found toy. It was bizarre. I have spent more time than I care to admit trying to figure out what the hell happened, and the thing that happened was they believed they were actually friends with Lou. I sound like a broken record when it comes to the cameo videos, but they're one hundred percent the reason we are where we are today. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he started doing them with good intentions. Fine. He realized he had amassed a little online fandom and he wanted to indulge in that attention for a bit. The problem was it became pretty clear fairly quickly that these were not structured interactions in any way, and he was just saying whatever popped into his head at the time. He lacks the ability to self edit and it became a problem almost immediately.

In his first couple of videos he gave out episode spoilers. He also told his 1200 viewers (yes that tiny viewing number sprouted all of the ugliness we are now seeing) that Tommy ended up with Buck because Ryan wasn't comfortable. Something he knew was bullshit. Whether he knew the actual reason or not he knew it had nothing to do with Ryan. The storyline was conceptualized, story boarded, at least partially written by that point, and approved for Eddie, meaning Ryan was fully aware and clearly on board. Then as the production date drew closer the actress who played Natalia, Buck's girlfriend, suddenly became unavailable, she got a part in a play. While the actress who played Marisol was still available. Tim and the show needed the Tommy plot for the larger plot his character was to be involved in so instead of scraping the mini plot they swapped Eddie for Buck. That's it, and Tim, thanks to Lou's video, had to confirm this. Lou never needed to add his made up version of events and it was alarming that he so casually did. What that video also did though was basically confirm Buddie. Because if the Tommy character was just about confirming queer Eddie it wouldn't have mattered that the actress playing Buck's girlfriend was the one who became unavailable. It should have had nothing at all to do with Buck. He did all of that in the first couple of videos. Tim and ABC should have pulled the plug right then. But at the time they were probably still in the 'all press is good press ' bubble and they looked the other way.

Then he started getting actual ship theories and basically told the fans who paid to submit them whatever it was they wanted him to say. Things went downhill rapidly from that point. He could have stopped it at any time. He could have filmed a simple Instagram video, Cameo video (since he liked the money part) or tweet saying things were getting out of hand and he would appreciate it if people would calm down a bit. Instead he upped the cost of buying a video. That was his response when they turned on Oliver, to increase the cost of talking to him. It was never about his 'fans'. He didn't give a shit about anything other than the fact that they were paying him. But they saw it as a genuine connection to him and everyone else became the enemy. Even when he ended any and all forms of communication, once he was no longer allowed to profit off of them, his little army blamed everyone else for bullying him. Which was crazy to see given what they were putting the cast, crew, and many fans through on a daily basis. You don't have to be embarrassed because you liked the ship, such as it was, but the behavior of many in your fandom should be embarrassing to you, so it's good that it's bothering you. That means you recognize the reality and can change how you choose to participate in it 💗

All right, another interesting post made by our anonymous OP. It gives us a nice timeline of where things started going wrong.

I'm sure that many of the more casual BT fans were just happily shipping their ship and didn't really know what was going on behind the scenes of those big BT blogs that spread the hatred.

It's a certain subset of the BT fandom that did this (and is still doing this). A group of big BT blogs that went too far. They bullied and threatened cast and crew. They posted Tim's DM messages to bludgeon other fans, as Tim put it. It's crazy behaviour to do all this over a damn TV-show. It's fictional people in a fictional world. But as soon as you bring this mess to real people in the real world? Yeah, you cross a line. And once you cross that line, there is no way back. Because in the real world actions have consequences.

Anyway, onwards to better I suppose. *crosses fingers*

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting these anon OP updates instead of reblogging. Don't get mad at me. There is a reason for it and it's all done with consent from the OP. You can find out more about that here.

Remember, no hate in comments or reblogs. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of the anonymous OP’s posts, you can find all of their posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[codmw2019-2022]

COD MW [2019-22] - Relationships part 1 of ?

Just wanted to preface before I get into it that I did struggle with writing this. It's my first time since high school writing something like this so it's been a bit of a struggle to get back into it.

I've also haven't added any romantic relationships to this, unless the characters have kissed or are canonically married ( like Laswell ) it falls more into head-canon territory. I may also come back and edit this in the future, I'm just getting down a general idea of how I currently view their relationships.

!! Just adding this is all my own interpretation of these characters. !!

Relationship Chart

Explanation : So this cube shows character relationships following both MW (19) , MWII (22) , and MWII Atomgrad Raids storyline. (Yes I am ignoring MWIII, no I will not elaborate /hj)

With this I can confidently show who has and has not interacted and what their relationship is from there. Since I'm not speculating if relationships are romantic or not I've decided to focus on how close the characters are. For instance Alejandro and Rodolfo are both shown to care about each other, same goes for Laswell and Price.

I was going to add in characters like Hadir and Valeria, but with Valeria her relationship with Alejandro and Rodolfo is very cut and dry; and Hadir's relationship is something I'll focus more on when I write about Farah. Their relationship is more complicated and interesting than most other characters.

Character Relationships

Farah :

Her relationships are mostly focused on trust or admiration. She's more close to characters who have stood by her side in tough times, such as Alex and Price. With this though as soon as her trust is betrayed she is more resentful and hostile towards them, like with her brother Hadir.

You can see through most of MW before Hadir's betrayal that she does care about her brother, but as she says to Alex during the cutscene before Hunting Party.

Farah's relationship with Hadir changes instantly after his betray, no matter how much Hadir and Farah care about each other she will never see him as her brother again. This is shown more during the 6th and 7th cutscene during the Atomgrad raids. Hadir does care for Farah and even admits he personally wont kill her, but he will still stop her since their beliefs are so different.

Quotes :

Gaz: You'll be hunting your own brother. Farah: He is not my brother. Not anymore.

Farah: It is impossible that we share the same blood. Hadir: I love you, Farah- Even if you hate me… Hadir: In that way we are not the same. Farah: One of many…

Hadir: Sister… Together we can stop them, like we did before… Farah: Believe me… I will… Farah: My way… with those I trust.

Price :

He keeps a wall of professionalism between most of his close relationships, the exception being Laswell. We see this on multiple occasions where he goes from calling Laswell by her last name and instead calling her Kate. Usually when she is either in danger like what happens during Recon By Fire, or during moments of stress/anger.

Price does show genuine care for those he is close too especially when they could be hurt or in danger, but it's just not shown the same way his care for Laswell is. Same with Nikolai their relationship is best described by the mission title when we first see Nikolai, 'Old Comrades'. They're close but not in the same way civilians are, both being a hardened solider has changed the way their friendship can be viewed from the outside.

Laswell :

Similar to Price she keeps her interactions more professional, while still also bantering with Gaz or Price on occasion. She does however verbally show more care about those she is close too, for instance telling Farah to "Take care of them." ( in reference to Gaz and Price ) at the start of Atomgrad raids.

Alex :

With rewatching both MW and the Atomgrad raids I've realized that Gaz and Alex's relationship is a lot closer than the fandom makes it out to be. Both of them check in with each other, sharing banter and jokes. Alex's relationship with Gaz is more familiar and close, where as Alex's relationship with Farah is focused more on him being supporting and committed to her and her cause. He's willing to sacrifice himself for Farah, where as Gaz and Alex are equals leaving room for more friendly banter.

Quotes :

Gaz: If it wasn't me- I'm glad it was you. Alex: Too bad we couldn't kill him twice.

Alex: I'm pretty sure everything we do is illegal. Gaz: Only the good stuff. Gaz: You got friends nearby. Alex: You too.

Gaz: Told ya you had friends nearby. Gaz: Man o' steel. Alex: Titanium…

Gaz :

Out of all the characters Gaz is definitely the most open about his feelings. He outwardly more caring and emotional, we can see this with how he treats the other characters, he barely knows like Farah and offers her a drink after Hadir's betrayal and also willing to make his own support for Farah known when her liberation force is put on the foreign terror organization list.

Unlike Price, Gaz isn't as hardened by war yet, we do see this change over the course of the series so far. But compared to Price, he seems more friendly this may be because he is a good judge of character or might be because he is just more friendly. This doesn't mean he's quick to trust though.

AN:

Thank you all for waiting for this to come out, I've been struggling a bit with working on this blog. I will keep working on it but I'm just not as confident with my character analysis as I am with research gathering and collection information which is important to the story and characters we love.

I'm going to spend a bit more time working on the next part to this focusing on the character introduced during MWII, but in the mean time I'll see if I can get something else out.

PS: I've also spent some free time working on my cod oc and because of this I might be redoing the character ages post, not sure yet whether or not to edit the post or make a new updated one.

I'm also wondering if you all are interested in learning a bit about my cod oc and the mixed matched cod universe I've put them in. I'd make a separate blog for zem but curious to know if this is something you want to see.

[odusseus-xvi]

Wanted to talk about q!Forever and his presidency seen from the pov of someone who mostly experience it from outside percepctive as I'm incapable of understanding Brazilian. SAYING IT RIGHT NOW I'm not here to say q!Forever is wrong or evil (as I'm convinced he is not, no need to come and tell me), this is not what's it's about, this is about how lost he seems when you are looking from the exterior.

So I know drama is brewing because people are fighting over who's right and who's an evil virus of satan, and I don't care, I'm not interested in this. I want to talk about the characters I love, because I love q!Forever, and his story makes me so sad.

I want to explain to those who wouldn't know, I'm a mostly french viewers, I follow Etoiles, Baghz, Antoine, Aypierre and Phil (mostly, I try to follow everyone's storyline and povs), the last two are not important here as Philza doesn't interact with the president storyline at all and Aypierre's involvement can be resumed to "I don't care who's in power and what they do, I'll be nice to them because I want power". But basically what the Forever Presidency feels like is not evil, or corrupted, it feels WEIRD :

Because obviously he is kindhearted, he has saved the eggs multiple times, he has done a lot for the island, and has said multiple times he wants to help everyone, and I believe that. But then in some of his actions and speeches, there is so much stuff that we are weirded out about. First how he told Baghera how he wanted to make everyone vote etc. That's okay, but like she said herself "Well that was my campaign idea..." And that's true, and that was also a thing Him and Cellbit used as way to descend her campaign, so that felt like a light knife in the back. But that's the least worrying thing.

There was then the whole deal where from what I understood he felt betrayed by Baghera and Bad as they didn't share everything and witheld information. And from Baghz pov that felt like it came out of nowhere because... Well she didn't ! That was simply miscommunication. And ensued the whole deal where he talked about how he felt about the arrival of the new people, and how he didn't trust them and didn't want to help them unless they had an egg. That was a weird thing in itself, he is supposed to be the president of the island and he is the one least willing to welcome new people.

There was also the nerfing armor stuff. At first we thought he said that as a joke you know, he is just not saying no to Quackity because that'd be rude. But who in their right mind would do that right ? Right... ? And then yestedray he asks Etoiles to do a debate with Quackity to discuss it and everyone went "Wait, he's actually considering it ?" And that was weird because... Well Forever spends most of his time in his base. Isolated. And when you watch Etoiles you know that even with the strongest suit of armor in the game you CAN die everyday. Is... Is Forever asking for a death sentence ? Has he been living under a rock ?

The last thing was yesterday, when Etoiles wanted to ask him a few things, he arrived when Forever was having a secret discussion with Cucurucho, and he ordered the construction of a prison he would have access to. And THAT was so WEIRD, everyone in chat and in reaction were like "WHAT !!??? WH... WHY ??", and then followed by "could I have a gun to defend myself ?" and everyone went "Oh. He... He doesn't trust us !!!", Etoiles himself went *raises eyebrow*. There is something REALLY going bad with q!Forever. And then he immediatly follows by taking in consideration Etoiles' request to allow Dark Metal for his fight against the code, so he's not evil, he's not corrupted... And that's where I realised what it felt like, it feels like he is lost.

It seems he want to do good, but takes weird unnecessary decisions after weird unnecessary decisions that in most cases fucks over other islanders more than it helps, and the important thing to remember is that he is not doing that purposefully, again it seems he is lost, it feels like he doesn't know what he is doing, because of that people are more wary of him, and it leads him to become more paranoïd and he makes even more bad decisions, wich leads to more people being wary of him and it creates a vicious feedback loop that constantly raises the tension. (also having the big PRESIDENT sign next to his name creates an epidermic reaction in every french that makes us want a revolution /j) And it's so sad because the only exit I can see is for the tension to be released in an explosion, a revolution, and THAT could be interesting because for once neither side is truly evil per say. They can be misguided, but not outright evil. Like Baghera said herself "I... I don't understand where he is going."

What's terrifying is what we foresaw with the election is happening, the islanders are driving themselves apart and turning against each other. I don't think the Federation wants to avoid a revolution, I'm pretty sure they would be rooting for it.

(HOWEVER next time I see someone saying q!Forever is this perfect little guy that did nothing wrong... PLEASE. The guy was vicious during the election arc. With how much misinformation he spread on Etoiles most notably.)

[invested-in-your-future]

Is the pacing of RWBY storylines bad overall?

Six Years ago I wrote this little piece about the problems with narrative structure in RWBY Volume 4

Ironically, I think most of that still applies not just V4 but V5 V6 V7, and, really, every single volume since V4.

The show wastes time on unnecessary elements and then rushes or offscreens crucial elements of narrative and plot an audience would WANT to see.

The narrative of MilesWBY has exactly two modes - NOTHING is happening or EVERYTHING is happening.

Well, using "OR" here might be incorrect because...

Sometimes both of those writing modes are happening at once and while EVERYTHING is happening offscreen, NOTHING is happening.

The show essentially has, unintentionally, perfected saying a lot while saying NOTHING.

I think ANN review/retrospective of RWBY overall hits the point on the head well:

"This, in essence, is the biggest paradox of RWBY's writing. It tries so hard to cram in as much plot as it possibly can, but ends up saying far less than it did when a tidal wave of creative ideas was the main focus. Characters that could have had interesting and engaging storylines are either truncated to the point of not making any sense or are relegated to plot manipulators with one-dimensional characterization who get a single moment of interest directly before they become irrelevant for the rest of the story. It speaks to a lack of inventiveness in these new plotlines being written, creating the image that they care more about hitting the most salient story points and then moving on to the next batch of plot rather than finding intriguing and creative ways to flesh out the characters and aesthetic that drive said plot forward."

The only part I'd disagree with is V4 being different - I think V4 is exactly the same way its just that Miles and Co genuinely had no idea what to TRY to say or what the plot will be.

Like this perfectly describes the issue with MilesWBY writing overall. I think the key moment is when RWBY staff said after V4 that they offscreened Yang's journey with the arm because "it would be boring". That epitomises the crucial misunderstanding the showrunners have with the story. The story is not interested in those characters or their emotions or their development or reactions to the world around them. The story is not interested in making a point or making characters OR the world change or develop. The points of interest within the narrative are reversed from how you'd write the narrative. Focus is given to the parts you'd generally don't really focus on and the crucial character interactions, development, self-reflection, growth AND conflict are offscreen.

As it stands, that makes MilesWBY into a show which hasn't really said ANYTHING of note since the Fall of Beacon happened. The cast jumped through multiple continents and Kingdoms and yet none of the crucial characterization plotlines or thematic elements had ANY development.

The fact that Ever After trainwreck haphazardly attempts to use character flaws from volume one and two to do SOMETHING with characters speaks MILES (ha) about how much the writing staff doesn't care about having actual proper character progression. As well as how much thy are willing to completely ignore Volume 3.

You could literally cut out everything between V3 and any "Newest Volume" and just have characters randomly be dropped into it through magic and nothing would change. Even the "dead" characters don't mean anything - after all there's zero difference in MilesWBY on whether a character has genuinely died or if they merely were forgotten offscreen.

This might sound kind of mean but MilesWBY volumes are an equivalent of AI generated text paragraphs.

[kyogre-blue]

OK, Wuwa chapter 1 is done.

It turns out the place I stopped last night was the very last scene of Act V, and Act VI is just the extended finale of chapter 1.

It was... a very mixed bag! If I had to describe it in a word, I would pick "clumsy."

The ideas they were going for are mostly fine, and their execution at least clearly shows what they were trying to do, but man. It gets aggressively Too Much at multiple points, the gameplay is so hand-holdy in parts that I honestly feel kind of confused as to what kind of audience testing led to this (are most people really this stupid??), and the details are, as always, painfully unpolished.

Speaking more specifically, I'll give an example. When defending the city, several NPCs show up to fight too. It's cool seeing them using their skill and ults, I like that! However, not only Verina, but even Yuanwu and Lianyang show up. We haven't even met Yuanwu before and he's, from all indications, just some dude who runs a gym. Every time he talks and then inexplicably shows up in montages of Rover thinking about everyone who is counting on him and Jiyan, it's just so silly. We don't know him! And Lianyang just looks so goofy with the liondancing in this extremely serious situation. I haven't even done his character quest yet, team. Be real, how much did the government give you for this character...

This is a case where less would have been more. Just leave it at Verina healing people, Taoqi getting introduced as leading the NPCs in battle, and Chixia as the face of people we actually know enough to care about.

And it's not the only example. There's stuff like how awkward it feels when everyone talks about Rover, Yangyang and even Baizhi with just first name and no other comment, like they're all very familiar with each other, which doesn't really make much sense. It feels very forced. Or stuff like Jiyan making you "pick" where the troops will be positioned during the operation, but there's only one correct answer anyway, so what was this even for? And just the general excessive amount of padding that isn't congruent with the urgent atmosphere.

(All of this is not helped by the poor EN voice direction.)

Which brings us to the gameplay. I won't comment on them giving us a full party of nothing but trial characters for the entire act, it isn't really a big deal either way. But the "platforming" was just... who the hell needed Jiyan to comment about every single use of the grapple? The grapple points freaking glow! There's nothing else to do anyway! Just explain it once and players can figure it out from there! It was so ridiculous.

And then there's the little details like the "Trial Resonator has left/joined the party" popping up over dramatic cutscenes. It's almost funny. Jiyan is leaving the party! Jiyan is joining the party! This is starting to look like a parody with the uuuuh gameplay and story integration here.

However, the two most unfortunate points were the minor gripes that ruined the very, very end for me. 1) Saved by an ugly mascot. 2) Stupid sounding storyteller cap off.

Not only does it look extremely silly to be shielded by a little mascot's butt with its bunny tail, but the mascot is pretty ugly. Why this thing...... who asked...... especially given the overall tone and vibe of Wuwa??

And then the storyteller.... god, I hate storytellers. They are so fucking awful, I do not understand the CN game obsession with them. Bruh, I don't need some dumb-sounding asshole to tell me the story, I'm playing an interactive modern medium so I can watch the story be acted out by the goddamn characters.

I was so mad I literally took out my headphones and did not perceive anything past the mascot. Which I also hated.

It was otherwise a passable if rather jank ending to the storyline, suitably dramatic and at least there was Jiyan, but those two last points....

Anyway, I'm mildly disappointed that we didn't beat the Threnobian (it just left) and nothing else interesting except the mascot was revealed. Jiyan was nice tho, and I'll play his character quest next, I guess.

[teosartcorner]

(Posting this one here, ‘cause it has a few short OC trivia moments, if you're curious)

I was tagged by @eve-to-adam, so here we go! It might get long, so buckle up for the ride. 😂

1. How many works do you have?

I couldn't tell you a number, because I've had multiple stories over the years. Some were short comics for semester projects I had to do back in uni, others were WIPs I started and abandoned, others are ongoing personal storytelling projects I'm working on at the moment.

2. What fandoms do you write for?

I don’t really write for any fandom right now, I prefer to focus on my own, original stories and OCs. But I wouldn’t put that idea past me entirely, with the way my hyperfixations work, you just never know. 😂

3. What are your top 5 stories by kudos?

I don't really want to make a top, but some of my favorites include a few short stories I wrote for Project Paranormal, which is a shared universe I'm co-creating with Andreea (@eve-to-adam) and about which I'll be talking about at Question 9.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely I do! I even went to war with the “promote it on ->” bots on Instagram at one point, by replying with passive-aggressive comments, so. 🤣 Jokes aside, people who take their time to interact with my work and express their support mean the world to me, and I’m incredibly grateful to have them around. And those who even come back regularly? You deserve the world and I love ya 🥹✨

5. What’s the story you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm… Depends what you'd consider “angsty”. I guess one that could count would be a short, horror graphic novel I've done for uni. One of the main characters dies, while the other ends up in a mental institution, unsure whether the previous events truly happened or not, but haunted by some… otherworldly things that tend to suggest everything has, in fact, happened. I wouldn't necessarily see it as angsty per se, because that was never the aim when I wrote that ending, but it’s the only one I could think of.

6. What’s the story you wrote with the happiest ending?

Do on-going storylines whose development I know, count? Whatever, I’ll pretend they count. 🤣

I would say one of the happiest ones would be Hubert and Dolly's relationship (two of my OCs from Project Paranormal). Even though they didn't start on the best of terms, they ended up progressively discovering they actually... enjoyed each other's company, once they started chatting like, you know, normal people who weren't looking for a silly argument just for the sake of it. Because that's what they were doing in the beginning; their personalities clashed in a way that turned all their encounters into a match of "who annoys who first". To the point where they couldn't even remember what was the precise starting point of that whole thing. 😂 But then, little by little, once they started opening up, they both fell for each other pretty damn hard. Their relationship was obviously not gonna be without any hardship, because they both had their own flaws and things to work through (especially Hubert), but they found a tremendous amount of love and support in each other. They realized they simply… get each other, you know, on a level they couldn’t have anticipated, but which was there to last for a lifetime! So yeah, they’re definitely getting their happy ending. :D

7. Do you get hate on stories?

Not that I’m aware of. And even if I did, I wouldn’t… really care that much? ‘Cause I’m not writing for them haters, lemme tell you. 😂

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I like to depict sex and intimacy in my stories, so yeah, my writing kinda covers that stuff too. I usually prefer to go with the flow in those instances and see where the scene is taking me, in terms of description. Whether it’s gonna get more explicit or it’s gonna be a “fade to black” thing, depends entirely on the moment itself. I also like to be as character-centered as possible in my approach (which applies to every aspect of my storytelling, for that matter). I wanna take into consideration each character’s relationship with sex and intimacy, when I’m describing them; slight nuances to convey the moment in the same way each character is experiencing it, you know. What things they like, how they like them, how they communicate with partners etc. Like, take Delicia for example (my OC from Project Paranormal): she’s an experienced gal who likes to be creative in the bedroom (and outside) and is slightly more into the rough side of physical love, so depictions might get more blunt and slightly more explicit in her case. But at the same time, it wasn’t always like that, was it? Because she, like everyone else, had her own starting point, her own journey with intimacy and self discovery. And I want to capture that feeling as I’m writing her character. I want to capture that feeling with all of my OCs; I’m always trying my best to write as naturally as I can, to make the story really feel as if it’s a close look into one’s life and experiences. The spicy scenes are no exception to that! :D Now, whether I’m successful in this approach or not, is a completely different topic, but that’s beside the point. 😂

9. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not necessarily, but I do have one ongoing storytelling project that could technically count. It's a shared universe I'm co-creating with my friend, Andreea (@eve-to-adam). For the sake of this post I code named it “Project Paranormal” because it pops up for some other questions.

It's basically a story that revolves around two main families (Marlowe, written and created by me, and Elkins, written and created by Andreea) and their lives, as well as extra folks like friends, lovers, their pets etc. It's a romance meets supernatural (there are ghosts, ghouls n’ curses) meets historical fiction (it spans over the entire 20th century and goes until present day) meets drama type of story, with slice of life sprinkled all over. The slice of life aspect is kinda my favourite, because I generally enjoy writing the everyday experiences of my characters, those that don't necessarily tie into a specific plot point; like some sort of a “fly on the wall” approach. The story has a main plot, of course, and a main timeline of events, but under that we're essentially having fun with all sorts of storylines and moments. Right now I would say it's an open format story/universe, meaning we're drawing/writing different out-of-order parts and tidbits, but ultimately they all tie into that main timeline and plot we've set. So, at the end of the day, the story can always be put together chronologically, into a graphic novel type of format.

Ah shit, I almost forgot. The “crazy” bit about it (Andreea mentioned it in her own post as well) is that it all kinda started from a bunch of sims we created in Sims 4 one day. We were simply chatting and having a laugh about it and then we went “🤨…🤔” and bam! here we are today, with a bunch of Marlowe and Elkins generations and their storylines. 😂 ❤️

10. Have you ever had a story stolen?

Either I haven't OR the thief is hiding exceptionally well, I can’t tell. 😂

11. Have you ever had a story translated?

Does self translation count? 😂 If so, then yeah. I usually write in my native language, but I translate into English once I decide to post some of it online. The funny thing is, the English translation actually improves the writing in some cases (specifically the dialogues!), because I have some English, Irish and Scottish peeps amongst my OCs, and in their case I can play with things like slang, accents, cussing etc, which gives a more natural vibe to their conversations (and is kinda fun to work on).

12. Have you ever co-written a story before?

I’m currently doing that with Project Paranormal (see Question 9)! :D

13. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

— Aragorn&Arwen from The Lord of The Rings, always! They're probably one of my oldest ships, too, and they will always hold that special place in my heart. Aaand they’re definitely the reason why, to this day, I have a big thing for elf+human couples in fiction. XD

— Bill&Frank from The Last Of Us (show version), because people finding their lil’ corner of love and happiness in a dying world?? Hell yes, all the yes! 🥺

14. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Hmm… There is this one fantasy story I've been trying to put together for the past 2 years or so, but at the moment I kind of lost my passion for it. I tried to rethink and revive it in 2023 and it worked for a while, but ultimately I put it back on the shelf again, at least for now. In a way I wish I will regain that passion to continue, because I have some characters there whose stories I'd still like to tell, but right now I don't see it happening. Besides, I have other story ideas I want to test (and possibly pursue) right now. But who knows? Maybe one day?

15. What are your writing strengths?

Okay I totally suck at identifying my own strengths, lmao. 😂 But let's give it a try. I would like to think I'm good at allowing my characters to shape the language I'm writing with, instead of me shaping the language for them. I always love when, in literature, dialogues sound like things people would say in real life, or when the writing imitates the manner of speech people use on a daily basis (one of the reasons why I like Stephen King’s writing style, for example). I strike to achieve the same in my stories, so I give my OCs the freedom of talking in their own, individual ways.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I tend to write too slowly for my own liking. I'm also a bit of a scatterbrained type of writer; let's say I write a certain scene, when suddenly I wanna jump to a totally different one. Nothing wrong with that, of course! But in my case, at the end of the day, I either end up in a writer’s void and I can't write for either scene anymore, OR I constantly switch back and forth between them and I can't concentrate on either one. Sucks to be me sometimes. 😅 But I'm trying to improve this in myself, so let's hope for the best!

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a story?

It’s a pretty cool thing and I like seeing it in stories. It's a concept I'd like to play with, too. For example, some of my characters from Project Paranormal have Portuguese ancestry and speak the language: Delicia was taught by her mum, Dolly, and by grandpa Thomas (Dolly's father). I'd like to think Dolly and her lil’ lass would frequently switch to chatting in Portuguese, during Delicia's formative years, which helped her learn the language and become fluent (and later on in life, Delicia will do the same with her own daughter). So, naturally, I'd love to have at least a glimpse of those conversations in the story as well! :D However, I will have to rely on the mighty internet to help me with that, because I don't know any Portuguese. XD

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Ooooh, you’re digging up very old memories with that one. I think the first fandom I ever attempted to write for was InuYasha, an anime I watched and enjoyed back in the day, when I was a bit more into the anime scene. But you can imagine how that went, considering I was like 12 years old or something like that. 😂

19. Favourite story you’ve ever written?

The most recent one I did. It's called “By The Alley” and it's a short story from Project Paranormal that features two of my OCs: Hubert and Paddy. I like the story flow I managed to capture there and I feel like I'm finally finding my writer voice, so to speak. I also had a lot of fun writing their dialogues! Both Hubert and Paddy were born and raised in Leeds, West Yorkshire (although Paddy has Irish heritage) and they are “raised by the streets” kinda guys. The way they speak reflects that pretty well, so I had fun trying to put some of those nuances in their speech. And the cussing, I loved writing the cussing. I discovered this to be a very odd pleasure of mine, writing people who curse. 😂 And Hubert's definitely the right person for that, because the man has no filter whatsoever (with Delicia being a close second – like father, like daughter, am I right?). 😂

—

That's it! If you actually made it this far, have a cookie and a beer: 🍪🍺

…along with my undying gratitude, of course! 😂🫶🏻

I will tag: @theeuropeanidiotverse and whoever else wants to join! No pressure whatsoever, though! <3

[undermine-the-instinct]

Hi, this is not an ask, I just want to praise your writing (and maybe rant a little if you don't mind) but I feel like this message of mine is not appropiate to be left in the comments. So I'll left it here, do to it as you will!

I've truly fallen in love, with your Prince!Alhaitham series! I've already read all the drabbles you made and I'm so fascinated with all the stories, especially how you made and write the main couple's dynamics different with each roles of the MC/Reader.

I'm regretting my choice in the poll a bit though, my most favorite after reading all drabbles is the Head Advisor one, and my choice in the poll are the witch with true bloodline just because I know too little about the storylines at first. 😞

Even if I know one changed vote for me isn't going to make a lot of difference in the whole precentages...

As for why I love the Head Advisor one the most, mainly it's as I said, their dynamics. ✨

I've been looking for this kind of dynamics for so long. What caught me at furst is that, different from the other routes, you started the drabble with the Reader already obsessed with Alhaitham but still holding herself back to not cross too many boundaries and still respect his personal space, somewhat.

I frequently read the trope where the ML is cursed/have an unfortunate ability of attracting too much unwanted attention/just don't want the attention, and I get the reason why the MC is made to be an exception to that curse/attraction so the story will progress. But that kind of trope gets repetitive and then becomes boring from time to time.

Also, its not like the Head Advisor is just so obsessed with Prince Alhaitham to the point of neglecting/not paying attention to everything around her. I love it more that you showed a new side, the caring side, of the "King Snake"-villainess, as Cyno put it, around the General. MC/Reader being worried about Cyno's wellbeing is just... 🥰

Oh! And the MC/Reader's cute, a little oblivious side, despite being potrayed as a capable and intelligent person/witch, is just simply endearing and so adorable, and that aspect just added more to her charm. 😍

As for Alhaitham, you potrayed him so well too. Still calculating as ever and his self-control while being affected by aphrodisiacs... ❤️

Maybe this is just my delusion, but the outright kind of evil/manipulative (and hot in this case) implication behind his intention in asking the MC/Reader about the effects of someone else aphrosidiacs on her 😳

And, there can be insinuated a possible scenario of a jealous prince seeing the interaction of his Head Advisor with the General, though this is probably just me being delusional(again).

Though I'm a bit sad that the Head Advisor route isn't going to be adapted into a fic, I'm already pretty satisfied after reading "Deserving" (supposedly the general ending of the main storyline right?).

Thank you so much for making this masterpiece. 🙏

THIS ASK HAS BEEN IN MY INBOX FOR DAYS BC IVE BEEN HOARDING LIKE A DRAGON AND OMg.....

Thank you for reading my au! You've put so much thought into this review and I love hearing the parts you love! The little nuances, like reader being both this King snake of the court, and yet a person with a crush on the prince but doesn't want to upset boundaries. Asking if Cyno is alright. Or the insinuation of Al haitham asking about other aphrodisiacs 👀👀👀

(Put under a cut bc I started talking about the future of this au and this got long)

I really, really loved this ask! Tbh, when I first started my Prince!AlHaitham drabble, it was just a simple brainrot that got so much traction, I felt I had to keep going. I thought about how could I write my own version of Al haitham, as a prince, and still have him in character.

What would his dynamic be with the reader? Well, that depends on who they are. Which I put a poll about and multiple ideas sprouted in my head. Also, the Head Advisor!reader was also my favorite to write out of all of them, but maybe that's bc of the drama of the scene I wrote out 😅😅😅.

The reason I have a 'canon' storyline is because I have an actual story I want to tell, and though that takes time and editing and planning, I'm excited to be working on it and sharing it with you all! There's this whole au universe I've made up, characters to implement, plotlines (like what is up with alhaitham's curse, hm?) And so much more. Genshin has me in a choke hold so there will be plenty more in the future of this blog.

And do not fret beloved. While I dont want to overwhelm myself, I'm really digging the idea of having different routes for the different reader. Like the general story, but affected and influenced by the different readers ive written about. But that'll be in the future possibly, for now I can stick with drabbles and brainrots 😅😔.

Thank you for the oh so lovely ask! Even reading it days later has me giddy and smiling! Pls stay along for the Prince!Al Haitham au journey!!!

[opinated-user]

I found an ask which asked Lily about reboots getting new people into comic books. Lily answered it with a few examples (from stuff she likes) and says basically no one complains about new fans being confused. Here are some things

1. She said for comics look up a chronological order and go from there. If you type Batman#1 you’re gonna get a bunch of results. Plus with the reboots you get a new #1 issue. That’s been a big complaint about why some people don’t get into comics, and why people go to manga cause how accessible it is to get #1 issue and it’s THE #1 issue. (Plus not to mention the constant changes to some comic book heroes origins and such)

2. She says “you can start at this latest installment but the others are good so why not start at beginning”. Again boils down to access and time. Kingdom Hearts (an example she uses) is a big franchise spanning over multiple consoles and systems. The stories do interact off other titles. (which lily says they don’t and it really doesn’t matter if you play the other spin offs unless you like lore, but um they all connect and why certain beats of one game is explained in another game) and the biggest complaint is something she said never happened. People who just bought KH3 because it was a big title got confused by the story. Now to be fair KH3 has a theater mode to explain stories… but a lot of people are gonna go straight to playing the game.

All of this to say, Lily doesn’t know complaints people have about certain media but then again grass is green, what else is new

didn't LO also said at some point that she doesn't read comics? in response to MO trying to get her interested into reading a sapphic POC story about elderly women in love even? (maybe if MO mentioned they were underaged then LO would have tried to read it) case being, why would anyone expect her to have the first idea about how comic fans are like and their complaints when that's not a medium she cares about? she isn't interested on the superhero type of movies either so there's no real way for her to tangentially become aware about the comics situations. i think the only kind of media from that genre she ever cared about was Wandavision and even then, i doubt she did any real research into the lore of the character. her "advice" it is truly useless, more so because even if you try to read a storyline from the very first run you'll always face the problem that some comics just won't be available anymore, because nobody is making them anymore, because they don't exist and many comic books were made to be as cheap as possible so they are hard to find and keep legible at all.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend for just a brief note. This episode just made me sad. Not the good sad-but-the-hurt-comfort-will-be-worth-it sad, just sad. I'm not going to bring The Discourse into your inbox, but I think I'll just pretend this episode doesn't exist (except of course for the fabulous attempt at sex doll resuscitation by Nancy) until next week. Also where the hell are Paul, Marjan, and Mateo??!! These characters are more interesting than just fun banter, give them screentime dammit!!

This episode was....fine. Like, I laughed at some of the Owen/O'Brian shenanigans but I do not give one single fuck about O'Brian so why would I care about his neo-nazi nephew? I said in the tags on a couple of posts that I'm not here to watch the FBI investigate a terrorist plot, or some kind of Criminal Minds torture-fest (next week is the episode I'm kind of dreading a bit 🤷🏻‍♀️), there are other shows out there for people who enjoy that! I'm here to watch first responders go out on calls! Sometimes they're funny, sometimes suspenseful and exciting, sometimes the crew is in danger and it's stressful, and sometimes they get confronted with something that applies to their personal life and helps to move that arc along for them.

We have.....not gotten a lot of first responding in these last two episodes. And consequently, we are getting very little for the 126, and basically NOTHING for Paul, Marjan and Mateo except for a few quips. Nancy too, but Brianna has ATE every scene she's been in this season and she at least got to have some input on Tommy's storyline in the first 2 episodes. I don't just want Paul, Marjan, and Mateo (Grace, Nancy, Judd as well but they're getting *something* at least) each to have 1.5 episodes centered around them, I want to see them involved in other characters' stories every week and doing their jobs on multiple calls! We had ONE team call out during the episode these past two weeks and probably the same next week. This is like, the other side of the coin from the problem the OG is having which is too many calls with nothing to tie into the mains' arcs and long set up to fill time, where as LS is having some enjoyable calls but so few of them and they are trying to cram too much outside plot into the episode so we loose the first responder element a bit.

As for the Carlos/Tarlos stuff it's also...fine. (I'm more worried about them leaning into the creepy factor next week like his last detective storyline because that shit is Not For Me.) I personally enjoyed the scenes with Iris and Carlos (though it's hard to reconcile them being so ride-or-die after having zero idea they were anything more than vaguely acquainted through Michelle before now), and I liked that he believed her when the detective didn't and I like that they aren't trying to pretend like she's "cured" now. I'm not too worried about the angst because I get Carlos kinda shutting down and blaming himself and everything he and TK brought to Iris' doorstep all at once, but I feel like we aren't getting ANY idea what is going on in TK's head. He had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene with Tommy but that was all about Iris not where his head is at, he and Carlos aren't talking about it, does Owen even KNOW?! Because we haven't seen Owen and TK even talk this season (WHAT?!), he hasn't gotten to sit with Judd or Nancy or any of the 126 and vent, not even his sponsor has had a mention! This IS a Carlos centric storyline so I'm not surprised we're seeing his POV and his interactions with Iris, but because the show is spending SO. MUCH. FUCKING. TIME on this Owen plot right now too, were not getting to see TK's side of this (though hopefully next week!), while still having time for a call (singular because god forbid these first responders get to do any first responding).

It's all just...fine. It's fine to watch, I'm laughing, and holding my breath, and yelling for Carlos to look out behind him, but then the hour ends and it's all just....fine. I get ending on the Carlos cliffhanger, but I would rather have some angst in the form of TK calling and calling and leaving measages to ask when Carlos is coming home overlayed by Carlos getting taken, than to save it all for next week and rely on torture for the angst, but that's just a personal preference for me and I wanted more than just one episode of TK being frantic that something is wrong and Carlos isn't answering. 🤷🏻‍♀️

To end on a lighter note, Nancy deserves an Oscar, even if it's justa handmade one by the team, for her dramatic performance reacue of Crissy (alexa, play "Chrissy Wake Up"), and Tommy and TK can get little mini Supporting Role statues as well. Definitely a highlight of the season so far.

[myimaginarywonderland]

No one is unreasonable or anything for wanting their ship to be endgame and I think most of us Bucktommy shippers wouldn't mind Buddie at a later point where they are actually ready for a relationship with each other.

The problem is people acting like Tommy isn't a good love interest or like Buddie is some endgoal which is both disrespectful to the characters but also clearly misunderstanding Buddie's relationship.

You can ship whoever you want but acting like there has to be a resolution when most ships will never be canon is just wild to me. Buddie also was never a ship. It didn't start of as a ship and there never was an intention besides maybe brainstorm ideas to actually go down the path of a romantic relationship. There are multiple reasons for it but the truth probably is that it just wasn't an option with the network ever which is why it was truly never a possibility for the writers either.

They shouldn't! And the fact that they have isn't okay but that doesn't make it okay for Buck's potential male love interest to get hate either. People will just always have their own opinion and that's okay especially when it comes to characters or ships in a show they really care about.

But I think we all agree that the amount of hate that is in fandom and has carried over to the actual real life actresses is not okay and should never be accepted. Oliver Stark himself has spoken out about it but I really see fans talk about that sadly.

All of that however shouldn't mean the same treatment is okay for Lou and I think many of us are just calling it out more because of how kind Lou has been when interacting with fans, something that I just don't personally remember other actors in his position (playing a love interest) doing before (again, they don't have to but it just makes more fans sympathetic to the storyline he is involved in.)

We are fine with his love interest because he actually feels like a person and not just someone to fill in a relationship. We are fine with him as a love interest because for the first time in a while or maybe even ever (depending on your opinion on former relationships) we genuinely have someone that makes an effort for Buck, that stays for him and wants to get to know Evan.

The reason people hate on Marisol is for one her character adds nothing to the story or to Eddie's life. The other glaringly obvious problem is a homophobic and transphobic actress being on a show that has had multiple queer characters and relationships since the beginning.

Arguing that we know nothing about Tommy is just wrong. Not only do we know about his interests or his job, we also know glimpses of his relationships (friendships) and his past. We know a bit about his journey to coming out, about his struggles. Obviously we still have to learn about Tommy but we already know more about him that pretty much any other character besides Abby and maybe Taylor.

What we do know is that not only is Tommy sticking around but we will also therefore have the possibility the explore his characters which is a lot more then can be said for most of Buck's past love interests.

It is again, completely valid to not like Buck and Tommy together because everyone prefers different ships. But to justify a dislike by questioning the fans lack of hate or insinuating that Tommy isn't fleshed out, isn't a valid reason to dislike them.

Suddenly I'm being unreasonable and a bitch for not wanting bucktommy endgame!?!??

WELL sorry I didn't ship buddie for 6 SEASONS for nothing.

Bit weird how all bucks and Eddie's female love interest got so much hate. Some deserved but MOST was so uncalled for!!

But the moment Buck kisses a man instead of a woman SUDDENLY we are fine with his love interest.

The same ppl hating on Marisol LOOOVEEE tommy.

" we know nothing about Marisol" we don't know much about tommy either.

I'm just saying 🤷🏾‍♀️

[abumbledbee]

Fundy’s reaction to Michael

If you missed it, yesterday during stream Fundy and Philza were introduced to Michael, Tubbo and Ranboo’s adopted son. If you haven’t been following Tubbo and Ranboo’s storylines, they recently canonized their marriage and have decided to take the zombie pigman baby they found on Ranboo’s first day on the server as their child.

This stream I will argue is canon. Their interactions tiptoe the line of bits and canon at times, but the hostility Phil shows towards Fundy is very much canon, as well as a few other moments can’t be considered anything other than canon because of their importance. Though it was never confirmed, I’ll be writing this analysis taking their streams as in character moments.

Fundy begins their interaction by sneaking onto the snowy commune Phil, Techno, and Ranboo reside at, with a plan to build a dirt shack to live in as a “prank”. He says at the start of his stream that he wants to slowly build up a full house in the commune secretly over multiple streams. Ranboo spots him instantly and once cornered Phil immediately gets angry. He says Fundy’s lucky he didn’t kill him on sight for his part in the Butcher Army, and it’s clear their relationship despite blood ties is fully negative on Phil’s side. Fundy is quick to say it was because of peer pressure and points out Ranboo was also part of it, but Phil says he’s forgiven Ranboo because his memory problems make him easily manipulated.

Tubbo crashes the party and non-canonically kills Fundy. They all tease Fundy and play a game for him to get his stuff back, which ultimately ends up with Fundy getting everything back and Ranboo extending an invite to Phil to meet Michael. Fundy tags along despite not being invited, and Tubbo and Ranboo have a heated discussion over whether they want to let Fundy meet Michael or not. They tell Fundy and Phil both that they got married and Michael is their son, and Fundy immediately loses interest and says he doesn’t want to go but ends up following anyways.

On the way there Tubbo mentions how Phil would technically be Michael’s grandfather since Phil is his ‘unbiological father’ (per tubbo’s wording) and they jokingly say Michael will be his only and favorite grandchild. Fundy laughs it off and keeps reminding Phil that he has a grandkid already, himself. Phil ignores him and tells Tubbo Michael likely will be his favorite, because his other betrays him every second he gets. They pause on their travels and Phil tells Fundy that he has a LOT of redeeming to do before Phil will consider them related again. It’s clear he is holding a lot of anger still about the Butcher Army, and he’s directing most of it at Fundy.

Tubbo asks why he isn’t getting the same treatment and Phil tells Tubbo “Don’t make me start, I’ll deal with you later.” It’s clear that Phil is treating Tubbo better despite Techno’s harsher feelings towards Tubbo (government-related hostility) over Fundy, and I think it has a lot to do with their family ties. Phil is technically closer to Tubbo relationship-wise than Fundy despite being biologically related to Fundy, and I think it gives Tubbo an edge, even if Phil doesn’t mean to. Having had a part in raising Tubbo, even reluctantly, still means he’s given favoritism. The way he spoke to both of them felt like he was telling Fundy he has to find his own way to redeem himself, but Tubbo he’s willing to try and talk to without negative feelings taking over. I also wouldn’t question for a second that Ranboo’s relationship with Tubbo makes a big difference too, as we’ve seen Phil literally call himself a Ranboo apologist earlier in the stream and it’s clear he cares for him a lot. 

They arrive to Snowchester and are introduced to Michael, who is upstairs in the nursery Tubbo and Ranboo built for him earlier on Tubbo’s stream. It is incredibly clear how attached they are to him from the start, both from how they speak to him to how lovingly decorated his room is, including 3 family portraits of all three of them together. They introduce Phil to Michael as his grandfather, and Fundy as his cousin. 

Fundy along with Phil are both a bit speechless at the start, which is to be expected as they weren’t aware Michael is a zombie pigman baby. Fundy asks where they found him, and starts questioning their parenting almost immediately. He asks why Michael can’t go outside and tries to open the windows. Him and Phil both begin to question their parenting methods, scrutinizing everything they can.

Tubbo warns Fundy if he opens a window again he will kill him, and Ranboo in retort to Fundy’s criticism asks him to remind them all of what experience he has with parents. I think it’s super interesting that Ranboo was the one to say that, as he’s usually not someone who openly confronts others. It’s a great reminder both of the tension he still has with Fundy, and how emotionally attached Ranboo is to Michael. Phil makes a joke about Michael being patient zero for covid and Fundy laughs and continues it, and Tubbo kills him again for insulting their kid. Fundy tells him if he comes back and any of his stuff is missing, he will hurt Michael. Phil takes some of his armor and purposely waits to see what Fundy does, but luckily Fundy realizes and doesn’t hurt him.

They leave on a mostly positive note, except Phil accidentally kills Ghost Squeeks when a creeper he made explode trapped it under ice. On Fundy’s way out he also accidentally sets off a creeper and Phil makes an offhand comment that “It runs in the family” and Fundy is overjoyed to hear Phil refer to him as family.  He then runs off to the snow commune again and starts working on his shack.

Fundy’s constant badgering of Tubbo and Ranboo’s parenting was a really odd thing I hadn’t expected from him, considering he isn’t a parent himself. I can understand Phil doing it, but Fundy was actually the first to start questioning them, and even went as far as to threaten Michael. Later when he finds a zombie jockey and his chat suggests he be a playmate for Michael, he says no because he hates Michael. A part of me wonders if this isn’t an underlying jealousy that Fundy himself might not even recognize. It was almost like seeing a happy, and so far very functional, family ticked him off and he immediately started trying to find flaws in their parenting. Like he needed proof that they weren’t as good as they seemed. It felt like he wasn’t handling the idea that there could be a child on this server that wouldn’t have parents that choose raising a nation over a child, that there could be a child who’s surrounded by proof of love at all times. It makes his building of the dirt home by Phil’s base all the more sad. In my opinion, Fundy is using this “prank home” as an excuse to be close to Phil again, his only blood relative remaining and the only source of possible affection he has left.

[astradrifting]

This is kind of inspired by this recent ask I sent to @esther-dot about Jon’s characterisation and Jonsa shippers’ apparent disregard for it, because it made me think of another part of Jon’s characterisation that is really integral to who he is. Mainly, that Jon really loves his brothers. Especially Robb. His rival and best friend and constant companion. Jon envies him, competes with him, buried a formative traumatic memory where he was deeply hurt by him... but ultimately loves him. Complex relationships with his brothers, both the Starks and his Night’s Watch brothers, are a running theme in Jon’s chapters.

Speaking of Jon’s brothers...

Aegon VI and Robb have a lot of potential parallels, actually. The “Young” moniker, red-haired counselors who are also their parents, trained to be the heir to a great kingdom from a young age, the barely younger half-brother Jon borne of their father’s dishonour of their mother… one that they might both have a good relationship with despite that?

The show tried to play with Jon ‘accepting’ his Targaryen lineage through the jonerice romance, very unconvincingly because it was simultaneously undermining it at every opportunity, in what was maybe a half-assed attempt at Pol!Jon (”They’ll all come to see you for what you are” isn’t anything but a threat in all contexts).

Jon will ultimately choose the Starks over everything else, that’s not really a question. But if Jon were to genuinely connect with another Targaryen, it’d likely be easier for him to find kinship with a half-brother than with an aunt - he has a basis for positive relationships with trueborn half-brothers, while the only aunt figure he’s ever known about is a) long dead and b) actually his mother. I think it’d both make more sense and be more compelling for GRRM to leverage Jon’s existing complex relationships with brotherhood by having him interact with and build a relationship with Aegon, than a rushed and out-of-character romance with Dany. 

Jon also is already primed to believe that Aegon is the real deal, that he was saved as a baby, because he’s already done the exact same thing himself - he swapped out a baby of royal blood who was in danger for a common-born boy, and then sent him halfway across the world for safety (side note: if Septa Lemore is Ashara, and if the baby was actually Ashara’s son as theorised here by @agentrouka-blog, that would just strengthen the parallel, because it would be his body double’s mother caring for him, as Gilly has to do for Mance’s son).

They’re definitely going to come into conflict first - politically, Jon will likely be in a position of power in the North by the time they meet, maybe as the KitN through Robb’s will or regent for Rickon, and probably will fight for Northern independence, while Aegon is fighting to be king of the Seven Kingdoms, not 6. Personally, it will be hard to get past the fact that Jon is the direct result of Rhaegar dishonouring Elia, plus that the Kingsguard who should have been protecting her were all stationed in Dorne, guarding Jon’s mother (in whatever capacity). But these interactions, a conflict and eventual friendship/brotherhood between them, would all be a lot more layered than jonerice can really offer. If a relationship between Jon and Dany was truly all that GRRM has been building up to, then there would have been no need for R+L=J - it adds nothing to that storyline, it doesn’t even make it a forbidden romance, because aunt-nephew is hardly the worst incest the Targaryens have engaged in.

It’s almost inevitable that Da*nerys is going to kill Aegon VI/Young Griff in the books, likely by burning him with dragonfire, in the Second Dance of the Dragons. The weird Dragonpit meeting in the show was very contrived, but it does make sense for Dany to meet the ruler on the Iron Throne at least once in a semi-peaceful context. In the show, she used her dragons only to intimidate Cersei, but she didn’t have a personal grievance with her. Aegon is in much more danger during such a meeting. After all she will think he is a pretender, and she doesn’t much care for the rules of safe conduct, as she showed to the envoys from Yunkai.

Dany shrugged, and said, "Dracarys."

The dragons answered. Rhaegal hissed and smoked, Viserion snapped, and Drogon spat swirling red-black flame. It touched the drape of Grazdan's tokar, and the silk caught in half a heartbeat. 

[...]

"You swore I should have safe conduct!" the Yunkish envoy wailed.

"Do all the Yunkai'i whine so over a singed tokar? I shall buy you a new one... if you deliver up your slaves within three days. Elsewise, Drogon shall give you a warmer kiss." She wrinkled her nose. "You've soiled yourself. Take your gold and go, and see that the Wise Masters hear my message."

(ASOS, Dany IV)

"Ah, there is the thorn in the bower, my queen," said Hizdahr zo Loraq. "Sad to say, Yunkai has no faith in your promises. They keep plucking the same string on the harp, about some envoy that your dragons set on fire."

"Only his tokar was burned," said Dany scornfully.

(ADWD, Dany VI)

So Dany will burn the Blackfyre pretender, and everyone will be happy and cheer to see the rightful queen, the last Targaryen, Slayer of Lies, Breaker of Chains, Insert-The-Million-Other-Titles-Here. Right?

Except how would she prove that he’s an imposter? She can’t exactly roll up with an Alt Shift X video pointing out that Illyrio has said some weird things about Aegon. Is Varys going to have an attack of remorse and explain his whole plot, complete with Blackfyre family tree? Or maybe she’ll explain that she went on a vision quest in Qarth and Aegon totally matches up with the vague symbolism that a bunch of drugged up warlocks told her before she set them on fire?

I don’t think it’s going to matter if Aegon is fake or not, and we might never find out either way. The mystery of his identity isn’t his main narrative, and all of his significance to the story and to multiple other characters is removed if he’s proved to not be Aegon VI. Him being proved fake would just make this plotline a weird, unnecessary digression on Dany’s journey to being the righteous and true queen, his death just another #girlboss moment for her. That’s definitely going to be her perception of it, but once she reaches Westeros we won’t have to rely on only her POV of her actions. History is written by the winners, and no one’s going to miss that it’s a lot more convenient for Dany if the boy with a stronger claim than her turns out to have been fake all along. Arianne and the Dornish are definitely not going to take it lying down, and neither is Jon. He’s not going to fall in love with the woman who murdered his brother, especially by burning him alive. ADWD has plenty to say about how much he hates death by fire.

“Men say that freezing to death is almost peaceful. Fire, though … do you see the candle, Gilly?”

She looked at the flame. “Yes.”

“Touch it. Put your hand over the flame.”

Her big brown eyes grew bigger still. She did not move.

“Do it.” Kill the boy. “Now.”

Trembling, the girl reached out her hand, held it well above the flickering candle flame.

“Down. Let it kiss you.”

Gilly lowered her hand. An inch. Another. When the flame licked her flesh, she snatched her hand back and began to sob.

“Fire is a cruel way to die. Dalla died to give this child life, but you have nourished him, cherished him. You saved your own boy from the ice. Now save hers from the fire.”

(ADWD, Jon II)

Funnily enough, the same fire as a kiss imagery from Dany burning the envoy’s tokar appeared there too, also used as a threat. 

If he is not a kinslayer, he is the next best thing. [...] What sort of man can stand by idly and watch his own brother being burned alive?

(ADWD, Jon IX)

So Aegon’s death is not going to be a triumphant victory for Dany, after which everyone proclaims her the true queen. It’s likely to just solidify opposition to her, from every corner of Westeros. If it happens during a summit or negotiation, it’d be even more of a tragic parallel to Robb and the Red Wedding; the young king murdered off of the battlefield, at an event where he was promised safe conduct. Featuring Dany in the role of Roose Bolton and Tywin Lannister. Tywin’s already died a very undignified death, and Roose Bolton looks to be on his way too.

I think the tragedy of Aegon’s death would also hit harder if we see it through Jon, as a main POV, or at least the aftermath of it. Jon was integral at the Dragonpit meeting after all, and probably would be at a peace summit or negotiation between the leaders of Westeros and the invading force.

In ASOS, there’s a curious lack of Jon’s reaction to Robb’s death. We see his initial reaction to Bran and Rickon’s supposed deaths when he gets back to Castle Black, but he doesn’t even know about Robb’s death until Stannis arrives to defeat the wildlings, and we’re not shown the moment he’s told about it. He barely even thinks about it, not even a mention until he meets with Stannis on top of the Wall:

“Your brother was the rightful Lord of Winterfell. If he had stayed home and done his duty, instead of crowning himself and riding off to conquer the riverlands, he might be alive today. Be that as it may. You are not Robb, no more than I am Robert.”

The harsh words had blown away whatever sympathy Jon might have had for Stannis. “I loved my brother,” he said.

(ASOS, Jon XI)

And that’s literally all we get that is specifically about Robb’s death - the rest of Jon’s chapters, his guilt and grief is about the loss of all his siblings, and the idea of stealing Winterfell from them. It doesn’t really make sense for him to not think about it at all, considering how close they were. This reminds me of how he has a non-reaction to Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion as well, as talked about in this post by @agentrouka-blog. Part of this could be Jon’s tendency towards denial and suppression of all his feelings, but it also points to GRRM explicitly obscuring his reaction - perhaps because he’s going to explore it in the wake of another brother dying a very similar death? One that this time he’ll be there to witness?

[usernamesuggestionsarefunny]

Am I the only one who hates alternative timelines as a concept, plot device, fucking everything? Am I the only one who doesn´t find them exciting? Don´t get me wrong, I am excited for the next phase, but it is only because of the characters and in spite of the concept.

1. It ruins time travel as a concept because it is such an easy cop out around the problem of paradoxes, and makes all reunions with family members or whatever meaningless because THOSE ARE NOT “YOUR” LOVED ONES, they are the loved ones of another you from another reality. That might not mean anything to some but is a dealbreaker for me (Which is yet another reason why Steve´s ending is bizarre as fuck, not “romantic”, dude, there is another version of yourself frozen in the artic!! He is the one who actually kissed that woman you are dancing with, not yourself!!! You don´t care? Ok...). It also erases the stakes of maybe accidentally changing something by traveling to the past, etc. Basically, it is not even traveling to the past per say, it is traveling to a COPY of your past. Am I the only one who thinks this is super lame? 

2. Multiverse shenanigans are dull in comparison to other potential invented threats such as alien species with complex motives, gods, deities with different powers, villains that don´t die after the first movie, I don´t know, come up with something better than “another me from an alternative reality that is basically the same save for these changes uwu, also, the only alternative place in this big-ass alternative universe that we get see is earth, the basic bitch of places uwu”. Have some imagination, gee, the universe itself is big enough for countless undiscovered wonders and yet we need a “multiverse” to make things interesting? It is like the Loki show nerfing the infinity stones to make the TVA seem more badass. Since you can´t come up with new ideas from inside the giant full-of-aliens-and-titans universe you have, you can simply “raise the stakes” by using something “cool sounding” such as multiple realities without even having to come up with anything interesting, isn´t that great??!!?!! Even if universe of madness ends up being good, I am going to bet the “alternative universes” concepts will end up being not so vital after all, nothing that couldn´t have been substituted for aliens or monsters from the same-ass gigantic universe (Need I reming you that the universe is huge? Like, not even in Marvel, in real life).

3. I don´t like different versions of the same characters existing at all unless there is a rational explanation for that in-universe (Example: Miles Morales became inspired after the death of Peter Parker and decided to become spiderman himself after another radioactive spider bit him), no alternative universes needed, only maybe a cool backstory for the radioactive spiders. Having different spidermen from different universes and different looks that have the same name for some reason is weird as fuck. There, I said it. Watching different spidermen interact will not be cool, it will be weird as fuck I repeat. Too bizarre to suspend my disbelief. If it is true that Tobey Mc Guire will work with Tom Holland, I bet that movie will be filled with annoying jokes that reference the original Spiderman trilogy more than substance or a good plot.

Most of all, I don´t need your dumb ass what ifs, Marvel, I wanted a consistent and satistying single storyline, but you fucked that up and now your “big bads” are as disapointing.