#both are going to emotionally destroy me if included in this season

[natp20]

guys can you come pick me up i'm scared

[riverofrainbows]

Ok so the black book episode.

I finally watched it.

It could have done with a double feature. There was so much going on. And it worked, emotionally, but it was a lot. The plot was so fucking condensed.

Fuck when they do something they do it right, don't they. The deaths of the three were fucking harrowing. No fanfare or dramatics, just realistic and dead.

I'm so goddamn impressed by Sophie playing 12 different people. I love her. I know she gets a lot of recognition, but she deserves some more. Holy shit her voice training skills must be off the rocks.

I thought they would have hired Quinn for the police officer, he looked kind of similar, and then i thought it was him and Tara. But with Sophie being on phone theatre, of course Nate was free.

I wonder how fast Sterling figured it out. I think about half a minute into the room with Nate. The rest was just playing along, and hesitating whether to actually go through with the con, while setting up an outcome for both decisions. Usually i really don't think he has it all immediately figured out, but usually he isn't at quite that high alert, and the target isn't that clear and big a deal.

It really should have been a double feature, or a movie length episode. There needed to be more time, to really lay it all out.

I like what they used as the contents and method of collection for the black book. I watched another show (can't remember which) where it was some unsourced collection of various evil people, and that was soo shady and frustrating.

I've come across a bunch of Sterling/Nate shipping by now, and I'm starting to agree. Like that is genuinely a love story for the ages. However i am firmly convinced that it is entirely mental and intellectual. I just really can't see them having any relationship type. Not that Sterling wouldn't fuck Nate but that's just Mark Sheppard's insane gay flirting aura. But mentally, those two are having mind sex, and are tragic soulmate lovers. Also because they have divorced vibes. I'm convinced of the headcanon that they were in a couple friendship driven/held up by their wives socialising, and played 6d time travel chess mind games over barbecue (aka having a mind sex love affair right in front of the salad) (but really low key because they wouldn't actually cheat on their wives).

The way the con failed and they died was really realistic and well done and really stressed me out :(((( not over that.

Also the way this confirmed the Hardison-Eliot ship (platonic or romantic) was. Very much canon thank you. Not to mention the "till my dying day". Like hello??? Also the ice cave and rundown job train scene having already confirmed the depth of Eliot-Parker's bond earlier in the season. (But toxic masculinity and being a show from 2009 impeding the Hardison-Eliot part till the last episode/them dying (rituals to touch other mens skin etc etc flashbacks to superhell love confession sth sth bury your gays (except they lived bitch)).

Also the setup with "do you think you could live a normal life" earlier in the season. Also², annotation to that one: Eliot talking about having to help Hardison's restaurant, as if Hardison didn't buy it for him.

I liked the part about order vs justice. Very 'keeping the peace with an abusive person causing more harm than upsetting status quo'.

It's a good ending for a show. Seriously, it's both end of an era and not destroying everything that was before. Still glad we got leverage redemption tho obviously.

Parker being the new mastermind is great

Her monologue ajsbsjjd. I was cackling so bad. It was a fantastic way to really cinematographically tie up the show though, and she is great for the job. Both Hardison (who already has enough to do) and Eliot (who really doesn't like leading) always get way too deep into stuff, including their respective jobs for it, which is one reason why they're so good though don't get me wrong.

Why did she have slicked back hair with no bangs, and weird eyeshadow :( Awful 1/10. One point for her clearly thinking she needs to put on hair gel for stepping into a Nate role for a con, like that is exactly a logic she would have.

Eliot's blue tinted glasses, love it.

I like that they're not having one of the guys do it just for misogyny reasons, and that at the same time her doing it is very well supported and set up by their characterisations, and not as some sort of disrespectful shoehorned girlboss feminism move. Which ends up with a woman being the new mastermind being actually well done too. Because they never do annoying stereotypes at leverage, and thank fuck for that.

I love that Sterling was there for the last episode. Also, i swear, getting used by Nate for a con (while getting something out of it himself) is a kink thing for him. It happens genuinely almost every goddamn time we see him, while he knows and actively plays along.

I want to see more of Sophies telephone theatre :(

How the fuck did they fake the car accident, they should have shown sth on it.

Only because i knew very securely that they were fine did i not get completely freaked out at Hardison lying there on the ground. And i never ever want to see Eliot gargle up blood ever again. :((((

I was 100% convinced that Parker can hold him with just one hand, i was so shocked. Honestly one of the first clues from the story itself that it was fake. Yes i have that much trust in her. Second clue was the balloon.

No actually, first clue was Nate looking at the cameras. Can't remember which first clue came first in the episode.

I thought Nate gave Sterling something when he distracted him from the trio, and clearly Sterling also thought so, he probably took like several seconds to check if he had gotten anything slipped into his pockets afterwards.

I wish we could have seen more of the "you lied to us?" conversation at the end. Not that that wasn't the tldr of it or needed change, but i want to see the whole conversation.

The tunnels were great. I again wish to have gotten even a crumb more information on that.

It might have done well, and I'm just throwing out ideas here, to be a two parter episode, they could have really used some extra space. The plot was really condensed.

It was q good episode, and a very good ending, something oh so rare in tv shows.

[hello-nichya-here]

YOU LIKE TVD TOO?????????? WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SHIP? FAVORITE CHARACTER?

Yup. The easiest way to convince me to watch anything is to say "There's vampires in it."

My favorite ship is Delena - but Katherine's fucked up ot3/love triangle with both Damon and Stefan is genuinely great and she is my favorite character. Shocking, I know. Picking my favorite season is hard, because I genuinely feel all four seasons were great.

"But Nichya, the show has eight seasons"

Like I said, all FOUR seasons are great.

Season one has all that great build up + has Damon being a full on villain, which I adore.

Season two has Katherine and Klaus ruinning everyone's day (including each other's) and vampire!Caroline which everyone knows is best Caroline.

Season three is all about Elena falling HARD for Damon while feeling guilty as fuck for it because she's still hung up on Stefan - who is out there being an evil, chaotic bastard with Klaus - and that kind of juicy, character-driven soap-opera style drama is 1000% my thing.

And finally, season four has Elena, and everyone around her, having to adapt to the fact that shes's a vampire now, and the Salvatore being all angsty because there's a possibility that Elena breaking up with Stefan to be with Damon was NOT a result of her genuine feelings but weird magical shenanigans and no matter what the truth actually is, it will inevitably end with one of them emotionally destroyed.

I'm gonna cheat and say that I believe season 2 had the superior writting, while season four is the one I enjoy watching the most. But honestly, all the four seasons feel like one huge season to me, which is really what every show should be like.

Like, can you IMAGINE if The Vampire Diaries had kept going for four more years, largely relying on uninteresting villains and bringing back the Stefan/Elena/Damon love triangle even though it was clearly over by that point? Thank God THAT didn't happen...

[gorgxoxus]

My Wishlist for Bridgerton season 3 Part Two: (and did it come true)?

Spoilers ahead for the book/ whatever we’ve been fed by Netflix/ Shondaland:

In no particular order:

1. Pen and Eloise conversations/ makeup including all the stuff to do with Cressida pretending to be Lady Whistledown/ trying to get the bounty money. Eloise talking to Colin when he knows Pen is LW, and helping them come back to each other. Pen and Eloise hug (that will emotionally destroy me if it happens).

This was exactly right!!

2. A conversation or two between Pen and the Queen. Maybe even a Pen/ Colin asking Queen Charlotte for a quick marriage license that leads to some sort of LW conversation after Colin knows. Queen Charlotte giving Pen the choice to continue as LW, before any announcement to the ton.

Pen wrote a letter to The Queen telling her it was her and asked for an opportunity to speak. The Queen after hearing it, lets her continue!!!!! It was better than I predicted!

3. More Featherington sister and mother chaos/ comedy. The back half of the season will be stressful so I want them to break it up with whatever fun things they say/ get up to.

They had less scenes than I wanted them to! But Prudence getting upset about the attention on Pen actually broke my heart a little. Their ball that Pen bankrolled was amazing!

4. Colin’s love confession ‘I love you for our future and our past, the children we will have etc’

WE DIDNT GET THAT 😭. But the mirror scene, the multiple I love yous, and the speech at the end were amazing.

5. Mama Bridgerton getting courted and gardened. And whatever drama that will bring between Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton.

It was amazing to see her courted, I hope it continues. And Violet and Agatha had some of the nicest conversations in the whole season I loved it.

6. Will being able to keep his club

Unfortunately not

7. This is not a wish but a thought ‘is Pen going to stop because she’s engaged and that’s when the bounty goes out because she’s stopped writing for a few weeks or longer’?

The Queen is too petty, but she does stop for a bit because she is engaged.

8. When Pen and Colin have their fight when Colin finds out she’s LW, Pen grabs Colin for the kiss and we get gender swapped iconic Jess kiss. A second steamier carriage scene.

It was more of a classic kiss where they both go in, and its later. Also poor Pen asking where Colin is going, I believe he was out for a walk because in the book he loves them.

9. I know it may end with pregnancy at the end of season 3 because of the heir situation but ending the season with Pen and Colin going travelling

Just babies (the heir no less) but it was a pretty perfect ending.

10. Cressida finding out Pen is LW and confronting her. It’s such a good scene in the book. And Pen having to tell Colin about it and Colin being pissed because ‘it was bound to happen after you put out the pamphlet saying it wasn’t her after she confessed to be LW’

YES THIS WAS EVERYTHING.

11. Hyacinth saying something iconic about LW because she had some cracking lines in the book about her.

Nope, but she had some cracking lines about Gregory.

12. Colin being stressed about Pen writing letters.

This didn't go anywhere, why was it said?

13. So many frank discussions between Pen and Colin because I trust Shondaland to deliver emotional, long, beautiful discussions between the main characters. And even between Pen and Eloise.

Colin and Pen had less conversation than I expected, but Pen gave it good to Colin when he was angry about Whistledown. I loved her speeches about what she wrote, her power she gets from it and that she stood on her two feet and said she wanted to continue. Pen and Eloise had amazing conversations, they are both powerful and smart women.

14. Colin declaring his love and intentions and care for Penelope to Lady Featherington.

YES! GREAT SCENE!! NO NOTES.

15. Colin delicately getting Pen down from the carriage at the start of episode 5 because I hate that she fell in the book because he was so fast and aggressive at getting her down. Colin and Pens discussion as they walk towards Bridgerton house where Pen is like wtf and says something about accepting the proposal. And when the get to Pen and Colin’s new house, a proper kneeled proposal with the ring.

We didnt see her get out of the carriage, but I'm taking it as show canon that she didnt fall. There is no discussion and Pen looks so stressed. The ring scene happens at Featherington house and is not kneeled, but is so cute.

16. Pen and Colin in Colin’s room or Pen’s room

NO! but that's ok.

17. Francesca’s wedding and introduction to Micheal.

YES!! MICAELA STERLING I DIED! IT WAS PERFECT. NO NOTES. SO EXCITED FOR WHATS TO COME THERE.

18. Something queer happening with Eloise and Cressida and a continue of their friendship despite all the bounty storyline’s and how messy that will become. Cressida and Lord Debling?

I didn't like the route they took Cressida, I hope we see her again. You can have Peneloise and Creloise, i'm sure of it.

19. A conversation between Lord Debling and Penelope (I think I’ve seen a spoiler that this is happening) where he congratulates her on getting what she always wanted. Imagine if things didn’t happen between Colin and Pen the carriage and Debling pulled out of the proposal. That would’ve been so scandalous for Penelope and the Featheringtons if she didn’t get a proposal at all.

Lord Debling dipped!

20. Masquerade ball in episode 8 and introduction to Sophie.

There was a mention of the Masquerade ball to come!

21. LW continues, and ideally I don’t want a ton announcement at the ball by Colin like in the book? But we’ll see. Something in the epilogue that tells the audience about the future of LW.

YOURS TRULY, PENELOPE BRIDGERTON. IS NICOLA/ PEN GOING TO NARRATE THE STORY NOW?!!! Also, I love that she ended her letters to Colin Yours Truly, Penelope that is so cute.

22. Colin’s journals, Pen reading more of Colin’s journey, the beginning of writer Colin and published Colin?

No scenes of her reading the journals in part two (she did mention it once or twice), but we did start to see writer Colin and published Colin.

So much shit is going to go down!! I’m so excited.

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

loved this week's Disco episode!!! i knew there were gonna be Time Travel Shenanigans from seeing a vague spoilers but honestly it worked even better than i thought. it took a lot of inspiration from prior time travel episodes (Voyager's Shattered for one) but still felt new enough to be interesting. Rayner's also really growing on me, he's never going to be a star character or anything but i love including him to show how far everyone's come from season 1 and his moments with Michael were all really nice. and Michael in general this episode was so wonderfully written and acted. letting two versions of the same person meet at the beginning and end of their journey will never not make me go insane. also while i generally liked s4, i could tell the writing was a bit thin or unedited in places (i think it happened to most shows' writing during the height of the pandemic) and i'm so glad that s5 seems to have gotten better on that front. both the humor and emotionality just really worked in this episode and i felt like it did everything it needed to without overstaying its welcome.

my only real complaint was that. of course we're doing another "if you don't succeed the Federation will be destroyed!!!" plot that we've done for (checks watch) every season of this show. and every season of Picard. and Prodigy. it's not surprising but i'm wary of how those sorts of plots tend to get weaker as a season goes on and how it tends to end in Big Action Sequences over more meaningful character led endings. i'm still hopeful about the season's direction and so far it's probably my favorite Disco season (though that might be recency bias) but i wish we could have committed to a lower-stakes plot.

oh and i almost forgot the best part of the episode – SO MANY LINUS SCENES.

[notjanine]

i did not make my reading goal of 69 books this year. life was crazy and my brain was bad. but i did read 53 books, and of those, i liked 50- good hit rate! favorites--in no particular order--under the cut

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez - black lesbian vampire period piece starting in the 19th century (iirc) through the 20th and into the future. good compelling stuff.

Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer - a delightful natural history of mosses. they're more interesting and cool than you think they are. i can't wait to go out and look at some with the loupe i was given for christmas.

Sorcerer to the Crown and The True Queen by Zen Cho - british wizardry stuff, but good. if i hadn't already known, there is no way i would have guessed that these were written by the same person who wrote Black Water Sister. darling she has the range. Sorcerer was surprisingly hilarious and they are both such fun. whimsical, but not overly so. i hope she writes a third, but either way, she's got me, i'll read anything from her.

Rocks by Jan Zalasiewicz - yes, this is about literal, actual rocks. i read it during a little geology phase early in the year. it's rocks. yes. but... it reads like a fairy tale? idk. i usually tune out when it comes to geologic timescales, but this guy made even that interesting to me. it's surprisingly lovely. and very short.

You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Janina Matthewson and Jeffrey Cranor - i had mixed expectations for this one. a podcast spinoff book could never be good, could it? if it's my favorite podcast, is it more likely to be good or more likely to be extremely disappointing? but a title like that... visceral, pulling you in (YOU feel it, YOU FEEL it), all phonemes spoken at the front of your mouth like it's meant to be whispered... oh. oh it's good. i think this is the only book i read all in one sitting this year. the alternate history in this fictional universe has been worming its way into my brain for years, and finally learning more was so compelling and satisfying. (note: read this book with Stephen Rennicks' score for the little stranger as background music, would recommend.) and i love that the stories told within this universe are all able to stand alone, including this one, but there're always enough details (big and small) to tie them together. gosh. i haven't listened to the new season of within the wires yet, but i look forward to it emotionally destroying me when i do :)

Provecho by Edgar Castrejon - vegan mexican cookbook that fuuuuuucks. the writing is so straightforward and warm, the photos are plentiful and gorgeous, and the recipes are mostly very approachable. however, there were a few surprises that made me gasp out loud. amazing

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - this is one of those books i was reluctant to read because i didn't think it could live up to the hype. it does tho

Certain Dark Things and Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - i do not like noir! and she made me like it twice!

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - i had only seen the 2010 tv adaptation of this (bonkers cast). the original ending is way funnier

The Bone Ship's Wake by RJ Barker - last book in the tide child series :( i will definitely read and enjoy the whole trilogy again someday. fantasy pirates on ships made of dragon bones and also there are freaky bird creatures who control the weather. plus like politics and war and stuff. interesting subversions of typical white western cultural norms. and cool monsters. a lot to like in these books. (playlist for reading this series is heavy on the assassins creed black flag score, and daniel pemberton's for king arthur)

Beast at Every Threshold by Natalie Wee - when she said This body isn't a trial run for your real life... Make your hands useful or you'll be sorry....

The Library of the Dead and Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by TL Huchu - i don't understand why these aren't classified as YA, but i'm glad they're not, or i wouldn't have read them. street-smart teenage girl in near-future edinburgh talks to ghosts and solves mysteries. sometimes it's gross. sometimes it's silly. there's a vibe and it's enjoyable

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones - he does one thing i really, really hate in this book. but i understand why. other than that thing, it is a blast. a literary take on the slasher genre. gets meta, but not annoyingly so. it was just the right level of scary for me (i.e., i had to stay up late to finish it so i could be DONE with it, but the scariness didn't persist past that).

plus some honorable mentions:

I'm Waiting for You by Kim Bo-Young - short story collection bookended by parallel stories about a couple separated in time. the first half wrecked me. the second didn't. i fell out of love in the middle. this book will always remind me of that.

A Marvellous Light and A Restless Truth by Freya Marske - victorian (?) era fantasy that's like 30% smut. not bad. but i mostly like them because i read the first one very soon after Sorcerer to the Crown, and in my head, they are in the same universe. delightful.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers - the usual Becky Chambers stuff. thinly veiled personal philosophy with a veneer of sci-fi bullshit. it's pretty sweet tho

ngl my book completion rate steadily decreased as the year progressed; most of these are from before i started my internship in august. i have no idea what to expect in my life next year, so i'm not even going to make a reading goal. i will, however, keep my self-imposed rule that no more than 25% of the books i read in a year can be written by white men. (i have read wayyy fewer mediocre and shitty books since implementing this policy.) i might even try no more than 25% white authors full stop. we'll see. i'm excited to see what books i'll find next year! i wonder if i'll knock out all of the unread books in my apartment before i move...

[hectormcfilm]

Loki season 2

This is the first review for a season of television I have done since creating this blog, I have watched multiple shows since arriving at Uni including, Sex education, Ahsoka and Castlevania Nocturne but I never felt the urge to write about them as both Ahsoka and Nocturne were quite mediocre and unmemorable for me, not allowing much to talk about and the newest season of sex education I actively disliked and was fed up with the show by the end and didn't even want to write about it.

Sadly this first review won't be positive. I remember watching Loki season 1 back when it first aired and enjoying it week to week but having some problems like the romance of Loki and Sylvie and the idea the TVA controls everything, taking away the idea of free will and choice in the marvel cinematic universe, I had problems but still thought it was decent and one of the better Disney+ shows. However season 2 has been a huge let-down for me.

To start off with I want to discuss the character of Loki himself. Back in the avengers and Thor films Loki was cunning, conniving and very charismatic, changing from completely selfish and evil to someone more caring, still untrustworthy and selfish but wanting to do the right thing and willing to die to save the universe. In the Loki show he has lost most of his charisma and cunningness, feeling more generic and less memorable. The teasers for season 2 seemed to be implying Loki would return to a more villainous or at least morally grey character having lines like, "You're the God of mischief " or "You're the villain" but Loki has stayed very soft and generic. He has turned into a more passive character who is focused on his friends over the fate of the multiverse. The show also barely uses his powers in a creative way, opting for him to use knives, hand to hand combat and occasionally a burst of green light despite him being a god of mischief, anytime he does use some trickery it is awesome but these moments are few and far between, wasting his potential.

One of the main problems I have had with season 2 is very personal and other people may not understand it but I just find it incredibly disengaging, there are long dialogue scenes of exposition about the TVA or Kang or the timeline that always feel dull and dragged out and lots of conversations in the first 2 episodes are confusing and repetitive as no characters knows what is going on, making it very hard to follow. The show focuses a lot on dialogue and worldbuilding but dialogue scenes aren't really shot in an engaging way, there is nothing special about the cinematography in general.

Another big issue for me happens a lot in multiversal stories, the stakes are so high I can't get emotionally engaged, this story is trying to save the fate of the multiverse and save every branch but we don't know anyone in these branches, we don't spend any time in the different timelines so we can't get invested. We are told about there being infinite lives to save but don't meet these people, the cast is very small for such a large scale plot. The show tries to counter this issue by making the focus on saving Loki's friends but none of them are well developed or interesting, OB is used for comic relief, Sylvie goes through a strange arc of denying helping multiple times despite knowing the stakes and both Hunter B15 and Cassey (who's names I had to google) are lacklustre and one note. This means I am unengaged with the main characters and the overall stakes as they all feel underdeveloped or ignored. Most scenes with just the side characters talking like Hunter and Mobius or the TVA leaders really don't interest me and usually lead nowhere, feeling redundant.

One final issue I have is Kang. Kang as a character still hasn't interested me in the MCU after 3 attempts now, the first one was a good performance but more of a plot device then a character, the main villain of Ant Man Quantamnaia is a conventional villain wanting to destroy everything but is defeated by ants destroying his agency or anything intimidating about him and whilst again having a good performance isn't any better then your average. Then this new Kang in season 2 is unique but I don't like Major's delivery on a lot of lines, trying to make him overly quirky and he dies again so easily. Kang has started to feel so forced because Marvel wants to generate hype and intrigue around him.

The two aspects in the show I will praise are the editing and the music. In both season 1 and 2 the music steals the show for me, it is so powerful and heavy, adding an intense atmosphere to every scene and it is so distinct to any other music used in the MCU giving the show distinct audio identity. To add on, there are some very well edited scenes like OB's introduction where it is splicing between timelines and any scene of Loki being torn through different times is very well edited. Similarly, the show looks great, all the production design is identical to season 1 but still a fun aesthetic, the CGI is all well done which should be a standard for such a massive company but is now a shock in superhero projects, especially after The Flash and Thor love and thunder.

Overall this season has really unengaged me, reflecting my overall growing disinterest and dislike in Marvel as a brand and this will probably be my last marvel show since this is the first I've watched since Moon knight anyway. Granted the final episode isn't out and could change my mind on a few issues.

[eclipsebyler]

BYLER FIC RECS PT 2

Okay, so I'm here with another part! Compiling all my recent favorite reads (with commentary this time because I'm very normal about byler fics...) Anyway, sharing is caring because my bookmarks are becoming longer. So here you go.

• We Will All Go Together When We Go by perexcri

The Apocalypse, romcom Byler fic! Ongoing, chaptered, 30k words so far. I know I've rec this in a recent post but I'm including it here again because I LOVE and enjoyed everything in this fic, down to Byler's characterisation, esp Mike's, and their playful yet tensioned dynamics. It's so chefs kiss. There's enough amount of they-get-stuck-in-the-upside-down suspense, comedy, and slow burn fluff. Highlight of this fic is that Will has a gun and Mike has a flashlight. That's all you have to know to give it a read.

baby, we're perfect by bookinit

A fresh take on established byler relationship! Oneshot, 16k words. I don't know how to describe this glorious fic without it being a spoiler so you just have to read it. The Fluff and Angst are both in extremes, you've been warned. It made me cry, for real. Had to stare at a wall for a few moments because of some scenes. Like the title says, it was PERFECT. A devastatingly beautifully written work I owe this author my life for what they did in this fic.

i'd make a deal with god by smoosnoom

A fix-it fic for vol2 featuring Castle Byers and Rain kiss. Will attempting to rip the bandaid off and Mike not letting him. Oneshot, 15k words. Anything by this author has me in a chokehold and a puddle of feelings, seriously. Their fix it series is a MASTERPIECE. The way they write Will's POV here absolutely destroyed me. It encompasses his story so painfully and beautifully and just everything about him is so— I badly want it to be canon he deserves the BEST. And might I add that the way they showcased the Byers-Hopper family bond here is everything I adore. Please if you haven't read this, you should.

make me your future history by andiwriteordie

Byler through the years, childhood friends to lovers fic! Oneshot, 10.9k words. I am absolutely a sucker for childhood promises being fulfilled (and broken) till they grow up so I ADORE this fic so much. Not to mention this author is one of my favorites and they carry the byler ao3 tag on their back and always deliver the BEST fics. There's a lot of angst and also a lot of fluff and it's something I can just reread again and again and again and won't get tired of it. It deserves more reads and love!

Gotta Be A Strange Twist of Fate by PoeticPatron

The fantasy D&D Byler fic! Oneshot, 26k words. Another fic I'm rec-ing again because it deserves more recognition. I really, really enjoyed and adored reading the adventures of the party in a fantasy action setting and the way the author incorporated the D&D lore here was so good. This fic was so wonderfully written and sweet in all the right amounts for friendships and romance. The Paladin and the Cleric being soulmates against all odds and prophecies? Say no more!

A Darker Timeline by egg98

The au where everyone stopped believing Will was alive and he was stuck in the Upside Down for three years and only came back to the real world in Season 4 timeline. Ongoing, chaptered, 24k words so far. Like the title says, it's A Darker Timeline, can't emphasize that enough, so much trauma and horror is delved in this work especially for Will, but also the party. The author's writing style is so hauntingly captivating- every chapter leaves me at the edge of my seat. I am so hooked with this 'what if' scenario and this unique, creative concept because it opens a lot of possibilities and changes to the characters and the plot! Will especially with his UD abilities and his personality.. beware of a grim and more badass Will plus emotionally scarred party. It's written so WELL so you should give it a try! (It's more on the psychological horror side though, the romance aspect is very slow burn.)

the boyfriend problem by RomeoWrites

The fic where the Wheelers (especially Ted) thinks Mike and Will have been boyfriends since forever. Oneshot, 15k words. Who would've thought I'd read a fic where Ted of all people don't have a heteronormative view of romance? I very much enjoyed reading him embarrassing Mike every chance he gets, this fic gave me so much JOY it was such a funny and sweet and fluffy read! If you're looking for some lighthearted, family dynamics and eventual getting together of two oblivious gay teenagers— this is the fic!

The Dad Who Stepped Up by MagikMask

Hopper and Will bonding fic (and of course, Hopper being protective of Will especially when it comes to one Michael Wheeler). Oneshot, 7.8k words. I've been enjoying every Byers-Hopper or Wheeler family dynamics fic there is and it's even more enjoyable if Byler gets tangled up in it. This fic focuses more on Hopper trying his best to be a good dad to Will, but the Byler and Hopper parts of this fic gave me healing, so I have to rec it!

r/byler by danteapot

Mike Wheeler if he's on reddit, social media fic. Oneshot, 5k words. This fic was so fun and amusing to read and the social media aspect fitted so well, I could totally imagine Mike oversharing his problems online and asking for advices lmfao. Trust him to always talk about Will on every spaces and still not realize he's in love with him. He's just so oblivious and I love him for it.

i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this). by blackdeathmamba

Post S4 college roommates Byler and miscommunication trope fic! The miscommunication in question is just them accidentally kissing all the time and having different thoughts on it. Three chapters, completed, 16.8k words. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's one of the best and funniest work I've ever read. Byler are so disgustingly in love but they are also painfully oblivious about it. It's a competition on who's more of an idiot between them while you read through their POVs and it gave me immense joy and pain reading through it. I swear to God, these bitches are so gay, and this fic just showcased that. Please read it to brighten your day.

i need you more than anyone darling (you know that i have from the start) by friendstolovers

Instead of Byler getting murrayed, this is Byler getting Jonathaned fic (In a gentler and more subtle way as the tags says). Oneshot, 5.7k words. Mike finally comes to his overdue realisations (thanks to Jonathan) and attempts to climb bedroom windows to be romantic. They finally talk and confess and it's just the cutest and sweetest thing ever I swear.

without heart by aceoflanterns

Will Byers and the Upside Down (the mysteries between his connection to Vecna and his powers) fic. Completed, chaptered, 31k words. I am once again rec-ing this because I can't help go back to this fic when I need to read complex takes on Will surrounding vol2 and possible S5 plot! The author's writing style is one of the best and my personal favorites. It's art, a masterpiece, everything about it — down to the plot, the conversations, the characterisations, the family and friendship and romance dynamics. Even the Upside Down horrors with Vecna and the Mind Flayer and Will. How much Will's love for Mike and his love for everyone helped him (and their love for him, too.) Personally think this had lots of fresh creative takes, an interesting theory written in a fic. It's long and a worth it read! Totally in awe of this work.

i’d love to see me from your point of view by unidentifiedblackthorn

The fic where Byler gets high together and they let loose their disaster gay feelings. Oneshot, 8k words. Got me giggling, blushing, kicking my feet in the air, for real. The amount of cuddling, flirting and kissing this fic had made me sick (in the best way). I think Byler in Season 5 deserves a moment like this because of their decade long pent up feelings and pining, these gays deserve a break and just... be gay together. Anyways this fic was such a wonderful read! If you want to drown in fluff read this. (Also brb this author just posted a sequel to this fic, gotta read 🏃Probably gonna be a part of my next fic rec thread lol).

So that's it for now. Enjoy reading, everyone. And please if you guys have some recs feel free to drop me some, too! I need more fics to read.

[wonderpommey]

For someone like Roman “everyone wants to fuck me” Roy who couldn’t handle being confronted to someone’s genuine desire for him in previous seasons (the trainer relationship is transactional, Grace excites him when she wants someone else, he hates when Tabitha gets aroused). 

I think we kind missed that not being attacked by Gerri’s desire seems to create a safe space for him to develop a more reciprocal attitude. Is it because he thinks she won’t want him back or because it creates space for him to start craving reciprocity? That question is still up in the air. But certainly, this season moves away from the S2 pretend abuse from Gerri and has been a festival of words of affirmation from her “Great instincts, we have something going, visionary, well done”, as many self-esteem boosts that really don’t seem to turn him off. 

Propositioning her is a big escalation from their S2 stuff which didn’t involve her desire at all (the only evolution was around her consent), and unlike with Tabitha/Grace, sex isn’t something she asks for, so there’s no reason to offer.

His idea to “sleep with Laurie” is him going “alright I can see that you want that, maybe we can include him in our thing...” as long as I’m not getting left out.

The items initially are also about giving her something he thinks she wants and is being minxy about because Gerri historically is “this is unacceptable/get in that bathroom”. I think the dick pics were so interesting this season because they’re so much more than just unsolicited x rated items. Roman keeps facing pushback from Gerri sexually & emotionally and in the end he figures out a neat little way to make sure she cares about him; Putting his dick in her scissor hands, just like he did when he was considering teaming up with Kendall, giving her blackmail material, giving her prejudicial information. Forcing her to show him how she feels through protecting him or destroying him.

It’s awkward and misguided but there a definite move towards opening himself up to what Gerri wants and finding out how she feels about him. For Roman, that’s interesting because it’s so unusual. He’s never concerned himself with what his partners actually wanted. There’s also a move towards wanting care/affection from her “you love the boot because you love being kicked by it”, seems he’s starting to explore how untrue that can actually be with both Gerri and his dad. ETA - Someone also raised a good point to me and that’s how Roman has also revealed more and more of the sides of himself he may - rightly or wrongly - be ashamed of; “fuck Laurie” and the tattoo brothers thing. There’s a desperation to reach intimacy made even funnier by his dismissal of Shiv in episode 7 “Yeah I love people getting to know me”.

[bakasara]

head full with how much the theme of power balance is structurally at the heart of Buffy/Spike, no i won’t elaborate

SIKE! i’ll elaborate

The show deals recurrently with Buffy’s challenging relationship with her power: her fear of overpowering those she loves, her tendency toward punishing herself for having power, her fear that being vulnerable or a little selfish is a failure to uphold her power as expected, and the constant threat of gendered male-on-female abuse as she navigates girlhood and then young womanhood. This theme is staged often in the writing of her romantic/sexual relationships. E.g., her first ever sexual experience literally makes Angel derail completely and fall back to darkness. From her perspective, she both gets gendered abuse for it (having become soulless, he demeans and derides her for being vulnerable about losing her virginity to him) and proof that she wields a dangerous power (her sexuality, expressed freely, destroys him).

When it comes to Buffy/Spike, interrogating power imbalance is a fundamental part of their narrative that at various points explores nightmarish obsession, lack of boundaries, abuse of power, predatory entitlement... cast as triumph of evil. But by contrast their relationship, throughout, centrally romanticizes power balance as an ideal to tend to – which, reached, makes the pair mystic soulmates and beacons of good. And it’s one major reason it resonates with me, so let’s talk about how I read the narrative in these lenses!

Spike and Buffy have symmetrical arcs around power imbalance in the relationship in s5-6. Initially, in s2, they are matched mortal enemies. He wants to kill her, she wants to kill him, neither manages to definitively outsmart, out-luck, or out-power the other. A chipped Spike, however, having been forced to spend some time around the Scooby gang, gets a crush on Buffy. It’s based largely around eroticizing that idea of being an evenly matched pair (as per his fantasies) and it’s subtextually fuelled by his attraction to Buffy’s heroic goodness (a recurrent implicit suggestion he buries under the bad boy act, but which will be later confirmed in s7). Being a remorseless demon and, at that, one who has absolutely no idea how to navigate attachment, he starts stalking her, obsessively collects pictures and clothes of hers, he gets the Buffybot (to fuck and fight with), completely transgressing boundaries around her privacy. He’s every creep that’s ever stalked a woman, and to Buffy it represents the threat of him taking limitlessly and destructively from her.

But then something unexpected happens, as the narrative takes advantage of Spike’s character development and Buffy’s discomfort with herself to enforce a role reversal of sorts. In Intervention (5x18) Buffy tells Spike that the robot was disgusting, whereas keeping Dawn safe was a welcomed expression of affection… and Spike starts doing less of the former, and more of the latter. While he continues to be pulled towards limitless anger and hatred, he also starts to genuinely support Buffy emotionally more and being there for her as a means to express affection, as especially seen after she’s resurrected at the beginning of season 6. His relationship to her around this time and past the beginning of their sexual relationship in Smashed (6x09) becomes largely about boundless devotion on his part: letting her take what she wants, when she wants, how she wants, including with cruelty; being a “willing slave” to her, as he sings in Once More With Feeling (6x07). He enforces no boundaries around his bodily or mental integrity, and she, looking for someone on whom she can take out her shame of herself, becomes the one using and abusing him out of convenience, going to him for comfort yet treating him like her dirty secret and demeaning him. Buffy’s self-hatred tempts her to hurt him even when he’s demonstrating bouts of genuine effort to change for the better and even if continuing to call him sick and disgusting will curb his chances of developing a moral conscience. The dynamic now, to Buffy, represents the threat of misusing her power, the threat of taking limitlessly and destructively from another.

Importantly, though, one act of abuse isn’t framed as narrative retribution for the other, or as justifying the other (a gendered example of this would be when the narrative justifies the cheated girlfriend slapping the boyfriend). It’s acknowledged several times that both his stalkerish behavior and her continuous verbal abuse of him were wrong and ugly. So, rather than being about moral punishment to either the male or the female character, these arcs speak to a metaphorical exploration of gendered dangers of power imbalance. By contrast, they speak to wondering what “balance” means toward how (equal) power, reciprocity, and boundaries play into a constructive heterosexual relationship. In this narrative, that “balance” is romanticized well before s7, which is rather the time for payoff.

IMO this is best exemplified through Smashed. One of the most defining scenes between them, coming at the climax of mounting frustration and suggestiveness, is the one where they have sex for the first time. Tellingly, the sequence leading to sex starts with Buffy’s discovery that Spike’s chip no longer prevents him from hitting her, making their old promise to kill each other actionable again. The beginning of the sequence thus calls back heavily to their s2 status as sworn nemeses, where they became of interest to each other as opponents of matched power. They start hitting each other with escalating intensity until Buffy pushes Spike inside an empty building, at which point their long coming fight-to-end-all-fights takes center stage in the sequence, drawn out through cuts to Willow and Amy Madison being seduced by magic elsewhere. Violence here creates a continuity between the centrality that matched power had to their hate relationship, and the centrality it has to their love relationship: the momentum mounts as every punch, kick and throw given is matched by one received, without either Spike or Buffy keeping their dis/advantage for long, the fight continuously depicting the other as neither so weak as to crumble nor so strong as to annihilate, without end in sight... finally driving Buffy to kiss Spike passionately. (Please imagine me watching this sometime around 8-12 years old and having one HELL of a sexual awakening, bahaha). The action then becomes explicitly sexual, yet still just as visually defined by this reciprocity: they continue to throw and get thrown, give and receive (she pushes him against the wall, he pushes her, then again), with both of them, through and beyond the smokescreen that violence provides, experiencing a moment of shock/awe when he enters her, stopping the frantic kissing for a moment to stare in each others’ eyes with open vulnerability.

It’s a moment that subtextually takes this beyond an eroticization of matched power into a romanticization of it, and the sex resulting from this sequence is so supernaturally powerful that they literally bring down the building. (which may not go as hard as linked hands aflame with a holy fire born of their emotional bond to each other and trials faced together, but hey)

This sequence offers a great visual synthesis to much of the subtext in s5-6 that suggests Buffy’s genuine attraction to Spike, far from being at its core about a sadism or a masochism to her, is radicated in his appropriate support of her and in his unique capacity to meet her at her level. For an example of the former: “What you did for me, and Dawn... that was real.” said in Intervention (5x18) before kissing him on the lips in thanks. Exemplifying the latter: the dialogue during their throwdown in Smashed highlights the mirroring character conflict that's been subtextually tormenting them both and bringing them together, and suggests Spike is in a unique position to understand her alienation from humanity and from societal expectations of her:

SPIKE: Poor little lost girl. She doesn't fit in anywhere. BUFFY: Me? I'm lost? Look at you, you idiot! Poor Spikey. Can't be a human, can't be a vampire. Where the hell do you fit in? Your job is to kill the slayer. But all you can do is follow me around making moon eyes. [...] So really, who's screwed up? SPIKE: Hello! Vampire! I'm supposed to be treading on the dark side. What's your excuse?

In a similar vein, earlier in After Life (6x03) Buffy feels that, unlike her friends, Spike can handle the ugly truth about her depression and resentment:

SPIKE: Buff? ...Slayer? Are you okay? [...] Buffy, if you're in-- if you're in pain, or if you need anything, or if I can do anything for you... [...] I do know a thing or two about torment. BUFFY: I was happy. Wherever I was... I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time didn't mean anything, nothing had form, but I was still me, you know? And I was warm, and I was loved, and I was finished. Complete. [...] I think I was in heaven. And now I'm not. I was torn out of there. Pulled out, by my friends. Everything here is hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch... this is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that, knowing what I've lost... They can never know. Never.

The notion that her attraction to Spike isn’t about dealing pain is also later reflected, still in s6, by her words as she relinquishes the drive to abuse the power she has over him: “I'm using you. I can't love you. I'm just being weak and selfish... and it's killing me. I'm sorry, William.” (6x15 As You Were).

I’ve purposefully focused mostly on s2-6 so far because while in s5-6 power balance is romanticized as an ideal condition they’re both subtextually attracted to, it’s also something utterly unachievable. Unwilling and incapable of offering Spike support, the best Buffy can do was break things off with him. And it goes without saying that, with Spike incapable of setting or respecting personal boundaries, his attempted rape of Buffy marks the lowest point in his reform efforts as soulless, and the closest he comes to his former mindless cruelty.

In s7, however, these premises change as Buffy continues to grow into her ability to navigate adulthood and Spike chooses to get his soul back in response to his actions with the aim of succeeding at reform. With those premises, that ideal equality/healthy reciprocity becomes something they are both capable of working towards and help each other achieve.

Their reborn relationship is littered with images and dialogue that both continue Spike and Buffy’s framing as reciprocal/symmetrical, and contrast former failures to navigate power. Spike is established again and again as respecting Buffy’s space, material and figurative: he knocks, lingers on doorsteps, restricts proximity, goes to touch Buffy’s hair but draws back when she seems unsure, punches a bag (with Angel’s face on it lol) when he’s jealous rather than directing hatred onto Buffy, respects her decision to go on a date, assumes he’s going to take the chair when she asks him to spend the night, and so forth. It’s about respecting her space though – not about doing everything she asks or letting her get away with anything like before, and I love how this distinction is framed as crucial to rebuilding their affective relationship as meaningful and constructive. His ability to handle her when she is too much for others is re-established as important, with him being the only one who can get through to her and thinks she should still lead when she’s given up (7x20 Touched):

BUFFY: I don't feel very right. SPIKE: You're not fooling me. [...] You're not a quitter. [...] BUFFY: Fine. The stage is yours. Cheer me up. SPIKE: You're insufferable. BUFFY: Thank you. That really helped. SPIKE: I'm not trying to cheer you up. [...] Something pissed me off, and I just— "Unattainable." That's it. [...] You listen to me. [...] A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you. Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say, "I love you," it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman.

This special position in her life is so important, the narrative casts it as crucial to win against Evil itself (7x21 End of Days):

BUFFY: Do you see this? (holds up the magic Scythe) This may actually help me fight my war. This might be the key to everything. And the reason I'm holding it is because of you. Because of the strength that you gave me last night.

Buffy herself is called on by the narrative to rise up to her growth, and to the attainable (yet scary!) reciprocity that is now being offered. Part of what made their relationship toxic is that, while Spike offered her a shoulder to lean on in the past, she was too ashamed of herself to come out in his support. S7 insists on the notion that this hindered Spike’s growth and that Buffy is now capable and willing to offer that support.

See 7x09 Never Leave Me:

BUFFY: I don't hate like that. Not you, or myself. Not anymore. [...] You don't even know you. Was that you who killed those people in the cellar? Was that you who waited for those girls? SPIKE: There's no one else. BUFFY: That's not true. Listen to me. You're not alive because of hate or pain. You're alive because I saw you change. Because I saw your penance. SPIKE: Window dressing. BUFFY: Be easier, wouldn't it, if it were an act? But it's not. You faced the monster inside of you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man. And you can be. You are. You may not see it, but I do. I do. I believe in you, Spike.

In 7x14 First Date:

BUFFY: Spike has a soul now. That's what's gonna stop him from hurting people. [...] He can be a good man, Giles. I feel it. But he's never gonna get there if we don't give him the chance. GILES: Your feelings for him are coloring your judgement. [...] It doesn't matter if you're not physical with each other anymore. There's a connection. You rely on him, he relies on you. That's what's affecting your judgment.

She is shown to understand and embrace that decisions like putting faith in Spike’s ability to overcome the First Evil and freeing Spike of the chip are a commitment to sponsoring him – one that mutual reliance requires. Buffy’s support of Spike ends up being what gives him the strength to resist the First (7x11 Showtime):

THE FIRST (as Buffy, while torturing Spike): Dreaming of me again, aren't you? Poor Spike. He still thinks I believe in him. SPIKE (ignoring the First as she drones on): She will come for me. She will come for me. She will come for me...

Which cascades into more growth, leading him to confront his trauma with his mother – which the First was using to trigger Spike’s unwilling murders – and fully succeed in his reform. The season continues to reference reciprocity as the relationship grows stronger and healthier, with Buffy and Spike’s support of each other and emotional availability fostering trust and vulnerability between them in a virtuous circle. E.g., Buffy asking Spike to hold her in Touched (7x20), Spike finally admitting that being that close to someone was scary and the best thing that ever happened to him in End of Days (7x21).

In a mirror to the way Spike enabled Buffy to obtain the Scythe she needs to defeat Evil, Buffy enables Spike to become a champion for good – thus to literally wear the Amulet of the Champion and defeat Evil. So the narrative gives credit to both Buffy and Spike’s new beliefs and attitudes around navigating/striving for equality, depicting their building of healthy boundaries, trust, emotional availability/vulnerability, and reciprocity as keys to constructive growth and eventually as the key to defeat Evil – which I find pretty definitive as far as romanticizing reciprocity goes.

As a closing image… My favorite image of them that relates back to visualizing reciprocity in their new/healthy relationship is when they spend the night together in the abandoned home in Touched. Throughout the night, while the other pairs are connecting through sex, we see them looking into each other’s eyes in silence, both turned towards each other, heads level:

then, as they shift through the night, Buffy sleeping turned toward him, head in his chest, safe in his arms:

having shifted again, it’s now the other way around; she wakes up to find Spike turned towards her, head on her shoulder and chest, leaning into her as he sleeps on:

[yurimother]

How 'She-Ra' Delivered on Queer Promises and Helped Revolutionized LGBTQ Representation

DreamWorks's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has already cemented its place among the short but rapidly growing list of children’s animated shows with impactful LGBTQ representation. Showrunner Noelle Stevenson made it a point to push and fight for more diverse characters in every aspect from race, to personality, to sexual and gender identity. However, the finale of the GLADD Award-nominated program delivered on a revolutionary promise built up throughout all five seasons and completed one of the greatest queer narratives ever seen in children’s media.

As She-Ra progressed, Stevenson became more encouraged and inspired to pressure executives to allow more and more explicit LGBTQ characters and relationships. While ever-present in the series, season one only featured a background couple, Spinnerella (Noelle Stevenson) and Netossa (Krystal Joy Brown), and of course, the famous dance sequence between Catra (AJ Michalka) and Adora (Aimee Carrero). While this amount of representation is comfortably leagues ahead of the vast majority of cartoons, the show only upped the ante and the amount of representation from there. Season 2 introduced viewers to George (Chris Jai Alex) and Lance (Regi Davis), Bow's fathers. The series presents them in a normalized fashion as a happy gay couple in love that built a family together. Jacob Tobia's non-binary Double Trouble featured heavily in season four, making them one of the first non-binary characters in children's animation and one of the first to holding an integral role in the show, a major step in representing such identities.

The many achievements and strides She-Ra in LGBTQ representation featured in She-Ra will doubtlessly affect other projects in the industry and help further programs walk a similar path. However, the greatest queer story inShe-Ra is the spectacular series-long arc exploring the relationship and dynamics between de facto antagonist Catra and protagonist Adora. The former friends, who grew up together in the ranks of the Horde, turn enemies at the start of the series after Adora gains the power of She-Ra and betrays Catra, joining the Rebellion.

Fans quickly began speculating on the nature of Adora and Catra's relationship during season one, mainly because of the Princess Prom dance scene. After the young women shared a charged and sinister dance, fans quickly began supporting and analyzing "Catradora." The next three seasons would gradually and gracefully define both characters' complicated feelings for each other. Initially, Catra attempts to rationalize Adora's leaving as a relief or else forces herself to appear apathetic towards it. She continuously uses the excuse that she is no longer living under Adora's shadow to gradually build up more power, rising through the ranks of the Horde while stepping on those who helped her.

While Catra's motivations are appropriately layered and complex, it becomes clear that she is attempting to win approval, to be less alone than she has felt since Adora abandoned her. She seeks others' approval, including her abusive maternal figure, Shadow Weaver (Lorraine Toussaint), and the cruel Hordak (Keston John). However, Catra does not realize until confronted by Double Trouble's gut-wrenching and emotionally resonating analysis of her psyche. They inform Catra that the reason she is alone and abandoned, she pushes others away. The realization that her problems and loneliness are by her own doing combine with her guilt for betraying her allies Scorpia (Lauren Ash) and Entrapta (Christine Woods), leads Catra to an emotional breakdown.

Thee fifth and final season of She-Ra opens with Catra still plagued by loneliness and self-doubt. She starts to form a bond with Prime's captor Glimmer (Karen Fukuhara), seeing her guilt reflected by Glimmer's regret for trying to use the Heart of Etheria's power. Eventually, Catra learns about Adora's impending rescue attempt and the villainous Prime's plants to capture her once she arrives. Ultimately, all the feelings and circumstances surrounding Catra clash together as she remembers a childhood promise that she and Adora would always be friends. The revelation that she loves Adora finally causes Catra to turn and do "one good thing," protect Adora. She frees Glimmer to prevent Adora from walking into Prime's trap; thus, Catra becomes the Horde's prisoner.

Adora's character arch is much less tragic than Catra. The "frenemies" clash multiple times throughout the early seasons with an ever-shifting dynamic that hints at their intricate relationship and confused romantic feelings. But, at the end of season three, Catra's reckless plan against Adora almost leads to Eternia's destruction. As Catra taunts and blames Adora for her suffering, Adora seemingly ends their conflicted relationship, noting that Catra's misdeeds are all her own, "You made your choice, now live with it."

In the final season, Adora has lost the powers of She-Ra. But, she continues to charge into battle headfirst, exposing herself and her tendencies to put other's wellbeing before her own. This tactic mirrors why Adora left Catra's side in the first place all the way back in the first season. She places more importance on duty and service to others than herself and her friend. Later, while Adora, Bow (Marcus Scribner), and Entrapta are traveling towards Horde Prime, Catra sends a signal to their ship, apologizing for everything she has done while teleporting Glimmer to them. Adora decides that she cannot leave Catra behind, and the Best-Friend Squad hurries to rescue Catra from the Horde. Adora saves Catra not only from Prime's vile clutches but her loneliness too. Adora's exclamation "You matter to me" is a powerful and victorious moment, as the two friends turned enemies unite, and acknowledge their connection.

Unfortunately, even after the Adora and Catra are together again, conflict continues to rise between them and with themselves. Catra feels unlovable because of her past and so convinces herself that Adora will not accept her feelings. She continues to struggle with abandonment, especially when Adora willingly takes the responsibility of a suicide mission to destroy the Heart of Etheria, yelling, "It doesn't always have to be you." Sadly, Adora again abandons her, putting the good of everyone else above herself and Catra. Acknowledging that Adora, "Always sacrifices everything for everyone else," Catra runs away. However, upon realizing that Prime is moments away from taking control of the Heart and killing Adora, Shadow Weaver and her run to rescue the girl she loves.

As Adora journeys to the Heart, she sees and an illusion of Catra, envisioning that her friend meets her to approach the suicide mission together. Soon, Adora faces a vision of Mara (Zehra Fazal), the previous She-Ra, who tells her that she does not always need to sacrifice herself and is deserving of love too. She becomes trapped without her powers by a first-ones' guardian until Catra and Shadow Weaver save her. Telling Adora to go on, Catra stays to fight the beast in vain. Moments before destroying the Heart and herself, Adora finally chooses to return to Catra, to put Catra and her own happiness over her sense of duty.

As Adora and Catra approach the Heart, the former almost succumbs to Prime's power and has one final vision. Adora dreams of living a life in peace in Brightmoon alongside her friends, Glimmer and Bow, and with her loving, playful partner Catra by her side. In the apparent final moments before her death, Catra reaches out to Adora. At last, the two confess their love for each other and embrace in a momentous kiss, restoring She-Ra's power to Adora. Renewed in strength and standing beside her beloved, Adora finally destroys Horde Prime. The series ends as Adora and Catra plan to travel together and restore magic to the universe and fades to black as the couple prepares to take their next journey together.

as Adora and Catra plan to travel together and restore magic to the universe and fades to black as the couple prepares to take their next journey together.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has always been a powerhouse of LGBTQ representation, especially the final season. For example, it heavily features former background characters and married couple Spinnerella and Netossa in leading roles, as Netossa attempts to recover her wife’s mind from Prime. However, the relationship between Catra and Adora is not only the series highlight but a revolutionary in LGBTQ representation in children's television.

LGBTQ history in children's media and cartoons is disappointingly brief and, at times, unpleasant. Early examples mostly featured coded queer characters with harmful and stereotypical traits, such as the Silver Spooner from Dexter's Laboratory. Some works were able to include less harmful depictions. Networks allowed characters like Richie from Static Shock, who is gay, to exist as long as their identity was kept extremely subtextual.

Slowly some more limited progress was made, and a few less offensive or hidden characters were permitted to appear in one-off and minor roles. Nelvana's Canadian animated sitcom, 6teen included many vague but most neutral references to homosexuality and eventually a one-off character Jean, who says that she is "gay" and has a girlfriend. Notably, this 2009-episode marks not only one of the first moments of a character confirming their sexuality but also using the word "gay." This feat is so rarely replicated even in LGBTQ family media that even giants like Steven Universe do not include it. Outside of pedantic educational programs on minor networks, it may be the only time someone said "the-G-word" in such media until 2019's Kippo and the Age of Wonderbeasts  (live-action sitcom Andi Mack on Disney Channel also used the term that year). Sadly, American showings cut 6Teen's references to homosexuality, and the episode featuring Jean never aired at all outside Canada.

When most people look back to the beginning of the recent small boom in cartoon LGBTQ representation, they point to The Legend of Korra. In 2014, the series finally ended with female leads Korra and Asami taking hands and going on a private vacation in the spirit world. The Korra moment set the LGBTQ fandom on fire. Even so, the show faced incredible resistance and backlash. After the final episode aired, creator Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino had to go online to confirm that the somewhat ambiguous finale indeed depicted a same-sex romance. They then began to face backlash from a section of the fandom who believed bringing this badass bisexual moment to television was only for fanservice or to forward an agenda.

The Legend of Korra was a revolution in modern children's television, putting cracks in the oppressive dam that kept such dynamics out of the limelight and slowly pushed back against the status quo, allowing for more LGBTQ representation. Now, over five years after Korra, numerous children's programs feature queer characters in minor and supporting roles, often more explicitly than Korra was able to do. The Loud House includes a main bisexual character, and there are queer characters and couples in multiple works, including but not limited to Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, and Craig of the Creek.

The most notable LGBTQ representation in a children's cartoon comes from Rebeca Sugar's incredible creation, Steven Universe. As with She-Ra, LGBTQ characters make up a large portion of the cast and it features several groundbreaking LGBTQ scenes, including the iconic wedding of Ruby and Sapphire.

Sadly, many of these works had to fight tooth and nail or suffer through horrific backlash because of their dedication to diversity. Alabama banned an episode of Arthur that featured a gay wedding, and the depiction of lesbian mothers in Clifford the Bid Red Dog caused some parents and organizations to speak out against it. Perhaps most famous of all, Rebecca Sugar had to struggle to put LGBTQ representation on the small screen. Ultimately, to make the wedding scene happen, Sugar had to lay everything on the table and was willing to see themselves separated from the show and have it end to bring their vision to life. Unfortunately, many other countries censor the show to remove LGBTQ content. Still, Sugar's tireless work has pushed the boundaries of LGBTQ representation in children's media so incredibly far, allowing shows like She-Ra to exist.

The recent rapid progress of LGBTQ representation becomes apparent when comparing She-Ra to the "originator," Korra. The series share similar themes and mutually place importance on diversity in its main cast. At the climax of both programs, two female main characters became romantic partners for the other. However, the differences are what truly sets them apart and highlights the progress representation has made. Back in 2014, holding hands and staring into each other's eyes was the most action Korra could feature.

However, a myriad of queer characters and identities perforate She-Ra, all of which are more apparent and obvious thanks to actions including kisses, confessions, and other actions. This difference is especially true in season five, where even the title cards feature Netossa and Spinnerella engaged in a passionate kiss. Of course, the main couple was permitted a full on-screen confession and kiss, as Catra and Adora locked lips in the final episode. Finally, many "critics" complained that Korra and Asami's relationship came out of nowhere, despite it progressing the show’s last two seasons. If one were to assert the same claim about She-Ra, they need to completely ignore how Stevenson built Adora and Catra's romantic relationship as a fundamental aspect of the show from the very start.

She-Ra's depiction of queer characters was deliberate, explicit, and incredible. Not only did LGBTQ side characters express their identities in a variety of ways, but the main couple also got to show their love with both words and a kiss. Furthermore, and perhaps even more importantly, the main couple in She-Ra got a happen ending and a future for them and the viewers to imagine and look towards with excitement. Sadly, many LGBTQ characters and couples do not get to experience such conclusions. For decades, queer relationships ended in tragedy, often with the death of one or more queer characters killed off as part of the "bury your gays" trope. Even if the characters live, narratives rarely provided a happy future for those with queer identities. Sadly, this trend is alive and well. Recent examples include Adam from Voltron: Legendary Defender and Annika and Neha from The Dragon Prince.

Stevenson actively set out to avoid this trope in She-Ra, telling the Los Angeles Times, "I can't see another gay character die on TV for the moment." Not only did she not kill Adora and Catra, or any of the show's other queer characters, she gave Adora and Catra, the two lesbian leads in love, a happy ending. The show even offers viewers and Adora a glimpse of one possible future for the couple in the final vision of domestic bliss in Brightmoon. Both Adora and Catra struggle and suffered greatly, but they were allowed a happy ending and the opportunity to look forward to a life together. For the two main characters of a children's cartoon to achieve such a fantastic ending in such an explicit way is a genuinely revolutionary moment of representation, proudly standing alongside defining scenes like and Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding in Steven Universe. Importantly, both shows are made by queer creators, showing young viewers that people like them can achieve and create great things and that there are those out there fighting for them. For these reasons, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is one of the single most significant works of LGBTQ representation in children's media.

Queer representation in children's media matters so much, likely more than it does in any other medium. It normalizes LGBTQ identities for families and sends a powerful message to all LGBTQ children who may be feeling sad or alone or sacred: 'You are not alone, you matter, and you are accepted.' These words, implied with every positive depiction of queer identities, save so many children and young adults from unnecessary suffering and sometimes even saves lives. Noelle Stevenson and She-Ra will likely create giant waves in the medium just as Steven Universe did before it, and generations of queer people, myself included, wait with bated breath to see what results from it.

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Together Again’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 3)

Airdate: May 20, 2021

Story by: Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, Christina Catucci, Jesse Moynihan, Adam Muto

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Iggy Craig, Maya Petersen, Serena Wu

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

Across Adventure Time’s ten season run, the show explored a bevy of “mature” themes and story ideas—topics, like love, sexuality, depression, and grieving. The show also touched upon death, but the emphasis was usually placed on the emotional toll of a loved one dying, not really what happens when you die. We knew there were Dead Worlds and Death. We knew that there was reincarnation. But how does it all fit together? What does it mean? How does it work?

With “Together Again,” we finally have many of the answers.

This special opens with a marvelous fake-out episode simply called “Finn & Jake,” that sees the two steal a magical cartoon of 50-flavor ice cream before rescuing Turtle Princess and LSP from the clutches of the villainous Ice King. This is all deliberately anachronistic and over the top. Ice King is back to his season one ways, Finn has both arms, and he is still wielding his golden sword that he lost in season two’s “The Real You.” There’s lolrandom dialogue and silly monsters; it’s like a parody of seasons 1-2. But then, this adventure starts to get all wonky, and in time Finn realizes that he is in a some sort of trance or illusion: one that ends with Jake being buried in the ground. Suddenly, Finn awakens from his reverie. He’s an old man. And he’s dead. We’re then presented with a new title card that lets us know the episode is actually called “Finn & Jake Are Dead.”

Holy Glob! They actually went there.

Turns out Jake died years before Finn, so naturally Finn is super excited to see his best bud. But something’s wrong—he cannot find Jake!! They planned to spend eternity together. But all that Finn can find is his very own psychopomp, Mr. Fox (voiced by Tom Herpich, whose purposefully stilted line readings are the epitome of delightful). Finn rightfully assumes that Jake is in a different Dead World, and so, being the ball of spunk and energy that he is, he demands to meet with Death, only to discover that there’s a New Death in town (voiced by Chris Fleming). The episode eventually explains that New Death was the son of Death and Life, and after New Death killed his father, he became the sovereign of the afterlife. New Death hates his job and decides to just blow up all the Dead Worlds so he doesn’t have to deal with it all. (I won’t get too much into the details here, because there would be a lot of story to parse out.)

Finn soon learns that Jake has reached nirvana in the 50th Dead World, where there is nothing but peace and serenity. Finn nevertheless tracks down Jake, pulls him from paradise, but in doing so, accidentally lets New Death in, who promptly obliterates Elysium, sending all the enlightened souls—including those from different levels of the afterlife—to the 1st Dead World. This gronks up the afterlife, temporarily halting the reincarnation process.

Well, Finn and Jake are rightfully ticked, and so they haunt the material plane looking for Princess Bubblegum. She’s not home (more on that later), but Peppermint Butler is! After Ghost Finn and Ghost Jake explain the situation, Peppermint Butler tells them what to do: They need to find Life and explain the situation. The duo manage just that, and Life is rightfully angry that her kid has stopped the transmigration of souls. After Life gives Finn a McGuffin sword that can hurt Death, Finn and Jake return to his abode. A brawl ensues wherein we learn that New Death has been possessed… by none other than that spirit of the Lich.

That’s right, it’s the Lich! He’s back, and boy is he evil.

The Lich explains that by possessing Death, he can destroy the afterlife, thereby destroying a key aspect of reality. Naturally, Finn and Jake are not cool with this, and they engage in combat. After Mr. Fox grabs the McGuffin sword and uses it to annihilate the Lich and New Death, he is proclaimed the New New Death and sets everything right. Finn is slated to be reincarnated, and Jake is slated to return to the 50th Dead World where he and Finn will one day be reunited. As Finn is pulled into the wheel of souls, Jake suddenly decides to go back with Finn, too, “Just for fun.” The episode ends with a card letting us know that the episode is neither called “Finn & Jake” nor “Finn & Jake Are Dead.” Instead, it is “Finn and Jake Are Together Again.”

As they say, “And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

If you were to tell me several years ago that the last episode to star Finn and Jake would revolve around them dying, I think I would’ve been upset. Not simply sad, but rather frustrated because “they all died” can feel like a cheap ending. But with “Together Again,” it all works. And a large reason that it works is because the show goes all in with their ideas. Finn and Jake don’t magically leap back into their old life (no, no, they very much do bite the dust). Instead, the special emphasizes the cyclical nature of life through the transmigration of souls. The episode ends with a beautiful scene of Finn and Jake, bound together as soul-brothers, being reborn into a new, mysterious (possibly Ooo 1000+?) world. It’s both aesthetically and emotionally pleasing; it doesn’t feel off the way over finales might. This is right. This is the way life works. “Round and round as nature goes,” and all that jazz.

I loved the series explanation of how death works. It seems that souls land in a specific Dead World, where they ‘marinate’ for a bit, presumably being rewarded or punished based on their life in our meat reality. After a time, they are then reborn. This process repeats, with each soul reaching higher and higher levels of enlightenment until they hit nirvana, which is the 50th Dead World. So in a sense, Adventure Time has a roughly Buddhist cosmology with a dash of Greco-Roman mythos thrown in for flavor. (As to what happens after a soul stays in the 50th Dead World for a long period is anyone’s guess, but I’d speculate that when all the souls in the multiverse have been purified and land in the 50th Dead World, they will all collapse into one another and form one perfect Monad. Perhaps this is the sphere of perfection that the beings who merged into Matthew thought they were connecting to? Who knows! It’s anyone’s guess!) I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see who Death, Prismo, Life, etc.’s boss was, but perhaps that’s a mystery better left up to the imagination!

One minor thing that I loved about this special was the number of characters who made cameos as well as all the callbacks that were made to previous episodes. Regarding the former: Finn and Jake’s canine family show up (including the oft-forgotten Jermaine!), as do Tree Trunks and her myriad husbands. Tiffany plays a major role in all these shenanigans as a “death cop” of all things. There is a delightful rogues gallery stuck in the 1st Dead World (including, among others, Maja, Sharon from “The Gut Grinder,” and Wyatt). In the 50th we find Ghost Princess and Clarence happily at peace next to Booshy, the weird spirit mentioned in the Pen Ward classic “High Strangeness.” As far as callbacks go, perhaps my favorite is the clap (from “James Baxter the Horse”) that Jake taught to Finn in case they ever do get separated in the afterlife. And of course, there are myriad references made to “Death in Bloom,” the episode that planted the seed for what this would grow into.

Going into the special suspecting that it would involve Death, I was curious how they were going to handle Miguel Ferrer’s character. (In case a reader is not aware, Ferrer played Death in episodes like “Death in Bloom” and “Betty,” but he sadly passed away a few years ago). The producers’ choice to feature him in a non-speaking cameo—despite playing a relatively significant role in the story—was wise; I’m not sure if I can articulate the exact reasons, but something about his role felt appropriate and not gross, as some post-mortem memorials can be. Speaking of which, the wonderful, lovely Polly Lou Livingston was featured for the last time in this episode as Tree Trunks, happily in heaven with her literal harem of husbands. It was funny, it really was, and I’m sure that Polly Lou would’ve gotten a kick out of seeing it on screen. (Also, this is a pro-Tree Trunks safe space. Any Tree Trunks haters will be chucked into the 1st Dead World with Wyatt.)

The biggest mystery in this whole thing, for me at least, is the question of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Several years ago, I wrote an essay about what could’ve happened to them in the Ooo 1000+ universe. I speculated that they peaced out and left Ooo behind. In this special, neither Bubblegum nor Marceline are to be found in the Candy Kingdom—Peppermint Butler seems to be the one in charge, given that he is now wearing Bubblegum’s crown. Likewise, the duo aren’t anywhere in the Dead Worlds either. Maybe the two of them skipped town and got a duplex in the Nightosphere? Who knows… I just want my favorite gals to be OK!

All things considered, “Together Again” was a marvel: An episode that managed to feel like a series finale even more than “Come Along with Me” already did without taking away from the series itself. An episode that managed to make the idea of dying funny. An episode that brought back the Lich in a way that wasn’t forced. An episode that made Mr. Fox the New New Death. An episode that gave us a beautiful ending to Finn and Jake’s story… as well as the beautiful beginning to a new one. I said it on Twitter, and I’ll say it again here: “Together Again” was the end of a sentence in a book with infinite pages. Truly, the fun will never end.

Mushroom War evidence: Everything takes place in the Dead Worlds, so not really. Perhaps a more eagle-eyed viewer can inform us...

Final Grade: That’s right, I’m gonna do it...

Post-script, I actually messaged Jesse Moynihan to ask about his writing credit. He told me that it was for an unused story idea that he had developed. I’m not certain, but I’ll bet it was a part of the cancelled TV movie they were trying to make during season 5, since that would’ve seen Finn and Orgalorg journey to the various Dead Worlds.

[bestruction]

How it’d be to watch animes with them

A/N: While i’m working on my Mikasa x reader royal au, this little idea came to my mind. I tried to put the links when i mentioned a specific scene and speak a little about the anime in case you don’t know it.  So here it’s: 

Warnings: Me exposing my otaku self, mentions of 18+ animes (Not hentais) 

Eren -  Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (13+)

A / N: The main characters like each other, but none wants to confess because being the person who takes the first step would also represent being the defeated person. The anime develops in a series of plans that both elaborate to make the other confess their love.

Warnings: None

It was his idea to watch an anime together since the two of you liked it a lot. You saw no harm and agreed to go to sleep with your boyfriend on Friday night. So, you would have the dawn and the weekend to see everything.

“We could watch One piece! Everybody likes"

“In three days ?! We will not finish even if we do not take breaks ”

"Naruto then?"

“Haven't you seen it all five times or more?

"But it is a classic!"

"It is also too long!"

He would sulk when he saw you reject each of his suggestions for being too big animes. The truth was, he was trying to convince you to stay longer. After much searching in the catalog, you choose to watch a short comedy of 12 episodes.

Biggest mistake ever

Eren is already annoying by nature, and after watching Kaguya-sama's two seasons he would spend the day and night trying to get you to confess to him EVEN IF YOU'VE BEEN IN LOVE FOR TWO YEARS AND HE HAS BEEN THE FIRST TO DECLARE. HIT HIM, PLEASE.

"Do you think that using such a low trick will make me give in?"

“Eren, I just got out of the shower. What trick? Wear an outfit? ”

“Showing off your skin won't make you win”

If you wanted to play with him, great. You are going to spend the day in this little game until he gets tired and just hugs you or something because he can't spend a lot of time without touching you. But if you didn't want to, just you could use that touchy side of him against him too.

"Maybe I shouldn't show you anything else then"

"Yes, of course, do- Wait what?"

"You heard"

“NO, BABE! YOU WON! I CONFESS! I LOVE YOU"

Watching anime with him would be quite an experience. For being very verbal, Eren would be the type of person who doesn't shut up watching anything. Especially, something that makes him laugh. You would see him laughing out loud and throwing himself back on the couch or on you, whether you were with him or not. You may even complain, but it would be fun to see him react to everything as immediately and naturally as an unfiltered child.

He will sing ALL the openings for the rest of the days around the house until you are humming some without realizing it.

For some reason, can I imagine him doing Chika dance ?? Yes, please film this big bear dancing like a little girl.

Levi - Death parade 

A / N: Do you want to cry and hurt yourself? This is the right place. Death Parade is a story about what happens after death. The characters are sent to mysterious bars where they will be judged to decide the fate of the souls themselves. (18+)

Warnings: Suicide, depressive themes, mentions of rape and domestic violence

I don't see Levi watching many animes. In fact, I don't see him watching much anything at all. He would be the type of person who can't spend a lot of time in front of the television without feeling like he's wasting time. Which would result in a very selective and demanding taste.

He would always read the reviews about the film, and after watching it, he would make his own. Ever. No exceptions. Unlike Impossible-to-be-quiet-Eren, Levi would be silent to be able to capture and understand all the details. This is interesting because getting his attention is a difficult task. But once it's done, he is 100% focused on the story and immersed in the characters.

So, after reading about it, he would agree to watch Death Parade with you.

He would have low expectations at first, and if the anime failed to hold his very difficult attention in three episodes, he wouldn't even try with the rest.

So when in the first episode, all suspense and doubts left to the viewer entered Ackerman's head, he would finish the other 11 without realizing it.

As a rational person, he would love things that make him think and reflect on the proposed theme. In the case: Life and death.

For some reason, I imagine him as someone who would like to study and read philosophy as a hobby and that he would love Nietzsche? So, you could expect deep conversations after each episode.

But without any arrogance, humanity's strongest soldier might not be the most talkative man in humanity, but surely when he opened his mouth to it, it wouldn’t be to show himself off with something that he knows and you don’t. On the contrary, he would be more than happy to explain if you asked and added your opinion.

He wouldn't cry, but he would be touched by the way the emotions were shown and created in the characters.

He would probably see the scene where Decim cries more than once for being impressed with how the pain of a character who is supposedly not flesh and blood is expressed so well.

And after the anime is over, you would always see him listening to the music of the ice skating scene around the house while doing something.

When you were finished watching everything, you would talk again about the anime. You lying on his chest and he touching his hair, smelling him.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Levi?"

“If so, I wouldn't go back to this shit a second time. No matter what they offered me ”

"Levi!"

"Unless it was to have you again"

“What a cliché” He would roll his eyes after hearing your response “But I like clichés”

Again, he wouldn't cry, but he would be thinking about how ephemeral things can be, including being alive. Then you can expect a more touchy Levi for a few days.

Jean - Banana Fish 

N / A: Another one to cry and get hurt. Banana Fish is way more than just a story about one character just is hard to define. So in case, you didn’t watch it, here’s the trailer. (18+)

warnings: pedophilia, rape, violence, drugs, your heart being destroyed

You know that guy who says that no yaoi is good, it's just a way to feed a bunch of fujoshi and stuff like that? Jean. It's him. I just know it. So when you suggested Banana Fish and said it was a BL / yaoi, he would probably laugh and ignore the idea.

But after insisting a little and showing him the many compliments that both the anime and the manga received, he would accept.

At first, he wouldn't pay much attention. He really thought it would be just another bad anime. But by the end of the first episode, he would be too involved in the story to stop.

I think he would love crime novels for the same reason that Levi: To think. Try to find out how things are going to end and pick up any clues that the author has left about the ending. So the plot would hold him so much because he would make a ton of theories about the end.

He will ship Ash and Eiji with all his soul. I mean, how can he not ship? To see an anime in which the physical touch between the couple doesn't really happen and still builds a well-developed and healthy relationship would be a new experience for him.

Jean is somewhat similar to Eren in this respect. So you can expect to see him huffing in anger, cursing one of the characters, throwing a pillow away, or using it to hide a tear or two that he would let go of you. The kind of person who gets emotionally involved with the things he watches.

He would cry an entire river after watching the last episode and deny it later.

“I was not crying. The cushion fabric made my eyes itch a lot ”

Show him again and he will cry the same amount and intensity

Armin - Haikyuu

A / N: Considering all the texts on Tumblr for haikyuu characters, I’m pretty sure you know what anime it’s lol (10+)

Armin is an otaku with a license card and no one can change my mind. He would probably start watching it as a child. So, his first animes would be everyone's classics: Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, etc.

So it would be normal that as the vast majority, he would continue to have a preference for shounen when he grew up. So it would be your idea to see Haikyuu.

He would have low expectations because he thought it would be just another anime with cute characters for everyone to be thirsty as an inverted harem. And also because the synopsis does not create a strong impression, especially for those who consume shounen daily.

"So we are just gonna see a little boy trying to catch a ball?"

“It's gonna be good! Everyone is talking about it now ”

"Does he have some superpower?"

"No"

"Something scary?"

"Armin, just give a chance!"

He would like it. Did I say he would like it? Because he would love it. The atmosphere created and well developed with such a simple plot would hold his attention well. (Is it possible to dislike Hinata in the first episode?)

It would be a great anime for him to watch because 1. It is different from what he usually sees. Unlike shounen, Haikyuu deals only with real and tangible scenarios. Of course, still with that touch of anime, but it is very easy to recognize yourself in the characters and learn from them and therefore reflect on yourself as well.

It would be great to make him think about his own insecurities and how most of them were inside his head.

He would be so immersed in the anime universe that he would have to pause the game scenes because he would be too nervous waiting for the ball to fall.

You will probably see him taking a deep breath in each drawing scene of the characters and see him truly cheering for the team as if it were a real national game.

More than that, you will see his eyes full of tears when Yamaguchi hit the serve in the match against Aoba johsai.

In fact, Yamaguchi would be his favorite character. No discussions.

"I said it would be good"

"Shut up"

"Make me"

Mikasa - Heaven’s official blessing 

A / N: I'm going to leave the trailer here because I don't know how to define it very well. It's a novel, but the story doesn't focus ONLY on that. (14+)

Okay, you didn't suggest. She did not suggest. So how do you end up watching together? You catch her watching when you come home by surprise lol

Until then, you would know that she watched some anime, but nothing romantic. Never. In fact, that was her little secret.

Although common sense is that Mikasa would be cold even in a modern au (and I agree in parts). I think she would be the type of person who loves to see the sweetest and softest things to melt alone on the couch without anyone seeing. A moment for herself and a part of her that she would not show to anyone.

You would already know about her romantic side, but seeing her under the covers sighing while watching the Netflix special episode is a totally different story.

Please don’t mock her!!. She would be red enough by the time she was discovered.

When she was less shy, she would ask if you want to watch with her. She would say she saw no problem watching it with you again since doing it with you would be a different experience.

If you accept, you would spend the rest of the night in the room sharing a blanket and absorbing the soft atmosphere, the soundtrack, and the Chinese culture so present in history.

She would not speak a lot because she was paying attention, but she would hug you all the time. In the romantic scenes, she would tighten her arms around you a little and sometimes left a kiss on your shoulder.

I think she could relate to Hua Cheng's way of loving. He is always there to protect, care for and see his lover even if sometimes Xie Lian doesn't even know.

And that is what she wants to show you, that more than a girlfriend, she is also someone you can count on.

Days later, you will see her reading the rest of the work around the house because she couldn't stand to wait for a second season.

And later, SURELY melting and vibrating while watching Mo Dao Zu Shi.

[djemsostylist]

Son Yaz--The End

Son Yaz has ended, and I don't quite know how to feel. I joined the fandom late--I didn't watch until July, and then I was hooked. Son Yaz is one of those shows that sort of settles in you, and it makes you just feel happy. I took a minute to see where it was going, but once I realized what it was, I fell in love. It's the sort of story that draws you in. The characters are beautifully written and well conceived, the relationships are crafted to perfection, and the chemistry between every member of the cast was just electric. In short, it was one of the best shows I've seen, Turkish or otherwise. On the performances of Ali Atay and Alperen Duymaz alone I would recommend this show--@lolo-deli commented once that she wondered if the roles had been written with those two actors in mind, because they just fit so well.

Season 1 had beautiful pacing and an excellent storyline, and had it wrapped before Canan's murder, I would have been happy with what we were given. The characters all came to beautiful place, the ending was well written and satisfying, and the tone of the end felt in keeping with the rest of the show.

Season 2 promised to be more. The theme of Season 2 reminded me of an except from The Testing Tree by Stanley Kunitz.

In a murderous time the heart breaks and breaks and lives by breaking. It is necessary to go through dark and deeper dark and not to turn.

Season 2 was a test for all of them, but in particular, Season 2 was a test for Akgun and Yagmur: what does it mean to truly be your own person, to face darkness of your own and other's creation, and to emerge on the other side? Can we truly leave the dark and stay true to ourselves, and, perhaps most importantly, can we ever be more than our parents? Throughout season 1, both Akgun and Yagmur seek the approval of all the parental figures in their lives--their actions are almost entirely driven by either how they parents have, will, or might react to a given situation. At times, they are paralyzed by their parents--Yagmur is utterly terrified of becoming her mother, trapped by a man she both loves, despises, and cannot live without, bound to his shadow and reduced to nothing in his wake, forever cutting off pieces of herself to remain within his orbit, unable to break free. Akgun is terrified of disappointing both his fathers--all of his actions are bound up in what he believes is loyalty, love, and devotion to men who give him just enough love and affection to keep him, but not enough to make him feel whole. Akgun is bound in the circles of his fathers to whom he is, despite their real love for him, ultimately only a pawn, to be used and moved and traded as needed.

Selim is one of those parental figures I love--in many ways he reminds me of Leia Organa Solo, in that he is selfless to the point of selfishness--his desire to serve something greater leads to him destroying the lives of the people he claims to love, and ultimately, Selim will always chose himself. We see this clearly in the wake of Canan's death--the best thing Selim could have done for his family was to allow them, Akgun included, to be together to mourn the woman they all loved. Instead, fueled by a selfish need to punish himself and those he blames for Canan's death, he takes Akgun with him to kill a man in cold blood. Akgun would have already been dealing with enough in the wake of the death of his brother--we know how he feels about taking a life--but this is so much worse. He does it for love of the man he sees as a father (but who will never quite accept him as a son) and destroys himself, his future, and Yagmur in the process. Selim takes not only Akgun's soul and his future, but he also takes Yagmur's as well.

The act of killing Halil Sadi is breathtaking in it's utter selfishness, and in that fact that despite being the one to bring it about, Selim suffers no real consequences. His withdrawal from his family would have likely happened anyway--if not physically then emotionally, and he can go back whenever he wants. It is Yagmur who suffers, the loss of her father, her mother, the love of her life, the security and support she so desperately needs, and the future she seesfor herself. It is Altay who suffers, losing father, mother, brother in one fell swoop. It is Akgun who suffers, losing his soul, his family, and his future in one breath. Selim lost Canan, but he choses to lose the rest of them, and takes all of them from each other.

Season 2 promised to bring all this to a head. I am confident, had we the time to explore, we would have watched the slow evolution and growth of Akgun and Yagmur into people who can stand on their own, who realize their parents are people--fallible and imperfect, and realize that their own futures are not built by the ones who came before. We would have seen Selim, I think, slowly realize that perhaps the best he might have done for his children was to give them each other, and that sometimes, the best thing a parent can do is die, so that their child might live. I think we would have seen both Yagmur and Akgun see their parents, but particularly Selim, for who he is, and to finally grow beyond the shadow he has always cast. Selim is a character that, despite my love for him, I don't really think deserves a happy ending.

The writers for Son Yaz should be commended. It is clear they expected at least 20 episodes, and had planned a deeply intricate and interesting story that would slowly unfold over the course of the season. The little tidbits we saw of the new characters, the fantastic chemistry with our new main "trio", the beautiful tragedy of Akgun and Yagmur--everything promised a fresh, new exciting season that would have brought our characters to a place that made as much sense as the ending of season one. With all that being known, that fact that I was able to glean the general direction of the season from only 5 episodes, and that, with seemingly only two weeks notice, they were able to craft the powerful finale they did is truly commendable. They brought storylines to a close as best as they were able, crafted satisfying endings for all the people we have known and loved, and managed to keep the side characters just that--side characters. Watching the finale truly was watching a master class in acting, writing, directing--perhaps the only disappointing bit, which seems to be a dizi issue not a Son Yaz issue, was the editing.

I was, however, left feeling hollow in the last few scenes. I attributed it first to feeling disappointed we didn't get more AkMur moments in their happy ending--after all, prior foreshadowing indicated a Yagmur proposal, a wedding, and two daughters, and we saw, well, exactly none of that. This show is hardly all about AkMur though--arguably Selim/Akgun are just as much the main couple as AkMur ever was, and perhaps ending the show with them was more suitable.

I think my primary issue lies in that no one paid for anything. At all. Akgun and Yagmur were hurt, deeply, by Selim and his decisions. Now, I'm not saying Selim didn't love them both--he certainly did, I don't doubt that. That Selim has the capacity to love but also be deeply and inherently selfish is one of the things I love about the character--he is in no way a good person, but he still can do good things. Again, it's why he is so excellent at a character.

As I discussed above, perhaps the best thing Selim did was give Yagmur and Altay Akgun, and vice versa. He gave all three of children the family they deserved but never really had--Canan was unconditional love and support for them, but without her, they were all kind of adrift. Selim always loved them, but with conditions.

As I said, in my opinion, what Selim did by asking Akgun to help with Halil Sadi, was unforgiveable. He destroyed Akgun's soul and didn't blink, and he took away the only support either he or Yagmur had at a time when they needed it the most. Akgun was already going to have a hell of time forgiving himself for his brother (which is his other dad's fault), and now he has the added burden of Halil Sadi, Yagmur, and Selim. Yagmur was already in pain with Canan, and she loses Akgun as a result.

Selim is let go with the equivalent of a slap on the wrist, and no one else paid for anything either. Akgun's father ruined his life over and over again, and that was never addressed (I understand time constraints of course, and this one is perhaps the most forgivable, given how short the season was). Even Cihan, who we know tried to kill Soner multiple times, stalked Yagmur for years, and likely caused many, many more deaths (including Canan's, which is my own personal theory), gets away without even a bloody nose for daring to to talk to Yagmur.

I think that's why the end, with Akgun and Selim in the prison, doesn't sit well with me. I thought his goodbye to Altay and Yagmur in their house, where he finally admitted all his faults and all that he had done to hurt them, and his goodbye with Akgun in the car, where he finally took responsibility for what he had done and gave Akgun the trust he always deserved by asking him to watch over Yagmur for him, was beautiful and enough.

It gives his children a chance to forgive and have peace, but also allows for them not to have a close relationship like that with him anymore. The best thing Selim did was give them each other, and now he needs to let them be happy without them. They don't need to be pulled back into his shadow. I'm not saying they never speak to him but Selim is a powerful force in all their lives, and nothing about his story convinces me he will ever change. I needed them all to realize they can love him and not need him. The final scenes with Yagmur and Akgun, and particularly the last scene felt a little...overly saccharine to me? And unearned.

I think my ideal ending would have been the party scene, only this time we get Yagmur with a tiny bump and we see their rings--we know they are married and happy with a baby, maybe even get a little banter line or something so we know she asked him to marry her, then maybe we get another jump to a year later, and Selim is looking at a picture of them in the news in front of their restaurant, with a little girl (and maybe Yagmur is pregnant again) and we get to see that he is happy to see them happy. Selim's peace and happy ending is giving his family their future together, paying the tolls for his and Akgun's sins, and allowing them to be happy. If they wanted to leave it open, it could even end with Sare bringing him the folder, he says something about being content with where he is because his family is happy and safe, and then she gives the folder and he realizes they know who killed Canan--and now he has a choice to make.

In the end, I am as happy as I can be with the finale, given the circumstances. We said farewell to all the characters we loved, they all got their peace and a happy ending--I guess I just thought perhaps there was a little bit too much happiness?

[saturdaysky]

hello! i hope you don't mind a message, but i am just excited to see someone else who liked AMCE and would love to know if you have recs for books that are similar, because i've been thinking about it for like a month straight since i finished reading it and would love something else to occupy my brain the way that it did. no pressure to answer ofc, just happy to share good vibes over a book :)

I do not mind it at all! <3

I do have some books that scratched a similar itch as A Memory Called Empire! I looooved the thoughtful focus on culture and language and identity within an intricate setting, so these recs follow that pattern somewhat.

Under a cut because this got kind of long.

The Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie

Liked the exploration of culture, identity, and imperialism in AMCE? You will probably like these books, since they also grapple with those themes. Also present is the exploration of personhood, who has it, and who does not -- because our main character is a person who used to be a starship. Or well, sort of. Wikipedia has a decent blurb:

The novel follows Breq—who is both the sole survivor of a starship destroyed by treachery, and the vessel of that ship's artificial consciousness—as she seeks revenge against the ruler of her civilization.

These books are honestly some of my favorite books ever. They combine a really thoughtful and deliberate focus on all the stuff mentioned above, fascinating plots and world-building, and characters who absolutely made me Feel Things. Highly recommended if you like, say, emotionally closed-off and damaged characters learning to care and be cared for while also skillfully navigating an intricate web of power to pursue their goals and reckon with the harm they've caused. But with bonus smart thoughts about robots.

The Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh

I haven't fully made my way through this series, but it's rewarding every time I sit down to read another book. The books follow Bren Cameron, diplomat to an alien court, as he negotiates the intricate web of politics and intrigue involved in making sure the crash-landed colony ship he represents doesn't get obliterated or obliterate anyone else, despite humans making some monumental fuck-ups in the recent past.

And when you live and work and eat among one people, how much do you really belong to the people you came from? Of course, neither side really trusts someone who straddles both worlds, and to cap it off, the atevi people he lives among are different from humans in a fundamental way: they have no word for friend or love because those are alien concepts to the atevi. They do not feel such things. Instead, they live by an intricate web of obligation and favors. Trust is something a little more practical and a lot more deadly, for the atevi.

But these are not heartless novels -- part of the joy is watching the main characters grow meaningful relationships, even though the form is fraught and strange and never quite means the same thing to the people on either side.

If you like slow and thorough explanations of culture where meeting with your friend's grandmother is a potentially perilous activity (because the tea might be poisoned, because she might take you on a hunting trip you won't come back from, because she's a formidable political power and might be trying to assassinate your friend, because your friend might know all of this and have sent you anyway, also your friend is the king) these are books you might like.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

If you like deep dives of culture, language, identity, and loyalty within the deadly intrigue of a fantasy court, I hiiiiighly recommend this book. The book follows Maia, the youngest and least-favored heir to the throne who gets unexpectedly crowned when everyone else in line dies and must quickly learn to survive the cutthroat politics. But Maia isn't cutthroat by nature; he is kind and must negotiate how to keep that kindness in the face of pressures that would be easy to solve with cruelty, as well as people keen to take advantage of what they think of as a weakness.

This book'll hit you with a lot of fantasy language at first (it's a focus of the book), but if you stick with it you'll be fine. You're learning all this intricate court language at the same time as our protag; he too is a little out of his depth at the start.

Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein

I dearly want to go back and read these -- it's been a few years, but they absolutely sucked me in. The books follow Rowan, a steerswoman, as she tracks down the mystery of a strange and incongruous gemstone. In-universe steerswomen are basically traveling scientists and naturalists who have taken an oath of truth.

The books start out in what seems like your fairly typical Standard Fantasy Setting with wizards and dragons, but as Rowan learns more about the strange gem, it's clear that this Standard Fantasy Setting is...not as it seems. There are three things that I loved about these books: the sense of wonder and discovery as our fantasy scientist protag reasons through problems and begins to discover she lives in a sci fi world, the interesting relationship between the main characters, and the excitement you as a reader have when YOU realize exactly what mysterious object Rowan is describing and what the implications of that are for the setting.

The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

Riveting series -- brutal and beautiful. Straddles the line in some respects between sci fi and fantasy. Follows characters who live on a far, far-future Earth plagued by catastrophic climate events called "Seasons" that last generations. There are some people born who have power drawn from the earth; these people are alternately hated and ruthlessly trained to hone their powers to attempt to prevent another Season. (This sort of sounds like the setup to a YA coming-of-age novel, but it is really really not.)

The world and fantastical aspects are fascinating (cyclical post apocalyptic societies! geology magic!), and the books themselves explore family bonds, racism in both a personal and systemic sense, and broken systems and the wounds they leave upon the people within them even as those people wound others. The series is not a light read, but it is a good one.

Literally anything by Ursula K. Leguin

All of her work could be recommended if you liked AMCE. Her writing spans fantasy and science fiction, and includes thoughtful and moving explorations of some similar ideas: culture and cultural exchange, gender, different societal setups, you name it.

If you're looking for a good novel, The Left Hand of Darkness is a classic for a reason. If you'd like a sample platter of interesting short stories, The Birthday of the World and Other Stories is wonderful.

[nini-ricky]

obviously a lot had went down in this week’s episode and most things was a lot of tension relationshipwise across almost all characters (except gina and ej bless their hearts for saving me this ep and last ep really) but i kinda wanna dive into the rini breakup for obvious reasons. 

i would just like to start by saying that tree house scene absolutely destroyed me. you could see the amount of love they had for each other, even though it may be an incredibly heartbreaking scene. including when ricky had broke down at big red’s house. it was all just emotionally heart-wrenching. 

no matter how much i love ricky and nini together, i completely think they did the right thing. for the longest time, like even back in season 1, i’ve been saying nini needed to grow and figure out who she is as a person. she even said so herself in the treehouse that it’s always been ricky and nini. i love them so much, but both of them need to kind of figure out who they are without each other before they can even be together. it was clear that ricky and nini love each other so much that they had to let each other grow because they both knew it was what’s best for them no matter how heartbreaking that may be. 

now putting the actual storyline aside, i want to talk about the writing that led up to the point. i wanted to give tim the benefit of the doubt and trust that he knows what he’s doing, not just with rini but the entire show this season. it hasn’t been great i think we can all admit that. but with rini in particular, i think it’s poor writing in the sense that you begin to question what was the whole point of season 1? ricky fought for her and fought for their relationship. and at the end of season 1 everything was great and perfect. now i feel like we’ve regressed, kind of making the entirety of season 1 kind of redundant. 

i think tim was trying to create drama and angst for them, but he had approached it in the wrong way i think. i’ve always said that with writing you don’t constantly need issues to make things interesting especially when it comes to an already established couple. 

i am a hardcore believer in figuring out who you are before falling into a relationship. i’ve seen this with many of my friends, considering i am now a freshly out of college it’s interesting to see how people that went into university with a high school relationship haven’t really grown all that much. it’s almost like they are stunted and there’s no more room in the pot for them to grow. but that’s not saying that all high school relationships are doomed, it’s just that with a relationship you have to learn to grow with that person. you need to help and talk to each other in order for your relationship to bloom. that being said, i think there could have been a chance that ricky and nini could’ve stayed together to grow and find themselves, especially considering the long history they share. they just lacked individuality, in the sense that neither of them really knew who they are without the are. and it’s going to be interesting to see how ricky and nini grow from this and whether they drift back together or stay broken up. 

to be completely honest, all i can really hope for is that even they stay broken up they don’t lose the friendship they once had. it’d be an absolute shame to lose the person that’s gone through so many of your hardships with you. and i know that it happens, but i couldn’t imagine losing that person for me. i have once before and let’s say it’s an incredibly long journey to get over that.

i would say i’m putting my trust in tim, but he’s continually proving us all wrong. so, i guess all we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best in the last few episodes we have.