#but i have a huge problem with you not addressing him properly!!

[histoireettralala]

"Dying of fright"

On occasions, the king gave a clear indication of how he expected his courtiers to react, which could set the tone for their subsequent behaviour. In his memoirs, Saint-Simon recounts an episode involving his father and Louis XIII in which the sovereign caught the duc in the act of writing a letter to his friend, Roger de Saint-Lary de Bellegarde, who had suffered banishment and only narrowly escaped the block for his involvement in the revolt of 1631-1632 following the Day of Dupes. The horrified Saint-Simon was asked to whom he was writing, and the king then demanded to read the letter before declaring imperiously:

"I do not find it misplaced… that you write to your friend, even though he is in disgrace, because I am confident that you will say nothing that is untoward; but what I find totally reprehensible is that you fail to show the respect you owe to a duc et pair; because he is exiled, you have not addressed him as Monseigneur."

Louis XIII promptly tore up the missive and told the duc, who "was dying of fright for fear of worse for having written to a man in profound disgrace, and who had no hope of being restored to the king's good favour", to rewrite it and to address it correctly!

Saint-Simon, père et fils, venerated the memory of Louis XIII, who was the principal source of their grandeur, and there is no reason to question the general tenor of this tale. If the king's right to punish was undisputed, he was well aware that he could not easily force others to share his displeasure.

Julian Swann- Exile, Inprisonment and Death- the Politics of Disgrace in Bourbon France

[bonefall]

So, your Clear Sky post is absolutely horrifying, but it was very needed, so thank you. What are your general thoughts on tackling his abuse for the AU? Like you've said, pretending he's a good guy is not the way to go, but are you planning on toning down *some* of the situations, just to give some of the cats a break? Clear Sky is a very realistic depiction of abusers, but that seems to come across even without victim number 25, yknow? I'm very curious about how you'd like to go about this.

My most recent big change was bringing Slash back into the fold, because I realized that it was actually a disservice to not address where DOTC's themes dip into Colonialism. It's a hard topic, and I'm still trying to work out the details, but I realized it was important.

With how BB!DOTC is such a MASSIVE overhaul, to properly address abuse and the ways it impacts you, ableism and its violence, and xenophobia broadly, a huge reworking of Slash belonged here too. He's one of the greatest examples of how badly WC demonizes non-Clanborn cats. I shouldn't dance around it.

That's what I need to do with Skystar.

MANY of his victims have happier endings than canon, though. Bumble is one of the most famous, bumped up into a major character and directly responsible for the formation of ThunderClan. Bright Storm is taking most of Gray Wing's roles. Birch and Alder are getting examined, with either a father who wants his kids back or Milkweed as the mate of Misty.

A lot of people will die because of him, even more will be hurt, but I see BB!DOTC as a story about victims and survivors.

Others might grab POVs here and there, but as a response to canon which I feel is Clear Sky's story told in many parts, I center this rewrite around Thunder Storm. The path of kindness he marches down, with love and with anger, and the people he helps.

So BB!Star Flower...

Previously I was playing her as ENTIRELY just manipulating Clear Sky. She was loyal to One Eye and trying to get at Skystar to bleed him dry for 8 lives to sacrifice; but connected to Thunderstar over recognizing him as a victim who deserves her idea of justice. So, she offers Thunderstar the final kill, so her father will be grateful to him and he'll get power AND the death of his abuser.

(When Thunderstar looks upon Skystar, pathetic and neutralized down to one life, he thinks about the collateral damage that will descend upon the forest if he accepts the deal. He decides that he has found the line between Justice and Justification. Of course he wants the power to make his enemies cower, protect his people, and eliminate Clear Sky so he never threatens them again; that's not the problem.

He can still do these things. He wouldn't NEED the power of a war god to do so.

But if One Eye returns, he will be endlessly hungry, ruthlessly dedicated to revenge, and set out to devour the whole forest. Everything would get worse, and even more people he loves would die. It's where his desire to destroy a monster would lead to him BECOMING one.)

Even on its face, it was previously missing an element. There's a step between "Starf decides to bring One Eye back" and "Starf offers Thunderstar the final kill" that was bare. This is the piece that was missing-- That she, herself, is trying to reach out to the only person who's ever really understood her.

But more importantly... I do feel this topic belongs here, in BB!DOTC. Abuse is a MAJOR theme. SKYSTAR is a monster already. He's harmed two wives in BB (Bright Storm and Falling Cry) and played toxic games with all three kits (Thunder Storm, Pale Sky, Tiger Sky).

And I'd avoid Star Flower being abused... why? Because it's uncomfortable to confront the pattern that Clear Sky displays? That in-canon, he tries to cut all his victims into the same ideal shape, from Storm to Thunder to Star Flower? ...it should be uncomfortable. Everything that I described in Clear Sky Is A Monster is rooted in the same desire for control, power, and punishment most abusive people share, he just happens to be a severe example.

Yes. That includes how he treats his child and romantic partners. The parallels that are drawn between Starf and Thunder are there because he wants power in the form of obedience. Starf replaces the son as a narrative award for his "growth" of not killing random people anymore for a while.

A cookie cutter is an effective tool because IT ONLY MAKES ONE SHAPE.

You know what's more uncomfortable? Reading canon!DOTC and seeing someone who hurt you reflected almost perfectly in the character the writers think did nothing wrong. Because of "good intentions" that were not there.

I will say though, just to be clear; I don't see a purpose in being more than PG-13 about serious topics for this project. I promise none of my intentions have changed. Nothing will be more graphic or gorey than canon WC-- just more intentional.

I'm keeping the sacrifice because it's dope. No one is taking this from me. Girl Moment: Killed her awful husband 8 times to count as 8 sacrifices and offered the last life to her buddy as a show of good will. How else do you make friends outside of high school

But I know now that Star Flower NEEDS to keep the canon fact she has very little agency, UNTIL that moment she snaps.

She's sacrificing one abuser to try and bring back a bigger, badder one, because in spite of everything, her father One Eye always made her feel safe. Even though he promised her off to Skystar, and expected her to be willing to die for him. She's followed every command, every order, past the death of his mortal vessel.

The first, and only, selfish choice she's ever made was in reaching out to Thunderstar to offer him the power of her father.

Thunderstar's Justice is a story about a Thunder Storm at the pinnacle of his arc, how the survivors of his Clan are settling into the new normal after the carnage of The First Battle, how Skystar's arrogance brings a violent god to the Forest... and the connection Thunderstar makes with the daughter of a monster.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸(AHHHH IMPENDING BUDDIE REUNION IM SO SCARED I HOPE IT GOES WELL!!!!)

🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮(loving darling cranberry and I want Buck and Eddie to address their tension!)

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨(switcharoo world now with a pending will reveal! Can’t wait!)

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️(TWATYTK my beloved i love seeing happy established Buddie!)

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 (oooh we love a dramatic reunion in a rain storm!)

It is taking all my restraint to not send you 30+ emojis for each story because I’m just that excited about your writing! You’re wonderful thanks for sharing!

HI AGAIN!!!!! You can send as much as you want I've been getting some huge ones haha.

48 for 🩸(IT GOES A LOT OF WAYS):

---

Everyone is tired and emotional and overwhelmed. So even after Eddie has showered and changed into pajamas - and eaten another peanut butter sandwich and a full orange - they all agree to go to bed early without too much further conversation. Better to hash things out with a fresh mind.

“Do you even sleep at night?” Sophia had asked while Eddie’s mouth was stuffed full of orange slices. “Because most of the vampires we’ve met are semi-nocturnal.”

Eddie had scoffed. Like he’s some sort of creature. But, to be fair… His body would choose daytime sleeping if it had a choice. 

“Well, if I sleep during the day, I’m more likely to spontaneously turn into a bat when the sun goes down.” Eddie had retorted. 

When Sophia called him a dick, he knew he deserved it. 

Which brings him to now, hiding from them both a little, in the confines of a bedroom that is technically his, but smells like Buck. Feels like Buck. Has been Buck’s. Hiding from them is maybe an exaggeration. Maybe it’s that he doesn’t quite know how to balance his remorse and his love and his fear in their presence. 

Just as Eddie is about to give into exhaustion and actually go to sleep, there’s a soft rap on the bedroom door. 

“Come in,” Eddie calls.

Buck cracks the door open and looks through. 

“Hey,” Eddie mumbles.

“Hi,” Buck steps in and shuts the door behind him. His right hand is shut around something. “Got a sec?”

Eddie has all the secs. He has nothing else in his life. In fact, he’s not even sure if he’s aging or not. So he might have infinite secs. Though he still needs to shave, so maybe he’s not in suspended animation. 

“Of course.” Eddie says. 

“Forgot this earlier,” Buck mumbles. He walks across the room to where Eddie is sitting on the bed and presses something cool and metal into Eddie’s palm. 

He knows instantly what it is.

Eddie releases a shaky breath as he looks at the contents of his palm. His medallion. The St. Christopher medallion. The one he’d lost the night Kim killed him. The night he almost killed Buck.

“You had it,” Eddie says, squeezing the hard metal and looking gratefully up at Buck. 

“It broke off when…” Buck can’t finish.

“Oh,” Eddie fills in the blanks. “I didn’t entirely remember.”

Buck nods. “I had the chain fixed.”

“Thank you for keeping it safe,” Eddie whispers.

---

15 for 🦮 (they shall get there!):

---

It probably could have gone on like that - steady and unchanging - for a while, if not for Bobby and Athena’s dinner party. Usually, they’d have it at their house. In the backyard. A nice barbecue or something. But, because Bobby and Athena’s wedding plans were soured by Bobby’s suspension, Shannon dying, and Buck losing a leg, they never had a proper party. Just a small courthouse ceremony with the kids. So now they’ve invited their closest friends and family out to a dinner at a fancy seafood place in Redondo Beach, months later, to properly celebrate. 

This is, of course, not a problem on its own. In fact, it’s a lovely thing and Buck is very happy to be invited. Bobby continuing to include Buck in his life means more than Buck can properly express. 

The problem is the small fact that, on his way to an upscale restaurant in which he dresses in proper slacks and an ironed shirt, Buck decides to forgo bringing Cranberry. He really doesn’t think much of the decision at first. She’s okay home alone for a few hours. He’s got a wire crate set up for her now. And he’s not even driving. Maddie and Chim are picking him up.

---

30 for 🚨(I'm so close toa big moment I have to be careful what I post here):

---

It’s a loud afternoon turned quiet night. After Eddie gets home from the lawyer’s, fate changed in ink, he returns home to find a clingy, shaken Christopher. 

“Tia said you had a bad night at work and Buck said you were hurt but not as hurt as you could have been but you have bruises everywhere, and are you okay, Daddy?”

Eddie can’t fault him. He was scared of being lost to his son, too. So instead of talking to Buck about things, like he might have, they spend the day comforting Christopher. Spending easy, uncomplicated hours playing Mario Kart and watching movies. Buck builds a small cushion fort and orders them Chinese food for dinner. And really, truly, it’s a beautiful sort of day. The kind of day any parent wants to lock away in their memory like a little treasure. It’s just a shame it came as the result of everyone fearing for Eddie’s life.  

Christopher crashes early. The stress has clearly caught up with him. Eddie tucks him in and reads him a story and stays with him a little bit longer than he might, usually. He’s getting bigger. Older. Soon he won’t even want this. And Eddie will have only gotten a fraction of these years. To think, he was so certain fatherhood wouldn’t suit him. That he would be bad at it. Maybe he isn’t anything to write home about, but he thinks of how he pulled himself out of a watery grave for this boy, he thinks about how he is willing to plan for the worst to protect him, and Eddie thinks maybe he has some merits. 

He hopes, sincerely, that his life isn’t cut short. That he gets some time in this role. He loves it so dearly, now.

“I missed you yesterday,” Chris yawns as Eddie puts the storybook down on his nightstand. He cuddles his tiny body into Eddie’s chest. 

“I missed you, too,” Eddie whispers, stroking his curly hair. “So much.”

One day, maybe, Eddie will feel like his son is old enough to hear that he loved him so much he refused to drown. The same way Buck had refused to drown that day at the pier.

---

45 for ⚡️:

THIS IS A RATHER SPOILERY SECTION SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

---

The thing is, Buck can’t forget about it. Not just during the blurry, hungover morning after Maddie and Chimney’s wedding. But in the weeks after, either. His brain seems to have clamped onto it with a vice grip. 

Almost as much fun as we’ll have at our wedding.

A funny little sentence that Eddie didn’t seem to remember saying the next morning. Though, given the way Eddie complained about his hangover for the following fourteen hours, Buck thinks there must be a decent amount he doesn’t remember. The important thing is, Buck remembers. 

Buck remembers, and Buck can do with that information as he pleases. And what he pleases might very well be to give Eddie that fun, happy wedding he was drunkenly talking about. 

See, Buck thinks - after a totally reasonable amount of time spent considering this - that Eddie wasn’t just drunk and joking. He thinks he does want it. Even if he’s not saying so in sober conversation yet. When they got together, Eddie had said he wanted everything with Buck. And so far, the uncertainty about more children has been the only exception in that totality. But Buck knows Eddie takes marriage seriously. He knows Eddie takes them seriously. And he had really, truly seemed to love Maddie and Chim’s wedding. So it seems like a natural next step. Not just to check off boxes, but because the idea of celebrating their commitment to each other feels right. Buck wants that. If Eddie wants that too, then they should do it. 

So, three weeks after Maddie and Chim’s wedding, just as April is about to fade into May, Buck decides. 

He’s going to ask Eddie to marry him. 

He just has to plan how. 

☆☆☆

Eddie can’t stop thinking about it. It settled over him like a warm blanket when he was drunk at the wedding, but even sober and with distance, it still feels right. He wants to be married to Buck. 

If he’s going sheerly on impulse, and what his heart says, he wants to be married to Buck, like, yesterday. Two years ago, even. If he’s going with what his head says - notoriously known for confusing him and leading him down the path to self-doubt - Eddie has concerns. Not about Buck, of course. Never about Buck. Buck is, despite some of his more baffling moments, perhaps the most marriageable person Eddie has ever known. Truly just husband material. If Buck was the only variable, it would be a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, Eddie has a habit of taking no-brainers and adding quite an afflicted brain to them. 

It’s not Chris, either. Even with Christopher’s initial concerns about their relationship. If anything, marrying Buck would stamp out any of those doubts he had about Buck leaving. Hell, if they were married, Buck could do a pretty simple step-parent adoption, if he wanted. Not that Eddie has researched that. Point is, he thinks Christopher would be glad if Eddie told him he was considering this.  So, really, once again, as with many things, Eddie is the source of his own frustrations. Classic Eddie. Though beating himself up for wanting to think through a significant life decision like a marriage - a second marriage - doesn’t seem fair either.

---

And finally, 18 stormy sentences for 🌊:

---

Eddie chases after him. He closes the door behind him, thankful for the dampening effect on the noise of the storm. 

“Eddie? Hi.” Maddie says warily from across the bar. She’s holding a bundle of sleeping bags in her arms. 

“Hi, Maddie,” Eddie says.

“You’re dripping everywhere,” Buck tells him, not bothering to even look back over his shoulder. 

Eddie holds his tongue, despite his brain’s urge to point out the absurdity of this comment. 

Eddie tries again. “Buck-”

“Oh, it’s probably Evan.” He cuts him off. 

Probably. Not definitely. 

Eddie can work with that.

“Okay, Evan. Please reconsider."

[reneesbooks]

Damn I really feel you on that one Stephanie Meyer book with the parasitic aliens, like that premise was so interesting, why did she have to focus on the stupid love triangle?!

ok here’s the thing. i could fix her

edit: i'm putting this post under a cut bc it got SO LONG lmao. read at your own risk it's messy and obsessive and a bit unhinged

the movie got so close in some ways and fucking missed in so many others. on the one hand, ian in the movie was imo a lot more likeable than he was in the book. I’m attributing this to less dialogue written directly by stephanie meyer and the actor's face. on the other hand. jared was awful. movie did not fix him even a bit. only thing they fixed was the age gap but not even that was explicitly addressed in the movie. it was just assumed bc the actors looked similarly aged

I should mention at this point that I haven’t actually read the book in a few years but I read it so many times at age 13-14 that it was an intensely formative experience despite being a generally terrible book. I could still probably quote entire passages from memory. I’ve seen the movie definitely more than 50 times, including in theaters w my mom the week it came out. I watched it last week just for something to play in the background while I crocheted. I can and will 1000% quote along with the movie. fucking brain parasite book got me I guess

the book delves so deeply into the genuinely fascinating world building that tbh has influenced me to this day in terms of depth and creativity. that’s where the movie set itself up to fail bc the ONLY redeeming quality of the book was the world building. its perfect for a tv show so that there is time to explore what it’s like for Melanie to live among the souls instead of focusing exclusively on wanderers time among the humans.

ok the love triangle. here's the thing. it didn't have to be Like That. BUT. i remember my edition when i was younger (that has since disappeared but i have a new one on the way bc i miss my stupid parasite book) had a bonus chapter or smth from melanie's perspective after she wakes up without wanderer in her head for the first time and runs into ian and they both have this moment where they reach for each other and there is that moment of horror on ian's part when he realizes that she is not wanda and melanie being so used to wanda reaching for him that she doesn't realize that her body is doing it automatically. and it was just so interesting to think about how that duality affected them and i think the movie kind of tried to do that with the conversation that ian and wanda have on the cliffs but it just didn't make it happen in the right way. so like. having the love stories there are important for why wanda is even willing to learn to be human but the focus on them in the movie and its general failure to properly execute the most interesting parts of them are what kneecapped it imo.

anyway getting back to why despite that the love triangle is literally the least interesting part of this book. starting with the thing that drives me the most up the wall. the fact that the movie didn't include walt at all and glossed over wes's death makes me chew drywall bc that plotline made me SOB. wanda's time sitting at walt's bedside and comforting him through his illness is one of the things that really teaches her about the gentleness of humanity despite their perceived cruelty, and what makes much of the humans actually start to trust her. they see how she treats walt and realize that she has a huge heart and capacity for kindness. so when jared gets mad bc the seeker looking for her has caused problems, and she has the whole compound backing her up anyway, it actually has some weight to it. the movie flattened wanda and her relationships to the others so much it's so disappointing!! she feels grief in a way that's different from how she's ever experienced it before, despite knowing and understanding grief from her previous lives. she is devastated and forever changed by walt's death, and similarly by wes's. i don't remember exactly if he had a partner in the book but i think he did so wanda also had that experience of seeing his death devastate someone else so completely (and for her to be able to connect that to how jared feels about her being in melanie's body). so when she asks doc to let her die at the end, it's go so much more significance because she specifically asks to be buried WITH walt and wes!! she finds peace with death and understands it and wants to be with the people who taught her about grief and love and that just. i'm so unhinged about it. and it wasn't in the movie. chewing drywall.

this isn't like. a big thing. but it's forever a little disappointing to me that it wasn't in the movie either. bc the movie went a more "ethereal being made of light" direction for what the souls' actual bodies look like instead of the book's "segmented body with thin tendrils that attach to the brain of the host" description. this matters to me for a sad reason and a funny one. the sad reason is because when wanda sees the souls that the humans tried to cut out, she notes based on the vestigial feelers of one of the dead souls that it was a baby. horrible and sad detail that makes that scene 100 times worse. the funny reason is because since the humans know what the souls look like for the above sad reason, they refer to them as worms. which essentially leads to them calling ian a worm fucker and that's hilarious on a lot of levels the least of which being that it's true. like while melanie and jared and jamie go looking for a new body for wanda he literally doesn't care what it looks like and just sits holding her containment tank the entire time. worm fucker and proud of it good for him

i could write a whole other essay on the worldbuilding but i don't have my copy yet (and all the library copies are checked out who ARE y'all who else has read this book???) and i can't remember enough of it to really get into it. but wanderer's job was to be a teacher because she'd been to almost all the different planets (hence her name) so there were some glimpses of the fascinating universe of this world. the stories that she tells about the other planets?? unparalleled. wanderer tells this story about an ethical dilemma (among parasitic aliens lmao) because their host species on one planet burns another alive for its food source BUT they had recently discovered that the food source species was also sapient and intelligent so they were trying to figure out a way to handle the situation. that entire thing could be more interesting than the love triangle but instead it was like. a maximum of two pages about that planet and a one-off appearance from another soul that used to live there at the very end of the book. wanda tells the people at the compound about the underwater planet, and the one with the giant blind flying creatures that they call the Bats, and she mourns using the ritual from that species after the whole seeing the corpses incident. all of this gone completely to waste and for what!! for what stephanie!!!

another funny thing that i think might be better left in the book--when they take the seeker out in the book the human that was in there in the first place is so nasty and awful that everyone is lowkey mad at wanda for not just letting them kill her. top tier comedy ngl

ugh i also remember a scene where wanda is going on the long supply trips and sees a couple of souls with a human child who isn't occupied and is like. huh. that could be really indicative of a beautiful direction for humanity to go. could souls and humans live in peace in a real way? and then it's never really addressed again bc sexy feelings about two men oohhhh

so. is she fixable?

yes. i could fix her. a tv adaptation is what she needs. bc then there's actually time to delve into the thoughts and feelings of melanie and wanderer (and you could do that really well if you made a visualization of their shared mindspace--the book talks about how they put up walls against each other, and how they can block each other out or grab at control) as well as the worldbuilding and ethical questions. i have a whole three-season plan for fixing her so buckle up.

season one starts with wanderer waking up in melanie's body and the first half explores their time as a uni professor and the seeker's insistence on trying to find the human resistance through melanie's memories. this is where we really get a chance to see wanda's perspective--not because she's right, but because it's interesting. she is a huge pacifist and is horrified by violence, whereas melanie is used to using violence to get what she needs and tends to jump directly to it as a solution. so before they run off to the desert, when the seeker is still constantly checking up on her, as wanda gets more annoyed, melanie keeps suggesting that they kill her, and wanda has a harder and harder time holding her back. finally at the midpoint, wanda snaps and attacks the seeker, not because melanie made her do it, but because she's finally reaching that point in her journey towards humanity. and of course everybody blames it on melanie and they have to run because they're going to be separated.

then the second half of the season starts with the wandering through the desert. btw. book jeb my beloved. unhinged grandpa didn't get to be nearly as unhinged in the movie. the second half of the season is wanda acclimating to the human environment. i am of the opinion that romance should not happen until the second season at LEAST. obv melanie is pining for jared and wanda is dealing w that but it's not a romance. she doesn't love jared she's just comforting her dramatic roommate. maybe ian is starting to show interest in wanda but she hasn't noticed yet because she's still getting used to being human. season one ends with walt's death, since that's one of wanda's biggest turning points.

so season two opens with wanda understanding humanity a little better. and now she notices that ian likes her. melanie rightfully puts up a fuss about this (because it's her fucking body, steph meyer why did you almost make a convincing bodily autonomy argument and then fall short you almost had it--) and we can have that drama still while setting it up against the backdrop of wanda's journey to understanding humanity and ultimately becoming human herself. this is the first half of the season, and then there is the turning point--discovering that they've been trying to cut out the souls even as she lives among them. this is her major fracture with ian and is when she realizes that she can actually push melanie out of her head entirely and has to scramble to get her back. season midpoint cliffhanger is melanie being gone. and that finally brings jared around about her when he sees how hard she works to get melanie back and help jamie. so the second half of the season starts with healing jamie and how jared being ok with her changes the dynamic. now she's going out on raids, seeing how humanity and souls can live together, starting to come around to being in love with ian maybe, and generally settling into a comfortable existence. and this is when the seeker comes back into the picture at the end of season two, killing wes and being captured by the humans.

and season three. where it all comes together. the seeker represents the biggest obstacle to humanity and souls living in harmony--she is a mirror and a foil to wanda and melanie, two people too stubborn to let the other take over, unable to coexist. when she's captured by the humans, they want to kill her and her host, forcing wanda to come face-to-face with what she hasn't wanted to admit--she has to tell the humans how to remove a soul from a body. and in doing so she has to admit that she's been selfish and cruel by not telling them before. because by now they've more than proven that they can accept her kind under the right circumstances. so she's able to lay that out with the seeker and the first half of the season shows them starting to do it--to take souls out of humans and send them to different planets. the book does so many interesting things with this, showing how some people come back right away, some come back very slowly, some don't come back at all. there's a lot of material to work with (looking at you jodi and kyle and sunny) but eventually we get to the midpoint which is wanda asking doc to remove her and bury her with wes and walt. and then he does.

so the second half of the third season begins with melanie alone. and for the first time ever we don't hear from wanda at all. because she's in a cryotank and unable to have thoughts. so now we have what didn't get a chance to be really explored by the book--the aftermath of wanda's removal and the ethical debate of violating her wishes to put her in another body as well as the fact that when they do put her in one, it's one of the people who never woke up. it starts to get fuzzy here bc there's less original material to work with (and what is there is...not great the body they find for wanda is a 17 year old and ian is like 27 throwing up) and because there are so many directions to go after the book ends-- they find other human groups like they do in the book that also have a soul like her living among them, they try to work with the soul government to reach an agreement for peace, etc etc etc--and they're all so interesting! but the book ends because the love triangle has been resolved and it just doesn't address any of that. shaking steph by the shoulders and screaming

anyway the point of all of this is that this book and movie have been living rent free in my head for over a decade and i would simply like to make the good version of it that lives in my head real.

tldr i could fix her. steph meyer wya.

[williamrikers]

why playboyy the series isn't working for me

(this is just a personal rant because i need to put my thoughts somewhere if you liked this episode please scroll past 🙏)

okay cards on the table i managed to watch like 30 minutes of this show before i had to stop for my own emotional well-being so i can't speak on the entirety of the first episode. maybe they addressed some of these issues at some point? but i have the feeling that they didn't.

so, first of all, i think the biggest problem this has for me is that it's not written like a tv show. it's written like a porno but without actual sex. uh. what is the point of that?

here's what i mean: the characters aren't introduced properly. the narrative is set up in the sparsest way imaginable. after 30 minutes, i had no idea who any of these guys were, what they were doing or why i should care. they were masturbating a lot (which was boring because it's still a tv show. you'll never actually see anything anyway), and getting interrupted a lot (which was weird because like. nobody ever got to finish and seemingly they were always just fine with that? uh. what). they went to uni and were assholes about people with less money. that's not actually a story.

all i'm saying is, this thing needed a plot. desperately. you can put sex in a show and still tell a story, trust me, it's possible! this way, it just felt like a porno blueballing me.

then there was the kinkshaming. whoo boy. how is anybody a professional sex worker yet surprised that someone might not want vanilla sex?? like. helping people with niche kinks is like half the point of sex work. nobody can tell me that this guy hasn't had weirder. is this his first day on the job?

honestly, i loved seeing a main character who's not into vanilla sex. why not lean into that? why not, you know, explore that? why does he need to change, why does the whole narrative need to push him to change, why can't he just be into the things he's into? i know there's a cultural aversion against kink and bdsm in thailand (episode 4 of wednesday club proved that as well, this week), but if you're telling me you're making a sex-positive, boundary-pushing show, then it needs to actually be sex-positive and boundary-pushing. this was basically the opposite.

this brings us to the dubcon. oh lordy lord lord. this was the main reason i stopped watching. because if your partner looks as uncomfortable as my boy (i did not get his name. because the characters were never properly introduced. art guy.), you should absolutely stop and check in with them. and when someone says they want to stop, you should listen! what the fuck was that! and then art boy just... rolled with it?? after years of not wanting to touch other people what he needs is just some coercion and dubcon to "cure" him of his kink and make him have "normal" sex? nah miss me all the way with that shit.

overall, this is a huge disappointment for me. only friends might not have been perfect, but at least i had fun watching that! i don't care what p'den says, this is in no way a spiritual successor or even on the same level as that.

[dontheckinswear]

spy x family fans on tumblr will be like “omg newest chapter was so cute!!! yor and loid are such good parents and i love anya/damian’s friendship! :)” while completely ignoring the huge and very important melinda desmond lore drop at the end of chapter lol

so here’s what i think we can gather from this:

she does care about damian in a motherly way

when she heard he was in danger the only thing on her mind was worry for him

but hearing about donovan triggers her, letting her more complicated feelings toward him slip through

despite our window into their interactions being short lived, it seems like she isn’t trying to let damian know these true feelings of hers, she just tries to not be around him in general

this reads to me like damian was an unwanted pregnancy and if it were up to her, she never would have had him at all

he’s the child of a man she hates and his existence is probably forcing to her continue in this marriage

postpartum can be a bitch and if it’s never properly addressed, especially when you don’t love your spouse and you didn’t want the child, it can cause the mother-child relationship to fester. that’s what i think we’re seeing here

she doesn’t truly hate damian as a person but he is a reminder of the situation she’s stuck in and thus can’t stand to be around him.

i’m interested to see if she feels this way about both her children or if there was some other circumstance with demetrius’s birth

i can’t pass judgement on melinda yet because we truly don’t know the specifics of her reasons for being this way towards damian, but i think it’s safe to assume that the source of problems in the desmond family is donovan. surprise.

[raionmimi]

Someone once told me that they loathe Medb because she objectifies people, and I can't help but agree. From her creation of Cu Alter to her relationship with Skadi, and then something Fergus mentioned twice, once in the manga and once in Summer 4. But, rather than seeing this in a negative light, as the person who mentioned this, I couldn't help but find this an interesting fault because the story, for the most part, treats this as neither fully bad or completely good Because viewing it through this lens makes Skadi and her relationship uniquely realistic because, while Medb is doing it for completely warped and selfish motives, it also highlights the fact that Skadi needs a self-severing person in her life to get over her troubles and eluvates her in such a intersting manner. Or, in another situation, how she basically earns Cu alter's respect via sheer tenacity through that viewpoint but also caused the american singularity. I had these thoughts swriling around my head the past few days I couldn't help but to wonder what the biggest Medb fan would think about this.

A lot of people, including your friend, view America as a "I have you now, my pretty" scenarios from what I've seen. America plays it up that Medb "gets to have" Cu as an object of affection. Higashide specifically wanted the player to think that, so it comes off as a surprise in the reveal when Alter admits that he's fighting for Medb's wish on his own free will the whole entire time.

(TL;DR: at the bottom before the cut)

When you go back, you realize that there is a lot of foreshadowing that this was the case the whole time. Namely that Cu Alter has so much autonomy and free will for someone who is supposedly "under control." Medb never gets mad at him when he disagrees with her, and the fact that he would debate with her at all is extremely telling when she's usually pretty pushy as a person when it comes to what she thinks is the correct line of action

Both Medb and Cu have their own ideas of what it means to be a king and a hero. For Cu, we know that he doesn't care for honors and titles, but Medb had to work her ass off to get a title for her own safety and to be taken seriously by others. Cu (probably) thought he was well meaning for telling Medb that he didn't want to hurt or kill her because she was a woman, but to her, it was insulting that he wouldn't view her as a warrior when she had gone through a fuckton to get to where she was. He accepted that he was going to die in a blaze of glory, while she can't understand how he can just go throw his life away without ever properly taking her on when everyone thinks of her as the villain of his story.

So there's an obvious disconnect between the two. The fact that they DO talk about this, change each other's minds, and disagree is where the development lays. By the end of the singularity, Alter is able to recognize Medb's efforts as a queen, which was the main validation she wanted from him. Medb also arguably understands that Cu isn't how she thought he’d be that if you notice, anytime they're together, she no longer brings up how she thinks he should act. She just thinks what he does is really cool instead, so they’ve basically gotten the chance to get to know each other better and come to some sort of understanding

The only problem is that Higashide never actually addresses the issue on Cu's end. Personally, I don't really mind tooo too much because Medb's emotions is what I care more so about in the dynamic, but it still leaves a very huge "What even are his thoughts about this?" And I dont mean Alter, I mean the original Cu. It's very clear by the stark difference in how Medb talks to Alter and Cu that she thinks Cu is much colder to her than he actually is. But she also was able to talk to Alter more genuinely because with his emotions suppressed, it was like talking to someone who would never actually respond in a way that would be too overwhelming where she'd have to be on guard. But that's only a stepping stone to the actual problem.

Cu cares a great deal about Medb as a person because if he wasn't aware of her circumstances when they were alive, he does now that they're servants. He mentioned her in HA before she was even in FGO and says that a ton of bad things happened to her and she's a product of what happened to her. But he still doesn't do anything about it in a way that's actually helpful. He treats Medb like someone he feels like he has to take care of, even if she's troublesome, instead of acknowledging his own flaws that got him into the situation with her in the first place.

He still has chivalrous view of women that can be seen as patronizing like telling Medusa in Extella that he doesnt want to fight or kill women when Medusa had the clear advantage. He chooses Nero over Tamamo because Tamamo reminded him too much of Medb. He talks about how he wants to be more reliable to Medb in his voiceline, even to the point of making a promise to her that we still have NO idea what it could possibly have been about. He avoids Medb when she's up to mischief, yet when she asks for help he is immediately willing to do whatever. Even to the point that Knocknarea in LB6 is confused as to why he's so eager and willing to help her.

Cu's thoughts are a huge piece of the puzzle missing that if you don't pay attention to how he handles Medb, it comes off as one sided when it's more like two people avoiding communicating the root of a problem.

I highly doubt that his side would ever occur as the closest there has come to being critical of Cu's actions is the consequences of his thing with Fand and Emer in the Vday events with Caren and Bazett. Do agree that sometimes, other writers will just use Medb's love for him as a gag to idk fill up the spaces or something. It can be funny but if that's all she does, then ya I get the criticisms esp when their actual convos are way funnier. I have more thoughts on them, but I've already wrote so much lmao

Very cool and poggers of the manga to have Cu Alter kneeling down and accepting a kiss from her tho

TL;DR: Medb and Cu have lore to build off of + that there are flaws to be addressed. Makes the subtle growth very cool and leeway for further Medb development and complexities.

---

Putting the rest under the cut because I'm critical of the way Sakurai writes Medb and Skadi. Read if u want, but know that I'm kind of a hater so I'd rather you look at something you like instead.

Sakurai's writing with Skadi doesn't have the benefit of lore to easily play around with though. TL;DR at the bottom.

The problem is that the writers never really fleshed out Scathach that much, nor did they have the latter interact much with Medb. The whole premise of this dynamic is that Medb thinks Skadi is Scathach and she's surprised that "Scathach is acting different than she usually does" and keeps trying to get Skadi to act "like she usually does"

But Medb doesn't even really know Scathach, they hardly talked. Like ever. There's like 5 lines of dialogue from between 2018 to now between the two across the American singularity to events and voice lines. Most of the time, they don't even directly talk to each other. Unlike her thing with Alter, Medb has never come to an understanding with Scathach, nor does she really have any reason to care about her

The writing has to rely on existing character dynamics that... was hardly there to begin with makes it crumble that much faster to me personally. It'd make more sense if they had actually written a LOT of interaction with each other to the point of them influencing each other's characters, whether in a positive or negative way. But as it stands, it'd make more sense for Medb to react to the gap difference between Ushi and Taira than Scathach and Skadi because the writers chose to give more depth to Ushi and Medb as frenemies.

I was never a fan of Medb Skadi writing because it comes off as a cheap way to introduce Skadi into the Chaldea dynamics. It's nothing like Ushi or Ex and Medb, Knocknarea and Castoria's level of development, where it'd make sense. Not to mention, nothing about Skadi is remotely what Medb is interested in. If it had been the other way around, where Skadi was introduced first and then Scathach showed up, it'd make a bit more sense given who Medb usually hangs out with or talks to

Sakurai mainly utilizes Medb as a mouthpiece of how cute and uwu Skadi is rather than having any meaningful development between the two across multiple events. It just gets weird and sometimes even creepy at times, esp when you remember Higashide's Medb had never been sexual towards Alter. But Sakurai's Medb sexually harasses Skadi when Medb herself is a SA victim?? And she writes Medb as calling herself tainted in a diff event????? Even Minase treated Medb better in the Prisma Illya event. Like, I don't hate Sakurai, but she can be very hit or miss with me on certain things.

You can compare Skadi to almost any other character that Medb has interacted with, and it's severely lacking. Neither one's lore is really addressed until Skadi's interlude and even then, Medb doesn't really have much to do with it, she's just "I will lend you a Cu (caster) because I'm already holding two Cu's hands right now"

I don't mind if people like Skadi, but I just don't think Sakurai handles Medb and Skadi well together. It comes off as either shoe horned yuri bait at worst, and not knowing where to put Skadi since she didn't have much connection to any character in her LB at best that she just slapped her onto Medb for the vague Scathach connection. There is no lessons learned, no real understanding of each other, and it's just Medb doing what she wants. There's no balance or substance that I personally like

I admit that I have not read her summer event parts to know how she develops with other characters though. I'm still very :// about the transphobia with her changing Caeneus's spirit origin without his consent because she "wanted Caeneus to fit in with the other girls" which doesn't help much when she calls Caeneus tainted because of their SA in the lostbelt.

I just don't really care much for the character or the writing between her and medb, so that's why you'll hardly ever see me talk about her.

Apologies because I know you went in talking positively, but I agree with your friend on this one. It does come heavily across as objectification and one of those ships you'd meme on as "gay ship for straight ppl (with a male audience in mind specifically)" and is not treated well, so I personally ignore it.

TL;DR: I dont like Skadi writing or Medb/Skadi writing. I do not mind if other do tho, so like its just do ya own thing, yfeel?

Anyways, ship Castoria x Knocknarea

[nagirambles]

Hi welcome back ! Hope your doing ok 🥰 would it be alright if I request what if hcs for healer Happy please 🙏 ( he has so much potential and I wish we saw him do more things , maybe him even getting his own arc where he’s a healer and how he feels that Wendy is also a healer to , could be happy to have another pair of hands to help heal the team or angst that the team might not need him anymore👀)

Ohhhh healer happy. I remember mentioning it all the way in Phantom or TOH on this blog, okay, here I go,

Healer Happy would, to preface, separate himself from Wendy in the sense that he's a resourceful healer, while Wendy is a magic healer. This means he's the one to run to when you need bandages, medicine, herbs, heat packs, needles, etc. Wendy doesn't need those items because she can heal any of those (including sores, motion sickness, so she doesn't need any tools or home remedies) but since troia works less the more you stack, Happy continues to come through with warm ginger teas and massages. Or a wrench, or a hammer, or a fish! Or frozen peas. He also has scissors and hair clips and staples and anything you can think of that fits inside a very well-furnished first aid kit. He throws them at enemies when he's fighting, they all come out of his bag.

Whether his bag is an endless doraemon sack, or if he uses requip to seem like he's pulling ridiculous things out of his bag-- up to you. I think it's funny to see him pull a huge bag of ice out of his tiny bag and flip them over someone's head, goodbye

This gives me a fun idea, honestly-- he'd definitely hang around Porlyusica's place a lot. She hates humans, and I think that canonically extends to cats as well, but let's say it doesn't. (thinking about the jade dragon from GMG graveyard and maybe all dragons are silly tolerant with cats. Maybe that can be a trend. She is an Edo version of a dragon after all--) but anyways! Maybe he's her pseudo-apprentice of sorts, since she does the classic witchy potionmaking. ('Apprentice' as in he stares at her while she works, from some corner of the building or thorugh the window. And she gave up trying to chase him out.)

I'd imagine a sort of Dr Kureha and Chopper type dynamic. Maybe she's where Happy gets the knowledge from (Happy-sensei exposition duty,) she doesn't directly teach him anything, but he does learn a lot just from hanging around her house.

Which would mean the two people Happy are closest with both have pink hair hahaaa I kinda wanna see Meredy and Sherry learning this, thinking it's adorable, and trying to get into the club. I would think he loves sakura season because of the pink. There is... so much chopper similarity what the hell. Even Dr Kureha's catchphrase is 'ya happy?' and I'm obsessed with that actually. Reincarnation fic I need

I would imagine just like in battle, Wendy has less actual field knowledge. Which means we could have situations like setting bones properly before healing them (because healing them right away would fuse wrong and cause permanent damage). Or situations where Wendy can heal a contagious epidemic, but they have no idea where it comes from-- Happy would be able to realize it's a magic problem, or a virus, or a curse, and where it'd come from (animals, trees, sewage, etc.) We could also have Happy the therapy cat, where people go to him to talk feelings. We could address the PTSD or depression that's displayed in some characters. Maybe he's already helping them through some of it! Maybe he displays some of this when Edolas happens and it's the breakthrough that pulls Carla out of her darkness? And so on, and so forth.

I can imagine FT would take a more genuine direction with their injuries if there was a healer happy. The anime erases most of them, but I'd like to see Happy actually scolding people who are too reckless when injured (most of our boys,) needlessly causing injuries around in barfights (splinters are hard to get out! Hey!) or even refusing medical advice to go be stupid. (I'd like to see a situation where someone's stubborn for a mild injury, it gets worse, and becomes permanent damage. Eg Thunder Legion not bothering with persistent eye discomfort, only to figure out too late there's an infection and end up with blind/astig/photokeratitis/migraines. It could serve as a lesson for the rest and a character building moment for happy. Maybe something like that could even be in the BoFT, where Happy points this out to Lucy and that helps them win the fight.) I'd like to think we could include Loke in this group of people that Happy mother-hens the hell out of, because something's always been weird about him, Happy just doesn't know what.

All that doesn't stop him from maybe feeling a little obsolete or distressed about his role in the team once Wendy arrives, though. I feel he'll overlap with Wendy a lot, and if there was an arc about him, I'd expand on this. How-- well, by having Wendy and Natsu switch cats for a mission! (It'd be set right after Wendy joins.) It seems like Carla and Natsu are both headstrong, straightforward types, while in this AU Wendy and Happy are a little more humble, behind-the-scenes, and resourceful healers. This duality will make a fun shenanigans arc where they work together to find their flaws and differences and learn to appreciate both their original partners and their new addition to the guild. Wendy is still learning the ropes, so Happy gets to be 1. a big brother for once (he's usually baby of the family always) and 2. learn about finding individuality, confidence, and strength at your own pace. (Something Wendy is also working her way through, but from a different perspective from Happy.)

That's all for now. Thanks for the ask! <3

[itsnothingofinterest]

Do you really think this isn't going to be the final arc? I don't know how much table turning there is gonna be before deku talks no jutsus shigaraki into helping him beat up afo, I could see seeing the mina and kiri fights but I don't know if it's gonna be a huge oh no the villains are gonna win swing since we just got one from the kurogiri twice dump and are currently in the middle of the crackback from the heroes arriving here.

Thinking about it, yeah I am. As for why: well, it’s a few things.(Warning, this gets quite a bit ranty.)

Power-sclaing wise, it’s just a terrible final arc because the heroes are so much stronger than their opponents that there’s been no stakes since the villains were ambushed. Just jumping off what you say here; the closest thing we’ve had to a “the villains might win” swing was Kugoriri & Toga’s parade combo, which lasted 2 minutes and then got beat by one hero, because duh, that’s how just outmatched the villains have been this whole arc.

And on a related note, Deku or Tomura hardly need each others help to beat up AFO; either could 1v1 him and smash his face into the pavement easy. What does a 2v1 with the strongest people in the world on the same side even look like? I actually think AFO may not even leave the mountains if this is the final arc; because if his defeat isn’t in service of Tomura surpassing him, then getting wrecked for good by Tokoyami, Jirou, Shinsou, and everyone else he called an extra is probably the more fitting end for him.

So from a Shonen spectacle angle, this arc’s doing terribly as a finale because victory was tension-lessly assured from minute one.

But there’s also the emotional and narrative angles; how many dangling plot elements are there and how ready are the addressed plot threads to be properly resolved. And the answers to those are “more than there probably should be” and “not very, unless things suddenly become very rushed”.

But just focusing on what’s most pressing to me (this is already long); a lot of the inciting issues in hero society are not set to be addressed by the next generation, most kids aren’t even thinking about that while staring their foil villains in the face, any other attempts at ‘talk no justu’-esque communication have been falling though entirely, and the kids just don’t look ready to resolve they or their foils’ arcs. The only exception to any of that is Shoji, who came up with a total non-solution to prejudice that I feel would be a great start to an arc foiling Spinner, but a terrible finish. If that’s the precedent set for how these issues are getting resolved, then it’s shame how doomed class 1A feels to repeat their predecessors’ failures.

Overall, the arc feels to me like the kids are still learning. Deku, Shoto, & Uraraka are still learning Tomura, Dabi, & Toga’s deals; which makes sense when they only just realized to ask last arc. I really feel they’re all being set up more to finally get a clue then to resolve things here and now, as they're lacking the knowledge, tools, and development for that. And I’ll be honest; supposing for a moment Hori decided to end the war at chapter 400, I do not think 18 chapters would be enough time for the important kids' to gain that development even if it was entirely dedicated to them. (Not without rushing things so, as I said I was worried about, hero society goes unaddressed and loops back to where we are now in a few decades). But it would be enough time to get everyone going in the right direction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(As an aside, did your ask somehow get edited? I have a copy of the original and it includes at the end of this ask: "...in the middle of the crackback from the heroes arriving here.I get your point. I'm just too used to shonen manga where the inverse ninja rule is heavily implemented. I don't really view the the mobs of bodies being thrown at the problem on either side as more than a way to get characters we haven't seen much show off and get their moment in the final arc."

Which I also answered. But for some reason is gone from the text box. Spooky.)

Never mind.

[dodger-sister]

Sufficiently freaked out enough I turned on the alarm & locked the doors & put a chair under the door handle. Yesterday we rescued a cat that we had seen around the neighborhood the last week or so. She was on our porch staring in at Sis, so Sis went out & the cat jumped in her arms & started loving on Sis.

So we started our rescue routine: put her in basement guest room separate from our animals, posted on my FB & 2 local missing pet groups, called the shelter (waiting for call back) & intended to take her in to get scanned for a chip, if needed by tomorrow.

Today on 1 of the FB groups there was a comment “that’s my cat”. Something about it felt weird. When my dog went missing & ppl posted they saw him here or there, trying to help us catch him, I would reply “omg thank you, yes thats my dog!” Or whatevs. She just posts, “thats my cat.” So I went to her FB & it looked legit enough, just tons of other ppl’s missing animals & motorcycles. *But* there was no post about her missing a cat. Scrolled back 3 months, nothing. I was going to message her & ask for a photo of the cat, just to verify, since ppl do use cats as bait for dog fights around here. I understand when you are missing an animal, you can be beside yourself, so I shoulda messaged her immediately, but I was tending to things with my own pets & around the house & didnt respond immediately (ie within the hour). Thats on me.

But then I get a phone call, “you found a cat, thats our cat,” from some dude. I said “howd you get this number?” He says, “From the internet, you can search anybody nowadays.” GUYS, my FB profile name is my nickname, not my legal name! You cant search me & find me bc all searchable stuff is either from voter registration or state ID. How did he connect my nickname to my legal name? WTF. Then he says, “my gf is out looking for him - it’s a him - right now. I just gave her your address - *says my address* - that’s you, right?” Im shaking now. “How do you have my address? Someone is just coming to my house?!” I tell him I will NOT be answering the door until my sister is also here. He says, “she’s a 65 year old lady, its fine.” I said, “no, its not & my dog is super protective of me & he doesn’t let me open the door for strangers.” He says, “just bring the cat out to her then .” I stupidly, giving away that I’m disabled or whatevs, said, “cat is downstairs & I can’t do the stairs, you’ll have to wait until my sister comes home. Tell your gf to come back at 5.”

I ask if the number he has called from is his & he says yes & gives me his name. I say I’ll have my sister call to arrange a pick up. Im outside, so I go in, lock all the door, cant get the 1 door to lock properly so I put the chair there. I also turned on alarm & have my dog here, but Im freaked.

I inform Sis & she calls him. He tells her he got my number from 1 of those online Find A People sites. Thats a creepy thing to do. & then to just send someone to your house. What if a stranger just showed up at your front door asking about SM post you had made, without you having given out your info? How would you feel? Sis told him to send her a photo to prove is their cat. So then I go back to the missing animal site & there are a few more comments from the same lady, 1 saying his name is Cletus & the other saying, “We live on *street around the corner*. Please is a outdoor cat. Let him out & he will come back home”.

Ya’ll we live in the city limits! Yeah it’s only a 35k population but we have busy streets & a huge drug problem, have been labeled in the top 10 worst cities in our state, just a bad place to let your animals roam free if you want them to stay safe. Not to mention we aren’t far from the city edges, where we have coyotes. I know I had indoor/outdoor cats in my early 20s in town, but I was young & stupid & raised with barn cats so didn’t know any better. This lady is 65 years old! Yes I’m judging!

My friend is coming to stay this weekend & wanted to adopt the cat. If is theirs, obvs we hafta return it, but Id rather my friend adopt it. Rather my friend than ppl who let it roam in the city & then stalk you online & call you outta the blue & try to roll up on your house unannounced. Fuuuuuck. Also yeah he went missing, bc he begged us to let him in our house, we thought we were helping!

(Anyways, by the time I typed all this, it has been confirmed he is their cat, so we will return it to them later. In a public meet up spot.). But ya’ll, I’m wigging. WTF?

[flutishly]

LBD rewatch, part 4

It wasn’t easy getting back into the swing of Lydia’s final arc. It was hard to watch live, it was hard to rewatch not long afterward, and it remains hard to rewatch. Part of this has to do with the dread leading up to the reveal. Part of this has to do with the fact that even a decade later, I am somewhat disappointed by some of the acting/directing choices in “An Understanding”, particularly on Lydia’s end. I know that I’m usually quite in the minority on the latter end, but still. I grimace every time; there’s something deeply theatrical in how Lydia presents herself there and it comes in sharp contrast with the much more natively portrayed Lizzie. There are things that I still love about it, of course. I cannot make it through the whole video without crying, even today. The lines “I love you! [...] I love you!” break me every single time. Even just rewatching a few seconds of those lines in order to write this post have me crying. But I can also never quite shake off the feeling that the video is still very much a product of being an extended scene, with moments that could easily have been replaced by better takes left intact when they shouldn’t have been.

And then the pressure eases, just slightly. The tension changes. The viewer who knows what happens in Pride and Prejudice waits for the second shoe to drop. But in the meantime, the plot ticks along in plain view. Gigi’s Domino videos hit differently nowadays than in 2013 in large part because of how... not weird the app is? Like at the time, there was a sense of “yeah, sure, whatever, as if”, but then today there are literally apps that are all about video presentation for the sake of more drama (........), which granted don’t seem to have the same sort of AI on display, but let’s be real, how far off can it be? (grimace grimace grimace)

There are other irritating aspects of the Gigi subplot. I find myself even more impatient over how infantilizing Darcy and Fitz are, in their treatment of Gigi as someone entirely under their care. While it is sweet and admirable to want to support your sister/friend in the context of some pretty fresh trauma, it’s not cute to do so against her express wishes or the place she’s asking to be. Gigi is an adult in this adaptation. A younger adult, sure, but she’s not a teen like Maria and she has a lot more agency over her story. It kind of sucks to watch Darcy and Fitz shut her out the way that they do, even if it all ends up well (sort of). More than that, it’s never properly addressed why Gigi continues to make these calls on the company’s demo, which is hugely inappropriate in terms of violating Lydia’s privacy. (On top of how Lizzie is already violating a whole lot of people’s privacy.)

And then there’s Bing’s return. It... mostly doesn’t work. I love how Jane plays it, honestly, and I love that Jane refuses to back down against her own position (and point out that, bro, you haven’t earned my trust back), but there’s a sense of disconnect. Maybe part of the problem is how the show initially portrays Bing and Jane’s relationship, as something so quaintly sweet and pure and abstract. Maybe part of the problem is that the way Bing breaks it off with Jane is so much worse in modern times. (Personally, if Jane was my friend, I’d probably be the one going “he’s not worth it, what a jerk, don’t you dare get back together with him, have you forgotten how I had to hug you on the bathroom floor while you sobbed over feeling inadequate? He’s the inadequate one, you’re worth so much more than him!” The fact that Lizzie doesn’t do that remains stunning in my mind.) Whatever it is, despite the rather valiant attempts at rehabilitating Bing, I couldn’t help grimace at how neatly they wrapped up this thread. The “I’ve been trying to figure myself out” thing is cute, sure! But it isn’t quite earned. There’s not enough of either Jane and Bing really being in love (and I don’t mean onscreen, I just mean in love and not the very idealized relationship Lizzie paints in early episodes) and then there certainly isn’t enough of them actually getting to re-know each other before Jane leaves. I understand why/how it happened as it did, but I almost wonder if it shouldn’t have happened offscreen. I don’t know.

Next: Darcy. Darcy is, as I mentioned, a not-too-appealing part of Gigi’s videos. They do give good insight into his behavior and the way that he handles himself (he’s definitely a very loving older brother, if too overprotective!), but they’re glimpses. I’m actually fine with that, I think. The reveal is also... okay? I don’t know. It’s very in-line with how LBD generally portrays “news that should not be public”, though I’ll admit that by this point in the series, it feels a whole lot less believable that these things would make it online. Even the way that Lizzie explicitly asks Lydia... feels a little strange. But not as strange as it should, disturbingly. Ah well.

Finally: Lizzie. It’s this little portion of story where Lizzie’s growth becomes apparent. She’s hesitant over a lot of things. She is smacked in the face - repeatedly - with the consequences of her own actions and words. She’s stunned into silence upon realizing how wrong she’s been in so many places. Watching Lizzie break down is, as I mentioned, the thing that gets to me every time. As much as the show does a brilliant job of showing us Lizzie’s faults, it does a better job of really making us love her. And so I can’t help but love how this arc plays out for her, even though the focus isn’t really on her.

Well, onto the last batch of episodes! Caroline’s about to return... that’s got to be the biggest drama ahead, no?

[rubberduckyrye]

... You know, I don’t think I ever actually. Explained what about the 3.3 quest ticked me off so bad that I felt the need to rewrite the entire thing in about a week, huh?

Well, the big/major factor in it was how the story treated Nahida.

When I first played through it, the implications of the quest were immediate to me--I guess that’s because I tend to hyper-think about the plot being given to me, and I’m not easily spoon fed. So when I first saw the fairy tale Nahida made, and how she implied she made it before she sent Scaramouche into Irminsul... I felt by god damn blood boil.

Do you know why this is a huge issue for me?

It’s because she planted the memory of Niwa and Dottore there, on purpose, with the intention of having him find it. And while showing him a very traumatic memory to show him the truth is a big issue on it’s own, I can at least understand how that is IC for her. She’s really bad at social stuff at times. Showing Scaramouche a memory that would break his perception of the world around him? Seems like a thing she might accidentally do without thinking about the consequences.

The problem with that though is the latter part. Without thinking about the consequences. The Fairy tale? That damn thing, for as cool of a concept as it is, complicates matters a bunch when you run with the idea that she made it before Scaramouche went into Irminsul.

If you HC that she made the Fairy Tale in a panic after he went and button mashed the Existential suicide button, then this is still mostly fine. She still didn’t know what the consequences of showing him a very traumatic memory like that would be, and in a panic, makes the fairy tale just before he successfully erases himself from everyone’s collective memory. There is merit to believing this HC and calling it canon, even! I personally believe this myself.

... But there’s merit to believe that this wasn’t the case. That Nahida made the fairy tale before Scaramouche went into Irminsul.

That Fairy tale was specifically designed and created to be missed/avoided in a very specific case--a grand scale memory wipe of a specific person from Irminsul. That means, in order for Nahida to have made the fairy tale in advance, she had to have known that a potential consequence of showing Scaramouche the truth, would be that he commits existential suicide.

And she, knowing fully well the consequences of this action, tricked him into looking at the memory anyway.

Needless to say, this is a god fucking AWFUL thing to do to anyone!

You should not ever, ever, force someone to confront a truth when they are not ready for it--when that truth will destroy their worldview to such a degree, without taking the time and care to properly address it and ease into it. Nahida, in this case, actively and knowingly would have been triggering Scaramouche without any warning or care for his well being. I know he’s not a good person but dear fucking god.

Other problems with Nahida in this quest (her feeling more robotic and stoic than she should, the plot holes, ectect) weren’t nearly as bad as this implication. I can live with weird writing and plot holes. But this one aspect of the Fairy Tale’s creation? This is why I wrote the first 12-13k all in one day.

Anyway that’s my Hot Take on things, and why I wanted to rewrite the story.

[moonstar79]

And They Made It a Good One!

“Your game was lousy tonight!” James places his hands in his side and gives Sirius his best ‘Not To Be Messed With Quidditch Captain’-look. “I don’t know where your head was at, but you better get it back in the game before the match on Saturday, or Godric help us!”

Sirius is still sitting on the bench in the locker room, toying with the sleeves of his uniform and staring at the floor.

“Hey, Padfoot, what’s bothering you? What’s up?” James’ transition from scolding Quidditch Captain to worried best friend is so smooth, it’s remarkable. In one fluid motion he slides next to Sirius on the bench and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“I...” Sirius hesitates. “I think I may have just confessed to Moony that I’m madly in love with him?”

James is silent for a minute, which Sirius understands. James didn’t even know he had an interest in dating. Or that he was into blokes. Or that he was in love with someone. And oh, that that someone is their best friend Remus Lupin. Yeah, a lot to take in.

“You’re in love with Moony,” James says slowly. Sirius nods. “And you’ve just confessed to him.” Sirius nods again.

“That’s huge!” James jumps up from the bench. “So, how did he react? What did he say? Merlin, no wonder you weren’t thinking about practice!”

“I don’t know,” Sirius admits.

“How do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I kind of did this thing, where I sort of told him, and immediately took off before he could properly respond?”

“... So, then I whispered ‘Veritaserum’, and dashed out of the room,” Sirius finishes the story.

“Wow,” James whispers in awe. “That’s brilliant, mate! Do you think I can use it on Evans?”

“Mate, Evans is some kind of Potions prodigy! In what universe will she need you to help her study?”

James looks up to the heavens, feigning despair. “Oh, why does the woman of my heart has to have so many talents?”

“Oi!” Sirius shoves him. “The man of my heart has a great many talents as well! Just... not Potions.”

“Definitely not Potions,” James shudders, probably remembering the Bulgeye Potion incident. Or the Swelling Solution incident. Or the Noxious Potion incident.

“So, what do you want to do now?” James asks, as they approach the castle. “Do you want me to intercept Pete and give you and Moony some time alone?”

“No!” Sirius says. “No, I want Remus to have the option to pretend it never happened in case he doesn’t want anything other than the friendship we have, not force him into addressing it, so please, just act like everything’s normal.”

“Right,” James says. “But what if Remus thinks you’re acting normal because you were just joking, and you think Remus is acting normal because he wants to pretend it never happened, and you both end up pining for each other forever! And I’ll be the best friend stuck in the middle having to watch it all...”

Sirius rolls his eyes. “I’m sure we won’t let it get that far. But just act normal, okay?”

“Normal,” James nods. “Got it.”

“Hello Remus, fancy seeing you here.”

Remus looks up at James from where he’s sitting on his own bed reading a book.

“Well, maybe not fancy seeing you here, as this is your dorm,” James admits. “Although, you could’ve been in the library, though I guess it’s pretty late, but surely, you could’ve been in the common room! You’re in the common room quite often, aren’t you, Remus? So yeah, I do fancy seeing you here! I mean, I don’t fancy you, I just fancy seeing you. Not like that! Definitely not like that! Of course not like that, we’re friends. Not that friends can’t fancy each other like that! There’s nothing wrong with friends fancying each other like that! It’s perfectly fine for friends to fancy each other like that. It’s not a problem for me. Who said it was a problem for me? I’m just not one of those friends. Well, I’m one of the friends, but not one of the fancying friends. But the fancying friends are great, wonderful, brilliant, if there were fancying friends, of course. I’m not saying there are. I’m not saying there aren’t, but it’s not up to me to say. Merlin Moony, stop bugging me!”

James storms off into the bathroom, Sirius and Remus staring after him, Sirius shaking his head.

Remus raises an eyebrow. “Has he taken a Bludger to the head?”

Sirius sighs. “That would imply he hasn’t always been an idiot.”

“True,” Remus chuckles.

Sirius is relieved they’re talking like they always have, no awkwardness or distance between them. Relieved, yes, but also a tiny bit disappointed.

Sirius is still awake when the curtains around his bed open and close, and Remus lies down next to him, facing him.

“So,” Remus says, and he’s so close Sirius can feel his breath on his face. “I’ve been thinking, what if I really want to hear you say those things? You told me I need to give you Veritaserum, but we both know how I’m pants at Potions, so there’s probably like a fifty percent chance I’ll poison you-”

Sirius arches an eyebrow.

“-eighty percent chance I’ll poison you,” Remus continues. “So, for both our sakes, maybe it’s better if you save me the trouble and just say it now?”

Sirius can’t look away from Remus’ big, amber eyes staring at him intently, and the words just come out. “I’m very much attracted to you, I think you’re the most brilliant person I’ve ever met, and I’m actually quite mad about you,” he says, breathlessly.

Remus smiles and his eyes sparkle, lighting up the room. No, lighting up the whole bloody world. “Good,” he whispers, as he places a hand behind Sirius’ head and pulls him in for a kiss.

After what feels like long, sunlit days, they brake apart and look slowly into each others eyes and have the nicest smol chuckle with each other.

A few seconds after this james had clearly, shakily built up enough courage to come out of the bathroom only to realise that remus was gone.

He was confused and a bit concerned that he realised he left them alone together so he pulled pack Sirius’ bed curtain to ask if he new where he went and was over joyed and shocked to she both of them on Sirius’ bed kissing endlessly.

[lediz-watches]

Masters of War

I just have a lot of feelings about the Silent Hill games, okay?

I’m liveblogging The Winchesters as a Supernatural!virgin. Please keep my lack of knowledge in mind if you continue...

In episode thoughts:

Ooh, hey, silent hill

Really silent hill

Dude looked at the spear too often. Bad ending.

Oh, Mary, you discount Buffy you. I love it.

Ah, so this is going to be the Vietnam War episode. Cool.

Oh, Carlos honey. CARLOS. Also, that was not a hetero-mating ritual, and I expect better recognition from you, thank you.

Not sure I buy Carlos being allowed to serve without getting court martialled almost immediately, unless he has some phenomenal acting skills we don’t know about (or his recruiting/conscripting officer was an incredibly closeted and resentful jerk who signed him on as some kind of punishment… oh, god, there are so many fics about how Carlos got forced into it, aren’t there? There are rape parallels aren’t there? Oh gawd) but sure, we carry on.

Well. That Maggie’s Room thing was ham-fisted.

How’s that PTSD going John?

…This show forgets it’s in the 70s so often. Mary should not be able to take the lead in this hospital. Lata should not have been the person that nurse spoke to. You can’t do this to me in an episode so aggressively based in the 70s, show!

SILENT HILL FOR JOHN. YES! GET THEE TO THE FOG, BOY. God knows you’ve got the violence in you.

…Millie likes a man in uniform. But again, Carlos, can’t buy you actually saw service before they kicked you out. You are not subtle and you didn’t want to be there. Not buying this backstory, my friends.

Ah, jail or service… and medic… I can… ehh. I’ll accept it. Sure. Whatever. Not paying full price though.

SILENT HILL. Carlos is reading the lore, John’s chasing the other victims! And getting the associated shaky reactions.

Carlos is gonna make it out of Silent Hill. (His actor deserves a slower show in a contemporary timeline where they can actually play this story out properly, by the way.)

NO SILENT HILL STAY AWAY FROM CARLOS. HE’S ADDRESSING HIS PROBLEMS. YOU CAN’T HAVE HIM. TAKE JOHN INSTEAD.

Oh good, it’s at least taking John as well.

Again, I feel like there’s something going on in John’s story that I don’t have context for. This episode feels like foreshadowing of some kind. Can you foreshadow in a prequel? Call forward? My point is, it feels like it’s speaking to an audience that I am not.

WAY TO GO MILLIE. We love a practical human.

Oh, John, that’s how you get the bad ending… You’ve totally claimed that helmet you know. You did not win that fight. Silent Hill won. You lost. Well done. You’re going back to that fog.

…So is this going to be a recurring theme of Carlos watching people slide down the evil slope or…?

Carlos, sweetheart, please end this series by walking away from Mary and John and their darkness. You are not going to save them.

…man, I want to see another Silent Hill game. I do not want Kojima to have anything to do with it, but I really want another Silent Hill game.

Anyway. Yeah. This episode felt like it was speaking to issues dealt with—or at least was showcasing issues that Dean and Sam had to deal with the consequences of—in the main series. And I suspect this is going to be a recurring problem, because it’s a problem with prequels in general. You can’t resolve issues. Character arcs aren’t going to be entirely positive ones. Because like…

Like what I’m getting here is that John is not a character who feels like he’s going to be redeemed. This episode didn’t feel like the start of a flirtation with darkness, so much as a first step on a path toward destruction. Like a character whose only way out will inevitably end with sacrifice because fiction doesn’t believe in actual recovery and redemption.

I’m not a huge fan of that trope. BUT HEY I HAVE BEEN WRONG BEFORE. CHAPTER FIVE.

(or back to chapter one if you care.)

[the-firebird69]

It's a huge number of problems here. We have to address them. Then treating him so bad that we almost look away. But we don't. We're going to definitely get into this a lot deeper now it's good and bad and the reactions are a lot more fierce than what they're saying and we have to keep that in mind. I need action on all these line items and they make it seem like it'll make it worse and we really have to diminish and Gain control in order for it to be better that's the only thing it works and you see what we released and what you're saying

--it's a huge day there's a large amount of stuff happening it is a humongous day today what's going on in the rings is they're bringing up about 400 million each side and they're very very stupid and backwards people and they don't know it. And we're going to make a point that they disappear right now we have about 20 people after Tommy f asking for the answers. What he's saying is I've seen his fears on Earth and we had a plan to do something and I told my own and one of them to be curious but I guess everyone can see it cuz it's in a video and they said that's not really a great and he said to say this just spying on me anyways then he's quiet he said it's stupid so he's trying to look at the guy who's singing it and she's saying s*** about our son and it starts is this guy's plan and he is an innocent and he's reported it and a lot of people are saying this boy and these people are really stupid and it's about what you're doing and but below it might be the Mac properly hey my daddy says it could be but he's not saying it is

-other things in the news what will post be back

Thor Freya

Olympus

You see he's framing me for what's going on and how people are acting towards our friend CAA and I don't appreciate it and he is a loser this guy is a big huge fat zero we have to stop him now

Tommy F

Um ok

Zues

Yeah I don't think so Tommy I figured gross idiot and you're not cautious and they don't want you doing it no they do want you to do it but really they don't have control and we're going to have to do it we'll have to get in control and more and more and more because their ass tonight and they'll find that it's a lot more restrictive than they wanted

Hera

[ameliaashdale]

Lectures With Lady Ashdale

I love the Victorian Era. The fashion for wealthy women alone makes me want to rip open a portal in time and buy a Worth gown for a Debutante Ball I was not invited to. I want to go to a damn concert at the Paris Conservatory and meet Malo De Vigny backstage while Justine cries in the distance. Could I please rub elbows with the finest and have krimpets with her highness, Queen Victoria?

Alas, today we have a historical "facts" video to address. Facts is a loose term here because it's more or less a top ten video designed to shock you. It's also quite shocking how false the facts are (like how books, concerts, music didn't exist because TV and Internet invented everything/ sarcasm. Therefore, Vignette exists for that reason alone./SARCASM)

Link to the video in question:

(Skip ahead to 4:29)

*gasp* So Vignette wasn't the only form of entertainment?! Your contradiction is showing in the form of abysmal editing. (First draft=/= final draft!)

Originally, novels were seen as frivolous compared to non-fiction and plays (eventually, this changed due to education and work reforms leading to literacy and time to read, respectively). Gothic literature was no exception, yet vampires didn't create a widespread fear of the undead that led to cages being placed over graves.

Give robbers weren't always searching for material valuables. Sometimes, they were *gasp* finding fresh corpses for the sake of studying ANATOMY! Because medicine was evolving, and doctors needed to learn how the body worked so people could be treated properly. There's a young adult book I read once about an earlier time period with the same concept (stealing bodies for anatomical studies.) It was called Flesh Market by Nicola Morgan

The main character was against this practice at first because his mother died from a horribly botched mastectomy ( she had a tumor on her breast/breast cancer.) She died from the ensuing infection. He distrusted doctors so much that he wanted to report the grave robbers (it was illegal to exhumed bodies because of morality and taboo. ) then he was able to realize that, if studies were done on the corpses, botched surgeries could--and would--- become less common.

In a historical context, it wasn't him becoming 21st century levels of aware. He didn't change the world of medicine overnight. But people like him, they EXISTED. They changed the world, but the process was long and treacherous (morality and laws.)

You are also helping to change the world, in your own special way--clickbaiting with shock value. Like how Vignette was the ONLY FORM of fun (which you contradicted, hence this post). In any case, Victorians were pragmatic about death because death was natural. Kids frequently died from now preventable diseases, and accidents were common in factories and workplaces. Arsenic, lead, cocaine, heroin--equally as common. Are they bad substances to use? Of course! Did the victorians know this? No they did not. Should we judge them by modern standards for not knowing what we do now? No!

We can, however, address what they did as a mistake that we can correct today (like not using lead in the construction of houses/plumbing, or preventing the spread of cocaine use.)

The Victorian Era was undeniably scary--disease, death, lack of sanitation, greedy industrialists---but it also helped pave the way for social reforms (like women's rights, Moral Reforms for the treatment of those with mental illness, and child labor laws.)

So, no, do not judge the past through the eyes of the present.

--Lady Amelia Ashdale

Sources and further reading: