#but the reveal about her mother is great imo

[tenrose]

People nowadays are so used to get what they want from TV writers that when they are wrong they throw tantrums like toddlers.

[hhughes]

❍⌇𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐊 — 𝐐𝐇𝟒𝟑 ‧₊˚ ꒱

pairing: fem!celeb!singer x quinn hughes

summary: in which a famous singer from vancouver reveals her crush on quinn and the internet goes crazy.

genre: social media fic

fc: sabrina carpenter

note: part 2 of this! you’ve waited long enough! thank you for being patient and I hope the wait was worth it! thanks for all the love on the first part and as always I’d love to hear what you think! there might be a third and last part where they hard launch? idk yet

taglist: @alwaysclassyeagle @bunbunbl0gs @elliegator @trevuorzegras @hischierswhore @elliefind @goldenfinchs-blog

nhl

liked by quinnhughes, trevorzegras, and others.

nhl: the STARS have arrived in Toronto!🤩 tune in at 8PM ET to watch the 2024 NHL ALL-STARS draft!

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user63: she’s literally so stunning. i’m sick.

user52: need the quinn and y/n content ASAP admin

ynluvr: only here for y/n ngl

user33: don’t know why some people get so pressed about y/n performing. she’s canadian, and she’s blowing up rn. she brings in a lot of fans for the league… it’s a genius marketing move imo

⤷ user43: great. just what we need more people pretending to be fans of the game when they don’t know shit about it. she probably doesn’t know anything about it either.

⤷ user33: she grew up in Vancouver and she’s been a canucks fan since she was a little kid. she posts more about going to their games than she does about her own music and that says a lot. she also played when she was younger so I think it’s safe to say she knows a fair amount about the game!

user12: MOTHER😩

yourusername

liked by jackhughes, quinnhughes, and others.

yourusername: got to do something super cool last night. still in shock I think😭 thank you @.nhl 🩷

view all comments

nhl: thank YOU🤩 we’re still in awe of that performance. you definitely stole the show

bestfriend: did you dress like the stanley cup on purpose?

⤷ yourusername: manifesting myself to be something he wants

⤷ y/nfan: does manifestation work queen? 🙏

⤷ yourusername: 👀

⤷ user54: she did not😭💀

⤷ user77: so real of you bestie

user73: she’s just like us🫠

⤷ user99: down bad for that man. I could treat you so much better queen

yn.luvr: I NEED to know if they’re dating

⤷ user75: they’re following each other now👀

⤷ user61: she followed him before and he followed her back during all star weekend. she also follows both his brothers now tho , and they follow her back 🤷‍♀️

[penny-anna]

OK in advance of tonight's other episode, couple of thoughts on the Percy Jackson tv show's adaptational choices:

i haven't actually seen anyone flag this one up yet (it's a fairly subtle change and i know a lot of ppl haven't read the first book in like 15 years so maybe everyone just forgot?) but in the book the reveal that Percy's mother is still alive drops a lot later in the narrative. book!Percy heads out on his quest fully intending to bring her back from the dead. which imo is a stronger narrative beat & it makes the reveal that she's still alive and he was right to think he could rescue her that much more satisfying.

on reflection agree w the comments i've seen re the other kids should have knelt to Percy after he was claimed. actually saw complaints about this before reading the book so was surprised at how fleeting a moment it was but it really does serve to accentuate both what a big deal a Forbidden Child is and that Percy is an outsider even at Camp Halfblood

as per previous post yes it is explicitly stated in the book that Chiron suspect Percy was the son of Poseidon and i think omitting that was a mistake given the number of ppl i've seen picking up on it

in 2 minds about the omission of the hellhound bcos it is a pretty important plot beat and a cool scene but i can see why they wouldn't want to do a CGI monster fight that was technically extraneous

ALSO Annabeth having mistakenly concluded that Percy was a child of Zeus was a good character beat in terms of her being smart enough to figure out he was a forbidden child but not infallible. and maybe also biased due to her previous relationship w Thalia.

that said i enjoyed her shoving Percy in a lake too much to really complain.

changes i think are for the better:

i think having sending Medusa's head to Olympus have actual Consequences was a good move 👍 unless im missing something due to not having read the rest of the series. i was surprised reading the book that in spite of Percy getting warned not to do it there wasn't any fall out.

i don't think the scene w Percy petrifying one of the furies was in the book either? cool moment!

PLUS having Athena be petty enough to pull that shit was like. very on point for a Greek god flkghfdkj

really enjoyed Echidna getting introduced earlier. amped up the tension in a big way AND kept me on my toes, i was there like ohh is this a different monster? are they moving her fight scene to the train? what's going to happen here - OH NO

Echidna bringing up that the gods and the 'monsters' are all a single family was also 👌great scene all round

likewise Percy & Annabeth BOTH trying to sacrifice themselves for the group loved that. don't think this was necessarily an improvement as the book scene was good in a different way but really good moment

*slow hand clap* consensus!!

[theblogwithoutfear]

karen page is so annoying in the show...is she better in the comics somehow or is she just like that

So I've actually wanted to talk about this forever, but I kept forgetting to make a post about it. Your ask is a perfect opportunity to write down all my thoughts. Brace yourself, because I have a lot to say. Sorry in advance lmao

I actually prefer Karen in the show. To be fair, I have not finished all the comics, but so far I think her TV counterpart is a lot better (I still like her a lot in the comics tho, don't get me wrong). The NMCU version of Karen Page also has a lot of Kirsten McDuffie (another comic book girlfriend) in her, which is great in my opinion.

A lot of people find her annoying, but to me it's her flaws that make her such a fantastic character. She isn't a caricature, stock-girlfriend character pulled from a box of tropes; she's a well-rounded individual, extremely realistic, a mirror of Matt Murdock, and a woman with real agency. Her actions have major consequences on the plot. In my opinion, a lot of superhero girlfriends (in comics, movies, TV, whatever) are written more like props than characters, and they don't have any agency or actual plot relevance. Which is why, when a lot of them die, their deaths feel so cheap and inconsequential. That's where fridging comes from. It's been a problem with superheroes since their very inception; and a problem in storytelling at large. So often in fiction, women are flat and unrealistic.

So to me, Karen's heavily-flawed character is refreshing. She is extremely impulsive; she's deeply intelligent, but makes such stupid decisions; she can be hypocritical, self-destructive, and petty. Sometimes she manipulates people, even unintentionally. She's very well-meaning, but constantly makes mistakes. And it's these mistakes that move the plot forward, and reveal important things about both her and Matt. Her actions have real consequences for the story, and she undertakes her own journey throughout the narrative. She is almost as much a protagonist as Matt is, in terms of her character development and growth.

For that matter, every one of the flaws that I listed are things that Matt does too. They are almost perfect mirrors of each other; people who are immensely concerned with justice and compassion, people who care for the truth, and people who want to make their city a better place. However, as they go about it, they stumble and make mistakes and endanger other people. They're hypocritical and contradictory and impulsive. They constantly have to call their own moralities into question, because they almost never live up to their high ideals.

(Also, as a side note, I think many of Karen's flaws—as with Matt's—come as a direct result of all the trauma she's been through: her mother's death, her brother's death, her alcoholism and drug addiction, her dad cutting her off, being framed for murder, almost getting murdered in prison, etc. So I think it's fair to give her some grace.)

But what makes both Karen and Matt so lovable, imo, is that they keep trying. No matter what mistakes they make, they get back up and try again. They do everything they can to atone for the blood on their hands.

I think also (and I'm not accusing you of this, just a certain subset of people in the fandom) that people are more willing to accept Matt's flaws than Karen's—because there's a lot of misogyny built into our society, and there's this ingrained idea that women have to be paragons of virtue. Women, both in fiction and in reality, tend to be put under a microscope and dissected, while men can get away with a lot more. So Matt and Karen have identical flaws, but only Karen gets hate for it, which makes me very sad.

It may be the writer in me, but imo flaws are what make a character—and a story—meaningful. A well-flawed character can take a ridiculous, implausible story and make it feel grounded and real and impactful. A well-flawed woman even more so. I love Karen for the same reason I love Jessica Jones and Wanda Maximoff; or, to go beyond Marvel, for the same reason I love Jo March and Katniss Everdeen and Miss Haversham and Katherina Molina. They all elevate their respective stories beyond the initial premise and plot. Flawed female characters are realistic and impactful, and therefore empowering.

Obviously, to each their own. Some people just find her annoying and don't like her personality, and that's fine. But for me, that's what makes her feel real, and that's why I love her.

[rusted-fairy-wings]

Misako Vent?/Analysis?

I'm someone who likes to watch shows slow so I can think and reflect on them. I recently finished ninjago season 2, and can I just say... why did they write Misako like that??

My main gripe with her character is that the show doesn't seem self-aware of how she's been written. Like, she canonically abandoned her son at such a young age he doesn't remember her. Her only excuse was "Oh, I knew you were the Chosen One, so I had to leave you to go research/prevent the final battle." And she is IMMEDIATELY forgiven.

I honestly just don't buy it. First off, I don't understand how she could have possibly known Lloyd was the green ninja when he was at most a toddler when she realized this. Call me overdramatic, but I feel like her just magically knowing takes away from the arc of the green ninja reveal. We see Kai struggling and desperate to prove himself worthy of the title, and after a lot of really great character growth, come to understand it was Lloyd all along... something not even Wu predicted. And I don't like/understand Misako magically knowing for reasons. And if she knew all along, why not tell Wu? Why send him to a boarding school to learn to be evil? How did she figure this out?

Secondly, I dislike how easily she is forgiven for abandoning Lloyd. I can see Lloyd coming to forgive her because he is young, and he is shown to be willing to give people a chance. But at the same time, I really think there should've been more focus on the fact that he abandoned her. The show barely addresses this, and I just don't buy that he wouldn't be genuinely hurt or angry about Misako leaving him. And you're telling me none of the ninja like Kai were at least a little angry on Lloyd's behalf? She left him to be raised to be evil. After he gets kicked out of school, he literally has nobody/nowhere to turn to. I just feel like there should've been more anger, more hurt between Lloyd and Misako. But no, they almost immediately go to mother/son dynamic, no struggling to navigate their relationship, no real hurt coming from Lloyd at being abandoned. The show just treats them like a normal mother/son.

Thirdly, immediately after joining the team, most of Misako's interactions are focused on her weird dynamic with Wu. Like I'm sorry, but why on earth is she focusing on how she should've picked Wu instead of reconnecting with her son? Who she hasn't seen since he was like a toddler/baby? Sure, Misako can regret being with Garmadon because evil or whatever, I can see that. But really... we're gonna do a love triangle instead of have her focusing on her son? She should be repairing her relationship with Lloyd imo. Not thinking about what could've been. Why is he not a higher priority to her?

Tell me how the parent with "evil flowing through his veins" was more present for Lloyd than Misako?

All this to say, I'm not against flawed characters and flawed parents. I think Misako could've been a really powerful character, and seeing her and Lloyd interact could've been genuinely interesting and rewarding. Imagine a world where Misako and Lloyd work on getting to know each other, Lloyd learning to have a mother for the first time, them both healing together. My issue is that the show doesn't seem aware of her flaws. She has no real consequences for her actions. I usually love the mother character, but because of how she was handled... this ain't it for me.

TLDR: Misako has great potential as a flawed mother, but the show completely mishandles her and acts as if she has done nothing wrong. (if anyone has other interpretations, I would genuinely love to hear others' thoughts/perspectives!)

[aihoshiino]

Oshi no Ko 145: A Story Without 「アイ」

The question of how exactly Aqua and Ruby were reborn is something that floats around vaguely in the early stages of the Oshi no Ko, teased as a mystery that will exist in the background as opposed to one actively pursued for resolution. My theory is that this element of the story was likely more prominent in the version of Oshi no Ko that was originally conceptualized (i.e, the one that did not involve Ai's death) but the abrupt change to the story's dramatic tone and intensity pushed it into the background. As it stands, Aqua's wishy-washy statement that he'll figure it out once he's done enjoying Baby Mode about matches the weight this is given is the narrative, at least to begin with.

Even with the turn in tone and focus the manga takes, we do ultimately circle back to addressing and answering this question via the presence of Crow Girl/Tsukuyomi who seems to be the one responsible for facilitating their reincarnation in some way or another. Admittedly, this reveal in 145 comes a bit abruptly and the implied motivations it ascribes to Tsukuyomi don't… really line up with the things she says and does prior to the Movie Arc. But what really left me a little cold with this reveal is that it does not involve Ai whatsoever. Her name and even her image are not even once mentioned, not even in passing by GRSR.

This made me feel pretty uncomfortable for a variety of reasons I'll get into later but it wasn't until I started going through the manga to look more into how the reincarnation had been discussed before that I realized just why this felt so jarring - it simply wasn't consistent with what came beforehand. While the current explanation excludes Ai entirely, prior discussion of GRSR's reincarnation centers her to an equal and opposite degree.

Both Gorou and Sarina are thinking of Ai as they die, with both of them also (even if only symbolically) hearing her voice in their final moments. Gorou hears her singing as his ringtone plays and Ruby says Ai was "singing in [her] head" up to the very end. Ai's face is implicitly the first thing either of them see after being reborn and Aqua even speculates, as his first guess as to the nature of their rebirth, that it was this strength of feeling all focused on specifically Ai that caused it to happen.

Not only that, but Ai is even centered in the "fake" story of their rebirth that the twins sell Miyako to get her on board.

Perception of this bit in the fandom seems to vary from "it's just a joke" to "Jokes Are The Deepest Lore" and beyond. I myself don't put a massive amount of weight on it. However, in discussions where this is taken even semi-seriously as foreshadowing then it is flatly disingenuous to cherrypick the AQRB crumbs while not giving the same weight to the (imo, equally loaded) implication that Gorou and Sarina were reborn as Ai's children because she herself was favoured by the gods.

As the murder mystery elements of the story take prominence, this question is left unanswered but resurfaces towards the end of the Private arc with the arrival of Tsukuyomi. Here, too, we see Ai being centered as a key figure in Gorou and Sarina's reincarnation - the chapter is even named 'Mother and Mother', in reference to both of Aqua's mothers for each of his lives.

Most tellingly of all to me, however, is Tsukuyomi's appearance at the end of the chapter. Literally her first speaking line is commenting on how kind the gods must be to bring the Hoshinos together - describing them as (paraphrased) two motherless children and a childless mother and ascribing a great deal of weight to their togetherness.

Even if you disagree that the manga is centering Ai in this context, it is undeniable that the togetherness of the Hoshinos as a trio and specifically as a mother and children is what Tsukuyomi is highlighting as being meaningful here.

We even see a repeat of this in chapter 118 and her first on-screen conversation with Aqua.

I've seen people take this to mean, in the context of future chapter hindsight, that she is claiming the 'meaning' of his rebirth is his connection to Ruby. But if you go back and follow the thread that leads to this mic drop... it's a conversation that's about Ai. And specifically, Aqua is told to consider what it means that his soul was reborn in that body (emphasis mine): i.e, what does it mean that he was reborn specifically as Ai Hoshino's son?

With all this laid out, I really don't think it's a stretch to say that Ai, both as an idol and a person, is treated as a more or less equal part of the GRSR -> AQRB reincarnation as the two people being reborn. Which, like… she should be! She's their mother. But when we do finally get around to concretely answering this question..

Zip. Zilch. Nada. It had nothing to do with her. The closest we get to an acknowledgement that she even exists full stop is her goofy ass bunny mascot's face on (presumably) Sarina's snowman.

As I've said before, the basic beats of this as an answer to 'why reincarnation' are not inherently bad or unworkable. An animal repaying human kindness in some supernatural way is a tale as old as tales and given the ways in which Oshi no Ko plays around with mythological and folkloric ideas, making the reincarnation the result of a Tsuru no Ongaeshi-esque repayment of selfless kindness suits it quite well. The issue here is not one of an inherently broken idea, but flawed execution.

If this is the final word on the hows and whys of Gorou and Sarina's reincarnation - and I feel more or less settled that it is - then Ai has been entirely excluded from the birth of her own children. The sheer amount of weight placed on her role, specifically, as Aqua and Ruby's mother has vanished because after all the build up of why? the answer seems to be just that she happened to be pregnant.

I don't think I need to overexplain why it feels gross for Ai to be reduced to a convenient walking uterus in this regard. This was the element of this answer that made me so uncomfortable when from the get go: Ai's arc is so overwhelmingly about her being denied the right to agency over her own body and sexuality and her giving birth to Aqua and Ruby is, in part, a reclamation of it. It wasn't just an act of love performed for her children but also one for herself - she risked everything in order to give herself the family she had longed for her entire life.

If this incongruity was intentional, I think I would be interested in it as an element of Ai's tragedy - the idea that even the birth of her own children was hijacked by forces beyond her control and warped into something that existed to serve her fans. But I really don't get the sense that this was considered at all and honestly… that's kind of equally sad.

I was wordvomiting a much less articulate version of all the above in the Oshi no Brainrot Discord server and @penguinkyun said a few things that I think really nailed the heart of the issue here:

"theres barely anything of ai here when shes such a central character […] removing ai's own emotional stake in the matter and rounding it up to "crow girl felt bad for gorou and sarina because they helped her that one time and then reincarnated them" just…doesnt hold the same impact."

This is, I think, key to what made this reveal fall so flat for me and highlights this chapter's place in a much broader trend of Ai's place in the twins' lives being downplayed and favour of amping up the intensity of the GRSR relationship. To once again quote Lace because I think she sums it up quite neatly:

"[...] akasaka is absolutely ramping up the soap operaness of grsr with ai as collateral."

And that just kind of bums me out. :(

[celticcrossanon]

Hi, Celta! It’s great to see that you’re feeling better! The wording of that reddit tea/post about Lili’s birth is fascinating and includes some clues imo. I’m an American RN, licensed in two states other than California, but HIPAA laws governing patient confidentiality are the same throughout the US, and I’m very familiar with working under HIPAA patient privacy regulations. Fwiw, this part intrigued me:

“What I can confirm is that she (Lili) was born there, M&H were in attendance, and they asked for this ridiculous shit…The person who told my family member this obviously couldn’t say that Meghan gave birth or not, right? (Due to HIPAA) So actually we don’t have that info. We just have the other info which wasn’t violating HIPAA.”

So…1) “She (Lili) was born there” (at said maternity hospital/clinic). The source can reveal this legally, because birth records of who/when/where an infant is born are public record.

But, 2) “M & H were in attendance.” First, the word “attendance,” of course, implies that M was an observer to the birth, rather than an actual participant as the birth mother. Second, though, HIPAA regulations prohibit the disclosure that someone is even a patient at a medical facility, unless the patient gives consent to disclose. So, if M was the actual birth mother, she would have been a patient at the facility, and the source, per HIPAA, couldn’t have disclosed that M was even present at the facility. However, if M wasn’t an actual patient/birth mother, but merely an observer to the birth, then her presence in the facility isn’t bound by HIPAA laws, and the source can legally reveal that M was “in attendance.” Lili’s birth mother - whoever she may be - hasn’t given consent for her medical information to be released (under an NDA, no doubt), so the source “obviously couldn’t say whether Meghan had given birth or not”…ie, if M didn’t give birth, then someone else did, but that someone else hasn’t given consent for release of that info.

As an analogy, medical personnel legally can reveal that “Mary” was a visitor to the hospital, but they cannot legally disclose (without consent) the identity of the patient “Mary” came to visit.

jmho :) #team surrogate

*

Hi Nonny,

Thank you very much for this explanation of the nuances of the post about Lili’s birth. They flew completely over my head, so I am so glad you wrote this up and pointed them out.

Original Post:

https://celticcrossanon.tumblr.com/post/757735889862623232/saw-this-tea-today-posted-on-reddit-by

[stealerofthe2ndbraincell]

what are your top 5 in9 episode endings?

Oooh I loved thinking about this, thank you! It was great re-examining these episodes specifically through that lens.

Honourable mentions to The Last Weekend and Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room. With the former I'd feel like I was repeating myself a bit.

5. The Bones of St. Nicholas

When making this list, this was tied with BCDR but I feel like TBOSN is incredibly underrated so I thought I might as well.

With the frequent flashes back to different "Warning's" Jasper was given in regards to his fate, this episode could have easily felt like it was spoon feeding details to you. Imo it avoids that completely.

I really like the decision to not make whatever supernatural force is involved explicit in nature or even that malevolent. Granted the motorbike accident with Posy and Jasper's hanging still happens, but the narrative doesn't seem to paint them as a result of evil intent.

We as the audience get to see exactly how Jasper ended up in that situation and, although his actions to reach St. Nicholas' jawbone were quite extreme, it still feels understandable how Jasper never picked up on those clues even when they're in your face - similar to the audience. He's realising what's going on at the same time as the audience.

I think this ending does an excellent job at using those flashbacks to give the audience just the right amount of information without forcing it down your throat and removing the mystery entirely.

Finally, the last bit of Jasper hanging from the tower as the other shoe drops (>:) ) was superb.

4. To Have And To Hold

The concluding shot of Adrian in chains reaching for the pot noodle is fully seared into my mind.

This isn't an ending I would call that positive, considering the surrounding circumstances and context. For example, Agnes telling Harriet that she should have left Adrian to die and reminding her of how long her torture went on for at the hands of him really reflects how not happy of an ending it is. Things are definitely better, but Adrian is still present. That uncomfortable air never vanishes.

However, it is an ending that is incredibly satisfying regardless. I think a lot of it has to do with Nicola Walker's excellent performance and that chilling recollection of the marriage vows she does before the final revelation of what has become of Adrian.

3. Mr. King

Describing it as the "ending" is pushing it a bit as the whole reveal actually takes up the last 7 minutes of a 29 minute episode, but I do really love how this one ends so I'm taking some liberty with that. lol

I love the Wickerman-esque ritual so much.

This ending makes sure to take what it's doing seriously, because otherwise it would be at risk of not matching the menacing atmosphere it contains. For example, the reveal that the criteria Alan had matched for this was having good dick and being "uncut and still sheathed" would be easy to take as ridiculous if the scene did not take it as seriously as it did - with that doll being stuffed down his trousers really driving that home.

The costume design for this ending twist is absolutely incredible. The children's masks still manage to remain intimidating within the context of the ritual sacrifice even though they are clearly made from arts and crafts materials children that age would realistically use. Winnie's entire "Mother Womb" outfit is genuinely horrifying and I'm mildly surprised they were able to get away with that in front of the child actors cause that would give me nightmares at that age. Finally, Alan's "Mr. King" mask used in the ending is so excellently made with tons of little details that I love: the little eye slits where all you get to see of his face is truly how terrified Alan is in that moment, the crown and facial hair being made seemingly from wheat to tie his sacrifice even closer to the incoming harvest etc etc.

This whole ending blends the two concepts of childish and intimidating really well where it doesn't feel suddenly dissimilar to how children talk and behave but remains so chilling and distressing throughout. Poor Alan wow.

2. The Stakeout

I love myself some vampires, what can I say more than that?

This ending contains probably my favourite twist of the whole series and reveals it in a kind of similar manner to TBOSN and achieves it's goal in a similar way - Varney's reveal of him listing down different vampire tropes that apply to him that have been scattered through the episode feels both in line with how the episode discusses tropes and never feels like it's spoon-feeding information to the audience. It also doesn't give up all the tropes seen within the episode. Just 5 that most people, and Thommo, would recognise.

The sudden shift in characterisation of Varney doesn't feel too far gone personality wise to what we've seen so far and yet he's suddenly so much intimidating.

This is even before he goes absolutely HAM on Thompson's neck. That entire feeding bit is so good. Varney feeding on Thompson is a little too long and a little too detailed for it not to discomfort the audience a bit and I love that.

(Btw it's described as very "homoerotic" in the official Inside Inside No 9 podcast, so take that as you will. I have an entire thing in my head that I could write up about how queer this entire episode is but that's unrelated and a bit rambly lmao)

That final bit with Dobson is also superb. For as little screentime as he has, Malik Ibheis as Dobson is such a great physical actor. There is that immediate impression of Dobson's absolute feral nature at this point which is done very well.

And it all feeds back to the beginning little monologue again! Love that.

1. Wise Owl

God I adore this episode.

And I especially love this ending. It's an instant tear jerker, I love it, I love Ronnie. 5 stars no notes. <333

That final sequence in the whole 70's PSA format as Ronnie grows, whilst Wise Owl is yelling the same insults desperately and pathetically is so impactful and also so different to the rest of the series in my opinion.

(Also with it keeping that style on the "Get Stuffed" final line makes it seem like Ronnie isn't even looking at his father/Wise Owl when he says it, which is perfect to me.)

In9 isn't exactly a stranger to more positive endings or an ending where a hateable individual is punished by the narrative, but Wise Owl feels a step apart, it truly feels hopeful in a way I can't say the other endings have.

I still think this episode would be really good if it had gone with a more messed up ending as I think the episode forebodes a bit, however I believe that final confrontation and the final animated sequence really makes Wise Owl as incredible as it is.

[redwolf17]

if you do end up doing a westerling one shot i think elenya would be a good choice for pov!

imo it's a good choice because there's a few similarities between eleyna and cicely. the first being is that both houses betray robb stark by using their daughters as a pawn- sybell spider violates jeyne's bodily autonomy by secretly dosing her with moon tea and walder frey forces roslin to be the bride of the red wedding.

roslin was cicely's aunt and eleyna was of course jeyne's little sister. from what i remember little bee (side note she was so funny at times and then she broke my heart!) was like "i would never act so ungrateful if I got to marry lord and wear a beautiful dress!" you could have something where eleyna doesn't understand why mother doesn't like king robb- sure, what he and jeyne did wasn't proper but he did the honorable thing and besides didn't you always want a high match for jeyne and me? she gets to be a queen! after jeyne and robb and catelyn leave for edmures wedding at the twins you could have sybell comment in eleyna's company that she hopes jeyne doesn't get with child while she's away. eleyna could be like but don't kings need heirs? and sybell could give an excuse that it's a hard thing to be pregnant during wartime and that jeyne should be with her mother if she is and she could warn eleyna not to repeat what she said.

doing eleyna's pov is also interesting because they spend the next couple years at riverrun as guests - at one point they are briefly the highest ranking people at riverrun with the departure of the starks and tullys as the queen's family and then very suddenly they are not. jeyne and their older brother are dead. the westerlings lose the crag just as the freys lose the twins. both of their parents schemes don't work out the way they thought.

an eleyna pov also means getting another pov of the paul the pious situation in harrenhal. as of 302 the westerlings were still at riverrun so they had to be around for that. especially since robb getting 7 years worth of prayers for jeyne. an eleyna pov also means getting the reactions to things like tywin's death. depending on what you want to cover it could also mean the reaction to aegon's coming, the reveal of elia martell's actions, and his marriage to sansa stark - the goodsister eleyna's sister never met.

concerning the fact that robb took so long to remarry when most people probably expected to do so within the year - you could have sybell comment that he should have wed much sooner after hearing of his wedding to margaery tyrell while giving an eleyna an odd look. depending on whenever or not eleyna had her suspicions about sybell she could be confused as to why her lady mother is giving her such an odd look

an eleyna pov would also be a good choice because not only could you do anything with eleyna's character (similar to little bee) but you could also do more with jeyne westerling! you did such a beautiful job with her but we would get a pov of someone who grew up with her versus the other povs we saw jeyne through (arya and catelyn) who knew her for a very short time really. you did such a great job showing robbs grief for jeyne as her husband and with eleyna we could get her grief for jeyne as her sister!

this OF COURSE are all those suggestions/inspo if you do decide to a westerling one shot! absolutely NO EXPECTATIONS! i just thought you might appreciate my rambles

hope everything going great for bel 2!! so glad bel and edythe are the next povs, who are of course AMAZING POVS!!!!!

👀🤔 definitely a lot of great ideas to keep in mind!

[elliepassmore]

These Vengeful Wishes review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: Southern Gothic, horror, wishes, family secrets

Big thanks to Netgalley, Zando Young Readers, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The book started out quite interestingly and you can't quite tell where it's going to go or how our MC ends up back in her mother's hometown. This part of the setup progresses fairly quickly and I was actually pretty amused at how it played out.

I have to say, I didn't like Ceci very much at the beginning. The very beginning was interesting, but she's quickly painted as a spoiled, capricious character. Luckily, things seem to change once her mom and her head to Santa Aguas, and I found myself liking Ceci much more after that. She's definitely a character who has gone through difficulties, despite the seemingly privileged facade (and honestly, reality). She also grows over the course of the book and comes to realize her own flaws while also understanding and forgiving her mother for some of hers.

Santa Aguas clearly has something...off about it from the get-go. For one there's the horse-headed statue of a woman with mustard seeds outside the gas station. For another there's the sheer number of missing person cases and drunk people who wander into the woods and return wrong. There's actually a couple layers to the mystery, and it's hard to tell at first how they all connect with one another. I definitely figured some aspects of it out before the characters did, but there were also parts that took me completely by surprise.

The well of La Cegua and the wishes it grants was definitely an interesting aspect. Wishes being magically granted is, naturally, very seductive and hard to resist. Who wouldn't make a wish or two given the chance? But all magic comes with a price, and the wishes La Cegua grants have a nasty sting...just not always for the wish maker. It was definitely interesting to see how the dark side of these wishes played out and how the desire to make life just a little bit better battled with the need to prevent bad things from happening.

I wasn't sure how the wishes and the missing people connected (except for the obvious: La Cegua), and it was fun trying to figure it out alongside the characters. While the two bits of magic are seemingly separate, there was a really interesting thread connecting them, and I really liked how it was all revealed.

The main side characters are Jamie, the friend who discovers La Cegua's wishing well with Ceci, and two of Jamie's friends, Myra and Di. Jamie is a giant teddy bear who's always looking out for people and trying to make sure they're taken care of. But just like how Ceci is hiding a vulnerable core, Jamie is hiding his own difficult family background behind his sunny exterior. The two of them are able to connect over shared, but different, family troubles, and it makes sense why they're both drawn to the wishing well. Myra and Di seem like polar opposites, but they vibe off each other fairly well. They're also more than willing to bring Ceci into their friend group, and I liked that she had someone other than Jamie that she could be herself around.

I'm not really sure how I feel about Ceci's mom. For most of the book she acts one way: rich, out to keep her money, and wanting to keep up appearances. But throughout the book there are moments of softness with her and she and Ceci get some genuine moments together. She does seem to shed some of the superficiality the longer they stay in Santa Aguas, but then something will happen and she'll snap back to her old self. The ending felt a little too neat with her, imo, though there is a time jump from the last chapter to the epilogue, so I suppose it's feasible she worked on herself.

Overall, I found this to be a great horror read that has wishes gone awry, family secrets, and a nice dose of Southern Gothic. While Ceci doesn't start out as the most likable, I did enjoy her character once she was in Santa Aguas, and she definitely undergoes some major character growth.

[sharpth1ng]

What did you think about the motives of the ghostfaces in Scream 2? I thought they were one of the more interesting ones throughout the series (aside from Sidney's cousins. She slayed) loved Nancy's good old revenge and she was so unhinged 😭 Billy totally got that from her

Yeah I think the motives in Scream 2 are pretty great!

Nancy's revenge motive kinda makes her a Mrs Voorhees, it's like going back to the first Friday the 13th movie after Jason already grew up and started killing people. I think it plays well with Billy's Norman Bates coding as well, instead of the mother living on through the son like she does in psycho, the son lives on through the mother. Either way, this family revenge motive is classic in horror and the maternal relationship is central to that a lot of the time in movies like this.

Mickey's motive works well too. It was smart to bring in an unrelated killer- it's something that's less common in the franchise, were we keep coming back to killers that are related to people in the original movie. Scream 5 subverts that a little, with Sam being the blood relation, while Richie and Amber aren't related to the original killers, but then in scream 6 we go right back to the trope with the killers all being Richies family members (weak as hell imo, but I'm not getting in to that here).

All that is to say that Mickey's motive stands out to me, and he pulls it off better than Richie- I do still think Richie's reveal is good, the reddit bit is funny, but Amber is a lot more compelling than he is. Mickey is both more fun to watch, and also he's not a groomer (which Richie pretty clearly is, he would have started talking to Amber when she was 16/17).

Mickey's motive also works well with the meta aspect of the franchise, its directly commenting on the "movies don't make psychos" part, only the line is blurred. Stab isn't just a movie, it's a dramatization of real events. So in the end we have movies inspiring murderers, which in turn inspires a movie, which in turn inspires another murderer.

I also like the fact that Mickey wasn't planning on getting away with it. His whole plan is to become a celebrity murderer. Even in versions of the script where Billy talks about the possibility of getting caught he's still planning on making himself as sympathetic as possible in court, but Mickey isn't thinking about that at all, and I find that interesting.

But also yeah I agree, Jill is a lot of fun, I do really enjoy her plan to frame herself as the final girl.

[aaronstveit]

Hey Jamie, I was thinking of watching the RWRB movie and since I’ve seen you didn’t like it I wanted to ask if you think I should only read the book instead? I don’t mind spoilers and I wanted to know what do you think they failed to adapt to the screen. (Also, if you think people will annoy you if you answer this with the things you disliked you don’t have to answer, ok?) I love your blog! 🫶🏻 Hope you have a great week ahead of you!!!

hi anon!! i'm going to answer this beneath a 'read more' so people who don't wanna see negativity about the movie don't have to read it🫶🏻 trigger warnings for discussions of sexual harassment & assault and forced outing.

obligatory disclaimer that the book is not without its flaws & there are very valid criticisms of it!

a big part of the RWRB book is the main character, alex's, journey through realizing he is bisexual, and pretty much all of it was cut out of the movie — for what i consider to be completely ridiculous reasons. the director said that the characters were older in the movie than in the book — which i don't think is actually true? alex is in law school in both the book and the movie so idk what this guy is going on about — as if someone in their midtwenties couldn't possibly still be discovering their sexuality. he also said he wanted alex's "angst" to only be related to henry and not his sexuality. lol.

almost all discussion of race is also taken out of the movie. for context, alex is a biracial Mexican American, and this shapes a lot of his journey throughout the book. aside from one line, all of this is taken out of the movie.

also taken out of the movie are two big characters from the book: june, alex's older sister, and rafael luna, alex's mentor. june's absense is explained by the director (in the same article linked above) as being about not wanting "two young actresses who are each being given half a meal." so he keeps nora, alex's best friend, and cuts out the sister, but funnily enough, nora doesn't even get half a meal. pretty much all of her personality & story are cut out of the movie.

rafael luna, in the book, is a gay senator who takes alex under his wing. he isn't in the movie because the director said, and i quote: "Anything that isn’t about Alex and Henry and their relationship and their own personal journeys to the narrative doesn’t belong in the film." i don't know how he can explain rafael (or june) as not being about alex's personal journey, but whatever lol.

[this is where the big spoilers start] the climax of the book is when the emails that alex and henry have been sending each other are leaked to the public, outing both of them. in the book, it is revealed that the emails were leaked by the republican running against Alex's mom in the 2020 presidential election. it is also revealed that he has a history of sexual assault & harassment, and that rafael luna is a victim of his.

in the movie, though, they scrap that whole plotline and imply that the emails were leaked by a jealous gay reporter who used to hook up with alex and is mad that alex isn't in love with him. aside from just being a stupid change to make, this is a genuinely harmful & homophobic stereotype, and honestly it really upset me. taking out the entire plotline on institutional homophobia and making it all about ~jealous gays~ is just sickening imo.

i was also annoyed at how characters like henry's sister bea and his best friend pez were given almost no personality or screentime when they were, in the book, fleshed-out and lovable people. henry's mother was also removed from the movie — in the book, she has a bit of a rocky presence, but ultimately stands up for henry against his grandmother — because the director felt that "robbed henry of his agency." which is an especially interesting take from the person who changed alex's coming out scene in the movie so that he comes out publicly and tells the world that he and henry are in a relationship without talking to henry about it first, giving a speech on how "queer people deserve to come out on their own terms" while doing that exact same thing to his boyfriend. but whatever!

on a more petty note, i just think the movie is extremelyyyyy cheaply made, that the actors playing henry and alex have absolutely no chemistry, and that uma thurman's texan accent is godawful. but i could live with all of that if the movie had literally any of the heart that the book i had! but i think "gay media should be allowed to be bad or silly" only goes so far.

ultimately, i would definitely recommend just reading the book & skipping the movie entirely, but it's up to you! i'm sure there are other people who would say it's a perfect movie and they loved every second of it. but it couldn't be me lol

i hope you have a lovely day/evening, anon!! i hope your week is lovely💛💛

[adracat]

GWitch 21 thoughts

A bit of a transitional episode for the most part though it does escalate some things quite a bit. Always a fun ride on GWitch's coaster of madness and mechs!

First on the docket, Asticassia's aftermath. They really treat you to the scope of its devastation and the students having to wait it out. Bit odd imo they make the students camp there but I guess their parents are likely scattered anyway considering the state of Benerit.

Also was it just me or did y'all instinctively look for Loss in this image? Nicely organized camp at least.

Omg I might cry. Precious Suletta has decided to take it upon herself to care for the students. rescuing them in multiple ways I see. For me, it drives home the message that human connection and community are more important than destructive forces clashing. Empathy over games of war or corporate power struggles. It's also nice that Secilia* (edit: had a brain lapse lol) questions her reasons for altruism.

Because she can so she will 🥺

We finally see how Mio is faring and it's not great! She's taken on the guilt of Prospera's induced bloodshed along with Shaddiq's. Guel tries to reassure her but Mio is firm. This is her fault. Ngl, Guel, you're partly to blame for the school. No offense. It hurts to see Mio take on other people's wrongdoing, but that's a martyr for you

Her talk with Shaddiq was interesting for a variety of reasons, but what stood out to me was their mutual resignation. They're both so tired. Shaddiq admitting he escalated because of Guel and Mio is insane tbh. She calls him an idiot, but it lacks her usual fire. I do like that he tries to protect Sabina and the gang; really speaks to the fact he's more complex than a mustache twirling villain.

OMG Chuchu giving these two tomatoes instead of punches like before was amazing. The growth! The compassion! Ugh it was so good. As was the reveal that Suletta has been stockpiling the tomatoes. Mio might not know it, but she and by extension her mother aided these wounded kids. And Suletta musing on Mio fondly? Peak

After surviving the hell room, I can't blame her for reassessing her life and priorities. Sad she lost her dream but it was tainted by Shaddiq so I understand her reasoning. She'll earn her way back fairly, though it might not be any time soon once she submits herself to the authorities.

I wasn't surprised by this. Peil's horse in the presidency war lost, so might as well turncoat. They're opportunists at heart. The pure SALT though! It was the worst kind of news for everyone else at Benerit, including Mio. Forcible suppression are not words you want to hear

It's awful of me but this screenshot made me laugh. Something about her slumped forward and mouth open, just dead to everything around her. I'm sorry Mio, I'm sad for you still. She's having a hell of a month.

Sarius, surprisingly, is willing to take the fall and allow Grassley to bear the consequences. But Mio won't allow it. She can't accept anyone bearing 'her' sins. She's fully become the rose bride, enduring humanity's hatred willingly. There's also a bit of subtext here as she alludes to sacrificing Suletta. She won't do that again, no matter who it is.

YO OKAY! Suletta while being questioned by Bel and Guston, drops her clone origins super casually. No spite or outward grief either. Just yeah, Mom won't care what I say because she only loves Eri. That's rough buddy.

Surprise! The SAL confiscated a never before seen or mentioned Gundam from Vanadis. And it just so happens to be a monstrous one without a permet filter I'll admit, very confusing for me at first watch. I couldn't figure out why they sprung this without any foreshadowing, but after days I have an inkling.

I'll be frank. I'm not sure why I like Belmeria. She's super pathetic. Just an absolute failure at life with the mental fortitude of toilet paper. But she's pitiable, clearly grieving, and guilty she did not perish at Folkvangr. Has done terrible things as 5lan would attest, but she's still weirdly likable. Like an aunt who everyone hates at family reunions but they're nice to you and make good cookies. Maybe it's just me

Aaaand the suppression of Benerit was swiftly canceled. Lol. QZ can't be stopped now that Prospera has assumed direct control and destroyed every threat to her daughter's eternity.

I did note QZ looks blatantly like a coffin, which considering the Utena parallel has interesting implications. Read this post here to see my musings. It's not a dire thing imo.

Did a huge number on Mio's psyche unfortunately, which I think is the true tragedy. Red shirts got nothing on babygirl. Gotta double down on those swords piercing her with guilt and misplaced hatred. I'm marveling at what they're doing with the Utena intertextuality even as I bleed for Mio's state of mind. She's so fragile now

Yay Chuchu and gang are coming along to fetch Calibarn! Wait, that might be bad. Oh well, Earth House has been crazy lucky so far. Hopefully it'll hold. I will actually lose it if any of them die.

And we have 5lan suddenly deciding to go. I have some thoughts about why, which I've discussed in another post, but for now let's assume he's telling the truth and only wants to leave. He's an interesting character and bounces well off any cast member so it's cool with me. I enjoyed him going out of his way to apologize for harrassing Suletta.

Lauda Lauda Lauda... don't you know anyone who threatens Mio gets Suletta slapped. It's happened three times now and two of them were fatal. He's just gonna get someone killed, and it won't be Mio. I know we see him staring at Schwarzette but I don't think he would need to or have the ability to pilot it. Mio isn't a pilot, so I suspect he'll attack her with more practical means. Could be wrong ofc! This show loves twists and curveballs.

I am eager to see what the rest of this cour has in store for us!

[annes-andromeda]

I know this is probably gonna age horribly since the Duffers will more than likely do something different, but I’ve been having some thoughts about the Upside Down.

I think Wills painting may serve another purpose besides being used for the Byler storyline. This isn’t necessarily a theory but more or less like an alternate storyline thing cause I don’t believe this might happen in the show, but it’s fun to think about.

Now this has been talked about a little bit about how the painting may be foreshadowing for S5. Some have said that the three-headed dragon is the Mind Flayers final form, others have said that it’s the Thessalhydra. I personally believe it’s the latter since Nancy described the creature in her vision as having “a gaping mouth”. And she’s definitely not describing the Demogorgon or Demodogs or Demobats because if that’s the case, then she would’ve just said it.

This is the only picture I could find that depicts the Thessalhydra with wings, but it definitely fits both Nancy’s description and the painting. And it’s not like the show hasn’t made changes to creatures from DnD.

But back to the painting, I believe that it is foreshadowing the Party comic together and defeating a common enemy. Now in the show this may very well be the Thessalhydra, but I have this sort of headcanon that I’ve been concocting:

What if just like Byler in S4, the painting ends up being a miscommunication. Like it is correct in the Party stopping a great foe, but it’s wrong in who the enemy ends up being.

If was just revealed that Vecna was the big bad this whole time despite focusing on the Mind Flayer for three seasons, then imo it would feel cheap. It would feel like when the Star Wars sequel trilogy clearly set up Snoke to be the big bad… only to kill him off in the second film and then suddenly revive Palpatine because reasons I guess🤷‍♀️

In terms of canon, I’d like for it to be revealed that Vecna only thinks that he’s in control of the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer, only for the MF to do a 180 and show him who’s really running things.

Since I believe the MF to be an Eldritch demon of some kind, I think he is the only being who’s mind Henry cannot read. So if he were, let’s say, using Henry as a way to regain power or merge the UD with Hawkins, then Henry wouldn’t know because the MD could simply block his own thoughts.

I do not believe that Henry created the Mind Flayer, but more so gave it its form. Similarly to how Will didn’t necessarily make the Upside Down (because we saw it existing even before his time), but he most likely gave it the form of Hawkins because he was afraid and home was the first thing on his mind (It’s also why I believe transmutation to be one of Wills abilities)

So essentially, Vecna is the Darth Vader to the Mind Flayer’s Palpatine. However, while the Mind Flayer can be referred to as the ruler of the Upside Down, I wouldn’t necessarily make him the creator of it.

This is where the Thessalhydra and the painting’s miscommunication comes in (Once again this is all just a headcanon)

What if it ends up being wrong that the Thessalhydra is the final boss. It could start off that the characters think this giant dragon-like kaiju with multiple heads and a gaping mouth is the ultimate villain to defeat or whatever.

But what if it ends up being revealed that the Thessalhydra is not only the original ruler of the Upside Down, but the creator? And that after the portals begin opening up, it is finally allowed to break free of whatever prison it’s been held in. This means the Thessalhydra can finally reclaim its throne and defeat it enemy, the Mind Flayer.

Now how would all of this be revealed? Well, I don’t know about canon but here’s my vision for an alternate story:

In S4, it’s revealed that Will has powers like El. However, it is subtly hinted that his powers may very well be generational, mainly on his mothers side.

Now this is something that actually was hinted at way back in the very first season. We see in S1 that after Jonathan, Steve, and Nancy defeat the Demogorgon, the lights begin to flicker in the Byers house.

Nancy and Steve think it’s the Demogorgon again, but Jonathan is the only one who senses Joyce walking around in the Upside Down. Not Joyce and Hopper, just Joyce. And the crazy thing is, Joyce senses him back.

(GIFs are not mine)

The fact that both Jonathan and Joyce can sense each other’s presence despite being in different dimensions is insane to me and I hate the fact that this is never brought up again after S1.

So this would fuel my little headcanon (or theory whatever) that Joyce’s side has some sort of generational abilities. Joyce and Jonathan’s abilities would be more mentally focused, whereas El and Will’s abilities would be more physically focused. Yes, I know El isn’t a biological Byers, but we see in S2 that her bio mother Terry has powers of her own, so her powers may also be generational.

It’s also the same for Henry. I also theorize his powers to be generational, once again, on his mothers side. It would explain why his mother was the only one who caught on to what Henry was doing in their house, and his father and sister were oblivious.

So let’s say that while the characters are fighting against some monsters of the UD or Vecna, Jonathan gets taken. Since Vecna has already held Will and El hostage, why not give Joyce even more trauma and stress and take her eldest son/first child🙃

While the group is trying to find Jonathan, he gets taken to an unknown location. There, he meets the Thessalhydra face to face. This could parallel to how Will is the first one to see the Mind Flayer in person.

Obviously in the beginning, Jonathan thinks this is just another monster trying to kill him like all the other ones. But unlike the Demogorgon or the other creatures, the Thessalhydra is much more intelligent and can sense that this boy is not a threat.

Since the Thessalhydra is the creator of the UD, the creatures living there actually were originally impervious to fire. However, once the Mind Flayer took over, the UD became a cold, barren wasteland. Creatures like the Demogorgon and others had to adapt, which is why fire can now hurt them.

Along with figuring out the UD’s history, Jonathan finds out that like his brother and sister, he too has powers of his own. He can actually control the monsters of the UD and sense their thoughts and emotions, which is why the Thessalhydra knows he isn’t a threat. He can also link his mind with the people closest to him, which he uses to communicate to his mother and siblings, as a parallel to S1. Joyce also this same mind link power.

Jonathan shows the rest of the group that the Thessalhydra isn’t their enemy, and boom! Cue epic face off against the Mind Flayer and Vecna (or just the MD if he decided to kill Vecna idk)

Will all of this happen in the actual season? Highly doubt it. But I’d definitely like to learn more about the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer and how it all came to be. And it is the last season, so you gotta go out with a bang.

[dulcewrites]

Probably unrelated but I found funny that Rhaena; the neglected daughter of Daemon, ended up marrying a Hightower who was not even an heir, he literally was a little brother and ended up having six daughters with him (like she probably was traumatized after her mother died on childbirth because contrary to what Team Black wants to think Rhaenyra is not the only one with that trauma); and unless something else is revealed in other book she probably was happy with him.

Like this girl was probably looked down by her father; he is Viserys brother after all and that men looked down on one of his kids for not having a dragon; and as some like to point out Viserys kind of have to raise Daemon, so he also probably did the same to her as a little girl. But Daemon hated the Hightowers so much that one of his two daughters marrying one is so… funny, karma, the cherry on top 👌; like you go girl, drag him, end him, destroy him.

*Side note: I would love that Aemond and her could have bonded when children, like they have a big thing in common; George missed a great ship in there with those two; tragic lovers sort of Romeo and Juliet 😢

Yeah it is quite ironic, and I tend to believe that Rhaena married for love (or at the very least liked Garmund). She literally just wanted a nice husband, which is so sad and bare minimum but the bar is so low during that time. And it’s nice she went onto have so many kids, safely one can hope, after miscarrying the baby she would have had with Corwyn.

Everyone always focuses in on Aegon 3 post dance which I totally get, but idk Baela and Rhaena have the most interesting journeys imo. How their places almost end up getting switched in a way.

I always idk slightly balked the ‘Baela is like her father’ thinf simply bc I think she would have moved differently if that was the case. Though I do get the stipulations she had as a girl/woman versus daemon. But she goes from fighting in the war, a dragon rider, hot girl in the streets, possibly future Queen consort -> almost killed, no dragon, her husband (the one that ends up once again leading to her not getting driftmark) being an ass imo. Then rhaena who had little part in the war, poetically comes out pretty ok. Ofc she has trauma from it like baela, her family died. But she seems to move on. She has a dragon for some time. The council thing she’d make a good queen.

There’s something… jarring about how Baela literally fled to get away from marriage and then boom her and rhaena offer up their six year old family member. The cycles keep cycling.

[aihoshiino]

What are some aspects you dislike (or decisions which you feel are weak) in Oshi No Ko? And what hopes do you have for the future of the series?

Disclaimer before I get into this that obviously I am deep in the paint for Oshi no Ko or I would not be here LOL but chewing on stories I like and engaging in critique is how I have the most fun! I've also talked about this stuff before to varying degrees in other metas enough that it would be redundant to mention every time it's the case, so please bear with me if you see me repeating myself.

These also aren't, like, in any kind of order necessarily unless I specifically mention so, it's just whatever order they came to me as I was typing.

That said, this first one is the manga's biggest problem imo and it's simply that it's super unbalanced, at least past the prologue arc. The story initially presents itself as being about Aqua and Ruby as co-protagonists who are both equally important to the story's ideas and themes. This results in that nice pingponging rhythm you get up to about chapter 30 where the story switches focus between them at pretty natural feeling intervals, even if they aren't necessarily really rippling out and impacting each other. Things are still weighted more towards Aqua given that he's the POV character for the most part and we spend the most time in his head but tbh given the comparative dramatic intensity of his goal Vs Ruby's, I think that's fine. Once we move into Tokyo Blade, though, the balance irrevocably tips in Aqua's favour and Ruby basically becomes a guest star in her own story. Even as black hoshigan Ruby. That whole arc in hindsight really just ended up feeling like filler to pass time until The Real Protagonist could come back. It results in this feeling of not really knowing Ruby well or making her seem like an underbaked character because we have such little direct insight into her thoughts and feelings in comparison to Aqua or even Kana and Akane.

Spinning off from that point, the way Ruby is treated in the series more specifically is a huge issue. Up until the start of the Tokyo Blade arc, Ruby was actually one of my favourite characters and I think she was a really great contrasting point to Aqua in the story's themes. While Aqua drags people along through manipulation, Ruby's genuine kindness, enthusiasm and love makes her a bit of a guiding star for everyone else in her orbit. She isn't necessarily the deepest or most complex character at that point but like... I don't think she needed to be? Sort of similar to Memcho, I think Ruby in that first stretch of the story has a really fantastic "flat" arc in that while she herself goes through minimal development, the strength of her character inspires positive changes in the people around her. That's great!

It also just unfortunately completely falls off during Tokyo Blade. She vanishes during this arc more or less completely and even though B-Komachi are the focus of the following arc and we get time with black hoshigan Ruby... that's it! Black hoshigan Ruby gets literally one entire arc to herself to shine and do anything meaningful to the story (the Mainstay arc) and even though she's supposedly even more in the revenge sauce than Aqua at this point... she doesn't do anything! Her scheming literally does not impact the revenge plot at all! It's fucking AKANE who finally uncovers the father's identity and passes this info to Aqua and literally nothing Ruby does contributes at all to the scheme before Aqua gets back into the driver's seat.

And I'm gonna be honest: I really hate how Ruby has been handled since the mutual past life reveal! I hate that an arc that was setting up to be about Ruby untangling her long held maternal trauma got thrown aside in favour of incest bait and I absolutely despise the way the story since then retconned and diminished the importance of Ruby's connection to her mother in favour of framing Gorou/Aqua as her sole important person. This is made ten times worse by the fact that the only insight we've gotten into any of her feelings about this change is her going "omg Sensei squee" in a way that is clearly comedically exaggerated. In general, the story feels like it has a really major lack of respect for Ruby's feelings unless they can be voyeuristically oogled at and mined for sympathy points. This shit sucks!! Justice for Ruby!!!!

Ruby isn't the only character who, imo, suffers this issue of revolving around Aqua to the detriment of her own arc. I've talked in a lengthy post before about my issues with the way Akane has been written post LoveNow and while I am not going to reiterate everything in that massive post (this one has already taken so long oh god forgive me anon) it does give me an opportunity to segue into one of the other major issues with the story, which is its weird reluctance to commit to the effects of big status quo changes.

In Akane's case, this is visible both in way her suicide attempt is just completely swept under the rug and never addressed again without any focus whatsoever on Akane's healing process and the total absence of the persistent online negativity we were promised even in places it should be extremely relevant. The one time Akane ever talks about this is like 50+ chapters later where she vaguely goes "oh, you know how it went with Love Now" in a tone of someone recalling an embarrassing flub and not a harassment campaign so persistent and vitriolic that she almost took her own life.

In general, the story has a bad habit of dropping any hanging plot threads when it moves into a new arc as opposed to tying them off or letting them naturally evolve as time goes by. This results in a story where major upheavals to the status quo and character relationships are *shown* to happen but ultimately do not result in that many meaningful or observable changes within the story, especially ones that might be inconvenient for where the plot is supposed to go. This valuing of convenience over writing that is verisimilitudinous (i'm so fucking sorry) to the previously established characterization and world combined with this tendency of abandoning lingering plot threads rather than resolving them is, imo, why the movie arc feels so weird and all over the place. BUT this post is long enough and wtfever is going on with the movie arc is worthy of its own ramble at some point so I'll cut myself off here.

As for my hopes, I really want us to loop back around to having Ruby address her lingering trauma over Sarina's illness and abandonment. That felt like an arc that was sooooooo long in the making for Ruby and having it just swept off the table is really frustrating. Other than that, I don't have any really big hopes for the future other than just hoping everyone's arcs tie off nicely.

In particular, I hope Aqua's arc has some good resolution... my son has gone through it and I do really just want him to have some happiness at the end of the day. Please let my boy smile, Akasaka!!!