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comicteaparty · 4 years

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March 25th-March 31st, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from March 25th, 2020 to March 31st, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

How many pages/how long is the ideal webcomic for you? When do you feel something has gone on too long?

Feather J. Fern

I know I usually think anything that is over 500 chapters a bit too long for a manga series, but I do have a bunch of long running favourites. But they are comedy and gag series. I do like an ending to my stories, sometimes if it keeps oging and going, I know more is good but sometimes more is too much. I know a webtoon I really liked ended around 300 episodes, and it was long running.

I think as long as I can see the end of something I don't think it's too long. Also no chapters that don't contribue to the plot. Sometimes a lot of the time, people pad out a fun chapter for webcomics but it is just too long and starts to get boring. 4 to 5 pages of fun times it a good refresher, but when it's like 20 pages of just them chilling at a pool with NO CHARACTER DELEVOPMENT (Like this is key, if there is a plotline about teaching a character to swim, that makes sense, if there is no delevopment that's a problem)

carcarchu

you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. a webcomic can keep going as long as the content continues to be meaningful and productive but once an author starts needlessly dragging stuff out just for the sake of continuing last past the point where they actually had anything meaningful to say with it that's when it's gone on too long. i'm all for fun bonus content like "what happened after the main story ended!" but there's limits to how far that can go. once the "bonus content" goes on near as long or longer than the actual meat of the story it starts to get painful to read. i'd much rather see a series end with dignity than see a long long drawn out conclusion that no one actually wants to slog through. on the flipside a series is too short when there's not enough time to develop an attachment for the characters or you DO develop an attachment and then poof story's over

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Yesss, very apt quote there.

There are some ongoing comics with multi-thousand-strip archives that I'm caught up with, and when something has kept me interested for that long, it feels like the creators have hit a perfect groove and could keep it up forever. Skin Horse has lapped 4k, Schlock Mercenary is over 7k, and Kevin & Kell leads the pack at a bewildering 8k... But part of why it works is that they're very episodic, ensemble-cast series. They can introduce new problems at any time, resolve those while introducing more, jump to a whole different group of characters for a month in a row without missing a beat. The ideal length for a comic that's "one central story, tightly-focused on the arc(s) of a small core group of protagonists, all building to a single main climax" is way shorter, it would feel badly-paced and exhausting if it dragged on that long.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

As someone who expects their comic to reach fairly far in length, I don't think I'm comfortable judging any comic for any length it has ahahah. If it continues to hold my attention, length doesn't matter to me at all.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I agree that as long as the pacing is good and the overall direction is clear, the specific length isn’t too important to me

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I’ve followed really long webcomic series like The Pirate Balthazar, and it really depends how flexible you are with genre. Because I noticed that in a few cases, if it goes on long enough, the webcomic may shift in tone. I like PB because I don’t mind its shift from action comedy to slice of life comedy, but many people might not share the same sentiments. I usually think a webcomic grows and develops as the artist/author grows. Maybe the changes will appeal or alienate the readers.(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I'm of the "the longer the better" camp, but I like the story to be neatly structured into volumes, each their own little finished story that still add up to a bigger whole. Kinda like a good novel series, you know?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Massive comic archives do intimidate me at first glance - but if I'm hooked after the first chapter, then the path to the end seems all that more reasonable and fun. If the first chapter doesn't grab me, though, then the comic's length starts looking like a chore. I guess that's the case for any story, but yeah, personally, it's all about that first little hill. Get me over it, and it's smooth sailing from then on

RebelVampire

For me ideal length would actually probably depend a bit on genre. For things like horror or slice-of-life, I tend to prefer comics be a bit shorter. For me horror loses its fear factor after a point if it goes on too long. And slice-of-life I find better in small doses. Then there's things like fantasy and sci-fi, who like novels, generally should be longer cause you need more time for world-building. Then there's gag-a-day which in all essence can go onto infinity as long as the writing is still good. That being said, with the exception to gag-a-day, for genres I prefer shorter, I generally prefer them to be less than 300 pages, and for fantasy and sci-fi, I prefer less than 600. Which sounds like a lot of pages, but I've read plenty of comics with that amount that are still ongoing. Now of course, plenty of exceptions here, because if a comic is still good, it could go on for much longer for all I really care. However, just based on my personal experiences, I find for a good majority anything more than that and the comics are more likely to start dragging and padding their story too much. Also, these choices are for practicality cause I've seen a lot of comics get defeated by indefinite hiatus, and I find comics not finishing a huge disappointment. Not that I blame creators for having to move on in life, but just because I understand doesn't mean I don't get sad.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oooof, 300 pages is not that much for fantasy to me, haha That's less than 10 chapters in the case of my comic. As a reader however, I agree with much of what was said before: as long as the story still has purpose, the length doesn't really matter. But that's more a matter of pacing than length. The only time length deters me is when I'm reading a comic for the first time, and it's over 100 chapters and still ongoing. Then, the concern becomes: "How will I ever find the time to read all this?" But there have been a few comics I started reading relatively close to when they first came out, and they went on for years and 500+ chapters. As long as the pacing is still good, it can go on forever imo.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

How do you feel about long comics with dedicated jump-on points so that you don't have to fight through the really early archives, like schlock mercenary? Because for me it makes a huge difference if there's a dedicated "join the story here!", or if you have to start from the absolute beginning.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Ah....

I'm not really a fan, because I'd feel like I'm missing something

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Same

RebelVampire

I imagine that was directed at Cronaj, but I actually do want to answer that cause it's an interesting subtopic. And my answer is can't do it. I'm a read for the absolute beginning or no dice even when give the option. I've tried jump-on points, and I really struggle because there'll be a) pre-established relationships between characters (even if its just insider jokes) I can't connect with and b) a fandom that does know the beginning and will chat about it and you wind up auto ostracized

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, like I know some people who can jump into the a TV show starting from like, episode 4 season 2 if they get some basic explanation of prior episodes. I am not one of those people.

Same with comics

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Same

I feel so left out

And I'll have to keep asking potentially stupid questions

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I can't even ask questions because I don't have enough info to form questions

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

the sad truth

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I feel that too usually I have to go on the show's trope page to catch up

but at the same time, I also still feel a bit left out

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

If the comic is worth reading, the first 100 pages are worth reading to me

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yep

Me too

It's more a matter of, do I have the time to read this comic at all?

Which I wish didn't come into my decision at all, but it does :/

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's understandable, really

not enough time in the world

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

so basically

make it worth the readers' while

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

For the right readers.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

fair enough go straight for the jugular and don't hold back XD

eli [a winged tale]

I love longforms and if I’m invested, I’m there for the entire ride, no matter how long. Will agree with Rebel that it’s heartbreaking when long stories go on hiatuses (but of course, that’s life). As for jump points, I’m one where I can hop on and if I’m intrigued, start from the beginning. I have built in season trailers for this since one of the webtoons, Hooky, seemed to have used it to good effect. One interesting thing that I love is seeing the art grow with time. It’s always so interesting to see the change and the growth.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

fair enough go straight for the jugular and don't hold back XD

@shadowhood (SunnyxRain) LOL your quote always sound like you're a hunter ready for a kill

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

OH MY GOD

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

that's a great point, Eli. I feel he same. Where it depends on the series, I don't mind long form, but I have to read from the start, because the later episodes will have relationships or events I have 'missed out'. I can tell when a creator has either a) interest in world building, which explains a longer series, or 2) interest in relationship development, which tends to be a little shorter in stories. I've read comics that are in-between which is fasinating and imo, hard to juggle. Oh yes, artstyle change motivates me and what I often recommend to friends. Even if your artstyle isn't up to your standard, it will slowly evolved. It gives me inspiration not to redo series. (if I can help it)(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, if the art is CLEAR enough -- both simple event/action-wise and mood-wise -- then it's good enough. It doesn't need to be amazing.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

a lot of long term webcomic series also tend to improve on their art

so as you post it, over time you'll find yourself improving because you've forced yourself to draw so much

#ctparchive #comic #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #reader favorites #comic tea party #ctp

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sincerelybluevase · 6 years

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Writing Process Tag

Thank you for the tag, @lovetheturners !

Tag game! Answer 9 questions about your writing process, then tag 9 writers whose process you want to know more about. The point of the game is to have fun and get to know other writers. So no pressure! If you get tagged and don’t want to play, don’t worry about it. :)

1. How do you get your story ideas? How do you know when something is worth writing about and when it’s just a fleeting thought or fantasy? Tell us the origin story of one of your past or current WIPs. Story ideas can come in a lot of different ways. Usually they are based on real life events/stories that set me thinking. I admit I also really enjoy incorporating elements of dreams into stories. In fact, many an idea came to me in a dream. I’m still learning when an idea is worth pursuing; usually I don’t let myself write an idea immediately and then see if I still want to write it after a few days or weeks. If this is the case, then it tends to be something worth writing about. The idea for the story I’m currently working on is based on the question: how can two sisters who are very close fall apart? How can one sister betray the other by sleeping with her husband/beau? I also dreamed about a man and a woman walking around in the woods which I knew belonged to a dilapidated estate. She had important papers tucked in the pocket of her coat. She and the man were holding hands, and there was something going on between them, some kind of nervous energy which wasn’t just sexual in nature. This set me thinking, and now I’m writing a story based on these two elements.

2. What are your writing tools of choice? Are you picky? Do you have specific brands you like? If you have neuroses in this department, we want to hear about them. Ye boring olde Word. I have a pretty notebook in which I write story ideas with different coloured pens. I’m not very picky, though I do really like the coloured pens HEMA has. Overall, though, I really do most of my work on the computer.

3. Where and when do you write? Morning? Dead of night? Your bedroom? The park? Paint us a picture of your usual surroundings when you sit down to write. On the couch in the living room, in my trusted little corner where I do most of my work. I try to write for at least 30 minutes a day. I prefer to write during breakfast. Once I’ve done half an hour of writing during the morning I’m OK with doing more work during the day, but I do find it hard to start writing at some other time if I haven’t already written in the morning.

3. Do you ever encounter writer’s block? If so, how do you overcome it? Any tips to pass on to other writers reading this? What really helped me was to not think of it as writer’s block. Instead, if you really don’t feel like writing at all (and for me this does happen, which I think is logical because I write every day and a lot at that), perhaps it is your brain’s way of telling you it is time for a little break. Don’t force things. However, if you do feel as if your reluctance to write doesn’t stem from having written too much, but is more like a fear of failure or the idea you don’t have anything worthwhile to write about, my only tip is: just start writing again. It can be a fanfic, a short story, a diary entry. Really, it can be anything, but just sit down and push through and write.

4. Do you outline? If no, why not? If yes, what kind of outlines do you make, and at what point in your writing process do you make them? Yes I do, for everything I write, whether it is a novel, fanfic, or a short story. For fanfics and short stories I outline before I start writing. For novels, I usually start writing a scene or two, and once those are done, I outline. I write down things that need to happen per chapter, so actions, but also thoughts and feelings that need to bubble up. I find it very soothing to know where I’m going, and as soon as I know I can fully submerge myself in the writing I’m doing without worrying too much about other parts of the story.

5. Is there anything about your writing process that other people might consider to be unique or weird? I don’t think it is unique or weird per se, but I don’t write chronologically anymore. Instead, I write the scenes I’ve imagined vividly already, thus creating more ‘brainspace’ for other scenes that I’ve yet to write. These scenes tend to be the ones with a lot of emotion, e.g. romantic scenes, but also fights and violence. Once I’ve written those scenes, meaning I’m several K into a story, it is easier to make myself write scenes which are more subdued and perhaps not always as fun to write.

6. When and how do you edit? After the first draft? During? Do you have a method, or is it kind of a free-for-all? It depends. I try to do most after the first draft, but I usually do little things during the writing of the first draft. Personally I can’t stand inconsistencies in my writing, so as soon as I’m aware of them I try and fix them. However, for bigger things such as fluency and flow and character development I wait till after the first draft.

7. Do you ever take breaks from writing? For how long? Do these breaks feel rejuvenating, or do they stress you out? Give us a sense of what life is like when you’re not writing. Only when I feel like I need to take a step back. The length of these breaks really depend. I had a rather long one this summer of more than 2 months, which was rejuvenating, though at the end I was anxious to get writing again.

8. When did you first start writing? Why? What’s changed since then, if anything? Since I was a child, haha! But I started to write seriously in January 2017. Writing always was a hobby of mine, but I figured if I wanted to make my profession out of it I had to get a move on and actually sit my arse down and write a novel or a story, so that’s what I did. I started writing fantasy stories, but right now the stories I’m writing are historical fiction (though I’ve been told they have something fairy-tale-esque about them). I think my writing has matured and become richer, but that’s only logical; the more you do something, the better you usually become.

9. Anything else you want to tell us about your writing process? Not particularly, no. I need to start writing for my daily 30 minutes now ;). Oh, I usually listen to albums by Nox Arcana whilst I write

I tag @cooldoyouhaveaflag, @lovetheturners (yes I’m tagging you right back), @tangledupinmist, @bbcshipper, and that’s it for now (otherwise this fandom is gonna be tagged almost completely, and then who would these other people tag?)

#about me #writing tag

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gffa · 7 years

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Sometimes you just want a nice, long novel-length (or thereabouts) STAR WARS fic to sink into, maybe you’re going on a long car ride or maybe you’re visiting family without regular internet or maybe you just want some kissing to happen in that novel-length fic! I mean, canon is amazing and wonderful, but sometimes you want to pick up something and have the undercurrents finally rise to the surface, so here are some of my favorite Obikin and Obianidala novel length fics! (Last Updated: 2017.05.17) ✦ wicked thing by imaginarykat, obi-wan/anakin & ventress & dooku & ahsoka & cast, 97.3k wip There are rumours of yet another Sith Lord hiding among the Separatists. The Council sends Anakin to investigate. Anakin has a bad feeling about this. ✦ Ouroboros by bedlamsbard, obi-wan/anakin/padme & cast, time travel, 458k wip Considering that he had picked up what was probably a Sith artifact, promptly passed out in the middle of a war zone, and apparently woken up twenty years in the future with Obi-Wan having taken up residence in his head, Anakin thought he was entitled to have a few questions. ✦ Seed by bell (bellaboo), obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme, NSFW, 44k When Anakin falls prey to a lethal poison, Obi-Wan has no choice but use all his resources to heal him– no matter how reluctant he is in administering the antidote. ✦ Soldier, Poet, King by Glare, obi-wan/anakin & qui-gon & dooku & mace & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan, time travel, 101.5k wip Second chances are very rarely given, but the Force smiles upon two of its favorite children and returns them to a time before their actions have met their consequences. ✦ Negotiation by Glare, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & bail & cast, NSFW, modern au, serial killer au, dark themes, dark!obi-wan, 73.7k wip Over a year ago, Coruscant Police Detective Anakin Skywalker vanished without a trace while hunting the prolific serial killer known within the media as “The Negotiator”. ✦ flowers for a ghost by QueenWithABeeThrone, obi-wan/anakin & cast, modern au (sort of), 42.2k Anakin Skywalker’s had a rough go of it, from being imprisoned to losing his hand to remembering an entire past life. He’s only looking for a place to stay the night when he comes to Obi-wan’s doorstep. ✦ The World Undone by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & maul & cast, nsfw, sith!obi-wan, 143.3k Anakin Skywalker, proud symbol of the strength and purity of the Jedi Order, is the target of a strange and handsome Sith named Obi-Wan, whose only goal seems to be pulling Skywalker down into the dark with him. ✦ you knock me out, i fall apart by blackalien, obi-wan/anakin/padme & han/luke/leia & ahsoka & cast, 64.8k wip ( aka: the one where anakin was a sith lord for literally an hour, everyone is alive, and they’re actually happy ) ✦ World Come Undone by crazyundeadfairy, obi-wan/anakin (maybe?) & luke, 68.3k wip Unexpected things happen when ObiWan takes Luke to Tatooine. ✦ Futurus (-a -um) by cadesama, obi-wan/anakin/padme & cast, time travel, 60.8k wip Cracked hyperdrive? No problem. Just hold it together with the Force. Time travel? Well. That could be a bigger problem. ✦ Clarity by anecdotalist, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme & cast, 73.7k wip Anakin’s jealousy leads to the start of something new between him and Obi-Wan and a lot of frank discussions about things they should have talked about but didn’t in canon. ✦ White Rabbits by Butterfly, obi-wan/anakin & luke & leia & han & cast, NSFW, time travel, 102.5k wip Through the Force, everything is connected. Anakin and Obi-Wan find this out first-hand. ✦ The Reality of Change by midnight_vision, obi-wan/anakin/padme & ahsoka, time travel, 185.1k Padmé dies on Mustafar and wakes up in the past, about a year before everything falls apart. She’s determined to make sure none of it happens again, and with some help, she tries to expose Palpatine for what he really is. But even if Anakin and the Republic can be saved, that doesn’t mean life will be easy. ✦ Sigh No More by edenwolfie, obi-wan/anakin/padme & ahsoka & luke & leia & cast, 158.2k wip Anakin makes slightly better choices, Obi-Wan is a Mess™ and Padmé deserves none of this. AU from Mustafar onward with liberal manipulation of canon to culminate in some angsty, fluffy, domestic fix-it because we all deserve better. full details + recs under the cut!

✦ wicked thing by imaginarykat, obi-wan/anakin & ventress & dooku & ahsoka & cast, 97.3k wip There are rumours of yet another Sith Lord hiding among the Separatists. The Council sends Anakin to investigate. Anakin has a bad feeling about this. I’ve done several recs for this fic, which are collated on this post, but am writing a new one to encompass the entire fic rather than piecemeal, so those that are new to this fic will have a better one to hopefully encourage them to read it! This is another fic I’ve been reading pretty much since the beginning and would immediately read it as soon as a new chapter dropped and will have a tough time writing a coherent rec for it–there’s a reason it’s so massively popular in the fandom, because the writing is absolute joy to read, that it’s almost 100k of Anakin’s point of view where he’s a completely #Relatable emotional mess, in that sort of hilarious and utterly engaging way. It combines that with the just as delightful Soft Sith aesthetic/dynamic that is so, so much fun with these characters and writes an Obi-Wan Kenobi who is charming and charismatic, but so much more dangerous, where he’s so much more selfish and all that insight and precision and lethality to him are turned to much more dangerous avenues. The fic sparked a ton of trends in fandom (especially helping to popularize Soft Sith!Obi-Wan, for which I am forever grateful) and, once you start reading, it’s easy to see why, there’s just something to this fic that is really special, it’s an Obi-Wan/Anakin fic, but the kind that I would recommend to anyone who is one the fence about them, the kind of fic that draws new fans into the pairing, the kind of fic that may not be their canon selves, but keeps enough of their dynamic and is just plain ridiculously hot and delicious, that it hits all the right buttons for the ship. There is still Anakin being so tremendously strong in the Force, but such an utter disaster in his personal life. There’s Obi-Wan who makes things seem easy, but has worked incredibly hard to get where he is. There’s Anakin being absolutely and completely turned around and confused and not knowing which way is up, really wanting someone to follow, and Obi-Wan who may not tell him everything, who may be kind of manipulative, but there’s such a solid foundation of genuine care there. All of this is balanced together so well and then written with a plot and an incredibly deft hand, so that every single scene sparkles and draws the reader in. It’s that Obikin fic that I will go, “Here, read this if you’re thinking about getting into the pairing.” because I think it does the groundwork for showing what a fun pairing they can be, while also just being a scream of a fic. ✦ Ouroboros by bedlamsbard, obi-wan/anakin/padme & cast, time travel, 458k wip Considering that he had picked up what was probably a Sith artifact, promptly passed out in the middle of a war zone, and apparently woken up twenty years in the future with Obi-Wan having taken up residence in his head, Anakin thought he was entitled to have a few questions. Wake the Storm: So, I pretty much sunk into this fic and didn’t come out again until I’d read the whole thing, I just absolutely couldn’t put it down! My only caveat is that, while the build-ups and suspense are stellar, you just kind of have to roll with that the fic is not as strong at reveals. The way the fic is structured, there’s a lot of “omg when will Character A find out about Character b????” that don’t necessarily happen or happen late in the fic or aren’t pieced together when they should be or aren’t dwelled on for long. I don’t think this is a huge detriment, so long as you know what you’re getting ahead of time, though, because what the fic is about (Anakin skipping around the timeline and other universes, dragging Obi-Wan along with him) is absolutely fantastic. The writing is incredibly engaging, it’s the kind where I find this far more readable than a lot of professionally published books, that the plot structure and pacing of the scenes is all rock solid for me. (Tbh, probably the only reason any caveats occur to me at all is because the fic as a whole is so well written.) The characterization is lovely and gets at the heart of what I wanted–where Anakin experiences the destruction and tragedy that happens, his horror at it solidified by the time he finds out his connection to it, as well as his interaction with Obi-Wan is strengthened up because of what Obi-Wan has been through and how he’s seeing Anakin again and how much time he’s had to think over the events of Anakin’s future. The plot is interesting and the fic spends time with each world but doesn’t linger and there has clearly been thought given to setting all of it up, but it blends into the story perfectly, like… you know those fics you can pick up and just read and read and read because they’re so engaging and written with such good pacing that you don’t want to put it down, that even when it shifts gears, you find yourself rolling right along with it because you want to know what happens next? That’s what this fic did for me, I was so curious about where it was going next and how this was all going to affect them. While this story itself is gen, you can tell that the story is heading towards Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme, so it spends time building Obi-Wan/Anakin back up and shifting it to romantic instead of platonic, that it doesn’t happen here at all, but you can feel how desperately Anakin loves Obi-Wan and how Obi-Wan has been given the time to really reflect on feelings and attachment and on Anakin in general, so that I believe it. Plus, I’m a sucker for all the little touches, like Anakin sleeping on Obi-Wan or the way he touches Anakin after he goes through a tough time, it got me right in the feelings place, to go along with the intriguing greater story. I am now going to proceed to dive right into the monster sequel fic and probably roll around in my feelings some more. Queen’s Gambit: I haven’t yet finished Queen’s Gambit, but I’m including it on this list because I enjoyed the first fic a lot and I think I can safely recommend the sequel already. ♥ ✦ Seed by bell (bellaboo), obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme, NSFW, 44k When Anakin falls prey to a lethal poison, Obi-Wan has no choice but use all his resources to heal him– no matter how reluctant he is in administering the antidote. I love how this fic started out as an excuse for fuck-or-die blowjobs, but then went and developed feelings and an actual plot. That is my favorite kind of thing! But what really gets me about this fic is that everything is so carefully considered and given so much thought, that the miscommunication between Obi-Wan and Anakin takes so long to resolve (but without being dragged out too long just for the sake of drama or padding the fic) is central to the story and such care is given to show how these two characters misunderstand each other and why they clash and things so often go off kilter with them. The entire point of showcasing that miscommunication is to nudge the characters into a situation where they have to face it and actually work to resolve it. This is not a smooth path, especially not with feelings being brought to the surface, that both characters have to work through. Obi-Wan meditates and tries not to burden Anakin with his feelings and balance being a Jedi with what the heart of the man wants, which works so well because Obi-Wan has never been about denial of feelings, but instead about letting them go, about accepting them and releasing them because he has another path that he’s chosen to walk. So what happens when he finds that these surfaced feelings are stronger than he intended and he doesn’t want to let them go? The fic works hard to bring him to a fork in the road where he has to choose one path or the other, that both are important roads for him, and the choice is legitimately difficult. It takes care to show that Obi-Wan isn’t perfect, he doesn’t always understand Anakin, he’s human and Anakin gets to him, but also that Obi-Wan is someone who knows himself very well and is emotionally stable, that the difficulty is in the choice, not the knowledge. By contrast, Anakin is just an emotional mess who doesn’t understand Obi-Wan, but also doesn’t really understand how to process anything, that he’s all instinct and reaction, but that doesn’t make his feelings any less real or there. This is a fic that is about Anakin struggling to understand Obi-Wan, struggling to understand his own feelings, struggling to not make all the worst choices–there’s a moment later in the fic where he could make an absolutely disasterous choice and keep an important secret from Obi-Wan, but he’s struggled through so much (and become so much more trusting, because his relationship with Obi-Wan is closer) that he makes a better choice. The fic is just as much about dragging Anakin into making better choices, tiny bit by tiny bit. And about how Anakin is just never going to be an independent person, he’s always going to be dependent on those he loves, and that Obi-Wan has to come around to understanding this and accepting it about him. It’s also a fic that may not be centrally about her, but Padme has a very real and very present role in the fic. Anakin’s love for her is just as valid as his love for Obi-Wan, that he thinks of her while she’s not there, that he’s terrified of losing her, that the conversation he has with her about Obi-Wan is painful and difficult because he leads with his heart, that actions that might be manipulative in others (like wanting to be with two people and have them approve of him being with both) are just who Anakin is. He’s still selfish and probably entirely hypocritical (he would never share either of them the way he wants to share himself), but it’s never done with artifice, he clings to both of them because he’s so insecure and needy, he’s desperate to keep both of them, he’s an absolute mess, and the fic never denies that. It doesn’t deny that this is painful for everyone involved, because it’s not easy for Padme to share her husband, it’s not easy for Obi-Wan to feel like an intruder on someone else’s relationship, and it’s not easy for Anakin to know that he’s asking for so much, but terrified of losing either one of them. I love that this fic holds Obi-Wan and Anakin apart because Obi-Wan is very much “if you’re going to do something, do it right” and he holds firm on that, he draws a boundary and keeps it there, that he’ll reassure Anakin in other ways (the element of Anakin asking for Obi-Wan’s total honesty when Obi-Wan won’t budge on starting a relationship until they’ve worked the problems out was so satisfying for this!), but he won’t cross lines that shouldn’t be crossed, like, yes, that is Obi-Wan’s character and exactly what Anakin needs from him in this relationship, just as Padme doesn’t react happily to the news that Anakin’s in love with Obi-Wan, but she has such emotional openness and care that she provides the warmth and acceptance that Anakin needs, the two of them filling in the different jagged edgegs of Anakin’s character. Which is what I mean about this fic giving such thought and care to each scene and character, that I can pull all of it apart and it holds up to that scrutiny for me, that it may not be the longest fic I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly one that knows the characters it’s writing and what it wants to do with them and what motivates them. It’s a fic that starts out as cracky, but then uses it as a character exploration and is just really damned satisfying to me for it! ✦ Soldier, Poet, King by Glare, obi-wan/anakin & qui-gon & dooku & mace & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan, time travel, 101.5k wip Second chances are very rarely given, but the Force smiles upon two of its favorite children and returns them to a time before their actions have met their consequences. I’ve done several recs for this fic, which are collated on this post, but I’m sticking with an earlier rec that won’t give too much away, but still hopefully tells you why you should read one of my favorite fics: I cannot tell you how in love with this fic I am, how much I love what it’s doing on both a plot level and an id-pleasing level. The fic first got me with these little moments of Ben (older Sith!Obi-Wan) and the way he would crowd into Anakin’s space, the way he would touch Anakin, the way he would run a hand down Anakin’s back or shove him up against the wall when he was getting out of control, there was this quiet but powerful intimacy between them, both dangerous and something very genuine there. It’s so incredibly good, the way Anakin curls up against Ben’s side or wriggles onto his lap, the way he so very much wants affection from his once-again-Master, the way Ben knows this after all they’ve been through together and the lives they’ve lived and this second chance, the way he absolutely is manipulative and much more iron-handed than he was before, but some part of Anakin feeds on that. It’s so well written and there’s such charm and sparkle to the writing, it’s that sweet spot between just exactly what my id wants and the more rational part of me that is impressed with the world-building and plotting and character motivations, that I legitimately respect the fic. It’s such a great example of what Obi-Wan would be like if freed from the restraints he puts on himself as a Jedi–he has power, sure, but it’s also such intelligence and insight, such lethality and being predatory in all the right moments, the way you really, really understand how Obi-Wan is dangerous when he puts all of his skills to less noble purposes. And the plot is good, it’s a great cast of different versions of the characters, the older versions having been dumped back in time and are running around to fix things in their own way, including a time out to go free the slaves on Tatooine and, of course, have more run-ins with the Jedi. I love that there are light saber battles, I love that they’re not just idling around, they’re doing stuff, moving the pieces around from the shadows, in addition to their complicated relationship developing further. I am H O O K E D on this fic and it’s honestly one of the most satisfying I’ve read in the fandom yet, it’s one of those that I pretty much drop everything else to go read when there’s a new chapter, it’s one that I’m torn between tripping over myself to read everything as fast as I can because I want more and forcing myself to go slower becaus I want to savor it, it’s one of those that I never want to end, but also I want all of it to be able to read everything right now. ✦ Negotiation by Glare, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & bail & cast, NSFW, modern au, serial killer au, dark themes, dark!obi-wan, 73.7k wip Over a year ago, Coruscant Police Detective Anakin Skywalker vanished without a trace while hunting the prolific serial killer known within the media as “The Negotiator”. I’ve done several recs for this fic, but am writing a new one to encompass the entire fic rather than piecemeal, so those that are new to this fic will have a better one to hopefully encourage them to read it! I feel like I hardly know where to start with this one, because it’s another that I’ve been reading as each chapter comes out and I think it might be my favorite of the author’s work. It’s a fic that initially caught my attention, despite the seemingly incompatible concept of the character, but what got me is that this isn’t canon Obi-Wan, but he shares so much of the traits of him, like what Obi-Wan would be without his unbreakable morals and faith from the movies and the show, that if you changed those things about him, you would get this fascinating look at the way he uses that charm and gentlemanly manner and incredibly insight to do such terrible things, to focus on the person he loves (Anakin) more than anyone. And that’s the other thing that gets me, the way their relationship is played, that it takes so long for Anakin to come around is to the fic’s credit, that it’s not dragged out beyond what it should have been, that instead it needed that space to show the way he was stripped of his defiance bit by bit, just tiny step by tiny step. That this is never portrayed as healthy or anything other than Stockholm Syndrome, the fic is very aware of what it’s doing, but there’s a dark charisma to it, that I find myself rooting for it, even when it’s clear that it’s a terrible thing. The fic is very good at balancing those two things–the fascination with that dark yet beautiful dynamic, obsessive love that can still be genuine in its own way, even as it’s awful. It’s charming, even as you don’t forget that Anakin has been conditioned into this, you still see the layers being peeled away from him to get at something that’s underneath that, something that says a lot about who Anakin Skywalker is. It’s a modern AU, it’s a serial killer!Obi-Wan AU, it’s a story about Anakin being manipulated into dependence on him, it’s a lot of things that I might normally not be that keen on, but between the fic visibly embracing those things while still keeping so many echoes of their original selves, while hitting all those elements that made so many of us fans of Hannibal, that it’s honestly one of my favorites in the fandom. ✦ flowers for a ghost by QueenWithABeeThrone, obi-wan/anakin & cast, modern au (sort of), 42.2k Anakin Skywalker’s had a rough go of it, from being imprisoned to losing his hand to remembering an entire past life. He’s only looking for a place to stay the night when he comes to Obi-wan’s doorstep. I’ll note ahead of time that I haven’t finished this fic yet, but I’m far enough in that I want to include it! It’s the first part of a long sort-of-modern-AU where the characters are reincarnated into current day Earth and are all kind of giant messes, especially Anakin, and this is the story of him trying to recover from just how much he’s been damaged along the way. Not only is there his previous life as Darth Vader to contend with that haunts him, but also the terrible things that have happened to him in this life, the further terrible choices that he’s made that landed him here and weigh him down. It’s a fic that’s a very long, slow process (and very much a slow burn between Obi-Wan and Anakin) because there’s so much for Anakin to wade through and so little progress he can make at any given time. There’s so much about this fic that’s bittersweet and haunting and lovely in a really heartbreaking way–it’s moving towards the better, step by step, but it’s a long road and it’s fragile and brittle the whole way there. But, ahhh, the relationship and the utter need Anakin has for Obi-Wan and how this situation is both id-pleasing (accidental Force bond, yessssss, give me that always!) and all about doing the slow, almost daily life of recovery, both for Anakin himself as a person and for his relationship with Obi-Wan. There’s a sneaking plot here as well, there’s a lot of characters they run into, there’s an expansive world unfolding here, but at it’s heart it’s a fic about Anakin’s recovery and trying to piece himself back together–trying to find the will to want to piece himself back together, after everything. And the length of it is necessary (even as I scream at them to just kiss already) to show that that’s something that’s not easy or quick. This is a lovely read and I’m adoring it so much. ✦ The World Undone by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & maul & cast, nsfw, sith!obi-wan, 143.3k Anakin Skywalker, proud symbol of the strength and purity of the Jedi Order, is the target of a strange and handsome Sith named Obi-Wan, whose only goal seems to be pulling Skywalker down into the dark with him. I’ll note ahead of time that I haven’t finished this fic yet, this rec is based on the first 2/3rds of the fic, but I’m far enough in that I want to include it! Oh, I hardly know where to start with this fic! I admit that it took me a bit to get into, for personal reasons (I usually turn right around at fic where someone other than Obi-Wan trained Anakin if it isn’t a complete disaster, I’m not a big fan of Maul’s character/thought Dooku or Sidious would have been in his role), but those aren’t really criticisms, they’re just things that popped up on my own personal radar. I mention this because, if someone’s tastes are like mine, I want to encourage continuing with this one because once the story kicked into gear for me, I just got swept away in it, I kept reading and reading because I wanted to know where it was going. Once Obi-Wan and Anakin started interacting regularly, once the attraction between them was unable to be ignored (even if it took awhile for some resolution!), and once the main mystery of the story got underway (which I would say was about halfway through when I read this fic), it became a really well-plotted and paced story. The fic does so many things that I really love about it, right down to the language has shades of something like poetry but the author makes it work, it never had me doing that, “wtf does that even mean” feeling, but instead… oh, like when they finally have time to be together, when they have just enough space to breathe for it and there’s a line that really struck me: Obi-Wan only drove in harder and faster, a shooting star in free-fall along its own doomed line toward earth until it flashed and burnt itself out in its own flare of beautiful white heat inside the velvet night of Anakin’s body. What might have been too flowery in another fic, I really loved this line, I love that it was highlighted their relationship, how passionate this Obi-Wan was about Anakin, how desperate Anakin is to clutch at something, to have Obi-Wan in him, as a steadying presence and to fill him up, that that’s both a culmination of the long attraction between them and shows how their relationship works here. Because this isn’t canon, but it still has so many elements of it, the way they care about other people (especially Anakin and Ahsoka’s relationship has several meaningful scenes, it’s very much an important part of Anakin’s character), but they revolve around each other, Anakin still needs Obi-Wan like that. The reveals take awhile to happen, but they’re worth waiting for, because they’re satisfying and so interesting, the slow pealing back of the layers and hints, until we finally get proper flashbacks and you understand how the characters came to where they were. The author knows how to pace a story, how to write something long without feeling like it was dragged out, that it takes its time, but it’s not padded to hell and back, and that kind of solidity is incredibly appreciated. It’s one of those fics that just feels… smooth and solid, one of those that’s satisfying to have such a long fic that knows where it’s going and you can feel that even from the beginning, whether or not it grows some here and there or expands in a few unexpected places, it keeps on topic and is paced just right for me. And, of course, I enjoy so much the way Obi-Wan and Anakin are slowly coming together here, that it’s a long path for them to take, but each step forward is sure-footed and will get there. ✦ you knock me out, i fall apart by blackalien, obi-wan/anakin/padme & han/luke/leia & ahsoka & cast, 64.8k wip ( aka: the one where anakin was a sith lord for literally an hour, everyone is alive, and they’re actually happy ) This fic was my happy place for two days straight while I read it, because it’s everything I was hoping to get from it–it’s a collection of non-linear scenes spanning from ROTS to probably twenty years into the future, showing the snippets of their lives, the family they all build together, while balancing something so incredibly charming with the occasional moments of absolute heartbreak. Primarily, this fic is definitely about making a happy family AU, whether it’s Anakin keeping the people he loves close or eventually he and Padme convince Obi-Wan to join them or giving Ahsoka a family to come home to or getting to see the twins grow up, but it’s also about how Anakin is never going to be entirely emotionally stable and about how Ahsoka bears the scars from being too young in the war and about how Obi-Wan is so solitary for so long and about how it’s not always easy to grow up a Skywalker for either Luke or Leia. The fic is really good about making those moments genuinely serious, it’s not really a cracky fic and the serious moments are genuinely serious, and it’s… I think of it as being like The Clone Wars show, only trending in a positive direction instead of negative, where sometimes it’s heartbreaking, sometimes it’s ridiculously charming, and sometimes it’s just straight up cute fluff, but all of it is well done. And I cannot convey enough of that sense of charm, that kind of sharpness to the happy AU that makes it so good to read, the kind that makes it straight into my fannish heart, rather than just me seeking out fluff because I need it to soothe me. This one captures my feelings and my imagination, it’s ridiculously engaging and one of those fics of my heart. ✦ World Come Undone by crazyundeadfairy, obi-wan/anakin (maybe?) & luke, 68.3k wip Unexpected things happen when ObiWan takes Luke to Tatooine. Oh, lord, this fic. I cannot tell you how hard this fic grabbed me and would not let go until I finished it! There are a couple of caveats: The first two chapters are fairly slow, a lot of monologuing over things actually happening, but once Luke starts talking, it kicks into gear and doesn’t let go. It’s also a WIP and hasn’t been updated in a few years, but the author has gone years between updates before, so you never know, but more importantly! You get so much of the good stuff in what’s already here! So, while I would have loved to have had the rest of the fic, I’m genuinely content with what we had here as well, because let me tell you about my feelings on Obi-Wan raising Luke, who is this amazingly sweet little moppet that I was instantly in love with, as well as Anakin eventually finds out and tries to steal Luke away but gets in his own way too much and finds himself trapped in a situation that he’s not sure how to get out of. I was initially skimming ahead to just read the confrontation between Obi-Wan and Anakin when they saw each other again, just to see if the fic picked up, and found myself getting sucked in because the fic does a great job with each scene making me want to read the next and the next and the next, so I had to go back to my original place and then I just hungrily read the entire thing because Anakin wants to take Luke and kill Obi-Wan, but he can’t because he wants Luke to love him and that won’t happen if Luke knows he killed the only father he’s ever known, yet Anakin still burns that Obi-Wan has taken Luke, despite that Obi-Wan has always talked about Anakin to Luke, always told him stories, and Luke can already feel that there’s still love there, no matter how much anger and hate is held onto, sometimes on both sides, after all that’s happened. It’s one of those fics where they’re forced to be semi-civil to each other again, but underneath is all this emotional tension and hurt that made my fannish heart absolutely ache while reading it, yet was delicious candy at the same time because it hit my id perfectly. Getting well-written fic that does justice to the iddy concept it has is such a rare treat in fandom and I love this fic for doing that for me! It’s one of those situations that I would dream up without trying to properly justify it in my head just because I wanted it, but the fic actually sold me on it and doesn’t shortchange that Anakin is full of rage and hates Obi-Wan, even as you feel how much of it is borne out of still loving him. Obi-Wan is fantastic, he’s so steady and solid, but that doesn’t mean he’s passive or without his own anger on Anakin’s actions, even as he’s still willing to try to help him again. And Anakin feels so right to me, that he’s not there yet, he’s not doing any of this for the right reasons, his love for Luke is still selfish and obsessive, but there’s hope in him and you can see the sparks of maybe something still good in there. And I’m labeling this as Obi-Wan/Anakin because the author has written slash fic for them before and the relationship is very central to the story, even if there’s no kissing, and Anakin’s relationship with Padme is very important and I just really, really was hit spot on by this fic, okay. So good. ✦ Futurus (-a -um) by cadesama, obi-wan/anakin/padme & cast, time travel, 60.8k wip Cracked hyperdrive? No problem. Just hold it together with the Force. Time travel? Well. That could be a bigger problem. This is a fic I read very, very early on in my time in Star Wars fandom, so I can’t say how it would hold up for me if I tried to go back and read it, but it will always be one of those fics that’s dear to me because it helped tip me from shipping just Anidala into also shipping Obikin and Obianidala. And so I’m leaving the rec as I originally wrote it, as I think it does a good job of conveying my reaction to the fic! I have two caveats about this fic before I begin: It’s a WIP that hasn’t been updated in about a year, so I’m not sure if it will be. But it gets enough satisfying stuff in so even though it ends on a cliffhanger, I found it absolutely worth reading! And that it’s very fast in the beginning, there’s not much time to build up suspense before the reveals are already happening. This isn’t a fic I wound up reading for the suspense or reveals by the time I got into the thick of it, this is a fic that’s about the building relationship between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme. Previous to this fic, I’d never shipped anything but Anakin/Padme, so their relationship being strong here, being absolutely important to Anakin’s pov, while the shifting nature of his relationship with Obi-Wan is slowly changing, works for me, it eased me in at just the right pacing and made me actually really, really want it. What the fic does the most beautifully for me, though, is how Anakin is so beloved and so special and so brilliant, but he’s also an obnoxious pain in the ass, the way Padme and Obi-Wan both love him dearly, but he’s also a dumbass, oh, that worked for me because that’s exactly it, that’s how they relate to him. The plot part of the story was interesting as well, I definitely want to know where things are going, how this will affect history, and I love love love that the PT characters were the ones thrown forward into the OT’s time, that’s where my heart really is, and this fic just completely and totally charmed the hell out of me! I especially appreciate that it gently eased me into shipping this OT3 in a way that worked for me and got me to be able to actually see it. ✦ Clarity by anecdotalist, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme & cast, 73.7k wip Anakin’s jealousy leads to the start of something new between him and Obi-Wan and a lot of frank discussions about things they should have talked about but didn’t in canon. This is one of those fics that I’m going to write a terrible rec for, which is frustrating because I very thoroughly enjoyed it and it’s one of those that’s… one of those solid reads in that it’s satisfying and having 60k+ of it to tear through was a delight because I really got to sink into it and it has so much… idk, it’s not quite breathing room, because it’s not really slice-of-life, there’s events happening and things moving towards Big Events, but at the same time, I feel like there is breathing room for the Obi-Wan/Anakin relationship to develop, especially as it doesn’t crowd out Anakin’s relationship with Padme. It’s definitely focused on the Obikin side of things, much of the point of the fic is Obi-Wan settling into his feelings and the new direction his life is taking, that it’s… I love that it’s not this big, huge, overtly emotional thing, because that’s not who Obi-Wan is, it’s much more still-waters-run-deep that works for me, like this is someone who may struggle with feelings, but he knows how to get to where he needs, and there’s this really just… warm and comfortable air between him and Anakin for so much of the fic. I think maybe that’s my favorite part, now that I’m trying to put this into words, that even when there’s shit happening elsewhere, when the plot stuff ramps things up in later chapters, there’s still a warm connection between Obi-Wan and Anakin, I trust that they love each other and they know they want to be together, that Obi-Wan knows himself and Anakin is still kind of a mess, he’s just got almost no self-control, and thus Obi-Wan tempers him and puts him back when he needs it. The three of them (Padme as well) have this… they don’t necessarily fit together perfectly, but there’s the sense that they’re working on it, that Obi-Wan and Padme fill in the various edges of Anakin’s character, how the three of them just fit together, it really is supremely satisfying. And there are loads of little touches (I love that Bant gets several good scenes! I love that Obi-Wan’s path is departing from the Jedi, but not in a judgmental sort of way! I love the way Obi-Wan and Anakin meditate together! I loved Obi-Wan being in the room with Palpatine and Anakin, so Anakin follows Obi-Wan’s lead instead and it subtly changes so many things!) and I love that this is a fic that’s about gently turning Anakin’s relationships to the better, that I felt good reading this, even as I’m eyeing future chapters with trepidation. ✦ Sun Kissed by Vee017, obi-wan/anakin & mace & yoda & cast, nsfw, dark themes, past sexual abuse, 81.7k wip Being on a world that supports slavery is one thing. Buying a slave and bringing him into Republic space is entirely another. I admit, I usually turn right around at fics like this, I’m not big on AUs where Obi-Wan didn’t become a Jedi or where Anakin was never found and instead became a sex slave, but I liked the author’s other fics and I was terribly curious about this one, so I picked it up and found myself just sort of quietly falling in love. When I read the summary, I had a lot of expectations about the tropes, based on previous experience with this kind of fic, but this one surprised me where there’s something really almost gentle about the way it writes the characters and their relationship, how it’s been almost 80k and there are definitely feelings and being in love, but they weren’t really in the right place for a relationship yet. The fic does a lovely job of establishing Anakin’s healing process and their daily lives, that it uses this time not to just drag things out, but to clear away the things that need to be cleared away first, that Anakin has to truly be ready, not just wanting more with Obi-Wan, but truly being ready to go there, and this fic gently keeps them on that path. And that’s what really makes me enjoy this fic, that it’s well written in a way that’s easy to read, but also well written in a way that builds something here, that I can legitimately enjoy beyond just iddy kink reasons. I’d have read this story with or without the tropes! And it’s hard to believe that it’s as long as it is, because it was just so easy to pick up and read and read and read, there’s something so smooth about the pacing and writing style, something that pulls me along without me even realizing it! And I love that there’s enough resolution by this point that I think the WIP factor doesn’t matter too much–though, it’s been in progress for ten years now, it still gets slowly updated, so I don’t doubt that it’ll continue to be so. It’s a fic that I went into expecting it to be one of those early 00s types of fics that were cheesy and appealed to my id for the OTT kink, but instead found a fic that was much more gentle than expected, that took its time and wasn’t about dragging out the angst forever, but instead that healing took time and that the majority of the fic was actually pretty calm and laid back, the most exciting parts (previous to the most recent chapters) were Anakin’s frustration with himself to not be over his past more quickly, that he still had nightmares sometimes. Sure, once things start heating up, there’s more action and plot going on, but at its heart this is still a fic about being a slow burn relationship and it hasn’t strayed from that–I have no doubt that it’ll get there, but I love that it’s taking its time to do so, because the journey there is the important part. ✦ Second Chances by Driverpicksthemooseic (Ratkinzluver33), obi-wan/anakin & han/luke & ahsoka & leia & cast, de-aged fic, 121.3k Leia wasn’t convinced inviting evil incarnate to join them in fighting the Empire was exactly one of Obi-Wan’s brightest ideas. This is a delightful cracky fic where, mid-ANH, the Force decides to de-age Obi-Wan and Anakin by about twenty years and then Anakin decides to defect to the Alliance and be a scary over-protective helicopter parent when he finds out Luke and Leia are his kids and also oh yeah falls totally in love with Obi-Wan. And then more characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels are pulled in, the plot goes off in its own direction, and it’s this fun, easy to read fic that I just sailed through! It’s very long, but it’s focused on a fairly large cast of characters (though not so large that you can’t keep track, especially since they’re all characters you’re invested in already) that’s about the greater web of connections between the SW characters. I picked it up for the Obi-Wan/Anakin ship, which is actually a relatively small part of the overall story, it’s really more a group fic about how Vader defecting to the Alliance changes a lot of things, and it’s about Anakin angsting a whole lot about trying to balance himself and his emotions and not always doing a stellar job of it, it’s about the people he’s hurt along the way and how some are able to be won over, but others take a much longer time. I read practically the whole thing in a single day, that’s how easy it was to sail through, and it’s one of those delightfully tropey fics where I’m just so here for de-aging fic (why is there not more in fandom?? I want it!!) and it was nice to have a longfic to sink my teeth into again! It’s one of those stories that really hits a person’s id if you’re into this kind of thing and I am definitely in fandom to read about helicopter parent Anakin Skywalker who’s practically the same physical age as his kids. :D :D :D ✦ White Rabbits by Butterfly, obi-wan/anakin & luke & leia & han & cast, NSFW, time travel, 102.5k wip Through the Force, everything is connected. Anakin and Obi-Wan find this out first-hand. I do have a couple of caveats about the fic–it hasn’t been updated in close to a year (but it’s also been in progress for over 10 years, so the author does keep coming back) and the beginning of the fic (probably about the first third at least?) is very much the plot moving the characters rather than the characters moving the plot, that they don’t really react to things in a way that feels organic to their own motivations, but rather where the scene wants them to go. And I do have some trouble wrapping my mind around the idea that Anakin wouldn’t be all over his kids, even as the fic gently nudges him away from them because of jealousy and then fear for Padme’s life. I mention these things because I want to encourage readers beyond them (as I always do with recs) because it’s a story that I read over the course of a couple of days and the writing is really smooth and just so nicely sailed along and it very much has a plot and does a really lovely job of balancing the five rotating character povs (Obi-Wan, Anakin, Luke, Leia, and Han), of throwing this tangle of characters together and keeping up with group scenes. The fic’s plot is absolutely intriguing and the author is taking their time with it without feeling like it was dragged out, it’s almost sort of hard to believe that it’s a fic that’s over 100k because it was just so easy to keep reading and never felt bogged down or padded out just to up the word count. And once the fic settles into the story, as Obi-Wan and Anakin discover more and more about this future, as they’re thrown into a situation where Anakin has to face what he’s capable of (once he hears about Vader) and how the fic sort of… balances between trying to reconcile that/fix it and also just sort of avoiding it by going I WON’T DO THAT I WILL AVOID IT, which is actually a pretty perfectly Anakin Skywalker reaction. The author also knows how to write UST while still giving some resolution, that Obi-Wan and Anakin are very attracted to each other and it’s being thrown into this mind-boggling situation where Anakin desperately needs someone to help and support him, he desperately needs someone to cling onto, that seeing this future where the Jedi are gone and this horribleness is possible, that finally breaks that last hurdle and jams them together. I love that Padme may not be here, but Anakin’s love for her never is dialed down a notch, that so much of why he wants to go back is to save her, that he still loves her just as furiously and obsessively as ever, even as he loves Obi-Wan as well. And the sex scenes were lovely, the way Anakin is desperate to grind himself against Obi-Wan is lovely, as well as the brief moments where Obi-Wan’s hands slide lower down his back, not quite ghosting over the prize there, but the implication of the future, that one day he may open Anakin up and push into him is there, and just the right amount of promise of it. But also! The later chapters are starting to get into just what all is in this world, what’s left that they might still remember, that they’re still working to uncover just what happened, both to them and to this world that may be their future. And I do love that it’s Leia who pushes for them not to change things, because they worked damn hard for this future, because they fought and bled for it, because she won’t give up this hope or gamble it away on something that might be better or might be worse, that who she is, everything that’s made her Leia Organa, could disappear, it makes perfect sense that she would try to convince them to stay, and it allows the fic the time and room to explore these characters from the past in this future. It’s a fic that’s definitely a WIP and may take a long time to update again, but I greatly enjoyed what was here and it was just so very easy to sink into and I appreciated having that over the past week! Plus several Obikin kissing scenes yes thank you! ✦ The Reality of Change by midnight_vision, obi-wan/anakin/padme & ahsoka, time travel, 185.1k Padmé dies on Mustafar and wakes up in the past, about a year before everything falls apart. She’s determined to make sure none of it happens again, and with some help, she tries to expose Palpatine for what he really is. But even if Anakin and the Republic can be saved, that doesn’t mean life will be easy. At the time of this post, I’ve only read about half of this fic, but it fits theme and I wanted to include it! But it’s definitely a rec based on half the fic so far: I could have sworn I’d done a rec for this fic before, but I cannot find it anywhere in my files, so I’m going to assume I haven’t actually and do one fresh. I am always here for Obianidala fic and I’m always here for time travel fic, so I picked this one up and tore through pretty much all of it over the course of a few days! I do have a couple of caveats about it, the biggest being that the Jedi are used as antagonists, even against established canon (like, they’ve specifically said they don’t keep people against their will, that they wouldn’t force Anakin to stay), which can be jarring sometimes, so you gotta roll with the premise of them being villains, but when the fic is all about the domestic trio learning to figure out their relationship, the fic is at its strongest and it’s just really heart-warming and delightful. It’s a long fic, so it’s a bit of a slow burn, not in that there’s lack of resolution, but in that there’s no hurry to get there before everyone is ready, instead it’s a much more natural pace that I really enjoyed. I love that it’s a Padme time travel fic as well, because I very rarely see one about her, especially because she doesn’t know everything that happened and it gives her a chance to work through what happened between her and Anakin on Mustafar, that she has to work through all that fear and mistrust, because this Anakin hasn’t done those things, but she has to process that they did happen, that it could have happened, and that’s something that takes quite awhile to get over. There’s also some lovely Padme & Ahsoka friendship scenes, there’s a whole lot of Padme telling people what she knows, there’s a lot of Anakin having to deal with feeling kept out of the loop, that he’s still got anger issues and isn’t emotionally stable, but Obi-Wan and Padme have better tools this time around, there’s a good amount of Obi-Wan/Anakin relationship building, and there’s a lot of satisfying fixing of the timeline, including killing Palpatine plot! The fic is at its best when it’s about the breathing room the Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme trio has or when they’re interacting with Ahsoka, when the story is going towards fixing things, that’s when my heart is happiest and I just really had a lot of fun reading this, especially since it was lengthy and I loved being able to tear into it and read read read for so many pages! ✦ Sigh No More by edenwolfie, obi-wan/anakin/padme & ahsoka & luke & leia & cast, 158.2k wip Anakin makes slightly better choices, Obi-Wan is a Mess™ and Padmé deserves none of this. AU from Mustafar onward with liberal manipulation of canon to culminate in some angsty, fluffy, domestic fix-it because we all deserve better. I believe I’ve recommended this fic at least once before? But now that it’s up to 22 chapters, I’ve caught up on the fic and it was time to write a fresh rec for it. I do have a few things you need to just roll with the fic for–that the characters go hide out on Tatooine instead of fighting back, that Obi-Wan is often more indecisive than he would be, that Anakin’s emotional problems tend to go away more easily than I think they would. But the point of the fic is to write a really long, really revel-in-it story about the domesticity of these characters on Tatooine, to just wholly embrace digging into the slice of life stuff in this remote, isolated area where it’s just the three of them + the twins + Ahsoka. It’s a story that has the room to breathe with the characters, that it’s not about dragging things out, but instead that the whole point of the story is that slow, incrimental moving forward with the relationship(s). It’s a story that I pick up when I want something where the characters are (for the most part) taken away from galatic level action and instead are given something like a peaceful life (as much as one can get post-ROTS, of course) and I just want to roll around in something that’s hopeful and kind. The length is nice as well, because it really gets across that this is a story that’s meant to be a slow burn and a slow build even once things finally do catch fire. As mentioned, I don’t feel like it’s dragging things out, but instead that the slow process is the whole point, that it’s about building their relationships, their life here, step by step. It’s domesticity and slice-of-life and really reveling in it to the fic’s heart’s content. But also omg I admit I’m definitely here for the sex scene, because Anakin and Padme are adorable, Obi-Wan and Anakin had a very pretty frottage scene earlier, but then chapter 22 was exactly what I wanted–where they finally have the time and both are in the right place for something more intense, something deeper. And, boy, does Anakin find that he enjoys being held down, that he has Obi-Wan’s attention all on him, that he likes the way he feels when he’s pressed down onto the bed and held there, when he’s filled up with Obi-Wan, who opens him up with such care and affection, until there’s no other noise in his head, that all the anxieties and fears and insecurities are pushed out, as Obi-Wan pushes into him. I’m really not kidding that I will read that a thousand times because Anakin needs it a thousand times and Obi-Wan being able to give that to Anakin is so good for him as well. There’s also a lot of cute stuff with Ahsoka coming and going, watching the twins grow up, and more! But I can’t lie, I’m here for Anakin Skywalker, my precious child, getting the happy life I always wanted for him.

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #obikin #obianidala #fic recs #star wars fic recs #moonlight's giant list of fic recs #(long post under the cut!)

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natsubeatsrock · 7 years

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My Incredibly Unpopular Thoughts on: Fairy Tail’s Ending

To start with, stop.

I don’t care what you think about the ending. I don’t care what you think about the series. I kind of care why you’re reading this post. (Hi.) Just stop.

Now, do me a favor and take a deep breath.

Before I start to talk about this chapter, I just want to say that this has been a crazy ride. I started Fairy Tail in October of 2014 and I never would have thought that I would be running a blog about Fairy Tail and such a relevant name in this fandom back then. I’ve had tons of fun running this blog for years and if it weren’t for Fairy Tail, I probably wouldn’t be an anime/manga fan. Even though this series is nowhere near perfect and this arc is nowhere near the best, I’m glad that I’m a Fairy Tail fan. And this ending hasn’t changed that for me.

Also, I actually did make a Quick Notes about this chapter. So if there’s something you think I missed in this post, check that one. I also talked about my thoughts on Nalu’s ending in a separate post, which goes exactly how well you’d think a post about it from me would be. This was supposed to come out the same week, but…

Life.

So, with that out of the way, let’s talk about this chapter.

When I saw that this last chapter was going to be 45 pages, I was pleasantly surprised. Consider that the end of Naruto is simply two normal length chapters that came out at once. Likewise, the last chapters of Bleach and Death Note are about as long as a normal chapter. So seeing that this chapter was going to be that long gave me the hope that more ground will be covered than in those endings. Though. Rave ended with more than 20 pages more than this and, looking back, I’m not a huge fan of some parts of that ending.

Speaking of those series, the last chapter starts with a jump to the future. This is a weird trope for me. My only real issue with the Naruto ending was that it felt like there was a huge disconnect between the Last, which I had just finished, and this chapter. However, the ending of the other series (yes, even Bleach) worked so well for me because we got to see how the world moved on after the events of the previous chapters.

I’m glad that Lucy won an award for her novel. I’m also glad that the popular fan theory that Lucy was writing the events of Fairy Tail out for a story is also proven wrong. I never liked that theory and I’m glad Lucy won by coming up with her own original story.

Even though the main character based off her.

And seeing how the guild is acting at this party makes me realize that Lucy’s friends are jerks to Lucy. I said this before, but I’m shocked that they’re even worried about other people ruining their reputation when they’re so good at making themselves look terrible. I have to believe that Erza and other members of the guild are genuinely concerned about a thief pretending to be a Fairy Tail mage. But hey, she was worried about other people in the guild at her introduction.

And Juvia is still stripping…

You know, I remember when Juvia stripped to join Gray during the anime for a thing she didn’t need to. It was messed up, but it was kind of funny.

Only kind of.

And then Gray and Juvia stripped together in the Avatar arc. Like I thought it was cool back when I shipped Gruvia. But looking back, it’s weird that Juvia developed the same habit Gray formed that after training in fewer clothes to get used to the cold and doing ice magic that even the person who had the idea to do it thought was unnatural…

Because Gruvia is a “good ship”. Like, why else did this need to be a thing? Mashima should have stuck with the water body thing because that’s awesome and only kind of comes back later on in the series.

Anna is in this timeline as a teacher which is kind of cool. I guess, since she wanted to teach the dragon slayers, she gets to teach another group of young kids. Gajeel jokes to Natsu about liking Anna and…

I’m conflicted.

See, in pretty much any other case, I’d be totally fine shipping Natsu with anyone that people joke about him liking except Lucy. But, aside from not even thinking he actually liked her the way Gajeel meant, I’m not sure I can be comfortable shipping Natsu with anyone when the age difference is much bigger than that of Jerza-

I mean Graytear.

So we learned about the other guilds. Lamia Scale has a thing called Thanksgiving Day and they dragged Wendy into performing with Chelia. I’m actually excited for this to be animated. I hope we get an actual full song from the earlier performance of these two. For those who might be wondering why, Wendy’s Japanese VA, Satomi Sato, has also been in some roles that have involved her singing.

And then there’s Mermaid Heel. (Get used to this phrase. I’ve used it a lot.)

So, out of everything that happened in this chapter, I’m shocked that this didn’t get more people angry. What even is the point of having Mermaid Heel be exclusive models for Sorcerer Weekly? That was never important to them before. Kagura even questions what the point of this was. It’s almost as if Mashima was saying, “Screw anyone who thought I was going to give the only all-girl guild a dignifying ending! This is Fairy Tail!”

Oh, but it’s okay because not many people cared about them and of course we’re going to have sexy girls in outfits so we can appeal to the target demographic of teen boys and where do I stop?

The other guilds did stuff. Like, I know that a lot of people love people outside the guild and I have my favorites from outside Fairy Tail. But, I don’t have much to say about what we learned about the other guilds.

And then we got a block of ship moments. Oh, the boys.

We started with Gajevy. And, man, I wish I had anything to say about them. I really don’t want to continue the trend of not talking about them. I have a few posts for them in the works, but for now…

I guess they had sex?

And then there’s Gruvia.

I can’t just leave it there, right? No?

So I’m not actually sure that Gruvia is actually canon. Yeah, me having a view that seems very different from most of the fandom. Shocking, right? I mean, there’s a lot of noise on both sides and it was a weird scene to include. But I didn’t see that conversation as a “Gruvia definitely is/isn’t canon” moment.

When I saw Gray say that Juvia’s body belongs to him, my mind immediately went to chapter 499, which I’ve had to look at multiple times for a post I’m going to get done on August 30th. When Juvia (somehow) revealed to Gray that she (somehow) used Water Make Magic, she told him that her life belongs to him. So Juvia’s body does belong to him.

Kinda.

So, the questions I think a reader of this should have to answer is whether Gray feels awkward about this because he likes Juvia or because even kind of owning Juvia freaks him out. As you can tell, I’m not really sure how to answer this question. Of course, this doesn’t mention that Gray might also be hesitant in making a statement Juvia may think is either offensive or romantic, as different people in the fandom have been arguing it is.

At any rate, this was the kind of ambiguity I was afraid of. I wanted to voice my fear that we’d get an ambiguous Gruvia ending. However, I was assured by the Gruvia fandom that Gray would definitely give an answer and that that answer would be yes. So, while I disagreed with the latter, I bit my tongue on the issue. It turns out, neither was the case and I was right to be worried.

Elfgreen is probably canon. I don’t think it’s a huge leap of faith to say that. (Yeah, that’s all I got.)

All the popular guy-girl Laxus ships have been de-confirmed in one go. I’m actually impressed that Mashima did that. I said this before, but I find it hilarious that Mashima made sure to empathize Miraxus as a rumor. I feel like the Laxana camp is as huge, but he had to take shots at that other ship. I’m honestly not sure what that means for Fraxus. And to be honest, I don’t really care Laxus ships.

And then there’s Jerza.

Like many people in this fandom, I’m actually shocked by Jerza in this chapter, but for a different reason. I was actually shocked that any time was given to Jerza at all in this chapter. I honestly wasn’t expecting Mashima to address this issue in any way at all. But, oh the boys, did he address it. While I understand the frustration of the Jerza fandom, I actually pretty cool with this ending. I figured he would give Jerza a non-canon ending.

This kind of situation feels reminiscent of Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye’s relationship from FMA. They’re nothing like each other, material wise. However, in both cases, it looked a lot like they liked each other. However, the series ended without them hooking up. (At least officially.) I figured this kind of thing would happen a long time ago so I’m not surprised by this.

What did surprise me was about 5 pages spent on Mashima’s Zervis AU. Or any time at all spent on any version of Zervis at all post ‘taking Nalu’s One Magic” a while ago. And I kind of liked it. It makes no sense to exist in any way shape or form, but it was kind of cute and I think this is better than real Zervis.

Somewhere in all of this, we learned that Makarov lost the ability to use his legs. Well, something had to happen because of Makarov’s return. I’d actually be disappointed if everything was fine. My big complaint about the Rave Master ending, without spoiling much, a lot of losses and sacrifices made in chapters prior were rewritten. So, in this one aspect, Fairy Tail’s ending is better than Rave Master’s ending.

But, similar to Rave Master’s ending, Chelia can use magic. This is was one of the other big things I was afraid of Mashima doing in the last chapter of the series. To be fair, it’s only to a limited ability, but it’s still pretty annoying. I hinted at this, but I didn’t say it out right because I was in a fight with someone who thought I hadn’t read Rave at the time and I wanted to be petty.

So, Lucy blanked out and wakes up in her house. And, pretty much everything about this scene up until the flashback annoys me.

After 541 chapters and almost a decade of both real world and in-universe time, Natsu still breaks into Lucy’s house. Happy decides to polish Lucy’s newly acquired trophy with his claws. And this is all played for laughs. Like I’m actually supposed to look at this and think that this is funny and not sad.

Keep in mind that people were able to get past this point and still think that Natsu was going to confess romantic feelings. Look, I think that Natsu and Lucy have an amazing bond, but it would be really bad if this was just before a romantic confession. I can understand people who were disappointed with the Jerza ending. If you thought this was going to lead into a Nalu ending, you played yourself.

Luckily, there’s more to be annoyed with. Lucy ends up remembering the embarrassing stuff she did when she was drunk. A while ago, I made a post about being annoyed with the way things were made up. This is a great example of this.

Why did we need this? This isn’t funny and I didn’t learn anything about Lucy. I don’t like these “I’ll never get married over this” jokes in anime unless it’s over something legitimately embarrassing enough to warrant the reaction. She’s not ashamed because she was teachers yelled at her for promoting a club she was dragged into while being forced to wear a sexy red bunny outfit. (You either get this reference or you don’t) She did some stupid stuff in front of two people while she was drunk. (And apparently, she liked one of those people.)

But Natsu uses the joke to segway into a reminder that they can still work together. And Lucy remembers many of the missions they shared together. Considering recent events on my blog, it’s funny how there’s nothing from the Galuna Island, but she remembered being wrapped in towels with Edolas Lucy. At any rate, she thanks Natsu and Happy for changing her life for the better.

It’s times like this that I have to remember that Lucy’s dream was to join Fairy Tail. (A point I had to remind fic writers of.) It’s only because she met Natsu that she was able to. Recently I’ve been rereading the old arcs and it’s crazy to see how much has happened since Lucy has joined Fairy Tail specifically because Lucy has joined Fairy Tail.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: you don’t have Fairy Tail without Lucy and Natsu. They don’t meet, they don’t go on adventures. They don’t go on adventures, the world would probably cease to exist at about the time we would get to Edolas. Remember, Mystogan needed her and Gajeel to help Natsu and Wendy. If Lucy’s not in the guild, Gajeel’s not in the guild. So assuming everything else is the same, which would probably be a stretch, they’re screwed.

Anyway afterward, Natsu takes Lucy on the mission with him saying that the fact that their lives are different doesn’t matter. And yes, I think it’s a jerky thing to have done. Of course, if you thought this was going to be a lead-in to a Nalu confession, I can’t help you. But that doesn’t mean he did a good.

However, I like the reasoning. Natsu isn’t worried about the past. He’s excited for what the future is going to bring them…

…and the rest of Team Natsu…

On the Century Quest!

This is probably my favorite thing from the chapter. I actually screamed after seeing that they were going on the quest. Forget Nalu, this is probably one of the most Natsu things that Natsu would be excited for.

But I have two big problems with this.

First, if Gray’s conversation really was a confession, does that mean he left Juvia after confessing to her? Even if he told her that he was going on the mission, that’s still a pretty messed up thing to do. By the way, if you think that Gray’s scar comment was bad, this would probably make it worse.

Funny enough, I saw a comment on this. OP questioned whether or not people really believe the Century Quest would actually last 100 years. And my response is…

That’s the other problem: we don’t know how long this quest is supposed to take. Now, chapter 165 tells us that Decade Quests take at least 10 years to beat and so it should stand to reason that Century Quests will take at least 100 years to beat. However, consider everything that we’ve been told about the Spriggan 12 at the beginning of this arc and how free they ended up being. So will this take shorter than expected or will it actually take 100 years?

As a side note, is this the same Century Quest Gildarts failed or is it another Century Quest? It’s referred to as “The 100-Year Quest” and we’ve only known about one Century Quest? And why is it 100-Year Quest here instead of Century Quest?

The fic writers are going to have a field day with that.

So, overall, what did I think of the chapter? After reading the chapter a few times and thinking about the things that have happened in order to make this post, I feel good about it. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of issues left unresolved. I totally understand (some of) the reasons people don’t like this ending and I absolutely think we could and probably should get more. However, I’m fine with this being the way the series ends. And, as I’ve said before, I’d happily reread this series again.

Now comes the main reason that I want to talk about the ending in this format. Fairy Tail has officially come to an end. I feel as though there is two knee jerk “my series ended” reactions I want to address.

The first is the feelings over everything in the ending.

As I said in an earlier post, nothing is wrong with feeling sad or happy or angry over anything about everything that has happened in this series. Nothing is wrong with expressing or explaining those feelings. That’s fine.

What isn’t fine is getting mad at or blaming people for the things you don’t like about the ending, including and especially Hiro Mashima. What isn’t fine is destroying everything Fairy Tail related you own out of spite.

I’d even say that it’s not okay to feel betrayed by the ending. Mashima doesn’t owe you anything. He doesn’t owe you ships. He doesn’t owe you moments. He doesn’t have to bring characters back. He doesn’t have to kill anyone. About the only thing Mashima had to do for his fans was get the next chapters of the series out on time. Even though those chapters weren’t always necessarily good, that was about all he owed us.

The second one is a desire the series to continue on, either it should continue on as a spin off or just never end. Some of you might want him to get to working on his completely new series right away.

Not so fast.

I get the desire to want to see more of a series or writer you’ve enjoyed for however long you have. I get that you might think the series didn’t have a proper ending. I get that you may have no idea what you’re going to do now that Fairy Tail is over.

That being said, I think Mashima should take a break.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d also love more Fairy Tail, even as I’ve ragged on some of its failings. But this guy’s been writing Fairy Tail for more than a decade. It’s one thing to be an artist whose job depends on how much you’re able to create. Having to create something new in an ongoing series every week is baffling to me as a musical composer. It takes me weeks even months to get works done to a level they can be called finished.

Mashima’s work on Fairy Tail is nowhere near the best thing in the anime/manga world, but I’m not going to accuse him of not working hard. I want this guy to enjoy the break he’s getting for now before he launches head first into his next series. For now, I’d like to see what fans do now that the story is complete(-ish).

Speaking of which, many people might be wondering what I’ll be doing on this blog now that the series is over. I still have things to say about Fairy Tail as a series and I’ll definitely have some things to say about this fandom as the dust settles. I have some posts I’ve been working on specifically to show after the end of the series and, thankfully, I only have to change a few paragraphs because of this ending…

I don’t know that I’m going to start throwing my focus onto any one other series. I’ve said this before but despite any and all problems this series has, Fairy Tail is the only series I feel comfortable running a blog for. I’ve seen other series I think are better and I have things to say about them you might see on my main blog. But I don’t see myself getting so into another series that I could do everything I’ve done with Fairy Tail.

To that point, I do have series I have been reading. To give a sense of the time I’ve been planning this post for, when I started writing this post, I had over 100 chapters of Bleach left to finish. I’m sending this off having finished that series and (as I promised) started reading My Hero Academia. Incidentally, I’ve started writing posts for those series I may post to my main blog as well and I’ve had to pull myself away from reading MHA to finish this post.

I’ve also been reading Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches and, once I’m done, I’ll finally be able to catch up with Twin Star Exorcists (yes, I’ve decided to turn to the dark side). I’ve also started reading Astra: Lost in Space. I’m not sure this will be the next breakout hit in the manga world, but I’m enjoying where this series is going.

Somewhere along the way, I started reading Yona of the Dawn through the volumes and collecting Bakuman volumes which I will read all at once. And of course, I’ll still be buying the volumes for Rave Master and Fairy Tail until I’ve collected them all.

To wrap it all up, there is one more question some of my followers may be wondering that I want to address: When will I read One Piece?

Soon.

At the very least, I want to catch up with the currently running series and get all of that I’ll be following weekly and get/read all of Bakuman before getting into the beast that is One Piece. At the latest, I’ll end up following my Big 3 tradition of starting to read the series at about the time it’s starting to end. And if your fandom causes another stir over ships, I think I’m actually going to go crazy

In Conclusion:

Fairy Tail’s ending was pretty messy, but I’m fairly happy with the ending we got. But even though Fairy Tail ended, I’m still going to have fun talking about it and other things.

I’m all fired up!!!!

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