#fate the wins saga spoilers

[pale-opal]

I Listened to "The Wisdom Saga" and I Have Some Things to Say - Part 1

If you haven't listened to this part of "Epic: the Musical" yet, feel free to click off this post and do that because not only are you doing yourself a disservice, I will also be giving ALL of the spoilers under the cut, and the Epic sagas are best experienced blind. It's free to listen to on YouTube, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and it's also available to buy on iTunes.

Okay. Did you listen to it? You did? Great! Now let's get into it: 1. Legendary- This is my favorite song in the saga. - Telemachus is precious and must be protected at all costs - The "l-l-l-l-legendary" is giving Hamilton (2015), not gonna lie. - I mean that in the best way possible. - Some people have pointed out that Athena's melody can be heard in the background, and we know from past songs that when her theme or ticking sounds can be heard when she's not present in the song, that means that she's just observing to see what's going to happen before getting involved. - And that's a good thing, considering what's about to happen. - But we'll get to that. - I want to talk about this part of the chorus for a second:

"Give me sirens and a cyclops Give me giants and a hydra I know life and fate are scary But I wanna be legendary" - I just think that first line is so ironic because Odysseus fought both sirens and a cyclops. - I also think the giants line is interesting, since Odysseus almost got sent to the Land of the Giants after a certain someone opened the wind bag (*cough cough* Eurylochus *cough cough*). - Now I wanna talk about these lines:

"There are strangers in our halls Trying to win the heart of my mom But she is standing tall 108 old faces of men who call me small They keep taking space and it's not much longer we can stall

Cause they're getting impatient, dangerous tooAnd I would fight them if I was half as strong as you Somebody help me, come and give me the strength Can I do whatever it takes to keep my mom safe?" - While listening to this song, I got reminded of when my 10th grade English teacher covered the original Odyssey.- A phrase she kept using to describe how the suitors were treating Penelope and Telemachus was "eating [them] out of house and home." - To sum up what she meant by that, the suitors are basically taking advantage of the concept "xenia", which is an idea the ancient Greeks had. They believed that visitors were under the protection of Zeus, and that they had to be treated with respect. - Odysseus and his men try to invoke this when they first meet the cyclops. - Because of xenia, Penelope and Telemachus are sort-of "barred" from kicking the suitors out. - And even if they could... there are one-hundred and eight (108) of them. They're horribly outnumbered. They could easily be overpowered. - Now you may be asking yourself: "How come they haven't been overpowered already?" - The original text actually gives us an explanation for that: Penelope started working on what was known as a "funeral shroud" (a fabric a dead person is wrapped up in before being buried) for Odysseus' father. - She told the suitors that she would choose one of them to marry once the shroud was complete. - However, what she DIDN'T tell them was that she was going to undo some of the work each night, thus allowing her to work on the shroud for an indefinite amount of time, or until Odysseus came back. - ...or, at least, that's what would've happened if the suitors didn't find out what she was up to. Hence why their so antsy to find out which one of them she intends to marry:

"Where is he? Where is the man who'll have you to wife? Oh Where is he? Where is the man with whom you'll spend your life? Cause it's been 20 years (20 years) And we still have no king" - And now it's time to talk about the only antagonist in the entirety of "Epic" who is a clear-cut villain with no redeeming qualities: Antinous.- I want this man defenestrated immediately. - You know how Telemachus is a young man who respects women, loves his dad, even though he's never met him, wants his mother to be happy and safe, and also wants all of these sleazy men out of his house? - Yeah, okay, well, Antinous is the complete opposite of him. Just take a look at this interaction between the two of them (cw for implications of SA):

"[ANTINOUS] Boy! When's your tramp of a mother gonna choose a new husband? ... Why don't you open her room so we can have fun with her?

[TELEMACHUS] Don't you dare call my mother a tramp! ...

[ANTINOUS, spoken] I just did! Whatchu gonna do about it, champ?" - And you want to know what Antinous does after saying all of this? - He challenges the son of the woman he supposedly wants to marry, the same son who he sees as a child despite him being twenty (based on "108 old faces of men who call me small" and how he calls Telemachus "boy"), to a fistfight. 2. Little Wolf- This was the song I was the most excited for prior to its release, and I am pleased to say that it does NOT disappoint. - One thing I noticed before the song came out is that Poseidon refers to Odysseus and his crew as a "pack of wolves" in "Ruthlessness". - Considering how animal symbolism is used in this musical, Telemachus is seen as being in the same vein as his father, but is called "little" because he isn't quite on the same level as him... not yet, anyway. - But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Fight, little wolf, fight Wanna entertain me? Bite, little wolf, bite Let's see how you take this Strike, little wolf, strike Wanna be a man? Then Fight, little wolf, fight, little wolf, fight" - The chorus is literally a bunch of grown-men trying to pressure Telemachus, who they see as a child, mind you, into fighting a man who is not only older than him, but who is also implied to be stronger, too. - They want this boy dead, and that is apparent before they line "die, little wolf, die, little wolf, die" even leaves their mouths. - I can't wait for "King" to come out. I want these posers to get what they deserve. - Oh, and as for Antinous: "You've made your worst mistake here, might be your last one too You'll have run out of bones to break when you and I are through I'll teach you all the lessonsyour daddy never couldThis cruel world doesn't give out presentsjust for being good" - While I do agree that Telemachus needs to become less sheltered, beating him to death is NOT the way to teach him how harsh the world is. That lesson is going to do him no good if he has to die to learn it. - But, of course, Antinous doesn't care about that. He only cares about dealing with the person standing between him and "his" woman. - The further I go into this, the more I want Antinous chucked out of a window. - But it's okay. It's fine, everybody. Because Telemachus' real mentor soon arrives on the scene:

"[ATHENA, spoken]Need some help?

[TELEMACHUS] What's going on here?

[ATHENA] Is your plan to stand around? Cause I suggest you fight back

[TELEMACHUS] I don't know how" - Okay, so two things: 1. Athena being totally down with helping Odysseus' kid despite this being the first time they meet is awesome. 2. Telemachus wants to fight monsters, but he doesn't even know how to properly punch a guy. I love this. He has Odysseus' heart, but not his "mind" so to speak. He wants to do all these serious and impressive things, but when the time comes for him to do so, he hasn't the foggiest idea as to how.

"[ATHENA, spoken] Uppercut him, now.

[TELEMACHUS] Woah, how did I do that? Is time now moving slow?

[ATHENA] No, I just made your thoughts quick" - I'm so glad we get this explanation of how "quick-thought" works! It doesn't slow-down time. It speeds up the mental faculties of the person under its effects, and essentially puts them in a "bubble" where they can interact with the outside world in-real time while perceiving (and acting?) faster than their surroundings (I don't know if Jay explained this anywhere else. If he did, I'm sorry for being redundant). - And then we get these absolutely raw lines from Athena: "I've no respect for bullies Those who impose their will I've seen plenty enough to truly understand this kind of filth Let's teach this dog a lesson In front of all his kind One young wolf has a larger heart than all these men combined" - THIS IS WHAT I MEANT ABOUT THE ANIMAL SYMBOLISM! Dogs are considered by many to be the descendants of wolves. A genetic relative that is not quite as feral or quite as aggressive as a wolf, even if they're wild. And based on how Athena calls the suitors "filth" (ha!) and puts extra emphasis on how wolves are stronger than them, I wouldn't be too surprised if she was talking about domesticated dogs. And that case, they don't stand a chance against - oh, wait. Hold on a second: "[ATHENA, spoken] Ooh, maybe I pushed you a bit too hard!

[TELEMACHUS, spoken] Ow..." - I can totally imagine Telemachus getting a headache or a nosebleed here. It's his first day getting into a fight, and the first time he's experiencing deus ex machina. Ya boy is not qualified for all of this. He needs a break. - Oh, and then we get Antinous being butthurt about Telemachus actually managing to rough him up a little:

"Go back and cry in your corner Make sure your mother hears If she won't choose a man to adorn her We'll bring blood and tears" - Again. Defenestration. It would suit Antinous really well.- The next song is dedicated to Telemachus receiving an answer to this question: "Athena, why did you come to my aid?"

3. We'll Be Fine - I have a confession to make: I thought this song was going to be boring. - I am SO glad I was wrong. - I also thought that this would be a Penelope song. - I was wrong about that too, but I'm sure she'll get her moment eventually. - One thing that this song accomplishes musically is that it combines the melodies of "Warrior of the Mind" and "Legendary" together, making something that sounds new and different. It feels like Athena and Telemachus really see each other as friends, and that Athena felt the same way about Odysseus - she was just to focused on being his mentor to acknowledge that until now. - Oh, and we also find out that Athena has been dealing with some serious guilt since the cyclops argument:

"I had a friend before, and He was a lot like you I helped him fight through war, but He had his demons too And then we grew apart Then his light went dark

And so, I thought Maybe, if I made a different call Maybe if I hadn't missed it all Maybe, he'd be fine Maybe we'd unwind Maybe, if I help another soul Maybe, if I helped you reach your goal Life could be that bright I could sleep at night"

- This part of the song hurts, y'all. - Athena is genuinely convinced that if she had stuck with Odysseus then he would be home safely, and that what happened between them is mostly her fault, even though Odysseus told her to her face that he wanted to be rid of her, too. - AND she's losing sleep over this man? Somebody go get him immediately.- I really want to talk about the lines referring to light for a moment: - When I first heard "Then his light went dark" I thought that meant Athena legitimately thought Odysseus was dead. Which makes the fact that she feels guilty about everything that happened even WORSE. - And then "Life could be that bright" is just her saying that Odysseus made her life better and that she was wrong about not seeing him as a friend, and that friendship is necessary for living a meaningful life. - And you know, that kind of makes me want to grab Odysseus by the shoulders and violently shake him for shouting "YOU'RE ALONE!" to Athena all the way back in "My Goodbye". Like, no she wasn't, Odysseus, she had you. And you had her. And then you both screwed it up by being too stubborn to admit that the other person had a point. Now BOTH of you are sad and lonely. - But again, it's okay. It's fine (pun not intended). Because Telemachus is still here, listening to all of this: "Athena, I don't know who your friend is I don't know what he's like, but My time with you has been splendid The best day of my life Cause I got in a fight, and I didn't die" - He literally has doesn't know who Athena is talking about, and even if he did, it wouldn't matter, because he NEVER MET HIS DAD. - Why is this song so sad? - We're three songs deep, and I am HURT. - And it's just gonna get worse from here. - On a lighter note, Telemachus says that he has really enjoyed hanging out with Athena for the past fifteen (15) minutes, and that this is actually the best day of his life. His reasoning? He survived getting jumped! Hooray! - Wait, what? That's it? That's all took for this to be the best day of his life? Just... just how bad has his life been, until now? - ... - ...hm. "Maybe, if life wasn't spent as planned Maybe, it's time that you lend a hand I don't think he'll mind If not his friend, then mine

[TELEMACHUS & ATHENA] Maybe, to fall is to learn one way Maybe, it's all gonna turn out great I know we'll be fine I know it's light you'll find" - Telemachus offers to be Athena's friend, while also telling her that it's okay for her to move on from Odysseus. - And he still doesn't know that he's talking about his dad, I can't-- "To fall is to learn one way" = "Sometimes it's okay to learn things the hard way." - Athena had to learn that friendship was something worth pursuing with others by losing the first friend she ever had, and Telemachus had to learn to stand up for himself and come out the sheltered life he's been living by getting into a fistfight. - Light is being used as a metaphor for happiness, and that makes me happy. Because Telemachus and Athena needed a friends, and they have each other now. I love that for them. - This is also the point where the "Legendary" and "Warrior of the Mind" melodies combine. I know I said earlier that was a representation of how Athena and Telemachus friendship was forming, but I would like to off this interpretation as well: - Putting "Warrior of the Mind" and "Legendary" on the same level as each other musically could be a thematic way of saying that Telemachus is a "warrior of the mind", as it were. However, since I did say that Telemachus doesn't have Odysseus "mind" before, I would like to elaborate and say that in this instance, Telemachus is being considered to be an equal to his father due to his emotional intelligence. What he lacks for in book-smarts, he makes up for in heart.

Unfortunately, my complete thoughts on this particular saga are too long for tumblr to allow as one post, so I'll have to post a part 2 later today. We'll be covering "Love in Paradise" and "God Games" then. Furthermore, please do not confuse me talking trash about any of the characters or wanting to see them face consequences for their actions as me speaking poorly of or wishing harm upon any of the actors or crew for "Epic" or any other real people, because that is not what I am doing. I hold great respect for the "Epic" team, and I am eager to see what they do in the future. That's all I can say for now. I'll see you all in a few hours with part 2. Update: Part 2 can be found here.

[mylovehalfway]

I Hear the Sunspot Episode 7 thoughts/analysis

(Spoilers ahead!)

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Knowing we’re over halfway through the show, starting the episode with scenes from the beginning was an excellent and rather emotional choice. It puts into perspective just how much their relationship has grown and how we’ve seen it progress each week.

THE BENTO BOXES. It’s literally them, you guys. This also seems like a callback to how their friendship started in the first place, which was Taichi approaching Kohei and asking for some of his lunch. Not to mention, his mom found them in a pair. This is what you call fate!

Taichi has not forgotten about the kiss he and Kohei shared! The way that the simple thought of it turned him into a blushing mess was so cute. Whether he realizes it or not, he has definitely fallen hard.

Taichi falling down a hill and catching Kohei off guard, just like how they first met, was adorable. The only difference is that back then he was trying to win Kohei over, and now he’s trying to win him back.

Kohei & Taichi making each other jealous seems to be a never-ending saga at this point. Kohei even took it upon himself to entertain the woman at the dinner table so she and Taichi wouldn’t get too close. The possessiveness the two have for each other is insane (in a good way!).

The way Kohei & Taichi talk about each other will always be endearing. I feel like this was similar to what Taichi said about Kohei in episode 5, such as how people don’t understand the other’s personality. Kohei actually doesn’t want others to see that side of Taichi, though. He straight up admitted he wanted him for himself, which honestly isn’t surprising considering his actions not only throughout the show but also a couple of minutes earlier in the episode.

Taichi’s face when his friends were talking about how Kohei may not need him anymore broke me. He’s gotten so used to being around him all the time to the point he can’t cope with their relationship being any other way. It also doesn’t help that everyone around him is telling him what he already suspected. He’s always been the optimistic one and willing to fight for the both of them to remain in each other’s lives but now he’s convinced he has no purpose in Kohei’s life anymore, which is not true at all.

This episode was cute yet stressful. While I’m not a fan of her character so far, I’m looking forward to seeing what Maya will bring to the table as far as the plot goes. So far it just seems like she’s there to drive a wedge between Kohei & Taichi because she feels like the latter doesn't understand Kohei like she does, but I hope that’s not all there is to it and we get to see more depth from her character.

[duhragonball]

Thanks for answering my ask, well, about the sparkling zero thing is that the game will feature some what if stories and scenarios that looked like fan fiction which might be rather interesting to hear you talk about, I am getting the game today to form my opinions but in case you do look at those I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on them

I finished all of the Story Modes that were available to me, and I have to say, I'm not impressed with the What If scenarios. But then again, I wasn't expecting to be in the first place.

Most of the Budokai and Sparking games had What-If content of some sort, but it's usually pretty thin. Budokai 3 had some grand plans to give every character a story mode, but by the time the actual game released, all most of the characters got was a bunch of sound files from the scrapped stories. You unlocked these as "Memories of [X]" capsules in the game. Either they cost a lot of money, or you had to wish for them with Dragon Balls, I forget which.

I remember the Android 16 one had audio of him having some sort of climactic match with Goku, and there's audio of Goku conceding defeat and accepting that 16 will kill him, but I think he spares him. So it's a what-if scenario in my book. So was that Uub story mode that actually made it into the game, where Uub has to save the world from Omega Shenron. That was pretty cool, but the "Memories of..." capsules pointed to a much bigger project that never materialized.

Other than that, the most memorable what-if content was probably that "Fateful Brothers" think in BT3, where Raditz turns good and Goku takes him in. They have to stop Piccolo from killing him, and he warns him about Vegeta and Nappa. I think it ends with Raditz meeting Bardock in hell.

But a lot of it is pretty flimsy stuff. Not bad, just nothing earth-shaking. It's usually just some cutscenes to set up an unusual match that you could just as easily arrange yourself in vs. mode.

And that's kind of the gripe I have with Sparking Zero's what-ifs, because they're really just minor tweaks to the original story. There's one where Frieza and his goons invade Earth instead of the Z-Fighters facing him on Namek. And it's fine, but it's basically the same series of battles you'd fight in the "correct" version of events. There's one where Vegeta and Trunks actually cooperate in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and they end up getting the big win over Cell, which sounds awesome, but it's not all that different from going through the Cell Saga normally with Vegeta, Gohan, and Goku.

I haven't unlocked much of this stuff myself, mainly because I'm still getting the hang of the game, and a lot of these branching paths require a lot more skill to activate the right win condition. But I've been watching Kirran and Grant play the game on Goodtimes Zone, and I've found myself enjoying their live reactions more than the stuff they're reacting to. And they like the what if stuff we're getting, but I keep noticing a hint of disappointment, like they were expecting a bit more. More branching paths, and bigger divergences from the canon story.

For example, they were hoping Cooler would show up in the middle of any Frieza-related branches, and yeah, that seems obvious, doesn't it? Hell, King Cold is in the game too, isn't he? Do a thing where he shows up on Namek, or maybe have Cooler wipe out the Androids because he's here to get his own revenge on Goku.

Instead we got... well, I'll cut for spoilers if anyone's interested...

We got Gohan Black. Now this might sound pretty impressive at first, but it kind of doesn't work. So the what-if scenario is that Gohan actually beats Frieza in Res-F before Goku arrives to help, and then Gohan starts training more seriously, so he joins the U7 team for the Destroyer Invitational and defeats Hit to win the whole thing. (Oddly, you don't get to play Gohan vs. Hit, which seems like an oversight in a what-if scenario, but whatever.)

So when the Zamasu arc starts, it turns out that Zamasu steals Gohan's body instead of Goku's in this version, because Gohan was stronger at the time. And that's fine, but it doesn't actually change very much. The real Gohan joins Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks in the battle, but it's the same Zamasu and Black. The only difference is that Kyle Herbert is playing Black in this version instead of Sean Schemmel. Actually I guess in Japanese it might not be that different at all, since Masako Nozawa plays Gohan and Goku.

Gohan Black doesn't even look that different from Goku Black. He just kind of looks like the original Goku Black with a different haircut. He fuses with Zamasu in the end, and they actually changed the Fused Zamasu model to reflect this, but they didn't have to change it very much.

And you have the real Gohan in the story, which is something new, but here's the problem: You already play the Zamasu arc in four other story modes: Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks, and Goku Black. And it plays out the same way every time.

Good guys vs. Black

Good guys vs. Black and Zamasu

Good guys vs. Black and Zamasu again

Good guys vs. fused Zamasu

Good guys vs. fused Zamasu (corrupted)

I was already sick of it before I bought the game, because I hate the Zamasu arc. But for some reason the game devs thought we should play it five times. And yeah, Gohan remembers the damn jar for the Mafuba in his version, but so what? I still have to look at that ugly-ass stage the whole time, and I still have to listen to Zamasu preach during the fight.

As I understand it, there's a what-if where Trunks joins the U7 team for the Tournament of Power, and that also sounds like a decent idea, except it's kind of the same problem. We see the Tournament of Power in five story modes already: Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Frieza, and Jiren. I hope Trunks has something fresh to do when he runs through it a sixth time, but I'm not optimistic.

It just feels kind of weak. Maybe they're saving cooler what-if scenarios for DLC, but that seems like a poor strategy when the base game has such weak what-if scenarios. It leaves me skeptical that they even know how to write a cool one. I mean, you've got a bunch of GT and movie guys on the roster. This should be easy. Middle schoolers do this stuff. Here's some ideas I thought of off the cuff.

Goku invites Cell to compete in the Tournament of Power instead of Frieza.

Kefla defeats Goku and now she has to defeat Jiren and Goku's teammates to win the tournament. Vegeta and Gohan fuse into Vegehan in a last-ditch effort.

Golden Frieza Black.

Cell wins the Cell Games and accidentally releases Buu from his ball while terrorizing the Earth, and now he has to team up with the Z-fighters to stop him.

Dabura convinces Babidi to seal Buu up again, and they do evil stuff with Majin Vegeta on their team.

Vegito kills Super Buu, so now Dragon Ball Super plays out with Vegito.

Piccolo survives Nappa's blast and fuses with Kami to sweep the next several dozen episodes' worth of bad guys.

Ginyu Force-Kamikaze Fireballs War.

Turles shows up on Namek and kicks Frieza's ass with fruit power.

Gero sics Android 13 on the Z-fighters during the Saiyan invasion, so Vegeta and Nappa have to do a truce to stop him.

I could probably think of better ideas with some more time, but the point is that none of this would require a lot of extra assets that aren't already in the base game. But they would involve a lot of different battles and settings that you wouldn't see in the other story paths. I don't understand why they didn't get more creative with things. They had all the stuff they needed. All they had to do was think outside the box a little.

[lonewolfel]

Lightning that makes her Kingdom Fall Chapter 2 Divine Intervention

Read Chapter 1

Master Chapter List

On AO3

Spoilers for Wisdom Saga. Mentions of domestic abuse.

Hera watched Zeus pace. Electricity ran across his arms in his anger. Hera stood beside the door prepared to make a quick escape if she needed to. She had never seen her husband like this, even when she herself had once tried to dethrone him. Her punishment hadn’t been pleasant, but it was nowhere near Athena’s just for trying to save a mortal.  

“I can’t believe she did this,” Zeus boomed. 

“Talk about your affairs? I didn’t think you cared. You never exactly been subtle with them,” Hera said.  

It pained her to say that. She hated that this was her life. A husband who constantly cheats on her and being powerless to stop it. A husband who cared so little about his kids that he was willing to leave them dying in front of the whole pantheon. Though at least she managed to get a better deal than Metis, if only just. 

“NO!” Zeus whirled around to face Hera. Hera barely contained her flinch at his burning yellow eyes glaring at her. “Don’t you see?” 

“I do not,” Hera admitted. 

“She was never to win. They...you, were never supposed to side with her.” 

Athena was an isolated god, that was true. She preferred to be on her own than around the other gods. Most of the other gods, Hera herself included hated Athena and would rather do anything then be in her presence. Ares, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus all hated Athena and no one in their wildest dreams would imagine them siding with Athena. Apollo only seemed to tolerate his half-sister. Athena had been perfectly content with those arrangements. The only god that Athena spent time with was Zeus himself. She had always been Zeus’s loyal daughter, doing all she could to please him and Zeus had accepted her council.  

If Hera was honest if there were any child, she felt like Zeus would kill it would have been Ares. 

“She’s the goddess of wisdom,” Hera said slowly. “Just because she cares little about others and their thoughts doesn’t mean that she doesn’t know how to appease them.” 

“How much do you know about Metis?” 

Hera blinked at the change of topic. Though she knew better than to question it. 

“Admittedly not much. I know that she aided you in freeing us and defeating Father and the rest of his Titans. I know you married her, but Gaia's words convinced you to consume her essence while she was pregnant with Athena.” 

“Do you know what Gaia said?” 

“No.” 

“She told me that Metis’s daughter will be wiser than any god. That her son will be the king of Olympus and mortals.” 

Hera froze at those words. A deep chill went through her. She knew exactly what that meant. Their possible son would have overthrown Zeus. It was why Zeus had taken so drastic of actions, though he failed to account for Metis already being pregnant.  

Fate was an odd thing. Even the gods were held to it with only the Moira could change it. Many gods have the ability to see into the future, but prophecy was a tricky thing, a god was just as likely to condemn himself as save himself from fate.  

Just because her son was destined to be king doesn’t mean that her daughter couldn’t have also been destined to be queen. Perhaps Zeus had avoided one possible fate only to stumble upon another. One where his daughter overthrows him, not his son.  

Athena in isolation wasn’t a threat. Zeus had too many supporters for her to defeat on her own even with her clever plans. Besides, the only being she cared about was Zeus or at least that used to be the case. If Athena had raised a coup no other god would side with her, but she had just shown how easily she could persuade the gods that hate her to her cause.  

This wasn’t about Athena winning the game or the mortal she cared about. No, this is about Zeus removing a rival before she can make an actual move against him. 

Hera would never have imagined Athena moving against Zeus. Though that hardly matters now.  

“I should have gotten rid of her when she was born.” 

Hera could have said something about how the unwanted children always end up turning up and usually with plans of revenge. She refrained from it though as she didn’t want to turn his ire to her. 

“You have killed her,” Hera said. “So, what is your plan.” 

“Odysseus shall burn for turning my daughter against me.” 

Hera bit her lip. “Olympus already knows what happens when they cross you. None will stand against you but punishing a mortal for the action of a god aids nothing.” Hera knew that all too well. “Yes, the others fear you, but a good King must have his subjects respect along with their fear. They fear you, yes but I do not know about respect.” 

“What would you have me do?”  

“Show that you are just as merciful as you are cruel.” 

Zeus paused for a moment, seeming to think it over.  

“Summon Hermes.” 

Hera frowned. She didn’t want to have to deal with that bastard child. 

“Very well, my Lord.” 

Hera left leaving Zeus alone. She went to the entrance of Hades so that she could catch him when he resurfaced. 

~~~

Hermes entered the cave where Calypso had made her home. He wasn’t sure where his descendent was on the island, but all the gods knew that he had trapped her. 

“Hiya, Calypso,” Hermes greeted.  

Calypso knelt before Hermes. “Lord Hermes, welcome to my humble abode. To what honor do I have for your visit?"

“I bring a message from Zeus,” Hermes said. He smirked knowing how this would go, and he was going to love the drama. “You are to free Odysseus and allow him to leave.” 

“WHAT!” Calypso stood up. Her eyes glowed in divine rage, but it did nothing to intimidate the messenger god. “How dare you! How dare Zeus! Of course, you would want this. You Olympians just want the rest of us to suffer for your amusement. You are the only ones that can be happy.” 

“Would you defy Zeus?” Hermes so wanted her to say yes. He would have loved to see his father destroy a nymph. It truly had been too long since that had happened.  

Calypso though unfortunately backed down. Tears filled her eyes and began to roll down her cheeks.  

“How do you know he will go? I love him.” 

“He will go.” 

“He is my husband.” 

“He was married to another first. Hera recognizes that marriage not yours.”  

Calypso’s face turned red. She let out a sob. “Fine then. Take him and leave me completely alone again.” 

“Thanks for your cooperation.”  

With that Hermes exited the cave.  

~~~

Telemachus stared out across Ithaca towards the horizon, just as he had so many times in the past ten years. The first couple of years he had hoped to watch his father’s ship appear on the horizon. From there he and his mother would rush to the docks to greet them. Then his father would hug each of them maybe even kiss his mother like the fishermen do when they return home. His father would look at him and tell him how proud he was of him. 

That thought was a dream of a kid, though. Telemachus tried to hold onto hope that his father would come home, but it was hard. It has been ten years since the war had ended and no news has reached Ithaca about their king. Odysseus may very well be dead somewhere in Poseidon's domain.  

His father certainly wouldn’t be proud of him. 108 suitors drain his family of their wealth. He couldn’t even protect his mother from them. It was only her status of queen regent that stopped the suitors from doing the horrible things to her that they talked about when she was not around. Telemachus didn’t even know how to fight. Hopefully, that will all change. 

That was why he was looking out at the horizon. He was waiting to see Athena’s owl form fly towards him. He knew that it had only been a couple of days and that had to seem like no time for the goddess, but Telemachus desperately wanted to see his friend.  

Telemachus never really had friends before, so he was excited to have one. It also had to mean something that he somehow attracted the attention of a god. Maybe Athena would even tell him about his father as according to his grandmother Athena was his father’s patron goddess. (Telemachus tried not to think about the possibility that he was like Diomedes.) 

“Boy.” 

[alterchaos]

Hey everyone!

I'm back today with a bit of an unusual announcement.

In taking time away from this series and social media, I've recovered and took the time to reflect on where I was setting my priorities. For context, I work full time and am pursuing my masters. In the limited time I had away from those responsibilities, I wasn't making sure to take care of my health and close relationships, avoiding them in favor of pushing out more and more pages. That wasn't healthy, and I'm at a much better place now, ready to continue this series within my limits.

Before continuing on with Seven Rings or anything else for that matter, I wanted to work out what those limits are and how to best move forward. You all deserve the best I can give. Without setting limits though, what I give can't be my best. This series is my passion project and I want to be able to give it all the love I can.

I broke apart my original method and narrowed down my options to three possible paths. Though I wish I could do all of them, I made sure I felt good about each before posting. The hardest part was choosing just one, and that's what leads me here. I need your help to decide which path I should take. Since I feel equally good about each option, I wanted to reach out and ask what you all would like to see most and where I should focus my attention moving forward. Do you love the thrill and mystery of the story, or are you intrigued by the expansive world-building? Maybe you love the style of art and want to see fully painted or designed scenes.

The power to change fate...

...is in your hands.

(Note: the most time I could give for this poll was one week, so no posts this week as I review the results)

1. WRITER'S PATH: I post all of the chapters from my archive in bulk (maybe not in one day since there are a lot, but as I feel like until completed). They are posted as they are, meaning most will be either written, incomplete, or in sketched/half-sketched format with an attached script. This will bring us to the Moonbeast Saga finale, where I will pick up and continue in writing, drawing only the occasional concept or page as I feel like/if time allows. (pacing would be fast and more regular since I can write anywhere; story and plot would be at the forefront with great detail, love and care)

2. ARTIST'S PATH: Context doesn't matter and I work on individual pieces spanning across the entire series with little blurbs attached to each art piece. Spoilers will be posted with or without context. (pacing would be slow and posts more rare with a focus on character and scene art; playing with various styles)

3. DIRECTOR'S PATH: Context semi-matters as I focus on posting wips, scripts, and little concept sketches. I may hold out on certain spoilers but will mostly jump around, posting things from any saga. Multiple iterations of the same scenes would also be explored and more focus put on a behind the scenes look at my thought processes and ideas. (pacing would be random and sporatic, more focus given to world-building and the creative process)

[tvstcff]

[sagaiv]

My Thoughts on Brian K Vaughan’s works

I just want to starts off by saying I think Brian K Vaughan was my first “favorite writer” when it can to comic books. Y the last man was the first non-superhero comic I had ever read and it opened me up to so many new titles and ways to use the comic book medium. Brian K Vaughan has never failed to make me fall in love with his characters. I have so many fond memories of his comics. I went back and reread them all again this year and found that I loved them just as much or maybe even more than I did before.

He is very talented at exploring characters through the comic medium by using its specific strengths to do things that wouldn’t translate to other mediums and keep the same meaning or feel quite as sincere. This is just a complicated way of saying I think he uses the medium to explore characters in a way no other medium can. He is also much better at balancing humor, heart, and the serious aspects of his stories so that no one component feels too much. He loves giving his stories a bittersweet ending and for some reason I’m a real sucker for those kinds of endings. No character is safe in his series and yet I never felt like he went overboard with the “edginess” or tried to shock his readers just for the sake of shocking them. Rereading his series actually makes the seeds he plants for certain character’s deaths all the more obvious especially in Saga. Some of the deaths did shock me and I didn’t see them coming but it never felt gratuitous if that makes sense. 

My “brief” thoughts on his series are below the cut. (The ones I want to talk about anyway. I couldn’t fit all of his series. There are some spoilers below the cut.)

Ex Machina: This was a title where the longer I sat with it the more I loved it. It just has so many ways that the story can be interpreted and it has a lot to say about the idea of free will. Mitchell Hundred is such an interesting main character and the questions of the extent of his free will  keep me coming back to the series and character. This story is a tragedy almost anyway you interpret it. If he was acting 100% of his own free will then the descent of his character and morals in pursuit of power is sort of Shakespearean in it’s tragedy. There’s the questions on whether Mitchell was wearing a mask and the man he is at the end is who he really was all along. The plot point of him lying to Kremlin and Bradbury about the power canceling devices brings credence to the idea that he was being manipulative from the beginning. That he knew what he was doing in a way and once he realized he could gain more power by running for office than being a hero he manipulated Bradbury once again into making it so his win was assured. The loss of those around him was entirely his own fault. If he was being controlled or unconsciously pulled in the direction of his descent then it’s tragic because in a way his fate was sealed from the moment he got his powers, he was going to lose everyone in his life regardless if he wanted to or not. This comic really get you thinking and keeps you thinking long after you’ve finished and I love that.

Y the Last Man: Like I said above this was my first non-superhero comic book and returning to it could have been disastrous if it didn’t live up to the nostalgic memories I had of the series. Good thing Y the last man is a great comic. I really love the central trio in this series. Yorick, 355, and Alison Mann are all some of my favorite characters just in general. Yorick, 355, and Dr. Mann all go through a lot of growth and it makes their goodbyes and endings all the more saddening. I was devastated by both 355 and Ampersand’s deaths. These were some of the most emotional deaths in any of the comics I’ve read.  “I’m so goddamn tired of killing.” The sadness of losing 355′s hard earned chance at peace in an instant, with no chance to fight back or even knowing she was in danger, was just so heartbreaking. She finally got a chance to break away from the suffering she’d experienced during life and the “being hard bullshit” and try to be soft for once. Her arc was just so well written that when it came to a close that way it was so heartbreaking in a way I hadn’t experienced with any other character until that point. And Ampersand has been through everything with Yorick so seeing his death was just as hard. Yorick’s growth was truly something special though. His journey from self-centered young man to a mature and caring last man was really something to see. He is a really great protagonist. BKV actually got me to tear up with this series and I have a hard time crying about any media (not because of lack of caring or empathy I just have a hard time letting myself show that emotion). I don’t know if there has been another final two issues of a comic book that hit me as hard as the ones for Y the last man. I really don’t know what I can say about this series that hasn’t already been said. I really do recommend this comic (just know that some views at the very start are a bit dated but by the end you can tell that BKV has a better understanding of those views. I wasn’t personally bothered by it but I know it’s something that people should go into knowing because not everyone is like me). I love this series and I love these characters and this is where I fell in love with BKV as a writer.

Saga: Brian K Vaughan’s magnum opus. I am so glad that it is returning this coming January. I just love just about everything about Saga. Marco, Alana, Prince Robot IV, Hazel, Squire, petrichor, and many more are all great characters. I love the way the comic shows the cycles of violence and how heartbreaking those cycles can be with their consequences. It touches on the cycles of violence in war, generational trauma and how that cycle can be perpetuated or broken, how violence shapes who a person is and who they become, etc. Violence has very real consequences. It can be the ptsd that Prince Robot very clearly has or the way the violence Marko and Prince Robot IV partake in in the first volume coming back to haunt them in the ninth volume or even in the ways Marko and Alana deal with certain aspects of their relationship and how they raise Hazel. You feel all of it. The series is about love, loss, and growth. This may be my favorite comic book series (my top 5 ish series flip flop a bit sometimes if I’m being honest but this is always within the top 3). The diversity of this comic is also a huge plus. It’s always refreshing to see a wide variety of genders, races, ethnicities, etc get the spotlight. I always welcome new perspective and representation so that others can see themselves in these characters. I know I always feel seen when I read about a character like me and it makes me feel less alone and knowing that there are many other people who can feel that way about any of these characters always makes me happy. I just love this comic a lot. (I’ve also personally struggled with intergenerational trauma and being a victim of the cycles of abuse so this story hit hard at a lot of points)

Paper Girls: I’ve seen this comic be described as Stranger things but centered around a group of girls instead of boys and while that is a great pitch to get people to read it I feel like it sells the comic a bit short. I love stranger things I just think that description doesn’t fully capture all the themes the story tackles about our time on this world and the mortality that we are faced with every day. It’s a bit ironic that a story that is talking about the importance of how we spend our time alive is based around time travel and I think that was fully intentional. The girls are all dealing with the reality of their futures and coming to terms with certain aspects of themselves that are a part of who they are. I really like the characters and concept. I wasn’t a huge fan of the fact that the character’s had their memories erased at the end because it felt a bit like the journey was meaningless. There were changes that stuck though and I liked that aspect at least. Mac has started developing feelings for KJ and has dialed back in her internalized homophobia and Erin isn’t as shy and is willing to ask to hang out with the other girls for longer than just their route. There is hope for a different future where the four of them remain friends instead of drift apart. At least Mac doesn’t have to live with the fact that she is going to die young and KJ doesn’t have to live with having killed a man to protect someone. Still a really good series just not as strong of an ending as the rest of his well known series in my opinion. 

Private Eye: This series is the one where I was the least attached to the characters. The concept, world, and execution are what really draw you in. I liked the idea of a world where the generational divide with technology is essentially the reverse of what it currently is. The collapse of the internet and desperation to regain anonymity in a world where all the previous generation’s private information and search history has been made public to everyone is just really fun. It’s a good spin on the typical private investigator story. One thing I love about BKV is his ability to put a spins on common story ideas or genres I should probably say. For the post apocalypse he made Y the last man, for Private Investigator stories he made private eye, for star crossed lovers he made Saga, for time travel he made Paper Girls, for the retired superhero he made Ex Machina and I wouldn’t say that any of these stories were stereotypical. That may just be me but I like how he makes something unique and thought provoking for every seemingly basic story concept. Brian K Vaughan and Marcos Martin are also a very good duo and I enjoy their collaborations on The Walking Dead: The Alien and Barrier (Side note: I really like the decision not to translate for English readers and the art is so expressive you can understand what’s going on regardless). They work really well together. 

Pride of Baghdad: I never thought I could feel this much about a pride of lions. That ending hurt me. I knew how it was going to end based on what I had heard of the real life events it was based on but I still wasn’t prepared when it happened. The optimism and cynicism of the characters towards their new situation contrasted really well. Safa was probably my favorite because of her tough outward portrayal contrasting with her fiercely protective nature especially towards Ali. The art was just gorgeous. I love what animation and comics can do with showing emotions on animals. The fact that I came to love these lions in the short page count is a testament to BKV’s character writing. I don’t want to say much about this title since not many people have read it. If you are reading this and haven’t yet picked this series up I highly recommend doing so.

[frayderike]

Books 2021

♥ fav // ♫ audiobook // 🖌 graphic novel, manga // ∞ re-read

my goodreads profile

His Majesty's Dragon (Tremaire #1)

Throne of Jade (Tremaire #2)

The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1)

The Iron Flower (The Black Witch Chronicles #2)

The Shadow Wand (The Black Witch Chronicles #3)

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)

Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1)

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2)

Blackout: Morgen ist es zu spät

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) ♥♥♥

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) ♥♥♥

A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1)

Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1) ♫

The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1)

The Library of Fates

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3)

Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1) ♥

In the Middle of the Night

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) ♫

Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2)

Crown of Feathers (Crown of Feathers #1) ♥

Know My Name ♥♥♥

Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #3)

Sweet Bean Paste

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) ♥♥♥ ∞

When Breath Becomes Air

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) ♥♥♥ ∞

わんわん探偵団2 🖌

King of Scars (King of Scars #1)

Fable (Fable #1) ♫

The Midnight Library

Exhalation ♥

Namesake (Fable #2) ♫

Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes

The House in the Cerulean Sea ♥

The Emrpess of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle #1) ♫

When a Tiger Came Down the Mountain (The Singing Hills Cycle #2) ♫

The Beast Player (The Beast Player #1-2)

Stardust ♫

Love Simon ♫

The Upside of Unrequited ♫

Leah on the Offbeat ♫

They Both Die at the End ♫

Clap When You Land ♫

A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3)

My Sister, the Serial Killer

Upright Women Wanted ♥ ♫

The Memory Police

A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4)

Ace of Spades

The Voting Booth ♥

Rule of Wolves (King of Scars #2)

Hood Feminism

The Bad Seed 🖌

The Handmaid's Tale

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1)

The Song of Achilles ♫

Finna (LitenVerse #1)

An Enchantment of Ravens ♫

Number the Stars

Dial A for Aunties

Castle in the Air (Howl's Moving Castle #2)

White Tears/Brown Scars ♥♥♥ ♫

Spoiler Alert

We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) ♥

To Kill a Kingdom ♫

House of Leaves

Kate in Waiting ♫

The Magic Fish 🖌

The Keeper of Lost Things ♫

Pan's Labyrinth

We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya #2) ♥

Scorcery of Thorns ♫

Sky in the Deep ♥ ♫

Hosue of Many Ways (Howl's Moving Castle #3)

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) ♥

The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2)

The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #3)

Binti (Binti #1) ♥

A Monster Calls

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)

The Princess Bride ♫

The Historian

Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #2)

American Indian Stories

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1)

Tender is the Flesh ♥

The Beautiful Ones ♫

Wings of Shadow (Crown of Feathers #3)

Under the Whispering Door

A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn Universe #0.1)

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex ♥♥♥

Defekt (LitenVerse #2) ♥♥♥

The Night Watchman ♫

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

In meinem Herzen steckt ein Speer: Das Jahr, das alles veränderte

Heart Berries

Crying in H Mart ♫

A Christmas Carol ♫

The Angel of Khan ek-Khalili (Dead Djinn Universe #0.2)

Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King (The Guardians #1)

Depart, Depart!

People We Meet on Vacation ♫

May the Best Man Win ♫

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Dead Djinn Universe #0.3)

The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) ♫

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost #1)

The Darkest Part of the Forest ♫

Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) ♥

The Last Graduate (Scholomance #2) ♥

Deutscher Humor: Eine Sammlung der besten Beiträge ♥

Winter's Orbit ♥

Krampus

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot #1)

Certain Dark Things ♫

exit RACISM. rassismuskritisch denken lernen ♫

A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe #1)

Saga Vol. 1 🖌

Saga Vol. 2 🖌

The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy #1) ♫

Dropped / DNFed:

Everything I Never Told You

Atomic Habits

Wuthering Heights

And Then There Were None

A Touch of Darkness

The Wolf and the Woodsman

A Court of Mist and Fury

[scentedflowersong]

12 Days of Swan-Mills Saga X-Mas - Day 10

n the tenth day of Christmas, my true love Swan-Mills Saga gave to me…

Welcome, dear friends, to the tenth of our twelve holiday meetings, during which we recall some of the best bits of the five Swan-Mills saga stories by the marvellous @swanqueeneverafter​ (thank you for the artworks used here).

Darlings, the tenth day will be spent on ten True Love’s Kisses that we’ve seen “on-screen” through the Saga.

!WARNING! Spoilers ahead !WARNING! 

1. When your prince comes...

Who? Prince Charming x Snow White Where to find it: TSOU Chapter 1: In the Beginning... Result: breaking of Snow’s sleeping curse Note: the very first one, without this kiss, there could hardly be the others...

2. Just believe...

Who? Emma Swan & Henry Mills Where to find it: TSOU Chapter 16: The Land Without Magic Result: breaking of Henry’s sleeping curse + breaking of the Dark Curse Note: Emma fulfilling her fate as the Saviour, but more importantly, embraces her role as Henry’s mom (even though she thinks it’s too late for everything)

3. Once upon a dream...

Who? Prince Phillip x Aurora Where to find it: TSOU Chapter 17: Broken Result: breaking of Aurora’s sleeping curse Note: what a lovely way to wake up after 30+ years of sleeping...

4. And at last I see the light...

Who? Regina Mills & Henry Mills Where to find it: TSOU Chapter 35: Curious Thing Result: breaking of Snow’s dark curse + Henry’s memories restored Note: the first glimpse of Regina’s light magic and the ultimate proof of her motherly love

5. I just wanna start a flame in your heart...

Who? Zelena Mills x Hades Where to find it: TSOU Chapter 52: Last Rites Result: re-starting of Hades’ heart Note: definitive proof that the Lord of the Underworld is not heartless, just a pity he was still such a prick and poor Zelena had to kill him by the end of the very same chapter...

6. Shining, shimmering, splendid...

Who? Aladdin x Jasmine Where to find it: TSOU Chapter 59: Homecoming Result: restoring Agrabah Note: another kiss we (surely not as patiently as Aladdin with Jasmine) have waited for quite a while...

7. Don’t matter what you look like, don’t even matter who you are...

Who? Prince Marias x frog Where to find it: ATS Chapter 10 Result: turning the prince (back) into a frog Note: alternative ending to the princess and the frog’s tale...

8. Something there that wasn’t there before...

Who? Belle x Rumplestiltskin Where to find it: ATS Chapter 30 Result: turning Rumple from the ‘Beast’ Note: unlike their very first TLK, this time Belle brought Rumple back from his madness

9. Once more you open the door...

Who? Emma Swan-Mills x Regina Mills/Swan-Mills Where to find it: TO&FQ Chapter 13 Result: “fixing” the timeline + reviving Regina Note: out of all the TLKs these two shared in the course of the saga, this one was chosen because 1) it improves (if that’s even possible) Emma and Regina’s first meeting in Storybrooke and 2) is a double kiss because it sends Emma through time and space from Regina’s arms to... Regina’s arms, what more could one ask for?

10. My heart beating, my soul breathing...

Who? Merida x Anastasia Where to find it: TO&FQ Chapter 33 Result: healing Anastasia’s heart (just shot through with Merida’s arrow) Note: perfect cherry on top of a beautiful lovestory

BONUS

It must have been love

Who? Morgana x Guinevere Where to find it: ITSV chapter 19 Result: “fixing” the Alpha reality Note: the only TLK on our list between a couple who find other true loves in the main reality/timeline, Morgana wins it all in her reality - she gets the girl, who in addition kils her abusive father and they probably live happily ever after

Take a chance on me

Who? Emma x Regina (alternate versions) Where to find it: ITSV chapter 39 Result: “fixing” the Epsilon reality Note: a reality shaped loosely like the movie A Life Less Ordinary has Swan Queen and consequently Root and Shaw facing one of the toughest nuts to crack - how to get this Emma and This Regina together... Needless to say, our ladies leave this reality with a newlywed kiss made for the silver screen

Which one is your favourite True Love Snogging scene? Let me know...   :)

As always, stay tuned for more…  

[aion-rsa]

How F9 Brings Back Justice for Han and Asian Inclusion

https://ift.tt/3hakkfH

This article contains F9 spoilers.

One thing is for certain about the Fast and Furious film franchise—it has been a wild ride. Other aspects of the Fast Saga are less certain. Although the F9 title definitively labels the latest film as the ninth installment, it’s actually the 10th film. Or the 11th. You could even say the 12th if you include the short film. It depends how you want to count it. For a franchise laden with car chase clichés, the Fast Saga makes a lot of long, winding detours.

Consider how these movies treat death. Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) set the precedent by ‘dying’ back in Fast & Furious (aka Fast & Furious 4) only to return in Fast & Furious 6, working for the other side. Coincidentally, at the end of that film, there was a major reveal about Han (Sung Kang). The character was introduced in the third film in the series, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, but dies about three quarters of the way through the film. Yet he then reappears in the next three Fast and Furious movies, which were set before Tokyo Drift. The circumstances of his death were clarified in Fast & Furious 6. Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw killed Han. Now those events have been clarified even more in F9, thanks to returning director Justin Lin. As it turns out, Han didn’t die at all.

F9 is the fifth Fast and Furious film directed by Lin, and by design, Han Jue’s story arc is the central thread for all five Lin installments. Tokyo Drift was Lin’s first Fast film, as well as the franchise’s sharpest turn. It was almost an entirely new cast in a new setting. Lin stayed on to direct the following three installments. To keep Han’s story going, he shifted gears and jumped back in time. Just like with Star Wars, Fast & Furious through Fast & Furious 6 comprised a prequel trilogy, so the order in which the Fast Saga films were released doesn’t match the story’s timeline. The second film, 2 Fast 2 Furious, is followed chronologically by the fourth, Fast & Furious. The next two are in order: Fast Five followed by Fast & Furious 6. Then comes the third release, Tokyo Drift where Han dies. Fast & Furious 6 and Tokyo Drift take place more or less at the same time. Even the beginning of Furious 7 overlaps with the final events of Tokyo Drift.

After stepping away from the franchise for its seventh and eight films, Lin is back in the driver’s seat in F9, which is why Han is also back. However, Han has always been riding with Lin, even predating his involvement in Fast and Furious lore…

High School Han

In 2002, Lin directed the critically-acclaimed Better Luck Tomorrow. That film also starred Sung Kang in the role of Han. It was a story about four overachieving Asian teenagers who start selling cheat sheets and subsequently fall into the gangster lifestyle of drugs and crime. It was loosely based on the murder of Stuart Tay. Tay was an Asian teenager who was killed by his fellow high schoolers when they thought he would betray a computer heist they were planning. The murderers were college-bound with Ivy League potential, and the story was branded as “the honor roll murder” by the Orange County register. In Lin’s interpretation, Han is one of the murderers.

Widely hailed as a benchmark film for Asian-American representation, Better Luck Tomorrow won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance where it was rigorously celebrated by Roger Ebert, which led to MTV acquiring it. 

When Lin took on Tokyo Drift, he wanted to add a cool Asian character into the mix. He tapped Kang to reprise the role of Han, albeit an incarnation of Han that was tailored to the franchise. The Better Luck Tomorrow Han is young and brash. Han is a teenager, although Kang was 30 he first played him. In Tokyo Drift, Han is older and wiser, a mentor to the film’s protagonist Sean (Lucas Black). Nevertheless, there are connections that make the character whole. The Better Luck Tomorrow Han is a chain smoker. In Fast Five, Han’s girlfriend Gisele (Gal Gadot in her first feature film). She attributes Han’s constant need to occupy his hand to being a former smoker. Tokyo Drift was only four years after Better Luck Tomorrow but the character of Han aged considerably.

Why Han Matters

The Fast Saga currently ranks as the seventh highest grossing film franchise in the world. And unlike the other top-earners,  these movies were arguably the most diverse and inclusive from the onset. While the MCU has Black Panther and the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Star Wars introduced Finn (John Boyega) in its third trilogy, those casts remain predominantly white. In fact, the top 25 top grossing global franchises are all led by white casts. Fast and Furious is the exception. This makes Han the most prominent Asian character in a Hollywood franchise in the world.

What’s more, Han is cool. Until very recently, most Asian Hollywood roles were stereotypical or tokens. Han a richly developed character, even if Better Luck Tomorrow is disregarded. In Tokyo Drift, he’s a wealthy elite street racer with his own garage packed with awesome cars, attached to a club where he’s surrounded by gorgeous women. That was an unprecedented role for how Asian characters were presented in mainstream Hollywood entertainment in the 2000s.

Han’s relationship with Giselle is also extraordinary. While there is a long cinematic history of white men hooking up with Asian women, it was extremely rare for an Asian man to kiss white woman in Hollywood cinema. Han and Giselle become an item in 2009 with Fast & Furious. The following year, it was a huge deal for Jackie Chan’s interracial kiss with Amber Valletta in The Spy Next Door.

Jackie claimed it was his first onscreen kiss and he was already well past a hundred films to his credit at that time, although most of them were China-made. Han got to snog Wonder Woman onscreen before anyone else, including Chris Pine, and if that’s not cool, what is?

Lin carried another actor over from Better Luck Tomorrow. Jason Tobin played Virgil Hu, Han’s cousin and another one of the murderous teens. Virgil is the biggest punk of the gang. In Tokyo Drift, Tobin plays Earl Hu, one of Han’s friends and a master mechanic. Is the Hu surname a coincidence? Not likely for Lin. Tobin also appears as Young Jun in the Bruce Lee inspired TV series Warrior, where Lin is an executive producer alongside Lee’s daughter Shannon. Again Tobin plays a punk gangster. Tobin reprises Earl in F9. 

Beyond Hollywood inclusion and representation where Han really matters is global box office. Hollywood was another COVID casualty. During the pandemic, the United States was dethroned as the biggest box office in the world. As of right now, China claims that title. Perhaps this is one reason F9 premiered there first, as well as in other Asian regions along with the Middle East.

Read more

Movies

Fast and Furious Timeline Explained (Including F9)

By David Crow

Movies

Hollywood Execs Are Crediting Fast and Furious with Growing Embrace of Diversity

By David Crow

It’s been out for over a month and has already grossed $203 million in China alone, plus an additional $8.8 million in the other markets at the time of the U.S. premiere. Thanks to this, F9 is already the fourth highest earner in the world in 2021. It is right behind Godzilla v Kong, but both of them are trailing behind two Chinese blockbusters that most American are completely unaware of yet, Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi, Mom. 

The Fast Saga’s rise has a lot to do with its international appeal, culminating with winning over Chinese audiences. It was under Lin’s steady hand that the franchise became a global player. Adding Han brought Asian representation to an already diverse cast. Tokyo Drift passed an international milestone where the film made more outside of the U.S. in the foreign markets—$33.9 million more. This disparity widened with each successive movie, so by the time Fast & Furious 6 rolled around, the international earnings accounts for nearly 70 percent of the total box office, and the door was open to that lucrative Chinese market.

Furious 7 was the first of the franchise to be shown in China and blew up there with a record-setting $390 million take, earning the title as the biggest non-Chinese film in the country at the time. That helped to elevate the worldwide box office past $1.5 billion, with over 76 percent of it coming from international earnings. The Fate of the Furious did even better, breaking its own record as China’s top-earning foreign film with $392 million, and the international box office accounted for 81 percent of the worldwide take. 

Lin is smart to bring Han back. And if he really wants to appeal to that Chinese market, he’ll boost Virgil Hu’s role in F10. Han is Korean. Hu is Chinese. Tobin has appeared in Chinese films previously, including Jackie Chan’s Rob-B-Hood so the Chinese audience is familiar with him. 

Justice for Han

At the end of the previous installment, The Fate of the Furious, Shaw is awkwardly accepted into Dom’s cookout. Fans of Han Jue and the franchise were outraged. How does Han’s murderer become part of the club? This triggered the Twitter movement #justiceforhan. Now that we know Shaw didn’t murder Han, it’s up to Lin to decide what happens in F10, which he is slated to direct next (it still doesn’t resolve Shaw’s acceptance at the barbecue because Dom’s gang still believed Han was dead then).

Perhaps it’s all some grand scheme by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). With the Fast Saga, so much is uncertain, even Han’s name.

For F10, a confrontation between Han and Shaw seems inevitable, especially with F9’s post-credits cameo showing Shaw. Perhaps the next film will finally give enough closure for Shaw to earn his seat at the table, or for Han to banish him from it.

At the end of F9, when the car drives up to fill the empty seat at the barbecue table, it’s uncertain who the driver is. Maybe it’s Jakob (John Cena), Dom’s newly introduced brother in F9. Maybe it’s Shaw coming back for seconds, or maybe Brian O’Conner (although reviving the late Paul Walker digitally again would be tacky now). Maybe it’s even Giselle (sure, Giselle ‘died’ in Fast & Furious 6 but if Gadot came back, just think of how many tickets they’d sell). Fast and Furious is full to twisty turns, like any good car chase. But with Lin in the driver’s seat, Han is sure to get the justice he deserves.

F9: The Fast Saga opened only in theaters on Friday, June 25.

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The post How F9 Brings Back Justice for Han and Asian Inclusion appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[mandamelle]

The End of Supernatural: An Essay

***Spoiler Alert!(Obviously!)***

Where do I even start...the beginning I guess... 

The year is 1983, Sam Winchester is 6 months old... lol Ok, maybe not that far back. Let’s start with the beginning of the end, season 15 episode 19, Inherit The Earth. This episode was a GREAT ending. It didn’t scream closure but it left you satisfied enough. Why didn’t they just end it there?!

After watching Inherit The Earth I wasn’t sure where they were going to go with the next episode, the last episode EVER. I knew deep down it was a trap, a false sense of security, but I tried to remain optimistic. Oh a good ol’ monster of the week episode, just the brothers Winchester, saving people and hunting things. Bringing us full circle, right back to what made us love the show in the first place. Unless...as I speculated before watching the episode, they die in said hunt.

I hate being right :(

As soon as the camera focused on that rebar sticking out of that post for just a little too long I knew it was going to be bad. And it was. It was awful. Dean Winchester, the same man we watched fight(and win against) everyone from Death to Lucifer for the past 15 years, taken out by a rusty piece of metal. He deserved so much more.

In death Dean ends up in Heaven and is greeted by Bobby. Ok cool, I love Bobby...but what about Mary? John? Cas? Jack? Ellen? Jo? Or the countless over hunters they’d befriended along the way? Nope, it’s just Bobby. Sure, he mentions John, Mary and Rufus(for some reason?) but they’re at the Roadhouse and not even a word about Ellen and Jo? Pretty sus. Then Dean just drives around in Baby while he waits for Sam...for at least 40 years! I get that time is different in Heaven, but come on, there’s NOTHING else he wanted to do?!

And then there’s the fate of Sam. He turns off the lights in the bunker presumably to head out on a hunt...only to never to go back again?! All of the information and knowledge just wasted. At some point Sam meets, marries and impregnates a woman. He names his son Dean. (Will the Winchesters just recycle variations of the names Sam and Dean forever?) That’s literally all of the information we get. So basically Sam lives out the rest of his life ALONE. No Dean, no Cas, no Jack, no Bobby, no parents, no one who really truly knows him and that is almost as heartbreaking as Dean’s premature death.

However, when Sam finally bites it(after sporting some cringe-worthy grey wigs and also not changing his hair style for 40 years) he and Dean are reunited in Heaven so alls well that ends well, right? 

No! Horrible ending and I hate it!

Initially I was upset because it was the “wrong way around”. In the original ending, back when season 5 was supposed to be the end, Dean got the apple pie life after Sam made the ultimate sacrifice. Maybe that’s how I wanted it to really end...But then I remembered I wasn’t happy with that ending back then either. Dean never even wanted the apple pie life, that was Sam. According to the show’s creator, Supernatural was always meant to be Sam’s story. And I guess it was...but his story sucked and we all deserved better.

I’m not sure an ending exist that I would’ve been happy with, but after 15 years of character development and I think the best thing would have been for the boys to get the same ending. Either they BOTH get the apple pie life or they BOTH go out in a blaze of glory. I could live with that. Dean didn’t even get a blaze of glory tho, he fizzled out on rusty rebar at the age of 42. This is our epic ending to a 15 year saga?!

Personally, I’ll never watch Carry On again. Not only do I refuse to put myself through that emotionally, but Inherit The Earth closed it up perfectly, a ride into the sunset where we can assume they live out the rest of their lives saving people, hunting things, the family business. I need to know there are Winchesters out there keeping the world safe so I’m going to live the rest of my life in the denial stage of grief. 

To end this on a positive note, things I did like about Carry On

Dean mentioning “Always keep fighting”, a project Jared Padalecki has been passionate about for years, in this death monologue

The recreation of their outfits from season 1 episode 1

And that’s it!

[scav-eng-er]

So..my thoughts on TROS

Spoilers. duh.

So..being on here, I obviously dove HEAD FIRST into the spoilers and seeing what I saw, i. was. pissed. The kiss kept me literally on cloud FUCKING 9 for a good 30 min until I went farther in and saw the fall of one of the most beloved, developed and interesting characters in the sequel trilogy. So going into the  theater, I was already angry and disappointed in the writers, JJ and anyone who thought this was how the Skywalker saga should have ended.

Then, while watching, I began to understand some (and I mean VERY FEW) things as to why they went the way they did. 

Rey Palpatine

I fucking rolled my eyes when I heard this, like I thought this was such a poor and cheap move that they made Rey related to Palpatine. I was like “she is supposed to be the image of hope and light for the new age of jedi and future generations.” Then watching the movie, I noticed that she was always so headstrong, and sometimes reckless with her emotions, her power and trying to keep a level head. Even in TFA and TLJ, Rey would would jump right in the fight cause she was so passionate. There was that passion, which could be perceived as dark that pushed her to whatever she did. And then the inner struggle with accepting her family and realizing “holy shit, am i evil?” But the fight and her saying “I am all the jedi” sounds like (at least to me) “I am who I choose to be.” Her little vision of Dark Rey was also an indicator of what she could be should she choose to go down that path. She may be a palpatine by blood, but you can’t choose your family and they don’t define you. Even if she was a nobody, or a scavenger, with pauper parents, she can choose who she truly calls family.

So do I mind that Rey is a Palpatine? Not anymore, because I think her character can inspire others who had a dark background like her, and remind them that your family will never define you, only you can.

Even with the decisions of the writers for the way she ends up on Tatooine (basically another desert) with BB8, just like how we were introduced to her (which I didn’t like. she literally ends where she began), I will always love Rey. I knew she would never turn dark, but knowing that she has that darkness, like all of us (cause literally no one is a saint), she has control over it and chooses to be light. 

Reylo is C A N O N.

FUCK. YES. I WAITED FOR FIVE FUCKING YEARS FOR THIS. This relationship and dynamic of these two incredibly strong characters is something I have been following for so long and will continue to do so when I rot in my grave. The chemistry between the characters and actors is so passionate to the point where I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. 

I see Ben and Rey and of course I think balance. Since seeing them fight in TFA and have this almost 50/50 chance of who would win, I fucking lost it when I saw how equal they are. They are so yin and yang it hurts. Rey is the light (yang) with that hint of darkness (when shes reckless, too passionate, her family) while Ben is (yin) with all that darkness with that spark of light (because he’s a fuckin’ solo lets be honest, it was always something that he struggled to push down).

They are literally the power couple of the century. I freaking love that they fight together and Rey has shown signs of being stronger than Ben. And does he feel insulted? Or upset because a nobody/girl/scavenger could potentially beat him? No. He is so in love with her power and passion that he wants to help her control it. When she blew up the ship? He was fucking BLOWN AWAY, like as if his heart eyes couldn’t get any bigger. 

And Rey just knows. She always tried to pull Ben out of the dark, and never wanted to give up on him. She stabs Kylo? The Supreme Leader and the reason so many are suffering all over the galaxy? She fucking heals him and in a moment of despair and sadness of both of them losing Leia, she tells him that she wanted to “Ben’s hand.” I think she told him this in hopes that he was still in there. With their vulnerability presented to one another, she took a chance that finally opened his heart with the death of his mother and talk with his father (cried so hard btw).

Finally, when we see Ben after their fight on the Death Star his scar is gone. Rey healed his scar, a symbol that was very Kylo. He tosses his saber, gets rid of his layers of (brooding) clothing and goes after his girl. Nuff said.

The Death of Ben Solo

I am struggling to write this. I could not. Believe. They did this. Not just to the fans, but to Adam. This is the only thing I couldn’t understand in the film. It WORKED. SO. WELL. We all literally knew something dramatic was going to happen, but it was either the kiss or Ben being redeemed (and still fucking living). I cried for two days when I saw what happened and then again in the theater. I brought a pair of sunglasses in a dark theater so I could wear them on my way out so no one saw me like jfc. Ben didn’t deserve that, Rey didn’t deserve that. The poor boy was practically swept into a world of darkness and abuse and never had a chance to break through until this girl, this “nobody” came into his life and helped nudge him back. I was actually glad Rey wasn’t 100% the reason he changed, like his dad, his mom - the ones who have been with him from the beginning - knew him and deep down, knew what he would do. The only who had to finally accept it was him. And he did when he went diving back to help Rey and defeat Palpatine. He definitely knew that he would be punished for the crimes and probably live a lifetime in jail, but I would’ve accepted that more than a (rather poorly given) death.

And I understand he did it for Rey. I do... kind of. But with an entire world/galaxy at your fingers, to write whatever you want to about the force (including this healing technique?), you’re telling me that he had to give all of his life to her? Couldn’t Leias sacrifice bring him back? I just think it was a cheap move. I can’t imagine how upset Adam must’ve been when he realized Ben’s fate. He thought of Ben as the “bad guy who think he’s the good guy.” He did such a good job of getting into the characters head that it probably felt like a piece of him died as well. He, and Daisy, I think didn’t want that to be the last we saw of Ben Solo. Also, shitty death..just poof gone. She didn’t cry, didn’t mourn. Her other half, literally 50% of her soul...gone. Rey will feel this wound in her that will never heal and that pain will always remind her of him, with his arms around her, the kiss, the first, real and true smile of Ben Solo before he fell. 

I’ll probably add more to this or something but that’s all I can get out right now, I’m still raw and recovering. I’ll post more stories in the future cause I have so many, but now, enjoy the holidays and sleep peacefully knowing that Rey and Ben love each other. 

xoxo my reylo fam

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Jack Torrance

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

“HEEEEERE’S JOHNNY!”

Jack Nicholson has played many crazy guys over the years, but perhaps his best and craziest character is the one where you actually get to watch as he slides into and succumbs to madness – Jack Torrance. Jack is the guy we spend the most time with in The Shining, and it’s a good thing we do, because it ends up turning him into a pretty rich and engaging character in his own right beyond just being a great villain.

Motivation/Goals: Jack just wants to bounce back by doing a good job maintaining the Overlook Hotel… is that too much to ask? It might be, because Jack was an alcoholic and a rather bitter person even before the hotel by all accounts, at one point even hurting his own son (and if you take Doctor Sleep at face value, his ghost outright states he just couldn’t stand his wife and kid). So really, it’s not too shocking when after the constant suspicion and shakiness with his wife and the numerous strange incidents around the hotel, Jack slowly but surely slides into madness.

Really though, his character isn’t particularly driven by motivations or goals like other villains, because for much of the movie he’s technically a dark protagonist. We’re following Jack as we see the hotel latch onto the darkness in his heart and victimize him, turning him into its agent. His ultimate goal after he has finally snapped is to kill his wife and child, which is a chilling goal to be sure, but with Jack it’s really about the journey and not the destination. Frankly, the Overlook is the villain of the film with a goal in mind, though what exactly that is doesn’t became totally evident until Doctor Sleep; in The Shining, it’s all about the harrowing ambiguity of the haunting that pushes Jack over the edge.

Performance: This was apparently one of the things Stephen King hated about the movie; he thought casting Nicholson was basically a spoiler in and of itself, that Nicholson and his eyebrows were just way too sinister to sell the idea of a good man driven to madness. As much as I love King and his work, I think Kubrick made the right call for the story he wanted to tell; Nicholson’s performance is easily his definitive villain portrayal. Even before the hotel’s influence really kicks in, he portrays Jack as a man who always seems on edge, who feels like he’s moments away from snapping to begin with, and that the hotel’s influence was the little push he needed to let loose. It’s a really fascinating portrayal of a likable yet somewhat unsympathetic jerk slowly going insane… and then when he does finally lose it, all bets are off, and Nicholson finally gives you exactly what you would want to see out of him. The laughing, the faces, the snarling, the ax craziness… Jack in the final act is truly a murderous, raging lunatic for the ages.

Final Fate: In the end, the Overlook Hotel wins, as Jack freezes to death in the maze, unable to kill his family, and then joins the ghosts in the hotel. This is a bit vague in The Shining and even more vague in Doctor Sleep; whether he really ends up as a ghost or his appearance as the bartender to annoy Danny was just the hotel trying to get to him in the latter is open for interpretation. What is clear is that Jack is most definitely dead.

Best Scene: Hmmm, I wonder… could it be the scene that is plastered on several DVD covers for the film and also has been referenced and parodied relentlessly ever since the film was released? The scene where Jack axes the door to get at his wife and utters the immortal reference plastered at the top of this review is so utterly famous that even if you’ve never seen the film, there’s a high chance you’d recognize this scene.

Best Quote: Yeah, yeah, everyone always points to the whole “Here’s Johnny!” thing but quite frankly I don’t think a pop culture reference should be considered his best quote, Especially thanks to the following quote he delivers to his wife right after she finally discovers her husband has well and truly lost it:

“Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in! Gonna bash 'em right the fuck in!”

What really makes it good is how Jack is moving up the stairs towards Wendy, the looks on his face, the evil laugh before he drops that last sentence with its beautiful precision F-strike… in fact, the whole framing of this moment is so good that Rose the Hat pulled it off herself in Doctor Sleep. I would have honestly put this as the best moment, but sadly it never really gets the acknowledgment it deserves compared to the most iconic scene mentioned above.

Final Thoughts & Score: Jack Torrance is truly a villain for the ages, and yet as a villain he hardly accomplishes anything. Yes, he killed Halloran, but that is basically the only thing he accomplished before he himself died. But despite all of that, he has managed to worm his way into the cultural consciousness in a way few villains can ever claim to have, and it’s all because of the simple fact that we are with him as he becomes the villain.

The “protagonist journey to villain” plot is not new or groundbreaking, but it is usually interesting. The entire Star Wars prequels were a three-part saga showing this sort of journey for a reason; showing how a good person could become so corrupted they commit great evil is fascinating. But Jack represents something a bit rarer: he is a protagonist who is NOT good. He is flawed, he is bitter, he is abrasive, and yet when he is finally driven to madness it’s still sad and pitiable. Of course, this mostly comes from his attempts to drag his wife and child down with him, but I think a tear can be shed for Jack. If there was a bit of good in him and the ghost in Doctor Sleep was merely lying, it can be hard to see a broken man who was trying to be better fall back into his old ways and not only return to being bad, but actually end up worse. Being an alcoholic is one thing, attempting to chop up your family is pretty much a whole different story.

Jack easily scores himself a 10/10 because not only is he a fantastic character and pretty much the definitive Jack Nicholson performance, it’s hard to argue that Jack has had a pretty profound cultural impact. You’d be hard-pressed to find a work where a door is axed down in a visual medium since 1980 that doesn’t reference his attempted murder of his wife in some way. Of course, it was never done quite as well as the original; you just can’t beat good ol’ Jack, can ya?

[fangirling97]

TROS SPOILERS

I just want to know WHO? Who made the decisions for this movie. Was it J.J.? Chris Terrio? Kathleen Kennedy? Bob Iger? Who had the power here and who decided to take the most hopeful, beautiful story arc in the history of redemption arcs and end it with a very unsatisfying and disrespectful death?

It truly never seriously crossed my mind that Ben Solo would die in this film. I had faith in the creators to know that it would be the worst idea ever. Clearly I was wrong.

I’ve been doing my utmost to seek positivity. The fact is this movie has some of my favorite moments in the history of Star Wars. I genuinely fall in love with Ben Solo and the brilliant mannerisms and attitude he exudes every time I think about him. I thought I loved Kylo Ren...it’s nothing compared to Ben Solo.

The kiss is beautiful. Their faces kill me every time. I’ve never seen such pure joy and love like that.

The scene with Han and Ben genuinely makes me tear up every time I think about it and I full-on sobbed in the theater when I saw it. It’s everything I didn’t know I needed from this relationship and it only cements my love for these two characters deeper in my heart.

So much of this movie is even better than how I saw it in my head...so why do I feel physically ill when I think about it?

Ultimately I could forgive a whole lot. I can forgive the messy pacing. The lack of meaningful dialogue and the fact that we still have no idea how Palpatine is alive and that no one seems as concerned as they really should be...seriously, why is NO ONE like deeply shocked and concerned??

What I can’t forgive is the lack of respect to the characters and the previous movies.

Rey Palpatine: (I’ll get to Ben Solo, believe me) I remember hearing this theory ages ago and thinking well that’s never going to happen. Don’t I feel stupid? Well....no I don’t, cause really it never should have. Everyone has said it and I whole-heartedly agree that Rey Nobody is what we needed for this trilogy. Frankly, it makes me like her more that way. This story could have gone exactly the same way without her being related to the grossest and most evil man in the galaxy (please go listen to What the Force-Dark Union). There is literally no reason to make these characters related at all except to give Rey a family she has NO connection to at all. I’ve loved the way that each main character (Rey, Kylo/Ben, and Finn) have had to grapple with their personal histories and find a way to accept and move past them in this trilogy. Yet Rey doesn’t...at all. We are repeatedly told throughout this movie that you make your own family and that it doesn’t matter where you come from you are your own person...so WHY relate her (clumsily and without ANY foreshadowing or reasoning at all) to a truly despicable being that has no real effect on the person she is. It’s not unbelievable that every person has a fight between light and dark inside. They don’t have to be related to a villain to make sure we all get that.

Finn: I really don’t understand this character at all in this movie. Firstly, is there even an arc. I’ve seen it twice now and I really can’t see one. The only semi-interesting aspect is that he’s force-sensitive which I didn’t really want. Not because I don’t like Finn but he’s already an interesting and dynamic character without it. Finn being Force sensitive does not make him better in any meaningful way. If that’s really the direction you wanted to take him in then it should have at least been hinted at in TFA. And really? Really? We had to have the weird little secret through the whole movie? I honestly didn’t even notice that his force sensitivity may have been the thing he wanted to tell Rey through the movie (mostly because the movie is too busy for this tiny little piece). I don’t understand where the weird tension between Finn and Poe cane from and while I don’t mind the idea it felt like it came and went way too quickly and all the sudden it’s all grand cause the end battle is coming? And everyone has said it but I agree, I really think Rose made Finn a better character and apparently she’s just gone in this movie with NO addressing of their chemistry and romantic plot in TLJ...at all. It’s just weird and uncomfortable.

Luke: I have never been the biggest Luke fan but I was genuinely excited to see him in this movie. Though the Han scene is spectacular, I really wanted a little more from Luke and Ben. I really wanted Luke’s words in the first trailer to be to both Rey and Ben if not just to Ben himself. It felt important to have Ben face his uncle once again and be able to forgive (somewhat) and move on from that pain and betrayal. Instead, all Luke was used for was to call out Rian Johnson and deliver some very strange exposition that tbh I don’t even remember. The fact that our beloved hero’s scene in the final Skywalker movie is utterly unremarkable is a shame and I have to keep reminding myself it’s even in the movie. It doesn’t make sense for Luke and Leia to know Rey’s lineage and literally never say a word. Luke nearly killed Ben Solo for having darkness inside of him but Rey is the descendent of the most evil man in the galaxy (and a personal tormenter of the Skywalker family) and he just is totally cool with it...no.

Ben: This is really what hurts the most. I could forgive a lot (even Rey Palpatine though it will always be stupid) if Ben Solo had been able to live. The truth is I was enjoying the movie for the whole time until the moment when my favorite character of all time, the epitome of all that is Star Wars to me, died. Without any moment to mourn him. Stepping back, I can see the tragic beauty in this moment. He sacrificed himself to save the light and love of his life. And he’s happy to do it. He knows he can’t live without her. The problem is, Ben Solo has faced his tragedy already. Isn’t that the point? Isn’t that why he’s humanized so early in TFA. I have always loved Vader’s story and I do believe it was the right move to have him sacrifice himself for his son. But Vader was a monster and nothing more until the end of the RotJ. Kylo is nearly immediately humanized in making him the son of Leia and Han. In showing his face to the scavenger girl so quickly. Then pretty much the entirety of TLJ. It’s all showing his humanity. We should have all known (and many did) that redemption and the pull to the light is inevitable for Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren was never going to make it out of this trilogy but I sure believed Ben Solo would. I am in awe with the performance of Adam Driver in the third act of this movie (well actually all of it, but you know what I mean). Ben is completely different from Kylo Ren in almost every aspect. So many people have complained that Ben never actually has dialogue outside of the very endearing “ow”. I’ll be honest it makes me so sad and I definitely wanted to see some from him but I didn’t actually notice the lack of words the first time because of how much Adam is able to convey with every movement and facial expression. I knew exactly who this character was and I have never loved a character so much in my life. In these moments you can see every pain, betrayal, and weight is lifted from him. Ben is finally free of his pain. And now he can be the man he was always meant to be and it is staggeringly beautiful. And then he is thrown into a pit. Not allowed to fight the being that has tortured his family for the entirety of the saga. And is killed without a moment to grieve for us or for the love of his life. And I can’t get over it. I can’t see the logic in it. What’s the point? What’s the message here? Life sucks and then you die? THATS NOT STAR WARS!!!! Star Wars has always been tragic but there is always hope! Look at RotS. That is the saddest movie in Star Wars (till now) and it ends with the twins carrying the hope of the galaxy and their mother. Uncle Lars and Aunt Beru look into the sunset with hope as Obi Wan looks on knowing that if anyone can save the galaxy it’s going to be Luke Skywalker. Even if Obi Wan doesn’t believe that Anakin can be saved Luke is still worth everything to keep safe. In ESB Han Solo is frozen in carbonate, Luke is the son of the monstrous Vader, and the Empire is winning. Yet in the end Luke and Leia stand side-by-side, determined to make it all better. There is always hope in Star Wars yet I am left utterly hopeless by this movie. The only thing keeping me afloat is the idea that Ben Solo May live on due to the fact that we don’t see him at all in the end of HIS FAMILYS SAGA! (More on that in a moment). For the last four years Kylo Ren/Ben Solo has represented potential and hope. And now he’s dead. I can’t get over that. I hope Lucasfilm and Disney understand what he means to us and finds a way to bring him back. I don’t know what Adam Diver believed he was going to be completing but I can’t imagine this was the way it was supposed to be. Not when he loves this character as much as we do.

The Skywalkers: this is mostly a continuation but I had some specific things I wanted to address here. This is the Skywalker saga. I can say without a doubt this is my favorite fictional family ever. I love the drama and the angst and the importance they hold. I have never doubted that the sequel trilogy would hold up to that because Ben Solo (Skywalker) existed. Yet they are completely sidelined in this movie. I love Rey so so much but to introduce the idea of a Force Dyad with ultimate power in the Force and the to throw the Skywalker half off a cliff so that the two Palpatines can duke it out for the fate of the Skywalker Saga is just awful. I truly believe that Ben should have killed Palpatine (to stop Rey from being possessed by her creepy grandpa) and to be able to complete Anakins story. We even learn that Palpatine has haunted Ben in the same way he’s haunted Anakin (which is totally glossed over by the way, cause why is that important, right?) and yet Ben does nothing against Palpatine in the final fight. How does this make sense? I said all along I wanted an Anakin cameo in this movie and I was truly happy to hear Hayden’s voice in this movie but if Ben and Rey are dyads and representations of balance in the Force then why is she the Jedi that needs to rise? Shouldn’t they BOTH be that? The fact that this movie ends with no living Skywalkers is just bad and it hurts. I cannot understand the need for the Skywalker line to end just cause the saga is ending. Let Ben Solo and Rey have babies for goodness sake! And to be honest I don’t feel any emotion except disappointment and frustration at the whole Rey Skywalker line. She’s not a Skywalker, or if she is then she shouldn’t be alone. Loneliness has never been good in Star Wars. And yeah Luke and Leia show up as Force ghosts but that’s not real companionship and neither is BB-8. Rey is not meant to be alone and neither is Ben. Or do the most touching lines in TLJ mean absolutely nothing at this point. Now I can only hold on to Luke’s line, “no one is ever really gone.”

This ended up way longer than I meant it to but turns out I needed to get some of my feelings out. I’m frustrated at my inability to feel satisfied by all of the truly wonderful moments in this movie (Reylo is real and Ben is here once again). There are so many other things I thought too. Why does Rey decide to go into exile on Ach-To when she spent the whole last movie explaining why it doesn’t work to Luke? (Well it’s cause obviously TLJ isn’t important, that’s why everything was retconned,right? Except JJ said he didn’t do that...weird.) Why is it that Rey showed the Resistance how to get to Exegol when I personally think it would have been cooler and more meaningful to have the signal coming from a rogue tie fighter flown by Ben Solo? (Think about it. Han tells Ben to help the thing his mother lived for, the Resistance, he knows how to get there and it would have been a far more interesting moment then just having Finn tell us all what Rey means when we kinda figured it out for ourselves, thanks). Why didn’t Ben fly the Falcon at all in total acceptance of his true identity?

But ultimately these are the most important things I felt coming out of TROS. I fully expected this movie to be my favorite of the trilogy if not my favorite of them all. I’ve always like the Star Wars finales the most. RotS is my favorite of all of the SW movies with RotJ close behind. Really though, this isn’t a Star Wars finale it’s just dressed up as one. I hope there will be more things to come and I look forward to the future of Star Wars (with binary sunsets in the middle distance, of course). And I hope this isn’t really the end of Ben Solo, my hero.

Now to catch up on Clone Wars because Star Wars is where I go when I’m feeling down. Even if I’m feeling down about Star Wars.

[amukmuk]

Amukmuk Book Review

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

Let me begin by saying that never in my life have I done a book review. I was a “gifted” kid and school and therefore spent a lot of time trying to twist what I read into a critical analysis that fit my teacher’s perspective so I could hurry up and pass. So, with that said, I present my first ever book review. Feel free to voice your opinions (for or against my own) and critique my writing style. After all, this is how we grow.

Initial Thoughts: My local bookstore finally reopened for business and – after a particularly rough week – I bribed the loml and our best friend with coffee in exchange for driving me to the store. I won’t lie. This book was not on my radar. I did not walk in looking for this book. However, it called to me. Purely for aesthetic reasonings, if I’m being honest. In this particular case, I definitely judged a book by its cover. The dust cover is that soft plasticky paper that I freaking adore and it is a very dark blue with teal and light blue plants (I assume seaweed, but a botanist, I am not).  The title is written in a nice, bold font that is a pink to yellow ombre. I didn’t even read the summary before I purchased it, talk about excellent advertising. This brings me to my next point.

Summary: This book is an emotional tale of a girl who is lost and finds herself. (I’m terrible at writing and summaries and honestly, this sentence probably does it good enough).

Amukmuk’s favorite quote: Okay so in typical fashion, I am far too indecisive to pick just a single sentence, so enjoy this excerpt:

“Survival was its own quest: we needed to choose to survive over and over again. We had to wash up on shore, and we had to choose to keep washing up every single day. We had to let the survival accrue, pebble after pebble, building a beach from a million tiny moments until suddenly we stopped, looked around, and thought, on a Saturday in Main, I’m glad we’re here.”

The Actual Review: As promised, here are amukmuk’s thoughts. However, these are not spoiler free thoughts. Like I said, I’ve never written a book review before and it feels wrong to write a review without including the ending. So. Consider thyself warned and we shall truck ahead to my thoughts on the book as a whole.

The Last True Poets of the Sea caught me off guard. I picked up this book thinking, “oh yay, a YA novel – an easy read”, but instead I was met with a John Green level story. My Lord, I sobbed. I didn’t even sob because the story itself was particularly great; I sobbed because Julia Drake has flawlessly captured the anxious cycle of thinking you’re alone in this great big universe. The protagonist, Violet Larkin, feels that her parents hate her and that she must disappear after her brother’s attempted suicide. She feels that her muchness is too much, so she shaves her head and wears bland clothes in hopes to sink into the background of a world that loves her so dearly. She finds a group of friends – not her friends, mind you – and they slowly adopt her as their own (can I get three cheers for the found family trope?). They love her, and as the reader I’m reminded of fate. I’m a pretty spiritual person, and it’s moments like these (whether they are fictional or not) that remind me that I’m exactly where I need to be at every second of the day. There is a plan for us, and even if we get a little lost along the way, even if we get a little hurt. We were made to love other people, to help them love themselves, and that is exactly what Violet’s friends do. If more than one of them ends up falling in love with her along the way, then I guess that’s just the Young Adult novel speaking.

Now, on a more serious note, I think this book does an excellent job of discussing sexuality. While I myself am not gay, I found this book giving a fair representation of one coming into their own sexuality. Violet immediately latches on to Orion, wanting to have nasty, dirty, sex with him, but it feels like she has these thoughts because it is what is expected of her. Violet is over six feet tall and – in the book she states that her height is well into the minority for women – Orion is taller than her, more muscular, a typical Chad, if you will. Then she meets Liv and she just falls in love with them. Orion and Liv are known to be a saga, destined to by married, according to Liv’s parents. Then, as she plays the go between (so high school, I know) she professes what she would do for Liv if she were Orion and here, you feel it shift. That “Oh.” moment. She struggles with attraction for both of them, but ultimately Liv wins and poor Orion is left with two crushes who fell in love with each other. Finally, speaking of this wonderful sexuality arc, there is also the conversation of coming out. Violet’s family knows, Liv’s does not. It is only brushed on lightly (I feel that the author could have done more here, but this is not the story of Liv’s coming out story, this is Vi’s story of finding her way back to her family), but it brings it to the reader’s attention, nonetheless.

Finally (I promise I’m trying to keep this short; I just have a lot of thoughts about this book), there is the overarching theme of mental health and finding yourself. Sam, her brother, tried to kill himself. Violet suffers from panic attacks. Toby, the uncle, is on medication and left New York to live in Maine because his anxiety was too great. At the beginning of this book, Violet wants to disappear into the background of life, but as she researches and researches her family history, she finds she and her brother are not alone. Her great-great-great grandmother survived a shipwreck, swam to shore, raised a family. She wrote in a letter to her son, saying that she had, on several occasions, wished the ocean would have sucked her down, but it didn’t and here she is. She must make the most out of the life she was given. In modern day, Violet’s family crumbles a part. All of them are too focused on the issue, on wanting to be sucked into the ocean, and not the pebbles of joy that Fidela (the survivor of the shipwreck) had written about. In the end, they all come to this realization and go to therapy, a nice welcoming normalization of seeking help.

In conclusion, this book is very good and if you want an easy read, I recommend this. It’s easy, but not vapid, which I appreciated. This is genuinely a good story from beginning to end. The characters are well rounded, even if they are teenagers with teenage issues. Five out of five stars, highly recommend.

[alette-stars]

The giant goes to rest. More than two years, 130 000 words and many screams and tears since its start, Lavender Jade is complete.

Let me start off by thanking you all for supporting this fic! When I started I had no idea it was going to receive the love it has. Before Lavender Jade I was known for more overall lighthearted works (Mint and Poppy in the Monsta X fandom, Stray Romance for ASTRO). All your constant love and support has been a huge help. Thank you so much! Words cannot describe the joy your comments and messages gave me ♡

I’ve made so many amazing friends and spoken to so many beautiful people because of this work, but this fic is dedicated to Monsta X ♡

Okay, enough sappiness! Time to move on to the trivia and extras. This is my 4th trivia post (you can find Mint and Poppy here; Stray Romance here; Wrong (Right) Number here) and longest yet, so it’s in 3 parts:

basic tidbits/extra info

regarding the vei, the card divination system

some personal rambling regarding my character motives (entirely skippable)

If it’s not obvious, there are going to be major spoilers, so if you haven’t read the fic yet but plan to do so, I advise not reading this ^^

If you need, you can always reference the character list here

Okay, so let’s get started! Rest of the post is under the cut

1. Basic Trivia

Most of the extras in the fic were original characters this time, with a few exceptions. Even these exceptions are not exactly based on the idols they’re named after, but I imagined them while writing. These are:

Sojung, Jooheon’s bodyguard - WJSN’s Exy

Sewoon, Kihyun’s manservant - soloist Jeong Sewoon

Seungwoo, another of Kihyun’s servants - soloist Yoo Seungwoo

Dawon, Hyunjung, Jiyeon, Luda, Soobin, Juyeon, the girls mentioned as being part of Jooheon’s people in Eigak - WJSN’s Dawon, Seola, Bona, Luda, Soobin, Eunseo 

Along with the ones living, there were those who lived in the past. Mentioned in-text:

Hoseok II, a previous king of Yishin - BTS’ J-Hope

Seokjin, a consort to Hoseok II - BTS’ Jin

Kim Namjoon, prime minister of Hoseok II - BTS’ RM

Hakyeon, the first king of Yishin - VIXX’s N

And those referenced only in the snippets in the chapter summaries:

Jungsoo, a previous king of Yishin - Super Junior’s Leeteuk

Kyuhyun, a historian - Super Junior’s Kyuhyun

Yoongi, a consort to Hoseok II - BTS’ Suga

Taekwoon, high prince to Hakyeon - VIXX’s Leo

For some reason which I still cannot fathom, I’ve been praised for the worldbuilding in this fic. The capital city of Yishin doesn’t even have a name. 

The basic geography of the peninsula is Yishin, Eigak to her east, a number of tiny states to her west, the sea to her south. The western side of Yishin is more fertile. The stretch of border between Yishin and Eigak is a rocky wasteland.

Yishin was named as a mix of Wonho’s two surnames: Lee and Shin

The concept of snippets from literature and media from the universe as chapter summaries was inspired by Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen saga. The vei deck (more on it later) was also very heavily inspired by his Deck of Dragons in the same books. 

A lot of fics focus on Hyungwon’s looks (something I’m guilty of as well) so I wanted to write a world where he wasn’t considered handsome. I understand why all the shows set in alternate worlds have the same beauty standards as us—it makes for prettier TV—but I decided to set a different one for the world of Lavender Jade. Somewhat arbitrarily, we have:

considered very handsome -  Hoseok, Minhyuk, Changkyun

considered somewhat handsome - Kihyun

considered plain/regular - Hyunwoo, Hyungwon, Jooheon

Han Jehan, obviously, also falls in category 1.

Han Jehan was my first time writing a proper villain in my fics, and I don’t know how well I succeeded but I enjoyed it immensely. I went out of my way to add all the traits I like so that I wouldn’t end up hating him, even going so far as to give him the surname of one of my favourite idols (sorry Hyuk). 

There are two main things I’d change in the fic if I could turn back time:

tighten up the front end. I’d combine the first couple of chapters 

Yeon Hu would be a woman. By the time I realized the awesome power of a badass lady general, it was too late

All court members—Jo Senmi, Yeon Hu, etc—are original characters. They’re both basic archetypes you’ll find in sageuk dramas. I think it’s worth mentioning both of them really do love Yishin, they just had very different, more conservative ideas of what would be best for the country.

I’d thought of using all the proper Korean names for the clothes especially, but decided that would make things difficult to read and binned the idea.

The opening note says the world is inspired by the Joseon dynasty. Regarding the initiatives to improve people’s lives, yes, but the hall/court system is more inspired by (what I know of) the Goryeo dynasty system.

I’ve been asked this before, but I’ll answer it here again: I’d never finished a sageuk drama before Flower Crew (very recently, and only because I was watching it with my sisters), and definitely not while I was planning this fic. Don’t judge me. The one I would recommend is Six Flying Dragons, most like Lavender Jade in tone. The others I’ve made headway into are Moonlight Drawn by the Clouds, Ruler: Master of the Mask, and The King and the Clown. 

I’m surprised no one brought up the foreshadowing I did near the end of chapter 16. Seven stars, two possible fates. The final fate of the two lovers (Kihyun and Changkyun) turned out to be a mix of the two stories: there was a fire, and the heavenly king was pulled from heaven (Kihyun from his position) to live the rest of his life with his lover.

Unlike my other secret couple (myungjin in Stray Romance) there are no hints of Hyunwoo and Minhyuk. They never did anything that would show. Minhyuk attempts to fluster Hyunwoo, but he does that with everyone.

Changkyun’s final card from the reading in chapter 8 is the two of Knives. It means a sacrifice. 

My favorite parts of the fic to write were Kihyun’s various descriptions of Changkyun’s beauty :)

This is, undoubtedly, the fic that has required the most work from me. I will say the most difficult scenes to write were Minhyuk’s fight with the assassin and Hyunwoo’s with Kim Sungil. Action scenes are not my forte. 

If you don’t know, I have written a romantic one-shot set in the same universe, titled Only One

2. The Vei

I don’t know how obvious this was, but the entire vei deck concept was inspired by and based on VIXX. The idea itself came from the Deck of Dragons in Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen saga. 

There are 84 cards in the deck: 72 cards in six suits, and 12 Unaligned. The Unaligned can be paired off, where each card is the opposite of its pair (with the exception of the last pair). The Unaligned cards are:

Fountain and Grave - a beginning and an ending

The Open Hand and The Closed Hand - generosity and miserliness

The Lord and The Lady - bad luck and good luck

The Centaur and The Fox - someone proud and someone crafty

Magnolia and Crown of Thorns - misery in success and happiness in failure

Pyramid and Mirror - stability/instability and karmic justice/unfairness 

The six suits, along with the member they represent, are:

Stars - N

Rings - Leo

Shells - Ken

Scrolls - Ravi

Flowers - Hongbin

Knives - Hyuk

Each suit, like our playing cards, has a king, queen, and knight (jack). The king of each suit is based on a VIXX member, and has some particular qualities along with being very rare. All visual cues for the kings come from VIXX’s masterpiece MV, Shangri-La. 

Stars - King: the Emperor, Queen: Sloth, Knight: the Page. The Emperor is the rarest card in the deck, and is represented by a crowned man with no features, only darkness in place of a face. The Page is the icon of diligence (and was in Minhyuk’s hand in chapter X). The theme of the suit is mystic fates, technically the uncategorized cards. In the natural half of the deck.

Rings - King: Death, Queen: Envy, Knight: the Messenger. Death is a card of finality (like Grave). The theme of the suit is secrets. In the manmade half of the deck.

Shells - King: Life, Queen: Gluttony, Knight: the Fool. Life is a card of possibilities. The Fool denotes absolute luck--essentially the card of negation. The theme of the suit is environment. In the natural half of the deck.

Scrolls - King: the Mage, Queen: Greed, Knight: the Apprentice. The Mage is a figure of knowledge and learning. The theme of the suit is motivations. In the manmade half of the deck.

Flowers - King: the Elf, Queen: Lust, Knight: the Handmaid. The Elf is an elusive, hidden figure with hidden motives. The theme of the suit is happiness. In the natural half of the deck.

Knives - King: War, Queen: Wrath, Knight: the General. War is a decisive figure, one who brings final consequences. The them of the suit is decisions. In the manmade half of the deck. 

I’ve been asked about the game played with the vei deck as well. It is a game of my own invention, yes. It’s based on trick-taking games like Hearts, where the object is to win the least cards as possible. It’s played in alternating rounds, one where the Unaligned are not used, the next where they are. I didn’t hash out the details beyond some basic motifs, but it is technically playable. Only if you have a vei deck though. The whole gameplay hinges on the fact that some cards are less likely to appear when picked from the stacked deck. 

I’ve heard from more than one person that I got them into tarot as a hobby. That’s great! But the truth is I know next to nothing about tarot haha

3. Rambling

I might suggest skipping this. This adds 0 value to the post and fic aside from giving me a space to ramble and whoa it turned out long

First: King Hoseok. He’s copped a fair share of criticism in this fic regarding his passiveness and his acceptance of the unfair consort system. I will defend my handling of this character to the ends of the Earth. I’m not saying he’s perfect (obviously! the only character that comes close to that is Hyunwoo) but I think he did right by what he had.

A neat indication would be to flip back to chapter 14, the Hyungwon POV chapter. When Hoseok says that the two of them are alone even though the room is filled with servants, Hyungwon forgives it as a result of his upbringing. He’s undoubtedly biased, but he has a point. Hoseok was raised as king. Certain things that are so obvious to others don’t even register to him. The consort system, where they have to swear loyalty to him but he doesn’t to them? He was raised as seeing this as normal. They all were. He never even fathoms a consort would want to leave their position. When Kihyun tells him the truth about the affair, Hoseok is stunned. He doesn’t understand Hyungwon calling his old life of poverty a life of freedom.

Basically, Hoseok is just trying his best after being raised (and still living) in a life of absolute privilege. He expects loyalty, love, because he hasn’t been exposed to anything different. His situation is completely different from Jooheon’s, who’s grown up in a much more volatile situation. Jooheon had to learn early on to really open his eyes, to listen, and he’s much more observant and understanding. By the end of the fic Hoseok’s had a wakeup call, and he’s going to get better. 

Second: the consort system. Yes, it’s cruel. It wasn’t what Hakyeon had envisioned when he had his companions instated formally. But in Yishin this is the norm. No one thinks it cruel. It’s a position of huge honor (Kihyun thinks of it a few times).

Even though there’s no homophobia, misogyny etc, Yishin is a conservative society. They haven’t had a change of regime in 23 generations. They’re used to the norm, and consortship is the norm. Also, if you look at most conservative societies, you’ll see romantic love isn’t considered a prerequisite for marriage (which is kind of what consortship is). In many societies (including my own) many people would jump at a chance for consortship, no matter their relationship with the monarch. 

Third: the fic had a lot of subversion of typical historical expectations and standards. I still consider myself primarily a fantasy writer. Typical fantasy and historical works have a strong focus on honor, dignity, truth and justice and all those values.

Lavender Jade does not. Kihyun and Changkyun are oathbreakers, they are traitors (by Yishini law). Every insult flung at them is true. The king breaks his country’s laws to help them escape their deserved punishment. Even Hyunwoo, the honorable and admirable commandant, defeats Kim Sungil using an underhanded move, and gets his happy ending with another consort breaking his oath.

At times I seriously considered ending this as a tragedy. It felt fair. Kihyun and Changkyun had broken laws, broken promises. All that happened did as a result of their own actions (even Han Jehan’s targeting of Kihyun was, from what we see, brought about by Kihyun digging into his affairs). A sad ending would be deserved. But then I thought, hmm, why? Why should it be fair? Why should they be miserable because it is deserved? 

So we got the ending we got, and I hope you’re all happy. I know I am. 

Thank you for reading to the end of this (unnecessarily) long post! It’s almost as long as the fic itself haha If you have any questions or messages you can shoot me an ask or pm here, or on my Twitter or on CuriousCat ^^ 

So what’s next? I’m writing Wrong (Right) ID, an epistolary fic for ASTRO in the same style as Wrong (Right) Number, and A Match Made in Heaven, my VIXX karma officer fic (it’s an unusual concept! you should try it). Both fics will end soon, maybe even before the end of the year, so you won’t have to bear much waiting ^^;;

I’m also writing Blood, Water, a vampire fic with a strong emphasis on family for ATEEZ, so you can check that out too! This one’s going to be long and angsty and quite self indulgent ^^

I’ve been asked if I’m going to continue writing in this universe. The answer is, yes. I will be writing White Carnation, the book referenced in multiple chapters of this fic, as a novella. I might write a short story on how Hoseok and Hyungwon met, but that’s undecided. I’ve hashed out ideas for side stories involving VIXX (and the founding of Yishin) and ATEEZ (and the change of regimes in Eigak) in this CuriousCat ask and this Twitter thread, but those will probably only remain as threads ^^;; 

And in the future? I have Monsta X one shots planned, and perhaps another long fic too. All possibilities are open! I hope you’ll stay with me for them ♡

Again, and as always, thank you. I hope you enjoyed Lavender Jade ♡