#he's just completely out of his depth with romance. which is funny bc of all my ocs caeru has consistently had the most game

[thegreatyin]

what would the Scoundrel or the Scientist do if someone gave them a love letter or confession?

something roughly along the lines of this.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

Nancy Wheeler

A lot of fics will make her the “bad guy” to help push their ship of Steve/whichever guy they’re pairing him with. Nancy deserves better than that she is a great character with a lot of depth. While she and Steve don’t have to be besties I hate it when they turn her into some homophobic or bitchy ex just there to propel the story 

Poor girl can't get a break ever

I got back into ST right after S4 came out, and I almost stepped out bc of how rude people were being to Nancy. She was called a bitch for dumping Steve (which was 2 years ago in canon and 6 years irl???) and she was blamed for Steddie (and in at least 1 post, harringgroove, which ugh) not getting together. Basically she got a lot of uncalled for hate for existing, because how dare she be so stubborn and get in Steve and the other characters way!

[gammagoop]

my recent fixation has been the wings of fire book series since ive been rereading it, which i feel is not very related to any of my other interests and so i havent posted much about it. but i literally have “post whatever i want” in my bio so i’m not going to let the whims of an audience stop me any longer

all that to say heres some of my series opinions in the form of tierlists

(not including 3rd arc bc i havent gotten there on my reread and i dont remember it very well)

character tierlist! (added the legends: darkstalker characters manually since they weren’t in the tiermaker version)

notes:

mightyclaws is my background character fave. category 10 glup shitto event

i need to do a long post on how much i love whiteout. another day

i realy like clay in the first book and if he retained the same level of depth throughout the series he would be in the top tier-- its just that his writing makes him so shallow in the rest of the books it makes me so sad :[ i was listening (audiobook) to hidden kingdom and like. 90% of his lines/actions were about food and the other 10% were about protecting the other dragonets..... i related so much to his anxiety in the first book and his empathy and his ability to see both sides of things... gah. sad.

jambu is also one of my glup shittos. i love his whimsical ass

foeslayer is a hard one for me because she never did anything wrong she's just..... not as present as i wish she was. she's treated as a very vital character with how many large plot points hinge on her, but she doesnt have much agency herself. its stated a lot that she's extremely important to darkstalker but in the legends book we dont see much of them interacting? idk. i like her but she always feels so uninvolved

the 'beat you to death (funny)' tier is just for characters who i like on some level but are also pathetic and worms. out of that tier i like deathbringer the best and mastermind the worst

tier after that are for characters who i have a positive opinion on but not really a strong one. anemone and sora are more complicated, but i do generally like them. i really just feel bad for them if anything. i think i like clearsight more than the other characters in this tier, but she's not in the 'wonderful :D' tier because i dont think she has a very strong personality

the 'conflicting feelings' tier is kind of a trainwreck because it means a lot of things

obviously riptide is the outlier since he hasnt done anything nearly to the degrees of coral, glacier, and albatross-- but i do have conflicting feelings on him. riptide is completely inoffensive, hasn't done anything wrong, i just dont like him because he has no real reason to be in the story. like you could write him out very easily. his only purpose is to be a love interest for tsunami which is like...... gh. dude. she doesnt need one. if she's gonna have a romance it should come naturally. not "wow this seawing is handsome and also he's the first one ive properly met as well as a guy do im in love with him now" like girl do better

coral and glacier both have done bad things and obviously have bad intentions but also.... theyre not the worst. bad but not the worst.

albatross is a victim of emotional abuse and even though that doesnt justify his actions it does explain how they could have been negated

next 3 tiers are self-explanatory. i forgot to put her on there but queen vigilance goes in 'the grime beneath my shoe'

actually no i wanna talk about scarlet and battlewinner: i think the thing that i like about them is their theatrics. they bot have such a huge presence, like a disney villain. whenever i read scarlet dialogue it almost feels poorly written with how over-the-top she is but. no other character talks like that. its just how scarlet is. and i think thats so good. whereas battlewinner's situation conceptually is just cool as hell. i love how she struggles to speak because of the ice in her throat, her rage, the way she's hinted at but her reveal is completely unexpected...... very very good

no one likes morrowseer

when im in an emotional abuse and classism competition and my opponent is queen lagoon 😧

ship tierlist! (made on ms paint since i couldnt find any good ones on tiermaker. turned out to be nice since i can mess with the placement more)

notes:

top tier is /j i just dont really like how tui writes romance

i was kind of against glorybringer at first for the same reason i dont like tsunami/riptide but honestly it grew on me. their dynamic is so fun

anemome/tamarin is good i just think tamarin could do better if she wanted to. but i understand the "i can fix her" mentality and i do genuinely think tamarin could help anemone

sunny/fatespeaker is kind of a funny concept but also i can totally see it

i genuinely forgot turtlejou was a thing in canon ... it does not make sense to me. who came up with this. in the words of my friend "forced heterosexual on both parts tbh"

i love turtle and peril as friends so so so much if i saw someone romantically shipping them i feel like i could get mad

smolder/thorn is like if glorybringer was bad. mostly just because thorn can do way better than him. smolder and vermilion should kiss each other and bond over being wimp princes who havent actually done anything wrong themselves but bow to tyrant relatives to avoid getting killed

i dont know if this will be an unpopular take but clay and peril is such an awful ship. i like them as friends, i think theyre great as friends, but a romantic relationship between them would be so deeply unhealthy considering their situation. peril would be even more dependent and attached to him than she already is, and clay is not the kind of dragon who has an easy time saying 'no' to things. it would not be a malicious relationship in any way, but it would not be good for them. peril needs to learn how to live for herself, not for the approval of anyone else

okay thats all for today friends. thank you if you read all of my mismatched thoughts if you did ^_^ i love talking

[chuckaf]

Chuck Fic Rec List: Updated

So my fic rec post was in my notifs again the other day, and I noticed a while back that the formatting on the post has gotten all messed up and it’s also had like three reblog additions to it anyway meaning there are three versions out there lol. so, I wanted to do another list of chuck fic recs! I’ll keep the other one up still, so I’m not gonna repeat every fic here, just some I really recommend. I’m also adding the fic summaries, which I didn’t on the old post, and some more of my own opinions so, buckle up for a long post!

Chuck Versus the Steampunk Chronicles | Steampunk.Chuckster

1896. A world powered by steam, where humans and machines coexist, and airships are the fashionable mode of transport. The US Empire's deepest and darkest secrets arrive at Chuck Bartowski's doorstep. Have they fallen into the wrong hands? Or will the inventor prove his mettle, even while he's forced to hide from the very people he's protecting? AU, ongoing chronicle, Charah.

A genuinely incredible AU story, with an entire crafted world and universe, so detailed it frequently blows my mind. There is heart and family and infuriatingly brilliant slow-burn, plus a buttload of danger and super fun historical/steampunk action. Oh how I LOVE it.

Chuck vs the Charade | somedeepmystery

When computer nerd Chuck Bartowski returns home to an empty apartment and a dead girlfriend he finds himself embroiled in a deadly game of espionage and deceit. Everyone around him is playing a part to get what they want and when he starts falling for the new woman in his life, he can't help but wonder if he can trust her or if she's the one he should fear the most.

An action and twist-filled AU based on the movie Charade, which is just such a brilliant fic concept I absolutely adored it from the start.

Two Sides of the Same Coin | dettiot

When you're a spy, there's all kinds of occupational hazards when you work with another spy. For Sarah Walker, though, one mission becomes a life-changing experience. Because working with Charles Carmichael leads to protecting Chuck Bartowski.

The first time I read this fic my mind was just blown to its genius. Such a brilliant interpretation of what the Intersect and its concepts set up in the show could be, and ooooof the Chuck/Sarah interactions, my HEART. Related to it, its companion piece:

A Flip of the Coin | dettiot

What made Charles Carmichael agree to become Chuck Bartowski? Well, to start, it wasn't as much of a change as you'd think. A companion to the early chapters of Two Sides of the Same Coin from Carmichael's perspective.

Chuck vs The Butterfly Effect | n7agentbartowski

Chuck Bartowski is a normal guy who just hit rock bottom. No girlfriend, no career and no super computer stuck inside his head. It isn't until Chuck meets a gorgeous stranger on the beach that he begins to think his life is about to change for the better. An AU Chuck fic without the Intersect. "Change one thing and it changes everything."

I said it on the OG post, but this story has one of my top 5 Chuck/Sarah fic meetings. So funny, so... very Chuck. The story is a little angsty overall, but a great read.

Chuck vs the Rogue Spy | Crumby

When a rogue spy from Chuck Bartowski's past shows up to help him during his first solo mission, Chuck hopes that he'll finally find out what happened to Sarah Walker. Post-S2 AU.

There’s a lot of Season 3 fix-it fics out there, which I don’t usually read bc I actually love season 3 lol, but this one’s a good one! A twisty deviation from canon, but still feels really true to character.

Chuck Versus the Nerds Rewrite | Steampunk.Chuckster and David Carner

What happens when two nerds talk endless hours about their favorite TV show? A new take on the show you know, but with the flair, twists, and turns you've come to expect from Steampunk . Chuckster and david . carner. Somewhat canon. Charah.

As the summary says, a different take on the show, which honestly makes a couple changes I would too, but also adds a bunch of fun twists and plots that make it totally new and fresh. Seeing Chuck and Sarah’s thoughts in the more canon sections is just delicious, too.

The Trapped Assassin | SarahsSupplyCloset

After a mission goes awry, the CIA's most lethal assassin is ordered to take vacation while her superiors figure out what to do with her. But when she meets a disarming tourist, their immediate connection only adds to her disillusionment with the agency and her career. Will he be enough for her to finally take the plunge and leave the only life she's ever known? Charah AU

A warning for the very justified M rating if you don’t like that sort of thing, but this is definitely a plot-heavy fic, too. A really neat Sarah-heavy AU, with a whole lotta Chuck/Sarah fancy French vacationy goodness.

Chuck vs the Second Chance | malamoo

AU from mid-season 2 and onwards. Chuck and Sarah part ways only to be reunited years later. COMPLETE.

Literal, crying-at-my-screen angst. Not even a super happy ending. But a brilliantly written, part-reflective/flashback fic, exploring what would’ve happened if Chuck and Sarah’s relationship really was an assignment all along-- and the aftermath. It’s heartbreaking. But if you want a little heartbreak, this is your fic.

Ready at Your Hand | dettiot

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a Catholic plot against the queen comes to the attention of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. To protect Elizabeth, he develops an unusual plan: hide the passing of intelligence between two agents by a false romance. When Lady Sarah Walker and Chuck Carmichael meet, though, their pretend flirtation becomes much more.

I love Chuck fic for the very reason that it’s inspired such adventurous and totally unique AUs. Here’s some Elizabethan fake-dating Chuck and Sarah! They have to be so Proper, it’s like that hand moment from Pride and Prejudice but Elizabethan and times a billion. The pining!!

Sarah Versus Getting Married | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker is getting married. Canon. Charah.

I’d recommend all of SC’s fics if I had the room, and I’m already recommending a ton sksks but most of my fic recs are AUs, and this one isn’t! It’s canon, and covers some of in the gap in 4x24, with Sarah just before the wedding itself. Super sweet, heart-tugging, brilliant.

A Chuckmas Carol | Mikki13

A new twist to Dickens' beloved "A Christmas Carol". When Sarah begins to shut out the world around her, three spirits come to show her the error of her ways. Season 3 AU.

Another Season 3 AU, this one written pre-series so it definitely doesn’t fit to canon, but it’s still wonderfully rich in character depth and angst and it also made me cry. Plus, festive!

Chuck Versus Thin Ice | Steampunk.Chuckster

On the doorstep of the Olympics, top American curler Sarah Walker has lost her mixed doubles partner and her boyfriend in one fell swoop. Her coaches throw newbie Team U.S.A. curler Chuck Bartowski onto her team and thrust them into the Olympics, hanging America's curling hopes on two people who only have a short amount of time to learn to trust one another. Charah AU.

Do you like curling? Or the Winter Olympics? It doesn’t really matter because somehow this fic made me extremely invested in both of those things, as well as Chuck and Sarah and them being INSUFFERABLE. Catch me now knowing a ton about curling thanks to this fic.

Walker’s Eleven | Moonlight Pilot

Not the same plot as the movie. Sarah Walker never got out of the con game or became a spy, and now she's on her final con. What happens when true love and betrayal get added to the mix? Twists, turns, and Jeffster!

Con!Sarah always interests me, and this fic is full of her. Lotta con plot, lotta Chuck and Sarah.

The Detective and the Tech Guy | thecharleses

Sarah Walker is a Pinkerton detective. Chuck Bartowski is an electronics genius. They wouldn't have met except for a case of mistaken identity and murder. Will the detective and the tech guy solve the mystery, distracted by the riddle in their own hearts? An homage to The Thin Man film series. Formerly co-written by Steampunk . Chuckster and dettiot, now ONLY Steampunk . Chuckster.

Everyone in this fic is so damn cool. There are so many martinis. But also great heart and family and like, standing up for who you love, and later also Chuck with Baby Clara content which frankly the show robbed us of. Also, PI!Sarah!!!

Gravity | Poetic4U

AU. Sarah makes a decision that altered her life forever.

This is just a one-shot, which many of these stories are not, so a good one if you don’t fancy a big read! Just because it’s short, though, doesn’t mean it’s lacking; a really awesome what-if AU, and heavy on the Chuck and Sarah.

A Yuletie Tale | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker was dumped the day before Christmas Eve, and her Plus One at her work’s annual Christmas Eve Soiree is now officially a Plus Zero. Her best friend Ellie Bartowski has a solution to her problem, and Sarah finds she isn’t quite as sure about it as Ellie is. AU Christmas Charah.

I’m particularly in love with this fic because, instead of beginning with a meet-cute, it involves Chuck and Sarah already two years into a friendship-- Sarah is Ellie’s best friend. And she’s been crushing harrrd on Ellie’s brother. Also Chuck is in a tux. It’s pretty.

Set, Spike, Dive! | Frea O’Scanlin

Chuck never expected to even make it to the Olympics. Everything is working against him: he's too tall for a diver, too inexperienced for a medal, too much of a wildcard to really make his mark. But an unexpected meeting at the airport, some intriguing new friends, and a whirlwind romance on the sand just might set up London 2012 as the time of Chuck Bartowski's life.

A London 2012 AU, because why not. This is just a fun Olympic-y ride!

OTP (One True Pairing) Prompts | David Carner

A series of Prompts I found online about different times and places in Chuck and Sarah's life. Mostly AU, mostly one-shots. I assume mostly fluff, but I might get deep. I doubt it, it's me. Charah...ALWAYS (It says complete, but if an idea strikes me...)

If you’re not so into long stories, this fic is perfect. Individual set-ups and stories, all Chuck and Sarah, and all super cute. You could dip in and out and just pick a scenario you enjoy.

Chuck vs The Frontier | ninjaVanish

AU: Chuck was enjoying a simple life as a 19th century watchmaker until an encounter with a beautiful Secret Service agent thrust him into a world of intrigue and adventure he never wanted. But then, with Agent Walker around, it can't be all bad, can it?

This fic gets props for being historically-set but still including the Intersect. Again, a historical AU, so the pining!! the need to be Proper!!! But besides all that, there’s a lot of action fun as well.

Chuck Versus The Crosswalk: Remastered | WvonB

Will a last minute mission help our two favorite characters finally get together? This is the remastered version of my first story.

The original version of this fic is on my first list; this is the updated version! It’s not a complete AU, instead a story that diverges from canon, so if you’re more into canon characters and setting than a new AU scenario, this is a great fic for that.

Little Girls, Paper Wreaths, and Choc Chip Cookies | DanaPAH

Very AU: Sarah Walker is a single mother whose Christmas spirit needs a boost after a tough divorce. She isn't quite ready to go looking for romance, but her little daughter's affection for their new neighbor may lure it right to her doorstep, anyway.

An incredibly sweet AU one-shot where Chuck and Sarah are new neighbours, and Sarah has a super cute little girl. So much sweetness and love and hope. I love this fic so much it literally led me to write my own neighbour-kid-AU, so, not to toot my own horn but I’ll link it here anyway.

May Your Walls Know Joy | halfachance

Looking for a fresh start after some tough times, Sarah and her three-year-old daughter move to LA. When they meet a sweet curly-haired nerd who lives next door, though, Sarah realizes they might just find more happiness than they'd ever imagined, if only her past doesn't catch up to her first. AU.

It’s what the summary says; if you wanna read, feel free!

Chuck vs the Sound of Music | quistie64

AU. Chuck, nerd extraordinaire, is a man with seven children and Sarah must protect them all from Fulcrum's evil designs. Warning: there will be singing.

I mean. Not much mystery as to the concept with that title and summary lol, but this is a super fun, soft ride with a lotta sweetness, and yes, singing.

Just Two People | David Carner

Meet Sarah Walker PhD, Psychologist, specializing in personality traits. Meet Chuck Bartowski, man who has left THE electronic company of 2020. When Burton Consultants tries to figure out what is wrong with the morale of Orion Industries, what happens when a guy named Chuck meets a woman named Sarah. I'll give you a hint, it's me writing.

David’s done something pretty special with this fic. It’s Chuck and Sarah centric, but very much an ensemble piece, too, with a lot of Team Bartowski and other familiar faces throughout.

Chuck Versus the Con Game | Steampunk.Chuckster

AU. Chuck and Sarah are partners in the con game. It's an existence wrought with danger and violence. Every day could be their last. Every mission could be the end of the line.

This is where I freak out SC and declare this fic the reason I ever got hooked on Chuck fic and then wrote Chuck fic, and the reason I still love it today but. that is true lol. Just so. so good. It’s also written with the chapters out of chronological order, which is super fun from a reading perspective. But con!Sarah AND con!Chuck?? Best. The kind of fic you will be thinking about for days (if not, y’know, years).

As you can tell by the repeats, I highly recommend just about anything by Steampunk.Chuckster, dettiot, or David Carner, but there are a TON of amazing Chuck fics and authors out there. I’ve never known a writing community so wildly creative-- there are so many unique AUs and canon explorations and story concepts that this show has manifested, and it’s all so much fun.

Most of the Chuck fic community is still over on FFN rather than AO3, so if any of these whet your appetite, feel free to have a browse there for more stories. I’m sure you’ll find something great. Personally, all the incredible writing there has also led me to write a buttload; I’m at halfachance on FFN, so if you see any of my stuff or wanna chat fic, feel free to message me there or here.

Happy reading, folks!

[astudyinfreewill]

i’ve been remiss in liveblogging my catching-up-with-spn thoughts but man scoobynatural really did hit like a brick to the face. it was just. So Much Episode

dean quoting elsa from frozen and telling sam to “let it go”, which is similar to referencing dory in s12 and generally being into cartoons because he never got to have a childhood except elsa is very obviously a disney princess... imagine season 1 dean??? you couldn’t. they’d give the reference to sam and have dean say something like dUdE cOulD yOu bE MoRe GaY??? anyway post-charlie dean we love you

the dean cave!!!!!! listen. listen. listen. don’t talk to me about dean’s nesting. don’t talk to me about he’s constantly trying to make the bunker a home for himself and his loved ones (which is fundamentally at odds with sam viewing it as a place of work, which is also why dean is so unsettled with the hunters using it as a homebase in s14 bc hey that’s his home!! :/ ). but DO talk to me about how there are two la-Z-boy recliners but we know sam’s never seen the deancave before so. who’s the other chair for. who’s the other chair FOR. gee i wonder if this has anything to do with dean and cas having movie date nights. don’t (or do) talk to me about dean building a home and cas being the first person he wants to share it with!!!!!!!!

the running joke about dean loving scooby doo which the show plays for laughs bc they rely on jensen to make it funny but is actually monumentally sad. “wherever dad dragged us there was always a tv”. dean raised sam but who raised dean?? no one. that’s who. he got stuck watching scooby doo and letting tv be his parent because no one else was around to do it. watching cartoons was probably the closest he could feel to being an actual child. john winchester die by my blade

right so. aside from the whole dean striking out with daphne as a last ditch attempt at performing heteronormativity, many people have already discussed the triangulation of desire happening here with dean-daphne-fred much more in-depth than i could, so i’m not gonna get into it but i just. dean... dean you’re so transparent. literally see-through. why was that whole car-racing scene so filled with homoerotic tension à la top gun?? i know why and you know why we all know why. also there’s THIS which is driving me absolutely off my gourd:

yeah, dean. tell us more about fred’s perfect hair, his can-do attitude, and his stupid ascot (which dean ends up wearing HIMSELF by the end of the attitude!!! love that triangulation!! love that sublimation of desire!! love that inherently bisexual conundrum of do i want to be him or be with him!!! delicious!!! (also worth noting, dean’s disparaging comments towards fred can be paralleled to velma’s disparaging comments towards sam... whom she ends up kissing at the end of the episode. just saying)

wonderful. i once led armies and now i’m paired with a scruffy philistine and a talking dog. this has nothing to do with dean i just love cas very much and he was golden in the episode. mans came back from syria where he got married to the djinn quinn as part of an elaborate scam. immediately goes down to the deancave further proving that he knows where it is when even sam who lives in the bunker didn’t. they are NESTING your honour!! also dean did compare cas to scooby which is. well i don’t know what it is except for dean’s constant reframing of cas as the most endearing/dorky creature regardless of how accurate it is(n’t).

“that was the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me. and that includes the cartwright twins.” followed by cas immediately staring at him and asking “what did you do with the cartwright twins.” and dean getting flustered and stammering while he makes a hasty exit. okay. maybe don’t bring up your past sexual escapades in front of your current love interest then!!!

just! the ending with tfw working together on solving the case!! i love them very much!! wholesome content!! 

“is that an ascot?” (beat) (strokes ascot sensually) “yes.” what IS this!!!! what am i WATCHING!!! you turn into your object of desire because it’s easier than admitting your desire to yourself when you’ve been so doggedly (ha) pursuing what you’re supposed to socially acceptably desire!!!

“dean. you’re not a talking dog.” just. the voice of a man who is completely exasperated and rethinking his decision to defy heaven for this particular human. first the cartwright twins and now this?? (and yet, cas... why did you make the book you were working on a romance book. why did the killer stuffed dinosaur have to be in love. supernatural is A Show with Characters)

but also just something about. dean having aggressive homoerotic tension with fred and then wearing the ascot himself. dean comparing cas to scooby the talking dog and then acting like scooby himself. you turn yourself into the object of desire so you never have to actualize that desire outside yourself i know the rituals are intricate i KNOW it--

[jonroxton]

can you talk about chlark beyond chloe? personally i think it's weird that the writers kept adding kisses and weird romantic moments without any pay off. i don't know much about the fandom back then but i think the writers were baiting fans since clark/chloe seems to be the second most popular ship after clex. second i personally think chloe would never be happy with clark or anyone tbh and she doesn't seem like the type of person who would have kids so the finale was weird to me.

this got looooong :)

0. it WAS weird, and the choice to never not once go for it with them was to the story's detriment. I'll get into it a little later on in this post.

Re: shipping in sv fandom. there was definitely drama (clana was HUGE when the show was airing and every ship was basically derailed by it lol) but I stayed in my clois lane with a small circle of fandom friends much like I do now. a good measure of clois fans were fans of lois and clark from other mediums, come to sv just for lois and clark, myself included. we were pretty insulated as a fandom even back then. I do remember seeing more Chlark after the S5 finale (when Chloe kisses him goodbye), but those dropped off after Jimmy was introduced right away in S6. The most drama I encountered was with Chloisers: Chloe fans who believed wholeheartedly that Chloe was Lois. They hated SV!Lois and were convinced she would die so Chloe could take her name and job and place by Clark's side, thus a Chlark endgame. this was a popular theory amongst that fandom even into s9, when the clois ball started to roll for true.

bait and switch

a lot of Chlark is rooted in this notion that chloe WOULD be the best thing for Clark, the ideal Lois, the true best friend, the human hand guiding him through Earth's troubles. she would be could be the BEST possible lois archetype for Clark. it's not a wrong interpretation. she was specifically written as a lois-and-lana-proxy (teenage lana is a reporter in some AUs and even some as an adult as a tv correspondent) and she's given many lois-ish traits (tenacious, secretly crushing on clark and in denial), but this interpretation is deeply flawed. first, because lois does eventually enter into the picture and she has her own defining traits that, when compared to chloe, make chloe seem much shallower than realized. secondly, within the complete context of the story, her position in the greater narrative is not as ~the one who got away, the way it did very early on in S1-S4, but one who clark tolerates.

they're friends because clark is forgiving and chloe has staying power. their friendship is riddled with insecurities and unknowns the characters create for themselves. their dynamic is defined by conflict, not resolutions. this is not made easy by the fact that chloe is such a strangely written character, but ultimately she is positioned as a counter to clark achieving his happiness. not a thematic narrative foil but an obstacle clark eventually relents to.

2. and it has been so from the get-go

S1 is the best season for them and the single season which actually considers Clark's side in this dynamic. everything about them later on can be explained with how they are in this season. and that's the problem. when they're 14 it's nice teen angst drama and works perfectly to establish the dynamic. when they're 24 it's at best a pattern, at worst regression. we expect certain behaviors, dismiss them too, when it's children, at least I do. clark and chloe never move beyond the dynamic they establish in s1 and early s2. in essence, clark and chloe remain children around each other. they have many discussions in the later seasons that make at least one appear petulant.

so S1 clark has just been told the greatest secret of his existence and he imprints on lana hard that same night (right AFTER jonathan tells him, he meets lana at the graveyard and talks to her for the first time EVER, a lot of childhood imprinting going on in SV). all of s1 follows clark's heartache over lana, watching her from afar and figuring out a way to be near her. this pain is exacerbated by the fact that he believes he caused her her greatest grief: the death of her parents via the meteor shower which he arrived in.

here the first beat of the chlark dynamic is established: chloe's job and passion – the wall of weird and her pursuing the meteor infected oddities of SV - directly affects clark in a negative way (he's suicidal for much of s1-s3). so her crush on him is countered with her unknowingly causing him great grief. om top of that: clark becomes part of this passion of hers and she eventually begins to pursue him as a story to be uncovered, very superman yes. here tho, it causes nothing but strife for them and paints chloe in an awful light (and clark too, highlighting his refusal to open up). I personally enjoy this aspect of them in s1. bc they're so young I give em a free pass and it's a good conflict playing around with old superman tropes, but it makes for a fraught friendship.

3. the second beat

is that neither chloe's crush on clark, nor his asking her to stop pursuing his truth, do anything to stay her. her tenaciousness becomes intrusiveness and inconsideration (many of her accomplishments irt the daily planet are directly bc she betrays clark). she simply will not listen to her friend and does not believe his livelihood and autonomy is worth losing a story over. this is literally the opposite of comics/live action lois lane, who in various versions drops the clark reveal story to protect him. this passion turns vindictive pretty early for chloe, who eventually pursues stories about clark out of jealousy and entitlement (against lana also).

4. the third beat

is that clark doesn't ever see chloe as romantic prospect except this time in s1. the tornado trapping lana pulls him away from any solidifying of the clark/chloe dynamic, and that's that. but we know clark was willing to go for it in early s2 when he apologizes to chloe about running off on her. it's chloe who decides not to go on with the relationship. clark is visibly confused, but also 15 so he can't see that chloe is putting on a brave front to protect herself from clark running off again. I liked this too as it's another play on superman tropes, but my sympathy for them stops here.

5. and stays here

these beats are the entirety of this dynamic. everything about chlark can be distilled down to their childhood. it's why I don't hate them completely, bc I have a lot of love for kids who hurt in such a way and that time is never easy. in s8 (I think its s8) when we get a flashback to when they meet as kids (more imprinting!). little tenacious cute chloe kisses insecure clark bc of the funny awkward tension, acknowledging it, and then immediately takes it back because they're better as friends. (also they’re like 11 lol)

every single romantic moment with them is undercut either by chloe herself, or by the presence of other storylines/romances the writers wanted to pursue. the lack of integrity in chloe and the lack of interest in clark, regardless of how sincere their connection or how messed up, is a central part of their dynamic that needs to be reconciled with their friendship. and its exhausting bc there is never a point they are ever truly comfortable around each other.

6. to a fault

knowing the secret doesn't change chloe's methods. it doesn't make chloe clark's great confidante. if anything, it complicates matters for both because their relationship then becomes about the greater good and clark's great destiny. everything chloe does becomes about that, which in theory sounds awesome, but is executed much the same way as s1!chlark: by reiterating behaviors that highlight the negative aspects of that loyalty and the negative aspects of their characters.

the single time they do actively examine what this loyalty means and how chloe's hero complex complicates things for chlark is with s8 and davis. she protects davis with the skills of subterfuge and secrecy she developed as clark's friend. and it costs her jimmy and a lot of her personal integrity as a character. tho ironically it makes chloe the strongest she's been as a character. this is the first time clark is forced to view chloe as an enemy and he never quite recovers from discovering the dark depths she’s willing to go to. 

it's an arc dealing with the established beats: how far chloe is willing to go for a kryptonian (very far), how much she's willing to do for him (A LOT and all of it illegal), and what it costs her (jimmy). it deals with her jealousy (always second choice) and her motivations (uncovering the truth). this great want that she struggled with for years is turned on its head and examined, revealing just how weird and dark her hero complex is because obviously davis is not clark. davis/chloe served to highlight more than any other arc how it's really too bad that clark never saw her that way, because she has so much love to give and when channeled, it's a great force. only it's a great force for evil. clark has to confront that it’s not just lex but his other closest friend who is willing to go so far. they backtrack hard in s9 and s10 but they keep this underlying wariness in clark towards Chloe throughout. it’s not anything new, but it’s no longer subtext that clark doesn’t fully trust chloe.

7. And that's the rub

in the end. chloe and clark have many storylines they're in together and chloe's important.... to develop clark and as a counter to clark. clark never instigates anything, not once, for 9 years! when the show did give us Moments TM, clark is reacting, not actively making choices to connect to her. if anything, clark is incredibly awkward about chloe when they become intimate. he doesn't seem to know what to do with her crushing on him (the elevator scene is a great one to show just how awkward chloe makes him feel). more than that. clark never tells her his secret. and later on, chloe doesn't tell him half the crazy wild shit she does to protect him bc she knows he would disapprove. I still hold that the only reason they work is bc clark is a forgiving character and would give her chance after chance after chance. that's the watsonian explanation, but the doylist explanation is that the writers just never cared to explore them beyond this point.

8. and what was beyond that point?

they would've been a great counter to lexana in S6 and early clana (clark finally having a gf who knows). it’s playing the clark/Chloe as a straight lois/clark proxy before actually pursuing lois and clark. it could’ve been the precursor to davis and caused an even more personal conflict! the kiss at the end of s5 was their chance. they could've written chlark devolving much the same way lexana did in s6 (or not). but again. the writers never went that far and clearly never wanted to. it kept chlark forever in this stage of childhood friendship always on the brink of collapsing, tittering either way. it's also tough to speculate bc clark's just not into her. in fact he becomes more and more wary of her, to the point where he believes she can do horrible things, and he's right. the stories continually make their methods complete opposite.

they go out of their way to show chloe realizing how happy clark is with lois. and even play a joke on the fandom by literally turning her into lois and seeing the sparks between her friends. it's almost... cruel but it does serve to show how clark is when he's smitten and he's never looked at chloe that way except during the dance when they were kids. other unrequited dynamics have at least some spark from the desired, but nil from clark. clark is into chloe in late s1, but she shuts him down, and when he seems to be into her again (damn that s5 kiss was a good one lol), she shuts him down again. it's just a weird writing choice all around, and that they kept nuggets of it throughout the show is the thing I cringe at most whenever I rewatch.

9. bait and switch 2

with hindsight it is definitely ship baiting and that sucks for that dynamic bc without it their friendship would’ve been the stronger, or at least not full of so much negativity. all it did was remind everyone that chloe’s been duped since she was a kid and that clark is both stupid and strange for never noticing and letting her get away with shit just bc she’s the most loyal. I don’t ship them and even I get frustrated lol

[gayregis]

if you've read season of storms is it any good? i read a sample and was kind of bored but i don't want to spend money on it if it's going to be like,,,,,,,,,lady of the lake

reading this i was like “wait lady of the lake was good though,” then i paused to actually think about it as a cohesive narrative for a bit, and went “actually wait never mind :/...” it was good thematically, and there were a lot of great scenes, but like as a whole book... if you could only read that book on its own... it would be very long and confusing. i just think lotl’s good because i do the uncivilized thing of skipping around to the parts i like and then i don’t read the parts i dislike

but luckily i have already ranted about season of storms before, and i’ll post that rant here now. for context, i actually read season of storms from cover to cover... yeah.

overall, it's a disorganized and aimless plot. it's set inbetween tlw and sod, so there's no quest to find ciri, because geralt hasnt met ciri yet, he's still our free bachelor geralt. which means hes still quite directionless and when it comes to his personal life it's mostly preoccupied with romance. but more importantly it means the plot is incredibly aimless and NOT PERSONAL to geralt, like all the stories in TLW and SOD and all the saga books revolve around events and people super meaningful to him. what happens in the plot is a whole JUMBLE of things that feel like sidequests from the witcher games, not a story from the witcher books. nothing really means anything for geralt's character development, and it suffers from being so long because there's like a lot of different settings and characters and everything just seems completely thrown together, mashed up, and not coordinated. 

i will admit that baptism of fire & tower of the swallow followed a style of “random encounters” in which geralt and the company traverse on and just interact with whatever they happen to find, but it felt like they were accruing knowledge (and also. members of the company) as they travelled on. in season of storms, it feels like geralt starts over and the entire book resets itself every time there is a new scene. none of the plotlines fit together, so it is just a super confusing and exhausting reading experience, unlike in bof & tos, where you can follow the action quite easily and it’s very pleasant to read because it’s all one continuous storyline.

in addition, all of these mashed up stories are pointless, because they dont END with the reader learning anything about the universe the characters live in or their relationships with each other. we might learn that sorcerers are power-hungry, but we already knew that. we might learn that people are violent and corrupt, but we already knew that. we might learn that geralt loves yennefer, but we already knew that. in the short stories, you learn so much about the world and geralts relationships (for example: we learn so much about the situations surrounding the elves in edge of the world, so it’s worth reading because otherwise you will not understand anything when the scoia’tael show up in blood of elves and later in the saga). and in the saga, this continues and more worldbuilding/relationship building occurs (geralt and ciri’s relationship grows from a question of price and then becomes crazy right around baptism of fire when they’re super linked by destiny). it really doesnt in season of storms. you don’t learn anything meaningful about the world or the characters like in the other witcher books.

another large flaw is that in the stories and saga, sapkowski was really good at creating likeable, enigmatic characters no matter how few pages he had to create them. they were deep and almost lifelike and also usually told a larger message. the NPCs- sorry, "characters" in season of storms are SUPER flat and uninteresting.

coral is h*rny for geralt and jealous of yennefer, like every sorceress ever to exist, pratt is a dick and corrupt, degerlund is corrupt and evil, mosaik is timid, the werewolf guy is JUST THERE, the auguara isn’t super interesting despite being cool, nimue feels flatter as a character than usual, even dandelion- okay actually jk i liked dandelion he was the sunny part of this book AS ALWAYS ... ofc he felt one-dimensional but he usually does so you know, EVEN GERALT feels a little one-dimensional and not his typical introspective self

one of the worst things sapkowski did was [SPOILERS] make the major villain character of the book gay and feminine... like its mentioned SO many times that "ohhhh this is a man that looks like a woman WOW HOW EVIL!" and he literally does the worst things like rip ppl to shreds and want to kill geralt painfully by torture with syringes, also he uses his sexuality to ?? seduce an older sorcerer to be his favorite so he can keep his job as a sorcerer?? 

and OK vilgefortz and bonhart arent complex villains. but theyre despicable and it feels a little deeper bc vilgefortz has that backstory and hunger for power, and bonhart is just terrifying and the embodiment of wretched evil, this guy from season of storms is just annoying and anime villainy like “OOHOHOH watch how i kill you now >:)” also theres a lot of crass humor like fart jokes and villains that are described as really super ugly like omg wow never saw that one coming!!! it just feels super bland and basic and almost like the antithesis of The Witcher as short stories and a saga, super out of place with the rest of the series. [END SPOILERS]

in my opinion, the BIGGEST FLAW with season of storms is that since the plot is so all over the place, and since the characters are so flimsy, the entire book feels meaningless. it feels like it would appease games or netflix fans who just want to read about geralt going on some crazy adventures, and it does serve that purpose, but it is NOT a “book belonging to the witcher series.” it has no depth where there should be... i do not feel like sapkowski is trying to tell me something as a reader about human nature, or the nature of parent-child relationships, or society, or violence and war... 

it just feels like geralt is doing all of this shit just because sapkowski had some remaining ideas and wanted to get all of them out into the world all in the same book, like sewing a vest out of fabric scraps. it was not refined like the witcher saga, because none of them were really meant to fit together anyways, and because they weren’t meant to fit together, there is a distinct lack of message and substance to it.

TLDR: no cohesive narrative and a confusing plot, no deeper underlying message or arguments about humanity or society or nature being made by the author, cheap new side & background characters, no ciri and no yennefer so geralt is quite directionless and stupid

other remarks that are just my personal preferences and comments:

geralt & dandelion:

geralt mostly works alone in this book... which is... not my favorite. this is why i got bored with tw3 after i read the witcher books, because i can’t stand geralt being alone, the world feels so... lonely! although he meets up with dandelion and has an affair with coral in season of storms, most of the book is him waffling about with side and background characters that i couldn’t care less about because sapkowski put no effort into developing them to be enigmatic or at least lifelike and likable (unlike some really minor characters in the witcher saga that, although they were so minor, were incredibly likable: for example, applegatt and toruviel i quite like). 

of course, i also have a preference for when geralt hangs out with dandelion, because it usually creates more of a lighter tone for the scenes and a more humorous nature overall, plus geralt changes his personality to be not in such a bad mood and we get to see him being kind and friendly. so it annoys me that although dandelion has some scenes with geralt, they never really have deep conversations like they do in a little sacrifice, or witty remarks & banter like in the edge of the world... i feel like dandelion was quite in-character for the whole book, which is good, but also, he’s dandelion so he’s pretty easy to get in character. he’s just easy-going, arrogant, preoccupied with earthly delights, cowardly, and friendly to geralt. but it annoyed me that their scenes together were both not very deep, and that they didn’t get as much interaction as i think they deserved. usually in a witcher book or story in which geralt and dandelion have met, they stay by each other’s side for like, the whole book or story, lmao... 

that being said, they do have some fun moments in this book and dandelion has some funny lines which i quite enjoy. like. they are eating at an inn, and the innkeeper asks them “how are you finding the pork?” and dandelion replies, “we’re finding it among the kasha. from time to time. not as often as we’d like to.” and somehow i just find that line so fucking funny... i think it’s just because it’s really relatable

sorcery:

coral is SOOOOO one-dimensional, she really is just like the same character as fringilla vigo or some other sorceress that’s jealous of yennefer for getting to bang geralt, and this lack of characterization is super transparent. people laugh about how many affairs geralt has had, but they never discuss how all of them have been super uneasy and unfulfilling.

already said that i hate degerlund as a character and all of the sorcerers being morally wack is predictable if you’ve read like, anything from the saga about the sorcerer/esses. also geralt talking with sorcerers is like, interesting if the sorcerer in question is vilgefortz, but everyone else is just super boring

other:

i didn’t really like ferrant de lettenhove until the very end of the book (which i won’t spoil) but because of this end, i wished that he got more backstory/development

NIMUE I LOVE YOU and it was nice that nimue got some more backstory in this.

i do enjoy the end of the book. not to say “my favorite part is when it ended,” but it’s true, because the ending in kerack is interesting and full of drama, the moments in the inn are alright if a little void of substance, the ending with geralt and dandelion on horseback is beautiful, and the epilogue with nimue is wistful and beautiful as well.

sheer pettiness:

oh my GOD why are the CHAPTERS so SHORT? it’s like, 20 chapters plus a bunch of interludes and an epilogue, and the book is only 357 pages long. it feels like as soon as i was getting into a scene, it switched to another chapter. i mean, idk whether i prefer this, or the haphhazard long as fuck chapters from baptism of fire where i’m not quite sure when a chapter begins or ends because i memorized the scenes and not when a chapter occurs. 

i dislike how coral is on the cover of it, even though it’s fitting, because if there was a work about... oh idk... the hansa... then angouleme could have been on the cover... and then i could have had geralt + yennefer + ciri + dandelion + the hansa on the covers... like wow that would be cool...

this book would have functioned much better as a series of short stories... i think sapkowski has talent for the short story medium, but novel-length books are more desirable by publishers, but this is literally just a guess, i don’t have anything to back this up

my recommendation: don’t buy it if you are just looking to read the witcher books as in, get a feel for the book canon world and characters. it’s pretty unnecessary for that. do buy it if you are a completionist like me / the witcher is something you’ve been into for years and you’re about to buy all the books as a set and it would feel weird to not have all eight books on your shelf and it’s only like $5 more to buy the set of 8 as compared to the set of 7. don’t read it and expect perfection, it’s basically like “drabbles” but canon from the author. there are like 2 or 3 nice gerlion moments if you care about that.

[flying-elliska]

salut ellie! someone once asked you about your writing and you recommended falling in love with language and finding ways of writing you love. i was wondering, what books and/or writing styles are you in love with? it's just so interesting to know what somehow had an impact on the way you're writing bc i honestly adore your style

wow do you remember that ? that is such a flattering question oh my god. well, i’m still working on it. some of my favorites are (i’m very eclectic lmao) : 

- His Dark Materials (it’s a fantasy book series ‘for kids’ but it’s actually insanely deep and philosophic) is pretty much the first book series that made me fall in love with stories, and made me want to write. I think I found it when I was 10, and it completely shaped me. It’s so ambitious and clever, it never talks down to the reader, brings up those amazing worlds and philosophical concepts and is still accessible to kids. Most of all it is so committed to atmosphere, to making it vivid, to really make you go through what the characters are. I’m thinking of it and I can remember exactly certain passages in an almost sensory way : the witch Serafina Pekkala describing what it feels like to feel the Aurora Borealis on her bare skin as she is flying through the arctic. The polar bear Iorek giving Lyra frozen moss to help bandage his wounds after a battle. The grilled poppy heads that the Jordan College scholars at Oxford eat during a meeting. The little Gallivespians on their dragonflies and the way the sun reflects off their poisonous spurs. That’s how you make a story stick ; that’s how you can put in deep stuff without ever making it boring. I am so excited they’re making a tv series because that shit deserves some recognition. And I mean the whole plot about the importance of stories, free will, the horror of religious fundamentalism....always relevant. Philip Pullman’s stuff is great in general, I love his Sally Lockhart series, which is more adult and adventure focused, and is a great deal of fun. And of course, the sequel to HDM he’s been putting out recently. 

- I spent a lot of my teen years reading either crime novels or historical novels. (When I think of some of the stuff I read when I was 13 I’m like oh my god what were my parents doing lmao some of that was really horrible.) And I think it gave me a good feeling for suspense and setting, and how important tension is. One of my all time faves is Andrea Japp. She is a French writer who does mostly crime, involving complex/monstrous woman characters and a very sensory, poetic approach to language, often involving food, plants and poisons. My favorite by her is the “Season of the Beast”/Agnès de Souarcy chronicles, which is a crime series set in medieval times, with a cool independent lady at its core, crimes in a monastery, and this very gloomy end of times vibe that I love. I also read a lot of Scandi Noir stuff, I love the kind of ...laconic approach to life. And again : vibe. Vibe is so important. And Sherlock Holmes stories. I love the Mary Russell series that take place in that universe and are basically a big Mary Sue self insert guilty pleasure but are just. So much fun. 

- I like poetry a lot - not stuff that is too wordy, but something short, sharp and vivid. i think reading poetry is essential to feeding your inner ‘metaphor culture’. I love Mary Oliver. Rimbaud, too, that I read at 17 and rocked my world. One of my underrated faves is  Hồ Xuân Hương, a Vietnamese poet from the 18th century who was adept at using nature metaphors to hide both erotic stuff, irreverent jokes, and political criticism, and correspond with all the great scholars of her time under a pseudonym. Badass.  Recently I bought ‘Soft Science’ by Franny Choi, which is about cyborgs, having a female body, emotions and politics and it’s absolutely brilliant. 

- I love reading fairy tales, too. Currently reading (i always read a lot of books at once lol) Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales, basically fairy tales for grown ups, collected from folklore all over the world, with an amazing kind of gruesome humor and wisdom. Norse mythology is also so damn funny. That one bit with Thor dressing up as a bride or Loki’s shenanigans...amazing. And I like fantasy, I find it very soothing to read for some reason, my fave has to be Robin Hobb and her Realm of the Elderlings series. And Terry Pratchett, especially the series with Death or the Witches. Just brilliant. Neil Gaiman too. 

- I tend to be very impatient when it comes to literary fiction, I find a lot of it is self-indulgent, dreary. I’m a genre reader through and through, I need to be amazed. I loved ‘the Elegance of the Hedgehog’ by Muriel Barbery though. Some stuff by Amélie Nothomb, Virginie Despentes occasionally (they’re French writers with a very dark, wry approach to life, tho the first is more polished acid and the second very punk rock). And ‘Special Topics in Calamity Physics’ by Marisha Pessl is pretentious as hell but a lot of fun, if you like dark academia. Salman Rushdie has a way with language that is amazing. 

- I read a lot of non-fiction. At the moment : the Cabaret of Plants (about the symbolic/socio historical meaning of plants and how they shaped history) by Richard Mabey and ‘Feminist Fight Club’ by Jessica Bennett. One I absolutely love is ‘the Botany of Desire’ by Michael Pollan in which he traces the history of four plant species (apple, potato, cannabis, tulip) and how they impacted us as much as we impacted them. I was obsessed with plants for most of my life as you can see lol (my mother is a herbalist and I wanted to become a botanist for quite a while.). Also philosophy/anthropology in little bits. I love Tim Ingold. Things about witches. Anything by Rebecca Solnit is incredible. 

- I’ve been reading a lot of YA recently, because it’s fun and quick and keeps me reading, and has a lot of good female characters. Big fave recently : Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore. It’s about a young bisexual woman who’s grieving and comes to this weird house full of doors, each of which leads to a different path in life, and we follow her through each choice she can potentially make, each of one becomes a different genre of story : creepy ghost story, spy story, sci-fi, cute romance, etc. It’s so innovative and it’s a story that is also bisexual culture at its core. Also I absolutely love love love love love (etc forever) the Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater. What she does with language is just so cool, because she stays simple and efficient but uses her metaphors in such a fulgurant, vivid way. Some of her lines are just. bam! genius. #goals. Also Ronan Lynch is probably THE character that helped me the most with my coming out. He’s one of my forever faves.  Of course Harry Potter, lmao, I was of the generation that pretty much grew up with him, the last book came out when I was 17. JK Rowling really should just stop rn. But I learned so much from those, about the importance of making your story feel like home, and having a clear emotional journey. And Harry is such a sarcastic little shit, I love him. And I love a Series of Unfortunate Events too, the darkly funny tone of it, the celebration of knowledge and resilience. 

- I think in terms of the classics (I had to read in school lmao), I do like Victor Hugo a lot even though some of his stuff just doesn’t fucking stop. I also like Balzac and his Comédie Humaine, he’s very observant, mean and funny when it comes to people (even though it’s depressing.) Colette is my grandma’s fave writer and she is a rockstar, I love her (also hella bi culture). Jane Austen is great, I read Pride and Prejudice in one night straight, I was so hooked. Love Jane Eyre too. I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac while hopped up on opioid pain killers and that’s probably the only way to appreciate it, but it did mark me.  

- But to be completely fucking candid, I probably read the most fanfic nowadays still. Esp since I got to college, I need to unwind when I read, and having characters you already know can be so comforting. Now, of course, there’s a lot of fanfic that is just fluff (nothing wrong with that) but I honestly really believe in the literary value of fanfic. Because some of that shit simply just really slaps and is well written. But also as a genre on its own : you just simply don’t get so much emotional nuance, and depth in most other things. Because these are characters we already know and the writers are not afraid to be self-indulgent and plot is secondary, we see shades of things that we never see anywhere else, we see relationships developping in the small things and wow that shit is breathtaking, bro, sometimes. The art of infinite variation on a theme. Even though a lot of fic writers could use a bit of stricter editing, and do stuff a bit too many unnecessary details in here, so does Victor Hugo soooooooo....

lol i could go on forever. i love book soooo much. uni kinda killed my reading appetite, I used to read several books a week when I was in middle school. hope i can get back there (although maybe not as much bc i have a life now lol.) but thinking about everything i have yet to read makes me sooooo happy. I want to get more into sci-fi, English lit classics. Basically I like stuff that’s witty, dark, political, hedonistic, with dry humor, but a warm heart. Stories that celebrate knowledge, curiosity and human weirdness. And that gets to the point. When I get bored by a book, I put it down, because I just don’t have the time. I also hate writers where you can tell that they think they’re better than other people. Misanthropy is boring. Thank you for this question anon I had a blast

[susandsnell]

whaaat Hadestown sounds awesome!!! i’ll definitely check both those out but it sounds like Hadestown is like, the style of my dreams. also anything that starts as a folk opera is awesome bc i love the concept of a folk opera. follow up: i’ve seen some things about Be More Chill and somehow missed its jump to Broadway? what’s it about?

Sorry I took a day to get back to you, musical anon, but I just had to write my penultimate final first thing this morning! Hadestown is the style of everyone’s dreams, and I really hope you like it when you do check it out. It’s incredibly unique. 

As to your second query, permit me to have some obnoxious gif usage because life is short and I am now permanently on my bullshit. And, well. You just asked me, Coco, about Be More Chill.

WELCOME TO HELL. YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE NOW. 

(Festive, right?) 

So! 

Be More Chill is a very loose adaptation of a (vastly different and quite offensive) 2004 novel by the same name. It did the work of my dreams, which is combine my two favourite genres, science fiction and musical theatre, in a big way, while also stealth being a narrative about mental health, recovery, friendship, love, and sexy computers.  Also, the songs are absolute bops and the music style is contemporary but still unmistakably Broadway. It’s also openly inspired by Little Shop of Horrors (while also being very much in the vein of other wacky, culty musicals like Reefer Madness, a bit of Rocky Horror thrown in, etc), which is a major plus. 

It’s a darkly hilarious, sci-fi-horror-teen drama-romance-musical, in short. 

In long??? A little gist: 

So, our leading man, Jeremy Heere, is a (canonically Jewish! Canonically Jewish! CANONICALLY JEWISH!!!) typical high school geeky outcast who struggles with severe anxiety, self hatred, and a vast panoply of other issues. He’s badly bullied, only has one friend, Michael Mell, who is quite literally the savior of the universe, and crushes on the local theatre kid (and a literal queen), Christine Canigula. In an effort to impress her, he takes the advice of the local bully, Rich, and buys a pill from the back of a Payless shoe store called a SQUIP (short for Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor), which, if ingested and activated by Mountain Dew (just go with it I promise it’s worth it), installs a computer chip in his brain that can manifest the illusion only he can see of a personification that is an intensely attractive person (has been cast as multiple genders depending on the production!!!) who will instruct him on what the right thing to do or say is so that he can overcome his perceived social and personal failings, and improve himself, and maybe get the girl. 

Of course, this thing goes evil, and absolute epic mayhem ensues. 

Where do I even start with what I love about this musical? 

The characters are incredibly true to life; literally nobody is who they seem to be in terms of typical high school, sci fi, or even theatre tropes. which is part of the ultimate message (and I love that!!!) Jeremy’s narrative is very much a subversion of the typical entitled-nerd-boy-goes-wild-trying-to-get-the-girl, because his actions and mistakes are steeped very much in long lasting mental health struggles (he literally mentions having to go to the nurse constantly due to his anxiety attacks), as well as a heartrendingly realistic and depressing home life, and the show is very clear about this, pulling no punches. He’s flawed, he’s sweet, he’s funny, he’s tragic, he’s redemptive, he’s just…wonderful. 

Michael, who in any other show would be ‘the goofy best friend’ character and that’s it gets an incredible arc showing his brilliance, and his own inner demons, including the big showstopper Michael In The Bathroom, which is famous not only for being an incredible song, but because it goes there; it depicts the entirety of a severe panic attack in gut-wrenching detail. All set to awesome music, of course. His depth is revealed in that the otherwise cheerful, happy-go-lucky best friend character whose life seems to revolve around the protagonist’s brought to the logical conclusion of this archetype; extreme codependency and other mental health struggles. This is by no means all that he is – I’d explain why, and what an incredible, positive, heroic character he is, but I won’t dare spoil where his arc ends up going. 

Christine Canigula, our leading lady, is a badass feminist and so much more than a perky theatre kid; she’s shown to struggle much in the same ways Jeremy and Michael do, she’s politically involved and dedicated, while still being desperately uncertain about what to do with her life, her entire character is dedicated to subverting expectations (all her big numbers end with a subverted rhyme to prove this!!), she’s developed so much more than other love interest characters, and is in so many ways so much more than a love interest. She’s fiercely intelligent, but tempted to take the easy route to popularity in different ways than Jeremy, while being more inclined to being true to herself, and her autonomy drives the plot. She’s also canonically a woc who has ADHD and she’s a gun control advocate. Like??? When will your faves ever?  Her romance is believable and wonderful and driven by what she wants and her arc, while subtle, is integral to the plot. 

I could do a paragraph for each character (and if you’re on my blog, I’ll probably get around to writing meta for each of them), but the popular kids, the bullies, even the apparently useless parent character…none of them are what they seem. As for the SQUIP, I don’t dare reveal the awesomeness of that particular villain, except to say that it’s a metaphor for…a number of things, while incredibly enthralling, and The Pitiful Children, the big villain song, is honestly up there with any of your Disney villains for a truly epic sci-fi experience. It’s a completely irredeemable villain whose appeal lies in its irredeemability, especially fascinating because it’s a machine, and hence gains no sadistic pleasure from it’s evildoing; it merely seeks results, which is just chilling. 

The cast is incredibly diverse, and there is a TON of LGBT+ representation, including Michael having lesbian mothers, a completely non-stereotyped bisexual male character who ACTUALLY CALLS HIMSELF BISEXUAL OUT LOUD, and who is arguably the most tragic character in the show, but that tragedy is separate almost entirely from his orientation, and more. 

While being lighthearted sci-fi fare, it deals pretty straightforwardly with a number of heavy topics, such as mental illness, suicidal ideation, extreme loneliness, self-hatred, isolation,  trauma, abuse, sexual orientation, dysfunctional families, dysfunctional friendships, existential crises, near-death experiences, brainwashing, addiction, bullying, torture (of the sci-fi variety but still pretty damn hard to watch), and even (albeit briefly, but it still bears mention) male sexual assault, and handles all of them exceptionally well, never overdoing it on any of them (they’re interwoven and sometimes entirely subtextual to the plot) but also being honest enough about the fact that some of our darkest moments include incredibly dark comedy, all while never making light of these serious issues. That being said, consider this the trigger warning paragraph if any of that’s a limit for you! They’re so wonderfully balanced by a narrative of healing and forgiveness and loyalty and love that it makes the story all the stronger; seeing everyone facing these awful things, and being able to overcome them together. 

It’s also the type of sci-fi that I love; the kind that, like Back to the Future, Weird Science, and Stranger Things embraces a retro aesthetic, and is a smaller, singular fantastical/sci-fi element contained in a setting that is otherwise very recognizable to our world; the kind of adventures you feel like you could have between your own classes. The sci-fi effects and costumes are incredible, especially in Act 2. 

AND, and and and, It’s an underdog story within an underdog story; it opened in a regional theatre in Jersey for a limited run in 2015 and closed very quickly, and everyone assumed it would never be picked up again, but in Winter 2017, it blew up by sheer word of mouth due to a combination of the original cast album being on Spotify and the popularity of certain amateur productions since it got licenced; eventually, it got a 2017 regional theatre revival at Exit 82, and that sparked an online fandom so strong that the show got a second chance with an off-Broadway run that happened this past summer, which in turn got so successful that the show is transferring to Broadway. All the way from a seemingly failed regional limited run, with most of the original cast (who are darlings, as are the creators, incredibly empathetic people bringing this wonderful, weird, warm story to the forefront). And who doesn’t love the meta of the show itself being an underdog when the cast is entirely of underdogs?

Just. Please. Do yourself a favour and check it out. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cheer.  I heard about it only peripherally since around mid-2017 ish and then only really got into it this past May/June, and….gosh. My life’s gotten so much better since. I’ve met dear friends through the fandom, dragged other dear friends into this glorious pit, and the show, as a narrative of healing, is helping to heal me, too. 

Possibly a new all-time favourite. 

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

Thanks for turning me on to the Penelope/Schneider ship. Something about Schneider really breaks my heart. He's just so utterly genuine, and really selfless underneath the rich dude jokes...he's almost got a childlike quality (not to be confused with childish), where love is earnest and simple and without reservation once he cares. It's almost like he's still that kid waiting for someone to actually love him back.

Okay this is take #2 cuz tumblr ate the first one. You sent this days ago, anon, and I’ve just been hanging on to it bc I really love Schneider and I knew it would become an essay.

And you’re so welcome for me pulling you into my new fave ship!! The funny thing about them as a pairing is that once I started thinking about WHY I love them, I realized how much they have in common with my more serious OTPs…yet they’re best friends on a sitcom, and it shouldn’t make sense but it does and it’s beautiful. 

Honestly, one of my favorite things about Schneider is that S1 sets him up as the comic relief, not much more important than Penelope’s coworkers. His sobriety and privilege and weird hobbies are all turned into punchlines, and they could have left him there. But in S2 they gave him so much more depth without changing his character at all, really–when you rewatch S1 he’s still the same guy, but now you can see where some of his jokes aren’t really that funny, they’re a coping mechanism. And by the S2 finale, when he claims them as family you get it. He’s earned it. It’s not funny at all anymore.

More Schneider ramblings below the cut. :)

So the more I study him (and yes, I have studied him, I’m turning canon into a detailed guide about everything we’ve learned re: his backstory so far cuz I have a problem) the more I feel like he’s really relatable. Which is not something I ever expected to say about a rich white dude. 

But Schneider is the epitome of someone whose emotionally neglectful childhood turned him into an adult who is desperate to be loved. Who expects people to leave him or not like him very much…who is himself full of love and gives it away to people who deserve it AND people who don’t. He’s unconditionally devoted to his best friend and her entire family, he’ll be their mentor or support or punching bag when they need it without hesitation, which is so pure it hurts my heart.

Ir hurts my heart even more that he doesn’t demand anything back, though. He focuses on them and their needs completely, and while it’s easy to list off moments that demonstrate why Schneider is Penelope’s best friend, times he has helped and supported and openly loved her, the reverse is harder. I think those moments are there, but much like Lydia visiting Schneider in rehab prior to S1…we haven’t gotten to see them.

And Schneider trying to do romance…wow is he lowkey out to break your heart. Thanks to what he witnessed growing up, he thinks a good relationship can be two people who don’t even like each other, that love probably isn’t real, and he jumps at the chance to be married, like he just needs a person to belong to–anyone who’ll have him.

He’s used to nobody taking him seriously, he even leans into it. After all, he’s completely fucked up his life, right? Five years of sobriety don’t change his addictive personality, he was too wasted to retain an education, and since he has money very little is expected of him. So why bother?

So instead of demanding respect and appreciation, he just goes around quietly earning it. Is he great with tools? Tbh, who knows. Penelope praises him in the pilot but we mostly see him talk about paying someone else to do the work until he trains Elena…yet do any of the tenants complain? No. They trust him to babysit and ply him with friendly beverages and appreciate his companionship because he cares. 

He’s obviously great with kids but claims he’s never thought about wanting them. Is that because he’s in no hurry, or because he thinks he doesn’t deserve kids, given his issues or the family he comes from?

And speaking of that, why do we know zero details about his mom, except that she’s alive? Where was she all those years? Did he get all his terrible ideas about relationships from his serial-remarrying father, or was she a part of that too? I have so many questions, the more I feel like I’ve figured him out.

This is a whole separate essay but deserves at least a mention: Schneider has got to be one of the most privileged characters on TV who not only tries to be aware of his privilege but tries to always listen to the people in his life whose experiences are different from his own and accept their pronouncements as fact rather than arguing because the reality makes him uncomfortable. He learns Spanish just because his favorite people speak it, he joins their cultural celebrations without patronizing them. He’s the outsider in their world and he is always aware of it. More importantly, he doesn’t try to use his money or his status as a way to negate that.

When it comes to Penelope, there’s no question that he loves her. It’s in the way he treats her and looks at her and everything about their friendship-she’s not just his pal, she’s his family. And canon gives us so much room to play with the possibility that he’s already IN love with her too, but he thinks she’s amazing–she’s the best mom and friend and person he knows. Of COURSE he would never have a chance with her. It’s not even a question. So he keeps it to himself.

It’s also clear that she has put him very firmly in a box inside her head labeled ‘lovable goofball who accidentally became her best friend.’ So when he does things that contradict that narrative or surprise her, like getting cleaned up for the quinces, she’s very confused by what she expects to think of him versus how she actually feels.

They’re each other’s found family. They’re ready-made friends-to-lovers. There’s massive potential for pining. He would do anything for her, and when Penelope is at her worst, it’s Schneider she seeks out.

What’s not to love?

[choosingfreedom-a]

insert fancy graphic depicting my love for kai in a humorous yet poignant way here. ideally it features erwin and levi in a way that is both cute and caring, and says “happy birthday” in a tastefully sloppy text.

@atlaswinged

okay, so, your actual present is coming At Some Point In The Future, but because my life is a mess of final projects right now i couldn’t get it done in time for yesterday, and like, obviously even this is late, so, uh. YEAH. FOR THE MOMENT, YOU’RE GETTING THIS. let it tide you over. 

ANYWAY, kai, i just wanted to take the time to say, on your birthday (or the day after, AS IT HAPPENS), how glad i am to have met you <3 i remember when you first followed me, and i was excited to see an erwin, but i think i took a few days to follow back, just bc i wait for new blogs to have writing up before i follow them. but when i did see your writing it took, like, .2 seconds to hit that follow button. and then i think our first interaction was me writing you a starter that blossomed into this wonderful thread with erwin and levi digging at each other early on in levi’s time in the corps, testing each other’s limits, erwin trying to convince levi to with others -- i owe you a response for that, which isn’t surprising, because i owe you a response for Many Things lmao.

but!! anyway!!! i knew the first time you wrote a reply for me that it was going to be wildly fun writing with you, and i loved reading your threads even when i wasn’t a part of them. your erwin is such a wonderful, well-rounded mixture of all of his qualities, not just a few: he’s pragmatic and ruthless and guilt-ridden and grim and cheeky and compassionate and humorous and brave all at once. i don’t think you’ve said a single thing about erwin or levi or their relationship that i disagree with; every time we talk about them, you bring these amazing and insightful aspects of erwin’s character to the table that make plotting so fulfilling. 

and i loooove that we have this ship, but that it isn’t just about romance. like, i’m in love with our cheesy fun deep romantic reincarnation threads, but i also adore our canon-era threads that are just -- them having a deeply trusting and nuanced relationship where romance might be an undertone, if you squint, but never a main theme, because it doesn’t need to be, because the depth of care is present between these two no matter what kind of relationship they have.

neither of us have been super active on erwin and levi right now, and that’s totally okay!! because i look at the drafts of our threads that are waiting for me and i’m excited to write for them, but i also know that you, lovely patient person that you are, won’t get tired of waiting for them, just like how a reply from you is worth any wait for me <3 but without a doubt you’re one of the writing partners i look forward to replying to the most, and we could never have enough threads to satisfy me, tbh, because there will never be an end to the number of ways we could explore erwin and levi. and that’s so special to me. our ship is the only ship i have on this blog, and i’m so ridiculously okay with that, because it’s so fulfilling.

and, okay, to talk about you for a bit -- well, first of all, your writing. i know you don’t necessarily like reading back on your writing, so let me just assure you: it’s all wonderful. your imagery, your sharp and accurate insights into both erwin and the character of whoever you’re writing with, the way you keep all of erwin’s demons so close to the surface and yet never breaking through his mask -- there’s a ruthless understanding and a beautiful subtlety in your writing that never fails to make me excited when i read your posts.

and then, you as a person -- you may be a shadowy cryptid, slipping in and out of group chats like a ship passing through the night, but that only makes your appearances more delightful. you’re funny (which is such a common way to describe someone, i feel like, but it’s true, your brand of humor has me laughing every time you pop up to deliver it), you’re smart, you’re insightful, you’re devious without ever being unkind. plus you take my angst like a champ, and then throw it back in a way that hurts me even as it adds another several years to my life out of sheer wicked delight. the point is, i love talking to you -- and i hope we’ll get the chance to do so more often once we’re both out of school’s clutches <3

and i can’t go without mentioning your beautiful graphics -- your themes always kill me with how lovely they are, like, every time i open your blog i just have to sit and admire it for a minute. and the same for the rest of your graphics, be it icons or banners or promos -- i remember on your last theme, when i first saw the mains banner you made for me (WHICH YOU DIDN’T EVEN TELL ME ABOUT), i just had to sit there and vibrate in delight because it looked so lovely. (also, i still laugh at the little chibi levi on your blog -- it’s so obnoxious, oh my god, it’s just floating there right over your sidebar, just as completely irreverent of erwin’s calculated appearance as levi ever was.) 

ANYWAY, i need to wrap this up or i’ll go on forever -- but the point is, i’m incredibly lucky to have you as a writing partner and as a friend, kai. i admire you as a writer and i adore you as a person, and i will always be amazed and grateful that i’ve been able to write and ship with you. you deserve the world, and i’m sorry i’m a bit late for your birthday, but i hope it was as amazing as you are, and that the rest of your year brings you every joy* !!

     *except for the angst that comes from me, which is still kind of joy if you’re sadistic enough.

[sombytaco]

Why DaveKat is Narratively Important

Let’s talk about DaveKat because I have nothing better to do!! So, whether or not you personally ship or agree with davekat, this is just going to be about how, from a narrative standpoint, it is 100% vital to both Dave’s and Karkat’s storylines and personal character arcs, let’s start with:

Knight Class- So, bit of class/aspect analysis because the fact they both Dave and Karkat are both Knights is absolutely VITAL to their character development and their connection to each other. Something Kanaya said, that classpects are not necessarily chosen to suit the strengths of each player but rather to challenge them in a way that is most beneficial to their personal growth? That is completely correct, Dave and Karkat being some of the best examples in the comic. The aspects are the elements which the game, and therefore the universe(s) are made of - literally. Like, these are the constructs out of which the world exists, the building blocks so to speak. However, they also represent more metaphorical concepts, Life=Optimism, Hope=Belief, Heart=Soul, so on and so forth etc. So paired with the Knight class, the active pairing of Maid class, we have to examine how exactly the aspect *applies*. Obviously, being active, the Knight class is self serving (more on active vs passive or knight vs maid specifically if y'all hmu with some asks I’d be happy to explain more in depth), there’s also a metric shitload of symbolism involved in the name. I’ve been reading this comic for almost five years and the sheer amount of symbolism never ceases to amaze me, but the absolutely loaded amount of metaphorical value behind this class has to be in my top 5. The classic “knight” iteration, sword and shield type of deal, is instrumental in the interpretation of how Dave and Karkat wield their abilities and grow as characters. The weapon is obviously the way in which they wield their aspects, but the shield is so much more interesting: it’s their PERSONA. Part of the blatant parallels between Dave and Karkat’s story arcs is how they allow others to perceive them in regard to their own internal struggles, they both put up a persona to protect themselves. For Dave it’s his “coolkid” facade, he doesn’t let others see his emotions, feelings, or motivations because he’s so wrapped up in this delusion of irony and toxic masculinity that he feels it would be a weakness to show himself for what he is, one that could very possibly (at the hands of Bro) get him severely injured at best, dead at worst if he fears for his life which is a distinct possibility. Karkat suffers in a similar way, his persona is this image of the overly aggressive, “shouty/angry” guy, he’s loud and obnoxious because he’s trying to keep people at arms length, similar to how Dave doesn’t let anyone in. Karkat also has similar motivations behind this persona, because of his blood color he knows he will be in immediate danger if people get too close, look to closely, care too much, so if he can shout and seem just as bloodthirsty and aggressive as other trolls, he can both keep them away and keep himself free of suspicion. So, they have their shields, their personas, this is how they protect themselves from the world. Let’s talk about their weapons.

Aspects- As I mentioned above, aspects are the literal elements that make up the world, but also have a more metaphorical meaning. In the same way that Heart=Soul, Dave’s aspect Time is not only literally representative of time, but metaphorically representative of PROGRESSION. Karkat’s aspect of blood is therefore, while literally blood (possibly a reference to his mutation), also more symbolically representative of UNITY. Now, let’s see how those apply to each players personal struggle, because remember that’s the key here, how their classpects tie in to their character arcs. Dave is troubled by his aspect at multiple points throughout the storyline, severely disturbed by dead Dave’s and essentially haunted by the multiple loops he has running, in what is a single day to his fellow beta players likely feels like *weeks* for him, he’s not progressing in the game, he’s running all these loops and doing so much and yet he’s not really going anywhere. He’s like a broken record, if you will. Dave doesn’t see himself as a hero, broken sword symbolism aside because I cannot get into that rn lmao that’s way too loaded and this is long enough, Dave *can’t* see himself as a hero because in his mind, Bro was a hero, and he will never live up to it, so why bother. Easier to just run his loops and do whatever Terezi says because she’s probably right and anyways it’s just easier to do something menial and meaningless that doesn’t move anything forward because he would probably fuck it up anyways, right? Dave is so stuck in the past, haunted by his loops, haunted by the legacy of his Bro, haunted by dead Daves, he is terrified (whether consciously or subconsciously) of moving forward, of Progression. Alternatively, Karkat’s aspect of Blood, or UNITY trips him up in similar ways. Karkat’s relationships are…complicated. It’s been *headcanoned* that he comes across as pale towards most of his friends, because despite how hard he tries to act loud and aggressive, he’s a big softie who cares way too goddamn much about everything. Terezi also represents his biggest struggle with Unity and relationships, he “wanted her in every quadrant like a desperate fool”, and she played along for a while to see if he would settle in any one quadrant, but when he never did she moved on. This is a huge blow to Karkat’s self-esteem, he thought he was being so suave and smooth just like his romance novels and movies, but really he was pushing her away either knowingly or unknowingly. On the topic of his romance novels, his obsession with relationships also shows him trying to compensate (more on this in a sec) for his lack of capability in the area, as if he’s studying them to get a better understanding of how relationships should work because he really has no idea. In his very first conversation with Sollux that we see, he ends by affirming that he hasn’t gone too far right? They’re still friends? Because underneath his loud, obnoxious persona, he’s just acting the way he thinks he’s supposed to in this hyper-aggressive society. Sound familiar? It’s because Dave is doing the same thing. They’re both using their personas to survive, to appear the way they think they should to other people, because when it comes to their aspects, they’re fucking terrified and don’t have a clue as to what they’re really doing.

Storyline Parallels- So, I’ve seen a lot of good analysis of this and I doubt any of what I’m saying will be news to any of you, but I’m gonna put it in my own words as best I can bc this shit is imperative to understanding why DaveKat works so perfectly in the narrative. Dave is obviously working an uphill battle the entire story to overcome the hyper-masculinity (see also: toxic) that his Bro has ingrained in his psyche for 13 years. Not the least of which is some deeply rooted homophobia. Dave fronts constantly, accusing others of being gay, accusing *Karkat* of being gay pretty amusingly. Obviously he pokes at this in other people because he’s so insecure about it in himself, he struggles heavily with his sexuality the way so many pre-teens do, only he’s fighting against a decades worth of anti-gay propaganda basically so there’s no room for him to search within himself too deeply without feeling deeply uncomfortable because obviously that’s Wrong and Bad and that’s not how society works in his world. Similarly, Karkat struggles with the quadrants which is practically unheard of on Alternia. It’s such a clear parallel to human homophobia that like. I’m left speechless when I think about it honestly. Their struggles are so overwhelmingly similar and parallel to each other sometimes I just have to stop and appreciate it. But back on topic, his whole life, Karkat has grown up with this over idealized concept of romance, the quadrants, and he obviously knows something is wrong with himself from an early age. Karkat’s obsession with romance novels is no coincidence, he’s clearly always felt off when it comes to that and so he most likely reached out to these novels and movies to get a better grasp of the quadrants, consuming what was essentially romantic propaganda to overcompensate. The problem is, in studying these works, he latched onto the wrong thing which is so funny to me. He’s reading these trying to understand, to make himself fit into this system because that’s what society is like *cough* heteronormativity *cough* and yet he latched onto quadrant vacillation like it’s the holy fucking grail of romance. Like oh, okay, this is normal? Obviously people do this, as long as they switch within the bounds of the system it’s Okay™ and even romantic in some occasions. Only, this is fiction he’s reading and if you try to apply the logic of romance novels to real life…well, we all know what happened with Terezi. He was constantly pushing the boundaries of vacillation, he was red for her, he wanted to act black on occasion, he cares so much about everyone it’s impossible for him not to be pale, and we see him (though I doubt he realizes he’s doing it) trying to auspistice for her and Gamzee in the pre-retcon timeline by staging a sort of intervention. He “wanted her in every quadrant like a desperate fool” and I don’t understand how people put Karkat into the quadrant system!!! That line is so IMPORTANT, not even taking into account that we know his dancestor, who shared his blood mutation which may have had something to do with his irregularities, loved the Disciple “beyond the quadrants”. It’s. So. Obvious. Karkat is overcoming the stigma of wanting to love beyond the quadrants in the same way that Dave is struggling to overcome the loaded idea behind being Not Straight. They’re both overcoming these extremely similar prospects and it’s an absolutely stunning feat of narrative that as an English major it makes me fucking weak in the goddamn knees like Hussie is a lot of things but this? This is fucking genius. I’ve never seen two characters written together in such an in depth and parallel way before.

Opposites Attract- So we’ve talked about their similarities, let’s talk about their differences and how those differences are also actually poorly disguised similarities. Karkat is obviously a Loud Boy, thats his coping mechanism. He keeps people out and away by being loud and aggressive. Dave needs to cope for similar reasons, to protect himself he needs to keep people out and away but he does it in just the opposite way, he gets quiet. He doesn’t talk about his shit. Sure, he’ll go on the rambling metaphor when the occasion calls, but although he’s always talking he’s never really saying anything. Karkat is an almost compulsive over sharer, like, the boy (bless his heart) has zero filter. Dave will talk your ear off just as well, but I’ll be fuckin damned if he says anything worthwhile outright (his many, many Freudian slips aside). It’s also interesting to note that while I’ve seen people talk about how part of the reason Karkat doesn’t fit into Alternian society is that he’s so human, as its stated in the narrative that after seeing this soft species, that shares his blood color and stupid, stupid compassion, even *Vriska* admits that Karkat seems to fit in better with them than he ever did with trolls, we don’t see the same for Dave? I’ve rarely, if ever, seen the situation flipped, in that Dave was more suited for Alternian society the same way Karkat was more human than troll or at least had severely human aspects. Obviously Dave’s romance is still very human in that he’s a big ol’ fan of monogamy (he and Karkat both faced problems in their relationships with Terezi romantically when she became involved in other quadrants, these boys love monogamy I’ll fight), but his upbringing? Yikes. Lusii are supposed to, while still protecting their trolls, prepare them for the harsh and violent world. Whether they had to kill other trolls and Lusii to feed them, or learn how to fight to fend off other trolls on their own, there was a shit ton of fighting in their pre-pubescent years. Trolls are a hyper aggressive, violent species that learn to fight basically as soon as they can walk, which is exactly what Bro did to Dave. Dave could fight practically from the second he crawled off the meteor, I doubt a day went by without a sword in his hand for some reason and god knows he suffered through enough strifes. Both boys were brought up just thoroughly *wrong* for their societies in a way that ensured they would never feel like they truly fit in.

Finally, Romance- In the final culmination of all this, let’s actually talk about how they work together as a couple. So, they have this overwhelmingly similar upbringing and life experience, what happens when they finally meet up? Dave thinks it’s hilarious that Karkat is always yelling, “get a load of this guy I was telling you about, Rose”, and while I have no doubt he thought Karkat’s shitfits were the funniest thing since Colonel Sassacre, there had to be a part of him that was just in awe of how someone could be so free with their emotions. Like, he’s angry? And you know it the second he walks into a room?? This is an entirely new concept to Dave, my son, who grew up with an insanely passive-aggressive psychopath who would sneak up on him and fight him with a crazy fucking puppet like what the fuck?? Dave has always had to be on edge at home, Bro was quiet so you never knew when he was upset and you never knew when he was coming for you. With Karkat, that’s such a non-issue it’s like the issue dined and dashed, no bill and no tip, vanished into the wind. You can hear Karkat stomping down the hall five minutes before he even gets into the room, and once he gets there oh boy he will Let You Know What The Problem Is. Why is Dave always provoking Karkat? Literally just to hear him yell because it’s so goddamn refreshing to know exactly with 100% certainty what someone is thinking, no irony, no bullshit, just genuine fucking refreshing annoyance. And for Karkat, well here’s the guy he’s always wanted to be, right? Cool and suave, the romcom hero who could smooth talk the paint off a wall. Only, Dave isn’t actually cool in the way he pretends to be, he’s not this smooth suave hero, he’s not even just a hero. He can’t be. He’s just…a kid. A kid like Karkat who has issues like Karkat and talks just as much when he’s nervous as Karkat and he’s relatable even though he’s trying not to be. He’s trying so hard to be what society wants from him he wants to be the tough guy with the sword but he’s just so not and that’s so refreshing! Karkat realizes he’s not the only one who’s trying to live up to some buttfuck impossiblestandards and he realizes…that’s okay. He doesn’t have to be anything he’s not. And they figure that out together.

So pardon me if I don’t understand how you can put Dave with John, or Jade, because they don’t fit. The narrative literally doesn’t benefit in any way for them to fit, and if it’s your personal preference then by all means go for it who am I to stop you, but there is no benefit to them being together. They will not grow from it, John is explicitly someone who doesn’t seem to focus or care much about romance even? And Jade has no concept of anything Dave has gone through, she couldn’t even begin to understand. Same with Terezi and Karkat, or Gamzee and Karkat or John and Karkat or whatever, Terezi likes quadrants. They make sense to her and she enjoys them, Karkat cannot bring himself to deal with with that and they’re so much happier as just friends. I’m not even getting into Gamzee, I’m not even gonna dip my toe into that discourse because everyone likes different characters for different reasons and I won’t begrudge you of that so I’m just gonna stay away. So again, if you ship those then that’s fine! Go for it! This is just an analysis of why the narrative, in my personal perspective, supports DaveKat and why I personally think they are good and healthy for each other and help each other grow as people.

[pettyotome]

Mystic Messenger Another Story: V Route Review

Spoilers undercut. Proceed with caution. :)

Okay! So I freaking loved just about everything in this route. It’s incredibly story packed with SO MUCH NEW CONTENT that was totally worth 300 HG. From the talented voice acting, new twists, and getting to know the characters-- Cheritz does not disappoint with this one! Don’t get me wrong, this route wasn’t perfect. There were a few things that fell below my expectations, but overall this route was wonderfully written and I’m replaying this shit after this review.

Prologue: So the introduction for this was very unique, same concept, but with a creative twist. When Unknown messages you for the first time, it actually feels like he’s breaking the fourth wall-- but technically he isn’t. I’ll get to that in a bit! He basically tells you to download the app under the pretense that you’ll be playing a dating sim-- but none of the character’s we’ve known up until this point are real. The MC in this route thinks they are AIs. Unknown’s characterization in this route is so different from the main stories because he’s actually much more tolerable. It honestly feels like they’re not the same person, I didn’t even care for Saeran up until this route so I really liked spending a lot of this route with him. 

Common Route: Day’s 1-4 are just heaven and hell all mixed together, on one hand you’re trying to make the game branch for V’s route so that you can get a happy ending, but on another hand-- Saeran, known as “Ray” takes you to this place to go play the game, and he is being such a huge sweetheart. I just wondered WHY would Cheritz make Ray act this was knowing that we’re supposed to pursue V!! It broke my heart bc I love the both of them. Through these days, you can see that V is the fastest one to accept you. Mostly because you dropped Rika’s name but still. V hopes the best from you and desperately wants you to be someone he can trust, so he starts showing up a lot more because of you, and you can also see that he sort of opens up, it’s very beautiful to see. And then there’s Ray, who gets attached to you a little too quickly here but he’s always caring about your well being. But don’t get too comfortable. Remember when I said he didn’t technically break the fourth wall earlier..? Well, as you go deeper into this route, the MC starts to feel that these characters are so real that it’s not even funny. And at the very end of the common route on day four, you start to question Ray-- your trust in him starts to waver at this point. At the very last second of his route, V shows up at Mint Eye to save you. He’s not an AI. Ray lied to you. It hurts Ray a lot to know that he’s lied to you more than it hurts the MC, depending on your choices but you’re basically torn bc V couldn’t save you from him but he swears that he’ll come back for you and LORD did this kill me.

V and Rika’s relationship: There was a big corner of the MM fandom that was reluctant to have a romantic V route because of V’s deep love for Rika-- how would Cheritz handle giving V and the MC 11 days to bond knowing that V is still recovering from an abusive relationship? Well, good news. Cheritz tackles this issue head on, no tip toeing around this situation. Days 5-10, when V comes to Mint Eye to save you, there is a scene where he is telling Rika that the two of them used to be obsessed with each other. Key word: obsessed. From the main story until now, V always thought that he loved Rika. This was one of my favorite scenes from this route because Cheritz KNEW what we wanted to be addressed while pursuing V and they delivered. And in the chats, V starts to come to the realization that he might have loved Rika at first, but then later what they had stopped being genuine and just became so unhealthy. He was blind to that at first, but then starts to see their relationship for what it really was with help from the MC. 

Romance: As to be expected, this is gonna take some time. Depending on your choices as the MC, you could either throw yourself at V, show him no respect and rush him to forget about RIka and date you-- or you could aid V through his pain and understand that he’s not a bad person for not being able to fully figure out what love is. V’s been dealing with a lot of Rika’s shit for the past six months. While he DOES actually fall in love with the MC, the two don’t even get together until day 11, which is set two years after the events of V’s route. And I loved that Cheritz handled the romance between V and the MC this way. 

Rika’s characterization and interactions with her: I’m the minority of the fandom that actually likes Rika. But I’m also the minority of that minority that wanted to beat her senseless for the shit she’s done. What I really liked about her in this route particularly was that you actually get to talk to her for yourself-- not through the RFA’s clouded image of her. I enjoyed reading the VN scenes where she talks to Jaehee and recruits other members in the RFA. Rika actually had some very cute moments and I lived for them! I empathized a lot with Rika about how she felt like she couldn’t show her dark side to her loved ones. Cheritz unraveled a much more detailed story of her and V’s relationship and answered the questions that were unanswered in the main story. BUT BOY DID THIS BITCH REALLY TRIED ME LIKE I WANTED TO DECK HER SO BAD BUT I FELT FOR HER PAIN. There were actually a lot of moments near the end where Rika chats with the RFA members and... man it breaks my heart to see her so hurt. And right after days 8/9, shit goes down at Mint Eye and for the first time we see that Rika actually actually does care for the people she’s manipulated and hurt-- Ray. In the main story, it seemed like she didn’t care for him that much outside of his loyalty to her and Mint Eye. But when there’s a bombing at Mint Eye and Ray seems to not have escaped-- she cries for him. She REALLY HOPED for him to find a place where he belonged and I’m really proud of Cheritz for showing us more of her emotions. 

V’s development: Let me just say that you gotta be HELLA PATIENT with this man. V means well, incredibly well, but he’s always carrying the burden of his emotional abuse and the RFA on his shoulders. You learn so many new things about how he met the members, his friendship with Jumin, and you get VNs from his mothers point of view! Not only did we get a completely new story, but we have so many new Jihyun details to gush over and it’s great that we got to see VNs of V as a kid, and how that affected his relationship with Rika. Basically, I felt like V’s relationship with Rika was to prepare him for real love-- love that he would have with the MC. In the beginning V is mourning, in denial, trying to hard to sacrifice himself so that nobody gets hurt. He’s stubborn and self-less to a huge fault. But in this route, you as the MC help him to learn how to love himself and care about himself more. it gets to a point where V shuts down Rika and hopes for her happiness-- but says that it’s over. That what they had was not love. V is finally standing his ground and he’s being so much more honest with himself and with Rika. He admits that he shared some faults within the relationship too, like how he suffocated her with love rather than face her mental illness realistically. And the way he wants to protect the MC from her is literally the best thing ever. V cares about you and is genuinely interested in you, telling you that you made him feel things not even Rika gave him. It’s a slow and frustrating development but the MC is patient enough to help him get there. I just love how V cherishes you so much, to the point where Rika has noticed that V has fallen in love with you. And even V knows this himself, but as I’ve said, the romance takes a lot of time but ultimately he chooses you in the end and comes out a much better person-- following his real dreams and being happy!

Other things: Yo Yoosung pissed me the fuck off a lot in this route bc it felt like he was trying to justify the shit Rika did just because of the good girl image he has of her, and although he does come to accept that she’s beyond saving and even drags her away from drugging people at the party in the end, it was so hard not to be mad at him in this route. But he’s someone I had to be patient with too. Yoosung is a good kid and I love him but he drops her name in this route more than he did his own and THAT’S saying something. I understood that he was grieving but he was dead tryna defend a criminal and that had me all the way fucked up. 

JUMINV!!!! Their friendship!!!! And the way Jumin kind of shipped you and V in the end is just the best thing ever, if anyone knows me, I’m a huge Jumin fan so seeing him accept and trust the MC and compliment her strengths had me swooning. OH AND WHEN JUMIN CHECKED RIKA IN THAT ONE CHAT ON DAY TEN, HE WAS BEING SUCH A SAVAGE I FUCKING LOVE THIS MAN. LIKE YES!!!! DEFEND YOUR BEST FRIEND!!!! 

Ray deserves to be happy. Ray deserves his own route. I wanna romance this man and help him escape from the Mint Eye ideology. WHY WOULD CHERITZ MAKE A V ROUTE AND THEN HAVE RAY BE SO SWEET TO US LIKE THIS I LOVE THE BOTH OF THEM SO MUCH BUT I HATED HAVING TO HURT RAY. 

Draw backs: I felt like Cheritz fell back on Rika’s backstory. When Rika tells you that she’s been bullied or that her parents didn’t love her-- I felt like Cheritz didn’t go into enough depth about it so it was hard to sympathize with vague ass stories. As a person whose been bullied and emotionally abused by my family, I felt like Rika didn’t explain enough of what happened to her and it really didn’t cut it for me. And I was also slightly disappointed that Cheritz built up Rika’s character so much only to give an anti-climatic ending where Rika is STILL up to her Mint Eye bullshit, trying to drug everyone at the party with an elixir, only to get dragged away by Yoosung. Which was probably the only good thing he did in this route if I’m being honest. I felt like we never got any answers as to what happened to Rika or Ray after the party and I hope those questions get answered in new V DLCs and After endings when Cheritz updates again. I’m also a little annoyed that 707 doesn’t find out that the hacker is actually his brother but maybe if Ray get’s a route, that would be addressed? I really hope so bc the route was so perfect up until then, bc it didn’t make sense that they never crossed paths in this route. But that’s pretty much all that bugged me.

In conclusion: Whooping Rika. JuminV. RFA shenanigans. RAY’S BLUE FLOWERS. And Jihyun Kim’s happiness!!!! This route was everything I expected it to be and so much more. It was so fucking emotional and had my heart hurting a lot for the past few days, but I’d do it all over again just to see Jihyun’s smile. Thank you, Cheritz. We truly don’t deserve such a good company. 

[bardicious]

Hello, I am as well back. lmao

Thank you so much for valuing my input and I value yours just as much! I am having a great time with all these discussions in general, like, so many people have such great ideas and thoughts. So I’m gonna keep it going bc I responded in my head a few times yesterday so I might as well write it down.

Thank you! <3 I also started responding in my head since I saw this. 😂 It's as Loki wills it, I'm sure.

I don’t find myself particularly caring for this dude in general, though, as a showrunner. I never watched Rick and Morty so I’m not familiar with his previous work, but idk, I just don’t really like what I’ve seen of him since Loki promotion started. I’m glad that, even though he’s showrunner, it’s clear that this production was a team effort and that team included Kate, Tom, and several writers and producers.

Listen, I love Rick and Morty a lot, it's a spectacular show, so well written, funny, with interesting ideas on alternate universes, time travel, other worlds, etc, it works well for what it is, an adult/sci-fi/comedy cartoon. But the Loki tv series is none of that?

First off, the comedy barely hits, imo, it comes off more cringy than anything, the time/alternate universe concept in this show is SO not well thought out, yet again I ask myself if a writer has done any research before hand or did they just want to insert their own bs into the story.

You see, Waldron knows how to write Rick, and in fact, the man even compares Rick to Loki in an article I just read. Let me tell you this now, Loki and Rick are nothing alike. Nothing. So the fact that he's seeing similarities between the two just shows he doesn't know shit. Rick might fit the general trickster archtype - going against norms, causing mischief with his antics, and has a high sense of importance, but Loki goes beyond that. And Waldron clearly did not care to actually watch anything previously.

Another possibility is that Waldron simply did not know how to write a live action or a show that had episodes extending over 20 minutes. There is barely any depth, just wacky hijinks, which may be the appeal of Rick and Morty, but has never been the appeal of Loki

Note: Waldron wrote the 4th season of Rick and Morty. And spoiler alert, you notice how Loki acts "drunk" basically all the time - at least in my opinion, that's totally a Rick trait. What I'm getting at is Waldron only knows how to write Rick and Morty, and it shows.

Which is another thing I like about the show, actually, is that it feels like a real team effort as opposed to the way Ragnarok felt like only Taika’s (and Chris’s) effort and IW/Endgame felt like only the Russos.’ There’s not too much of any one person’s influence here; some aspects may feel more like they came from a woman director or from Tom’s well of Loki meta or from the showrunner’s preference for the zany but overall it holds up as a cohesive product despite being molded by many hands.

Completely agreed! I'm definitely getting the same vibes. Where as I dont like the writing or dialogue for this, the rest of the show and characters still feel like they're being respectful? Or actually trying to do a good job... not stick it to Marvel or some inane crap like that.

I like everyone else but Waldron it seems, and hey, thats not so bad considering the previous Thor movie. I'll take what I can get. Like, this doesn't feel like Loki fans being insulted, this feels like, who dropped the ball on this one? I do blame Ragnarok for setting this standard of Loki.

It’s a shame bc for a greedy corporation that is all about the $$$, they may not even realize what a goldmine they’re sitting on. Like, I would gladly - gladly! - part with some of my hard-earned money to see an on-screen romance between Loki and Thor another man play out. I’d even pay for just a Loki kissing scene in general, but the gayer, the better. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Same. 😂 Though less Thor for me, and perhaps Heimdallr. LMAO. Yes, you heard that right. I think I would have lost my shit if he had something with Heimdallr. I'd settle for Mobius, but I prefer them as friends.

I agree. For me, part of the difficulty swallowing the ooc bits - in addition to just feeling overall cringey about the drinking scene and Loki fucking things up for himself and Sylvie (and, therefore, coming across as incompetent [not for the first time]), the dialogue felt kind of off once he and Sylvie started talking. On the one hand, if you think about it, they are literally one another so I imagine there’s that immediate sense of familiarity and security in being able to open up to them quickly but, on the other hand, the Sylvie variant seems so far removed from our Loki variant that they may as well be strangers.

So for Loki to initiate a “let’s get to know each other like this is a first date” convo was hard for me to swallow. Not impossible, but hard. He felt a lot less like Loki than he felt like an OC Tom was playing. Which is another thing that has been bothering me - usually Tom just completely disappears into Loki but in this show so far, I’ve oscillated between seeing Loki and seeing Tom playing Loki. It’s very jarring. And also this version of Loki has become so far removed from his Avengers self.

Yeah, that's a pretty good way to think about it too, I feel. I say run with your interpretations of the scenes, by the way. If you like them, stick with them. <3 The writer be damned.

And so agreed on this. I think Tom works with what he's given to the best of his ability, but if someone is out there going "hey exaggerate this more please" than he will do it. There's only so much he can do. I mean, I dont know how much input he has in this, he knows Loki well, so I'm doubtful he would be in charge whatever the fuck is happening with his general ooc-ness? -shrugs- I dont know.

This is one of the parts of this thread that I kept thinking about yesterday, lmao. To be honest, I don’t know! The thing about Ragnarok Loki is that I don’t have as much of a problem with his characterization itself as I do with the plot/character arc inconsistencies in general, in addition to Loki clearly being placed in a position where he’s meant to look inferior to Thor. A lot of the ooc/underpowering issues, when looked at through the lens of 'let’s not let this character steal Thor’s thunder (heh) like he did in TDW,’ feel less significant somehow? I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like, I dislike the way that the narrative treats Loki and the validity of his issues, and I dislike the plot holes and the (what I see as) general laziness of the film as a whole., so when I criticize Ragnarok, it’s less a criticism of “this Loki is so ooc, wtf!” and more “damn, they didn’t have to go this hard on retconning Loki to make Thor look better, wtf.”

In that sense, he’s more ooc here than in Ragnarok bc we don’t have that same narrative context. This is Loki’s story. They don’t have to worry about him overshadowing anyone or stealing the show bc he’s the main character. He’s also not the villain and shouldn’t, therefore, be framed in a negative light. At least, not without payoff for it, which we still may get. But on the other side of the coin, there have been a ton of moments and instances where he does feel like Loki, and in addition to that we finally, as an audience, get to see what he’s actually capable of both intellectually and magically, and those are things we were never going to see on-screen otherwise. So I guess I consider the ooc aspects of both this portrayal and Ragnarok’s portrayal as more or less equivalent but in different ways. If that makes sense?

Agreed to everything.

To be honest, the more I think about it and the more I see others’ takes, I no longer think that the scene was meant to be framed as romantic as I initially thought. I was looking at it with the “first date, getting to know you” vibes of their conversation that I mentioned above, plus the subject matter - each of them admitting they’d never found anything real with a romantic partner, and “what is love” baby don’t hurt me in general. And when Loki sang the slow part of the song, there was just some very intense eye contact and focus on Sylvie, followed by the “I figured out what love is” while they were all up in each other’s space and Loki’s waxing poetic about love being a dagger? (Which felt straight out of fanfic and I am almost 90% in all seriousness convinced that Tom or someone has an AO3 and/or tumblr account but that’s another topic lmfao.) I jumped right to romance.

No, I think you might be right. I mean, we wont know for sure till the rest of the season airs, but you're not the only one who saw it as romantic and it just makes sense if they make her someone other than Loki. It's a very big possibility, really.

Oh most definitely. This show is riddled with fanfic situations. I cant remember what happened in the last episode, but I swear to god I was thinking "wait... didn't I read this somewhere?" No fucking joke. If I remember what specific scene it was, I'll tell you. I'm losing my mind. LMAO.

But if you consider that they are each a variant of one another (or have some kind of backstory? I’m curious about your Sylvie theory!) and therefore are familiar with or feel familiar with one another immediately, then the conversation and the physical closeness makes sense too - plus, after having seen translations of what Loki was singing, it now feels more to me like either he was watching Sylvie to see if she recognized the song bc it had some importance or significance to him and/or Asgard as home, as well as just including her in his general ennui about what he’s lost (she represents potential, I think, in how his life could have been and that’s also another topic that I haven’t fully worked out yet).

Aww!!!! I really like that. omg. I didn't think he would be checking to see if she recognized it. That is definitely going in my headcanons. So cute. Great explanation.

And wooh! Okay. Bear in mind, I love the idea of Loki getting a cute kid who looks up to him, I've literally plotted out several fic ideas with that premise. So my theory is biased as all hell and will likely prevail just like the Helason theory for me. 😂 Also we're assuming she's not a Loki in this theory.

So this is the way I see it:

Sylvie knows Loki, she's familiar with him, she cares for him, even though she pretends not to. You can see it from the way she sometimes stares at him fondly, the way she holds him, maybe thats why she left the door open (and not just bad writing lmao), she interacts with him like she knows him, she has his clothes even, and a broken horned tiara.

Sylvie says she's been fighting the TVA her "whole life". That certainly hasn't been true for Loki, she says she was told of her heritage but she doesn't express any emotion of it, nor does she use any jotunn powers, hell, does she use any power other than the mind wammy? I genuinely can't remember. But she knows how to fight.

In the comics, Sylvie was gifted her powers by Loki. (so I'm told) And we know Richard E. Grant will be in the TV series, an actor that looks suspiciously like an older Loki would look. But you wont find him identified in imdb. The common speculation is that he will be King Loki - older Loki, maybe more sinister?

There's also information going around that we will see a young Sylvie. And I just dont get why we would need to see a young Sylvie when we can see our Young Loki. I think there will be a flashback to when she was younger and there may be an interaction between her and King Loki.

King Loki, I theorize, could be someone who took her in, gave her those powers, and raised her, perhaps King Loki was fighting the TVA? Or maybe Sylvie was a variant that he saved and raised? None the less, she fought the TVA afterwards, perhaps Sylvie giving that little girl some candy in episode 1 might end up being a reference to a similar situation with herself?

So with this, we have a reason why Sylvie is familiar with Loki, why she seems fond of him, why she doesn't have the same powers even, and none of the emotional attachment that Loki has. (Making your comment about the song even cuter to me, because omg, imagine a little kid Sylvie being sung to by her adoptive father Loki??? I'm sorry, can you tell I am really invested in this? 😔)

And there we have that. I'm not exactly expecting this at all. But if it does happen I am going to screech in joy. LMAO. This will probably be a fanfic one day for sure, though. So I'm happy with that. 😂

Also, the banter immediately following the love metaphor (“Damn I thought I had something”) struck the right tone; it didn’t undermine the metaphor or feel out of place, but it did lighten the moment and shift Loki and Sylvie back into that familial, almost sibling-like dynamic as opposed to a romantic one. So, yeah, I kinda changed my mind lmfao.

Yep! I liked that too! :)

Not to make it weird, but I love you. That’s so awful and hilarious, lmao.

😘

Allow me to extend even more apologies for this response being longer than the initial one fml. But thank you for indulging me!

Seriously, no apologies necessary. Freaking love talking about Loki. And thank you for letting me share my theory and letting me admit that I'm Loki/Heimdallr trash. 😔 You didn't ask for it, but I gave it to you anyway. LMAO

Same rules apply for me! If this is too long for you, it's okay to not respond. ❤

Loki S1E3 Spoilers

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First, I want to start by saying, I clearly have issues, because my heart wouldn't stop beating in excitement till I watched the episode. lmao. Loki is literally the only thing that gets me this excited even if I have reservations about the show, anyway.

Thank you creators of the Loki series for confirming that Loki is bi/pan? (The comment about him being with princes and princesses! Wooooh!!) I'm literally so freaking happy about that. I know it's a crumb, but I'll take it. (Which makes me even more peeved about what Waldron said, because hello? Why the fuck can't Loki like Mobius like that then? His comment still comes across as homophobic*)

*comment about how people in the Loki fandom will take Loki and Mobius' relationship the "wrong way". As less friendship and more romantic. As if judging them for being silly fangirls- might be wrong, I didn't see the comment personally, I heard people talking about it.

I'm still not convinced she's a Loki who simply changed her name to Sylvie. She's always lying. lmao. But omg! I love her as Sylvie! I wasn't sure with the first episode she appeared in, for a Loki she came off as ooc (but to be fair, Loki's also ooc in this show) but she's got so much personality, and she's such an interesting character! I look forward to finding out what she's actually about. Cause I agree with Loki, another Loki wouldn't have such trouble identifying with being Loki.

Next thing is, Loki is still ooc as stated before. Sylvie calls him a clown because he was drunk, but I barely noticed a difference? Meta wise, it's interesting to watch Loki get shit faced drunk because he's not dealing with the death of everyone he loves and how nothing really matters well. (lmao, like wow, I dont even have to project on to Loki anymore, he's literally just becoming me)

Tom/Loki singing!! Confirmed Loki's got a beautiful voice. Speaking of which, who ever was in charge of music, literally has the same taste as me. Like it's freaky. I haven't heard a song from there that I didn't want to jam on my playlist with.

I miss Mobius already. 😔 The news of all those people having lives before the TVA isn't surprising, I basically suspected after Mobius' talk about the jet ski - he's probably from that time in human history - also is Mobius human??? omg. The other tip off was the other TVA officer asking if it was real. It's messed up, I like it. But also not particularly jaw dropping writing wise.

Loki getting to use his magic! He's not using much of it, which is weird, depending on what they will do with it. I mean, you can use the excuse that he was drunk (but imo, that would make him use it more I feel - if he's just refraining from using it). I've always had the headcanon that Thanos severally injured Loki to the point where his magic could no longer work as well as it did. Like it's still there, but he has a tougher time accesses it. (This was me attempting to cope with the lack of magic from Loki in all his mcu entirety - and works extra because of how angsty it is)

That said, I'm happy for what we saw, which was energy blasts, telekinetic, illusion-shifting, teleportation. Oh, and he's obviously downplaying a lot of his skills constantly. When we see him fighting Sylvie, and losing, only for a second later to get the upper hand on her. He's probably doing that with everything honestly. If I were more optimistic, I'd say that's what he's doing with his personality, but like, lmao, that ship has sailed, much like the one in the show didn't.

When the ship broke, it broke my heart, all those people that had hope to get out of that planet, and all the ones down below that were being left to die (Wait, this is just the Titanic but in space.) I do get the impression that Loki's fighting back some kind of flashbacks - which ALSO works in my favor because I have that headcanon of Loki witnessing Thanos murdering everyone on some planets.

Lastly, the turtleneck has shown itself, uh, meaning that scene in the trailer wasn't the end? Can't remember what the speculation around it was, but now I know I dont have any hopes for the end. lmao. Honestly, I would prefer that Loki be in his own team with Mobius, Sylvie, Hunter B-15 - or whatever her actual name will be, Casey, and possibly Ravonna - not sure which way she's leaning towards yet.

I just want Loki to have a found family okay? And he'll clearly never get that with the rest of the mcu. (Even if this is an ooc Loki, I can have fun imagining original Loki interacting with these people. Lmao, he would die of exasperation)

That's that on that. Loved the visuals, thought the writing - dialogue and scenes were a bit meh, the general idea of the episode is great, and the ending was so sad. 😭

[notebookmusical]

i am honestly still reeling from the whirlwind that was the last 36 hours. it feels like a dream, and i don’t think that’s completely because i am so incredibly sleep deprived and exhausted - and so i apologize if this is full of incoherent rambling because really, all my thoughts about roman holiday is just !!!!! 

this is mostly for myself, but i know other people have asked me about my thoughts and i’m too lazy to repeat myself 80 times SO -- 

thoughts under the cut ! 

this was my second time seeing a show in san francisco, but my first time at the golden gate theatre & my first time going to a city to specifically see a show - so that was interesting. i will say that the theatre, as beautiful as it was, felt a little too large ( and i was sitting in the orchestra for such an ... intimate show - which has also been discussed on the broadwayworld boards ) . 

it wasn’t as full as i had expected it to be? i ended up moving seats twice; once just two seats over so i was in the aisle seat since i was initially sitting pretty off to the right, and then after intermission a few rows up and center. 

the initial set was pretty. it wasn’t EXTRAVAGANT or MINDBLOWING but it was pretty. it almost reminded me of the halls of arendelle castle. i really liked how they had ann on a staircase, and then had her recite her speech, with projections of different cities on the wall. what was a little lackluster in set was definitely made up through projections throughout the show. and i did like the set; i have nothing against it, it just didn’t blow me away.

“and ... here ... celebrating the final stop of my inaugural tour at my nation’s embassy in your magnificent country in its unforgettable capital, totally unforgettable capital...” “rome” “... ROME !” was just so so so funny - not to mention, stephanie’s accent has definitely improved since preview audio ! she has a very Audrey voice and both mom & i gave her ALL THE PROPS for that. honestly i can’t see anyone, aside from Audrey & stephanie playing the role of ann.

i think they need a bigger orchestra. the orchestrations were lovely; i just wish they had a bigger orchestra and i hope they do go to broadway & get that because i can’t even begin to imagine how wonderful it’d sound then.

instead of the Iconic scene with Princess Ann taking one of her shoes off, they skip that and go straight to her dancing/socializing and that’s totally fine. i did miss that scene, because it was one of my favourites but wasn’t too upset in the end. to be honest, i think showing ann running around, trying to talk to everyone and dance was more effective of the strain/stress/toll that this tour had on the young princess than having her take her shoes off. so i do get it. when ann goes into her room, and she gets into her robe & starts talking about how bored she was & how painful her feet were, it was believable because of the above scene; i don’t think that having that iconic scene would’ve emphasized the boredom. stephanie’s faces are absolutely wonderful in this scene too. 

when georgia engel came out, there was SO MUCH APPLAUSE !!! it made me super happy. she totally killed all her lines and that was definitely needed comic relief. i’m also really glad they had her play ann’s aunt/the countess, because ann definitely read as really isolated in the movie; with no family mentioned and such. 

when gretchen starts discussing the schedule, stephanie’s thank you/no thank you voice literally sounded the same as Audrey’s. honestly impeccable. there’s a line about how ann will visit the orphans and ann is just like “where i will be presented with an or....phan....” and it’s honestly super funny

they definitely emphasize the boring thing, especially since ann has this line about how “i give the same speech every day it’s so boring I’M SO BORING LOOK AT THE PEOPLE OUT THERE DANCING IN THE CAFE”, etc. and it gives ann this depth that we didn’t really see before? like it was hinted at in the movie but now it’s explicit and this is what’s really driving her; not just the desire to go see the world and do something that isn’t on the schedule FOR ONCE but also because she’s so terribly afraid of being BORING.

there’s a line that her aunt says about how they’re royalty & “the rules are different for you and me” which is a subtle reminder !! but also real sad because they end up repeating this line later and it makes my heart hurt.

ann says “maybe they should change the rules, maybe i will change the rules” and honestly even though i know this movie and i know what will happen i’m already rooting for them again and you can tell that ann wants to do something DIFFERENT for her country already :”)

there’s a part about ann wanting a romance like she sees in those screen romances and she holds up a magazine and her aunt is just like settle down and tells the gretchen to cancel her subscriptions ACTUALLY JUST CHANGE THEM TO MY NAME honestly the aunt was so funny im still dying about it

stephanie singing why shouldn’t i is so lovely ( actually steph singing all the songs was just lovely ) 

okay this is taking way too long and i’m getting lazy so this will be shorter points from now on

i liked the experiment ballet but also was kinda confused by it ?? 

i appreciated the irving/francesca sideplot; it was a nice contrast/foil, but it needs to be developed a bit more imo? 

i didn’t get the point in having francesca know ann’s secret, especially since it isn’t revisited later. 

i appreciate that they gave joe/irving more of a backstory (esp. with how they met) but miss a lot of their fun banter. 

they add a lot more touchy/feely stuff for ann/joe and it was super cute to watch the build up ; like joe actually picks ann up in the park, he tries to move her onto his couch etc. it’s super cute. 

i really liked how experiment was staged; it reminded me of belle from batb

there's a line where ann asks joe what he does and he's like I DO SALES and she's like would i buy something from you and he's like yeah i sell pens and pencils which makes the school excuse so much more funnier tbh

the mouth of truth scene was super cute too :”) i’m so glad they kept that in the show

the vespa scene is STUNNING and so are the projections literally STILL DYING

literally deceased over the fountain where wishes come true part and i just !!  that staging. the acting. joe’s voice gets SO SOFT around her it’s just :”) so much

i love let’s step out but it felt weird for ... a princess ... to sing ... ??? but stephanie does a great job w/ the comedy of it all

jarrod spector did a wonderful job of night and day and it was just SO CUTE 

ridin’ high was such a cute song. the one thing i’ll say is that i wish there was a cute duet between joe and ann; or like an easy to love reprise even. that’d be nice. i guess use your imagination was the cute duet but ?? i would’ve liked something more. 

the broken vespa part + the argument made me laugh a lot.

also got real stressed when joe almost got found out :/ 

it really hurt my heart to kNOW WHAT HAPPENS/JOE’S INTENSIONS AND HERE ANN BE LIKE UR THE MOST UNSELFISH PERSON I’VE EVER MET 

drew does such a wonderful job of singing easy to love honestly i need a cast recording RIGHT NOW

they hold hands for the FIRST TIME when he walks her to the gate and then they FINALLY KISS AND THEN SHE KISSES HIM AGAIN AND THEN SHE RUNS OFF AND MY HEART HURT

ok i need to stop typing bc im real tired and emotional and i may cry again ok 

stagedoor thoughts

i  pretty much left after steph came out because i was SO exhausted from traveling but oh my goodness meeting her was so lovely like. she saw me and was all OH MY GOD COSSETTE HI and then hugged me a few times and said something about how she can’t stop hugging me and then she thanked me for being one of the first, and she remembered sitting in schnectady on her birthday and getting my present and then she was talking about how grateful she was and how good it is to finally meet me and then she hugged me a bit more, said my outfit was audrey chic, asked if that was my mom and how my mom liked the show, asked how /i/ was and i was like “i’m exhausted i flew in earlier” and she was like "you’re the person who told me that it’s cole porter’s BIRTHDAY today i saw it on instagram” and how she had no idea and started running around the theatre screaming that it’s cole porter’s birthday after and then said how nice it was to meet me again and then asked if she could please sign my playbill and thanked me for coming, said how glad she was that we finally met, and then said she hopes to be in seattle soon either doing a show or visiting since her goddaughter lives there and then asked if we could get photos so !! 

x mom got part of the interaction 

i AM FINE I AM NOT CRYING OK

[semiconducting]

okay so i wanna give my share of thoughts on wonder woman!!

spoilers under the cut lmao

alright so? holy shit first of all i absolutely loved it to death i was sitting there talking to my best friend who went to see it with me the entire time and just. screaming abt it honestly my mom told me to quiet down a couple of times lmao

so i suppose like it’s a very similar story to the 2009 animated film (though im sure this is kind of a staple plotline for wonder woman leaving themyscira and all, it’s been done a lot, it’s just a part of her story) except it was like. actually done well.

so to begin i really do love how they portrayed the amazons and themyscira, it was so beautiful and i loooove all the diverse women of all colours there. like it made my heart sing thank GOD. i do wish more of them had speaking roles, but i suppose i understand it being partially focused strictly on diana and her becoming a warrior or w/e between antiope’s encouragement and hippolyta’s dismay. but it would have been nice. i do wish to see more of the amazon mythos in films honestly because as entertaining as her adventures with the justice league and such are, i really want there to be more emphasize how crucial they are to who she is! she’s the child of the amazons my dude

also the island itself does remind me of living/touring in europe and i also really hope they based some of it off of turkish architecture? since themyscira is placed in turkey. but idk man.

the scenes with the germans coming to themyscira and how they portrayed the mirage/cloak/whatever was super cool, honestly. cheesy-ish but fun. i loved introducing steve and showing the amazons ready to fight. the bit with the first bullet killing one of them literally got a verbal reaction out of me and the battle was sooooo fucking COOL. as much as i hate war/brutal death scenes, just for my own reasons, it was quick and also just. really what it should have been.

antiope’s death really kinda pissed me off but i just am not a fan of death so early in a film to fuel a character idk. idk man. i guess i should’ve expected especially bc i recognized her tiara as the one diana wears so it. it was there.

i’m glad that she got a role, for sure, but ngl i thought she was supposed to be artemis at first and im kinda disappointed that artemis wasn’t. there. but i mean i love artemis so dsfjd

steve was genuinely good in this film. and i mean really, really good. i’ve never really liked steve trevor, a lot of the times because hes just a boring “charming” soldier (thinking dcau justice league) or a sexist, not-all-men type fucker (ww 2009) and just. ew. but in this film he was like, genuinely funny and sweet and really worth being the love interest. i love that he never took her naivety to take advantage of her, as simple a concept it sounds but it was something that made me smile especially because i just. tensed up at every opportunity that it could have happened. and it didn’t. bless.

the romance was so gradual, it wasn’t a priority, it didn’t take over the plot and the little bits were so cute and it was like? actually likable? holy shit

i REALLY loved doctor poison and god i wish she got so much more screentime than fucken. ludendorf? :/ but every scene with her was amazing i LOOOOVE her mask design and shit, i really wish we could’ve expanded more on her and i would soooo appreciate having just. extra scenes with more on her working/the experiments because that was SO fucked up and well done. a perfect placement for world war i, too, since chemical warfare a huge part of it and all

also i dig the wwi backdrop? wonder woman fighting in a world war is always something that i need in my wondy mythos, though i always figured it was world war ii because of the comics originating in that time period and whatnot.

it, however, was a great choice as a background for the grey-morality plotline, and showing that all sides of war are flawed. instead of world war ii, which, frankly, the nazis should and always should be seen as objectively bad from any standpoint, and standing against them is not.

but yes! grey-morality was very well done here and it’s great to pair with a newly-introduced-to-the-world wonder woman. like GOD i hate born-sexy-yesterday troped wonder woman because it is so so so easy to paint her that way, but just so wrong. she’s not stupid or clueless, and it bugs the hell out of me because it just. throws her as a man-hating violent “feminist” or w/e and just. hlfgh.

however they didnt do that here, while still keeping her naive to introduce that whole grey morality and choosing whats right for yourself, not because everyone is objectively good and one bad man can be stopped to save everyone. her innocence wasnt just because she was amazonian in “man’s world,” because she was shown to be naive and ideological with the amazons themselves as well. it made all the difference and settled one of my biggest fears for this movie

by the way! the clothes scenes and bits with etta were so cute! etta candy was ABSOLUTELY adorable and such a good part of the film, thank god.

also in general it was so pretty? the scenes were so well done and the cinematography was GORGEOUS especially the fight scenes. fuck man fight scenes are so good on the eyes. the choreography was great, i digged the occasional cartoony punch-drop bit? im sure theres a name for the trope but idk how to describe it. also i know so many people have issues with the slo-mo but honestly it didn’t bother me at all, it didn’t feel cheesy to me and i actually thought they did wonderfully by timing it right to place such good emphasis on it? also all the flips and take downs and fUCK man im jsut. oooo i cant wait to watch that again.

also the jumping on shields/that shingle the boys were holding up for her? good fuckin. fuck. AAAAAAAAAA

and goodness diana was so cute. her gasping and going “a babyyyy!!” made me smile oomg. and the ice cream bit. i love the wonder woman ice cream bit she’s so fucking cute. mhm. i love her constant protesting and not quieting the fuck down when steve was trying to reason with her, like she just. it’s so refreshing to see, yknow? and always proving everyone wrong and choosing to save everyone when she’s told she can’t. goooooood that’s a wonder woman i love.

her saving the village and all the celebration was adorable too. but it made the death all the more heartbreaking and just. :(

i’m so glad they made diana a bringer of peace, because any war-mongering wonder woman just isnt her in my books. like i dont mind her not having a no-kill rule? it is necessary sometimes. but she won’t perpetuate an unnecessary fight. war must be stopped. all that. yeah.

which brings me to ares. i feel like the plot twist could’ve brought more hints, because there was no indication that the peace-brokering brit should’ve been the god of war. it kinda made me just. :/ it was pretty clear ludendorf wasnt gonna be him, but i didnt like whatshisface to be ares. sure i dont mind the whole, he inspires war but doesnt control it i suppose, but to literally be a peace-advocate? kinda defeats his purpose imo.

also good guy zeus. lmfao. anyway

speaking of zeus fuck did i not enjoy diana ~ACTUALLY BEING THE DAUGHTER OF ZEUS~ i was afraid it would come and i was so sad to see them take being molded from clay away from her. it made me roll my eyes. stop doing this to her tbh let her not have a ~manly~ influence, tbh? like i just read someone else’s review that mentioned a better take would’ve been to make her an incarnate of athena and like. yeah? yeah. no look i want my wonder woman completely originating free of any man’s influence.

oo and also. the guys she ran around with. idk what to call them but sameer the chief and charlie. they were absolutely adorable, honestly? they were well rounded, enjoyable characters with depth and i appreciate them being flawed. best sidekicks she could have for this movie, tbh. i really REALLY enjoyed sameer being there, because shit! not a total translation but any bit of representation of a race similar to mine is greatly appreciated. also the over-exaggerated stereotype when they were sneaking into the party? great. loved it. made me laugh so hard. 

also they were REALLY daring with recognizing the whole, fuckin, white man taking from the native americans shit? damn. that was unexpected but appreciated. 

and charlie was cute, the whole singing part was so sweet a bit of his character and i love how they portrayed his ptsd. it’s ugly, it’s not poetic or anything, it’s very realistic and i love what they did with it.

also the music was absolutely beautiful and i lost my mind every time wonder woman’s theme came up. dude. good shit.

anyway i’ve run out of steam and coherence but it was a fantastic movie, 9.5/10, i definitely recommend going to watch it. it was such a satisfying way to finally place her on the big screen and just incredibly well done. bravo to everyone who was involved.