#i can see why the writers would make it happen to extend the shows plot

[buddiedaydreamer911]

am i the only one who doesn’t like the eddie x priest trend going around???

i fully believe that would just ruin the buck/eddie situation. like, yeah i understand that buck dated tommy first so it’s only fair that eddie gets to date someone else too.

but on a real note- it’s always been understood (at least on my tumblr feed) that this is how the buddie dynamic works.

buck needs to realize his sexuality before he realizes he’s in love with eddie. eddie needs to realize he’s in love with buck before he can realize his sexuality.

if eddie learns he’s not straight because of a crush/date/hookup with the priest- then we’re just in a never ending loop of “these two idiots” just constantly missing each other.

[erinwantstowrite]

THE CIRCLE MYSTERY!!!

in case you're unfamiliar with my page, here is some context for this post:

a few months ago, i wanted to try my hand at a mystery plot, and began looking for a circle mystery plot diagram that i had written down a year or so prior... but i couldn't find it. i SWORE i had it somewhere. i knew that i had left the notebook on my shelf along with all my other notebooks. it was a little black journal that i didn't use very often, but it still had some important notes inside. but it wasn't there on my shelf, or any other shelf in the house. it was like it had vanished, and i started to doubt my memory.

i figured not all was lost. sure, the journal was gone, but someone would be able to help me find this circle diagram.

NO.

no one could figure out what the hell i was talking about, not without lack of trying. many tried to help me, to figure out this mystery with me. "the circle went outwards" i said, but all i could find was the rotating clockwise circle plot diagram that was not mystery specific.

no matter what i did, i couldn't find the original source online. i phrased it in many different ways, but it was a dead end. with no journal, no online source, and no one understanding what i was talking about, the circle mystery formula... remained a mystery. many concluded that i likely made this circle diagram myself and then forgot about it entirely, but that's up in the air.

well, a couple weeks ago, i found the circle mystery plot i was looking for.

it was not the actual physical note, but a picture i had taken before seemingly losing the notebook/journal that it was in. it showed only the circle diagram with a couple of minimal notes on the sides. i have yet to find that journal, it remains missing to this day. one day i might find the physical copy with the notes that were underneath it but alas, at this point in time, i only had the circle to work off of.

but it was enough!!! just having the circle was enough for me to make this beauty, of who i will share with you now:

as you can see, it's not all that complicated. it breaks down only a few simple key elements of figuring out a mystery, not plot wise, but investigation wise. "crime and victim, motive, method, opportunity, and suspects." CVM and MOS is what i call that for short but that might be lame

basically, it's the 5 w's.

that's it.

this whole time, it was the 5 w's "Who, What, Where, When, and Why" (except with terms that would be used in an actual investigation), laid out into a diagram that extends outwards where you put your points on the circle rings to connect. this could also easily be a venn diagram, but i remember liking that it extended outwards and was in a line rather than in groupings.

it's extremely simple, too, so it's been annoying me that i could forget it when i needed it most. that being said, it's in the past, now, and it's here, and now i want to talk about the points

CVM and MOS

crime and victim. this is always where you start.

look, you might start your plot right in the thick of it with a suspect having already been revealed and the entire plot is that your character has to prove why and how they did it. but it's up to you, the writer, to explain how they got to this point. which means you need to know how it works in the original order before being able to write this plot that way.

a crime has been committed- what crime? murder? robbery? this is your first question, or statement. what i mean by that is are you telling your readers "This has happened." or is the plot/character/reader asking "What happened?"

and victim- who was it that was affected? if it's a murder, you have to identify the person that was killed before you can get into anything. if it's another crime like a robbery, then what was stolen? this is the phase where your investigator goes looking into the details of the victim. which means you need to know your victim.

your investigator and you are on the same side here. both of you need to know their daily ins and outs, you need to have character witnesses from friends and family, you need to get a glimpse into who they were when it was just them around. maybe a diary or look at their bedroom to give a statement as to how they were feeling and how they occupied the space they were in. maybe online records, because their activity can give you pieces of the puzzle. even if this is not completely revealed to readers (though in my opinion, this part is very needed in order to have your reader feel for the victim), you as the author need to have that mindset. you need to know who they were and what their life was like even if your investigator never gets around to knowing this.

because it leads directly into your suspect pool.

mystery plots are all about the connections, the drama, the details. your victim is dead, and your investigator is looking into their lives. you could, honestly, play it really well with the victim and the investigator being the main focus. a good example of this is that one episode of Bones where Temperance Brennan is listening to the voice recordings of a murdered woman she starts to see a lot of herself in. Brennan is seeing the bones of this woman and trying to find out what happened to her with all that is left, and she's also listening to her voice, and we don't see a lot of the suspect in this case (for good reason).

((honestly, this might just be me saying you should go watch Bones.))

but, in most cases, your suspects are the main source of entertainment. so you need to know your victim, and by extension, know your suspects.

all of your potential murderers (or whatever plot you're writing) go on the outside ring not because they are last in your investigation, but because you would work inside the suspect pool. kind of a visual aspect to show they're connected to the center, which is your crime/victim (which, again, could be changed for a different type of mystery. this section is just the Big Reason for the mystery to get started. or the Big Question.)

you get your suspects through the character reveal phase of your mystery, though they can also be revealed because of the setting. like in Clue, or in that new show, The Residence (go watch it), where a murder has happened in a house where only a select few people could have done it.

who are the people that had bad blood with this person? who are the ones that have something to gain from that person's death? or, even, who are the people that just wanted to do it?

motive.

if you want your mystery to be solved, you have to have a motive. a reason as to why this happened, even if it was a fit of unplanned rage. this part is crucial not just from an entertainment standpoint in your story, but for later on in a prosecution phase in real life. a jury might find it hard to convict someone if a prosecutor can't give a motive for why they'd do it. in this case, you are the prosecutor and your readers are the jury. if you want your reader to believe that this person could have done it, you have to give a motive.

but it's not the most important part. the most important is the how.

the method of the crime tells a lot about the person that did it. take a look at Criminal Minds, and how they make a profile for the killers. granted, they have more to work with because there are multiple murders. but you can get a basic idea with just the one.

from an investigative standpoint, you have to figure out how something happened to get a clue into the character of the murderer. which of your suspects has the ability not to get sick at the sight of blood? which suspect is smart enough to plan it out? which suspect would have the temper to grab the nearest heavy object as their weapon?

so you look at your crime, you get an idea of the method, and you can eye your suspect pool to match who is the most likely to commit in this way.

and last, opportunity.

this is where an alibi comes in. "I couldn't have done it because I was at my son's birthday party! ask anyone!" sounds pretty good. until you find out the suspect mysteriously was in the bathroom at that party for a couple of hours and came back wearing different clothes.

your suspects have to have the opportunity, or they have to have the alibi. were they there around the time? do they have a key to the house? do they know that the window on the first floor never locks? did they have the time to do it? even if they have something that looked like an opportunity, they might have an alibi.

from there, it's all about putting down your dots. which character has the motive, could pull off the method, and had the opportunity?

however... you could have multiple characters hit the MMO. what happens then?

you could drill these characters in an interrogation (could or could not be in an actual interrogation setting) and get a confession out of one of them, OR you could have your characters go looking for that sweet, sweet key evidence that cinches it all together and ties one of the suspects to the crime. or, maybe in a plot twist, ties both suspects to have committed the crime together.

(in real life, though, having a confession and key evidence is for the best. it makes it hard for a defense team)

this is your standing out point, and would definitely be your last big crescendo for the story. this episode of Brooklynn 99 is honestly the best example (in fiction) i could come up with right now for an interrogation where you get a confession out of someone. oh, and legally blonde! can't forget elle wood's breakthough (if you haven't watched legally blonde and you click that link and get yourself spoiled instead of sitting down and watching the whole thing, i am frowning at you in disappointment right now. shaking my head and everything).

when it comes to both evidence and interrogation... go watch The Residence (Netflix... or pirate). the last episode is brilliant and it's well worth the watch. Detective Cupp was so much fun and it sucks more people aren't talking about it.

i think i should stop yapping now, because that about covers what i came here to write. hopefully this stupid circle helps somebody out

[dbacklot99]

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About The Crow Road, But Couldn't Get Through it To Find Out

Co-written by dbacklot and cheeseplants

WARNING: SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!

Overall Premise: Books are clearly important to Good Omens and the team have left us Clues. In S2E2, the xray trivia highlights a list of books they would like the audience to read. But even more specifically, there are names of certain books on the back of the chairs in the theater in the opening credits. Those books are: The Tale of Two Cities, Pride & Prejudice, and The Crow Road - twice!

What might this mean? One theory is that the chairs represent the seasons. The body swap in S1 is similar to how Carton, in Tale of Two Cities, takes his doppleganger's place in jail, sacrificing his life so Darnay could go free and be with his family. Pride & Prejudice is clearly referenced in S2, with Crowley's proposal as a sort of mirror to Darcy's first proposal. (There's probably a whole lot more to unpack there - and if you like Austen, here are some thoughts about Aziraphale's favorite book, Persuasion, and how it may relate to the characters.)

BACK to The Crow Road. The title is shown on two chairs in the opening sequence, suggesting that it is related to both S2 and S3. Furthermore, we see the book multiple times in the show and it's the book Muriel reads at the end. As an aside, one of the original writers and Iain Banks were very good friends. Iain Banks died over a decade ago, so it is also likely a bit of a tribute to his friend.

So let's dig in and see why perhaps they kerp holding this book up and shouting Clue!

Side note: The book is long and most of the action happens in the final third, which can make it a hard read for folks. There's also a lot of characters and it can be tricky to remember how they are all related. There is a family tree BUT it has spoilers.

The Name: The Crow Road is a phrase used by the grandmother to indicate someone has died, ie - he's gone the crow road.

The Plot: This is the story of Prentice growing up with his immediate and extended family in Scotland. His Uncle Rory disappears in his early childhood. Some family members choose to believe Rory is still alive. After a hook-up with his Uncle Rory's former girlfriend as a young adult, Prentice starts gathering journals and writings from his missing Uncle Rory, who was (for a few years) a successful writer and traveler. Prentice eventually learns that 1) another Uncle, Fergus, had murdered his own wife and covered it up as a car accident and 2) Rory had figured this out and confronted him. Fergus then murdered Rory, hid all the evidence, and hired an acquaintance (who also traveled) to send matchboxes from bars across the world to Prentice's father, Kenneth. Kenneth, believed - as Fergus intended - that these were messages from Rory, indicating he was still alive. 

Stylistically, Prentice's childhood memories and fragments from Rory's journals are interspersed throughout the book, much like the minisodes are in S2. It can take the reader a while to figure out who is telling the story or where this information is coming from. It is also unclear how reliable Rory is as narrator - perhaps this also plays into S2.

What it Might Mean: 

Fergus could represent the Metatron. He is very powerful, rich, and conservative; he lives in a castle (Heaven?) and wants authority. Fergus also murders two relatives and hides those murders; the murder of his wife may have been inspired by jealousy over her sleeping with another man, an event which may or may not have happened.

Fergus also sets up fake messages!! The matchbooks are red herrings to make it look like Rory is still alive. As the Metatron relays messages from God, I can't get over the possibilities here. We have seen God speaking directly as recently as Job, but are the other messages real?

I can't help but wonder if the matchbooks and their use as messages inspired Neil to use the matchbook in S2. The matchbook in S2, incidentally, connects to all three minisodes - the quote from Job, 41:19 (reversed 1941), and the matchbox is from the Resurrectionists pub. So the matchbook contains not only Gabriel’s memories but refers to Azi’s as well?

Much of the book is about this missing uncle. Is a character (or their memory) missing in S3? I have theories, but its too soon to tell.

There's also an interesting theme of Prentice collecting his Uncle Rory's writings and records, including sending some corrupted computer discs to an expert in America to try to restore them. Given the emphasis on records ("It contains information in a tuneful way") and journals in S2, not to mention this trivia nugget ​​ - my brain is itching that there's a connection there.

Faith & Beliefs: The book talks about Faith a lot. Prentice believes in God and his father Kenneth doesn’t. And Kenneth doesn’t just reject religion, he wants his children to reject religion too. Prentice on the other hand desperately wants something to believe in - especially after a friend's death in an accident. This leads to a huge fall out - they end up not talking over it.

"'I mean, what's the big argument? Can't you just agree to disagree?' 'No; we disagree about that,' I shook my head. 'Seriously; it doesnt' work that way; neither of us can leave it alone. There's almost nothing either of us can say that can't be taken the wrong way, with a bit of imagination. It's like being married.'" (Ch 7)

Kennth seemingly taunts God - he climbs a church during a lightning storm and is struck dead. His uncle Hamish (one of Kenneth’s brothers) also represents the extreme version of Faith and ends up running a sort of cult, at least until Kenneth’s death.

What it Might Mean: The thread they pull through a lot is about meaning, and whether you can have meaning in life without God. Prentice gains Faith because his friend died senselessly; he wonders how can you have a world be so cruel. There must be a reason for it (this is sort of Az coded), and he turns to God to create the meaning for him. 

BUT Kenneth’s argument is that you don’t need Faith for the world to have meaning (or at least that is my reading). It is wonderful because it is inherently meaningless (this is very existentialist, but I do think that’s the point). That Faith doesn’t do that, and just means you are looking outwards without looking at what is right in front of you. Which again, could be a Crowley way of looking at it, or at least where he is headed. Life is good as life, and doesn’t need God to make it so. 

Hamish represents someone putting so much meaning into Faith that they lose all sense of Joy, he becomes distant.  (One of my favorite scenes is Hamish doing a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces upside down - and cutting the pieces with scissors if they don’t fit right!)

The Romantic Relationships: Prentice is infatuated with a cousin (second cousin?), Verity. She is described as beautiful, in white/light colors, pure, lives with Uncle Fergus in the castle. There are legends around her birth -  she was conceived under a tree during a storm. She is unattainable and eventually ends up with Prentice's older brother.

Ash, on the other hand, is almost literally the girl next door and Prentice’s long-term best friend. Her family is poorer and maybe has some domestic violence issues. She's always there for Prentice - literally a shoulder to cry on, sharing a bottle of whiskey, helping him sober up after said whiskey. There's obvious romantic tension from Ash’s side but she never pushes him and instead guides him along. And the book ends with a romantic resolution that feels very much like the final fifteen - except with a happier ending.

“- and I still didn’t feel I could tell her how I felt about her because she was going away now, and how could I suddenly say I love you when I’d never said it to anybody in my life before? How could I say it now especially, the night before she was due to leave? It would look like I was trying to make her stay, or just get her into bed. It would probably wreck this one precious evening that we did have, and upset her, confuse her, even hurt her, and I didn’t want to do any of that.” (Ch 13)

They finally kiss and spend the night together, both confessing their love. Ash has to leave the next morning to pursue a career opportunity in New York; Prentice is sad that she goes but re-dedicating himself to his studies and working towards a relationship together. 

What it Might Mean: To me, Verity is very Heaven-coded and Ash is very Hell-coded. A big part of Prentice's arc (Prentice may represent Azi here) is getting over his blind infatuation with Verity and realizing the value and love he has with Ash. However, they also need to be apart and grow a bit before they can be together.

Other thoughts? Connections? Would love to hear your theories!!

@cheeseplants

[sepublic]

I know it’s more popular to praise the supervillains and fantastical side to TSSM but imho I think one of its greatest strengths was in how the civilian side to the show was just as compelling. I love the civilians I love Peter’s unusual friend group of dumb kids. I like how a decent chunk of them start off as typical high school bullies for our nerdy protagonists to butt heads with but then so naturally over the course of the show evolve into legitimate friends.

Like there isn’t really a big switch moment it just happens thanks to a series of circumstances and before you know it they genuinely like each other, and you can buy Peter thinking of them to find strength against the symbiote. It’s the sort of thing where you look back and are like, Huh Yeah we really did change. Really sells that they aren’t just shallow bullies, in fact they’re all dumb kids who get in over their heads but mean well and are trying to get through in life. I would genuinely vibe with a compilation of just the high school antics because I find them underrated; Just the mundanity of people trying to live life, and how this extends to the other civilian plots with the Daily Bugle and whatnot.

It also makes me mourn that we never got a resolution with Mark Allan because lbr, they were gonna go a comic route and have him finally wizen up by asking Spider-Man for help. He has the setup to make another bad deal with the villains but finally conquers his gambling addiction by avoiding the risk and just taking the L to sincerely ask another person for help.

And it’s fascinating because Mark has so much potential as a parallel to Peter. He’s introduced initially as a member of Peter’s life, as another one of the kids, he’s Liz’s brother and a friend to MJ. He’s another moment of Peter and Spidey’s lives intersecting, but unlike Eddie he’s ultimately a well-meaning victim of circumstance. I can’t help but feel like Mark is someone who Peter could’ve talked to, who could understand, who has also walked both worlds; The civilian and super ones. The world of superpowers taking away from the world with his friends. Mark knows what it’s like dealing with the supervillain crowd but they also started as high school friends.

Realistically I’m not sure Mark could’ve gone back to school after becoming Molten Man, but it makes me wonder as to how the writers would’ve handled him post-turnaround. Since his powers are controlled by the actual villains, it’s a pretty easy excuse for why the supervillain can’t help Spidey now; His powers are no longer in reach, maybe the remote is destroyed and that means Mark can return to a normal life, albeit in hiding mayhaps.

I’d have appreciated seeing his friends discuss one of their own becoming a part of that super-powered world, oblivious to Peter. Imagine a scene of Mark reconnecting with Liz, maybe making it clear he can’t stay around but his life is actually turning around for once; Give her something to be proud of with him and feel hope over, before saying goodbye.

[horizon-verizon]

I think George dont realised what happen to season 2 was a butterfly effects from season 1 yet George still praising season 1, he actually did similar with his complain about Targ sigil, isnt he too late for that? That four legs was already there since season one (Harry Llyod costume), if George still enjoying season 1 and can separate them with his book why can't he do that with the following season they never intent to follow his story btw.

What GRRM was trying to say in the dragons post was what he continues and expounds on in his Maelor/Sophie's Choice post: if you mess with the most critical, moving parts of the plot, you're going to strip the story of its meaning AND empty yourself of logical lines towards future events. that's what anon's referring to.

Well, anon, in that dragons post, GRRM didn't give examples [that had the, in my opinion, very necessary and well warned spoiler] and didn't explain what he meant by "Fantasy needs to be grounded.   It is not simply a license to do anything you like. Smaug and Toothless may both be dragons, but they should never be confused.  Ignore canon, and the world you’ve created comes apart like tissue paper."

What's different now, anon, is exactly what he said in his post, anon: they are messing with VERY CRITICAL MOMENTS that have to do with the end of the war itself; they crossed a particular line in the telling of the story itself, something that should, at all costs, be retained in the show for the ending (Maelor). This isn't about costumes or anything that could be easily reshaped into a "close-enough" storyline, esp bc Jaehaera NEEDS to make it to the end of the Dance and no she cannot replace Maelor. No, she cannot become Aegon's heir; bc the greens were steadfast abt it having to be a boy, having the succession go through males, thus stick to their own guns/reason for going into the war in the first place and going towards their fall. And this part abt Jaehaera, again, is not even the thing GRRM was talking abt out the post.

It's like asking someone to be happy with someone making Nymeria have mostly men instead of women in her group of Rhoynar-rescued; like having the Mountain not kill Elia Martell and her kids, which leads to Oberyn going after the Mountain, which goes into the acceleration of the Dornish plot against the Lannisters going on right now. At least, this is the thing he notes. And he's entitled to expressing what he sees and observes are not-great changes to his story when he see/observes them. As we all are when we're looking at something created for us to watch/read; with him, the actual writer, he has even more "right" to.

In season 1, he also wasn't promised (seemingly) something would happen and then that thing then not happening, as what was the deal with Maelor and Ryan promising Maelor would exist.

the following season they never intent to follow his story btw.

This is conversation of the definition and parameters of "adaptation", but first, GRRM was basically giving us an extended....not metaphor but an extended parallel of what he [the guy who wrote this story for anyone to adapt or not] thinks are the most important elements of the story; and he chose dragon legs likely bc it was one of the most incentivizing amongst many fandoms, he takes great pride in his reasoning for those legs; he wishes to express to his/the show's fans an arm of care and relation towards changes eh doesn't think production or execs should or had to cut or distort BEFORE he he heard of HBO's plans to produce it and when he met with the producers/Condal about it.

Because--before that ill-fated post--from how GRRM writes abt HotD, even when he's positive, it gives off the impression that he's never in the actual writer's room despite how many fans argued that he was and had to have been as an exec producer (that must have been awkward for those fans upon seeing GRRM demonstrate how wrong that notion was). If he's not in the writer's room or has proper authority, all he can really do is sit back and watch the product...maybe a little earlier tha most, but still, he's not involved and he's reacting and thinking about the show.

Anyway, what, anon, do you think entails an adaptation "following" a story? How closely or far from the original plot would you say is "too far", when it finally becomes something that is not the actual story anymore but an invention by those who want to make a completely different story? And does this actually sound like an adaptation? Or a fanfic?

Definitions:

adaptation: a composition rewritten into a new form, or to fit a different medium; a screen adaptation of a novel fanfic: stories written about TV, film, or book characters by their fans (= people who admire them); stories formed from existing, usually published material with a plethora/array of possible interpretations of the source materials present themes, characterizations, etc./the purpose of creating fan material for the sake of personal enjoyment

HotD was always going to be more fanficy sorta thing bc it is a hotly debated section of a history book IN YERMS OF THR MIST INTIMATE OF RVENTS AND DETAILS BETWEEN CHARACTERS; however, like what historians and history books have always tried to do and continue to do so, F&B is container if actual firsthand records as eell as secind hand. There ARE more probable and likely options of situations the history book creates for us to....not "solve" but piece out when it comes to possible biases, and some claims by some narrators are very easy to mark as false.

And what you piece out will be very much a reflection of how you view certain behaviors, characters, ideas, AS WELL AS you actual knowledge of what inspires GRRM, why it does, why we care abt those things (I'm talking real history) what the lore of the world Rhaenyra and the rest are in. I'm talking laws, how some people view some of them and how they will twist them to their own emds. And most of all, as I already said, somethings without a doubt...precisely bc it i IS a history book, happened. And some of those need NEED to be on screen for the end to make any sort of sense the way it was intended to.

But I also think he's hopeful abt Ryan making some script changes from his very rare assertiveness.

I also think that this is all part of a reckoning with the different degrees people are willing to tolerate the "inventive" adaption that really changes the source material that many have not actually read or understood; some want the adaptation to match as close as possible to the orig (a lot of book readers), other don't care how far away the story gets from the org, others are in an undefined but just as variant "middle".

[irontragedyreview]

Do you still consider Horikoshi to be a bad writer after this chapter or think you were wrong in your judgment before the manga end?

Hi anon, I don't understand if your question is intended to be a genuine ask or you’re trying to mock me for my previous opinions were wrong or something like that. However, I was thinking of writing about the chapter and your ask is a good trigger.

To begin with yes, I still consider Horikoshi to be a mediocre writer, especially because this chapter doesn’t prove my previous opinions wrong, at the moment I’m not seeing anything more than a chapter that follows the last chapters where Izuku and Tomura were treated like shit for the plot.

At what point in this chapter are any of the complaints I raised in previous posts taken up again? Do we have something that gives a satisfactory closure for Tomura and fixes how rushed his fight with Izuku was? Is Izuku finally able to show some kind of feeling? Now don't take me the wrong way, the chapter has the potential to not be as shit as the previous ones, in the same way we don't know if the manga will end in volume 42 or be extended longer. However, if this happens it would mean that Horikoshi could had been more careful with Tomura and Izuku's confrontation and decided simply not do it. In the same way this is only an introduction so, why I have to retract or consider myself wrong? at least Horikoshi shows a real effort in not being a mediocre writer and giving some care in writing his mc.

If I have to make a summary of this chapter we have:

1. The graduation of the big three and Mirio's speech that follows Nighteye's thoughts.

2. Aoyama leaves UA and Shinso takes his place.

3. The 2nd and 3rd year courses will be in charge of helping in reconstruction and patrolling in disaster areas.

4. Midoriya looks sad, but that's the same for the vast majority.

5. Dabi is alive from what can be assumed and from what I saw from the unofficial translation of the chapter, it is most likely that the Todoroki family will be the next chapter.

6. Toga nor Spinner are named.

7. A random guy injured on the street.

Of these points the most interesting are those from 3 to 7.

Point 3 is interesting because it means that we can have chapters of different characters, because they are in different geographical locations and deal with their own problems. Point 4 would mean that Horikoshi stops treating Izuku like shit and gives him moments that let us know what his thoughts are. Since the end of his solo arc, Izuku's thoughts have been scarce, to the point that during his confrontation with Tomura, those are non-existent and that even the vestiges make the decisions during that fight, then we have a mediocre "conversation" between him and Tomura and when Izuku began to talk to All Might about the outcome with Tenko/Tomura, AM's words feel like a simplistic way of not addressing the problem and then bk started crying, while Midoriya, the one who failed in his mission of save Tenko, committed  murder and finally lost OFA just didn’t say anything. You literally have bk crying when the one who lost his dream or who has to think about it differently is Izuku and yet the emotional part belongs to someone else?

In this chapter we only have a sad Midoriya, nothing more. There is still no introspection, we still have nothing, just because Horikoshi has enough common sense not to show him simply smiling doesn’t mean that he still didn’t give us anything about Izuku, especially if we consider that the whole confrontation with Tomura was rushed and everything happened out of screen for a damn year. So no, I’m not going to congratulate Horikoshi for doing the minimum. If he isn’t  mediocre, he has to show me and lets his character express himself. For now you only have potential, Horikoshi has shown that he can but it would be the first time he just throws Izuku under the bus (bk abuse as comedy, his quirkless past, the loss of his quirk, his insecurity, etc)

Point 5 also has a lot to offer, especially since I already said it at the time but that Touya alive is still the minimum point. It's great for Shoto that he was able to keep Touya alive during their fight, but I always said that the relationship between Shoto and him still feels empty and that's because Touya's interest in Shoto has its origins in Endeavor. I know many are talking about hc where Touya rejoins the Todoroki family and forms a relationship with Shoto, Natsu, Rei, etc. However, a decent closing is long because we don’t know what Touya's feelings for Shoto are, we must not forget that in his mind he visualized himself as he would have been and among those around him, Shoto wasn’t in the picture because at the end of the day they never managed to build a relationship and we still have to know what will happen with Endeavor because beyond all Touya's feelings for him are an important factor. Point 6 has the question of what happened with Toga and Spinner. On the one hand, Toga and Ochako had the most satisfying confrontation, however there is something that Toga shares with Tomura and that is that neither of them were willing to just stop, don't get me wrong Ochako was the only person who tried to reach Himiko and understand her. Toga is willing to give the last drop of her blood to keep Ochako alive and in a way her words sound like a farewell but happy because she could like Himiko, without masks or containing herself to fit in. None of this means that Toga is dead but there is still some closure on what happened to her and on all the things beyond Ochako's understanding, does she have a place in the world? a place where she shouldn't pretend to fit in? This is what the LOV gave her.

With Spinner everything is even more complicated, because his arc is also mixed with heteromorphic discrimination and here Horikoshi abandoned the plot in a worse way than Izuku and Tomura. On this topic we only have the initial confrontation and I'm sorry but Shoji's words for me didn’t solve the problem because the only thing we saw of this fight was him telling Spinner that what they were doing would only be a setback for the acceptance of heteromorphs. I'm sorry but it’s a simplistic way of looking at discrimination because even in hero society we have heteromorphs like Nezu who are in positions of power, but these are the least while on the other hand we have heteromorphs without power or influence suffer much more, Shoji's response is that discriminated people have to prove that they deserve basic respect, but this should be a minimum bar and not a question of "show me that you aren’t dangerous and that I have no reason to fear you and therefore respects you and gives you dignity." Spinner's plot has been very neglected and there is still a lot to tell to make it satisfactory.

Point 7 gives a lot to interpret among those interpretations and theories that I saw, I can name the following:

It's Tenko, I know that this is a possibility that is being considered, I’m not entirely convinced, I’m not interested in Tenko/Tomura living just to live, because at the end of the day for me the important thing is what will happen with Tomura's convictions , one of the few redeeming things from the previous chapters was that at least Tomura's convictions ended up intact, so bringing Tenko to life means erasing Tomura? I don't know and I guess if this ends up being true we'll have to see how Horikoshi develops it.

2. Another explanation is that this man appears right after Todoroki's phrase about how AFO was created in a world like that, with chaos and destruction, in this case it can be a resource to imply that if the heroes don’t deal with this situation and leave many to sink into misery, we will be seeing the creation of new villains, who the fallen of the system with no chances for another life.

Well anon, I hope my answer helps you, I still consider Horikoshi to be a mediocre writer, what he has in this chapter is the potential to do something, I don't think he can fix what he already did but I don't know what he can do now, I will continue reading because I want to know how it ends, but my faith in him no longer exists.

[azrielthedrawer]

Anonymous because.. not yet.

How do you, or do you have any tips on having and writing a storyline?

I’m an animator (tween w AM) who’s learning renpy and soon making a visual novel. I was wondering if you just have writing tips. Thanmnsk

Hi :D (sorry for taking so long to answer)

Considering that my only posted work is the AU, I’ll tell you a bit about my process while writing it, so hopefully you’ll find it useful for your future projects owo

1. The What-If Question: I find that with all or most of my written works, I end up asking myself “what if _____ happened?” For example:

What if Pastor Craig summoned an imp?

However, asking this question once won’t suffice to create a whole plot. So I asked myself more follow-up questions after that:

Why would Pastor Craig summon an imp? What would his motivation be?

What kind of information would Tweek hold? What types of stories would he tell?

Why are we taking the time to hear such stories?

With that, you start to build the scenario in which your story will stem from.

2. Plot First, Characters Last: Though it’s really fun to think about the characters (whether original or predetermined), I find that sometimes it’s easier to craft the plot first, then create/assign characters later. Yes, the characters are important, but the plot is what keeps the characters vivid, so I would suggest working on the plot first.

3. Dynamics: The way in which characters interact with each other is vital to how they are perceived by the audience. This can apply to original or predetermined characters. Some characters will act a certain way around some people and another way with others. Dynamics also extend past singular characters, but also things that are bigger, like power. How do these characters interact with certain aspects of their world? Do they care?

4. Motion: When writing, and also drawing, you have to remember to keep the environment moving based on the scenario. A lot of times, some casual scenes might seem stiff, but this can easily be fixed by observing the way in which you yourself find yourself going about your day. Yes, there are some times in which you are standing face-to-face with someone while having a casual conversation, but that isn’t always going to be the case. A lot of times, people are multitasking, moving around, or sometimes don’t speak as clearly. Consider these little things when observing the situation that you are trying to convey.

5. Get in their shoes: I would say this is more of when you’re writing more emotional scenes, but this can apply anywhere. As a writer, you have to get yourself in whatever headspace you are trying to write. If you feel like you can’t get it right, watching TV or films can help you visualize the type of emotion that you are trying to portray. Aside from how people feel inside, they tend to also have visual reactions, so I would suggest paying attention to those.

6. Where are you going with this?: A lot of times, people get lost on what they’re writing about because they don’t know where the story is going or how it will end. Now, you don’t have to necessarily know how the story will end from the beginning, but it can help to know what the first conflict will be for your characters to overcome. It’s okay if you don’t know how your story will go from the beginning to the conflict, but that’s okay. This space in between is used to get you there. On a similar note, it’s okay to just visualize plot points without knowing how to get there. There’s a reason why filler episodes exist.

7. Think of your favs: I’m sure that there’s a show or movie out there that you might feel inspired by to make your own story, so use it as motivation to write! Now, I’m obviously not telling you to copy the characters or story, but it’s also common for people to take what they observe in other pieces of media and take inspiration from it. Create a little collection of cool things you see from media you like that you’d like to apply to your own story.

Anyway, that’s just my thoughts. Hope you find this helpful and good luck with your work :)

[constantineshots]

okay so this is just a rant ( long. i am sorry if it is jumbled ) on justice leagu dark but specifically the new 52 run. because i don't have an issue with the rebirth run. but seeing as milligan started off the new 52 run, can anyone be surprised i don't like it.

never really understood how in justice league dark and whenever john is on a team in general. when people know he's a bit selfish when things look like they are not going to work in his favor/look hopeless in general and he gets the fuck out of there or does something to benefit himself. and everyone knows he consistently does this. yet they are like "what the fuck john. we trusted you." after giving him shit because they didn't trust him or didn't want him on the team. like guys.

for example, zatanna. she knows firsthand he's a dipshit from her last experiences and prior to new 52, she's kinda kept away from him. and honestly? you go, girl. get that toxicity out of your life if you find him to be toxic to you. but i don't like the way she's written in the initial jld because it's always "where's john" ( and, vice versa to shove the john/zatanna concept in our faces, john being all up zatanna's ass, which i personally feel does not do their characters justice. if you want to ship them, let them be them. show me why they work. not shove the "they're in love with one another" in my face and give me... dried out, squeezed sponges of their characters with absolutely zero substance. though maybe i just didn't like the writers for new 52 jld ( though the newer run is more enjoyable! zatanna feels more like herself ) because i don't think they wrote anyone well. sorry for the random tangent here ). zatanna is supposed to be intelligent. people look to her. so why would she consistently place her trust in a man she knows is going to hurt her and the team? then get angry with him for acting human even though he keeps saying he's not a hero and he will do anything to save his skin then people keep REPEATING IT AND THEN EVERYONE JUST GETS MAD AT HIM WHEN HE DOES EXACTLY THAT.

no, this is not just about zatanna. this can extend to deadman and everyone else as well, and the others, but i had the image in my mind if her quite literally yanking him from the bathtub and throwing him out of the bathroom and into a wall when she eventually took the house of mystery again because john left them all.... as he typically does.

overall, i think the initial justice league dark run was written terribly. like. astronomically bad. i don't even know why john led that team. i don't know why john was involved. i don't know why it had anything to do with argus. the newer run? with upside down man and stuff? okay, that i'm alright with. but i can quite honestly say that the writing in justice league dark new 52 was absolutely terrible AND OF COURSE IT WAS BECAUSE MILLIGAN WAS FIRST. i think it set the tone for the series and honestly it may be my own personal biases against him that clouds my judgement, but i hated the initial run. i think everything happened too fast, then shit started making absolutely no sense, and honestly, the most interesting thing that happened was whatever was going on with nightmare nurse.

okay, so. necro. unneeded. what was the point of nick necro. genuinely. to get john and zee together when they already have history but instead of allowing them to keep that history, it gets shit on for the sake of john seeing zee on stage and being like "wowza" and then having some weird competition with necro initially, just to lead to necro being? what, upset? at one point? i am so confused. like john and zee are kissing and zee apologizes to necro, and then he's like "eugh. i knew about you two. blah blah blah" like? he's not important to me. i don't care about him. why couldn't john and zee have just been together this guy literally solves very little plot purpose. even when he shows up later on. like dude. who ARE you.

anyways. anyways! that's my rant. just on random things. LIKE I DON'T KNOW WHY PETER MILLIGAN WAS ALLOWED TO PUT HIS GRUBBY FUCKING HANDS NEAR JOHN AGAIN BUT WHATEVER.

is any of this even canon anymore? i hope not.

[collectionoftulips]

So thoughts on the latest episode of The Way Home (2x09)

I enjoyed the episode and I guess one thing it sort of unintentionally reinforced for me is how lonely Kat is, because even though there is definitely shipping potential with her and Susanna (I could see it, for sure), I think fundamentally, she doesn't actually have that many friends. She had Elliot as a childhood friend but he's spent his whole life being in love with her, and the other close friend she had turned out to be her daughter, so she's never really had friends and especially not that many close women friends.

That said, I keep being a bit frustrated by how they write the contemporary timeline of Elliot and Kat, mainly because the pacing of how things happen between them still has a twinge of 'because the plot needed this to happen now' rather than it feeling organic to them as characters.

It was lovely seeing the moment Kat and Brady found out about Alice and that scene was really sweet. I do maintain though that Alice forgave Elliot far too quickly and her realising 'how much [he] lost that night' really felt out of nowhere and not really true to how I think that she would read that scene (again, scents of 'because the plot needed this to happen now').

I also maintain that the build up around the party was way overblown in relation to what really happened.

I think in terms of what finally drove Del and Kat apart, I love that it was something 'small' (comparatively) and that it just became the final pebble that crumbled the already precarious foundation they had together. In some ways, though, I really appreciate the way the show Del keeping a firm boundary between her and Kat in the sense that she's not trying to make her grief or problems Kat's issue, which (for someone who has grown up seeing too many fictional parental figures parentifying their children erhmRoryandLorelai) I appreciate it, even if it's a huge part as to why they have so much miscommunication.

Was glad we finally got some Jacob scenes and particularly actual conversations with him and Kat. Given how central he is to the show, but in particular this season, it's been really strange how the show really sidelined him for so much of how it structured its story (yes, the 2007 party was important, but I still think the build up was a bit too much since actually the important stuff happened after).

On a shallow, non-important note, I felt shortchanged with the limited Thomas/Kat interactions. I will confess I might have shipper goggles on but it really feels like the show can't have them interact too much because if they do, Elliot/Kat just doesn't seem as appealing by contrast, given in what an awkward position the writers put them in the start of the season for the sake of trying to extend the tension of Elliot and Kat's relationship.

I feel like this next episode will have so much 1800s (or it better) because there's so much around it that there are massive question marks. We still don't know (technically) how Kat's portrait was painted (which would have taken months - I think, I'm not a painter) or who did it or how it ended up at the Goodwins or why it was kept by the Goodwins. I imagine it might come back as a plot point in the next episode, but really I'm sort of hoping that season three will keep a lot of the 1800s stuff.

If I was a betting person, I think we also might have Elliot maybe doing some pond jumping or something, given how suddenly interested and/or surprised he seemed when Kat said she tried to take Susanna with her back to the present time. The way I will accept that is if we can have Thomas travel to the present to compensate

I don't have much to say about the whole Nick thing, but that's because I wasn't that invested in his stuff, but yeah.

Overall, I think this episode was fine. The previous episode was so jarring in terms of its pacing and the scent of 'because the plot needed this to happen now' that I felt like this episode struggled in some sense to find its footing, even if I think on the whole it pulled it off. I don't know if anyone cares about these thoughts but there you are!

[meandmyechoes]

Kingohger ep22

i have not processed last week's episode even it's just a summary so i don't know what to expect.

I'm really happy to see Suzume again! I'm curious as to how her "widow" status would be handled and if there is anything more between her and Racules in the sense of both of them carrying a facade to protect a secret (toufu/gira)

that said, it's the first ep to a new chapter so give me cool fights then it can be over

therefore, probably no one get specific focus today— they are keeping the dance op for the month are they?

speaking of which… i don't like the upcoming koryu crossovers. Unless they extend our show for at least 2 episodes, or make them the silly ones we want to see. Given an wota comrade writer they should know how to fanservice and i can understand the koryu stans that are excited for it. and the business decisions behind i guess, unnecessary now it seems.

ahhh why is my caffeine reaction so bad even inhaling starbucks is getting to me (well you sat here for two hours after 4 hours of sleep.)

i honestly think at this point i'm gonna pass out after the first 30mins of the movie

-----ep 22-----

ah the fight that got pushed this week because last week is SO packed with plot

are you guys in the studio or not???

i've seen so many stage shows this week seeing an onscreen fight that has camea angles feels different

the first time eating orange jelly is properly depicted

himeno says "shugod soul" that has to be a misdirection

Gira seems to remember sth though 😏😏

whenever camera shows >1/4 of rita's face: 💓💓💓

this episode feels rushing meeting target again

shugod soul is sth you can just eat and re eat??

so do the regular MOTW eat god soul/artificial god soul to grow big?

oooh that's all the rita today

two parter?

the hat guy is gonna flip so fast when gira makes one mistake

More red-sixth please

yes i like them as a team but i like the current dynamic the experienced ones follow up where Gira is not good at

They are finally making Rita address Kagu's many crimes 🤣

heh so kagu already has a clue boshimaru is an impostor shortly before the duel 🤔

literally Suzume is the best i love her so much

yanhime exchanging looks! mean besties!

i'm geeting anakin electrocution vibes?? how many times has Gira been electrocuted??

Background hime rita and black & white slash

i have no idea what is happening

😂 i thought he's gonna give yanma a big hug

so the key is for them to recognize the Shugods as comrades?

new music!

ookay! not filler month but regular plot just focus on robots while the film is character work 🤔 but that prolonged walk to the castle and awkward elevator trip is totally purposefully dragging the pace down (neutral)

[kimberlychapman]

I can buy that he's licking his wounds after the Romulan evacuation and what he clearly sees as Starfleet's betrayal of that project and of him. I can buy that he's made some Romulan wine-growing friends that just happened to also be former Tal Shiar and that Marie has passed away or moved along (I have my own plots for that in my longform fic). I can buy that his deeply repressed trauma brings him back to the source of his trauma when he thinks he can now control that venue. And I can absolutely buy how boyishly enthusiastic he gets when he's given an adventure hook to flee the joint (tempting Raffi into it with that line about secret Romulan spies infiltrating the Federation).

I've got elaborate head canon that serves me for my fic writing about why his family has that estate, especially in light of that conversation with Raffi about how not everyone gets that, even in a Federation paradise.

What gets me most across the seasons is the stretching that property back into antiquity. The storylines about the property are silly and don't match up with How Things Work In Physics And Gardening. What gets me is that I've tried to map the PIC version of the house (even being totally willing to ignore the TNG version of the house, and no, the fire can't solely be responsible because the sun shines in different directions but OKAY we'll do the MST3K thing and remember it's a show and really just relax...*twitch*...) and the PIC version of the house is a fucking morphing Tardis. Because the interiors do not match the pretty CALIFORNIAN (not French!) vineyard house exteriors. And okie dokie they want to pretend styles change, that's fine, but then they extend it back into Nazi era and it's like hmmmmmmmm nope. And it still does. not. fit. in. its. defined. space. If you follow a shot down some stairs or a hall, the next rooms don't line up. I can't map this damned house and I have a dire need to map this damned house.

I can live with the fact that there's no possible canonical galactic map because the Warping At The Speed of Plot negates it, along with writers not caring what's where in general, but to not make one house fit into time and space? Insert disappointed Picard mild glare here.

It's bigger on the inside, it bends in weird places, now we have indoor brickwork to hide a key, wtaf?

And the worst, absolute worst, hands-down-what-were-they-thinking part of the house and the trauma and everything being pinned to it is I cannot for one moment believe that even in a tech-rejecting household on Federation Earth someone would be allowed to have the level of suicidal mental illness that Yvette had without intervention being required. I don't buy it. Again, I've got my own head canon about it that absolutely casts Maurice in the terrible light that he deserves, but preserves Yvette's dignity and basic Federation medicine facts. And Paramount should have slapped a fucking content warning on That Scene.

Generally speaking I like PIC because that's my SpaceDad and I want to like it, but holy hell that house is messed up throughout time and warped space and the suicide stuff is bullshit-level writing.

For my money, the first mistake that Star Trek: Picard made was having him retired on the family vinyards. Like, I get that that's where he was in "All Good Things," but it doesn't ring true. Picard hated it there on TNG, and his brother and nephew burning to death there probably just made him hate it even worse.

Like, I'm willing to buy the entire backstory for the series up to that point, but we're quite explicitly told several times that, if he wasn't in Starfleet, he would be an archaeologist. He should have been doing that.

[lyncirenzei]

I just really wanted to respond to the assignment outlined in this tweet...

Why can't I watch Sydney and Carmy be in a friendship with tenderness and obvious chemistry without pushing for romance?

The short answer is, I can watch without pushing for romance.

The extended answer is, I AM watching without PUSHING for romance.

Yes, they both have chemistry and they are both actively trying to deal with each other with care and tenderness because they are in an intimate relationship with each other already. They are business partners.

Intimate Definition:

So because Carmy allowed a close connection to start with Sydney by not only hiring Sydney but making her his number 1 in HIS family business, it would be wise for them both to exercise tenderness as much as possible when dealing with each other. Now I can go on a tangent about WHY he made her his number 1, but that's for another time. But just to add to the fact I won't discuss now, let me leave this here: Carmy checks often to make sure Syd is on board while Syd checks often to make sure Sugar, Carmy's own sister who he SHOULD be checking on, is on board. But I mean, Carmy said he can't even ask Sugar how she doing cause he don't know how he is doing most of the time, while constantly asking Syd how she is doing, so we know the "Men will do it (make it happen) if they WANT to" applies directly to Carmy... (and we ALSO know how and when that statement is usually used-and if you want to act dense, that usually is applied when a man is attracted to a woman and wants to make something romantic happen with her) but I digress.

Now, from what I see, people are picking up on what I noticed the minute Syd came on the scene in Ep. 1 Season 1, that there COULD BE something between Carmy and Syd. The writers and if not them, then the editors keep putting little plot devices in our face and making the COULD BE even more of a thing than what I initially picked up on. And there are so many great post that point out what those moments, interactions, conversations, scenes are. So I will not include them here.

Now it was stated in the post that chemistry isn't the only reason two people should start dating. And to that I say, you don't say? Really? I'm glad you know that and shared with the rest of us. Cause once again, what most people are commenting on is what COULD BE. Not what CURRENTLY IS.

You see, CURRENTLY, we are in season 2 and are still getting to know everyone and what makes them tick. We, the audience, who has a bird eye view, is STILL getting to know everyone. So if we're still doing that then naturally so are the characters with one another. They know less about one another than we know because they dont have the bird eye, omnipresent view. And all of this is controlled by the writers and editors. So no, currently I and I think most people who see Carmy and Syd as being a viable option for one another is wanting to see them start dating now.

When will they have time to establish a REAL romantic connection that doesn't take away from our thirty viewing minutes of the plot? Not anytime soon, that's for sure. But can they continue to give us 5 second moments that continue to build up what could be? Yes.

Now the question does remain, can they actually establish a real romantic connection? Yes. They definitely can. However, not in the way I am interested in seeing on THIS show with THIS plot. This is not Bridgerton, so I'm not interested in seeing Bridgerton type romance on The Bear. And I think most people will agree with me. You see, we already know this show isn't about romance. It deals with serious topics regarding business, family, mental illness, and human connection. And many people feel showing a romance would disregard those topics because of how romance is traditionally handled in media. Does that mean romance is not serious? No. It just means the way it is portrayed many times within a plot not needing romance, leaves one wanting...

However, The Bear may not be about romance, but as mentioned above, it is about Human Connection. And holding onto, and building on that human connection despite flaws, hurtful words/actions, because the people who portray them and suffer them are willing to change, improve, and do better.

I mentioned above that Syd and Carmy already have an intimate relationship. And THIS is what can potentially makes them Endgame.

Romance can be fleeting, it can be just like we witnessed between Carmy and Claire. Claire clearly had butterflies (idk about Carmy so much. He was very closed off with her and the moments he wasn't was told to us rather than shown to us) but their situation was the type of thing that we could have done without. Though, I believe Claire was needed, not only as a foil character, but as a plot devices as well.

However, in contrast (something the editors also wanted us to do with all there three-way contrasting scenes involving Claire, Carmy, and Syd) what Carmy has and is developing that will only get stronger the longer Syd sticks around and vice versa that Syd will develop the longer Carmy improves and sticks around is a deep respect and a deep love.

They are already intimate because of the business. They speak to each other intimately (also because of the business while some kind of way NEVER mentioning the business) personally, vulnerably. Carmy wants to hear Syd speak about her feelings, dreams and ideas. He even wants to hear her speak about her personal business though that part is hard for her to do. And Syd wants to speak about those things to Carmy even when it's difficult to do so.

THAT is the kind of intimacy I want to continue seeing on my TV screen. I don't need 5 minutes dedicated to them on a date, giggling and laughing about nothing! I need 5 minutes of them sitting closely, talking lowly about deep personal things that they can later laugh about together. I need the eye connections from across the room cause they GET each other and know what the other is thinking. I need small smiles of flattery that never get to be too much because they are in a professional setting. And at the end of the night, after they've worked another successful day at a restaurant that runs itself cause it's that successful (like Terry's restaurant) and they are just showing up to work cause they "still love to cook" but don't have to if they don't want to, they close down shop, walk out hand in hand down the street bumping shoulders like two best friends on their way to their SHARED home where private things happen privately (cause seeing all that is not important to the main plot. Though I wouldn't mind 😏).

That is Endgame.

That is slowburn

(And that ain't happening next season folks. I do not want them getting together sexually or otherwise next season. They have a lot of work to do not only on their restaurant but also on themselves). That is what I'd call an intimate relationship that hasn't distracted from the main plot, but that is still very real.

Now for those who think that possibility is "forced" that's most likely because Syd is a dark skinned black woman. Not actually because you can't see Carmy and Syd happening.

And for those who only see her with Marcus, that also may be because she is a dark skinned black woman and you really want to see her with a black man. Not actually because you can't see Carmy and Syd happening.

The same way I can see them remaining professional partners, only cause the writers and editors may decide to stop playing in our face with the hints regarding their already established intimacy, is the same way you should be able to see what is literally playing in your face when it comes to Carmy and Syd interactions, or the way they think/speak about/to each other.

So now I'm asking you to examine why you can't watch Sydney and Carmy be in a friendship with tenderness and obvious chemistry without admitting that the writers may decide to take it in an even more intimate direction, and being OK with that if they do?

[swearyshera]

Reliving this is a trip. I was an interesting feeling the first time thru, and I'm not saying that to humorously downplay a horrific situation. It drew out a little bit of sympathy for Catra I really thought I'd used up by that point, if only cuz what Prime does is really that vile. That's super unusual for me. I went in rooting for Adora to take back someone she cared about, not necessarily cuz it was Catra specifically if you know what I mean, but this got me to want Catra rescued weirdly well. I almost never feel for villains at their nadir like this.

Twisted how empathetic paragon heroes like Adora are among my most treasured characters in fiction, yet I suck at extending the same sympathy they can. You're supposed to see characters like Catra (or Azula or Bakugou or whoever you please) going thru awful things as flawed people with interior lives and subject to exterior circumstances that the heroes are kind/strong/savvy enough to see and incorporate into their responses and my knee jerk is still "fuck off with the pity party, get to the atonement." Or in a lot of cases to laugh while they're down. I always sabotage myself by seeing the author making horrible things happen to the rival/villains, and contrasting them with worse villains, as a cynical tactic to get me and the heroes to sympathize before they've started changing for the better.

It helped that Catra already saved Glimmer at her own peril, and Adora already would've saved Catra no matter what, but still. This is a big reason why villain mind control is one of my least fave tropes. Manipulation and coercion are all good because meaningful agency and responsibility are still there even if characters can't see it, and that is everything in my eyes. To me mind control is the writer hitting pause on a character's growth til a more convenient time in the plot. Or just forever. *cough*🌊🦂🧙‍♂️.

Most of my appreciation for pre-s5 Catra only built up in retrospect through meta-posts and following fanworks like this. So seriously thank you for this series; it's like experiencing the series as it was intended for the first time, weird as that sounds.

You're version of this sequence is as skin-crawling as I think we all could've hoped/feared. Prime is the worst kind of living scum. Great work. Now I can start counting down to the "you miscalculated." scene. Aimee Carrero crushed that line. Can't wait for your version. Positively dancing with anticipation.

It is - at least to me - a really interesting point for Catra to be at, narratively speaking, because it shows the dialectic in her journey. She both did and didn't "bring it upon herself" - yes, she tried to get in Prime's good books, but no, she didn't ask to be chipped. Yes, she saved Glimmer against his instruction, but no, she didn't know the full consequences of what that would do. And when you get people on different sides of the argument, some saying "poor meowmeow didn't deserve this" and others saying, "She's reaping what she's sown", actually they're both right, in this way.

I don't think it would have worked going straight to the atonement, anyway. We don't have these scenes to revel in the depth of her lowest point, we have them to show how bad, how inescapable it was - and then we set up to escape them!

The whole story with Prime has been an interesting writing journey, too. Every time I review the lines, I tweak them to make them that little bit more realistic, that little bit more uncomfortable. I'm painfully aware that we're seeing a lot of similar rhetoric flying around from real people in the media these days (particularly with anti-trans bullshit), and it's no coincidence that Prime is a reflection of this. But my focus isn't on "Oh look, doesn't this character sound like the person trying to destroy our lives", it's on "This character, like the people you've seen on the news, might think they're right but they will never win. They will never defeat us."

Indeed, the Save the Cat books (yes, this episode did remind me of them... It's probably where the name is from) talk about the 'All is Lost' point and the 'Dark Night of the Soul' - this is where we're at right now. It's bad, it's the worst - but it's going to get better.

[geekgirles]

Something that’s always caught my eye and, more importantly, impressed me about Danny Phantom is how consistent they are with Sam being an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian. 

I know, I know. It was used as a major plot point in the very first episode, so of course they had to stay true to that aspect of her character, right?

But I mean they really made an effort to always portray Sam as ultra-recyclo-vegetarian, no matter how subtle that representation was. Sam was always eating nothing but vegetables and tofu. If my memory doesn’t fail me, they never messed up on that, not even once. 

And it could’ve been so, so easy to miss that when drawing the scenes or coming up with new plots. Even The PowerPuff Girls, another incredible show, made that mistake: in one episode, Bubbles claimed to be a vegetarian, but in another she was eating a hamburger.

Danny Phantom never had that problem.

Even if Sam’s preferred diet wasn’t a plot point like it was in Mystery Meat (and it never really was after that episode, unless you somehow count Urban Jungle), it was a consistent side of her the animators never failed to portray. 

These two screenshots are from Parental Bonding, the very second episode lof the show, and despite Sam’s being an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian having nothing to do with the plot, there she is; eating a salad. 

Then there’s Attack of the Killer Garage Sale. When she’s asking for a pizza for her and Tucker, she explicitely says “half pepperoni, half veggie.” And, again, it would’ve been so easy to forget those two extra words and just go “Yup, one large pepperoni pizza.” But that never happened! 

And it doesn’t stop there. 

Oh, no. 

This aspect of Sam’s character extends to everything she eats!

Here they are. Team Phantom in the flesh! But can you see what’s so peculiar about their lunches?

Yup, you guessed it! Not only is Sam eating her usual greens, but she’s drinking water! And you might be thinking, “But Geeks, what’s the big deal with water? Everyone drinks it!”

And you’re absolutely right. Everyone drinks water. Except, in this particular scene, Sam is the only one drinking water! Danny and Tucker both have milk instead. And why’s Sam the odd one out? Well, duh! ‘Cause milk is an animal product and Sam just doesn’t eat or drink anything with a face. 

And you know what else the animators do right in keeping Sam consistent? 

Ice cream. 

No, I’m serious. Again, it’d be so easy to just slip up and have Sam eating ice cream with the boys. I honestly wouldn’t even fault the animators for making such a mistake. After all, ice cream (and more so in the early 2000′s) is very clearly a dairy product. 

But what do they do?

Tofu ice cream. 

They deliberately gave Sam some tofu ice cream in My Brother’s Keeper. 

*Chef kiss*

These are all instances of Sam’s character being consistent and respected, even when the plot doesn’t immediately gain anything from it. The animators and the writing team were just very devoted to keeping this side of Sam’s character intact. Even when it was irrelevant for the plot. 

In fact, I’d say Sam being ultra-recyclo-vegetarian became pretty much irrelevant to the story after Mystery Meat. Let that sink in for a minute, okay?

Out of 52-53 episodes (I don’t remember the exact amount and I’m too lazy to look it up rn, sorry), Sam’s ultra-recyclo-vegetarianism was only important in one (1), and that was the very first episode of the show. 

Now that I think about it, the only time I can recall right now that Sam not eating meat had any sort of importance for the plot was back in Double Cross My Heart. And that was only because Gregor/Elliot was using that to come up with a persona that would appeal to Sam after seeing she was eating a Tofu-Soy Melt sandwich.

And yet, they kept working and making efforts to ensure the audience never forgot that about her. Why? Because being unique and progressive (with varying degrees of success seeing as the main writers were all middle-aged white dudes) is Sam’s character.

Danny Phantom may have its flaws (especially when writing its female characters), but nobody can take away from it that, at the very least, they were remarkably consistent.

[evil-ava-daniels-truther]

Ok, I am a comparatively illiterate engineer and this was so well put so I’m sorry for how simplistic everything will be now.

You are right. Taissa as a character works even more than they intended because the struggles they have assigned her play into this Olivia Pope-esque struggle to obtain a powerful position in the very system that seeks to grind a woman like her down to dust before she even has the cognition to recognize it’s happening. One could argue that from the very first episode they have been showing the proverbial “work twice as hard to get half of what they have” issue when coach puts Jackie in the captain position when it seems the clear choice is Tai but she is seen as “too much” and Jackie has “social capital” (arguably borne out of white privilege, and extended pretty privilege making her much more palatable etc.).

And my main grievance with season two was how much adult Tai (and even Van) are completely non players in the plot. As you said she won that seat and basically surrendered to the other her squandering it without putting up much of a fight (and in nonsensical scenarios too, I’ll repeat myself here. She went into a missing/dead woman’s apartment and stole files, left her assistant’s car unlocked by the highway, and probably wasn’t due to take office in the week or two that spanned season 2, especially with a wife in a coma, but the show cast her character aside last season and ignored all that, and now in s3 they just hit a reset button with that “impeached” line. Why did them impeach her for?)

Taissa’a break up with Van being also hand-waved (for now) in a line about how she ditched her for a veneer of respectability also minimizes so much something that probably can be dissected in so many identity issues in light of her being black. What was her family’s response to not only her lesbianism, but her dating a poor white woman? Could she have climbed the social liberal ranks of whatever HBCU they sent her to (or is that a fanon thing? Did she not go to Howard?) with Van? How much was that factored in in her decision? Is her marriage that of political appearance? It didn’t seem like it. Casting Simone and Sammy, their dark skin cast members, aside to crawl back to Van is one of those accidentally racist choices of the narrative when they don’t give us that context in the middle. They wanted adult Van and they just made Tai’s black disappear for it.

But all of this (black) reading of Taissa’s black experience to me does not negate the fact that I really think the writers think of themselves as guys who “do not see color”, they don’t care about Lottie’s background besides her being medicated, about Tai’s and Akilah’s blackness (Akilah’s hair stopped making sense this season and it’s been a real source of joy for me to see it make sense the past two seasons lol), they don’t gaf about Mari’s seemingly Latin American background… Shauna is Jewish? Or at least fanfic I’ve read seems to think she is? Nat’s catholic I presume… the show does not care. I love this show, but I’m pretty sure the writers just don’t care beyond The-CW levels of engagement with any of this. This is one of those shows where, as it’s written right now, anyone could’ve played anyone. One could argue it’s cool, that they did their little colorblind casting, but once the show tries to establish itself as anything more than fluff it quickly starts falling a bit apart. And the fandom wants to treat it as more than fluff, but we all have our blindspots as you say. I’m a Tai truther and a Shauna and jackieshauna baby scholar, but I know nothing of the Māori people and I would not know how to begin to project anything onto the blank slate they have made Lottie regarding to her heritage. It’s a brain-at-50% capacity kinda show for me. Love the theorizing and the turning them over in my mind like a rotisserie chicken etc., but yeah vibing with the fact that the writers just don’t care about these particularities and they don’t have a long term plan lol.

I haveeee so many Taissa Turner thoughts and the way that she is desperately trying not to be sucked into the teeth whirling maw of the US, how she desperately wants to assimilate, how she is gasping for power like air because she has none, how it has torn her apart many times over, how the show constantly reinforces her central fear; that she does lose power whenever she lets her perfect facade go, she lost her family from which she derives social acceptance as The Other One came out to look for Van, that she lost her seat - the power she struggled so hard to obtain - when she kissed Van again. And now S3E1 she lets loose to appease Van by Dine&Dash-ing, and surely the waiter chasing them is having a heart attack and will not survive which means she is going to be hit with felony level manslaughter charges. And you fucking know Perfectionist Taissa is going to come back with a vengeance, and that means The Other One will be back as well. The man with no eyes, the spectre that haunts her, can be read as a cypher for white supremacy. (Which is also the thing - he is passed down by her grandmother! It is intergenerational trauma!!)

Anyway all this rambling is to say I think Tawny Cypress has toppled Shohreh Aghdashloo from my list of celebrity actresses that I am most sexually attracted to.

[literatikoo]

Lane Kim deserved better

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I would only write Lane Kim meta when I am very very angry because I need to be powered by spite and petty energy to unravel exactly how much of a disservice this show was to Lane and by extension any Asian kid with a similar life. And, well, it's happening now, so buckle up kids, this is going to be a loooong ride because I have a lot to say.

Before we start on the negative aspects, the show got a lot of things about Lane right, which is why I care so much about her character. Yes, ASP obviously didn't know how to write a POC experience and it's seen in the way some very harmful stereotypes were propagated (the tiger mom trope, Mrs Kim's religious beliefs, the depiction of the Kim extended family etc) but at the same time Lane was beautifully written as a character, unlike her plot which left much to be desired. Lane Kim was an Asian girl with rock n roll dreams who had an extremely fraught relationship with her mother and had to fight for even a semblance of independence. And I hate to say it but a lot of daughters of Asian households are forced to hide a part of themselves from their families, so Lane's story was authentic.

Not only was Lane amazing as an individual, she was also a great friend. She was the only one who was really in Rory's corner; she never judged her and supported all of Rory's relationships (my favourite example of this is when she barely tolerated Jess in S2/3 and then did a complete 180 like 5 episodes later, all because Rory decided to finally accept she liked him). Lane never pointed out what Rory was doing wrong not because she was afraid of doing so but because the two of them had been friends for years and Lane believed that Rory would figure it out one day. Lane shows this unconditional kindness not only to Rory but to everyone. She takes in her Korean cousin and teaches her to have fun even when she's afraid that Mrs Kim has replaced her, she lets Gil be in the band because she empathises with him, she takes care of the band and prevents it from breaking up multiple times. And these are only a few examples of Lane being the kindest character on GG.

One of the best things in Gilmore Girls is that the most unproblematic, amazing guy is given to Lane. Dave Rygalski is the best love interest on the show hands down (Sorry to my boy Jess but Dave was LEAGUES ahead of him at 17) and Lane definitely deserved someone like that. Their story was adorable and I would have loved for them to be endgame. However, what grates me is that when I see people talking about Lane "deserving better," it's usually about Dave vs Zach. When Lane actually deserved better as a WHOLE and not only in terms of love interests. I always thought it made more sense for her to end up alone at the end of the og series. Because Lane was a person who craved independence and she was not going to get that while tied to some guy (even if that guy is boyfriend extraordinaire, Dave Rygalski). It's even worse when we see that Lane is the only female character on the show to be treated this way. Rory rejects marriage for her career while Lane ends up with marriage as her storyline. Lorelai and Luke get back together but their relationship is still left open ended, though arguably it would've made more sense if they got married when Lane and Zach did. Paris gets into Harvard Medical school and gets a great relationship, similarly Sookie gets the family she wanted and continues to be amazing at her job. But Lane... god Lane is the only one without an open ending, without any space for speculation of where her life might lead her. Not only did they marry her off, they also gave her a terrible first time and twins, effectively locking her to Stars Hollow. The show even cut down all hope of her being a rock n roll mom as one of her S7 storylines is choosing the kids over going on tour with Zach. She doesn't get to be her own person for more than ONE season; she's stuck with being a daughter and then a wife and then a mother.

Something else that angers me about Lane's storyline is that we never really get to see how badly her relationship with her mom affects her. Don't get me wrong, I adore Mrs Kim's redemption arc and I think it was beautifully juxtaposed to Lorelai and Rory's crumbling relationship, but having a mother like that is hard. Not only did Lane have to hide 90% of her personality from Mrs Kim but she also lived with the fact that one day she might have to choose between her dreams and her mother. In the end, Mrs Kim makes that choice for her and deals with it by kicking Lane out in S4, and yet we never really see how that negatively affects Lane. Hell, Jess acts like a broody teen for two seasons, Rory wastes six months of her life away at the DAR and they both come out of it successfully. Lane gets kicked out, figures out her own living conditions, gets a job, works insanely hard for her band and... ends up having to give her dreams up completely.

Lane and Paris shared a lot of similarities too, even if they both had different friendships with Rory. They both came from terrible families and looked to Lorelai as a mother figure, they both cared deeply for Rory, and they were both incredibly passionate about their careers. Paris made calendars and flashcards and went crazy studying for both pre med and pre law. Lane was a walking, talking music encyclopaedia, she bought CDs obsessively and organised them by genre under her floorboards, she taught herself to play the drums and then found a band to play for. And yet... only Paris becomes successful in the end, whereas Lane takes over Kim's antiques. Lane was still a musician in AYITL and she can be rock n roll even with kids but this is all hypothetical and we never see it on the show.

There is a lot of terrible, lazy writing on the show and a lot of characters get ruined because of it but with Lane, her character stays the same, they just ruin everything else for her. I think she'll be an amazing mom and will probably make her best out of doing music casually. But the writers also took something so special and destroyed it just because Lane stopped being as important to the plot as she was in seasons 1-3. Lane and Rory drifting a little after Rory leaves for Yale makes perfect sense, that's just how relationships are, always changing. And yet as Lane's importance to Rory decreased so did her importance to the writers.

Lane wasn't the kind of character that needed character development or a redeeming character arc- she was never a bad person and nothing about her had to be fixed, unlike Jess or even Paris. All she really needed was for her dreams to come true because for the first 4 seasons her dreams were the biggest fixture of her personality. Like how Jess needed to overcome his trauma and Rory needed to figure out where she fit in and Paris needed to become a girlboss, Lane needed to realise her dreams because that's where her arc was leading her. But it just didn't happen. Instead, Lane becomes 2-dimensional; a large part of her screentime is taken up by Zach problems, her dreams fall flat and she becomes tied to Stars Hollow for the rest of her life. Not to mention we see less of Lane in favour of Logan and the dickhead posse.

This is not me hating on all the other characters I've mentioned in this meta, I'm just pointing out the lack of respect the writers have for Lane in comparison to all these other people who fulfilled the role they were made for. Why would you write Lane to have all these dreams and make her struggle so hard for 4 seasons just to smash them to pieces? And why is it that one of the only POC characters on this show is treated like this?

And you can't tell me the writers didn't know what they were doing, not when this is a direct quote from Lane in S7:

"It was such a small window -- a peephole, really. For years, I was this repressed kid, and then there was the briefest of windows. And then -- slam. All of a sudden, I'm this overburdened mother. I barely got to do it, Zach. I barely got the chance to be a person."