#like I really do I love her character so so deeply the storyline her flaws her relationships her intelligence the very way shes incorporated

[kassandradetroia]

Bawling over that frostbite studios annabeth video AGAIN ……

FUCK HASNT SHE GIVEN ENOUGH NO WONDER SHE HAS SUCH ABANDONMENT ISSUES SHE JUST WANTED HER FAMILY BACK HOW COULD LUKE GIVE IT ALL UP THE PLACE THAT RAISED THEM AFTER IT ALL AND WANT TO KILL THEM ALL GET ALL THOSE PEOPLE KILLED ALL FOR REVENGE AND SHE CANNOT CHANGE HIM WHEN ALL SHE WANTED WAS FAMILY I CANT TAKE THIS ANYMORE

[lazypapers]

do you have any HCs about how Arthur reacted to John being distant to Abigail when Jack was born? /how Arthur reacted when John showed up after a year

Oh definitely, my HC is similar to Roger Clark (the actor for Arthur). I think Arthur resented John for being distant and leaving her and his baby for a year. I imagine a couple years before Jack was born that's when he lost Isaac and that tragedy never left him and deeply effected him. He hated John for running away and taking things for granted from the very thing Arthur always sought and wanted. So when John returns, Arthur is just livid and their relationship is broken.

Arthur seemed like a character who wanted to be loved and belong in a family. He tried that with Mary, but I felt like Mary toyed with his feelings in the most wishy washy way (I get it. Like what future would you have with an outlaw). Obviously Eliza was a rebound from him breaking up with Mary. And that one night stand led to the conception of Isaac. He still chose to stay with Dutch's gang cause that was his family and he wasn't gonna stay with a girl he barely knew and didn't love. He probably tried to bring her along but she most likely didn't want to. I have this headcanon that their relationship was getting better and had potential to work. Arthur would have wanted to stay with them more often as his son got older with each visit. I would say maybe his son was like 4-5 years old the last time he saw him (since it's hinted in the game he taught a little boy fishing during the Jack fishing mission). However, this is when Dutch would manipulate Arthur severely.

He likely pressured Arthur to choose his loyalty to him and the gang over Arthur's son and Eliza. Think about it. When Hosea left to make a life with Bessie, Dutch got really messed up about it. Which explains his disgruntlement with John's loyalty and Abigail. For a bit he lost his family unit and control. He wasn't going to lose Arthur through the same thing. So he starts tightening that leash around Arthur through his low self-esteem and self-worth. He didn't want to lose his best dog. Definitely a red flag, that a lot of the gang members felt obligated that they owed Dutch just because he saved their asses (weird savior complex going on there 😬🙄).

As for why, he didn't seem all that bothered that John left. Maybe he kind of learned from his mistake with Arthur. Under his manipulation, Arthur completely broke when Isaac died (I feel like Arthur never fully recovered from that and Dutch noticed that he wasn't the "same" anymore). So not wanting to break his 2nd Golden Boy he loosened the leash. I'm pretty sure Dutch cared deeply about Arthur and John, and he isn't this evil selfish guy the way I'm describing him. That would be later in RDR1 😆, Dutch is complete bonkers in 1911. He is just incredibly flawed and super weird and a messed up way of showing he cares in 1899 prior.

Anyways I want to draw a storyline focused on the year John left and returned in the Golden Hour. Since the Golden Hour comics are basically about the close bond and eventual collapse of the gang. It would be fun to explore that part of the era of the gang. But once my wrist stops hurting and I have more time. All I can do is talk about it instead of drawing it.

[twitteringthings]

Yoneda-Sensei

Just some thoughts…

In order to craft a story as rich and as layered as saezuru, you have to be a person who really gets humans. You know? And in order to make characters this realistic and this tragic, you truly have to understand the motivations and deeply rooted traumas that drive the human spirit. Along with the truths they bury so that they may move forward. In order to create a story like this, these primal and honest human traits must imbue every action and thought process of each character. And at this, Yoneda is a genius.

Many other stories or manga that I’ve read present the reader with a characture of what a person is. Their ideals too manufactured, and understating of life too naive. I find this leads to stagnant protagonists, cliche character archetypes, pseudo-conflicts, and a predictable/flat storyline. This is especially why I love how the characters are actual adults and not some cliche teenagers. They’ve lived through much and are aware of the true nature of the world they live in.

Saezuru is unlike anything I’ve read if I’m being honest. The core of what makes this story so successful and passionately loved is that Yoneda-Sensei allows these characters - these people - to control their own narrative. It’s their love story after all. Do you know how easy it would be to say “okay, it’s been 12 years, I think it’s time to wrap this up and give the people what they want. I’m tired.” This is the very idea she rejects. I know she is probably wanting to work on a new series and that we are nearing the rising action/climax, but I am so glad she isn’t rushing it. She simply refuses to - that sex scene could have been five pages, but they needed to do what THEY NEEDED TO DO! It is so cool to see an author allow her characters to develop at their own pace. She’s spent all these years truly getting to know them herself and so, she tells their story with integrity.

It is their own motivations, flaws, and decisions that drive the story, Yoneda doesn’t impose her own will onto them. She doesn’t allow her own idea of what the plot should be control the characters actions (if that makes sense - this is getting kinda meta lol). The story purely responds to the decisions of the men who it follows, whether they are born from greed, jealousy, lust, anger, Yashiro’s explosive temper tantrums, or love. Sometimes the characters don’t even know why they do the things they do - because that is real life! And I cannot express how well it allows the story to flow. I’ve also noticed that this allows for the story to mimic real life under the context of “Nothing is truly black or white.” In traditional storytellings, there is obvious right and wrong, blatant heroes and villains. But in Saezuru these lines are sometimes blurred, what can I say…true art mimics life. And that is why you must pay attention to every nuance or you’ll miss a core theme.

The topics of childhood trauma, rape, assault, sexual abuse, being thrown into a world of ruthless men, parentless children, homosexuality amongst wolves, fearing one’s own feminity, self-hatred, lovelessness, hopelessness, shame, grief, guilt, being hurt by and hurting the ones you love, and the true nature of love as paradox are all topics needing to be dealt with using the highest sensitivity and empathy. And Yoneda-Sensei has proved that she is an author who can handle these nuanced and difficult topics with grace. And it’s so cool that she trusts us readers to empathetically understand these characters as well!

As Yashiro says, “People are full of contradictions. They’re lonely and then they’re not, they’re missed and then they’re not.” So simply put. This very understanding of the human condition is what makes Yoneda-Sensei an amazing storyteller in my book.

This story could play out for another five years and I wouldn’t mind.

Thanks for reading!

<3

[catgirl-valeria]

“Ohhh Hope’s overpowered, she’s such a mary sue, how could she beat a god and doom” okay i’m gonna break this down as simply as i can

hope fortnite is not a mary sue you guys are just mean

in this essay i will defend my bbg because i get her better than yall. my credentials are that i love literary analysis and i think im at least half decent at it, and Ive been paying attention to Hope’s story since chapter 5 season 1.

Okay so. First things first, I don’t believe that being a ‘mary sue’ is a bad thing inherently. Anakin Skywalker is the fucking most powerful guy in the entire star wars universe for no reason other than his blood said he is and he is one of the most beloved characters in that franchise. his son luke destroyed a bazillion dollar monument to the military industrial complex on his first flight in an X-Wing. neither of these characters get shit from anyone (hm i wonder what one thing these two have in common that hope doesn’t. hmm)

Secondly. Hope has a character. She has motivations. From the moment we as an audience are introduced to her, we are told that she is anti-authority (she is described as a rebel in almost every bit of content associated with her during season one, and she directly fights against the literal symbol of authority in The Society.) This is the same drive that causes her to fight against Zeus, as what is more authoritarian than a literal God-King. She also cares greatly about freedom and choice. Go back and listen to her dialogue during the Mysterio quest-line, it is the angriest we ever hear her. She is deeply, deeply offended that this fucking guy has brainwashed half the island, that he would strip people of their liberties.

I think people forget. How Zeus and Doom were defeated. Hope didn’t just waltz up there, punch em once, and boom. Done. No, the Loopers beat Zeus and Doom. It was an island-wide effort, spurred on by Hope. She is a leader, that is her role in the story. (also; the Greek God’s powers in fortnite are very ill-defined, considering the Society fought against Zeus directly and lived seemingly unharmed. So.)

People also say Hope has no flaws. And that’s just. Wrong. Granted, her most apparent flaw isn’t clear until Season 4, but it’s Impostor Syndrome. There’s a big difference between being a rebel leader, and being the Prophesied Hero of Fate, granted powers by Pandora and the fucking Oracle of Delphi, and that really gets to her! That’s her arc across the entire season is dealing with this feeling of not being Good Enough to be the hero the island needs. But in the end, she’s able to do what she does best and be a light bright enough to rally the entire island together to fight and defeat Doom.

I get not liking characters, but honestly. a lotta the hate for Hope comes off as just kinda baseless to me. I don’t want to pull the misogyny card against individuals and i’m not going to but i do believe that she would have been received far better if she was a man. Maybe im just a little bit too invested in this storyline but. eh.

[lightdancer1]

Since I feel like lighting a firebomb under the fandom today:

One of the things that shows you exactly why the events of Season 6 at least to a point were almost guaranteed to happen is one of the most heartwarming moments of the entire series. In particular because as written Willow Rosenberg alternates between extremes, and her love for her SOs is very much in that category. it's a Platonic ideal where she gives selflessly, and where she needs to be devoted to someone else like this to feel like parts of her life have meaning.

In the case of Family it was clear that Tara spent about half the sum total of their relationship lying to her. She did so as a cult survivor, a victim of both emotional abuse and gaslighting and at least some physical abuse from her brother and likely from her father as well. She spent that time under the view that she was a demon, that her magic was rooted in an innately evil source and never once bothered to note to her magically empowered girlfriend that in taking those lessons from someone doomed to disappear or become an evil monster she might be taking a very big risk. Nor did she trust that her girlfriend and her friends would accept her WELL after getting to be friends with Anya, who is never quiet about the ex-demon thing, or Spike.

That's not a criticism of her, that's how deeply rooted that cult survivor trauma was. Willow is also a human being whose girlfriend lied to her for the entirety of their relationship thus far and at least some residual anger over that would have shown she had more of her own views of her own worth outside magic and outside the relationship with the person she adored and put on a pedestal.

The Scoobies collectively forgiving a magic misfire that unlike all of Willow's to this point almost turned lethal for all of them is also not surprising, the Scoobies all get a pass for at least once trying to kill one of the other of them or all of them, LOL. Willow not even admitting to herself that no matter how justified her reactions Tara's actions were worth at least some anger shows an unhealthy set of expectations of herself and Tara.

And that in turn meant that some form of rough patch is inevitable not least because nobody human can measure up to those expectations, and it would have been a very necessary part of both of them growing as people. Add to this what Buffyverse magic is really capable of, with episodes like Superstar showing just how horrifyingly powerful it can be in the right contexts, and with Willow's own darker elements manifesting in a control streak exacerbated by power over reality to make its tenets objectively and not subjectively true, something akin to what happened with the memory spell was a fixed point in time.

Other people in real life might imagine something like that or mistake their imagination for reality, in the Buffyverse magic enables people who wield it to make that imagination real. As adorable and necessary as the fluffier fics are, it doesn't do these characters justice to note that their reality, like everyone else in the show, is conditioned by having all the usual issues of people in high school and college figuring out what to do when they have very literal 'pissed me off, now you're a frog' power that can make that process much messier.

Pedestaling people is dangerous IRL and has had no shortage of dangerous effects and is an understated element of putting unhealthy expectations on people. Add to that literal reality warping sorcery and the realization that the pedestaled person and oneself are merely flawed humans after all, and well.....

Of course it also doesn't help that Tara's living the normal life of a Buffyverse witch with the magic family that knows magic is real and Willow is unknown to her Jean Grey careening to her version of the Dark Phoenix Saga, with the most X-Men derived storyline of a main character in a series that Whedon himself admitted has some inspiration from those comics. But that's a somewhat bigger discussion, LOL.

[jackwhiteprophetic]

My controversial 9-1-1 opinion is that Buck is one of the least interesting characters on the show. Don’t get me wrong, he is complex and interesting but the type of character he is and oftentimes reduced to (sunshine golden retriever boy, abandonment issues, humour to cope and uses false confidence and cockiness to hide the fact he’s deeply insecure) is common and you can find at least one character in almost any media who pretty much matches that description. Usually those characters are also a fandom favourite and you can never escape them.

The clear favouritism for Buck in the fandom also undermines a lot of the incredible things this show has done for representation. “Omg the white guy kissed another white guy! This is revolutionary and the greatest thing to happen on the show!” (Ik I’m simplifying it).

That’s cool, personally I think one of the greatest things to happen on the show is the representation of an abusive relationship and how that trauma impacts a person for years and isn’t fixed in a night after finding the perfect guy. I also think representing postpartum depression was also quite revolutionary and made my mum feel comfortable enough to open up to me about how she had postpartum depression after my sister was born. Like my mum is 50 years old and this silly firefighter show made her feel seen. THAT’S what representation is for.

Regarding LGBTQ+ representation, I think the HAPPILY MARRIED BLACK LESBIAN COUPLE WITH CHILDREN (Mara we’re getting you home) is something never seen in mainstream media, firstly because there are hardly any sapphic relationships and secondly because those sapphic relationships hardly include women of colour.

This is an ensemble and I feel like a lot of people forget that. I’m also still annoyed that when Buck was confirmed bisexual, major article companies acted like this was the first time 9-1-1 had established 1) a queer character and 2) a queer couple.

Henren ran so BT could stumble around and fall flat on its face.

Interesting... We definitely share some of the same views on things, but I do find Buck really interesting as a character now!!! I find Buck and Eddie soooo interesting mainly because I have read probably millions of words of character study on them. Also when I first watched I didn't find Buck suuuper interesting up until the saviour baby arc, which adds so many layers of complexity to his behaviour across all seasons!!!

I really hope there is a greater focus on Maddie next season!!!! Also I think one of the major flaws with S7, because it was written very quickly and they knew they would have to move scenes across episodes is that they didn't really mix storylines massively, so it wasn't very cohesive and we didn't really get to see the 118 as a whole family properly. The pairings we had were Buck and Eddie, Henren and Madney and Bobby and Athena, and that was kind of consistent throughout. Next season I'm really hoping that they can switch up dynamics at least for a few storylines, BC I miss when we would see scenes of like Buck and Chim, or Athena and Hen, which they stopped doing as much once Bathena happened, because they no longer needed Hen as a link between Athena and the 118. WHICH IS SO SAD! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

ALSO SORRY THIS ISNT VERY WELL STRUCTURED BUT CAN THEY LET HENREN BE HAPPY PLEASE!!!! Kind of sick of their storylines being "oh no someone is threatening our family" because it just paints their family as unstable and they don't deserve that!!! I want silly storylines PLEASE!

But yes the centering of Buck (and sometimes the other guy who I will not name BC I don't wanna piss ppl off) by SOME people in the fandom ANGERS ME GREATLY. ESPECIALLY with the whole Gerrard thing, where the comments on the IG post were FLOODED with people talking about Tommy (named him here oh well). And people talking about how everyone is gonna defend Buck because if Gerrard even looks at Buck they're gonna throw hands! I'M SORRY WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU MORE DEFENSIVE OVER BUCK THAN CHIMNEY OR HEN, WHO HAVE ALREADY BOTH BEEN TARGETED AND HARASSED AND BULLIED BY GERRARD? WHY ARE YOU MORE DEFENSIVE OVER TOMMY THAN CHIM OR HEN? It fucking disgusts me. The way that Tommy literally was introduced in S2 as a PLOT DEVICE to show how 'bystanders' (he was barely a bystander, more an active participant) in workplace racism and bullying are still so fucking dangerous and disgusting and wrong. And he was so fucking disgusting to both Hen and Chim, bear in mind they have a fucking dangerous job, if CHIM had been in that building Tommy would have absolutely left him to die. WORKPLACE RACISM IN LIFE OR DEATH JOBS LEADS TO PEOPLE BEING FUCKING LEFT TO DIE. And people are more defensive over Tommy being potentially harassed by Gerrard and than they ever were over Hen or Chim. As a white person I am so fucking sorry, this fandom has not lately been a safe space for pocs and the fucking lengths people go to to justify both the character and the actor are so fucking strange. White queer people should do fucking better than this. It is the bare fucking minimum to not be racist or not have been publicly racist in the past. Why not ask for a better fucking standard? ALSO with the actor, if you're trying to fucking argue that he's not like that any more, SHOW ME that he is a fucking anti racist and that he is fucking defending minority groups and that he understands the weight of his actions. SHOW ME how he understands his privilege and uses his platform and the money he is given to donate to and fund the protection of these groups. It is fucking sickening that people have decided they can defend or ignore or tolerate this man and it DISGUSTS ME that they have happily created an environment where people can't feel fucking safe or supported or heard.

The focus on that character is so fucking weird given the lack of screen time he has had, I'm really gonna stop talking about him at all soon because it gives him way too much weight. But it's disgusting. The way some people have to find a way to write Eddie and Chris out of Buck's life and rewrite over canon to bring more focus onto this man astounds me.

As a (lesbian? Idk not currently sure but kinda) queer person, Henren are such beautiful representation and I love them so much and ALSO the foundation of the whole show is basically found family. If you want to only focus on Buck then that's fine I guess, but it is literally written into canon that the family around him mean FUCKING EVERYTHING TO HIM so it's weird that people barely fucking look at it at all.

Anyway sorry I greatly appreciated your message and idk if all of this is related or relevant and it is not well structured but I was just feeling ranty and was inspired by you! I love you and I hope you have a brilliant day!

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

Roy and Jamie's relationship is one of my favourite parts of TL, but the period between 2x10-3x04 when they're not antagonistic anymore but also not really friends, and their interactions mostly consist of Roy threatening to kill Jamie and slapping food out of his hands, is near the top of my list of writing decisions I did not like.

It's not that I think the two of them should have immediately started getting along post-Wembley or that I think Jamie necessarily should have found those moments triggering — it would have been a perfectly legitimate choice if the writers had gone that route, but given that James seems to be able to put on a friendly(ish) front based on what we know from the Amsterdam story, I could see how Jamie might find how upfront Roy is about his anger reassuring — but because it does a disservice to Roy as a character.

You have this man who's so painfully aware of his flaws, who cares so deeply about the people he loves but is afraid he'll drag them down and infect them with the worst parts of himself, who steps up to take care of his former rival — someone who embodies everything he once was and never will be again — when he's vulnerable and terrified after being abused by his father in front of the whole team. And then a couple of episodes later he threatens to knock Jamie's teeth down his throat.

Fundamentally, I think it's a matter of blending comedy with serious storylines, which TL generally does well, especially in the first two seasons. But I don't think a serious storyline and its comedy counterpart can effectively coexist in the same show. You can't show a character being threatened and assaulted by his father and then turn around and have another character do the same but it's a joke, this time, without undermining one of those storylines. It's the same with Beard and Jane: one of the main character arcs is Rebecca's difficult, painful healing process after the end of her abusive marriage, but at the same time there's a running gag about a couple that's written like they were playing bingo with the Wikipedia page for domestic abuse.

[danielsarmand]

i'm getting used to the idea that my opinions in this fandom will often be the opposite of whatever the general public seems to think, but i thought human nature and family of blood were just... okay. they're very... charming episodes, to be sure, the storyline is novel and the sets, cinematography, costumes and acting are great, i just feel like it left me feeling bitter more than it left me thinking ‘oh, that's a nice episode!’

this, of course, mostly resides in how martha was treated as a character. after two episodes which, more or less, seemed to highlight her qualities and actions and existence beside her feelings for the doctor, we're back at it. and i'm tired of martha being sandboxed in them. and i know that's the whole thing with her storyline, but it's so hurtful to witness over and over how she'll basically never be enough for the doctor, no matter the universe—mostly because so little of it rings true to me. i do not believe ten would never look at her twice. i do not believe there is no way he could fall for her. i do not believe he doesn't like her. he surely likes her enough to flirt with her, and the writers have such fun planting all those little innuendos in his dialogue toward (or regarding) her, but it's like they take some sort of perverse pleasure out of then shutting the door in her face and trying to make the audience believe that's rightful and that she has no reason to be hurt by it. it's exhausting.

martha does have the single most important role here, as she does in quite the number of episodes in her run as the companion. i always joke that the doctor would have regenerated 53 million times if it wasn't for martha, but that's actually not much of a joke. she's saved him so many times. and when, at the beginning, the doctor asks her whether she trusts him, what he really should've done is he should've told her “i trust you”, because the whole thing boiled down to martha having to fix his mess and the doctor 100% believing she would. at least he said something about everything being in her hands, which could be counted as implicit admission of trust, but yeah. the dialogue implying she is the one to have to trust that the doctor will come back to her, despite having to be the one to make him come back, is just...

i adore ten. he is the reason i started watching the show—well, tennant is—and i felt his absence so much during these two episodes that when john smith briefly spoke in the tenth doctor way of speaking my heart grew three sizes, but there's something deeply... off with his characterization at times. or maybe it isn't off, as such, just his flaws are highlighted a lot more than other doctors'—which is fine, per se, he's a 900+ old alien i don't want, need nor expect him to be perfect. it's just, coupled with the questionable general arc of this season with martha and him always in this wobbly, awkward spot between friendship and something else, and the way they seem to use martha as a cushion to fall back onto and punch when the doctor fucks up, it leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth i guess. specifically because i think too much, and i often think about how so many people dislike martha for things that have so little to do with her and so much to do with the absence of rose, the faults of the doctor and the disservice the writers did to what could've been—and has been, if you look at her—an amazing character. a widely beloved one.

you know what, the episode would have been fine. john smith wasn't the doctor, he had this thing with the nurse or whatever, fine. part of the plot, i guess, was that of course he wouldn't have wanted to give humanity up, and what better reason not to want that than to feel love while trapped as a human? fine. but what i don't really get, and what makes me feel a little sick to my stomach actually, is the ending. where he goes back and talks to joan and asks her, or really, when you think about it, tries to manipulate her into coming with him. that's nothing new, the doctor is pretty manipulative and always has been, but he usually uses the allure of space-time travel and breathtaking sights and incredible adventures to basically kidnap his companions like some sort of old ass peter pan, and he's honest with it. he does genuinely think, every time, that what he'll offer the people he takes with him is so much better than whatever they might be thinking of doing with their lives that they will ultimately be happy they followed him. and they are, until they aren't, because that's the tragedy in doctor who for you, but here. here, he uses feelings. he uses joan's feelings for john and somehow promises her he's still capable of whatever john was, including falling for her. and why would he do that. that's just mean. to joan, to martha, hell, even to himself. i really have absolutely no clue what they were trying to do with this scene except, as i said, highlighting his flaws. because he knows damn well. he knows damn well that, even if he were to fall for her, she'd have to leave or die and it would break both of their hearts. that's the whole theme with him, isn't it? i thought it was. he's just experienced that with rose and he's keeping everyone at arms-length because he doesn't want it to happen again, and that's understandable. but then he goes and does this. i don't know. i simply don't know. there's also the whole thing where joan tells him she wants nothing to do with him, because she's in love with john—not some doctor—and he, the doctor, has caused so much harm choosing that specific place in space-time to hide. and the thing is, he's so creepy in that whole scene. when he speaks to her, the things he says, how he says them, how he looks at her when she calls him out. amazing acting, but there's something so dark about him in these episodes that i can't help but want to crawl out of my skin.

one might argue that he tried to get her to come with him because he remembered what john felt for her, or at least what happened between them. and that's further sustained by them hinting at him remembering what martha said to him about him being everything, and her loving him to bits. but that just makes it feel more gratuitously mean to everyone involved (so, ten as well), and steeps the two episodes in this... bitterness, which takes from the overall enjoyment. for me, at least.

there's also other things i disliked about the ep, like when in the video the doctor tells martha ‘you. don't make me leave you behind’ which kind of sounds like he was expecting he would? same way as he was expecting he'd hurt people because that's what humans do, which i agree with, but why underline the fact that he was potentially going to leave her? of course she would have stayed close in order to make him turn back to himself, i don't think that really needed saying. that's just one of the little jabs to martha the writers love to insert in scripts. thing is, i despise them! anyway, the post is long as it is, just—if there's one thing i loved (and it wasn't nearly enough to make up for the rest, but,), it was the way ten hugs martha after he tells her ‘thanks for looking after me’. with his eyes closed and that genuine, childlike smile. engulfing her completely. i so wish things had gone differently between them.

[amostexcellentblog]

So I saw wicked yesterday... Now, I’ve never been a major fan of this show, even as it is inescapable to any musical fan. So I was a little unsure of what to expect, but I ended up loving it. Enough so that I apparently had a lot of thoughts to get down.

So, Wicked.... It’s influence is undeniable, it basically created the market on Broadway for shows aimed at tweens and teens, an audience too old for Annie and too young for Sondheim. Without this show, we probably wouldn’t have Newsies or Dear Evan Hansen, or anything else aimed at young adults. It basically brought fandom culture to musical theater. For better or for worse.

Beneath that massive success though, it’s always had its detractors. The New York Times critic panned the Broadway production, and it famously lost the Best Musical Tony. And honestly I get that. Wicked is a deeply flawed show. It’s a script in particular is bad, the foreshadowing is unsubtle, as is the political allegory, and really it just tries to cram too much into a limited running time, and as a result many storylines field rushed and underdeveloped.

And yet it’s appeal is undeniable. Defying Gravity is one of the all-time great ballads, no matter how often it’s been butchered in cast party karaoke, Popular is undeniably fun, and really the whole spectacle of the production is just enthralling to see done live. It’s the sort of big spectacle show that you don’t see on Broadway that often anymore as cultural taste and the economics of the industry move towards smaller scale shows that are more intimate, and much cheaper to stage.

So yes, I was understandably worried about how it would translate to the screen given its flaws and the fact that the last decade has not been kind to high profile film adaptations of hit Broadway shows. But I'm happy to say the filmmakers knew what they were doing. The decision to split it into two parts was the correct one, the extra time allows the movie to flesh out the characters and story lines. It doesn’t totally fix everything, Nessarose and Boq remain incredibly uninteresting characters, but Elphaba's devotion to her sister is better explained here. It also adds more subtlety to the political subplot by letting it unfold more gradually in the background of the main character's more frivolous romantic entanglements in a way that feels almost like Cabaret. The performances are all topnotch. There’s no Russell-Crowe-in-Les-Mis amongst the cast. I was concerned about Ariana Grande, but she is actually great and sings the part beautifully. But this is Cynthia Erivo‘s show and she is fantastic!

The Director Jon M. Chu brilliantly opens up the story to film. The opening panning shot leading into No One Mourns The Wicked instantly grabs your attention, and the Defying Gravity scene is incredible to see on the big screen. It never feels slow, the extended runtime just flies by. One thing I like about Chu is how he references classic Hollywood musicals even as he updates the style to modern sensibilities. For his last musical In the Heights, he paid homage to Fred Astaire‘s famous dancing on the ceiling bit from Royal Wedding by having a young couple dancing up the exterior of their apartment building. Here he seems to take Gene Kelly’s Niña dance from The Pirate, where he swings from rafters while flirting with various women, and dials it up to 11 for Jonathan Bailey's Dancing Through Life number. That being said, there were times where I wish he could’ve gone a little smaller. For example, in The Wizard and I, I don’t think Elphaba needs to run through a random field of wheat, and I don’t think Popular needs to have Glinda swinging from a chandelier. It becomes a little repetitive when every number has to go big. Kelly understood that, yes he will do a big Broadway Melody ballet, but the most famous number in that movie is just him tap dancing in a storm drain with an umbrella and a lamp post. Sometimes simple is better.

The costuming is great, although it is a little ridiculous that only the background characters seem to be required to wear uniforms at the University. The special effects are a bit better than the trailer, but they do still have that kind of bland washed out look that a lot of modern movies have.

The biggest flaw by far though, is the decision to have the cast sing live. I really don’t get why directors feel compelled to do this honestly. Judy Garland pre-recorded Over The Rainbow, Gene Kelly pre-recorded Singing in the Rain, when all the old masters are doing it this way maybe it’s just the best way to do it and you shouldn’t play around with that! The singing isn’t bad, but it never feels as strong or powerful as it could be, and I do think that’s because it was done live.

Overall though, I still loved the movie and I’m glad we finally have a great big budget movie musical in the style of the old MGM classics. I’m glad that the creative team didn’t just copy the show, but really sat down and thought critically about what needed to be done better and then went out and fixed those problems. Honestly, assuming Part 2 doesn’t drastically drop in quality, (which could happen, like most musicals, Wicked’s Act 1 is much better than Act 2) I think the movies could actually be better than the show. I hope its success proves that there is still an audience for this type of film, and that we see more of them, and that the people involved in making those movies care about the material as much as the people involved in making this one did. I don’t know if it’ll make musical fans out of musical haters, but I do think even casual moviegoers can be drawn into its world. I highly recommend seeing it on the biggest screen possible.

[unfortunatesal]

The Teal Mask DLC for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet fucking rules

So, I haven't mentioned this here, but I genuinely do like Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. It's... deeply flawed for sure. The game is a buggy mess, the level scaling (or lack thereof) is atrocious, the way random encounters are handled fucking sucks with you running into shit constantly and it's just. not very challenging.

But it has a huge, huge plus that to me, makes up for all of that, and it's one that I'm strongly biased towards. Though... it's technically two: the plot, and the characters.

Now, Pokemon has never been bad at character design, really. The characters are always endearing and cool and whatnot. But besides some exceptions like N and Bianca, they're never all that interesting, at least to me. They're not much more than pleasant. But Scarlet & Violet has *great* characters, it's by far its strongest suit. The gym leaders aren't anything deep, but they do have such distinct and memorable personalities that they just... stick with you. Maybe it's recency bias, but I could tell you that Katy is a sweet old lady, Brassuis is a massive theatre kid, Iono is an energetic vtuber, Kofu is a goofy uncle, Larry is a depressed businessman, Ryme is... I guess a rapper, honestly Ryme isn't that interesting imo, Tulip has extremely bad vibes and I do not want to be near her, and Grusha is a jaded cynical twink with PTSD. These are all great!

And those are characters from the "bad" storyline, the one with little to no narrative merit! The Team Star storyline absolutely rules and is just, genuinely really good and the way it slowly unpacks an unflods the actual reality of what Team Star is and what happened with them is just, wonderful. I love the direction it goes in and the message it conveys. And the herba mystica storyline is! Okay! It's fine! People seem to love it but I just think it's kind of okay. I will say that Arven's storyline is general is great, but it only really reached that point when you get to Area Zero which is a whole other thing and is also just, great.

And the rivals, or rival-like characters, are fantastic. I especially love Nemona who is an austistic yandere icon (but only yandere in the Pokemon sense, where Pokemon battles are everything and are considered an almost intimate experience at times in Scarlet & Violet as a whole???)

Nemona is absolutely my favourite rival, or *was*, until the Teal Mask DLC came along and introduced two rivals that, ahem, rivaled her. Both are just massive, massive hits in my book, and... I want to talk about why, because they have been living rent-free in my head and the yare 2 of the 3 elements that make the Teal Mask DLC so great, the third being Ogerpon herself, which I will get to later.

OH BY THE WAY I WILL BE SPOILING THE TEAL MASK DLC SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN IT, DO NOT READ

So, the first notable rival is Carmine. And she definitely acts like a Pokemon rival in the classic, Gary / Silver, huge asshole kind of way. As soon as you meet her, she tells you to get the fuck out of her village and challenges you to a battle. She's kind of a dark Nemona in a sense, in that she takes the tsundere approach instead of the yandere approach. She totally doesn't love battling you or spending time with you or anything, obviously not! There is so much romantic tension between you and every single Scarlet & Violet rival and it fucking rules, especially since it manifests so differently for all 3 of them.

But... eventually, Carmen warms up to you, and you start getting along with her. She helps you out and becomes a reliable partner, and ends up having absolutely no qualms being friendly with you. The thing is, though... Carmen never stops being an asshole. She continues to be kind of a bitch throughout the entire story! She just becomes a bitch in a very endearing and likeable way, and directs that bitchiness in a productive, fun, and even helpful ways, and that's just wonderful. She's pretentious, quick to anger, looks down on everything and everyone, and I love her so fucking much

And then, there's Kieran, Carmen's litle brother and also my precious son. Kieran is kind of the opposite of Carmen. He doesn't seem like a rival at all. He's just a shy and nervous kid who clearly likes you a lot and wants to be friends and get along with you. Just a sweet little kid with anxiety! Extremely likeable, extremely endearing, you can't not love the kid

But then you learn he has a huge fixation with Ogerpon and other creatures that are demonized and treated as outcasts. Still endearing, but gives him a lot of depth! And, oh god, my boy has the BPD and he is absolutely FPing Ogerpon. He gets increasingly upset and incomfortable with you getting close to Ogerpon when he isn't able to, and starts sulking and running off, and man, I've been there. I know what it's like and I feel for Kieran so much.

This all comes to a head when you catch Ogerpon, and add her to your party, thus preventing Kieran from being close to the creature he loves and admires so much. After that, he starts to lose it, and becomes an extremely compelling rival who straddles the line between friend and antagonist. The cliffhanger ending suggests that he'll continue to spiral out of control for the next DLC and god, I am so here for it. I love his story arc so, so fucking much and I cannot wait to see what they do with it

And then, there's Ogerpon. Ogerpon is a precious little creature who was deeply wronged by the village, deomized and cast aside from the start. The mian antagonists of the arc, the Loyal 3, took advantage of her status as an outcast to kill her only friend and steal what was most precious to them, causing her to fight back, and be cast as the villain for centuries as a result. And. Fuck. I love Ogerpon so much. I love her story, I love the way it's resolved, I love how it ties into Kieran's character and the final fight against Ogerpon herself. I used to not know what to say when people told me what my favourite Pokemon is. Now, I know, and I'm so grateful fto the Teal Mask DLC for that.

[theredhairedmonkey]

Posting my reply to @kuno-chan’s post separately here as I’m not going to reblog slander disparaging me or others.

Also, since these are just all the same talking points lifted from elsewhere in the fandom, there’s no need to go line by line. Nevertheless, I’ve given this plenty of time and thought, and will break my take down into four parts:

Callum and Rayla

No, Callum is not obsessed with Rayla. Sorry, but one brief evening of him mourning the anniversary of Rayla leaving isn’t a constant obsession lol. This scene shows he still has feelings for her, but it does not constitute a constant preoccupation. For the vast majority of time in s4 before she returned, he hardly acknowledged her. Even when she returned and left again in 4x03, he did not have a any reaction at all, and went along with his day.

Callum is a deeply caring person who would do anything for those he loves, including Ezran, Soren, and Amaya (Yes, even Soren, as Callum was about to fight Elmer to defend him despite being injured himself). This fierce loyalty is part of his nature, not evidence of obsession over one person. His willingness to fight for others can be both a strength and a flaw at times.

At the same time, as Finnegrin points out to Callum in 5x08, his friends are also willing to do anything for him too. It’s a two-way street.

Meanwhile, Rayla seems more singularly focused on Callum, calling him the "best thing I ever had" and clearly pining for him constantly. Her moral compass now revolves around Callum and protecting Callum specifically. So between the two, she displays more obsessive tendencies regarding their relationship. To the point that I have mentioned before it’s a little disconcerting that most of her character arc in s4 seems to just be about getting back together with him.

Speaking of which, even after they reconcile, the lead writer dropped the bombshell that they’re actually not currently dating:

Which really begs the question, if Rayla is so eager to resume their relationship, why haven’t they? If Callum is so obsessed with her, why hasn’t he taken her back yet?

This doesn’t mean Callum doesn’t care deeply about her. He absolutely does. But if Callum were truly obsessed, he likely would have immediately resumed the relationship. The fact that he has not suggests he has set healthy boundaries and is not driven by obsession.

But that’s just the relationship angle. There’s also the issue with assigning Rayla’s traits (flaws specifically) to Callum. Callum is indeed loyal, and to his detriment sometimes, but loyalty and devotion aren’t the main driver for his actions. They’re Rayla’s. You don’t even have to take my word for it, it’s spelled out in Tales of Xadia:

Callum’s most important value is Freedom/Liberty, once again spelled out in Tales of Xadia:

And this distinction is crucial, as it’s the crux of his storyline in s5: is he really free to choose not to do dark magic (or free to make any choice for that matter), and what does it mean to have unlimited potential, and whether that unlimited potential can lead to a very dark place. Once again, flat out stated by the lead writer of the show:

Notice how Devon explained Callum’s motivation without ever mentioning “Rayla”?

Chalking up his motivation to just an obsession for Rayla that he’ll always have, that he’s just That Way and nothing else, deprives him of this arc and reduces him to a two dimensional sidepiece for Rayla. It strips him of the complexity of his season 5 arc, where he struggles with the meaning of unlimited potential and the darkness that could engender. His inner conflicts go far beyond his feelings for Rayla. Suggesting otherwise diminishes his character development, and it's beyond me why anyone would want that.

Callum and Morality

As I’ve said before, I enjoy Callum’s dark side immensely. I really do. But the point of the Ocean Arcanum, as I've mentioned before, is that everyone has a dark side:

Thus, Callum isn’t any more particularly morally dubious than anyone else. Sorry, but a single use of dark magic, with already-dead ingredients, in an extremely controlled setting for the very narrow purpose of setting himself free, doesn’t make Callum morally dubious. And I’m sure the average person could see the VAST chasm of difference between using One Bad Spell and dooming the world for Rayla’s sake that the story has no chance of bridging in just two seasons.

He refrained from using the snake chain spell offensively against people, as we've seen it used before (in 2x03). It was narrowly employed just to free himself, after which he immediately returned to primal magic. And in that sense, I haven’t seen a single person argue this one act was unjustifiable.

And, as he gives Finnegrin the wrong list of ingredients, that’s basically the only real act of moral ambiguity Callum has displayed. Because for everything else, you have to hold Callum to a unique (and impossible) standard that applies to no one else. For instance, it's not considered morally dubious when Amaya punched Karim, yet Callum punching Finnegrin supposedly is? Callum is dubious for forgiving Rayla of her crimes (in a show that’s centered on forgiveness and trust as sources of true strength), yet Rayla isn’t dubious for actually committing those crimes? Like, Rayla actually lies, steals, and abandons her friends, yet Callum is viewed as more dubious simply for forgiving her?

Seriously, why am I supposed to think Callum is dubious for saving his friend at the cost of a snake’s tail, yet Rayla is merely “complex” for what she's done?

To be clear, while Rayla has certainly done morally questionable things, that does not make her a bad person or even a morally dubious person overall. But the same must also apply to Callum - his singular use of dark magic for escape does not negate his generally good and principled nature. Very few people would consider his actions in that scene truly unjustifiable.

Callum and Viren

As I’ve said before here, Callum and Viren are indeed foils, and perhaps the most important foil relationship in the series. But the point of foil characters is showing each other’s opposing traits:

And yea, it should be pretty obvious that Callum and Viren are dramatically different from one another. Callum protects those close to him and tries to do the right thing, while Viren seeks to amass as much power for himself as he can.

This is even clear from their parallel shots that Viren and Callum are extremely different, for good and bad reasons. When opening the door to greet the guard, Viren appears self-important while Callum seems nice and humble. When he confronts Soren on the battlements, Callum is aggressive and angry where Viren was calm and calculated. These are not the same person.

That doesn’t mean Viren and Callum are opposites in every way; some minor similarities are there to humanize Viren, not equate him with Callum. For instance, the moment he parallels Callum and the group’s “I’d do anything for you” was to show that Viren isn’t just a power hungry tyrant but also a devoted and desperate father. However the fact that this is a sympathetic moment undercuts the supposed dubiousness of Callum.

Viren's devotion to his children parallels Callum's loyalty to his friends, making Viren sympathetic rather than wholly evil. But this does not make Callum dubious by association - if anything, it suggests Viren has glimmers of goodness akin to Callum's steadfast decency. If Viren is portrayed as good to the extent that he’s similar to Callum, what does that say about Callum himself?

So while they have a couple superficial similarities, their core character traits and motivations remain opposites. It is unreasonable to equate them based on scant common ground when their differences are so pronounced. If parallels to Callum humanize Viren, that reflects well on Callum, not poorly.

It’s also pretty telling that the same people downplay Callum's explicit and canonical similarities to the moral exemplar Amaya, while overstating negligible common ground with the villainous Viren...

Fandom Toxicity:

While I can be blunt or harsh about takes I disagree with or think are poorly thought out, I never attack the people holdings those views or suggest that they’re terrible people. I would never, for instance, suggest that people who don’t subscribe to my view of Callum to be incels, or who don’t subscribe to my view of Rayla to be mysoginists, or who don’t subscribe to my view of Ezran to be racists.

It’s not just toxic and offensive behavior, but it’s also inconsistent. When you ask “why is it so bad that some people believe Callum is dubious,” it kinda falls flat when you turn around and call people "incels" for having a different take on Callum.

I’m not going to comment much more on this as I think it speaks for itself, but I also deal with enough bullying and harassment as it is, so this will probably be it for me. I see no reason to continue when you are arguing with such bad faith.

Postscript

The argument here is basically “since Callum was willing to squish a snake’s tail and risk his life for Rayla, then it’s reasonable he’d be willing to risk the entire world for her.” I’m sorry, but I’m of the opinion that this doesn’t follow and is kinda far fetched. That isn’t a personal attack, just my personal take.

It’s fine to want Callum to be morally dubious. You’d be pushing an open door with me if you think it would be cool headcanon. Completely unsubstantiated by canon, but still cool.

But for whatever reason, the favor is not returned. It should be fine to think Callum has a moral code, that he has a life outside of Rayla, and that he’ll probably rise above his weaknesses and flaws by the end of the saga. Yet the namecalling and mudslinging that this is responded with is just WILD.

I don’t deal well with insults, or namecalling, or the insinuation that I am in denial subconsciously, or I don’t really mean it when I discuss Callum’s dark side. Nor will I entertain it. This type of bad faith dealing barely deserved a response, much less several paragraphs worth, but now that this is all on a page, I’m going to do both of us a favor and say that we’re done.

[strawberrytalia]

omg! i wanna do a few:

top 5 dc characters!

top 5 comic series!

top 5 animals!

OMG hi ella!!! 🫶 OH THESE ARE HARD

Top 5 dc characters (omg I feel bad ranking them)

Duke Thomas - who’s surprised 😭 no but he’s without a doubt my fave bat. i think there are just so many inspiring things about him, and he represents the aspect of comics I love most - stepping up and doing what’s right even when all odds are against you

Carol Ferris - I used to talk about her 24/7 when I was heavy in my GL phase, but I never stopped loving her. I love that she’s deeply flawed and angry and passionate, and she gets to be messy. Also she influenced me to be more comfortable expressing myself femininely which was hard as a brown girl ngl anyways carol <333

Ollie Queen - LMAO idk why but I feel so cliche putting him, but he’s my favorite Arrow and he always has been. I relate to him a lot. He’s really introverted, in his own head despite being is outspoken, he loves nature, cares deeply, and he isolates when he’s sad. I also like his very black-and-white thinking, esp when it gets challenged. live laugh love ollie queen

Talia Al Ghul - I won’t say much about her lmao bc talia stans are like sharks here, but she is also very important to me. Like you ever get that character that just seizes your heart???? Yeah that’s Talia for me 🥺 i don’t post abt her often either, but i love her sm

Khalid Nassour - it’s hell being his fan, but i’ll do it anyways 😭 so Khalid is rlly interesting bc i read his “cool” appearances first then read Dr Fate 2015 where he was more of an annoying 22 yr old. And it was so satisfying watching him grow from someone who was more narrow-minded and whitewashed to an intelligent, capable, and enlightened person. I really enjoy his character’s spin on what fate means in regards to one’s identity, heritage, lifestyle, and faith.

Top 5 comic series (THIS IS ALSO HARD OMG)

Day of Vengeance - this is the one currently living rent free in my head rn bc it’s so FUNNY and random, but also a really interesting storyline in regards to magic in the DCU. It’s just so enjoyable watching this group of mystics handle the hugest threat ever and barely get along, and they’re all weird, and then Lori joins and she’s like the group teenager and it’s so funny

We Are Robin - I honestly wish it was longer ngl but I really wanted to see more of the group together and their stories, especially Izzy and Dre. The premise and duration of this story is SO dear to me bc ofc Duke, but also I love watching kids band together against authorities bc they love their city sm.

Batman: Son of the Demon - as a Talia and sometimes Brutalia fan, how can I not 😭 It’s so sad and actually heartwrenching how happiness was so close to them but taken away, and how much Bruce and Talia sacrificed for each other because they are both loving people, they just love in the wrong way

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters - perfect Ollie. Perfect depiction of his mind. Really good storytelling. SHADOOOOO she served cunt and dc didn’t like that so they ruined her. Her initial appearance was so charming i literally made it my header. I like ethical dilemmas and the one in this story is so good. Also shoutout to Eddie fr

Green Lantern: Blackest Night - OKAY THIS IS THE ONE I WAS AFRAID OF SHARING 😭 I’m SORRY i love this for so many reasons, nostalgia mostly bc I re-read it over and over again at the peak of my hal obsession era idk why, I like the giant white entity, I like when all the Corps leaders have to team up and they’re all side-eyeing each other sm, and I also love when random heroes get involved and help save the day like Mera, Ray, Barry, Diana, Grant, watching them all try to survive it while battling grief in front of them. It is NOT THE BEST GL COMIC EVER but it’s one of my faves.

Top 5 animals (I love this question!!!!)

CATS 🫶 I used to have a cat when I lived in the states!! his name was austin, he was 8 years old, and he was the cutest thing ever. we had to give him away when we moved 😭 i still hate that my mom did that sm

SEALS!!!!!!! 🦭

Orcas 🐋🐋🐋 I like them a lot, they’re so adorable

Otters!!! 🦦

Flamingos 🦩 (hehe my username for a reason) they’re pink and i like all things pink also they’re so pretty

[lesbianwyllravengard]

the ask you sent was so fun so you KNOW i gotta send one back

it's been a while since i was into dbh, but i remember seeing alice n kara and loving them both. do you have any thoughts on them? it can be either of them individually, their relationship, or just how they're treated in the fandom

ok ok thank you bye !!

Oh my GODDDD YES. THANK YOU😭

Kara is my absolute favourite character. No one does it like her. She's just incredible, plus Valorie is insanely talented and she outperformed, making Kara more loveable.

Kara and Alice's storyline is not my favourite to play but it is my favourite as a whole, because of the found family element. That shit's my favourite. I hate d*vid c*ge, I despise how he shoved Kara into a stereotypical Mother role just because she's the only playable woman, ESPECIALLY since this game is only possible because of her. I hate how he used domestic abuse to make her storyline more "thriller" (because the only way he can imagine women feeling fear is if a man is beating them), and I hate how she is the only one who can die so early on and has less chapters than the other two male leads. But, I love Kara tremendously and her story is like a breath of fresh air from Connor's, and a relief when Markus's stresses me out lol.

I really disliked the "Alice is an android" plottwist. Not only was it dumb and predictable, but the way it was handled was sooooo lame and insulting to Kara's character. "she just chose not to remember" because they couldn't reveal it to the audience too soon. Like what kinda explanation is that. There's just so many inconsistencies the "plottwist" created in the story. And it felt entirely tasteless considering Kara was meant to be a bridge between androids and humanity, being an android who so deeply cares for and loves a human child enough to take care of her at any cost. That meaningfulness dies as soon as Alice is no longer human.

But I will defend Alice any time. I do love her. So much of this fandom complains about her being a numb child which is INSANE to me because we all saw her being abused by Todd. Like ffs. Complaining about her "I'm cold", she's a goddamn kid and she's cold, you want her to suck it up? After everything she's been through? God.

Also I'd argue, and have argued before, that Kara is the closest example we have to how a hypothetical ai gaining sentience and emotions would look. Again it's entirely theoretical and not possible in real life, but we actively see her gaining true emotion, we see how she rewrites her programming to suit her, and I wish we had more of it in the game. She's the only character whose emotional responses can be irrational, and therefore are genuine emotional responses. She even says, regarding Alice, "I can't be happy if she's not". That's not rational at all, but it IS a very common emotional response to caring about someone. We know she genuinely cares for Alice because of this. Kara is a beautiful character and I fucking wish the fandom acknowledged her more.

I could rant for days on how they're both mistreated by the fandom but I won't right now. They're both girls, I'm sure you can imagine what they go through at the hands of the fandom and how utterly undeserved and misogynistic it all is.

Ultimately when I ignore the context of the director and writer I am able to fully enjoy their story and their characters. But as soon as I think about DC I fume lol. As is MOST if not ALL things in this game. I honestly feel the only thing I truly enjoy about the game is the characters, and Kara and Alice are great characters. Well written despite the game's overall writing flaws, and very easy to love and understand. I love how passionate and stubborn and caring Kara is. I love how wonderful and loving and compassionate Alice is. I love and miss them both so much

[littleroaes]

fic authors self rec!

when you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to other writers you know. let's spread some self-love! 💛

thanks for the ask anon! <3333 extra note is that all my works are written in 3rd person pov and uses she/ her pronouns! ( aside from love4eva ig )

To any lovers left alive ( 恋人たち ‘The Lovers’ ) : not my most popular fic, but i do truly think it’s one of my best stories ever written! i really wanted it to be fluffy and romantic, but also this undeniable melancholy throughout it. i’m really happy with the relationship i was able to create between juyeon, reader and eric! reader starts to love together in their little apartment after telling her secret! the original idea was way more slice of life, but it turned into a emotional piece about human love. it resonates very deeply with me because it’s about learning and growing as a person in cause of your environment and people you love. reflections about our actions and how it eventually returns after circling the ecosystem of beings. find the reason we’re alive, really!

do you want somebody? ( like i want somebody ) : i think i really got the ambience for this fic! i love hurt/ comfort, it’s the trope i read to heal my little heart lol. it’s based on the newjeans song, ditto. the characters have deep mutual pining for each other, but reader can’t comfortably express themselves in a verbal sense. but juyeon doesn’t care! he’s so patient my heart hurts. i think its a very comforting fic. we all can feel like outsiders to some degree and stare at our undesirable traits, but i do truly believe that we all can be loved nonetheless. that despite our flaws we’re worthy of love.

boys in cats clothing : my first fic on tumblr! i hadn’t written in a while when working on this piece; so i wanted to give myself something easy! it’s so fluffy! that’s why i love it! i love sulky juyeon lol, he’s such a cutie in this. also catboy juyeon! that’s my agenda lol he’s such a catlike person! i love catboy juyeon so much that the fic im working on right now also has to do with cats in his storyline lol. the plot is not anything special but im weirdly sentimental over it

[soul-wanderer]

06x12//Never Gonna Give You Up - weekly recap

aka the one where I go against the grain, and you’re free to move on if that’s not for you

- Vic looking cute in the beginning and being ready to defend/save Travis with a baseball bat. Including their sweet and funny friendship moment and Vic being a nerd - what else could we ask for?

- Andy looks just great in this episode as well, both at home and in the field. Could have done without The British Dude, though, just saying

- that exchange between Andy and Ross in the beginning was just great, and I’m all here for it

- We need more of the casual jokes, like Maya saying “I hate that I know this” and Travis going “Oh, I know her”

- Vic supporting Theo, even though she didn’t quite understand what he was going through and was having a hard time, is still something I love about them (even though I did wonder what the repercussions would be in real life for just starting your own investigation like that). In general, Theo’s current storyline is so important and relevant to tell, and they’re doing such a great job at portraying all these emotions and conflicts

- For one of the first times (or the first time?) Maya is actually distracted from her job when they hear the news about what’s going on at the clinic, and it shows that a) priorities seem to be shifting for her and b) she clearly still isn’t okay. Which brings us back to “why is she already back on active duty?”, but I digress

- Which brings us to how Ross reacted to Maya losing her cool, and I really think she handled that one pretty well. Ross isn’t exactly known to be all warm at work, but while she did make it clear that they were on the job and that there was no time or space for personal panic, she was also empathetic of Maya’s situation and told her she would try to get more information and I loved that small gesture

- I wish that scenario with the girl and her smartphone was completely unrealistic, but having worked with younger folks, I am sad to report that nope, I’ve definitely seen stuff like that happen before. But to keep the peace: Of course that was a very extreme case, because it’s a drama show, duh.

- And of course they use yet another rescued person as a *hint hint nudge nudge* for one of the main characters (*cough cough* Ross and Sullivan) and at this rate it’s so hilariously and painfully obvious when they do that

- The British Dude being annoying af, man. (side note: That actor seems brilliant though)

- The controversial part: I loved that conversation between Andy and Ross towards the end. In the beginning, Ross was upset at the team’s actions and called it a mutiny and seemed just about ready to shut this station down herself, but then she watched them out in the field and thought about what Andy did, and she actually changed her mind and I loved that they showed that. Ross is, in no way, meant to be a perfect character. In fact, they made it clear from almost day one that she is deeply flawed, despite her ambitions as a female chief. Andy calmly but firmly explained why they did what they did and Ross considered her point of view and ended up agreeing with her, and I can respect that change of mind. Whatever happens between Maya and Ross in the future, is a different topic altogether, and I don’t like to make predictions about that, based on the relationship or lack thereof they are having at the moment, after Maya’s insubordination, mental breakdown and her blackmailing

- I also understand why Andy declined the position as acting captain. She really, truly, wants to be captain of 19, but she doesn’t want it, only to have it taken away from her again so soon. She is showing more and more that she can be and is a fantastic leader, but she doesn’t want it to be a makeshift thing and I understand that decision

- I love that Ross chose Theo as the acting captain instead and that Theo did not decline it, meaning he has made progress since asking for his own demotion all those years ago. Also, we got a bro hug between Travis and Theo out of that, and that’s always a nice bonus

- final side note about Grey’s: I loved that Ben pointed out to Maya that how she had felt about Carina is how Carina feels about her all the time when they’re at work. Maya is all about figuring out other people’s perspectives and feelings, and Ben might have helped her a lot with that

PS: The visual of Andy, Maya and Ross in those overalls was very much appreciated

[smallblueandloud]

fanfic directors cut??? please?

send me a ⭐ and i'll give a director's commentary on one of my fics!

okay for you i'm going to talk about you've come to shake my hand, which is about sophie and the daughter that leverage redemption tells us she actually had once.

i feel like it is obvious from the fic, but i was definitely having some complicated parent feelings at the time. also i think a lot of my fics this year (maybe in general?) have been the same situation of "person B (from A's past) miraculously turns up, sees A's new life, and either realizes their own importance to A after all this time or is confronted with the reality that A has new people now who have shaped them so much"

this is why the fic was originally supposed to feature the rest of the team, fun fact! but it got too complicated and at some point i realized that i cared more about showing sophie-caring-about-astrid than astrid-realizing-sophie-has-a-team-now. cause like, astrid KNOWS sophie has a team already. astrid is worried that sophie doesn't care about HER at ALL.

the fic basically stemmed from that first scene with sterling. i was initially very entertained by the idea of sterling kind of... rolling out the welcome mat for anyone who's encountered the leverage crew and learned to tell the tale. plus, the image of sterling finding out that sophie has a secret daughter was too funny to not include.

a lot of the story revolves around sophie's imperfection, and the way it's hurt astrid. i think the fandom tends to forget about sophie's flaws, since we focus so much on how she's a (positive) foil to nate's dysfunction. but it really said something that the show introduced a daughter that sophie abandoned and i didn't question it at ALL. it felt deeply in character to me, in fact! sophie IS someone who would do that, albeit feeling guilty the whole time. sophie is frequently someone who knows what the right thing to do is, even if she doesn't do it.

then there's astrid. she's not really characterized in canon -- in fairness, i sorta use her as my questions-for-sophie-delivery-device in the fic too! but it's easy to imagine her mixed feelings about sophie Wanting To Do Right. everyone else that loves sophie is a criminal (except harry wilson, but he's enough of an adult that he can be the calm grounding that sophie herself used to provide for nate). astrid is the only one who ever really expected better.

the truth-telling mechanic was really just cause i wanted to explore more of sophie's backstory :') but also it felt very in-character! we see sophie use the truth as her love language all through canon, especially in s3 with the whole "real name" storyline. and i think astrid, who trusted her word in canon (even though she REALLY SHOULD NOT HAVE), would appreciate the idea of the exercise.