#like seriously their arcs could not be more different if they were set up as intentional foils for each othe

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

I'm starting Mission to Zyxx Season 5 now, and I have feelings about that.

First, it generally scares me when people hype anything up at all because there is no guarantee that anyone values the exact same thing I do to the same degree. Even if I trust the creators of a thing to value something and try to do right by it, that doesn't always necessarily mean it will be successful, especially if that involves doing something wildly different than what made it good in the first place (I have been burned this way before). I guess I'm just hoping they continue the format of goofy improv shenanigans for the majority of it with something more planned and emotional in the finale if they want, like they've been doing all along. I'd think they would, and I've heard nothing bad about the ending, but I guess it still makes me nervous because I'm so close to the end and I want it so badly to stick the landing. I'm setting my expectations on the floor so I can be surprised instead of disappointed, but honestly, I don't need it to be better, I just need it to be on par with the rest.

Second, and more briefly, I'm happy it's (hopefully) ending before it has a chance to decline. I am so on board with that philosophy. But on the other hand, finishing a thing that I really, really like and knowing there's not another one out there gives me a special kind of heartache. Like, I know there will be other good media, and stuff that's good and unique in other ways, but I know for a fact that there are no other podcasts out there that have the same mix of a balance of off-the-wall improv and structured narrative, quality comedy, fantastical sci-fi setting and loveable characters, and high quality production. There are other things out there with many of those qualities, but nothing that checks every one of those boxes. It's a lightning-in-a-bottle thing that very much feels like the right people had to be in the right place at the right time to do it. Attempts to do it again would feel hollow because it had to be born out of necessity and passion and the talents of the people involved, so if you switch out the people it loses the reasons it's great, and if the same people tried to do it again it'd feel tired. That makes me so, so grateful it exists, but also so, so sad that it doesn't, and I'm 80% of the way done. When it's over, it's over.

Anyway. Now that that's all out there, I'm just gonna finish listening and have fun. Wish me luck.

[fancyfade]

i think that people who think damian is ripping off cass's character because he was also raised as an assassin haven't read any comics with either character they just read a quick character synopsis and are like 'i know everything now time to get into pointless arguments online'

[neverheroes]

Here’s a bunch of stuff in the MM Tales of the TMNT comic-con sneak-peek I thought about too much!

They’ve cared so much about showing how differently they each react to and process the same situation.

Through the scene Raph is excited to tear things up and true to every iteration ever tries things his way until it doesn’t work, Don’s flight response pings into analyst mode and you just know he’s figuring out how to break stuff, Mike is thriving in team-mode and keeping them all on track, and Leo flails around like a giant ball of chronic anxiety before figuring out a plan. They’re original formula with gently new toppings and I’m ready for this slice.

Raphael

This guy! We get so much. He’s rearing to do some fighting that isn’t sparring and be free to do some actual damage. So we know he’s bored fighting is brothers and wants a challenge. He can’t handle this one and in figuring that out is “open to suggestions” which is quite the overlooked Raph quality, he’ll listen he just has to work through that impulsive reactive streak first. He’s strong and knows it, and that robot gets a harder fight. The Raph highlight for me was taking time while fighting to honour the time-old tradition of making fun of Michelangelo. <Sobs in last ronin.>

Donatello

This kid, man! It’s a long standing opinion of mine that everyone should be more scared of Donatello. His interest in understanding the threat overrides most of his fear. Cerebral af. This is his face most of the time while a robot programmed to obliterate him is directly behind him. On the surface it looks like he’s running away a lot, but he can’t exactly press pause on it to figure out how they work. His gentle heart characterisation is well intact, apologising to the robot when he damages it having already personified the thing. I honestly believe he would take it home like he’d found a new pet if that were an option.

Michelangelo

What a show of Mikey magic. He’s got the comedy relief on a casual setting with subtle jokes and unintentionally antagonistic observation style. Mike has a tiny attention span but is 100% in every moment and they draw a lot of attention to his speed and agility. He shines doing what Mikey is known so well for; keeping the family together. It was awesome to see him effectively orienting his brothers into the situation, and see them listen to him so readily. He still calls to Leo for guidance when he feels out of control, but we might be in for a more surprising personal arc than ~nobody takes me seriously~ this time around.

Leonardo

This is a blessing for Leo fans because MM Tales Leo sucks /srs. Not in the way Raph fans say it on Instagram posts, in the way that his flaws are so disparate from other versions that a mastery arc is screaming his nervous muppet name. The giftedness is still sewn in; even flailing around he has more advanced weapon control, is observant enough to be the right level of stressed when a threat shows up, and jumps into strategy finding a vantage point to make a plan like a good little Leo, but instead of our usual Leo trauma ball we (at least for now) get to watch a Leo with the confidence of a processed cheese slice be terrible at things because he’s just some kid…

Pfffffffahahhhahhahba

The Mutant Mayhem kids are the most realistically green (and by that I mean inexperienced) we've ever seen them and it's continued into Tales. With detaching from source origin and establishing a much more grounded reflection of teen life in the current world, the growth arcs over Tales and the next MM movie have such immense unburdened potential that it really could lead anywhere and I don’t know what to expect.

(Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will air in August 9th 2024 on Paramount+)

[coraniaid]

I wish that Professor Maggie Walsh had been the true Big Bad of Season 4. And I wish that she hadn't been unceremoniously killed off halfway through the season. And I wish that -- over the whole history of the show -- she wasn't one of only three human women aged over 25 who were allowed more speaking time than the creepy sex robot Warren Mears builds in Season 5 [and note, by the way, that neither of the other two are alive at the end of the show either].

But most of all I wish -- I really, really wish -- that I could persuade myself that Maggie Walsh was even the slightest bit interesting. Because I'm sorry, but she's just not.

Is there any villainous character on the show where the difference between how compelling they could have been and how boring they actually are in canon is this stark? The show has had some pretty underwhelming arc villains, sure, but Adam is about as interesting as a rejected Doctor Who villian with a floppy disk drive in his chest could ever have been and the First Evil was originally created to be a disposable monster of the week to begin with so it's hardly a surprise she doesn't manage to transcend this and Caleb very obviously only exists at all because the writers panicked when they realized the First coudn't offer any sort of personal physical threat.

But Professor Walsh should have been different! This was the start of the post-high school seasons; a start to establish the tone of the whole show going forward. She would have been the first antagonist fully grounded in the world of the real; not a vampire or an immortal man who sold his soul to become a big snake, but a fully human villain who never stops being human. She could have been written as a juxtaposition of Principal Snyder and the Mayor and Gwendolyn Post; or as a more explicit foil of Joyce Summers or Rupert Giles. She could have been a villain who could challenge Buffy in both the supernatural and regular worlds. She was a successful woman in her fifties in academia in the 1990s! Wouldn't a show whose "feminism" was anything but surface deep be even a little bit interested in exploring what that meant?

Professor Walsh could have related to Buffy and her friends in ways no previous villain ever did. What does it mean for Buffy -- who we've seen worry so much about her own future prospects, and her fear of ending up like her mother -- to have a possible role model who managed to combine a sucessful career with knowledge of the supernatural? What if Walsh's attempts to win Buffy over to her side lasted for more than half an episode? Or, failing that, what sort of threat could a smart and capable human who knew about Buffy's secret identity as a Slayer have posed her, given her own pronounced reluctance about hurting ordinary humans? What would it have meant for Buffy's fears of not being fully human if an expert in the supernatural had looked at her and seen a monster? And why is Willow suddenly interested in studying pyschology all of a sudden, and does it have anything to do with the fact her own parents are both succesful academics who work in this field?

The writers aren't interested in even pretending to address any of these questions. [Did they even remember what career they gave Willow's parents?]

Depressingly, the only reason Professor Walsh is actually here is to answer the question "what if your new boyfriend's stuck-up mom didn't like you because she was a jealous bitch and then she immediately got herself killed anticlimatically because she was also really fundamentally stupid about it?".

What a waste. And they hired Lindsay Crouse for this?

(Also: if they were going to make Professor Walsh a "world renowned" pyschologist the writers should maybe have bothered to look into how seriously the field took the ideas of Sigmund Freud in 1999. Although her character's second career of experimenting on and cutting up demonic creatures for fun and profit would have made a lot more sense if they'd set her up as some kind of biologist, right? Or just make her an English literature teacher, if her teaching career is meant to be a front anyway and you want her to deliver themtically relevant monologues about Freud and Jung. At least I'd believe Buffy and Willow wanting to go to her class then.)

[dykesynthezoid]

I say this with 100% awareness that sometimes fandom likes to run with things based off of minimal subtext but I rlly truly don’t get. The majority of the arguments for why we wouldn’t get devil’s minion in the past? Lmao

Like the one (1) reason I can actually see us not getting it is just there not being enough screentime to go around. That’s not unthinkable to me at all; there’s a lot to potentially cover next season. But like, I literally can’t think of any other good reason for them to not do it.

And I think it’s worth saying that I wouldn’t be doing this kind of theorizing with any other show. It’s specifically bc this show likes to drop easter eggs and clues, likes to sew in little details, and also is not afraid of going all out, that I feel like I can take the things I pick up on seriously. Cause yeah, if this were another show, it might genuinely mean nothing, bc a lot of other shows just aren’t written with that enthusiasm or attention to detail or courage to Go Places.

And I also think it should be noted that like. While the show is certainly plenty different from the book(s), their modus operandi when it comes to adaptation is much more to add than to take away. They added old Daniel, added Loumand still being together, added a shit ton of extra small bits to Claudia’s arc. Their method of adaptation is not one of subtraction. They’re not taking away whole character beats and plot events. They’re adding, adding new situations, new settings, new contexts.

And that “adding” extends to character relationships as well. They built that danlou best friends/sexual tension out of the almost-nothing in the source material. Armand and Santiago (apparently) slept together. They’re not taking away interesting side dynamics that existed in the books, they’re literally adding more.

Like why wouldn’t they add past devils minion?? It only makes Armand and Daniel’s present relationship that much more complicated and insane, which is the exact thing this show loves to do.

Not to mention DM is only one chapter, by which I mean; if the argument against past devils minion is just screentime, like I personally think it is, we should also remember that. It’s only one chapter. It’s not that much additional material. And about a fourth of it is Daniel’s turning and the lead up to that, which we know would instead be in the modern day, not in flashback; and another several pages are Armand keeping Daniel trapped in a cellar, which 2x05 has already done. So like. It’s not that much material they’d have to cover to do past devils minion. Like, half an episode altogether at most, frankly, and they could easily spread that all out as they pleased. And this is after season 2 spent an entire episode just on the events during and immediately post 1973 interview. Which they did not have to do. It was a choice to add that material.

Idk sometimes ppl act like it’s soooo crazy for people to be theorizing DM happened in the past and I’m like I literally don’t think it is? And trust me I get that sometimes people get shipping goggles on, and it’s annoying when people make everything about a ship, etc, (but also that’s literally just how fandom is in general? idk what you expect), but. Idk man it doesn’t seem that wild to me in comparison to some of the places the show has been willing to go? And meanwhile like half of you keep insisting Raglan James is Marius. Some of you even thought Sam might be Santino. Theorizing about past DM does not seem that weird to me. Like I am literally just watching the show and Noticing Details and coming up with a possible outcome. It’s whatever

[gumbaigumbai]

Grievances regarding the VIZ 310 translation

Obviously 310 spoilers ahead This is the VIZ translation from the physical copy of Volume 31

For comparison, here is the fan translation (by EverydayHeroes) that I read my first time around

To preface this, I have absolutely zero knowledge when it comes to reading Japanese, so I have no idea which translation would be "more correct," but this is a rant on my own opinion over why I think the EHscans translation is better suited for this scene.

One of the glaring differences is the exact word Ogata uses to describe himself with; a "fuckup" vs someone "defective." I believe depending on which is used, a vastly different meaning could be perceived for this moment. A fuckup implies someone who has made a mistake, and it provides a sense of depreciation. When Ogata uses it here, it means that he took the actions he believed were that of a failure. That he unconsciously thought, "this is how someone incompetent would act," and tried to imitate it. The issue with this is that, as we know, Ogata is not incompetent, and he is not a failure. Throughout the manga he consistently shows off his adequacy, and his issues never, not even once, stem from a lack of skill. His entire downfall is purely based on his mental and emotional struggle. This is why using the word "fuckup" seems inappropriate by definition. It also adds a passage of time to its meaning, a "fuckup" is someone who might have been born as a completely competent person, but has along the way made a mistake which labeled them as such. Again, this doesn't make sense when inserted into Ogata's beliefs, whose primary goal was to show how the environment and circumstances by which he was born held no effect to his psyche. Lastly, a minor issue I have is the tone; this is an extremely vital part of Ogata's arc, it's his finale, and he's going through this intense introspection, yet despite all that when choosing to describe himself he picks this lackadaisical word "fuckup," and not something more meaningful. It feels like the translators relied more on the expressive quality of an expletive than the definition itself. Now, looking at the fan translation, defective sets a much different tone, along with the wordage used around it. It implies something is flawed, or not working correctly. Similarly to "fuckup," it describes imperfection, but here it can be seen as inherent. Here, Ogata talks about how he chose to act like someone who was born lacking, how he believed he was missing something since birth (love), and therefore made decisions he thought reflected this implied lack of love. It perfectly ties into his inability to see that Yuusaku genuinely loved him, and sets the focus on what the issue is, which is his mentality. I can't stress enough how this would be impossible to derive from a word such as "fuckup," and how important that distinction is. Another issue is that "fuckup," as I've mentioned, reads as someone who has made a mistake, whereas a "defective" individual is not at fault for their impairment. When placed into the context of the story, why would Ogata consciously choose to act as someone who "fucked up", instead of someone who just wasn't born correctly. Sorry if this rant is a bit jumbled, I just needed to express my thoughts on the matter since I seriously do not like how VIZ executed this scene. Hope you enjoyed the read though, if you made it to the end! ^_^

[wherewisteriaends]

It really took me 24 hours to realize something. It's not that the ending is a bad ending. I mean, take us back a week ago. We all said that their kiss would be the kiss of death. We all predicted that Agatha would sacrifice herself for Teen. We also saw that the Road was it was very probable that Billy or Agatha (turned out both) could have created the road. If we all thought it, that says something and that is this ending made sense. So why are we all so angry ? Because even if it was an ending that made sense, they didn't write it in a way that it would make sense. And I'm not saying we didn't get a redemption arc when we should have. I don't think Agatha should have had a redemption arc. However we should at least have had her accepting Death as the end. And also her bonding with Teen. Because yes she has bonded with him but clearly not the point of choosing to die because he mentions Nicky. Which seriously, this sentence made no sense, gave absolute no explanations. Another major issue is the dynamic between Agatha and Rio. Them in episode 8 has nothing to do with all we saw before. It really feels like something happened that we missed or like the story was different. What they showed us of Nicky was beautiful, also doesn't explain Agatha and Rio dynamic in 8 while 8 makes the conflict all about Nicky. Apart from the grave, the whole scene in Agatha's basement was ridiculous. When Agatha is in Teen house, he doesn't act at all like he wants to kill her. And all of sudden he wants to banish her. I'm serious, they fucked up the relationship dynamics and developments. Same goes for Jennifer. She makes it out of road and she doesn't even search for Teen ? Because that would be the best reaction for someone who just said she wasn't letting anyone die under her watch again and that doesn't know Teen is behind her torture. Again, at the opposite of the development we saw of Jennifer. And Billy, which his portrayal is completely chaotic since episode 6. One time when Agatha comes out of the mud he appears like he wants to see her dead. Then in 8 he trusts her with his life all over again. And don't get me started of the nonsense of Billy in episode 9. And no I'm not a Billy hater, but they certainly write him as an inconstant character that obviously results in him being mistrusted by the viewers. Also what pisses me off is that Lilia's ending was perfect, and even Alice sour departure was beautifully handled. Which adds even more to it the sense of ruin.

And there was strong dialogue, strong acting skills in those two last episodes, beautiful scenes on screen. But it still doesn't make sense. I solemnly thank the actors for their portrayal, I thank the whole production team, makeup, costumes, light, cut, sets, everything because this was by far one of the best MCU projects - if not the best. And I doubt it's someone fault for what happened with the last episodes. SO PLEASE DON'T GO HATING ON PEOPLE. Please, think of your own humanity, and even if media make it very easy to succumb to hate, no one is responsible, no one deserves your hate for their part into the production of a show. What gives me a bit of hope is that they were so much left untold that it is possible we get a season 2 or other projects centered around Agatha or Jennifer or other witches. And because there was so much blur, we, as writer and reader, can see the opportunity to partake into a fiction we all so loved. So don't give up on Agatha All Along just yet and see a bit of the bright side. And because, the MCU ethics seriously should be questioned, wait on me, I will come with an essay down the line. And if I do and if you think it's worth readable, I'll send it to Marvel teams.

[lurkingshan]

Unknown Episode 10

I'm back just in time to dive into this exquisite final arc of my current favorite show, and the tension is delicious. I know after last week's near death experience many of us were hoping Qian was on the brink of accepting Yuan, but the thing about Qian is he is stubborn as a mule and terrified of change. We know this about him, so we can't be surprised that he's not quite done breaking down his mental walls.

I loved how much this episode was about Qian's struggle to accept what his heart is already telling him. He knows he has feelings for Yuan. He knows he feels differently about him than anyone else, especially in comparison to his truly brotherly feelings for Lili. Qian has finally accepted that Yuan loves him romantically and always will, but he still hasn't decided whether he can fully reciprocate. His conversation with Yuan at the end of the episode was the first time we heard him admit he has feelings for Yuan, but he is still caught up in whether they are truly romantic, and how he can know that. Qian has no romantic experience to speak of and his feelings for Yuan are so singular that I can't help but empathize with him here. He is not equipped to sort this out on his own, and he's too scared to give in to Yuan lest he hurt him or their relationship by trying to change something.

Which is why that talk with San Pang was so important. San Pang is the one who interfered in their relationship in the first place, tried to talk Yuan out of his feelings, and encouraged Qian when he decided to send Yuan away. He lived with Qian all those years Yuan was away and he saw the damage the separation caused. Qian's misery without Yuan was palpable, and now that Yuan is back and his feelings are only more intense, San Pang has the wisdom (and the distance Qian doesn't) to see that fighting it any further is pointless and only going to hurt them all. He wants them to be happy more than anything else, and perhaps through coming to terms with his own feelings for Lili and navigating the change in their relationship, he has also accepted that Qian and Yuan are happiest together.

San Pang has always been Qian's confidante, sounding board, and reality check, and you could see how shaken Qian was when he finally took away the last of Qian's rationalizations. When San Pang said "be honest, did you feel empty when Yuan was away?" you could practically see Qian fighting against the last of his resolve crumbling. The way his body started to tremble and his voice shook as he tried to make San Pang understand his fear was so moving, I didn't even feel frustrated with him. We can get swept up sometimes in romance narratives and forget how monumental this kind of shift in a relationship can feel, but with Qian we can't forget it, because his fear defines every moment. I love that the show is taking this change so seriously and not rushing us through these final moments of struggle (@wen-kexing-apologist I'm gonna need 1000 words minimum on Qian's mouth twitch, nervous body language, and tears in this scene, Chris killed it). And I felt a lot for Lili in this episode, who is once again witnessing her brothers in a deadlock with each other with no one talking to her about why (though at this point I think she knows).

We end this week standing on what feels like another precipice, as the brothers are once again in tension with each other. This new health wrinkle for Qian is not a set up for a big dramatic health scare (thank goodness) but rather a symbol of that last little bit that Qian is still holding back from Yuan. I loved the way the camera lingered on Yuan's bracelet in the scene where he grabbed Qian's hand and begged to be let in; Qian is the one who gave him that reminder of their connection even as he tries to keep this last small barrier between them. But they are facing each other with everything laid bare between them now. Qian looked like he was in physical pain in that last scene listening to Yuan go on about how all his desires are one-sided and his own problem, but the way Qian reached for him may indicate that he's finally ready to admit they are in this together.

A note about episodes 11 and 12: As expected, the final two episodes have leaked early. I will be sticking to the commitment I made with some others on here to wait for the weekly airdates to post about and interact with content about these episodes. I have filtered [#unknown the series spoilers] and kindly ask that you please tag anything you post early about these episodes. I will be unfollowing and blocking people as needed who can't do this basic courtesy. I have really loved discussing this show in depth with you all and hope we can continue for a couple more weeks!

[poppitron360]

I’d like to dive deeper into my thoughts on Caleo, bc they have been taking up most of my brainpower rn:

I get where Rick was going with it. I really do. They started off hating each other, Calypso thinking Leo was really annoying and just generally being like “why is this tiny human talking to me?”, but then they grew closer, realised they misunderstood each other, and bonded over common ground. It’s sweet. But the thing is, Rick? You’ve already got a character that did all that with Leo in the previous book!

And his name is Frank.

1. You’ve already set up that dynamic! Why not spend more time focusing on fleshing out that existing arc instead of creating a new one?

2. There’s SO MUCH more potential with angst- Frank being afraid of Leo bc of his fire, Leo being afraid of Frank because he’s twice his size and could easily crush his tiny body under his foot. Leo’s had to learn to survive on his brains and quick-wits in order to protect himself from bullies, and instantly gets defensive when he sees Frank. Frank is very insecure and sensitive, so immediately falls victim to Leo’s jokes. It takes a while for both of them to take those walls down, put aside their differences, and learn to trust each other.

3. It’s just hilarious how got-off-on-the-wrong-foot they were. A reminder that when Frank first met Leo, Leo had just destroyed half of New Rome. They both immediately judged each other completely based on looks- like it’s seriously funny how much you could compare these two to “Pride and Prejudice”. Also, the awkward misunderstanding that was the whole Sammy thing-

4. But they also have a lot more in common that Leo and Calypso ever did- similar trauma with losing their moms, and actually Leo is just as afraid of fire as Frank is. Both are incredibly insecure, and they both feel like they don’t belong among the other Seven.

5. You’ve also got that fun opposites-attract thing- Frank is big and muscular, Leo is built like a twig. Frank is big soft pookie bear, Leo is an absolute menace to society. Frank can turn into animals, Leo is a machines guy. Frank is Roman, Leo is Greek. You get the idea. They were written to juxtapose each other beautifully. They are the Yin to each other’s Yang.

6. They get so much more time together to establish a meaningful relationship. Their arc carries over three books, and we get to form connections as a reader to BOTH Leo AND Frank separately beforehand, so the payoff is a lot more satisfying. It takes time for them to open up to each other, and when they do it feels like they earned it. Calypso and Leo got a couple of chapters, that’s it.

It doesn’t have to be romantic! Leo can heal his trauma with friends and found family, learning to love and accept himself, learning that he doesn’t actually need the attention of a hot girl to be valid. He can find his place among his brethren with the help of all his friends, even Frank- the most unlikely of friends.

I wish Rick had put more effort into fleshing out the platonic relationships instead of just conforming to romance-centric ideals of “love fixes everything!” It’s lazy, and boring, and has been done to death. Platonic friendships make up 95% of our relationships, yet they are SERIOUSLY underrepresented in media. I’m calling for more interesting platonic dynamics. Leo and Frank could’ve been so much more, if Rick had actually taken the time to build on their relationship, and focused less on “Leo Needs a Girlfriend”!

So, when I say “Everything Caleo did, Valzhang could do better”- THAT is what I meant.

Also, Jason is so much better for Leo than Calypso, but that’s a whole other post.

[Edit: And I have made that post! You can find it here]

[project-sekai-facts]

VBS event teaser commentary

Welcome back, it has been *checks calendar* 8 months since I was last able to do one of these jeez. Anyway, this will be a bit different to the ones I've done in the past, since rather than trying to predict what the event will be about, we already know. This is more of me trying to guess what will be in this event and what will be in VBS' next arc.

(TL by Project SEKAI ENG on twt)

(TLs from here onward by lozy bug on YT)

This event will have VBS finally surpassing RAD WEEKEND!!! This has been their primary goal since the start of the story, however more recently it has become more of a stepping stone for them in order to go beyond it. BREAK DOWN THE WALL has a lot of talk about how RW is a step for VBS before they go and do their own thing. It also is the obstacle blocking their SEKAI from expanding fully, in the form of a wall (hence the event title), which is also referenced in the event synopsis. The wall has started to crack with them honing their skills and resolve, but won't fully crumble until VBS can go beyond Nagi's dream.

Now all the way back to LUTF. Specifically the Nagi flashback section. So Nagi's dream was always for RADder to go on and reach a worldwide stage. They were popular in Japan and doing tours, and they had plans to do stuff overseas, but Nagi fell ill and died before any of this could become a reality. Nagi is like, the most important person in VBS' story. Ultimately she's the one who started it all. She decided to hold RW which inspired a whole generation of young people, passing the torch and hoping that they would go beyond what she achieved and do the things she always dreamed of. Without Nagi, there would be no VBS and no Street SEKAI.

So VBS' current goal is to go beyond what Nagi did, which entails VBS reaching around the world. However, the first step right now is to surpass RW. Now for what a lot of people have been asking me all day: is this rushed. Well, we won't really know until the event is out. But, imo, not really? It's been pretty obvious we're leading up to it, and while I thought we would have a few more events, this placement makes some sense (also WLEs are clearly leading up to a soon-ish big lore event so we need to get those sekai expanding lol).

I think some aspects could get rushed though or will happen offscreen. Again. Which was kinda an issue with On Your Feet, their last arc ender (though this was no fault of the writers i'm pretty sure they were not intending to wrap everything up at that point in time but plans were changed kinda last minute... you can tell bc events got insanely long for a bit and some units clearly needed more or less time than they were given). Mainly what comes to mind and what i've seen people talking about is Toya's song writing, and Arata's Whole Thing (& Souma!).

Toya's song writing is undoubtedly going to happen offscreen or in a card story. If it happens in the event itself, it probably will just be something that happens in passing and not given any focus, since this isn't his event. As for Arata (and Souma)? I think Arata will probably come back in this event, just because it feels very wrong to surpass RW without him. How they're going to bring him back? No idea, it was set up in BDTW and vaguely in Toya4 that he would come back in a future Toya event but this now feels like something that won't happen. However I still think the emotional baggage (aka his feelings about Souma and what Taiga said to him) will be dealt with in more detail in a future event, probably Toya5. Also then you can deal with Souma's stuff too, like the song he wrote for Arata that has been a thing since woao. Seriously, this is Toya event stuff, the only way they can get it in here is if they pull an Our Happy Ending and give Toya a dedicated chapter and try and squeeze it all in there. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if Arata stays MIA or is limited to a small appearance. It would be a bit disappointing, but there's a lot for the Squad past RW, so he can be there for event that surpasses the event that surpassed RW ig.

So what's next? I seriously suggest reading the epilogue of BDTW, it's only 6 minutes long and talks a lot about VBS' goals from here on out.

Their new SEKAI area takes inspiration from many places worldwide and their cultures and music, and the graffiti is all the names of famous street music events. They conclude that it's a place for teams that take the world. There's also an interesting scene earlier in the event that Miku reflects on here - Nagi's ghost (possibly her actual ghost, possibly a physical incarnation of An's imagination) was walking around the SEKAI, and she was looking at this one specific blank spot on one of the walls. Obviously, that spot was meant for RADder, but they never got to carve their name. VBS' new goal is to do exactly that. Maybe we'll see some travelling from that (where on earth they'd get the money i don't know), or maybe we'll deal with everyone's feelings and unresolved plot points first and Then get on the worldwide stage stuff (probably in the same arc. two if they decide to continue this past 6th anni).

[emmitaaa4]

Addressing some fandom BS inconsistencies

Gwyn was shadow mommy, Az was shadow daddy, they were gonna have shadow babies with her extra super pliable bones.

I audibly chocked when I read this @nikethestatue (btw everything said in this post was on point). No but seriously this is how they sound, too many of them insisting that there is nothing wrong with basing the likelihood of a ship on who has the more suitable uterus to be with a man... cause supposedly they're just picking up on the hints SJM wrote for them? She likes babies for HEAs so ofc children are the end all be all of a relationship, plus there's absolutely no way that she could ever write an adoption plot SJM is literally adopted and has done it in other series. Selective reading strikes again.

A minimum amount of critical thinking would tell you that 1) the infamous *magical uterus change* scene was about nessian (& feysand), not about any ship; 2) if SJM had written Nesta changing Elain's uterus, it would have given too much away, not to mention 3) how disturbing/violating it would have been for Nesta to change her sister's reproductive anatomy WITHOUT HER CONSENT?! None of it makes sense narratively; my girl Nes would never, especially given the trauma they both suffered from having their bodily autonomy--and so much more--ripped away by the Cauldron.

This argument is so trivialized that I see it every other day on reddit/tiktok/*insert media app*, and yet elriels are the toxic side of the fandom? The ones whom people are allowed to insult, to ridicule for theories all made in good fun, the women that are villainized over a difference of opinion? Don't get me wrong, there's assholes on both sides and people keep calling one another variations of delulu (and the nastier personal attacks). But by painting this fandom-wide villain there is such a lack of accountability for the plethora of harmful talking points spread by other portions of the fandom. (I've been silently reading the anti-elain & anti-elriel tags for like a year, and I'm on tiktok. Yes, I have self-destructive tendencies).

Anyways.

I never understood either how people ever actually thought (or well still think) that gwynriel would happen BEFORE elucien?? It makes no sense logically, narratively, or in terms of characterization & the arc she's set up for Elain, Azriel, and Lucien. Yet it took one controversial bonus chapter for people to decenter Elain in her own story, that is make her choice of romantic partner--which SJM spent 3+ books setting up--Azriel's. It took one bonus chapter that soo many readers are still unaware of, to brush Elain off as a "sexual object" Az is using to distract himself until his therapist-extraordinaire Gwyn comes in and heals him all up. Because ofc she will: she's badass and not the "passive and weak and boring" Eplain (aka "Plant" or "brain dead gardener"), she fits the YA archetype of the spunky warrior-girl so she can handle his darkness, and SJM supposedly spent time fleshing her out because she wrote her as a LI for Azriel; she's made for him, she is what he needs to grow (I actually enjoyed Gwyn's character btw, just pointing out how silly it all sounds). “Next book is a love triangle between Elain/Az/Gwyn” “Elain will turn evil or is secretly evil”. So you're telling me that SJM would pit Elain & Gwyn against each other in a love triangle over a man... all because of a necklace that was not even mentioned once in the actual books? Please, let's be logical for a second.

All this because instead of reading the bonus chapter in the context of the books, some people are reading the books in the context of the bonus chapter. Which now that I think of it is probably why so many people mischaracterize Az the way they do--because yes we know enough of his character to know half of the stuff the fandom diagnoses him with is questionable. Azriel? Entitled incel x fuckboy hybrid (gotta be the first of his kind, minute slay ig)? Interesting tell me more. No joke I saw a semi-popular post on here where a gwynriel said they read the bonus WITHOUT HAVING READ ANY OF THE BOOKS. I'm sorry, ship wars are silly and believe it or not idc who ppl ship, but it makes it hard to take some of the things they say seriously.

All this to say that the fandom isn't even debating the right thing. If you consider everything SJM has said in her interviews:

(she's been planting seeds for Nesta & Elain's book since acomaf; she knows who she is writing the first 2 books about + is keeping things open for the 3rd one--with 5 different ship options--which automatically rules out "Elain will close the series"; she said she's doing research for Elain's book in the ACOFAS bonus & there's seeds for future bookS in acofas; all she said recently about her beloved *heroines* and the themes of fate/true love/choice she finds *very* interesting & wants to discuss)

and if you also consider all she's written in the actual books (elain's characterization + the overarching plot in general & how she fits into it), then it's pretty evident that Elain's book is next.

The question then would be who is the MMC / 2nd PoV in her book, aka would acotar 5 be an elucien or an elriel story? Because logically, gwynriel was always a consequence of elucien. I honestly do not understand how people don't see that.

Oh and they always think they're gagging elriels with the "obviously Azriel is the next MC" as if elriels aren't saying the same thing? And we're the ones twisting info and not making sense. It's just funny at this point.

---sidenote: I realize that this post generalizes some things, and I just wanted to say that I have interacted with lovely eluciens / people on either side of this headache of a ship war. My hard limit is Elain haters though... back off I say 🤺 BACK OFF 🤺

---sidenote 2: I would have written this as a reblog except im not entirely sure how tumblr works and I get no visibility from them rip.

[astronomical-bagel]

yo mutual i love ur tags fr because like u took the words right of my mouth i was so baffled how ppl would side with one more than the other because the autism pvp felt so real to me that i related to Both of them rlly a lot like. So much so it has cemented itself as rlly one of my fave scenes ever because it was a Step up for growth like that fight made them both better people . and it makes me mad ppl belittle toshiros experiences and like ignore his autism for the sake of pitting two bad bitches against each other Good Lord. The Nuance. There is Nuance. and ppl who ignore it just feels so personal to me as an autistic asian person who's been told that there's no way they're not "normal" like ive not been masking and not even like That well either.

Toshiro to me is like a similar vibe of Autism to Mob aka Shigeo Kageyama MP100 where he represses so much of his true feelings and opinions and emotions that he will just blow up one day (validly!!!) !!! like. let him be autistic in peace. not everything has to be a moral failure and not everything has to revolve around Laios just because hes the main character of Dunmeshi. Like they were both so relatable it hurts me...

not me spelling empathized as emphasized lmao

but yeah anyways I really interpret the shuro and laios conflict as just two autistic people who just don’t mesh naturally? At the very least, it’s a complication between two people with very different cultures.

Both laios and toshiro are people who don’t exactly fit in. On shuro’s side, the source of his ‘otherness’ is a little redirected (is that the word?) because his status and nationality already set him apart on the island, but even back home he was reserved and didn’t socialize well. He struggles to connect with others and has a hard time being sincere!!! the argument between him and laios isn’t an evil neurotypical vs blorbo autistic, it’s conflict-avoidant autistic vs social cue blind autistic!

There isn’t really a right or wrong side here, Shuro tried communicating in the way he knew how, but he and laios just simply don’t understand each other’s languages. Their fight is a reset for the both of them; now they each know a vital fact about each other! Laios knows that Shuro has a hard time verbalizing discomfort, and shuro now knows that Laios needs to be told things to understand them. Now they can both find a middle ground and properly compromise between their two opposites.

and it’s important to note that if laios did know he was making shuro uncomfortable, he would stop as best as he knew how, all the way. This guy takes boundaries seriously, as long as there are clear lines to what those boundaries are. And he’s attentive to other’s needs! (See: him and chilchucks friendship. They understand each other very well, I could write a whole meta on it)

Now that he and shuro are seeing eye to eye, their friendship can now progress in a healthier fashion! This fight isn’t the end of the world. (Honestly having a fist fight is like third base to me but we won’t speak of that) Toshiro isn’t evil, he’s just a really cool foil to Laios, and their disagreement serves to establish important parts of their characters and to progress both their character arcs 👍

[deviouscrackers]

I brained

ANYWAYS I had an idea of how to rewrite Nexus's villain arc. I didn't really care for it either way, so these are ideas to make it more interesting (at least to me).

I write this with the intention to follow the TSBS writing rules that I am aware of, but I don't know many so… my bad ig.

(This also got long, can you tell I like writing shit like this?)

First of all, what did I not like about Nexus? Well, like many, I wasn't all that fond of the rate he became evil. I didn't like his motivations, which is somewhere between wanting to become an unstoppable powerhouse and wanting control of his life? I think?

Not bad motivations, yes, but how he got to those motivations? Mm… no…

Another thing I wasn't fond of regarding Nexus would probably be his behaviour as a villain, and the lack of respect everyone gave him. Nexus, and other characters, take himself and his goals quite seriously.

Nexus is a threat.

However, he doesn’t act like one, nor does anyone else really behave like he is. Half the time it feels like they're watching some snot-nosed kid sharing his new war story he made with his plushies.

Thirdly, the whole prior arc Nexus had going on before becoming Nexus just became irrelevant. Now, I don't want to sound too much like a conspiracy theorist, but this drop in care for Solar happens to have been around the time shipping discourse got really bad. Just before I joined the fandom, essentially.

Anywho!

So here is how, in hindsight, I would have written this (Please, please, please remember that I have no ill will to the writers or anything. Yes I'm disappointed with Nexus, but in all honesty this arc was not the absolute worst and it had its very good moments. I'm just sharing my own ideas).

Taking how focused Nexus got on reviving Solar, I would have his villain arc more focused on it.

His old motivations:

Power

Control

New motivation:

Bringing back Solar/Keeping His Family Safe

Don't worry! This still encompasses power and control, but in a way that links back to his previous behaviours.

First event I’d change would be when Nexus kidnapped Earth with Bloodmoon.

Quick disclaimer, I skipped through that set of episodes because I was like, four straight days into trying to watch every lore vid and hadn't been to school for any of those days, but to better align that event with how I'm changing Nexus, it'd have to be Lunar or Sun that got kidnapped.

Why? Well, Nexus actually had a good relationship with Earth and him thinking of her as mere collateral makes no sense. On the other hand, Sun and him had a rocky relationship at the time and from what I can tell Lunar and Nexus weren't incredibly fond of eachother.

Plus, Nexus could justify attacking Lunar as he thought Lunar would've been strong enough to take it or protect himself specifically.

So now Nexus is floating in space; angry, hurt, dejected, hapless… and who should come to his rescue but Dark Sun? In this version, Dark Sun would offer Nexus shelter and anything he wanted as long as Nexus did some tasks for him. Hysteric and grieving, Nexus agrees to go with him.

Nexus is definitely hesitant about the Dragon and Dark Star Power. As long as Dark Sun and Nexus aren't about to kill each other at every turn that should work and stay somewhat the same as canon.

If you can't tell this is (so far) sticking to canon progression as much as possible.

Moving on, Monty brings back Moon just the same as canon. The only difference is that it takes longer for Earth to warm up to Moon, considering she hasn't heard the best stuff about his attitude.

Skipping to when Moon and Nexus meet, I imagine there'd be heavy miscommunication between Moon and Nexus. Moon would leave the conversation assuming Nexus doesn't mean well for anyone in the family and Nexus would leave the conversation assuming that they had never liked him and were only waiting for him to leave before replacing him. Both their hackles would be raised.

When Solar is revived, he immediately asks about Sun and Nexus, because they were the last people he saw. He then immediately follows up with the rest of the family. Upon hearing about Nexus “turning evil”, Solar goes into denial, refusing to believe it until he sees it.

How I imagine Solar and Nexus meet is as follows: Dark Sun gives Nexus another task, data collection. Nothing harmful, he assures. Nexus obliges because these tasks are essentially how he pays rent, and he can't leave yet. While waiting for the data, Nexus decides to pay Moon a visit.

After finding the new address (something that infuriates him, because did the house he bought with Sun just mean nothing now that Moon is back?) Nexus enters and taunts Moon. Teasing turns into a genuine argument between the two, which Solar walks into. Nexus and Solar freeze upon seeing each other, Nexus leaving shortly after.

A quick thing to note, is that around this point, Nexus’s behaviour isn't too different, but he's beginning to become very unstable. The reasoning for this is because in this version, the Wither Storm’s proximity is causing issues, to both Nexus and Ruin. Dark Sun is fine due to him not being in the dimension for too long, but Nexus ends up actually going insane (or close to it) and Nexus is slowly dipping into insanity. He is not aware of this until it's far too late.

So in Nexus's mind, he's rejoicing that Solar is alive, but is horribly panicked that someone dangerous like Moon is near Solar. So while he spends time making a cell/room for Solar, to keep him safe, Dark Sun manipulates him into using Dark Star Power to further protect Solar.

From then on, Nexus makes several attempts to get Solar to come with him, first with offers, then with manipulation, then…

Then with force as Nexus gets increasingly hysterical.

Other things he'd do, Nexus would still need the wither shards so he'd still go after Sun. He'd also try and get Earth to come with him because she's similarly important to Nexus.

As his mental state deteriorates, he’d begin to act more like the Nexus we know, if a little less pathetic. Just a little.

I'm no good at endings and fine-details however, so I wouldn't know what ending to give him. The ending we got works pretty well for this, though it'd be far more adjusted to include more elements of whatever Dark Sun was doing.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

if they’re legitimately planning on hitting us with someone in the hospital within the first 3 episodes of the season that doesn’t scream good things to me….

that’s a midseason finale/season finale thing, especially when bobby was just in the hospital for 2 seconds

i could see it being used as them bringing vics to the hospital (also we know the hospital set from s7 was a staging area last season which could be the same for now) or someone being reckless on a call and one of the other firefam yelling at them (like maybe eddie gets hurt not too badly but enough to get stitches or something and maybe hen is the one to yell at him bc buck is too distraught over it and hen knows what he’s going through bc she’s lost a child before, but she knows that it won’t donsny good to get yourself hurt over it or something like that) but if they’re actively putting someone in a dire enough situation that lands them in the hospital already in the first 3 ish episodes (judging on how they’ve only been shooting a couple weeks they can’t be that far into the season yet) it doesn’t give me good vibes of where they’re going with stuff if they wanna waste time and resources on something so (imo) lackluster

i don’t want the front half of the season to be a coma dream/hallucination… being a season opener is such low stakes bc there’s no “are they going to be okay??” bc of course they are… they’re not gonna kill off a main in the first couple episodes. it’s why, for me, the cruise ship arc fell a little flat because there was absolutely no way they were going to kill bobby or athena in the season opener…. people would quit watching the show if they did bc that casts a pall over the whole season that people aren’t going to want to watch.

so if someone ends up in the hospital, not only are there low stakes, but it’s opening the possibility of a coma dream/alternate universe situation (which is once again just copy/pasting a past plotline rather than coming up with something new) and it only serves to delay them actually committing to buddie canon even more…

not to mention that IF it were something intended to lead to buddie canon…. like i said before it would be so low stakes and rehashing of the lightning strike arc which would, again, be so low stakes and wouldn’t make that moment much of a desperate moment of “i thought i was going to lose you” (like maybe it would to the characters obv but we as an audience wouldn’t feel that bc again NO SHIT THEYRE NOT GONNA KILL OFF A MAIN 2 EPISODES IN so it loses that tension at least for me) maybe if they had done something in earlier seasons to set a precedent of “there’s a real chance that we are going to kill off this person” it would have a different impact, but the backlash the show would receive from actually killing off a main character in the first couple episodes would be too much of a risk this late in the game; so again it loses all of the stakes

imo it would just basically be almost a mockery of all the previous near death experiences in previous seasons that had all the promise and potential of leading to buddie canon yielding no results and it wouldn’t hold the emotional impact that i would want to have from seeing these characters hurt… it’d feel like such a waste of my time to once again be subjected to watching them get put through shit with barely any catharsis.

and it also gives them this opportunity to dangle buddie over our heads again if they went the “coma dream” route and had them being a couple or something so they could be like “see we technically gave you guys buddie in the show so we don’t have to commit to it anymore!”

the thing with previous season openers (earthquakes, tsunami, damn break) there was a sense of urgency to those situations that made the characters feel like they were both in dnager while simultaneously being okay in the kong run bc they never actually ended up seriously injured— most of the narrative tension and drama came from the unsure feeling of how they were going to get around this, and from the amount of civilians dying in the disaster/the impact those civilian deaths have on the firefam. (Even in the tsunami, we knew Buck and Chris weren’t going to die, but the tension and the emotional investment cane from actually seeing them reacting to the tragedy rather than just… one of them gets hurt and gets put in the hospital and ohhh so sad are they gonna make it???) the focus wasn’t on if they were gonna die or not, it was on how are they going to make it out of this if that makes sense; and putting someone in the hospital immediately at the start of the season doesn’t carry that same weight that these season openers need, and it would leave me as an audience member feeling like i just watched a character i love lay in a hospital bed for a few episodes and then they were fine.

yes, we knew buck wasn’t gonna die in the lightning strike arc bc ofc they aren’t going to kill off buck, but the tension came in the form of how late in the season it was, and everything that had built up to that point so far in s6 in his development. If the strike had happened in the first episode, that arc would bot have had the emotional intensity it did in canon because there was no build up.

overall, i know i’m in a low percentage of fans w this mindset but i’m kind of over the random out of nowhere trauma they put the firefam through, especially when it goes nowhere… 7x9/7x10 are prime examples of thst where they built up this whole “is bobby going to be okay” thing around the last couple episodes and then he was fine within like 15 minutes.

i don’t want them wasting their time on throwing people into comas or life threatening emergency room visits (especially this early in the season) when they have too much they need to fix narratively after s7 fucked everything up in the last episode. the beginning of the season needs to be focused on getting gerrard out of there, breaking up bt, showing tommy getting some kind of satisfying comeuppance for his awful behavior, as well as getting eddie out of this mental rut that they’ve fallen back on yet again rather than giving eddie actual development (yadda yadd smth about s hamster wheel).

i don’t want them doing another coma dream bc we already saw that in canon and it went nowhere. i don’t want eddie getting hurt and chris coming back 2 episodes in bc then what the fuck was the point of 7x10? how is that going to be him growing and moving past this mental stronghold on his past if we’re just gonna have his son come back so quickly?

i don’t want them keeping eddie on this hamster wheel of being the mental unstable one when we’ve seen this focus on him over and over and over… what was the point of his “development” in s6 of moving on and saying goodbye to shsnnon and then ripping her back out of the grave to dance her body around again if it’s not gonna finally be over and done with? chris coming back so quickly and eddie getting hurt is not a solution to that problem and it’s shitty storytelling to try and backtrack on a plot that was so forced to begin with.

and doing that through a low stakes hospital stay with a possible coma dream within the first couple episodes seems like both a cop out, and an opportunity to delay the character development they keep insisting eddie needs before he is “ready” for buck (which i have feelings on that point of view but that’s a whole different post worth entirely)

anyway, sorry for the rant. i just had that sitting on my chest and needed to get it out there… i hope this all makes sense ik sometimes brain to words filter is ehh but 🤷

[beatingheart-writingwoes]

Electric Heart

Description: Sequel piece to Water in my Lungs and Guilt in Your Bones. La'hare is struck by a lightning spell and things go downhill from there.

Warnings: Breif depiction of electrocution and seizure, fantasy setting

“Zephyr move!” The cleric called, but the rogue just didn't have the time. He threw his shield up and rushed forward, sliding to a stop directly in the arc of lightning's path just before it met its intended target. His body snapped rigid. As the spell dissipated, he collapsed into a heap, body shaking and twitching with residual energy.

La'hare should have just let it happen.

At least that's what the Tiefling was thinking as he tried to keep the convulsing cleric on his side.

“Van, I need help!” Zephyr cried.

Van made quick work of the wizard that vast the accursed spell, and was currently yanking his dagger free of their chest cavity. He looked over his shoulder, then cursed at seeing the rogue struggling with the spasming cleric.

He sprinted over, dropping to his knees by the young man's side, just as the oldest's convulsing started to slow to a stop. “Put him on his back.”

Gently, the two laid La'hare onto his back. Now he wasn't so much as twitching. Van pressed his fingers to the pulse point in the man's neck just under his jaw. His eyes widened. “I can't feel anything.”

“What?”

“Lift him up. We can't do chest compressions with this in the way.” The Warlock wasted no time starting on undoing the straps to the cleric's chest armor.

La'hare was limp as Zephyr hoisted him upright enough for Van to finish undoing the straps to his chestplate. The Reborn pulled the armor piece off after what felt like ages of fiddling with the thing and tossed it aside. Zephyr gingerly set the cleric back down before stacking his hands, pressing the heel of his palm to the center of the Elf’s chest. He rolled his shoulders over his hands, arms locked straight, and pushed down. He let up, pushed again, and repeated in a steady, quick rhythm.

And to think just a week ago, the rogue was doing anything but taking the lessons in life saving seriously. To think that over a month ago the rogue was the one being worked on.

La'hare's chest sunk under the Tiefling’s hands, his stomach pushed outwards in opposition and his shoulders shrugged inwards. Each thrust downwards forced a small huff of air past his blueing lips.

“Come on, La'hare, come on,” the rogue grit out as he continued pumping the Elf’s chest. “Breathe, Hare, breathe!”

“Zephyr, that's thirty,” Van stated, his voice knocking the young man out of his near frenzy. Van then gently tipped La’hare’s head back, pinched his nose shut, and sealed his mouth over his. He breathed out, the cleric’s cheeks rounding and chest rising with the breath. He pulled away and the breath was released with a passive exhale. He gave another breath with much the same result, then leaned away for the Tiefling to restart compressions.

“How many cycles again?” He asked as he continued to beat down on the other’s ribcage, voice wobbling.

“Four, then we switch.”

Zephyr could feel his arms start to burn, but it didn’t matter. He still had enough energy to keep going, even if all he wanted to do was start screaming and crying. If this was how everyone else felt when he drowned, he was treating everyone to a free meal and drinks for the next year. Especially La’hare, because the cleric was coming back. There was no question about that.

“Do we have anything that can help?” he asked once he reached thirty again. He watched the Reborn breathe for the other man again.

“No, just keep going.”

“Fuck.” He restarted compressions.

Van idly ran his fingers through the Elf’s hair. They'd gotten lucky with Zephyr. This was different, though. Lightning magic was dangerous, and even if they did manage to drag the cleric back to life, there was no telling what damage would be left behind. He was thankful that the man's eyes were closed. He didn't want to see how lifeless they more than likely were.

Zephyr wrapped up the fourth cycle and quickly took Van's place in giving breaths, leaning down and tilting the Elf’s head back before pinching his nose and pressing his mouth to his. Van slid his hands stacked one over the other into place, feeling the older man's chest rise and fall artificially twice. Mentally bracing himself, he rolled his weight forward and started compressions.

Halfway through the cycle, there was a pop and something gave under his palm. Van winced, readjusted slightly, and continued shoving down against La'hare's chest.

“Was that a rib?” Zephyr asked.

“It happened to you, too,” the warlock replied. Better a rib or two hurting than dead.

Another two breaths, and another cycle started anew. Instead of the small huffs of air being forced out of his lungs, though, La'hare let out a weak groan that was punctuated by each thrust. Van paused, brow furrowed. Zephyr beat him to the pulse check, fighting his fingers into the spot under the cleric's jaw.

“I got a pulse!” the Tiefling announced. “There we go, Hare. Knew you wouldn't stay dead.”

Van didn't feel the rise and fall of the other's chest signifying breathing, though he did note the faint, quick fluttering behind his ribs, like a trapped bird. “He’s still not breathing. Zeph–”

The rogue was on it, repeating what he did before and breathing into uncooperative lungs. The first breath was met with no resistance, La’hare’s cheeks rounding and chest rising. When Zephyr pulled away, it was released with a passive exhale like before. Another breath, just the same.

On the third breath, La’Hare gave a small cough and the rogue paused. He didn't attempt the inhale on his own and, with a curse, Zephyr breathed into him again. This time when he pulled away, the other let out a harsher, ragged cough and gasped.

Van finally lifted his hands and rocked back onto his heels with a “God's above” as he raked his fingers through his hair. Zephyr carefully rolled the hacking and wheezing elf into his side.

“You ever do that again, I swear on your god specifically that I’m kicking your ass,” the Tiefling said. Not that the cleric could hear him, slipping back into unconsciousness. But he was still breathing. That's all that mattered.

“I'd love it if you both would stop trying to die for more than two months,” Van added. Zephyr reached over to pat his shoulder. Be shrugged him off. “We should find a safe spot to set up camp so he can rest.”

It wasn't until hours later that La’hare awoke. He groaned softly, wincing at a twinge of pain in his ribs. Dark eyes fluttered open, flicking over to where he heard a crackling campfire.

Zephyr was curled up, fast asleep, while Van sat next to him, perking up when he noticed the cleric stirring. He then nudged the rouge, who sat up with a tired “whuhuh?”

La’Hare gave the two a small smile. “Hello.”

The rogue nearly flung himself at the elf to pull him into a hug, only stopped by the warlock grabbing hold of his tail.

[aceartistactivist]

Okay here we go!

Things I would have changed/am confused about in tua season 4

- first of all, it needed 10 episodes. Not 6. Don't even need to change the storylines- just flesh it out. Add random filler stuff. Not one of the characters got a real character arc because they didn't have enough screen time to show it!!

- speaking of, Jean and Gene got way too much screen time. Like I don't care about them I want to see the actual main characters

- no mention of Sloane????? Nothing???? What about the other sparrows? Do they exist in this timeline?

- how were they still riding in that van after puking so much in it lol 😭

- wtf is up with the only mention of Ray being a throwaway line that he walked out on Allison??? Seriously wtf??

- also, if Lila's parents are alive and living with her & Diego... Uhhh... are they not gonna address the fact that Five killed her parents in the last timeline? Like with all the scenes they had together I felt like that should have come up... I guess maybe that was something they already got past sometime in the 6 years?

- I'm so confused about Abigail. I'm just so confused. What is up with her

- STILL NO EXPLANATION FOR THE WHOLE ALIEN THING??

- also five's weird arc in s3 where he gets the tattoo? I'm still so confused about that. What was the purpose of the tattoo? Why was that whole thing a thing? I'm just lost 😭 and the "restaurant at the end of the world" scene in s4 was not exactly helpful or forthcoming either

- not a fan of how Ben's original death was just Reginald shooting him. Also the whole "reverse element of the marigold" thing seemed like a random idea turned plot device that just could have been planned/set up better. I also didn't understand the whole Jennifer thing. Why did she have the element thing in her anyway? Why was she in that container? I need explanations please

- IS REGINALD EVIL OR NOT HELP HE KEEPS GOING BACK AND FORTH

- Just so many things that could have been fleshed out

- where did the notebook five found that was "in his own handwriting" even come from? What version of himself figured out the subway system and wrote the cipher?? So many questions

- speaking of, what IS the subway system. Where did it come from. Why- just- why. I'm so confused about how it even affects the plot at all (except for the very end with the kids & family members)

- five and lila were supposedly lost in time for 6 years but they didn't change at all?? I get that actors are not going to be able to visibly age 6 years in a week but really, they couldn't have tried to make it look more believable? Changed their hair, added makeup and stuff? And then when they got back and they looked exactly the same as when they'd left and certainly didn't act like they'd spent 6 years lost in time? Like you'd think something like that would be extremely noticeable lol... I was expecting the others to be like oh my god what happened to you? And then it was just on we go business as usual. Like they could have done a lot more to make that feel realistic/believable I think

- oh, the ending... I get it, but I also think they should have gotten the lives they have "in most timelines" in the commission handbook thing, iykyk (basically if they'd all just grown up normally without the umbrella academy or anything)

- but... If Lila's family and Claire were taken to a restored timeline where the 43 children & umbrella academy never existed, wouldn't that create the same paradox that was the EXACT SAME THING that was the whole premise of season 3?? Remember the kugelblitz??? By YOUR OWN universe rules, sending those people to the restored timeline where they never existed created a kugelblitz that destroyed the real timeline and the universe for good. Congratulations.

- I was also hoping for an explanation of why their powers were slightly different but I guess it's just a plot device that doesn't really matter

- all in all, honestly, I really liked it! And I'm sad that pretty much the majority of the fandom doesn't. It could have been a lot better just by fleshing it out and giving the characters enough screentime for actual character arcs but. You know what. It's good enough for me. I'm satisfied