#like you folks don't know about the possession arc!

[copiawife]

it's so weird i feel anxious sharing anything concrete about my ship so there's so many little plot points or details that nobody knows about or me so i'll be tempted to reference them and then be like you have to talk about them first blair,,

[oneatlatime]

The Crossroads of Destiny

Strap in folks it's finally finale time!

I'm getting a bad feeling from the 'previously on' segment.

*gasp* Song's bird horse!?!?!

Toph gets some serious speed with that earth tongue walking.

Ty Lee's flattery gets less and less subtle. I get the feeling that a lot of Azula's more worrying tendencies could have been curtailed if someone had stuck her on stage as a child.

Is Zuko taller?

The cuts between these scenes are getting ridiculous. Some of these scenes are maybe 15 seconds long.

Zuko knows what's up. He and Iroh have teamed up on that particular fire breathing party trick before.

"It's time I face Azula." Buddy. No.

"You're so dramatic." POT. KETTLE. BLACK.

The last time Iroh and the Aang Gang teamed up, it was also against Azula. She has a way of uniting enemies.

The longer I stare at this the more I giggle.

"Good inside him isn't enough. Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, ok?" Congratulations to Sokka for articulating one of the fundamental human truths. Intentions can go take a hike when all that's visible are actions.

I love that! Iroh says he brought someone along in a tone that very much implies that he asked for help from a friend! Then you go outside and see he kidnapped a dude! And then they just leave him there!

I see your fake meditation. No one as rotten inside as this guy actually meditates properly.

The Dai Li be like

Katara? Why are you ripping into Zuko? Why is Season one bitchy Katara back? I don't want season 1 bitchy Katara to come back.

"No offence." "None taken." Iroh loves his nephew, but Iroh knows his nephew.

The one time Iroh's advice is explicitly solicited is the one time his advice is corny crap. That sucks.

Ba Sing Se is a tel? That's neat.

Hey Toph? Now would be a great time for that new metal bending trick of yours.

Avatar inadvertently validating my fear of subway grates.

I know this is life or death serious and all, but isn't the Sokka and Ty Lee dynamic cute?

MOMO!

This episode's thesis statement boils down to "what happens when you cancel arts programs and theatre kids don't get a chance to monologue in controlled conditions."

Honest question: Is Azula actually so deluded to believe that Divine Right of Kings crap she just spouted, or is she saying what the Dai Li needs to hear to side with her? Usually I think everything out of Azula's mouth is a calculated statement for manipulating others, but the way the show framed that monologue makes me think she actually believes what she's saying.

This conversation between Katara and Zuko, aside from showing that Katara is as capable as Sokka at sticking her foot in her mouth, is actually showing Zuko's growth well. So many of the things that he waves away with an "it's ok" are things that would have made him explode back in season one. It's about time he redefined that scar of his too.

"Aang! I knew you'd come!" "Uncle! The fuck?" Zuko truly has a way with words.

Hey Iroh maybe save your heart to heart until after you've exited the prison?

Wait so this episode is named after Zuko's arc? It's Zuko's destiny this finale is dealing with? Poor Aang's not even the main character in his eponymous show's season finale? Dang.

What was I saying about waiting to chat until you're outside the prison?

So every word out of Azula's mouth here is definitely a lie. She doesn't need Zuko at all. She's got a whole army and already has possession of the throne. What does she need with someone she considers to be an inferior firebender?

Father's love? That guy who burns off faces? The audacity.

"You are free to choose." Is it really freedom of choice if choosing the answer Azula doesn't want to hear ends with Zuko in a crystal cage?

Gotta say I'm intrigued by how quiet Zuko's being for this whole episode. Compare it to the volume of his confrontation with Azula at the Spa place at the beginning of the season.

This is so awful. This is so skin crawly. This is so going to end badly.

Toph can turn doors into ping pong balls. I like that. And what does she need Sokka scouting for Dai Li agents for? She can sense people for miles.

I love the line read on the "I'm not leaving without Bosco!" But does this guy really think he's in a position to make demands, after all the stuff he's ruined in the last, what, two days?

This is a cool move. Full body air bitchslap.

Katara cut her hair! That's kind of like what she did to Pakku with the ice disks.

How has no one been knocked out yet? Everyone in this fight should have at least 5 concussions by now.

I don't know what to make of it, but when Zuko says "I have changed" he sounds more calm and confident than he has all season.

I love the dynamic between Sokka & Toph and Mai & Ty Lee. Everyone involved knows they're second string and no one's really that invested. So they're all kind of chill.

I don't know what's going on in this fight, but Zuko is far too talented and Katara and Aang are both going down too easily.

And this right here is why this fight is only going to end badly for Aang. As soon as Azula's tired of playing, she'll call in reinforcements. Aang doesn't have those.

I hate Azula so much, which means I'm very annoyed to say that she and Zuko actually make a good fighting team. Did they practice drills together or something back in the day? They way they tag out and back in, and exchange fights, flows so well.

Jesus

Crap ok

She nerfed him in the power up sequence! That's not allowed!

So help me god if the writers hook these two up after pulling this crap I will riot.

Iroh could have been helpful if he'd been there earlier. Guess it takes a while to break out of crystals. Although I do like the detail that he stops fighting as soon as Aang and Katara are out & safe.

I was wondering why the magic water was randomly brought up earlier after disappearing for the entire season. I figured it had been lost in the desert with the rest of the stuff on Appa's saddle.

I'm so sorry, but the way Aang's arrow flashes once to confirm that Katara's saved him makes him look like an external USB device confirming successful connection.

I'm loving how immediate the regret from Zuko is. Proof that he has learned over the last two seasons.

"The Earth Kingdom... has fallen." AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT? This King rubs me the wrong way. Consistently.

I'm fascinated by the fact that they managed to securely transport a bear on Appa's back.

Final Thoughts

Poor Aang has been demoted to secondary character in his own show. This finale was all Fire Nation.

Well done Azula. No matter which way you look at it, she won. If Azula was the main character, this episode would be the crowning glory series finale.

Sokka and Toph spent the whole episode running around putting out fires, only for five more to spring up in their place. I honestly don't know how they and Appa reconnected with the rest of the Gaang to fly out at the end. There's this feeling the whole episode of being consistently one too many steps behind, and I think it's most obvious in their incessant side quests.

Poor Katara went through about seventy billion emotions this episode. I take back my anger at her bitchiness. She deserved a vent session, although I don't think Zuko quite deserved to be the recipient of it. But he took it well.

Congratulations to Zuko for falling backwards into the only right choice for all the wrong reasons. This episode was only going to end with Azula victorious. She recruited an army and successfully executed a coup without breaking a sweat - that is not a level of enemy that Aang and friends has ever faced before, and not one they can realistically win against. Like with Long Feng, this is not a threat you can hit. You can't bend at ideologies and loyalties.

Zuko was going to end this episode siding with the Fire Nation as a free man, or in Fire Nation custody. This way, someone with an actual semi-functioning conscience now has access to the upper levels of the Fire Nation. This could be really interesting.

To be clear, I fully believe that Zuko chose to side with Azula because he swallowed her offer hook, line & sinker. For the guy who invented "Azula always lies" he sure does fall for her lies a lot, especially when she's saying exactly what he wants to hear. I believe Zuko believed her about getting his honour back bla bla bla, chose to follow her because of that belief, and has already realised at least some of what she said was lies by the end of the episode. Which is promising! It looks like there's potential for a Zuko mole next season!

I'm worried for Iroh. Firelords who burn their children's faces off with no shame don't strike me as the type to shy away from executing their brothers.

The Aang fakeout death at the end was not remotely believable unfortunately, mostly because kids' cartoons don't ever pull a Psycho and kill the nominal main character half way through. It probably would have freaked me out if I'd seen this episode as a kid though.

Azula hitting Aang during his power up sequence was inspired. A very well done subversion of expectations, which finally validates my frustrations with the concept of power up sequences in general. Few things bug me more than the mooks politely waiting their turn while the good guy does a quick wardrobe change.

So... is the war over? The Earth Kingdom's fallen, the Southern Water Tribe have been functionally out of the game for a while now. There's only the Northern Water Tribe left, which are only still standing because of a Hail Mary that I very much doubt Aang can pull off twice. So is next season's focus going to be defending the Northern Water Tribe from a final Fire Nation push? I think that's the only place that isn't conquered by the Fire Nation in name at least. On the bright side, this means the Gaang won't be returning to Ba Sing Se. Good riddance. I hate that place.

I've never seen a show with a finale that focuses so intensely on the conflict of someone other than the main character. I don't really know what to make of this episode. I think I liked the one before it better. To be clear, everything that happened made sense - characters were in character, events unfolded as expected (if you handwave an elite force of earthbenders preferring a 14 year old over their seasoned leader), but something about this episode is just a bit boring to me. Maybe they telegraphed it too hard in the previous episodes? I don't know. I'll have to chew on this one a bit.

[m3r1m4r5u333]

Look. I'm fucking done here.

I'm fucking furious. I've had ENOUGH of people shit talking Kristen Reidel for being "antibuddie".

Newsflash you imbecils, it's OBVIOUSLY blatantly untrue!! She's been here for us, from the very start, to lay out the foundation for queer Buck and Eddie. She's written, directed and been the executive producer for some of the most monumental buddie moments!!

Maybe take a moment to understand that these shows are huge and one person does not have all the say for how things work out. These people do not work in isolation, doing whatever they like!

Let's remember that the show used be on Fox, which is arguably one of the most conservative networks there are!!!

The show already had several main queer characters and romances when Eddie's character entered the show in season 2. We also know that the main target audience is fairly tradional, and the show is freaking expensive to make without a huge profit in return. We KNOW it has repeatedly struggled to get renewed due to that.

Let's remember that creating a show like this is not an existence of stress-free creative indulgence - you are actually responsible for HUNDREDS of jobs! The show's survival! People's income! The crew isn't just a couple of known actors, it's also everyone else making the show, and these productions are HUGE. It's so many families income at stake.

So WAKE UP and realise what they've been against, creating this show.

I'm like obnoxiously queer but even I would get nervous at the idea of similtaneously airing several queer ships on a show about emergency responders, on freaking Fox!

Seriously, just stop to think. What if they had gone for blatant buddie early on?

The show would have had to juggle... let's do some math...

Hen, Karen, and Eva being queer and raising a rainbow family,

Michael's coming out storyline, then his and David's romance, Josh being very much gay and dating men... Add to that Buck and Eddie, and that's MANY prominent queer characters, story arcs and romances trying to compete for air time... ON FOX, in a show about firefighters!

The risk of the the largely conservative, homophobic audience on a conservative channel going "it's too much" and abandoning the show was REAL, don't you pretend otherwise.

Sure, there are other less easily intimidated audiences, but how would they know if the leap into the unknown would pay off?

I think in those circumstances they made a very sensible decision to focus on the other queer characters anf storylines first.

Again, it's hundreds of people's incomes at stake!!! There must have been people, funders, bosses voting against adding more blatantly queer storylines to the current situation because it was just not the right time.

So Kristel Reid was CAUTIOUS when she gave interviews. Remember, the future of the show has been uncertain from the start with how expensive it is to make!!

She did not want to give false hope to the viewers hoping for buddie come true. She did not want to be accused of queerbaiting. She very sensibly made sure to appear neutral about buddie, and give the UNTRUE impression that her head canon is that meh, they're just straight friends to her.

Quite frankly folks... NEVER PLAY POKER WITH THIS WOMAN, I think she'd eat you in a minute!!

She LIED. Fucking absorb that information. Breathe it in! You can do it! She's been obviously rooting for Buddie to happen for AGES.

Why do I say this?

Well here's my fucking powerpoiny about it!!! Read this and take a minute to consider her innocent "oh they're the very bestest of friends"-front against her actual work on the show!!

She WROTE 5x18, you know, with Ravi's line to Hen:

"I think it's sweet that Karen was defending you. I mean, isn't that what we all want in a partner, knowing they have your back?"

She's no spring chicken, she wrote this fully knowing the memory we buddie shippers possess!!!

She WROTE the scene in which Eddie comforts Buck at the hospital after Maddie's kidnapping.

She WROTE 3x01, that's the scene in which Eddie bursts into Buck's apartment when Buck's feeling down and has Chris hang out with "his Buck".

She co-wrote Eddie's disgusted reaction to meeting Abby, she co-wrote Buck hearing that Chris is going on a two-week school trip and freaking out like a mother hen,

She WROTE freaking 4x14 - You know, the episode SURVIVORS, in which Eddie is shot by a sniper!! In the queerest way possible!!

She WROTE Desperate measures, you know - the episode in which Eddie breaks up with Ana, freaking oozing repressed queer subtext all over the place!!

Have you even watched the talk Buck and Eddie have before the breakup?!!! It's INSANE.

---

Buck: Ah. I thought you'd be the first one out the door. Christopher know you're coming?

Eddie: Not yet. I haven't figured out what I'm going to say when I get home. To Ana.

---

Try telling me that "door" isn't the door of a closet, I challenge you!!

She freaking co-wrote 5x17!!! The META of Taylor, in 5x17 "promising" she won't "run the story", and then breaking that promise.

That same episode has Eddie visiting his home btw, and paints a very illuminative picture of the environment Eddie grew up in - it practically spells toxic masculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, catholic guilt. Really, that episode basically screams "This is why Eddie is such a repressed onion."

THAT episode also has THAT insane closet door scene, Eddie opening a closet door as Buck says:

Buck: You know, your parents will understand!

Eddie turns to stare at him.

Buck: ...They should understand. *Plays with a toy dinosaur as he's talking, and pretends it bites his finger.*

... And again, after that episode she wrote 5x18, the one with "Isn't that what we all want in a partner, knowing they have your back?"

An obvious parallel to Buck and Eddie meeting and promising to have each other's backs!!!

....

Seriously, Kristel Reidel has had our back from the very beginning and I'm fed up with people talking shit about her!! I think it's no coincidence that one of the emergencies she wrote was "someone stuck in a freezer", that's fucking meta. I bet she's wanted to fucking hit the pedal but she's been forced to bide her time, and it's been fucking agony at times.

And don't even get me started on Tim fucking Minear, who people have ALSO shit talked because "hE jUst liKes tO QuEerBait".

BE FUCKING GRATEFUL FOR KRISTEN REIDEL, YOU utter... *censored*.

BE GRATEFUL FOR TIM MINEAR. They are our freaking GOATS and they deserve our love!!!

Edit. After reading up some more about the power structures of media networks like these... I would really not be surprised if it turned out that the people running this show (such as Reidel and Minear, the people listed next to the episodes) have had even less say on what sort of stories they get to do than I've thought.

After all, these people we fans focus on and know by name... They're really not nearly as influential as we think. There are still plenty of big chiefs higher up in the food chain. I've heard some vague rumours before that the network has meddled with the show's creative decisions a lot in these past years, and would not be surprised if it was true.

[constantvariations]

Why Some People Don't Like Jaune Arc

I've seen some folk confused about the dislike towards Jaune, such as @the-sapphic-raven and @foxgirltail so I thought I'd compile all the reasons (that I can remember without a whole-ass rewatch) in a single post. For the most part, it's not the character himself that earns ire but the way he's used

Volume One

All the goodwill Jaune built up by being sweet towards Ruby is immediately soured by his chauvinistic attitude towards Weiss and his dismissal of Pyrrha, a strange choice given this is supposed to be a progressive society/show. And Pyrrha, the prodigy of the entire school, is somehow into being treated like dirt

There's also the matter of his sneaking into a school dedicated to protecting people from man-eating monsters despite the fact that Jaune had negative skills (while somehow being from a long line of warriors). It makes for good story, but it's also an incredibly selfish and dangerous decision that put people, most directly his teammates, at risk due to his inexperience. This would've been smoothed over had he actually been proactive, but instead he sleeps in class and Pyrrha has to take initiative in training him

The biggest problem comes in the "Jaune Arc" where his generic bullying plot not only overshadows the anti-faunus attitude, not only comes before Blake or Yang get an arc, but takes up an entire twenty-five percent of the first season. That was a whole month of Jaune instead of RWBY back in the days of release

Volume Two

Once again, Jaune has a disproportionate amount of time dedicated to him but this time he's joined by Neptune so we can have a love triangle between these two and Weiss. Given that Jaune and Neptune are voiced by Luna and Shawcross, the writers who, yknow, write Weiss's every word and action, this comes off as super creepy. Additionally, he pursues Weiss despite her multiple unambiguous rejections, and the narrative is clearly on his side. And then, after learning that Neptune turned down Weiss - something well within his right to do - Jaune gets pissy and confronts him with language objectifying Weiss as some sort of possession and forces Neptune to reveal something he's obviously very ashamed about

There's also the man-in-a-dress "joke" that shouldn't be considered a joke in a gender-equal society, but that's simply more bad writing choices with Jaune as the victim

Volume Three

There's not as much here since Jaune plays more of a supporting role to Pyrrha, which is where he really shines as a character. There's that bit during the Vytal Festival with the team name shenanigans throwing off the scene's rhythm, but it's more of an annoyance than anything else

But then after Pyrrha sends him away, instead of calling Glynda like he'd been about to do or any authority, he calls Ruby and breaks his phone before calling anyone else. Grief does make people do stupid things, but this is goes beyond that. This was a choice of the writers to refuse Pyrrha backup so she could die, leading into the most consistent complaint of Jaune in all subsequent volumes: trauma hogging

Volume Four

While Ruby, Ren, and Nora get only outfit changes, Jaune gets upgrades to both his armor and weapon using Pyrrha's crown and sash. This is pretty blatant favoritism since Ren and Nora don't get anything of hers to symbolize their connection to Pyrrha despite them also being teammates and friends. This trauma favoritism continues when Ruby wakes from a nightmare about Pyrrha only for the scene to be about Jaune's feelings. We never come back to Ruby's trauma (unless you want to count that one talk with Oscar in V5, which still isn't great) and Ren/Nora are completely passed over

Then in the Nuckleavee fight, instead of Ruby being the one to rescue Qrow from oncoming attack because she's got the speed and that's her uncle, it's Jaune who saves the day. It's Jaune who gets that silent handgrab with Qrow, which means nothing because these two don't really know each other but would mean a wealth of things had it been Ruby instead

Also, the sword sword "upgrade." It's not Jaune's fault that it's poorly designed, I'm just legally obligated to say it sucks every time I talk about this fight

Volume Five

When Qrow and Lionheart talk about Raven, Jaune knows she's Yang’s mom despite the two of them sharing maybe 10 words with each other. Yang didn't even tell Blake, her own partner, much about Raven, but for whatever reason she told Jaune? Sus

The climatic fight nerfed everyone, but Weiss and Cinder got special stupid juice specifically so Jaune could be the main character. Cinder spent the last two seasons building up and reinforcing her hatred of Ruby, even agreeing to Raven's alternative plan just for a stab at the kid. Yet her attention during the big fight is solely on Jaune because...? And he goes toe-to-toe with her! She was trained by a professional huntsman for years as a child while Jaune has, what? Maybe a year of training? And she's a Maiden! The deck is so stacked against Jaune it's not even funny

Then to punish him, instead of attacking Ruby - who's entirely preoccupied by Emerald, his very first friend, and the person he crossed continents to follow - Cinder goes after Weiss. His crush. Who conveniently forgot her sword isn't a wand and her glyphs can do just about anything so her aura could be broken

Weiss got fridged so Jaune could discover his semblance. Female empowerment at its finest

(Before anyone tries it, no, I'm not saying Ruby should've been fridged instead. The situation as written is set up so that somebody HAS to be fridged, which is stupid. This could've been revealed in a million ways that didn't involve girls being maimed)

Volume Six

Getting aggressive with Oscar was out of line. I understand (not condone) Qrow being violent because he's been in the game longer than any of the kids and just watched an entire HD powerpoint of Ozpin's lies. Being Oz's spy was essentially his life

Jaune does not have that same depth of investment. One can argue that he was acting on his grief of Pyrrha, but that falls flat when neither Ren or Nora come even close to the same reaction

Once again, Jaune hogs all the Pyrrha-related trauma, even getting a visit from her mom(?) while looking at a giant statue of her (despite the fact that Pyrrha blatantly said in V2 she didn't like being treated like she's above others)

Volume Seven

Jaune hogs the camera for JNR's new landing strategies, his hair is dumb, and grown women fawning over a teenager is gross, but overall Jaune this volume is fantastic. Super swell in his supporting role here and that bit where he compliments Nora after her failed flirting always makes me giggle

Volume Eight

Imma be honest, I don't remember much of V8 and I do not have the time, will, or energy to rewatch it, so I'll just skip to the biggest thing in the volume: Penny's death.

Jaune did not try hard enough to save her. Whereas any other time this trope of mercy killing during combat has been implemented, it's typically done as a reluctant last resort after every other option has been exhausted. Cinder was still preoccupied with Weiss and Jaune's pretty beefy; he could've made a dash for the exit while still healing her

Instead, he boosts her aura for a whole 2 seconds before agreeing to stab her in the heart.

Another fridge for Jaune's collection

Volume Nine

Everyone's fears of Jaune stealing the spotlight once again get confirmed. He gets a legendary role in a story loved world wide, a pedestal only matched by Ruby's weird deified status in the rtx V9 epilogue, which may or may not be canon

Weiss is into him for "being mature" despite never having shown a preference for older men. Not counting villains we have Ozpin, Oobleck, Port, Klein, Qrow, and Ironwood; all of whom could've been used to establish this trait, yet it only comes out with Jaune? Highly suspicious

His relationship with the paper pleasers is incredibly terrible. He has no respect for their culture and treats them like children despite their obvious intelligence. It rings far too closely to missionaries "saving" people, usually of color, in third world countries

Then, when Ruby finally snapped and is venting her frustrations, Jaune cuts in to take his rage out on her. Jaune, at this point, is at least in his mid thirties, so we get a grown ass man yelling at a seventeen year old girl who then runs away, putting her in a vulnerable position that is immediately taken advantage of. Nobody blames him for being upset, but as an adult he now has a responsibility to take care of how he treats people significantly younger than him

Not even an hour after Ruby drinks the tea right in front of them, the entire group hugs Jaune with big, bright smiles. Ruby not once had someone actually comfort her despite her obvious failing mental health, but Jaune gets comforted by both the team and the narrative

Thanks for surviving this far

Feel free to add on, but I'm tired of this being in my drafts so Jaune be upon ye

If y’all disagree with any of the points, I'd love to hear your view and have a nice discussion

[dontlookforme00]

Do you folks think I should write a morro fanfic

Reasoning: I love morro

Here's the main idea if it helps

Starts at where Wu tries to save Morro from the preeminent and he's about to do the whole "You can only save those who want to be saved, sensei"

Except Wu's hand slips for just a second and his legs go into the water and it hurts like fucking hell and he screams and realises how afraid he is to die and he's like 'sensei...help me' and its just the child part of him crying out

Parallels yk

Anyways Morro lowkey wanted to die mainly because he had no reason to live and also didn't wanna face the consequences of his actions

He's petty like that, we all know Morro

So he's like really sick, strangely, because ghosts can't get sick, but all his legs and some of his torso were destroyed by the water

Ofc they'll reappear but it takes all his ghostly energy and he's in like a feverish state

Wu is the only one who wants to forgive him / has already forgiven him

Kai is more aggressive than usual (hard to achieve ik) and he's like 'FUCK THE RULES MASTER HES WEAK KILL HIM NOW' meanwhile lloyd ":("

And Wu is like kai chill, nya chill, you guys,,,,

Then, after a bit, morro strengthens and all ninja negotiate ground rules with him (1. Don't possess lloyd 2. Dont annoy us or we will shower you 3. Listen to us)

Which, he immediately breaks, as you'll see

Morro tries to do something with one of the ninjas stuff and lloyd tries to stop him except he's kinda done with this ghosts bs so now he's regained confidence to be passive aggressive

This infuriates morro (angsty teenager)

Morro possesses him so lloyd will know he is still in charge and better than him because morro was feeling very jealous

Buuuttt because he's still weak lloyd forces him out and morro is like

"Fuck

I broke their only rule"

And as Lloyd begins to break down from the flashbacks morro fucking leaps off the bounty and begins to run because HE ALR KNOWS THE NINJA ARE COMING AFTER HIM

Cue morro panicking running blaming himself and overall wanted arc begins

The ninja begin to look for him after a few hours (pov switch)

And everyone especially kai are like OK SO WE GAVE THE BASTARD A CHANCE NOW HE DIES

And originally, they were going to help hide morro from the public bcos yk he was a villain but now they release the public statement that he is still alive and to be careful, report him, police need to kill him etc. War criminal etc etc.

Morro makes it to ninjago city after a few days and once realises he's like a public enemy and also pretty easy to see as a ghost

He's too weak to fight the ninja, his separation from the preeminent also weakened him

He's like tf do I do man

It's gonna rain soon so he needs to like rent a hotel get a job or find somewhere dry and safe to hide

But he needs a ✨️disguise ✨️

So he focuses all his energy on becoming tangible so he can wear clothes other than the ones he died in (my au my ghost rules ok)

After a while it takes all his energy and its painful af all the while the ninja are getting closer he's contemplating suicide atp

He collapses in some alleyway, flickering in and out of solidity

Until some kid, probably like 12 or 14 finds him

And I won't explain the whole thing but basically the kid, ofc, acts like a teen. Doesn't care if morro is wanted, lives in poverty, cares for morro which confuses him, and then the morro protects the kid from others

And they learn to rely on each other slowly because morro sees alot of himself in that kid yk

Anyways haven't figured out further than that

There probably only gonna be like 12 people reading this so heya

Also I have written the first chapter and posted it ;)))

[phantomtwitch]

Congrats on finishing Echoes!!!!!!!

Do you have tips on writing such a long fic? How much planning did you do ?

Ahhh, thank you!!!!

For finishing such a long fic, I have some suggestions, but I think like a lot of writing advice it's a very "your mileage will vary" depending on your own processes. Long and honestly kind of rambling answer (and some mild spoilers for Echoes) below the cut:

So in terms of planning, I'm not really much of a planner to be honest. I know plenty of authors that will do detailed outlines, map out scenes, and then proceed to write each scene or chapter in a very structured way. It works for them, and it's worth a try if you haven't done it before, but I've found it just doesn't suit my general style.

My outline was a lot vaguer. I had basic concepts ideas I wanted to explore - No One Knows AU, Hazmat AU, Danny being friends with the ghosts as Fenton despite being hated as Phantom, and an identity reveal. My basic structure at the start was split into four parts, with each part highlighting a different reveal with different people in his life, but after finishing the first one with Valerie, I found that while it worked okay as a standalone, as a long fic it just . . . didn't. When I started doing the next part, it felt too repetitive and too much like the exact same thing with just the person swapped out, so even though I liked that first bit overall, I scrapped it in favor of trying to do something else because I still wanted to get to that end point where his family and friends all knew the truth.

So instead I tried to think about what could bring some of these people together to kind of discover some things in tandem instead of separately (hence the possession bit I came up with, which wasn't part of my original concept), and then from there the second part felt really natural as I realized I had to deal with the fallout from what happened there and it allowed me to bring the Fenton parents in more, too. I knew the last part was always going to end with my interpretation of Reign Storm, so it mostly became a question of how to get there in the context of the themes that started to develop as I wrote (namely around forgiveness, trust, hope, etc).

Dividing it into three parts with a different focus that still supported the overall story and character arcs helped a ton. Not getting too fixated on editing as I went along was also a big, important piece, since that's something I've struggled with intensely in the past. I want things to be perfect, and part of finishing this meant accepting that it wouldn't be and that it was okay and that, in all honesty, some of the things that make it imperfect are part of what makes it so near and dear to my heart.

(I will say, though, that I definitely indulged that impulse to go back and edit occasionally, since it helped refresh my memory as I wrote and scratch that itch. It was just important not to fall into a trap of only doing that instead of writing, too).

I tried to do a few scenes out of order, but found that never worked for me, I think in part because I was figuring out a lot of things as I went along. I'll still, occasionally, write out the bit in a fic that I really, really want on the page if I feel like I can't continue writing without getting it out first, but that version of it virtually never ends up in the final piece.

Other things that were important for me . . .

Finishing the fic before I posted it. Other folks can write and post as they go. I can't. I don't usually figure out everything until I'm basically done, and at that point I need to go back and rewrite and add bits to make the whole thing work. I think some of the chapters I didn't have in the first solid draft of my finished fic would surprise people. The unfinished fics on my old FFN profile are a testament to this - there's more than one I stopped there because I wrote myself into a corner I couldn't figure out how to get out of, or took on something that was way too ambitious or went in a direction I found I ultimately didn't want to go.

It also helped me avoid feeling that intense pressure of not wanting to disappoint people that were reading. Like, that was still there, but because the fic was functionally done, it didn't impact my ability to finish writing it, if that makes sense, and instead really impacted how I approached editing it instead.

But posting with space between the chapters mattered, too, since it allowed me to read people's comments which sometimes brought up things I hadn't considered and that I occasionally (but not always) worked into the fic later. One of the comments from dp-marvel 94, I think, had a huge impact on me when it came to how I approached the epilogue. While some parts of the epilogue didn't change much from my initial draft, a not so small part did, and I am much, much happier for the change since it really helped to tie up Danny's character growth and some of the themes I'd written into the fic.

(I suspect a beta-reader could have helped with that, but I was too anxious/terrified to ask anyone to be honest even as I knew it would probably make the fic better).

I also let my fic sit for like a month after I finished it without touching it, and then I went back and reread the entire thing, which helped me realize what I was missing, things I should added, deleted bits that I should also put back in (I never, ever permanently delete anything I write. I have a ton of documents that are an absolutely bonkers amount of pages full of stuff I deleted, if only because sometimes I realize that there are bits of those things that can be salvaged or worked in later).

And honestly? I just type fast. That's not terribly helpful advice and I know it, but it means I can indulge a lot of the vague ideas/thoughts I have without feeling like it's setting me back much since I can easily write a few thousand words in an hour.

Really, though, it's thinking about what you want to do with the fic and pushing through the anxiety/fear/perfectionism or whatever other thing is stopping you from finishing, and picking an idea that you love enough that you want to see it through to the end despite the blood, sweat, and tears you'll be pouring into it.

[villain-sympathizer]

Headcanons for the PLF leaders X a Reader who needs to be reminded to eat?

absolutely!! as someone who also struggles with remembering to eat, i feel this lmao

since theres a ton of 'leaders' in the PLF im going to just do the ones I know more about for this! if theres anyone you want added just let me know!

───��── ･ ｡ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ･ ──────

»»—— Reminding Their Partner To Eat ——««

[Characters: Tomura Shigaraki, Re-Destro, Skeptic]

[Contents: ⚠Mentions/implications of eating disorders⚠ (not the main topic, though), talk of medications, spoilers for the manga/upcoming S6]

────── ･ ｡ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ･ ──────

Shigaraki:

I think he and Skeptic are also guilty of this, but not in the same way, yknow?

For Tomura, it's for so many reasons, depending on the arc. At first, it was because he was so focused on gaming and trying to form a proper league; then, it was because he and the League were without a proper base/home and none of them were able to get proper food; then, it was fighting a giant mountain-like monster of a man for months; and finally, it was the struggle with his surgery and the AFO possession.

But, even if he doesn't take care of himself as much as he should, he's not considered a leader and a grand commander for nothing!

While he doesn't remind himself to eat, he absolutely reminds his partner. No matter the reason for why they forget to eat, or don't choose to eat, he will make a reminder on his own phone to remind THEM, not even himself.

Like I said, I see him as the kind of guy to share his own rations in order to make sure the rest of the League is fed well enough, especially his significant other.

They’re part of the family now, and that means they’ll be treated with the upmost care!

Sometimes, if he KNOWS they didn’t eat yet, he’ll go as far as to take a meal to them personally. Take out, home cooked, made by a hired chef – doesn’t matter, he’s hauling that meal for two right up to them himself.

If they try and refuse, saying he didn’t have to do that for them and they could get their own food, he’ll insist. But he’ll insist in that “I’m not giving up until you shove this in your mouth” kind of way, because he knows they’ll just end up forgetting again.

Lots of reminder texts that are just “eat”, or the occasional “consume”.

Unfortunately, he’s unable to check in with them much after the PLF arc, and almost never at all when AFO takes over his body.

Though, he’ll always have those off-hand thoughts of ‘I hope they ate today’ or ‘I wonder if the League is making sure they’re okay’. It confuses the fuck out of AFO but he can’t get them to stop.

Calls them his 'tomagatchi' with how often it feels like he's checking in on them, but if they don't like it, he'll stop.

Re-Destro:

Now this man, he's the PERFECT perfect partner for this out off all the PLF folks, honestly.

He's such an observant, caring person towards everyone he's close to, and that goes double for his partner.

Absolute dad material with how much he wants to make sure everyone is taken care of, both physically and mentally, so he checks in with all his loved ones and asks if everything's okay.

With his lover, and any family member honestly, he didn't even need to be told that they need reminders. Every time he sees them it's the typical check-in: "Hello, dearest. Have you eaten recently? Drank any water? You seem a little tired, have you been sleeping well?"

Like seriously, everyone calls him overbearing, but little do they realize it's actually helpful. Oh, maybe they should eat something... and they were a bit restless last night...

If his partner has appetite issues because of medication, then he's sure to feed them before they take their medication, or at least before it kicks in.

And if it's because they refuse to eat for mental health reasons? Well, then they can expect all the loving words Rikiya has in his arsenal. No insecurity will be spared from his reassurances.

He won't force them to eat in that case, but he will gently urge them to take a set amount of bites. Baby steps, as he'd say.

Skeptic:

Just like Shigaraki, he's also someone who needs to be reminded himself to do even the basic human functions. Like sleeping.

Now, he's an incredibly focused man, and his partner will rarely ever see him during the work week unless they or Tomo himself seek each other out.

But since having a partner, he's gotten better at taking care of the both of them. It's kinda like how someone with depression will adopt a pet so that they have a reason to care for someone else, y'know?

Makes sure to contact them during his lunch breaks, which he actually takes now, and either checks in to see if they've eaten - or even going out of his way to join them for lunch.

If his partner works for him/along side him, then you bet your ass he's marching over to their area and announcing that the two of them are going on break.

If they tell him, or if he realizes that they need reminders, then expect some kind of reminder in every source of media that you have. Texts, emails, DMs of every social media - hell, they could open up an account they haven't touched in years and find hundreds of messages reminding them to eat and drink water.

But, it's also going to be a two-way street when it comes to our boy Tomo: his partner is going to have to remind him to eat or sleep as well.

It's a strange back and forth of hypocritical advice, yet it somehow works for the both of them.

[antihibikase-archive]

Blur / Blight : Character Songs

I can't find and edit the character songs post I made awhile back, so here's a new, updated one! Mainly because I want them to be more accurate + also fit with their past lives' themes and arcs!

I'll add N and Colress once I think of ones for them!

Hilbert - Shojo Rei

If we were able to love each other In that transparent world It repeats again; A flashback, the buzzing cicadas And you, who will never come back Our matching keychains Are being torn apart for all eternity The girl with that pale white skin That the summer got rid of I find myself wanting to be possessed by her so much it makes me sad

Cheren - Lower One's Eyes

Peace can dirty like water into wine Baptized and brought to light I'll make them see you're a witch in disguise Innocence has died Wilted by your lies Let's break you from this cage But you never came to set me free

Bianca - RGB

Don’t know where we lost connection within our stories Once again we return to what lies there beyond The things we talk about We wanna speak about The pages will someday fill and then you’ll see So now let’s keep on adding to the story Even the setting red sun will lift up at once And the blue days of youth we have spent together Our memories won’t forget They won’t fade away And like the way the greens will always sprout We can meet again sometime

Hilda - That's Why I Gave Up On Music

I’m suddenly taken back to that time Growing old was the only thing on my mind Knowing that someday I would die was like a stab in the chest, though I never understood why “Hey do you know what you’ll be doing one day?” Passing by the years I knew what I would do one day I’d be doing nothing at all

Nate - The Blessing

It's your life, your story, your way And it's not owned by anybody And it has no answer that is right Up to you to walk the route you point at Now the spell is broken And as we're now about to part with that fiction, defined It's time to fly out to take off right now

Hugh - Outsider

With this body, I take a weight of rocks What's something that only you can do? Don’t stay here I don't need your comfort So that it doesn’t end up becoming a barren wasteland I hid that name and appeared here After searching for, forcing out, and sneering at those who act as they please, I cry

Rosa - Rats Died

Here we reside, the right timeline, The context and content best of their kind Shunning the illness for the outbreak it caused, I stained my hands stealing the doleful folks’ trust That lying prophet was the way that we grew Chewing up junk food just to cover the truth And yes, the voices sure God was dead, They left one day, have paid no visits since then

[sneezemonster15]

do you think kishi created karin so sk would be end game? were there any hints that sasuke and karin were in a relationship (i read a post where someone proves that they fucked☠️☠️☠️) before shippuden or that they would become canon?

No. Karin is thirsty for Sasuke. Like a lot of other characters. The point of it all was to show Sasuke was desirable to different people. For different reasons ofc. His character is inspired by the bishounen archetype so it's pretty much expected. For Oro to take over, Kabuto for experimentation. For Obito for his own vengeful ends. For Sakura to possess him because she thinks she is entitled to anything she wants. For Ino because she is a Sasuke fangirl. For Naruto because Naruto relates with him and finds a kindred spirit in him.

No, SK was not supposed to be endgame. I don't know where these theories come from. He never showed any interest in her or consideration for her apart from what he generally shows towards ALL his team mates. Including Sakura (in part one), Juugo and Suigetsu. Anytime Karin tried to show interest in him, which was mostly sexual, blatantly so, Sasuke sternly told her to get away from him, and/or looked mighty uncomfortable or puzzled. Which makes sense because he is GAY and loves Naruto. I heard something like there was a popularity poll about whether Sasuke would be paired up with Sakura or Karin and Sakura won the poll, so it became endgame. But I am not sure, it's possible it is a rumor. Narratively though, SK doesn't have anything, not from Sasuke's side.

The post you read about them getting busy, if I am right, was probably written by that silly homophobic Sasuke stan girl. Those folks simply want to make Sasuke straight so they can self insert into Karin and have themselves a nice bedtime fantasy. It's really not more complex than that. Although I will agree that Karin showed more genuine concern for Sasuke than Sakura ever did, that's for sure. The way she, Oro and Taka rescued him from Madara in war arc was pretty cool.

Karin, evolving a new power, being fearless and more importantly delivering on it too. Karin is also a fangirl, but still better than Sakura and Hinata, in terms of skills for sure. Lol.

[spook-e-snail]

Yo dude

Opinion onnnnnnnnnn Ram3nN00dles Cass? The one who's really popular

*rubs my horrible little bug hands together* I have. So many thoughts.

There's obviously tons of hate for this mod and I'm just gonna start this off by saying that I'm not crazy about it, but admittedly I think a lot of the reasons most people hate it kinda suck lmao.

Breaking this down and also putting it under a read more because like I said. Many thoughts. A few positive. A lot negative

Now I hear a lot of folks rag on her design in this mod but tbh? It's like my favorite part.

Design:

Like c'mon. This specific image was my PFP on fucking everything for like 2 years. It adds a bit to the original design without changing too much. I will admit however I'm not crazy about the crop top. Some folks claim that the mod over sexualizes her design because God forbid she has hips, an ass and a crop top but again I don't really see it?? It's not my favorite thing but c'mon, it's a crop top it's not a fucking gimp suit lmao.

I will admit in this outfit she feels less goth and more?? Alt?? I guess you could say?? Like again it sticks to the og design but it doesn't really have the vibes if that makes sense??

Another thing I surprisingly enjoy is RN's take on the penilians. Like most folks interpret them as humanoid and tbh? I like the more buggy look better.

The whole abdomen, thorax and legs part is kinda iffy?? Like the phase one design kept her design recognizable with minimal changes but this just feels a bit too far off.

I'll start this part off by admitting I don't know jack fuck about music theory or much like that but like. I do not enjoy 90% of the main mod songs. Possession is one of the better ones of the mix but even then the entire time I felt like I was waiting for some kind of drop that just?? Never came??

Music:

I really hate being negative here but oh my god. Oh my god. Takeover is so fucking bad. It isn't pleasant. At all. Especially in the UTAU update, like bestie that echo is not helping.

I feel like all of the songs in that mod had that same problem where something just felt missing?? Like the voice thingy she has is pretty good and I like that they changed up BF's voice in it but tbh that can only carry a mod so far. Like again I don't know much about music theory but it doesn't really feel like there's much of a rhythm? Like yeah some parts of songs repeat but not really in a fun way.

I will admit though the Ugh cover had me in a chokehold for like a year so. Points there I guess. But again all the original music is boring at best and absolute diarrhea at worst.

Hooooooo boy.

Lore:

Look I could have forgiven the lore if the music was halfway tolerable but damn. This shit is not helping itself.

This mod was made before the April fools update and hot damn is it abundantly clear.

Ramen tried really hard to make Cassandra the good guy, and back in 2021 this was pretty unheard of. Like back then everyone blasted Cass enjoyers on fuckin sight lmao (some were fair, like yeah shooting up a school isn't good obviously. Some were pretty far off though. There was a time when pretty much half of the damn FNF fandom called her a nazi?? Like say what you want but she was pretty clearly anti-facist within the first few seconds of PS). But when he tried making Cass a good guy he kinda butchered the character.

Like the whole possession story arc isn't really easy to follow imo. Like okay the penilians are aliens in this mod. But they possess her like they're demons?? And when they possess her they make her shoot up a school.

In this mod her parents are Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest, it just doesn't really make sense that they'd make her shoot up a school and not literally anything else?? Like if they were wanting to just kill as many people as possible why did they possess some random teenager? Like why not possess some dude in the military or with some form of political power? The whole alien possesed thing just doesn't make sense. Plus after the events of Pico's school she just lives with the alien possessing her?? Like apparently PS takes places when she's like 17 and in the mod she's 23. Like holy fuck how has she not done anything else??

That and I'm not a fan of the whole family drama B plot. Like its a neat concept to make her GF's estranged sister but the whole reunion with Cass and DD just feels?? Clunky?? Awkward?? Like it's just not very elegant.

Simply not vibing with it

Creator:

Look I'm not gonna go crazy deep into the drama here but what I will say is it was very clear Ramen was 17 when he made this mod, for better or for worse. He did a lot of dumb shit because he was a kid.

Some folks shit on him because he's trans and obviously that's just not fucking cool, but obviously that's not why I don't fully vibe with him. Like fucks sake I'm like vaguely nonbinary, I get that sometimes people are gonna be nasty to folks like us for literally zero reason.

Misc:

The whole mod has huge PicoxCass connections and again I don't really vibe with it. It's definitely not my favorite ship ever. Like obviously people can ship whatever they want but hot damn I don't wanna see it.

Cass does end up a little woob-ified in an attempt to make her redeemable. Like by all means theres a way to redeem her without making her personality unrecognizable. I feel like this story might have worked with an OC or something but the whole penilian thing just. Did not work in my opinion.

I used to fucking LOVE this mod back in the day but as I've gotten older and understood Cassandra's character a bit more I've sorta fallen out of love with it. Don't get me wrong the designs go hard to this day but some decent art won't save a mod with shitty songs, confusing story and a controversial creator.

[robotlesbianjavert]

(1) Afo being born an evil baby has made an Afo supporter bc if he was born bad for no reason he never had a choice in being a villain at all which means he's completely justified in wanting to re-write the story to change his ending since he's trapped in the role itself and cannot escape it. If i was born to be defeated i would be mad af too.

IT'S NOT HIS FAULT HE WAS BORN WITH THE INSANE DESIRE TO POSSESS EVERYTHING AND ALSO THAT HIS MOM DIDN'T HAVE THE MEANS TO GO TO A HOSPITAL AND UNDERSTAND THAT SHE HAD A LIFE-STEALING PARASITE IN HER WOMB. NOT HIS FAULT. sometimes you are born the villain and just gotta roll with it, tis a sad state of affairs.

but yeah i get the dashed hopes for the LOV, though i still have some muster. with AFO it's a tricky situation because on one hand, doing something more interested and complicated himself would have complemented the themes and the other villain's stories so well. god knows that i really had my hopes for him. but on the other hand his status as 'ultimate evil' did put him on a separate level of meaningful narrative sympathy than the league proper - i don't necessarily like it, but him being a flat nothing of a sperm cell doesn't really cancel out the efforts to flesh out other villains. Even Though With This Narrative, There Should Be No Flat Villains. But Whatever.

i'll say that where the narrative stands so far, i've had things that i really appreciated and also liked less about where the dabi and toga resolutions are sitting so far (IS TOGA DEAD. IS SHE STRAIGHT UP GONNA DIE. SHE WON'T BUT STILL.); my final hammer of judgment will have to swing when the arc/story ends proper, in particular to see how much of the resolutions ends with death/jail, but i've still liked Just Enough of what was going on and the respect the characters were given.

right now a lot of my feelings are riding with shigaraki and kurogiri as still active forces and how they're going to be approached (i trust nothing where deku is concerned but i believe that shigaraki is dynamite enough a character to make something work), and whether spinner and compress still have something to contribute before the story ends. we are in the scary times now folks.

[tapioca-puddingg]

The Riku vs Terra Discussion

Hey y'all. So as you can see, I didn't choose violence today.

I've already spoken about this in my Terra video, but I'll reiterate my talking points here bc it's quicker to consume than a video.

So because Riku and Terra have similar story arcs related to darkness, a lot of us are naturally inclined to compare their stories and their behavior. However, I feel like some folks compare them with the added context of Riku’s redemption arc as ammunition against Terra. It’s comparing the life of someone who’s struggling to someone who has already succeeded, so that wouldn't be fair. So if we’re gonna play the comparison game, it’s only fair to start by isolating Riku’s behavior in KH1 and Terra’s in BBS since that's where these two made their starts.

This isn't me trying to say that one is better than the other. They both come from different lives, have different insecurities, and have different personalities. They are both flawed in their own ways. This is just a compare and contrast type of thing.

Riku was far more problematic at the start of his journey.

He actively antagonized Sora and co., worked with Maleficent (albeit it was to try to find a way to save Kairi, but still), was manipulated by Maleficent, was later possessed by Ansem, and attacked Sora while he was possessed.

Not to mention that he was selfish. He was totally fine with never returning home or seeing their parents again. Zexion calls him out on this in Re:CoM; that he was the reason why Destiny Islands fell to darkness.

I guess to give him the benefit of the doubt, the situation was more dire, as one of his best friend's heart was missing, and he was willing to do anything to help her.

Terra showed a lot more self-awareness and restraint. He was trying to do what Master Eraqus told him to do while simultaneously trying to figure out how to control his darkness. However, the desperation combined with his own insecurities made him vulnerable to being tricked by villains, like Hades.

Sadly tho, I don't think that he exercises discernment with some of the villains; Cap'n Hook in particular. And with Xehanort, he doesn't realize that he's been fooled until it's too late (which isn't his fault, Xehanort was playing 5D chess).

Beyond KH1, Riku had a lot of time to self-reflect and come to terms with his darkness, and he also had a good support system in Mickey. Mickey was someone that was genuinely curious, compassionate, and open-minded with him. He was willing to stand by him and support him no matter what. That’s somebody that Terra needed.

This might be a hot take, but Terra didn't have the best support system to be able to deal with his darkness issue. Eraqus was Eraqus-ing and Aqua assumed the worst about him after seeing the aftermath of his actions. Ven still supported him, but I think the distrust from Eraqus and Aqua had way more of an impact on him.

Honing in on Aqua for a moment, she always arrived in the worlds after Terra. From her perspective, it looked like Terra was doing a lot of fuckshit. He did leave the worlds pretty unresolved, so I understand why she was suspicious of him, especially with Terra’s lack of communication. BUT at the same time, she also didn't ask him what really happened. But anyways.

Terra and Riku were both manipulated and possessed at one point. They also both protected their friends from their possessed bodies; Riku protected Sora from himself in Hollow Bastion and Terra tried to protect Aqua from Terranort in the realm of darkness.

Riku is able to succeed where Terra couldn't. Riku was lucky to have Sora when he was possessed, otherwise he might've ended up being possessed for who knows how long. Like I said, he has a year and some change to grow as a person, whereas Terra has that opportunity taken from him.

Currently, Riku already has gone off to rescue Sora. Terra's story arc from this point forward has been undetermined and I have no idea what they plan to do with his character. In terms of the Wayfinder trio, Aqua will be training Kairi (and maybe they'll explore new worlds together?), and Ven might embark on a new journey based on his forgotten memories of the Age of Fairytales. Maybe Terra will help Aqua in training Kairi. Maybe he'll go on his own healing journey. Or maybe he'll eventually retake the Mark of Mastery exam and become a master.

I don't have a conclusion to this, I just like talking about things. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[chaoticvictorianspirit]

heyyyyy, so I'll get a group of the (2) of us, a (4) horsepeople of the nopocalypse, and a (7) - God loves sevens - for the music ask.

(if I have to answer number two you're doing it as well goddammit)

I suppose it's only fair for me to join the dark confessions club with number 2, but you are right, it's an evil question. Then again what is friendship about if not exchanging potential blackmail material and trusting the other person won't actually use it against you... Speaking of which, you seriously don't need to worry about me judging your Taylor Swift phase for I myself am not without sin! In fact...

2. Most embarrassing music phase?

Avert your eyes, for my shame is too great. I used to be....a 1D girl. From maybe 2013-2016 so I can't even say it was a short lived psychotic breakdown or a ghost possession (wanted to say demon at first but we both know demons have much higher standards). It's one of my deepest personality flaws and red flags. Laying my soul bare here.

4. What song from your childhood do you still like?

This is a tricky one! I actually love many of the songs my dad used to play when I was a kid, it's mostly Karel Kryl and similar folk singers. One that stands out would be Král a klaun, in case you wanna check it out. Also another childhood obsession of mine was the musical adaptation of the story of Joan of Arc, I know all the lyrics to all the songs to this day. But since these answers don't really make sense to anyone outside of my linguistic and cultural background, if we were talking solely about English songs I'd probably say Love Is Strange (Mickey and Sylvia) cause I remember being obsessed with it after watching Dirty Dancing for the first time and I still think it's an absolute banger. (fun fact as a treat: I was definitely way too young to watch that movie and after seeing those grinding dance scenes I honestly believed for years that's how babies are made)

7. Top 3 songs to sing in your car to?

When driving alone I mostly tend to belt musical showtunes or whatever blorbo-adjacent song is currently plaguing me :'DD. I somehow always end up with M.I.A. (Starkid - Black Friday) since that's the only song I ever recorded semi-professionally and I've been chasing that high ever since (alas with no backtrack and autotune it's usually a rather humbling experience lol). At this moment my other two go-to songs would be Old Fashioned Lover Boy (Queen) and From Eden (Hozier). None of that has of course anything to do with a certain redheaded snek. Not at all. I am being so normal about him.

Sorry for the short essay, I'm in a chatty mood (and also I just love talking about music).

[femmchantress]

So I (finally) finished Skypeia! And I have some thoughts about it.

Yes, the common complaint that it's too drawn out is not only true, but it's like 100,000,000,000% true - and the sad part is the chaff that really weakens the experience of the arc as a whole is very obvious and easy to find. My other complaint is that I wish more of the conflict had taken place in Angel Island/the cloud city in general, Upper Yard isn't the most visually unique places in the series and it would've been neat to see some urban combat and subterfuge among the Skypeians in the city

With all that being said, I liked a lot about it. I loved the setup on Jaya in Mock Town; I loved Cricket and his dream and the Montblanc history; I loved the juxtaposition of Luffy/Blackbeard and Bellamy. I love that Luffy and Blackbeard get one another! That they're both dreamers that want to achieve grand things and that that is what sets them apart from other people, from people like Bellamy. Even though they possess different moral compasses, they're united in the fact that they follow their heart, take risks, and will not settle for less than their wildest dreams. I wish Eneru had been present earlier in the Sky Island portion, the priests were only entertaining for so long - Ohm was the most memorable of them, though the rest all had quirks and moments that I found memorable and their fights were overall enjoyable. But fuck man when Eneru pops onto the scene it's really hard to give a shit about his priests and soldiers.

And speaking of Eneru, FUCK is he terrifying. He's a lot more simplistic in his goals than Crocodile or even Arlong, he wants to destroy things seemingly just for destruction’s same - they're all beneath him, a man so powerful he's convinced himself that he’s a god, thus they don't really need to exist. But outside of sloppier motivations and a less interesting plan, every scene with him was tense and terrifying - nobody could touch him! Nobody could resist his assault, nobody could object to his whims, and thus he didn't even need to be charismatic - why bother with charm when he can just kill you and your whole family with barely any effort? Every fight with him I sat there with bated breath, terrified to see who he'd kill next and hope against hope that someone, somehow would find a weakness or vulnerability to exploit. And they never did! Nobody could beat Eneru but Luffy, imbuing the arc with this theme of destiny, of fate and belief, the strawhats had to go to Sky island because it's on the path to Raftel, but they also had to go because nobody but Luffy - "Eneru's Total Opposite" - could topple this force of violent oppression. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the all too iconic moments of Luffy throwing Eneru off his high horse, of being unaffected by his electricity, by socking him in the gut, by beating him almost to death with his last gold punch. I live to see this figures of power, these oppressive and violent forces that know they're better than you, not only laid low but humiliated. But goddamn, it's going to be hard for anyone ever to match Eneru in terms of sheer power - just the strength of his logia alone was enough to threaten an entire civilization, multiple even. Other folks I know have said that though there are scarier and more threatening villains in the series, there really isn't anyone whose raw power with their devil fruit matches his.

I really loved that the protagonists of the arc were less an individual person (Vivi for Alabasta, Nami for Arlong Park, etc.) and more all of the peoples of the Sky Islands - the Skypeians, the Shandians, Noland and his descendants - it really helped reify the themes of cooperation and cohabitation, of sharing and eschewing hard boundaries and borders. Speaking of themes…

Inherited Will, The Destiny of the Age, and The Dreams of the People. As long as people continue to pursue the meaning of Freedom, these things will never cease to be!

Skypeia did such a good job carrying its themes and ideas throughout its plot. You start right out the gate on Jaya being told that this arc is about dreams, about inherited will and the passage of time, about grand romantic ideas. And you get that from start to finish. Alabasta as a whole was stronger than Skypeia, but I don't know if anything in the series has affected me as much as Noland, Calgara, and the bell - the fucking bell. The bell broke my heart. The unspoken promise between these two soulmates that neither could rest until they knew the other was well, that they would always await one another with arms open, through misunderstandings and unforeseen changes, that the strongest of bonds can survive even death. Wyper breaking down in tears when he found out that the strawhats were friends with Montblanc Cricket - that they wanted to ring the bell specifically so he would know the truth of the tale; that he would receive the reassurance that Noland never got. I saw that moment on my lunchbreak yesterday and I broke down sobbing.

All things considered I’d call Skypeia a successful arc - far from perfect, but it’s highs were very high and once it got going it was an exceptionally good time. 7 out of 10. I’m really excited to dive into the Waters Seven/Enies Lobby and to experience a more grounded story that touches on the politics and struggles of the world of the blue sea, but part of me will miss the sky islands and it’s existence as a microcosm within the One Piece world.

[xjoonchildx]

Hi Ana,

I hope you've been well. I'm super shy and normally, reaching out to folks, much less to one of my favourite authors on here (Greedy!Yoongi will always have my heart), would drown me in anxiety, but I finally managed to read Kanalia (I'd had that on hold for years) and I just had to tell you how much of a wonderful writer you are.

I'm an editor by profession and aspiring writer by hobby, and I loved every part of the story. The characterisation, the yearning and the passion, the final realisation that if the King wasn't going to keep to his word, all bets were off... It made me cry but also brightened up my sunday morning, so much so that I've come straight here to ramble all this at you after spending a couple of hours sobbing into my pillow while reading it.

Ngl, i wondered if it would veer off into a humdrum love triangle, as these things so often do, and I was pleasantly surprised that it did not. The scene at the stables, especially, chefs kiss! Although, I've got to wonder - this Hoseok had shades of Anthony Bridgerton - was that something you were going for? The subtlety in there was very well done.

I also loved the FL and the way her motivations and character arc progressed. It was done logically and skillfully and I felt myself wishing again and again, while reading through, that some of the traditionally published authors I've read possessed the skillset that you and many others, not just in the BTS fandom but also elsewhere, have.

I've been reading fanfiction for such a long time and nothing has ever come close to how well written Kanalia is, imo. It has always astounded me that so many people are simply hanging around in this world, writing such amazing fics, simply for the fun of it. I've written, both for work and otherwise, and I know how difficult it is.

Fandom is wonderful and Ana, you and your friends are such a lovely, wonderful part of it. Please keep writing.

(Please excuse the familiarity with which I've written - I've read your work and lurked on your blog for so long, it feels like you're a friend. I apologise if I sound too familiar 😄)

wow, anon. where do i even begin with this kind, supportive, motivating message? i'm humbled 😭💕😭

first, let me thank you for reaching out even though you're shy. i know for some people it's kind of daunting to speak to internet strangers, but i assure you this ask made my day/week/month/year.

second, thank you endlessly for your kind words about greedy and kanalia. the fact that you are an editor makes this feedback even more precious to me (and an aspiring writer 👀). this story took me a long time to write (as you know) and the fact that people stuck with me through that long process is just the best.

i super appreciate your feedback about the plot developments, too. i know a lot of people were expecting a very dramatic confrontation between LJ and the King, but something about that angle didn't feel right to me. i saw both of them living these shadow lives as the most likely and most successful option and certainly there is still drama in them both choosing to seek their happiness in other people.

as to the bridgerton angle, i have yet to get through a full season of bridgerton and it's not because it's not right up my alley -- this is actually my favorite kind of historical romance! i'm just lacking for time lately so i'm going to pick it back up because the few episodes i did get through i really enjoyed. but i've read many a historical romance, so no doubt there are some similarities.

your girl is weak for an outwardly-cold, inwardly-mush man as my fics are a testament to 😂

the thing about this wonderful message is that it's scratched that part of my brain that yearns to write a real book. a real series. i have a dream to convert the guarded series into real books (along with stories sketched out for the remaining members) and i don't know what's keeping me from trying. i'm in this awful space where i've accepted a promotion at work and the time commitment that i have to put in is crowding out my real passions and that sucks.

i don't have aspirations of being at the very top of my field, because even though i know i'm very good at my job it's not my passion. and don't i want to give myself time and space to be able to do my real passion? i really, really do. and when i go back and skim through the guarded series i see so many things that i want to change and tweak and make better. transforming that story is a dream of mine, and maybe it's time for me to stop making excuses and actually chase a dream.

anyways, sorry for the rambling. just know that this message means the world to me. maybe one day i'll be able to come here and tell you that i've finally made my dream come true 💕

[hiisheart]

@zoomingupthathill said: How do you think Mike has changed since season one to season four , and do you think it was a good change?

( undoubtedly mike's character has gone through quite a few substantial changes ever since the start of the show. i'm a bit different than other folks i know because i'm willing to give these characters the benefit of the doubt, at least in most scenarios, and i can argue my case behind why these changes have taken place. and i do at least hope that mike's character will come to a satisfying conclusion this next season where i can safely say he's a very well-written and complex character. but i hope within my writing i can express those complexities right now instead of waiting another (at least) year and a half!! regardless, i'm gonna try and summarize my feelings on mike's character changes as briefly as possible here (this also got a tiny bit long so another cut yay!!!) )

i do not think mike is an asshole. i do not believe that he's a character who has been "pushed to the side" or "reduced", even though i 100% understand why people feel that way about him especially after s4. in s1, it's not surprising to me that he's probably the sweetest we've seen him in any season: he's very ride or die, is incredibly benevolent, and just wants to do his best and have the best for the people he cares about. however, in the same season, i believe that it's important to remember that mike saw el "die" at the end of s1, and he also saw what he genuinely believed to be his best friend's dead body. he also saw bob die in s2 and was one of the few people to comfort joyce in her grief, while also obviously experiencing grief for bob himself. he also witnessed one of his very close friends be literally possessed and fight the trauma of being trapped in the upside down. in s3, not only was he starting to go through the rhythms of puberty (which i've discussed a couple times in my last hc posts), but he also saw billy die and watched his friends be attacked by the mind flayer, and in s4, he was trapped in a fast-moving van with will and jonathan and argyle, trying to stop a man from bleeding out from gunshot wounds while being able to do nothing to help him and instead watch him die. my point here is that mike has experienced a substantial amount of trauma, but at no point do we see him actually attempt to confront that trauma or get any kind of substantial help to work through it. because of this, mike is very deeply repressed, and this has to do with not having a very cohesive support system, at least in relation to those that his friends have, especially will.

so, to try and sum up my point(s) here, i believe mike's character changes throughout the seasons have to do with a few things (one of which i didn't talk about as much here bc i feel like i did substantially in a couple of the other posts): 1) he's incredibly traumatized, 2) he's deeply repressed, 3) he doesn't have a cohesive support system at home, and 4) he's feeling the effects of puberty and the rise in an awareness of his attraction to men at the same time as him realizing said trauma and repression. with this being said, i don't think the changes mike went through through the seasons are "good" or "bad", per se, but point towards a deeper understanding of mike's character and the natural effects of everything he's seen and been through, especially without the help we've seen other characters like will and max attempt to get. i will reiterate, though, that if mike has a satisfying conclusion to his character arc where we see him address this trauma and begin to work through it (and his potential canonical interest in men/masculinity), then i will come away from stranger things with the opinion that mike is a very complex, very well-written character. )