#not saying we don’t have fans that will be ready to scrap but ffs this is so inflammatory 😭

[timoswerner]

personally cant wait to kick a granny down the high road

[hahahawhatalife]

Now let’s move on to Teddy, Koracick and Owen.

As a long term watcher of Grey’s Anatomy up until season 14, I really saw the relationship between Teddy and Owen fluctuate throughout. Teddy being in love with Owen, Owen being with Cristina, Owen realising he had feelings for Tedd, Teddy marrying Henry and so on. And I feel like watching it over a long period of time allowed me to see their ups and downs of their relationship and bad timing and that’s why I eventually started shipping them. I’m a sucker for a friends-to-lover trope so I was so happy when Teddy came back and said she was pregnant. Especially because Owen and Amelia’s relationship had gotten so toxic and run its course (which the show clearly differed with but hey ho). 

Now enter Tom Koracick. Honestly, what a bright light this man is. I personally think he’s one of the best new additions to the Grey’s Anatomy cast. He’s a cocky ass who does what he wants, says what he wants but also has different sides. Learning about his past marriage and the death of his son (even though we don’t hear much about it) gave him more depth and partnered along with his humour, it just makes me happy when I see him on screen. All of this aside, you know what I liked about Koracick? The way he treated Pregnant Teddy. Taking her out to eat, finding an apartment for her to live in, helping her build furniture for her unborn baby - that was simply because he loved her and wanted her to be happy. And Owen being a dick pissed me off because I loved Koracick but in my head, I already knew Teddy and Owen were going to get back together and I was okay with that.

What REALLY made me realise that in fact I didn’t want that to happen was when Owen and Koracick had that fight outside Teddy’s hospital room. Because I sat there and listened and thought to myself “Wait a second, he’s not wrong tho!”. Every single thing Koracick said was true and it’s like everything started to click - Owen had so many chances to be with Teddy and he constantly chose other women over her. When his relationships weren’t working, he runs to Teddy. Amelia and him are having problems, he kisses Teddy. Amelia and him end their relationship and he travels over to Teddy the next day. It hurts to say but it’s because she was available - every single time Owen had those moments with Teddy he was aware of her feelings but his man pain was more important at that moment than for him to think about the consequences. And yet Teddy kept pining, kept hoping and unfortunately took any scraps he would give her. Owen never made Teddy his number one in how many years of knowing her and Koracick was able to do it within a couple weeks. What does that say about Owen?

Fast-forwarding past the terrible reveal that Teddy was still in love with Owen -literally going against what she had previously said a few episodes before but whatever - we ended up with a Teddy and Owen pairing with Koracick left on the sidelines. I wasn’t happy about it but I was ready to move on and see what lucky woman they could pair Koracick up with but no, they decided to play the ‘I-will-win-you-back’ angle. Which would’ve been fine if the writing for Teddy didn’t completely change. Teddy was really one of my fav characters but this season I don’t know what they’ve done to her. Firstly, that flip-out on Koracick was a tad too harsh for my liking, but what really hit the nail on the head was her running to Koracick as soon as she had an inkling that Amelia’s baby might have been Owen’s. Granted it was shocking news but Teddy has never been this kind of person - she was in the military ffs. You’re telling me that as soon as she’s worried she runs over to Koracick’s to cheat own her now fiance Owen without getting all the facts first? It doesn’t even make sense. It’s not like they had Teddy fighting her attraction and love for Koracick whilst she was with Owen and this being the one thing to tip her over the edge. It just doesn’t seem like Teddy.

And talking about Teddy cheating with Koracick - what the fuck? I am 10000% a Teddy and Koracick fan (what’s their ship name?) but even I found it a bit disrespectful. Teddy didn’t know all the information about the baby and she hadn’t even told Owen. But to add to the disrespect, Teddy slept with Koracick, went back home and played house with Owen, completely leaving Koracick in the dark. The fact that she basically said that he was there so she used him was terrible for Koracick but also terrible for her character. Since when did Teddy use people? Since when did she disregard their feelings? It felt like they had flipped the roles on Teddy and Owen’s relationship for Teddy and Koracick but instead made her the Owen of the situation. It looks like she’ s playing with his feelings which is what got us Teddy fans originally angry at Owen for. Also, Teddy completely offloading onto Maggie, being extremely hypocritical and expecting Maggie to agree makes zero sense. 

The ending with Teddy and Koracick sleeping together again and Owen being non the wiser - I just can’t. I have no idea where this storyline is going. Is there even a way to bring it back? Teddy got with Koracick to break up with him to get with Owen to get engaged to him but then to cheat with Koracick? Again, Grey’s Anatomy I ask - WHAT WAS THE POINT? It’s so messy and pointless and it’s just going to end up making Owen look like the good guy (even tho he’s far from it), Koracick look like a wet mop and Teddy being completely unrecognisable. 

I honestly don’t think anything could save this storyline now - maybe give Teddy a brain tumour and blame it all on that? Typical Grey’s fashion tbh

[stephicness]

What do you think of the way some of the xv fans handled the verum rex thing? I saw that one blog had kind of called them out and I'm glad about that

Well, as a FFXV fan myself – and one who went through not only KH’s long wait, but also FFXV’s massive wait too – I actually found it rather fun that Nomura was able to slip in something as majestic as the Verum Rex trailer into the game. At first, I was absent-mindedly waiting for the boring intro dialogue to appear in the game to introduce Toy Box, but then I suddenly look up and goes ‘What the fuck? Visual Works?!’ I dropped my phone and burst out laughing because that commercial was so try-hard compared to the rest of the game.

But funnily enough, it didn’t dawn on me the FF Versus XIII comparisons until I came onto Tumblr. Silly to think about, considering that I was there from the very first E3 reveal when Versus XIII was a concept along side Final Fantasy XIII. I ended up looking again and then I began to see the influences of what Versus XIII was in what Verum Rex showcased in that commercial.

Supposedly, it was Nomura’s ‘screw you’ to Square Enix for leaving Versus in developmental hell, and I honestly don’t blame him for that. Nomura’s already been pretty open about how disgruntled he was having to leave the project, but it was for the better, I feel…

I have a more detail explanation below the KEEP READING, since I love rambling more than a monologue Xemnas and Xigbar combined. So kick back with a cold one, and get ready for me rambling. c:

Though a starting statement/summary before you go into this: I like Verum Rex. I like FFXV. I like Kingdom Hearts. I don’t like the ridicule and blame game being put on everyone and anyone.

For me, I don’t feel this is necessarily Nomura lashing out for the sake of lashing out/spite. So FFXV fans being grumpy over the Verum Rex trailers – despite their bitterness over Versus XIII being lost in developmental hell – is kind of not justified, kinda is? Despite it not being an official game, Versus XIII/Verum Rex is technically still Nomura’s ideas and concepts. And I dunno about you, but modifying an old idea and shaping it into a new idea truly isn’t anything unheard of. I know I like to do it myself with OCs, re-purposing them into new stories/concepts if they didn’t have much use before and all. Nomura, I feel, had the right to do so, considering that he was pretty much one of the main honchos to write, design, create Versus XIII before Square executives took the project from him.

Perhaps a rather unpopular opinion overall, but I actually think that it was good that Nomura was taken off the project. And no, I’m not saying Square violating Nomura’s right to his characters and creative ideas was right. What I mean mostly is that with Nomura being taken from Versus XIII/XV to focus on Kingdom Hearts was a good idea. The sheer scale and promise for both games from two of Square’s most massive franchises is overwhelming in general for one person to manage and oversee completely. And despite me respecting Nomura and his ungodly skill at game design and art, it’s alot of pressure over all. Heck, I can barely handle designing the one game I’ve been trying to get together. But he was given two major titles to try creating? That’s alot of pressure overall.

And that’s why the two games took so long to begin with, I feel. Versus/XV and KH3 were both in developmental hell, and – from the gossip I recall – Square Enix didn’t even want to keep pushing on with Final Fantasy Versus/XV. Nomura, as much as he wanted to keep it alive, couldn’t be the one to do it when Kingdom Hearts was a bigger priority to Square.

So that’s where I think Tabata came in. Not to steal Nomura’s thunder or characters or concept, but he stepped in to make sure that the Final Fantasy title people have been waiting for would finally be released. Kingdom Hearts 3 for sure was going to be released, but FFXV could have died six years ago were it not for the hard decision to keep FFXV alive – at the expense of the four years of prior concepts being scrapped.

It sucks when your idea is ultimately discarded for a reason beyond your control – or outside meddling too – so I don’t blame Nomura and his spite. But at the same time, instead of viewing it as nothing more than a revenge trailer/easter egg to get back at Square, I like to imagine it more as Nomura re-channeling ‘old OCs’ and plot points to fit it into something that, you know, actually works for everyone – especially him and the ideas he wanted to bring to life before Square Enix made him focus on one project.

If anything, I feel like Tabata was given the short end of the stick in all of this too. And before you guys get on me for being a Final Fantasy XV apologist or… Whatever the term is… I’m not, by any means, saying that FFXV is a superior game over KH3. I know XV has its flaws and strengths, just as KH3 has flaws and strengths too. But I feel like people don’t give Tabata enough credit for, you know, trying to make what he was given work, so both games wouldn’t have to suffer such insane developmental periods and hells. He was basically thrown into a dying project and was expected to revitalize it with characters that weren’t his, a plot that he didn’t establish entirely himself, and a world that he couldn’t really modify after Square’s notorious habit of releasing trailers way too early for their own good.

If Tabata was allowed to start from scratch with his own timeframe and plot, and give everything that Nomura worked on back to him, you probably would have gotten an amazing game then too – and one that would have annihilated your feels, because Tabata (still not over Type-0 and it’s damn opening…!).

But I feel like regardless of my defense of FFXV, it doesn’t matter. Because regardless of the comparisons between what Versus XIII and FFXV has and what Verum Rex became, it’s not either of them. Verum Rex is Nomura’s idea, just re-purposed because of how passionate the man is for his game. People should be pleased with the fact that instead of one game or the other dying to developmental hell, we were able to get both. And getting Verum Rex – whether as a bonus in Kingdom Hearts or as its own concept in the future – should be a bonus too!

I think the only thing to blame for the conflict overall is Square’s terrible way of over-hyping things to the point of disappointment, and the people that Square, unfortunately, made bitter and saddened with their actions…