#now that i think about it the premise and dynamics remind me a little of The Partnership

[lavenderprose]

Joke’s on me because I have a plot doc with like ten different Gentlebeard plots and all my brain can do is try to formulate ways to jam Izzy in there. I’ve turned into a real Doctor Frankenstein over here.

[bsidetrack]

i always remember that bts fic i read where taegi were soulmates but tae had some internalized homophobia going on so he was terrible at showing yg he liked him That Way and yg (after kissing tae once and getting the least passionate reciprocation ever) assumed tae wanted them to be platonic but was too nice to say anything so yg started dating to try and get over tae which broke tae's heart bc why is he such a Bad Gay that wasn't even enough for his own soulmate. oof what a treat

[fortuna-et-cataclysmos]

S5 finale: wrapping up the "running out of time" theme

So I have been mentioning frequently that there is a theme of "running out of time" in season 5, but I wasn't able to make out the meaning of it, until now.

We can say that there are three situations where the theme explicitely manifests:

Gabriel: After receiving a cataclysm wound in Destruction, we often hear Gabriel repeat that he is running out of time. The entire Intuition episode is based on that premise.

Ladynoir: This is the most obvious manifestation of this theme. In Jubilation, Ladybug and Chat Noir live a dream just to be constantly reminded that their perfect life together will end when they wake up to reality. I call it Ladynoir, but actually it is Maribug's love and romantic relationship with Chat in general.

Adrinette: This is the most subtle one, but it is there. Notice how Marinette needs to ease into a relationship with Adrien, and Adrien is doing his best to cut her slack, so much so that he says in Derision, and I quote: "We've got time." Soon after, Adrien is sent to London.

If you think I have forgotten other strings of running out of time, feel free to let me know!

Now let's look at these three strings individually:

Gabriel running out of time

This one is the simplest one as it starts very early on in the season, with the episode Destruction where he gets the cataclym wound, and ends in Recreation with his "sacrifice." Also worthy noting the names of the episodes. What starts as Gabriel running out of time in Destruction is concluded in Recreation with him making his wish, accomplishing his wish, and dying. We can consider this thread concluded.

2. Ladynoir running out of time

Of course, the first episode that comes to mind is Jubilation. In Jubilation we (and the blorbos) learn that they actually desire to be together, romantically. And indeed they get to live a perfect little life in their dream, ignoring the increasingly bigger alarm clocks that are trying to wake them up. Except that at the end Ladybug realises that they must wake up (duty calls!), and she abandons Chat Noir in the dream universe, broken.

From here on, nearly every episode is a warning for Marinette against being romantically together with Chat Noir:

Determination: Marinette accepts that she has feelings for Chat Noir, her reaction to that is crying

Passion: Ladybug's crush on Chat Noir leads to her being distracted and making many critical mistakes in their fight

Reunion: is a cautionary tale about Ladybug and Cat Miraculous holders falling in love

Illusion: (I haven't watched this in a while but I think nothing relevant happens here)

Elation: Marinette is nearly akumatised because of her love to and rejection by Chat Noir

The overarching message from Jubilation to Elation is that: if Maribug ends up with Chat Noir, it'll be a disaster.

So Marinette decides to close up her heart to anyone, and after a brief depression, Adrien finally convinces her to be with him and they become an official couple. From this point onwards, the key ship becomes Adrinette.

Does that mean that Ladynoir has run out of time? Not necessarily. They just decided to love each other in a different way. I should remind here that even though we tend to polarise the sides of the square as fandom, the creators have repeatedly told that the love square is one, there is one love.

The Ladynoir relationship has a direct connection to the Adrinette dynamics because after all, they're the same two people.

3. Adrinette running out of time

Now that Adrinette is finally together, they should have all the time in the world, right? Right? It's what Adrien says, after all.

But I couldn't shake this sense of urgency throughout this season. Every time they said that they had time, it made me feel like they actually don't and they don't know it. And it was exactly what they wanted to make us feel: with Adrien's move to London, it turns out they didn't have time. Worse is that, Adrien actually knew that he'd need to move to London but he couldn't tell it to Marinette, he kept it a secret all the way till he was shipped off to London.

And there is a parallel between Jubilation and Revolution here: in both episodes, their dream is shattered, they share one last dramatic kiss, and they are torn apart from one and other (@asukiess had a big brain time and pointed this out back when Revolution aired).

But now, in Recreation, Gabriel is gone. Everything is fixed? Everyone will be happy, right?

Well... No.

As I pointed out in a previous post, the world that Gabriel creates is a bit too bright, too perfect. The show is notorious for associating the sun with fake happiness at this point, while the "real" moments are rainy and/or dark. And let's see the colour palette in the end:

Another detail that makes me put on my tinfoil hat:

They're not very visible on the static image, but there are white butterflies flying over the flower arch. Those could be symbolising the end, as a reference to how Ladybug releases the purified akuma at the end of each episode. But it might also have a second meaning, a reference to how this world was in fact created upon the ideals of Gabriel.

And that can't be good for anyone. I explain more the consequences and aftermath of this episode in the post I mention above, but basically this world is Gabriel's ideal, and it is far from being a good place for neither Marinette, nor Adrien.

One main reason why: Gabriel has left Marinette with the truth about the Monarch, and she agreed to keep it a secret from Adrien. But we know that it will eventually come out. Either she tells it to Chat Noir, or maybe Lila plots something, but it won't remain a secret forever. And when it does... it will have tremendous impact on not only Adrinette, but also Ladynoir.

This world is a fantasy world where Marinette and Adrien have ended up together, just like in: Chat Blanc, Ephemeral, Oblivio, Jubilation. And at one point the alarm clock will ring, the hammer will drop, and both Ladynoir and Adrinette will run out of time. Except that this time, we may not be able to revert back to the status quo.

Gabriel has left them with a tickling time bomb.

[empressofthewind]

Hey there, Meronia fan! Do you mind if I ask for Meronia fics recs? And, do you have any fav ships (from any fandom) that the dynamics remind you of Mello/Near?

You can't imagine, how excited I am to find your blog. Let's just say in my older anime/manga group who love Death Note mostly ship Lawlight & Matt/Mello, anti Meronia and are Near haters. So when I said I love Meronia, some blocked me and said I was the weird one. So, I never said it again. But now, after I got out from that group I feel better. Then finding your blog with amazing Mello and Near's metas, I'm so happy! Thanks for your blog...

Thank you very much!!! I'm so happy to hear this :-) in my experience most people on Tumblr are pretty normal about Meronia, and it's SO easy to block/filter users who aren't.

Unfortunately re: ships with similar dynamics, I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'll put this post in the ship tag; I'm sure someone else will have an answer!! In terms of fic recs, I've actually set up my bookmarks page on AO3 to function like a rec list. I have 36 fics there each with a little blurb and I'm constantly updating it, so hopefully a decent amount that you haven't read! I'll pick 10 of them to link here for easy access (ordered by rating in case you can't/don't want to read the mature ones):

the roof by @lightningblade | 3692 words | Rated T

This is a college AU focused on the development of Mello and Near's relationship through a series of encounters on a rooftop. The writing is GORGEOUS, the progression is masterfully done, and it removes the element of the rivalry without removing the core of what makes Meronia such a great ship! There's also a companion piece up as of yesterday which I'm still recovering from (very very positive).

Dear Mello by @tzviaariella | 4158 words | Rated T

This fic is written during the canon timeline through a series of emails. It's an AU where Mello survives, originally written for the 2023 Meronia Zine but also posted on AO3 (which is what I've linked here). The format is really creative and I'm OBSESSED with the way Mello and Near's dynamic is written. The petty back-and-forth is very entertaining and in-character, and there's a certain familiarity and fondness underlying it that I adore. There are also a few artworks throughout which is a nice treat!!

How to Get Any Guy to Fall in Love with You by Sick_head_Sweet_heart | 7025 words | Rated T

This one has such a late-2000s fandom classic feel to it that I'm surprised it's only a few years old??? It's set at Wammy's House, in which Matt gives Near advice on how to make Mello fall in love with him. The dynamic is insanely cute and I'm obsessed with the way Matt and Near's friendship is characterised here. Them scheming together is something I need more of in fics!!

The Mihael Factor by spiritcrimson | 16 chapters | Rated T

One of the longest completed works I've ever read for Meronia and I have been DYING to find something like this ever since. It's a talent agent x singer AU, and it's literally everything I could have asked for in a longfic. A unique idea, compelling progression and a fun antagonistic dynamic that blossoms into a really sweet romance. It's a slowburn but it doesn't drag on at all, and the ending is SO well worth the wait.

3 + 1 by @squidish | 2423 words | Rated T

x + 1 fics are a favourite trope of mine, as is the general concept of Mello and Near behaving inappropriately in the workplace, and this one combines both of those perfectly. The premise is 3 times Mello and Near got walked in on by one of the SPK members, and 1 time they were caught by the whole group. The writing is SO delightful and there are several lines in this that are permanently lodged in my brain. I find humour in writing immensely difficult to pull off so I'm always in awe of authors who can integrate it naturally, and squidish's writing is a great example of that! (Worth noting that this one is slightly more mature than the other T-rated fics here, so I've put it closer to the M & E section; however the smut scenes are not explicit)

it's friday, i'm in love by @neallo | 2676 words | Rated M

You could read literally anything by neallo and it's guaranteed to be good, but to keep this list short, I've included one angsty fic and one lighthearted fic so you can pick the vibe. This one is more lighthearted, and it depicts a very tender moment in which Mello shows up at Near's door drunk and dances with him in the kitchen. This is a prequel to a bigger AU focusing on a casual relationship between them, but it also holds up as a standalone fic! It's unbearably sweet and there are many lines in there that made me audibly laugh.

Speculation on Demisexual Sex Drive by SayHiDestery | 4069 words | Rated M

The smut scene in this fic is so intimate and perfect, I'm melting just thinking about it. It's an established relationship fic in which Near has PTSD and has certain struggles with intimacy, and Mello guides him through it. It's quite slow-paced and takes its time to linger on the small details, which I absolutely adore, and the writing itself is vivid and beautiful. It also features demisexual Near!!

Winning the Game by clearmain | 4134 words | Rated E

This one is a PWP set mid-canon, immediately after the raid on the SPK. I'm a huge sucker for bold & bratty Near and that's EXACTLY what this fic serves. The way this introduces elements of rivalry and competition into their relationship is excellent and makes this fic feel faithful to their canon dynamic. It's a compelling push-pull with an open but hopeful ending that very succinctly captures the complexities of their relationship.

A Certain Hush by BlueberryAsh | 5434 words | Rated E

One of the first fanfics I read for Meronia and I'm not exaggerating when I say it changed my life. This fic has had SUCH a massive influence on the way I view and write the ship. It's a little glimpse into Mello and Near's relationship immediately after getting together. It's really cute and sweet in a way that feels authentic to the characters, and I'm incredibly impressed by the way it manages to give just enough backstory for their relationship to make sense without getting caught up in the details. Genuinely a masterpiece!

i want to hold you (hostage) by @neallo | 4 chapters | Rated E

The aforementioned angsty neallo fic! This one is an exes AU set during the canon timeline, and it is, as you can imagine, a very fraught dynamic done SO incredibly well. The tension is absolutely delicious and there are earnest moments littered throughout that are guaranteed to have you tearing up. Brilliant setup, brilliant writing, brilliant dynamic; just an absolutely stellar fic on all counts!!

[ryanjudgesthings]

Nothing like getting into Elementary after being a BBC Sherlock fan for so long. Sherlock was overhyped to the point where I was barely aware of Elementary's existence. Now having finished the first season of Elementary, I find it to be infinitely superior. (The same way I find the Davies era of Doctor Who infinitely superior to Moffat's, but that's a rant for another time.) It's incredible how a show can have roughly the same premise and elements and yet one can be so vastly superior.

Miller's Sherlock Holmes has many of the same flaws as Cumberbatch's. Miller's Sherlock can be abrasive and insensitive and even demanding at times, and yet he's far more likeable than Cumberbatch's. Elementary Sherlock Holmes endeavors to acknowledge his failings and apologize, he endeavors to do better. Where BBC Sherlock Holmes loves to humiliate people to prove his cleverness, Elementary Sherlock tries (with mixed results) not to cross lines that are too personal. Elementary Sherlock Holmes doesn't view everyone around him as a complete and utter imbecile; he respects those who put him in his place when he's being an ass. Elementary Sherlock cares about the well-being of others and at times barely manages to keep his anger under wraps when he deals with the evil of the world.

(Of course, it's okay to write a character with flaws, but when you romanticize those flaws it is quickly exhausting to watch.)

I'm usually a little hard on American adaptations despite being an American myself, but CBS Elementary respects its viewers whereas BBC Sherlock insists on treating you like a complete and utter imbecile for having the gall to ask about the giant plot holes littered throughout the show.

CBS Elementary tells a compelling story about Sherlock's struggle with mental health and addiction that humanizes the character. Sherlock has an interesting and compelling dynamic with his family where he feels neglected by his father, correctly predicting yet another failure to follow through at dinner. BBC Sherlock gives us a background for the main character that makes no sense after the writer said it would be a mistake to go there.

BBC Sherlock takes one of the most iconic female antagonists of all time and just... ruins the whole story with her. Elementary respects its female characters, isn't an all-white cast, and responds to the possibility of people being LGBT with a mere shrug, as if it's nothing out of the ordinary. (In stark contrast to BBC Sherlock that reminds you every five minutes its main characters aren't gay and then decided that they'd make their main villain scary by having him act gay to the point where it's noted by characters on screen, including said villain himself. Also his main motivation is he's obsessed with the main character I guess??)

It's... wild to think that all this time I could have been enjoying a show that didn't make me feel like an idiot for liking it. Oh well, I get to enjoy it now.

[timeagainreviews]

In Space, Nobody Can Hear You Scream for Your Nappy Change

Few shows have had as many pilot episodes as Doctor Who. From “An Unearthly Child,” to the 1996 TV movie, to 2005’s “Rose,” and now “Space Babies.” However, one could argue that every new Doctor is essentially a pilot episode. There are notable shifts in the show’s dynamic to such a degree that it’s practically a reset. Any major personnel shift is a renewal. The transition from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, the transfer of power from Russell T Davies to Steven Moffat, and again, from Moffat to Chris Chibnall, for example. Even series ten began with the cheeky title “The Pilot,” where we find the Doctor earthbound as a college professor with his student, Bill, and his wife, Nardole. But “Space Babies,” is an odd one, for so many reasons. Mostly because it’s introducing us to characters we’ve been getting to know for a couple of episodes now. Then, of course, there’s everything else.

For some, an episode called “Space Babies” was always going to be a hard sale. Back in March when they revealed the new episode titles as a series of vignettes, Space Babies looked and sounded a lot like what we got. Sometimes a very literal title can be a bit of fun. “Snakes on a Plane,” tells you everything you need to know going in. While it may have benefitted from a bit of virality, you could argue that it does more with its premise than something like “Cocaine Bear,” which was little more than its title. I’ve complained in the past that my issue with the concept of the Timeless Child was that you could figure out the story by hearing the words. If I can watch a story in my head from its title, then in the words of Amy Pond- what is the point of you? My reaction to the title “Space Babies,” was very similar. Except in this case, I would say it was closer to a “Snakes On a Plane,” than a “Cocaine Bear.”

We’re off to a great start. I got to mention cocaine and babies in the same sentence. Speaking of awkward starts, why did Russell T Davies decide to open the show with the twee episode for the kiddies? Those types of stories are usually relegated to the mid-season point, after a really good one. I guess they needed a palette cleanser to put some space between “The Giggle,” and “The Devil’s Chord,” as they’re essentially the same story twice. But that’s for the next review. Though “Rose,” has its own brand of wacky weirdness with man-eating rubbish bins and plastic boyfriend doppelgangers with pizza peels for hands. Even still, it’s an odd choice for the “pilot.”

A lot of the episode’s enjoyment is predicated on how cute you think babies are. In my case, it’s not very much. If they had called the episode “Space Kittens,” it would have hooked me. But babies come with baggage. People are weird about babies. Babies are often politicised, which this episode definitely does, but more on that later. Another reason why babies were a hard sell for me is they’re not actors. Child actors are rarely good, so filtering their performances through the vacant faces of babies is like making a bad thing worse. Sure, they animated their mouths with cutting-edge technology straight from 1995’s “Babe,” but their faces gave us no range of emotion unless you count Eric, whose facial expression was that of one constantly bricking it in his diaper. I was reminded of the Gelflings in “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance,” in that it takes some getting used to the look of their faces. Except in the case of the Gelflings, the Jim Henson Creature Workshop knew their limitations and used CGI where the puppets fell short. A furrowed brow would have gone a long way to sell the babies.

However, I’m not made of stone. I’m not so joyless that I can’t send my critical brain on a little vacay for 46 minutes. I also appreciate that Doctor Who still takes the time to do stories for children. It’s a family show, after all. I was even impressed that the episode was able to sell me on the concept of a booger man (or Bogeyman to be precise) when “Sleep No More,” had so utterly failed to sell me on the concept of eye booger men previously. Even more, I had never expected to feel an emotional connection to said Bogeyman. While a lot of it had to do with Ncuti Gatwa’s performance, I’ll admit I actually got a little choked up at the end of the episode. Even a snotty little freak of nature deserves a place in the world, and I identified with that. It’s nice when a Doctor Who episode ends and it was actually about something.

As mentioned before, Russell T Davies uses the baggage that comes along with babies to stoke the fire of his own story. Through the eyes of Jocylen, the ship’s reluctant nanny, we see the babies in another light- as a constant source of worry. Having never wanted the job in the first place, Jocylen’s part is one of necessity rather than vocation. No one working in the field of charity or crisis aid wants to be doing the work. Sure, it’s fulfilling, but the nature of its necessity is telling of the world at large, or in this case- star system. In a perfect star system, no child would go unhugged, unattended, or forgotten. Yet here she is, forced by circumstance and emboldened by compassion to rise to the occasion. She may not be nailing it, but seriously, who the hell else was taking care of the children they forced to exist? If “Kill the Moon,” was Doctor Who’s pro-life story, this episode stands in stark contrast as the pro-choice story.

An episode with a butt-shaped space station that farts its way to the shores of freedom seems like an odd choice to talk about refugees, but it’s also the episode that gave a booger a soul. While a lot of the tone aligns more with “Aliens of London/World War Three,” or “Love and Monsters,” the message aligns more with something like “Turn Left.” Russell T Davies is giving us a spoonful of sugar with our medicine, which seems the correct approach in a show where Christmas trees are capable of murder. Suffice it to say, seeing a Rwandan refugee playing a British icon on the BBC commenting on the conservative government’s Rwandan bill is better than anything the show could do on its own. You almost have to do it, and more than I’m glad RTD rose to the occasion, I’m glad it was Ncuti who got to do it.

Speaking of things only Ncuti Gatwa could do, I appreciate that his Doctor is emotionally available enough to offer a hug to a child while still being alien enough to scare the bejeezus out of them. I can’t really picture Tom Baker hugging anyone, though I can imagine him scaring the bejeezus out of someone. Maybe Matt Smith would do it. Jodie as well. But Gatwa’s Doctor is an interesting mixture of compassionate and completely aloof. It’s a mixture that is sometimes at odds with itself, but it works. You see it in brief moments like when Ruby’s caretaker instincts take over and she runs head-on into danger, while the Doctor takes a moment to pop around the corner and catch up to her. It’s the classic dynamic of the Doctor being reminded of human nature by his companion.

I really like this selfless defender of the people streak in Ruby’s personality. It reminds me a lot of an ‘80s companion. She’s like a mixture of Nyssa and Ace. She puts herself in harm's way to protect others. She writes songs to cheer up lovesick lesbians. She’s got a very full personality that is palpable very early on. We got this level of character development with RTD’s earlier companions, and it’s nice to see it continue. What’s less nice is how he seems to have also taken a page from Steven Moffat’s book where the companion must also be needlessly complicated. What’s more is it feels less enticing and more like retreading familiar territory. It’s giving “The Impossible Girl,” vibes with an Amy Pond pregnancy body scan to bring it full circle. This is one of my biggest issues with the RTD2 era so far- it feels like a remix of past Doctor Who. That isn’t to say he’s added nothing new to the show, but it does feel a bit Clara 2.0. I’m just saying, it doesn’t always have to be some star-crossed destiny. If you do it every time, it loses its power.  Sometimes people just meet each other. Say what you will about Yaz’s characterisation, but at least she was allowed to be a person.

The story at the heart of “Space Babies,” is ultimately a bit thin. You could argue that there was never any real threat, but that happens sometimes on Doctor Who (take “Listen,” for example). I’ve seen some people online complaining that the Bogeyman doesn’t die, but what does it really do other than scare people? Sure, you see Eric’s pram toppled and find him characteristically bricking it in his diaper, but he’s not got a scratch on him. What if Eric went missing because the Bogeyman “ate” him. They could reveal that he actually was protecting Eric from the dangers of the malfunctioning bowels of the ship. Imagine the bogey bits tearing away out of the airlock, slowly revealing Eric inside. Not only would Jocylen have almost taken an innocent life, but two innocent lives. Pair that with the Doctor's brave rescue and blammo! It could have upped the tension and implied more danger, is all I’m saying.

I was a bit confused by the ship’s computer creating the Bogeyman in the first place. That entire aspect of the plot was skimmed over and very flimsy. I thought they were doing something with the show’s new magical premise, a “superstition of the Bogeyman made him exist,” sort of angle. But no, it was just something the ship did, for reasons. I also expected that to be the reason for Ruby's transformation into the weird scaly lizard woman. I expected it to suddenly be possible through superstition that stepping on a butterfly could change the course of history. But instead, the Doctor forgot to push the butterfly compensator on the TARDIS console. Kinda weird that RTD had two moments to further his own mythology but sided on technobabble. Not bad, just odd.

One aspect that bothered me was how long it took them to reveal the Bogeyman was made of snot. When they took the time to do this whole to do with the babies blowing their noses, I immediately looked over at my wife and said “The Bogeyman is made of baby boogers,’ to which she responded “I hate that you’re right.” They telegraphed it so hard that it made the Doctor seem slow on the uptake. If you recall from my review of "The Husbands of River Song," I felt like they did the same thing to River with how long it took her to recognise the Doctor. However, I imagine it's a bit of a balancing act to know when to reveal something. The Doctor doesn't necessarily have all of the information we have as an audience.

As pilots go, “Space Babies,” could have done better at introducing a new audience to Doctor Who. Much of the expository dialogue about who the Doctor is or where he came from felt rushed and unnatural. My friend Taryn said she enjoyed this aspect of the Doctor being less cryptic and more forthcoming with information. While I agree, I feel like the execution was clumsy, a word we’re starting to see more often in my reviews of the RTD2 era. For comparison, take Fallout, a show that came out only a month earlier. Both are technically first seasons of tv shows based on pre-existing properties with dense lore. Both have eight episodes to tell their stories. And yet with Fallout, we get a trickle of information as things happen. With Doctor Who we have the Doctor stopping his companion mid-sentence to say “Oh yeah, by the way, I have two hearts.” Look, I get it, I’m neurodivergent. I appreciate a good infodump. But there’s a big reason people are calling Fallout a triumph- it respects its audience enough to reveal things over time.

RTD said recently that young people won’t watch black and white. I don’t know if this is true as I am a cusp gen x/millennial. I don’t know much about what kids get up to these days, but I also don’t go around saying what they will and won’t do. It sounds a lot like “Those damn kids with their hip hop video games,” or like “Kids don’t like anything that isn’t Tik Tok or Roblox.” It feels like it misunderstands the appeal of storytelling in the first place. Studio executives have never fully understood what is good about Doctor Who. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was “Why can’t it be like Star Wars?” In the Chibnall era, the goal was to compete with Netflix. And now it’s “We need to meet the same standards of Marvel.” But if Doctor Who is always being compared to something else, you curse it into always being behind the curve. When I fell in love with Doctor Who, it was because it wasn’t like anything I had ever seen before. If I want to watch Iron Man, I’ll watch Iron Man.

Not all of the expository dialogue was without merit. I’ve been continually impressed by RTD’s handling of the Timeless Child storyline. As longtime readers know, I was not a fan of that story. Hell, first-time readers probably picked up on it in this article. But I don’t think it’s fair to discount the people who did enjoy that story. And I think it is far more interesting for the show to develop the idea as opposed to sweeping it under the rug. We learned that the Time Lord genocide was cellular, which helps the whole concept of the Master achieving what millions of Daleks couldn’t do make more sense. It’s amazing how much a single line of dialogue can overcome a lot of shoddy writing. I liked the Doctor stating that it doesn’t matter where he comes from, as I’ve been saying that the whole damn time. It’s also nice that despite everything, the Doctor is still a Time Lord in his hearts of hearts. We as fans kinda need those moments so we can collectively move on from what has been a rather ugly time in the fandom.

That’s not to say we aren’t still in an ugly culture battle within the fandom. Racism is still a very real aspect to the conversation. As are ableism, sexism, transphobia. And despite RTD meeting these things head-on with the grace of a fish out of water, we’ve still got some great points of intrigue. Who is this woman played by Susan Twist we keep seeing in the background? Who is the one who waits? Is Mrs Flood the White Guardian to Susan Twist’s Black Guardian? I would love to say it’s the Rani because it’s been 20 fucking years of it not being the Rani, which is also the exact reason I won’t say it’s the Rani. But god I wish it was the Rani. They even name-drop her! Give us this one, please. My point being, despite its daftness and its expressionless babies, “Space Babies,” still gives us a lot to go off of. If you didn’t like it, do what I did and watch it twice. The emotional resonance works better when it feels less like you’re watching a car accident.

Look, if you didn’t like “Space Babies,” I get it. Maybe it’s not for you. There are weird little problems with the episode. The expository dialogue I mentioned, for example. The babies are a bit much. The Bogeyman howling like a werewolf was batshit weird. I guess it was because they compared him to a dog. Even then, why not make it bark? You could ask things like “Why didn’t the Doctor use the TARDIS to fly them to safety instead of setting their space station on a crash course with the planet’s surface?” or "Why didn't the Doctor get sucked out of the airlock? It's air pressure, not gravity." Is the humour still falling a bit flat? Sure. It’s easy to pick stuff apart. But come on, the episode is called “Space Babies,” you knew ahead of time if that concept was going to work for you or not.

_______________________________________________

Thanks for reading! I'm sorry these articles are taking a while. Having two episodes drop simultaneously doubles my workload! I'll have the review for "The Devil's Chord," up tomorrow! Hopefully next week will be more timely.

[thepeculiarauthor]

Call of Duty: Ghosts didn't get enough love so I wrote an entire review!

The Rundown

First, a quick rundown from Wikipedia, if you’re new to the game. Call of Duty: Ghosts is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the tenth major installment in the Call of Duty series and the sixth developed by Infinity Ward… The game acts as a standalone installment… Ghosts inherits much of the core gameplay and structure of previous titles, with a mission-based campaign and an open-ended multiplayer, but introduces a near-future setting to the series as well as an increased focus on tactical gameplay…

Post-apocalyptic sci-fi meets recon missions and a lot of crazy situations. This is one of the reasons I love post-apoc, and write it myself, because you can ask, “What if this happened?” even if it’s outlandish or crazy or just plain sadistic fun. I sort of chime in with the other players that said this is an innovative game.

Ghosts has a pretty cool plot, but it’s also a really good balance of plot and characters. Especially with post-apoc and all, you can either have too much of a focus on the plot, or too much of a focus on the characters, to where it’s heavy-handed and bogged down. Ghosts had great pacing, great action, and the characters pushed the plot along, so everything was smoothly intertwined. The gameplay was pretty cool in campaign. There were a few little janky parts and moments, but nothing major. I also enjoyed the different settings a lot.

Now that the semi-professional overview of the game is completed, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what I really enjoyed, and maybe, some stuff I didn’t enjoy. Be warned, this review has a lot of spoilers, but I’m also 11 years late to the game, so you probably don’t care.

Also, as a slight disclaimer: a lot of the game’s “hate” was directed toward the game’s multiplayer option. I haven’t played multiplayer on Ghosts, so I have no thoughts about it, and this review won’t have any feedback on that. I will note people are still playing multiplayer, though. I booted up one game before jumping into the campaign, so it’s funny that for a “hated” multiplayer game, people are still running it over a decade later, but, yeah.

A Unique Relationship Dynamic

Ghosts is the only CoD game I’ve played where the MCs are bloodkin, which was such a cool detail. I grew up with four siblings, and there is so much to explore in sibling relationships, but you rarely see it in fiction — not genuine, deep relationships, anyway. Sure, the premise of most war/military stories are camaraderie, which is brotherhood, but there is still a difference in that vs. being siblings. Siblings share the same parents, upbringing, and have known each other since one of them was born; so there’s so much to unpack. I think Ghosts did a pretty good job at exploring that dynamic. It was sort of interesting to see Hesh be the “leader,” but Logan still takes so closely after their dad, too. It was so obvious that the game had so much in store with this dynamic, and the build up to a second game was really well done… But more on the forsaken “game two” later.

I really enjoyed Hesh and Logan. I liked the subtly implied thing throughout that Logan was maybe in Hesh’s shadow… But we didn’t see bad blood, so to speak. Logan/we still followed Hesh anywhere, covered him, saved him. I think it’s a realistic reminder that siblings and parents can have all sorts of little hiccups, but still be family. Again, maybe a small thing to note, but you don’t see it much? It’s usually, “Dad, you always loved/treated this sibling better than me! I’ll kill you!” which isn’t realistic.

The Traitor Trope

Anyway, speaking of the Walker dad… I like the trope they used with Elias Walker and Gabriel Rorke. I like the trope of brother bonds going bad, for whatever reason, and the group left behind having to figure out how to stop the “bad brother” from destroying things. It was interesting to have the “bad guys” break Rorke down and make him into a new person, and it was fun to see him hunt the Ghosts and want to eliminate them all… except Logan. (Which, on that note, very few stories end with the “bad guy winning,” which was fun!)

And I think the brother dynamic and traitor trope go hand-in-hand in this game! It felt that the game wanted you to notice that Hesh was the leader, and Logan followed, so maybe that was why Rorke saw different potential in Logan? (I mean, realistically, he probably saw the skills and “fire” in Logan, but maybe figured he would also be easier to break down?)

I mean, from a gameplay perspective, sure, it would have been cool to have options for Logan to make his own decisions throughout the game — but this game is also over a decade old, and I can imagine the logistics of offering that much leeway in a game model is hard, so I’m not too bothered by it.

(Update after writing this: so, as it turns out, the developers did intend for a multiple-options factor for the game’s ending, like BO2, I think. But they tossed the idea right before launch so the game had one ending, instead. Again, probably for a smooth build up into a second game, but… We didn't get the second game.)

Overall, while I loved the story and cast, the plot twist at the ending was a bit annoying. I knew it was coming — it’s the lil’ trope CoD can’t get enough of. “We killed the bad guy! Sure, we didn’t see the corpse or anything, but he’s as good as dead!” (I don’t know if I’m a sadistic little freak, but if a guy killed my dad / almost killed my brother and my group, I would find a way to decapitate him for good measure, but alas. What would you do? Let me know below, haha.) I think it would have been more believable to have the brothers fail, maybe narrowly so, but still fail, because seeing a guy escape a crash in the water, explosions, and yeah, a .45 round to the chest… Kind of a stretch. I think it could have been a bit more realistic, and dramatic, if Hesh had gone for a different angle to cause the domino effect, but whatever.

Loose Ends

There are a few other minor things I wanted to note that I enjoyed…

I know people that hate Elias — saying he was a bad father and all — but I didn’t think that was really the gig. I think when you’re part of a secret recon group, that until your kids prove they can be trusted/somewhat safe with that intel, you can’t just yap about it, and that if they want to prove themselves capable, they do have to be tested.

The intro mission to save Ajax was well done. One of the more impactful scenes in the franchise. The narration toward that scene later was a sucker punch, too, when Hesh acknowledged how the Ghosts treated their dead.

The cast. Man, what a group of characters. The Ghosts were amazing, and I genuinely don’t think the franchise/fandom gives any of them enough recognition. I think if they did a second game, it’d hit harder this round, for sure, and I think the cast deserves it.

Keegan running missions with Logan was one of my favorite parts. Again, I kinda liked the correlation of Keegan taking Logan under his wing / maybe seeing his potential, maybe even more so than Elias, and then Rorke seeing the same, but in his twisted version. At least, that’s my take on that.

Riley was such a fun addition, and a cool shoutout to K9s, which is another thing we rarely see in media, but should.

The voice acting was on point. Across the board, super well done. Hesh yelling for Logan at the very end? One of the few times I’ve actually gotten chills while playing a game.

The soundtrack was pretty good, too. Really nice tone for Ghosts. (Also, going from the “what just happened” at the ending and then getting hit with “Survival” by Eminem was absolutely hilarious.)

Overall, I have to admit, besides some minor plot things (like, you know, why not just kill Rorke instead of using a missile that, somehow, didn’t work; or maybe, elaborate on why the Ghosts weren’t actually readying a mission to get the brothers out, which could’ve added even more urgency to the ending, but my writer-brain digresses), I didn’t have much I disliked about the game. I liked it. It was a lot of fun to play. I really hope, even still, that a second game is released.

The Overarching Theme

This was a part of a decade where writing was heartfelt.

Modern Warfare 2, launched in 2009, was, and to this day, still is, one of the most heartfelt pieces of fiction created, but I notice a theme during that time period where most things had that gritty heart, and Ghosts is no different. Stories back then could have grit and hellfire and chaos and themes that reminded you of why you fight, why you get up every day, why loving people really matters.

I think Ghosts reminded its audiences that family is still pretty much all you have. (And, maybe another lesson would be, “Make sure they’re actually dead.”) Because nowadays, a lot of stories, in any shape or form, are just cheap money grabs, mindless jabs at nihilism or emptiness or shallowness, and stories that cater to lust. So stories like “OG” Call of Duty are insanely refreshing and sobering, as both a person/gamer, and even as a story creator.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts, too. Let me know if you’ve played Ghosts, and what you thought of it. I’ll have reviews posted for Black Ops 6, the original Modern Warfare 2 / the remake MWII, coming shortly, so sub for more content. And if you love the OG CoD, and like to read / want to try to read more, give my books a shot. The Infidel Books are like CoD meets Red Dawn, of sorts. You can find them here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L656RT5

Angela

[hazelnut-u-out]

EPISODE REVIEW TIMEEE:

(contains spoilers for "a rick in king mortur's mort")

i actually really loved that episode. i've been so fucking starved for morty content that this was really nice. i loved the callbacks, parallels, and contrasts that were drawn pretty clearly between this episode and "the vat of acid episode." TVOAE is actually one of the episodes that makes me the sickest to my stomach. it's so unsettling and bone chilling to watch.

this episode, on the other hand... this felt earned.

(perhaps because of my morty bias and the fact that i've gotten basically no morty this season, buuuuut...) i'm giving this one a 10/10???

wow... didn't think i'd go that far, but uhhhh... yeah. i went there.

it just mastered the art of parallels, callbacks, and development beautifully.

my initial thoughts, as always:

(this is a long one… yk how i am with morty…)

-morty acted so much like early-series rick at the beginning that i was honestly a little bit ready to accept that part of his character progression is becoming a mini-rick. to be honest, i still see that being a possibility, but this was... not exactly that.

he still took the sword for a reason early-series rick would have instead of a classic "these guys seem cool" morty reason ("oh shit these other guys want the sword so now i want the sword, even if i'm jaded and cynical about it"), and it almost felt like the "rick and morty" dynamic was flipped a little bit- as in, morty being the rigid jerk and rick being berated verbally for a second. that being said, morty was still childishly excited about being a medieval knight and it was cleared up that morty was only being rude to rick initially as a trauma response. he expected rick to abuse him, but that wasn't the case. when he realized he was safe, he let his guard down.

(look at him sulking in line awww)

-RICK USING MORTY PET NAMES. RICK USING MORTY PET NAMES.

i think a little part of me melted when he called morty "lil junebug."

SHUT THE FUCK UP- i am so unwell. so mentally normal about that.

i genuinely cannot believe that's a canon nickname rick uses for morty. that. is. so. cute.

just the sweetest lil pet name.

(plus grandpa rick putting a hand on his lil junebug's shoulder, because why not?)

-OMFG RICK APOLOGY?? like genuinely?? oh my god??

i mean... that was still kinda dickish lol. "i'm gonna intentionally do the least amount possible to actually change, but make you feel like i am."

you know what, though? bc of the fact that this is essentially a follow-up to TVOAE, i'd say the entire premise of this ep WAS change, and highlighted that... so i'm giving the undercut a pass.

-i also liked the subtle callback to the "auto park feature" with the sword "fighting deacon frost." i liked that morty didn't think it was cool, but it didn't trigger some insane reaction in rick.

he's just like, "i dunno... i thought it was cool... :(" and he moves on.

-"holy shit, this is who i am to this kid?!... i've gotta fix this!"

and then he... actually puts in the work to better a real human connection instead of manipulating morty to keep him pliant?

wow.

-like i said, rick is still being a fucking dick here and there in the convo, but i'm genuinely proud of him.

-i'm also so happy for morty. this must have been such a healing experience for him. god. he's been through so much. shoutout to the writers for not putting him through more emotional abuse for fun.

-another bit that made me think that morty is slowly developing into a little rick was the moment where he uses a science lecture to ruin the knights' faith in their culture. during that whole sequence, he does sound a lot like rick...

-SPACE BETH CHILLING WITH HER GIRLFRIEND, GUYS.

-RICK BRAGGING ON MORTY ABOUT THE LITTLE LECTURE! THE HANDS ON THE SHOULDERS! EVERYTHING!

this reminds me of an ask i answered a little bit ago where i talked about rick being morty's primary caregiver. this episode felt a lot more like a father/son type development than a grandfather/grandson.

i get that the rest of the family was proud of morty, but rick was the one saying "hey! this is the little dude i'm raising! look at him go!"

-i was a little nervous that morty was going to kill/let rick kill the knights, which would have meant that he's veeeery similar to rick now, but he chose not to. that was a nice touch.

-(i thought the little moment where jerry was like "what's happening? appliances are breaking that i haven't touched!" was funny hehe..)

-i thought it was sweet that rick got the meeting's attention just to give morty the floor.

-i wasn't a fan of morty begging rick to stop supporting him, though. it felt like punching the underdog character with his own fist, but i guess i like it better in hindsight because it shows yet another trauma response. morty doesn't trust himself AT ALL. he thinks that by doing this his way, something will inevitably go wrong. damn.

-i also liked the little details about how witchy rick can be, haha. first, we see him ACTUALLY bend down and read the bones himself, then the witchcraft penis? that was a nice touch. rick definitely has an interest in witchcraft.

-(one of my favorite songs as a kid was "ruby tuesday," and i got so excited that the montage song was a cover of it, but... alas... no.)

(i just thought mort looked cute here lol)

-THE HUG? (of course they had to make it less heavy with the "we're gonna make your dick so fake," comment, but it's so nice to see rick hug morty and try to calm him down.)

-TELEPATHY? WHAT THE FUCK? THAT THREW ME SO HARD I GOT WHIPLASH.

-shit, man....

"i love you."

"i love you, too..."

-as soon as morty asked rick if he was a robot/clone, i was on the edge of my seat, chewing my lip, biting my nails, pulling my hair- waiting for the reveal that he was, but...

they didn't fake us out! hey! :)

(will say that the "this family has enough clones and robots in it" comment did make me a lil nervous, bc we KNOW of a clone, but... uhhh... who's the "robot"?)

-one of my biggest issues with "rick: a mort well-lived" was that marta stayed in the game, meaning that the only part of morty that heard rick say he loved and respected him didn't join with our morty. it bothered me that our morty didn't get to hear that.

i'm so happy that they fixed that this ep. MORTY HEARD RICK IS PROUD OF HIM. MORTY HEARD RICK LOVES HIM. i hope this is the "morty gets the grandpa he deserves" beginning. i'm loving it, and hope it's far more than just 22% of the time.

overall, AHMAZING EPISODE! kinda sad we had to wait until the end of the season to get a decent in-depth exploration of morty, his current character, and his reaction to rick's healing, but i'm so glad my boy got his apologies. he got his "i love you." he got his "i'm proud of you." he got is hug.

he got his autonomy.

congrats, lil junebug.

hope ya get more <3

[pistachions]

HI. HELLO. I said a while ago that I REALLY wanted to compare up my favourite shows cuz they're both SOOO undderated and here that is

A COMPARISON BETWEEN MILO MURPHY'S LAW AND STRANGE HILL HIGH

First.. I feel I need to introduce both shows

MML

If you didn't know.. it's made by the creators of and takes place in the same universe as phineas and ferb (it has a crossover too !!).. but as its own show, its SO unique. It follows a boy called milo who suffers from a family curse called Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) and his adventures with his friends !! Most of the episodes are just like general shenanigans that follow milo but it does have a plot that is introduced later on :) Also, because its made by the creators of pnf, its got the same humour .. it's really funny

CHARACTERS

The main trio are milo murphy, zack underwood and Melissa chase (in that order on the picture below) and they have a ... pretty standard TV trio dynamic, BUT all of the characters are SO fun and likeable!! Like, for instance, zack was in a regionally famous boyband and other fun things like that :)

Remember how I said there's a plot introduced later.. yeah, well it's basically created by these geezers (dakota and Cavendish, in that order on the photo below) who are introduced as time travellers set out to save pistachios. They're really funny and also voiced by the shows creators (or the same vas as doofenshmirtz and major monogram). They also REALLY remind me of me and my best friend, which means like ... nothing if you aren't us, but if you have a similar dynamic, it's SO fun to see

I dont want to spoil the plot much at all but the first season is about time traveland the second is space travel. If I'm honest the 2nd season.. isn't great cuz they made doofenshmirtz a main character but plot wise its still fun (season 1 is amazing tho still nothing tops it to me) so here's a picture from missing milo (one of the main plot episodes in s1)

And now to..

SHH

I'm gonna be so fr.. I've watched this show since release but have like 0 fandom interactions with it (thats a lie actually i have like 10 but thats not the point) so idk how much introducing it needs (still any is too little to me. imo this show should be standard watching for everyone) so anyway... the show doesn't rlly have a PLOT like all the episodes are stand alone, buutt it does mostly follow Mitchell as he starts at strange hill high and all the insane things that happen there (idk how to explain it cuz of how different every epiosde is but its SO good pls trust me). Its also fully posted on YouTube cuz it's like.. old and cancelled or smth so that's always good (not the cancelled bit tho lol)

CHARACTERS

Just like mml, shh also follows a main trio and has a great side cast. It's trio is becky butters, Templeton and Mitchell tanner (in that order below) and again have a .. pretty standard trio dynamic BUT more like the kind of British TV drama dynamic (.. cuz its set in a british secondary school). I LOVE these geezers SO much and they're just that kind of cast that to this day, I still don't know which one I'm more like

Because its not got a plot to vaguely explain, I'm going to tell you about my favourite episode 99 things to do with a time machine. It's one of my FAVOURITE episodes from any show ever. I love it. (I think it was also the first shh episode i watched cuz i watched it live on tv first before like.. downloading the whole show in 4 different places). The premise of the episode is that the gang is late for school so Mitchell decides to change the school clock so it doesn't LOOK like they're late. This actually turns back time and they abuse the hell out of this. Here's an image.

NOW TO THE COMPARISON!!

Ahhh.. this is like the MAIN bit but for 2 shows that are like permanently engraved in my brain its actually challenging me sm to compare them up like this. Why? No clue. Getting people to watch both is literally what I set out to to lmao

Shenanigans

Like I said, most of mml and ALL of shh basically revolve around whatever shenanigans the trio are doing. In mml they're very much unintentional cuz of murphy's law and the episode normally involves doing whatever to overcome the damage. This is more like the opposite for shh. The trio normally end up discovering smth wild going on in their school and mess about with whatever it is. Two examples I chose for this is mmls athledecamathalon, where the pitch gets destroyed and milo helps his sport team win, and sshs first episode, king Mitchell, where the gang discover a Knight who serves mitchell

These aren't exactly the CLOSEST comparisons I could make .. but you get the idea. VIBE wise they are VERY similar

SETTING

I also want to talk about the setting. Mml takes place all round danville (at different time periods too) and then a planet called octalia by the end of s2. Shh takes place EXCLUSIVELY in the school .. cuz it's puppetry and yk theyd have to actually BUILD a set

CONCLUSION

Ngl tumblr ate the rest of my essay. Twice. (Probably served me right for not having a backup but oh well) and it's kinda annoyed me. I promise you they're so similar is vibe PLEASE watch them both they're great

[stardustizuku]

Part 4: The New Team

The first moment I said “This is bad” at Miraculous Ladybug...the first moment I realized this was going downhill – was when they introduced …Sighs, Rena Rouge.

(To be fair, it started with Lila and her weird necklace but that could have just been fixed easily)

I knew the moment Rena came that this was gonna get bad. I felt it in my bones that THIS was the sign of something insidious and awful boiling in the back of the show. This character marks the beginning of everything downhill in the show - it’s a glaring reminder of how awful the writing in this show is.

Don’t get me wrong I love Alya. I love the character design of Rena and I don’t think that - in a vacuum - her existing is bad. But her appearance signified that something far worse happened behind the scenes.

They were trying to add more heroes.

As I’ve stated in Part 2, where we talk about the Love Square, there is a very delicate balance between Chat and Ladybug’s dynamic. And throughout Season 1, which is meant to be the introduction to the series, we are given no indication that it will focus on anything else. There was more than enough drama with just those two superheroes to last you a very solid arc. But that arc never got developed neither as forefront, nor backstage, as far as seasons 1-3 is concerned.

Again, because the writers are idiots, who believe that developing the story might lead the Love Square to be concluded, which means having the creativity to develop it beyond what the 1 minute trailer told them to do.

So? What do we do? How do we develop this story further, without bringing in the complexities of its own premise?

Easy, you add useless heroes and McGuffins to sell more toys. They add nothing in terms of narrative cohesion, character development, or character relationships.

Like, Season 2 was 25 episodes long. And in those 25 episodes, it introduced a grand total of 3 potential superheroes. Of what are now

11 SUPERHEROES.

By the end of Season 2, a little less than halfway through the currently aired episodes in the USA, we had…3/11 of the entire team.

A team, by the way, that slowly took the emphasis away from what we were even watching this show, to begin with: The Love Square. Ladybug and Chat.

They were the core of the story. And the blatant addition of a new team, proved to me nothing more than a desperate attempt to distance themselves from it. For what reason? Either a lack of confidence in developing their main characters, or plain incompetence to detect what your show even is about.

As I stated in Part 3, in regard of theme, there’s nothing of the sorts connecting ANY of these superheroes together.

The new heroes have different powers – with absurd power balances.

The most powerful superheroes are supposed to be Cht and Laadybug, but I would argue that time travel is a biiiiit more powerful. Like, Garbiel could very easily time travel to save Emily or steal the miraculous before they're given to Chat and Ladybug. But sure. Whatever.

In regards of theme.

Chat and Ladybug have good and bad luck symbols as their animal counterparts. Then there’s Rena, the Fox; Carapace, the turtle; Hawkmoth, the moth; Queen Bee the bee…?? I’m not following that decision at all. If someone does, please do enlighten me.

And then there’s the newest superheroes, introduced in Season 4, and still being currently introduced…

The theme is the Chinese zodiac, but that’s only (checks notes) Excuse me, Paris? Uhm, yeah, Paris. So in Paris they have the Chinese zodiac, but in the USA and Beijin they have completely different powers not tied to the miraculous. And, I get it, you want new merch. Fine, all magical girls are thinly veiled ads for kid’s toys (I will buy the sailor moon blush one day, or so help me god) But, should you at least – try to make it make sense-

New superheroes or new powers should all connect to your theme.

Sailor Moon has planets, so introducing new Sailor Scouts it’s as easy as getting new moons, or suns in the galaxy. Something I find really cute is that Sailor Chibimoon has subordinates CereCere, VesVes, PallaPalla and JunJun. These were the asteroids once thought to be new planets in the Solar System before we knew of the AsteroidBelt and realized they were little rocks.

Mermaid Melody introduced new mermaids through the seven seas. There were only a finite amount of them. But even so, the only way to introduce Seira was through the death of Sara.

And Tokyo Mew Mew’s endangered animals allowed us to have Mew Ringo and (we don’t talk about brunononono, we don’t talk about brunooooo) Mew Berry.

Even Kamichama Karin WHICH I HATE so it goes to show how badly MLB messed it up – has a theme (sort of). It fumbles it extremely badly. Insulting to a degree how bad it does it…BUT IT DOES IT.

It’s greek gods. That’s it. You may have a new power, a new transformation or a new characters but you bet your ass it’ll be a Greek god. It may have no connection to the character’s personality or relationship to each other, but hey. At least it stays consistent on its terrible use of Greek Gods as nothing more than aesthetic.

So, your characters have no narrative weight behind it to justify why they’re here. You have no actual theme to tie all 19 of your superheroes (HOLY FUCK THAT’S A LOT OF THEM) aside from…animals? I guess.

(I swear to god PreCure puts more thought into their themes than this)

But at least, you would guess, your new heroes show interesting dynamics with each other that allow you to understand better either Chat, Ladybug, or each other?

No.

The team is bad.

They ditched the “Magical Girl” formula and decided to go for a bit of a “Super Seitan” feeling. I mean, Power Rangers type of show. More gender neutral, more focused on the villain of the week, and an emphasis on a big team.

Just. A bit of a problem.

But they did this, so into the show that we ALREADY had a sense of their character as a side character, so bringing them to the spotlight was uncomfortable.

Like suddenly making Molly a sailor scout or giving Tomoyo clow cards in the middle of the second season.

That’s not their purpose in the story.

And they’re introduced so haphazardly that there’s hardly any time for them to hang out with each other.

Rena first appears in episode 37, Carapace in episode 44, and Queen Bee in episode 49.

AND NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER.

Not until Mayura. Which is episode 52, which just akumatizes them or gets them out of the way one way or another. Meaning, they do absolutely nothing for the plot, bring nothing to the table, and makes you wonder why even waste air time bringing on-screen characters that do not matter.  

In any other show, yes. The characters slowly leaving the protagonist alone because they get trapped, killed or maimed is a good way to up the stakes of the finale.

Here’s the thing, though. I care about them. And they care for each other. They know they’re not losing just a teammate, they’re losing a friend.

I cried like a baby when Makoto died and Usagi only recognized her rose earring – because I love Makoto to death. I cried when Rei sacrificed herself to save Usagi, because I knew how much they bickered. I was upset when Mint and Zakuro fought, because I knew how much Mint idolized Zakuro.

Their failure meant something to the each other. Aside simply, “we lost manpower”. Because these people were, before superheroes, before their later egos – they were friends.

HOWEVER. This does not happen in MLB. Since they don’t GET to keep the kwamis, they don’t get to participate in every episode. We never get episodes focused on how they interact with one another. Which means there’s no sense of a “team”. Which makes you wonder why they’re even considered a “team”.

This is such a horrible decision it genuinely makes me wonder if these people KNOW how to create ANY story !!!

I feel like I keep comparing MLB to many decent and genuinely good magical girls animes. Which feels unfair, EVEN THO IT ISNT, because these are iconic anime’s that have left a print in media

So fine, let’s get this show to a level you all can understand how bad it is

DC superhero girls. And it’s GOOD, check it out if you can. It’s something to turn on and enjoy, with little overarching plot.

But get this, the entire focus is to watch the team girls Interact. A lot of the comedy comes from watching these girls having fun and watching them come to terms with their own superpowers. Watching them get in trouble as they hide their identity, and how they bounce from one another. Who helps who, who are besties, who kinda hate each other, who brings them together and who keeps them strong.

I especially love Barbara and Harley's dynamic, as well as Kitana and Wonderwoman's friendship. The episodes that focus on either of them make me really happy. And even if there's little overarching plot, because I know their situation, I wanna see them happy and have fun.

But because they all have to hide in MLB, you don’t see something like this. Which, btw, THIS is the foundation of both Magical girl GROUPS and Seitan. And I would argue you would get more leeway abt secret identities to one another in MagicalGirls that in Seitan. Seitan’s bread and butter IS team dynamics. The fact that we don’t know how two superheroes that ladybug and chat aren’t would behave around each other is an INSULT to the genre.

And to be fair, they could still keep their identities secret. Just. Have them interact every single episodes, without the need of Ladybug or Chat doing a 10 minute break to give them their Kwamis. It would have been fun to see Queen Bee chat with Ladybug, maybe hate Chat and fight with him to get Ladybug’s attention. Maybe, have Viper and Carapace make music references and vibing in the background. Have Ryuko and Queen Bee bicker. Have Rena and Chat make jokes at Queen Bee’s expense.

You could have amazing drama out of the team trying to find each other’s identities, but having Ladybug threaten them to take away their miraculous (MAYBE she’s paranoid about it since the events of Chat Blanc let her traumatized and will take away miraculous from them). Hell, maybe she took away Chloe’s miraculous not because “she’s unfit” but because she spilled the beans. And Chloe’s resentment is not just from losing her great title, but losing the first true friends she had.

And it would make the fact that Marinette is allowed to CHOOSE her teammate…a bit more bearable. Because honestly, THAT’S  a terrible concept.

Most teams DONT get to chose who their partners are, and that’s what makes it amazing.

Because it’s a bunch of people who are forced to be together, slowly learning to open up and depend on one another. Which creates amazing and profound bonds that one originally wasn’t expecting.

Take for example Usagi. She didn’t CHOOSE her team. Instead, she found it. They found her. While Ami and Makoto are kind to her, she’s always butting heads with Rei, and playfully competing with Minako. They don’t all coddle her, or think she’s amazing. They see her as a friend. A crybaby, clumsy but kind-hearted friend who will help them out.

Tokyo Mew Mew has the same. Ichigo isn’t in perfect terms with Mint and they butt heads. Zakuro is a loner that isn’t integrated fully even in later episodes. But they’re a team. They work together.

The fact that Marinette gets to pick, creates issues like…Queen Bee.

Which.

Leads me.

To Chloe.

A God, Chloe.

PREV << MASTERLIST >> NEXT

[ownworldresident]

Side by Side Chapter 9: Renewal

Me: 'promises to post weekly' ... 'vanishes for three weeks' ... 'still loves you all I promise' now back to schedule...

Book: The Royal Romance.

Premise: With new additions to their family, King Liam and Rayne must re-evaluate their relationship dynamic.

Themes: Found family, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, family.

Word Count: 3.2k per chapter, 18 chapters. About 60k.

Note: This story started just after TRR3 ended, and isn't related to TRH. See also Side by Side Masterlist & Master Masterlist Link

Rayne

A private balcony waited for Rayne and Liam when they arrived at the restaurant. They ordered the waiter's recommendation and their drinks were swiftly followed by a dish of local fish; Rayne made a mental note to send compliments to the chef.

Everyone was friendly, and reminded Rayne with a small pang of resignation that the only people who weren't were at the palace.

"What are you thinking?' asked Liam as she sighed.

"How refreshing it is to be here," she answered, smiling. Liam's own smile crinkled his eyes, and he seemed happy with her answer.

Their conversation was light -deliberately, Rayne thought- and as they ate she looked over the bay, pristine dark waters and lights along the marina… the simple beauty reminded her of a less complicated time, before she made that decision. Before she plunged them into this mess.

When next she looked at Liam he was watching her, a nervous half-smile on his face. They had reached a lull in their conversation, new drinks had arrived, and her meal sat comfortably in her stomach. She felt tired after the meal, and made another note to restock her vitamins. The routine was a comfort but also another boundary, a reminder. She was nearing 30 now; Liam had crossed that threshold while she was pregnant, but it didn't seem to have affected him as much as it did her. In his heart he had always known his path, with some minor deviations. Her feelings were a little more complicated.

"So, what did you need to tell me that required dinner at a restaurant and a new dress?" she smiled as she said it, but the expression faded when Liam didn’t reflect it. She reached across the table and laid a hand on his. "Liam, why are you so nervous?"

"I suppose…" Liam blinked back to the present and met her eyes. "It's significant news. I want you to know that nothing about us has to change, okay?"

Rayne swallowed. "You're scaring me. What could you have to say that would change things between us?"

Liam took a deep breath, and a smile settled on his face.

"I divorced Madeline."

For a moment, the only thing in the world were those words. Rayne stared somewhere over Liam's shoulder, transported back to the reverse of them. 'You married Madeline' had been the barrier for them for so long….

She blinked, but the next memory that surfaced was finding Liam unconscious in his office.

"Of course you did…" she said quietly, her mouth suddenly dry.

"There wasn't any other choice this time," Liam continued. "I think we both knew that."

He squeezed her hand, and brought her focus back to him.

"This will change a lot of things, but I don't want you to feel like our relationship has to be one of them. I'm not going to ask to commit to something you don't want."

He curled his hand around hers and laced their fingers together. He was warm, and steady, but there was a strain in his voice. Rayne's eyes fell on their intertwined hands, her other hand trembling in her lap.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling as if a veil was tearing from the world she had constructed. Liam should have freed himself from that woman a long time ago, but he had stayed because of Rayne… she squeezed her eyes shut. "I should never have convinced you to stay married to her. If I hadn't… if I'd just…" she looked up to him again, eyes hot. "You deserved so much better."

To her surprise, he chuckled.

"It's true you are stubborn," he said, "but I'm sorry to say you aren't so much a force that I can't make my own decisions. I chose to remain in that arrangement, and to marry Madeline. Do you remember when we were on the engagement tour, and I asked if you would stay with me, even if I married her?"

Not trusting herself with a verbal response, Rayne nodded.

"Well that was selfish of me. I shouldn't have put you in that position. The fact that you said yes, emphatically at that…"

"Of course I stayed," Rayne breathed, surprised. "You were frightened when you asked me that, but that isn't the reason I stayed. I made my decision long before you were married. You know that, don't you?"

After a moment, Liam sighed, and nodded.

“That won’t stop me from feeling some guilt at the position I put you in. And so many things since then... but I wanted to come out tonight because I think you deserve a break, and Clair’s arrival helped you free up some time.” He reached across to take Rayne’s other hand, meeting her eyes a moment before continuing. “Nothing in life gives me greater pleasure than the time I spend with you and our children. My situation doesn’t change how I feel about you, and we don’t have to look tidy from the outside to be happy.” He smiled, and Rayne cursed her decision to wear make-up; in the face of Liam’s generosity, she felt tears welling again and pulled one hand back to wipe at her eyes.

The difference in Liam occurred to her then. He was usually calm and always affectionate, but this version of him was lighter, freer, without the weight of his relationship with Madeline. This version cast a dark shadow over the man she thought had been happy for the last year. Had he been happy? Or had he been struggling more under that burden than he had admitted? Had she underestimated the toll that such a division cost him?

“Rayne, are you okay?”

She had been the one to stay, to encourage him to maintain the arrangement, to pretend he was okay when he very, very clearly hadn’t been.

“I’m happy for you. I hope that… I hope…" Rayne stopped as a lump rose in her throat. She stood. Liam frowned, uncertain, watching her closely..

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, it’s just that…” she looked away from him at their surroundings. The table was beautifully set, the meal had been amazing, the view was spectacular, the night was calm, and it was just for the two of them.

“I don’t deserve this,” Rayne gestured to their surroundings, “after everything I’ve done to you, I don’t deserve any of this.” She wiped a few more tears from her eyes, trying to contain her emotion. She didn’t hear or see him stand, but when his arms came around her she fell into them. All pretence evaporated, and she was the Rayne who had cried when she had been taken from the Coronation ball; the Rayne who had cried every night at the Beaumont estate, and the first week of the engagement tour.

She fell back to a time before her skin was thick. Everything came forth, and she grasped handfuls of his shirt to hold herself up.

Liam’s arms tightened around her, and Rayne knew then that she was not okay, that she had not been okay for a long time. Too much had been ignored, and not only had she not allowed herself to really feel, but she had inflicted that on Liam.

“It’s alright,” Liam said gently. “It’s alright, I’m here.” His voice strained, and Rayne’s sobs grew louder as she shook her head and tried to answer.

“I’m - so - sorry - Liam,” she cried into his chest, and then she felt his arms shaking, his whole body shaking, and wrapped her arms around him in kind.

“It’s… it’s okay. You’re… we…” she felt him take a shaky breath. “I love you so much.”

Rayne tried to answer, but her body was overcome as she cried, and he cried, and she didn’t know how long they stood there before they ran out of tears. And then they held each other as if they hadn’t in months, and maybe they hadn’t, not like this. Eventually, she pulled back, and looked up at him. His eyes were red, and his cheeks glistened with tears. Rayne knew she must look the same sans his smile. Her makeup was smeared on his damp shirt, and the corner of her mouth curved up just a little at that.

“Sorry,” she said, biting her lip. Liam followed her gaze to his shirt, then huffed a small laugh, and pulled her close again.

“I meant what I said. I am never as happy elsewhere as I am with you and the twins, and nothing about what we have has to change.”

She nodded against him, listening to the steady pace of his heart.

“I dream about it sometimes,” she started, swallowing the lump in her throat and looking up again, “about that day at Ramsford, when I said I didn’t want to be queen.” And his expression when he had realised what she was saying.

Liam smiled now. “I know.”

“You know? How?” Even as she said it the answer occurred to her. “Do I talk in my sleep?”

“Yes.” Liam pressed his lips to her forehead and she closed her eyes at the touch. “Can I ask you something?’ He searched her eyes, and she did the same, a flutter of nerves in her chest as she tried to discern the question.

“Yes.”

“Do you regret that decision?”

There was no room in her for another emotional response.

“Yes.” Rayne wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, but to his credit he simply nodded, as if it had been inconsequential and not the biggest turning point in their relationship, and waited for her to continue. “I regret it for the pain it has caused you, and for encouraging you to stay with Madeline. I was angry, and upset, and scared, and I’m sorry. It was wrong of me.” She looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes. He had paid dearly for her decision. Liam lifted her chin to face him again.

“I didn’t mean to imply that your decision was a mistake. I only wished to know where your pain was, so I could help you.” He moved his other hand to caress her cheek, and she leant into his touch. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted, my love. To be there for you, as you have been there for me, so many times.”

The understanding of where they stood settled as they looked at each other. The night was quiet, and the only sounds were distant chatter of the diners downstairs, the gentle waves against the marina, and their own even breathing.

“I love you.” Rayne smiled and looped her arms around his neck.

“And I you.” Liam moved one hand lower on her waist, the other up to her neck, and she closed her eyes and met his lips halfway, and the world faded around them. It wasn’t deep, it was gentle and slow, and when they parted she was breathless. Liam cupped her face and ran a thumb across her cheek, then kissed her again, briefly, and leant his forehead against hers. They stayed like that, enthralled in the intensity of the moment, until Rayne’s body got the best of her, and she shivered.

Concern flitted across Liam’s face. "You're cold."

"A little."

"Let's go home."

They kept their fingers intertwined on the seat between them in the car ride home. They didn’t talk much, not much needed to be said, and Rayne spent the time reflecting on what had passed between them on that balcony.

Entering directly to the royal wing, they walked together through silent, familiar halls.

“I am very sure your friend has taken over our bed,” Liam said calmly when they reached that hallway . Rayne chuckled.

“I have no doubt she has.” She leaned against him as they walked. “Wherever shall we sleep?”

“There is always our old bed,” he replied as they reached the door to the royal suite, his own rarely used rooms. Rayne squeezed his arm.

“I’m sure Clair won’t mind caring for Leo and Evie for the night.” She winced at her own words, glancing back toward her door.

"Did you want to go and check on the twins?" Liam asked, noticing her apprehension.

"No," she answered after a moment's consideration. "I trust her." She would have to apologise for not warning Clair of this possibility. It was likely, if Rayne knew her at all, that she had assumed they would stay in Liam’s suite.

“I’m glad you feel comfortable allowing someone else to care for them,” Liam said as he reached for his door key. Rayne, however, was already holding her own.

“I didn’t realise you still carried it with you.”

“I always do.” Rayne returned his smile. It might not be regularly used, but the suite was something of a comfort for her and the twins, in a wing that wasn't entirely comfortable for her. And it smelled like Liam. "So am I," she added, to answer his earlier remark.

Once inside she locked the door and tucked the key in her dress, turning to see a grin on Liam's face that she hadn't seen in some time. He pulled her into a warm embrace, and she leant up to kiss him.

"We needed this," he murmured against her lips, then pulled back to add, "but I don't think either of us would have admitted it."

"No," Rayne said softly, leaning her head against his shoulder as he held her again. "We wouldn't have. "

Earlier in their relationship, Rayne supposed their clothes would be half on the floor by the time they reached the bedchamber. As it was, she was tired, and so was Liam. She had a feeling he was as lost in thought as she. They parted wordlessly inside the door and entered their individual walk-in wardrobes to change.

When she removed her make-up, which was a mortifying mess, and removed her dress, she smiled at the lacy underwear Clair had forced her to wear.

"Not tonight," she said to the mirror, running a hand over the scar on her abdomen, not quite as tender as it had been but still sensitive. Blinking back to focus, she switched the underwear for more comfortable pyjamas before returning to find Liam had done the same.

"What would our friends think of us?" Rayne smirked.

"Does it matter?" Liam raised an eyebrow, then closed the distance between them and swept her off the ground in a sudden burst of energy. Rayne laughed as he spun her and set her down, ending the spin with a deeper kiss and pulling her tight against him.

“I guess not,” Rayne said, smiling. “You aren’t as tired as I thought.”

“Oh I definitely am as tired as you think.” Liam brushed his nose against hers and kissed her again. “But I haven’t done that in a while and needed to make sure I still could.”

Rayne beamed at him, then held him close, closing her eyes as the small burst faded and her tiredness set in again. “Bed, please.”

“As you wish.” Liam picked her up again, more gently this time. He set her down on what had always been her side of the bed, then came around to climb under the covers as she did. Rayne curled up against him, instantly warm.

“I love you,” he whispered as he rubbed her back. Rayne smiled, and slept better than she had in a long time.

Liam

Late the next morning, Liam left Rayne sleeping to check on Evie and Leo. Clair had had them for almost twelve hours now and he rarely went that long without seeing them.

Entering Rayne’s suite, he took a moment to adjust to the dark, and froze when he saw something move on the lounge. Frowning, he flipped the light switch, and recognised the messy head of blond hair.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, not loud enough to wake the twins if by chance they were sleeping. His brother turned over with sleepy eyes, squinting at the light. He smiled as he sat and pulled off the blanket.

“Waiting for you of--” he yawned, rubbing his eyes “--of course.”

Liam sighed, shaking his head. “A likely story. Rayne’s friend? Seriously Leo? This is the reason you weren’t told when she would be here.”

“The fault is on Rayne, I’m afraid,” he rolled his shoulders back and shrugged. “Her friend is cute.”

“You better not have slept in Rayne’s bed,” he said in a warning tone. Leo chuckled.

“I would never do that, little brother. Like I said, I just wanted to see how things went with Rayne.” He frowned. “Why do you call it her bed anyway? You sleep there as well.”

Before Liam could think of an answer, Clair appeared in the doorway.

“Are you still here?” she asked Leo. Evie was in her arms, looking around the room curiously. Clair smiled at Liam before raising an amused brow toward his brother.

“Why do I have to explain myself so much? I’m a devoted older brother and I wanted to see how things went last night. Judging by that stupid grin on his face, I’d say pretty well.”

“Hmm, I don’t know.” Clair chuckled. “Jury’s out.” She carefully handed Evie to Liam when he came to take her.

“Thank you for taking care of these two,” he said, pressing a light kiss to Evie’s head and gently rubbing her back. He turned back to Leo. “I guess when Rayne wakes up you can get a second ruling.” he smiled. “And where’s your stupid grin, Leo?”

“He foolishly thought he might find it here.” Clair smirked and winked at Leo, who sighed and shook his head.

“On behalf of Rayne, myself and our bed,” said Liam, “I am very glad he didn’t.”

Leo shrugged. “As I said, only concerned about my brother.” He clapped a hand on Liam’s shoulder as he walked past, speaking quietly. “Later, okay?”

“Later.” Liam nodded.

--- ---

Side by Side Tag List: Current tag list: @tessa-liam @twinkleallnight @umccall71 @kingliam2019 @angelasscribbles @mainstreetreader @malblk21 @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @tinkie1973 @lovingchoices14 @indiacater

Permatag List: @leelee10898  @umccall71  @indiacater  @speedyoperarascalparty  @brightpinkpeppercorn  @riseandshinelittleblossom @bella-ca @custaroonie  @thequeenofcronuts  @lodberg  @kuladekiwi  @mfackenthal  @carabeth  @romanticatheart-posts  @blackcoffee85  @whenyourheartskipsabeat @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore

(If you’d like to be added or removed from this list please let me know)

[septiccoffeefreak]

Sometimes I look at peterick and think about me and Tommy. Not because he and Patrick are even that alike but because the general ship dynamic/premise reminds me of us and because people always portray Pete as a helplessly in love loser with no thoughts at all beyond "oh he's everything...i'll just follow him around everywhere he goes from now on like a loyal little puppy dog. Please pay attention to me. You could do anything and I'd still be here because I need to be around you forever now btw." and that's how I feel. God's specialest little puppy with a devotion complex ever.

Ironically Tommy is probably more like Pete than I am, with his careless feral ass "probably would get arrested if unsupervised" energy, and I'm more nervous and perfectionistic so I probably match Patrick better. But I see art or fanfiction about peterick and their dynamic and go. "Ah yes. Time to project onto this"

He does the same thing with his own ships though so we're even i suppose.

[gaybd1]

Talk to me about the Gaang post-canon helping each other deal with their trauma.

i would LOVE to, where do i even start....

What I love so much about this show is... the fact that these are kids who grew up in a war and don't know anything else. And they are strong and badass and the whole premise is just really inspiring and tragically beautiful.

But OBVIOUSLY it's not gonna be easy to just "be normal" after the war ends and I like how you see a little bit of that in TLOK when you find out Aang and Toph were shitty parents and different stuff like that because .... yeah, they're dealing with trauma forever now.

It's also why I really love the ships that I do, because that's the dynamics I'm thinking of. They gotta rely on each other to heal, right?

So like.

It was actually really rough at first because none of them knew how to just be a kid or get a hobby, and they all had reasons not to do that... so they all kind of just threw themselves into their work for kind of the rest of their lives?

Sokka and Zuko have had different but actually kind of similar traumas. They are SO good at helping each other after nightmares, monitoring triggers, being there for flashbacks and panic attacks. They are definitely the most codependent out of any of the couples, but it works for them. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about this and please remind me to sometime.

We see that Toph kind of took more of a loner approach to dealing with her trauma, but she would talk to Sokka sometimes. They were the only ones that really got each other's specific trauma about that final battle.

Aang and Katara would quietly support each other. They didn't often outright talk about it, but they knew each other so well it didn't need to be said out loud. They also both needed to be alone to deal with it every now and then and were really good at detecting that in each other.

[jeschalynn]

for the ask game-- 🍓🍑🍇?

Daisy my beloved! Thank you for the tasty fruits~

🍓 What’s a fic you’ve written you feel is underrated?

I mentioned some fics in a previous ask, but another that comes to mind might be my fluffy Beel fics? I'm thinking of this sickfic specifically. Sometimes the game does his character so dirty. We have great little moments with him but the rest of the time it's oh look, Beel's eating/hungry or he's thinking/talking about food again. It gets SO OLD. Yes, it doesn't escape me that the sickfic involves cooking for him but food can be such a sweet, impactful way of connecting to someone if it's written well. There's a difference between Beel liking food, and Beel liking food because you made it specially for him and every time he eats that food, it reminds him of you and he appreciates you for it. That's the element of Beel's gluttonous nature I like most.

🍑 If you could make a connection between your favorite character and another work you care about (whether a crossover/fusion or a wonderfully “pretentious” literary reference) what would it be? How would it work?

I tend to think about crossover potential with the Obey Me universe as a whole and other fandoms I'm interested in. There are the obvious candidates - Twisted Wonderland, Arcana Twilight, What in Hell is Bad, Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel - but my lowkey favourite is Demon Slayer.

How it works is some vague explanation of Devildom/hell power dynamics and their multiple systems of checks and balances where Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki are basically like their own sect of high-ranking demons. Due to their bloodthirsty nature, they probably spend most of their time in the human world gaining pacts with humans so they can collect their souls (and consume them in the process). Maybe some of the demon lords look down on them because of their unrepentant fondness for murder and mayhem (since the demon lords that also engage in those activities do so more discreetly).

When Lucifer and his brothers fall, the balance of power in the Devildom shifts. The demon rulers of the past had to carefully navigate and appease the various sects of demon lords of considerable influence to minimize violence and chaos within the realm. Due to their unique circumstances, the Avatars of Sin are not only given considerable rank and prestige upon arriving in the Devildom, but they're firmly in Diavolo's camp which gives the royal family considerable strength that maybe they were lacking before. This shakes up things for the rest of the nobility and everyone else gets bumped down a peg or two in the hierarchy to make way for Lucifer and his siblings who now sit very close to the top.

By the time the exchange program commences, Muzan is on par with the higher ranking demon lords of the Ars Goetia with the Twelve Kizuki ranked by power level below him. As far as demons go, they're still strong and have powerful reputations and connections within the Devildom, but there might be some lingering bitterness that they were so easily shoved aside for the demon brothers. They spend a lot of time in the human world to avoid interacting with them, although their behaviour is more closely scrutinized by Diavolo in order to prevent aggression or hostility with the Sorcerer's Society or Celestial Realm.

(My very self-indulgent selfship lore with Gyutaro/Daki involves this premise where my MC has a pact with them before entering the exchange program.)

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

There are specific OM story lines for certain characters that I could write about over and over again.

Lucifer - making his pact with MC in S1

Belphie - the aftermath of Lesson 16 (good and bad)

Solomon - rewriting his relationship with MC in S1, the apprenticeship trials in S3

Barbatos - continuing the romantic buildup of S4 and the hypothetical S5 we never got

Michael - his first meeting with MC (what I think would've happened in OG S5)

[generation1point5]

After Echo: A Retrospective

It's been a little over a year since Echo and its related works compelled me to write a slew of thoughts and a whole fanfic. I had joined a community, left with some new friends, and am now back largely to the same place I was before. I've come full circle, as it were.

I've taken and contributed largely what I could, and now that I look back on this time it feels to me more like a chapter read and closed than anything ongoing. The thought does not make me as melancholic as I thought it might, perhaps for the fact that I feel like I have done all I could; that, and the anticipation of knowing that this day would one day come to pass has also crossed my mind a long time ago. It is not the first time I've passed through such phases in life, and it will certainly not be the last. It's a well-worn, familiar road by now.

Yet the impact it's left on me, however brief, has demonstrably proven that this particular cycle has been more compelling than most; the last time I had committed so much to a fandom was Mass Effect. Disco Elysium might have counted too, if not for the fact that my radicalization into Marxism had been a project that was already years in the making at that point, and my engagement of that sort is of a different dynamic entirely. That owes to the nature and social approach to politics as a whole when it comes to human relations, I think.

At the time of writing, After All has just over 1,650 views, and 70 kudos, far surpassing my earlier publicly published project for Mass Effect regarding my OCs. That is to be expected, considering that I was writing about actual (and very popular) characters from the work itself. To my own impression, it has made more of an impact among AO3 readers in general than it has with the community surrounding Echo Project as a whole. This is also within expectations, as I was writing a fic whose very premise is subject to much discourse within the fandom, and it didn't feature much of anything in the way of mature content beyond the banality of horror in late-stage capitalism affecting a small town in America (or Columbia, as it were).

I check back on my work less often than when I did shortly after I started uploading it, but each time I come back to it I still find lines that I'm happy that I had put to words; it was those few instants where I feel like I had touched on something fundamental, raw and true, and portrayed it with a clarity that stands the test of time. Ultimately, I am satisfied with the work I produced. I did not write After All to be a blockbuster. But part of me did write the fic with the intent for it to be read for an audience beyond myself; otherwise, it would have all remained in my head, never committed to paper. There is always a two-level game to the artistic process; it must be sincere and near enough to the heart to be worth the effort, but it is always published with the hope that others see it, that it would be recognized. I constantly remind myself never to find validation in my art. Recognition should always be kept distinct from self-worth. I am all-too familiar with the ways that tying one's identity to close to their creative sides can lead to self-destructive views on oneself.

Unlike the visual arts, the written word always contains a thesis, a velocity, a direction, an argument and intent to add or otherwise alter perspective. It is not satisfied with realizing a projected image onto a visual medium. Words can be made pretty by good organization, but if the content is empty the work will be rendered lifeless.

My intent with After All was not to correct what I perceived to be a wrong in the writing, nor was it a simple exercise of wish fulfillment (or so I tell myself). What Echo had captivated and inspired in me was, much like Disco Elysium, the banality of the horror of our everyday circumstances, the material dialectic and contradictions within our socioeconomic fabric that shape the lives of many. Despite the presence of the paranormal in Echo, the key theme it speaks to, and what I always return to, is that we make monsters of ourselves and other people. I am compelled by the tragedy inherent in the struggle to rid ourselves of these horrors while not losing ourselves in the process. It speaks to the human condition, and that was what I hoped to capture.

What I had concluded early on, and what I knew would cause me to detach myself from the community even as I got into it, was the tendency for fandoms to reduce stories to their "moral," as they are derived by all who interpret the work. In a way, it goes to show how we evaluate characters as a whole, to read them as ultimately good or bad, people worth defending or condemning, but to me these debates serve only to reinforce a broader point: that at best, the products of human emotion (art, philosophy, politics, music, literature, etc.) are interpretations of the world. They tell you more about the person who's talking than the world they're talking about. What I had wished to write was in response to these black and white assessments, to re-establish a thesis that we are complex, self-contradicting, self-divided. I wanted to broaden the focus on the character by illustrating the world, and see the grey out of the black and white. It was meant to be a sober look in the mirror, darkly revealed through the lens of Echo's characters and the world it shares with our own. I wanted to write a story without that clear sense of karma, as such a notion is neither present in Echo nor the real world. The question of what people deserved was never the point of Echo, and neither was it something that I wanted to assert in my fic, either. Far more compelling to me is the idea regarding one's capacity for change, distinct from whether it was warranted, deserved or even possible.

At the same time, I wanted to tell a story that spoke to more than just self-improvement. The most compelling stories for me are not ones that are focused on individuals, or solitary heroes that beat the odds. Far more moving are stories that illustrate the broader world around them, as Echo did, to highlight the tension between changing the self and the self being changed by circumstances. That tension, I believe, is the reason why we feel the weight of our world so keenly. This struggle is neither noble nor beautiful, neither moral nor heinous. Like pain, it is simply there, and despite our best effort to flee from it, it lingers. That, to me, is the story of Echo. It is the story of many of our lives, and why we all try to make something of it, often into something that it is not. Who is to say whether it will be, ultimately, for the better?

After All is, by my own analysis and admission, a slanted excursion in self-expression. It was an attempt to show others how I see the world and the people in it, as expressed by the art of another, who saw and portrayed much the same world in their own way. I intended my own contributions as a gesture of respect, of recognition, of remembrance when I had finished my journey and began a new one. Since then, I have journeyed onto new pastures and old haunts, and look back on those prior days with a distant fondness and melancholy, having crossed into the pastures I had long espied over the horizon.

But the echoes of that time will always remain.

[cescalr]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

Aw, thanks! Pretend I responded to this in a timely manner!

I'm gonna go with the caveat of the works being complete ones, and I'll be ignoring series because that feels like cheating <3 Also; trying not to use the same five fics I always do for this question kajsdf;laksdjf GTTAU i love you <3 <3 but I've said you before <3

And The Universe Decrees: First Year

This one was my first big HPAU fic I finished! I'm not good at doing that, so I'm still pretty proud of sticking with it for 55k words :D. It was sort of well received, which is good enough for me! There's some things I'd change if I wrote it now, of course, but I'm still pretty happy with it. Please ignore how long it's taken for me to update the second fic in the series </3 thank you

Echoes of the Soul.

I don't understand this one! For real. I just sat down. Wrote it. Read it back through. Went, 'what the fuck?' Posted it. Asked the audience to tell me what my own fic was about bc i could not explain it myself! But I still think it's fun. It's a bit weird and esoteric, and it's more a character study? than anything else?? i think??? but it's neat. I like it.

Grass Is Greener (Supposed To Be)

Canon-adjacent minor AU fic that's 100% a character study of Ron and his relationship to himself, his family, and his best friend, in a world where he and Harry swapped hair colours. I just think it's neat <3.

In Another Universe (Maybe We Were Happy.) 

Love claysmond <3 love aus <3 love angst and tragedy <3 love giving people a happy ending a handful of times and then reminding them that these men never catch a single break <3 Also one of my favourite chapters in this is the coffee shop assassins AU. If nothing else, give that one a gander? (each chapter can be read standalone, really, bc of the 5+1 premise.)

Intention.

Love me a character study and character dynamic study and absolutely just the least normal people having tension over everything ever to have happened to them together and individually and what they've done and or not done to each other or with each other and just like. Steo are complicated, babes <3 extremely convoluted, even. Love that. So fun!

And, you know, why not? 5+1;

The Loss Of Potential

Grief a step to the left. Grief from a distance. Grief through a clouded window. Grief, in it's absence. Regret, really, for what could've been. More character studies babeyyyy <3

Mostly because I'm too nervous to tag anyone rn <3 @ my mutuals and followers who see this; if you post fic, feel free to nab it and as the ask says, do your own little list <3