#she's getting into top five characters who suffered the most

[ssaraexposs]

Aya suffered more than Jesus

[lornaka]

My five cents on Tech’s fate in TBB

It’s been over three weeks since the show ended and I’ve been writing this in my head ever since, mostly to have it summed up in one post for posterity lol. I considered letting it go at this point but I know it’ll drive me crazy if I don’t get it out of my system so might as well.

So here we go, some of my rambly post-finale thoughts on Tech’s death (and a few other issues) under the cut!

Disclaimer: while this post is in critical spirit (because that’s how my brain works), I want to make clear that I have nothing but respect and gratitude towards everyone who’s worked on the show. My criticisms are of the final story as a whole as I interpret it (art is art, everything is subjective, you know the drill), but one never knows what goes into the process of making it behind the scenes, so I’m not holding anything against the creative team. I love this show dearly and am in awe of how good it is at its best, despite certain things I wish they did differently.

To begin, if I had to sum up the biggest problem that TBB writing suffers from, it would be lack of closure, and too many red herrings. Not just for Tech, but many things. Major plot threads as well as little character moments are cultivated or thrown in just to never culminate in anything or to be immediately discarded after serving the plot, some of them incredibly misleading. Some of the top examples:

- Crosshair’s chip. We never get an exploration of how the trauma of his chip activating and being left behind not only affected his motivation and choice to stay with the Empire, but his relationship with his brothers. While it was made fairly obvious, if subtly, that Crosshair became free of the chip’s influence after getting hit by the ion engine on Bracca, the narrative treated this change as if it didn’t matter at that point, while it obviously mattered a lot within the context of Crosshair’s character. Add to that all these little details with him clutching his head in s1 finale, Omega expressing her disappointment in him, and Tech’s comment on how “it is just his nature” (as if it matters!!! See what I mean about the narrative treating Cross’s chip as if it didn’t play the key part in his trajectory? They throw in this line, like we are supposed to take away that it’s simply Crosshair being Crosshair and not like, the results of brainwashing and abandonment), Wrecker blaming Crosshair for not going back to them, all while we as the audience have been shown and told repeatedly how these chips work (and so were the Batch), we ended up with an incredibly confusing situation with lots of mixed signals from the writers. And once Crosshair makes his choice to stay with the Empire in s1 finale, his chip and the confusion it brought to his relationship with his brothers is never brought up again, because the plot simply moves on.

- Cid’s betrayal. After her being a major character for two seasons with a continuous relationship build-up with Omega in particular, she is discarded as soon as her betrayal serves the plot, with all that character development getting thrown out of the window. You can be mad at Cid all you want, but to me it’s incredibly weird and wasteful to end two seasons worth of build up on that note without it having any closure for the characters, especially Omega whose whole theme is trusting people and bringing out the best in them. It’s fine if they decided to make Cid exactly what she appeared on the surface (untrustworthy and self-serving) after playing around with her potentially growing through her fondness of Omega, but then at the very least the betrayal should’ve had an impact on the characters, Omega most of all. Even just one casual line from Omega in s3 about how Cid’s betrayal impacted her emotionally, however minimally, would have solved that problem. And no, CX-2 mentioning how he extracted info on Phee from her off screen absolutely doesn’t count as closure, because I’m talking about emotional closure for the main pov characters as well as the audience. Cid had a presence for two seasons, then as soon as she executed her role as a traitor to further the plot, she was discarded like she was a random extra.

- Emerie’s relationship with Hemlock. We are led to believe that he basically raised her, instilling in her the idea that she had no chance without him and owed her purpose and “safety” to him. You can’t tell me that this didn’t deeply affect her struggle and eventual decision to break away from all that and choose to help the kids, basically betraying Hemlock. I get that the show only had so much screen time and Emerie is a supporting character in season 3 at best, but common, she has more tension with Dr. Scalder than Hemlock while the potential for this rich deep conflict between them is right there.

I can probably list more smaller examples but this is getting long and I don’t want to go on any more tangents, so, finally, the biggest example of lack of closure and tendency of TBB writing to display foreshadowing that leads nowhere:

Tech’s death.

First of all, I’ll die on the hill that it wasn’t denial or delusion that led to such a big portion of the audience to believe that Tech didn’t really die in s2. If we look at the facts:

- there was no body

- it’s the finale of season 2 out of 3, pretty early for one of the main titular characters to get killed off

- the only/last character to allegedly see Tech after his fall is a villainous scientist who is known to experiment on clones specifically

- not a fact but: the whole scene with Hemlock presenting Tech’s goggles to Hunter was incredibly suspicious. In hindsight, I think the whole purpose of it was so that the Batch got Tech’s goggles back in their possession as a memento (and to show how evil Hemlock is to rub it into Hunter’s face like that) but it was executed in a way that read as something much more. It read as if Hemlock was going out of his way to convince us/Hunter of Tech’s death, but with us knowing who Hemlock is, his background in experimenting on clones, everything screams at us to not trust a word he says. Is it really so surprising that so many of the viewers immediately jumped at the conclusion that something more was going on there?

- Hunter’s (lack of) reaction/immediate narrative fall-out. More on that later as I address lack of emotional impact of Tech’s death in s3.

- it’s Star Wars. And there was no body.

So yeah, to me, it is completely justified that so many people read that whole thing as open to speculation at the very least, foreshadowing Tech’s survival at most.

Personally, I was 70% sure Tech was truly dead prior to s3, but not because the text told me so, but because at that point I was used to the show’s writing regularly sending out mixed signals, and a part of me was resigned to Tech’s death becoming another example of the writer’s intent clashing with their accidental empty foreshadowing.

As season 3 aired and the whole CX-2 plot was unfolding alongside continued lack of closure for Tech’s fate, my hope for Tech Lives reveal grew and grew, but in the end my initial doubt was proven right, unfortunately.

Oh, CX-2.. what a mess. You can’t tell me the creators went over all of these scenes, all of these lines, looked at the whole picture and *didn’t* see how it was incredibly easy to interpret CX-2 as potentially being Tech with all these little potential parallels. “Domicile” alone.

If they didn’t want us to entertain the idea that it could be Tech, they could’ve done it differently, but for some reason, they chose to leave that space for speculation. My question is, why?

If they truly wanted us to believe Plan 99 was it, Tech’s Noble End that we were supposed to take as this dramatic super emotional ultimate sacrifice and all that, then why would they not make it clear that CX-2 couldn’t be Tech? Why breed confusion? And breed confusion they did. It’s hard for me to believe they didn’t foresee the “ohh is it Tech?” speculation.

When so many members of the audience immediately and individually jump at a theory or have the same take away from the story they are being told, yet the authors say it wasn’t meant to be taken that way, something went seriously wrong with the writing.

I don’t like to speculate on such things because we will probably never know for certain, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they had at some point considered CX-2 being Tech or at least something more for the whole CX plot thread, but changed and reshuffled things at the last minute for whatever reasons.

Which is fine and understandable. But it brings me to the heart of my biggest issue with how Tech’s fate was handled:

lack of impact and closure.

Let’s disregard all the Tech Lives theories for a moment and focus on what we did get: Tech, one of the main characters, getting killed off at the end of s2 out of 3, for stakes and consequences and NOTHING else. When I say nothing, I mean nothing.

Imagine, for a moment, he survived and stayed with the Batch. Nothing would have changed, in the grand scheme of things. Nothing. We wouldn’t have had a few obligatory “Tech mention, everyone feel sad now” throwaway lines/goggle shots and whatnot, sure, but that’s it.

Tech dying didn’t change the trajectory of the plot in any way, nor did it affect any of the other characters in a way that changed their trajectory. And anything less is simply not enough to justify killing one of your main characters. Stakes and consequences ain’t it.

Consider Mayday, for example: a supporting character, but his death in s2 affected Crosshair in such a way it completely redirected his journey, AND in s3 we got an episode that cemented the impact Mayday had on Crosshair and provided emotional closure for them. That’s a narratively meaningful death.

Tech’s death was not meaningful to the narrative beyond removing him from it. That’s why so many Tech fans insist he deserved better treatment: not only was he not present in one third of the show physically, but he lacked any sort of presence even in death. His absence was never processed or grieved by any of the main characters and so by extension by the audience.

And before anyone starts with the whole ‘they are soldiers/they had no time to grieve/etc’ arguments, it is the responsibility of the writers to provide the space for all of that emotional impact. It they don’t, there is no impact.

A few reactions here and there, moments of missing Tech as a person and a brother, not an asset, anything would have made this whole thing easier to accept.

The lines that we did get, from Omega mentioning the stuff Tech taught her to Echo commenting on how decryption would be easier if Tech was with them to “Clone Force 99 died with Tech” from Crosshair - each and every single one of those lines linked to Tech’s functions as part of the squad, his usefulness, but we didn’t get a single line in remembrance of him as a person of his own, no one missed or remembered him for himself or his personal impact on them.

Just one line from Omega about how he taught her about change being a constant part of life or whatever, or Wrecker making a comment on how Tech used to info dump about stuff, anything would have instantly provided that much needed sense of “he was here, he was a person and is still a part of us”. Instead, Tech was killed off to show that messing with the Empire is dangerous and risks are real, I guess, and immediately lost any and all presence within the story.

We never even got to see Crosshair’s or Phee’s reactions to losing him.

Speaking of Crosshair, that’s a whole other example of complete lack of closure: they never closed the loop on the family being reunited again after initially leaving Crosshair behind, and with Tech dead, it’ll forever stay broken.

They could’ve given this a bittersweet yet meaningful spin if they developed the angle of Tech dying on a mission to bring Crosshair home, making a sacrifice so Crosshair had a chance.

Instead, the moment Tech dies, we get Hunter (and through him, the narrative) immediately abandon the idea/plot thread of going to rescue Cross all while saying “let’s not waste Tech’s sacrifice”. Sacrifice for what? Clearly Hunter doesn’t see it as a sacrifice for Crosshair’s sake, so, what, to make sure the rest of them makes it from the mission? The mission to save Crosshair. That mission. Right.

I see people talking about Tech’s noble sacrifice that ensured his family got to live and eventually have their happy ending, but all I can think about is how the creators chose to have him die on a mission that was immediately abandoned and the only take away from that whole sub plot was Tech’s own demise.

And after Crosshair is back with the Batch, his reaction to Tech’s death is never explored at all.

So yes, to me Tech deserved so much better. If you are going to kill off a major character, it must be necessary to be compelling. The way I see it, Tech’s death was not necessary at all because it didn’t change anything. And if it was meant to, the creators failed to communicate that by choosing not to explore the emotional impact of it and not structuring certain story beats in a more precise manner.

To wrap this up, if the way Tech’s death was handled was satisfying for you, that’s valid and I’m glad for you. For me, unfortunately, it’s completely the opposite and will forever remain the biggest and most unfortunate low point in the story.

And while I welcome anyone to share their own perspective if they wish, please don’t take this post as an invitation for debate, since there is no one right or wrong way to interpret or be affected by art.

[moviecritc]

Hi! Could you do a driver!reader who is dating Max and is in ferrari and the whole Carlos thing is happening to her so in Australia she ignores team orders and goes to win the race. Charles is mad at her and in the post race interview when asked about it she is just like "Happy multi 21 day everyone" and like Max is so fucking proud his gf is in her reputation era 💅💅💅

on the edge ⋆ max verstappen

pairing: max verstappen x driver!reader

word count: 1.7K

warnings: charles leclerc being himself (a bitch)

a/n: this is my first request it makes me very very happy!! thanks anon for your request, i hope you like this. i love max with all my heart and i love writing about him aswell.

just wanted to tell you guys that for the requests you can ask for reader and oc, even though when it's not a request it'll probably be an oc bc i love to give names to my characters <3

masterlist | wattpad | letterboxd

Y/N didn't have a seat for the upcoming Formula 1 season, and that stressed her out quite a bit. She and Charles had been teammates for three years, and she really thought Ferrari would keep her on the team, but upon learning that Lewis Hamilton was leaving Mercedes, they were the first to snatch him up and turn their backs on her.

Now she had two options: give up, pray to sign with Williams or Haas, or outperform herself this season and force her way into one of the top five teams. And for now, she had chosen the second option. P3 in the first race and in the top five in the second. She was extremely motivated for Australia.

Y/N loved the view of the fireworks from the podium, the champagne, and, above all, celebrating with Max Verstappen. Because let's not lie, it was obvious that Max would be on most of the podiums.

They kept their relationship out of the media. Being coworkers, neither of them wanted their relationship to hinder their success in Formula 1, but that didn't mean they didn't support each other every time the other achieved something.

Max had been with her throughout her Formula 1 career. They were the same age, but when Max debuted in the competition, she was still in Formula 2, battling against Albon and Russell for the title. A year before his debut, Y/N got a spot at Alpha Tauri as a reserve driver. It was in that year that Max and she started a relationship, at first quite casual and sporadic until they realized they were too obsessed with each other not to formalize it. And four years later, they were still together, sharing an attic in Monaco and competing together for the championship.

"It's going to be great for both of us, I'm sure," Y/N nodded. Before each race, they had a kind of ritual where they wished each other good luck, hugged, and kissed.

"I see a Y/Nstappen 1-2," Max assured before giving her a long kiss, resting his arms on his girlfriend's waist.

"I hope so,"

"Oh, come on. You're starting fourth, it'll be bad if you don't get on the podium," Max said. He knew her situation in Formula 1 was tense and did everything he could to make her feel good and positive. Max loved racing with her, and if she ended up off the grid next season, he would probably suffer from seasonal depression.

They kissed once more and were about to hug when someone knocked on Max's door to get them to the drivers' parade. They couldn't complete their little ritual, but neither of them gave it too much importance.

They went out to the parade where she was asked about her future in Formula 1, as they had been doing since the season started. That also annoyed her, would it always be like this from now on? Would everything be oriented towards whether she was unemployed or not? She answered with the best smile she could and ended the interview as quickly as possible.

She returned to Max, who was leaning on the fence of the truck they were being taken in for the parade. She leaned on the railing, holding it with her hands. Then Max discreetly placed his hand on hers, making her smile at the contact. Max wasn't very fond of physical contact, but if he could manage to brush against her shoulder, he would, maintaining professionalism wasn't as easy as it seemed.

"How's it going, mates?" Surprisingly, Leclerc approached them to start a conversation, first fist bumping with Max and then with Y/N, pressing his lips a little.

Their relationship as teammates was quite complicated at the moment. She was killing it in the few races that had passed, while Charles was just doing okay. Plus, although when Y/N joined the team, Charles and she had gotten along very well, that year they had been growing apart for obvious reasons.

They talked for a while about the race and expectations, especially Max and Charles, while Y/N disconnected from the situation a bit. Sometimes she was surprised that Charles and Max got along so well.

"Good luck today, Y/N," Charles said before leaving with Gasly.

Y/N blinked and looked at Max, puzzled. "What did he mean by that?"

"What do you mean?" Max frowned a little.

"He wished me luck, as if he thought I needed it," she insisted, biting her cheek.

"Everyone needs some luck, Y/N," Max said, knowing how nervous she could get when something didn't fit in her head.

"He didn't say anything to you," Y/N argued, crossing her arms.

"I mean…" Max tilted his head a little, eliciting a little smile from Y/N. "Don't dwell on it too much, you'll do great."

She loved that, how Max was able to lift her spirits in any situation, getting a little smile out of her. She loved him for that.

The parade ended, and they each went to their garage, fist bumping as a farewell because anything else would cause a stir in the media. In the Ferrari garage, her engineer commented on the strategies that focused on supporting and defending Charles even if he started two positions below her.

She gave Charles a short glance before going to the cars and taking their respective positions. It’s light and away we go. Y/N was so focused on passing Lando Norris that she didn't realize her boyfriend was no longer in first place, actually, he wasn't there anymore. She asked the engineers what had happened; Max had had some problems with the brakes and had retired from the race. "Don't fuck with me," she said, not fully believing it. "Is Max okay?"

"We don't know, focus on the race," her engineer emphasized.

"When you know, tell me, please," Y/N added, without receiving a response. There had been no accident, no red flag, so he was probably fine. But if there was smoke and sparks, there was always a chance that something had happened to him in the pits.

Y/N took a couple of breaths and refocused on the race. She looked on the bright side; she was third and had a chance to win. A few laps later, she managed to overtake Lando Norris. She pitted, and in the last third of the race, she was in first place. Behind her was Charles, so she thought they would change the strategy, and he would be the one defending the position.

"Y/N, let Charles pass," her engineer said, taking her by surprise.

"What?" Y/N practically shouted. "But I'm in first,"

"They're team orders, let him pass,"

"He's slow! He's over half a second behind me, letting him pass will make me slow down!" She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Y/N."

"If he can overtake me, let him, but I'm not letting him pass. I'm winning this fucking race."

And so it was. Y/N crossed the finish line first, and when she got out of the car, Max was there to greet her with a hug. He tried to make her not notice that there were hardly any people from her team there, but Y/N realized it, and her gaze darkened a little. Still, Charles came second, and when he parked his car, several Ferrari mechanics went to congratulate him.

Max watched Y/N, worried that she would take it badly. But then he saw her exchange a triumphant

look with Charles, who, upon seeing her, turned serious. And if that wasn't enough, she blew a kiss to Charles and then went with Max, who put an arm around her shoulders.

"That was incredible," Max said.

"The race or Charles's face?" she questioned, with an ironic smile.

"Both. I thought you'd be sad because there was no one to greet you,"

"You were there,"

"From your team, I mean," Max explained.

"You and I are a team, Maxie. Have you never thought about that?" She looked at him with a smile. "You're right, we are,"

"Are you okay?" Y/N asked. "I got quite worried when you DNF’d."

"I'm okay, no serious damage,"

"And emotionally?"

"I'm fine. Proud of you, above all," Max nodded. "Now go celebrate your podium, I'll be watching you from below,"

They gave each other a brief kiss on the cheek, not caring too much about the cameras; she had just won the race, she deserved at least a kiss from her boyfriend. She received her prize with a smile and celebrated the podium with Charles and Lando, more with Lando than with Charles. The McLaren driver had congratulated her countless times that day, but Charles barely spoke to her.

"Are you okay, mate?" Y/N asked, knowing what was coming.

"You didn't follow team orders," Charles said directly.

"Oh, right. That," she shrugged, raising her eyebrows. "You came second, Charles. It's not that bad,"

"Damn, but if they tell you to let me pass, you let me pass. What does it matter to you?" he raised his voice a little.

"What does it matter to you? You have your golden seat at Ferrari. Some of us have to work really hard to have a seat, crazy, right?" Y/N rolled her eyes with a smile and turned around, leaving Charles with a word on his lips.

Y/N reached the interview area, where Lando and Oscar were doing their respective interviews.

"Y/N! You won the race by disobeying team orders, does it feel the same as winning a race fair and square?" a man asked.

"Fair and square? I was fast enough to cross the line first, the rest weren't. I think that's how a race is supposed to be won," she argued. She smiled widely; she saw Max was also around, waiting for his turn for interviews.

"Don't you have any remorse?" he questioned.

"Not one,"

She ended the interview after that; she didn't feel like explaining. As she turned around, she found Max with an almost mischievous smile. They fist bumped, and he went to do the interview. "Max, can we ask you about the win of your girlfriend?"

"About Y/N,"

"Yes, about Y/N," he nodded.

"I'm extremely proud of her, it's her second victory, and even though I had to retire, I'm glad she won this race,"

"Even given the circumstances of the victory?" the reporter questioned.

"With the circumstances of the victory," Max assured with a broad smile.

[electronickingdomfox]

"The Lost Years" review

Novel from 1989, by J. M. Dillard. It was supposed to be the first in a trilogy of novels, filling the story gap between the end of the series and TMP. The trilogy as such never materialized, though technically there are other three books that belong to the "Lost Years" series. If I'm not mistaken, however, those have little in common with this one, and don't really pick up the story where Dillard left it (I'd need to read them to be certain, though). In any case, it doesn't matter much, as the story here is pretty self-contained and doesn't ask for any sequel.

As a book to "fill the gap" between series and movies, it doesn't really offer all that much. We end up knowing what we already did (that Spock enters Kolinahr, that Kirk becomes an Admiral, etc.), while most of the events before TMP still remain a mystery. The stuff about Vulcans' abilities is a bit of a stretch too, as they're given outright magical powers. And towards the end this seems rather a Star Wars story, with Jedi vs. Sith battles, rather than anything Star Trek. It is, nonetheless, an exciting adventure with some reflective and poignant moments. I also enjoyed the over-the-top villain, and his absolutely terrifying powers.

Kirk's backstory with Admiral Lori Ciana (from the TMP novelization) is fleshed out. And Ciana is given a more complex personality, beyond being a mere one-note lover in Kirk's past. Spock, though still not a Kolinahr student, is already in the path of detachment from everyone and everything. And the tragic events at the end will push him finally into that direction. He gets betrothed and almost married to a Vulcan woman, though. McCoy, for his part, partakes in his favorite pastime: being a damsel in distress and suffering all kinds of indignities. From being kidnapped by a madman, to being molested by a monstrous alien female, losing two thousand credits in a brief phone call, or being locked in a Romulan brig. As is the staple with Dillard's novels, he's a bit more pathetic and cowardly than his usual self. The major guest character, Dr. Keridwen Llewellyn, is an anthropologist interested in religious studies, and thanks to her inquiries we learn some interesting bits about Vulcan katras (which seem to borrow from Duane's "Spock's World"). Not exactly a Mary Sue, she has nonetheless unusual powers, like predicting the future or being unreadable by Vulcan telepaths. She gets even more powers by the end, and of course saves the day and the galaxy's future. Dillard's tendency of "Mary Sueing", however, is a bit more toned down here. There are also cameos for the original characters of her previous novels (most notably "Bloodthirst"), which will be confusing for anyone who didn't read those. Fortunately, they just appear in a brief section, and just to tie things up. Kevin Riley and Uhura also make appearances, which feel rather shoehorned in this context. Doesn't Starfleet have more personnel than the dozen or so seen in the series?

Some spoilers under the cut:

The first chapters are more slow paced, as they deal with the consequences of the five-year-mission’s end, and the crew drifting away. Kirk’s motivations and state of mind at this point get the more realistic, mature treatment, in my opinion. Admiral Nogura puts him in a really difficult situation: accept a desk job as an Admiral, or resign from Starfleet, with no in-between. So Kirk ends up accepting, with the condition, however, that he’ll be working for Admiral Ciana and maybe, maaaybe he’ll get the Enterprise back in the end. Ciana is an ambitious, brilliant woman, who wants to make a career as mediator for difficult conflicts in the Federation. Thus Kirk is promised some action along her, as they travel to distant planets and get entangled with problematic cultures. Ciana lacks Kirk’s field expertise and his flair for “creative diplomacy”, and Nogura wants her to learn from Kirk. Something that she resents at first, though they soon warm up to each other, while we witness the first sparkles of romance between them. The romance angle doesn’t add a lot to their relationship, but in this case the story is just following what Roddenberry established in his TMP novelization.

Spock’s motivations for resigning are less clear-cut. Apparently he’s so hurt by Kirk accepting the Admiral job, that he throws a massive temper tantrum and says “to hell with everything, I’m going back to Ma and Pa’s home!”. But really, what did he expect Kirk to do? It’s not like he was given a lot of choices… So well, Spock goes back to Vulcan, with the intention of teaching at the Vulcan Academy of Sciences, and takes a wife (or at least gets betrothed to her). His wife, T’Sura, seems like a cool person, though we don’t get much insight about her.

For his part, McCoy has been studying medicine among the Fabrini. But after discovering that Natira has (obviously) moved on with her life since they met, and married a different man, he sinks into a major depression and starts drinking way too much. I mean, if marrying Natira was so important for him, why on earth didn’t he stay in Yonada when given the opportunity!? (specially since he just had a single year of life at the moment…). Whatever. The thing is, McCoy is giving lectures these days, along his colleague Dr. Keridwen Llewellyn. And this brings them both to Vulcan, where they meet Spock. Keridwen has always had the ability to perceive someone’s impending death, as well as being “esper-blind” (that is, a complete lack of telepathic ability, which means that Vulcans are unable to read her mind). She makes a tarot reading for Spock at a bar, to show her divination skills. But the cards show death for Spock, or McCoy, or both, which upsets her greatly.

Meanwhile, Kirk and Ciana meet with several ambassadors at Starfleet HQ. In particular, with the Inari ambassador, who requires Starfleet’s assistance to contain the terrorist attacks of their neighbours, the Djanai. Both cultures belong to the same alien species, but while the Inari are technologically advanced, the Djanai are traditional and religious, and resent the Inari for taking up their sacred lands. Sabotage occurs during the meeting, the Inari ambassador is seriously injured, and the Djanai terrorists kidnap Sarek and Uhura (the latter rather by mistake) and escape with them. Ciana and Kirk’s mission will be now to rescue the hostages, as well as ensure peace talks between the two warring cultures. A difficult task, since both parties absolutely refuse to talk with each other.

Back in Vulcan, McCoy, Spock and Keridwen are staying at Gol among the Kolinahr disciples, because Keridwen is interested in their mysticism and McCoy just wants to be alone. However, the doctor finds the Vulcan night way too warm to sleep, so he chooses to stay at their scout vessel, enjoying the air conditioning and drinking gin tonics. Unfortunately for him, this is also the night where Sekar, a Kolinahru, decides to steal the katra of an ancient and evil Vulcan sorcerer from pre-Reformation times, Zakal. This old High Master was the sworn enemy of Surak and his pacifism, and among his many charming abilities was melting his enemies’ skins from their faces. Sekar wants to resurrect the old ways and free Vulcan from Surak’s teachings, and to accomplish this he needs to bring Zakal’s powers to the Romulans. Sekar merges with Zakal and steals the scout, with McCoy still sleeping inside. Then begins a horrifying journey for the doctor, as the evil Zakal and the well-intentioned (yet misguided) Sekar switch personalities from time to time. However, McCoy is kept alive, mostly because Zakal finds him amusing… for the moment. The current High Master of the Kolinahr is alerted about the katra’s theft, and accompanies Spock and Keridwen in a second scout to rescue McCoy and defeat Zakal.

From this point on, the narrative alternates between Kirk’s dealings among the Djanai in their native planet, and McCoy’s painful experiences as hostage of Zakal. Though eventually, both threads merge when Sekar arrives at Djanai, expecting to meet his Romulan contact, and instead finds Kirk, having just rescued Sarek and Uhura. In the last part, all parties involved chase Sekar/Zakal to the Neutral Zone and aboard a Romulan ship. Keridwen’s esper-blindness makes her the choice to confront Zakal, since the sorcerer can’t read her thoughts or control her. But their final battle will also mean for her the ultimate sacrifice. Will she turn around the cards and prevent Spock and McCoy’s prophesied deaths? (well, we already know she will, but just pretend you don’t!).

Spirk Meter: 3/10*. There’s the fact that Spock resigns from Starfleet just because he can’t keep serving with Kirk as Captain. But they interact little in the novel, and those interactions are full of resentment. Though at one point Kirk imagines Spock talking in his head, as a way to help him make a decision.

More significant are the scenes between McCoy and Kirk, or McCoy and Spock. In the case of Kirk, he first comments appreciatively on the doctor’s civilian clothes, and how they bring out the color of his eyes, and the silver in his hair. And later Kirk ensures McCoy that there are many good reasons why Natira should have waited for him; among them, that she’d be waiting for Leonard McCoy… For his part, the doctor has no qualms about shouting at Nogura’s face, enraged by the pain he’s causing Kirk. Once McCoy is kidnapped, there are two things that are distracting Kirk from his duties at Djanai: his recent kiss with Ciana… and McCoy’s situation. And despite Spock’s warning that the Admiral shouldn’t get involved with Zakal, Kirk nonetheless follows to rescue the doctor as a dashing hero. After bringing him out of the Romulan brig, there’s a lot of arm grabbing and supporting the weakened McCoy.

As for Spock, there are several tender moments. When Spock comes to the doctor’s cabin to say goodbye before leaving the Enterprise (and McCoy welcomes him half dressed and just out of bed), McCoy is in the brink of tears and confesses that he’s gonna miss Spock the most. He also shakes his hand, despite Vulcan reservations, noticing how strong and warm is… yeah. When they reunite again during McCoy’s lecture in Vulcan, the doctor runs to Spock shouting his name, and almost grabs his hand again. Spock admits that he missed McCoy too, and this makes the latter beam with joy. Then there’s their sad farewell at the very end, where McCoy refuses to believe that he’ll never see Spock again, and is choking on tears once more. Apart from this, it’s noteworthy that Spock’s tarot reading (his fate, so to speak) would also involve McCoy in it. And Spock’s worry about McCoy makes him lose concentration, so Zakal manages to detect them.

However, despite all this, most of the main characters’ angst is diverted to Keridwen during the course of the story. And she seems to be as important to them as the others, or even more! To the point that Spock’s decision to pursue Kolinahr at the end has nothing to do with Kirk or McCoy, but is prompted by Keridwen’s fate. So there’s a certain “no homo” feel about the whole deal.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[bartletslesbians]

I'm rewatching West Wing and Amy Gardner was just introduced.

I am trying very hard to like her but it's really not working. Please give me propaganda, she seems like a cool character in theory.

Ohhhh hell yes! I absolutely love this question (and I'm so flattered you asked me? You know I love talking about any of the women on this show but especially the disliked ones lmao)

Okay. Now I wanna say that I completely understand why she rubs people the wrong way. One thing I'd like to start with is that, in order for the show's portrayal of feminist issues to work, she has to be Like That, and that's really shameful to see? In the same episode where she's introduced, CJ is arguing about Qumari women's rights, and in order to not to have to dig too deep into the actual things she's saying, she is written to be so stupidly over the top and emotional and unprofessional for most of the episode, that even if you start out agreeing with her, she loses you because of the way she's acting. Similarly, the temp calling out Sam's comment in Night Five, written to sound as dramatic as can be, so her actual point doesn't need to be taken seriously.

Amy Gardner is the embodiment of that type of writing. Her whole character seems to embody the "angry feminist" who might have a good point or two, but you just can't take her too seriously because "she's always irate about something".

That framing means that if you just never vibe with her? Can't blame you. It's a major (and I don't think accidental) flaw in how she's written. It also means that my main suggestion is to try and look past that, in a way? See it for a writerly Thing, and not the character's own fault? I'm not sure how much sense that makes put into words.

But okay. Things I love about Amy Gardner!

One of the things I really adore about her, honestly, IS that she ruffles a lot of feathers with the way she acts and the things she argues. She knows what she believes, and she's not a part of the administration, she's working for several feminist lobbying organisations and such. This means it's not her responsibility to be nice to republicans or balance any budgets or make sure centris democrats don't get too offended; her responsibility is to make the white house listen to feminist concerns (and point out the myriad of ways in which they fail to). And she is not afraid, in any way, to be seen as too much, too unlikeable, too demanding, too ANYTHING, in her pursuit of real feminist policies. Which, even today, women are punished for being too loud, too mean, too aggressive, too anything, so quickly; I love that she does not give a damn. I love that unapologetic energy around her.

And I like that she does a lot of different things in that vein! We see her pursue that agenda working for Abbey, we see her run the Women's Leadership Coalition, we hear that she was a director at EMILY'S list, we see her work with that temporary democratic presidential candidate (and explicitly tell Josh that she pokes the President BECAUSE she loves him and believes in him, she just doesn't want to see him drift to the center too much), we see Santos call Amy for debate prep because he knows she's helped dozens of Congresswomen with their debates and campaigns. She has her loud opinions, but she's also spent a career putting her money and time and experience right where her mouth is. And I love that drive.

Another piece of propoganda is to ignore her relationship with Josh if you have to. I think they're a fun temporary thing, personally, there's chemistry and matching levels of insanity. But, especially from a josh/donna perspective, and the fact that it very obviously would not work longterm, I get that that's hard to enjoy! Amy's character suffers from being almost entirely written around being Josh's love interest (similar to how Andy suffers from not existing in the story outside of Toby's plots). Like, one of Amy's most loveable moments by far, in my opinion, is when she's having drinks with Abbey, CJ, and Donna, and Josh is not really talked about. Or when she's coaching Santos, and they don't have to talk about Josh. Bless Josh Lyman, but it helps to think about Amy as a person outside of him, immensely. (Imagine an Amy Gardner but she's single and a good friend of CJ or Abbey or Donna? Or still with Josh, but given more moments developing her character outside of him?)

And then, personally, I just love the chaos. Just like how I enjoy seeing Toby at his desk burning papers he's writing on, and the ridiculous lengths Charlie goes to pranking CJ, I love when these characters are a little over the top. Amy has more of those moments than anyone else, and some ARE bothersome, that's fair! (Which, imo, does come back to "she has to be a little insane, lest we take her policies too seriously", but alas). The dead fish? Overdoing it. But personally the phone in the stew? Like yeah, RUDE, but also it's immediately followed by her cutting her OWN phone cord, and it's followed by Josh getting her fired, so I love it as an example of how over the top both of them are willing to go to do their job. (Which is why they like each other, and why it'll never work). I think part of really enjoying her character is taking those moments for the dramatics they are and enjoying that. Where I think part of it, not to get back to Josh but, Josh clearly does not seem to mind outside of being frustrated over the issue itself. The phone and the job aren't the end for them, we still have a season and a half of their chaos to go, so I don't want to take it as more of an offense than Josh himself does? They're two impulsive and competitive people playing the game, and that's fun to watch as long as they're both vibing with it.

Some small moments I love with her: the fact that she plays nintendo, her practicing balloon animals for her nephew, giving Santos the advice of always keeping extra pantyhose in your bag, being SO direct about "are you dating your assistant?" and "are you in love with Josh?", resigning as COS of the First Lady because she knows when she's not in the right place and she's not one to pretend, the whole ice cream eating thing is cute as fuck, the way she's playing with Abbey's dress when they're drinking, the way she eats the shrimp during Process Stories, the fact that she runs a huge betting pool on election night. She is SUCH a chaotic character in this sense. I love watching her.

But in general, I think it really comes down to that she's confident and sexy and so loud about her opinions, designed to rub you the wrong way while having so much to say and putting in so much work for real important causes. She's a little out of her mind, she's ready to fight at a moment's notice, she's not trying to get anybody to like her. She exists so incredibly unapologetically, and I think that is my personal favourite thing about her. There is no attempt at making herself more palatable, and that will naturally lead to big chunks of the characters and the fandom disliking her, but I genuinely think it's fun and refreshing to see. She doesn’t give a damn, while caring a Lot about the issues that actually matter. It's admirable.

[planckstorytime]

Your Journey Ends: A Parting Retrospective on Dragon Age (Part Five)

V. There Can Be No Peace

In keeping with the alliterative naming scheme we devised for Origins with “death vs defiance”, I’d like to propose that Dragon Age II’s core thematic tension is between freedom and futility. Numerous characters and groups strive to secure better futures for themselves, often risking their lives for the promise of freedom. Yet time and again, these efforts are met with failure. Very few of Dragon Age II’s stories have happy endings. Whereas Origins usually gave the player ideal ways to resolve quests (expelling Connor’s demon with the help of the Circle, breaking the werewolf curse, etc.) and gave opportunities for each of its major characters to come out on top in the end, DA2, by contrast, drags its characters further down the more they struggle. Whether undone through their own faults or plagued by misfortune, characters in Dragon Age II, despite their earnest efforts to achieve freedom and sanctuary, often end their journeys worse off than when they started.

Take perhaps the most deeply flawed individual in the game, Anders. He wants nothing more than to ensure the freedom of mages. In the Kirkwall Circle of Magi (charmingly called the “Gallows”), mages are subject to stringent restrictions, coercion, and violence. As alluded to earlier, it’s described more like a concentration camp than a cloistered academy. Anders’s desire to help the spirit of Justice from Origins’s “Awakening” expansion leads him to adopt the spirit as its new host. But his enmity at the injustice suffered by mages warps the spirit into one of Vengeance, recursively fueling Anders’s righteous anger. No matter what he tries, though, the situation in Kirkwall never gets any better – templar abuses run rampant, and mages succumb to despair and possession by demons. In desperation, Anders resorts to terrorism, bombing the city’s Chantry and killing the moderate Grand Cleric Elthina. His expressed goal is one of accelerationism – by removing the centrist negotiators of compromise through such a brazenly violent act, the templars will aim to punish all mages for his crime, thus forcing them to stand up and defend their lives. In his quest to liberate his fellow sufferers, Anders drags them into a revolution that will only condemn them to more fear, suspicion, and scorn. If that doesn’t seem self-sabotaging enough, Anders can strangely be persuaded by a rival Hawke to battle on behalf of the templars and atone by forcefully quelling the rebellion he started. In either case, Anders’s struggle for mage freedom arguably makes things worse.

Merrill similarly wants to restore the elven people to their former glory, freeing them from the indignity they endure as a migratory, stateless society. In trying to repair an Eluvian – a relic from the ancient elven empire – Merrill deals with a powerful demon. In an attempt to protect Merrill from the demon’s trickery and eventual possession, her clan leader allows herself to be possessed, forcing Merrill to kill her. Depending on player choice, she might also be forced to slaughter the rest of her clan, who turn hostile upon discovering what has transpired. Regardless, Merrill loses her status, her mentor, and her home to her well-intentioned ambitions.

Fenris, having freed himself from slavery, nevertheless finds himself hounded by the envoys of his former master seeking to reclaim him. He winds up spending over half a decade in Kirkwall, lying in wait inside his master’s former mansion, awaiting the chance to kill him. He feels, perhaps correctly, that he will never be free so long as his master lives, and thereby shackles himself to that man’s fate. Upon finally confronting and dispatching his abuser, Fenris learns from his estranged sister that he had previously bartered for the freedom of her and her mother. That freedom, however, was “no boon.” Despite all that Fenris sacrificed for himself and his family, they’re all left feeling hollow in the end.

Sebastian Vael, an exiled nobleman turned Chantry acolyte, inevitably fails his goal to live a peaceful, pious life. He is unable to convince Grand Cleric Elthina to abandon her post, knowing that seditious mages want her dead. As such, she is killed by Anders, and Sebastian commits himself to avenging her, even if that means reclaiming his old title as the prince of Starkhaven.

Even among the antagonists, trial and suffering do not mete out justice or relief. The theft of the Tome of Koslun forces the Arishok and his qunari army to remain in Kirkwall for years, where they’re subject to discrimination, violence, and an unending showcase of the city’s (perceived) uncivilized depravity. As his patience wears thin, the Arishok becomes further trapped by his situation – unable to leave without the Tome (which had been stolen once more by Isabela), and unable to bear witness to Kirkwall’s systemic injustice any longer, his only recourse is to launch an insurrection to seize control of the city. The occupation hardly lasts long, and depending on player choices, the Arishok either winds up dead or departs with the Tome and captive Isabela… only for her to escape yet again with the artifact. Despite everything the qunari suffered in their confinement to Kirkwall, their efforts are ultimately fruitless.

Yet nobody epitomizes failure quite like the main character, Hawke. They flee with their family to Kirkwall to seek refuge from the Blight and begin a better life, only to lose one of their siblings on the way there. Once they reach the city, they discover that their family estate has been sold off, and they’re forced to sell themselves into indentured servitude to earn passage through the gates. The rest of the first act sees them preparing for an expedition to the Deep Roads to hopefully strike it rich, thereby securing safety and freedom for either themselves or their mage sister, Bethany. The plan goes awry, as their remaining sibling either dies of Blight poisoning in the Deep Roads, is saved but inducted into the Grey Wardens, or is discovered by the templars anyway. While Hawke does earn their fortune, it brings them neither peace nor safety. Their efforts to locate a serial killer end in failure (or possibly executing the wrong man). The killer courts their widowed mother, then butchers her as part of a twisted ritual to recreate his own dead lover. Instead of living in their Hightown mansion with three of their family members, Hawke is now all alone.

Things get worse when Hawke finds themselves as a pawn between parties trying to stoke fear and hatred against the qunari, provoking a crisis. Even if Hawke tries to recover the Tome of Koslun for the Arishok, they lose it Isabela, igniting the insurrection. Nevertheless, Hawke saves the city and is declared its champion. The peace doesn’t last, as Meredith’s tyranny and Anders’s terrorism reignite the flames of conflict three years later. Kirkwall once again erupts into chaos, and Hawke is powerless to stop it, despite their best efforts. They may even be partially responsible, should they unwittingly assist Anders. Meredith’s own paranoia turns out to be magnified by the red lyrium idol that Hawke and company brought back from the earlier Deep Roads expedition, further implicating them in events. War threatens to devour all of Thedas at the end of Dragon Age II, with Hawke powerlessly positioned at the center of events – and according to some, the center of blame.

“You want my advice? Did you hear what happened to Kirkwall? My advice nearly tore that city apart.”

Failure defines Hawke’s journey. In essence, they tread the inverse of the Warden’s hero’s journey. The Warden stops a war, (potentially) kills Flemeth, and puts an end to a Blighted threat. Hawke unintentionally starts a new war, resurrects Flemeth, and unleashes a new Blighted threat in the form of Corypheus – a failure which precipitates the conflict of Inquisition. I dare say there’s few RPG protagonists that fail quite as hard and quite as consistently as Hawke, and I think that’s novel. It’s borderline innovative to take the standard RPG power fantasy and turn it on its head like that, showcasing a story where a supposed grand hero struggles against external forces, only to fail over and over again. Hawke isn’t some Horatio Alger rags-to-riches caricature, whose diligence and virtue are rewarded. Rather, they’re the bitter Nathanael West-style counterpart – a humanized mockery of an RPG hero. I’ve come to appreciate Dragon Age II more when viewing it through this lens. It’s a tragedy – one where the hero puts up a valiant effort against fate, but fate keeps winning.

Augmenting this, Dragon Age II does a pretty excellent job creating an oppressive atmosphere for Kirkwall. The player can feel the weight of its bloody history, and how its past atrocities ripple across time to beget new ones. From the beginning, refugees are funneled into the city through the Gallows prison, which contains massive statues of weeping slaves from the days of the Tevinter Imperium. Impoverished citizens take up residency in former slave mines, now colloquially known as “Darktown.” There’s even a nearby quarry named the “Bone Pit” after all the slaves that perished there. Hidden codex entries even imply that Kirkwall and surrounding regions are designed to fuel a massive blood magic dynamo, self-perpetuating pain and anguish. DA2 makes the player feel small and inconsequential, simply unable to stand against the weight of this history and the mounting agony of today. At best, players score Pyrrhic victories.

Crafting an RPG around the idea of being specifically disempowering is a risky maneuver, and one that Dragon Age II can be applauded for attempting, to an extent. Because of the aforementioned faults with the game, I don’t think the risks necessarily paid off – or at the very least, the bold changes were judged very harshly on account of their imperfections. The game tailors its quest design and narrative structure around this pattern, communicating the hopeless futility to the player in a way beyond words – by taking the player’s choices, efforts, and agency and throwing them in the trash.

Though I can see more in it now, I initially left Dragon Age II frustrated and full of venom. Its attempts to convey these meanings didn’t gel with me, and by the time I rolled credits, I wanted nothing more to do with the series. I was sure that whatever came next, I simply wouldn’t care.

I had no idea how wrong I was.

Full article: https://planckstorytime.wordpress.com/2025/03/29/your-journey-ends-a-parting-retrospective-on-dragon-age/

[runawaymun]

It's something that I want to do a full write-up on after I finish more more quests (most especially Baizhu's) but I just want to put it out there that I am constantly amazed, as a chronic-illness haver myself, how many characters in Genshin Impact have chronic illnesses, how visible they are, and how well represented they are.

Like, it's extremely difficult to find even one character in a piece of fiction that has a chronic illness (let alone one where it isn't played for laughs, OR otherwise it completely destroys their life and they're fucking miserable, OR it's magically cured).

But Genshin? Dude you trip over a character with a chronic illness every five seconds, it feels like, and I fucking love that. Off the top of my head there's:

Anna (Mondstat), who visibly suffers from her illness and we know her brother struggles to pay for her medicine. But the traveler, through a series of quests, helps them get ahold of an affordable medication to manage (MANAGE, not cure) the illness and to return her quality of life to her.

Little Hongdou (Liyue) - who has an unspecified chronic illness. And she just does. But she's out and about and seems very happy.

Collei (Sumeru, playable) - and sure her illness is fixed by the end of the Sumeru quest, but I don't even care because of how well it's represented. She has hopes, ambitions, dreams. She participates in her work as a forest ranger even though we get visible confirmation that her illness is progressing. The people around her care and are compassionate, and do their best to make sure she takes care of herself, but she is also allowed to just...go out? and do things?? This shouldn't be such a tall order but chronic illness-havers with friends and family members who understand that, hey there are good days and there are bad days -- that's rare in fiction (and IRL for that matter).

Dunyarzad (Sumeru) - her chronic illness is a major plot-driver in an entire fucking archon quest. She has a huge amount of influence on the people around her, and her chronic illness is actually part of the whole reason we even are able to help Nahida in the first place. Her chronic illness is what makes her instrumental to the plot, but it also isn't the only thing about her, and I love that.

Dulphy (Fontaine) - an actress from Furina's story quest. What really struck me about Dulphy is how the people around her interact with her. I was half in tears by the end of the quest -- not even for Furina reasons (yes, that too), but because I was so touched by the fact that a game gave us a character who was unable to follow through with something she said she was going to do (finish her closing performance as the lead actress in a musical), and that was okay. Like, yeah, the people around her were upset -- but they were upset because she hadn't taken great care of herself and had pushed herself past her spoon limit! Nobody (including the narrative itself) treated it as a great failure when she had to call it quits on her performance. Rather, that was treated as a good thing, and they went so far as to explicitly state that her performance up to that point mattered, and that it was a meaningful contribution, even though she couldn't finish. And that just fucking got me, man. Also - again, this is a character where it is explicitly stated "this is a chronic illness. It has good days and bad days and it can only be managed, not cured. And if she pushes herself too hard then she'll need several days to recover." And that's just...part of who she is.

And, of course, Baizhu. (Liyue, playable) My beloved, my blorbo. His chronic illness(es) is an extremely visible part of his character - referenced in his voicelines, his idles, his interactions in quests, the imaginarium theater, and even your teapot house, and his emojis. Hell, he even coughs if you sprint too much with him. Nevertheless, he's arguably one of the strongest healer units in the game from a meta perspective, and from a story perspective he is immensely successful, insanely compassionate, and while he isn't necessarily super kind to himself about it, the people around him are. His chronic illness is part of him, but he is still allowed to inhabit a story where he's the most renowned and beloved doctor in his entire country & just...is an awesome, active person in general, and that means so much to me.

Just. God. I legitimately can't think of another piece of fiction where I have seen myself represented over and over and over again everywhere I look, let alone so kindly. It's genuinely so moving to have so many characters be so visibly chronically ill, and for that to just be part of their character. A neutral thing about them. And to have it be okay when they can't finish things -- even though they said they would, okay when they need to rest, okay when they have to take a break or extra care with themselves. And not just one but so many. I'm sure I'm forgetting some to boot.

(Honorable mention: Qiqi. Like sure she's a zombie but hear me out: visible chronic joint and memory issues, which is something I also deal with and it's just so refreshing to see a character who deals with them, too -- and who has so many people around her who are so kind about it).

[gotouhitori]

Okay, so. I'm in Love with the Villainess. Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou. WataOshi. Whichever title you want to refer to it by.

Before reading or watching it, I wondered why the hell people were holding up this random villainess isekai light novel with an over-the-top masochist main character as a landmark yuri title. Okay sure I don't doubt there's yuri going on, but how can it be so special?

Then I watched the anime. "Huh. The series and its main character are clearly and unambiguously lesbian in a way that so many other series can't bring themselves to be. And it has the most frank discussion of queer issues I think I've ever seen in anime or related media. Yeah, I think I see now, it is a cut above." And both because I've heard the novels get into a few things a little more and because the series now has its hooks in me enough for me to want to read the novels anyway, I read the first novel. And yeah, that does add a bit.

And then I read the second novel. The latter bit of the anime does cover the first bit of the second novel, but it's mostly new territory for an anime-only or anime-first such as myself. And holy fucking shit. Spoilers under the cut.

For one thing, the anime/first novel dropped some trans hints about Yu, and that turns out to be a whole transfem allegory - which isn't unheard of by any means, but it's not especially common in a work where that isn't the main focus. And not only that, but there's an actually explicitly textual transmasc in Rae's past life, who forms part of Rae's motivation to make considerable effort and take considerable risk (up to and including treason) to make sure Yu can live as a girl - once Yu states that is what she wants, it is important to note. Random yuri villainess isekai light novel says trans rights, and will absolutely stand by it.

And then all of the stuff about class and inequality comes to a head, and remember how the game that Rae's in the world of is titled "Revolution"? Yeah. One of those happens. Various hints have been dropped about what happens, largely centred on Rae making efforts to save Claire's neck in the most literal way possible when things really go down. But holy shit does that turn out to be more effort and a much more complex endeavour than it appears at first... or for most of the time while it's going on, for that matter. Ultimately she arranges things so that while the revolution still happens (it is basically inevitable), overall loss of life and suffering is minimised, and the general situation is as good as it possibly could be. By the time the proverbial smoke clears, Rae and Claire are openly living as a couple, which is a lot more than you usually see - one of the things Rae comments on is how in per previous life, too much of the yuri she read ended with at least one of the girls either dead or winding up with a man, which annoyed her enough to write fanfic based on series she likes with unsatisfying endings to fix that. And though the game did have a yuri spinoff, the original - the events of which she was living through and manipulating - was het. The character she winds up with was never supposed to be a romanceable character to begin with.

And that's just the first two of the five novels. Living through and changing the course of an actual revolution and settling down with her partner is just 40% of the whole story. (And less if more novels get published.) I've just started the third novel, and it's certainly looking like the rest is going to be at least as much of a ride as the first two were.

This really is an outstanding series. It's Dungeon Meshi levels of "I cannot stop thinking about it" to me, which if you've seen how much I post about that, says a lot. And I haven't read even half of it yet.

[theia-eos]

Hi, who are your favorite Tellius characters and why?

I did make a tier list of my favorite characters in case you're interested, but I'll say my top five and why here.

Soren. I love the way that he's written. He's closed up and uses his demeanor as a way to keep people from getting close because he's got trauma, but when we see the way he interacts with Ike (especially whenever Aimee is involved) we can see he's capable of being funny and more than just a rude little guy. He's closest to Ike because Ike's the only person he feels safe around, but he's not just a "yes" man to Ike as he'll openly disagree with Ike when giving advice, even if that is out of fear or something less rational. He's written in a very real way, honestly. Most of the Tellius characters are, but his arc across both games just hits me different because he is slowly starting to feel more comfortable in his place in the world. Also I love a good mage/healer combo. My favorite unit type in the series.

Kurthnaga. I'm a sucker for dragons, okay? Ninian is my favorite FE character, and a sad dragon trying to see the best in people and the world? I want more of it. His backstory with his brother and his sister, his looking for his sister, the way he has to help save his sister more suffering despite how much it hurts him (he is terrified of blood and seems distressed by battle to say the very least). The way he has to fight his father, possibly kill his father, to do the right thing? The way that he is very kind to Ike in the first game and goes out of his way to help Ike, despite his father's orders, despite what happened to his brother and sister (which is believed to be dead or w/e by beorc). The way he meets Micaiah, imprisoned by Begnion, probably knowing that's she's Branded and going out of his way to offer her medicine for her injuries despite everything, showing goodwill. I love him.

Micaiah. I'm going to go crazy from the way people who have never played the games talk about her. She is a fundamentally kind and caring person, but she's had to learn to be wary and careful from the world that would sooner bite her hand than accept her help because of what she is, but she still wants to help. She has every reason in the world to be like Soren (admittedly, she has slightly less trauma and shown a kernel of kindness more), but she refuses. In the NA localization, she's sassy, and I like that addition to her character. Her back gets put up against a wall and despite the fact that it is killing her, her hands are tied and she grits her teeth and does something she hates to save the people she wants to protect. Say what you want about the Blood Pacts being contrived or whatever, it is a good exercise in how to get a character to do something they'd never do without making it feel like they're not that character anymore.

Reyson. This is a man whose nature is to be serene and calm and passive and has become hard and cut-throat instead. The world took everything from him and he was not going to take that lying down. Despite all of the hardness and roughness he's given himself, having his little sister back changes him, makes him more open to, not necessarily forgiving everyone, but the world, but he's still never going to be what everyone thinks a heron should be, and nor does he want to be, if he ever wanted to be in the first place, growing up as a childhood friend of Naesala.

Nailah. Confident, casual, and fierce. She took in Rafiel and healed him, learned a new language to be able to be able to go to the lands across the desert once thought lost, but I really do wonder what she thought about it. Where the war between beorc and laguz was still so intense that they had committed genocide against the herons, where slavery still existed, a land that would drive out and ostracize people who are accepted citizens of her own country. She takes in Micaiah and becomes a mentor of a kind to her, helping her be more confident in being a public figure. I think Part 3 would have gone a lot differently if Nailah had been by Micaiah's side the whole time. Also. Laguz queen. All the other most powerful laguz warriors are the kings, but Nailah is a queen and I love her for that alone.

[they-reap-what-we-sow]

20 questions for writers

thank you for the tag @fanfictiongreenirises I finally managed to finish a tag game!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

168- with 44 podfics and the rest are regular fics!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

346,848. unfathomable number who is she where did she come from

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Batman (Batfam) my love my life, but 9-1-1 is a close second with one-offs for a lot of my other passing interests.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Floppy Bird - crack fic that was meant to be an angst fic that I never understood why people liked so much asfhjs

cocoa on a cold night - a classic timby holiday fic that I wrote in the middle of summer, talk about environmental storytelling

secrets un(revealed) - the only purposeful long fic I've ever written, and also the most trope mashing I've ever done with reverse robins, magical realism au, and delicious delicious miscommunications (in my head the only fic that deserves to be in the top five :wheeze: )

Eggshells - vent fic alert !! very embarrassing that people like this I try not to think about it ":)

taking the blade (for you and yours) - a round robin fic written with the server and CHOCK full of Damian suffering.

5. Do you respond to comments?

NO PICTURES. NO COMMENT. I DONT KNOW HOW TO READ.

no jk jk I really really try to but once I start getting behind it's just a whole spiral. these days I have a better chance of replying to a comment on an old fic than a brand new one because I dont want leave them half replied

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

any of my death fics probably? I think with DC a death is a little more inconsequential than other fandoms just because of how often it's unpermanent, so as a concrete answer, I'll say for you (i would cross the line). nothing quite like parental grief.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

happy ending wink-wonk or XD

probably Who The Hell Is Red Hood? - I've done things there with growth and healing that DC HQ would shudder to imagine

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not regularly, thank everything, but the one controversial three-some I posted needed comment regulation lmao

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes and uh, the kinky kind? idk take a look for yourselves I guess

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yes, and they're ALWAYS unserious- Buck from 9-1-1 dating Emma from Friends (yes Ross and Rachel's kid) anyone?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Uh, not by a person? as far as I know? but I have found my fic on those like, document websites??? which is weird lmao just read them on your phones guys not everything needs to be uploaded

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

weee yes! round robin my beloved, and also every fic @canonicallyshort and I have written in our threads. those count. to me. emotionally.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I WILL GO DOWN WITH MY MULTISHIP (which really means I'm never going down at all) but really I dont think I will ever get over Merthur... or Buddie... or- you see what I mean?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

oh god I have so many wip that I am holding out hope for but my biggest WIP is an unpublished hellhole affectionately entitled "Death Pit" by everyone who is working on it- most notably because it features a literal Death Pit, every horror, angst, whump, and trauma trope you can think of, and a cast of characters and a plot thread so long we have 20+ page outline documents that aren't even fully updated... I shudder to think what will become of it one day, I imagine sentience isn't very far off

16. What are your writing strengths?

why is this an interview question. I dont know my strengths really?? um. I have good ideas, that one I'll say. execution is a different story (likely one that will never get told. like the rest of my good ideas)

I also think I do fairly well with scene descriptors. I really like to set a scene because I'm seeing a movie in my head and you all should too!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm down to clown globally! I dont like to use google translate though, so if im writing in another language it's only because SOMEONE on the server is a native speaker and can vouch for my text.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

oh god one direction. head in hands. it was an 'adopted by 1d' fic that I made my mom beta, and turned it in to my 6th grade English teacher as my creative writing assignment. then I made a poem about it. then I wrote a song about it. thankfully it never got published and is trapped in the cursed purple file folder it was 'hidden' in since 7th grade. my first published fic was almost 7 years later with a Gomens fic!

20. Favourite fic you've written?

AHh um. favorite child scene here, but top contenders include: lithium + 5 for its graphic design and medical accuracy, fiery veins on speechless days for its emotional whump that makes me hurt every time I reread it, [PODFIC] wither on the shore which is not a fic I wrote but one of my favorite podfics of @silk-scarlet-ribbons 's works.

tagging (if you wish to participate!) @canonicallyshort @silverandsunflowers @selkienight60 @crows-murder

[sepublic]

The way they immediately start with a full shot of the Forbidden Five, Kur included, almost as if to shut us up… Finally, we get to see Zarkt’s minifigure with the actual hat, where there’s a second row of openings for his mouth to show as I guessed! And also confirmation that Nokt and Rox are keeping their capes, whereas Kur and Drix DO differ with shoulder pads, and Zarkt just has nothing. I was wondering about that. Drix with his hat properly scaled up.

And KUR!!! Mummy vibes, I remember seeing a ‘leak’ claiming Kur as the Master of Sand and for some reason I kept imagining it? And now that they’re an actual mummy with beige coloration…! Just as I hoped, they retained the wrapped-up look for Kur from Bonzle’s flashback; They resemble Drix more, which adds to my theory that the designers consolidated that aesthetic for one of the Five instead of two.

What someone speculated about Kur being white is also technically true; It’s a faded white but I think it counts! Also like how Kur has the vibes of a mummy unearthed from a desert because it reminds me of that other character named Kur from the Secret Saturdays and how he was unearthed…! But of course; Just as Kur has been the one we’ve seen the least of, so too in this trailer do they suffer this!

The Forbidden Five’s designs are interesting in terms of cohesion; Aside from the hats, they don’t have a unifying design trait? It feels like they have this thing where there are unifying traits for some but not all; Kur, Nokt, and Rox have the evil face patterns. Drix, Nokt, and Rox have black outfits. Zarkt and Kur have their robes hanging open while the others are tied together at the waist. Black hats except for Rox and Kur, who have identical brown ones. Again, Kur feels like the outlier with their lack of black coloration.

It’s interesting that Nokt was framed as a potential leader of sorts, and then we suspected Zarkt for various reasons. But in this trailer it feels like Rox is the most important? Hell yeah Evil Women represent!!! I’ve always thought Rox was in a way the most important, since on top of an element and Shatterspin, she had this incredibly busted Theroxian magic that we see her use again, and also created the Wolf Masks. Magic is so diverse it lets Rox do the things nobody else can, so she’s probably in charge of performing all the arcane rituals, as Jordana was when emulating her. With how much of the Forbidden Five’s power ties back to Rox, it seems like the last arc was perhaps setting up the actual focus of the Forbidden Five! Nice…

[rcsilience]

name    ⏤    torrance    cromwell    .    label    ⏤    the   healed    .    age    ⏤    forty    occupation    ⏤    lawyer  (  unemployed  )    .    zodiac    sign    ⏤    capricorn     .    gender    +    pronouns    +    orientation    ⏤    cis    woman    +    she    /    her    +    pansexual    .    inspired    characters    ⏤    jessica  pearson  ,  kim  wexler  ,  cristina  yang  ,  fiona  gallagher  ,  prue  halliwell  ,  annalise  keating  ,  thirteen  hadley  ,  addison  montgomery  ,  kate  castle  ,  spencer  hastings

the  cromwells  don't  really  stand  out  ,  aside  from  having  had  five  kids  running  around  .  they  blended  well  ,  for  the  most  part  ,  which  is  exactly  how  mr  .  cromwell  liked  it  .  he  was  the  head  of  the  anthropology  department  at  the  university  of  michigan  ann  arbor  and  mrs  .  cromwell  was  a  traveling  nurse  .  these  jobs  ,  as  cushy  as  they  made  their  lives  back  home  ,  also  took  them  away  a  lot  and  thus  ,  the  responsibilities  tended  to  fall  onto  their  eldest  daughter  ⏤  enter  torrance  .

they  had  their  grandmother  who  would  stay  with  the  family  ,  cooking  dinner  and  the  such  but  when  she  turned  seventy  and  started  suffering  from  worsening  health  ,  the  heat  of  the  villages  in  florida  called  to  her  .  by  that  point  ,  torrance  was  used  to  picking  up  the  slack  where  her  grandmother  left  it  and  was  in  middle  school  ,  so  all  the  adults  figured  she  could  just  handle  it  all  .  they  were  right  and  wrong

she  hated  the  position  she  found  herself  in  .  she  couldn't  hang  out  with  her  friends  like  everyone  else  because  she  had  to  go  home  and  take  care  of  her  siblings  .  on  top  of  that  ,  her  father  was  especially  strict  about  grades  and  if  she  began  to  slip  ,  he'd  be  the  first  to  point  it  out  .  he  couldn't  tell  you  what  his  children's  favorite  colors  were  but  he  could  recite  their  gpas  .  tori  somehow  managed  to  stay  at  the  top  of  her  class  while  essentially  raising  four  other  kids  .

quickly  ,  she  found  herself  with  a  constantly  packed  schedule  .  tori  was  probably  the  only  person  in  red  creek  more  or  less  unaffected  by  the  events  of  1999  .  she  was  in  the  middle  of  her  sophomore  year  and  cared  more  about  coming  in  first  when  the  debate  team  went  to  nationals  &  nightly  dinners  than  dead  bodies  and  town  uprisings  .  looking  back  ,  she  kinda  feels  embarrassed  sometimes  to  think  that  the  whole  town  was  falling  apart  but  she  was  too  self  involved  to  even  notice

making  it  out  red  creek  and  out  from  under  her  father's  thumb  became  priority  number  one  .  she  was  accepted  on  a  full  ride  to  howard  ,  thanks  to  her  exceptional  resumé  ,  and  was  quick  to  book  it  out  there  .  law  school  was  at  georgetown  ,  her  first  year  out  was  at  a  big  law  firm  in  new  york  after  she  passed  the  bar  on  her  first  try  .  red  creek  wasn't  even  a  thought  in  her  mind  .

while  she  did  well  on  defense  and  okay  in  corporate  ,  tori  was  a  viper  for  her  clients  when  she  was  handling  divorces  .  for  years  ,  she  was  the  go  to  for  rich  wives  looking  to  get  rid  of  their  philandering  husbands  and  wanting  to  take  half  of  their  money  .  then  she  fell  in  love  with  one  of  her  clients  ,  went  a  little  too  hard  ,  and  came  out  the  other  side  with  conflict  of  interest  allegations  (  among  other  ones  )  ,  a  forced  leave  from  her  firm  ,  and  several  phone  calls  unanswered  by  the  woman  who  had  decided  to  get  back  together  with  her  husband  after  all  .

returning  to  red  creek  was  a  spur  of  the  moment  thing  .  she'd  just  boarded  the  first  plane  out  of  new  york  and  paid  a  very  expensive  uber  to  take  her  to  her  childhood  home  ,  where  she  hadn't  even  visited  for  the  last  five  years  .

her  parents  had  long  since  gotten  a  divorce  and  her  dad  was  heading  up  another  anthropology  department  at  georgia  state  .  her  mom  was  traveling  even  more  now  ,  so  that  left  tori  with  an  empty  house  and  nothing  else  to  do  .  she's  sorta  been  floating  around  town  ,  checking  her  email  in  case  she  gets  a  call  to  go  back  or  that's  she  fired  for  good  .  whatever  .  she's  not  stressed  at  all  .

[electronickingdomfox]

"Black Fire" review

Novel from 1983 by Sonni Cooper, and as far as I know, the only TOS novel from this author. This one was pretty fun, fast-paced, and a real page-turner. It's also notorious for being totally nuts, and having Spock going rogue and doing all sorts of crazy things. The intro was written by Theodore Sturgeon, no less. It's also very, veeeery spirk-heavy (and so far, the only K/S novel I've read that seems to get their relationship right, without going over-the-top).

Spock is the central character, and for the most part, the story follows his solo adventures, though Scotty shares some of these exploits in the early chapters. Amazingly, and despite all the unusual stuff that Spock gets involved with, he manages to stay believable. The other characters are all well-written too, even if they take a background place. And the same goes for the original ones, in particular Desus, the Romulan befriended by Spock.

The story takes place shortly before TMP. One thing that surprised me, is that this novel doesn't seem afraid to modify canon in substantial ways. Most of these books are more timid when playing with the characters, and focus on self-contained adventures that have little impact on the whole. Main characters are rarely put in real danger, or suffer grave injuries. Here, on the other hand, we have the entire primary hull of the Enterprise being destroyed and jettisoned in the very first chapter (a year before The Search for Spock blew the ship to pieces). The TMP uniforms are introduced already by the end of the five-year mission. Spock suffers a disabling injury, portrayed with realism, and not resolved immediately and easily with a magic pill. Also, this book gets pretty dark at times; Spock tries to kill himself not once, but twice... And a popular guest character from the series is also killed for real.

Some spoilers below the cut:

The Enterprise is in a routine mission, training cadets fresh from the Academy, when a massive explosion in the bridge leaves the primary hull destroyed, Kirk in critical condition, Spock with a splinter lodged near his spine, and many cadets dead. The primary hull has to be evacuated and separated, while the rest of the ship limps back to a starbase. In the following investigation, Starfleet declares that everything was a mere accident. But neither Spock nor Scotty are satisfied with this answer, since nothing on the bridge could cause an explosion of such magnitude. Therefore, they travel back to the jettisoned hull to find clues.

Spock is suspicious of some new yeoman, who entered and left the bridge shortly before the explosion. In her abandoned quarters they find two clues: a piece of paper with dots, which seems to be a star chart; and a ton of depilatory cream. However, Starfleet isn't convinced by this flimsy evidence. So Spock starts the first of a long series of reckless actions, and steals a small ship with Scotty, to travel to the star system depicted in the paper. Spock is in severe pain (and having suffered a similar injury in the past myself, I can testify: he IS in pain), but leaves nonetheless before undergoing the necessary surgery (I told you Spock is nuts in this novel). Meanwhile, Kirk's still recovering and has no clue of what's going on.

When Spock and Scotty arrive at the only habitable planet of the star map, they find out that a Romulan and Klingon ships have also been lured to that place by similar maps. Everything was a trap, and all of them are captured by the Tomariians, and brought to their home planet in an ancient rocket. The Tomariians are short, stocky and very hairy aliens, living in an extreme cold environment. Being poor and primitive, they've turned to scavenging, adapting the most disparate technologies to expand across their sector of the galaxy. Spock and the others meet the Tomariian leader, Ilsa. The one who disguised herself as a yeoman to plant the explosive in the Enterprise (hence all that depilatory cream). And she takes a liking to Spock, just as every other woman in this book.

The Tomariians plan to test their captives' strenght by sending them to different battlefields. This way they could determine the weaknesses of Federation members, Klingons and Romulans, in order to expand later through their territories. Spock's injury worsens, to the point that he's left immobile from waist down. But due to her attraction for him, Ilsa spares his life. Meanwhile, Kirk has found clues about Spock and Scotty's whereabouts, so finally, the Enterprise rescues them in the nick of time.

Back in the ship, Spock has to fulfill the promise he made to the Romulan woman captured with him: to warn the Empire of the Tomariian threat, should she not survive. After this, Spock has to face a court-martial for all his offenses: stealing a starship, and above all, establishing secret communications with the Romulan and Klingon empires. Charged with treason, he's sent to prison, where he meets and befriends the Romulan pirate Desus.

I won't spoil anything more (this is about halfway through the novel). Suffice to say that, after this, Spock gets involved in a prison break. He becomes a pirate by the name of "Black Fire", and gains a following of fangirls that write love poems about him (an amusing parody of real-world fandom). And finally defects to the Romulan Empire, creating massive drama with Kirk. Of course, there's a satisfactory explanation for Spock going amok, at the end.

Spirk Meter: 10/10*: Kirk and Spock are separated most of the time and have little physical contact, but the story truly reads as a break-up/reconciliation one. Specially with the introduction of Desus as a rival for Spock's affection. In the first chapter, Kirk is partially healed by a mind meld with Spock, and sighs his name upon waking up. Then Kirk anguishes over Spock's disappearance, and risks the entire ship to go rescue him (well... and Scotty). And there's a lot of commentary about how Kirk is Spock's only close relationship, and how his defection to the Romulans is a particularly painful blow for Kirk. The whole issue of Spock's treason has Kirk on edge and in a foul mood, to the point that other crewmembers are afraid of bringing the subject in his presence. As other books with a lot of spirk content, it's difficult to pinpoint single scenes, since it's a general theme all over the place. Add to this, Spock's absolute indiference towards all the women swooning around him.

Then there's, of course, Spock and Desus' extremely close friendship, said to rival that with Kirk. At one point, Desus reads aloud some of the love poems that Spock has inspired as "Black Fire". And one has to wonder if he isn't adressing the words to Spock himself.

McCoy doesn't appear much in the novel. But still gets some McKirk and Spones. In the beginning, he's devastated by Kirk's serious injuries and his inability to cure him, crying about the prospect of losing "the man he both admired and loved". Then, at the end, McCoy asks Spock to sign his book of love (and erotic) poems dedicated to him (!!!???), as an excited fangirl. "To belong to this man of fire, if only for a moment. - My flaming love." he reads aloud. And Spock even gives him his pirate earring as a gift. The novel closes with these lines: The black jewel gleamed its strange luminescence in McCoy's palm, but it was no match for the gleam in Spock's dark smiling eyes.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[space-writes]

OC Interview Tag

tagged by @oh-no-another-idea thank you! i’m gonna use this as an excuse to try and develop one of the characters in the new wip i definitely don’t actually have that’s just like. percolating in my brain soup right now. so this is Otienne Sunblessed, pretty pretty princess of Fantasy Land I Haven’t Named Yet~

(all of this wildly subject to change, but i'm having fun rn)

[ID - a purple and black decorative divider]

Are you named after anyone?

I’m the first Tienne of my line - my mother was the second of her name, and my aunts wanted me to be the third, but she defied them. I prefer my name as it is, Tienne sounds far nicer with the royal O prefix than Hisenta. It sounds sweet and elegant, which suits me very much.

When was the last time you cried?

I hardly think that’s any business of yours.

Do you have kids?

Oh, not yet. My mother is expected to have a few more daughters before I’ll be of age to inherent the throne. I suppose I’ll have to bear an heir at that point, though with current policy I’ll have to find a suitable man to provide one. It remains a constant source of disappointment to me that no-one has managed to find a phrasing in the Grand Script to allow offspring from two mothers. Such research will be a priority when I am Queen, I assure you.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not particularly. I find it a rather low and vulgar form of humour.

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Whether or not they can look me in the eyes. If they can, they might be worth considering as equals. If they can’t, they already know their place, and it’s only right to keep them there.

What’s your eye colour?

Golden as the sun, the same as all my family. It’s a mark of our station and right to rule - the Queen of the Sun granted them to one of our ancestors centuries ago, and no-one else has them. They’re the most beautiful eyes in all the world.

Scary movies or happy endings?

That depends on who the ending is happy for. I much prefer the classical tales, which aren’t always frightening, but do always contain an appropriately entertaining amount of blood and suffering.

Any special talents?

I am very, very good at getting what I want.

Where were you born?

[skipping this question because i haven’t figured out a name for her country yet, but she was born in the place the story is set, in her mother’s bed in the palace]

Do you have any pets?

I’ve had a few over the years. They never last long, but then small creatures that can’t fend for themselves never do, do they? Dear Ihrone does get so very upset when she has to bury another one for me, though, even when it’s just a squirrel.

What sort of sports do you play?

Court politics and bedroom games

How tall are you?

Five feet, two inches - exactly two inches taller than my mother.

What was your favourite subject in school?

Politics, espionage, and the history of warfare and interrogation techniques - all most useful topics for a royal daughter to be well-versed in. Just because we aren’t at war now doesn’t mean we won’t be, and when I inherit I refuse to be caught unprepared.

That, and I do so like knowing what people are saying about me behind my back. It makes them much easier to manipulate.

What is your dream job?

Job? I’m Otienne - a princess. I shan’t be needing a job, I shall be running the country once my mother dies, or loses her faculties more than is acceptable in public. And you had best believe that once my father’s foreign influence is removed, there will be some changes around here.

[ID - a purple and black decorative divider]

& bonus picrew!

[ID - a picrew portrait in a sketchy, flat-colour style, of a woman with masses of curly red-brown hair, large golden eyes, and full red lips. She has starry earrings and a starry crown, and is wearing a white dress with a low v-cut and a sheer over-top. Artist credit is ummmmandy.tumblr.com]

no-pressure tagging @foxboyclit @princessbonecrimes @revenantlore and @viscerawrites

blank questions under the cut

Are you named after anyone? When was the last time you cried? Do you have kids? Do you use sarcasm a lot? What’s the first thing you notice about people? Scary movies or happy endings? Any special talents? Where were you born? Do you have any pets? What sort of sports do you play? How tall are you? What was your favourite subject in school? What is your dream job?

[raptorfae53]

Ever After High Reimagined: Ashlynn Ella Redesign/Character Bio.

Ashlynn Ella

Trans Girl (She/Her)

Daughter of Cinderella (Canadian)

Industrious and driven, always repairing or cleaning things and with an intrinsic need to feel useful, Ashlynn is an unorthodox princess compared to her friends, happiest whiling away at projects on her sewing machine or helping her family's servants with chores. This toeing-the-line of destiny as the next Cinderella extends to her love life, being madly in love with Hunter Huntsmann as opposed to any kind of prince, a fact both must keep tight-lipped in order to not be found out and separated, between that and the future destiny-based implosion of her family into a “proper” Cinderella tale, what is she to do?

Likes: Being with hunter, repairing things, helping people out, shoes and sexy lumberjack memorabilia

Dislikes: letting people down,not being busy, leaving tasks or projects unfinished, fast fashion and princessology class.

Spellbinding Style: Practical yet pretty. Ashlynn prefers dungarees and pinafores,often personally embroidered with beautiful,intricate threadwork to more traditional princess fare. For what it's worth, ashlynns shoe collection consists of a wide variety of footwear for any occasion.

Companion creature: Sandella the Firebird. A family of Firebirds have nested on the roof of the Ella's castle for generations now, but as much as she loves animals ashlynn can't help but look at the birds,including the one considered “hers”, as a living symbol of the cyclical nature of her destiny,harbingers of fortune,rebirth, and doom…

Hexworthy vex: Cute shoes that aren't in her size. Like many transfemme girls ashlynn has big feet so the cute shoes that may handily fit Apple or Briar won't fit on her, and while being a princess she can readily afford custom shoes, Ashlynn instead prefers to make or modify her own,both for personal use and for others who might want them.

“Oh Curses” moment: Overexerting herself. Ashlynn is a caring person and a physically hard worker, always trying to be on top of schoolwork and chores alike, the problem comes when folks take advantage of her helpful nature or ashlynn takes on too big a workload, working deep into the night on little sleep as to make a deadline and not let her client down to her own detriment.

Storied Secret: Ashlynn loves hunter with all her heart, but by grimm his haircut is awful. Of course she's never told him it sucks and never intends to, it'd break his heart…

Deepest wish: To simply be with Hunter, openly and unafraid to love the boy she loves in public, even to the point of eschewing her destined prince, and her destiny as a result…

Five Fantastical Facts:

Ashlynn lives with her mother,who has been suffering with an illness that leaves her bedbound most days, her mothers majordomo and her two daughters, the stepmother and stepsisters of her story. Whilst an unconventional cast for a Cinderella, considering that Ashlynns father died when she was a toddler there wasn't really any other option, the “big” stories like hers are pretty strict in regards to gender roles…

Ashlynns relationship with said sisters is…rockier than she would like. Whilst it's true that they are unfairly looked down on by most for not being “true” stepsisters on top of their villainous destiny, the girls tend to take out all their frustration through acting petulant towards ashlynn or feeding their shopping addiction for the latest outrageous fashions and accessories. Ashlynn understands their frustration but does wish sometimes they were a bit less avaricious, though her protests are usually taken as jealous busybodying in turn.

Ashlynn has legendarily poor time blindness despite her best (usually poor) efforts,often being late for events because she just has to get this last thing done before she goes Briar! Only for the hours to go by quick amongst a myriad of said “last things” and Ashlynn to decide its too late to be going to any balls or parties, much to her more party-inclined friend's usual understanding irritation.

Generations of magic buildup have developed into an…irritating curse for poor ashlynn, wherein if she's late to anything on the hour her outfit deteriorates into a scruffier,raggedy look, between interrupting lessons and destroying the patterns ashlynn sewed onto her outfits it really gets to her, leaving her with more work to do on said outfits in the aftermath…

Despite her best efforts and intent, Ashlynn is an absolutely awful cook,as in “can burn water” bad.

Week 3's Royal entry to this series is Ashlynn, the Industrious, helpful future Cinderella and the secret lover of Hunter Huntsman. I hope you like this weeks profile pair and I hope you'll be around next week for the following two...

Further information and thoughts down below:

I've made mention that both of the previous rebels, Apple and Briar deep down are terrified, unfortunately Ashlynn is no different, I'd even beget she's even worse.

Ashlynn isn't just terrified for her own fate but the fate of everyone in her house, her biomother, destined to die before Ashlynn even reaches adulthood, her stepmother and sisters, who will humiliate and eventually mutilate themselves and even the servants in her home, all dismissed for her solitary help, all for a prince she probably won't even prefer over Hunter.

Ashlynn has a very big heart and a selfless work ethic, and that love extends even to the people who her destiny insists aren't important, her empathy and worry for all being why she's unwilling to throw in with the Rebels like her boyfriend despite agreeing deep down with much of their ethos.

(This is partly the reason why she hasn't much courage to stand up to Apple's plans despite being the most ostensibly sensible of the core royals and most likely to appeal otherwise, she's terrified of the possible consequences that come with defiance...)

She doesn't want to get any of them hurt, in absence or by consequence... (again, Ashlynns family doesn't really trust grimm, a running theme as we'll see...)

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

Tag Game: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Thank you for the tag, @chicgeekgirl89 @ladytessa74 💝

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

It was right about two years ago around this time of year, and the who would be Owen Strand himself, Mr. Rob Lowe. I was on Hulu and bored and saw this go by and thought well I've never met a Rob Lowe something that I didn't like, so what the hey.

I was not expecting to get this into it at ALL- like by the time the title card appeared for the first time I was like what is this show! (literally, I hadn't written anything in about 13 years, and I had no computer at the time, and there I was, scribbling down fic in my notebook like a child of the 80's lol).

Which season is your favorite?

For me it's a horserace between seasons one and four. Season one did so much with those ten episodes (why I have hopes season five can still be amazing with only twelve episodes) and season four for a couple reasons; one, season four fixed sooooooooo many of the mistakes they made in season three, and season four compared to season one is like them living their lives out loud.

Like that sad boy from New York who just wanted a way to bury his pain? He's getting married now!

That cop with zero work-life balance? Also getting married and has friends who adore him!

The trans firefighter worried he'll never date anyone he can be himself with- look at his relationship blooming now!!

It's just the best, season four.

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?

Well, first pick would be my Tarlos boys, but I also do love me some Owen Strand. Yes he's flawed but there is so much good in him, and he's an amazing dad and captain when his character doesn't suffer from the show needing him to be the center of everything and the fact they can't land a decent romantic storyline for him (though I do know why that is lol).

Top Five Episodes - Go!

4x08 1x01 1x10 2x05 4x12

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Carlos, cause I'd like to go just like a year before the show started - like it's been confirmed TK was his first real relationship but did he try to date? Did he ever hook up? Also I feel that because he is a good son that he wouldn't cut off his parents completely, but wouldn't see them until they asked, what was that like? Did he want to tell his mom about his life and feel like he couldn't? (note; this might be the most depressing begins episode ever - TK really burst in like the Kool-Aid man and color this boy's whole world).

Also Nancy, just because we don't get anything about her hardly - did she go to college? How long has she been with EMS? Did she have another captain before Michelle? All could use answers.

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season five?

TARLOS DOMESTIC MORNING SCENE PLEASE AND THANK YOU -

I want Carlos to be up early and trying to wake TK up gently. After TK says just a few more minutes four times, Carlos uses stern voice and tells him it's time to get up. TK still is hiding under the covers so Carlos puts those long fingers to use and tickles his husband right out of the bed.

Beyond that - for TK and Owen to have scenes together like they did in season four; for Owen's rich girlfriend to not be a thing anymore, for Robert's death not to cause any bad feelings between Strands, and for TK and Carlos to be on a team against their problem, not on opposite sides against each other.

Also Carlos picks TK up; in any context. I would love a Carlos puts his husband on his shoulder and carries him out of somewhere while he's protesting but would also accept in a romantic setting he picks TK up, or he picks a very sleepy TK up who wraps his legs around his husband and lays his head on his shoulder.

The still of a concerned Carlos on the phone and a despondent-looking TK behind him- what do you think is going on there?

I think a mean person told TK that Catan is stupid and TK got very upset about it and Carlos's phone call consists of "you made my baby sad? You picked a good day to die, son".

Juuuuuust kidding lol - no I think that Carlos has to do something dangerous (perhaps related to his father's murder, perhaps not) but it's known to be dangerous and TK is scared for him and begging isn't there anyone else? And Carlos gets the call confirming there's no one else; it needs to be Carlos.

We all know about the elusive spicy 5x05 scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

That is tough because they're still on network TV - I would say one or both of them are wet - possibly it is raining and they're at the famous Reyes ranch and Carlos takes TK in the barn.

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

(I may be stealing this) but I could see them going somewhere in Mexico - pretty but also not terribly far away, because of what happened but also because TK is very nervous about leaving their lizard child and is constantly texting his dad like what is Lou doing why haven't you sent me videos of him!!"

Shoutout to one of your favorite fan creations

The Little Monkey by @anewkindofme - my most reread fic and chock full of sweet TK and Owen feels. It is the ultimate comfort fic.

Where All This Love Comes From by @carlos-in-glasses - so much angst, so much heart, so much love, so much writing talent possessed by one person!

No pressure tagging - I tag @anewkindofme @nancys-braids @carlos-in-glasses @actualalligator @lemonlyman-dotcom @carlos-tk -tk @heartstringsduet and anyone else who wants to do it - open tag 🫶