#so was there like a month timeskip in between these episodes?

[not-a-mawmouth]

If I may, personally I feel the pacing is weird because it’s going very very fast and some big things are happening that we probably should have seen. Like Suletta goes from completely despondent and devastated to being determined and emotionally secure enough to recognize and talk about how her mother doesn’t truly love her in two episodes, one of which involved a terror attack on the school and all her friends nearly dying. Which makes sense for the plot and the pacing, but one more episode post-Norea where she comes to that emotional state just a tad slower would be nice. Especially since a lot happened in between episode 20 and 21! Miorine became President, the SAL found out about Quiet Zero, Peil decided to jump ship, Quiet Zero is now operational! And we didn’t get to see any of it happen! If Quiet Zero was this close to being finished why did Prospera need Miorine at all? Did Delling key some important part of it to something only the President would have access to and Prospera needed to steal it? Did she just hate Miorine that much and wanted her to suffer?

It kinda feels like a lot is getting squished right now to fit our 25 episode limit, and I really don’t like it.

As much as I adore Witch from Mercury right now, I feel that its pacing, once you zoom out of the weekly format, is kinda weird. I don't know how to put it into better words yet, but something is just off and I'm glad I get to experience the show on a weekly basis.

[waffliesinyoface]

the naruto movies are usually Not Great because the villains are all 100% the generic "anime movie mustache twirling" variety, usually with poorly explained powers that don't fit within established canon but allow the plot to finish in 90 minutes (ie: snow kingdom movie has ""Chakra Armor"" and the main bad guy, who is not a ninja, attempts to fight them with a STRONGER version of that chakra armor, only to get one-shot by a RAINBOW RASENGAN)

that said, the pre-shippuden movies are usually pretty good because its like. what if we just had more team 7 antics.

[unplanned-parenthood]

i smashed my head against the wall multiple times trying to make this. btw. it took me SO long to realize that the dates weren't working for me bc of 2.8's weird ass format

[penultimate-step]

Lately, I've been thinking about the effect of real-world time on perception of media. Or, wait, let me start from the beginning.

When I was 11, I read the book Ender's Game for some school assignment or another. I don't remember ever considering Ender a relatable character, but certainly my understanding of the events was shaped by being of an age to see the protagonist not so much as a young child but as someone of my peer group, someone who could have been slotted amongst my classmates without anybody batting an eye.

Over a decade later, I read the sequel, Speaker for the Dead; it takes place many years later, when Ender is in his thirties, and my feelings about the in-universe time skip were undeniably shaped by the real life time gap between my reading of the novels. Reading the first book back then and then the second book now created a feeling where it's almost like, I'm browsing the facebook page of someone I had known in middle school but lost contact with, checking up on how they're doing today. The real-time factor caused me to perceive it less like a timeskip, and more like a reunion - the feelings were closer to "oh wow, that's my boy! I haven't seen him in years! Wonder what he's up to?" Which in turn gave me a better position to appreciate the parts of the narrative about him struggling to find a place in his adulthood than I would have been had I perceived it more strictly as a quick skip from 11 to 20 to 36.

While musing about this, I considered a VN I played a few years back, which took place over three in-game days - except at the end of one in-game day, the game would lock you out from progressing for 24 hours real time. So that as the in-game investigator protagonist was ruminating on the information that had been discovered that day, the player would be forced to do the same. In this example, by forcing the player to experience the same timeframe as the in-game characters, the sense of it being an in-depth and extensive investigation increases, even though without the forced pauses the game would be short enough to blow through in a handful of hours real-time.

Which brings to mind how time effects things in long-running serial works. It's well known that an audience which watches an episode or reads a chapter week by week has a very different experience than one binging through whole seasons or volumes at a time, but I wonder if the real time relative to the in-universe time makes that effect stand out more? Fight scenes, for instance, have been known to take up several chapters in certain manga or webnovels. What does it do to the reader's perception, if from their point a view a fight takes a whole month, while for the characters they read about it's only been a couple hours? Readers might feel that the situation is more stressful, since the pressure of the fight has been ongoing for a long time for them, while in-universe it was a rough afternoon but no more than that. Contrastingly, when a series skips ahead or otherwise has long periods of time for characters that feel short for readers, it can feel like no time has passed and everything is still the same, unless the author really stresses the differences in world-state that occurred offscreen. Because the reader hasn't changed at all.

No conclusion here exactly, I just think it's interesting how often an audience's response to a work, the emotions felt, are more closely tied to their real-life timescale, something almost completely out of the author's control, as opposed to in-universe time, which can be intentionally shifted or played with for the sake of the narrative.

[prince-liest]

@cringefailvox made the mistake of lamenting the lack of Hazbin filler episodes in earshot of me, and I went off about it a little bit. Crossposting to Tumblr because I need to vent my frustration on this publicly Yet Again. unu

I WANT FILLER EPISODES. I WANT TO SEE HOW THE CAST INTERACTS WITH EACH OTHER IN CASUAL SETTINGS. I especially desperately want to know where Alastor stands with the rest of the characters, and where Charlie stands with Angel Dust.

We kind of get Alastor telling-instead-of-showing that he's growing fond of the others in the balcony scene with Niffty, but it's such a short/small moment that 1) we have NO idea how honest he's being with himself/Niffty about this because we haven't seen ANY of the six month timeskip and also 2) because it's such a short moment I think it just doesn't sink in for a lot of people anyway! It's sort of rare for me to see "growing fondness" reflected in post-canon between Alastor and the various hotel residents, and it's understandable why, when that one little semi-private reflection is all the insight we get on the subject.

Additionally, because there was so little time in the season, most of the character interaction moments we see are, like, more punchy high-emotion plot-relevant moments that feel pretty polarizing. And that makes it SO HARD to figure out things like where Husk and Alastor's normal relationship interactions lie on the scale of pilot-level silliness to "Alastor about to eat Husk's face in the hallway," or whether Charlie and Angel resolved any of their brewing conflict beyond Charlie's apology for interfering with his work - because there was soooOOO much more than that and their relationship was absolutely building toward making Angel Dust feel underappreciated and like the "irredeemable sex-having crackhead" compared to Sir Pentious, which I think could have been really poignant considering Pentious is indeed the one who got fucking redeemed!!!!!!! But that plot basically got dropped.

Like, last we checked in, Alastor and Vaggie both disliked Sir Pentious. Angel was able to bond with him some during Vaggie's exercises, but Vaggie refrained from killing him pretty much just for Charlie's sake and Alastor just barely sees him as a person. I want to see how they progressed to actually caring that he died!

I just. AMAZON I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THE 6 MONTH TIMESKIP FILLER WE WILL NEVER GET BACK. GREENLIGHT 12 EPISODES MINIMUM FOR SEASON TWO.

[st4rrmii]

My thought's on the "Ben Situation"

(Obvious spoilers for the trailer below the cut)

Okay, the Ben situation, with him knowing about Brooklynnn being alive, I think y'all are going a LIIITTLE too hard on him rn, like I've seen people saying they're gonna drop him as a fave character and I'm like??? We only have the trailer kets breathe for a moment.

Anyways, based on clothing, it looks like it's going to be in the first few episodes, I'm kinda betting second or third, and with him only finding out at the END of episode 1, that doesn't leave a lot of time between things, unless they do a pretty major timeskip, which I doubt. It doesn't seem like it's going to be a conscious decision where he just- chooses not to tell them because why not, it feels like it'll be a very stress/fear based decision, which is fair!

Think about it, your friend has been dead for 6-9 months, you just found out they were targetted due to possible illegal activity, and now you're in an unknown area to find out/fix what happened, then you find out they're actually alive and in some dino ecoterrorism group, that's not gonna be easy to tell people! Especially with having no proof thanks to the phone being dead, he has no way to ACTUALLY show Brooklynn is alive, honestly I feel like either way someone would've been mad at him, it honestly would've made sense if Kenji straight up didn't believe him and got mad at him for "making shit up".

Overall, it just seems like an overall garbage situation for Ben, on one hand he could tell everyone without proof and risk being seen as literally insane, and on the other hand he could not tell them and let them find out themselves, but not be trusted by them for who knows how long, neither situation is good. Ntm just the mental block of telling people things like that, like y'all cannot tell me you haven't had moments where logically you SHOULD be telling someone something but fear stops you.

I just think we should let the season come out before we make any major judgments on characters, and that goes for ALL of them (I'm looking directly at Brooklynn)

(Also, it looks like Ben and Kenji seem to be somewhat okay after the fight, so I don't think Kenji is just gonna straight up hate Ben the whole season)

[maybeiwasjustjade]

I know it’s too much to expect Condal and Hess to care about their world building, given the general fuckupery that was the timeline of season 1, but today’s episode really solidified that neither of them know math.

There’s approximately 20 years of timeskips post 1x02. 21 if we’re really pushing it. Aegon was born +/- a year after the events of 1x02. We know (from 1x09 and basic logic) he’s about 20. Alicent looked ready to pop in 1x03, so even if it was a stretch Helaena was probably born a month or so post Aegon’s 2nd birthday. Which means she’s more than likely barely 18. Proof of this is how Jaehaerys and Jaehaera’s ages were aged down for the show from 6 to 4. Given that book Helaena was about 13 when she was married off and pregnant within a few months, it tracks for Helaena to be 18.

Aemond is when the timeline fuckupery really messes everything up. There’s 16 years between 1x05 and 1x08. Even if we give leeway for a few months of time for both, it would still be at maximum a little over 17 years total. Alicent wasn’t even pregnant in 1x05, or if she was, it was early enough that she didn’t know. So even if it was closer to 17 years and not 16, Aemond can’t be older than 16 in 1x08. Even if we run with assumption that Alicent was pregnant in 1x05, Aemond would have been born at minimum 6 months post episode, which means he’s still 16. Closer to 17 maybe, but not quite.

So how the hell is Daeron 16 already???!!!??

The only answer I can think of is irish twins (if Aemond is closer to 17 right now), but that also means that Alicent gave birth to Daeron only 9ish months after Aemond was born, and Viserys hell is too good for you.

[niobiumao3]

So, here's what X-Men 97 did that TBB did not, for its main character death. Obviously, huge X-Men 97 and TBB spoilers.

The death happens at a pivotal moment story wise, but is NOT immediately abandoned for other plot.

Remy (Gambit) dies towards the end of an episode which is in and of itself a real jaw-dropper, much like Plan 99. Out of nowhere a safe haven for mutants is being glassed, and Remy sacrifices himself to put a stop to it, because he's a little crazy but also well aware of what he's capable of and knows it might be their only chance to save SOME of these people who are his fellow mutants. The episode ends with his lover, Rogue--who's finally decided she agrees with Remy on things and is going to choose him and the X-Men over an alternative--holding his lifeless body in her arms.

Tech, on the other hand, dies 1/3 into an episode and vanishes from sight. Our POV character here, Omega, is injured and doesn't witness most of the ensuing escape, so when she wakes up, she demands they go back for him, crying, and we see Wrecker cry and Hunter explain he didn't make it.

...and then the episode keeps going. They're betrayed. A villain tosses Tech's broken goggles at Hunter and threatens them. Omega is captured, the remaining members of the Batch barely escape. For almost twenty minutes of runtime AFTER Tech dies, the story keeps going and has NOTHING to do with him dying (save the dig about the goggles). His death gets maybe, at most, 2 entire minutes of focus between Omega and Wrecker's reactions, Hunter's when Hemlock gives him the goggles, and Echo looking at the empty pilot's chair. That's it; for the bulk of the episode Tech's death has next to ZERO involvement in the story. It's not the climax. it's just A Thing Which Happened, and that massively devalues it from a narrative viewpoint. No one stops for more than a single breath to react to it, thus we as the audience don't.

(If anyone is winding up with 'that's because they can't due to the everything', this is why it's NOT GOOD WRITING. If you want the death to matter to your viewers/audience then you need to MAKE the time for it in your story, somehow. This isn't real life, you DO in fact control the horizontal and the vertical when making your plot.)

In X-Men 97, the death is the immediate focus of the next episode and a character's entire arc of the ensuing episodes. In TBB, it's a footnote.

In the following X-Men 97 episode, Remy has a funeral which Rogue doesn't attend, not because she doesn't care but because she's off raging against the machines, trying to find those responsible and kill them. There's a gorgeous eulogy for Remy, some thinking back on who he was and what he meant to them, a friend angry at Rogue for not being with them. It's so good. We cut to Rogue, absolutely furious with grief and looking to take it out on, well, everyone. She winds up putting herself into a coma as a result.

Literally nothing like this happens for Tech. Nothing close. There's a several month timeskip in S3 eps 1-3 which negates any immediate mourning or revelations to people who wouldn't know (Crosshair, Phee, Shep and Lyana), and we see NONE of Wrecker, Hunter, OR Echo's processing. Just what we saw in Plan 99, which again, is almost nothing. For a main character who as of S2 had the third most screen time of any character.

In X-Men 97, Remy keeps coming up as someone to remind them of what they're fighting for, what he would want for them. Tech is a skillset and a pair of goggles.

Remy is the first thing on Rogue's mind when she wakes up from her coma. She's instantly grieving him all over again, and mentions him numerous times throughout the remaining episodes as someone who wouldn't want this for them, or would have hoped for that. He's a guide for her even though he's gone. The rest of the characters reflect on him off and on--not his skills or abilities, but who he was, his nature. Remy's death completely changes Rogue's behaviors, almost 180 degrees, as well.

Tech is mentioned for what he could do, not what he liked or didn't like, how he felt about things, save for once: when Phee reveals he told her all about Crosshair. This is the only time someone talks about him like people talk about Remy in X-Men 97, and it happens twelve episodes after he died.

No one's actual narrative course changes trajectory in the case of Tech's death either. No one is shown making different decisions based on his loss (just the lack of his skills), no one is bringing him up as a rallying call for themselves, nothing. He is excised from the show in terms of his emotional, character impact. The loss is of someone who can decrypt things or knows stuff, not of a beloved sibling.

Remy's presence remains throughout the rest of X-Men 97, despite him dying in episode 5 of 10. Tech vanishes and becomes an occasional reason they have to do something the hard way and a background prop.

If you want to know how to actually write a main character death and have it MATTER and make it good story telling, watch X-Men 97.

[eveledoze]

as a Nuzi shipper I'll try to be reasonable and not naive, so i'm going to disappoint you: we probably won't get N and Uzi kissing in the 7 episode and maybe in 8 too (u can kill me now) I know we want this, but sorry guys. even if all 6 episodes in the cartoon universe took place over a long period of time (like several months or a year idk), then for us as viewers their kiss in this season will be too fast a development of their relationship (and that's not to mention timeskips between the episodes) + we have too many serious things, horrors and drama, and there may simply not be time for their kiss. they have a lot to do to save the whole world, and even if they kiss, it will be in the end i think? but OF COURSE I'll be glad if I'm proven wrong lmaaooo qwq

[starrieisdelusional]

episode dedicated to banished!merlin and seperated!morgana in s4 from my fix it au

warning: this is LONG

a bit background: there’s a year and a half timeskip between s3 finale and this ep.

merlin had been training, and getting closer to his roots (studying magic, becoming one with nature, etc etc, no he didn’t go back to ealdor) all the while protecting camelot from the shadows (yes arthur had been getting into a few troubles now and then and merlin had always been there, but never really appearing in front of his face, arthur knows but never really comments about it, settles for ignoring him)

meanwhile after a few months after the s3 finale (morgana and morgouse attacked camelot) morgana finally had a huge fight with her sister and they go on their own ways. So now morgana is alone, doesn’t really know what to do since she killed uther, but doesn’t want to obliterated camelot either

So during season 3 aithusa was born and shes been helping merlin and morgana there and then, there’s also mordred. Oh and merlin’s magic is public information at this point

*

actual ep:

episode starts off with morgana, tending to her cottage. She lives in the middle of the woods, in the middle of no where. She’s trully alone now, after the fight with morgause. She regretted it a little. Maybe her sister is right, maybe bringing camelot to total destruction and crowning her queen is the best course of action.

But morgana didn’t want that. She just wants uther’s reign to end. It’s not her place now to rule camelot, there’s really no benefit in killing everyone either. Although there really is no change, arthur is still banning magic…

Morgana puts down her firewood with a bit too much force. Truth is morgause is right. Magic is still banned in the land, even in Arthur’s reign. And morgana is scared. She isn’t ready to kill her brother, she isn’t ready to kill the girl who’s there for her each night, every time she’s confused of her nightmares, or the citizens that gave her flowers. Morgana remembers uther’s look of despair and confusion, she feels her hand trembles

Morgause: (in a flashback) You’re nothing but a coward Morgana! A coward!

No matter, she’s not part of it anymore, it’s better to leave it alone. Let morgause finish their revenge.

When morgana leaves to wash her cauldron, it feels weird. It felt like she’s being watched. She scanned the woods with her magic, she didn’t feel anything. That’s really strange, morgana must be…

.

.

.

The first thing morgana sees is the stone floor. Her head is splitting, her vision is unfocused. Morgana sits up slowly, trying to regain balance.

The room is dark, she can barely see anything. When she tries to move her hair, she realizes that she’s chained to the wall

Great. She’s kidnapped.

She scowls, trying to free herself from the chains. She tries to draw her magic, but she feels nothing. Whoever kidnapped her knows what they’re dealing with…

She hears a groan from her left and she saw a man. Wearing god knows what. Laying on the floor, chained like she is. She calls for him, trying to wake him up. The more she looks at him, the more she felt like she knew this man.

???: where am i… Morgana: (realize who this is) Merlin??? Merlin: …morgana…?

The man looked at her, no longer the merlin she last seen. He looks like a stray being, as if he’s the spirit of the forest. He is covered in cloth, a cloak on his head. His skin peaks out from where the cloth didn’t touch him, even in the dark, morgana can see the light bouncing off his slender thighs and the faint outline of his….nipple

Morgana: you look like a prostitute… Merlin: that's rich from someone who dress like a beggar Morgana: I’ll have you know this is one of the finest dresses i have- Merlin: Your hair could really do some work Morgana: you don't get to say that when you don't need to maintain your hair every day!!

They bicker back and forth about their fashion choices. Morgana also hates his serving clothes, especially that tattered neckerchief on his neck…And he barely changes everything. It’s a boring to look at every single day. At least Gwen changes her clothes once in a while.

It was so heated they didn’t notice the door opening until they heard footsteps entering the room. They eye their predator carefully, backing themselves to the wall. But the guards only un-cuffs them from the wall, forcing them to stand.

They were bringing into a room, full of people with chains on their hands. Morgana stands close to Merlin, maybe Morgana can kill him when he wasn’t looking, morgana HATES him after all…

The ringleader came into view, told them to fight to the death. Anyone who succeed can go to the second round or something morgana wasn’t really listening. She’s too busy to think of ways of killing Merlin.

They put a bunch of weapon in the middle of the room, probably to aid them or something. Morgana grabs a sword just in case. Merlin didn’t grab anything. What an idiot.

Ringleader: The battle starts….now

It was a blur after that. Morgana remembers slaying people, people who aren’t merlin. Morgana tries to cast a spell towards him every now and then, she saw Merlin doing the same. But it was never strong enough to kill, probably too distracted by the threat in front of them.

It suddenly stops. Only Morgana and a few other people stands unscathed, including Merlin, always Merlin. It makes a lot of sense now why he has a habit of not dying. Morgana remembers when she discovers that he has magic. What a hypocrite.

They were thrown to their prison cells not long after. After a speech that morgana really didn’t bother to listen

(in their cell)

Merlin: You have any idea what they want? (body swelling with blood and bruises) Morgana: we’re stuck in a slavery ring

Morgana seen one back when she was still with morgause. She tracks them down when one crosses her path, a potential army for her. She remembers that one of those rings would pit off prisoners like this, probably to find new slaves

Morgana: I couldn’t wait to see your demise when one of those brutes mortally wound you…” (giggling, imagining Merlin suffering a slow and painful death) Merlin: (shakes his head) look morgana…i’m sorry alright? I didn’t mean to betray you like that, and i… Morgana: i don’t want to hear your excuses you liar! You’re the same as that old fool! (screaming)

morgana wish she can slit his throat right now. Morgana wants to stab her dagger, revenge for every time Gaius told her she doesn’t have magic, for every time merlin stay quiet

Merlin: well i’m sorry for being a liar when i’m constantly threatened to be executed! At least you don’t get to suffer any consequences!! Morgana: you don’t get to say that!! You meddle into things when you don’t need to!!

they scream to each-other faces. Spit and all. It’s a bit disgusting, but Merlin is more disgusting. And every time she hears his excuses it brings something ugly within her. When Morgana was about to throw another insult at his face the door opens harshly

Guard: Quiet before I snap your necks (throwing a piece of bread and then leaving) Morgana: …at least i’m not an idiot in love like you Merlin: what do you mean? Morgana: (snorts) you spent every single day protecting arthur from harm, you took poisons and blows for arthur, you poisoned me because i’m hurting arthur, you hunt a child like a pig because of some wishy-washy prophecy, a child merlin, a child! Merlin: … Morgana: how’s arthur? was he sad that i killed his daddy??

it didn’t go unnoticed that Merlin was silent at the mention of his brother. Which was weird, usually when she brought him up he never shut up about him.

Merlin: (gets the bread, tossing it to Morgana with his bound hand) eat up, tomorrow is going to be a rough day Morgana: I don’t want food from you (tosses it back to him with gnawing stomach) it’s probably poisoned anyways Merlin: (sighs) if i ate it and i didn’t die, would you eat it? Morgana: ….no

merlin shrugs, biting a bit of his bread. When he shows no indication of poisoning, he tosses it back to her

Merlin: See? No poison Morgana: (rolled her eyes, grumpily tossing the bread back to him) i don’t trust you until you finished it

they toss the bread back and forth, biting into it until there’s no more food left to toss. After another stupid remark, Morgana greets him goodnight, and sleep on her side of the cell

It became a routine after that, they were toss at the arena, got toss back in the cell, tossed back at the arena….

Morgana hates it when she spends time with him. She’s sick of Merlin’s wicked humor. When he managed to rung a laugh out of her. For the first time since Morgause she feels like she’s not alone anymore

Merlin: …and then I told him that it was a sidhe, but he didn’t believe me! Morgana: Well he’s stupid, the stupidest man i’ve ever known…

Morgana didn’t enjoy talking to him, she hates it, she’s sick of the joy crawling on her skin

Morgana: What about Gwen? Merlin: Gwen? Oh she’s fine, she’s sad when you’re gone that time, we couldn’t really comfort her, it’s the same with arthur…it’s the same with everyone really…we miss you Merlin: …and what about you? What of you and arthur? Merlin: … Morgana: Oh come on merlin! There must be something that you did right? It’s been what? A year since that kiss? I saw it you know. Surely you already did something?? Are you still Arthur’s manservant? i don’t know how you handle that magic though…are you still keeping secrets from him? Why are you here anyways? Is arthur here with you? Merlin: Arthur banished me Morgana: Sorry? Merlin: I’m banished from camelot...

Morgana didn’t know what to feel. She should be happy, merlin is banished from camelot! That’s what she wanted right? For Merlin to suffer?

Merlin: it’s fine though, I learned a lot, did you know the druids grows the best of fruits? Must be their connection with nature or something. Their grapes are divine-

Morgana couldn’t stop the ire rising from herself when she kicks him. Merlin immediately bends to touch his leg

Merlin: WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! Morgana: YOU’RE AN IDIOT MERLIN SON OF HUNNITH! Wow i know you’re an idiot but i can’t believe you’re THAT BIG of an idiot Merlin: What???? Morgana what are you even- Morgana: Should i chop Arthur’s manhood for what he did to you? Gosh, you’re probably still protecting camelot even in banishment aren’t you??? I know that’s you when morgouse sends the hydra on the castle….are you an IDIOT??? Why are you still chasing this guy?? I can’t even…i get that he’s hot, but really merlin? Why did you get banished anyway? was it the magic?? Or is he hates homosexual relationship? It’s the magic isn’t it…that bastard….

Morgana swears when she gets out, she will kill him, even with her own two hands-

Merlin: stop it morgana, i don’t want you to kill arthur! Morgana: Of course you’re going to say that! you lovesick fool! Merlin: Really? Do you want me to kill gwen because she stabbed you that one time?!

Morgana shuts up, merlin must be referring to that time when gwen is forced to stab her when she reigns the castle with morgause, she doesn’t like thinking about it

Morgana: (huffed) he shouldn’t banish you, not when you’re always by his side, and what do you get?

it’s stuff like this that made her truly hate camelot. Morgana could understand her banishment, but to banish merlin? Why didn’t anyone do anything? It truly made morgana sick to her stomach

Merlin: you know, banishment isn’t that bad…and i made choices…I deserved it

Before morgana can reply a guard enters their room, uncuffing them and dragging them outside their cell. They arrived at a different room, like that of an arena. But smaller this time. But only morgana and merlin stand in the middle of the room. The ringleader stands on a balcony

What happened on the last arena again? Right, only merlin and morgana were left standing, which means…

Ringleader: Merlin and Lady Morgana, once the pride and joy of Camelot, only to be banished by King Arthur himself. What a pity Merlin: If you think that I’m willing to help you to destroy camelot, count me out. My loyalties will always lie on king arthur Ringleader: Oh no no, I don’t want any of that. I don’t know how you ended up together as prison-mates but i did not expect the witch and emrys to be in my doorstep, inside the same cell nonetheless! Morgana: And? You want us to be your slaves? do you really think we’re willing to submit to you? Ringleader: don’t worry, i can think of ways to tame you

Morgana stomach jolted at the implication

Ringleader: Despite your…peerless reputation, you’re both are a headache for me to handle…so i just want one (sat on his make-shift throne) go ahead then, fight to the death! don’t you hate each-other?

Morgana looks at Merlin, and he looks at her. It’s true, Morgana had been wanting to kill Merlin for a long time but…

She doesn’t want to kill another one of her kind. And she doesn’t want to kill her friend

Ringleader: Come on! I’m waiting…

The shackles on their hand cracks, and Morgana felt her magic restored. They stare at each-other, circling. Is Merlin going to kill her now? Morgana saw how Merlin body is poised, ready to strike.

She strike first.

They danced around each-other, exchanging blows. The blow was sometimes deadly, other-times unnecessary spells. But they never land a fatal blow, even if morgana is panting, and merlin is out of breath

Morgana: …what’s wrong Merlin?…scared? Merlin: You wish (strike a spell that tore the fabric of her skirt) Morgana: (gasped) My dress! Merlin: …oops…

Morgana screams, sending a curse towards merlin. Morgana can’t believe it, it actually hits him, and for a moment merlin was confused, because nothing happened

Merlin: well that was anti-climactic (in a girl's voice, realization) morgana change me back right now! Morgana: No

she puts another curse on him, but he dodges it this time. It didn’t take long for merlin to tackle her, she fights back, trying to push him off and they fight like children.

Merlin: Get off me! (shrieking unladylike, his long nose (yes how ironic morgana is a genius) touching the ground) Morgana: You get off! (fights back, hair green. Fingers feels like rubber)

They rolled on each-other back, trying to murder the other until they gave up and just sprawled on the floor, too exhausted to do anything. If Morgana have to fire a spell one more time it feels like she’s going go throw up

Morgana: You’re pathetic Merlin Merlin: You’re even more pathetic Morgana: At least I’m stronger than you, you look like a twig Merlin: Well I’ll let you know that- Ringleader: ENOUGH

(they both look at him)

Ringleader: Just die already! I don’t care who dies! Just kill someone! If you don’t want to do it, then I’m going to kill the both of you! Morgana + Merlin: ….HAHAHAHAHHA Merlin: Did you hear that??? He says he’s going to kill us Morgana: ‘Just die already’ (still laughing even as she felt her hair is being pulled. She felt hands shoving her down, Merlin next to her) Ringleader: Do you have any final words? Morgana: (looks at Merlin) You’re not as worse as I thought Merlin: I’m glad to meet you too Morgana

When the axe about to fall down on their neck, the rooftop shake, and suddenly a dragon is screaming at them. Their assaulters ran, terrified of the beast.

Morgana: Aithusa!!

Merlin laughs beside her, chanting in a foreign language. Aithusa squeal and Morgana paused

Morgana: You’re also a dragonlord Merlin: Yeah not many people know that

Aithusa breathes fire, fending off their attacker

Morgana: merlin if you dare as to so much touches her- Merlin: Morgana, i birthed her Morgana: …??

Morgana had no time to argue when the ringleader is starting to ran to them. She quickly climbed onto her, when Morgana reaches out her hand for Merlin to grab but Merlin fell. Limbs grabbed by the ringleader

Morgana: MERLIN!

Aithusa is shrieking, trying to shield herself and Morgana from the fire. Merlin chants and Morgana felt Aithusa leaving

Morgana: Merlin? MERLIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Merlin: Goodbye Morgana Morgana: STOP!!

Morgana tries to reach him, but Aithusa keeps flying, away from the dungeon, away from Merlin

Episode ends

*

End notes: i rlly didn’t expect it to be this long. Anyways sorry if it didn’t made sense and the pacing is off, i’m really rambling here 😭 but this is how i think morgana merlin interaction should go

season 4:

main post:

To find my other ramblings about this AU, filter with the hashtag #must we really rely on fate?

[physalian]

Narrative Framing Devices

This is a long one…

A story need not be told chronologically, nor does it have to be only one layer deep. There’s a ton of different ways to frame your narrative, I’m just picking a couple today, some I thought worked and some I thought didn’t, and my personal favorite.

Most people think of framing devices in terms of time travel stories or fairytales, where it may start in the present or the future and work backwards, giving up the ending before telling how we all got here. Or by chopping up the chronology and letting the audience try to puzzle out the order.

There are also those that break the fourth wall, with the narrator beginning the story directly addressing the audience but never doing so again, or the narrator opening the story telling their own story to a present audience, so we’re the audience behind the fictional audience.

The other obligatory framing device is the time-skip, a la “6 years later” or “8 months later”. I’ve already talked about those. Or the preface/preamble/prologue that may spoil some important event later in the story, or is simply an important moment or montage of moments to catch the reader up on “how did we get here”. Shoutout to Castlevania for the most efficient pilot episode I have ever seen, with a 1 year timeskip.

Also honorable mention to the “A Life in the Day” montage from Magicians, speedrunning decades of a life together between two characters stuck in a Situation, maybe 60 years? Key moments between the two having a whole romance, with a kid and grandkids, over the course of one beautiful bit of soundtrack. One of the best episodes in the show, for a sequence that only lasted a little over 5 minutes.

—

Story within a Story | Princess Bride, "Ember Island Players"

Best example I can think of, specifically the film, which is based on a book that already incepts itself. The movie opens with a regular kid being read the book The Princess Bride by his grandfather, and occasionally cutting between the kid’s reactions and the fantasy story with the actors.

There’s several moments where the grandfather either loses his place and rereads a scene that replays the same dialogue, or skips a scene in the “kissing book” because his grandson gets squirmy, and moments where the grandfather narrates over a couple montages.

Princess Bride is one of those movies that knows exactly what it is and isn’t trying to be something it’s not. It’s self-aware and loudly and proudly sincere, with one of the best revenge arcs ever put to film.

Recap episodes can either be clipshows or get really creative like ATLA, telling the series recap through the medium of a propagandized play about the Avatar's journey, performed by actors of the Fire Nation. The Gaang sits there in vague states of discomfort, horror, or in Toph and Sokka's case, thrilling enjoyment, watching their hardships and heartbreaks played for laughs. That it's the story we know, but also with the added filter of it being enemy propaganda takes what could have been just a clipshow and still told multiple layers of a story with it.

The Fourth-Wall Break | Riordan-verse, Deadpool

“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood” defined a generation. It’s one of those fourth wall breaks that opens up the story and never appears again, though occasionally Percy will get slightly self-aware, saying things like “I didn’t know it then, but I’d never come back here”. But for PJO it almost doesn’t count.

Kane Chronicles on the other hand chose a bizarre framing device, having the two leads pretend to host a radio show, or a podcast—something where they were recording themselves and I don’t think it worked very well whenever it popped up and stopped the plot.

Shoutout to Tangled, too, for having a fairytale style fourth-wall break at the end, much like KC, where Flynn reveals that Rapunzel has been listening to him tell their story the entire time. Many fairytale stories open up with the physical book flipping open to the story, like Shrek and Shrek 2, but I don’t think those are translatable to the written medium very well.

The big one, though, is of course Deadpool. Have not seen the second one, and while ‘breaking the fourth wall’ isn’t by itself a framing device, DP & Wolverine absolutely makes it one, fast forwarding and jumbling up the sequence of events to deliver a “how did we get here?” during the opening credits.

Chronology Salad | Memento, Predestination

Have not actually seen Memento but I know the premise, working backwards as the protagonist recovers his memory of “how did we get here?” Predestination is a batshit insane time travel story that I don’t think most people have even heard of and detailing the plot at all is giving spoilers but it is the most “how the fuck did we get here??” movie I have ever seen.

Then you have stories like Twilight that open with “I’ve never given much thought to how I would die” that spoils (kind of) the ending, with the goal of the story not detailing if something bad will happen, but how. Twilight’s prologue reminds me of The Bachelor, where they’ll tease the audience with *shocking* moments completely out of context from later in the season that are way less cool when they actually come to pass (from the one time I watched with relatives out of morbid curiosity).

The point of these chronological mixups is how all the random puzzle pieces fit together, despite essentially spoiling themselves constantly, they’re so random, so out of place, meant to keep you constantly guessing until the big reveal of the picture on the box—and are extremely tricky to do well without completely losing your audience. You’d have to have a very thorough outline to not confuse yourself while trying to write it.

Honorary mention here for Inception, one of my favorite sci-fi movies, because the plot is crazy, but still told chronologically, just across different dream levels. However, the movie does open with the ending scene (though you don’t know that on your first watch). And Tenet, but I don’t know anyone who likes or cares about that movie.

Dual Timelines | Outlander

There are others I just cannot think of them at this moment. Dual timelines tell two stories simultaneously across two different eras, either decades apart or mere hours, with some relation between the two. Sometimes one timeline’s protagonist is the ancestor of the present timeline, for example.

Dual Timelines happen in sequential order, making them distinct from a flashback arc (more below) essentially two chronological plots running in tandem squished into the same book, episode, or film. They carry equal weight and try not to overshadow each other in flair or importance.

In Outlander, Protagonist Claire is already a time traveler, in a time travel story whose rules are “whatever happened, happened, and you end up causing whatever you tried to prevent”. Season 2 opens with her returning to the present, leaving the entire rest of the season with a foreboding sense of dread, wondering what will get her back to that moment.

Season 3 dangles the carrot on the stick, randomly cutting between Claire in the 60s and trying to move on with her life for… I think 20 years, while Jaime, her love interest from the past, just keeps getting kicked while he’s down. It takes forever to get these two back on screen together. And the dual timelines continue taking up screen time when Claire and Jaime’s adult daughter also eventually makes a trip to the past. Points off for being blatantly manipulative storytelling with its cliffhangers, but season 1 is still worth the watch.

Flashbacks, Flash-Forwards, and Flash-Sideways | Lost

This show’s earlier seasons were heavily framed with this device. In The first 3 seasons (up to the last episode) the framing device was exclusively flashbacks, focusing on one of the main 13 heroes for an episode, particularly in season 1.

They didn’t always answer “how did we get here” but told some story relevant to the character in the present, either a challenge they had to face or parallel relationship drama or ghosts come back to haunt them. Usually, these little flashbacks were told in sequential order, but they could hop months or years ahead at a time depending on the episode.

The flash-forwards began in season 4 and closed the gap between the “Oceanic 6” escaping the island and all the missing time while they were gone, before the infamous “We have to go back” line.

The show also had flash-sideways, which featured the main cast, many of whom had been dead for a few seasons, reprising their roles to show what could have been their lives if they never crashed. To… mixed reception.

The show also also had a time-traveling character who in-universe experienced flashes of the future and got mentally temporally displaced between two timelines for a hot minute.

Lost was… a show that demanded a dedicated following. I still love it.

Flashback Arcs | My own personal soapbox

This right here is the whole reason for this post. First you have flashback episodes and I can name a lot of those—ATLA has a couple, “The Storm” & “The Avatar and the Firelord” but both are technically “stories within a story” with characters either around a campfire telling it or reading about it. The alternate timeline takes up a majority of the runtime, only occasionally cutting back to the present characters for a reaction.

In TFP there’s an offbeat flashback episode “Out of the Past”, framed, again, as a character telling this backstory stuff to another character. Many, many vampire stories will have flashbacks to some degree, since their characters live for so long. Vampire Diaries, especially in the earlier seasons, had dozens of them filling in all the blanks back during the Civil War when the two leads, Stefan and Damon, were competing for the affections of the main villain, all leading up to how they were turned, and how she allegedly died. Once the Originals were introduced, the show then had flashbacks to a thousand years ago, when they were human, and various eras in between.

True flashback episodes don’t waste precious minutes setting up a framing device, they just dump the audience in an alternate timeline and let them figure it out on their own that something isn’t right.

But none of that comes close to the full-on Flashback Arc. I. Love. This. Trope.

I actually first saw it when Arrow was good in its earliest seasons, cutting fairly equally between a present-day Oliver back home and starting his hero journey, and him learning combat back in the past, over several episodes like a series within the series.

What you end up with is a happy medium between a full dual timeline and a random grab-bag of flashbacks as they become necessary to the plot. A flashback arc relies entirely on the existence of the A-plot to make sense, as opposed to a dual timeline where it’s essentially two self-sufficient stories rolled into one big narrative. This arc is substantially shorter than the rest of the plot, cutting the story it’s telling down to the absolute need-to-know moments and cutting all transitions between the two. These arcs tend to cover weeks, at minimum, and decades of a long life at most.

I think they're best implimented after the first book, film, or season. Not something you want to throw at your audience who barely knows or cares about these characters, so if you're stuck with ideas for a sequel, consider the Flashback Arc.

My favorite thing that I have ever written (sans ENNS) was for my sci-fi WIP, a C-plot flashback arc in 13 parts. They started out as in-universe nightmares to give credibility to when these flasbacks started occuring, framed around the character's reaction to the scene, but then took off independently to avoid redundancy.

This arc covered his time as a POW, telling the reader how he came to be the living weapon he was, and the first detail it opened with was the reveal that he wasn’t the only one of his kind, he’d lied and shouldered the blame of every atrocity to protect the others, as their numbers dwindled and it all fell into place. A truth he wouldn't tell with a gun to his head.

Because you already knew he lived, because he’s right there in the present A-plot, the arc wasn’t telling you if he’d survive the war, but what he’d do to survive, and how it all fell apart. Because it was framed up with the existing narrative, I had a lot more leeway in omitting details and dropping the reader weeks or months ahead as opposed to this being a completely fresh story with new characters. You knew immediately based on the tone that this POV was the C-plot flashback POV, and you knew the only person who could narrate it was my poor character.

Over 13 POVS, 34k words (of a total whopping 202k), I told a whole love story, established and killed off 10 characters, and gave heaps of worldbuilding lore and exposition to fill in all the blanks in the present and answer questions that this character would never, and revealed just how much he lied about and why.

All of this tied in with the A-plot, staggering the physical placement of POVS within the book to hit at the right moments tonally and as the character’s condition kept deteriorating because he refused to talk about What Happened. His reason was that he’d done all of this and suffered so much to keep their legacies pure. If he gave it up now, he would have done all this for nothing.

And this was some heavy shit. There was murder, suicide, death by giant alien super robots fond of ripping people apart, assault, mercy killing, torture, gaslighting, and psychological horror. One of my magic systems let magicians regrow limbs alchemically, which meant they could endure a shit ton of pain and just get reset to do it all over again.

It was a lot.

But because it was just in flashbacks, I gave you just enough dark shit before cutting back to something marginally lighter, not just one long slog of misery. There was also the unknown of how quickly it would end. The book would end when you hit the last page, but you had no idea which flashback POV would be the last.

And also.

I got to flex my writing skills to the fullest, writing this character’s flashback POV in a completely different tone and style to make it that much more distinct from the rest of the present book.

ENNS’ sequel is very much under construction, but the one thing already polished is a flashback episode packed into one chapter for one of my characters. It’s perfectly knife-twisty and I can't wait for people to read it.

—

There’s dozens of framing devices out there. Most important thing, I think, is not sacrificing audience understanding for the sake of something ‘cool’. Doesn’t matter how amazing the story is if your audience gets completely lost and confused trying to keep up with what’s going on.

If you'd like to check out my book, Eternal Night of the Northern Sky is available now!

[wwpbviiid]

I’ve been thinking about the season 1 epilogue and how its kinda weird that that wasn’t just in the second season, like that was a really important couple of scenes.

So I’m thinking there’s gonna be a timeskip between seasons. From that angle it makes sense for this to be an epilogue; it /couldn’t/ be in the first episode of season 2 without removing or at least pushing back the timeskip.

I’m not sure how long of a timeskip it’ll be, but if I had to guess I’d say it’ll mirror the time between seasons (so a few months). This would be enough time for things to have pretty much settled down.

Gwen is going to appear to have recovered; she will have figured out enough about her role to have a veneer of knowing what she’s doing, and will be resistant to admitting otherwise or asking for help.

Alice will be doing her own investigations and/or continuing Sam’s with the intention of saving him, potentially alongside Celia (whether or not she’s being genuine)

Assuming that those we’ve lost will need to be replaced, I doubt we’ll skip past the introductions of the new hires, although perhaps Teddy could be an exception to this?

More likely we’ll open on the introductions. It’d be a long time to have waited before replacing them but they did have one more worker than necessary and they’ve lasted this long without Colin, they can probably last a few more months without an IT guy (assuming that what happened to Colin doesn’t drastically change the IT situation, which probably isn’t a good assumption but idk how that would change so I can’t extrapolate its effects)

[mystery0028]

Frieren Timeline/Pacing

(Manga Spoilers at the very bottom)

Rewatching Frieren made me realize just how much thought the writer put into the pacing and timeline.

It feels like a slow-paced anime, but also time passes by really quick? Like the first episode literally shows a 50 year time skip? But is this really true?

50 years, 20 years, 4 years, 2 years, 6 months, about a year, around another year, 6 months,(Story Starts), 6 months, 2 months, 3-4 months.

Notice anything?

These are the timeskips/timelapses in the timeline. And as Frieren learns more about humans and learns to appreciate the present, the gaps get smaller and smaller, with the everyday being elaborated on more.

Now maybe that's not on purpose, but it certainly seems like it is. The thought and care to create such a subtle way to show Frieren's growth and understanding and appreciation of the NOW - all the while still reminding us of how old she is and how these years really aren't all that long to her in the grand scheme of things? Beautiful.

Expanded Timeline Given Below:

The first episode (1st manga chapter) starts with first a 50 year timelapse (Himmel dies at the end of this), and then a 20 year timeskip, before we end with Frieren deciding to stay with Heiter to translate a grimoire even though it could take 5 or 6 years (barely any time at all for Frieren- over a 1000 yr old elf)

The next episode (chapter-2) starts after a 4 year timelapse (24 years after Himmel's death) to reach a point where we see Fern's progress on learning magic and also the deterioration of Heiter's health. Heiter dies and then there is a 2 year timeskip (26 years after Himmel's death) until we come across our first 'quest' (chapter-3) that we see Frieren and Fern undertake - the search for the blue moon weed flowers. There is a 6 month timelapse before Fern decides 'this is taking too long' and tells Frieren that she thinks its time to pack up and move on - they end up finding the blue mood weed right after that conversation.

The third episode (chapters-4 and 5) is set another year later (27 years after Himmel's death), and the 4th episode a year after that (28 years after Himmel's death) We spend 6 months of this year cleaning up a ship wreck (Episode 4, Chapter - 6)

This is where the present day storyline properly starts - 28 years after Himmel's death -with our party finding out about Aureole (Episode 4, Chapter-7) and picking up another member (Stark) (Episode-6, Chapter-10/11) as they head north.

After that its all small timeskips as we join the party on their 'quests' as they head north.

The next biggest one is when they are stuck in a blizzard for 6 months near the Schwer mountain range and so cannot move ahead. This is in the 2nd half of episode 11 (Chapter-24).

After this timeskip we find out it is now 29 years since Himmel died.

Again small timeskips (in days or weeks - normal for an anime) as we get to Ausserst (during which we meet Sein, spend a few weeks in his village, travel a bit, and then get stuck in a village for a month due to a snow storm - no major time skips here by the way), then 2 months timeskip between reaching Ausserst and writing the First Class Mage exam. (Episode 18 and Chapter 37).

The anime ends after the mage exam alongside Chapter- 60 of the manga. Keep in mind this is still 29 years since Himmel's died.

**Manga Spoilers Ahead**

We don't hit 30 years from Himmel's death until Chapter 70, and 31 years until Chapter - 105. There's a timeskip of a few months where they live outside Weiss with Denken, as Frieren analyzes a curse, and they deal with defeating a demon (Macht Arc - Chapter- 81 to 104), but you get the point.

The manga currently is on 31 years after Himmel's death. (Chapter-134 is the latest as of writing this)

-1.9.2024

[garbage--account]

Since some of y'all are fantasizing about having a OG season 4 instead of Go, i will tell you how it would be :

Closer in substance to Honoosuto than the main serie

Each episode would look like a filler

Few months timeskips between each episode because there is 10 years seperating S3 and Go

Charadesigns constently changing because they literally grew up since last chapter, until achieving their final forms from Go...

As well as their fashions because trends, interests, activities and priorities shifting

EXPERIMENTAL AND CHEAP ANIMATION

Mfs could be besties in one episode and not talking anymore the next one because they'd argue off-screen and since they are not seeing each others as often than before to begin with, they'd not reconcile properly

Endou x Natsumi making sense

Endou trying college because his mom told him so

Endou would miss hard times he had in the previous seasons because it made his everyday life interesting, even exciting, while now that everything is working out and calm, he'd feel nothing happens. And he could not cope with just sakka and friends because his teammates are also setting up for life (studies, jobs, busy days, etc.) and have less time to go sakka with their fave captain.

Ironically, most of his friends (especially those with tragic backtories, wouldn't miss those days for anything and seems happier now. Sure, they miss being able to see Endou and sakka everyday, but they aspire at a well deserved serenity now for their future.

At the end of the season, Endou would accept this and let himself mature and looking for setting up things for his adulthood.

The season would not be happy-go-lucky not depressing/dramatic/stressful overall, but rather contemplative and chill (even tho we cannot make a IE season without wackyness). The characters would be getting used by normalcy as the épisodes passes. Behind the apparent fun they are having, it's tinted with self-questionning and more mature themes because they are avare they are getting older.

In short : S4 would not be as epic and shonen-spirited than the rest of the license. People grew out of their trauma, others grew out of their innocence, they are aware they have nothing else to prove, they are already accomplished soccer players. They now have to become accomplish adults. It wouldn't be as exciting to watch.

Remember :

Delulu is not the solulu

[transingthoseformers]

Do you know how much time the plot of Transformers Prime's story takes up?

For example, the story of Transformers animated is calculated to have taken place in about 11 years once the autobots establish contact with humans in the first episode

For TFP I've seen someone estimate it since we don't really get much weather patterns due to the budget (or it could even be a location thing) and I think it's under a year but I'm not sure exactly how many months

I'm assuming three, since the kids seem to be in the third term of their school year (assuming this is a place that gets snow idk weather patterns of america, but having seen the area around Jasper i don't think its viable for that area to get snow at all)

I've went 𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚜 trying to figure this out too, and three months sounds like an insanely short time period for all the shit that goes down. Like for context the rescue bots timespan is at the LEASTTTT four, probably more (there's a four year timeskip between s3 and s4 iicr).

Jasper is indeed in Nevada afaik, which i think is desert 100% of the time. As far as I've got in the timeline TFP technically goes down during that four year timeskip in RB (in s3 Bee can't talk but in s4 he not only can but RID15 is in full swing.) Iicr, there was a three year timeskip between the tfp epilogue and the beginning of rid15? So that gives us a fair timeline of when exactly in the rb timeskip happened, tfp happened fairly soon after Optimus left the rescue bots to go get milk and cigarettes and he came back. ... eventually.

Wait TFA did what

[lakesbian]

One of the things Worm really suffers from (IMO) is how each Arc is bang, right after the other, to the point where time blurs together and like two thirds of the story by arc count happens over the course of 4 months or something. Though obviously the big 2 year timeskip will be a thing I'm closing in on as I read. You've commented (and cited as something you didn't much like) that Twig treats each arc as episodic, with lots of time in between. Do you think Wildbow doing that was in part a response to that critique of Worm (because I've seen others express similar views) or is there no connection?

hmm that's an interesting question. i can't meaningfully speculate but i could see it as at the very least coming off as an intentional change from the prior format of worm & pact where everything was One Long Story. i will say it's kind of haphazard in that there Are arcs that are continuous/without timeskips, especially starting more towards the halfway point and after, so it doesn't really feel properly committed to an episodic format. i feel like maybe it started out experimenting with an episodic format and then he just kinda lost the plot on the fact that he was doing that in the first place and did whatever instead