#that has a beautiful plot and meaningful characters

[ironedorchid]

[Image description: Screencaps of three paragraphs from A Message about Messages, by Ursula K. Le Guin. "The notion that a story has a message assumes that it can be reduced to a few abstract words, neatly summarized in a school or college examination paper or a brisk critical review.

If that were true, why would writers go to the trouble of making up characters and relationships and plots and scenery and all that? Why not just deliver the message? Is the story a box to hide an idea in, a fancy dress to make a naked idea look pretty, a candy coating to make a bitter idea easier to swallow? (Open your mouth, dear, it’s good for you.) Is fiction decorative wordage concealing a rational thought, a message, which is its ultimate reality and reason for being?" --- "What you get out of that story, in the way of understanding or perception or emotion, is partly up to me — because, of course, the story is passionately meaningful to me (even if I only find out what it’s about after I’ve told it). But it’s also up to you, the reader. Reading is a passionate act. If you read a story not just with your head, but also with your body and feelings and soul, the way you dance or listen to music, then it becomes your story. And it can mean infinitely more than any message. It can offer beauty. It can take you through pain. It can signify freedom. And it can mean something different every time you reread it."]

Ursula K. Le Guin

[proselles]

What I don't get is why news outlets and Netflix are trying to convince us that arcane was expensive to make. 250 million usd for both seasons they said, and obviously that's a lot of money, but they make the mistake of comparing it to big budget movies like Tangled. So you're telling me that I got an animated masterpiece that combines multiple different art styles fantastic voice acting and creative and passionate writing, that's 6-7 hours LONGER than major animated movies, and its the same fucking price?? And you're expecting me to agree with the corporations outlook, that it's too expensive? Yes, tangled is considered one of the most expensive animated movies, but arcane is like FOUR Tangleds. Many other 3D animated movies fall within the 160 million mark, but again, they're hours shorter than arcane was. I think the prices are comparable. I believe in saw someone (on reddit maybe?) divide the cost down to minutes of screen time for each show or movie and it becomes really obvious. I'm also pretty sure that many of these movie budgets do not include marketing in their overall expenses; arcane does.

This isnt even bringing live action tv shows into the equation; i dont think arcane even touches like the top thirty of those. And yet it's framed as such an expense!! Bitch its an incredibly successful tv show!! Ik Netflix is cheap as shit and has its own reputation to grapple with, but is the disdain for animation so much? Is it disdain for female lead action, for poc representation, for LGBT rep on screen? For the animation medium as a whole? I know the answer of course. But it's still very upsetting to acknowledge and think about.

Separately, arcane is absolutely crushing it. Ik act three is going to knock it out of the ballpark. Keep crushing corporate execs expectations please.

[arolesbianism]

It's so jover guys

[lennythereviewer]

My favorite Kingdom Hearts fact is that one of the biggest plot-holes that Nomura has never been able to meaningfully retcon or write his way out, a plot-hole so big that it fundamentally breaks the very rules the series is written on...

Is the existence of Steamboat Willie

Let me explain for the uninitiated:

In Kingdom Hearts 2, there’s a small detour in the story involving Maleficent trying to invade Disney Castle, the home of King Mickey. She can’t step foot in the castle due to an artefact of pure light that wards off darkness locked in the basement.

Pete, who is working for Maleficent, opens a door into the past (Before Disney Castle, this land was known as Timeless River) and decides to remove the artifact from it’s place in time so it won’t be there to stop them from getting in.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy chase Pete into the past thanks to another magic door provided by Merlin, and through some shenanigans involving old cartoons and teaming up with Pete’s past-self, they lock the door the villains are using, and return the artefact to it’s proper place so it can exist in the present.

You with me so far? Pretty straightforward-ish time-travel plot right?

Here’s where it goes off the rails.

Time travel would go on to become a staple of Kingdom Hearts going forward and would come with a very strict set of rules over how it operates:

1. You can only travel to a point in time where a version of yourself exists

2. You basically give up your body to do so, and travel as a disembodied soul unless you have a vessel to inhabit

3. You can’t alter the past in a meaningful way, what’s going to happen will happen

4. You lose your memories of said trip once you return, but your actions could leave a lingering instinct on your other self that could influence their decisions

“Wait” you may be thinking “Why should anyone go through all those hoops? Wasn’t time travel super simple that first time?”

And you’d be totally right, because the existence of Timeless River completely renders all of these rules and restrictions meaningless. 

There is no version of Sora that existed in Timeless River before he step foot there, everyone kept their bodies, the trio and Pete were able to mess with the timeline as freely as they pleased, and they all very much remember their trip. 

Nomura has never been able to meaningfully explain this super simple, easy way of time travel and the more convoluted method co-existing other than a cheap-throwaway line from one of the villains saying that Merlin “broke the rules” 

The hilarious part about this line is that it implies that PETE of all characters is actually more powerful than the actual villain of the series, because Pete opened a door into Timeless River through sheer willpower and nostalgia for “the good old days”

But the all-knowing chess-master of a villain who had an evil plan several decades in the making with countless moving parts and contingencies to account for had to use the roundabout, more complicated method of time travel where a lot could go wrong.

Pete though? Dude just casually broke all the rules of time travel because he felt like it. He's just built different.

TL;DR: Steamboat Willie breaks Kingdom Hearts lore in half, Pete is more powerful than Master Xehanort, and I fucking love this beautiful trainwreck of a series you guys it means so much to me

I love Kingdom hearts so much.

[the-knight-of-the-stars]

Are we gonna talk about how that finale entirely erased any conversation about class divisions or are we too focused on ships?

Are we gonna talk about how Caitlyn for a good chunk of the season willingly enforces violence and opression against the lowest class, no doubt directly causing more deaths and suffering, and she is forgiven by the narrative without any meaningful reflecting?

Her great moment getting together with Vi is right after she JUST had a conversation with Jinx where we see she STILL doesn't recognize any class bias she clearly has, insted making it about HER.

Her and the other enforcers are treated like noble heroes in the final battle, all the blame put on Ambesa. Vi's happy ending is getting into a relationship with the exact type of person who perpetuated all the suffering she endured as a child.

Are we gonna talk about how Jayce never leaves his privilege pedestal, never actually reflects on how he was also enforcing violence to the people of the undercity and living on his bliss of progress at THEIR expense?

Jayce, who got help on every step of the way to get to where he is, who wasn't disabled, who never lived the kind of poverty or class obstacles Viktor did, who never recognized the harm he enabled and was complicit to, HE was the one to tell Viktor "People build their own destiny." and "There is beauty in imperfection" ?????

Not to mention the whole bit where he implies Viktor did all that because he wanted to "eradicate what he thought was weakness"??? Didn't we stablished Viktor wanted to HELP THE PEOPLE FROM THE UNDERCITY TO HAVE BETTER LIFE CONDITIONS?? don't try to gaslight me.

I know this is just a TV show, but I need to remind everyone that what perpetuates opressive, discriminatory and violent systems as long and as deeply as they do is indiference. Is turning your head and enabling others to stay ignorant.

Edit: You guys are misunderstanding me. And I admit it is probably my fault, I wrote this high with emotion I wasn't as eloquent.

Jayce's exact choice of words or his time living in the alternate world is nowhere near my point.

My point is, that the narrative is establishing that the privileged character, is the one that has to show (and is quite literally, textually, always the one to show) the underprivileged character that "he was looking at life the wrong way." Forgetting that Viktor's journey of feeling powerless was greatly influenced by the fact he was poor and from the undercity.

That's what I meant by it erasing the part of the plot about class systems. In the end, the story only requires Jayce to understand Viktor's struggle on a superficial level, but the text never recognizes that it as the product of a deeply rooted SYSTEMIC ISSUE. One Jayce and even Viktor on some level, benefited from and perpetuated.

Understanding Viktor still doesn't give him any moral ground, and nobody ever challenges him on that because the story isn't interested in that anymore.

And the same with Caitlyn. She knows what she did what's wrong, fine, she feels bad. Like I said, she still has a class bias, and no character challenges her on it again because the story derails to magic and fighting and whatnot.

The plot just forgets (or ignores) that layer of the story despite it being so prominent up until now.

And ignoring the class discussion does a disservice to every single character because they were initially built on it. You can see it in how they lose the essence they had on s1.

I know y'all love the characters and want to empathize with all their motivations, okay? But the fundamental issue is that characters also represent things, and more so in a story as political as this one. We also have the right to point out that the show told us they represented something and then abandoned that narrative.

What do I think they could have done differently? If I tell you scene by scene we could be here for an entire year. The gist of it is: I think they should have stuck to the character themes they already had established.

Vi as someone fiercely loyal to the undercity beyond her relationship with Powder/Jinx, and being "cursed" by the role of the older sister. Jayce as someone with good intentions but who is ultimately limited by his blind idealism. Mel as a cunning politician who thinks she is on the right path because she isn't violent like her mother, not realizing she is still perpetuating it. Caitlyn as someone kind and compassionate who realizes the institutions she believed in are fundamentally flawed, and because of the way they are built will never be on the side of kindness. Etc, etc.

None of that gets any meaningful resolution.

I am glad if you liked it, or got something from it, you are entitled to your opinion.

I wanted to say this because I was angry, and still am. Because there was so much incredible potential, and honestly, to me, it feels like the writers chickened out on actually saying something in the end.

That's all I have to say about that.

[nowoyas]

Trying to make sense of the Nanowrimo statement to the best of my abilities and fuck, man. It's hard.

It's hard because it seems to me that, first and foremost, the organization itself has forgotten the fucking point.

Nanowrimo was never about the words themselves. It was never about having fifty thousand marketable words to sell to publishing companies and then to the masses. It was a challenge, and it was hard, and it is hard, and it's supposed to be. The point is that it's hard. It's hard to sit down and carve out time and create a world and create characters and turn these things into a coherent plot with themes and emotional impact and an ending that's satisfying. It's hard to go back and make changes and edit those into something likable, something that feels worth reading. It's hard to find a beautifully-written scene in your document and have to make the decision that it's beautiful but it doesn't work in the broader context. It's fucking hard.

Writing and editing are skills. You build them and you hone them. Writing the way the challenge initially encouraged--don't listen to that voice in your head that's nitpicking every word on the page, put off the criticism for a later date, for now just let go and get your thoughts out--is even a different skill from writing in general. Some people don't particularly care about refining that skill to some end goal or another, and simply want to play. Some people sit down and try to improve and improve and improve because that is meaningful to them. Some are in a weird in-between where they don't really know what they want, and some have always liked the idea of writing and wanted a place to start. The challenge was a good place for this--sit down, put your butt in a chair, open a blank document, and by the end of the month, try to put fifty thousand words in that document.

How does it make you feel to try? Your wrists ache and you don't feel like any of the words were any good, but didn't you learn something about the process? Re-reading it, don't you think it sounds better if you swap these two sentences, if you replace this word, if you take out this comma? Maybe you didn't hit 50k words. Maybe you only wrote 10k. But isn't it cool, that you wrote ten thousand words? Doesn't it feel nice that you did something? We can try again. We can keep getting better, or just throwing ourselves into it for fun or whatever, and we can do it again and again.

I guess I don't completely know where I'm going with this post. If you've followed me or many tumblr users for any amount of time, you've probably already heard a thousand times about how generative AI hurts the environment so many of us have been so desperately trying to save, about how generative AI is again and again used to exploit big authors, little authors, up-and-coming authors, first time authors, people posting on Ao3 as a hobby, people self-publishing e-books on Amazon, traditionally published authors, and everyone in between. You've probably seen the statements from developers of these "tools", things like how being required to obtain permission for everything in the database used to train the language model would destroy the tool entirely. You've seen posts about new AI tools scraping Ao3 so they can make money off someone else's hobby and putting the legality of the site itself at risk. For an organization that used to dedicate itself to making writing more accessible for people and for creating a community of writers, Nanowrimo has spent the past several years systematically cracking that community to bits, and now, it's made an official statement claiming that the exploitation of writers in its community is okay, because otherwise, someone might find it too hard to complete a challenge that's meant to be hard to begin with.

I couldn't thank Nanowrimo enough for what it did for me when I started out. I don't know how to find community in the same way. But you can bet that I've deleted my account, and I'll be finding my own path forward without it. Thanks for the fucking memories, I guess.

[our-hextech-dream]

i haven't seen anyone fully articulate what i personally felt disappointed by wrt viktor's s2 persona and ending so i guess i have to do it myself even tho i'm bad at talking!! can someone who is better at this just read my mind and say it fancier and more coherently?

agency, the loss of

i have seen people already mention the way disability came into play at the end and what a wild choice it was for jayce - born able-bodied and healthy - to be the one to tell viktor - trapped in a body that was actively killing him - that actually your disability is a part of you and made you who you are and you owe everything to it. ... huh? jayce (by which i mean the writers), do you think without his disability, viktor wouldn't have still been a genius? yes, viktor is disabled - that's not even remotely what makes him a compelling character and power player. it is his mind not his body that makes him who he is. the fact that he had to waste almost his whole life fighting against that body to achieve anything is the entire crux of his frustration - imagine what he could have dedicated his mind to if he weren't constantly struggling to find a way just to survive another year, another month, another week, one more day. have you thought about it? because he has. so yeah that whole conversation, trash. bruno mars just the way you are ass one direction that's what makes you beautiful ass argument. viktor was not going crazy over cosmetic surgery, he was trying not to die.

but it strikes me as just one more expression of an overarching theme for s2 viktor - that of the complete and total loss of his agency. (more on a meta level than in the show itself, but also in the show!) i said after act 1 that viktor had died in that explosion and jayce was going to be chasing that corpse until the end, and i was correct. viktor bounced from one mindset to another, never seeming to have any consistent ideology of his own that couldn't be changed as soon as the plot demanded it. at any given point he was just kinda... wandering around, doing some random shit with the powers that worked through him. gone was the viktor who used his own hands and mind to influence the world directly, to bend it to his will. i always always felt this and i stand by it - taking viktor's abilities as an inventor and scientist away and turning him into some arcane mage jesus figure was a mistake and a disservice to his character. arcane said no this boy wasn't smart or determined, his ability to build and invent and seek and learn don't matter and never mattered, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and as soon as the arcane got its goop on him he just became the most specialest magic pixie dream boy to ever live and his own goals, dreams, ideals, morals, talents, skills, and hard work ceased to matter in any meaningful way. he never had to work to master magic to be able to use it to further his goals, because he immediately stopped having goals.

viktor became a non-character. he became whatever ideological and technological threat level the show needed to challenge to heroes and never more. he ceased to have any control or understanding over what was happening to him, rather he just gave up and decided to use his magic indiscriminately for whoever made the most convincing argument, a choice that would have been completely antithetical to his character up to that point if he'd still been alive. 'fuck zaunites, sure i'll turn them into robots so a foreign power can use them to attack and take over piltover and zaun, who cares. it's not like these are the people i've spent 30 years of my life trying to protect and save.' <- something viktor would never ever ever have agreed to! ever! no matter what! they have played us for absolute fools.

ambiguity, the loss of

the thing i wanted the most and was expecting because of the way viktor's original lore was set up was that the series would end with viktor and jayce unreconciled and with mutually exclusive worldviews, both fully believing they were right and the other was misguided but not evil or irredeemable, setting them up for future conflict. this felt like what was being set up when arcane made it a plot point that jayce was being convinced to turn hextech into weapons while viktor started getting unethical and unhinged with the experimentation. they both had good reasons to do what they did - and i'm absolutely not going to insult jayce's intelligence by claiming he was just manipulated into it by anyone, give me a fucking break - but the point was that both of them were doing something the other thought was misguided and dangerous. and they also felt that if they could just make the other person see their completely logical and rational pov, they could fix the divide between them and make up and be best science buddies again.

but then at the end arcane completely gave up on viktor having any belief in his own ideals. it just turned into 'aw actually he was just lonely all along and none of that science stuff or difference in morals or worldviews mattered bc he's got a buddy now and he's completely unequivocally on jayce's side. :)'

it was like. insanely selfish. as in, self-centered, concerned *only* with the self. the viktor i liked, and the one i wanted to flourish and hoped arcane would canonize, was someone who was entirely dedicated to zaun, to righting the wrongs of piltover and helping the people in the way he thought best - no matter what jayce or piltover thought about it. an ambiguous villain, just like all the other really well-written ones in arcane.

accountability, the loss of

viktor killed people. not sky, who was an accident despite his fixation on her; i'm talking at least a hundred or more zaunites during his stint as the machine herald. he ripped their minds out and made them play house with him, then turned them into weapons of war for ambessa's siege, and all of those people - primarily sick, desperate zaunites - died. this was always the entire crux of the conflict between (league) viktor and jayce giopara. viktor was willing to destroy people and use their bodies for his own gain unapologetically because he thought what he was doing was a blessing and the people were better off under his control because they would never feel fear or anger again. agree, disagree, depends on your view of free will and human nature, but the fact is that everyone who came to viktor hoping for a chance to be healed so they could pursue their own dreams and lives had those dreams and lives ripped away from them and they never got justice or even a single scrap of acknowledgement from the narrative.

in arcane, the horror of viktor's actions just... fade away into the background. viktor and jayce waltz off into magicspace together, leaving viktor's dead, ruined victims for piltover and zaun to deal with. he doesn't return their minds or bodies, he doesn't even seem to remember or care about what he had just been doing to other sentient living human beings. he's not sorry, he doesn't feel regret, he got what he wanted (a friend) and fuck everybody else.

because the narrative just shrugs and handwaves and says no no forget all that it doesn't matter it was just the hexcore or whatever, viktor becomes a flat, uninteresting character. he loses the depth that villains like ambessa and silco had, villains who had their victims validated by the story, who faced challenges in their arcs specifically because of the people they had hurt despite thinking they were doing the right or noble or most important thing. and not just the villains! even the heroes had to wrestle with the people they stepped on on the way to their lofty goals. but not viktor. he just floats away scot free, completely blameless, having no affect on the world and the world having no affect on him.

on arcane's status as the new canon lore and the Implications™

reminder that arcane is somehow supposed to tie into the world of runeterra at large, but now viktor and jayce both have been seemingly entirely removed from it. if it only mattered that they knew the people we'd already seen them interact with, okay, i guess. but that isn't the case. they both have a ton of connections to other champions - from regions other than p&z even - that haven't been introduced and don't have any plausible explanation for how they could have met in the past, which means they should have been set up to meet somehow in the future. implying that jinx escaped and has gone traveling the world is the perfect way to incorporate her in-game relationships with people like lux - she could have met her while traveling! but jayce and viktor don't get that plausible continuation of their story and development of further relationships - they just disappear out of existence. (ambessa also has this problem because they killed her, but unlike jayce and viktor she does have a huge amount of unexplored backstory where she could have spoken to (for example) swain and hwei and shyvanna at some point.)

note 1 - jayce and viktor are so old that they don't have any voice lines in game when meeting other champions. but other champions who are either newer or who have had voiceover updates do talk to them, which is how (aside from the old lore) you can infer that they do have relationships with other champions including ones who weren't in arcane.

note 2 - maybe riot actually doesn't care and none of the champions are really supposed to know each other or be involved in each others' lives canonically, they just have random quippy voice lines that imply that. which would fucking suck. having the lore of the game have no impact on the game itself and vice versa would objectively suck. if the characters talk to each other on the rift and say something interesting, i want that to have meaning. i want to be able to extrapolate the state of the world and the relationships between the characters from the things they verbally say with their mouths. i'm not arguing about this. the voicelines should be seen as the most high irrefutable canon that there is for the game because it is the ONLY source of lore in the game itself.

anyways there's my bible i guess. i miss evil laser robot viktor i want him to perform unethical brain surgery on me (fixing my adhd but also turning me into his personal puppet attack dog) and then give a weapon to a child so they can kill their bullies.

[paper-mario-wiki]

Shangri-La Frontier mid-season review

This is by far the best fake video game I've ever seen written in fiction.

Most MMO-centric isekai stories have trouble with providing accurate and realistic depictions of the complexities and minutia that give MMOs the allure they have. I've seen so much handwavey bullshit tacked onto fake-games that introduce unrealistically overlooked mechanics for reasons like giving the protag immense power just because they're the protag and the story is about them. A good example of this is another MMO Isekai airing this season, "A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life", wherein the main character becomes extremely rich, powerful, and famous by episode 2 because he stumbled into a stealth archer playstyle, a build which apparently no human in that universe had ever conceived of before, and then making a fortune by selling basic potions to everyone after NPCs stopped selling them (another thing he was uniquely able to do because not a single other player had the forethought to spec into alchemy). These lesser, dime-a-dozen isekai add up to be boring fantasy strories with gaming elements clumsily put in so that the author can demonstrate how powerful the world's inhabitants are by showing their stat allocation screen instead of, say, explaining anything about what they do that's so uniquely powerful and how they figured it out. Ya know, stuff you'd hope to hear about from any competent story.

Shangri-La Frontier is a breath of fresh air for anyone who, like me, is sick of authors ignoring the things that actually make video games compelling in service of creating a stock-standard narratives in fantasy worlds because it allows them to get away with bullshit. I've always found it very convenient that many isekai narratives indulge in things like chattel slavery, because it's societally normal enough for the protag to purchase a beautiful, vulnerable girl to add to his harem (dont worry, she is always inexplicably in love with him no matter what because he's SUCH a kind master). And it never really seems to go anywhere. Because the Video Game Isekai, while an interesting premise in theory, is more often than not used exclusively as a means to simplify the structure of a world's power scaling to abide by an arbitrary set of omnipresent universal rules (e.g. what people who have never cared to look into game development think of video games). This anime, by comparison, is VERY clearly authored by someone who plays a LOT of games.

Every piece of logic used to drive the plot forward, so far, is congruent to a real-world example of video game conventions, and I'm not just talking about levelling up and selling monster parts. Story elements that I've rarely (if ever) seen explored in other isekai are ever-present and genuinely clever and amusingly introduced. My favorite example of this so far has been the way the protagonist has been able to go head to head with so many overlevelled foes in the first 9 episodes. The story of course makes note of how good of a gamer Sanraku (our hero) is, but much like in real life games, being super duper good at dodging attacks doesn't really make up for a 70 level gap in items and learned skills. For that reason, he gets his ass whooped more often than he actually outsmarts others (so far he hasn't beaten a single player in pvp). So how is he getting out of these situations without dying so frequently? Simple: he got access to a later area too early relative to his level (sequence break) and got access to a high level follower NPC that's been carrying him. This is something he acknowledges directly several times, specifically using words like "Emul has been hard-carrying me for a while." This, to me, is extraordinarily meaningful. That's something you can exploit in Skyrim, man. That's REALISTIC CHEESE STRATS. The excitement and wonder I find in this show doesn't come from watching the protag do something unexpected, but by watching him do something that I would think to do.

This knowledge the author has demonstrated regarding modern gaming culture extends further into the actual realistic nature of game design and community. The story exists in a reality where full-dive VRMMOs are the be-all-end-all of gaming, and given the prohibitively expensive nature of developing and designing expansive, immersive worlds, most games are pretty shit. It's been hinted at so far that this is due to a monopolistic megacorp which is one of the only entities rich and powerful enough to make a good game (the game in question being the one that shares the title of the anime), but so far the strife of the characters have been pretty centralized to the happenings of the game world and its politics. By the way, lets talk about the game world's player base politics, which I'm also quite pleased with. It exists in the form of guilds and clans who struggle for power not by participating in seemingly random pvp with other powerful players to see who is the most epic and badass warrior (again, like many contemporary isekai typically opt for), but by gaining actual realistic support from a fictional playerbase with realistic desires and playstyles. Some guilds are interested in lore, some gather for alliance and boss raids, some for things like animal husbandry, and (naturally) at least one is dedicated to trolling and PKing. Each of these factions, through the very little that we've seen of them so far, communicate on forums and only know as much as is reasonable for them to know. The only reason they give a shit about the protagonist at all is because he gained access to a high-level unique scenario quest that they want information on how to access, and the only reason word of that got out in the first place was because someone posted a screenshot of him with a unique NPC onto a forum, asking about it as "where can i find this pet summon, its super cute!" That's real. That's video games, baby.

I like this show a lot so far. I like that it cares about video games, but I also like its writing. I like the main character and how hes less of an ultra badass super cool guy, and more of an earnest challenge-run lets player. Like, a lot of his dialogue straight up sounds strikingly similar to Japanese youtubers. And he's naturally always quick to point out inconsistencies in the game world's logic. I ALSO really like his community of pals from a janky old fighting game, and I ADORE the girl from his school who has a crush on him and also just so happens to be an exceptionally high level player from a top clan, and how she had to spend 9 episodes working up the courage to send him a friend request. I love that so, so much, dude.

I highly recommend this show if you're into a single thing I've mentioned. The animation is great. The world is beautiful. The character design is immaculate. And I'm looking forward to watching it continue.

[mortal-song]

the problem with tua's ending is that it was IMPOSSIBLE to do without retconning and defacing the themes and characterizations that have been central to the story since the very first episode. if you had to end it that way, if it really was "the plan all along," then fine. there ARE good ways to do that -- so the execution should have been much different here if that was the case. take a look at "the good place," for example. everyone ceased to exist at the end of that story as well, but it was beautifully done because it ADDED to the show's core themes rather than take away from them. tua's ending was hollow and unavailing. at some point i have to commend the precision with which someone can desecrate an entire series and certain characters (looking at five, diego and lila especially) like this.

it made no sense. diego and lila formed a beautiful (albeit chaotic) relationship built upon mutual trust and authentic love that neither of them had ever experienced before. it was something they were teaching each other and learning together. that was a new beginning to them, and it was painted as such by the narrative. at no point were there hints that things would go sideways, no build up. every time they stumbled in the past it was still right back into each other's arms. at no point did their chaos look like an ending until it was shoved in our faces for... shock value? to shake things up? i fail to understand where it came from. they were relentlessly devoted to each other and the only two people who could stand each other for long. and so what became of them was very jarring. very messy.

five's ENTIRE character has been focused on and motivated by one thing: saving the people he loves. to the point that he was willing to let his own humanity become a forgone ideal, a renounced concept, as many times as it took. to the point that he essentially INVENTED TIME TRAVEL and INVENTED THE COMMISSION TO REGULATE IT. five's stoic exterior only barely concealed the claw-grip he had on every single family member, so why forget it now? why choose to go back on that? and in what world would five hargreeves willingly wait MONTHS to return to his family? because he was SUDDENLY in love with lila, no less? forgetting the very apparent fact that his age and body are not in alignment, five had never shown any interest in romance. especially not towards lila. but they do have very similar backgrounds, and so this was a chance to enrich the mutual understanding five and lila have with each other, expand the familial connections they have, especially seeing as how both of them -- in their own ways -- spent most of their life without that sort of connection.

ben's entire arc felt so, so out of place. completely and very ironically isolated from the entire rest of the series. nothing about it was fulfilling, nothing about it offered any sense of closure or even development. jennifer made no sense even as a plot device, much less as her own character. these two brought out nothing in each other.

klaus had the foundations of a good arc, but too much was introduced in too small an amount of time and none of it really went anywhere. i can say roughly the same for allison and viktor. THAT being said, of most of the scenes i did find myself genuinely enjoying this season, THOSE three were usually at the center! in fact, i really did love the scenes with klaus, allison, and claire. so that's cool. i guess. luther? he was just kind of... there?

and ray just fucked off with no explanation? okay. and reginald? until this point he had all the qualities of a potentially VERY GOOD and nuanced villain. his arc fell flat. and let's not forget all the other loose ends, but, you know, we've been here long enough. so. onto the next point.

none of these characters got to heal. none of them ever got to revel in anything meaningful, or, rather, the things that WERE meaningful across the whole series were rendered worthless because... none of it exists anymore! none of it ever existed! this is like an "it was all a dream" ending but much worse. and these characters are so, so incredible. i can only name a few other stories that have had characters i've connected to this deeply. and despite everything i could never really stop loving them. that makes it hurt more though tbh

anyways. i know i'm about to sound incredibly dramatic but the ending made me sob my lungs out. this show was really important to me. it led me to incredible people, other incredible stories, helped me live, etc. but i honestly found myself wishing i'd just never watched this series at all. the ending was eviscerating and Just Fucking Pointless. i don't think i'm ever going to be able to rewatch it. it's still hard for me to conceptualize that it was even real, that this is all we get. there's a lot more i could say about everything, but again, i've said a lot already and i'm not trying to write a fucking novel. i'll say more of what i want to in sporadic bursts i guess.

[doublejango]

Stolas doesn't always read the room. Or, if he does, he sometimes just continues blithely on, doing or saying whatever he feels is necessary. He doesn't always read the room--

But he did in Mastermind.

He read the shit out of the Temple of Justice, and he was amazing. I mean, we all know this, this is just me babbling something we all saw, but I have so many feelings about this episode and need to let them out. Which is kind of funny, because at first I was a little underwhelmed by it--with so long between episode releases and so many months of the plot feeling so damn heavy, I was a little burnt out. But I've watched it twice now, and listened to the song.... er. Let's say more than ten times and call it good. And the whole thing has just grown on me so much and I love Stolas so much, and need to get this out of my system.

Stolas showed up and immediately knew he was fighting an uphill battle. Not just against what was happening, but at the basest level: to get people's attention. He had to capture their attention or nothing he said was going to matter--and not just Satan's, either. Stolas had to turn the entire damn tide here, to make sure his voice mattered, to put everything on this line to save his beloved idiot, and he did it.

He loves music. He loves theatrics. He loves words. And holy fuck, he used them to his advantage so beautifully. Stolas was incredible. He could've come on and done a dry, dispassionate, logical argument, but he knew that wouldn't work. So even though he has been treated all too often as being cringe, as being too much, he stuck to what was true and meaningful for him--the song, the passion--and he went all out. He committed his whole heart (and fate) to this song...

But he didn't leave it at a performance.

Because he read the room.

Stolas kept himself unpredictable. He wasn't just an object for people to watch or a melody for them to listen to. He was constantly moving, mixing magic and physical movement as he shifted all around the Temple of Justice, so that the people who wanted to watch him had to move, too. He was always turning himself as well, so that he was never addressing just one part of the 'audience,' so that he was including all of them in the narrative, making sure they knew that he was speaking to them. They had to at the very least turn their heads, be sharp, be paying attention, just to find out where the fuck he was and to try and figure out where the fuck he was going next. They had to pay attention--which was a fucking feat, considering how desperately so many of them didn't want to. The laziness and apathy of the court is its own whole thing, but Stolas immediately read that and did what he could to deal with that, too. He was brilliant. He barely had any time to plan, and yet he executed all of that so wonderfully.

He's smart. Fuck, he is so smart. And good. And I just. Hi. I really love that character.

And then at the end, that little squishing, grabbing gesture he made at Satan? That was such a beautiful little test, making sure Satan was paying attention, making sure Satan was tuned in to him. It pissed Satan off, clearly, that big ol' beefy chunk of draconic hunk doesn't seem to like when people make that kind of gesture at him, but it worked. Stolas demanded his attention, checked to be sure he really had it and that he really could end this, and redirected Satan's wrath onto himself.

And I just. Hhfjghd. Hi. Guys? I love Stolas. I really, really fucking love Stolas.

[keepingeahalive]

Miss Rosabella Beauty: The Queen of Wasted Potential

Okay, I'll admit it. I do ship her and Daring. I'm a sucker for Beauty and the Beast, and I couldn't help myself. That said, objectively, this ship and Rosabella's character.... yeah, it kinda sucks.

Maybe I didn't want to admit it because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale. But the more I look into her character, the more I realize she embodies virtues that contradict her own story. Epic Winter was more about "fixing" Daring's supposed selfishness than addressing the real elephant in the room, and Rosabella was a plot device to push that narrative. I think she could have been an interesting character with flaws and a lot of depth. But she wasn't, and I am very very disappointed.

Her Character

The first time I saw her, I was really rooting for her. She's an animal rights and monster activist. She could have been great friends with Cerise for that reason. She could have even had interactions with Ramona in the past. But she comes off as self-righteous and preachy.

I get she's an activist and that's the joke; activists are inherently self-righteous. But this is Ever After High. Where's the nuance? She could be an animal and monster activist because she's experienced prejudice herself. She's the daughter of Beauty and The Beast. Look me in the eye and tell me she doesn't have any Beast genes. I dare you!

It's canon that Beauty and the Beast is considered a bad destiny story, with the stigma of the heroine falling in love with a creature most fairytales would pin as the villain, and a handsome prince carrying the stigma of being of being a beast even after the curse is gone. She should understand that better than anyone. And yet, this kindness and compassion she tries to convey comes off as condescending. She inserts herself into situations because she feels she's needed when nobody has asked for her help.

2. DARABELLA

Rosabella was only introduced in one minisode and suddenly gets a big role in Epic Winter? She and Daring hadn't had a meaningful conversation up until that point. Really, she barely knows Daring.

For the daughter of Beauty and the Beast, she's so .... judgmental. She's supposed to have the ability to see people's true intentions, but why does she get it so wrong? She immediately assumes Daring is self-centered and narcissistic. On the surface, I can see where she's coming from. But, that's only on the surface.

Daring is more complex than she made him out to be, and Epic Winter wanted the audience to think she was in the right. We know this isn't true. Daring loves being a hero and saving people. He loves his siblings and does what he thinks is best for them. He certainly cared about Lizzie enough to respect her wishes. He's chivalrous to a fault!

Daring is clearly going through some things, and it doesn't seem like anyone's paying attention to what's really bothering him: He has no purpose anymore. He's been brought up his whole life thinking he would be King of Ever After, and now his world is shattered. He's not coping well. And Rosabella thinks he's full of himself when she's barely met this guy.

Having him become the Beast from Beauty and the Beast felt natural to me in the story progression, but Rosabella's inclusion felt forced. She gives him the same old advice from her original story when she should be hinting at something greater. This should be the turning point in Daring that destiny is malarky, and he can break away from the expectations his family and peers put on him. But she doesn't understand that. She only sees that he's obsessed with his looks because his main form of coping is gone.

He's not really upset about his looks. He's upset that his destiny is gone, and either that's not as important to her as him getting over his looks or she doesn't know him well enough to know what's been put on him. Assuming it's the latter, why wouldn't she try to find the root of the problem instead of fixing what she thinks needs fixing?

Daring is the victim here, even if he has issues to work out. And it doesn't seem like she's really listening to him.

3. The Cousins No One Talks About

Yeah. Rosabella and Briar are cousins. And there is very. little. BACKSTORY!!

We know their dads don't get along. Briar's is a monster hunter. Rosa's is The Beast. Their moms are sisters. That's all we know. What's her relationship with Briar? Is it a tragic sisterly bond? Or did the two drift apart/fall out because of their family conflict? Rosa's mom is likely the black sheep of the family, so do she and Sleeping Beauty still talk anymore?

How does Briar feel about all this? Does she have time to feel anything about it at all? She has her own family and her own destiny to worry about. What kind of influence did Briar's parents have on her views on beasts? She hadn't even been to Rosa's home until they were both well into high school. How much do they even know about each other?

We know so little about their dynamic. Family conflict shapes a child, and both of them probably have some deep-seated trauma relating to their families. But did the writers forget that they're cousins?

4. How I Would Write Rosabella (and maybe Daring)

First, give her the ability to transform into a beast. It's not hard.

She's advocating for people like her to exist. She wants people to see both sides of her and those like her to be seen as more than monsters. But she's had her fair share of prejudice, even within her own family. Her uncle is a monster hunter, so a half-beast niece would be considered an abomination. Because of this, she suppresses her anger to better the image of beasts. She doesn't want to, but she feels like she has to, for her own safety and to make herself more palatable in society. However, the more anger she holds in, the less control she has over herself. Her judgment becomes clouded, and this makes her jump to conclusions about people's behavior. She wants things to be fair so much that she gets in trouble for it. She wants to be understanding and patient, but having a hair-trigger temper gets in the way of her goals.

Give her a backstory with Cerise and the Hood-Badwolf family. Her family would know more than anyone the hardships that a human-beast family goes through, and they should be very good friends because of that. Her growing up around Cerise and Ramona would give her more of a reason to protect the beast population.

If any sort of relationship with Daring were to work, they would both have to learn from each other. Daring would learn to let go of people's expectations of him, and Rosabella would learn to let her anger out in a healthy way and pick her battles. Daring can't be the only one learning from her, and Rosa shouldn't see anything to fix in him. She needs to accept him for who he really is, not just preaching about appearances.

She should be embodying both Beauty and the Beast, all the kindness and grief that comes with it. She's not meant to be a paragon, and the writers should not have portrayed her as such. She needed to be a character with her own development. She needed to be portrayed just as in the wrong as Daring was when they met, not about appearance but about each other. She needs to admit her mistakes and acknowledge she is not always right about everyone. Or, at the very least, have her see right through Daring's facade about looks and realize there's something deeper going on.

The writer's dropped the ball on this ship, and they did Daring so dirty here. But they also did Rosabella a disservice by making her so two-dimensional and preachy, almost not even her own character. There are so many routes they could have taken with her. She could have been great, but she wasn't.

[dollypopup]

"all the negativity is killing the vibe"

"just be grateful for what you got!" "was it perfect? no! but we got some good stuff!" "people are just being so down about season 3"

There is a reason people are displeased.

We are consumers of this media. We PAID for this media. With time, with money, with subscriptions. We bought the merch, we watched the promos, we paid in attention, we paid financially, we paid literally and metaphorically.

And they did not deliver.

So, yes, we have a right to complain because objectively speaking, it was a bad ending. It just was! It was poorly written and poorly edited, it did not leave viewers happy, and there is a REASON the engagement of part 2 is much lower than part 1. Polin is not the problem, sidelining Polin is the problem. Writing Polin poorly is the problem. Shoving Colin to the side (half of the pairing) is the problem. Inconsistent characterization is the problem.

the fact that we came in with high expectations and they were let down for us? makes it a bad ending. makes it bad writing. the fact that we waited 2 years for it and then another month in between and did not walk away feeling as though that time was worthwhile? makes it a bad ending.

the writing was disjointed, characters were underutilized, Colin was pushed aside in his OWN SEASON, they tried to do a #girlbossfeminism narrative and then threw Cressida to the wolves because she did a few things that hurt the main heroine's feelings, even after showing us as viewers we should (and do) empathize with her. I mean, for fuck's sake, there was literally a big speech and everyone clapped moment. stakes were defanged, there were threesome scenes that cut any and all tension building between Polin, Eloise's character was written inconsistently for the sake of swift forgiveness, they threw Babies ever After at us, momifying the one character who was said to be plus size representation at NINETEEN, there were more sex scenes for Benedict than there were for the main couple Polin. Lady Whistledown was a black hole for good quality because instead of writing a narrative that suited the couple's ending, they wrote a narrative to keep her as a plot device by any means possible. This season was a roller coaster that went up up up and then stagnated.

there are legitimate criticisms to be had about this season. as if we don't have a right to demand good quality from something we paid for.

and the worst part of it is that they set it up SO. WELL.

I ended Part 1 pacing my apartment, giddy and kicking my feet and rewatching the ending over and over. Part 2? None of that. And the reason people have been so negative about it is that IT SHOWS.

Yes, in part, some negativity is homophobia for Michaela, who I honest to god adore and am so happy to see on screen. Yes, in part, some negativity is for Polin from haters, a couple I love with all my heart.

But most of the negativity comes down to poor writing. Inconsistency. A lack of bravery for dropping a plot device (Lady Whistledown) that the show has held onto not for Penelope or for Polin, but for Bridgerton's story moving forward that writers do not feel confident portraying without a narrator so it might crutch them.

Stop licking a plate of crumbs and claiming it a meal. They had 2 years to deliver a fantastic season. They didn't do so. That is not at all on the actors, because they are FANTASTIC, it is on the writers, and on the production. Was it beautiful? Sure. Was it well acted? Absolutely. Was it good? Well edited? Well written? Meaningful? Fun?

No.

There are parts of it that are, but when you fumble an ending, it sours the entire experience. The reason people loved Part 1 so much was because of the ending of Episode 4, which was done beautifully. It felt satisfying. And then Part 2 felt like an entirely different beast. If you settle for mediocrity, that is all you will get. So yes, I demand better of this season. I demand that we get more than just one thirty second scene of Pen and Colin being intimate after their marriage. I demand more characterization and time devoted to the main couple instead of useless side plots. I demand better writing. I demand better EDITING. Cressida was done dirty, Colin was done dirty, Eloise was done dirty, Penelope was done dirty. And at the end of it, VIEWERS were done dirty.

There's a reason Part 1 had such glowing positivity and then Part 2 is garnering horribly mixed reactions. It's because one is better than the other. And if this show is CAPABLE of delivering content like Part 1, then yes, I will absolutely demand it of part 2. One day, Bridgerton will learn how to write a proper final episode, a proper closing to an arc.

That day was not in Season 3.

[wistfulwatcher]

in an era where every show without record-breaking ratings gets axed immediately, i would just like to say how deeply grateful i am that crazy ex-girlfriend managed to air for four whole seasons and tell one of the most beautiful and moving stories of self-acceptance and love i've ever seen.

i just finished rewatching it (yet again) and every time i do i just think what an absolute shame it would have been if it had been cancelled after one or two (or even three) seasons. because, while it was clever and fun from the beginning, rebecca's mental state required the show to be so boy-crazy that it was a little tough to believe that the show would end up seeing the story through to where we eventually end up. the audience certainly got hints as to its final message early on ("love doesn't need to be a person, it can be a passion"). but because rebecca was rejecting those messages, the audience sort of had to, too. and if the show had been cancelled while rebecca was obsessed with josh? certain that her only path to happiness was romantic love and validation from a man? if we had never seen her truly understand and acknowledge ghost!akopian's words? i'm sure there would have been articles speculating on where the series could have ended up, acknowledging with resigned tones that the show had potential, with the seeds that had been planted.

but god, discussion of "the potential" of the show would have paled in comparison to what we got. because hot damn, did cxg end up doing character growth better than the vast majority of other series. (and not just for rebecca! almost every character in the large ensemble got to grow in a very organic, subversive, and meaningful way!) for a show that was consistently in danger because of their extremely low ratings, it was pretty ballsy of cxg not to rush through rebecca's story to prove its intention. for them to let rebecca be as frustrating and unlikable and unhealthy as she was for so many episodes, simply because they knew how necessary it was to show us the depth of rebecca's mistakes and struggles before she finally sought help and began to heal and grow. and the story was so, so much better and poignant for it. rebecca's season four growth feels very earned, and her end of series resolution to pursue her passion (her true love!) is so satisfying because it feels realistic. the audience has spent four years seeing her love for theater (and how it got tangled up in josh/the idea of romantic love) and when rebecca eventually realizes the same it's such a satisfying sense of finally.

it's an experience that has become painfully rare lately; too many series feel as though they're trying to cram as much into the first season as they can for fear of cancellation, and allowing no room for characters or relationships or story to grow naturally. they don't allow for anything other than the bare minimum plot. their characters can't breathe.

cxg didn't do that. they continued to tell the story they were telling, at the pace at which it needed to be told. and the series was truly phenomenal because of that choice. because of that trust in its own story and characters. cxg is a perfect example of what television can be, how powerful it can be, when it's allowed to be treated like the long-form storytelling medium it is. and i am so grateful for that.

[mrprettywhenhecries]

worth the squeeze [s.h]

One. Worth Sticking Around For

↪︎ a Stranger Things/The Girl Next Door AU

Steve Harrington ✗ f!Reader

➺ w.c. 4.4k words ➺ tags/warning(s). no use of y/n, reader character uses she/her pronouns, sexual themes, nudity, skinny dipping, Steve's a lil bit of a perv ➺ a/n. I had this thought a couple weeks ago about writing a Girl Next Door AU with Steve and it was just too perfect to pass up despite my other ongoing wips. The plot isn't going to follow the movie exactly, but the main theme will be the same. Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated! 💚

When the most beautiful girl Steve's ever seen starts staying at his neighbor's house, he'd do anything to get to know her, even make a fool of himself for her.

[ masterlist]

“I’m tellin’ you, Robin, I’m getting really tired of it,” Steve exclaimed as he drove her home after their shift at Family Video.

“Oh yeah, must be tough going on so many dates with sooo many beautiful women,” Robin scoffed, throwing him a wry look.

“Yeah, I mean, my sex life has never been better, but it’s like, maybe I want more than just sex, you know?” Steve continued as if he hadn’t heard her, gesturing animatedly with one hand while the other gripped the steering wheel.

Robin lifted an eyebrow at him.  “You’re making it real hard to feel sorry for you,” she retorted dryly and Steve returned her flat stare with his own.

“I just wanna meet a girl that I genuinely like being around, I mean, in addition to having great sex with,” he added and Robin laughed.

“Maybe stop having sex on the first date then, Dingus,” she pointed out.

“Yeah yeah,” Steve muttered, knowing she had a point.  After his dry spell the year before, he’d been trying to make up for all the action he’d missed out on, but now… now he was starting to feel empty.  He wanted something meaningful.

Dropping Robin off, Steve headed home, turning onto the quiet street he’d lived all his life and pulled into the empty drive–his parents off on some business trip, leaving him the house all to himself.

Pushing open his car door, he noticed an unfamiliar car parked next door and frowned.  The older woman who lived there didn’t often have visitors.  Heading inside, he forgot about the car when his stomach began to rumble.  Not bothering to change out of his work uniform, he threw some food in the oven and went about taking the trash out.

As he dragged the heavy black plastic bag down the drive, a sound caught his attention and he turned to find one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen pulling a suitcase and garment bag out of the car in his neighbor’s driveway.  Steve’s breath caught and he gaped at her, letting his gaze linger a little too long on her backside and he let out a surprised yelp as he ran right into the trash can at the end of the driveway.

Nearly tripping and sprawling atop the overturned can, he quickly straightened before fumbling to right the can and get the bag inside it with a loud clatter.  Glancing up hastily to see if she’d noticed, he winced when he found her watching him, an amused grin on her lips before she turned away and headed back inside, leaving Steve feeling like a giant fool.

Glancing down at himself, he finally realized he was still in his work vest and let out a sigh.  No doubt he’d just blown his chance at a suave first impression and he muttered to himself as he reluctantly headed back inside, dragging his feet sullenly.

Shrugging off his work vest, he wadded it into a ball and tossed it at the stairs, leaving it lay where it landed before climbing to his room and flopping down onto his bed, reaching for the cordless phone on his bed stand while he waited for his food to cook.

“Y’ello?” Tommy Hagan answered on the third ring and Steve turned his head so his voice wouldn’t be muffled by his pillow.

“Hey Tommy, it’s Steve.”

“Harrington, my man, how’s it hangin’?” Tommy exclaimed and Steve let out a weary sigh.

“So, check it out, there’s this girl staying at my neighbor’s, one of the hottest chicks I’ve ever seen, right?  I mean, she was unbelievable–like an angel, and her smile–” he trailed off with a sigh before shaking his head angrily.  “I haven’t even talked to her yet and I already blew it!” he groaned, running his hand down his face.

“How’d you manage that?” Tommy asked, his voice laced with amusement.

“I was taking the trash out and there she was, bending over to get something out of her car and what do I do?  I trip over the goddamn trash can!  I mean, I’m only human, what am I supposed to do, not look?”

Tommy’s raucous laughter filled his ear and he cringed.

“What’d she do?” he asked once he caught his breath.

“She turned and looked at me and then went back inside,” Steve groaned.  “Oh, oh!  And the worst part!  That’s when I realized I was still wearing my damn work vest.”

“She probably thinks you’re a loser, man,” Tommy pointed out and Steve let out a heavy sigh, lifting his hand from his face.

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled.

It was probably karma for him complaining earlier about wanting more than sex.  Watch, now he’d probably go back to not being able to score at all.

Letting his eyes regain focus, he looked out his window and stiffened.  Next door, a light flicked on in the second floor window across from his, and the girl he’d just been telling Tommy about came into view.  Completely oblivious that he could see her, she began to undress, pulling her shirt over her head, revealing a red lacy bra that hugged her breasts perfectly, pushing them up and together.

“Oh shit–” he breathed, forgetting for the moment that he still had the phone to his ear until Tommy replied in confusion.

“What?  S’goin’ on?”

Steve pushed himself up from the bed and moved closer to the window as she reached behind her back to unclasp the bra, letting it slide slowly down before tossing it aside, her back still to him as she slipped her jeans down, her red panties matching her bra.

“I can see her through the window, she’s undressing,” Steve whispered, his mouth going dry, hoping she’d turn so he could get a better view.

He may have matured in the year since he’d graduated, but he was still a guy after all.

“Holy shit, lucky bastard.  How’s her rack?”

Steve barely heard Tommy over the rush of blood in his ears and he held his breath as she finally turned toward the window.  For one blessed moment he had a perfect view of her chest and he let out a low whistle, admiring her tits and wondering how nice they’d feel in his hands.

It was when his gaze flicked back up to her face, his eyes finding hers staring right back, that panic flooded him and he dropped the phone in his haste to duck below the window and out of sight.  Steve could faintly hear Tommy demanding to know what was happening, but he ignored the phone, slowly pulling himself up just enough to peer through the bottom of the window to see if she’d truly noticed him or not, only to grimace as she quickly pulled a sweatshirt on over her head and shut off the light as she strode out of the room.

“Shit,” Steve hissed, finally picking the phone back up and bringing it reluctantly to his ear.  “I think she saw me.”

Tommy let out a loud snort.  “Good job, man.  Now you’re definitely screwed.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Steve grumbled, hearing the timer on the oven go off downstairs.  “My food’s ready, I’ll talk to you later,” he muttered, cursing his luck.  It was definitely karma coming back to bite him.

“Okay, later.  Keep me posted,” Tommy said and Steve hung up the phone to bound down the stairs and retrieve his pizza before it burned.  Almost as soon as he opened the oven door and pulled the pan out, the doorbell rang.

“Who the hell could that be?” Steve muttered under his breath, dropping the pizza atop the stove and turning off the oven to get the door.

Taking a moment to peer through the peephole before pulling the door open, Steve’s mouth fell open in shock at the sight of the mysterious girl from next door standing on his doorstep–the last person he’d expected to see.

Working moisture back into his suddenly dry mouth, he squashed down the surge of worry that she was only there to tell him off for being a perv, and opened the door.  Leaning nonchalantly against the door frame, he flashed her his most charming smile and ran a hand through his hair to wrangle it, bringing her attention to his best asset, hoping for a second chance at a better first impression.

“Hey there, we haven’t been properly introduced, I’m Steve Harrington,” he drawled, offering his hand.

The drive from Indianapolis to Hawkins was longer than you’d expected and when you pulled into your aunt’s empty drive, all you wanted to do was stretch your legs and collapse into bed, but you knew if you did that then you wouldn’t be able to make yourself get back up and you still had to finish unpacking your car before you could allow yourself the sweet embrace of sleep.

The spare key was exactly where your aunt had said it would be and you let yourself in, deciding to make another trip to grab the rest of your luggage.  It had been such a long time since you’d last visited, it took you a moment to remember the layout of the spacious house.  You didn’t understand why your aunt hadn’t downsized yet, especially since it was just her all alone in the big house, but you weren’t complaining about the extra space, especially since she’d offered you one of her spare rooms til you could afford your own place.

Dropping your backpack on the bed, you returned to your car for the rest of your stuff, aware of the noise coming from the neighbor’s driveway.  You barely paid attention to the young man dragging his trash out to the road as you bent over to grab your suitcase and garment bag from the backseat.

As you straightened, the loud clatter of trash cans falling over made you turn and you had to bite back the laugh that nearly sprang to your lips as the neighbor nearly fell head over heels in his distraction, his eyes quickly tearing away from you as he fought to right himself.

For a long moment, you watched him, smiling to yourself before turning back toward the house. Despite making a fool of himself, he was rather handsome and looked to be about your age.  For a second, you deliberated going back to introduce yourself, but the way your stomach grumbled reminded you that you’d barely eaten anything other than junk food all day and the call of finding sustenance was too great to ignore.  Besides, the poor guy’d just suffered enough humiliation, you didn’t wanna add to that at the moment.

Dragging the rest of your stuff up to your room, you flicked the light on as the sun began to dip below the horizon, and pulled out something a little more comfortable to put on, stripping your t-shirt over your head and unhooking your bra.  Tossing the garment away, you stretched your arms above your head, working the kink out of your back before turning to grab the sweatshirt you’d just laid out.

Glancing up to the window, you realized you could see into the room directly across from yours in the house next door, and your heart leapt into your throat as you locked eyes with the young man you’d just encountered in the driveway, watching as he hastily ducked out of sight, knowing you’d caught him staring.

Clenching your jaw, you yanked your sweatshirt on and stormed out of the room and down the stairs, ready to give the pervert a piece of your mind.  When he answered his front door, however, you faltered for a moment at his confident greeting, as if he hadn’t just been caught watching you undress.

“Hey there, we haven’t been properly introduced, I’m Steve Harrington,” he drawled.

Your brows rose slightly as you stared at his outstretched hand.  So he wanted to pretend like nothing had happened, huh?  Well, two could play at that, you thought, contenting yourself with waiting for the opportune moment to bring it up and catch him off guard.

Taking his hand, you introduced yourself, taking a moment to get a proper look at him.

He was definitely cute, despite spying on you.  Maybe your stay in Hawkins wouldn’t be so dull after all, provided Steve Harrington didn’t turn out to be a total creep.

“I’m pretty sure I definitely would’ve remembered if we’d met before,” Steve said, releasing your hand, though his warmth lingered on your palm.  “So uh, what’re you doing next door?” he asked, looking you up and down discreetly.

“It’s my aunt’s place.  She’s out of town right now, but she said I could stay for a bit til I get back on my feet.  I just quit my job,” you explained, hoping he wouldn’t ask too many questions about your former profession.

“Oh, bummer.  About your job, I mean!  Not that you’re here,” Steve added quickly, making you laugh.

“It’s okay, I was ready for a change,” you said, shrugging, shifting your weight.  “Guess that officially makes us neighbors then.”

Steve nodded, grinning.  “Guess it does,” he mused, his voice trailing off as if he were lost in thought.  

“You gunna invite me in, or make me stand here all night?” you prompted, raising an amused brow at him and Steve shook himself.

“You hungry?  I just pulled a frozen pizza out of the oven,” he offered, gesturing over his shoulder and your stomach chose that moment to remind you how hungry you still were.

“Sounds perfect,” you replied, hoping Steve hadn’t heard your stomach’s impatient rumble.  “You live here alone?” you asked, letting your eyes wander as you followed him in, Steve leading you to the kitchen.

“Nah, with my parents,” he answered with a grimace.  “But dad’s on a business trip and mom went with,” he explained, rifling through one of the drawers for a pizza cutter.

“That’s nice,” you mused, opening the fridge to peer inside curiously.

“Not really,” Steve muttered, turning to pull a couple plates from the cupboard and hand you one.  “Mom’s only there cause she doesn't trust him.”

“Ohh, I see,” you murmured and Steve let out a heavy sigh, divvying up the pizza slices onto your plates.  

“I don’t wanna be anything like him,” he said quietly and you wondered if he’d meant for you to hear or not, hastily clearing his throat and moving on from the subject.  “You want a beer?”

“Yeah, alright,” you replied, accepting the cold can he passed you from the fridge.

“C’mon, let’s eat by the pool,” Steve suggested, leading you through the large open living room and out the sliding glass door to the stone paved patio.  

His parents were clearly loaded, but earlier you’d noticed him wearing a Family Video vest, so either daddy’d cut him off, or he didn’t want his family’s money, and you briefly wondered which was the case.

Steve pulled a couple lounge chairs next to each other and gestured for you to sit, sprawling out next to you.  “So, how long do you plan on staying in Hawkins?” he asked, taking a bite of his pizza and cracking his beer open one handed.

Leaning back in your seat, you chewed your pizza thoughtfully.  “I’m not sure, honestly,” you mused, washing down your pizza with a swig of beer.  “Guess it depends if there’s anything here worth sticking around for.”

When your eyes flicked back to Steve, you watched him swallow, his own gaze quickly darting away.  “I could show you around, y’know, if you want,” he offered, his shoulder lifting in a half shrug, aiming for nonchalance and your lips twitched.

“I’d like that,” you said, picking one of the pepperonis from your pizza slice and popping it in your mouth, sucking the sheen of grease from your fingers.

When you once again caught Steve staring, his beer can half raised to his lips, hovering midair as if he’d forgotten how to drink, you decided it was time to go for the kill.

“I’m starting to think you have a staring problem, Steve Harrington.”

At your words, Steve gave a jerk, spluttering into his can in alarm and you had to bite back a grin at his reaction.

“What do you mean?” he exclaimed, thumping his chest with a fist as he coughed.

“Well, there was that time in the driveway, just now, and… when you watched me undress through your window,” you said, cocking an eyebrow at him.  “Did you get a nice show?” you asked and Steve’s brown eyes widened, his mouth falling open before stumbling over a hasty apology.

“I-I only saw for like an instant!” he argued, holding his hands up.  “It was no big deal, really.”

“No big deal?” you repeated, scoffing quietly and Steve hastily backpedaled, wincing at the offended look on your face.

“I mean, not like that.  You looked great, but I–I didn’t–!  Look, I’m sorry,” he insisted, chancing an apologetic glance at you and your expression softened for an instant before turning impish.

“So, what are we gunna do about this?” you mused, giving him a pointed look, your eyes sparkling with mischief.

“What do you mean?  Can’t you just accept my apology?” Steve asked warily, a frown tugging at his lips.

“You saw me.  I think it’s only fair that we even the score,” you insisted, leaning back in your chair, watching him expectantly.

“You really expect me to strip right here?” he scoffed, an incredulous note to his voice.

“You got a little show, now it’s my turn, pretty boy.  It’s only fair,” you pointed out, your lips turning down in a pout.  “Are you shy?” you mocked and Steve rolled his eyes.

“Alright, fine,” he replied, pushing up from his seat and pulling his sweater over his head, tossing it at you before toeing off his shoes and undoing his jeans, dropping them to stand before you in his underwear and socks, heat licking up his neck at the way you stared, your gaze traveling over him appraisingly.

“Not bad, but I think you’re forgetting something,” you said, your lips twitching in amusement.  “I want the whole package,” you insisted, pointing to his crotch and Steve’s face flared hotter. “C’mon, I think that’s enough,” he argued halfheartedly, but your sharp look held him in place.

“Fine, guess I’ll just go home then,” you said with a shrug, making to push out of your chair.  “It was nice meeting you, Steve–” 

“Wait–!” he exclaimed, and you paused, turning back to look at him.  “Alright fine,” he huffed, hooking his thumbs under the waistband of his underwear and pulling them down, letting them pool at his ankles.

“You happy now?” he asked, throwing his hands up and you bit your lip as your eyes went to his package.  He was definitely well endowed.

“Yep,” you replied, playfully popping the p, your eyes returning to his.  “You know, you’re lucky your back yard is pretty secluded,” you pointed out and he snorted, standing there awkwardly, while trying not to look awkward.

“How long do I have to stand here like this?” Steve asked and you tapped your lip, pretending to think.

“I guess that’s long enough.  But before you get dressed…” you trailed off, standing up and walking closer to him, noticing the way his eyes widened and his breath hitched, wondering what you were about to do.  “Let’s go for a dip,” you finished, giving him a shove into the pool, laughing as he hit the water and came up spluttering, shaking his hair out of his face.

“What was that for–?”

Steve’s exclamation died on his tongue when he noticed you were stripping as well and he didn’t know whether to turn away or if you wanted him to look this time, though you didn’t give him much of a chance, diving into the water as soon as you dropped your clothes to the ground.

When you surfaced, you wiped the water from your face and grinned as you swam toward Steve.

“So are we even now?” he asked, a smile of his own curving his lips and you laughed.

“Yeah, I’d say so.  For now.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Steve retorted, his eyebrows climbing.

“I mean, I’m just assuming you’ll do something stupid again,” you laughed, pushing a wave of water at him playfully.

Steve splashed you back with a smirk.  “Yeah, you’re probably right about that,” he agreed.  “So what else do you do for fun, y’know, besides torturing people?” he teased.

You couldn’t help but study him for a moment–the square curve of his jaw, his chestnut hair stuck wetly to his forehead and the dark moles that littered his neck and shoulders.  There were two on his cheek in the perfect spot for kissing.

“I uhm, I like photography and dancing, going to the movies or skating, and swimming,” you answered, huffing a soft laugh.  “Though I should probably start job searching soon,” you sighed.

“What was your old job?” Steve asked and you dropped your gaze, wondering if you should just rip off the band aid and tell him.  But you liked him, and you liked the way he looked at you… If you told him the truth it would make things weird, it always did.

Would it be so bad if he didn’t know?

You could make a fresh start in Hawkins.  No one knew your face.  There’d be no more awkward stares or lewd come-ons, just a sweet guy that seemed to like you for you and who hadn’t taken advantage of the fact that you were both naked in his pool.  Maybe for once you could just feel normal.

“It was dumb, I’m just glad I quit,” you murmured, avoiding giving him a real answer.  “I wanna make a fresh start, maybe go to college, I dunno yet.”

Steve nodded, sobering as he watched you tread water, bobbing in place, carefully keeping his eyes on your face.  “So… do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, floating closer, and you dipped below the water slightly to hide the giddy smile that tugged at your lips.

“No.  Do you have a girlfriend?” you asked, biting your lip when a dazed grin spread across Steve’s face.

“Nope,” he chuckled.  “I’d like one, though.”

“Mmm,” you mused, scrunching up your brow in thought.  “Yeah, I think you do need one,” you teased, kicking your feet lazily as you tilted your head.  “But what kind?”

“Well, for starters, someone cute, and sweet, and clever–” Steve began to list, his gaze never leaving your face as he continued to describe you.  “Definitely someone spontaneous and fun, but down to earth too, who’s not afraid to call me on my bullshit.”

You hadn’t noticed when you’d moved closer to him, your chest only inches from his, and your breath hitched at the realization, warmth spreading through you.

“She sounds pretty fantastic,” you breathed, trying to keep your voice light, Steve’s smile making you dizzy.

“Yeah, she definitely is,” he replied, his hands skimming your sides.  “Any idea where I might be able to find her?”

Unable to make your voice work, you felt yourself lean in, your gaze flicking from Steve’s lips to his eyes, breathlessly waiting for his lips to claim yours as he grasped your hips, holding you close, his eyelids fluttering as his nose brushed against yours.

A loud rustling in the bushes nearby made you freeze, however, ice racing through your veins, and Steve jerked back at the same time you did, suddenly afraid the two of you weren’t alone, only to jump as a rabbit burst from the underbrush at the edge of the property to race across the yard and you threw your head back and laughed at the yelp that left Steve’s throat.

“Oh my God, you were so scared!” you exclaimed, your laughter continuing despite the splash Steve directed at you.

“So were you!” he countered, an incredulous grin twisting his relieved expression.

“Yeah, but I didn’t scream like a girl,” you pointed out, letting out a scream of your own as he swam after you, catching you easily round the waist and a wave of arousal washed over you when you felt his length brush against the curve of your ass and give a twitch.

Steve cleared his throat, hastily releasing you before either of you could become tempted to do more.  And while part of you wished he hadn’t, you were glad he didn’t want to move too fast.

“I’ll uh, I’ll get you a towel, okay?” Steve said, and you caught the pink flush that suffused his cheeks before he swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out.

Averting your eyes for a moment, you couldn’t help but watch as he walked away, admiring his cute ass before he disappeared back inside the house.  When he returned, a fluffy towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hands, you gave him a pointed look and he huffed a soft laugh, squeezing his eyes shut as he held the towel open for you, not peeking til you were covered.

“I don’t see what the big fuss is about, you’ve already seen all of me,” he teased, his warm voice drenched in playful sarcasm.

“And it was a very nice sight,” you purred, smirking at him and patting his cheek as you passed, bending to pick up your clothes.  “Walk me home?” you asked, glancing back at him over your shoulder.

“Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled, shaking his head fondly, and the two of you walked around to the front of your aunt’s house.

“Thanks for the pizza and the swim,” you murmured, stopping in front of the door.

“It was my pleasure,” Steve replied, stepping closer, his damp hair falling into his eyes before he pushed it away.

“You know you owe me a real date now, right?” you asked, wetting your lips, and Steve’s grin grew.

“How about tomorrow night?”

“I think I can fit that into my schedule,” you teased, leaning in to press a kiss to his warm cheek, wanting to leave him wanting more.  “Good night, Steve.”

“Good night,” he echoed softly, watching you disappear inside before finally heading back home, his stomach fluttering excitedly, the same as yours.

➺ taglist. @super-unpredictable98 @heartbreak-sandwich @santacarlahorrorshow @sailorskunk @babydollbaron @thecreelhouse @melodymunson @corrodeddeadlydoll @stevesxyellowxsweater @destroya2005

[eldritchelfwriter]

A few Baldurs Gate 3 Fanfics I recommend on AO3

So long as it has meaning by ohholymoves

Relationship: Shadowheart and Selunite Paladin Tav

The fic that started it at all and inspired me to write my own Shadowheart fanfiction (Shadowheart Begins). This the first BG fanfic I had ever read. I was so blown away I read it 6 times in a row, just to catch everything that happened and the little clues seeded within, and to just admire and be in awe of how incredibly well written and beautiful the whole thing is.

Shadowheart is EXTREMELY sassy in this fic and I am here for it.

Consonance by @eliteseven

Relationship: modern Shadowheart & Tav

A profoundly sweet and meaningful story of Shadowheart & Tav getting together against the backdrop of being a band putting an album together. Isobel and Aylin also make appearances (bonus!!). Once you've checked out Consonance you'll also want to read Of Night Orchids, Lace & Steel by the same author.

Give it up for DJ Shadowheart by @capriclonus

Relationship: modern Shadowheart (a disc jockey) and modern Lae'zel

It took me a while to dip my toe into AU and modern BG3 fics but this one has blown me away. I'm on my fourth readthrough and I'm sure there are more readthroughs to come.

The characterisations and the plotting are just ... I feel like I'm reading something I've taken from a bestsellers shelf. It's absolute goals.

You really feel like you've been taken on a complex and wonderful journey by the end. This one will stick with you for a long time to come.

To Defy the Gods by @shadowfalllen

Relationship: Mother Superior Shadowheart x Tav

Shadowheart had taken the Dark Justiciar path and kept on seeing Tav, but Shar had other ideas about their continuing relationship. A Shadowheart redemption work with moments of awe, terror (I'm a lightweight and sometimes had to take a breath before continuing a chapter) and HOPE.

Also, this is one of the few works where I've seen Nocturne really being fleshed out as a character in her own right! (As she deserves!)

Hand on a Dagger (Head in the Sand) by @future-ghoost

Relationship: Dark Justiciar Shadowheart x Selunite Tav

VERY original concept where only Shadowheart was abducted, and Emmeline & Arnell hire Tav to try and rescue their now adult daughter from the cloister.

The tension is amazing, as is the growing relationship between Shadowheart and Tav and the kinds of compromises and decisions Tav is having to make while infiltrating the cloister as a Selunite. Delicious!

swear i was born right in the doorway by @tadpoleeater

Relationship: Isobel and Aylin

An absolutely hilarious rendition of how Isobel and Aylin got together. The characterisation of Aylin (a difficult character to write) is just spot on and the whole thing is so delightful, I will be surprised if you don't end up with a huge smile on your face at the end.

My Thesis is a Demigod? by @griffinisgae

Relationship: Isobel and Aylin

Fabulous AU in which Isobel, who is writing her thesis on Selune, finds Aylin dormant in a temple after thousands of years. Fish out of water / time displaced shenanigans ensue.

There are so many heartfelt, gorgeous little scenes, including laugh out loud ones.

Juniper & Starlight by @shewhowas39

Relationship: Durge and Astarion

Even though 'I don't even go to this school' as a Shadowheart and Aylin megafan, I am utterly transfixed by this continuing story of a Southern gal, heart of gold divination wizard durge and her journey with Astarion and friends. Shadowheart is the Tav's bestie in this fic and as with all the other characters in the game, is beautifully rendered in word.

As with all the other recommendations in this post, the words flow over you like music. Tav and Astarion's inner world contain so much emotional truth, a difficult feat for both of these incredibly complex characters but the writer here makes it look easy.

Before the Last Brew by @shadowfalllen

Relationship: Shadowheart and Tav

What if Shadowheart doesn't actually have a crap ton of trauma from Viconia and Shar? What if she is the new barista in a small town who has caught the eye of an author who is getting quite distracted from writing at the cafe?

What if WITHERS owns that cafe? What if it's so sweet and fuzzy and lovely and warm and you just can't wait for the next chapter?! What if! What if then?!

Born of Silver & Night Orchids by @cylinderarts

Relationship: Shadowheart and Selunite Tav (Trans Fem)

Here Shadowheart & Tav meet under VERY different circumstances - a one night stand! But soon one night leads to a few more and then one night they aren't particularly careful Shadowheart has a lil bun in oven she has to hide from the cloister while simultaneously trying to deal with her undeniable (let constantly denied) feelings for Tav!

Tav is besties with Karlach in this fic which is the absolute BEST and cylinderarts has also created a bunch of awesome art that goes with this fic that you can view on their profile.

[ihni]

Author spotlight: @robthegoodfellow

Thought I'd go ahead and rec some favorite fics of mine by the same author, because a) why not? and also b) they're awesome. So!

Sideways (Harringrove) Such a good read! This was the kind of fic that I couldn't even read just whenever, oh no, this one deserved focus, so I had to treat myself to a comfortable space and time to spare when I read this, because I didn't want to just speed through it. This fic deserves to be indulged in. They boys are written so very well and so are their growing relationship. (Not-really-spoiler: Chapter 4 is my favorite chapter <3)

Drummer Boy (Billy-centric, also Harringrove) This is such a lovely piece of writing, following Billy from his childhood and up until Hawkins, told in his memories of ... beats. Different kinds of beats, that he has always been able to hear. It's a darnright joy to read, and leaves you hopeful in a way that feels so much it's almost heavy.

Love and Hate and Love Her So (Billy-centric) Billy and Billy's mom. Heartbreakingly beautiful, and also just heartbreaking. Howcome it's always the people we love the most who can hurt us the most? This is such a good fic, and it leaves me aching.

Näcken in Loch Nora (Harringrove-ish) A different first meeting between Billy and Steve. A very different first meeting. This one is a mixture between outrageous and unexpected and just plain, uncomplicated fun. With a backstory! All wrapped up in a bite-sized fic that is as delicious as a three-course meal.

Billy Hargrove's Extensive Knife Collection (Harringrove) How can I not rec this? It was for me! And it's a short one and it doesn't really have a plot, but it focuses on one specific thing (I won't tell you what, you'll have to read for yourselves) and it does it well. It makes my face smile and my fingers itch to pick up a knife. (You'll understand when you read it, don't worry.)

¿Por qué no los dos? (Harringroveson) And finally, this one. Maaaan, this one. Listen listen listen. You think you can't write an aromantic character and have it be shippy? Think again! There are so many layers to being an aromantic, and there can still be so many wonderful and meaningful relationships with people, which this fic shows. This fic is SO dear to me, because a) representation and also b) it gives me hope. And it makes me yearn. And it makes me fucking HAPPY okay? It contains a lot of sex between three people but they work so WELL together even though one is not like the others, and they have their happy ending and I just. I just love this one. Please, if you're gonna read a fic today and don't know which one, go for this one.