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mcg-127 · 2 years ago

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FIC WRITER ASKS!

{ OG post by Ahdriking. The questions about smut have been removed because I don’t write that stuff and don’t read it unless it’s safe, sane and consensual. }

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

I usually try to write multi-chaptered fics, but I tend to jump around a lot between chapters and other fics. If I focus on single chapters instead of the entire fic and go at my own pace, it’s easier to not get overwhelmed. Oneshots are fun, but I often can’t resist the urge to write more!

Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

I write a vague summary for each chapter, then a rough draft, and then the final version. If I’m super inspired and have a clear vision for the chapter, I can start with the draft or even the final version straight away. I love those ones, they’re usually my best work!

Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

I have separate Google Docs for each of my fics. In one, I have all the general ideas for the fic. In another, there are the “chapter notes”, where I do drafts. Under each chapter’s title, there are other headings: such as ‘Scenario’ (chapter synopsis), ‘Timeframe’ (when in the fic’s timeline the chapter takes place), ‘Characters’ (list of characters that appear in the chapter), ‘Vague Summary’ (the summary I mentioned in the question above) and ‘Dialogue & Simple Desc.’ (a rough draft of the chapter I edit as I go along). This helps me organise my thoughts and go wild with writing in the same document; I always get excited creating the doc for a new fic.

Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Other peoples’ fanfics are inspiration central, for me! Some of my fics are inspired by others’ works, and if that’s the case, I always credit the authors. If I don’t feel like reading, though, I usually scroll through fandom Tumblr or look at fanart on Pinterest.

Do you like constructive criticism?

Yes, absolutely! I love receiving feedback on my fics. When you write, you often become blind to your own mistakes because you read those stories so often; others’ opinions are extremely valuable. As long as the person is polite with their con-crit, it’s wonderful.

Do you have your work beta’d? How important is this to your process?

If working on a fic with someone else and reading each other’s writing counts, then yes! I wouldn’t say it’s super important to me because I haven’t done it a lot. But, I’d love to have more people to share my writing with and have them give me con-crit.

How do you choose which POV to write from?

I… don’t really know, haha. I just go with whichever POV gives me the most inspiration, whichever character I know the thoughts of in that scene the best. If I struggle to get into the mindset of a certain character, I just write that scene in 3rd-person POV instead.

Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Definitely the middle. I always struggle to figure out how to end a story, and beginnings are tricky if there’s not a fully fleshed-out plot. My writing often consists of a bunch of different scenarios set within a vague sort of plot, and proper timelines are the bane of my existence. That being said, I always try to world-build and ensure everything makes sense.

Do you comment on stories you read?

I never used to, because I’m socially anxious even online… but I do now!! I have actually come to enjoy offering my opinion and explaining which parts of the fic I loved most. Whenever someone comments like that on my fics, I get the warm fuzzies. Comments are my lifeblood!

Cltr+f “blinks” on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

I’m not sure if I’ll ever publish this fic, but I’m writing a bunch of exile scenarios. There’s a chapter in which Dream returns to Logsted a few days after punishing Tommy badly, and quote-unquote ‘helps’ him recover. Weirdly, that’s the one where “blinks” was used most often.

“ Brows furrowed, Tommy blinks dazedly at Dream, struggling to focus on where he knows the man’s eyes are. He’s being so pathetic right now, he doesn’t understand why Dream is being merciful. ”

Link your three favourite fics right now

Gods, you’re asking me to pick just three? If I could, I’d honestly link most of the DSMP fics I��ve bookmarked on my AO3. But since I gotta pick 3 favourites of right now, I’ll do that.

The entire ‘Checkmate’ series by Love_Lucigoosey

‘mon dieu’ by s_mol

‘The Dead Don’t Dream’ & ‘Wake up.’ by PenInk (technically that’s 2 but it’s a series so it counts… right?)

How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

Well… I’ve only just started publishing on AO3, and I’ve only published 2 stories - one of which I worked on with a friend until we both lost inspiration. I absolutely love receiving feedback and support, but I’ve gone so long just keeping my writing to myself that it… isn’t that important? Like, if I kept publishing but didn’t receive comments, that might get me down a bit - but it’s not the end of the world, because I like my fics and that’s kinda the entire point.

What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

“Show emotion, tell feelings”. Poetic and symbolic descriptions are my favourite, and I always try to get as much detail into my prose as possible. Of course, there are some things that don’t need extra flowery language, so I try not to overdo it.

How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

I’m a very empathetic and sensitive person, so emotional scenes are quite impactful for me. I tend to feel what the characters feel - or, at least the good characters. For example, I don’t feel the sadism and cruelty that Dream feels when tormenting Tommy; but I do feel the revulsion and fear Tommy does in that moment. I think it depends on the scene, some hit harder than others. I love the “whumperflies” that come with an angsty/whumpy scene. I don’t have a lot of life experience, yet, but I try to draw from personal experiences as much as possible.

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Oh, way too many. I have so many WIPs that they take up the majority of my Google Drive, lol. My ADHD makes me jump around between ideas a lot… the only fic I’ve managed to properly finish and publish so far is ‘(Lost at) Hide & Seek’. I’m planning to publish more of my writing, but I prefer finishing it and then posting the chapters on specific dates afterwards.

One of the fics/worlds I’m in love with right now is my Hybrids AU. It’s loosely inspired by Origins SMP, but I made it ten times angstier/whumpier and, of course, made Tommy the main character and Dream the main villain. It would take ages to explain the entire story - plus, I might end up publishing some of it someday - so that’s all I’ll say for now.

What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (Maybe a lack of inspiration, or writer's block)

Sometimes I get either a lack of motivation & an excess of inspiration or a lack of inspiration & an excess of motivation. When it’s the former, I tend to try to push through it and just write something, literally anything, to get past that block. When it’s the latter, I do the inspiration-searching techniques I listed above: other peoples’ fics, fandom Tumblr and fanart on Pinterest.

Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

I usually give my fics generic titles like ‘Hybrids AU’ since I don’t often publish them. But for specific chapters, I create a simple title before writing, then a better title when it’s finished. I find single-word titles easiest to create, but longer or poetic titles more satisfying. The title of a chapter is usually a word or phrase mentioned in or relating to the chapter itself.

What is the most-used tag on your AO3?

Again, I haven’t published many stories, so I can’t really say…? There is one tag, however, that I created myself: “c!Dream Being a Creepy Bastard”. I tend to add it to every DSMP fic I publish because I write exactly that so often.

Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

I think there are a few expressions and metaphors I use quite often, but I couldn’t list them off the top of my head, lmao. The dynamic I write about the most is, of course, c!Primeboys. The 2nd most common dynamic in my writing appears to be c!BedrockBros. As for settings, when it comes to the canon DSMP universe, Logstedshire is the most common, followed by the Arctic Commune. I definitely want to branch out, and write different dynamics… but brainrot’s gotta brainrot. Writing about my hyperfixations gives me happy chemicals!

Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

I’ve done this before, actually! We… didn’t finish the story, though ;-; I’d love to collab again, whether it’s with an IRL friend or a writer I meet online. Keep in mind that I am very socially anxious, though, so I’m awkward even talking to people with similar tastes.

Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

I am absolutely NOT interested in writing explicit noncon/dubcon stuff, but I might be able to if it’s fade-to-black or implied. My other squicks are as follows:

Any sort of anti-LGBTQ+ behaviour

Any sort of ableist or saneist behaviour

Any sort of rape, pedophilia, incest or sexual predation

I’ll reluctantly write characters being racist/sexist etc. if it’s canonical and minor

Animal abuse, death or violence

Graphic medical procedures or surgical scenes

I’m arachnophobic so no spiders please & thank you

Those are the ones that come to mind right now. If I think of any more, I’ll update this.

Best writing advice for other writers?

Write what you would want to read

Write for your own enjoyment, first and foremost

You don’t owe anyone regular updates if it’s impacting your health

Don’t be afraid to ask other writers for advice

Don’t be afraid to tell haters to fuck off

Look for inspiration everywhere, even in real life

Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I don’t actually think I’ve received any terrible writing advice before. I’m sure I will in the future, but there’s none in the past I can remember.

What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

I’ve only published a couple of stories so far and both got a decent reception, so I’m pretty satisfied in that regard right now.

Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Either my Hybrids AU or ‘Hide & Seek’. I got the former idea when the first season of OriginsSMP began, and I’d been working on the latter for 2 & ½ years. The Hybrids AU has so much worldbuilding and plot to consider, and ‘Hide & Seek’ was my 1st finished-and-published work. They’re both very close to my heart.

What is your most and least favourite part of writing?

My favourite part is getting such a vivid and detailed idea that I jolt awake in a cold sweat at midnight in order to write it down. My least favourite part… lack of inspiration or motivation at inopportune times. Plus, ADHD makes it hard to focus on one story at a time.

On average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

Honestly, it depends. I could get an entire chapter done in one day, then not write at all for a week. My inspiration & motivation tend to wax and wane with the moon, I’ve noticed.

What’s your revision or editing process like?

I kinda just… read the chapter over and over, looking for mistakes and correcting them as I go. Often, I feel the need to completely rewrite a certain part or the entire chapter. Very rarely am I satisfied with a chapter immediately. It varies from fic to fic.

Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished?

I wait until it’s all polished, then publish the chapters on specific dates. That’s what I did for ‘Hide & Seek’ at least, and it’s what I plan to do for future fics!

Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

In terms of original works - I do worldbuilding, then weave the plot, and then create characters to fit those two other prerequisites. In terms of fanfiction - I figure out which scenario I want to write, then choose the characters, and then start drafting the chapter.

Name 3 of your favourite fanfic writers.

Again, I can’t possibly pick just three!! Right now, I’d probably say the authors of the favourite fics I mentioned earlier. Also, LunarDragon618 on AO3 - their c!Primeboys content is some of the best I’ve read, it’s absolutely amazing.

Do you want to be published someday?

Yes! I’ve always wanted to write my own original story and get it published. But fanfiction will always be my favourite, so I’m glad I have the courage now to publish those.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Hopefully, doing something related to writing as my job. I know becoming a fully-fledged author is a long process, but it’s definitely a goal of mine.

What is 1 essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

Not all villains have to be redeemable!! They can just be rancid bastards who have a blast being rancid bastards until the end of time. A perfect example of this is c!Dream - or at least, how I write him. Oh, and if you’re doing a redemption arc… please do it properly. The villain has to genuinely want to get better and make tangible steps toward repentance. That being said, please do NOT brush off the shit said villain has done!! Other characters will be affected by it and some may never reconcile with the villain, and that’s completely okay.

How do you write kissing scenes?

I… have never written a kissing scene in my life. I have no idea how I’d write them, lmao.

How do you choose where to end a chapter?

That depends on the chapter. Some might feel better if ended with dialogue, some might need a poetic line of prose to wrap it up nicely. It depends on the vibes.

Would you ever write commissions?

I mean… yeah, I guess?? It depends on what the request is, honestly. I’d love to get paid to write fanfiction - I’d do it as my job if I could! But I wouldn’t accept a commission if the request was something I wasn’t comfortable with or interested in writing.

Share a snippet from a WIP

A oneshot I’m working on at the moment is a what-if ending of exile. Tommy ran back to L’Manburg after The Incident and begged them to help him, which they did. Dream has been arrested and locked in a cell beneath L’Manburg’s White House. This oneshot goes over what happens when Tommy goes to visit Dream… and what goes horribly wrong.

“ Upon glimpsing neon green, Tommy flinches violently and looks meekly at the ground instead. Dream is there, he’s right there, so close, too close. Vaguely, Tommy registers Tubbo gently guiding him inside the room. The door shuts with a damning clang behind them both. There’s no going back now, no escaping the confrontation he knows is coming. Already feeling trapped, Tommy huddles close to Tubbo’s side for some semblance of shelter. This space is choked with Dream’s magic signature; buzzing static, stinging acid and clinging tar. Tommy shudders convulsively, feeling it reach out in eager tendrils toward him. Dream’s attention is wholly on Tommy, and Tubbo can obviously tell. The blond knows his friend is silently glaring at the masked man, and Tommy considers hissing at Tubbo to stop. No vain defiance is worth the painful consequences of Dream’s fury, not anymore.

“Tommy…?” Dream breathes almost reverently, as if unable to believe it.

Fuck- even just hearing the man say his name has Tommy flinching like he’s been shot. [...] ”

If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Any part of the confrontation between Tommy and Dream in chapters 2-3 of ‘Hide & Seek’. There are plenty of currently unpublished scenes I’d love to see fanart of, too!

Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

It depends on the fic, honestly. There are some I could read over and over, and for others, I’m like “just one read is satisfying enough for me”. Quite a few longfics I could see myself reading again, whereas oneshots are kind of a mood thing.

What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

I’m currently in the process of reading ‘Heal What Has Been Hurt’ by SunlitStruggles on AO3. Even without having read the entire thing yet, I’d recommend it!

Do you take sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more of an "If you hurt them I would kill everyone in this room and then myself" kind of person?

Oh, whump is one of my favourite things ever! I always find myself looking forward to writing those kinds of scenes, and reading them in others’ fics. That being said, there does come a point where fluff is needed to wind down from the angst a bit. I am simultaneously a “Yes, sweet suffering!” kind of person and a “[...] kill everyone in this room & then myself” person.

What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta corrects you?

I don’t really have a beta reader(s), so I can’t really answer this one, lol.

Do you want to break your readers’ hearts or make them laugh?

Both, in equal measure! Well… maybe the former, just a little more >:3

How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

My style is definitely driven by the characters’ thoughts and emotions. I love getting into a character’s head and portraying what’s going through their mind.

How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Many, many times. I love reading my own writing! Going over it and adding things as I go is very satisfying. Seeing a chapter slowly morph from a rough draft into the final version is great.

What do you look for in a beta?

Well, I’m not really sure, since I’ve never really looked for one before. But I’d say they’d need to be open-minded, polite and share at least some of my tastes. On the other hand, I should be able to scream about my writing and get excited with them!

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

Fortunately, at the moment, I’ve never received a particularly negative comment or review. Let’s hope it stays that way. As for how I’d deal with them, I set the comments to “moderated” for a reason - I can always just delete it if I can’t rebuke it.

How long is your longest fic?

In terms of fics I’ve published, definitely ‘(Lost at) Hide & Seek’. In terms of fics I haven’t published, I have no idea! I’d like to think it’s around the same length or longer than H&S.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

Including the fic(s) I worked on with a friend and haven’t finished? I did the math, and it’s 35,552 words! Pretty impressive for a starting point.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes, I always try to respond to every comment I get! I love interacting with my readers and getting excited about my writing with them. A sense of community is very comforting for me.

How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, or writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

Generally, I’d say about a 50/50 split of both. Day by day, though, it fluctuates.

What’s your favourite part about the fanfiction writing process?

I love getting the perfect vision for a scene in my head, and then somehow being able to get it down in writing pretty much flawlessly. That doesn’t happen often, but it’s great! I also love the rush of satisfaction upon finishing a draft or even the final version of a chapter. Reading over my writing is fun because I get to see how I’ve improved over time.

Of the characters you write for, which is your favourite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers’/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Definitely c!Tommy, or just any version of Tommy in any of my AUs. So far, people seem to love how I write his character, so I’ve become more confident with it.

What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My penchant for soul-crushing angst/whump and poetic prose/description. That’s a combination I think is wonderful to both read and write.

Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished?

Since I jump between stories a lot, I usually edit as I write. Before publishing a story, I go over it one more time to make absolutely sure it’s ready.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc)

I think I kinda answered this before. But I love the initial excitement of thinking of a new idea, and I love the satisfaction of slowly transforming a chapter from a draft into the final version.

Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? If not, would you tell anyone?

I tend to tell everyone I meet that I write, not that I write fanfic. There are a few people in my life I’ve told that I write fanfic, and the reception was overall positive.

Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

I have, actually! Not necessarily huge well-known writers in the fandom, but rather smaller writers I’ve read and enjoyed the works of. I always get so excited when I recognise a username in my comments, I feel very honoured if I get to chat with them!

Why do you continue writing fics?

Because it gives me happy chemicals! Writing in general makes me happy, but there’s nothing like writing fanfiction - it’s just super special in a more personal way.

Thoughts on cliffhangers?

Reading them? Often well-written but still agonising. Writing them? Hella satisfying, especially when people comment on them!

Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing - in your current project, or a future project

I’m looking forward to actually getting some chapters of the Hybrids AU done. There are two separate arcs I’m working on - the ‘past’ one which is angst/whump galore, and the ‘present’ one which is all about healing & recovery from the angst/whump.

How do you deal with writing pressure (ie. pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc.)?

Since I’ve only just started publishing, there’s not a lot of this I’ve dealt with yet. I’m sure it’ll become more prevalent in the future, though.

Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

I usually like completely independent ideas, but prompts/challenges are good for when I’m lacking inspiration and need a baseline to leap from.

What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I already answered this one, in the “What do you do when writing becomes difficult?” question.

What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

I don’t think there are any I’m embarrassed about, but there’s at least one I’m worried about the reception of when I eventually publish it. I try to tag and warn as much as I can, but sometimes people just have the reading comprehension of 3-year-olds.

When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

I’m enthusiastic to tell people I write, but kinda embarrassed to tell them I write fanfic. Some people hear that word and immediately get the wrong idea ;-;

When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etc.?

I have Google Drive folders for each of my fics! Separate documents hold the worldbuilding, plot, character details etc. I also separate the drafts from the final versions.

What order do you write in? Front of the book to back? Chronological? Favourite scenes first? Something else?

Again, I jump around a lot when it comes to writing. I usually go wherever my inspiration goes, which is usually from chapter to chapter - or even story to story.

What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I try to make my formatting as neat and legible as possible. I also try to include every possible relevant tag, to ensure people know what they’re getting into.

You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

The paragraphs are pretty large

It’s in the ‘justified’ alignment

There’s proper spacing between each paragraph and dialogue line

There are a lot of tags

Very rare use of “says/said”

Poetic, detailed description and prose

What scene in [Fanfic Name] took the longest to write? What was difficult about it?

In ‘Hide & Seek’... huh. Probably the scene where Tommy hides in the box, in chapter one. I struggled a lot with the description of that one ‘cause there wasn’t a lot going on.

Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [Fanfic Name]?

It took a few rewrites of ‘Hide & Seek’ before I was happy with it. Some of the chapter drafts are quite different from the final versions I published.

Do you have a favourite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter?

I definitely love the confrontation between Tommy & Dream in chapter 2 of ‘Hide & Seek’. It’s so tense and spine-chilling, I’m very proud of the characterisation and dialogue. The description of Tommy’s Stockholm Syndrome and touch-starvation is some of my best work.

#writing asks #writing #fanfic #about me #first post

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cyndavilachase · 5 years ago

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I’m Looking Forward Now 💖Thank you and good bye

So, it’s been a little over a week since Steven Universe Future ended…

I’ve been hesitant to write this, honestly, but I’m tired of holding myself back from properly expressing myself in fear of appearing overly invested in the media I consume, even in private. Writing helps me organize my thoughts and feelings, and I feel like these thoughts in particular may resonate with many, so I want to share them. I want to talk about what Steven Universe has done for me personally, both as an artist, and as a person.

I’ve been around since the day the first episode of the original series aired. I actually remember when Steven Universe was just a logo on Wikipedia’s “List of Upcoming Cartoon Network Shows” list, back when I was a freshman in high school. It piqued my interest, but when commercials finally dropped for it, I thought it was going to be bad because of the way marketing handled introducing Steven as a likeable character. There was still something about it that made me want to give it a chance though, so I went online and watched the pilot before the first episode's release. I was hooked immediately. I knew I was going to love it, and I did. I fell so absolutely in love with Steven as a character, and the world that he and the gems lived in. I became obsessed. I was always so excited for new episodes to come out. Little did I know what else it would do for me as I went through my adolescence alongside it.

As the show progressed, it was evident that what I wanted out of a western animated childrens’ cartoon was finally coming into fruition: this show was becoming serialized. There was continuity, there was plot, there was character development-- it was getting deep. It was pushing the groundwork that Adventure Time laid out even further (thank you, Adventure Time).

I will give credit where credit is due: earlier western childrens’ cartoons I grew up with like Hey Arnold, and Rugrats, among others, also touched on heavy topics, but Steven Universe was able to take similar ideas (and even more complex ones, concerning mental health and relationships) and expand on them outside of contained episodes and/or short arcs. These themes, which were a part of the show’s overarching story, spanned across its entirety. Continuity was rampant.

What did this mean? It meant kids cartoons didn’t have to be silly and fun all the time and characters weren’t just actors playing a part in 11-minute skits. Steven and the gems would remember things that happened to them, and it affected them and how they would function and play a part in their story. This was a huge deal to me as a teenager. I always wanted the cartoons I grew up with featuring kid characters to feel more. In my own work, I often felt discouraged when combining a fun, cutesy western art style with themes as dark or layered as anime would cover. I always thought it had to be one or the other because an audience wouldn’t take a combination of the two seriously enough, based on discussions I had with classmates, friends, and online analysis I read at the time. Steven Universe proved to me otherwise. This show was opening the door for future cartoons exploring in-depth, adult concepts. I felt so seen as a kid, and was inspired to stick with what I love doing.

I was actually very worried about the show’s survival. It was in fact immensely underrated and the fandom was miniscule. Then in 2014, JailBreak dropped, and it’s popularity exploded. Part of it was because of the complex plot and the themes it was covering like I mentioned, but also because of its representation.

I remember when fandom theorized that Garnet was a fusion due to grand, tragic reasons. Turns out, she’s simply a metaphor for a very loving w|w relationship. This was huge. I cannot stress how important it is that we continue to normalize healthy canon queer relationships in childens’ media, and Steven Universe finally was the first to do that proper. Introducing these themes offers the chance for a kid to sit there and ask themselves, “Why is this demonized by so many people?” I asked myself exactly that. Ruby and Sapphire were my cartoon LGBT rep. They were the first LGBT couple I ever ecstatically drew fanart of. I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia at the time, and they showed me that I was allowed to love women and feel normal about it. The process of overcoming this was a long one, but they played a part in my very first steps into becoming comfortable with my sexuality. I could go on and on about it’s representation in general-- how it breaks the mold when it comes to showcasing a diverse set of characters in design, in casting, and in breaking gender roles. It’s focus on love and empathy. Steven himself is a big boy, but he's the protagonist, and the show never once makes fun of his weight, or any other bigger characters for that matter. It wasn’t hard to see why the fandom had grown so large.

Fandom was always a joy for me. It was a hobby I picked up when I was in middle school, like many of us here did. I would always cater my experience to fun, and fun only. I only started getting more deeply involved in SU’s fandom when I had just turned into an adult. During the summer of 2016, between my first and second year of college, I drew for the show almost every day non-stop when the Summer of Steven event was going on and posted them online. This was a form of practice for me in order to become not just more comfortable with experimenting with my art, but also to meet new artists, make new friends, and learn to interact with strangers without fear. I dealt with a ton of anxiety when I was in high school. When I was a senior applying to art school for animation, I decided I was going to overcome that anxiety. I made plans to take baby steps to improve myself over the course of my 4 years of college. Joining the fandom, while unforeseen, was definitely a part of that process. I started feeling more confident in sharing my ideas, even if they were fan-made. I fell in love with storyboarding after that summer, when I took my first storyboarding class, and genuinely felt like I was actually getting somewhere with all of this. I remember finally coming to a point in my classes where I could pitch and not feel hopelessly insecure about it. I was opening up more to my friends and peers.

But this process, unfortunately, came to a screeching halt.

My life completely, utterly crumbled under me in the Fall of 2017 due to a series of blows in my personal life that happened in the span of just a couple weeks. My mental health and sense of identity were completely destroyed. All of that confidence I had worked for-- completely ruined. I was alone. I nearly died. My stay at college was extended to 4 and half years, instead of the 4 I had intended. I lost my love for animation-- making it, and watching it. I could no longer watch Steven Universe with the same love I had for it beforehand. It’s a terrible thing, trying to give your attention to something you don’t love anymore, and wanting so desperately to love again. I dropped so many things I loved in my life, including the fandom.

Healing was a long and complicated road. I continued to watch the show all the way up until Change Your Mind aired in the beginning of 2019, and while I still felt empty, that was definitely a turning point for me with it’s encapsulation of self-love. I was hoping James Baxter would get to work on Steven Universe since he guest-animated on Adventure Time, and it was incredible seeing that wish actually come true. The movie came out and while I enjoyed it and thought highly of it, I was still having issues letting myself genuinely love things again, old and new. It was especially difficult because cartoons were my solace as a kid, when things got rough at home. I remember feeling sad because the show ended, and not getting the chance to love it again like I used to while it was still going.

By the time Steven Universe Future was announced, I was finally coming around. I was genuinely starting to feel excitement for art and animation again. I wasn’t expecting there to be a whole new epilogue series, but happily ever after, there we were! Prickly Pear aired, and the implications it left in terms of where the story was going did it. I was finally ready to let myself take the dive back into fandom in January of this year. My art blew up, something I wasn’t expecting considering my 2-year hiatus. Following this, I was invited into a discord server containing some of the biggest writers, artists, editors, and analysts in the fandom. I had no idea there were so many talented people in the fandom, some already with degrees, some getting their degrees-- creating stuff for it on the side just for fun. The amount of passion and productivity level here is insane, and so is the amount of discussion that has come out of it.

I didn’t realize it at first, but it was actually helping me gain back the courage to share ideas. I lost my confidence in pitching while I was taking the time to heal, and graduating meant there would no longer be a classroom setting I could practice in. This group helped immensely.

I have made so many friends through this wonderful series, and I have so many fond memories talking to like-minded creatives, getting feedback and a myriad of sources for inspiration, as well as all of the memes and jokes and weekly theorizations that came about as we all waited on the edges of our seats for episodes to air. I needed this so badly, I needed to get back in touch with my roots, when I would go absolutely hog-wild over a cartoon I loved with people who loved it as much I did. Future has been a blessing for me in this way. I graduated feeling like I was back at square-one, but now I feel like I’m on my way again.

It’s 2020 and while I’m doing great right now, I am honestly still recovering from the total exhaustion that followed after graduating a few months ago, and finally leaving the campus where my life fell apart behind. Needless to say, watching Future was like looking into a mirror. Watching one of my favorite characters of all time-- one that grew up with me-- go through so many of the same things I went through not too long ago was absolutely insane to watch unfold. It’s such an important thing too, to show a character go through the process of breaking down over trauma and all the nasty things that come with it, and to have them go on the road to healing. Steven got that therapy. He wasn’t blamed. The gems were called out. The finale was everything I could have ever hoped for. The catharsis I experienced watching it was out of this world.

As I continue my own healing journey, I will always look up to the storyboard artists, revisionists, and designers that I have been following over these past 7 years, as well as the new ones introduced in Future. It's been such a joy watching these artists release their promo art for episodes, talk about their experiences working on the show, and post the work they've done for it alongside episodes airing.

Thank you Rebecca Sugar, the Crewniverse, and the fans, for making this such a truly wonderful and unique experience. Thank you for reminding me that I am, and always will be, an artist, a cartoonist, and a fan. Thank you, my followers, for the overwhelmingly positive response to my artwork. I have had so much fun interacting and discussing the show with you all again over these past few months. Steven Universe and it’s fandom will always have a special place in my heart, and it will always be a classic that I will return to for comfort and inspiration for decades to come. I am sad that the cartoon renaissance is over, but so many doors have been opened thanks to this show. I am so, so excited to see what this show will inspire in the future, and I hope one day I get the opportunity to be a part of that.

Goodbye Steven, thank you for everything. I wish you healing, and I wish Rebecca and the team a well-deserved rest. ♥️

-Cynthia D.

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prodigious-ladybug · 3 years ago

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wishmaker thoughts

in terms of it being a single installment in the larger narrative of miraculous ladybug, i don’t have a lot of thoughts on wishmaker other than ‘haha cool someone knows both of their identities at the same time wonder where this will go’ bc like. i am unable to separate myself from the idea that i absolutely cannot judge something (in this case, season- and series-long arcs) until i see it in its Entirety, in its Proper Complete State (which i know doesn’t exactly mesh with television as a serialised art form but jhdfghj wtvr thats a whole other discussion) so i don’t, and won’t, really have an opinion on luka knowing their identities until i see what the show does with it

on the other hand, in terms of its own merits as an episode (as in, the parts of the episode that are self-contained and are supposed to have their own story arc within the 20min) wishmaker was probably one of the weaker episodes of the show? alec’s akumatisation practically came out of nowhere - the show usually does a pretty good job of setting up the through lines that lead to a character’s akumatisation right from the start of the ep (you know, like with actual foreshadowing and good writing and shit) but wishmaker felt more concerned with the interactions between luka & adrien & marinette than having the villain feel natural within the story. which is all well and good, like this episode is about those three and should be focused on luka’s relationship with adrien & marinette if it wanted to have the proper impact of luka finding out their identities, but it just seemed like the episode couldn’t balance being both a run of the mill, monster of the week episode and an Event episode at the same time (that being said, i doubt this episode would’ve been enough to hold its own across a two parter so i get how the unbalance arose). instead of throwing alec’s characterisation out of whack they couldve used his early screen time to lead up to his akumatisation more naturally - surely something about being a tv presenter and having to be fake all the time for a living and not staying true to what his younger self wanted or SOMETHING would like. be putting him down in the dumps or smth. idk. that’s just off the top of my head surely the writers could come up with something more substantial. and yeah this might take away some attention from the emotional core of luka, adrien & marinette but it’d at least 1. tie in with the theme of the episode and 2. set some precedent for his negative feelings instead of him getting akumatised in like. ten seconds hgfdfghjk

the only other thing that kinda rubbed me the wrong way was how wishmaker’s power seemed especially contrived, even for this show? like i Know half of the akumatised powers are to either get ladybug and chat noir to kiss (contrived for the sake of romance which is. generally fine in a romance show and also approved by my shipper brain) or reveal their identities (which actually ties into the plot and the villain’s motivations and therefore makes it...not really contrived) so wishmaker being used to reveal their identities is fine. but um. the leap hawkmoth made in how his powers would do that is. wild. it’s like:

reveal people’s childhood wishes

???

reveal lb & cn’s identities

profit

and again, i know hawkmoth has given an endless list of powers to people that make you think ‘what the fuck was he hoping to accomplish with that?? what did he THINK would happen?’ and i’m all for hawkmoth having dumb plans, being soundly beaten and then having to figure out smarter ways to beat lb & cn, but i guess my problem here is that in this episode he was actually proven RIGHT. like he had no guarantee that lb & cn wouldn’t have childhood wishes a la dino man and mr banana, but he really put out this fairly weak akuma with the immediate assumption that it would reveal their identities and like?? if viperion wasn’t there he’d have achieved it! (well, idk abt ladybug, he’d at least probably hit chat noir, which is. an interesting au to think about). the link between revealing childhood wishes and revealing lb & cn’s identities seemed like a massive leap in logic to me (more than this show usually makes), and idk if anyone else felt that when watching the episode but like kjhdfghjk hawkmoth buddy can you explain your thinking for just a second like i’ll accept what you’re doing i just need to know why the fuck you’re doing it and how you got there

but other than that! i really really liked this episode and i was hyped up the entire fucking time!! i had to keep pausing it bc i was getting overwhelmed LMAO. i guess one thing i will say so that this doesn’t seem like a wall of negativity (which i swear i didn’t mean for it to be, there were only two (2) things i didn’t like about the episode that i felt weakened it, it just takes me a billion words to get to my point) is that however they handle luka knowing their identities in future episodes, i fucking loved the way they handled it in this episode. for some background, i’ve honestly never cared much either way abt luka, i have zero negative feelings about him, it’s just that he has the unfortunate case of not being a character type i particularly care abt, and the writing hasn’t done anything much to endear him to me. he’s fine, and i certainly like him more than other characters, but i’m pretty much as neutral on him as you could get. UNTIL THIS EPISODE! okay not really, something abt him agreeing to be friends with marinette in crocoduel made me go ‘:) what a nice boy :)’ BUT! THIS EPISODE! i’m proud to announce i’m officially a luka stan. LYING BALD-FACED TO LADYBUG? KING. LYING TO LADYBUG AFTER THE SEASON OPENER OF HIM GETTING AKUMATISED OVER MARINETTE LYING??? i am SO here for internal character conflicts YES! this is what i WANT! set up a character who has a strict line in the sand and put them in a situation where they’re forced to cross it anyway, and see what happens next!!!! i really would not mind a whole character study on luka after this. like....the fucking intrigue.......why did he lie, and how does he feel about it? does he regret it? does he consider it a necessary evil? i’m sure all of this will be answered in like. a single line from him five episodes down the road bc that’s how this show handles shit like this but. those last few minutes were really just straight bangers i’m still not recovered

well this was. longer than i thought it’d be. and again, i liked this episode a lot, idk what compelled me to write all this out. i usually don’t have a lot of formulated thoughts like this after an episode of ml; i think that it was just bc there were a couple things i could actually critique in the ep that it made it easier to pick apart my feelings. but anyways!

TL;DR wishmaker, in its self contained elements, felt a bit weak as an episode bc 1. alec’s akumatisation was mad rushed and 2. the way his powers were used to further the plot felt contrived to me (yes, even for miraculous). but, in the episode’s over-arching elements within the season/show, i immensely enjoyed it, primarily because of the amount of intrigue it set up in 1. luka’s characterisation and 2. the possibilities emerging from luka knowing lb & cn’s identities

#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #wishmaker #wishmaker spoilers #i really cannot. say anything concisely #anyways this was fun i'd like to write my thoughts out after more episodes but like i said i generally Don't Have Any #like if an episode is good all my thoughts will be 'wow that was good :)'#ml air more duds so i can ramble on forever challenge

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tamorapierce · 5 years ago

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Tammy's Spring 2020 Reading Recommendations For the Bored

Sooner or later the bookhounds among us are going to start joining my relentless song, from age five on up, of “I don’t have anything to read!!!!”

I am here to help. In this space, as I get to it (knowing, as my readers do, that I have no sense of deadline), I will be posting a constant set of collections of book titles by authors my team and I have read and will recommend in a wild variety of genres and for a wild variety of ages. (And I’ll give a short hint as to the subject of the first book/series—if I did them all I’d never finish this.) This last is for the many of you who are reading teen and adult books in grade and middle school, and those adult readers who are reading teen and kidlit. These people are for those who love books and don’t care who is supposed to be reading them.

Also, you may have to look far and wee, since we will be drawing upon not only recently published books but older ones that we have either read recently or that we read long ago and have re-read or have never forgotten. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when the writing is archaic. If you’re a true nutsy reader like the rest of us, you won’t care.

-Tammy Pierce

* * *

Assume the book came out within the last 2 years unless I put LO next to the title, which means you have to check libraries and bookstores online and paper for copies.

* * *

Diana Wynne Jones LO

A generation or two of fantasy writers, particularly those who love humor, bow to this woman as our goddess. Not only was she out of her mind in a very British and manic way, but with her TOUGH GUIDE TO FANTASYLAND she taught a number of us to ditch some ill-considered tropes of our genre. If you write historic fantasy in particular, move heaven and earth to track this book down. There’s a bonus: some of the entries will make you laugh till you cry.

She is best known for her books for middle grade and teens, but they are enjoyable for all readers. I cannot list them all here because my fingers will break (curse you, arthritis!), but these titles will give you a jumping-off point. And remember, authors change with each book, so you won’t encounter the same author with each title as the author you read in the previous one!

The Chrestomanci books, all in the same universe, in order of story,

not publication

Charmed Life (1977) An innocent lad follows his plotting egotistical sister to live with England’s chief wizard

The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988)

Conrad’s Fate (2005)

Witch Week (1982)

The Magicians of Caprona (1980)

Short stories

The Dalemark Quartet begins with

The Spellcoats (1979)

3 sequels

The Derkholm books are

Dark Lord of (1998)

Year of the Griffin (2000)

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland is standalone, but is a kind of offshoot of the Derkholm books. You don’t have to have read the Derkholm books to get Tough Guide!

There are other books and stories by Jones—I’ll let you find them on your own.

Philip Pullman

To this day I am unable to call him anything but Mr. Pullman—that’s how much in awe of the man I am. We’ve had dinner together, talked on the phone, talked at an event or two, done a conversation on audio with Christopher Paolini—it’s still Mr. Pullman to me. (I was an assistant in a literary agency when I discovered his work, and I never recovered.) He is, in a word, brilliant, and his interests range through all kinds of areas, particularly history and religion. I could have talked with him forever that night we had dinner, but the poor man had jet lag and I let him go to collapse. It was one of the best exchanges of ideals, values, and books I’ve ever had.

Read his work carefully, because what he discusses is never just the story on top. No matter what he writes, he is making strong points about social justice, human nature, religion, and history without preaching. He is one of the few male writers out there who can write female characters as people, not Something Different. And you never know, with his work, where he will go next.

The Ruby in the Smoke,

book 1, the Sally Lockheart mysteries

Victorian mysteries with a female hero and male assistants,

The Book of Dust and sequel,

first 2 books of The Secret Commonwealth

His Dark Materials trilogy

The Golden Compass

2 other titles

THE COLLECTORS

LYRA’S OXFORD

THE WHITE MERCEDES

FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM

I WAS A RAT!

TWO CRAFTY CRIMINALS

COUNT KARLSTEIN

(I will stop here and let you find the rest. Most are available as Nook books.)

Sharon Shinn

I discovered Sharon Shinn with JOVAH’S ANGEL, but a shortage of funds left me unable to pursue my interest (I am an economic disaster with libraries, so I buy rather than borrow) until, with a job and money to spend, I spotted THE SAFE-KEEPER’S SECRET. It is the story of a medieval-ish world and a small village where a baby was left with a childless couple. She is raised as their daughter and discovers, as she grows, that her mother is an important, a Safekeeper, the person to whom a secret can be told, relieving the person who told it of the weight of guilt from it, to be carried by the Safekeeper until the owner either decides to tell or dies. (And if they die without giving permission, the Safekeeper never reveal the secret.) The baby who is adopted by this town’s safekeeper becomes the safekeeper in her turn.

The next book is THE TRUTHTELLER’S TALE, about a girl who acquires the gift (??) of telling the truth, whether the person she tells it to wants to hear it or not. The third book is The Dream-maker’s Magic. The three main characters now learn why they have been brought together over the course of the two earlier books, in what I thought was a satisfying, if unusual, conclusion.

And there’s more! I just did the two I love best!

THE SAFEKEEPER’S SECRET (book 1, two sequels)

ARCHANGEL (4 books)

TWELVE HOUSES (5 books)

ELEMENTAL BLESSINGS (4 books)

SHIFTING CIRCLE (2 books)

UNCOMMON ECHOES

GENERAL WINSTON’S DAUGHTER

GATEWAY

Daniel Jose Older

I was a Daniel Jose Older fan before I was sent DACTYL HILL SQUAD for a blurb (preodactyls in flight! Of all sizes! Confederate spies! Thuggish bigot northerners! The backlash of Gettysburg and the forced recruitment of blacks for the war effort! And strong, smart, fierce kids of various ages, sizes, colors, national heritage, and skills doing their best to help the war against the slaves, keep escaped slaves safe, duck the cruel managers of the homes and jails where they are being kept, find a half-decent meal, free other kids in trouble, learn who’s killing their friends, and help the dactyls! That’s part of it, anyway!

Yeah, I loved it. And there’s at least one new book, and once I’ve mowed though that, there are his older teen books, and his grownup mysteries, with their half-dead taxi driver who doubles as a part-time troubleshooter for the undead powers in his Bone Street Rhumba series. {happy sigh}

Edgar Allen Poe

Yes, some of these are reminders of why we ended up to be the readers we are and to nudge us to corrupt—I mean, “introduce”—new readers to the glories that are our legacies.

THE COMPLETE TALES AND POEMS OF EDGAR ALLEN POE

Here are the greats:

poems like “The Raven,” and “Annabelle Lee”

stories like “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Telltale Heart,” and ::shudder:: “The Pit and the Pendulum” (yes, a deep pit and a swinging pendulum topped with a razor-edged blade will be featured in this story).

My dad would read these to us on dark and stormy nights when we lived near the Pacific ocean, when the fog came rolling in, softening every sound, when there were no cars driving by and no other sounds in our house but his deep voice and the crackle of the fire in the fireplace. We would listen, soundless, as he wove the stories and poems around us and the foghorn sounded offshore.

That’s the power of Poe.

N. K. Jemisin

I think I began with Jemisin’s THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, soon followed by its sequel THE BROKEN KINGDOMS. The series ended with a third book, THE KINGDOM OF THE GODS. She presented a rich and varied world from the aspects of people of different classes, showing the growth of societies and their formation. I have a secret passion for society-building and social interaction, and whether or not a book is difficult to read (as Jemisin’s books are in spots because she refuses to insult a reader by talking down to them) is immaterial. I want the world and I want the characters, and with her far-reaching mind and her respect for her characters she delivers each and every time. I have read almost everything she’s written since that first trilogy: if I’ve missed something, it’s because I was in the middle of a deadline and on the road and somehow didn’t see it. I’ll catch up! This is just a sample:

For readers of all sexes and adult reading skills

The City They Became (pub’d April 2020)

The Inheritance Trilogy:

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, 2010

2 book sequels

Novella: The Awakened Kingdom, 2014

Triptych: Shades in Shadow, 2015 (3 short stories)

The Dreamblood Duology:

For readers of all sexes and adult reading skills

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, 2010

Two sequels

The Broken Earth series:

The Fifth Season (August 2015)

Two book sequels

And there are plenty of short stories out there. I may even have missed a book or twelve!

For those who prefer to hear my ramble in person, a video!

youtube

#tamora pierce #tortall #book reccs #book recommendations #YA #fantasy #science fiction #diana wynne jones #edgar allen poe #philip pullman #sharon shinn #daniel jose older #nk jemisin

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arsenicpanda · 4 years ago

Note

Trying to distract you from the elephants and hippopotami (hippopotamuses?) living above you: If you could write S5, what are the major highlights you’d focus on?

An excellent question! So, I’m going to pick some of the speculation/leaks we have and toss the others and kind of guess/go from there. Also, this gets long, like 1.9k words long, so be ready.

- Main Mystery: After the success of Jughead’s novel and the reunited Josie and the Pussycats, Riverdale has become something of a novelty, part curiosity, part tourist trap. But, this season, tourists and Riverdale residents are starting to go missing. Some come back, some don’t, and those who do come back have wild stories to tell about, idk, Mothman or something, we’ll run with that leak. But they also have a weird drug in their system. At least one of the people who disappeared was a government person with top secret knowledge. Idk exactly what’s happening, but Penny Peabody and perhaps Penelope will be involved. Maybe they’re using people as lab rats? Idk, it’s unclear. Everyone will have a piece of the mystery, even if Betty and Jughead are the ones to put it all together.

- Archie: Archie is, in fact coming home from the army, but instead of Not-Boyfriend #3, he’s coming home with Reggie, who also joined the army. Reggie’s dad is dead and has left him the car dealership, while Archie wants to Do Something For The Community In Honor Of His Dad again (also, everyone knows he’d be a shitty car salesman). Maybe we keep the firefighter thing though, idk. What’s important is that he and Reggie are living together in the Andrews house and, yes, we will get Archie’s gay awakening that we all deserve. This is 100% a ship we will explore starting somewhere in 5a. Archie is concerned about the disappearances and knows people being affected by it, same for Reggie.

- Veronica: Veronica went to business school and did business stuff with something new while being distantly involved in Le Bonne Nuit (Pop’s, however, she mainly handed back to Pop, although she does still do something accounting shit for it or something). However, she also started doing some shady shit (not sure what, I know jack all about this, I’d delegate this decision) and almost lost her business/went to jail/got sued/etc. Now she’s back in Riverdale to try to return to her roots with Le Bonne Nuit and being a Legitimate Business Woman. She married a dude who is reminiscent of her mother, kind of a business partner but also a Lady Macbeth type. The marriage is shaky at best because Veronica kind of forced herself into it, thinking that dating a non-himbo might make her happy after Archie (spoiler: it hasn’t). They will have their own apartment in the Pembrooke, and, yes, Veronica will have an office somewhere with the rediscovered painting of herself behind the desk ala Hiram because I deserve to see it. She’ll probably take it down at some point, but it will definitely be up for a while. She’ll have a rival business person (Elio?) who is both somehow involved in the disappearances, and Veronica’s husband will be revealed to have been working with him at some point.

- Veronica/Archie/Reggie: This is our endgame pairing because I deserve it. Veronica will get close to her himbos again, with Archie bringing out her better nature and Reggie bringing out her better business angles. Veronica gets brought into the Archie/Reggie relationship in 5b slowly, might all get together only toward or at the very end of the season. I’d work out specifics later though.

Now, I’m of two minds about Betty and Jughead. I could break them up like the show will or I could keep them together because I do what I want. I’m going to present both cases:

Scenario 1: They stay together

- Betty: Betty is an FBI agent, but she’s also chafing at the restrictions placed on her. She keeps getting in trouble for going about things in a shady way (like, say, ignoring the need for a warrant), and she’s getting frustrated by all the red tape. Currently, she’s being sent to Riverdale because of all the disappearances (particularly the government person) and because, well, she’s from there, she knows it. She has a partner who she doesn’t get along with. She and Jughead made it through long distance at college and post-grad, and they live together...idk, somewhere. She will somehow reconcile with Veronica, unclear how. May or may not quit the FBI to be a PI with Jughead at the end of the season. Definitely fucks up Penny’s shit at one point.

- Jughead: Jughead is a published author and a PI who Betty sometimes uses as a way around red tape and advocates as a consultant; they both love this. His first novel about Riverdale secured Riverdale’s place as That Weird Murder Town Where Shit Goes Down and turned it into a tourist trap; he hates this. He’s on his...idk, third novel, with his second having done less well than his first. He’s having trouble writing, so he goes back to Riverdale with Betty, hoping that returning to the town that first fueled his writing will help him with his writer’s block. Jughead gets sucked into the spooky part of the mystery, going off on wild tangents while Betty pursues legitimate avenues. 100% does not have a drinking problem.

Scenario 2: Betty and Jughead break up (either post 4x17 reveal or due to long distance troubles)

- Betty: A lot is the same here. She’s an FBI agent chafing at the restrictions placed on her and frustrated by red tape; she gets in trouble a lot for going about things shadily in her usual way. She’s being sent to Riverdale as a Riverdale expert to investigate the disappearances in general but, more specifically, that government person who went to Riverdale on vacation. (There may or may not be a more suspicious reason for the government person’s visit.) She is either a single career woman with a partner she doesn’t get along with or she is having an affair with her partner that is falling apart. While in Riverdale, she’s staying either in an apartment, a motel, or her house, depending. She will somehow reconcile with Veronica, unclear how. May or may not quit the FBI to be a PI at the end of the season. Again, definitely fucks up Penny’s shit at one point.

- Jughead: Jughead is still a novelist upset about the effect his breakout novel had on Riverdale. He is also an investigative journalist who’s been sent to Riverdale to investigate this shit OR a PI who can afford to take a vacation in Riverdale, and he’s happy to do it because it might help him with his writer’s block. He has a live-in girlfriend back wherever he lives, and their already dying relationship is going to break with the added long distance difficulties. He’s going to go after the weirder aspects of the disappearances because he thinks that’s where Riverdale’s answers always are. While in Riverdale, he’s staying with Cheryl and Toni. He will definitely reunite with the Serpents, and probably have some friendship moments with Archie as well. 100% does not have a drinking problem.

- Bughead: They will keep ending up at the same places while investigating and slowly slip back into their old routine and habits. They’ll have a murderboard in the bunker where they meet up away from the eyes of the FBI (Cheryl and Toni draw the line at murderboards in their house), and there will be a lot of pining and sexual tension. They will have at least one heartfelt conversation about why things didn’t work out, one instance where they have to make out to try and seem harmless after being discovered somewhere they shouldn’t be, and one heated encounter (maybe sex, maybe just making out) after being in a lot of danger. If Betty is dating her partner, he’s revealed to be a shady fucker after she breaks up with him like three episodes in. Jughead and his girlfriend have a conversation over the phone where they’re both tryin to break up with the other; it’s quite comical. Betty and Jughead are reunited by the end of 5a (episode nine at the latest) and spend the rest of the season rebuilding their relationship. The season may or may not end with Jughead proposing, possibly with a ring he bought for Betty previously but never had the heart to get rid of after the break up, possibly impulsively with one of the rings he always wears, possibly just with a new ring.

- Kevin and Fangs: Kevin is a drama teacher at Riverdale High, and Fangs does...idk, something, maybe he’s also a teacher, maybe he’s a /bein some field who can work from anywhere, maybe something else. They live together, a little off/on, but in a way that suits them and always ends in on. Kevin is concerned about some of his students who’ve gone missing. Fangs is either in the same position as Kevin or he has an employer who’s being shady.

- Cheryl and Toni: Cheryl and Toni both went to Highsmith College. Cheryl runs the Blossom maple business well and maybe something else, and Toni is a successful photographer. As for the twins, Polly recovered and is now raising them somewhere other than this helltown. They’re back in town for Cheryl’s business purposes, although they mainly live...idk, somewhere else. Either other Blossoms are secretly pulling some shit, Penelope has resurfaced, or Cheryl has a business partner who’s doing something shady. Toni sees some shit while taking photographs of Riverdale. Toni should get a storyline/be involved in the main plot, but I’m not sure what. Maybe she’ll investigate with Betty and Jughead sometimes? She definitely has a lot of interactions with Jughead, Fangs, and Sweet Pea though.

- Sweet Pea: Apparently is here? Maybe lives with Kevin and Fangs? Works...idk, somewhere? Possibly went to community college, maybe works at the hospital as a doctor or nurse or lab tech or something? Maybe is the sheriff? Unclear, but has seen some shit one way or the other. I know he’s not a series regular, but we bothered to bring him back apparently, he has to do something.

- Southside Serpents: Might not even be around? Maybe they disbanded at some point? Maybe there’s a new version of them that’s being shady? Maybe we don’t mention them at all? Unclear.- Alice: Is still here, apparently, living in Gladys’s house. No longer with FP, who has gone...idk, somewhere, maybe lives with Gladys? Alternately, Gladys comes back to live in her house and sparks fly between her and Alice. Probably is being nosy.

- Hiram and Hermione: Doing some shady shit, undoubtedly, may or may not be shady shit related to the plot, possible red herrings. It’s kind of one last hurrah for Hiram because we’re finishing up Veronica’s parallels with him this season. We might get Hiram v Betty at last, though, but then that might be best saved for season 6. Definitely a mirror for Veronica’s relationship though.

And I think that’s everyone? I wrote out Tabitha because we know nothing about her so I have no idea what to do with her. I didn’t break up choni because it really isn’t worth the hassle of breaking up and then getting back together three relationships. I have no idea what the musical episode would be. And I didn’t bother to hash out the plot because I’m not crazy enough to lay out a proper Riverdale plot, but I assure you a bunch of crazy shit goes down and at least one 90s teen/college icon shows up.

#asks #soyforramen #Riverdale #Riverdale speculation #this was such fun thank you for asking!#my thoughts on Riverdale let me show you them #so many thoughts this time

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artificialqueens · 4 years ago

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Level Up, Chapter Nine (Branjie) - Holtzmanns

(read on ao3) (full fic)

Vanessa’s watching her opponent’s arms like a hawk, coiled in front of their face ready to shoot forward at any moment. She’s looking for an opening, a chance where her opponent falters for just a second, where there’s a chance for her to land a clean hit, in and out, ending up with the points that she needs to win.

It’s strategy. It’s a game. It’s absolutely exhilarating.

AN: Thank you guys so much for the love on this fic so far, I really appreciate it! Every single review makes me so happy to know that you guys are reading it and enjoying it and have something to say about it. It’s the best thing to come back to as a writer. After a month, here’s chapter nine! Hope you enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think. Writ as usual is the best beta <3

Silky had asked Vanessa once about what goes through her mind when she’s in a match. What she’s thinking. And truth be told, even when Vanessa’s in it, it’s hard for her to really decipher everything.

When Vanessa’s in a fight, the world seems to slow down around her. She’s aware of every blink of her opponent’s eyes, every bead of sweat that is dripping from their temples to their eyebrows onto their cheeks. Vanessa’s watching her opponent’s arms like a hawk, coiled in front of their face ready to shoot forward at any moment. She’s looking for an opening, a chance where her opponent falters for just a second, where there’s a chance for her to land a clean hit, in and out, ending up with the points that she needs to win.

It’s strategy. It’s a game. It’s absolutely exhilarating.

This first fight feels pretty standard, so far shaping up to be what she’s prepared for. Vanessa’s unravelling the opponent’s tells with each minute that passes, and now, by the third round? She knows that the girl’s first instinct is to feint and jab high before actually going for a lower blow, and that she’s likely to block hits with her right. It’s all too easy for Vanessa, really, to land hit after hit by striking one step ahead while the girl is feinting a high punch, leaving her midsection wide open. Vanessa switches up her stance every time the girl’s shoulders relax for a second, because she can hear Brooke’s voice in her head lecturing her about the importance of being as comfortable attacking with her left side as much as her right and more dominant side.

It’s a puzzle that never fails to make Vanessa’s blood pump faster - her eyes narrow just a little bit more with every combo she can successfully throw at this girl, every hit that she blocks and counters with attacks of her own because she’s able to predict when the girl is going to strike. Each trill of the whistle that signifies the end of a round is a jolt in her ears, barely calming the electric current that buzzes along her limbs, keeping her on her toes even when she’s pulled to the side of the ring by Brooke in between rounds.

“Keep it up for this last round and you’ll be in the clear.” The approving tone in Brooke’s voice makes Vanessa stand up just a little bit taller as she tries to catch her breath, still bouncing on the balls of her feet. “She looks like she’s getting a bit worn out, too. It’ll be easier to land hits the more off kilter she is.”

Brooke tilts her head slightly towards the other side of the ring where Vanessa’s opponent and her coach are huddled, and it’s hard to miss the slight pout and downturned lips on the girl’s face, perfectly complimenting the furrow of her eyebrows. Her shoulders slump almost comically, and the way that she huffs and crosses her arms is reminiscent of the child beauty queens on Toddlers and Tiaras.

“You’ve got this last round,” Brooke reaches out, squeezing Vanessa’s shoulder as she winks when the referee blows his whistle, “so finish this match and let’s get ready for the next one.”

It doesn’t feel like a victory when the round ends and the referee hoists Vanessa’s fist into the air, declaring her win without a single word. The approving nods of the judges around the ring don’t mean much, not yet, not when winning this match is just a stepping stone onto the next one, where she’s going to have to face someone new and start the process of unravelling their tells all over again like she’s just finished doing with her first opponent.

The screen at the far end of the hall tells Vanessa that it’s only ten thirty. The tournament has only just started, and one successful match isn’t something to celebrate just yet, not when she has more to go. Still, it doesn’t stop her from squealing when she sees Monique leaving a fight of her own, the shit eating grin on her face telling Vanessa that she’s just won her first match, too.

“Bad bitches! Two bad bitches. Tell me, how does it feel to kick ass on this fine morning?” Monique spins in place and her excitement is contagious, any tiredness from Vanessa’s first match evaporating on the spot.

“It feels fucking fantastic, is how it feels. We just need Eye of the Tiger playing for the full dramatic effect.” Vanessa snickers.

“That’s old school. Play WAP and then we’ll be talking.�� Monet slides up behind them, and Vanessa can’t help but double take at the sweats and sliders she’s in.

Monet catches the look and shrugs. “Bombed my first match. Got my ass whooped. But it’s whatever, I’m just gonna be here in the comfort of my sweats while watching y’all. My day’s gonna be easy.”

Vanessa reaches out to pat her shoulder, but Monet shakes her head. “Honestly? Pressure’s off for me now. I get to watch the rest of y’all stress.”

“Y’know, she’s got a point.” Monique raises an eyebrow, and Vanessa can’t help but let out a snort.

“You’re gonna keep fighting. No giving in because you wanna sit in the stands with Monet in your sweats.”

“You’re no fun.”

Monet pulls out her phone. “I’m gonna grab some food ‘cause I’m ‘bout to pass out. Anyone want anything?”

“I’m coming, my next match isn’t for another hour,” Monique grins, “so plenty of time to digest.”

Vanessa, though, shakes her head, because the thought of food feels almost foreign right now, not when she’s still so worked up and with her next match being so soon. “I’ll hold off. Maybe later.”

She waves her friends off and cranes her neck to look around the hall. Brooke had excused herself to the bathroom at least fifteen minutes ago, and the fact that she’s not back yet makes Vanessa wonder if she’s been held up. Is there really that long of a line for the bathroom at a boxing tournament?

Except there’s no line when Vanessa finds the bathroom, and Brooke’s not inside the enclosed area when Vanessa peeks in, fixing her flyaways in the mirror. When Vanessa pushes the door open though, stepping back out into the hall, she sees why she really didn’t have to go into the bathroom in the first place.

Brooke’s surrounded by what looks like a small army of athletes, tucking their hair behind their ears and batting their eyelashes and Vanessa doesn’t know what’s funnier - the way they’re all clamouring to get a word in or the way Brooke looks like she’s smelled something terrible.

“I can’t believe Brooke Lynn Hytes is here-”

“Are you ever gonna make a comeback?”

“You were like, my favourite boxer when I was a kid-”

The chattering blurs together when Vanessa peeks at Brooke’s expression, the polite smile on her face not quite hiding the way her brows are climbing higher and higher on her forehead. She’s at a bit of a loss of what to do - maybe Brooke doesn’t mind the commotion and doesn’t necessarily want to be rescued, but on the other hand her foot is tapping a beat on the floor that’s getting faster and faster. She’s getting twitchy.

Vanessa’s about to take a hesitant step forward when Brooke turns in her direction, and the relief in her eyes is palpable as they widen upon seeing her.

“What should I do?” Vanessa mouths, trying not to draw the crowd’s attention towards her, as a girl shoves a flyer and sharpie in front of Brooke’s face for her to autograph.

Brooke shrugs, taking a step back when another girl tries to take a selfie with her, blinking at the brightness of the flash. “Improvise!”

Well, there’s no time like the present for Vanessa to foray into an acting career.

“Oof. Ow.” Vanessa cradles her wrist in her other hand, trying her best to convey a wincing expression on her face. She’s about to limp, before realizing she’s pretending that her arm is hurt, not her leg.

There’s a reason Vanessa got the part of a tree branch in her third grade class play. It had required her to do absolutely nothing to sell the part.

Lucky for her, Brooke’s more than willing to step up to bat. “Vanessa! Are you hurt? Shit, excuse me, pardon me, just have to check on my athlete, coming through-”

Brooke pushes her way through the athletes until she reaches her, and Vanessa pretends to wince again for good measure. “Oh no, we better get this checked out before your next match, can’t have it giving out on you, can we?” Brooke spins to face the athletes, an expression of fake sadness on her face that Vanessa has to admit is pretty convincing. “So sorry to leave, it’s been wonderful to meet you all! But the sport always comes first, you know how it is. I’ll see you all around!”

Vanessa grabs onto Brooke with her other hand and practically sprints, ducking past the other coaches and spectators and athletes and pulling Brooke into the first empty hallway that pops up. Brooke nearly skids past her, recovering fast enough to find her footing before leaning against the opposite wall.

“Holy shit.” Vanessa gasps out, her giggles interspersed with the way she’s still trying to catch her breath. “Did you just-”

“Carry that fake injury plot on my back? Yes I did.” Brooke grins as she bends over, her hands resting against her knees as she tries to regulate her own breathing.

Vanessa sticks out her tongue. “Now that’s no way to treat someone saving you from a wild pack of fangirls, is it? Seriously though, I didn’t expect that.”

“Shit, honestly, me neither. It’s not that something like that hasn’t happened before, it’s just…it’s been awhile since it has.” Brooke lets out a breath. “I was used to it back in the day, competing all the time. But it’s been awhile since I’ve been in a place like this, where people actually know who pro boxers are.”

“You telling me you used to be smooth and suave while handling crowds?” Vanessa raises an eyebrow, trying to picture the sight of Brooke however many years ago.

“Don’t act like it’s that hard to believe. I totally was. I just gotta get that mojo back if I’m gonna come to competitions with you and have to say hello to people. Either that, or wear a disguise. Dress incognito.”

Vanessa snickers. “Ah, the life of a niche famous person is so hard. All the adoring fans. How are you ever going to survive it?”

“Shut up.” Brooke shoves Vanessa’s shoulder, but she’s laughing too, shaking her head as she does. “Seriously though, thanks. I appreciate it.”

“No problem, Princess Diana. Or Taylor Swift. Which paparazzi-favourite celebrity do you prefer?”

Brooke rolls her eyes. “The better question is, let’s see which one of us has her next fight in hmm, let me check my watch, fifteen minutes. Don’t make me make your warm up exercises a bitch.”

“Whatever you say, Lady Gaga. Hey, you could sing her song Paparazzi with all this media attention you’re getting, couldn’t you?” Vanessa flashes Brooke a grin before turning on her heels, practically sprinting back to the competition area before Brooke can retaliate in any way.

If nothing else, at least Vanessa’s keeping her humble. Never too good to have a big head.

The second match of the day is almost easier than the first - the girl falls for her feints almost too easily, giving Vanessa the chance to land clean hit after hit, and she’s barely breaking a sweat when the referee blows the whistle to end the final round. The referee lifts her fist up and maybe it’s the cheering of everyone around the ring watching them, maybe it’s the way he yells out her name as the winner, but Vanessa’s heart is still pumping at the speed of light, the rushing of blood loud in her ears and she feels like a fucking rockstar.

The best part, though? Brooke. At the edge of the ring, she has a sparkle in her eyes and a smile on her face that Vanessa can feel in her soul. Brooke cheers along with everyone else but there’s something about having her approval that feels different. Right. It’s enough to make every morning practice, every rep and extra minute of sparring worth it, just for the clap on the back that Brooke gives her as she helps her over the ropes of the ring and onto the ground.

“Fucking killed that.” Vanessa doesn’t mean to sound cocky but it’s hard not to when she feels like a million dollars, having obliterated both of the opponents that she’s faced so far.

She’s just left the ring but she wants more, because her muscles feel as if they’re laced with electricity that can keep her going for two, three, four more matches. The sensation is addicting and Vanessa almost feels drunk on it, the desire to win again almost an itch that she can’t scratch.

“Not gonna lie, you really did.” The pride in Brooke’s eyes is hard to miss but there’s a hesitancy too, one that’s hard to miss with the purse of her lips.

So Vanessa shoots her a questioning look. “What? Did I not do as well as I thought?”

“Just…be careful. Don’t get overconfident too early, especially when you have another match still left in the day. Letting your guard down means your next opponent is going to have an easy in.”

Vanessa wrinkles her nose. “Yeah, yeah, I know. It ain’t over ‘till it’s over. I’m still allowed to be pumped, though.”

“Didn’t say you aren’t,” Brooke tugs on one of Vanessa’s braids lightly, “but remember that you’re not done yet. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience.”

“You’ve let your guard down too early?”

“Every time I thought I had a match in the bag because I did fine on earlier ones, I didn’t. And I always paid for it majorly.” Brooke’s pointed look makes Vanessa want to scowl, because she’s not that cocky. She’ll be ready for the next one.

Just like she’d been for her first two matches of the day.

Vanessa makes her way towards the plastic chairs that Kameron and a handful of athletes from the gym have taken over, plopping herself down beside Asia with a grin.

“Made it through to the finals in my division.” Vanessa holds up a hand and Asia returns the high five immediately, though she’s biting her lip, her eyes looking a little wild.

“Why do you look like you’re about to puke?” Vanessa raises an eyebrow and Asia shushes her almost comically, slinking down in her chair.

“Can you not be so loud?”

“What, bitch?”

Asia pulls her hood up over her head, mumbling something under her breath that Vanessa can’t hear. Vanessa scoots herself closer until her and Asia are close enough to bonk their foreheads together.

“Speak up.”

“KameronandIkissed.”

“What?”

“Shh!”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Vanessa mumbles under her breath, trying to resist the urge to rub her temples, “how? When? Where? Did you swap spit out here on the chairs? The fuck?”

“What? No!” Asia whispers, making frantic shushing gestures with her index finger. “She was giving me a pep talk before my second match. In the hallway. Which happened to be empty.”

“And decided it would be best to end with a makeout session?” Vanessa feels like she’s about to explode because holy shit. Asia’s crush on Kameron isn’t exactly a secret and quite frankly, it’s always looked reciprocated.

But a first kiss before a match? Damn.

“It wasn’t a makeout session! Who do you take me for?” Asia sputters but Vanessa raises an eyebrow, and snickers when Asia seems to deflate. “Okay, maybe it was a bit. But I won the match and now it feels like I can’t even look her in the eye because the last thing we did before the match was kiss.”

“So what? Go kiss her again, dumbass. It’s not rocket science.” Vanessa feels like Dr. Phil, with her friends’ love lives. First Monique and Monet not figuring themselves out and now Asia in a tizzy over Kameron.

But Asia’s crossing her arms. “She’s a coach! I can’t just go and kiss a coach.”

“Hate to break it to you, but you technically already kissed a coach.” Vanessa snickers, trying her best to hold back the urge to wiggle her brows.

“Shut up.” Asia grumbles. “I can’t believe I can never talk to her again.”

“Never again-what do you mean, never again?” Vanessa nearly falls off of her chair as she leans forward, poking Asia’s shoulder. “Go talk to her and also make out with her. In fact, Kameron’s looking over right this second.”

The subtle looks that Kameron is throwing in Asia’s direction are hard to miss when Vanessa knows what to watch for, and she just wants to let out a little yell under her breath. Because something’s happening. Vanessa doesn’t know what, exactly, but if anything, she loves watching the show.

“What? She is? Shit, I gotta hide. She won’t see me if I slide off the chair and crouch, will she?” Asia’s beginning to slide to the front of her chair and Vanessa snorts, reaching out a hand to grab the back of her hoodie.

“You’re not exactly invisible, and it’s going to look way more suspicious if you do that.” Vanessa tugs on Asia’s hoodie, revealing her face again. “What’s the harm in talking to her?”

“Because then we have to talk.” Asia groans, dropping her face in her hands.

Vanessa reaches out to pat her shoulder. “I know you’d rather kiss her and all that, but you’ll have to talk eventually, y’know. You’re sitting in shotgun and navigating for the ride home.”

Asia lifts up her face to scowl. “First, I wouldn’t rather kiss her. Okay, maybe I would, but still. Second, I’ll just get Monet or Monique to navigate. I’ll hide in the back or something.”

“No you won’t. You’re going to talk to Kameron on the drive home about the kiss. And then go kiss her again.”

It’s foolproof, really. Straight out of a romantic comedy. Should be easy enough to execute.

“I’m never coming to you for advice again.”

Or not.

“You’ll thank me later when the two of you are together.” Vanessa grins, an expression that grows when Asia groans.

Vanessa has to tell Monet and Monique about this, because they’ll have to figure out a way to get Asia into that front seat. If any one of them is going to end up with a boo, it may as well be Asia. Despite her spooked horse tendencies.

Vanessa’s gotta ask Brooke about it. Maybe Kameron’s telling her about it too, from the way the two of them are deep in conversation only a few rows over. Not that Vanessa gets the chance to do so, because when Brooke’s getting up out of her seat and handing her a protein bar, they’re on their way to the last match.

It’s not too worrisome. Vanessa will be fine, just like how she had been for her first two matches. She takes a swig of her Gatorade in their corner of the ring as Brooke wraps up her other hand, feeling the energy growing in her limbs the closer and closer the clock overhead ticks to the start of the match. The crowd is bigger than those from her first two matches, seven to eight rows deep around all sides of the ring and it makes the excitement bubble higher and higher in Vanessa’s stomach. Reaching the finale in her weight class is one thing. But winning this match and thus winning her weight class?

It’ll be even better.

“Feeling alright?” Brooke grabs Vanessa’s other hand once the first one is wrapped, her touch delicate as she covers Vanessa’s knuckles for the third time that day.

Vanessa would be lying if she said that she doesn’t feel her heart beat just a little bit faster every time Brooke does up her wraps for her, but she can’t think about it now. Not during a tournament. Not when the first round of her last match is coming up in a few minutes and she gets to kick ass all over again.

So she shrugs. “Feeling just fine.”

“Good. So stay alert, look for her tells, and take her down using her own game.”

The girl across the ring is intimidating, Vanessa will give her that, with a sleeve of tattoos on one arm extending all the way to her fingers. She doesn’t look too afraid herself, fastening her gloves with her teeth while her coach gives her a pep talk of her own. The girl’s coach towers over her, but then again, it doesn’t mean much when Vanessa isn’t blessed in the height department either.

But Vanessa can beat her. Just like she’s beaten her other two opponents today.

The girl shoots her a grin as the referee beckons the two of them closer, the gold mouth guard she’s flashing almost akin to a grill. Vanessa’s hands are up and protecting her face and abdomen before the whistle blows, because she’s ready, and-

Damn.

The girl is fast, with a jab and a cross and an uppercut as soon as the round starts and Vanessa blocks them just in time, letting out a breath when the girl steps back. But she’s fine, it doesn’t matter if the girl is fast because Vanessa is too, and the combination that she throws at the girl with her hook is enough to land a clean hit against the chest. But then the girl is back and in Vanessa’s space and too close but she’s most definitely in the right spot to crowd her and land a bunch of hits that make Vanessa scowl as she retreats, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

The pierce of the whistle is almost welcome, as Vanessa flops onto the stool in her corner of the ring. Brooke’s handing her a water bottle and patting her forehead with a towel and her raised eyebrows make Vanessa shrug.

“So not the best start to a round. I’ll get there.”

“Crowd her space first. She’s trying to catch you off guard, so you need to be in there before she’s ready. You can probably get a few in with jabs and a backhand before she’s realized what’s happening.” Brooke reaches out a hand for the water bottle once Vanessa’s finished, taking a swig herself.

Vanessa rolls out her neck, wiping the sweat off of her forehead with the back of the glove and it’s just as well because the whistle is blowing again, pulling them back for another round.

Except that the girl figures Vanessa out too easily. She’s hitting back in the mere milliseconds that Vanessa’s guards are down, landing hits that will count in her favour and it’s frustrating, being a second behind. The girl takes advantage of every time that Vanessa pauses and takes a second to strategize, breaking through her train of thought every time with a hit that Vanessa should be able to block and counter with a combination of her own. But it’s feeling impossible when Vanessa’s attempted hits turn into fumbles, when all she can do is try to block the girl as best as she can.

“Fuck!” Vanessa’s scowling by the next break, dropping her head between her knees because this is wrong, not how this match should be going.

What the hell is she doing wrong?

“She’s getting in your head. Don’t let her do that.” Brooke’s crouching beside her, a hand on her knee and Vanessa wants to shake it off, because everything feels prickly, the energy previously flowing her limbs now acting like currents that are slowly setting her on fire.

Vanessa sits back up, leaning against the ropes of the ring. “How the fuck not? I can’t focus ‘cause she’s too fast and I’m crashing ‘cause it’s been a long fucking day, and I can’t do this.”

Maybe it’ll be less embarrassing if Vanessa throws in the towel now. She’s clearly in over her head, and it’s too much and maybe if she leaves with her tail in between her legs she can preserve a small shred of dignity without getting her ass whooped even more in the process.

“You’re not giving in that easily, are you?” Brooke’s raising an eyebrow and Vanessa wants to growl. “Thought you had more in you than that.”

“I do, I just…fuck.” She can’t go and give up when Brooke’s looking at her like that. Not that she would, anyway, but for a second, the option is tempting.

Vanessa is just going to crumble into pieces during the course of the match instead.

Brooke turns her chin towards her. “Listen. She’s not invincible. This is just me in the gym, pushing you just a little too hard when you’re tired. Nothing more. That’s all you’re facing right now.”

It’s easy enough for Brooke to say, Vanessa supposes, when the whistle blows again to signal the next round and her opponent is looking as fresh as ever, already bouncing on her feet. Vanessa feels like she’s stuck in molasses, her limbs sluggish as they fight against an invisible force and her brain just a second behind. She’s blindsided by hits that she’d be able to block easily in the gym, counter with a few of her own, but right now?

She’s fighting worse than someone who’s never boxed before.

Everything is too loud, too blinding around her as the third round ends and she slumps on her stool in the corner of the ring, dropping her head into her hands. The lights are too bright and there are too many people watching the match and all Vanessa wants to have is the ability to disappear into her brain and hide away and turn everything around her off.

There’s a hand on Vanessa’s knee, and when she opens her eyes Brooke is looking at her with a sympathetic expression and she hates it. She doesn’t want to have to see it, because it means that Brooke also knows that she’s in deep shit in this round, that there’s no way to come back from it. Instead, both of them get to watch this slow descent towards a loss that almost feels worse than if Vanessa was hit with a knockout. She gets to see the foundations of her boxing skills break down one by one, all because now she’s faced with a little bit of pressure that she can’t face up against.

She knows that Kameron, Asia, Monet, and Monique are in the crowd, along with the rest of the athletes from their gym. There’s other competitors that Vanessa hasn’t met yet, more coaches and spectators here just for the entertainment of it all. There’s even television cameras because the tournament is being broadcast on some offshoot sports channel on cable and god, the fact that people Vanessa doesn’t even know are seeing her in this state?

She hates it.

The referee’s whistle is piercing, cutting through her thoughts and bringing her back to the stool she’s on, the cheering of the crowd, and most importantly, her opponent who’s already bouncing on her feet and ready to go.

She still has one more round to go.

Fucking hell.

Tags: branjie, brooke lynn hytes, vanessa vanjie mateo, lesbian au, boxer au, holtzmanns, level up

#rpdr fanfiction #branjie #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #lesbian au #boxer au #holtzmanns #level up

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steve0discusses · 4 years ago

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Yugioh Ep 29 S4: Joey Wheeler, Dead Again

It took me kind of a while to get around to recapping again, been some drama on this end due to a couple natural disasters all happening in conjunction with eachother, but thankfully we are back in the green (sort of) there’s still wildfire smoke out my window but at least...at least the fires aren’t getting any bigger.

And it’s a shame we didn’t get to it sooner, because this episode has so many wild things in it, I don’t even know where to start. There was a lot of dueling, so I didn’t have to cap a whole lot...but even within such few caps, there’s some stuff to talk about. Like first off, the Kaiba’s inability to walk five feet without getting attacked by someone.

Seto still winning Brother of the year award even after nearly shooting his bro with real ass lightning. Because remember, this lightning is 100% real. None of these are holograms.

And by the way, a “hologram” just grabbed Mokuba with real ass hands and Seto was like “Clearly still a hologram!” Because that is how deep his denial runs.

Anyways, this is where the Kaibas will be until the remainder of this episode, so we’ll just leave them where they are.

(read more under the cut)

Back at the duel between Mai and Joey, we’re slowly working out what it is the Orichalcos even does.

We have had very little indication you can break the Oricalchos control on people’s minds up to this duel, but because Joey showed heart and bravery or whatever--he’s been slowly chipping away at Mai’s crusty, neon green, outer shell.

(I had a littttle bit of a hunger for some Taco Bell Baja Blast, not gonna lie. A little bit tempted because of that weird color. And now that I’ve eaten popcorn, I am 80% itching to drive to Taco Bell and make some mistakes. But I won’t.)

Comparing this to Pharaoh and Kaiba and their Oricalchos duels (even Rex and Weevil’s) it kind of makes you wonder why this never happened.......to anyone else? I mean, obviously it’s plot reasons, but it would have been a little neat to have some character development for the other villains.

But this unnecessary duel to the death between Joey and Mai spends most of the time screaming about how deep and real their love friendship is. Just a whooole bunch of aggressive friendzoning for the lady who just aggressively hates everyone.

(Haven’t seen much of Yugioh Abridged because it’s spoiler territory but everyone who retweets Joey stuff puts “Brooklyn Rage” in there so I have learned the lingo through osmosis.)

So because, someone’s absolutely going to die, lets start going through all of the flashbacks to remind the audience to feel something when they biff it. Lets recite the times we all spent with Mai.

Remember how they brushed Mai under the rug for 3 seasons, and now that they actually need her, they’re shooting themselves in the foot because there’s actually very little evidence that they like eachother at all?

But they do show those few times they hung out: the camping trip where they almost got burned alive by PaniK, that time that Joey caught her smelling her own cards, that time that Yugi had a panic attack because he was convinced Pharaoh would murder her during a card game, that time that she almost got hit by a fireball and then Joey jumped in front of her.

PS, that fireball scene--they keep going back to that fireball scene but they cut out the part where, yes, Joey jumped in front of her--but then Yugi jumped in front of Joey, and then Yami took over and was like EFF YUGI DAMN IT while he got pegged with fireballs. Like...c’mon, Yugioh, there was a lot of fanservice in that particular episode, and you’re leaving out a majority of the ships.

Partial truth, Yugioh--you’re telling partial truths. If we’re saying friendzoning is a good replacement for some sort of romance, then this show is just a giant geometric shape of “who might possibly like who if they weren’t so addicted to friendship.” This show has “friendship” as the underlying tagline of every episode with every person.

In the process of removing romance--they accidentally made SO MUCH MORE romantic implications in this show. I just feel like this backfired in so many ways. Or...maybe this was exactly what they wanted. And by “they” I mean that one writer who stans Seto Kaiba in the back--just sitting there in the corner of the writer’s room tapping his fingers together and cackling like an evil villain. He knows what he did. Genius mastermind, slipping in his favorite ships by making every ship Yugioh-legal.

And, also the Joey/Mai duel was a lot of this type of questionable content:

Joey Freakin Wheeler.

So I forgot if I mentioned this, but my bro had this friend in college who go struck by lightning not once, but multiple times in his life. He lived in like Virginia or North Carolina--one of the monsoon States, and he’d go on this hike to the top of this mountain--and on two different occasions at the same spot, he got stuck by freakin lightning. So like...Joey Wheelers do exist. There are people out there who just...

They’re just lightning rods wherever they go and their brain is somewhat scrambled eggs because of it.

(PS fun fact I googled just now because I couldn’t remember which state Virginia was, a Virginian by the name of Roy Sullivan was supposedly struck by lightning 7 different times and survived all of them. The more you know. ((PS still on the Google deep dive and the same guy also claimed to have been attacked by a bear 22 times (he’s a park ranger, so that checks) and once he was attacked by a bear immediately after he got struck by lightning which is like some pretty pro strats by said bear.)))

But like...kinda weird that Joey’s now kinda into this, and got super into it during a lovers friendship quarrel.

Anyway, all things come to an end, so Mai decides after enough cards have been played and Joey is clearly about to die...maybe it’s time to just accept not being 1st in the world in cards. Which...would have meant she should have been playing Yugi during this duel but, wtv. She clearly wants to be mad at Joey, specifically.

And I think the show didn’t do such a good job explaining why she was focused on Joey and not any of the other duelists until the very end, but we’ll get there. We’ll finally get to an explanation of why she was so fixated on Wheeler, we just have to wait for him to die first.

Because after the lightning strikes, and after putting so much effort into punching Valon right before this...Joey is too sleepy to continue.

So he’s just gonna die here instead...

2nd time he’s passed out in a duel by the way. Remember that Joey almost beat Marik, but was too damn sleepy after the electrocution? Same situation here. Look at that parallel.

Reminder that Joey STARTED this duel.

It’s like when you’re playing a game with a toddler and then it just passes out halfway and without any warning with it’s face just flat into the carpet.

Anyway, Mai grabs him in her arms sobbing all over him like she just did with Valon and it’s like...damn, this girl can just turn it off and on huh? Like she’s only 100% or -100% when it comes to the relationship meter, huh? No in between?

Mmmm cue that irony that Yugioh loves so much, this entire duel was unnecessary, because all you had to do was yoink that necklace.

Really the solution to dealing with a lot of assholes in Yugioh, to be honest.

This really is what Seto says in the show, by the way--a glitch. I like that Seto does not accept that dragons can feel sadness, and is just ITCHING to patch that out in the next release of duel monsters. I imagine that he’ll make a meeting once this is all over with his code team and at the top of the list will be the demand “Make The Dragons Stop Crying.” triple underlined, bold, and in bright red font. The entire code team will side eye eachother, unsure if this is a literal bug or something that Seto just hears all the time but no one else can hear.

So back at the Joey death fort, Mai decides to finally illustrate with words why she had to go so hard on killing Joey wheeler.

It was because she saw his kindness and his help as a weakness and a failure on her part. Mai, who always wants to be independent and in charge, could not accept that someone else had saved her or would want to save her. Which was apparently why she decided to peace out back at the end of the Marik arc.

It’s a bit of a complicated character for a kid’s show, I’m not sure how many kids understood the pride situation here, but it’s nice they stuck in something that wasn’t just “I want to be the best.” It was more that she didn’t want to be helped in order to become the best.

(PS, there’s this flashback scene where Joey’s like “bye” as she drives away and it was unintentionally a very awkward and funny cut and I may grab that little quip. I have to cap a couple of animations, tbh, I haven’t done that in a while)

So, now that she is fully recovered, she decides to complete the parallel of when Joey saved her in a death coma and now she will do the same (although it is SLIGHTLY different since in this version she kind of absolutely killed Joey Wheeler but...still works). She decides to do the job these stupid boys have not been able to do for the entirety of this season.

(these boots are REALLY well drawn, by the way. OBSESSED with Mai’s boots.)

If only she swooped up Pharaoh and just stuck him on the back of her bike to get this final fight going.

But Pharaoh’s too busy getting lost in San Francisco, and stumbling upon Joey’s dead body.

That this is the season where Yami can do nothing right and it just keeps happening.

No idea how we’re going to resurrect Joey in so short a period of time, but we’re completely out of spooky necklaces, so I guess we can’t do the Pharaoh solution to just...stick him back in there.

Anyways, I’m off to recover from the trauma of my house burning down last week, so I’m gonna go eat a pint of ice cream while I dream of a life before quarantine (was there a time before quarantine? I honestly don’t remember)

If you just got here this is a link to these in chrono order.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#ygo #yugioh #recap #episode recap #photo recap #Yugi Muto #Joey Wheeler #Mai Valentine #Tea Gardner #Tristan Taylor #Dartz #The Kaiba's #they were there for a few seconds #and just a million flashbacks to make my life as a recapper much much easier #S4 #Ep29

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jamielea81 · 5 years ago

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Just a Simple Lie

Chapter 1

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Description: Having worked on small independent films for the better part of a decade, your friend tells you about an opening for a script supervisor with a large studio. Wanting to advance your career, you apply and get an interview. The only downside, they prefer to hire crew who are married. It’s just a simple lie, right?

A/N: This fic is simply for fun. I know nothing about the personal lives of the two actors in this series and mean no harm. I am also totally guessing regarding the studio talk. This particular chapter is Chris light as it’s mainly a getting to know the reader. Chapters going forward will be heavy on the Chris aspect. Comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome. Tag list is open, please send me an ask.

“Do you have the ring?”

“Of course, I have the ring.” You let out a frustrated breath. “This is so silly.”

Joanna chuckles over the line. “Where did you manage to get a ring from anyway?”

“It’s my grandmother’s. I feel like I’m majorly disrespecting her by wearing it when I’m not even engaged. Not to mention I’ve been single for-ev-er.” You drawl out.

“Breathe babe. Just breathe.” She says softly.

You inhale deeply and exhale it slowly.

“Maybe don’t do that directly into the phone.” She laughs again.

“Joanna Elizabeth.” You growl. “Why am I doing this?” You ask catching a glimpse of your reflection in the review mirror. Running a hand through your hair, you see the diamond engagement ring on your left finger. It feels so foreign, even stranger seeing it.

“Because this is a great opportunity to advance your career. Stone Lite is a major studio, Y/N. You can’t keep working on those student films.”

“Hey! I worked on a couple of independent movies. One even showed at Sundance.” You defend.

“And that’s awesome. Really. But this could be your big in. You’ve been doing this, what, for ten years?”

She was right. Ten years and the majority of your income came from student funded films and slinging beers three nights a week.

“And by your silence, you know I am right.”

Smug bitch.

“Ahuh.” You sigh.

“Look, I know it’s not right, but if this increases your chances of getting hired, just wear the damn ring.” Joanna huffs out.

“Easy for you to say, oh, wise married one.”

Joanna previously worked for Stone Lite Studios before moving on to Sony. It was a well-known amongst the employees that if you wanted to get hired for any position that put you in direct contact with any of the actors, you needed to be married. The studio was concerned with fan girls and fan boys. As if adults couldn’t control their urges and not make unwanted advances. Not to mention, married or not, some people still have affairs. Now granted, not every person there was married, but you had a greater advantage to get the job if you were. Right or wrong.

You drew the line at saying you were actually married and settled on being engaged. Not wanting to worry about details like how you kept your last name and lying on the tax forms you’d have to fill out. Even though you’ve only worked on small projects, Hollywood was surprisingly small when it came to the industry. It would be a lot harder to explain a sudden husband versus a fiancé. With Joanna’s agreement, you took your grandmother’s engagement ring from your jewelry box and slipped it on your finger.

“I’m just saying, give it a shot and see where this goes.” She reasoned.

“You’re right. You’re right. I better go in anyway. There’s a golf cart that keeps circling around the lot. They’re probably getting suspicious as to why I’m still in my car.”

She let out a chuckle. “They’re going to give you a ride to the offices. Welcome to the big leagues baby.”

“Ms. Y/L/N, may I call you Y/N? Barbara Floyd, the interviewer and also the production manager asked.

The two of you had already gone over your previous crew history where you held a variety of positions including editor, grip, writer, and even wardrobe. On a whim, you took a script supervisor position on an independent short and really enjoyed it. The next job you took was on full length film in the same position, that’s when you decided that’s where your passion lied. Despite the copious amount of responsibility and that often brought on your anxiety, you loved the challenge.

“Of course, Mrs. Floyd.”

Her eyes went directly to your left hand. “That’s a beautiful ring.” She says.

Here we go.

“Thank you.” You stick your hand out for added affect.

“When’s the wedding?” She asks.

“Next year. We have a lot of out of town family. We just want to make sure they have time to arrange travel.”

Look at me lie. Maybe I should have tried acting.

“I’m sure it will be lovely.” She replies with a wide smile. “I’d like to introduce you to a few people. Please come with me.”

You received a contract via e-mail later that evening. They were bringing you on for one film with the option of three additional films after production. Granted, that’s if you didn’t mess up. Joanna was right, this is the big leagues. If you could make it through the next three to four months, you’d have a long term contract with a major studio.

The next day you received the script. Winter’s Sin was the working title. Whether or not the title would stick was anyone’s guess. You had worked with a few well-known actors, but more of the B list variety. Wonderfully talented actors, but they just didn’t get the parts or the recognition they often deserved. This film had a couple of big names, Keanu Reeves and Chris Evans to be exact. Maggie Jessup was this year’s it girl and rumor had it, this movie was going to launch her into stardom. Generally, you didn’t get star struck, but this was Keanu Reeves! You first fell in love with him when you saw Speed. And again, when you watched The Lake House. Too bad you were technically “engaged”.

Pre-production was set to start next week. This week would be spent going over the script a few times and creating notes. Some wouldn’t consider it the fun part of the job, but you loved diving into a script before it was brought to life. It was also a bonus that you generally liked the script. It was sort of a weepy drama with a love story tied in. But the main plot was between two friends, Milo played by Keanu and William played by Chris. You stayed up half the night and made it almost all the way through. To say you were invested was an understatement.

You read through the script twice more over the next few days and felt ready. Next week you would meet with wardrobe and the writers. The cast would be fitted and you would take photos for your own personal files to make sure styles remain the same for the shoot. Of course, this could all change the day shooting begins which is why you needed to be on your A game and get all the drinking out of the way tonight. You’d have Sunday to recover before starting at the studio on Monday.

Laurel Tavern wasn’t necessarily your favorite bar, but it had become the place to get a bite to eat and a few drinks. It was also the most centrally located place for you and your friends to meet. Joanna and her husband Ian picked you up on the way, knowing you wanted to drink to excess. The three of you along with Travis and Jemma were celebrating your new job tonight. The five of you often found reasons to celebrate whether it was finding a twenty dollar bill on the side of the road, not getting fired from a particular job you’ve been slacking at, for the record, that was Travis, or getting a full eight hours of sleep. Tonight, was really worth celebrating.

“What do you want girl?” Joanna asked, getting up from your usual booth. “First rounds on me. If you’re nice, I might even buy you a second.” She throws you a wink.

“Ummm. I’d like a margarita, hold the margarita.” You say in all seriousness.

“Tequila. Got it.” She says before turning away and heading to the bar.

“Extra limes.” You shout.

She waves her hand behind her head, not bothering to spare your table a look.

Travis joins your booth, a couple of pints of beer in hand. “Here, I brought you one.” Setting a pint of golden goodness in front of you.

You lean over kissing his cheek. “I feel so special.” You coo.

Travis wormed his way into your life seven years ago. He was a senior in college at the time, tall and lanky with hair that stuck out from under his hat. He was filming his final project before graduation. The two of you had a mutual friend in common, Jemma, who was an ex-girlfriend of Travis, how they stayed friends, was beyond you. You helped with directing, a little bit of script management, and even filled in for makeup on a few days. Anything to help a friend of a friend. Travis became your pseudo little brother, well, a brother that you kissed once. You had just broken up with Chad, never date a guy name Chad. Anyway, you had just broken up with Chad and were feeling down in the dumps about yourself. He fed you some bullshit about never being there for him when he needed you. You got angry, he got angry, and then he told you that you weren’t hot enough for him. Yep, Chad was a douche. Travis invited you over, feed you pizza and a ton of beers, then you kissed. He wasn’t a bad kisser, but it felt weird. He was five years younger than you, but it wasn’t just that, he was too much like a brother. The two of you agreed that it was a mistake and never brought it up again. Not even Jemma knew.

The five of you munched on burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Jemma bought you a margarita, even after you told her you just wanted the tequila. Her motive was to mooch some of the beverage off of you.

“I don’t want all of the calories. I just want to try it.” She grins. Big rosy cheeks and wild blonde hair. Her British accent on full affect after already consuming a few shots herself. She had lived in the United States most of her life, but when she drank, the accent became heavier.

She grabs your drink, taking a hold of the straw and consumes half of it in one go. If you didn’t love her, you would have ditched her years ago.

Pushing Ian out of the booth, you get up on wobbly feet and make the long twenty foot journey to the bar. “I’ll get my tequila myself. Thank you very much.” You tell the table.

It’s after midnight by the time you’re dropped off. Running a makeup remover cloth over your face and stripping down to a cami, you call it good enough and crawl into your cozy bed.

After a pit stop at Starbucks, you make it to the studio an hour earlier than you need to be. After parking in Timbuctoo, you graciously accept the golf cart ride from security.

One of the admins directs you to a small office down a long hallway with similar offices. There’s a laptop computer, various pens and notepads on the desk. You unpack a small plant you picked up yesterday after you dragged your hungover self out of bed and to the grocery store for food. There was no window in your office which you figured; a little greenery would liven the place up, literally.

An hour later, one of the producers, David, came by to introduce himself and walk you around the grounds and through the soundstage you’d be shooting on. Filming would take place on the soundstage for a little more than a month. Then everyone would move the whole operation to Vancouver. The movie was called Winter’s Sin after all and there wasn’t a whole lot of winter in Los Angeles.

Before stopping back in your office, David popped into the office across from yours. He knocked while walking in, apparently already comfortable with the occupant.

“Hey Monica. I want you to meet Y/N. She’s the assistant script supervisor I was telling you about.”

Assistant? What?

Monica got up from her chair to greet you. You plastered on a smile and stuck out your hand. She was around your age and seriously gorgeous. Beautiful thick brown hair with a touch of caramel highlights that hung just above her chest.

“Hi, Y/N. I’m looking forward to working with you. Would love to hear some of your ideas.”

“Same.”

What could you say? You weren’t told that you were an assistant script supervisor, you thought you had the position. Apparently, it was a shared position.

“Y/N will be working primarily with Chris and Keanu.”

Whoa. Well, at least there’s that.

Monica scoffs. “Really?”

Your eyes automatically go to her left hand. No ring. Of course.

“Yes, really. You’ve got Maggie. I think she can really flourish under your direction. Not to mention you have Hector, Tim, Daisy and Joe.

After the awkward exchange, you traded cellphone numbers with her and made plans to meet after the first read through with the cast.

Walking across the way into the safety of your office, you figured you might as well ask.

“I wasn’t aware that I was being hired on as an assistant script supervisor.”

David ran a hand down his face. “Y/N, listen. This is your first big film; you need to walk before you can run. Alright? If this goes well, you’ll probably get hired on as the lead.”

“Okay.” You sighed out

“Alright, I’ll see you later. Meeting at three on the soundstage.”

“Got it.” You replied, plopping yourself down in the desk chair.

David peeks his head back into your office. “You’ve got some visitors.”

“Thanks.” You call out, standing back up and pulling your door open wider.

Your heart stopped. At least you were pretty sure it did. Keanu and Chris were both in front of you. Yes, you were there to film a movie, but this felt like a freaking movie. The two of them, side by side, grins on their faces. Keanu’s hand outstretched while Chris’ hands were snugly in the front pockets of his jeans.

“Y/N, pleasure to meet you. I’m Keanu.”

You accept his hand but your pretty much speechless. You may have muttered “hi” but you can’t be sure. Sensing your nervousness, he gives you a smile and releases your hand. He looks to Chris and they exchange a silent conversation. Chris steps forward offering you his hand and once again you can’t breathe.

Has he always been this attractive? Apparently, I haven’t watched enough Avengers movies.

His hair’s a bit longer than what you remember from the one or two movies you’ve seen. He’s also sporting a full beard. Definitely something he can pull off.

You mentally slap yourself and pull your hand from his after you realize you hadn’t said anything.

“Um. Sorry. Haven’t had enough caffeine today. It’s nice to meet you both. I look forward to working with you on this shoot.”

“Nice plant.” Keanu says, pointing at the fern taking up the front corner of your desk.

You giggle. Like actually let out a giggle and you’re pretty sure your cheeks are flushed.

You’re a professional. Get your shit together.

“Well, you know?” Shrugging your shoulders. “Need to green the space up a bit.’

Chris nods his head and offers a closed mouth smile.

“Well, we won’t take up all your time. Just wanted to say hello.”

“Hello.” You reply with a wave.

Why am I so awkward?!

They both chuckle and Chris waves back at you.

Tomorrow you wouldn’t be so starstruck. These are just two men that you work with. Who cares that they both seem nice and are dangerously attractive? You’re an “engaged” woman who is also a professional. You can do this.

Yeah. I can do this.

If you are crossed out, I can’t tag you.

Tag list: @southerngracela @chrisevansforever @chrisevansfanfic @zsuzstyina @peach-acid @tanelle83 @pinknerdpanda @allaboutthebooz @estillion14 @panicfob@patzammit @heartislubbingdubbing @collinsstanharbour @twittytelly @thefandomzoneisdangerous @linki-locks11 @jennmurawski13

#Chris Evans #chris evans fanfic #keanu reeves #actor fic #Chris Evans Fan Fiction #just a simple lie #Chris Evans x Reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n

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luckystarchild · 4 years ago

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“Breath of the Wild” was a Narrative Disappointment

Don’t get me wrong. Loved the graphics, gameplay and open world concept. But the storyline sucked such a major boatload of ass that I’m left with a feeling of intense disappointment upon completing a playthrough. I honestly feel that the game was an overall waste of time, at least when I take into consideration the amount of hours I put into it. Playing for a few dozen hours gives you a glimpse of what the game can offer; unlocking all of it became a slog, and the ending made me want to flip a table. “I wasted all this time killing mobs for THAT?” I literally yelled at the screen after staring at the credits for ten minutes in silence.

Spoilers below. Here’s my review of the game’s writing, specifically.

For all her supposed importance, Zelda may as well have been absent throughout the game OR replaced with a magical object/McGuffin that Link could use to defeat Ganon, as that's all she really amounted to by the end of the game. She spends the game locked in a tower occasionally whispering to Link through his memories/through mild hallucinations... and that’s it. She has no other role. We’re told that she’s keeping Ganon locked in the castle, but... that’s it (and it’s a bad case of “telling, not showing” to boot). She might as well be a magical padlock. Since the game revolves around rescuing her and defeating Ganon before her magic can fail and let him loose, AND since she’s the one who must strike the final blow in a big moment of Deus ex Machina grandeur, she’s heavily objectified both as both the Object of Power that Link needs to recover to save the day AND the princess who needs rescuing. Her lack of agency is just plain bad writing.

Which is a shame, because this Zelda might be the best-developed Zelda in this series so far, BUT she’s not even that well-developed by objective standards! Because all of her character development happens in flashbacks, she couldn't grow or evolve during the story; none of the storyline’s events impact her whatsoever. And while the game allows you to discover “memories” that unlock cut-scenes of Link’s past experiences with Zelda, the flashbacks are too disconnected (and viewable out of order) for us to see her growth on-screen in any meaningful way.

Plus, the game spoils its own plot where Zelda is concerned! In the flashbacks, we see her struggling to unlock the powers that are supposed to be her birthright, and the tension lies in whether or not she’ll unlock them... but we KNOW she’ll do so because in the present timeline, she’s clearly powerful enough to seal Ganon away with magic. The central mystery of whether or not she developed her magic abilities is rendered moot given we learn nearly immediately upon Link’s awakening that she must've developed powers since she was able to seal away Ganon.

Also, everything in her backstory is really textbook “young woman must inherit a caretaker role from her mother while her father overprotects her” bit of trope and cliche, which is rooted in sexist stereotyping... but honestly, the fact that it’s BORING is the part I really can’t stand.

Ganon himself was also a faceless evil entity without any menace; he was just "chaos incarnate" and some nameless evil floating around in castle, and while that's not a huge departure for the series’ writing, necessarily, it didn't give me any sense of stakes whatsoever. Given you can play the game for eons and he never breaks free as consequence for your delays in reaching him, he's just... toothless. The tension of “Will Zelda be able to contain Ganon long enough for Link to become strong enough to kill Ganon?” is, once again, rendered moot by the mechanics of the game itself!

And Link is, true to form, a cardboard cutout of a person. You can say it’s because he has amnesia OR because he’s a silent protagonist in the vein of typical JRPGs OR that that’s just normal for Link, but again... BORING. The worst crime a story can commit is to be boring, and Breath of the Wild committed that crime in spades. And before someone accuses me of not understanding these games, let me say this: I think LoZ's simplistic storytelling worked in past games! These sins are typical of this franchise. But at this point as we move into more and more storytelling-focused and narrative-heavy games, especially where RPGs are concerned, those missteps with Zelda and Ganon were disappointing at worst and lackluster at best. They really could have done so much more with their material, and this franchise is going to need to evolve if it hopes to be more than what it currently is: A technical marvel saddled with soulless storytelling. I'm just hoping BotW2 has a stronger narrative. Hopefully the first game was just a means for them to test the open world and combat systems... like a really formal beta, if you will. But I’m going to be eyeing reviews of it very closely, and if I can’t be assured that the writers were allowed to break the mold, it’s a game I will have to skip.

If you play games for the combat and worldbuilding, you’ll love Breath of the Wild. It truly is great in those aspects. But if, like me, you play for the story first and foremost, you’ll come away feeling hollow.

(Also the game is really really shitty to trans people and it was absolutely AWFUL in that respect; had to put the whole game away for a month and I only came back to it because I’m a completionist.)

#breath of the wild #legend of zelda #wrote the majority of this months ago #finally got around to finishing it #i play games so rarely anymore that i had to write a review #lucky plays games sometimes #lucky games

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copiesofme-archive · 4 years ago

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okay. so here’s the thing about how things would have went. So all of you recall that trigger heavy thread i was going to do. Ya’ll remember my mention of the law that is still legal here in my home state (which at the time of practice you know that it as used as a bullshit excuse to hang native americans for any excuse.). My warning post here, that I reblogged several times. And also remember a part of THIS post where I talk about being culturally aware of the times. I have another post saying how it is okay, but I can’t be arsed to pull it up when I’ve been talking about it for ages.

Cultural Awareness of the times. Be aware of the differences that one would be treated off reservation. Don’t be afraid of addressing the very real racist treatment that is and would be received by outside forces. The Wild West was anti-indigenous persons, ‘this is how the west was won’ was a glorifying term on trying to crush the indigenous spirit, but appropriate term of the times. A native muse can’t walk down the street without getting stared at, or questioned, or eyed. Be aware of how differently they would be treated, but as a writer don’t reject it.

so with that said, let me go over something. Here is the starter to that trigger heavy starter. And ya’ll wanna know something? the focus wasn’t on the racist treatment, it was on recovering and healing after and realizing Here is what we had plotted out:

After the attack, they realized that their daughter had seen the entire thing.

They take their daughter and Winifred takes Wanahton home to treat the damage done to him of the attack.

Julia, their daughter, is worried sick, and is clingy to both of them and is accidentally getting in the way because she is so distressed.

Wanahton, holding the bloody rag to his head, tells Winifred that it’s okay. To go and put her to sleep and they can tend to each other after.

Winifred puts Julia to sleep.

Winifred returns to clean the blood from him and start the stitch on his head, and moves to put something cold over the swelling of his face.

Wanahton notes that Winifred, is bleeding too and it dawns on both of them that she too needs help because she literally threw herself over him to try and help protect him from the attacks.

In the quiet of treating each other, Wanahton gets emotional because this is the way it is. Their people will never be safe, their family will never be safe, their DAUGHTER will never be safe.

Wanahton talks about his fear of the world that his daughter, their daughter, will be growing up in and will tell a story about how he knew a man who had completely given into the ways of the ‘white man’. He who had baptized his son, and sent him to a boarding school. Only for he and the rest of the children on that train to be lined up and shot because there wasn’t enough room at that boarding school. (true story, of an irl situation that happened.)

Winifred holds Wanahton because, what else can she say? What else can they do? The world literally sees them as lesser than human, lesser than an animal. And it’s just the way it is and there is NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT! NOTHING. AND IT IS DAUNTING AN HEARTBREAKING.

They hold each other until the tears have passed, and they go and watch their daughter sleep. And pray that - in her years she grows they are less cruel than now - less cruel then the way of life that they know outside of Anne’s Hearth.

The next morning, Ashley Stubbs and Anne, come to them to let them be the judge of the what is going to happen to one of the surviving attackers that hadn’t been shot by Stubbs and Anne.

That’s it. That’s was going to be the fucking thread. The thread that was going to reflect a very REAL side of the wild west that people like to ignore. It was real, it was personal, and it was a piece of history that people don’t look at. IT WAS A THREAD, THAT WAS REFLECTIVE OF CULTURAL AWARENESS THAT IS LARGELY IGNORED FOR THE GLORIFICATION OF A TIME OF COWBOYS AND OUTLAWS. These people who did not want this on here, had no goddamn right. And it fucking pisses me the hell off every now and again as I remember it. Because ERASURE and ERASING history is in it’s own form of racism. And cowards had no right, to try to dictate me - or the people I trust to do this with. And I will never forgive it.

#behind the typewriter [ ooc ]#negativity /#racism /#(okay fuck it im DOING IT IM MAKING MY RANT POST GODDAMN IT)#*gnaws on my fingers*#(i might delete this in an hour i just need to get it OUT)

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ask-de-writer · 4 years ago

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SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 64 of 83 : World of Sea

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SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 64 of 83

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

written 2007

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story? Read from the beginning. PART 1 is here

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Kurin watched her unbar the door of the cabin as she thought about it. She said, “No, I don’t think so. He used to be my friend. I just wish that I understood how things went so wrong.” She looked a mute appeal at Tanlin and added, “How could he hate me so? I never did anything to him.”

Tanlin paused before opening the door. She considered before answering, “Nae t’ ‘ear Silor tell t’e tale. ‘E believes t’at ye were t’e author o’ all o’ ‘is misfortunes. According t’ ‘im, ye were a Dragon-wicken an’ ‘eld t’e ‘ole Naral fleet in t’e palm o’ yer ‘and.”

Kurin was taken aback. “You mean it?” she asked. “What could put him so far onto dry land?”

Tanlin looked at Kurin with pity in her eyes. “Oi’ve been tryin’ t’ tell ye. ‘E’s insane w’ere ye are concerned. ‘E believes ‘imsel’ a tragic ‘ero, persecuted for ridding t’e fleet o’ a deadly an’ unperceived menace.”

“Lady Tanlin,” came a forlorn voice from within the cabin, “I can hear you out there. Who is with you? Has the fleet come to their senses yet?”

Tanlin opened the cabin door, leaned in, and said, “Silor, someane ‘as come t’ speak wit’ ye. She’ll be representin’ t’e Grandalor before a fleet tribunal. Will ye tell ‘er t’e exact trut’ o’ yer involvement in t’e poisoning? ‘T may ‘elp our case.”

Silor’s voice answered, calm and assured, “Of course I will talk to her but it is a waste of time. No case will be needed. The Witch is dead and in a short time her curses will be gone. When people are themselves again, they will know themselves freed.”

Kurin spoke from out in the hall where Silor couldn’t see her. “Silor, you were a good student at learning to navigate by wave and current. Do you know where we are?”

He replied with confidence, “We are in the Dragon Sea. It was clever of Captain Barad to bring us here. No fleet owns these waters. We will be safe here.”

“What of the Great Sea Dragons? If Mecat taught the witch, perhaps they will not like your having killed her,” Kurin said.

“Dragons live too long to care much about any particular human. They won’t care one way or the other,” Silor replied airily.

“I’m afraid that you’re wrong about that, Silor,” said Kurin, stepping into his view.

“You’re dead,” he said flatly. “Nobody can survive Ord poisoning. Your dying is why the Grandalor had to flee in the first place.”

“No,” Kurin contradicted, “I lived. The sailor that you duped into poisoning me is the one who died.”

Silor looked at her in dread and leaped at the conclusion that fit his delusion. “You turned the Ord against the man who poisoned you!” he accused.

“I didn’t have to,” Kurin said quietly. “The Corliss fleet knows how to heal Ord poisoning. Sula carried me to her ship and Doctor Worran cured me. The sailor that you gave the poisoned awl to wasn’t so lucky. He got the poison through his shirt from carrying the awl in his pocket. It got to his lungs first. The doctor tried but she couldn’t save him.”

A wild glint entered Silor’s eyes and he shouted, “Don’t lie! It was you! You and that evil Dragon magic! You killed him just like you did your father!”

Kurin recoiled as if she had been struck. The very idea that she would have harmed her father was past simply shocking. It was truly sickening and called to mind her mother’s accusations as she sank into madness.

Silor bunched his legs under him as he paused for breath. “What does it take to kill you?” he screamed, lunging at Kurin, arms outstretched, hands clawed.

“More’n ye’ve got, Lad!” said Tanlin as she pounced almost into his path and grabbed his arm as he passed, spinning him headfirst into the wall. Kimson landed on top of him and Tanlin calmly pulled her knife from concealment. She laid its blade against Silor’s throat and added, “Mister Kimson’s goin’ t’ get off o’ ye, an’ ye’re goin’ t’ get onto yer bunk very slowly. I’ ye try t’ ‘arm Kurin again, ye die. Clear?”

Tears of rage and frustration in his eyes, Silor mutely nodded. Carefully, Kimson released Silor, who slowly got to his feet and sat on his bunk.

Dully, he asked, “I heard whales, who else has she killed?”

As Kurin was about to protest, Tanlin waived her to silence and answered, “Nane. We lost ane killed outright an’ ane mortal injured. Yer Longin did t’ose murders an’ some ot’er injuries as well.

“Just gettin’ Kurin ‘ere ‘ad a ‘eavy price. Macoul t’e steersman died o’ a cut t’roat an’ Lenai Halin died later o’ an abdominal wound.”

That brought a reaction of disgust from Silor. “So, the witch got to you too? She made you sacrifice good people just to finish her revenge on me?”

At that, Kurin would not be silent. “Revenge? What for? No witchcraft is needed. I never lifted a finger against you. You bring yourself down!” Bitterly, she added, “If I was a witch, I’d have just changed you so that you wouldn’t care.”

“You knew that I was here on the Grandalor! How?”

“You were careless. You were seen at the Gathering,” Kurin retorted angrily. “Even the sailor that you killed told us it was you before he died. You are under the same execute on sight order that you got put onto Barad and all the officers of this ship with your murder plot.”

That brought Silor up short. “Barad? He tried to stop us. Why would the Council order him executed?”

Tanlin burst in, icily angry, “M’ too, as an officer o’ t’e Grandalor. We’re all t’ be executed on sight because o’ ye. Our ‘ope lies in Kurin’s ‘ands an’ t’e jaws o’ t’e Dragons. T’e Dragons ‘ave let us ‘arbor ‘ere in neutral woters but we cannae go t’rough t’em t’ escape t’e justice o’ a fleet t’at seems t’ ‘ave nane.”

Silor began to whimper and curl up. “I tried to save you all. I never wanted to hurt anybody…” He uncurled an accusing arm, pointing at Kurin. “If she is your hope, you are as doomed as I am. . .” He collapsed, eyes rolled back in his head, still breathing but showing no other sign of life.

Shaking and slapping elicited no response. Silor was gone where none could follow.

Sadly Tanlin said to a thoroughly shocked Kurin, “Oi warned ye. ‘E wa’ so far ont’ dry land t’at not’ing could bring ‘im bock t’ safe woter.” She looked grimly down at Silor’s still form and reached a decision.

“Oi’m proof t’at Doctor Corin can care for a person in a coma. T’he doctor’ll care for ‘im until ‘e recovers or simply dies.” She turned to Kimson. “Guard ‘im until men come t’ take ‘im t’ sickbay. See t’at ‘e’s restrained after ‘e’s taken t’ere.”

She led Kurin back to the Captain’s cabin. Barad was out and they had the place to themselves. Tanlin ordered food and drink for Kurin and then said, “T’at wa’ awful. Oi wad never ‘ave guessed t’at ‘e wad just retreat like t’at. Wat now?”

Kurin had no answer. She simply sat and shook, crying inside but not allowing the tears to reach the surface.

Sympathetically, Tanlin sat by her and held her hand.

With a bit of scratching at the window, Thunderhead entered the cabin with a skelt in his beak. Tanlin looked up at the big Sea Hawk and smiled.

“Ye’re right, T’under’ead. She does need lookin’ after just now. T’anks for t’e ‘elp.” She took the small fish and held it out to Kurin. “‘Ere, youngster. Take a bite so ‘e’ll know t’at ‘e’s ‘elped. Friends ‘oo’re ‘urt need food t’ get well. Tis all t’at ’e knows ‘ow t’ do for ye.”

“It’s raw,” Kurin said, a bit of smile beginning to show around the edges of her shock.

“T’at’s ‘ow tis best for young birds,” said Tanlin tolerantly. “Go on, ‘e’s really tryin’ t’ ‘elp.”

Kurin took a small bite of the fish and realized that the skelt was good, even raw. She set to nibbling around the coarse bones until most of the meat was gone, Thunderhead watching critically. Tanlin absently scratched him under the right wing.

By the time that she was done with the fish, Kurin had a grip on herself. The distraction provided by the somewhat comic antics of the bird and having to eat as well, helped.

There was a knock at the cabin door and Benj, the cabin-boy entered with a tray. It had sliced, hard-boiled paddle duck eggs, red-weed bread and dried fillets of skelt for Kurin to eat. Beside the water bottle were sweet and tart flavors.

By the time that she was done eating the simple fare, Kurin had regained her composure. She gave Tanlin a measuring look.

“I have all the information that I am likely to get,” Kurin announced, “and I have begun to outline a multi-issue defense. You said that you could summon the fleet Council and the Longin. I would like to see how you do that from here.”

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS NEXT==>

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#SEA DRAGON’S GIFT #Part 64 of 83 #World of Sea #Written by De Writer

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skeptycats · 4 years ago

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Vicky Archives #3

THE DARKEST HOUR

Vicky Holmes, the former editor of the Warriors series, has been doing short extract readings on Facebook since the start of the UK lockdown back in March. There’s some really cool anecdotes hidden within some of these videos, so I decided to begin penning them down for posterity and easy reference.

I won’t be transcribing filler, hedging and false starts but I’m including some amount of preamble just to be comprehensive.

I’ve also chosen not to transcribe the ‘creative writing prompts’ section this time due to it being long and not relevant to what I hope to document!

—

Good morning! It’s Friday, March the 27th. I thought I’d start with a date check because... all the days are just the same at the moment, aren’t they? Welcome back to my kitchen. Today I’m going to be reading from The Darkest Hour, book six in the first series.

[Vicky points to the front cover illustration]

How awesome is that? That little picture there is an illustration of Firestar drinking from a stream and he has an incredible vision of himself as a lion, and it’s actually a prophecy that he turns out to be the leader of LionClan, a specially-formed Clan when Scourge comes to the forest and unites with Tigerstar to fight against the other Clans.

It’s a very sad book, Darkest Hour. There’s a lot of bloodshed in it, it’s the climax book of series one, and I always knew that dire things would happen. [unintelligible] very near the end of the book. It’s in the thick of the battle against Scourge and BloodClan, and Firestar has lost his first life.

Flame washed over his eyes, fading to leave nothing but darkness. A soft, black tide was rising to engulf him; he made one final effort to get up, but his paws would not support him, and he fell back into nothingness.

Firestar opened his eyes. He was lying on the grass of Fourtrees with moonlight washing around him and the rustle of leaves above his head. For a few heartbeats he relaxed, reveling in the warm air of greenleaf.

Then he remembered Fourtrees as he had last seen it, the branches black and stark in the depths of leaf-bare and the clearing thronged with screeching, warring cats.

Abruptly he sat up. He was not alone. The warriors of StarClan lined the clearing, illuminating it with the shimmer of their pelts and the gleam in their eyes. In the front rank Firestar could see the cats who had given him his nine lives: Bluestar, Yellowfang, and Spottedleaf, Lionheart…and a newcomer, Whitestorm, restored to his youthful strength, with starlight glimmering in his thick fur.

“Welcome, Firestar,” meowed the white warrior.

Firestar scrambled to his paws. “Why…why have you brought me here?” he demanded. “I should be back there, fighting to save my Clan.”

It was Bluestar who replied. “Look, Firestar.”

Firestar saw there was a space beside her. At first he thought it was empty, but suddenly he realized that it was filled by the faintest outline of a flame-colored cat. His green eyes glowed so pale they barely reflected the starlight that filled the hollow, but Firestar recognized him at once.

“You have lost your first life,” Bluestar meowed gently.

A shiver ran through Firestar. So this was what it felt like to die. He stared in mingled curiosity and fear at the pale copy of himself in the middle of the clearing, and as his gaze locked with the ghost cat’s he suddenly saw himself, hunched and bleeding, his fur ragged and the light of desperation burning in his eyes.

Firestar wrenched his head aside to break the contact. There was no time for this. Surely the whole point of having nine lives was so that he could keep going?

“Send me back,” he begged. “If we’re losing the battle, BloodClan will rule the forest!”

Bluestar stepped forward. “Patience, Firestar. Your body needs a moment to recover. You will go back soon enough.”

“But it might not be in time! Bluestar, why are you letting this happen? Will StarClan not help us, even now?”

The former ThunderClan leader did not reply directly. Instead she sat down, her blue eyes glowing with wisdom. “No cat could have done more than you for ThunderClan,” she meowed. “Even though you are not forest-born, you have the heart of a true Clan cat…more than ever Tigerstar or Darkstripe did, for though they taunted you with being a kittypet, they both ended up betraying the Clan of their birth for the sake of their own ambition.”

Firestar’s paws worked impatiently in the grass. What was the use of empty praise? He could not tear his mind away from what was happening in that other clearing, where loyal cats were fighting and dying. “Bluestar—”

The she-cat raised her tail to silence him. “Perhaps your quarrel with Tigerstar gave you the strength you need,” she went on. “All along, you did what you thought was right, even when your Clan mates disagreed with you. You suffered loneliness and uncertainty, and that has made you what you are now…a gifted, intelligent leader with the courage to lead your Clan in its darkest hour.”

“But I’m not leading them!” Firestar hissed. “And I can’t save them—I’m not strong enough. We’re going to lose the battle. Bluestar, this can’t be the will of StarClan! We’ve always believed our warrior ancestors wanted there to be four Clans in the forest. Have we been so wrong?”

There was a ripple of movement from the front rank of the starry warriors. Bluestar rose to her paws as she was joined by the other eight cats who had given Firestar a life at the ceremony beside the Moonstone. All nine of them encircled the young cat who stood defiantly in the center of the clearing.

A voice spoke—not Bluestar this time, but an echo vibrating inside Firestar’s head as if all nine cats were speaking to him at once. “Firestar, you are wrong. There were never four Clans in the forest.”

As Firestar stared, rigid with shock, the voice went on: “There were always five.”

Firestar felt nine pairs of eyes, alight with wisdom, rest on him. “Fight bravely, Firestar. You may return to the battle now, and the spirits of StarClan will go with you.”

BEHIND THE SCENES

I hope you enjoyed that reading from The Darkest Hour. For a long time, The Darkest Hour was my absolute favourite among the Warriors books. As you just heard, Cherith wrote, exquisitely, all the right words in the right order. As an editor one can hope for nothing more, and as the creator of the stories and the characters, she ticked all the boxes.

Darkest Hour was a very interesting book to create, because it was the end of the arc. I’d been building up to this for six books, and as you know I started off not really having any sense of the story arc, but very quickly the characters came to life, and I realised how much of myself I could put in. I realised what awesome co-writers and co-creators I had in Kate and Cherith. We were a dream team.

When I was storylining book six, however, I actually brainstormed with a colleague, an editor called Matt Haslam, who was very young and this was his first editing job, and he brought with him a real energy and a real sort of lateral way of thinking that, although often I’d be very bossy and say “no, no, no, these ideas won’t work”, you know, “I know best”, but actually every so often I’d listen to him, and as so often happens when you listen to someone else’s ideas and really take them in, they’re exactly perfect.

We were discussing the plot of The Darkest Hour, and I said “well, obviously, book six, Firestar has to defeat Tigerstar”. They have been mortal enemies from the first page of book one, and the whole series had to lead up to Firestar defeating his enemy. And Matt said “no. What if someone else killed Tigerstar? What if we had Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, Tigerstar’s supposed ally, kill him?”

And at first I said “no, no, that’s narratively not how it works, love”. I can be awfully patronising, as I’m sure Kate and Cherith and most of my colleagues will tell you. But I let the idea filter down - and that’s the best way to handle me - if you say something that I immediately say no, then give me time and I’ll come round.

I realised this was a far better, more dramatic, more engaging way to end the series That a greater enemy than Tigerstar appears, an enemy from outside the Clans that threatens everything Firestar holds dear. The warrior code, the four Clans, his whole world that he’s grown to love. And this enemy kills Tigerstar in such a horrific way, that Firestar feels nothing but horror, and dismay, and grief. And how much more powerful is that?

And it works! The scene - it’s not even the climax of the book - Tigerstar gets killed completely by accident, almost, when we’re least expecting it. He and Scourge come to Firestar to present the united TigerClan, as Tigerstar wants it, and Scourge is like “no, actually, you’re not in control. This is not your ambition. This is mine, and I will kill you if you stand in my way.”

And the cat that Tigerstar thinks is an ally - he thinks he can use Scourge - turns out to be his fatal flaw. And he dies pretty horribly because he has to lose all nine lives at once. But it can be done. And Firestar is just stunned, and all the cats are stunned because they realise that for all his flaws - and Tigerstar was pretty grim - he could’ve saved them, he could’ve helped fight, they needed his strength, they needed his courage if ever they were going to defeat Scourge and BloodClan.

And so, we as readers have been built up to really loathe Tigerstar by this point, especially after the previous book in which he set the pack of dogs onto Bluestar and the whole of ThunderClan. At this point, everything is reversed, and all we can think is ‘oh my goodness, Tigerstar is dead and that is an awful thing’.

It was a real object lesson and I still thank Matt very much for having that idea and challenging my little narrative plan. It’s a real object lesson to always listen to other people. People can have really good insights into whatever you’re doing. It just made Darkest Hour even more brilliant, and I know for a lot of you it’s your favourite book as well. And obviously I flicked through it this morning and it's-- Love these books! So lucky!

#vicky archives #warrior cats #warriors #firestar #tigerstar #scourge #the darkest hour #not designs

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ellie-sande · 5 years ago

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Euphoria- a dumb bitch’s HOT TAKE

Okay, so here’s the deal. I’m gonna do an analysis of the characters I think are the most interesting (read as fuck McKay, he boring as SHIIIITT), so this shit is gonna be looooong. Y’all better brace yourselves UwUUUU 🥺😝😩😈

The episode: I didn’t really feel a strong emotion towards it??? Like, it was definitely the sloppiest episode by far in terms of the way that everything was edited and the timeline of events. It was visually stimulating and literal poetic cinema, as always, but that’s nothing new with Euphoria. I think a lot of the jumps between characters and scenes were completely unnecessary and honestly kind of agitating?? Instead of leaving us with new unanswered questions, we have the same ones we’ve had the whole season? In my opinion, it would’ve been more effective for them to have fully closed some plot points or at least bring them to a point where I’m still interested (I’m looking at you, Nate and Jules plot). But like, overall it's still a pretty decent episode. I think the ending was messy because we don’t know how much of it was just a music video and how much was legit part of the storyline which is a BIG DEAL. It just came after one of the best in the season, which made it feel significantly weaker. but tHat’S jUsT my oPINION 🤷🏾‍♀️.

Jules:

I think Jules is the biggest wildcard of the season, and we know so little about her, so it’s kind of difficult to understand what her intention is. I think that’s absolutely intentional by the writers because they want the audience in Rue’s head, y’know??? That’s my way of warning y’all that this shit is LONG 🤷🏾‍♀️

When Jules came clean about everything, she was doing what she thought was best for the relationship, which is open communication. She could tell that her not telling Rue about Nate was ruining the relationship (she said so in ep. 7). There was never malicious intent in her telling Rue about her hookup and Nate. She was just doing what she thought was right, and tbh??? IM PROUD OF THAT DUMBASS. One of her biggest issues is definitely effective and open communication and this is definitely a step in the right direction, y’know??

THAT BEING SAID, when I first watched the episode, I thought that her and Anna still flirting or whatevah and being iN loVE was out of character and went against the arc that I was expecting from Jules. BUUUUUT, I thought about it and here’s my take: I think that Jules just wants to be free from the external pressures in east highland, y’know? This whole entire season, her character did not get a fucking BREAK so I totally understand. There’s so much responsibility and pressure for her to be perfect or act a certain way, and for her, running away was the easiest way for her to disassociate herself from that responsibility. No 17 yr old should feel like the weight of the world and the safety of the people that she loves are on her shoulders. My bby @lameparty made an amazing point in our chat about how all of her actions (being more “free” and open about her issues with rue) are futile attempts at replicating the liberation and nonchalant-ness she felt while she was away. It’s her way of desperately (and unhealthily) bringing home that atmosphere.

i’ve seen a lot of people assume that jules is fully aware of her power over rue and takes advantage of it, uses her, and leaves her before she needs her next fix of attention, but i totally don’t agree??? i think that for the most part, jules has been emotionally supportive of rue and has been there for her when she needed her. i mean she did that LITERALLY EVERY EPISODE EXCEPT FOR 6+7 (for good reason. the bitch was going through the mOST). she never wanted or intended for rue to form a dependency on her, she just wanted her best friend to be sober and thrive because her mom was an addict and that ruined her adolescence (for obvious reasons). so when the people around her kept pressuring her with the weight of rue’s sobriety, she freaked out a bit (and for good reason. no one should be anyone’s sole reason to do literally ANYTHING). she knew that regardless of the severity of her actions, rue’s relapse was inevitable if the relationship continued on like that (i mean, in ep. 5, the bitch said WHEN you hate me, not if because she knows that in rue’s current mental state, a relapse, miscommunication, or a wrong step on jules’s side is inevitable). PLUS, jules is an extremely volatile person. her first instinct is to physically and emotionally escape whenever the going gets tough, so i think she knew that this probably couldn’t work.

Moreover, the bitch is embracing her queerness and as much as I don’t really looooveeee how she’s doing it, it makes sense with her character. I think she uses sex as an escape and a form of validation, so of course this is how she’s going to explore her sexuality. She just wants to be free and have fun and be adventurous atm and the whole Nate thing + being in her first relationship is not IT for her rn and that’s totally fair. That being said, I think her arc is gonna be about her accepting that freedom isn’t just sex and drugs??? It’s way more than that and comes in different (and way healthier) ways, but that’s what growing is. It’s learning from mistakes and figuring out what you like, so I can’t really be mad at her.

BUUUUUTTTT, my bitch said/did some things that i can’t stand by. she said that she loved rue at the train station, knowing that rue is weak for her and would probably give in and come with her on this wild adventure. that is FUCKING PROBLEMATIC. and prior to that, the bitch said that she THOUGHT THAT RUE WOULD THRIVE IN THE ENVIRONMENT THAT SHE WAS IN. WHAT??? as much as i believe that she had good intentions and she really just wanted to explore the world with her girl, that doesn’t negate the fact that it’s still manipulative at worst, inconsiderate at best, and problematic considering the dynamic that the two of them have. i get that she genuinely wants rue to meet her new friends and anna, but all in all, it’s so reckless for her to even consider it. she’s aware that rue is a recovering addict and she was willing to put her in a toxic environment where she would be surrounded by drugs and alcohol, making a relapse literally SO EASY. and on top of that, jules knows that she’s probably going to hook up with anna and considering that rue is so in love with jules, that would’ve hurt her soooo much, enough for her to probably want to numb the pain, y’know??? but all in all, that’s what growing up is. it’s two steps forward and one step back, y’know? even though jules is starting to see the beauty in honest communication and queerness, she did try to manipulate rue, even if that wasn��t necessarily her intention.

I think that Anna replaces Jules’s older, non-committal man to pine over. She never really fixed her problem of trying to find validation from the wrong people, it’s just expressing itself in a different form. It’s obvious that Anna is significantly older than her (peep the message that Anna sent about being shocked that Jules is in high school) and I think that just like a lot of people her age, she feels special or validated when she’s liked by someone older and more experienced. The relationship is obviously supposed to be a type of foil to her previous relationship with cis white men. Add the fact that there are facets of Anna’s personality that remind Jules of Rue, the gal that Jules is falling for, which makes them the perfect person for Jules to pine over because the relationship is something that she’s used to (texting, non-committal, toxic).

In summary, I think she loves the idea of Anna (independent, older, experienced, free spirited, and fun) but loves rue regardless of the fact that she doesn’t/can’t provide those things for her. I think that jules also associates Anna with adventure and discovery and as the young ambitious bitch that she is, it obviously is an attractive idea for her y’know??? for her, i think rue is the stability, monogamy and commitment that she might not be ready for yet, even tho she loves rue and wants a future with her. Her relationship with Rue is hard work and maybe a bit heartbreaking, but overall, the connection is stronger and the passion and commitment that she’ll give and receive will make the relationship way more fulfilling than whatever half-assed thing she’ll have with Anna. Next season, she’ll probably come back either heartbroken, unfulfilled or still in love with Rue, but the question is should rue take her back or nah y’know?? She’ll definitely be pining for Rue when she gets back and rue may not be available or willing anymore. We’ll seeeeeeeee.

Rue:

My bitch is in PAIIINNN and I hate it. I think that her saying no to leaving with Jules even if a big part of her wanted to run away with her is amazing progress for her. She finally chose her family and herself first, not Jules, which will break her dependence on Jules. Like, I’m SOOOOO proud of her and she’s come so far as a character. I’m not sure as to where the music video starts and the season ends, but I have two theories. Either she: never actually snorted that line of coke and we’ll see her progress next season OR she overdosed and came back to life. The fact that the song ended so abruptly means that the season will probably start right where it left off. Unless told otherwise tho, the show ends with her crying and remembering her family and all the shit she’s put them through because that’s a waaayyy more interesting arc (EDIT: JACOB SAID THAT RUE’S DEFINITELY ALIVE!!! I KEEP WINNING FR!!! MY! MIND!) She’s no longer a selfish addict with no reason to live. She’s seeing that the people around her, even without Jules there, support her and have been by her side through the most and maybe that’s good enough atm.

Lexi:

against popular opinion, i don’t necessarily think that the big reveal of her sexuality is that she’s a lesbian. to ME, it seems like they’re setting up that she’s ace and probs bi or homo-romantic??? the average sexual person knows who they want to fuck or kiss, and the fact that she has to ask for advice from her sister I think is foreshadowing that she doesn’t know. Not because she’s shy or because she’s a lesbian, but because she truly just doesn’t want to fuck anyone. and if that’s the case i’m SO EXCITED TF??? i’ve never seen that type of character arc on mainstream media and it’s sooo necessary to show that story in a positive light. i think that the show is waaayyy too intentional and clever to not give proper hints at her liking rue. If they were setting up her and rue, they should’ve done more to portray the pining on Lexi’s side. they’ve set up more of a longing for friendship and comfort than anything else and tbh???? that’s wayyy more interesting and relatable for me??? but that’s my opinion 🤷🏾‍♀️

That being said, i could see her and rue together next season bc the foreshadowing is sooo vague that they can do whatever the fuck they want next season. maude and zendaya need to work on their chemistry then bc iTS NOT CLICKING. i definitely think that rue is going to use her tho, which isn’t fair to lexi. additionally, lexi is a bit too soft to stand her ground with rue, and if rue goes down the relapse route next season, their dynamic is going to be the same toxic dynamic they had up until episode 5. She’s an amazing person that deserves better than being an easy out or second best.

i think that because she was raised in her sister’s shadow with a shit ton less attention and love from literally everyone in her family, she has low self-image, so it would make sense that she wants the intimacy that comes from a relationship. maybe her addiction is just being there for others bc no one was there for her when she needed them??? @lameparty spilt the truth tea bc they said that “she exists for other people right now and she exists in the safe + limiting shadow of her sister,” and i think that rue represents a sort of freedom from that because rue is only hers and rue can’t see her as second best to her sister. as a fellow semi-abandoned child turned mom-friend, this makes total sense to me bc she wants to make sure that everyone around her never feels as neglected as she did her whole life.

Rue and Jules:

honestly, i’m tired of people blaming rue’s relapse on jules not being there. she literally has had MI since she was a kid. this shit ain’t new. and even if it was new, the fact that so many of the viewers were angry at jules for not being there during rue’s manic/depressive episode angers me for three reasons. a) JULES WAS DEPRESSED. she legit didn’t leave her bed for the whole week, to the point that her father was worried. b) just like jules, rue probably only told her that she was feeling under the weather and that she missed her. how is she supposed to magically put together that rue is going through a depressive/manic episode??? c) no person should be your sole reason to be happy. y’all want a CODEPENDENCY not a relationship, and like i totally understand wanting to protect rue. she’s the main character and we’re always in her head, but from episode three, it was pretty obvious that her definition of love is really skewed. she said that you know that you love someone when you can’t live without them, which is generally reaaaallly unhealthy.

these two are such an interesting dynamic, and tbh, i think they’re actually really good for each other (not rn, obviously). i think this is a case of right person, wrong time. they’re obviously soul mates/star crossed lovers, but the problem is that neither of them is mature enough to be in a serious relationship. rue is a recovering addict with a dependency issue and jules is an overly eager, ambitious person that’s never been in a loving relationship. one of the biggest issues in their relationship is the fact that these two have different wants and needs from the relationship. rue fell for jules almost immediately, has wanted to be with her ever since, and wants stability, comfort, and monogamy. on the other hand, jules wants adventure, excitement, and exploration. jules obviously pictures spending her life with rue, but the problem is that in the moment, she can’t be with rue without hurting her because she’s still exploring her queerness, which means that she’ll have one foot out the door until she’s gotten her fill.

because of that, i’m really proud of BOTH OF THEM for standing their ground and choosing themselves instead of each other. i have no doubt that both of them had a part of themselves that regretted leaving the other person, but at the end of the day, it was what was necessary.

even though rue was the person that suggested running away, she became hesitant because she finally thought about her FAMILY. y’all, that’s AMAZING character development because, at the beginning of the season, rue literally walked over every person that was in her life in order to get her fix. she stole from her mom, got lexi to pee for her, yelled at fez when he didn’t give her drugs, etc. up until episode 5 or so, rue was an extremely selfish character with one exception: jules. from the moment she met jules, her only goal was to make her as happy as jules makes her just by being there, and because of that, she has sacrificed her comfort in some situations. this is the exact opposite of her previous issue where instead not caring about anyone including herself, she only cares about one person an exceeding amount. both of these are problematic. more importantly, this allows her to finally break her dependency on jules. rue fell for jules and stayed sober for her because it felt like she was her flashlight in the dark cave that is her life, and now, she has to find that jules isn’t the only light. her family, lexi, fez, the rest of the girls are all there AND my hope is that she finds that she can be her own light and do this for herself. as much as her decision hurts both the audience and rue, this shows that she’s not just a stagnant character and that she’s learning and evolving into an amazing person. i’m proud of jules because she didn’t stay behind out of guilt or worry. that would’ve perpetuated rue’s dependency and overall, probably made jules resent rue.

i think that jules was being honest when she said that she was in love with rue, i really do. there was an earnest and almost shy look in her eyes, which was so cute??? but it’s honestly more than that. jules looks for rue no matter where she is. for her, rue is her home and something that she finds comfort in. it was obvious in episode 4 and 7. in episode 4, jules runs to rue because she finds comfort in her. whenever she’s in rue’s arms, she feels a warmth that i don’t think she’s ever felt with anyone else and when she finds that tyler isn’t real, her first thought is that rue has been there for her through thick and thin and is her safe place. it’s obvious why she gravitates towards anna. she sees rue in her, which immediately makes her feel at ease. add the fake deep convo, their sex appeal and the drugs, and you have a hella messy situation. and then there’s the fucking romeo and juliet passage that jules recites to rue that basically says that she’s in love with rue, but thinks everything is happening too fast and will come crashing down. she knows that given that they had more time/weren’t so eager to get together, the relationship would be beautiful and flourish, but they aren’t giving each other the space to grow, which was eventually the end of their relationship (at least for now).

Kat:

I’m proud of her. She did the damn thing. NEXT

Nate:

I think that Nate and McKay are not all that different. His breakdown this ep is more or less for the same reasons as McKay’s breakdown after those guys assaulted him in front of his girl which is that he felt emasculated by his dad overpowering him. In episode two, he did the same flexing thing after his workout. I think it’s his way of feeling powerful and masculine. All this just shows that he needs fucking therapy, but he’s not just some sociopath y’know? His character is deeper than that and can feel pain and anguish. I’m honestly so happy that they included that because it both shows the abuse in his relationship with his dad which obviously carries into his relationships with women and grounds him as a character. that being said, nate is an asshole and there’s no better ship on this show than nate + electric chair 🥺😝😩(but, i’ll settle for prison or whatevahhhhh)

all in all, I think that this show has two amazing themes in it which are: teens are waayyy more resilient than people think and addiction comes in different forms and each of them is problematic and selfish. i think that the show is amazing at getting people to empathize with rue, but i feel like people need to realize that in the grand scheme of things, all of these characters are HUMAN and make a lot of shitty mistakes. no character should be cancelled just because they make a mistake, especially when the characters are supposed to be literal hormonal teenagers????? every character on this show is deserving of the audience's understanding (except McKay. FUCK HIM)

#euphoria #rue x jules #jules x rue #lexi howard #nate jacobs #im spiraling can y'all tell??? akldjfl;asdfkadslkjf;asdkjf;#jules protection squad where y'all AT????

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venus-says · 4 years ago

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Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episodes 01-15

Press START button.

Ex-Aid is one of those seasons that when you look at it sounds like something that shouldn't work. I mean, putting doctors and video-games together? Is this what, a Dr. Mario live-action, an adaptation of Surgeon Simulator, or an actual Kamen Rider season?

This odd combination of factors always made very skeptical about this season, there's also the huge anime eyes in the helmet that never sat well with me too, but this concept combo always seemed pretty wild to work. But then I watched Gaim, which also had an odd combination of themes, and I saw that those odd concepts mixed together can be doable and be something fun so I started to look forward to the season. But even with the excitement, a small fear started to linger because as I started seeing more and more of Kamen Rider and seeing more of the community I always saw Ex-Aid popping up as one season that everyone thinks it's top-notch and well... the last time I saw a highly acclaimed season in the fandom I hated it so the chances of that happening here again were there.

And you know, I think my fears became reality and I feel like I'm having another Drive experience here. Maybe not at the same level as Drive, I feel like Ex-Aid got me less angry and annoyed, but this season really didn't click with me. I see that it can grow on me because after episode 11 I started enjoying it more, but the general feeling for these 15 episodes and this movie was... meh? Like, I don't like most of the characters, I have a serious problem with the comedy, and there's something in the dialogue of this show that really tickles me off. I also don't like how CGI heavy this show is, and most of the CGI looks horrible.

One thing that really pushed me off at the beginning was the structure that wasn't very interesting, we had 4 episodes to introduce the riders, 4 episodes to give a power-up to each of them, and 2 to introduce a shared power-up and defeat the first general of the villains, and I felt like I came out of these without that much story, it felt like they were just going through a checklist of toys they had to sell and not actually telling a story. It's only from episode 11 onward that it starts to feel like this show has some sort of plot.

I also don't like how this starts similar to a Rider War thing, with all riders competing to see who cleans 10 games first and gets the most Gashats, but they make all characters out of the main one be completely hateful so we have no choice other than root for him. And like, it's okay to give us jerk characters, but you gotta give us something about them so that we can hang on, you don't need to make them redeemable or anything but you gotta have enough for us to love hating on a character otherwise it's just annoying.

Going back to my weird dialogue point, probably one of the things that I dislike the most is how there are times where they don't seem like real people talking? Like, the image I have when seeing the dialogue is that a bunch of old men in a writers' room sit down thinking "what will sound very trendy to hit off with the kid gamers", "what's a young people language we can put here" and they think they're being very smart and clever, but just sounds odd as hell, especially with the gaming aspect and the catchphrases (that at this point in this franchise I'm already tired of them because most of them aren't even charming anymore).

Another thing that doesn't sit well with me is just how special they make these characters be when there's no necessity for it. Like, being an actual doctor is already special enough, you don't need to have your main rider be extremely good at games to justify the gaming motif, you don't need the secondary rider to be a famous prodigious surgeon to install a rivalry. I mean look at Kiriya, as far as I can't remember he doesn't have any special trait and yet he manages to be interesting and stand out on his own. Heck, you don't need to have Emu be patient 0 of the gaming disease when you already have him being really good at video-games and when you're starting to add another element to him with a possible second personality, it's too much for a single character RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING. It's not like we're seeing those characters evolving into becoming special, they're already special and we just have to buy it. Of course, there are still routes that they can go with that will make the show more interesting, like for example they can do something with Taiga and Emu and their game addiction/obsession and that can be really great, but all this special feeling since the beginning really bugs me.

I think since I'm already here let me talk about the characters. Emu is a precious kid, there are times in which he kinda gets under my skin, but I overall like him. I especially love that he works as a pediatrician, in the beginning, especially considering this is a kids' show, I like to have this idea of doctors being heroes in the mind of children because they really are (despite the health care system in a lot of countries make it looks like they're villains). Other than him being extra special there are two things the show does with him that I don't like, the first one is that after the first arc is done they make him leave pediatrics to start doing surgeries and while I understand that as an intern that's the normal course and he probably has to go through different areas before choosing a specialty, but I feel like that was done just to hone more the rivalry with Hiiro and I don't really care for that, I hope he's back at pediatrics later on because I feel like it's what makes more sense for him and for the target audience of this show. The other thing I don't like is his personality change when he "starts a game" because it never felt like there was much of a change in any of the cases, they just make a gust of wind and he shows a grim for a few seconds, but nothing changes. And seeing that this is a plot point they want to explore it annoys me that they never made that play out before, it's bringing something up when it's convenient and saying that they had a basis for that but the basis is a single small thing that was never brought up to attention before.

Moving to Hiiro, I Hate Him and that's all I have to say. And I hate him even more because the show put him in a relationship where he was very cold and dismissive of his significant other and still they want to make us sympathize with him, they frame it as "the girl left because she didn't want to bother your studies" instead of "she left you because you were a jerk". But of course, they can't make that because then they wouldn't be able to make the stoic character they want so much, they would have to make someone who's trying to become a better person after he lost someone important that he didn't give the proper attention to, and that's much harder and they don't want that. UGH, I hate this man so much.

Taiga. Taiga is... interesting, I like the concept of someone who worked at CR before but lost himself to addiction, that's a great plot point. It's sad they don't do much with him and we end up with another obsessive jerk. Still, don't hate him as much because I can see the potential for them doing something very cool with him, but as of now, he's in the pile of hate.

Kiriya was probably my favorite character of this cast, it was really fun seeing him go from a mysterious man lurking around to someone who looks very deceptive, and all the journey of him investigating the truth as the episodes where going, and seeing his credibility be questioned but he never gave up despite that, it was all very great. Do I think it was a cheap move to kill him before he could tell the truth about Emu? Yes, I do. Because this is something we see everywhere, it's not a new trick. But I still felt his death, and if they don't come up with a way to revive him somehow I'll give this show props because it was a bold move to kill off a character during the Christmas special.

About Genm, and all the villains for that matter, I don't have much to say. I don't get them, I'm not curious to understand them, thus I don't care for them. It's interesting that the powers of the riders end up coming from the main villain? A bit? But then again, if you have all of these powers and you're handing them to people who oppose you, it seems like it's very counter-intuitive. At least they have the excuse that he's gathering data from them, but if he never recovers those gashats, is he really getting the data he wants? I don't know, everything about him and the villains seems very odd. But for what's worth, he almost killed himself to gather data for a zombie game and that was pretty wild so I guess that counts? About Graphite and Parad, I don't have anything to say, don't really care for them.

This leaves us with the side characters. Asuna/Poppy, I wanna like her but sadly I don't. If she is the "token girl" of the season, I'm at least glad she's not a romantic interest and that she fills in as a support role, but still, don't know why she can't just be a regular nurse that goes a little crazy sometimes. Though I guess if they had gone this route with her she would probably become Kiriko 2.0 and that's also bad so... There's the Director of the hospital, and I just hate him, I hate that they make someone who's supposed to be the leader of the hospital sooooo stupid. And he's stupid at all times, he doesn't even get the treatment Jun had in which he was there for comedy but he also had his moments where he was serious and those moments were pretty good. This dude is just here to make his eyes pop and drool over his son and I hate that. Mr. Minister should've chosen someone better suited for this job. And last, there's Nico who just seems like another jerk I don't like, but I'm holding on talking about her because I think I've only seen her for 2 or 3 episodes and she appeared very little so I can't say much about her.

I intended to talk about the Dr. Pac-Man movie, but they actually integrated that plot in the show in a much more flashed out way this time around so I feel like it would be redundant to talk about it since the bigger points I would have to make were already touched on. But let me say, what a mess of a movie. Like, there was no reason for Wizard and Gaim to be there, like how did Gaim even get there in the first place? This movie would be much better with only Drive, Ghost, and Ex-Aid, because they actually had a decent plot going around there that connected very nicely. But it's still a cross-over movie and they make a lot of things I hate about these cross-overs, the awful rider forms are there, there was an awful huge CGI battle scene that looked ugly as hell (though props to them for making this fight happen mid-way and not at the end), there was that scene were the riders started to speed-run through their old forms that were also pretty awful because I could barely understand what was going on in the scenes, all the mess that every rider cross-over movie has. But the thing that annoyed me the most this time around wasn't even that, was Ghost being Ghost again and putting another countdown to doom into Takeru and bringing Akari in this hell with him, and having ANOTHER fake-out death for him at the end. GOSH, THIS ANNOYS ME SO MUCH, LET THIS DUDE LIVE, STOOOOOOP.

And before wrap-up let's talk about what everyone loves, the designs.

This is probably the group with my least favorite designs EVER in this franchise, I'm sorry. I get, they're taking inspiration of different game genres, and the different forms are like they're leveling up, and in concept, I like that but in actual looks, only a very few of them get to pull it off. To begin with, I don't even know what those belts are supposed to be, they look way too busy and I can't define what that shape is.

The Level 1 forms are a mistake. I know, it's Mario before he eats a mushroom, it's still ugly as hell, and I hate that when they grow to their Level 2 forms the head of Level 1 goes to their back like a backpack. In terms of Level 2, I wasn't a fan of Ex-Aid's eyes at first but the design grew on me a lot, I love the colors and how vibrant it is, I also like Genm's because it's just a color variation and it looks good so... Kinda wish his hammer arm stayed as a hammer all the time though, makes Brave having a sword less special. And speaking of him, despite hating his character, as an RPG fan, I do love his design. Snipe, on the other hand, is an abomination. That thing on his right eye that is supposed to hair? What the fuck Kamen Rider, you can do better. Well... at least he's not just a bike, I guess. Thinking about it now, I should've known that Kiriya would end-up dying when his level 2 form was just a bike, that was a major red flag. At least he looks cool.

Sadly Level 3 starts to make everything look ugly again because the power-ups are attachments and they usually go only in the upper body making everyone look like an ice cream cone. I don't think there's a single Level 3 design I like, all of them look awful. I think Shakariki Sports and Jet Combat offend me the most, but all of these can be thrown in the trash. Together with the shared Level 5 power-up, gosh talk about an awful form, it's so bulky, and that dragon head looks so ridiculous, I think the only Level 5 that works is Brave's because in the end it just looks like he's branding his sword, but everyone else looks awful, in special the Full Dragon form.

The Level 10 forms are fun because I love Genm's zombie version, black and white is an easy combination but it works so well, and this dude looks so freaking cool, also NO BACKPACK HEAD! Also, he has a much better belt than the others, this should be the design for all the riders, it's not very big, it's easily recognizable as a portable console, it just looks good you know? But then we have Ex-Aid's Level 10 and he's chibi ex-aid again and he looks awful, thankfully this form is just a set for us to get Level 20 Left and Right that is a concept I love and definitely my favorite suits out of the ones for this season so far. Would I like it better if there wasn't the shoulder piece with Lv.10's head? Definitely, but I still love these forms. I personally love the right side more because after all we already have a light blue rider on the team, but I also think the bright orange with blue accents looks more appealing and stands out more than the blue with orange accents. The last form present in these 15 episodes is Para-DX's Puzzle and Fighting game forms, and I hate the puzzle form, it's really ugly, the fighting game form works way much better, but the back of the helmet being Puzzle's head brings it down a little.

And that's it for this post. Not gonna lie, considering how much I didn't enjoy this show at the beginning, I'm very surprised by how long this post is. I think it's a sign I'm invested so I'm hoping we'll have only good things from here on now. If you have anything to add, please share your thoughts in the comments down below. Stay healthy, stay safe, never stop resisting, thank you so much for reading me rant for so long, and until the next time. See ya in the next game.

#Kamen Rider Ex-Aid #kamen rider

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