#the writers of the boom show were great

[knight-hiccup]

𝐌𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐌 | Hiccup x Fem!Reader

This is the prologue to this Hiccup series -> Masterlist here. Previous Chapter : Next Chapter

Summary: After a deadly tempest rage against Berk, a maelstrom in the sea claims your parents—Where you were then eventually passed into the gruff, tender care of Gobber as his adopted niece. Help raising you beneath the clang of his forge alongside his own godson, Hiccup, a boy destined to defy the world. Hiccup and you stand through many hardships as childhood friends, and awkward occasions as two misfits against the world—a fierce baker of breads and a dreamer craving Viking glory. Pairing: Hiccup x fem!reader Genre: romance, fantasy, suspense, drama, angst, dark, vioIence, friends to lovers, dark themes, Viking lore, Norse mythology, canon divergence, slow burn Word count: 1.2k Warnings: This will have the lore of the films + shows but with much darker themes. Gore/blood, mentions of death, Norse mythology, some realistic dragon themes, more realistic scenarios, and mature themes starting at the point httyd 2 ark comes in, so, ofc NSFW. Any other warnings will be properly tagged upon story progression. A/N: Reader descriptions are not described besides the clothing, true to Viking/httyd fashion from time to time. Gifs/edits, dividers + template credit to #uservampyr my co-writer + beta reader ♡

The storm that battered Berk that night when you were born was a beast unlike any the village had faced in years, a tempest so fierce it seemed to claw its way up from the depths of legend itself, as if Thor, in a fit of divine wrath, had hurled his hammer into the sky and shattered it into a thousand jagged shards of wind and rain.

The sea, a roiling black maw, roared with a fury that sent waves crashing over the rocky cliffs, splintering the sturdy timber of homes perched too close to the edge; boards groaned and snapped, tumbling into the churning abyss below where a maelstrom swirled angrily, swallowed by depths so dark they might have been the gates to Hel itself.

Stoick’s voice, a thunderclap of its own, had bellowed across the chaos, ordering every soul to retreat inland as the village crumbled under the onslaught—storms were usually a mere itch to the Vikings of Berk, a flea bite compared to the dragons that scorched their skies or the snows that buried their paths, but this was no ordinary squall; whispers of Ragnarök slithered through the crowd, their faces pale as they wondered what sin had roused the gods to such vengeance.

The people stumbled toward the Great Hall, their sanctuary of stone and firelight, boots slipping on rain-slick paths as the wind howled like a pack of starved wolves; brave souls darted back into the fray—men and women with determination and grit in their eyes—hauling the stragglers to safety, their silhouettes flickering against the lightning’s glare, risking all yet losing none, thank the fates, as the last of Berk’s battered flock squeezed inside. Or so they thought.

Stoick, broad as an oak and twice as unyielding, stood at the hall’s heart with Valka at his side, their voices cutting through the din as they counted heads—Until Gobber’s gruff shouts mingling with the clank of his hammer-hand, pointed outward.

“Wait! There’s still some out there!” Gobber bellowed from the shadowed throng near the Great Hall’s towering doors.

Stoick had whipped his head toward him. His bearded jaw tightening as he’d stalked forward, boots pounding the stone like war drums competing against the thunder; shoving the one unclosed door aside, he’d peered into the chaos, his eyes narrowing at the sight of distant figures—mere smudges against the storm’s black veil—struggling inland, their forms buckling under winds that shrieked chaos around them.

As chief, and the unyielding shield of his people, Stoick had steeled himself and plunged into the gale, his voice booming over the tumult with a command for all to stay put, the doors slamming behind him with a groan. He’d fought his way toward the figures, rain lashing his broad frame, until their shapes had sharpened into a young man and woman, her arms clutching a screaming bundle—their newborn child, a fragile spark amid the tempest’s rage—her face a mask of terror as the wind tore at her cloak, her husband’s hands steadying her against the onslaught.

Stoick had pressed forward, each step a battle against the storm’s might, when the earth beneath them had shuddered and split, a crack racing through the ground like a serpent’s strike; a landslide had erupted, morphing swiftly into a sinkhole that gaped wide where they’d stood, as if the island itself had conspired to claim them.

With a warrior’s reflex, Stoick had seized a frayed rope lashed to one of Berk’s ancient pillars—its weathered carvings whispering of forgotten ages—and shouted for them to run, his arm outstretched, a lifeline in the dark; they’d been mere inches from his grasp, the woman shielding her babe tight against her chest, her husband gripping them both in a desperate embrace, when the cliff had given way, the ground collapsing beneath their feet, their screams swallowed by the wind’s merciless howl.

In a heartbeat, the man had thrust the bundle into Stoick’s hands, his eyes locking with the chief’s in a fleeting, wordless plea—then he and his wife had tumbled with the shattered earth, vanishing into the churning abyss below, claimed by the storm’s insatiable hunger as Stoick failed to grab onto them.

Stoick had clung to the rope with a warrior’s tenacity, the infant’s wails slicing through the night like a blade forged in grief, a tiny life wrested from the jaws of a love it would never know; as the winds had raged on, howling like the spirits of the lost, he’d squeezed his eyes shut, a curse slipping beneath his breath as a sharp pang gripped his chest—not just from the strain, but from the weight of those he couldn’t save.

Tucking the wee babe close, her soaked form trembling against his broad frame, he’d gripped the rope tighter, waiting for the storm to shift; the moment the gale faltered, veering inland, he’d seized his chance and bolted toward the Great Hall, his boots pounding the earth as rain lashed his face, the child’s cries urging him on like a battle hymn.

Inside, the hall had held its breath, a sea of faces pressed to the cracks in the doors, their eyes straining against the dark until Stoick’s towering silhouette had emerged from the tempest’s shroud; Valka, his wife, clutching their fragile son Hiccup to her chest, had gasped in relief, her voice mingling with Gobber’s gruff shout as he’d flung the doors wide, his peg leg thudding against the stone.

All eyes had fallen on Stoick then, and on the small bundle cradled beneath his arm—soaked, shivering, impossibly small—its wails softening to whimpers as the warmth of the hall crept in; Gobber’s weathered face had twisted with worry, his eyes asking a question his tongue couldn’t bear to voice, but Stoick’s sad frown and the slight shake of his head had answered it—the parents were gone, claimed by the storm’s cruel embrace.

A hush had fallen over the hall, heads bowing in silent mourning, the crackle of the hearth the only sound until the men behind had heaved the doors shut, their locks clanking like a final decree; Stoick had crossed the floor to Valka, her tear-streaked gaze flitting from the babe in his arms to Hiccup, nestled against her, only imagining Hiccup in that situation, which brought tears to her eyes.

“She’ll catch her death if we don’t get her fresh clothes and warmth soon,” Stoick had declared, his voice steady despite the tremor in his soul, and Gobber had stepped forward, his calloused hands gentle as he’d taken the babe from his friend’s arms, cradling her with a tenderness that belied his rough exterior.

The hall, once still, had erupted into motion—Vikings bustling to stoke fires, fetch blankets, and brace for the storm’s duration—as the tempest that had descended upon Berk that night, a titan of nature’s wrath, etched its fury into the village’s history with claws of wind and teeth of rain, the sea roaring with a rage that mirrored the fire it stole; it had claimed lives, shattered homes, yet it hadn’t broken the spirit of Berk’s people, nor the fierce spark of the little bundle Stoick had saved—a girl who would grow to be as fierce and unyielding as the storm she was birthed into.

This is the prologue to this Hiccup series -> Masterlist here. Previous Chapter : Next Chapter

[xmaruu11]

Hello! Fellow comic writer here ^-^ Hope you and Doody are taking a little downtime after the recent update!

I discovered DH just after the Mother Spore arc, and I was curious how quickly the series grew to the audience it has now. Was it steady and gradual or did something give it a boost all at once?

I HAD THIS ASK SITTING IN MY ASKBOX FOR MONTHS CUZ I WANNA TALK SO BAD ABOUT IT !! BUT LIFE HAPPENED AND I COULDNT

Get ready for story time!

A lot of people think DDVAU started in 2024, after mother spore. But it didn't. Yes the boom of the story was January-February 2024, but the story has been going on since 2022, November 2022.

When we started DDVAU Doody and I were both University students, in our second year im pretty sure, so the updates didn't have a schedule and there wasn't an overarching plot. The idea for the mother spore arc happened in january / february 2023. But at that point we were working on chapter 10 and the valentines special. And then life happened, personal stuff happened and we took a hiatus until August 2023, and then December 2023. Again, it took,, time...

DDVAU had a small following at that time, and both of us were okay with that, we weren't expecting the amount of support it had during that time (2k notes per update), we felt overwhelmed with love at that point!

Then mother spore part 1 happened, december 2023. That was the first time I decided to go crazy on twitter and start posting with // DDVAU spoilers, and just be a fan of my best friend work. I didn't know that by doing that, it called a lot of people attention. This chapter ended up in a cliffhanger AND it showed a lot of other characters that we never shown before, so a lot of people were interested because their favorite guy appeared! Also we had multiple pretty cute moments between characters. Then people started livetweeting and sharing their opinion using DDVAU spoilers. It kinda snowballed after that. People asked what it was and people shared.

Doody and I thought it was gonna just be that, one simple update and then it stopped. BUT IT DIDNT! Then February 2024, Mother Spore 2 came out, and the whole process of last time repeated. And since this one had more action, everyone was more curious and more interested in what was going on. I keep tweeting and interacting with fans, cuz I am patient 0, DDVAU biggest fan.

THEN the DDVAU server happened, and a lot of people started joining, and I joined as well. People shared fanart, theories, we were able to chat and be nerds with each other. It build up hype for the next hiatus since again.. Doody and I were still university students.

Mother Spore and the end of volume 1 dropped in August 2024. The process repeated again, I also streamed again to keep the hype up. Doody and I yapped for hours and shared fun tweets and live reactions.

AND THEN, the first merch drop happened and once again people were surprised and sharing their thoughts and ideas and everything. Then our lovely friends and guys at the DDVAU server, planned an entire Zine for christmas to surprise doody and I, which again CRAZY!!

Then volume 2 happened, we started uploading it to webtoon and just kinda, kept doing what we like. The monthly schedule helps to build up hype, monthly streams and just,, having fun with my friend helps a lot.

But of course, nothing would have happened if we didnt have so many lovely and wonderful people that just support everything we do. All the lovely people who buy merch and support the kofi (since its the only way we actually get paid as an indie project), all the lovely people who are in the discord, share on twitter and tumblr and tiktok and literally anywhere.

Its always great and so lovely :D

DDVAU growth didnt happened overnight, we worked for a year before mother spore exploded, and then we just kept sharing our passion and love for this story, causing so many more people two get interested.

This is a dream came true, and I wanna thank everyone for letting us live in it

[bethsvrse]

𝓦HISPER CHALLENGE

PAIRING Hugh Jackman x actress!reader

WARNINGS little spicy at the end but other then that it’s just fluff

The lights brighten, the band strikes up a tune, and the studio audience is buzzing with excitement. Jimmy Fallon’s voice cuts through the noise with his signature infectious energy.

“Welcome back, everyone!” Jimmy Fallon’s voice booms over the studio, pulling the crowd’s attention back to the stage. “Tonight, we have a very special guest with us! She’s an incredible actress, a producer, a writer, and she just so happens to be starring in the new film Little Light. Please give it up for Y/N Jackman!”

You step onto the stage, beaming as the audience erupts into cheers and applause. You wave, offering them that warm, genuine smile you’ve perfected over the years. Settling into the guest chair, you take a moment to appreciate the atmosphere—there’s something so alive about being on Jimmy’s show.

Jimmy beams at you, leaning forward in his chair. “I have to say, Y/N, it’s great to have you back. You’re always such a fun guest, and now you’re starring in Little Light — which I’ve heard so many incredible things about. It’s a powerful story.”

You nod, crossing one leg over the other as you settle in. “Yes, uh Little Light is really close to my heart. It’s about a mother who experiences a miscarriage and finds an unexpected connection with her neighbor’s granddaughter, who’s staying with her grandmother for the summer.”

Jimmy nods. “That sounds like such a moving story, I’m so excited to watch it. And—if I’m not mistaken—you’re starring in the movie alongside your own daughter, River?”

A smile crosses your face, a mixture of pride and affection filling your voice. “Yes, that’s right. River plays the granddaughter in the film, and she’s absolutely phenomenal. I mean, I’m biased, obviously, but she blew me away on set. She’s 16 now and really coming into her own as an actress. She’s got such natural talent, and working with her… it’s been such an incredible experience.”

The audience lets out a collective “aww,” and Jimmy grins, his eyes widening in that playfully. “Sixteen?! She’s already acting with her mum—how cool is that?”

“Yeah, sixteen going on thirty, I swear,” you joke, shaking your head with a smile. “But, to be honest, it hasn’t been easy. With her rising career, my work, Hugh’s work, we’re constantly on the move. It’s hard to balance everything sometimes. And right now, she’s back at the hotel, actually. She wasn’t feeling too great, so she’s watching this on TV, probably critiquing every word I say.” You chuckle and wave at the camera. “Hey, sweetie! Get well soon, I love you.” You added with a small kiss to the camera.

Jimmy leans forward conspiratorially. “So, does she give you notes after interviews like this?”

“Oh, absolutely,” you reply, grinning. “She’ll text me after every appearance like, ‘Mum, why did you say that?’ or ‘You looked a bit awkward there.’ She’s brutally honest. But I love it.”

Jimmy laughs along with you before shifting in his chair. “You know, something else I heard… and you can tell me if this is true… you haven’t seen Hugh in almost a year?”

“Sadly, that is correct,” you say with a wistful sigh. “With Little Light being an Australian movie, we filmed it there—which, don’t get me wrong, was absolutely amazing to be back home—but it meant that River and I were always across the world. We’d typically be filming in America, so a 10-hour flight was manageable to visit Hugh. But an 18-hour one? Neither of us could do it with filming so it’s been tough. FaceTime has been our best friend at the moment,” you joked with a small laugh, trying to lighten the tension in the room that Jimmy could definitely feel, not so much the audience though.

Jimmy looks genuinely sympathetic. “That’s gotta be so hard, especially after all this time together. But you two… you’ve been through a lot, and you always seem to make it work.”

You nod appreciatively. “We do. We’ve been married for a long time now, and we’ve gotten pretty good at the long-distance thing. But it’s never easy. The reunions, though… those are always something special.”

After some more laughs and talking about the movie, it’s time for the commercial break. You sip some water, chatting briefly with Jimmy off-camera, as the stagehands move around preparing for the next segment.

As the cameras roll back on, Jimmy is already in game mode. “Alright, Y/N! You know we love to play games here, so I figured we’d try something a little fun,” he says, holding up a pair of headphones.

You laugh softly, already anticipating whatever wild challenge is coming. “Oh boy, what have you got in store for me, Jimmy?”

“We’re gonna play the ‘Whisper Challenge!’” he announces, holding up the headphones for the audience to see. “I’m going to wear these headphones and try to guess what you’re saying while I listen to loud music, then it’ll be your turn. Sound good?”

You nod, leaning back in your chair. “Sounds great!“

Jimmy slips on his headphones and gives you a thumbs-up. The music starts blasting in his ears, and you mouth the phrase silently, moving your lips in exaggerated fashion.

Jimmy squints at you, clearly baffled. “Uh… Salad dressing?” he guesses.

The audience erupts into laughter as you shake your head, mouthing the phrase again.

“Santa’s resting?” Jimmy tries again, causing another round of laughter.

You give him one more exaggerated mouth of the phrase. “Shopping center?” He said confused, “I’m so bad at this,” he said, much more loudly then he meant form the music coming from his head phones.

You repeated the words once more, putting on as much emphasis as you could and you watched as Jimmy’s face lit up. “Little Light! Little Light!” He said excitedly before taking off his headphones, “it was little light right?” He asked almost worried.

You let out a small laugh with a nod, “yes, yes it was little light.”

“Whew! I was worried I’d never get that one. I wasn’t even close as well, Santa’s resting? Where did I get that,” Jimmy chuckles, slipping off his headphones and shaking his head in amusement. “Alright, your turn!”

He hands you the headphones, and as you place them over your ears, you give him a grin. The loud music blasts into your ears almost immediately, and you can't help but laugh to yourself—this was definitely River’s favorite song. She’d been playing it nonstop in the car, at home… pretty much everywhere.

Jimmy raises his voice slightly to speak over the music, “What’s playing?”

You respond without thinking, still adjusting the headphones so they were no longer on your ears. “What? Oh shit—wait, are we playing yet?! Sorry for swearing! My bad!” you blurt out, the apology spilling out before you even register Jimmy laughing across from you.

“No, no! You’re good!” Jimmy reassures you, still chuckling. “I asked you what song was playing.” He repeated

“It’s murder on the dance floor,” you answered, “River absolutely loves this song.” You added, flashing him a sheepish grin before putting the headphones back on. The game begins, and as Jimmy starts mouthing words, you do your best to concentrate, squinting as if that might help you somehow decipher the movements of his lips.

“your husband is behind you.” He said, emphasing the word.

You tilt your head, not quite catching what he said. “The tour is behind me? What?” You shrug, honestly still a little distracted by the music.

The audience suddenly bursts into loud cheers, and you notice the energy in the room shift. Your brow furrows in confusion as you glance back at Jimmy, who’s now practically glowing with excitement. He repeats himself slowly, exaggerating every word, “YOUR HUSBAND… IS BEHIND YOU.”

Before you can even process what he’s saying, you feel a pair of hands gently land on your shoulders. You jump slightly, your headphones slipping off as you whirl around—only to see Hugh standing right there, grinning down at you.

Your eyes go wide, your mouth falling open in shock. Without thinking, you spin in your chair, shifting to kneel on the cushion so you can throw your arms around him. The audience erupts into applause and cheers as you hug him tightly, not even caring that you’re half-perched on the chair. You squeeze your eyes shut for a second, savoring the moment of finally having him close after so long apart.

Hugh chuckles softly. “Missed me?”

You pull back just enough to look up at him, still in disbelief. “You have no idea,” you whisper, your smile so big it almost hurts. “Oh my god.”

Jimmy laughs, clapping his hands together as the audience’s cheers grow louder. "Hugh Jackman, everybody!" he calls out, standing up and joining in the applause.

Hugh gives a small wave to the audience before turning his attention back to you. You’re still in shock, hands covering your mouth as you try to comprehend what just happened. The cameras catch every second of your raw, genuine reaction, and it’s clear to everyone that this moment means everything to you.

Jimmy, ever the showman, grins and says, “I think we just had the best Whisper Challenge moment in history right here!”

You laugh, watching as Hugh comes to sit next to you. “I did not expect that. You sneaky bastard,” you joke, playfully swatting his arm.

Hugh chuckles, his arm resting behind you. “I figured I’d surprise you, and when Jimmy reached out to me about it, I thought, ‘Why not?’ It’s been way too long.”

Jimmy leans forward, loving every second of this wholesome interaction. “So, Hugh, how did you manage to keep this a secret from Y/N?”

“Oh, it wasn’t easy,” Hugh admits, smirking. “I had to avoid every FaceTime call for the last few days so I wouldn’t slip up. But it was worth it.”

You shake your head, still smiling, feeling your heart swell with happiness. “I can’t believe you pulled this off.”

Hugh chuckles, taking your hand in his. “It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

Jimmy sits back down, looking at Hugh with newfound enthusiasm. “Alright, Hugh, now that you’re here, I’ve gotta ask—how excited are you to see Little Light?”

Hugh’s eyes light up. “Oh, I’m thrilled! I’ve seen some early footage, and it’s incredible. I tried to get Y/N to show me more but she won’t budge.”

You laugh, looking over at him lovingly, “just because your my husband doesn’t mean you get special treatment.” You teased

“I showed you unreleased Deadpool and Wolverine footage!” Hugh defended with a smile.

“You wanted to! You said you desperately needed someone to talk to about it because Ryan was annoying you.” You replied

“I did not say that. Stop putting words in my mouth,” he says with a small shake of his head but still having a smile on his face.

“I’m not putting words in your mouth! If anything River is because she told me that’s what you said on the phone!” You said, Hugh letting out a laugh, muttering of course she did under his breath.

“Speaking of River, what do you think about her acting career? I mean, she’s following in her parents’ footsteps in a big way.” Jimmy asked with a smile

Hugh’s face softens with pride as he talks about his daughter. “I’m incredibly proud of her. She’s got so much talent and dedication. Watching her grow and develop her craft has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. She’s worked so hard, and seeing her succeed is just amazing. We have to get all of us in a film together.” He added with a soft laugh.

“I’m sure she’s jumping up and down in the hotel room because she gets to see her dad again.” Jimmy smiles.

“I can actually call her,” Hugh mentions casually as he brings out his phone.

“Oh my god, yes.” Jimmy nodded, leaning in as it rang.

“You can get mad at her for being sick,” you told Jimmy with a smirk.

The phone rings a few more times before River picks up, her voice immediately full of energy. “Oh my god,I can’t believe you’re here!” She explained happily. “I wish I was there. Why the hell did I have to be sick today of all days.” She sighed, “I do have to say that if you don’t come straight to the hotel after the interview I will genuinely never speak to you again.”

Hugh laughs softly, shaking his head in mock disbelief. "You heard that, right? No pressure or anything." He looks at you and Jimmy with a grin.

"She’s got you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?" Jimmy teases, leaning forward as if he’s sharing a secret.

You nod, chiming in with a smirk, “Completely. He doesn’t stand a chance.”

River’s voice comes through the speaker, playfully annoyed. “Mum, don’t gang up on him! I’m sick, remember?”

“Oh trust me, I know,” you say, feigning seriousness. “I’m the one who had to watch The Office with you for the past two days.”

Hugh chuckles, shaking his head. “You love it, admit it.”

“I do, I do, I got to baby her again so it was great,” you confess with a laugh, before addressing River again. “Alright, sweetie, we’ll come straight to the hotel after this, I promise.”

“You’d better,” River replies, her tone softening. “Love you both. Get through the rest of the interview, then come hang out with your sick daughter.”

“Love you too,” Hugh says before hanging up the call, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He leans back in his chair, looking content. “She’s always keeping us on our toes.”

Jimmy smiles warmly, looking between the two of you. “I’ve gotta say, you three are the definition of family goals. I love it.”

You glance at Hugh, sharing a knowing look before turning back to Jimmy. “We’re pretty lucky, that’s for sure.”

“Well, I think that’s a perfect note to wrap things up. Y/N, Hugh, thank you both so much for being here. It’s been an absolute pleasure. And Hugh, it’s always great to have you. Don’t forget, everyone—go see Little Light in cinemas August 14th, and mark your calendars for Deadpool and Wolverine on July 26th!” Jimmy says with a large smile.

The interview wraps with a warm round of applause, and as soon as the cameras stop rolling, you and Hugh exchange quick smiles with Jimmy before stepping off the stage. The lights dim, and the lively hum of the audience fades into the background as you make your way toward the backstage area. Hugh’s arm wraps around your waist, drawing you closer as you navigate the narrow hallway.

As soon as you’re inside the dressing room, the tension hits like a wave. Hugh’s hand doesn’t leave your side, fingers brushing your waist like he’s scared you’ll slip away again. The door barely clicks shut before his lips crash into yours—no hesitation, no holding back, just pure need after a year of waiting.

You melt into him immediately, your hands flying up to grip his shoulders, fingers digging in as if you need to make sure he’s solid, that this isn’t just another dream of him that you’ll wake up from alone. The kiss deepens, hot and urgent, months of distance and longing pouring into it. The way he holds you, like he’s afraid you’ll disappear if he lets go, makes your heart skip.

Your back hits the door with a thud, and you can’t help but smile into the kiss, breathless but teasing as you mumble against his lips, “You know... someone might hear us.”

His lips curve into a grin, and he pulls back just enough to look at you, forehead resting against yours, his eyes dark with hunger. His hands slide down your body, fingers tightening at your hips, pulling you closer until there’s not an inch of space between you. “Let them,” he breathes, voice low, almost a growl. “I don’t give a damn. I’ve waited a whole fucking year for this. For you. Let the whole world hear.”

Your laugh comes out soft, shaky, your heart pounding in your chest like it’s trying to keep pace with his. You let your hands wander down his chest, feeling the hard muscle beneath his shirt, the steady thud of his heartbeat beneath your fingertips. “I missed you too,” you whisper, eyes locked on his. Then you pull him back into a kiss—this one slower, more deliberate, but still burning with the intensity that’s been building for far too long.

Every touch, every brush of his lips against yours, feels like it’s pulling you deeper into him, and for the first time in what feels like forever, you let yourself give in. His hands explore, tracing your sides, your back, reacquainting themselves with every inch of you. You respond in kind, your hands sliding beneath his shirt, fingers mapping the familiar lines of his torso, rediscovering every scar, every dip and ridge of muscle.

The kiss breaks only when you’re both gasping for air, but even then, neither of you pulls away. You rest your head against his chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing, and for a moment, the world fades away. It’s just the two of you, the rest of the universe outside that door forgotten.

He presses a kiss to the top of your head, his arms wrapping around you, holding you tight as if he can’t believe you’re really here. “I thought about you every day,” he admits, his voice barely a whisper, rough with emotion. “I couldn’t stop. I tried. But nothing... nothing feels right without you.”

Your heart clenches at his words, and you pull back just enough to meet his eyes, your hands cupping his face. “I know,” you whisper back, your voice soft but steady. “Me too.”

He kisses you again, slower this time, like he’s savoring every second, every inch of you. It’s not just about need anymore—it’s about the connection, about being with the one person who feels like home. You don’t need to speak; the way his hands hold you, the way his lips move against yours, says it all.

Looks like River might need to hold off a bit longer before she gets to see her dad again.

[sparrowlucero]

Hello sorry I am being shy and anon but do you have any advice for someone who wants to get into Doctor Who again after briefly dabbling (and enjoying it very much) in like the early, early 2010s? I know this is mostly your art blog but you were the only person I could think of to ask you're like the Doctor Who authority of blogs I follow

Oh yeah of course! People can be really confusing about this so I'll try not to be.

So first, the majority of doctor who episodes are self contained stories that you could just watch and understand perfectly without any further context. even when there is some overarching context it's usually written in a way that's either pretty easy to glean and/or just doesn't impact your understanding of the story. 99% of the episodes don't even care if you know the premise and are just like "what if some people were on a spaceship and the devil was there? wouldn't that be fucked up or what??". Don't feel like you have to binge a 60 years long show to watch it. Some standalone episodes I think are fun if you (or anyone else) just want to check out one or two:

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (A supposed-to-be-dead boy in a gas mask haunts a young woman in world war 2)

Blink (A woman gets wrapped up in a mystery involving statues that make people disappear. This one is especially good if you flat out know nothing about the show. Has some really great time travel stuff.)

A Christmas Carol (A christmas carol pastiche (of course) where the doctor tries to rewrite the past of a cruel man who's going to let a lot of people die. very sad and sweet. I love the "wintery planet with sky fish" setting of this one)

Vincent and the Doctor (The famous Vincent Van Gogh Episode™)

The Rings of Akhatan (A pretty lowkey little adventure story about an alien festival. has supreme autumn vibes)

Flatline (A species from a 2 dimensional world tries to break into our 3 dimensional one. really fun special effects)

Midnight (A tour bus breaks down on a diamond planet where nothing can survive. Something knocks at the door.)

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (The Doctor and friend go to a library that covers an entire planet and finds that everyone has disappeared. Has a lot of really great, interesting concepts baked into it that I won't spoil)

It Takes You Away (A girl is left alone in a cabin in the woods when her dad disappears through the mirror. Has a famously goofy ending that I really love)

73 Yards (A character is steps on a fairy circle and is followed by an old woman who always stands exactly 73 yards away)

The Devil's Chord (This doesn't really have, you know, a plot, but it does have jinkx monsoon as an evil music god)

Boom (The doctor steps on a landmine on an alien planet and cannot move)

Wild Blue Yonder (A two hander where the Doctor and co are trapped on a dilapidated spaceship at the edge of the universe. really atmospheric with some fun/strange visuals.)

That being said, it does add a lot to watch it in order; there's a lot of plot twists, character dynamics, and general payoff you get if you marathon it. I would personally recommend starting with either the first episode of the 2005 show ("Rose") or the first episode of the 2010 season ("The Eleventh Hour") and just watching in order from there. I think you could also start with "The Snowmen", "The Pilot", or "The Woman Who Fell To Earth" if you wanted, but the first two (especially rose) are the better jumping on points.

some other little notes of advice I don't often see people mention:

it's stupid sometimes just roll with it

once in a while the show sort of "reboots" with different writers, actors, directors, and a new tone. it's much more like watching several small shows than one long show, so don't be too put off by the length!

IMPORTANT: pretty much all streaming services will separate holiday/anniversary specials from the show proper and you have to deliberately search them up on the same service to find them. It's really necessary to be aware of this because many of these specials are the first or last episodes for characters/whole eras of the show and are genuinely unskippable. I strongly recommend looking up a list of the episodes and checking it after finales just to make sure you don't skip anything on accident.

there's two spin offs (Torchwood, a more adult (read: gay sex) show about a mysterious agency that solves sci fi crimes, and the Sarah Jane Adventures, a pretty good monster of the week kids show) that ran concurrently with season 1-4. You don't have to watch them to understand anything happening in doctor who, but sometimes they cross over with the show in fun ways, Ex. the first season finale of Torchwood continues directly into season 3 of Doctor Who. My friend and I got a kick out of watching them at the same time so maybe you will too. (either way I recommend watching "Children of Earth", the torchwood miniseries, if you want to see a weird dark sci fi show about the government making contact with aliens. It's a bit like arrival (2016) if it was way nastier.)

alternatively, you can inject fast acting brain poison into yourself with this

anyways I hope this all reads as, you know, more approachable than the way dudes on quora recommend this show:

[theside-b]

BL Review: Top Form 🇹🇭

Weirdly enough it was exactly when Japan left the BL scene that Thailand decided to finally to come through with a solid adaptation of a japanese property. After some stumbles Top Form not only delivers a great show but also elevates the source material with some inspired choices from the writers and amazing duo of actors.

Boom has always been a very reliable actor, competent and talented, but here he gets to show everything he got, use all the weapons on his arsenal; Akin is a mess of a human being, always on the verge of a mental breakdown, but also "unintentionally" funny, needy and amorous when finally stripped from his emotional barriers — part of the fun was watching Boom freak out, burst into tears or blush like a maiden (sometimes all at once) during the live reactions with Smart. Speaking of which... Smart as Jin, the apprentice with a mean streak, and hands down the best twist of the show.

In Dakaichi: I'm Being Harassed by the Sexiest Man of the Year the manga which Top Form is based on, the character of Jin is quite different, with the predatory nature of the original being toned down and the entire dynamic between the couple presented in a way healthier package with a shift towards a more 'protective' persona for Jin; and while the show waters down quite a lot it still gives room for Smart to deliver great moments tapping into Jin's darker side, possessiveness and violence always brewing when someone dares to come near Akin. The major downside here is with the character of Johnny, now presented as the only predator around, albeit in a more "playful" manner, whereas in the original him and Jin were cut from the same cloth and one could see why they would immediately butt-heads, so much so that this version has to make it's way around certain story beats in order to cause drama that does not occur in the manga. A lot of the rejection for Johnny's characters amongst the audience stems from the fact that Jin is a very good person here, had he been 2/4 of the messed up version we see in the book this conversation would be quite different.

A good point of the adaptation is the nature of the conflict: in a way the first half of the story is intrinsic to Japan, with the actors ranking system and all its variants, something that doesn't play out (at least not to the same extent) in Thailand, but the second half presents the brand pair system in which the situation reverses. Top Form sheds light in some intricacies that the target audience might already be clued in, for example actors playing a couple on a BL show are expected to play a couple but not actually be a couple, with Top Form being one of the very few to dare head towards more unsavory practices seeing in the industry— it's even more inspired that the show within the show that gets Jin and Akin under scrutiny is a wuxia very similar to the unreleased C-Drama Immortality, which was a partnership between Tencent and Top Form's very own producer WeTV — and while it never goes there it still ballsy enough to not make it all that easy for it's protagonists.

A lot of the strengths of the show are pulled from the parallels that can be drawn with actors' real life relationship, for those who follow him Boom is one of those thai actors who just never had the luck of finding the right partner (or simply never chose one) to solidify his position on the thai-BL landscape and here he seems to have struck gold with Smart, so much so that even before the show was done producers were already throwing ideas for a next project for the two of them. As for Smart he got himself a mentor, and one of the best really, and while Smart himself is still a long ways to catch up with his partner at least he does not embarrass himself mostly due inspired moments, like every time Jin got mischief in his eyes, or was ready to throw hands, any of the more 'darker' sides of his came out to play Smart seemed more in tune, angel wings notwithstanding.

Technically speaking this show has impressive feats; the NC scenes in particular were quite something, and it's raised the bar for the upcoming productions and I'm not limiting to just BL shows, what they did here to safeguard the actors was impeccable while still delivering memorable moments. Production value is also top notch, even simpler scenes looked expensive through the lenses of director Boss Wasakorn.

In the void left by JBLs Top Form comes strong with a superb ensemble, inspired writing and woefully direction that sets the bar really high for the next thai producer who is brave enough to tackle a japanese IP.

[k0mmari]

Got any writing tips?

Honestly I could go on forever about all the ways you can improve your own writing, but I'll try to keep it to the things that help me the most

Slight disclaimer: Everything I'll say is in the context of writing with the intent of having an audience read it. Writing for yourself with no intentions of showing it off to anyone is completely free game.

Slight disclaimer 2: I am in no way a professional writer and what works for me might not work for you. Writing is a skill and it comes with a whole lot of trial and error; don't be afraid of failure, or making something bad! We're in a constant journey of figuring things out, and everyone has their own time.

With that said, let's get started!

1- Starting a story

Sometimes the hardest part is the beginning, and as we all know, it can get overwhelming staring at a blank page. Let's say you have the beginning of an idea, but when you sit and think about it, you're not sure where you want to go with it; then let's start simple!

I like to start out with what type of themes I want to explore with the story; do I want to explore familial relationships? Romance? Trauma? How these characters react to external problems? Treat it like your own little research, and ask yourself what you would like your story to be in the vaguest sense possible.

Example: A story about how people deal with grief in different ways, and how that effects their relationships with others, with found family and a bit of dry humor sprinkled in.

If you're struggling in that front, prompts could help you a lot! There's a lot of free-to-claim story prompts floating around, so picking one or three, smash them together, and see what happens from there!

2- Steal like an Artist

When I first started out drawing (and eventually writing), I saw the phrase 'steal like an artist' thrown around a lot, but I never really made sense of it, but I'm here to make it simpler for you now!

Going back to the prompts idea, when struggling to form a story, you can always steal from other stories! Obviously, not literally steal the whole script from a movie and change the names, but pick and choose your favorite things from the media you like.

Grab a scene from your favorite movie. A bit of the character design from your 3 favorite game characters. Get the beginning of the backstory of your favorite book protagonist. Eventually, it'll be like second nature to look at a piece of media and go 'hey, I could do something with that!', and when you smush them all together, you now have your own story in your hands!

Don't worry about originality. It's true when people say that 'nothing is original anymore', but don't take that to mean that nothing can be unique anymore! Let's say, from when you were stealing like an artist, you decided to grab the structure of Alice In Wonderland! Great, but that idea's been sooooooo overused by now, what do I do to make it original?

Well, I don't know how to make it original, but what if I mixed it with Dracula and a bit of Interview With A Vampire, and made it in a modern setting with secret societies of vampires going around? I also think mafia stories are very fun, so why not make it that the vampire hunters are like mafia families, and the Queen of Hearts was one of the bosses? Oh, and to top it off, I really like found families, so why not make Alice the Queen of Hearts daughter that she's trying to protect from the world of vampires!

Boom! Is it original? Not one bit, but it's unique, it's your interpretation of a story, a genre and its characters, and that makes it worth telling too!

3- During the writing process

Great, you have your the idea of your story! You have ideas for the main characters and maybe even a shaky timeline of events in the beginning, middle and end.

You... You do have a timeline of events, don't you?

When writing a story, no matter how long or short I want it to be, I like to begin by making a timeline of all the important parts I NEED to have it in there. The story is guaranteed to change while you're writing it, so having a plan to fall back on can help you from not straying too far from the main idea.

Not to say that you aren't allowed to change anything after you wrote your timeline, but I can keep you grounded on those initial themes that you want to talk about. It's normal to get excited and loose yourself in the characters, but before you know it, your horror thriller suddenly changed into a cheesy romcom and you don't want to delete your 20 pages worth of progress.

Create as many timelines as you need! Make a timeline for your general story, your character arcs, your fighting scenes, everything! Keep it as simple as possible in the beginning to avoid focusing too much on the details– having a clearer idea of the whole narrative will also help you when you get stuck trying to figure out how to transition from Event 1 to Event 2.

Personal Suggestion- Dialogue

This is the most personal 'tip' here yet, and it genuinely depends on what type of story you're writing, but I find that learning how to write natural-ish sounding dialogue is one of the most important things a writer can learn.

It's a skill on its own! Dialogue can carry a lot of weight in your story. It can give the reader a more personal idea of the characters, their feelings and the atmosphere of any given scene, and making it feel natural while also having the characters expose information you need for a story can be quite the juggling act.

Copy from your favorite books, shows, and games! Games I think are the best way to get started in my opinion, as I find it to be in the perfect middle ground between 'book dialogue' and 'movie dialogue'; so pick a game where you really like how the characters speak and try to dissect what exactly makes you like their dialogue.

Another thing to be mindful of is punctuation! Punctuation signifies pauses for your reader, and dialogue can change its feel drastically depending on the punctuation you use in it. Let's take an example:

"I don't know."

"I... Don't know."

"I. Don't. Know!"

The dialogue is the same, but the way you imagine a character saying it drastically changes from one option to the other, so be mindful and take just a little bit more in figuring out how your character feels in any particular scene, and how their speech would be affected by that.

Just to compliment that last part, don't be afraid to break up your dialogue if needed! This is writing we're talking about, it's not everyday you have the luxury of visuals accompanying your story, so describe your characters' actions! Example:

(Person A walks into the room, smiling with their hands in their pockets.

" Hey guys! How are we doing?")

(Person A walks into the room, smiling with their hands in their pockets.

"Hey guys!" They walk to the sofa, sitting down with a huff as they put their legs on the coffee table. They take out a gum packet from their pocket and offer it to the rest of the group. "How are we doing?")

Again, it sets two wildly different scenes, and the second example gives a much clearer picture of the character's movements across the space. Of course, you can always take advantage of your readers not being sure of what the character is doing while talking for reveals and tense situations – it all comes down to what tone you want to set for the scene.

[hms-no-fun]

How have your thoughts on Doctor Who evolved in the past few years?

last year i did a video about the 60th anniversary specials that featured the return of david tennant and catherine tate, and why they signaled a new era of prosperity for doctor who. i think a lot of people would say that video has aged like milk in the wake ncuti gatwa's "season one," but i really disagree. the only thing doctor who fans love more than dying on the hill of whatever era of the show they watched the last time their life didn't suck is complaining about the current era for not already being something they're nostalgic for.

"nuwho 2" or "rtd2" or whatever you want to call it, the post Timeless Child era, is definitely different in a lot of ways that aren't always good. "season one" is sloppy with scripts that feel manically first-draft. its biggest weakness is simply that there are only eight episodes, and two of them are devoted to a season finale that is, like most rtd finales past, half brilliant, a quarter huh?, and a quarter hot garbage. i don't like how ncuti said goodbye to millie at the end, it felt like a weird reversion to a prior iteration of the doctor who hadn't spent so many years living a normal life as the kooky uncle of the noble family. the devil's chord in particular feels like an episode that desperately wanted further iteration, perhaps in an actual writer's room with a real musician who might come up with something a bit more interesting to do with those beatles.

and yet, the devil's chord fucking rules because jinkx monsoon is a force of nature! that's the thing about "season one," it's a mess in a lot of ways and yet even still it's delicious. space babies is hilarious. imagine opening your season on a bunch of talking babies hounded by a literal booger monster! as silly as that concept is it still plays very earnestly with the themes of the season. it's sort of a filter, in a way; if you thought we were gonna make doctor who Respectable, you've got another thing coming buster. frankly, with the exception of the finale (and really only the second part of the finale IMO) there's not a single stinker in the bunch! boom is phenomenal. rogue is delightful gay indulgence. dot and bubble is crazy audacious. 73 yards is just perfect, easily the best "the doctor isn't in this one" episode since blink and one of the wildest genre swings the series has ever taken. any of those three episodes could land on a top 20 list and i wouldn't bat an eye. if you don't love ncuti gatwa and millie gibson then you are entirely out of your mind.

the biggest shame really is that there isn't more. the season is stacked with Big Weighty Dramatic Ones, and i love those, but i would've liked to see two or three silly ones in there too. only two scripts weren't written by rusty, and all critical evaluations aside i just don't think that's a great way to set the series up to live on under new leadership after you inevitably depart again.

but i also believe with all my heart and soul that these flawed qualities, whether or not they were literally intentional, are 100% literally intentional. the single worst thing that "season one" could have been was a perfect season of television. no, i'm serious! the broad point of my video, which i felt was tremendously vindicated by "season one," is that rusty's return was fundamentally about saving the show spiritually from the doldrums of the chibnall era. that's a much bigger and more complicated task than just doing good tv! if rusty just committed to doing three seasons of what everyone already expected from him and then bounced, he'd be leaving the show in more or less the same state as it was before he came back. what really elevates this era so far is how deliberately it's expanding the thematic and genre spaces that the show typically plays in. it's respectfully yes-anding the chibnall era in a way that rescues it, it gives us a lot of fan service but it also breaks from those expectations quite often. and the fact that it's such a mess inevitably leads any thoughtful viewer to a single conclusion: i bet somebody else could do better.

and that's what rusty wants! or, anyway, that's what is healthiest for doctor who in the long term. if this franchise cannot escape the shadow of The Greats, it's destined to become just another IP for the soulless slop machine. what i love about rusty's era so far is that it's bad in a lot of the same ways his first stint on the show was bad, but that we've kinda memoryholed because time has passed and so much of it isn't bad. by coming back and working in exactly the same mode as before, rusty denies us the satisfaction of perfect nostalgia and invites us to be more critical of his work both past and present. and oh hey, wouldn't you know it, "season two" has way more writers! there's a whole spinoff show coming later this year that i've seen some folks theorize is a sort of audition for the part of future dw showrunner! and that's to say nothing of the astonishing effects work done by the team at bad wolf studios, which has deliberately invested in cultivating expert production talent local to the area and whose skills are always being highlighted in the excellent behind the scenes series doctor who unleashed.

in short, i think it's wonderful that "season one" was profoundly imperfect because it means doctor who has room to grow. i'm excited to see newer younger people become prominent creative voices in this franchise, it's the sort of deliberate talent cultivation that basically every comparable american enterprise wholly lacks. idk i love it

[miss-musings]

How badly was Tech's Death handled in The Bad Batch S3?

I'm planning to do a full season review for The Bad Batch Season 3, and while prepping, I started thinking back about how Tech's death was handled.

I wonder if The Bad Batch never really mourned Tech on-screen because they all blamed themselves for his death:

Hunter bc he's the leader (even Hemlock noted this)

Wrecker bc he was trying to hold the rail car

Crosshair bc they were trying to save him from Tantiss

And Omega had never really lost anyone before, so she probably didn't know how to cope.

The time jump didn't help either.

Arguably it'd be in-character that their "mourning" style is just avoiding the topic. They hardly brought up Crosshair in S1 after he was mind-controlled.

Hunter shuts down the group's conversation about Crosshair in 1.03 partly bc he feels guilty about leaving Crosshair behind (even tho they didn't really have a choice). Consequently, the group doesn't really mention Crosshair except in passing after 1.03.

Look, I ultimately think the writers *should* have let the characters mourn Tech in a meaningful way. It'd allow them and us to have some closure. But they didn't, and that's partly why so many people expected him to come back (namely as CX-2).

Tech also just had such a suspicious "death":

No body on screen

He fell with all or most of his gear on him, and Hunter survived a 500+ foot fall on Daro without much issue

Hemlock as an unreliable death certificate

A character running around in S3 who was conditioned by Hemlock (who supposedly found Tech's body) and who moves & talks like Tech, and has significant interactions w/ Crosshair and Omega plus a weird scene w/ Phee

It didn't help that CX-2 survived *everything* - multiple explosions, falls, etc. Plus, we never saw him without his mask, unlike CX-0 in S2 and CX-1 in 3.06.

If the TBB creators wanted to avoid any theorizing that CX-2 was Tech or anyone else we knew, all they had to do was show him without his helmet at the end of 3.07. Boom, problem solved!

I really expected a CX-Tech reveal up until 3.14 "Flash Strike." But by then, we'd run out of time to bring him back properly. It really feels like the writers baited us, or something was changed last-minute during S3 production.

Even if we'd gotten a scene in, let's say, 3.05 "The Return" where the Bad Batch finally and properly mourned Tech once they were all together, I'm sure people still would've theorized CX-2 was Tech. But, I do think there would've been fewer.

As it stands, neither the characters nor the audience ever had a proper send-off for such a prominent character.

And CX-2 had all that screentime & build-up to justify cutting off Crosshair's hand???

TBB S3 was great in many respects, but how it handled Tech's death was a major flaw.

But, I just wanted to play Devil's Advocate for a bit. Maybe it wasn't as bad as we thought, and arguably was in-character for Tech's brothers to hardly ever mention him.

He's mentioned 7 times in S3:

Wrecker has an indirect mention in 3.02

Omega in 3.03

Echo in 3.05

Phee in 3.08

Crosshair in 3.09

Phee in 3.12

Crosshair in 3.15

And we know that last one is the most heartbreaking one of them all.

Phee and Echo seemingly have made some peace with losing Tech after 5-6 months. But it's clear Hunter & co still haven't. They all compartmentalized his death and never addressed it. Crosshair's little "Plan 99" speech in 3.15 proves that, I think.

Anyway, just throwing this out there. I'm planning to do a S3 review soon and go over the three best and three worst things about the season. SPOILERS: Tech's death and the CX-2 baiting was definitely one of the worst!

[dynared]

I've laid into Earthspark a lot as the series progressed, particularly as it became clearer and clearer that the show was a bomb. All that being said, I'm also curious how much blame is going to be retroactively placed on the Terrans for existing and being used to push the family theme. It's also worth looking at the chance of actually seeing these characters again, even as regular Autobots. Discussion under the cut:

Let's start with Twitch, who I think has a decent chance of being seen again, but is actually sort of endemic of a lot of IDW style "we're making stories, making things too toyetic is bad" design and writing. Twitch has a lot of personality, and I think that personality may make her attractive for writers. She's also a fembot who has made a fairly positive impression with fans, rather than being a source of discourse.

The problem with Twitch is her alt mode more than anything. She's a drone. A really simple, small one, mind you, that isn't very complex. Any simpler and it would be a Happy Meal toy. While not every character needs to have a $100-$200 toy for it, even Bumblebee started to get more elaborate vehicle modes once he became a focus character in the movies with the Camaro design being far more complex than his old mini-bot figure. Still, a redesign is probably a lot easier than a rewrite of her character. So she has a good chance of appearing.

Thrash - Twitch's brother, who was reduced to something of a background character and is pretty forgettable. A bike with a sidecar is a fairly decent alt-mode but he's not someone fans will likely be clamoring for. Not entirely his fault, but he both escapes the controversy and negative opinion of some of his Terran siblings, while also not being interesting enough to garner demand for an appearance.

Hashtag - Presumably earmarked as a replacement for Blaster now that boom boxes aren't really a thing, Hashtag has been derided by the fandom as obnoxious, annoying, and looking like a cube. Also, Season 2 made her a hypocrite. She may be firmly in the Windblade zone, a fembot whose poor media outings have made her very difficult to use, except Hashtag being a kid and a cube probably isn't getting a FlameToys release ever.

Nightshade - Well, let's get this one over with. Nightshade is probably considered radioactive by Hasbro ever since this -

The non-binary owl was the subject of a Fox News report and was probably the only mainstream attention Earthspark got in the mass media. Not a great look. The funny thing is that this isn't the last non-binary character in Transformers media, as Shredhead, a character from the Skybound comics, uses they/them pronouns because they identify as a group of sparks merged together into one being (think Ermac from Mortal Kombat, who refers to themselves as "We"). And they were introduced over a year after Nightshade's controversy, meaning that any negativity Hasbro faced over the character's pronouns did not deter them from making another non-binary character.

Why does one character become a pariah and the other gets lauded? It's not about them being non-binary, but rather, in Nightshade's case, talking about being non-binary seemed to be most of their character for most people on the outside looking in.

Meanwhile, Shredhead introduces themselves as THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL.

Nightshade is radioactive, but Shredhead could easily be seen in an adaptation if they last long enough in Skybound. Presumably being introduced well, shredding Decepticons with their sword.

Kind of like that. "My name is Shredhead, THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL!" is simply a more dynamic introduction than "My name is Nightshade, my pronouns are they/them."

Jawbreaker - For a character who is often seen as meek and bullied by the other Terrans, Jawbreaker likely has the easiest route to being used again. He's a Dinobot. And there have been numerous attempts to expand the Dinobots outside of the core of Grimlock, Swoop, Slag, Sludge, and occasionally Snarl. Jawbreaker could easily fit the kid brother concept, completely divorcing him from the Terrans in favor of being a fill in for characters like Skar who never quite reached full acceptance as part of the group with the fandom. It would actually be ironic that the one the show goes out of its way to trash at times ends up with the brightest future.

So yeah, two bots with a decent chance, two bots who likely won't be used again, and one who very likely won't be used again because they have a superior counterpart.

[marshallpupfan]

Ten Things I LIKED About Season 11!

Okay, that post I made last night about season 11 was, at times, pretty negative. I don't always enjoy being like that, so instead of focusing on the bad, I figured I'd talk about some of the good! No sarcasm, no hate... just positive (paw-sitive?) vibes in this post!

A lot of these are in no particular order, by the way. They're more or less listed as I remembered them. 😄

1 - Sending Off the Old Animation with A Boom(er)!

Again, the last two Rescue Wheels episodes, despite looking like they belong in season 10, are officially listed under season 11! They're also the last to use the old animation.

And, for my money, it was a fine sendoff! Rescue Wheels: Pups Save a Runaway Truck is, in my opinion, one of the best episodes in a long time! For starters, they brought in a new writer for this one, and he really knew how to bring in some genuine humor to the mix! Boomer, himself was also legit great here, which further cemented him as another one of my favorite pups in PAW Patrol. The mission, itself was also quite good, and it gave me my dream team of Chase and Marshall, so bonus points there!

Overall, it's a fun episode, and a fine goodbye to the animation that stuck with us for over ten years.

And now, one of my favorite exchanges from the segment;

Danny: I'm sure you've got a big monster truck stunt to do! Boomer: Uh, yeah, biggest stunt, ever. Danny: I bet it's something X-treme! Like, a big jump! Oh, over the draw bridge! OOH, WITH FIREWORKS!! Boomer: Uh... yeah. It's... definitely all that. And more! Danny: No way! Can I watch?? Boomer: Are you kidding? Bring your camera and live stream it so everyone else can watch, too. Danny: Good idea! Boomer: [to Frankie].........we're gonna need fireworks, fast.

2 - An Air Rescue Fire Emergency!

As I've mentioned before, fires were more or less banned in the TV series for the longest time. Sure, we saw relatively harmless ones, like camp fires, but what about uncontrolled fires? We got one in season 1, and we didn't get another until season 10! Whether we have the theatrical movies to thank for that or something else entirely, I'm just glad the ban has finally been lifted! After all, it lead to Fire Rescue being a thing!

Before that subseries hit, however, we got even more fires in "Air Rescue - Pups Save A Rocket-Powered Pogo Stick". Depending on who you ask, it's arguably the best episode of Air Rescue! Fun mission, actual stakes, and even the ground crew got to help out! It was good, and it let us know that fires are here to say, and we won't just see them in Ultimate Fire Rescues.

3 - Zuma and Hurricane Harrigan

It's not too often we get an episode that involves Zuma at the center of the plot. It's even rarer still when Hurricane Harrigan shows up. In all honesty, the two are practically made for each other! Thus, when this segment popped up, I think most of us enjoyed it due to that aspect, alone! No doubt many of us want this team-up to happen again... soon, we hope!

4 - Marshall and Everest are... PENGUINS??

Okay, this looks so weird... and I love it. It's silly moments like this I tend to appreciate, since it's the pups just goofing off and having pure fun. I think I can speak for most of us when I say that, when the pups are having a good time, we, the viewers, will likely have one, too!

5 - Hey, Humdinger was Pretty Funny Here!

"Hum-Patrol to the Rescue" was, much to my surprise, a fun episode! What's even more surprising? Mayor Humdinger was legit good in it! And funny! Despite how often he shows up, and how often a lot of us tend to get tired of seeing him involved in the plot, I must admit, I still like the character, and it's segments like this that remind me of why. When done right, Mayor Humdinger can be quite entertaining, and this is certainly proof of that.

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I even enjoyed him breaking the fourth wall in this one. Hey, as much as I still like Marshall's wipeouts, even I get a chuckle out of Mayor Humdinger questioning whether he actually does this every time or not. 😄

6 - A Forgotten Gag, Brought Back!

Naturally, because of how much I love Marshall, I tend to take notice when certain things about him disappear. His EMT Gear being absent (again) is a good example. Strangely, Marshall's gag of falling down his firetruck ladder was another thing that just seemed to vanish over time. Admittedly, I never fully understood why.

Much to my surprise, season 11 brought it back! Twice, in fact! And hey, both were rather good and got a chuckle out of me. Personally, as long as no one gets hurt, it doesn't happen too often, and it's done in pure humor, I'll always enjoy it. I just love his "I'm good!" after it happens. 😄

7 - Robo-Arrby

Okay, how can you not like this?? "Pups Save the Baddies", from what I've noticed, tends to be a personal favorite for some fans, and no doubt Arrby is one reason why. In fact, even I must admit that, when this pup shows up, it's almost always worth it! That's certainly true here, too. Although his time in the segment was brief, it's certainly one most of us won't forget!

...And yes, everyone fell for his disguise, if only for a brief time. I guess Arrby's just that good at what he does! 😅

8 - More Handicapped Representation

When done right, representation can be a great thing. We got our first handicapped character in season 7, when Rex joined up with the pups to help them out in the Dino Wilds. Although his back legs can't function, it didn't stop him from still being a major asset to the team. A handful of seasons later, we finally got another handicapped character. This time, it's a human named Lizzy, and she's the owner of Adventure Bay's new lemonade stand. As you can see, she's missing her left hand, but the cartoon makes it clear that such a thing won't stop her from doing what she wants to do in life.

I'm not handicapped myself, so I'm not the best person to talk about this sort of thing. However, I have to imagine something like this can be inspiring, at least to some degree, to viewers... especially any child who might be handicapped and can relate to this, in some way or another. That, alone, can be powerful. What's just another character to me, might mean the world to someone else.

9 - The Many Cute Moments from the Pups!

Okay, in all fairness, every season gives us cute moments... but hey, I still wanted to give it a shout out, anyway! And one that jumps out to me right away, outside of Marshall and Everest acting like penguins, was the wipeout from "Fire Rescue: Pups Save a Baby Goat's Birthday". During the chaos, Marshall got some cake icing on his face, and it formed a monocle, a mustache, and top hat. A little crazy, and perhaps forced, but dang, did it ever get a chuckle out of me. I know some believe Marshall's wipeouts aren't as good as they used to be, but I'd argue they still manage to deliver every now and then, and this one's no exception! Welcome back, Dapper Marshall! 😆

10 - Last, and Hopefully Not Least... Fire Rescue!

Despite what others might say, I still profess that Fire Rescue is a highlight of season 11. Regardless of its flaws, for my money, there's still plenty to like here! Seeing the clumsy yet fully capable Marshall lead the team, the great-looking vehicles and outfits (I'll admit, I like that they made Marshall's outfit brown, like an actual fireman's outfit), the cartoon continuing to feature fires, among other things. It may not be the best subseries, but hey, it doesn't have to be! Despite its shortcomings, I still thought it was fun! I enjoyed my time with it, and I'd love to see it again... perhaps someday soon, I hope!

Incidentally, while the final episode of season 11 didn't involve Fire Rescue, we could still see the new fire station in the background at one point. I like this! It lets us know that, just because it's not in use, the cartoon's not going to forget about it. It assures me that we very likely will go back to it, someday ! Nice, nice!

Honorable Mention - THIS GREATNESS

Although Marshall's my favorite pup in the cartoon, and hands-down one of my all-time favorite animated characters, I'll happily admit that Chase is pretty high up on my list of favorite PAW Patrol characters, too. As far as I'm concerned, he's the man, and he'll always be great in my books. Besides, he's the reason I first started watching PAW Patrol, so I gotta love 'em. And, naturally, I really like the friendship he and Marshall share, and I especially love it when the cartoon allows them to hang out and, of course, work together. It's my dream team, as I often mention... a lot, no doubt.

And, as you can imagine, when one of the Fire Rescue episodes gave us this moment, the two side-by-side like this... oh yeah, a big ol' thumbs up from me! Hey, say what you will about the episode, or even about me, but I'll never get tired of this. 🤩

[chaos0pikachu]

Two Flavors of Japanese (BL) Cinema

Recently I came across a post that proposited that Japanese cinema hadn't changed since the 1950's and came in, essentially, two types. 

Let's discuss that. 

I can’t go into the history of all Japanese cinema in a singular blog post like that’s just not possible, there’s literal books and classes you can take on this subject, and I will be linking further reading down at the bottom of the post so you can do just that. 

This fact alone, should already disprove the point that Japanese cinema hasn’t changed since the 1950’s. Other than the fact that like, Japan isn’t a static society that is forever unchanging because human beings do not work like that. 

Which is why I’m writing this essay at all. 

I love cinema, I love storytelling and filmmaking. And, frankly, I may not be an expert but I am annoying. I own that. 

Japanese cinema has held influence over many directors, writers, animators, and so forth. 

Just watch this playlist of Sailor Moon references across various cartoons. Or how Satoshi Kon influenced the work of Darren Aronofsky and Christopher Nolan. Or how James Cameron and the Wachowskis were both influenced by Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 Ghost in the Shell. And then there’s Akira Kurosawa who’s been cited as a major influence for directors like: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese and a slew of others.

I want folks to know there’s a slew of amazing films from Japan and that distilling the industry - the blood, sweat and tears of its creators - to a strict dichotomy of this or that, either/or is disrespectful at best and xenophobic at worst. 

It’s also just a shame because, like, guys there’s so many great films from Japan! There’s also probably a lot of great live action shows from Japan but I’m not super knowledgeable about them - I mainly watch anime so that’s not a great metric in terms of Japanese television - so I’m just talking about films in this post. 

Ok so main points I’m gonna address: 

Japanese Cinema hasn’t changed since the 1950s 

Japanese film style falls under an extreme dichotomy of cinematic/sweeping (described as “atmospheric”) or cartoonish/slapstick (described as “live action manga”)

Baby does any of this have to do with BL? (no, but it IS more gay than you think)

With these four films: The Hidden Fortress (1958), Lady Snowblood (1973), Gohatto (1999), and Kubi (2023). 

I picked these four because they’re all “period pieces” taking place feudal Japan - or with the aesthetics of feudal Japan, The Hidden Fortress nor Lady Snowblood aren’t based on actual historical events, like Gohatto and Kubi are, however loosely, but take place in an amorphous 15th to 18th century Japan - and I think they strongly show the development of this singular genre in Japanese cinema. 

Plus the latter two films, Gohatto and Kubi, are gay as fuck and I know my people. 

[you can also read this post on this blog post which includes additional links as tumblr has a limit and for easier readability as this is a long post]

The Hidden Fortress 

Released in 1958, directed by Akira Kurosawa it’s probably the most well-known film on the list. It’s a film that exists within the “Golden Age” of Japanese cinema alongside films like Kurosawa’s own Seven Samurai (1954), Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story (1953) and Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu (1953). 

It was also the era where, after the American Occupation post-WWII a boom of movie distribution took place with new film studios such as: Toho (y’all know them from any Godzilla movie ever made), Toei (if you know One Piece you know Toei but they’ve done a ton of films both animated and live action) and others. 

The story is straight forward, two peasants, Matashichi and Tahei who bicker their asses off like an old married couple the entire film, happen upon a Very Hot Man with the Only Thighs Out (Toshiro Mifune was a BABE) named Rokurota and his companion a icy young woman named Yuki. 

Matashichi and Tahei have just escaped like, a ton of ~circumstances that include failing to become samurai, being broke as fuck, getting captured and forced into servitude - don’t worry that lasted like 6 hours tops - and then find gold hidden in a stick on a mountain. 

Turns out Rokurota has all the stick gold they could want! So they team up neither realizing Rokurota and Yuki are actually part of a clan that’s been recently wiped out and they’re on the run from a rival clan who has wiped theirs out. Yuki is the princess of said clan and it’s only survivor, while Rokurota is her samurai general and retainer. 

Tahei and Matashichi, living in ignorance of these facts, try to steal the gold away from them because they live that hustle life until the end when all is revealed and Yuki grants them both with a gold piece to share (this is a really big piece of stick gold). 

There’s other things that happen, like a fight scene between Rokurota and rival clan member, Yuki owning every single scene she in - I fucking love her - but that’s the gist. 

The story is, again, pretty uncomplicated, it balances the comedy of Tahei & Matashichi with the stoicism of Rokurota and Yuki well, and all the acting is strong. In terms of its film style, by modern day standards it’s not especially “cinematic” Kurosawa doesn’t favor fanetic camera movements, his camera is often very still and the movement he employs is often in individual character ticks, and/or background set pieces. This film has a lot of great set pieces. 

Kurosawa didn’t employ camera techniques like panning, he doesn’t really do extreme close ups, there's no swooping shots or fancy tricks, I’d say a majority of the camera shots in The Hidden Fortress are a combination of mid, and wide, with a few mid-close ups. One thing to notice is Kurosawa’s use of scene cuts; instead of a cut he used pan sweeps to change scenes. If you’ve ever watched a Star Wars film you know exactly what I mean. 

The Hidden Fortress, first and foremost, is an action adventure film. It has more in common tonally with Top Gun Maverick or Star Wars A New Hope, in that it's straight forward, sincere, and grand in scale, grounded by a very honest set of characters who are strongly motivated. 

I feel like in modern day discussions we association “action/adventure” films in a sorta of negative way; this is probably due, in part, to the oversaturation of the high budget blockbusters of the last ten years - oh MCU, how you’ve fallen - that are overly bombastic, overly complicated, overly connected, and the root of what audiences connect with - the characters - tends to be lost. 

Scott Lang's motivations in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania are to protect his teenager daughter and the family he's built, which are simple, strong, and relatable character motivations. However, they got lost in the conventions of the plot, the frantic energy of the film, the simple amount going on around Scott that his motivations become less a central focus and thus he becomes small within his own film. We, the audience, become distant and it grows more difficult to connect with what's happening. This can still work on some level, the Fast and Furious franchise isn't successful because it's sophisticated, but the Fast-chise has embraced it's cheesier conventions and spectacle, while blockbusters like the MCU's output, simple juggle to much all at once. It also helps that while the cast keeps growing in the Fast and Furious films, there's still less than ten characters you have to actually know and care about. To fully understand and connect with the characters of The Marvels, you have to watch Ms. Marvel and WandaVision on Disney+ and the task becomes more akin to homework than simply the enjoyment of watching a movie. 

The epic scale grows so large it feels daunting, rather than exhilarating. 

I think this is why a film like Winter Soldier, more so than most MCU films of the last decade, has continued to be a fan favorite of the universe and of blockbuster lovers whether you are a fan of the MCU or not. At its root, Winter Soldier is character driven, with deeply motivated characters,  which is what makes the action and adventure aspects stick. 

The Hidden Fortress is similarly character driven with a simple and straightforward story that is about honor, loyalty, a princess, a loyal samurai/knight, rebuilding a decimated clan, and two “normal” characters to keep everything grounded and relatable. Which in turn, helps make it timeless. While the filmmaking itself isn't grandiose as what modern audiences may be used to, Kurosawa knows how to direct a scene and more than that, direct his actors. Mifune is commanding as always, but for me, it's really actress Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki that steals the movie. 

Lady Snowblood

Released in 1973 and based on a manga of the same name by Kazou Koike and Kazuo Kaminura, directed by Toshiya Fujita, Lady Snowblood and its sequel Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance are considered cult classics. Lady Snowblood, famously, is Quentin Tarantino’s inspiration for his Kill Bill saga (like, a freaking lot). 

Lady Snowblood is a part of the era of “new wave” and “pink films” that were emerging in Japan and elsewhere. Stateside I think a close equivalent to both the style and content of Lady Snowblood and other films like it are exploitation films. In fact while watching Lady Snowblood I couldn’t help but get exploitation film vibes just off the aesthetics and thematics of the film itself. 

To break down Lady Snowblood’s plot it goes like this: Yuki is tasked with getting revenge on four people who had a hand in her father, and older brother’s murder, and her mother’s rape (which is seen on screen so warning for y’all this is def a Does the Dog Die movie). 

Yuki’s mother kills one of her rapists, but is imprisoned before she can kill the others and while in prison she purposely gets pregnant so her child can carry on her revenge after she dies. Yuki is born, and raised by one of the fellow inmates and a priest who trains her in martial arts. She’s raised as a “demon”, whose only purpose is revenge for her mother, father, and brother. And boy does she get revenge the film is violent and graphic (even if by modern day standards the blood looks fake as fuck the emotions are there). 

Like The Hidden Fortress this film is very character driven, with a highly motivated protagonist but it’s also revels far more in it's violence and the spectacle of that violence. Yuki, in comparison to her earlier counterpart Princess Yuki, is the driver of the action in the story. She's an active participant in the plot, and the story centers around her. Princess Yuki is commendable, she's compassionate, and she makes decisions, but the story is more about what she represents - a fallen princess - than what she does. She's symbolic, the embodiment of a leader, a samurai spirit of nobility who becomes a leader worth following. Yuki, on the other hand, needs no protection from others, she's a much more direct and active part of the story since the story is hers - and her mothers - she's more elegant than regal, and there's nothing necessarily 'noble' about her.  She's not seeking to rebuild her clan as a leader, her motivations are singularly about her revenge quest to fulfill her mother's dying wish. 

In some ways, they're very similar - Yuki also feels compassion for another woman who's been used by the men around her as Princess Yuki does - and in others they are very different and speak to the changing expectations and idealizations of women from the 1950s to 1970s. 

Lady Snowblood is also way more violent than any Kurosawa film I’ve watched including The Hidden Fortress. While there is action in The Hidden Fortress, it’s all employed with specific purpose. Which is one of Kurosawa’s strengths as a director. It’s calculated and singular. Yes blood spurts up in Yojimbo but it's limited; quick and efficient, with more in common with John Wick or Collateral than the more fantastical and aesthetic Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez fare. 

Lady Snowblood revels in the aesthetic violence, there’s no “purpose” for Yuki to cut an already dead person in half, she does it out of pure frustration and for the glory of showing the audience that internal rage. Of a body hanging, dripping blood and gore onto the clean floor as the curtain draws to a close. 

The film also features on screen rape, sex, and nudity which The Hidden Fortress does not. There’s an implication that characters in the film would assault Princess Yuki if they could, but nothing ever goes beyond brief implication (still gross tho guys come on). Whilst in Lady Snowblood, the rape is brutal, the violence is brutal, and the emotions are far more intense because of it all. 

The allowance - for lack of a better term - of this kind of material showcases a cultural shift overall in the terms of visual storytelling filmmaking began experimenting with in telling, and in what audiences were responding too. Lady Snowblood was a beloved success for its overall low budget. In comparison to the two, The Hidden Fortress is filmed better, with more technique and focus, Lady Snowblood almost seems rustic in comparison, but it's a sort of rustic that speaks to experimentation. 

Low angles from a characters pov staring high above her, extreme zooms on Yuki's burning eyes, the oversaturated colors of red-orange blood or green walls or white clothes, the starless pitch black sky as powdery snow falls. The images are arresting even if at times they're choppy, and while the film opts for non-linear chapter breaks to create a story flow in comparison to Kurosawa's iconic screen swipes and straight forward narrative, yet, both work. 

Gohatto

Behold, the promised gay cinema I promised. 

Gohatto is a 1999 film directed by Nagisa Oshima based on the short story, Shinsengumi Keppuroku by Ryotaro Shiba. 

Gohatto is a pretty late entry in the new wave/pink films of its heyday but those films were Oshima’s bread and butter. Often dubbed as one of Japan’s cinema outlaws for his anti-establishment films, one of his films, Night and Fog in Japan (1960) was pulled from theaters all together. Most people in the west will probably know him even tangentially for his queer film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence starring David Bowie and Beat Takeshi or for this absolutely banger quote from the New York Times article, A Japanese Film Master Returns to his Cinema: 

(If you’re a BTS fan, the composer Suga and RM like, Ryuichi Sakamoto, both starred and composed the main theme of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Forbidden Colors, he plays the guy in love with David Bowie’s character)

Gohatto combines the setting of a Kurosawa film, with the more experimental storytelling of Lady Snowblood, whilst imbuing the film with more surrealistic elements and more complexity. And making it gay like - for real for real. 

Gohatto goes like this: it’s the late 18th century in Japan, everything politically is on shaky ground, and the shinsengumi are looking for newbies to join ranks. Welp, they find two promising newbies and wouldn’t ya know it one newbie, Kano, is like, hella pretty. He’s got bangs. 

He’s so pretty in fact that all these other dudes in the shinsengumi crew wanna smash, I mean down bad like the Taylor Swift song or whatever I don’t listen to Taylor Swift. 

This is all treated with a lackadaisical normality; there’s teasing about “I never considered sleeping with a man before, but damn that Kano kinda…” but there’s never a moment of “omg they’re GAY?”

Beat Takeshi’s - who’s also in this film, he’s been in a lot fo queer films I'm noticing - character Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshizo often asks other characters not if they’re attracted to Kano - the implication being that they are - but rather if they are in love with Kano. Because lust is fleeting, but love is dangerous to your duty. 

Kano also might be a spy, or a murderer, it’s all very ambiguous and the ending isn’t a “happy” one. This isn’t a film about a love story of any sort, it has more in common with erotic thrillers than the action adventure of The Hidden Fortress, or the rape revenge fantasy of Lady Snowblood. Where as the former films have definitive endings, Gohatto ends ambiguously. 

What actually happened? And why did it happen? What did it all mean, in the end? The film offers no strict answers to these questions, asking instead, that its audience to come to their own conclusions. It’s also much more historical than the previous two films, taking real life historical figures like: Hijikata Toshizo, Okita Soji, and Kondo Isami and asking the question, “hm, what if they all maybe fell in love with this super pretty man before being overthrown and what does that mean metaphorically?” 

The Hidden Fortress doesn’t ask its audience to interrogate society in any meaningful way and that’s not a knock against it, it’s just an observation. Lady Snowblood specifically presents the plight of women, and a slight take on classism within the system, through the lens of violence and destruction. Gohatto is much more metaphorical, it’s not providing the audience with a direct message like the former two films, but presenting it’s thematics in a much more abstract way. The Hidden Fortress is an action adventure, with heroes who achieve their goals and overcome their obstacles. Lady Snowblood is a rape revenge with an understandable protagonist who succeeds in her bloody revenge. Gohatto has no heroes, and offers no straightforward catharsis at the end of its story story. 

Its film style is also far more atmospheric compared to the epic scale and straightforwardness of The Hidden Fortress, or the lower budget charming violence of Lady Snowblood. 

There’s lots of mood lighting, overhead shots of characters dimly lit, camera cuts to rain after two characters have sex, extreme close ups of one character observing Kano’s eyes and lips. It’s not a black and white film like The Hidden Fortress, but it’s not nearly as saturated in color and brightness as Lady Snowblood. 

Lady Snowblood drips with color, and light, even at night there always almost seems to be a spotlight on Yuki with an empty starless sky in the background. Gohatto is much more grounded in realism than high visual aesthetics, opting to create more of a lingering dreamlike trance or fog to the cinematography when the story’s final act begins to unfold. 

Yet, one thing Gohatto has in common with both The Hidden Fortress and Lady Snowblood is its violence; operating somewhere between the two. Like The Hidden Fortress the violence is quick, purposely, and specific, and like Lady Snowblood blood spurts, gushes, and heads are displayed proudly and grotesquely.

Kubi

Kubi is a 2023 film directed by Takeshi Kitano aka Beat Takeshi - this is the third time his name has been dropped in relation to a queer film in this post go Beat Takeshi - based on a novel of the same name that Kitano also wrote. 

Kubi is like Beat Takeshi’s sengoku period slash RPF fanfic come to gruesome bloody (literal, not British) life. A period piece epic; Kubi is both about samurai warlords and a historical event known as the honno-ji incident, which took place in 1582. It features various historical figures like Oba Nobunage - if you’ve watched some anime or played some JRPGs you’ve probably at least heard of this name before - and other prominent historical figures of the time. 

The basic gist of the movie is Oba Nobunage is both really good at his job, so he’s super powerful politically, but he’s also a grade-a asshole whom all the other important samurai lords fucking hate. However, they also all fucking hate each other and all want to take Nobunage’s place and get all that sweet, sweet power for themselves. The honno-ji incident involved one of these guys doing a coup for reasons still unknown today and then pretty much almost immediately dying swiftly after leaving another samurai lord to take over. 

Kubi takes these historical events, and is like “okay but what if we added some gay innuendo and gay sex to this drama?” with more beheadings than a French revolution. 

Out of all the films on this list Kubi is, admittedly, the one I enjoyed the least, however, it’s an interesting retrospective on the growth of both the Japanese film industry and this specific genre in and of itself. 

Kubi’s film style is very modern, it’s beautiful, it’s sleek, it’s expensive looking. And yet there’s specific scenes that feel like callbacks to the Kurosawa era, like the black and white flashback between Nobunage and his fellow samurai lords. One of Kurosawa’s top films was Kitano’s Hana-Bi (1997), and Kitano has worked with Kurosawa’s daughter on costume design on four other films as well, so these references feel not only purposely because of general influence but also referential in a way. 

In terms of story and tone, Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress is sincere and straightforward, Lady Snowblood is experimental and fearless, Gohatto is introspective and suspenseful, whilst Kubi is unrelenting and even feels mocking at times. There is no break in Kubi's violence, there's almost no tenderness or softness, characters are selfish, and self-centered. The selfish, but joyful peasants in The Hidden Fortress don't exist here, and are replaced with a peasant character who murders his own friend and then rejoices over being relived of his family once he discovers they were murdered too. At times, Kubi feels like a subversion of the more glamourous depictions of the samurai in film. Which feels as though following similar footsteps established in Gohatto which also explored, subtextually, the faults within the samurai media persona. 

At times the film feels almost like a dark comedy, it doesn’t glamorize these samurai warlords, nor their clans, nor their ideals in the way The Hidden Fortress does, nor does it interrogate them in the way Gahotto does. Instead the story at hand is presented with a brutal realism, objective if a bit mocking with a side order of gay sex. Which isn’t presented in a mocking way so much as just an everyday aspect of life. 

When Mitsuhide and Murashige are caught by spies sleeping together there’s no shock or awe about it, just a calm report and the bigger issue is Mitsuhide hiding a fugitive more so than him sleeping with a man.

Similarly, when Nobunage is literally fucking one of his vassals in front of Mitsuhide, it’s not to disgust the other man, but rather a powerplay of sorts to make the latter jealous - at one point Nobunage promises if Mitsuhide accomplishes a mission for him, he’ll sleep with him - and it seemingly works to some degree. There’s subtext throughout the film that Mitsuhide might be, if not in love with Nobunage, want him in an obsessive way all the same (including being down to bone). 

Like with Gohatto the queerness is inherent, just a part of the culture. It’s not “romance” by any means, but it is simply a part of life and the culture itself. 

In terms of characters, Kubi's characters couldn't be more different from the characters in the previous mentioned films. The Hidden Fortress characters like Princess Yuki and Rokurota are easy to like, honorable, quiet, steadfast; while Matashichi and Tahei are less outright likable they offer a grounding and relatable to the big presence that are the former two. In Lady Snowblood, Yuki is quiet, calculating and menacing in her own right, truly embodying the idea of cold vengeance which makes her intriguing. In Gohatto Kano is elusive, which adds to his sensual allure, Okita is playful yet clearly hiding a more sinister air about him, and you just feel bad for Tashiro who’s pushy but seemingly sincere in his affections for Kano. 

Kubi has no by-the-by “likable” characters, every character is out for themselves in some way shape or form. So much so that the brief tenderness between Mitsuhide and Murashige is like a balm to a burn. Though I did absolutely enjoy the scene-chewing of Ryo Kase who played Nobunage. While Nobunage isn't a "likable" character by any means, he was so fun and engaging to watch he became a highlight of the film. 

Stylistically, this is a very modern epic film; it’s the type of film in terms of scale I imagine Kurosawa could have made if he had access to the same technology, but also wouldn’t because there’s no stillness or sincerity to it. The violence is also more in line with Lady Snowblood, but with a budget. Heads are lopped off with ease and at times with glee, dead bodies, headless bodies with crabs crawling out of the necks, a literal pile of heads for trophies it’s all here. It’s beautifully and dynamically filmed, it has a similar scale of a Lord of the Rings, or a Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms. 

Big set pieces, big costumes, big landscapes, big battles, and bigger body counts. It also has the largest cast of any film on the list - kinda neat that Kitano and Asano Tadanobu were both in Kubi and Gohatto together - and the best costumes of the bunch. 

It also, in my opinion, has the most complicated plot of all the films because of the heavy political intrigue - though this, admittedly, could be because of the culture gap as I’m not overly familiar with Japanese history. 

Okay so like, where does all this leave us in terms of those original bullet points? 

The Original Bullet Points

Japanese Cinema hasn’t changed since the 1950s 

If there's one thing - well okay many things cause I'm greedy but overall - I hope I've been able to outline here with these four films is that obviously Japanese cinema has changed since the 1950s. And thoroughly at that. Not just in terms of style, but in terms of character presentation, tone, stories technology, experimentation, and a growing reflection of the shifting and developing culture. 

It’s not simply that all four of these films are different stories, but that all four of these films are addressing different aspects of their modern culture via these period pieces, as well as, viewing this time period in ways that reflect the filmmakers own experiences and how they feel or felt about the world. 

Kurosawa was born in 1910 to Kitano’s 1947, Fujita and Oshima’s 1932. Kurosawa’s father was a member of an actual samurai family, his worldview would be thoroughly different from someone like Oshima, or Kitano, or Fujita’s. Some overlap, sure, but also still thoroughly different. 

And I feel that you can see that in their films; Kurosawa’s samurai films are almost referential at times, not always, but his work with Toshiro Mifune often leans that way; in The Hidden Fortress Mifune’s Rokurota is deeply loyal to his lord, the Princess Yuki, to the point that he won’t shed tears over his own sister being executed in her place. He spares the life of a rival because he respects him even though they stand on opposing sides. 

The samurai in Gohatto and Kubi aren’t nearly so idealized nor idolized, there’s very little “honor” in Kubi and even less loyalty. Whilst in Gohatto there’s a deep and subtle interrogation of the strict and oppressive bylaws of the shinsengumi. In one such scene, Kano is having drinks with a man who is interested in him, Yuzawa, who’s passionately talking about how the shensengumi uphold oppressive ideals including classism. 

[And then he jumps Kano’s bones I guess politics got the dude going lmao]

The Hidden Fortress’ Princess Yuki is at first, masculine - in story she was raised as a man rather than a princess - from the way she walks to the way she talks. She’s fierce, and upstanding, while also being compassionate to other members of her clan; even saving a young woman who’s a member of her clan that had been sold. There’s a regal quality to Princess Yuki. 

In comparison, Yuki in Lady Snowblood is elegant, and feminine, before striking out violently. Princess Yuki never has an “action scene” and in fact for a chunk of the film has to pose as a deaf woman to hide her identity. While not a passive participant in the plot, nor does she directly drive the action herself. While Yuki, well the entire movie is driven by her actions and the actions of her mother. The story is first and foremost, hers. 

Meanwhile women just like, they don’t exist in Gohatto or Kubi they’re like, in the ether~~~ they’re drifting, keeping out - or kept out? - of the drama. 

Given the vast differences in both style, tone, story and execution, how can you say wholeheartedly that Japanese cinema hasn’t changed since the 1950s? 

Japanese film style falls under an extreme dichotomy of cinematic/sweeping (described as “atmospheric”) or cartoonish/slapstick (described as “live action manga”)

I’m just…not gonna get into the overall history of Japan's adaptation of manga into live action films cause it would derail this conclusion and I ain’t got the time for that. I would like to note, Lady Snowblood is a live action film based on a manga of the same name - and it is not slapstick. It doesn’t even have comedic elements, it is a violent rape revenge story; I don’t think there’s a single moment where I chuckled. The Hidden Fortress is far lighter in tone, while Gohatto has more in common with Lady Snowblood - deeply and sincerely serious - and Kubi goes for a darker sort of comedy. 

This is just incorrect information. Personally I’m of the mind that “cinematic/sweeping is too broad a spectrum to even quantify as a film genre they are descriptors. 

That said, I don’t think Lady Snowblood is cinematic or sweeping. Gohatto is the only one on the list that’s even close to “atmospheric” though all four films have atmosphere - because atmosphere is a film technique it’s not a genre of film - The Hidden Fortress and Kubi are the only two I could qualify as “cinematic/sweeping” because they’re going for a larger bombastic scale. Though I feel folks watching The Hidden Fortress in the modern day might not find it cinematic because of how static and slow the film can be at times - the first act is long and drags quite a bit. 

To place such a strict dichotomy on an entire industry of filmmaking is simply bad film critique at best and xenophobic at worst given the context here. I’ve only talked about four films in one singular genre, I didn’t mention the countless other new wave films, or the birth of the kaiju genre with Godzilla, the expansion into horror and grindhouse - where does a film like Tag (2015) fit into such a strict dichotomy? -  nor the long, long history of animated works from various insanely highly influential and/or successful directors like Satoshi Kon, Makoto Shinkai, Hideaki Anno, Rintaro, Mamoru Hosoda, Mamoru Oshii, Isao Takahata, I mean the list goes on and on. 

If you expand your horizons you’ll find so many amazing films that do not flatly sit in this one or the other imposed categorization. Think about what queer cinema you may be missing out on by adhering to this imposed binary. 

Baby does any of this have to do with BL? (no, but it IS more gay than you think)

So, in the end, what does this have to do with BL? I would say it has both little and a lot to do with BL/GL which are genres all their own in Japan and other neighboring countries; as such their subject to the same waves, exploration and expansion as the four aforementioned films. 

It’s easy, if intellectually dishonest and academically lazy, to look at The Novelist and What Did You Eat Yesterday and say “BL only comes in two shapes and sizes”. 

There’s chocolate or vanilla and that’s it. When in reality there’s lots of ice cream flavors available, even if chocolate and vanilla are the best sellers it doesn’t mean strawberry or mint chocolate chip don’t exist. 

Where does animated BL fall into this western imposed binary? How does capitalism affect the output of what gets made for the screen and how? How does the political climate affect what’s being financed? Are BL and GL works that are being made somehow unaffected, existing in a stasis state, by the works across the film industry? Even from other queer works of film? What are we, as outsiders, not considering when we engage with this media? 

If we’re only looking at BL/GL for “queer representation” what films and/or television are we missing out on from these countries? What BL/GL are we missing by only engaging with what's put in front of us, and not diving deeper into learning more, expanding our individual knowledge, and experiencing stories that might take some work towards seeing? Stories that might be outside of our direct comfort zones because they don't fall into those strict if seemingly comforting boxes. What exploration into queer identity are we denying or ignoring the existence of because of these imposed binaries? 

I know some folks who are more well versed in BL history that would and do consider Gohatto and Kubi BL or BL adjacent, but I also know most western, especially American, audiences would consider neither of these films BL. 

So where does that leave them?

Further Reading: 

Cinematic History: Defining Moments in Japanese Cinema, 1926-1953

A Brief But Essential Introduction to Japanese Cinema

Filmmaking from Japan: The Golden Age of Japanese Cinema

Nagisa Oshima: Banishing Green

JAPANESE SOFTCORE: THE LAST OF TOKYO'S PINK EIGA THEATERS

The Last Samurai: A Conversation with Takeshi Kitano

The Evolution of the Japanese Anime Industry

Check out other related posts in the series:

Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition | Aspect Ratio in Love for Love's Sake | Cinematography in My BL - Our Skyy2 vs kinnporsche, 2gether vs semantic error, 1000 Stars vs The Sign | How The Sign Uses CGI | Is BL Being Overly Influenced by Modern Western Romance Tropes? | Trends in BL (Sorta): Genre Trends

[38sr]

I know this is gonna be a strange one, but I do have an industry question;

I've been looking for a job for the last 4 years post-grad, I've tried every bit of advice I've gotten over my 6 years in school and 4 years out. Is it too late for me?? Or more so what advice would you have at this point?? I'm starting to feel really negatively about this venture, and getting a day job has been just as difficult;;

Hello Sky! Hope it's okay to call you that. Ah post-grad job hunting.....I don't miss that period of my life at all. Before I begin, just want to preface that what I say going forward is strictly from my perspective/experience. I am not the absolute of the animation industry so if what I say doesn't align with you, you do not have to follow it haha. Alright, advice for post grad job hunting.... Well, I think I want to start off giving a bit of context for the animation landscape these past 4 years that has been rough for everyone (trust me it'll come back around to your question): 1.) COVID Pandemic

This one might be a confusing for some people because when COVID hit in 2020, the only facet of entertainment that was able to keep going was animation. If you remember, during this time streaming numbers went up because people were stuck at home, every studio was launching their own streaming platform (HBO Max, Disney+, Peacock, etc.) and celebrities were given animated shows because live-action had stopped dead in its tracks. This period allowed artists outside of California state to get hired because what's the point of capping the talent to the local area when we're already working remotely? In short, it was a boom. But an exponential boom rather than a gradual boom. You never wanna grow too fast because you'll crash out quicker (and harder) which leads us to our second factor.... 2.) Netflix's first ever round of layoffs in summer 2022, streaming actually isn't profitable?????

In short, this year is when Netflix's growth finally stopped and was the beginning of The Great Animation Contraction. Other studios who were looking to Netflix as a the new model of distributing/creating entertainment had realized Netflix wasn't invincible. As well as their business model. So naturally, they got scared and and take action (aka layoffs). I was affected by these layoffs while working at Marvel Studios and many artists got laid off at studios to save face from the mistake that was streaming (though at this point studios were still double downing on it). Also, around this time live-action was slowly restarting thanks to vaccines and social distancing protocols. So those celebrity studded animated productions dwindled down (and also they caused so much havoc for us animation workers because most of those celebrities had no animation production experience). Which now leads us to...

3.) Mergers everywhere! Yeah, uh, mergers fucking suck. People kept losing their jobs because companies kept absorbing into each other and multiplying their debts to ungodly dollars amounts! Apparently no one took a math class and understood if you multiply any number by zero you will always get a zero. These merger also caused more shows to get shelved and canned, making the job market even slimmer. And by then we get to 2023 and the....

4.) WGA, SAG and TAG Contract Negotiations By now, studios have realized that streaming is losing them money because it costs a butt load of money to not only create a streaming site, but also maintain it, update it, create new media for it, acquire established franchises for it, and maintain the current library. Streaming shows aren't being advertised like they used to on cable so shows don't last beyond one or two seasons. Worker contracts are becoming shorter and shorter (I had a co-worker who had a 3 month contract! Isn't that insane?). And what happens in the midst of this streaming meltdown?

WGA, SAG and TAG are gearing up for their contract negotiations. And as we know SAG (actors) and WGA (writers) did strike which good for them! But now there are no live-action jobs and once again, animation (TAG) is the only one running because our negotiations don't officially start until 2024. At this point, so many animated productions have been cancelled left and right for the sake of "saving money and cutting costs". And the effects were very much being felt in the animation work force. Some animation workers were starting to leave the state of California to more affordable cities, some getting day jobs as baristas, hell some leaving the industry all together. It didn't help that studios were kind of withholding production greenlights 'cause 1) they're greedy corporations 2) these strikes were putting pressure on them. And when we did enter 2024 for our contract negotiations, that contraction was at the tightest. The job market for animation had become so bone dry that you have director-level talent taking entry level jobs to stay afloat. But because of that new, emerging artists are blocked out from breaking in. Anytime a job listing would go up people would go in a frenzy and try every thing they could to get the job. That's how little shows were in production this year specifically. Of course, by now it is public that TAG has ratified the contract (meaning we will not strike). But up until then, studios were quite literally waiting with baited breath for the duration of negotiations. A ton of stuff was in development but nothing was getting a greenlight in fear of a strike. So many animation workers at this point have been laid off for at least 2 years, got priced out of LA county, or got so burned by the industry that they left for a more sustainable paycheck. At this point of the post you're probably thinking, "Why is she talking about all of this and not answering my question?"

And the reason for that is because I what to highlight you didn't miss your chance. You unfortunately graduated at a time where the circumstances were not good for breaking in for the past 4 years.

I'm not saying this to deter you from animation either. I just want to be transparent and honest about the current state of animation because it really has been bleak for the past 4 years. So it's not your fault but rather the industry was just in a seriously bad drought. Both emerging and veteran artists have been struggling to find work and when they do it didn't even last for 6 months. Hopefully, with the renewed contract studios will start greenlighting productions again so everyone isn't fighting for one job opening. But I can't tell 'cause I am not Raven Baxter haha. But what advice can I give during this tough time? Start developing your own projects. Things may be pretty dry right now but now is the time when you can create and develop your own original stuff that can be used in your portfolio. Short or long form, showing progress videos, just create. Because once you start working it's gonna be hard to find that personal project time (trust me I'm going through that right now haha). Also, you'd be surprised how just doing your own thing can garner the attention of someone who does have the power to hire you. How do you think I got to work on the shows I have in the animation industry? Almost all of my jobs happened because I was just creating my own thing and it just happened to match the sensibilities of a show produced by a Hollywood studio. And if I had any additional advice... it would probably be don't think that Hollywood is the only way you can tell your stories.

This one is more of....a recent revelation I've had after going through a pretty bad work experience but Hollywood isn't the only way you can be a storyteller. Whether it's comics, games, streaming, animation, or film....the Hollywood system isn't the end all be all. And by Hollywood system I'm referring to breaking into a big studio like Disney, Nick or something and trying to get your own movie/tv show to win an award or something. That system often works for a certain group of people and fails other groups. That's why I say develop and create your own thing because you might find something that fits your creative voice more than Disney or any other Hollywood studio. Maybe that's inconsiderate of me to say as someone who's been incredibly lucky to work in the animation industry for almost 8 years now....but I still wanna be honest that there are other avenues that isn't the Hollywood way. All in all, please don't give up or beat yourself up. The current state of animation within America was out your control and resulted in many artists struggling to find a job. You aren't too late. In fact, I would say now is your time to do your thing in preparation for when that hiring boom comes again (or you can just take another route to tell your stories). I hope that answered your question!

[bring-cringe-back]

Okay I might just be reading too much into this. But while I was watching the episode *cough cough* procrastinating *cough cough I realised that they don't show how the Doctor and Ruby got there.

And I know that it's probably just meant to be vaguely like 'they just went for fun'.

BUT this is the third episode in a row where we haven't seen them arrive. And for 73 yards it was clearly a doctor who episode when it started but it immediately gets rid of the doctor. ( I know that for 73 yards and for dot and bubble it was because Ncuti Gatwa was filming other stuff but let me cook) In Dot and Bubble you could effectively be forgiven for assuming that it was a random Black Mirror episode or something similar until the Doctor turns up, and tbh if you were just flicking through channels and haven't been watching Doctor Who you could probably basically not know for much longer. In Rogue they are just there, except for the title screen (the same for dot and bubble) you could basically watch it as a Bridgerton episode until the Chuldur turn up.

(And there's whole other rant about how the Chuldur fits into the theory about this basically being a TV show within a TV show, I don't know the name for this theory)

But anyway these episodes are increasingly separated from the Doctor and Ruby as plot points particularly in the beginning of episodes. They are more and more like an excuse to tell the story or explore the topic that the writers want to explore. Which isn't totally different from the occasional episode of previous series, but this is a lot more in my memory at least from previous series. So it feels a lot like they are skimming over the more sci-fi doctor who elements. Which fits in in my mind to the idea that the 'One who waits' is a representation of story telling. I've seen theories that it's Ruby but she doesn't know it which makes sense, I think it would also make sense for it to be her parent(s) who left her, or alternatively just it's own thing all together. But it feels very like that bit where Amy is living a life and starts to realise it's all fake.

The narrowing down of these episodes into not showing them arriving, and at least in Rogue - I can't remember in the others - not showing them leaving the story, feels very different.

It feels more and more like story telling. They have covered fairy tales, Period pieces/Romance, Dystopia, War/SciFi, Musicals, Political Drama. They are also showing the doctor playing his role, something that we see companions doing often enough but we seldom see the doctor doing it.

In Space Babies he is scared of a new creature. In the Devil's Code he sings a song that makes little sense in the story, he doesn't question the road making noise. In Boom he's more himself but it's also the closes to his 'normal' environment. In 73 Yards they just fully remove him from the story, which I realise was done for filming requirements but would have been so interesting to see the doctor in a Political drama. In Dot and Bubble he plays the role of the outsider bringing information to those living under a Dystopia, how is he UNABLE to access the inside, sure he plays a role that's fairly similar to himself but Doctor Who is really Dystopian.

In Rogue he is becoming more and more his role, he is playing the role of a sort of Elizabeth Bennet style character, a strong romantic interest for the brooding man. Which is great, he makes fun of the genre, but he is hyper aware of the genre and still ends up in its pitfalls. He trusts a man so quickly he ends up handing over his sonic, he gets proposed to and basically immediately accepts. Now I am really hoping that Rogue gets to stay around I really liked him as a character, regardless of which theory of his identity if any are true. But the Doctors reaction to him is still a little out of character, he is feeling what he is SUPPOSED to feel and he is acting how he is SUPPOSED to act.

It just feels to me like an increasing number of these episodes are more and more story like and more and more separated from the more Doctor Who elements. And the lack of an introduction of how they get there, and the lack of them leaving in the TARDIS is so unusual to me and stands out to my brain so much.

It feels like they are removing elements that don't fit the genre. Anyway not sure if that makes any sense but I'm vibing with it.

[laf-outloud]

https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/max-thieriot-story-behind-filming-jared-padalecki-fire-country-entrance

Great article!! I loved this part:

And he came in like a freaking pro and crushed that fight scene like nothing, I was like ‘Man!’ Like [he] just came in and did it. And he really did. He knew every step, every move, had it choreographed, like, boom, boom, boom. So, I think all of us were sitting there sort of watching in real-time, we were ‘Oh dang! He's doing it.’

Stephanie was so in awe too, she couldn't believe how fast he learned it.

It's obvious when actors like Max and Stephanie praise his work (actors who know the difficulties of fight scenes), that what Jared did was truly impressive. The fight was not about brute force (it was not intended that way), but rather, it was an intricate dance that involved multiple people and props. Those who criticize it simply don't understand the skill required to pull off that kind of 'dance.'

I also liked this other quote from the article:

"You know, the fight was something that they came up with in the [writers’] room. I think they knew that they wanted to really sort of have him enter and make an impact, and kind of immediately come in and be this sort of force and … make a big splash for his character. But also, at the same time, have [him] impact and be involved with the normal regulars in the show. So, to get to see him kind of come in and instantly interact with everybody, but leave an impact, I think was a big concept that they were hoping to pull off."

That's a lot to accomplish in one scene, introduce a new character, have him interact with so many regulars in an impactful way, and leave an impression. Fire Country (and Jared) pulled it off beautifully!

[dandelionjack]

wait so you prefer moff over rtd right?

i think they both have their strengths and weaknesses. rtd is a good writer and i love the way his first era intersperses social realism among the camp wackiness of alien worlds far more than moffat’s stylised polished view of earth settings BUT he didn’t write s8-10. he didn’t write heaven sent/hell bent. he didn’t write dark water/death in heaven. most of the best rtd-era episodes were also written by moffat. ie they balance each other out and i want to believe boom will be the best episode of s14

on the political side they are both your average liberal gen x uncle with iffy centre-left opinions who mean well (thank god for rose noble in an era of rampant transmisogyny in the british media! moffat giving us the first canon lesbian companion + the first lesbian kiss onscreen! etc) but it doesn’t always land. looking at you “male presenting time lord” and “her name was nina i was going through a phase”. i’m not even going to mention chib. plus rtd seems to have this unquestioning worship of government institutions (all the UNIT bullshit) that he really needs to deconstruct

if we’re going to rescue the show from the inevitable cancellation it will get hit with in ~5 years when the BBC withers away and the increasingly fascist disney corporation realises that a show with a queer Black protagonist isn’t profitable enough (although we could do with another wilderness era, it invented basically everything great about nuwho didn’t it) we’re going to need a younger showrunner that’s not a cishet white man, and a lot of people, me included, have juno dawson in mind. she wrote redacted. she’s a trans woman. she would probably be up for the job.

tldr. i think they’re both good enough. i also think they’re both mid. everything in moderation. juno dawson for showrunner

[oblivionbladetd]

(On "Something You Can Learn from Lorch: Nothing is Worse than Boring") You put this so well!!!

I genuinely think, that Lily just couldn't write a whole book/novel. "One-shot"-like, shorts are the only format she can think, because she genuinely doesn't know how to frame a story, map out a plot and create characters who are more than a few positive labels pinned to a wooden board. (And doesn't even mention research. Like Sai put it beautifully about her stream, when she read Scars - Plan B, that Lily was too lazy/did not care to look up when was that fucking Plan B even introduced to the market! This is something even a beta reader could have fixed for her.)

Her stories always follow the same "feel-good" format of a broken family/found family, and it's members being "soooo sweet and loving and like :3" with each other. And fine, there are many authors out there who make a living out of like, essentially writing the same story all over again and again, but those are at least full stories! The same cookie-cutter bullshit romance (no hate, but I think this genre suffers the most from it) but at least they play around with the tropes of the archetype of the two main characters, and we, the readers are given some kind of "journey" from point A to point B.

Lily just shoves two OCs in your face as is like "This is X, she likes Y! And this is Y, she likes X!" and that is all, this is their fucking personality that matters from the point of view of the writing!

I don't want to be rude, but I this is why when she, like ages ago mentioned something like "I hardly write a fanfic without a oc" (before she started calling Ao3, the "scam machine" and complained about the explicit shit on it? Like cool, than don't use it, and support a website that treats NSFW stuff differently) makes so much sense now. Writing a fanfiction where the characters are not OOC, requires you to understand that character. Both their good and their bad sits, know what is their motivation, how would they act and think is different situations... just, know them! But with an OCs, like Lily's were most of the time, there the story mainly focuses around them, you don't have to - because they are merely backstage actors in their own world. And it would be fine, really (bad fanfic exist all over the fandoms, and some can be genuinely cute, when a fresh fan writes it with so much exactment) but I think, in the case of Lily, it just shows her unwillingness to actually understand a character (and as I writer, see how they were "build it", and how you can use it in your own story). She doesn't know how to understand a character, therefore cannot build up her owns.

She doesn't "don't want to write publish a book" she couldn't.

Look no further than Pokemadhouse. Burgeoning romantic tension is released through a valve of sisterhood... because that's somehow not weird... plus, it's wild fluctuations in tone. Even sith resurgence seems held together only by needing to line up with the sequel trilogy. She isn't great at long form.

I'd argue it's a side effect of her toothless writing as much as Lily having the attention of a mayfly. A good character flaw by itself can easily have a story seamlessly layer on top of it. Spy Family is an easy example in that it has Anya as an inherently selfish 5-year-old. She manages to stitch a super interesting Family for herself, but anybody that's thought about the show for even a little can tell you the cart Anya used to escape the orphanage is full of dynamite and is being express shipped to a burning building. This extends beyond her, but for the sake of brevity, we'll just focus in. It leads to there being no end of interesting tension simply because she has all the tools to solve her problems, but neither the drive or foresight to effectively use them. If you gave her the drive and foresight of say, Donavan. Boom, plot over. She'd have 0 trouble and probably even sus out that just telling Loid she's psychic would make her an invaluable asset to operation strix that would be put on easy street for life as mind reading in a spy thriller is 100000% a plot breaker power. without her flaws.

Now the story wouldn't be completely fucked, but a new emphasis must be placed, external forces. In the movie The Beekeeper, our protagonist, Adam Clay, is more than well equipped to take care of business. Fuck I don't think he even fires a gun until the last act simply because that's how hard he outranks the people he's fighting. He just doesn't need a gun until he is literally outnumbered by a hundred, if not more. The story remains interesting in the clever ways he dispatches his foes with whatever he has at hand if he isn't just boxing them with badass fighting skills. The drive is up to a certain point. You can just have him keep being a badass in increasingly interesting locals against better trained opponents. Heck, it even wrestles with the moral implications that no matter how vindicated he is, the body count and collateral are building sky high, and even if he is doing the right thing it's not going to be worth it.

Lily has neither the masterful character work nor the heart to throw anything at them that can't be easily and cleanly handled. What else can you really write other than peeks at them doing fuck all? Chapter 2 of scars is literally just the hotel transylvania meme

Make a full novel of just this. You really can't without wildly changing to tone of it. This is the caliber of Lily's writing as it sits. A one and done meme that you just have to stare at long past the chuckle. Real high art.