#wanting to live up to a legacy and has done something that’s never happened before?

[neteyammeowmeow]

PLEASE is anyone going to hear me out on this au

(all platonic btw)

[mocchiixxx]

Love or Legacy Series| #7 : Unwritten Melodies

(Lee Jihoon (Woozi) x Reader)

Genre: Angst, Romance, Drama, Idol AU

⚠️ WARNING: This is story is purely work of fiction. It does not reflect real-life events or SEVENTEEN in any way. This episode contains heavy angst, emotional distress, and themes of heartbreak and sacrifice. Reader discretion is advised. Please take care of yourself while reading.

Summary: When Jihoon's relationship is exposed, the backlash is brutal. Fans turn against him, and the company offers him a choice—his love or his career. Forced to make the ultimate sacrifice, Jihoon chooses to protect you the only way he knows how. But when the dust settles and he’s left alone with his music, he realizes too late—some songs are never meant to be finished.

Jihoon had never been the type to believe in fate.

He believed in hard work, in long nights spent inside a studio, in melodies built from countless revisions. Love was something that happened in the spaces between, accidental, unplanned, and far too fragile for the life he lived.

But then you happened.

And for the first time, Jihoon found himself composing songs with a name hidden in every lyric.

For the first time, he wanted to believe that love was something he could have.

Until the world reminded him that idols weren’t meant to love.

And that love, no matter how deep, could never survive under a spotlight.

It started with a rumor.

A blurry photo of two figures walking too close, an analysis of matching accessories, a thread speculating every moment he had slipped up.

Then came the hate.

'He lied to us.' 'If he really loved his fans, he wouldn’t be dating.''He was caught wearing a matching bracelets as her' 'This is so disappointing. I can’t support him anymore.'

And the worst...

'Bet she was in this for fame and money.'

'She’s ruining his career.'

You became the villain overnight.

They dug into your life, pulled apart every post, every interaction, twisted everything until you became a parasite, someone who had latched onto him for fame.

The messages flooded in; threats, insults, strangers demanding that you disappear. Your name trended for all the wrong reasons. The places you once found comfort in became suffocating.

And Jihoon saw it all.

He saw the pain in your eyes when you read the comments. He saw the way you hesitated before stepping outside, as if the world had turned into something dangerous. He saw how you tried to hide it, tried to smile and tell him it would pass.

But it wouldn’t.

And that’s why he had to end it. The company didn't have to step in because he already know what's has to be done.

You met him in his studio that night, the place that had always been yours.

But something was different.

Jihoon was standing in the middle of the room, hands clenched into fists, eyes dark with something unreadable. The air was thick with words unsaid.

You stepped forward, heart pounding. “Jihoon, what’s going on?”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked past you, as if memorizing the moment before shattering it.

Then he exhaled sharply. “We need to break up.”

The words hit harder than any hateful comment ever could.

Your breath caught. “No.”

His jaw tightened. “It’s the only way.”

“No, it’s not.” You shook your head, voice trembling. “We can get through this. You don’t have to—”

“I do.”

You took a step toward him. “Jihoon, we can figure this out. We always do.”

Not this time.Not when loving him meant ruining you.

“I won’t let them destroy you.” His voice wavered, and he hated himself for it.

“You don’t deserve this.” Tears slipped down your cheeks.

“Then don’t do this. Please.” you begged weakly.

“I already made up my mind. All this happening was making my head hurts.” he spoke in a cold voice. “I'm getting annoyed by all of it.” his voiced is like a dagger thrown straight to your heart.

For the first time since he met you, Jihoon turned his back on you. Because if he looked at you any longer, he would break.

There was no hesitation in his voice. Just a quiet finality that made your chest ache.

Your fingers curled into your sleeves. “Jihoon, please don’t do this.”

His eyes finally met yours. And for a second, you saw the truth, saw the war raging inside him, the love he was trying to bury under the weight of the choice he had to make.

Then he looked away.

“It was never supposed to be serious.”

The world tilted. An audible surprised gasp leave your lips at that.

“What?” Your voice barely came out.

“This. Us.” His words were precise, each syllable cutting deeper. “It was just… a distraction.”

A lie.

A cruel, calculated lie.

Your throat burned. “You don’t mean that.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

It did. It mattered more than anything.

You wanted to scream at him, shake him, make him admit that he was doing this to protect you. But you also knew Jihoon, he knew that when he decided something, there was no changing his mind.

So you took a breath, forcing yourself to stay steady.

“Okay,” you whispered.

His expression didn’t change, but his hands trembled at his sides.

You stepped back, swallowing the lump in your throat. “I hope… your career is worth it.”

Then you turned and walked away.

And Jihoon let you go.

The next morning, the official statement was released.

'We regret to inform you that Lee Jihoon (Woozi) was involved in a personal matter that has caused distress among fans. After careful discussion, both parties have decided to part ways, acknowledging that certain relationships can interfere with professional obligations. Moving forward, we ask for fans’ continued support as Woozi's dedicates himself fully to his career.'

No mention of love. No acknowledgment of the pain. Just a cold, clinical dismissal of everything you had been to each other.

And just like that, the storm passed.

The fans forgave him. His name cleared. The world moved on.

But Jihoon didn’t.

He drowned himself in work, filled his days with schedules, filled his nights with unfinished songs. He convinced himself it was for the best.

But then he sat in his studio, staring at the empty chair across from him, fingers frozen above the piano keys.

And for the first time in his life...

Lee Jihoon had nothing left to write.

[hydrobunny]

i remember it all too well

tags: angst, post breakup, flashbacks, journalist reader, angst angst angst, it's all too well come on now

a/n: happy belated birthday sae itoshi

your world pauses the day sae itoshi is spotted with a new girlfriend.

the photos are blurry, paparazzi shots taken from at least one building over. it doesn't matter. you would know the curve of his arm around a waist in a thousand different lives.

you have to admit she fits him. even as your hands shake, you can't deny that they look happy- something the two of you weren’t so good at.

it doesn’t stop you from harboring too-many amounts of memories all the same.

you met him before he had joined the world of the superstars, but after he had already been something greater. (you think that if you had met him before everything, you two would’ve fared better.)

by the time you two had locked eyes, he was already changed. something inside of him had shifted, turning away from everyday life and facing immortal legacies instead. you had falsely believed you held a place in it.

you should’ve known better, right from the very first words he spoke to you.

“you’re not supposed to be here.”

you pause, looking up from your phone to face the voice.

cold eyes glare down at you, beautiful in color. the boy - because he can only be around your age, barely leaving the teenage years at most - they belong to is just as annoyingly beautiful. you think you should recognize him.

“excuse me?” you ask, offense rising. “i know where i’m supposed to be.”

his eyes only narrow. “is this another shitty tactic? i said i was done with interviews.”

“good for you, dude.” you roll your eyes, pushing past his shoulder. “why anyone would ever want to interview you, i have no idea.”

as you leave, you can feel his gaze on your back.

you blink, shaking yourself out of whatever that was. it's not good to linger on the past. (your therapist had told you that.)

still, she has also told you that one couldn't grow without recognizing what exactly they had to grow from.

perhaps that's why you find yourself rummaging in your bedside drawer for a deeply buried box, the ends of your fingers numb.

when you open it, you’re met with nothing but a handful of flimsy keepsakes. from fraying bracelets to notes to polaroids. all of them are snapshots of a relationship no longer yours, artifacts of what used to be your heart.

in each flashback, sae itoshi lingers.

the next time you met him, you had learned that he was supposedly a household name. (never in your household, though.)

the great hope of japan’s future -despite what he himself had to say about the country.

you’re a little embarrassed by what happened. still, you refuse to take all the blame.

“sae itoshi,” you blurt out. “you’re here.”

those stunning eyes flicker to you, and he actually pauses. recognition actually stops him.

“you’re the one who was lost,” he says, mildly. “not pretending to not know me this time?

you flush. “in my defense, i didn’t know you. i don't do the sports section.”

he raises an eyebrow. “then why am i still seeing you?”

before you can respond, your boss comes rushing through the hallway, sweat beading on his brow.

“itoshi-san!” he blusters, barely sparing you a glance. “we’re so glad you’re here! is the intern bothering you? your interview is in the next room over, so if you just want to follow me- we're so grateful you decided to give us your exclusive.”

something twitches on sae’s face. “intern?”

offense rears its head in your chest. “what-”

“i’ve changed my mind,” sae interrupts mildly. he turns to you, taking hold of one of the many pens lying on your desk.

ask you and your boss watch in bewilderment, he leans down and scrawls something on your notepad.

“she’ll get the exclusive,” he says, straightening back up. “when she isn't an intern anymore.”

and he turns and walks out of the building, leaving nothing but a string of numbers on a sticky note.

the same sticky note rips between your fingers. once you start, you can't stop yourself, until all you're left with is a pile of bright yellow scraps.

you move onto the next item. a wiry black wristband; one half of a forever missing set.

you had been dating sae itoshi for exactly one month. all of your friends still thought it was as some long-standing elaborate joke. at certain times, you couldn't believe it yourself either.

despite it all, despite every little memory you can pore over for hours at a time, you can’t pinpoint the exact moment when things changed.

it’s a strange truth, one you’ve struggled to come to terms with- but it's a truth. if someone were to ask you when your relationship with sae soured, you wouldn't be able to say.

perhaps it wasn't a singular moment. maybe it was a long time in the making, like how a banana slowly browns- until one day, it’s rotted.

either way, one form of heartbreak or another, the truth was this:

you and sae itoshi had ended.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hey, you.

If you're American, and you've been having a hard week egg for.. reasons -

I have something to say to the Americans.

Just remember.

They aren't immortal.

Nobility has lied for centuries. They told us they were placed on the throne by God - the rule of the king being the will of the Creator.

The French proved them wrong.

You are young. They are human. They will one day die.

And on the day they die - regardless of if hell is real or not - there will be a movement when they are laying on that death bed. They will feel their live slipping from their grasp.

And they will feel the fear.

The possiblity of eternal consequence.

They will fear what waiting for them on the other side. The one journey they cannot buy their way out of. The moment the bell tolls for thee.

And honestly, the thought brings me peace.

Trumo and Elon AREN'T demons - though it's so easy to think of them as so.

They are evil humans. And all humans die. Trump? He's 80. He's over three times my age. He's older than my grandmother. He eats McDonald's and Diet Coke like no one's business. Knock on wood I'm betting he's got ten years TOPS.

('I'll be the last president' - my ass. If you take a bad fall it's game over dude. You won't release your health records cause you're most likely due for a heart attack soon mfer. Your minions don't like your candy ass Junior enough to have him as a successor and Baron doesn't fucking care so realistically speaking whats your game plan here? 🤨 Elon's kids have too many daddy issues to take your place. You can't even use a sword. Napoleon would slay you where you fucking stand you pansy)

So if you've been struggling this week, I just wanted to remind you.

Black people won our civil rights without the support from the media, without online social networks, without the support from 90% of white people.

70 years ago, around when my grandma was born - I could not sit next a white person in school. If a white man was walking towards me on the street, I'd have to step into the gutter and let him pass. At risk of being actually killed by the whole town if not.

Nowadays in my city I could tell a white guy my age 'Fuck you!!' to your face. Middle finger and all. And they're not gonna put me in jail for it. No stranger is gonna jump in. The whole town isn't gonna care. If anything, people will just record.

That all happened in ONE generation.

So no matter what Trump does.

Remember. He's not immortal. He will die like we all do.

You're young. You'll have the rest of your life to reverse everything he's done.

That's the thing about personality cults. Once the personality is removed, the whole thing falls apart. And the personality in question is once again - an 80 year old who eats Big Macs and wears suits two sizes too large. A man who would probably get genuinely upset if you asked him to recite his 8 times tables.

If Trump dies in the next 10-20 years, before he turns 100, I'll be 35-45. a.k.a - my generation will be entering the older majority. Our generation will be the eldest and the most influencial. What then?

The Trumpettes won't have their leader for their personality cult so they'll have no one - not even their republican parents - to tell them who to think.

We'll be older, wiser. We'll teach our kids the signs. We'll tell them stories what to do, and invest pubic funds to conserve the history of our fight - to never be erased.

If you're scared this week, I understand.

But remember. We've fought harder with less - and we still won.

So keep your head up. Doom is the tool of the enemy. You keep going, you keep living, and you survive to tear down their legacy while the bastard spins in his grave.

Keep going. Keep your angry hearts and clenched fists. Hold on tight to your love and rage. And keep going.

That's what Hobie would want. That's what a Hobie is there to teach us.

Hope this helped someone, anyone, even if it was a little bit. If this helps you get through the day, or the next hour, with the smallest bit of hope - that's all I want.

Thanks for reading this far! Here's Hobie :)

--------------------------------------------------

And bonus:

Ayo I just gotta add this in here -

Word to god, and when I say this I say this with my whole chest -

I'd be DAMNED before I ever say I'm scared of Donald Trump.

First of all, I'm black and poor. There's been a white man wanting me dead since the moment I left my Mama's hoohaa and guess what, I'm still here. That mfer ain't special. Call me when the klansmen come not when done mfers with tiki torches cosplay call of duty.

Cause none of them coming to the hood..tf.. Try that shit in neighborhood with Bloods and Crips.. Y'all not the only ones with automatics and lots of money. It's just the black people with money and automatics keep shit quiet. If these racist mfers had ppl breaking in they house the way Kendrick had mfers breaking in Drake's with choppers they'd be terrified as fuuuckkk

And secondly there's 4chan fellas out there that probably legit jack off to the idea of a black queer trans person crying in fear. And those mfers can kiss my black ass and kick rocks cause I wake up every day smiling. So -

Anyway I'm done lol

I just had to get this out of my system lol. OKAY BYE FOR REAL

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Happy Friday RTA!

I have some thoughts on the whole “Why is William not travelling more” thing. Mind you, I do sometimes feels it is very tinhatty, but it is what I think.

See, I believe the root of all our issues is Charles. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am neither here nor there with him. Meaning I have no issue with him to the point of blaming him for everything under the sun or defending him even when he is in the wrong. Charles has spent so much time, like a looooot of time, being the PoW, living under his mother’s shadow, his mother The Queen, one of the most recognizable and relevant figures in the political and social world of the last 50 years (giving myself some creative liberties here). Charles was still a Prince when all the other heirs his age were becoming Kings and Queens. Then, the children of those peers of him were taking over, and he was now bowing to people he never had to bow to. Charles is a man of arrogance, and anyone can tell that. Probably a unique combination of aristocratic and Royal arrogance, could be that. He had his place on the spotlight for a very long time… until Diana. Then, everything was about her. His achievements were put second to her just showing up. He was just PoW, Elizabeth’s son, Diana’s husband. And then, William’s father. William the loved and adored one. Sure, C has his fans and follower and what not, but he isn´t William, just as he isn’t Elizabeth II.

Now, he is King. The King. He is the most important one everywhere. Unless William or Catherine are there. Because he goes to Commonwealth day, and Catherine gets the covers. Because he gets a royal wedding for his wife, and everyone is looking at the now Wales. He gets cancer, and people are worried about Catherine.

All the things he wanted to do, the tours, the state visits, being received as The King by those he had to bow to before, are on pause. Because his time is even shorter than he thought, because he is mortal and old and still living under someone else’s shadow: the new Prince and Princess of wales (another Princess of Wales stealing his spotlight).

Williams does and the press covers it. The same with Catherine. The kids show up and people go feral. His Queen does not get the same recognition as Catherine, not even close.

Do I believe W&C put the kids first and that is why we don’t see them as often? Sure. Do I think KP says something and BP/CH twist it and make it not happen/wrong/you chose? Yes. Williamscould do better? Yes. Will he? Sure, when he is King. Not now, not when Charles’ ego is hanging by a thread, his place in history being a fickle of what he wanted. He was a great PoW, hardworking, trendsetter, people oriented. That is his legacy, one his son is respecting but will never do just like C did, because W is not C. Charles the King? Charles III is temporary, short term. Elizabeth was diamond. William will be gold, maybe. George is a whole new future we can’t even begin to imagine. Charles is a passing monarch, warming up the seat for the next one. It took too long for him to get his crown, and he will not enjoy it too long.

He knows this, so he will act accordingly. King Charles III comes first no matter what.

This does not mean William is off the hook: he needs to sit down, strategize a lot more and do even more than what he does now. Talk less, do more.

Rant done, back to work.

P/S: when the BRF realizes they need to hire you to run them (yes, tell them what to do) please let me know. I’ll carry your purse around and get you coffee.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for sharing!

You may be on to something. At the end of the day, everything must go through BP so if BP doesn't want KP to do something, well, then KP's hands are often tied. I do think the way William...not retaliates but maybe...defends himself? (I'm really at a loss for words here) is by refusing to do certain things that BP wants.

Like we know the Foreign Office wants William and Kate to travel more because they're the ones who bring the most favorable press coverage and they do their jobs uncontroversially, but William and Kate don't travel (or they aren't traveling), and I don't think it's because BP is blocking all the shots. I think it's because BP is blocking enough shots that when the opportunity does arise, KP isn't interested; too little too late.

But you are right, William (and Kate) do need to be thinking about strategy, if they aren't already, for the monarchy's future. They, more than Charles, are in a position where they'll be able to set the terms for what a 21st century monarchy looks like, very much the same way that George V and Queen Mary set the standard for a 20th century monarchy. (Right? They were the ones who turned the BRF to philanthropy and charity work?)

[fortunatelyannoyingcrown]

Just went down the Reddit rabbit hole, and found this sub aside from the main acotar sub- non toxic Acotar? Lmao, I think I just found out what the "non toxic" refers to- it is just a community for Feyre/Rhysand Stans to sit in their little echo chamber and spout misinforming crap about Tamlin/Nesta and Lucien sometimes....

Anyways, there was a post someone put up about what it "would take for Feyre and Tamlin to be Cordial"....

And some of these stupid and biased responses honestly had my blood boiling .I have ss a few here and I'll give my response to each comment as I go...

Oh sincere apology, you say?The one at the end of ACOMAF was not enough?What do y'all Feyrug bitches want him to do?Fall on his knees before her? Frankly, I wish he didn't apologize at all, or save her miserable life.She owes him way way more than he does her so just sftu. And also, look at your own faves' sin list?She can't just be demanding or even expecting apologies when she has done even worse to ruin his life and his court and his legacy, can she?.When Feyrug gives her apology, we'll think about Tamlin extending the same.

Imagine belittling what a depressed suicidal human being is going through, and making it his fault.No sweetie, your fave is a big part of the reason he is the way he is, she destroyed his life for no good reason.But yeah, taking accountability is something Feyrug has never really been good at.

"Feyre might come around"- who TF even is she? That war criminal needs to sit down with herself for a bit, and look at all the peoples' lives she has actively destroyed.So yes, Feyrug Stan you too can stfu and actually understand that your fave has done worse shit to Tamlin that she needs to own up to and apologize for...

And then there's another loser

Like honestly the way there people prop Feyrug on a pedestal when she doesn't even deserve it, like Jesus Christ, I hope Tamlin doesnt even get a POV, if SJM is going to pander to this bitch ass fandom, and have him apologize to her.I would rather he even die than that. Because if he dies, he can die with his self respect intact, instead of bowing before that monstrous bitch and her POS husband.

But unless Feyrug apologizes for all the pain she has caused him, very knowingly in fact, and acknowledges that she has been a POS, I don't want her within a ten foot distance from Tamlin

Like bitch, stay TF away from him Go back to Rhysie poop, your favourite rapist husband, but don't you dare expect an apology from him

If it ever happens, I will throw that copy of the book against the wall.I won't leave Feysand/ Feysand stans alone after that...

Have to get off my soap box now...

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

Nimona headcanons plus a little bonus at the end

Whenever the trio gets home it's like a switch is flipped off inside their brains and all they want to do is be lazy and relax 

They’ve got very busy and stressful lives and a pretty small home so it’s not uncommon for them to yell when they’re asking a question instead of just getting up

And if they can’t hear each other they’ll just call the other person

One time Ambrosius was yelling asking them what wanted for dinner and was interrupted by Nimona calling him 

He answered the phone and all they said was “What’d you say I couldn't hear you” he didn’t even question it he just kept talking 

Nimona brings dead animals home 

I have this small headcanon that the first time she shifted into her human form was when she met Gloreth 

So before that she was living mostly as different animals and she kind of learned their ways and those ways stuck with her 

So there is a small part of her that sees Bal and Ambrosius as incompetent hunters (can you blame her)

The boys always thank her for her doing a good job and then they wait for her to leave the room before they freak out because MY GOD SHE BROUGHT A FUCKING DEAD RAT IN THE DAMN HOUSE 

There have also been times when she’s brought live animals inside the house the trio spent half an hour trying to get a traumatized bird out of their living room 

I just know for a fact that Bal has a crazy amount of brain damage 

This man has used his head as a weapon and has been hit on the head more times than I can count 

So I feel like he has a really hard time remembering the little details he gets really bad migraines and headaches pretty frequently his eyesight is absolute shit and he has to wear contacts or glasses and he gets really bad vertigo if he doesn’t take care of himself 

This worries the shit out of Ambrosius and Nimona but there isn't much they can do except deal with the symptoms when they show up

So I was thinking about the fact that as far as we know Nimona never told Bal about what went down with Gloreth

But I know that the boys would try and heal the damage that Gloreths legacy left behind  

And in the middle of everything Bal turned to Ambrosius and said “I just wish that fucking eyesore was gone” 

He didn’t have to ask what he meant he knew it was the statue 

So Ambrosius got to work trying to get it torn down 

A lot of people including some distant relatives that he hasn’t heard from in years tried to argue that it was an important monument and that her story touched a lot of people 

To which Ambrosius responded with “I’m her direct descendant if anyone gets to choose what happens to that statue it should be me” 

It was a couple of months into Nimona’s return when the demolition was approved 

The boys had asked him a while after he came back if it was something he wanted 

And all he said was “As long as I get to help” 

It was super therapeutic for both Nimona and Ambrosius 

Like don’t get me wrong the damage she did to Nimona is still there 

And Ambrosius will always have a complicated relationship with his lineage 

But tearing down the “fucking eyesore” heals something inside them

It was supposed to be a month-long process but Nimona and Ambrosius kept going and it was completely gone after two weeks

When all was said and done they collapsed on the couch and went through just about every single emotion you can go through

A little bonus I made my mama watch Nimona with me and here are some of my favorite comments: Mind you when I first put the movie on this woman was acting like I was pulling teeth

“I like the queen she seems nice” (and then she freaked out when she died)

“So they’re nice to him 'cause he’s gold I would just steal the armor what does he have without that?” “Money Mama” “Ah”

“Why are they so mean to him he’s just a baby?” (talking about Bal)

“She’s just like you especially with those freaky eyes” (when Nimona met Bal)

“Oh, so she’s the rhino…. Makes sense”

“Awe she’s cute I can't hate her” (about Nimona again)

“Oh wait she isn’t cute that’s freaky” (when Nimona was the demon baby)

“That’s like you and your sister” (Bal and Nimona interrogating the squire)

“Hey, mama is arm chopping a love language?” “I’m worried that you would even ask me that”

“Oh he’s got issues huh?” (after Ambrosius’ internal freak out)

“Can he die a little quieter… and faster” (after the Director stabbed “Ambrosius”)

“Oh fuck that little blond girl”

We had to pause the movie right before Nimona started her rampage because we were getting tired and I woke up to her in front of the tv with it pulled up on Netflix and she turned to me and said “Can we finish it already?”

“If she sacrificed herself I will never forgive you”

“Do you watch anything with straight people?” “Mama you literally ship them” “That's not an answer” (this is right after Bal and Ambrosius kissed)

“Is there a next part?..... so when’s the next one coming out?” 

Once the movie was over I told her some people thought Ambrosius and Bal were related and she looked me dead in the eyes and said

“You’re joking. No you have no be kidding… He literally said it in the movie!” “Said what Mama?” “oh I love him so much and I lost him whatever will I do” 

And then she kept making fun of Ambrosius for the next three minutes

I asked her who her favorite was and she said Nimona I go “aweee you love me” she looks me dead in my eyes and says “don’t make it awkward”

[coraniaid]

If the new Buffy soft reboot/sequel series goes ahead (which it may well still not; it sounds as though nobody's even picked up a pilot yet) and if they want to win me over (which they don't; I am not the target audience for this), I hope that it doesn't try to focus on attempting to be a definitive answer to the question of "what has Buffy Summers been doing for the past twenty years?". As I've said before, I think Chosen was a close to perfect ending to her story and I'm not sure it's possible to improve on it. She got to escape being the protagonist of the universe; she got to finally be destiny-free and make her own future. What more can anyone hope for than that? Set it in the world of the old show, sure, have the new Slayer be the child of Robin Wood or something if you must, but let the original characters' fates be as ambiguous as you can.

Instead of trying to recapture what made the original show work, or following up on decades old plot lines and characters, or awkwardly recreating fan favorite moments beat for beat, I hope they focus on a new Slayer and her story. One that makes sense for the 2020s in the way the old show made sense for the 1990s.

Apparently SMG will have a "recurring" role -- and if there's going to be a new show at all I'm glad SMG will be involved in some capacity -- but I hope that that's as a mentor figure to a new Chosen One (presumably also called Buffy? well, in-universe she can be named after her more famous counterpart, I suppose). I hope the reboot can try to be respectful of the original show's legacy -- the landscape of genre television has changed so, so much since Buffy first aired, in no small part thanks to Buffy itself -- while not trying to live solely in the old show's shadow.

I hope it does well enough to attract people back to the old show, and maybe encourages somebody to finally give approval to a second attempt at a HD remaster of that version of the show (a competently done one would be nice).

But, whatever happens, I don't think it can tarnish the legacy of the old show (more than anything we've since learned about Joss Whedon has already done, anyway), because -- if it does turn out to be bad, as if being honest I suspect it will -- we can just ... ignore it? Write it off as merely a possible future or an AU or just pretend it never happened at all; mine any interesting ideas it has for fanfic and ignore the rest. I don't think a Buffy reboot needs to happen, but I don't think it's the end of the world if it does either.

I've spent years not accepting the claims to canonicity of the post-Chosen comics and more recently pretending that the new Slayers audio drama doesn't exist; I can manage to ignore one more thing if I have to.

[strawberry-shortcakey]

my defense of Caitlyn in wake of season 2

    Defending my wife rn 

    Lets get right into this mind you my spelling and punctuation are like non existent so yk

Starting off with the thing i feel people seem to not really understand is whats happening is shes being tugged in like 5 different directions struggling between her obligations to her family name the kiraman family is matriarchal this rests on her entirely she wants to maintain her mothers legacy yet theres the undeniable rage fueled by her mothers death and her feeling of failing all of piltover the feeling that if she had killed jinx before there wouldnt have been so many lives lost she feels ultimately responsible for everything in her life which makes that rage overpower her i mean most of the council civilians enforcers who she had been around her WHOLE LIFE. she feels all that weight in her heart and on her mind much like vi due to her trauma generalizes the people of piltover and enforcers cait blames zaunites and i feel its unfair to give vi a pass and not caitlyn shes trying to hold onto her morals she fights for avoiding innocents getting hurt until the memorial attack where it turns into more than an attack by jinx now an attack from multiples causing her to lose that part of her morals and the last pull is for vi caitlyn loves vi thats something i have never doubted for even a second i mean seriously she puts so much at stake for vi. People don't seem to see that her bringing vi before the council in season one couldve ended poorly for her it couldve reflected horribly onto her family if the council had decided not to hear her out. And on top of all of that shes trying to hold it together. We see her cry a few times but she doesnt ever really let it out i mean shes putting herself under that pressure part of her character has always been that she hates when things are just handed to her as we see in her scene with grayson when she gets upset at the mere idea of her parents paying off grayson to let her win and we confirm that stayed into adulthood when jayce offers her that job for him and shes offended at the mere idea and i feel part of her feels if she shows that pain shes in things are gonna be handed to her out of sheer pity something that would likely fuel her rage further and further.

Next topic is her being willing to kill isha if it meant killing jinx. Now i understand the shock of this how it feels “out of character for her” but it really isnt yes she has been openly against the idea of people getting hit in the crossfire but in her mind its 1 innocent for multiple innocents including her own mother. she also isnt the first character to directly or indirectly result in a child's death and she didnt even succeed so yk but anyway every single councilor is responsible for countless deaths of undercity children and families heimerdinger honestly the most responsible because yk like 200 years of  ignoring the undercity and can i also just mention vis switch up on her opinion season one jayce kills a kid when fighting at the shimmer lab and vi has the mentality “you did what needed to be done one life for like 100” yet when caitlyn finds herself in that same mindset vis all “whats wrong with you you're evil now” so uh yeah not an attack on vi just trying to expand on it throughout this i will make comparisons on how we excuse vi but attack caitlyn and why i think thats really telling of how people see her as a character only there for caitvi romance plot!! But anyway caitlyn had every fucking right in that moment mind you she also was running on adrenaline something that i feel a lot of people don't understand in that moment its often impulse you do the first thing to come to mind she was just fighting off sevika shes in that do or die mindset its kill jinx or people die people also don't understand how deep caits trauma around jinx runs we don't know what she was put through during the time between her abduction and the like final scene of season 1 also just yk the entire show. jinx is her personal trauma.

Now onto the caitvi argument in the tunnels lets loop back to the state of mind she was in shes pumped on adrenaline rage and fear. She feels a deep sense of betrayal much like jinx does when vi “picks cait over her” its that feeling of “oh so you care more about someone who deeply hurt me and a random kid than me.” that only fuels her rage/pain that is making her less and less of her core values. caitlyn gets on the defensive she makes a generalization Something once again we see vi do to caitlyn earlier with the oil and water speech which no doubt left a hole in caits heart something that will stick with her dare i even say that plays a part in why she no longer sees zaun and pilover as two sides of the same coin the person who helped her learn something so crucial suddenly saying “actually we are different piltover is all the same you're all horrible. We can never get along, you are not an exception” which no doubt shattered that view and helped cement the separation in her mind. The key difference is that vi didnt get physical cait pushed her and hit her with the rifle but like i said she's on the defense. Also ive seen people saying “oh well cait knows how shes traumatized by enforcers” to caitlyn that trauma is equal to the trauma of what jinx has done to her and honestly it is caitlyn has lost almost everything to this for the sake of what started off as her dreams of justice her need to prove herself has been what she feels like is the sole cause of the  downfall of piltover. Which is why i truly believe caitlyn is still herself that the development to her character logical and her actions fully explainable and defendable 

Little added thing it’s after getting compared to jinx that she hits vi I mentioned how that’s literally her main trauma jinx killed her mom and ruined her life I’d hit someone with a rifle over that too.

And thats all ive got for now lmk if i should cover more!! And i will be adding as arc 2 and 3 release!

[kigieri]

20 Little Horrors

There might be something haunting the paddock and its drivers. The feelings growing, eating one of them after the other, none able to help themselves. Or may it simply be part of the human condition? Something they cannot escape because it lives and grows within them.

A/N: A Halloween fic!🎃 I got inspired by @motorsport-halloween to tip my pen into horror. Since I'm not that big on gore and murder, I challenged myself to more of a psychological horror approach. A little fun fact, as the wonderful and supporting @mariclerc already knows, I almost forgot the Ferrari boys. I had 18 drivers and was deeply confused who was missing. It was simple, the two men under the prancing horse.

This story on AO3.

It started with Logan. Dark circles under the eyes, fingers that rubbed slowly at his temple. The paranoia was palpable. Questions and doubts encircled him. Eating at him. His skin became thinner and paler. What shall one do without certainty, without a stable ground to stand on. You will fall.

The tick of Kevin's neck was something people got used too quickly. The outbursts he was able to excuse for a time. Then came the twitching of his fingers, not knowing what they wanted to do. He didn't control them. Crazy, he did not know if good or bad. He steered himself into the wall and into the abyss.

With time, there was a new aura around Daniel, one he couldn't hide. His eyes had a sheen to them, even while a smile graced his face. He felt heavy and they could see it. They saw all his moves, they saw what broke him down, and they saw him never standing up again. He felt as broken as they called him.

Questions got fewer for Nico. He didn't notice right away, but then a feeling of unease creeped in. Strategies that disregarded him, meetings he was never invited to, and then an entire part of his car's programming that was never implemented. They forgot him, slowly but surely, one after the other, until Nico himself questioned who and what he was.

The knuckle cracking was something Lando should stop, as was the lip biting, but he could not. Every race result crawled under his skin, bit at his inners. The self-doubt was hot and searing. He wanted to scream and cry. Never the finish he wanted, the one he needed. He wanted to rip out his hair. Not good enough, never on the level of his rivals. He would land in oblivion, as so many before him did.

A smirk had found its permanent place on Pierre's face. A contract signed, a seat secured, nothing to stop him. No one would or could stop him. His career would rise, he would have a legacy. Arrogance may drip off of him, but who could deny his qualities. His time would come, it was already long here in his mind. He was better than the rest of them. There was nothing that counted apart from that.

It weighted heavy. Regret followed Sergio everywhere. It stood at every corner he took. Opportunities missed, challenges failed and his dreams slipping through his fingers. Should he have done things differently, could he have? It strangled him.

It was unimaginable in Carlos' mind. They left him behind, to fend for himself. Without warning or help. They would regret it, he would make sure of it. Revenge may taste bitter in the end, but it flooded him hot and painful. He wanted to rip them to shreds, and he would do it. No matter what happened to him.

There was nothing Lance could not and would not ask for. Who would deny him something? His seat was secure until he decided that he was finished. There was no one better than him for it anyways. He thought some narcissism was good on occasion, and when that occasion became his day to day, why should he care? It was not his problem.

Life has uncountable facets. Valtteri, after years of focused dedication, became lost in them. There was not one thing he did more than another, it was one after the other, always something new. It excited him, as it distracted him. A life without a core will become void.

Sleep did not come easy to Lewis and the more stressed he was the worse it got. He followed his passions, in racing and other pursuits. He himself, however, stood to the sidelines. His health was important, but he could work with less sleep, there was so much to do. With time, the edges of his view became blurry and dark spots found their way into his vision, but there was more to be done.

Zhou didn't feel real, he had not for a long time. It was as if people saw through him, as if they reached through him, not remembering he was corporal. They called out for him when he stood right next to them, as though they could not see him. He had felt invisible in his childhood. He had felt invisible through his career. Now it was tangible, felt deep within him, the all encircling non-existence.

It was permanent for Esteban, something that had been there since before had sat in a kart. Some didn't like him, some did, but no one ever wanted what was best for him. They wanted him to stumble and fall. His distrust of the world around was no problem for him, he may be alone, but who needed people. He did not. They would only betray him anyway. That's what he told himself again and again as he drove them away.

Fernando watched himself as he rose to highs and fell to lows. Always from the outside, he could not remember the last time he had controlled his own actions. They came to him, they possessed him, and he let them reign. He did not recall how to perform these simple actions alone. There came times he became thankful for the mindlessness, the fact he did not need to steer any longer.

There was nothing left for Max. His goals had been achieved. He had done what he sat out in life to do. There were other pursuits open to him, but non tasted as sweet as the one he had already embarked on. He had resigned some time ago and was simply waiting for other people to notice. He was finished with it all.

Alex was being crushed under the weight on his shoulder, slowly but surely. Expectations for him were high, and his performance not so much. He could not sleep, could not eat, stress was clinging to every fiber of his being. He considered, while waiting for lights out, if being crushed was not the better solution.

There was rage within Yuki. It had come out in the car at the beginning, but it became more and more tangible outside of it too. People noticed, he noticed. Everything around him tinted red. Anger never left him again. There was no stopping the insults, or, at last, his fists.

George was simply better. His talents did not only lay on track, but in racing he had made it far, hard work and sacrifices paying off. He could maneuver the car, could use chances, and if someone else bottled his race that was by no fault of his own. There were non better than him and he would show it. Why should he learn new things or get better, when his work was already superior.

A silent child, that's how his mother described Oscar. He was never one for screaming or crying, complaining or expressing joy. His expressions changed, his face was stoic, or he smiled, or rolled his eyes, but his mouth stayed shut. He saw little need to express himself with words. With time, he forgot how to do so, little by little.

It had gripped Charles's tight and never let him go. The pressure was unbearable, it ripped at him, crushed him mind and body. There as a constant nausea, fear of failure, fear of disappointment. He loved it all, more than himself, and this sport would eat him alive.

All of them were haunted.

Logan was packed by paranoia.

Kevin went crazy.

Daniel was a broken man.

Nico was forgotten.

Lando drowned in self-doubt.

Pierre was arrogant.

Sergio felt regret.

Carlos was consumed by revenge.

Lance was a narcissistic.

Valtteri got lost.

Lewis did not sleep.

Zhou turned invisible.

Esteban distrusted.

Fernando got possessed.

Max was resigned.

Alex was crushed by expectations.

Yuki felt rage.

George felt his superiority.

Oscar was silent.

Charles felt the pressure.

In the end, none of them could escape.

@kigieri 2024. All rights reserved. Do not copy, steal, translate or repost any of my work.

[joliackermann]

MY SWTD OC

FINALLY CALEB IS HERE

WOHOOO

His full name is Caleb Evans, becoming Caleb Zakarius after he married later on in his life.

He is my bald squad OC, btw 👀

Here is a little doodle I did of him:

Still working on this tho, but I finally have something to present, so here we go:

Explanation: 

Caleb is one of my pre-existing characters. I wanted to finally create my SWTD OC and used a random name generator and it just gave me the name “Caleb” and I was like “eh, why not?”

So this Caleb is technically Caleb from TS4 Vampires, but from my super old legacy save file. Gonna write some more about this later.

My sims 4 save file is a canon part of my book universe, so technically this is canon in my book as well?

It’s honestly kind of complicated, but since this OC is part of my book universe, I will apply the rules of my universe to this character.

Basically there is this thing, where time and space can sometimes be a bit unstable.

You know the feeling when you can’t find something, even though you are 100% sure that it has to be there somewhere?

Or all those missing people, whose bodies were never found?

Yeah. That’s what happened to them.

They were taken from their time, their universe and put somewhere random in another universe, without really knowing or understanding what had just happened.

Spoiler: this is how Caleb survives. 

Backstory:

Caleb grew up in an abusive household, becoming very protective of his sister from a very young age.

At only sixteen years old, his sister decided to run away with an older man, leaving Caleb with nothing.

He knew he needed money if he wanted to escape from home, which he now could. Without his sister, there was nothing holding him there.

Which is why, at the age of twenty four, he decided to take a job on an oil rig in the North Sea. 

When first arriving, he was placed in a room with Addair, since no other rooms were currently available due to water damage.

His job was simple; helping Roy in the galley. Following instructions, not really having to think for himself. For the first time ever, he could turn his brain off and just live, not having to care about anything really. 

He got along well with Roy right from the start, but let's be honest, who wouldn’t?

Roy was understanding whenever Caleb made any mistakes and was willing to help him, becoming a sort of mentor to him.

With Addair, the start was a lot rougher.

Addair never tried hiding his political views, giving Caleb flashbacks from his abusive home. For a moment, he was scared that the universe wanted to pull a prank on him and Addair was going to turn out to be a copy of his father.

But Addair had many good qualities and even though he and Caleb didn’t have the same political viewpoints, they got along great.

Addair gave Caleb another perspective; showing that even someone with these kinds of views could be a good human and a good father.

It was almost as if Addair was healing bits of the damage done by Caleb's father. 

For the first time, he didn’t need to protect anybody. Instead, he was being the one who was being protected by others.

Over time, Caleb's relationship with both Roy and Addair developed into something more. Nobody ever really talked about it, but Roy and Addair give him security and the feeling of being loved; something he never really had before.

Roys and Addairs relationship changes as well. Roy and Addair never really had a problem with each other, being mostly neutral to one another. But both overly protective over Caleb and in love with him, even though they never said a single word. Everybody knew, even though they themselves didn’t even really realise, and everybody accepted it. 

The events of the game: 

So Caleb was with Roy for the beginning part of the day.

After Caz decided to go to the lifeboats, Caleb went on his way to find Addair.

He knew Roy was safe, hiding in the pantry with Caz looking out for him.

But Addair was somewhere out there and Caleb needed to find him. 

He actually encountered mutated Gibbo at one point, though both held their distance.

When Caleb asked him about Addair, Gibbo had a breakdown. He couldn’t think straight for a moment and went for Caleb, though Caleb managed to outrun him, locking the door behind him before bringing more distance between himself and Gibbo.

But soon after, he started feeling worse; hearing voices. More specifically, his sister’s cries, from when they were kids and their father, in a fit of rage, had thrown his half empty beer bottle at his children.

It was something he often did when he had too much to drink. 

Trying to escape the voices and the visions, Caleb started running before suddenly breaking down as he felt pain shooting through his body.

It was the worst pain he had ever felt.

Worse than the stinging feeling when the beer bottle had hit him in the head, or the burning sensation when he was forced to pick up the broken glass and cut his hands. Worse than all the times his father had beaten him.

Caleb closed his eyes in pain and when he opened them again, he was somewhere else.

TS4/Book universe:

At first he thought it was only another hallucination.

After opening his eyes, Caleb found himself on the ground outside, a giant black castle right in front of him.

It was night, even though he was 100% sure that it had been the middle of the day just seconds ago. 

A strange man opened the door.

He was tall and skinny, his hair grey and his face full of wrinkles. He looked a thousand years old, at least.

The man smiled at Caleb and asked him if he needed help; said he knew just the right thing. A cure for every disease possible.

Caleb agreed, not really having anything to lose, his sister's voice still crying in his head. 

The cure turned out to be more of a curse, but it was too late when Caleb realised, already on his way to become the blood child of the mysterious master vampire. 

Caleb lived a hundred years, studying medicine and working night shift at the hospital. He had time and the hospital had an endless supply of blood.

It took years for Caleb to let people into his life again.

He had lost so much and was afraid to lose even more, so for a hundred years, he kept his distance. 

But then came this boy, the son of an acquaintance. Leif Zakarius, the third child of Johannes and Mike Zakarius.

They hadn’t meant for Leif to come into this world, having already enough to do with only two children and a cat at home.

But Leif came into this world and proceeded to stay there longer than any other of his family members. 

Leif always felt like an outsider in his family.

Much like Caleb, he wandered aimlessly through life.

And with time, they fell in love.

It was the first time in a hundred years that Caleb had allowed himself to love again.

Not knowing any cure for the vampire curse, he turned Leif into a vampire instead. It was either spend eternity together or die together as old men, but that wasn’t an option.

Soon, at least for vampires, they welcomed their first and only daughter into the world.

Fiona Zakarius, a beautiful, intelligent girl.

Never before had Caleb loved someone so much.

He became protective, overly protective if you asked Leif, and when she started dating an older man, Caleb was against it.

His sister had run away with an older man and he was afraid that his daughter would do the same thing to him.

But she didn’t. Sure, she moved in with the older man, turned him into a vampire, wanting to spend eternity with him, but she often came to visit and whenever the man was not at home, Caleb came to visit her as well. 

It seemed like he was finally in a position where he could allow himself to heal.

[tyrantisterror]

What's the worst legacy sequel you've ever seen? What, in your opinion, separates a good legacy sequel from a bad legacy sequel and what's the worst thing you think a legacy sequel can do?

The worst that I've seen is probably Rise of Skywalker. It's close competition, though - both Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion have moments that are significantly more stupid than anything in Rise of Sky Walker, but I also think both have a bit more creative effort put into them - Fallen Kingdom has that third act where it basically becomes a Resident Evil adaptation except with a murder-saurus in place of the Tyrant, and Dominion has the whole locust plotline which, while terrible, is at least an unexpected direction for a Jurassic Park sequel to go into that tries to figure out something ELSE you could do with the genetic engineering premise of the franchise beyond just making dinosaurs. Like, all three Jurassic World movies have big problems and they get progressively dumber with each installment, but they're also all ambitious to some degree that I still feel respect for, even if they never really actually reach those lofty aspirations.

Rise of Skywalker, on the other hand, has no ambitions at all. It has nothing it wants to say, no unique twists to pull, no real identity of its own. It's a potroast made of leftovers from better movies, a resuscitated corpse of something much more interesting, patched together like a Frankenstein's monster and abandoned to a cruel world just as callously.

It has no desire to do anything new, merely a checklist of Things You've Seen Before That the Focus Groups Say You'd Probably Like to See Again. Any character that can be slipped into an arc that was done in a previous Star Wars film is slipped into one no matter how little sense it makes for them, and any character who can't is either forced to tread water with nothing to do (hi Finn!) or just quietly shoved off to the side early on and forgotten about (hi Rose!).

Any story beats that weren't in the original films are simply grabbed from a box that reads "time tested cliches to keep your script moving with minimal effort." Make the plot a treasure hunt so we can just race from scene to scene with the flimsiest justification possible and try and trick the audience into thinking something is actually happening! What's that, audience interest is flagging? Quick, throw in a cameo of someone from an older movie! What's that, they're bored again? Pretend to kill one of the old characters, but make sure to reveal they actually lived in no more than two scenes down the line, or else we might piss off the fanboys! Hey, let's look at the Cinema Sins videos for the original movies and see if there's some gripes we can "fix" with this one for added fan cred! Can't disappoint our audience!

It's the story-telling equivalent of smothering something in salt to cover up the funky taste of the close-to-the-expiration-date ingredients.

As for what makes a good vs. a bad legacy sequel... ok, so, let's define legacy sequel first. A legacy sequel is a film or TV show that is a sequel to a popular film or TV series that ended a good many years ago, which brings back some of the old cast of characters (generally played by the same, and thus much older, actors that played them in the past) along with adding a new cast of characters played by younger actors. It tries to replicate the tone of the original series despite being made in a different era and probably by different writers and directors, and generally aims to give you that Ratatouille style moment of nostalgia.

I think most Legacy sequels are kind of doomed to be mediocre at best on the outset because the goal of them from the moment of conception is so mercenary - they're not created to Tell A Good Story, they're created to Keep Consumers Invested in a Lucrative Content Franchise. They have the artistic aspirations of a McDonald's Hamburger - "This tastes exactly like what you had as a kid, and doesn't that make you crave more of it?"

I don't think that art made for mercenary reasons is doomed to be bad, mind you - I mean, almost ALL movies and television were made to make money first and foremost. Even the classic High Art movies I love like Seven Samurai and The Third Man were made for mercenary reasons at the end of the line - it didn't stop the people who were working on them from having artistic goals, but it's a fact nonetheless.

But Legacy Sequels just have an uphill battle in the "artistic aspirations" department, because most people with artistic aspirations don't want to recreate the feeling someone else inspired with their art - they want to put their own stamp on it, their own spin, their own voice. And that will often mean something VERY different will be made, something that might piss of the fans - something that doesn't taste like the McDonald's hamburger you had as a kid, even though it came in the same wrapper.

The worst parts of Legacy Sequels are the only parts that Rise of Skywalker is made of - the parts where the story is clearly only trying to show you things you know, only trying to reheat the leftovers so they taste like your memories, only trying to trick the nostalgia center of your brain that you're four years old again eating at McDonald's. "Here's the thing you know! Here's the running gag you liked, repeated five more times by actors with far less enthusiasm! Here's the same basic premise as the first film, but the stakes have been inflated to make it feel like a progression! Cameos! Catch phrases! Eat your hamburger, you consumer pig!"

The rare good legacy sequels don't really TRY to be legacy sequels. They're just... sequels. Another story in the same world as the first, bringing back the characters who actually have interesting arcs left in them, creating new characters with their own shit going on who have good chemistry with the pre-established characters and setting, expanding on themes from the original and exploring parts of the setting that hadn't been explored yet, and all in all telling their own story that's related to the first one's but still manages to be its own distinct thing.

There are not many good legacy sequels, because a good legacy sequel is different than the McDonald's hamburger you ate when you were four, and might make less money than desired because of it.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 3-9, 2023)

I made a frame from this shot Wikizilla's Image of the Week. No regrets. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, I love ya. When I was a teenager, explicit queerness was anathema to most big-name franchises. Those dominoes have been slowly falling, often in lower-profile tie-ins first, and to me this is a huge one: 69 years without a queer live-action Godzilla character are over. And Cate's the main protagonist of the show! I'm not under the delusion that media representation will cure all society's ills, but it sure doesn't hurt. Now, the non-Tumblr parts of the fandom are being completely normal about this, right? Right? Whatever, that's why you'll never get rid of me here. Cate had a couple more sweet moments with May in this episode, and Mariko Tamaki wrote episode 7, so don't expect her to stop kissing girls. Hopefully she's learned a valuable lesson about cheating though.

"The Way Out" is also another gift to those of us who have always wanted to see more of the ramifications of a world where Godzilla exists, from underground towns for the super-rich to ruined cities where federal troops shoot looters and harass people experiencing homelessness. And the show continues to find ways to use kaiju to talk about COVID, from Cate and Kentaro's exchange about San Francisco truthers ("It's easier than waking up every day and thinking, at any moment, the same could happen to you") to the blink-of-an-eye speed at which the threat went from on the news to her front door in the flashbacks.

As I foretold, we got a Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer, an amusing contrast to the weighty Toho flick and Apple show already fore of mind. It's Adam Wingard unbound, that's for sure. The human cast seems pared back, a longstanding Monsterverse problem, and the kaiju fights were far and away the best part of Godzilla vs. Kong, so hopefully this approach will play to his strengths. But that movie also had excellent VFX, and some of the shots in here are rough. There's time to fix them, at least... which probably can't be said of Godzilla's design. I like that he's pink (did some Warner Bros. executive take the wrong message away from Barbie?) and sporting a thagomizer on his tail, but his proportions are uncanny. And I see Kong found the Infinity Gauntlet; good for him.

I am, of course, not done talking about Godzilla Minus One. It added over 200 screens and made $8.3 million in its second weekend in the U.S., a minuscule drop considering that its $11.4 million opening "weekend" spanned five days. Almost a third of all tickets sold this weekend were for Godzilla or Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, remarkable in a market so allergic to foreign imports. That brings its total to $25.3 million (more by the time you read this). With an avalanche of Christmas blockbusters on the way, its grip on premium-format screens is about to slip. Still, I see it hanging around theaters for a while. I have never seen the fandom so united in praise for a film before, and it's making plenty of new fans.

Some of those fans are in high places. Variety leaked that it's on the 20-film shortlist for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars (to be narrowed to five nominees), something I, again, never expected to read about a Toho Godzilla film. Alas, it's locked out of this year's Best International Film category due to the quirky nomination period.

Much has been made of how great the film looks on a $15 million budget. I have two caveats, one in each direction. No one is quite sure where the $15 million figure came from; Yamazaki said at a recent con appearance that he only wished he had that much to play with. (He has yet to divulge the actual budget, just that it was above ¥1 billion.) Now, unions in the Japanese film industry are much weaker than in Hollywood, so a given production budget goes a lot further in Japan. All the same, I doubt that alone explains Minus One looking better than most superhero movies made for twenty times the cost. I'll offer a couple more reasons: Yamazaki has extensive visual effects experience (he's been the VFX supervisor of all but one of the live-action films he's directed), and the film's big effects scenes aren't as busy or lengthy as many of the Hollywood counterparts. I don't know if Disney will ask Yamazaki to direct the next Star Wars movie (that would require there to be a next Star Wars movie), but the studios here should be taking notes.

the sphinx, a blog with a ton of American Godzilla rarities to share, has outdone itself—behold a continuity and dialogue script for the U.S. version of King Kong vs. Godzilla! Included in the download is a detailed comparison with the film. No huge differences, apart from the script giving the secretary added to the U.S. version a name, but a fascinating piece of history all the same.

The Minus One incarnation of Godzilla (MaiGoji?) has joined Godzilla Battle Line, accompanied by [SPOILER]. To be honest, my enthusiasm for this game has been flagging, and I'm not caught up on the strategies developing around these two, so I'll just refer you to Sir Melee's channel as usual. This Godzilla's also doing a collaboration with the Japanese mobile game Fleet of Blue Flame.

Tiffany Grant, Asuka's original voice actress, will narrate the audiobooks for the Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA light novels which explore an Instrumentality-free path for the show. Seven Seas Entertainment published them in English from 2019 to 2021, which, to be honest, was also news to me.

This one's for my fellow library workers: the obscenely popular Who HQ nonfiction series for children is publishing a book about Godzilla next June. I don't know if this will have quite the same impact on today's young Godzilla fans as the Ian Thorne tome had on Gen Xers and Millennials, what with the Internet and all, but it's certain to be more factual. Expect illustrations instead of licensed photos, and not just because of Toho.

I can finally talk more about the Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers mobile game without fearing a DMCA. Not that there's much to talk about; it's freemium through and through and I'm not sure I know a single person who's excited for it. Interesting to see some critters from the comics break into another medium, at least. Here's the trailer.

[aihoshiino]

I had an idea for a time loop Oshi no Ko fic.

Start with the breakup conversation between Ai and Kamiki. Ai can tell that Kamiki's taking it badly, but what's done is done. For time loop reasons, Kamiki immediately tells a jealous stalker about Ai's pregnancy and home address, and she gets murdered within the week.

Ai gets booted back to some time before the breakup. Once she figures out what's going on, she has two goals: Take advantage of the time loop to find a better way to break up with Kamiki, and don't get murdered. (Obviously, she does not realize that there is a connection between these goals.)

As one of Tumblr's premier Ai Hoshino fans, do you think this idea sounds interesting or—? Well, if you don't, I doubt you'd actually post this ask.

genuinely unironically and with ten thousand percent sincerity i fucking love that the legacy of my online presence is '#1 hoshino ai wife guy'. this is what i was put on this earth to do.

Joking aside tho… Godddddd I've always loved the idea of an OnK timeloop fic!!!! I actually think the story lends itself really well to that kind of premise - the story revolves around this central tragedy as its axis and has just enough soft magic supernatural elements that you can so easily bullshit up a natural feeling reason for this to be happening. I also think this idea works surprisingly well in a thematic sense, too? OnK is about cycles, at least in the sense of generational echoes, but it's also about narratives, those created by and about us, and about moving on from past trauma to reclaim your right to the future. Timeloop stories are really natural and well suited vehicles for those sorts of themes.

I also think it would be super fun to play with in like, a metanarrative sense as well? Idr if this particular thought ever made its way onto tumblr, but I love rolling the idea in my brain of Ai being 'narratively cursed' in a sense. Because Ai as a character in a story is kind of defined by her fate - her role in OnK and any of its derivatives is defined by the question of whether or not she lives and even in stories where she survives, it still echoes. The idea of making that something the characters in the story have to tangibly grapple with me is super compelling to me. Like, maybe it's a KagePro sort of thing where, even if her death at Ryosuke's hands is prevented, her death on that day is 'fated'.

I think this could be a really cool reflection of something in the original text the story doesn't really get as much time to go into, that Ai's tragedy is simultaneously preventable and avoidable & inevitable and unstoppable, purely because of the way the deck was stacked against her. Even if there was no Ryosuke, there would have been a hundred other men with knives in their hands. Her "fate" is inevitable because it's the end result of a whole Rude Goldberg machine of systematic and individual choices made to exploit her for her whole life. Ai can't ever escape the narrative because she has no control over it. Her one act of rebellion against it - her decision to become Aqua and Ruby's mother - is the thing that cements her doom.

Because of this, I don't think I would actually want Ai herself to be the center of a loop story focused on saving her? Like, her being the POV character would be interesting but I think another character would need to be the main looper. This is because, for me… I actually don't think Ai can ever 'save' herself.

Not in the sense that she is incapable of doing so, but because saving herself would destroy any chance of her salvation in the first place. Her entire life, she has been failed by every single person who had the responsibility to love and protect her and she is forced to uplift herself as a result. Ai saving herself is the final proof to her that nobody was ever going to help her, that she cannot be authentically loved or accepted as she is. Kindness was always conditional. Her love was never reciprocated.

This is why she has to be saved by someone else - because her salvation is someone seeing both Hoshino Ai and Ai of B-Komachi and choosing Hoshino Ai. That's why her fate is inevitable. Because everyone else will always choose "Ai of B-Komachi". She can only be saved by a person who sees all of her and decides to unconditionally love and accept Hoshino Ai with the full understanding of everything that she is.

Because of that… I think Kamiki would be the ideal looper in a scenario like this. Not only does it provide salvation for Ai, but I also think it creates a really interesting route to salvation/redemption for Kamiki; presenting him with not just the opportunity but the necessity to undo his mistakes and repair the damage he caused and. in the process, come to finally, truly understand Ai as a person, not as his savior. And in doing so, Kamiki saves himself, too.

That's just how I'd do it, anyway…! I don't know that I'd ever have the energy or drive to write this sort of thing myself, but people are free to mine this for ideas for their own fics/AUs/etc.

[7-oh-ta1]

I actually feel rage when people call totk a 10/10. Like YES I enjoyed totk..... but that's because I ALSO enjoyed botw, and totk is a mimic of botw. Totk didn't just use the same world as botw, it added absolutely nothing interesting to the modern Hyrule. To me, THAT was important to botw. It meant nothing to totk. Zero world integrity. To the npcs I have come to know. THAT is not 10/10. That alone cranks it down to 9/10 without even considering the boring plot, the lackluster dungeons, the reuse of shrines as well as all other botw mechanics, and any new lore completely destroys anything actually interesting that may have been happening, all of which moves it down to 5/10 for me. But wait... everything I like about totk is in botw. 2/10.

But the tiniest criticism that is symbolic of everything wrong with totk.... is the continuation of botw's world. For the hundredth time I will cite Celessa, my favorite botw npc.

Celessa is a pilgrim who views Princess Zelda as something of a paragon. She's currently on a pilgrimage to the Spring of Wisdom when Link meets her and gives lots of interesting worldbuilding about the spring, Zelda, and how the modern Hyrule views her. Celessa offers the perspective that Zelda, who may or may not be dead at this point in the story, is someone incredibly powerful and that some people have a nearly religious faith that she's protecting them even if they have no proof of it. Celessa's information that Zelda was said to have visited the Spring of Wisdom also gives Link incentive to locate it in order to find one of his memories.

My criticism with Celessa is that, like every npc, she never actually makes it to the Spring of Wisdom. She will be on her pilgrimage infinitely. I wanted to see her keep going, I really liked her character motivations and wanted to see where she would go next. Totk, as a SEQUEL that took several years to develop whilst reusing botw's map, had every opportunity to continue the story of Celessa and the other interesting npcs. I imagined Celessa could have visited all three springs at that point. I imagined her as something of a caretaker of the Spring of Wisdom, as someone who could see the dragons, someone spiritually knowledgeable. Bringing what she believes as an important, sacred place back into the modern eye. Maybe she could have an organization spread to all three springs, caring for and bringing these springs back to life and out of the shadows. But I would take just Celessa living on that mountain. Or maybe, as a teacher in Hateno (the central of modern Hyrule's hylians that Celessa is very familiar with) educating people on the Sacred Springs and WHY those locations are sacred.

So what is pilgrim Celessa up to in totk?

Celessa is a tourist in Hateno Village, doning full mushroom garb. She acts like she's never been there before everyday. She travels with two other unrelated npcs she never met in botw. She has a passion for fashion and adores CeCe's mushroom designs. Everyday she and her new friends travel to each of Hateno's tourist traps.

And that's it. There's no legacy, there's no callback, there's no continuation of Celessa's story. It's just her name on a character because they wanted an npc to do that thing and she just happened to be the one to do it. It has nothing to do with Celessa. And she's just my example! This is how they treated Hyrule. We enjoyed Hyrule in botw because the worldbuilding, understanding the scars the Great Calamity left on it, but the communities that continue despite, despite, despite. Botw was special it was presenting an entirely new Hyrule to us with new npcs filling it. Totk has no such connection to the world. It's disrespectful.

Imagine, gentlemen, that in the Dragonborn DLC of Skyrim, every npc on Solstheim was exactly the same. No new towns or houses, no terrain changes, all the npcs are named the same. But for some reason, Carnius Magius is a humble, kind fisherman. That doesn't make any sense -- he's a cold hearted businessman that wants to kill his employees over minor infractions. No information is given to the player about why he has changed. With absolutely no mention to his past, he's now a soft spoken, helpful fisherman. This would confuse and trouble people who care about the world of TES, which at least unlike TLOZ the majority of fans actually do care about the integrity of the games.

This is such a small thing. As a sequel, continuing the stories of the world. Could they really not manage to do that? If it's such a tiny thing people don't care about, why do I care about it? And if it's tiny, why couldn't they manage it? There's so many examples of the disrespect to botw's Hyrule that totk now uses like a playground for its stupid fucking g mod mechanics. But still, people give it 10/10? 10/10?!!!!!!! I'm going to start biting people.

[sharlotscarletfox]

Scrapped Epilogue of my Hogwarts Legacy Sebastian x f!MC

writing style heavily inspired by my favorite ao3 author of all time

Returning to Feldcroft was nerve-wracking. Sebastian never thought that returning to his hometown could ever feel so foreign.

It was still the same buildings and the same roads. He knew the best spots for winning a game of hide and seek and the shop with the most delectable sweets.

His most recent memories of his hometown were gloomy. The weight of his uncle's death still weighed heavy on his shoulders. He could see the town center where Ranrok's soldiers almost killed Anne, where his uncle banished him from his childhood home. Even before the tragic events that transpired in the past months, Sebastian could only remember coming home and worrying about Anne, promising that he will find a cure.

Seeing the town now was different. They rebuilt well after the attack. New flowers were planted and the streets were lit up with children's laughter. Sebastian has never seen the town so alive before. Or maybe it has always been like this, he just never bothered to notice because of his narrowmindedness.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

At least he wasn't alone. For the first time since his parents' death, since Anne's curse, he felt like he had a family again. He had people he could talk to who listened and who he could come home to. He appreciated that the two people most important to him had stayed by his side and shown him kindness and patience even when he was going off the deep end.

With summer vacation, neither she nor Ominis were wearing their school robes. She opted for a loose white shirt and some shorts, while Ominis wore a button-down shirt and long pants.

"Yeah. Perhaps I'm a bit nervous." He admitted.

"Don't rush it, Sebastian, you can take it slow. You have a long way to go to earn Anne's trust again." Ominis added walking up to them. He interlocked his left arm with her right and pocketed his wand.

"I know, it just feels different. Not quite like home."

"We can make it feel like home again." She smiled, holding out her hand. "This is a time for new beginnings, a new chapter of our lives."

He nodded appreciatively and took her hand.

"We are proud of you Sebastian," Ominis added.

He didn't know what to say, so he just tugged them along as they walked the road to Feldcroft.

Suddenly Sebastian was filled with sudden all-consuming affection. The soft rays of the sun filtered through the trees and hit his face. The light breeze of the east wind. The coarse dirt under his feet. His friends are beside him, supporting him regardless of what the future holds. Sensations and feelings from all around overwhelmed him.

Months ago he was standing in the Undercroft breaking down at the thought of Anne and his friends turning him into the ministry and now he was walking through Feldcroft like it was meant to happen.

Sebastian didn't think he deserved peace. The weight of his sins would follow him around for the rest of his life.

But right at this moment.

He felt okay.

He wished it would last forever but they finally neared his childhood home. It was still the same as he left it with a couple of exceptions. A small garden was nurtured in patches, the plants labeled in Anne's neat handwriting. The windows were open, something they haven't done since their parent's death. And there was an extra grave sitting before his parents'. And in front of it stood his twin sister.

Anne wore a long black dress, mourning attire.

He felt her squeeze his hand reassuringly.

It will be alright, it said. We are here for you. Forever and always.

"Anne..." he whispered.

She turned around and for a painful couple of seconds, no one said anything.

His throat tightened and he fought the urge to run. All the dread, helplessness, and countless nights of feeling desperate and lost hit Sebastian like a curse to the heart. If Anne never wanted to see him again, he would understand. He would accept it, but it would tear him apart.

At last, she smiled as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"Welcome home Sebastian."

And at last, in the small town of Feldcroft, reunited with his sister and with the support of his friends. Sebastian has been found.