#which are both very lame imho

[hp-fanfic-reader]

So I started reading some Harry/Ron fics today which is a ship I haven't read much for.

I like the idea of the ship but so far I haven't been very impressed with the fics (only a few so far so I could be wrong) bc they just feel so out of character. They're so sappy and speak so well and profoundly to each other.

Where are the fics where they're like "woah, dude, bro, what if, like, wouldn't it be funny if we kissed or something, bro? Hahaha. Oh fuck, shit, what do I do now? I might like my best friend. Shit."

And then the confession scene is like "so, uh..... You know I love you right? like as a best friend and all, and you're like the bestest best friend yunno? And so like remember that one time we kissed and it was hilarious?? Yeah so like imighthavefalleninlovewithyouanddidntrealizeituntilwekissed. Oops? 🤷🏽‍♀️"

Bonus if there's like stupid boy bs in there like "I understand if you want to punch/hex me now, but please spare me from anything that would induce a molly interrogation or anything that Fred and George will never let go."

[shallowseeker]

Who called cas a pretty angel? A demon (crowley?) I know he said that cas has sex appeal, but I can't remember whether or not Crowley called him pretty . Or was it Balthazar or other angels. I remember someone calling cas a pretty angel

I was on the ao3 tag looking through some dean cas fics and came across this highschool fic and how dean was a jock, cool guy and like cas is the nerd that was basically the intro and then it got me thinking of all these other highschool intro fics that makes cas the nerd etc

And like for all intents and purposes it makes more sense for cas to be the jock. Throwback to ishm calling him an angels angel. Like it makes sense that cas would be the cool one Specifically the type who is cool but internally doesn't feel like he belongs with them since he doesn't fit in that crowd.

Why I am I ranting lol it's probably cause its 1 am lol

But cas was the cool angel right? when he was still in and accepted by the angels

I think you're thinking of Changing Channels: "No, no. *MR. Trickster does not like pretty-boy angels." :-)

///

There are snide comments made about Cas's attractiveness, sure, with Gabriel and most demonic characters. But those are mostly power-motioned taunting.

You’re right about Crowley. I think Crowley's positive associations were, "Buddy Boy, you have what they call sex appeal." ("Thank you. Get to the point.") And if you squint, "You like to bend em right over, don't you?" which is the mated joke to Crowley's failed taunting, "You're the bottom in this relationship." (However, Cas on Crowley in TMWWBK? “But I was smarter than him, stronger. (I wasn't ever threatened.)")

///

IMHO, Cas is canonically implied to be handsome, simply by how regular people react to him. There's the woman on the television in season 6, saying (of Godstiel) - "He was SEXY." (After which Dean quickly turns off the TV.) Although...it's hard to say whether she was simply having a "Ted-Bundy-groupie-style" fawning moment... We can point to Mandy the waitress, but maybe she was just playing along and fawning over the guy who looked most likely to leave tips...

I guess it's up to interpretation.

I happen to think Cas's sexiness extends beyond his vessel. There's the "Angel's angel" line, of course, but also in Metatron's taunting of the beautiful Hannah wanted to be "dominated" by a more rugged experienced-battalion-oriented angel.

Taken together, I think it's pretty safe to say Cas is considered handsome, rugged, strong, cool, popular etc; both in-vessel and as simply a natural way of his being among the angels.

///

On your second point, I think fanfic is safe to explore just about anything, so I don't fault whatever way it wants to swing!

Cas certainly has enough dorky/“doof” moments to play with, and he's very brainy/eccentric/philosophical sometimes! Plus, I think there's some actor bleed-over with Misha Collins, honestly, who is in my head more similar to Dean than Castiel. (But that's neither here nor there.)

I do happen to think that in-world, all signs point to, "Cas is popular/cool even when he's a doof."

I actually think Cas exemplifies, "Even when he loses, he wins," more than the characters that actually long to exemplify this, especially when it comes to people and “being likable.” It frustrates characters like Metatron (probably also Crowley, Rowena, Chuck Shurley, even Sam -> "i.e. characters with have ambition but can't seem to muster up enough natural charisma to get where they wanna go").

And I think part of that is...well. Castiel has charisma. He has a natural willingness to play big and fail spectacularly. (Unlike characters like Rowena or Crowley, Cas usually puts his own skin in the game/his own self on the line as “the muscle.”)

In one-on-one battle, Metatron laments Cas's abilities to be popular. He calls him various things like, "the villain/lame/braindead puppy/stupid jock/underdog. Metatron is holding the high cards, even the angel tablet! And yet Castiel manages to match his nice guy 4D chess...somehow. “I didn't think he'd be good at it!" (NOTE: After all that, Metatron kinda…resorts to killing Dean as petty revenge.)

Metatron certainly comes off as "no fair! He's not even trying to be cool and here I am putting in all this effort to look cool and no one sees me as anything other than a loser!" Or "Why is it lame when I do it, but people fawn over Ass-stiel?! I'm a nice guy!!!"

METATRON: Well, I could get a new face. TYRUS: You'd still be you -- a nerd trying to be one of the popular kids. Mnh-mnh....my guys will go running to Castiel.

We've all been there.

So yeah. Even when Castiel's "a doof," he's cool/popular and connects with others pretty effortlessly.

But it's Cas's willingness to spectacularly fail that gets him places, canonically. It wins him points with others even when that's not what he's trying to do. It's that earnestness. I'll quote Daphne in Scoobynatural on what she looks for in a guy: "Strong, sincere..."

I mean, just look at how quickly Rowena flipped on him. :-)

Aside/// Like Dean, Cas doesn't actually want the big things, not really. He wants the horrifically mundane little things (boring family life). Not because of what it represents, "Normal Life." It's not a checklist of status symbol of "Success" or "Making It."

No, for characters like Dean and Cas, it's simply an emotional thing. And I think it's part of what makes them likeable/able to form connections so much more readily than other characters.

[nalyra-dreaming]

In ep6 Louis says Lestat grovelled for 6yrs, but the 'apology' we saw was so lame. Do you think the actual begging was omitted on purpose (either bc the writers want Lestat to be unsympathetic af, or for other plot-related reasons) or was Louis just making excuses for Lestat? I suspect he'll show remorse at some point, but so far it seems like he wasn't sorry, or if he was, he was too proud to show it. That's assuming the scene's accurate, I guess, though we've no clear reason to think it's not.

Well, we also know that Lestat did tell Louis of his "profound sense of shame" for his actions later... so there are discussions/arguments/apologies which we were not privy to.

It is in line with the books that the most profound scenes between Louis and Lestat are kept private, untold. Insinuated. The show actually did the same from the very first episode on, too, with the voice over of Lestat's ... "pitch". Louis tells us about it, but keeps the words that convinced him to himself. It bears repeating that the season is "Armand coded", and that Louis is telling a tale... in front of his current boyfriend. This interview has a purpose, and the purpose has not been revealed yet, and what he is talking about is shaped by that purpose. What we see is but a visualization - contrary to other shows this is not the truth. Does that mean that Louis is lying about everything? Most certainly not. But we see a POV, and an edited one at that.

So no, I do not think that was "the" apology. And given the bite marks on Lestat's throat after the hate sex episode... that might have come even after that, imho. Because they both needed to digest that event for a bit. Lestat bc of the truth that was forced from him, and Louis bc of the truth he was given, through words and blood.

And this sharing of blood is a very intimate thing, it is not surprising to me that Louis wouldn't share the details of it, the apology or the actual aftermath of their reunion with Daniel.

He's simply too private (Armand or not).

Also, arc-wise, Lestat is the villain in the first half of IWTV (in the book, too). That... will change eventually.

[mikuni14]

La Pluie Ep 8

I admit I was so bored the entire episode, everything about this episode screamed that we were witnessing a bad case of a mediocre soap opera, from the atmosphere, the plot, to the way it was shot, the scenes, but the final seconds made up for it all. I didn't expect THAT. Lomfon hears BOTH of them? Ohhoho! 😃🥰👀💖🥳✨ FINALLY, some truly innovative approaches to soul mate trope! So far, up to those last seconds, everything seemed to indicate that the show was obediently following the “rules of soul mate law”, I was especially disappointed sure about this after Saengtai simply decided that whatever was going on between Phat and his ex, he's not mad at them, and he loves Phat anyway. Soul mates kind of love always win!

Still, given Tai's issues and his trauma caused by his parents' divorce, the fact that he just let go and did not wait/ expect Phat’s explanation of his very long kiss seems strange to me. Patt said that he chooses Tai, which means he has some options besides him worth considering, and out of them all, he chose him. Like... huh? That was so lame and frankly suspicious? Nevertheless, I believe that for a helahy relationship, any misunderstandings should always be clearly explained. Phat really didn't explain what happened, yet Tai decided to simply trust him, which raises some questions: why was this whole story with the parents and Tai's distrust towards the soul mate stuff for and how much this blind trust will be enough for their relationsgip. Not to mention, that narratively, Tai should not so easily trust love-related situations, given his parents’ marriage fiasco and his still fresh breakdown after witnessing Phat and Nara. It's just... the kiss lasted a really long time, Phat ALLOWED it to last that long and Tai had plenty of time to get anxious and break down. And Tai doesn't question it at all. It’s just weird. Also, there is no transition between Tai’s flight, breakdown, and a sudden total surrender to Phat, Tai has no enlightenment, no moment of finding the truth he was looking for, he juest fell and sparined his ankle 😄 But what did happen? Tai heard Phat when it rained. For me, this proves what I've been saying all along - for Tai, the fact that Phat is his soul mate is a deciding factor. And now, ENTER LOMFON 😀

Anyway, I’m Team Lomfon. He’s just more honest imho, even when he’s rude and angry - he still shows his true feelings.

[iheartbookbran]

What dis they do to Laena's character ? If you don't mind answering

Well this is kinda subjective because Laena does play a very minor role in the f&b book, to be fair, and we don’t know that much about her, but a lot of characters in f&b suffer from this same problem due to the nature of how the book is written. And yet hotd somehow managed to reduce her role even further? Which comes off as even worse given the fact that Laena in the show is black.

Anyway heads up for potential spoilers from the f&b book and the show.

For starters they cut the relationship between her and Rhaenyra that is implied and can be interpreted as having been romantic (and even suggested that Daemon, Laena and Rhaenyra had a polyamorus relationship while Rhaenyra was living in Dragonstone and Daemon and Laena were living at Driftmark). It is mentioned that Rhaenyra grew “fond, and then more than fond of her good sister Laena” and Rhaenyra was personally present to assist her during the birth of her last child.

And while I’m not trying to romanticize Daemon or the hideous things he’s capable of doing, I think it’s untrue to his character to try to imply that he didn’t care for Laena or simply “settled” for her because he couldn’t have Rhaenyra. Daemon chose to marry Laena and even fought a duel for her hand, which knowing Daemon, must have been a big deal for him. I never got the impression from reading the book that Daemon was anything less than happy being married to Laena.

I also don’t understand this idea the show is trying to introduce about Daemon playing favorites with his daughters? Again we know very little about Daemon’s relationship with his kids (including the ones that haven’t yet been born in the show), save for the fact he’d probably burn a bitch for any of them, and while it is mentioned in the book that he desired to have a son, that doesn’t mean he didn’t love both of his daughters. In f&b there’s this part in which a steward writes Daemon from dragonstone during the war to complain about Baela’s “unruly behavior” of not being super ladylike and being “fond of kissing boys” lmao but Daemon’s response to that is “well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ?? Wdy want me to do abt that??? Girls will be girls” and that’s super funny of him but I also don’t think that would mean he favors Baela over Rhaena in any way.

And this last point is more related towards Laena’s daughters than Laena herself but I think it is still connected to how the show is depicting Daemon as having ambivalent feelings or even just not caring that much about his first family which I think is just untrue and also a disservice to Laena’s character and her significance Daemon’s story and actions even after her death. Like, his whole feud with Aemond is made even more personal by the fact that his nephew who he hates but is also a mirror of his worst traits now rides his deceased wife’s old mount Vhagar, but we barely even get to see Laena ride Vhagar or her love for flying. In the book she tries to reach Vhagar in an effort to get to fly one last time before dying, the show could’ve gone for that.

But instead of any of that, we got Laena having to beg Daemon to go see her family and her being sadly aware that he married her as a consolation prize... and also death by incineration. That’s just lame and lowkey racist imho.

[areyougonnabe]

Fic Writer Questions!

tagged by @palamedessextus !!! thank u i love to procrastinate on writing by writing about writing

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

110 on my main account (+ 4 on my sneaky sock for Crimes™ lol)

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

614,551 on my main account which is. hm. a lot

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

obvi the main ones are the terror (50 fics) and good omens (35 fics). beyond that: TMA, the OA, doctor who, LOST, red dwarf, what we do in the shadows, the aubreyad, legends of tomorrow, banished, MCU, bbc ghosts, jeeves & wooster, russian doll, true detective, twin peaks, fleabag, & it's always sunny.

so technically 19, but wow a LOT of those are because i am a fiend for crossovers. (true detective x red dwarf... twin peaks x hannibal... the OA x lost.... russian doll x doctor who...) and many of the others were one-offs for yuletide. i'm pretty monofannish when it comes to writing!

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

lol they're all going to be for good omens... let's see

1. "it's a new craze" - the podcast fic. imho this fic is the definition of "The Claw," a.k.a. the phenomenon that sees some fics plucked out from the fray to become super popular. i'm not denying that it's good! i still think it's pretty clever! but its popularity was probably as much a function of timing as of quality

2. "what a way to make a living" - the uber driver fic. honestly still pretty proud of this one, it flows well and is structurally interesting and genuinely very funny and the perfect length. i had a blast in good omens fandom writing comedic fic, this one

3. "dearly departed" - another one i'm still very happy with. my first ever finished multi-chapter fic & the story that proved to me i could sustain a plot and original characters and also that people would actually enjoy it. so a pretty big deal!

4. "blame it on my juice, baby!" - the fake love potion one. i wrote this fic while delirious with horrible fever cooped up in a tiny council flat airbnb bedroom in london. i think it's still pretty strong although since writing it i've developed a severe aversion to the "meddling friend engineers a get-together" trope in fic & so cringe a bit when i read it back, lmao

5. "greatest hits" - the one with the original songs! the songs are still good.... the fic is ehhhhhhh i guess.

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

i don't respond to comments on most of my gomens fic anymore because 🤷‍♀️ but i do try to reply to everything i get on my terror fic/smaller fandom stories! my replies are usually very lame but i do like to take the time to thank people for reading.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

i usually don't write angsty endings because i'm a weenie BUT the one exception is probably my terror/TMA crossover which cannot be said to end well by any means lol

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

dearly departed has a very lovely ending... i will also plug my OA fic heat rises which is GREAT and has a GREAT ending and nobody read it because nobody watched the OA. i'm fine it's fine

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

as mentioned above, yes, compulsively... award for craziest simply has to go to It's Always Sunny In Another Dimension which is, yes, an IASIP x OA crossover. i apologize for nothing

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not that i can recall, [bubbe voice] tenks gad!!!

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

i do i do.... when i first picked up fic writing again after college i thought smut would forever totally beyond me but after some very kind encouragement from friends i tried my hand at it & was off to the races.

i would not say i am an expert at it by any means but i have a lot of fun with it, & people seem to generally appreciate it, so i will keep going!

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

also no, phew

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, a bunch of my gomens fics have been translated into chinese and russian, which is so so super cool!

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yuh, i had a few legendary cowrites in GO! the slow show metafic with cherry @fremulon and the shitscript crossover extravaganza with hallie @kalelraejepsen !!! both tremendously fun experiences

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

that is a very tough one. if you go by my ao3 bookmarks it's aziraphale/crowley, which might be true still tbh... but i dunno. maybe ten/rose because that shit never leaves you.

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

in terms of fic i already started posting, there's my one terror WIP with amnesiac tozer that i swear i WILL finish one day... and same goes for my good omens music & lyrics AU, which i fully expect to pick back up and finish off when i inevitably return to the fandom for series 2.

as far as stuff that never made it out of drafts, i started a hodgson-centric fic a few weeks ago that i got like 4k into before realizing i need to seriously refine my approach. so hopefully after exe fest i will get around to that!

16) What are your writing strengths?

well i am funny. so i've got that going for me. other than that ummmm i don't know. i don't think of myself as a particularly good or strong writer bc i really am just here for a laff. i think i can turn a phrase well and get the most out of imagery; i'm good at coming up with compelling story concepts and weird gimmicks, i guess?

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

i fundamentally don't know or understand how People Actually Act And Feel so i have a hard time getting realistic or interesting reactions and conflicts out of characters. my plots (when my stories have them at all) are very powered by external events, i wouldn't call myself a character-driven writer by any means. for the same reasons i struggle with voice and dialogue beyond superficial signposting via vocabulary/syntax. also, sustaining a long story/finding enough Stuff To Happen to fill it up/having the patience to keep writing... is something i need to work on for sure.

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i'm a lame american who only speaks english so honestly i don't really have thoughts!

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

i distinctly remember hand-writing in my notebook two or three pages worth of a story about what happened to the main precog in "minority report" after watching the movie when i was like seven. the first fandom i actually wrote fic for and posted it online was probably doctor who circa 2010 ish? but my warrior cats RP career predates that by a few years and i did a LOT of writing there. oh warriorsforest39 dot proboards dot com you are missed....

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

SEX GHOST AU! SEX GHOST AU!

tagging folks :))) @laissezferre @titleleaf @theburialofstrawberries @girdedheraround @flanneryoconnorfanfiction @wreathedwith if u want!!

[mercurytrinemoon]

On synastry and how to approach it

If you follow me you may have noticed few of my posts where I'm fixating on the fact that I don't know a certain person's birth date. And I said I'm sensing a nice Venus-Mars connection and honestly now that I think about it, I feel like Jupiter is heavily underlined in here as well. So that made me think of synastry a lot (not that I don't think about it on daily basis) and it made me want to elaborate a bit. Also because I see this weird approach where people single out certain aspects and turn them into "make it or break it" kind of deal and that is just wrong.

Actually it's similar with natal charts. The difference here is obvious - you have two individuals which means double the options in which way the energy may go and more potential for aspects to cancel each other out. So while natal interpretations of, for example, planets in the houses will resonate with you, all the black and white interpretations of synastry house overlays belong in the dumpster imho. And I knooow, I knoooow, one of my first posts was about house overlays. It was very generalized one and I did disclaim to take the entire chart into consideration. But sometimes I see these descriptions where people say "oh my god Venus in the 8th house! This is highly sexual aspect!" But what if none of the people have their Mars nor Venus activated, maybe except for a Venus-Saturn square that puts a big dump on the whole thing. Also, this may as well indicate taking care of shared resources (because that's one of the main themes of the 8th). Besides - and that's my personal take - overlays are less important than aspects between planets unless a) you’re putting a stellium in someone’s house b) it's about angles, because having the same planet as someone's ascendant is a big thing and I can guarantee you that most of the people you create bonds with will have that configuration with you.

Speaking of which, the type of people you attract is highly dependant on your chart. Angles are important but so are aspects and planet placements. I'll give you an example based on my own natal chart, because, obviously, I know myself well and I pay attention to charts of the people I come in contact with. As an Aquarius rising, I attract a lot of Aqua personal planets, Leo risings and people with personal planets in Leo - surprisingly not a single Leo Sun. As a Sagittarius dominant person, most of my friends are Gemini Moons or Sag Moons. Surprisingly I only befriended one Gemini Sun in my life + my belowed dog who was a Gemini. My Aries Moon makes me weak for Aries Suns. Sun is opposite Mars (5th house) - it, again, points to Aries (and Scorpios as well). Dominant fire element and Aries in the 3rd (easy communication) helps here a lot. Having Sagittarius in the 11th (house of friends) and Jupiter in the 7th (house of partnerships), I tend to be friends with other Sadges BUT that Jupiter in the 7th makes me very attracted to Pisces as well. So DO take classic rulership into consideration!

That leads me to another point - modalities. I have a lot of mutable energy so I love other mutable energies. SQUARES omg, especially in romantic/sexual relationships. They do bring tension but hear me out. You need trines and sextiles but squares bring spice. I can guarantee you that having a flowing Mars-Venus contact will give you a pleasant feelings for one another, easiness in communication and a natural synchronicity, but it's the square that will make you wanna rip each other's clothes off. Soooo... I mean, whichever you prefer I guess. Squares are also stimulating, with trines the energy flows nicely, squares bring interest... it's a different element, but the same modality... a perfect mix to make you drawn to the other person. It's similar yet intriguing. Another example, as a Sag Venus my tastes concerning arts and music should clash with a Pisces Venus - that’s what a textbook definition will tell you - but surprise, surprise, half of my favourite artists have Venus in Pisces.

Now with oppositions it's a completely different thing. I think they work wonderful when there are yin-yang planets involved. As I mentioned earlier, as a Sagittarius Sun I love Gemini Moons. They compliment each other. The thing is, with opposites you either get each other or you just pass each other. So it fluctuates. I've noticed that especially when there's the same planet involved. Two people having Mercury opposition will get each other so well they will finish each other's sentences one day and then completely miss the mark the next. Like two vehicles driving in opposite directions.

Trines aren't 100% amaaaazing. I know many people who, like me, have inner planets in fire signs and our values, ways of thinking and approach to certain issues are completely different. We do express them in the same manner though, which is by being loud lol. Trines also bring laziness so if you have too many of them the relationship may just fizzle out. Sextiles on the other hand are so underappreciated. Air fuels fire and water nourishes the earth - it’s way more interesting than a trine where both signs are in the same element, imho. Some astrologers will tell you sextiles are "weaker" but that's just stupid. They’re just as important, okay?  

Sometimes you don't even have to have an actual aspect. Whoa, I know, mind-blown. But I see that constantly. Obviously having planets in a tight aspects is very important but let's say you have Aquarius Venus at 5° and the other person has Sun in Aqua at 20°. They don't make an aspect but it's the same sign, therefore you're going to express these energies in the same manner - which makes you compatible (tho I don't like that word). Now the smaller the orb, the more significant the aspect is. I've read somewhere that the aspect with the tightest orb kind of represents the theme of the relationship - I haven't been able to really analyze this theory tho. When it comes to orbs overall, Alexander Von Pronay is suggesting to use aspects up to 7°. I'd do that and then look at aspects under 2° to really see which energies are stronger. Liz Greene said that if you're feeling an aspect, even if the orb is wider, well, you're feeling it and it's there. I suspect it may depend on what energies you're sensitive to. If, for example, your chart ruler is Venus, you may feel Venus aspects more. And then with Uranus, Neptune and Pluto I'd say up to 2°.  

What's actually awesome are so called double whammies. It's when the same two planets are aspected both ways. So A person's Sun is trining B's Venus and B's Venus is sextile A's Sun. Or A's Moon is conjunct B's Sun and B's Sun is opposite A's Moon. I like double whammies cause they provide mutuality. People often ask "wHo FeeLs iT mORe????". First of all, there's no clear answer to that because everyone's different and their charts are different and some respond to the energy one way and some, other. That's why I like to ask people: well, how do YOU feel about that aspect (if you, of course, know astrology well enough to pinpoint the energy). But with double whammies you basically exchange the same aspect so, hopefully, in 99%, it will be mutual.

What I also love is having the same aspect natally. Let's say you have a Mars-Mercury trine natally and the other person has it conjoined. That is awesome. It's like going through the same experiences in life and going "yeah! I went through that too! I understand!" Better yet if then those planets also make an aspect in the synastry chart. It's great. You're going to vibe so much.

About mutuality... A few weeks ago I was watching a livestream from Nina and Shaina from Party Trick Astrology (love those girls) and they were talking about synastry so I asked them a question related to these things cause, you know, I bet they've seen hundreds of charts and I'm always curious about other people's observations. So I asked about mutuality and one of them gave an example of a girl whose Venus was beautifully aspected by a guy and the guy's Venus not being aspected at all. And how this, for example, pointed to the guy being into the girl but not vice versa. And I thought that's interesting because I'd assume it would be the other way around. Her planets didn't activate his Venus so he shouldn't be into her romantically. And I actually experienced that myself one time. I had this Aqua friend and had literally zero aspects to my Venus. Not even a semi-sextile, not even a quincunx, not even a wide generational planet connection. And I didn't see him through these romantic lens. So I guess there are no rules to this. OR it’s all about projection (which btw happens a lot in astrology). That's why I like to look at synastry charts and just get the overall vibe. 

Now with that being said, the shocker. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE ASPECTS WITH THE OTHER PERSON AT ALL. I know, a bummer. Here we, astrology junkies, are in the lookout for the perfect synastry chart but as I look at charts of celebrity couples I often see them having no Sun connections, no Venus or Mars connections, lame Moon aspects etc. That is indeed disappointing. That's why I was so stoked about that Britney-Justin synastry. Because I don't see connections like that one between all the "it” couples of today.

So I guess... astrology is bullshit... Nah, just kidding. But it is complex. Sometimes it’s quality over quantity. And you should approach synastry as a whole, just feel it out, you know? And I’ll leave you with that for today because it’s getting long.

[lol-jackles]

What's your take on Wanda Vision? I think it's one of the most overrated Marvel series ever. It's just a long version of Supernatural's Changing Channels with better CGI, imho. Changing Channels at least has deeper meaning. Wanda Vision is just a story about a supposed superhero who can't escape her lover's death, ended up destroyed other people's lives, then finally got her penance in a way. Never knew Marvel could be that lame and predictable x

Oh man it didn’t even occur to me it was like Changing Channel! I like Changing Channel so much more, though that’s not saying whole lot.  Hmmm, maybe I need to see Changing Channel again, it’s been so many years.

I'll be honest, I watched Wandavision while answering Asks on tumblr so I probably missed a lot of important details.  With that confession disclaimer out of the way...

Sitcoms are my guilty pleasures but making the first 3  episodes complete sitcoms which have no connection with the storyline when you have only 9 episodes did not help in making this series interesting.  Am I right to think the meta-commercials had no significance whatsoever in the storyline other than to, I dunno, confuse people?  Speaking of having no significance with the storyline, did Monica, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy need to be there?  I like them and thought Jimmy and Darcy were underrated in their respective movies, but if you remove those three and the majority of SWORD from the series would anything change much?  

I give WandaVision credit for making me care about Wanda and Vision where I was indifferent to them in the movies to the point I didn’t give a rats ass that Vision died.  Wanda was one of the few good things about Age of Ultron, but then they gave her a cardboard personality in the proceeding movies.  WandaVision tapped into potential of both characters and made their romance adorable and believable.  Vision got a character arc of questioning his identity. Vision vs White Vision was quite cool but very short. How White Vision was defeated with logic was smart but a bit anticlimactic. I don't know where he flew off to but I hope it is revealed in a future project.

Elizabeth did justice to Wanda's storyline as she went through grief, anger, love, and redemption (well, except that Westview hostage thing).  The maturity she displayed in the finale by dissovling the Hex even after knowing what she will lose was commendable. She finally moved on from  Vision's death.  The White Vision twist and the fact that Wanda had not stolen Vision's body was the most amazing reveal for me in WandaVision.  My only issue with Wanda's storyline is they kind of made her a villian in the end.  Even if you ignore her brainwashing and torturing Westview as an accident, she  purposefully did the exact same thing to Agatha in the end, and no one calls her out on it. Not even Vision.  WandaVision is supposed to be a show that talks about grief, but there’s a difference between doing something bad, and, oh I dunno, ENSLAVING an entire town against their will because you’re sad.  They can’t excuse when the main character mess up due to their screwed up morals,  I felt like WandaVision does.

Readers know my issue with MCU villains.  I am one of those who very firmly believe in the principle of "every story is as good as its villain."  Apparently MCU disagrees and thinks every villain should be sympathetic or worse, relatable.  Screw that MCU.   So I just did not care about Agatha. yeah she has a quirky personality but I didn't find her interesting.   I also didn't like how the whole show was “It was Agatha all along!” but she wasn't even the one pulling the strings. It was Wanda all this time.  Wanda vs Agatha was a meh battle. It could have been much better if there was more variety in the attacks. The fight was mostly Wanda throwing hexes at Agatha and dying until she had enough and defeated her.  

Final score: 6 out of 10.  One point deduction for each sitcom episode and another point deduction for the boner joke.

[curiousconch]

Gravity

Chapter 5 of Ricochet (An Open Heart AU) 

Catch up here: Series Masterlist

Chapter Synopsis: As Heather struggles to decide how to move forward, she and Bryce gets embroiled in a night full of revelations.  

Pairing: Rafael Aveiro x MC (Dr. Heather Song) | Bryce Lahela x MC (Dr. Heather Song) 

Words: 2.7k+ | Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Romance

Rating/Warnings: Mature (16+) / language and a bucket heap of angst (maybe more)

Author’s Notes: I will expect some hate towards all the drama, but a love triangle is always a complex subject to deal with. In reality, navigating through it does not spare any of the hearts being broken at some point or another, because of the level of humanity that gets exposed when love isn’t returned. I know that firsthand.So this chapter is somewhat taken from that very real experience. But I promise, there’s purpose at the end 🌈🙂

This was inspired by IMHO, one of the angstyiest songs ever produced in the face of the earth - Gravity by Sara Bareilles. Also, disclaimer: majority of the characters are owned by Pixelberry, except the main character Heather Song and an OC villain Jordan Anderson.

Thanks for taking the time to share and read this ❤ BTW, are you Team Bryce or Team Rafael? Let me know in your reblogs!

Rafael tucked his cold hands inside the pockets of his jacket as he kicked a random rock from the sidewalk. He badly wanted to sleep, but he can't. He can't stop thinking about what he's done to Heather, and about how he much he hurt her. 

He can't stand staying in his apartment due to the memories that flooded each corner, couldn't even bear to clean up the pieces of shattered glass from that night. So that cold night, he decided to sulk in the middle of the crowd. At least, he wouldn't be alone. 

He arrived at Donahues, and nodded to a few regular patrons as he approached the bar. He asked Reggie for a bottle of beer, and settled himself on one of the stools. 

As he was about to take a sip, he heard a voice nearby. He could single out that voice anywhere, so his eyes immediately darted towards the direction of a nearby booth. Once he found who he was looking for his gut twisted in knots. He knew that silhouette like the back of his hand.

There she was, leaning on an old jukebox, a glass of cocktail in hand. His heart jumped inside his rib cage, excitement at the sight of her flooding in. He twisted himself to stand, but abruptly stopped as he saw a tall figure approach her. 

Even in the dim light, she saw her brilliant smile as she looked up at the guy. He instantly felt like an idiot all over again.

A fast-paced song flooded through the speakers. He saw Bryce offer a hand to her, which she happily took. Rafael saw them dance to the beat, laughter filling the gaps in between. He noticed a new spring in Heather's step, taking him back to the first time he brought her home to his grandmother. It was the same night when he taught her how to dance samba, with only the moon and the dim street lights illuminating their movements. The very night he decided to pursue Heather - the only woman who embraced him at the time when all he could offer was himself, a woman whom at first he thought as entirely out of his league.

All of those fading memories suddenly returned in full color, now when that same woman is dancing with anyone but him. Now it wasn't his hands holding her, it wasn't him who's making her laugh, it was no longer him who made her smile. Instead, he became the cause of her pain. 

He looked away, the idea of Heather being with someone else becoming more unbearable by the second. He leaned heavily on the bar and chugged the rest of his beer, before asking for another bottle. He covered his face with the palms of his hands, as the pain of his guilt pricked him inside like a fresh wound. 

When the tune ended, he looked back at Heather and didn't immediately find her. 

"Rafael?" he stopped as he recognized who just said his name. He wanted to ignore her. But deep down all he wanted was to make amends and be hers again. So despite his shame, he turned to face the music. 

"Heather," he straightened himself up, sobering when he saw the shine in her eyes. "How are you?" 

"I'm doing fine," her icy tone was like salt to his open scar. 

 "Can we talk?" 

"Why, so you could come up with another of your lame excuses?" she leaned away from him as she ordered a round of shots. 

"I deserved that," Rafael rubbed the back of his neck. He stepped closer, fixated in trying not to touch her. "Heather, please, just this once."

"Okay," Heather said before she even had the time to think. She couldn’t help herself, she was still drawn to him, and she cursed herself for it. One moment with him seemed to decimate all of her fragile strength. "Let me just bring this over to the guys and then I'll meet you outside," she turned before walking away, "but you get only 10 minutes, then we're done." 

“That’s more than enough for me,” he nodded. He trailed her with his eyes before he went outside, finding an empty table in the back garden. 

Heather handed out the shots among Jackie, Aurora, Sienna, Elijah and Bryce while she explained the situation. Bryce almost choked halfway through his tequila when she mentioned Rafael. It was as if a bucket of cold water just washed over him. He made an effort to keep his cool, while he internally battled with his desire to stop her from going back to him.

Heather was able to make a read on Bryce’s sudden silence though. He was full of life just a few minutes ago, when he twirled her around as they danced together. She was almost certain that he wanted to interject, but chose not to interfere. 

“You really wanna do this?” Aurora broke the quiet that fell upon their booth.

”I don’t know if it’s the best thing for me,” Heather replied, ruffling her bangs. “Maybe? I think I just owe it to myself to hear him out.”

“Well if it helps you both in the long run, I say you should go,” Sienna said as she offered a comforting squeeze on Heather’s arm.

Her best friend as usual, was right. She needed to hear what Raf had to say, regardless of how they both move forward. That was all the encouragement Heather needed. She then tipped off one shot - slightly relying on the liquid courage to help her get this over with.  Although there was something that seemed to anchor her on the ground, she went to find Rafael anyway. 

Bryce followed her with his eyes, hoping against hope that by the end of the night he wouldn’t have to let her go again.

”Hey,” Heather sat down opposite Rafael in a corner table.

He watched her without speaking, unable to find his voice for a few moments. His chest felt heavy, conscious of the fact that the odds were stacked against him. Yet, he held onto hope, not wanting to give up so easily.

“You wanted to talk, so, talk,” she crossed her arms, and tried to put up a brave front. 

He cleared his throat, delaying his response as he tried to compose a coherent offer to convince her take him back. When he found the right words in his mind, he began to speak. 

"I'm not going to justify what I did, Heather. It was incredibly wrong of me to betray you and to have caused your hurt," he shifted a little, leaning closer to her, and tried reaching out for her hand. Seeing that she did not flinch, he continued.

"I can never take back what I did, and the damage I've done. But if I have to spend the rest of my life asking for your forgiveness and trying to make this work between us, I will do everything in my power to do that, meu amor," he reached out and took her hand in his. "I simply can't stand to not be with you, I love you so, so much. I still do. So if you still want this, if you still want us, I'm asking you to take me back."

Heather felt her bravado begin to dissolve with his touch. Oh how she missed the calloused hands with which he caressed her, every cell in her body seemed to betray her. She sighed deeply, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. In her heart, she wanted nothing else but to forget everything and move on. But at this point, she wasn't sure if she wanted to do that with him. 

"I-I don't know, Raf," she stuttered, her eyes beginning to shimmer. It hurt that she couldn't just say yes to him again. "I know I'll be able to forgive you someday, Raf. But I'm not sure if I can choose to stay with you, for what you've done..." she concluded. 

She didn't know. At least not now. That's what he heard her say. Even if there's a slight chance of her being able to forgive him, and to take him back, he'd gladly accept it. 

"You don't have to answer now," he said. "Take all the time you need to think about it. I promise I won't bother you until you're already decided," he spoke gently. 

"Thanks, Raf. I'll think about it." And with that, she excused herself and went back inside. She went directly to the restrooms, her head spinning. She slumped herself on a nearby wall, inhaling air deeply as if she was drowning. She felt her chest thump with her rapidly beating heart, exhausted with the encounter. 

After several minutes, she composed herself and went back out, moving towards the direction of their booth. Her friends asked how it went, so she shared the general gist of it. They all agreed that it made sense, pitching in each of their own thoughts. Heather tried to listen to them, but she was distracted. 

Bryce's disposition faltered a little. She noticed that something changed, leaving her bothered. She knew that there’s a reason behind the diminished sarcasm in his voice, as well as in his almost-muted cockiness. She tried to justify to herself that he probably had something to deal with at work, but couldn't completely convince herself. She didn't want to let herself swim in her own assumptions, unless until everything with Raf was settled. So she chose not to prod. 

It wasn't long that they all decided to call it a night. They both walked towards his car and got in without a word to each other. She noticed that he barely even looked at her. The rest of the ride back to the condo was spent with her fidgeting with her phone, the awkward quiet gradually swallowing her whole. 

When they entered the hallway, Heather couldn't hold it in anymore. She wanted answers. 

"Hey Lahela, what happened there?" she asked. 

With his back facing her, she couldn't see his reaction. 

Bryce was stumped in place, unable to take another step forward. Damn it, reading me like an open book as always. The swirling emotions in his chest threatened to loose control. He shut his eyes closed for a few seconds, willing them away to no avail. So with clenched fists, he turned around and stared at the woman who captured his heart and threatened to unknowingly rip it apart. 

"You're a smart ass woman, Heath, try to figure it out."

Heather's mouth went ajar, unsure how to process his response. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or as an insult, Lahela." 

Bryce forced himself to walk forward, leading his steps to the liquor cabinet in the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of Jack Daniels, downing it all in one gulp. 

"What's gotten into you now? Just this afternoon you gave a freaking speech about bouncing back and yada yada yada, now you're insulting me?" Heather was flustered and beyond infuriated as she followed him to the kitchen.

"I don't have to explain anything to you, not now, Heath." He poured another helping of the strong liquid, hoping it was enough to push down the rising anger within him. 

Heather was hell bent in getting to the bottom of it tonight. If there was anything she valued in her life, it was honesty. And when she wants it from anyone, she won't back down. 

"Yes, you do. You know fucking well that you need some explaining to do. I'm done beating around the bush with you, I'm done being in the receiving end of veiled threats, betrayals, or hidden truths. I'm not taking that crap from the one person whom I can rely on to not screw me around with lies," she pounded her fist on the wooden surface of the table separating them. "So for the last goddamn time, I'm going to ask, what the hell happened with you tonight?"

He replied by setting down his glass, the force with which he set it down cracking its bottom. All the pent up frustration within him was now manifesting unrestrained. 

"Fine, you want to know what's the deal with me? You. It's you, dammit," he finally said without shame, like a contrite man in confession, his hands waving in the air.

Fuck it, I'm doing this. Friendships be damned.

"I never liked commitments in relationships because, I wanted to stay suspended in midair, always on a high," he paused, sucking in a deep breath. "For me, all that romantic crap only meant being pulled back by gravity, it's all just a whole gigantic crash and burn. Ever heard of my mother?" The mention of his own mother's selfish act still stung him to the core. "But every single time I see you, I'm more than willing to crash down to the ground for you. It's because I want you, you idiot. I wanted you ever since I met you. I wanted you so fucking much that I hid it because I wanted to stay in your life, even as only a friend."

There I said it. Bryce no longer felt suffocated, lighter, like a heavy boulder was lifted from his chest. 

He watched Heather who was stunned into silence, as he tried to catch his breath. He attempted to translate the expression that suddenly filled her hazel eyes. He sighed in relief when he noticed it soften, as she began to speak. 

"A little too late, Lahela," her voice was small, and her smile seem to be filled with sadness. 

Bryce's eyes widened in shock, as the meaning of those five words dawned on him.

"You didn't just assume that I opened up to every man that showed interest, didn't you?" she laughed bitterly, sitting down while her knees buckled with regret. "I waited for you to make a move, Bryce. But you never did. So I thought you weren't interested. Then Raf happened." 

He couldn't find his voice, confounded with what Heather was trying to tell him.

"When Rafael and I first met, I thought of his as a close friend. It wasn't love at first sight, it was a more of a slow burn. A gentle, uncomplicated but stable romance," she paused, raising her head to look him in the eyes. "But he was man enough to own up to his feelings, Bryce. He was man enough not to hold back," he watched as she bit her lip, struggling not to shiver himself. "But most of all, he didn't quit. Not like you who bailed himself out too early, too afraid to get hurt."

He took a step forward, wanting nothing but to hold her and kiss her. His confused emotions held him hostage to the spot where he was standing.

"I'm not some clueless bitch you think I am. I had an idea, but you were too busy hitting on every woman in front of me that I never thought you'd get serious with someone," she paused, her voice filled with rue and remorse. "For the so-called golden boy of Boston's DA office, you're one hell of a wimp," she rose from the table and walked away, leaving Bryce alone and regretful more than ever.

***

Bryce spent the next morning in an empty apartment. He heard Heather move around and leave at dawn to catch her early morning flight to Baltimore. But he didn't have it in him to face her. At least not yet.

Gathering the will to pull himself up from his bed, he prepared for another day at work. He mindlessly went through his routine as he processed the events of last night. He finally admitted his feelings to her, but she trampled with it with her own revelation.

Her words echoed repeatedly in his head, and he sunk within himself a little more. I waited for you to make a move, but you never did. He hated that she was right, that he was just some egotistic, self-absorbed coward who missed a hell of a shot with her. He also hated being helplessly powerless to do anything about it, her being more than 400 miles away from him.  

So he instead made himself busy - preparing drafts and evidence for the various cases that was about to go to court soon.  

The day was almost done when his phone began to ring incessantly. He ignored it at first, but it rang and rang until there was no the point to refuse to answer it. Sienna's name popped up on the caller ID. He sensed that something was wrong.

"Sienna?"

On the line, Bryce could hear the rising panic in her voice. 

"Johns Hopkins just called Dr. Ramsey. Heather didn't show up in the research facility today. Did she chose to stay back at your place? Bryce, please tell me you know where she is?"

Tag list - @choicesficwriterscreations for Fics of the Week

Ricochet AU tags - @eleanorbloom @ramsey-lahela​

[ladykateofledfordpark]

This or That

I was tagged by my wonderful twin, @mariaoz to do this little challenge! 

Warning (?): It has quite a bit of philosophical and psychological rambling. So take that into account if you decide to read this. ^-^

----------

Slow Burn or Love At First Sight: I'm with Kato on this one. I'm not a believer in love at first sight (though I do believe in attraction at first sight). This may be a bit philosophical but I just don't think you can truly love a person without knowing them. So slow burn all the way! Plus, the angst is so funnn. *looks at Miraculous*

Fake Dating or Secret Dating: Fake dating for sure! Secret dating sounds like they're ashamed of the relationship, and honestly that's not very healthy. Fake dating though is so fun, because of the slow burn! The frustration of "They truly love you!" is one of the best parts. Lol xD

Enemies To Lovers or Best Friends To Lovers: Ahhhh this is so hard. Hmm... I think I'll actually pick enemies to lovers, because that's usually written really well. And there isn't the cliche "But I don't want to ruin our friendship," so there's that. Plus, if it's really written well, the enemies will become best friends and then lovers, so it has both. (Don't tell me MC isn't Beckett's best friend. It's obvious they are.)

Oh No There's Only One Bed or Long-Distance With Correspondence: Obviously. The awkwardness is priceless, and tbh usually long-distance correspondence isn't written well, so it feels very sudden. There's something about face-to-face nothing can equal to, which means that I'll always choose the first one, because a heart-to-heart there seems so much more genuine than by text.

Hurt/Comfort or Amnesia: Hurt/Comfort all the way! It's something that constantly happens in life, and is one of the best part of relationships! Amnesia just feels lame imo, because how often does that really happen? Turning to your romantic partner for comfort is something any healthy relationship will have, which is why it's so important to include it. ❤

Fantasy AU or Modern AU: If it's an AU, I'll always prefer a modern one. It just interests me to see how the beloved characters would behave irl. Fantasy is something I only want to enter if it's with new characters, ones I don't know. That way you can get to know the world and its effects better. So... modern AU.

Mutual Pining or Domestic Bliss: Mutual Pining because the angstttt. (Plus, if there's a part where one sacrifices "for the other's happiness", that truly shows they love them.)

Smut or Fluff: Fluffffff! It always fills my heart, and is the perfect way to cheer me up. Plus, it portrays a healthy relationship better imho. Because all couples share a somewhat-physical relationship, but not all share sweet, fluffy moments. Fluffy parts will always make me ship a couple much more than any kissing or anything more. You can never have too much fluff! ❤

Canon Complaint or Fix-It Fic: No matter how bad canon can be, I will always prefer that over a fix-it fic. Because that's familiar, and it sticks to the characters' personalities. So if I read a fic, I'll always make sure it's canon-compliant.

Alternate Universe or Future Fic: I think I'll prefer any Modern AU over a future fic. It's just more interesting for me, cause you get to see the characters in different circumstances. ^-^ (Blanca, you've ruined me! Lol xD)

One-Shot or Multi-Chapter: I'll always have more patience for a one-shot than a multi-chapter. That's also why I usually write one-shots. ^-^

Kid Fic or Roadtrip Fic: Seeing them as kids would be adorable! Plus, my geeky psychologist self would prefer that, because it helps to understand better how the characters became who they are. (As long as it's written well, of course.)

Reincarnation or Character Death: My angsty self will always prefer a characters' death than reincarnation. I mean, reincarnation just feels a bit far-fetched, like an attempt to bend the laws of the world. If you kill off a character, keep them dead. Bringing a character back to life makes what happened kinda meaningless, because how is a character's death helping if they come back? So I can only tolerate reincarnation once, if the explanation is convincing. (Like in Harry Potter.) If not... KEEP. THEM. DEAD.

Arranged Marriage or Accidental Marriage: Arranged Marriage! The mutual pining, the way they manage together in a domestic environment, and all with the weight of their secrets. I love it! ❤ (Also- how often do people get married accidentally? That also feels somewhat coincidental.)

High-School Romance or Middle-Aged Romance: Middle-aged romance, because that's usually well-written. And the characters are usually not as idiotic as High School characters can be. *ahem ahem Aria Montgomery*

Time Travel or Isolated Together: Isolated together! It's so sweet to see how they grow closer and learn to trust each other. And if they start off as enemies it's even better!

Neighbors or Roommates: I'm with my twin here. The awkwardness makes roommate tropes soooo worth it. xD

Sci-Fi AU or Magic AU: In general, the dystopian genre is my favorite. But when it comes to beloved characters, I'd rather see them in a magical setting. ^-^

Body Swap or Genderbend: From what I read about genderbend, it sounds really cool! Makes the familiar dynamic between characters much more interesting.

Angst or Crack: Angst hurtsss, but it's a good kind of hurt. So angst all the way! xD

Apocalyptic or Mundane: I love Dystopia, but I'm not a fan of apocalyptic stories. They just feel so limited, since everything is so different. I read a few apocalyptic books, and two of them had the characters lock themselves inside a building while the outside was hopeless. Doesn't give much hope. Mundane, on the other hand, makes me feel closer to the characters. You get to know them better because you get to see what they do when they can do anything, so it feels much closer to home. ^-^

Tagging the wonderful @flowerpowell @itsbrindleybinch  @mysticmiraculer and @pbmychoices ! Just in case you want to do this =)

[godstaff]

Hello again. When it comes to superwonder, Diana and Kal, there is a remarkable balance of power that shows them as a true reflection of equals in a relationship. But I was wondering about their dynamic. I’ve always found it odd when WW plays the more “docile” role in the relationship. It just feels odd when she is written to defer in any situation. Kal has a commanding presence, but is more laid back. Do you think they should be written together in a way that has WW as more of the lead?

IMHO, they should take turns in who takes the lead.

I’m sure there are situations better suited for Clark, and others for Diana. There are others, also, that require their combined perspectives. 

I thinks we’ve seen her a little more secure and on top in their comic book together because writers and editors were afraid if Superman took command more often it would backlash and people would complain Diana is too submissive and that is bad for her image as feminist icon. I can understand that. 

Sometimes fans can take things a bit too far, as we all know very well from our Lork friends.

In any case, DC regime and its minions don’t think Clark has any image to protect, because he’s lame. They are too used to write him taking orders from Batso and Lois, so they conclude it’s logical he let Diana take the lead, which she did, even when they confronted General Zod,

But I believe Diana wants a strong, resolute man by her side and she wouldn’t settle for the kind of puppy we’ve seen by Lane’s side. She wouldn’t tolerate an aggressive, toxic Alpha Male like Bruce either, always telling everybody what to do, who would end up dead in a matter of days with her. Or a mansplaining moron like Steve, who thinks she’d be lost without his guide in the Patriarch’s World.

We didn’t get to really see the Power Couple interact as a real couple, thanks to DC never been convinced to invest much in them. When they were together, writers wrote them too rigid and tight, not like two people who are comfortable with each other. There was some editorial fear they might overstep some boundary. It would’ve greatly helped to put a little humor, some familiarity. To loosen their personalities a little. Like any normal couple, maybe?

There must be disagreements and heated arguments, which couple doesn’t have them? But also the firm decision of solving them like adults.

I’m convinced their relationship (Diana and Clark’s) should be based on mutual respect and collaboration. They both should know when to step at front and when to take a step aside. But naturally, not in a circumspect manner: they are not, they shouldn’t be, “The Amazon Princess of Themyscira” and “The Last Son of Krypton” when they are together, they are Diana and Kal, two people in love.

[broken-clover]

roy and zappa for the ask meme uwu

Niiiiice

Roy

Favorite thing about them: Just…baby man. Like, I know Blazblue already has a higher twink concentration, but Roy is just legitimately a soft man. He’s eager and he’s curious and he thinks. Aside from the whole ‘boundary corruption’ stuff he really just seems like an awkward sweetie who wants to learn and understand the world around him.

Least favorite thing about them: Understand that I haven’t seen everything, but the further I go in the story the more they seem to want to categorize him as an asshole. Especially in collisions, which did the double-duty of ruining my favorite CT ending and retconned it.

Favorite line: *Incredibly catty Roy voice* “If I want your opinion I’ll ask for it, Roy. Notice how I didn’t? Now piss off.”

Also you can call me a lame dub fan all you want, but Spike Spencer did a fantastic job in his CT story ending, part of the reason I like it so much. He really sold the image of a man losing his mind without showing us anything visually.

BrOTP: Him and Tager, natch. 

OTP: *mashes the Litchi button until it breaks*

Also don’t kill me but Roy/Tager and Roy/Bang are excellent too

NOTP: If Hazama/Terumi goes within 50 yards of him I’ll snipe the smarmy fuck. Also I guess any child characters but that’s kinda a given.

Random headcanon: Aside from trans Roy he also can eat a remarkable amount of food despite being very small. Nobody knows where he keeps it. It’s a mystery.

Unpopular opinion: Roy deserved better

Song i associate with them: Melon’s already got Roylitchi and The Scientist wired together into my head. It’d be a bit cheaty to include something I associate with Arakune, but I’m gonna do it anyway. Vocaloid’s Gaichuu (Parasite) Utsu-P. I like the decay/parasitism motif.

Favorite picture of them: A bit of Arakune again, but ughhh there’s so much cute stuff. I love this for baby Arakune, this one for creepiness, and IMHO this is the best Roy ever uwu.

Zappa

Favorite thing about them: He is pretty much the closest thing this series has to a straight-man. He has no idea what the fuck is going on and he wants none of it. There’s no ‘call to action’ or anything, he just wants to get his problem dealt with. He also is awkward as fuck when it comes to talking to women (Dust Strikers was worth it just for that) and honestly, mood. One of the few fighting game characters I can legitimately relate to.

Least favorite thing about them: As much as I like the upgrade in Revelator, he basically was an exposition dump and didn’t have much of a personality. There just wasn’t enough similarity to his original character to make it feel like the same person at all.

Alternatively, nobody can give this guy some fucking pants that actually fit him.

Favorite line: I can’t pick?? I like how he always speaks to people very politely when he approaches them despite being in danger of dying the whole time and his tone across the story mode going from panic to ‘I’m gonna fuckin die. This sucks.’ Also anytime S-ko interrupts and just starts screaming and cursing at people with no provocation.

BrOTP: Honestly, anyone. The boy needs some friends. I like the interactions with him and Axl, he had a decent rapport with Randy in Revelator, and this might be weird but I think he and May would be decent friends.

OTP: Please do not kill me, but I like Zappa with Axl, Faust, and Sol. Axl is adorable and they’re both dorks, I have a bit of a soft spot of doctor/patient stuff, and I know it’s absurd as fuck but I like the idea of big buff important man Sol  getting into a relationship with the biggest loser on earth and them both having a good time.

NOTP: There’s like no shipping for him so I can’t even do anything aside from my usual ‘no shipping children and adults’

Random headcanon: He’s a fucking disaster. Aside from the whole ghost thing. He’s a coward and avoid danger as much as possible but still manages to get horrifically injured through some accident or another almost constantly.

Unpopular opinion: He deserved to be in Revelator as a playable character a lot more than most of the returning characters they put in. I don’t think Baiken did enough story-wise to justify her being playable and Dizzy literally just showed up at the end for about two scenes. Yes I am bitter all the returning characters were basically waifu bait and I am only slightly sorry.

Song i associate with them: I really really like his character theme ‘Good Manners and Customs.’ It’s weird, but I don’t really have any songs for him.

Favorite picture of them: It is remarkably hard to find any fanart where he isn’t in pain or miserable, so I really like this birthday drawing, especially since it’s got his Vastedge look alongside the others. It’s cute!

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

I didn't know you read Wild Cards. Can you give us some thoughts on the series?

I actually read Wild Cards long before I read ASOIAF. I’ve talked about it a few times, you can see my tag here. But sure, some thoughts:

Wild Cards got started in the mid-80s when a bunch of SF/F writers in New Mexico got together to play role-playing games. GRRM became the DM for a new game, based on a superhero RPG, and soon all these writers were developing characters and plots and worldbuilding and such. Eventually they realized while they were spending a lot of time working on writing, they weren’t actually making any money… so they decided to actually write up their superhero world as an anthology collection of short stories. This shared-world anthology idea wasn’t invented by them: Thieves’ World had been going (in fantasy) since the late 70s, another series of that type started in 1985, and it was something SF/F agents knew how to sell. Wild Cards also hit the zeitgeist of superhero deconstructionism (Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s TDKR both came out in 1986), so it was picked up for a three-book contract by Bantam, with the first book (Wild Cards, naturally) published in 1987. GRRM was the editor (and creator/writer of several characters), and they got many other writers to contribute besides the ones in their RPG community, including greats like Roger Zelazny.

The world of Wild Cards is an alternate history where an alien bomb exploded over New York City in 1946, carrying a virus payload. This virus had a certain probability in how it affected people’s DNA, and info from the alien geneticist who’d defected to Earth (trying to stop his colleagues from experimenting on an innocent world) led it to be known as the wild card virus. Of those who were infected by the wild card, 90% died, their bodies wracked with horrible transformations (“drawing the black queen”). Of the survivors, 9 out of 10 lived transformed, usually into monstrous or freakish or just plain ugly creatures (“jokers”). And the rare 1%, the “aces”, still looked human… but gained superpowers. The virus spread across the world over time, infecting countries, changing history… and there are still unknown caches of the virus that can cause an outbreak at any time. Though mostly these days it’s transmitted genetically,  from wild cards who have kids (though many avoid doing so because of the 90% chance of black queen and 9% chance of jokerdom), or more often from latents, people who were infected and their DNA changed but who never had the trauma that would set off their transformation. (Other terms: “nats”, natural humans; “deuces”, aces with a fairly lame power; and there’s also the occasional joker-aces, people who look monstrous but also have some kind of superpower.)

Anyway! Enough backstory. I really do enjoy the series. I first picked it up around, hmm, 1990 I think? when I saw one of the books in the SF/F spinning book racks in the library and the cover drew me in. (I was hugely into X-Men at the time.) The library had all the other books available too, so I took ‘em home and was completely caught. It was adult (rather adult, beware triggers), often super dark with its “superheroes in the real world” themes to the point of lol edgy, some of the covers were ehh (though honestly the 2nd edition Bantam covers were not bad, thankfully I never saw the imho godawful UK covers)… but the worldbuilding, the plots, the characters, the writing… everything was just so very good. I fell in love with such characters as:

GRRM’s Tom Tudbury, “The Great and Powerful Turtle”, an overweight bullied nerd from New Jersey with hugely powerful telekinesis, who flies around in a turtle-shaped shell (originally a VW Beetle with armored plating)

Roger Zelazny’s Croyd Crenson, “The Sleeper”, who was a 14-year-old boy on Wild Card Day, came home from school (witnessing all the horrors) and fell asleep… and awoke weeks later, looking like an adult, with powers. Every time he sleeps, he becomes someone different, sometimes a joker, sometimes an ace… and he’s terrified of drawing the black queen, so after a time he’ll do anything to avoid sleep…

Melinda Snodgrass’s Prince Tisianne, “Dr. Tachyon”, the alien geneticist mentioned above, telepathic, exiled to Earth, serving his penance by trying to cure the virus, and all-time winner of the All-Comers Angst Contest (beating out Scott Summers and Tyrion and just about any manpain or real pain hero you can think of)

Victor Milan’s Mark Meadows, “Captain Trips”, a hippie biochemist who takes drugs and turns into other people for an hour. His “friends” include Jumpin’ Jack Flash, pyrokinetic; Aquarius, were-dolphin; Starshine, sun-powered enviromentalist; Moonchild, martial artist; and other alters that he can’t reach and doesn’t know he doesn’t want to. (One of my teenage marysues was one of Mark’s friends, Lucy, an interdimensional teleporter with kaleidoscope eyes.)

Gail Gerstner-Miller’s “Peregrine”, who has feathered wings and can fly (and is technically a joker because of the transformation, which includes hollow bones, but most people think she’s an ace because she’s beautiful), who became a model/actress and then a late-night talk show host, but sometimes fights with claw-gloves, and may be the mother of the messiah

Stephen Leigh’s “The Oddity”, who used to be three people living in a threesome until one morning they awoke merged into a single monstrous shifting being – he/she/they serve as the protector of Jokertown (a neighborhood in Manhattan that’s pretty much a joker ghetto)

GRRM’s Jay Ackroyd, “Popinjay”, a detective who can point at you and teleport you anywhere he can recall (but his powers aren’t why I love him, he’s just so great... actually I think that applies to all of the above but anyway)

And god, the villains: death’s glare Demise; Mackie Messer, who vibrates to phase through walls and tear people apart; the Puppetmaster, manipulative empath and US presidential candidate; Ti Malice, who possesses his “mounts” and makes them do whatever he wants for his pleasure; the Astronomer, cult leader; the Jumpers, a gang of youths who can leap into people’s bodies; Blaise, Dr. Tachyon’s grandson, mind-controlling sociopath… and so many more heroes and villains and regular people trying to do their best despite what the virus has done to them (or even nats, doing the same), I can’t remember but they’re all so good…

But after jumping between publishers, the series pretty much ended in 1995, with the 15th book. (Some weren’t anthologies, some were “mosaic novels” edited into one coherent story, and a few were solo authored.) There was a book in 2002 and another in 2006 (that I haven’t read) when they got a new publisher, but that didn’t work out. But then in 2008, Wild Cards got picked up by Tor, and began a brand new series (with gorgeous covers by Michael Komarck, who’s gone on to do covers for reprints of the original series), with Inside Straight, introducing new aces and jokers in a world of reality shows and social media. I somehow did not manage to pick up any of the new series until recently (I don’t know why, I think maybe some of the very dark and depressing later books burned me out a bit and I was wary?), but my gosh, it’s so fun.

I love GRRM’s Lohengrin (a German nerd who armors himself in light as a modern-day knight), Melinda Snodgrass’s sex-shifting teleporting spy, Stephen Leigh’s Drummer Boy (a six-armed joker-ace who’s used the drums on his chest to become a rock superstar), Caroline Spector’s Bubbles (transforms kinetic energy into body fat, and then fat into kinetic bubbles that can look pretty or hit very hard), and so many more. I really need to get the rest of the new series– I’ve been spoiled for it a bit because I read the Wild Cards short stories Tor has on their site, and I recently read Lowball, the 22nd book that came out in 2015 (and holy shit that ending), but books are expensive and I’ve been reading other things. Still, I need to fill in the gaps and I need to know what happens next, I should be getting the rest of the series. If this sounds interesting to you, you should too. :)

If you have any other questions, just let me know!

[beyondmistland]

My Thoughts on The Sons of the Dragon

I never thought I'd be saying this but overall I was disappointed with TSOTD despite the new material. While some parts of it were quite good by and large the majority of the text felt underwhelming to me, particularly because what we got in Book of Swords is an unedited first draft. As a result, there are typos, plot holes, issues with dates as well as lineage (seriously the Hightower family tree is a mess) and name changes (I much prefer Robar over Rogar personally).

Aegon I  The use of slander is highly uneven. IMHO it would be better to either remove it entirely or use it to the fullest extent and make Maegor's historiography genuinely convoluted. To use one example: Why is the episode with the cat at the age of three most likely slander when the incident with the horse and stable boy at the age of eight is treated as fact?

 There was barely any mention of Aenys's possible bastardy and absolutely no mention of Maegor's possibly magical conception. That sucks.

 It's interesting that some people thought Maegor came before his niece in the succession and others after her. A hint at different succession laws prior to the reign of Jaehaerys I?

 So on top of the Faith having an army and an independent court system it had tax exemptions? Cool. That brings it much closer to the RL medieval Catholic Church in terms of wealth and worldly power.

 One god with seven faces! Hah! The High Spider's work endures @racefortheironthrone!

 There's no mention of who Alyssa Velaryon's Targaryen mother was. Darn.

Aenys I  What happened to Ronnel Arryn's wife and did they ever have any children?  I wonder what the lands, offices, and honors Aenys and Maegor bestowed upon their favorites consisted of? After all the Crownlands are pretty paltry size-wise.

 I am still sore about the fact that there wasn't a Dornish War between 37-39 AC. The setup was perfect for one. Maegor as Hand attacking Dorne in revenge for the Vulture King after convincing dreamy Aenys of how glorious it would be for the sons of the Conqueror to complete his life's work by bringing Dorne under the aegis of the Iron Throne only for Aenys to suddenly call it off on a whim or because of a peace offer from Deria reminding him both that his mother died fighting them and that they had feasted together as friends not too long ago. At the very least we should have gotten some details about the relationship between Aenys and Maegor, especially in light of the fact that Maegor served as Hand for two years during which time the realm was at peace somehow.

 Why were Aegon and Rhaena besieged in Crakehall Castle by the Poor Fellows when they had Dreamfyre with them? Honestly, the best solution IMO to the whole Westerlands conundrum would be for the Poor Fellows to launch a night attack while Aegon/Rhaena are on their progress, resulting in the death of Aegon's original dragon and a wounded Dreamfyre fleeing. (Btw, I did NOT come up with this idea just to be clear.)

 There's no mention of Visenya having poisoned Aenys possibly. Did GRRM write material on Aenys and Maegor for TWOIAF that didn't make it into TSOTD?

 I really hope we get Maegor's eulogy for his father and Alyssa's dirge for her husband in Fire & Blood: Volume 1 because that would be so cool.

 Did anyone else get the feeling that if Aenys had been king in a time of peace after Targaryen authority had been cemented he might not have done too bad?

Maegor I  Dick Bean and Bernarr Brune were one of the few heartwarming scenes in the whole story even if it is a case of good men in service to a bad cause.

 Why would Maegor pick a super-fat knight (Ser Guy (the Glutton) Lothston) for one his champions during the Trial by Seven?

 I wonder what the scriptures of the Faith have to say about a holy man bearing arms given Ser Garibald of the Seven Stars as well as what is its stance on suicide because it doesn't appear to be a major sin unlike in RL.

 I wonder where Blackhull is located (probably the Crownlands if I had to guess) and whether it is a town or castle (personally my money is on the former).

 We got a good Bracken and a brave Frey for once! Yay! (Now all we need is a nice Florent and a decent Peake. You can do it GRRM!)

 Why is there no mention of Maegor possibly being changed by his head injury and coma a la Baelor I? Apart from the episode with the cat and horse Maegor seems much more in control of himself and sympathetic compared to after his Trial by Seven. The dude fought pirates and robber knights on top of winning tourneys and melees for crying out loud!

 Where exactly is the Great Fork of the Blackwater located?

 Why don't we hear anything about tension in the Faith while Dorne was independent and why don't we hear anything about Dornish smallfolk joining the Poor Fellows on the march?

 Apart from Stonebridge and the Great Fork we don't get any other pitched battles, which is super disappointing to me, as is the fact that somehow the Stormlands and Vale both sit out the entire conflict. The latter has an entire chapterhouse at Gulltown! Seriously, what the hell were they doing all that time?

 Given that the chapter of the Warrior's Sons stationed at King's Landing numbered 700 and the chapter at Stoney Sept 200 I think it is safe to say that the Faith Militant is a lot smaller than I originally thought.

 Grand Maester Myres was a stupid rehash of Grand Maester Gawen who should seriously have been given a different death or replaced with Hareth.

 Why are female characters like Poxy Jeyne and Patrice Hightower called witches for almost no given reason? Seriously, the misogyny in TSOTD is kind of OTT. On the other hand it was nice to learn that witchcraft and heresy are sins in the eyes of the Faith.

 The buildup to Maegor's attack on Oldtown was awesome.

 Maegor's character as king is really inconsistent. Sometimes he's completely crazy and at other points remarkably reasonable. (Allowing the Warrior's Sons of Oldtown to take the black, latter allowing Poxy Jeyne's Poor Fellows to take the black too, giving the Faith Militant half a year to surrender after taking Oldtown, only moving against his nephew Aegon after the latter directly challenged him, reconciling with Ceryse, initially refusing to believe that Alys had been unfaithful, and not wiping out whole families after the Battle Beneath the God's Eye.)

 Is it just me or does Maegor outlaw the Faith Militant three times?

 I wonder what are a wedded wife and queen's traditional rights, incomes, and privileges. Also, why don't we ever hear of any queens exercising these powers?

 Why didn't Prince Aegon and Prince Viserys have their own dragons when their older and younger siblings all did?

 How the hell did Quicksilver get to the Westerlands all the way from Dragonstone? (One explanation a fan came up with that I really like is that either a Velaryon Kingsguard or a bastard son of Aenys named Aemon bonded with Quicksilver and took her to the Westerlands, where he died defending his trueborn kin, thus allowing Prince Aegon to claim his father's dragon for himself.)

 Regarding the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye: What is up with GRRM's obsession for a hundred casualties? Also, Prince Aegon was an idiot. One does NOT simply fly into the jaws of Balerion.

 Furthermore, why the hell is a bastard from Barrowton fighting for Prince Aegon? Wouldn't a Manderly make more sense? (On that note I must confess that I was really hoping for Maegor to have made a Bolton a member of his Kingsguard. Oh well...)

 It's interesting that Maegor didn't like being called "the Cruel" or "kinslayer". Almost as though he actually had a conscience. Heh.

 The fall of House Harroway is brutal. Seriously, GRRM has one bloody imagination.

 So belief in the curse of Harrenhal started with the Harroways. Neat.

 Maegor decreed that Harrenhal should go to the strongest of his men because he grew fed up with people asking him for it. Hah.

 Apart from the Harroways Maegor doesn't exterminate any other houses the way TWOIAF says he did, which is weird.

 Poxy Jeyne was pretty cool for an 8-bit character. On the other hand that makes the other characters' lack of depth stand out even more. Who are you Ragged Silas? Who are you Dennis the Lame? I don't know.

 More child-brides in the form of Lord Celtigar's thirteen and twelve year-old maiden daughters. Ugh. Why GRRM? Why do you keep doing this when you insist the opposite is true? Especially in this case there is no excuse for making them this young given that we know literally nothing else about them.

 I swear Jeyne Westerlings are cursed. Elinor Costayne on the other hand is one fiery woman.

 Given the way Tyanna's death is presented she might actually have poisoned Maegor's other wives! On the other hand, prior to Tyanna he never even conceived a child to begin with.

 Apparently Houses Darklyn, Massey, Towers, Staunton, Bar Emmon, Buckwell, Rosby, Stokeworth, Hayford, Harte, Byrch, Rollingford, Bywater, and Mallery all together barely command 3600 men and 400 knights, which is weird. If the Masseys are that weak despite ruling a whole damn peninsula how the hell did they give the Storm Kings so much trouble before the conquest?

 Maegor at the end of his reign doesn't appear at all to be broken or depressed the way he is described to be in TWOIAF, which makes the whole possibility of him having committed suicide after descending into madness much weaker, which is very weird because his reaction to Alys's stillbirth sets up what happens with Jeyne Westerling and Elinor Costayne very well without any actual payoff.

 How were Vermithor and Silverwing able to hide in Storm's End when Rhaena couldn't hide Dreamfyre in the Westerlands?

 On that note, how the hell were Jaehaerys and Alysanne able to hide in Maegor's backyard at Storm's End when Tyanna found Rhaena's twin daughters halfway across the continent?

 How is Vermithor the oldest and biggest dragon if Dreamfyre was being ridden by Rhaena since she was twelve?

 How in the hell did Lord Robar think Vermithor and Silverwing would be enough to challenge Balerion the Black Dread?

 Maegor ruled for six years and sixty-six days. That's almost as funny as one of his champions during the Trial by Seven being Lord Lucifer Massey.

 Jaehaerys I ascended on the eve of a possible Dornish invasion, which might help fix the whole Dornish Wars conundrum TWOIAF gave us and provide GRRM an opportunity to heavily feature the Stormlands. Cool!

 Why was the Faith's independent courts enough of a big deal for Jaehaerys I to deal with the issue when it never came up during the reigns of either Aenys or Maegor?

 We have possibly three new houses: Poore, Bush, and Whistler. Great?

 I was really hoping for more members of the Kingsguard to show up and whatever happened to Ser Raymont Baratheon after he saved Aenys's life?

 Even though it's been two whole days since I read the text I still can't get out of my head the image of a depressed Maegor sitting atop the Iron Throne with the head of Grand Maester Desmond in his hands.

[furederiko]

My interest is definitely building up for Kamen Rider Build...

As I have stated before, I'll be recap-viewing the new episodes in batch post. For this occassion, I'll be covering episode 02 to 04! Here goes...

02 - "The Love and Life that's Lost"

- After several replays, I can now admit that the opening theme song does remind me of "Kamen Rider Blade" and "Kamen Rider 555". And also a bit of "Kamen Rider W" and "Kamen Rider OOO". Just to be fair, I'm still not too keen on it, but it's definitely a standard Kamen Rider song. - This episode proved that Sentou is a much likeable protagonist when he's being serious. His confidence, deduction (albeit not so scientific), and compassion for Ryuuga's situation added actual charm to his character. At the same time, the others got their share to shine as well, particularly, the ladies! Episode 1 only showcased a very thin imagery of either Misora and Sawa, so I was really glad that we got to see more of these two. They unexpectedly added more (and much needed?) spark to the show. Misora's "I don't give a crap" attitude for example, was enough to make me feel curious about what's really going on with her powers. Sawa still served as plot-driver, but at least her inclusion as part of the team worked naturally. Well, sort of. She just casually walked in to their secret HQ, so the others couldn't really say no! LOL. Even Souichi wasn't as annoying as usual, and actually imbued the episode with an amazing 'WHAT THE HELIUM' moment that literally made me jump out of my bed seat. Dang it, this guy has SECRETS... - I wasn't too fond on the action this time around. Gorilla/Diamond's Dazzling Destroyer GORILLAMOND form looked... nice. A little heavy on the right arm, but still nice. And we got more motorcycle chase. Must the troops combined themselves into the infamous low-quality CG giant though? *sigh*. Oh well, at least the science thingy (using Ryuuga as bait to catapult Build)... made more sense than that weird 'Rider-Kick'. - The episode also truly capitalized on Eiji Aso's emotional talent, one that he has proven through "Kamen Rider Amazons S2". Unfortunately, this was also the part that felt... a little over-dramatic and overly-done. I mean, did the show really need to kill Ryuuga's... uhm, girlfriend (it's implied that way, but he never explicitly called her that) Kasumi Ogura (played by Risako Itou) so early in the show? That's a combination of dark and harsh! I know that Tokusatsu generally avoids romantic angle to its protagonists, so it's not a surprise. This one served to add shadows of doubts to Ryuuga too. But, was it really necessary? Shouldn't audience be given the chance to know more of her, to get emotionally invested, so the death scene had more impact? This felt rushed, so it's hard to sympathize with Ryuuga's loss. Oh well, I guess her sole importance was to 'produce' the Dragon Full Bottle for Ryuuga. As in, his next step towards becoming Kamen Rider Claws. - Speaking of girlfriend, dang it with all those yaoi teases!!! Sentou was even shown to be genuinely surprised that Ryuuga has a 'girl'-friend. These two needs to get a room. Oh wait a sec... they are, huh? Along with everyone else. After all, the secret HQ only has ONE small bed that we've seen being used by Sentou, Misora. Ryuuga probably slept there too now!!! LOL. - Bat-man himself, the elusive Night Rogue made his presence known! The way he dealt with Kasumi... showed what a ruthless fella he could be. Interestingly, if Build was using liquid to transform, we could see Night Rogue utilizing steam, as in Gas. Could we be seeing the next Riders representing the three other state of matters, then? Hmmm. What's more interesting about this reveal, was that it pretty much confirmed that neither Gentoku nor his assistant Utsumi was behind the mask. If either of them was the real Night Rogue, then Sentou transforming in front of him meant blowing out his cover in the company from the get-go! I don't think this show would be THAT sloppy. Then again, I can't really say I'm 100% sure about it, can I? Hmmmm...

Overall: Ain't this a wonderful surprise! While I noticed that many audience seems to see this 2nd episode in a somewhat negative light, it did a complete opposite to me. IMHO, it worked wonders, and actually scored a point in teasing my curiosity! Eventhough the second half felt a little too over-dramatic for my taste, at the very least the first half was great. It got me thinking, "I'm going to see more!!!". Quite surprisingly, the humor flowed more naturally this time. I actually LOLed at one spot, which means... it somehow worked too. The episode did have issues that prevented it from being great, but all in all, it's indeed a better episode than the 1st. The show should've started out with this one instead! Problem is... can the next episode deliver the same wonder?

03 - "A Facefault Parade"

- Wait... Wha.... WHAT ON EARTH JUST HAPPENED?!! Yes, the show caught me completely off guard once again, because its quality stumbled back to the way it was. Scratch that, this was even WORSE than episode 1. Arguably the weakest episode so far, it forced me to spontaneously facefault along the way... both figuratively and literally (that Net-Idol bit... Are you kidding me??!!). - After episode 2 won me over with Sawa and Misora, this one tried so hard to make me hate them. What happened to the cool and smart-talking Sawa? How did she become a bumbling over-excited lady who probably gave journalism a bad name? The same with Misora. Using her alter-ego Mii-tan to gain secret information from the netizens... was like... WAAAY too cheesy if not downright risky. She's obviously not wearing a disguise or a mask to hide her true appearance. The team was dealing with sensitive and dangerous matters, so shouldn't they act more... I don't know, DISCREET about it? No wonder the bad guy would easily set up a trap. The team was practically calling out for them to come. YIKES!!! - Not just them, almost everyone else felt like weird carricatures! Including the female victim Reika Kine (played by Machiko Kochi) and her son Kouta (whose actor CAN'T act!). Neither of their names were mentioned in the episode, that I had to look up wiki for them. Unlike the three Prime Ministers of the different regions. Yep, confirmed to be those bigwigs affected by the Skywall Tragedy, Masakuni Midou of Seito (played by Norimasa Fuke), Yoshiko Tajima of Hokuto (played by Ryouko Gi), and Taizan Himuro of Touto (played by Meikyou Yamada) shared one thing in common: they were all vying for the campy-camp of sinister glares and maniacal laughs! YIKES!!! - This episode reminded me of the major problem I have with the show all over again. The HUMOR! It got amped up to the point of ridiculous this time. And pretty violent too. Misora throwing a laddle to the guys? Ryuuga chaining Misora, in a scene that mimicked an abusive sexual predator? Another sexual harrassment joke right there. And what's with Ryuuga's grandma disquise joke? Dang it Build, you're killing my nerves. Tone the lame jokes down, will ya? They're NOT funny! - Hi there expositions! We got to know a little more about the Full Bottles and their Best Match compatibility system. Apparently, Souichi had a special panel at the secret HQ to check them out (only fit 10 slots), because "something crazy is supposed to happen" if every set is found. Hmmm... didn't this feel, a little TOO convenient? Sentou claimed he built the Build Driver for the same purpose. He had 9 Full Bottles so far: Rabbit, Hedgehog, Gorilla, Tank, Diamond, Dragon, with Vacuum, Gatling, and Hawk debuting in this episode. Only two Best Matches though, Rabbittank, and Gorillamond. Oh wait, make that three! Thanks to Ryuuga's childish simpleton logic. I actually dig this part, because Ryuuga's interaction with Sentou still served as a strong point of the show so far - Extra exposition! Skywall might have divided the land, but the wall has a very convenient opening through the water area. Here I thought all access was completely blocked! With the help of Reika and Kouta, Sawa, and Ryuuga went to Seito to locate Nabeshima's family. Now that I think about it, this meant civillians could always travel airborne between regions too. Even if travel authorization had been pretty difficult to obtain (according to Sawa), Japan would still be open for international visitors, right? So these regions weren't as secluded as episode 1 suggested. LOL to that. - Oh WOW, Sentou could come and go, and ask ANYTHING to Gentoku, just like that? Including sensitive facts about Masahiro Nabeshima (played by Ichi Oomiya) and the murdered 'Devil's Scientist' Takumi Katsuragi (played by Yukiaki Kiyama)? How convenient. Touto Institute of Advanced Matter Physics must be a really NICE workplace! But wouldn't that easily caused Gentoku and Utsumi to be suspicious of him? Hmmmm. This scene teased us again that Gentoku and Utsumi might not be Night Rogue, because they obviously didn't show hostility towards Sentou. Then again, unless you haven't picked up on the hint, Gentoku is the Prime Minister's son... so there's always the possibility that he was playing coy. And would you look at that, he's already holding a mysterious blue-colored Full Bottle! He even namedropped... Blood Stark's name. YIKES! - Soaring Wildman, HAWKGATLING might look cool and winged as Build's flight form, but in the end, the mysterious Cobra-themed Blood Stark stole the spotlight by knocking down Sentou with one single strike. I wonder who this mysterious really is. Is it Gentoku? Hmmm...

Overall: I honestly couldn't fathom the logic behind this episode. The team was basically inviting trouble themselves. So despite Sentou's heroic speech about cracking a smile after saving others, the rest of the episode just felt short and problematic. And once again, the excessive humor totally ruined what could've been good moments. There were unnecessary parts that just made me literally scratch my head. Not saying that the episode in whole was utterly bad, but it's definitely a weak one.

04 - "Lost Memories, and Found Secrets"

- Congratulations Build, you've officially grabbed my attention. Faust was officially namedropped in episode 3, but the dark organization became clearer in this one. Creating the most powerful lifeform using the power of the alien technology that is Pandora's Box... is one of their goals. Blood Stark was definitely working with/under Night Rogue, but he had his own modus operand. The show also succeeded in turning one antagonist into a sympathetic figure. Apparently, being doused by a second dose of Smash essence (this time, in Gas form) would cost the test subject to lose his memory. That's what happened to Nabeshima, and likely a parallel to what Sentou had gone through. - Unlike the entire affair with Reika in episode 3 that screamed 'fake', the drama surrounding Nabeshima's family felt more genuinely heartfelt. The emotion was not exaggerated, and it was able to extract some strong points from the main characters as well. Sawa got to do more sleuthing in a more sophisticated way, and Ryuuga became selfless when he wanted Nabeshima to remember his family instead of clearing out his name. I also loved the way Sentou explained about Nabeshima's amnesia to his daughter. That's a clever way to use science, right there! Sure, that over-the-top exploding car thing didn't make any sense (everyone must have been super powered to have survived that impossible jump!), but the whole emotional angle was more than enough to ignore it. - But the episode got even better. Thanks to Blood Stark's poison, Sentou gained a bit more of his memory, and realized that Faust had a panel that looked... EXACTLY like the Best Match Compatibility checker they had in HQ. What did this imply? Well, it's not even that difficult to figure out. Both of them were clearly... two of a kind, and used to be part of one object. Yep, the Pandora's Box!!! - Ignoring the fact that (once again) Sentou could casually ask this to Gentoku (also, while we're at this, do pay attention to Utsumi's reaction, it might mean something in the future)... the latter confirmed that two Green Layers from the box have been stolen three years prior. One ended up in the hands of Faust, while the other? You got it... it was planted nicely on the walls of Cafe Nascita's basement. - According to Gentoku, an inside-man was working for Faust during the tragedy. He was one of the astronauts, and guess who used to be one? Souichi. HOLY CAMOLY... not only he was among the Martian Expedition crew, it's likely he was also that mysterious man who caused the Skywall Tragedy in the first place. There's no other reason why one of the stolen panel would be in his possession, right? - Meanwhile, we also saw an intriguing scene of Night Rogue placing a Full Bottle to the panel in Faust's HQ. It's definitely not the Ninja Full Bottle that was extracted from Nabeshima's first Smash form. Hold on, was that... the one that Gentoku was toying around in episode 3? After all, Blood Stark's penchant for game? Didn't that sound a bit like... Gentoku? Hmmm....

Overall: Episode 4 proved one thing: this show is GOOD when it's serious, and not trying too hard to be funny. Forced humor was still damaging the show, but this episode has other things that significantly toned them down, and made it really good. I even dare say, it's probably the best episode so far. I'm not even joking, because aside from that great emotional angle with Nabeshima's storyline, I totally didn't expect the truth about Souichi would come to light in just 4 episodes in. Now I'm getting more and more intrigued to see what will happen next. I can only hope the staff behind this show realizes this show's forte, knows what works best and what's not, so they can explore more on getting better in the future. I'm still not fully convinced to follow this show to the end, but let's just say, the possibility to that has gotten significantly higher than before. All thanks to this episode... Next Episode: A Faust Traitor? And a lead to Sentou's past...

Episode 02 Score: 7,4 out of 10 Episode 03 Score: 7 out of 10 Episode 04 Score: 7,5 out of 10

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Kamen Rider Build" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[justanearth-boundmisfit]

Rules: Always post the rules, answer the questions given to you, then write 10 questions of your own, and tag 10 other people.

Note: posting this again because the first time I did it wrong. Lmao! Sorry. Hope this time it’s ok.

Tagged by @flyingcatstiel - thank you darling!

1. How many languages do you speak? List them, even if still learning or already forgetting. 

I speak 4 languages, spanish, english, french and portuguese. Spanish and english I think I know them well especially the first one I hope!  Although I’m always learning more english every time I can because I tend to type whatever comes to my mind really fast and I’m full of typos (sorry). I’m still learning Portuguese, and I’m starting to forget French sadly, I can read it and listen to it and understand a little but speaking it is becoming hard.

2. Favorite Dean/Cas moment on the show?

This is very very hard, I used to love them so much on the show! And now I found them so ... nothing..... so depressing. But well to answer the question I guess I like all the little moments from season 4 and five. Like them sitting on that park, having Cas confessing that he has doubts, the phone conversation on My Bloody Valentine when Cas appears at the morgue, Cas letting Dean know that an archangel is protecting Chuck, almost all the moments from “Free to be you and me”, the “Cas, personal space” moment, the fbi badge incident (the first time, the second was just lame writing to make Cas appear dumb). There are a lot! But from those two seasons mainly, I have a few faves from season 8 (the hug in purgatory of course), but it’s all tainted by how Dean treated the whole crazy!Cas debacle. Let’s say that after season 6 I became the bitter Cas fan that I am today. 

3. Favorite fanfic tropes in destiel fics?

Ohhh, I love rom coms! I only read aus so the rom com trope is on my top five. I love misunderstandings like in Peanut Butter-Pumpkin Wedding Cake by  Sparseparsley. I love Au!angel Cas, gedry on LJ has a lot of them, they are old, buy sooo good, it’s a shame we don’t have more from her. And above all I love bamf!Cas give me give me give me! Example: The Team by palominopup.

4. Fruit or vegetable you don’t like (mango is not an acceptable answer, pick another one)

Mmm I don’t know. Maybe avocado? Don’t kill me! But I tried it so many times, and was like meh! Mango, I love though.

5. Tell me about a destiel fic you’ve read recently and really enjoyed. [please include title, author and link]

I’m re reading old ones lately because I couldn’t find anything new to really enjoy. BUT, you rec Angel Cookies by noxsoulmate and it was such an amazing surprise! Everyone go read it, it was great! 

6. Which one of your own (recent) fan works (fic, art, gif set, vid, side blog, etc) you are proud of? If you don’t have any, give a shout out to a (recent) fan work that you really loved. [any fandom, please include title, creator and link] 

I love 99% of the fics by palominopup, she is amazing, I’m waiting for her to finish her last one to read something new, because I don’t read wips. 

In art I fell in love with Cas with Brilcrist work, sadly she deleted a lot of her spn stuff, but what you can find is amazing. But she is my favourite spn artist, although it’s not recent. 

7. Recommend me a new TV show to take my mind of SPN. Tell me why it will help. 

I will always recommend Brooklyn 99, it’s not new, and it’s a comedy, but it’s amazing imho. Out of the really new tv shows, not much to recommend, I watched a lot of pilots and it was all meh. I watch two realities that I always come back to, because it takes my mind out of things, Face Off, about fx and make up artists, zero drama and only work. And Project Runway, that yes, it has some drama, but I love Tim Gunn and the new season is amazing.

8. Are you going to watch season 13 of Supernatural? If not, when did you stop watching the show? (I’d love to know why but you don’t have to justify your decision)

Idk, and if I do watch it would only be the episodes when Cas is in, so I guess not a lot to watch there. I only watched spn for Cas tbh, I stopped watching mid season 6 when it all became too painful, after that I stopped watching for a few months again and then returned but only for the Cas’ eps. I hate the show. I hate what they did to Cas, what they did to deancas, and I hate how out of touch with reality the writers are. They are writing a two mains show, when 99% of the shows now on tv are ensemble casts. Above all things I hate the homophobic, misogynist, racist that is Robert Singer, and how his views translate into the show. Spn had the opportunity to be epic, now is just some show everyone complains about.

9. Cats or dogs?

I like both, but I’m a cat person forever and ever.

10. What is your happy ending for Cas on the show?

Cas in a motorcycle, being human or not, happy with who he is and putting himself first, riding into the sunset :D. But seriously though, Idk, the show surely destroyed Cas, I don’t know if there can be a happy ending for him at this point, sadly. But if something that I’m sure I want for Cas is to be at peace with his decisions and to find a place to love, and people to love him back. 

My questions, mmm let’s see...

1.What other shows you watch?

2.What is the most amazing place you’ve been to? It doesn’t have to be somewhere exotic, but a place you felt happy to be at.

3.Do you think deancas still have a chance to be together? Or the ship is already dead, killed by the writers and producers (and you know the actor that says it doesn’t exist? (skip this one if you don’t care one way or another)

4.Please recommend me some books? Fanfiction has taking my life, I need to read other stuff too.

5.Pet peeves?

6.What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?

7.If you could have a soundtrack for your life, what songs would be on it?

8.Where do you think spn stands now? Is still a good show? It entertains you? Or gets you more mad than happy?

9.If you can have a superhero power what would you choose? Why?

10.What movie/tv show did you think was going to be amazing but turned out to be horrible?

Tagging a few people, @zeeimpalaangel @lldyj @bitemyholyass @haven3333 and Idk if you guys want to answer anything about spn but I’m tagging you because curious! if you do @goldmetalvictor and @deathtwonormalcy