#which isn't to say they're not also separate works and i'm not also very invested in the irl people and their lives separately from bsd too

[kaurwreck]

I love preordering books because I forget about them until they arrive and once they arrive, I'm all at once surprised, charmed by my own forethought, and as excited as when I first noticed them enough to preorder them.

(Today's title: Beauty Matters: Modern Japanese Literature and the Question of Aesthetics (1890-1930) by Anri Yasuda, the chapters of which include (i) Natsume Soseki's Quest for "A Feeling of Beauty," (ii) Mori Ogai and the "Inner Flame" of Beauty, and (iii) Akutagawa Ryunosuke's Literary Anxietieis and the "Power to Remake.")

[luckycloverforducks]

Fuck it, HH swap AU

Their core personalities and backgrounds stay the same, it's mostly a role switch

Niffty <--> Husker

Angel Dust <--> Vaggie

Alastor <--> Charlie

(the typical for swap AUs, I know,,)

Everyone else stays the same

These r edits bc I was just figuring out their designs for the AU, I'll draw them normally another time (Husker isn't here cuz I can't find a good png of the mf)

In this AU Alastor started the hotel mostly because he randomly thought up the idea once and thought, "that's fucking hilarious, I'm doing that" + a secondary sentimental reason he'd kill me for saying (he got genuinely fully invested in the cause eventually)

He advertised it on his radio show suddenly out of the blue after 7 and a half years of radio (lol) silence. Alastor still owns Husker's and Niffty's souls but they're also obviously friends (or atleast close to it)

Also he can read tarot bc why not :3

Charlie is closer to her dad in this AU and more sheltered, adopting a more aloof, smug, and dangerous persona so sinners take her seriously, she also has a very slight condescending outlook towards sinners but she's at her core still compassionate and still views them as her people and want to protect them to a certain extent, and she still thinks the Exterminations are unnecessary and cruel, but she doesn't feel like she can do much about it since according to Lucifer's stories and discouragement, she knows heaven likely wouldn't listen much if at all, but when she heard of Alastor's little project it resparked hope in her and she decided to invest in it, becoming co-owner and funder for the hotel.

Angel Dust/Anthony never made a deal with Valentino and actually stayed in his family's crime/mafia business for the 1st half of him being in Hell, but his dad is a POS and kicked him out for being gay so he started doing s3x work, and then he met Alastor after he brutalized his harassers one day, and Angel wanted to repay the favor somehow. Alastor seems interested in him so they struck a deal (not a soul deal, just a simple deal) which has Angel/Anthony is under Alastors protection in exchange for Angel/Anthony's loyalty and assistance when needed (which is a rare case so Angel still feels like he owes Alastor). They grow friendly with time, and Alastor offers to have him be patient zero for his redemption project, and he accepted.

Vaggie/Vi is still a fallen exterminstor and still met Charlie the same way she did in the show, but after that they went their separate ways and Vi finds herself making a deal with Velvette. Instead of being a pornstar like Angel in the show, she is an influencer and a rockstar/singer, she does enjoy making music and playing the guitar but Velvette tends to overwork her and make her do things she doesn't really like for views/popularity. Velvette is the nicest to Vi/Vaggie compared to with her other employees (which isn't a very highly set bar tbh) but she also frequently break her boundaries.

Vi met Charlie again during one of her concerts and they got close and started dating. (Also one sided Velvette x Vaggie is sort of slightly maybe canon in this AU bc toxic Yuri is fun (and it's only fully one sided after Charlie and Vaggie/Vi started dating))

She helps manage the hotel when needed, but is honestly only there cause Charlie is.

Not much about Niffty changes tbh (she's perfect the way she is, utterly unhinged 😍) she's just a bit more mellowed out and less hyper (she's still hyper just not all the time like in the show) and she's also a bartender and has surprisingly good taste for alcohol, and also frequently makes borderline poisonous drinks while experimenting, but when she gets it right it's really good. Doesn't stop the others of being terrified of her drinks though

Husker is a more smiley and charming in this AU, using a laid back attitude to put people at ease and more willing to open up to him if they need to (he used to use the information people share as blackmail when he needs to back when he was an Overlord, although he never actually needs to spread anything, just threats), and he's still very observant but he's also slightly more unhinged- He's a sort of butler/cleaner for the hotel

He still gets grumpy time to time, but mostly when he's drunk, which isn't as often anymore ever since Niffty was put in charge of the bar (understandably so)

He has a bit of an anger issue and also gets annoyed easily, and sometimes makes unhinged threats as a sort of joke (they stop being much of a joke once you genuinely piss him off)

He likes things clean and tidy because it helps him pretend to be put together

He and Alastor are a bit friendlier compared to in the show, hes still one of the few people that knows more about Alastor, though hes still bummed about the whole being owned by Alastor thing (Husker can also read tarot to a lesser extent bc Al taught him for funzies and Husker thought it's interesting)

His gambling addiction is also ever so slightly worse

[laylawatermelon]

I didn't like the dinner scene... Or the progression of Buck's relationship.

Let's talk about it!

I've been lurking and waiting to form my full opinion (away from my buddie mind) and I will compare the two.

I came in the fandom rather late and before season 7 aired. Buddie had been the consensus ship let's say.

I want to talk about these things

Bi buck

Bi buck episode

The aftermath

The rise of tommy

The fall of tommy

Buddie and BuckTommy relationship

The wheel

As a fan and a writer I recently started doing in depth analysis for my favorite TV shows to challenge myself and learn the trade I'm eventually going to work with.

I'll start with my problem/observation with the hamsterwheel --> bucktommy relationship --> separation of Buddie --> differences between the relationship.

First the hamster wheel I truly believed that when he mentioned having to work hard and it being new and different I really expected something special.

Now as a Buddie before this happened I was like OMG its happening. All the way up until the last part of 7x04 (where i promptly blacked all the way out) and that Buck was going to work for Eddie.

In the case of the preview and marketing they did in fact put a beautiful buddie shaped blanket over the whole thing and pulled it away for a new ship.

Now it would make sense some fans would be mad. Most people have an otp. That doesn't change with anything.

Buddie was still very prominent with all the female love intrests so it became confusing to me with the response but I'll get back to that in a minute.

The kiss (which he didn't ask before and it was really sudden / can argue Buck was okay with it cause hot guy duh but still a lil mehh) was quick. It felt very hamster wheel like he's jumping into something new.

Then subsequently in the other episode called you don't know me aka the BUCK!! date where a closeted joke was made (funny in tv but not in real life).

Granted Buck could've handled it better but he literally brain melted. Your straight (?) friend catches you on your literal first date with a man in secluded past of town. Yeah I'm taking myself outside for a sec.

The Evan thing also applies. On screen we haven't gotten a denounc

ement of the name Buck and what it means. I don't know it feels like two separate lives if I think about it.

He's Evan with him but Buck with everyone else (this is very convoluted).

That name thing has been and will continue to be debated. 🤷🏾‍♀️

The hamster wheel sped up expeditiously when he invited him to his sister's wedding. Right after Eddie stated he is rushing too fast.

(Which Buck also does due to ✨abandonment issues✨)

Then the bachelor party where he didn't dress up.

I know people made real life excuses but the things is I'm a canon more than a fanon person.

(yes buddie isn't canon hypocrisy ik but WAIT)

What I mean by that is that I take what characters say and do at face value. That information forms my opinions of them.

Unfortunately there's been about 7 years and all couple parallels with Buddie so my brain was like yep, that's canon.

When Tommy was being discussed at first (and now) I'm still saying as that he's a blank sheet that the fans who've wanted Buck to be in a loving reciprocal relationship so that's being projected on him.

So that equates to him being a let's say "out of character" personality in the online space.

I said in an episode analysis that Tommy's interested and not invested and I stand by that until the show proves other wise or writes their relationship on a deeper level.

Fanon Tommy's character would've worn a costume, hell they might've been the ones matching.

Because he's that dedicated and invested.

In canon, he didn't even come up with a simple enough reason and just brished it aside.

Now once again the you don't know me and writing wise it's significant that Buck's not acknowledged as Buck, and his lover isn't allowed to call him that. They're cooking something.

Idk what it is or if it's burning or not. But it's cooking regardless.

Deep conversations. Honesty with Eddie.

Tommy. Redirection and minimization. (and a smidgen of jealousy)

I also had some qualms about the sexualization of Buck's character or the minimization or common theme of Buck being used/useful.

They make it a poetic irony that the man who failed to be useful in saving/being savior baby then be used throughout his adult life.

Whether that be a substitute/donor for his older brother, a fantasy or story for some, or a quick fling/easy relationship the writers haven't fully gotten him out of the hamster wheel.

(but they're cooking ik it. Im praying. Im hoping. Please be cooking!!)

The writing of the relationship is failing it. Unless it should be like that.

For the rest of the topics I was talking about the bi buck episode and how much it meant to TV.

As we still know, Hollywood/American TV is a global thermometer let's say and tends to be discussed/acknowledged/distributed worldwide. As a result when certain things are done in the shows it can be a milestone.

I can admit I overlooked some things (as I am an avid hunter of media especially HAPPY! queer stories being told of POC and otherwise) so I can sometimes forget how impactful/important certain things are for the American/world audience to see.

Like henren, a black lesbian couple with a kid! Married! Both incredibly successful in their respective jobs.

Like that alone could be a TV show honestly.

That's why when Bi Buck happened I was happy. (I legitimately blacked out because I didn't see or hear the preview right after 🤣🤣 I was distressed when I came to)

But honestly I am still happy and proud that it happened.

I didn't get the significant of the extent of visibility of having a male (later in life is important!) come out or be acknowledged as bisexual.

Granted in cannon the word hasn't been uttered or expanded on but they head a rough 10 episodes so I'll give em some slack.

But as a viewer and a writer I see how important it is to have it happen and the significance of it through real life stories and anecdotes and for that I am happy for that party of the relationship. 🥺

I won't take that moment away from them. Was it perfect (including all the other stuff afterwards?) No.

But was it necessary and messy and awkward like real life? Absolutely yes and I love it.

This is peak TV I tell you. (I've never blacked out like that to TV before so that was a first🤣)

But on a real note I was excited (and neutral towards Buck and Tommy being together).

I still ride the Buddie ship all start for to the context clues (slutty dangerous barbell scene anyone??) that it may be confusion on his part or at least leaving the door partly open for Buddie.

(it really could be just gauging the audience reaction)

I won't really talk about the second half of Buddie sexual identity because that either deserves it own post and has to be expanded on.

(Eddie i beg. The women of the world DON'T need you right now. Be a beautiful centerpiece. Do not traumatize the women of la no more. Take care of your son. Don't go through treacherous roads. Take the journey elsewhere. I beg!!!)

But on a serious note I noticed the quick turn I would say on the characterization/head canon of Buck's love interest.

I find it interesting that for female counterparts there hasn't been such a response. (I have heard about Buck Taylor riders though)

(this is my inner thoughts. Very hot. 10/10. My soul was pleased. Couple? Awful. Friends? Brilliant. Taylor motives? Nah you can't be round me with all that sneaky stuff)

But her character was the most expanded on.

But with Tommy, most of what's stated about the relationship at the beginning was headcanon.

I think where the shows heading is to show the incompatibility between them.

Tommy's scenes so far have been casual, smooth and easy.

He doesn't mind a quick date. He doesn't want to dress up for the theme. He'll be there but it's not too important to fuss about it.

The deleted scene is avoidant (which may become a character trait about emotions) to deeper conversations. We see this reflected as well when they're at the dinner after Bobby's finally pulled through (and Buck lost his son😭😭 I'm not even on no shipper shit that's his baby😭😭) and he starts to be vulnerable.

I expected it to lean more towards a heartwarming or honest conversation but one again he shuts it down.

What I think they're going to do with his character/have been doing is show that he's avoidant to confrontation.

(i could argue that for his friend he might do more because the Eddie flying things still throws me for a loop in comparison to how they're portraying their relationship)

But I stick by the interested not invested point.

With the little screen time they've had to develop his character they've shown that it's not really endgame they're just incompatible. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Comparing the Buddie and Tommy relationship the investment/support becomes a bit evident.

Not matching with Tommy. Incompatible.

Matching with Eddie. Compatible.

Deep conversations. Honesty with Eddie.

Tommy. Redirection and minimization. (and a smidgen of jealousy)

Now you can argue (as a writer in gritting my teeth as I type this) if they do go down the route of his love "changed" me, it it's a possibility to write him becoming a better partner through love or sum.

As Buck is very emotional and he can get him to open up be more serious as he sees him taking it seriously.

As a buddie that killed me!!!!! but as a writer i had to speak up.

Anyways... If it goes that route I'll hate it a little. Hare it and like it seesaw kind of (look ik potential when i see it)

The hate part is that once again it'll be uaed/hamster wheel/i have to prove or gain your love or show that you appreciate me.

Like it cause who doesn't like a good you changed me by being yourself?

I'm a hater through and through. 😤

Tommy as a character I was neutral on at first. I'm still lukewarm about the relationship itself but the character is falling into the same old box all love interests get.

Not enough character but more than enough sex.

Regarding Buck's relationship they're always a give and take, Buck ending up being more of a giver (I'm not defending no white man for his mistakes though he do be doing some things side eye worthy).

But because the love interests are just that and not fleshed out characters, they end up not being able to stand on their own and be interesting enough outside of the one off appearances.

With the exception of Karen my love, my sweetness.

But most of Buck and Eddie's love interests can sometimes be reduced to props to move plot along/give character development.

(which as a writer i didn't hate as it's a multi lead drama series but..... If they want a long term partner to be introduced they can write it like Karen)

I can think of many scenarios and ways to actually make the character less off-putting to some.

Examples: more enthusiasm/effort actually being put in (or maybe that's where the statement Buck had to work for it applies? That Buck had to work for his love ??? I'm speculating now), being more straightforward, the jealously not being brought up like twice now.

Sirens are blasting with that one 🚨🚨

(The characters actions being vetoed off screen doesn't help either. It also applies to a lot of problematic things that sweep under the rug. Only the queer characters cheating? Violence against each other? Goading into drinks? Kissing/cheating? Manipulation?.... Eh it's drama but the cheating storylines and the characters it happens to makes me a lil 👀...)

All in all me and my homegirls not pleased.

I ain't been swayed anywhere and the way the wind in this writing ain't blowing nowhere.

[kimbapisnotsushi]

you seem to have a good read on HQ and your takes are great, so i have a question...and if you'd rather not go there, please ignore this! but i see oikawa get called "arrogant" quite often and i'm curious, would you say he is? what is it that makes people think that? imo he has a plenty of flaws, but i truly don't think arrogance is one of them. self-centered, sure, but not arrogant i think. i'm open to being wrong, i'm just legit so confused by that particular criticism, it makes me doubting my reading comprehension. i feel like that one post that's like "free my man, he didn't do that. he did a lot of other stuff tho" LOL. if you do answer this, then thanks for your time!

oh, dear anon. this is a very very big question and i'm honored you think i am capable of providing an answer that does it justice!! i don't consider myself an oikawa expert by far, but i'll do my best because he's still very beloved to me, and i hope whatever i say helps!

(but also - maybe take what i say with a grain of salt LMAO)

anyways, to get the main point out of the way: i completely agree that oikawa isn't arrogant! i actually haven't seen any commentary about that myself (bless!!!), so i can't say for sure why some people might think that, but my guess is that they think his pridefulness = arrogance — they think that the confidence he has in himself and seijoh contributes nothing to their actual power and is utterly meaningless if they don't win, especially in the face of ushijima. which, like, come on. what kind of captain would he be if he wasn't confident in himself and his teammates? is he supposed to tell them that they're going to lose??? is he supposed to discourage their hard work and effort???

or maybe it's because oikawa acts like he's all that, but doesn't have anything to show for it. who does he think he is? what does he think his pride is worth? what right does he have to go around making grand declarations when he has nothing to his name?

(which isn't entirely true, either, but we'll get into that, promise.)

now, do i think that he can, occasionally, be flippant, shallow, and/or petty? yeah, sure. he's got one hell of a personality about it. even iwaizumi says as much. oikawa is great at being a little shit. it's one of my favorite things about him!

but is oikawa genuinely arrogant, or self-centered? well . . . i don't think so.

see, here's the thing about oikawa: he knows he's good, but he doesn't think he's good enough. i think it'd be easiest to really explain what that meant if we broke this down into two separate parts, so let's give it a go, shall we?

(buckle up, friends, because it's about to get LONG. also: TIMESKIP SPOILERS!! and there's a tldr at the start of the tags because. WOW.)

so, first things first: if people are calling oikawa arrogant, then i'm like 99% sure that they don't actually know what the word "arrogant" means.

"arrogant" is used to describe someone full of themselves. it's used to describe someone conceited and pompous. it's used to describe someone so assured of and invested in their self-importance that they don't care for other people, and if it seems like they do, then it's usually wildly off the mark and still serves to inflate their own egos.

oikawa has never once been like that. he's been pretty much the exact opposite, in fact.

and yeah, sure, by his third year of high school, he knows he's good at volleyball, and that's fine! it's perfectly all right to claim you're good at something if you have the skills/experience to back it up. confidence is healthy as long as it isn't in overabundance, and we actually see a lot of this throughout the series!

(not to mention that this was where ushijima fell short. he was overflowing with confidence. he did not believe, for even a single second, that hinata shouyou and his meager, scrappy little flock of crows could beat him.

but oikawa? he knew. he knew what it looked like to make something bloom.)

the key to oikawa's confidence that made him better was that he could pinpoint others' strengths and weaknesses just as well as he could with his own. and (bear with me, please, i might get kind of boring here bc it's nothing that hasn't been said in the manga before) i don't mean it in the way we see the coaches or more analytical players do, as observations to be taken advantage of by everyone else; i mean that in the sense of how vital it is to his position as a setter. that was always the biggest difference between oikawa and kageyama: no matter how much more raw talent kageyama had, no matter how much better oikawa believed him to be, kageyama, especially in the beginning, struggled to do what oikawa could with a team. kageyama struggled to bring out the best in each player. and it wasn't because he didn't know how -- oikawa freely admitted that kageyama had the skill for it, that kageyama, once he got his shit together, could win against him -- it was because kageyama didn't have that same confidence in himself.

(not until much later, anyways. but that's another story, for another time.)

so, oikawa's confident. he knows he's good. he can bring out the best in each player. he's got a killer serve (and a killer smile!), a mind for tactics that borders on machievallianism, and cherishes the trust he is given like it's something precious. his coaches let him lead without leaning on them. his team has the utmost respect and admiration for him. he has a reputation. from karasuno to shiratorizawa to the whole of miyagi -- there is not a single character who knows oikawa tooru and would believe that he is, in any way, bad at volleyball.

but it's not enough. despite all of that, oikawa still doesn't think he's good enough. and that, friends, brings us to the second point.

oikawa tooru is nothing if not passionate.

so were the others, of course. kageyama kept going after his grandfather's death. hinata kept going while being a nobody from nowhere with no one to back him up. atsumu kept going while osamu didn't. it's not even about just those who went pro -- kenma, kuroo, noya, and everyone else found things that they were passionate about and kept going with it. the entire story revolves around loving what you do and trying to keep that love alive, and, sometimes, that can be really, really difficult when it seems like it doesn't love you back.

oikawa was so insecure over kageyama to the point where he nearly decked the poor kid. oikawa got crushed by ushijima-- who kept telling him that his team was not good enough, that his choices were not good enough, that there was nothing good enough to be proud of -- for years in a row. oikawa was taught that there would always be someone better than him no matter how skilled he was, but if he let that stop him then he didn't fucking belong on the court in the first place.

oikawa tooru is intimately acquainted with not being good enough, but he keeps trying to be. he keeps going. he tries to keep the love alive even if he's not loved back. he pushes and practices and takes a plane far from home to become even better. even if he doesn't have the skill, even if he doesn't have the talent, even if he doesn't have the love -- he still has his pride. and what does that mean, in the end? how far does that take him?

in the end, oikawa tooru walks across a world stage and sees people who believed in him on the other side and calls it a family reunion. in the end, he gets to play the volleyball that reminds him of why he loves it and how it gives him so much love back. in the end, his pride is unyielding and unbreakable, a product of the forge. he molded it with his own two hands. he will not let it falter so easily.

arrogance would not have taken oikawa tooru this far. i hope this has proven that he is anything but.

remember: instinct is something you polish. talent is something you make bloom. and never, ever let anyone else tell you what your pride is worth.

[constelationprize]

The Kayleigh Day Lives AU

Extremely self-indulgent bullet fic with probably some written snippets later on. Canon-typical CWs.

So most of the canon backstory for Exy stays the same – Kayleigh goes to Japan, she meets Tetsuji, they create and launch Exy to rapid global fame, etc.

Kayleigh and Tetsuji really are friends. They're almost mirror images, both intent on leaving their mark on the world, albeit for very different reasons. They feed into each other's worst impulses, which works out great up untill it doesn't.

Kayleigh doesn't know the Moriyamas are Yakuza, but she also doesn't NOT know that. They are funding her dreams and that's all she needs to be certain of. And if there is some shady things are going on backstage, well, Tetsuji's the only one handling them so it's hardly like she's gonna get blamed if it gets out

The years go on, they are getting too old to play, so Tetsuji fucks off to create the Ravens and take more full control of the side branch after his leg injury and Kengo coming into power, and Kayleigh also retires after having Kevin.

The main problem is that now Kayleigh is expendable. She's no longer Exy's greatest player, she doesn't need to promote the sport as much anymore, and she and Tetsuji start butting heads over what the future of Exy is going to be. He wants them to settle down and strengthen their base in the US first before moving on to establishing it more worldwide, while she thinks they should keep diversfying the sport as much as they can. They start contradicting each other on interviews, and the media catches on to a possible feud, there is talk of a schism that could stop Exy in its tracks.

The main branch catches wind of that and is, in the simplest terms, Not Happy. They've let Tetsuji put a lot of money into Exy at this point and they can't sit by and watch as he gets usurped, or worse, as Exy becomes to unstable to be a profitable investment anymore.

So Kengo calls Tetsuji with the news that he can either put Kayleigh in line or the main branch will do it for him.

Tetsuji considers it for a while. He is not a sentimental man, but he also isn't ungrateful for Kayleigh's help so far. Plus she has that very convenient, very promising son and he has plans for a Perfect Court.

(since in canon, Kevin is not considered Moriyama property, I'm guessing that they didn't plan on fighting his bio father for custody after Kayleigh's death, it was just a pleasant surprise. Maybe he still would have been recruited, just when he was older and more clearly going to be Perfect Court material. There's a reason why Riko hasn't picked all his players when the series starts)

So Tetsuji calls her and lays down the law. He doesn't say everything yet, but makes it clear that Kayleigh can either follow his lead or the very powerful, very dangerous people she's getting in the way of are going to get rid of her. He makes it seem like he's protecting her by giving her this choice.

Kayleigh doesn't want to get steamrolled out of her own sport, but she wants to die even less, so she ends up saying yes to becoming the Moryiama's puppet. She figures she can keep pushing her agendas from behind the scenes, just with more care and sublety this time.

They end up, then, with Tetsuji functionally ruling Exy as Kayleigh takes a figurehead role, parroting his decisions and essentially becoming even more of a media darling

She doesn't agree on sending Kevin to the Nest straight away. She doesn't want to get separated from her son, for one, and also knows enough of what the Moriyamas are about by now to fully trust them with him. It is known, however, she'll eventually have no choice but to enroll him in EAU.

Kevin and Riko still regurlaly meet up for Exy play dates, become friends, and obsess over the Perfect Court and their possible roles as #1 and #2. This sets Kayleigh on edge a little bit, but she can't find a way to physically interfere and just has to hope it never escalates too far.

But as Kevin grows older, the noose starts to progressevily tigthen – specially now that they lost their intended #3 to an overeager mother.

So Kayleigh starts getting sent away in more and more media tours, and signed up for teaching workshops and attending games and really anything that will make sure she doesn't stay in the same place for more than a couple weeks.

All the moving around is going to impact Kevin negatively – he wouldn't be able to study or practice properly – and eventually Kayleigh is worn down and worried for her son's future enough that she agrees to leave him in the Nest while she travels.

Kayleigh isn't naive enough to believe the Nest is a paradise, she knows Tetsuji very well after all, but she has settled into her place well enough to start accumulating some information and power of her own inside the side branch. It's not enough that the Moriyamas couldn't still kill her if they wanted to, but it is mutually assured destruction before she goes.

So Kevin gets treated well... When she's around to watch. Which is not really that often. But Kayleigh manages to stay an influence in her son's life and have some say in what his future is going to be. (And if she has her own opinions of what the real order of the Perfect Court should be, well. That's a problem for another time).

She settles into a sort of routine as the next decade or so goes by. She becomes the face of Exy, watches carefully for Tetsuji's weaknesses, slowly ingrains herself with the Moryiamas, travels the world and periodically comes to stay with Kevin in the Nest and try (mostly fail) to mitigate the damage Tetsuji is doing. It's not her ideal life, but she's managing – all she has to do is hold on untill Kevin graduates so she can afford to throw her weight around to put him in a different pro team than Riko, so the Moriyamas can't use them as leverage against each other as much anymore. The first step towards being free is being safe.

And then, of course, Riko breaks Kevin's hand.

[de-vespertiliones]

Can I ask why you don't like RHaTO 2016? I started it solely because the scene of Jason and Bizarro talking on the floor on the first issues did things to my heart the one time I saw a panel of it, but I didn't get much farther. And I like how you talk bout issues

Oh, thank you for the compliment! Apologies for this taking so long. I had to reflect a bit. (For what it's worth, the scene you're referring to is one of my favorite scenes in RHatO and some of the best writing in the entire run).

Some caveats:

I like reading serialized comics, but I'm unpracticed in the art of reading serialized comics, so my structural analyses come largely from analyzing other forms of writing (mostly novels, some TV & film). This means that I might be expressing critiques that are not entirely fair given the nature of the medium.

I read the entire run in a couple sittings last September, so these are generally remembered vibes and not nuanced analysis. I'm open to correction if I've misremembered something.

I actually don't dislike all of RHatO 2016, even though I do strongly dislike some of the canon introduced (this canon is discussed in points 5-6, and thus contains spoilers)

Also, for brevity's sake (ha!), "RHatO" refers to the 2016 version; if I mean RHatO 2011 I'll indicate that.

Anyway, my problems with the run (cut for length):

RHatO doesn't know who Jason is. This is not a "RHatO!Jason isn't who I think Jason should be" critique (though I certainly feel some element of that as well) but rather a "Lobdell cannot decide the basics of who his version of Jason Todd is as a character." In a different run that went through the hands of multiple writers, I'd find this far more forgivable, but barring the tail end of the run, Lobdell is the sole author. Jason is by turns incredibly clever and incredibly stupid in ways that felt contradictory. I had very little sense of what he valued or cared about. Sometimes he expresses great empathy and sometimes he's bafflingly self-absorbed and the only thing that seems to determine these behaviors is what's most convenient for the plot. Don't get me wrong: there are Jason moments in RHatO that I absolutely love, but they're balanced by Jason moments that utterly confound me because I don't understand how this is the same person.

It's not an ensemble book but it's pretending to be an ensemble book. This is a fundamental issue with every iteration of RHatO (including the webtoon) because no iteration of RHatO is written as an ensemble book--Jason is always the main character. RHatO also sort of sets itself up for failure in that regard--Artemis and Bizarro are far less well-known characters with less history than Jason and would require more investment and buildup on Lobdell's part to make them more than just props, but Lobdell doesn't put in the work. Even arcs that ostensibly center Artemis or Bizarro end up feeling flat, especially because so often they operate in service to Jason, The Main Character. (Incidentally, the point when I found Artemis & Bizarro most compelling was when they were separated from Jason and allowed room to breathe and exist).

The emotional core of the story, insomuch as there is one, is between Bruce and Jason and it really, really shouldn't be. Don't get me wrong, I would read a million issues of Jason and Bruce being completely, wretchedly awful to each other, but because the emotional core lies between Bruce and Jason, and also because RHatO is trying to be an ensemble book, and also because Lobdell is very uninterested in crafting a story around an alternate emotional core, whenever the story isn't about Bruce and Jason (which is most of the time) it flounders. I'd say that's fine if Lobdell just wanted to write a fun, dumb adventure book, but the Bruce and Jason bits are too present to ignore, making the whole thing feel very off-kilter.

From a team perspective, I don't understand what Jason adds. The whole run is sold as a "dark trinity," but the role Batman plays in the Wonder Woman-Superman-Batman trinity and the role Jason plays in the Artemis-Bizarro-Red Hood trinity isn't really the same? I feel like I'm supposed think Jason deserves his place on the team because he's The Main Character, but even from a very mechanical powers and abilities perspective I don't get what he's doing there. He's not particularly clever or strategic. He doesn't have the resources Batman does. He's not the brains, especially because later arcs give that role to someone else. If I had to assign him a role I'd say he's the "heart," whatever that means, but I also fundamentally don't buy Artemis and Jason as a team or companions and would argue that Bizarro serves as the "heart" (as well as the brawn) most of the time.

(This section contains spoilers) RHatO introduces the stupidest plot threads and then proceeds to do nothing with them. Willis Todd is alive, for reasons. He's Wingman, who's just randomly part of Batwoman's Bat-Team, for reasons. He's Faye Gunn's son, making Jason Faye Gunn's grandson, for reasons. None of this has any real bearing on the plot but it does create a lot of problems for Jason's canon backstory, whatever it is at this point in time.

(This section contains spoilers) Which also, the fact that it opens with conflict with Black Mask, one of the few rogues Jason has had extensive conflict with as Red Hood, creates a nightmare of what's in continuity and what isn't. My understanding is that UtRH is in continuity, which makes literally everything about the opening act not only nonsensical, but actively confusing.

This is less a critique of the series itself, but worth noting: I generally disagree with how people rec the first half of the run (i.e. the run with Bizarro and Artemis) and not the last half of the run (the Red Hood: Outlaw part). I read the series in trade format so I don't have the issues on hand, but I think RH:O vol. 2 is way more enjoyable (at least when it comes to Jason content) than the middle sections of RHatO.

So I guess I have problems with consistency, character work, storytelling choices, and ensemble writing. I don't with it's a worthless run per se; it's certainly better than other Jason-centric stories, and I love Dexter Soy's art about as much as I dislike Kenneth Rocafort's, so that's definitely a bonus for (early) RHatO 2016. I also don't think Lobdell is a completely incompetent writer, necessarily; he's just lazy, and incurious, and generally kind of a hack, which in some ways makes it worse.

I also don't think anyone is wrong to like either version of RHatO. I am a very brittle reader with specific wants & desires from comics that are usually only ever met by accident. So, obviously, take all this with an amount of salt anywhere between a shaker and a mine.

[darkshrimpemotions]

@valleyg0th Like I said, answering this in a separate post because it's too long-winded for a reply and sort of off the topic of the original post. My comments and yours from that post above for reference.

Also, I'd like to preface this by saying that the ethical and moral considerations around RPS/RPF are massively nuanced and complicated, and something that I'm still working through myself. That being said, I do have some pretty hard and fast ideas about what ISN'T okay, which inform a lot of what I'm getting into below.

But first, I'd like to clarify my statement as it seems from your reply that it did not come across the way I intended. When I say "something Taylor has made it clear she doesn't want to be super public about" I'm not talking about her sexuality. I'm talking about her relationships in general.

She has made it very clear, repeatedly, over the years that she does not appreciate uninvited intrusions into her personal life. That's not really debatable at this point. She wants to be the one to choose what and when and how her personal life is shared with the world. If she has ever asked for anything, anything at all, it's that.

That's part one of why I find the constant spreading and debate and speculation over these still-unconfirmed break-up rumors so distasteful, particularly from people who claim to love Taylor.

Part two of why I find it so distasteful is the way so many people are celebrating this breakup rumor because it validates their theories about Taylor's sexuality, rejoicing that she's "gotten rid of her beard" and such. That's gross regardless of what you think her sexuality is. If people were on here going "oh yay she broke up with Joe this is how Haylor can still win" I would find that despicable, too.

I'm not particularly invested in any of Taylor's relationships beyond being happy that she's happy, but I do participate and get invested heavily in RPS/RPF in other fandoms, and the keys to respectful RPS/RPF are pretty clear, whether the ship in question is het or queer.

1. You do not demonize, villainize, or harass the real life significant others of the people your ship concerns. (It's also generally considered distasteful to float or perpetuate rumors or conspiracy theories about the relationship being fake or forced, but the bare minimum is you don't make whatever you think about the relationship that SO's problem.)

2. You do not involve or bother the children of the people your ship concerns in any way, ever.

3. You do not ever, ever, EVER put your shipping or associated material (i.e. fics, fanart, theorizing, tinhatting) where the real people it concerns are likely to see it.

And that third one is where Swifties, Gaylors in particular, are really fucking failing right now. Now, if a famous person goes onto AO3 and searches for their name, that's one thing. Or they come into any fandom space where they aren't a known presence and start poking around...they went looking for it. But bringing it up at live events or putting it on social media platforms that said celebrity openly frequents in a way they're likely to see it (i.e. by @ing them or putting it under their name's hashtag) is crossing a line.

And yet what is the Taylor Swift tag FULL OF, on tumblr where we all know Taylor has had an account for years and lurks occasionally? People calling Joe an ex-beard, celebrating the end of their relationship, and analyzing her every move and facial expression and song choice in the context of these unconfirmed break-up rumors.

This shit is gross, full stop. And on top of everything else, far too many of the fans in the Gaylor camp are quick to call anyone who has a problem with their behavior in this regard a homophobe, trivializing the very real dangers and struggles faced by queer people to win their stupid little fandom arguments. That's disgusting. It disgusts me as a queer person.

Part three of why I find all the breakup rumor speculation so distasteful is that once again, Taylor is doing the absolute most and completely killing it at her career, but many of her so-called fans only want to focus on her relationship status with some guy. It's all "she's doing so great on tour in spite of the Joe breakup!" or "she's doing so great on tour because of the Joe breakup!" How about we stop attributing anything in this woman's career to the men she's involved with? Are we capable of that? Have we fucking evolved past 2015 yet?

As for Taylor's habit of leaving clues in her albums, I find it wild that people assume because she has left fairly obvious little puzzles and easter eggs for us throughout her career ABOUT her career, i.e. background info about the music on an album or foreshadowing around what's coming next, that means that she's constantly sending us secret coded messages about her private life.

Like...capitalized letters in liner notes that spell out a detail about that song or album that you wouldn't otherwise know, or a numerical code on her instagram that reveals the vault tracks on her next TV re-recording, or even easter eggs in a music video related to very public knowledge that inspired the song and album...are all a pretty far cry from "Taylor has been sending secret, unconfirmed signals that only we can see for over a decade to tell us that she's actually queer and being forced to stay in the closet and have PR relationships with men she doesn't care about."

And finally, I actually don't have a problem with interpreting Ivy or any of Taylor's music as queer. Interpreting art is not the same thing as speculating on the artist's sexuality, and it sure as hell isn't the same thing as celebrating a breakup rumor because it validates that speculation. I myself interpret a LOT of Taylor's music as queer. But I also understand that how I interpret art is just as much about me as it is about the art.

Me finding something in Taylor's music that I resonate with as a queer person doesn't necessarily mean Taylor herself is queer. And even if she is, she hasn't chosen to share that with us, so it's simply none of my goddamn business. "A lot of Taylor Swift's music resonates with me and my queer experiences" and "Taylor Swift's sexuality is none of my business" are ideas that can and should coexist.

As are "I think she might be" and "but that's none of my business" for that matter! Hell, I can even admit that based on my own experiences of being closeted and coming out, I wouldn't be surprised at all if one day Taylor comes out as bi. But that doesn't mean she OWES me or anyone else that disclosure, or that it's okay to be on the internet endlessly speculating on unsubstantiated rumors concerning something we know she specifically likes to be private about in a place we KNOW she's likely to see it! Especially when that speculation gives way to actively celebrating the end of her relationship without knowing a) if it has actually ended, and b) how she feels about it if it has.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

I never tried the battle subway when I first got my bw and bw2 games, but I've been trying my luck with it lately just to see what the fuss is all about and how anyone manages to consistently get through the super multi line is beyond me. The regular lines are all do-able, though the later trainers and the bosses can be really irritating to beat. But the super lines are so hard. I've made it to Ingo twice, Emmet once, and both of them never. And I've only been able to beat Ingo once, Emmet decimated me and Ingo beat me the first time. The super multi line is excruciating. I have been trying for nearly a week and I just cannot do it, which maybe isn't too surprising since multi is by far my weakest of the three. I have a feeling the bosses would wipe the floor with me if I ever did manage it though. So much respect for the twins for being multi battle specialists, I could never.

to be fair you'd probably have a much easier time with multis if you were working with another like. human person that you had some team synergy with instead of an npc trainer who was just kinda doing their own thing. that's a bit of a hindrance. and a problem with singleplayer multis in the games in general, tbh. YEAH THO like to be clear battle facilities are generally endgame challenges for well-built teams, they're an investment in the way the gym challenge isn't. i don't think i'm stretching canon to say facility heads are better trainers than gym leaders as a general rule, and the subway bosses in particular since they're not even employing legendaries for the artifical boost.

to get into it for a minute tho i think that's part of the draw of multis in the actual game world, and the thing that makes them so unfavorable/tricky for most people: like yes it can result in a multiplicative strength increase and help beat trainers you never could alone, but you're adding this new unknown variable to the intricate bond between you and your pokemon. like consider that it isn't just about single player vs two player: you're already working with another entity in battle, your team, who you (are supposed to) have a very close bond with to the point of almost having your own coded language together. and now you're throwing in a second person and team that you have to work with, too, and unless you have as close a bond with them as you do with your team, it's going to be real hard not to be getting in each others' way! which is also why i think ingo and emmet should be so Fucking Scary Strong: they do have that intense close bond, and they share a pool of pokemon so they also aren't working with the Two Separate Teams problem so much, so much as they are sharing a Single team. they are perfect multis specialists. and given how rare it is, that's a scary thing to face!

[clay-cuttlefish]

Finishing 52 :')

#39

This is a very cool issue, Nat and Lex's confrontation is great, it's just. Hard to follow up on 38.

#40

John beating the shit out of Lex makes me feel a little better. It's very cathartic. Get his ass.

#41

Do you think Vic got a funeral. Did someone invite anyone other than Tot, Renee, and Richard. I doubt it.

Diana's here, just for a moment. Unfortunate how little she's around in 52, but it does make her finally arriving Hit.

Catch me lying face down on the floor thinking about Renee being forced to introspect.

#42

OH NO, RALPH.

#43

Poor Osiris :(

Most of 52's pretty well foreshadowed, this is the biggest shock value moment imo. I mean, it works for that, but there's a lot less clever buildup and payoff than like. Booster's death.

#44

Split between "this was set up worse than a lot of 52 and it doesn't land as well as a result" and "this fight slaps".

I really don't like Adrianna's dying "lol nvm murder's cool" change of heart. I feel like this'd be a lot better if it was more her saying these were monsters and that extreme situations justified extreme measures, but it being a total 180 is just dumb.

HER HAT!

Love that Tot is just like. Yeah you're going to need the costume. He's seen the whole denial routine before and he doesn't buy it.

I do think she needs it less than Vic did. He started wearing it before he did any introspection, and the separation of identity was central to his journey. Also he had some depersonalization going on. Renee's further along in her process by the time she takes it, and isn't compartmentalizing as much, so it's not central to her self-image in quite the same way. Accepting the mask is important, but wearing it isn't as much, if that makes sense?

Like, there's a lot of parts of herself she's not engaging with, but there isn't a Renee/Question separation in the way there's a Vic/Charlie/Question separation. It's a different angle on identity issues.

#45

Continuing Renee's theme of identifying with guys with anger issues.

I still don't love the total turnaround on character development, and it's running into the same problem a lot of big events have where the destruction is wide enough and effortless enough it doesn't feel that impactful. One crowd being at risk feels more meaningful than a guy fighting an entire country.

I was reminded of this early on in 52, when Black Adam talks about how many people died in Infinite Crisis. Sure it did a bunch of horrible shit to the world and everyone on the planet was witness to destruction, but I was more invested in Jaime's very bad day.

#46

The mad scientists getting to stay ridiculous and still win is fun. Sure they've done some truly awful stuff but more importantly they're all committed to the bit while they do it.

#47

Natasha :)

Glad someone's doing well.

I remember really not liking the Bruce or Diana stuff originally and I feel vindicated reading the omnibus and being reminded Rucka doesn't either.

#48

RENEE'S IN THE MASK! GOOD QUESTION!!!

Her talking to Charlie in her internal monologue. My heart.

The scene in the church is SO cool. The lighting, the way she fights, Kate with the knife, it's the best.

#49

I'm sorry but "I have a particle wave ray gun and bipolar disorder!" is one of the moments of the entire series. Nobody else is doing it like Will is, and that's a good thing.

#50

BOOSTER!

Most of this issue doesn't work for me, both in story and in the art, which sucks given how climactic it is. I like the way Billy and the lightning look, at least.

#51

Skeets hatches into Mr Mind's adult form, a giant time moth, so he can eat spacetime. Comic books <3

Imo Mr. Mind should've kept the glasses.

#52

You fool! This was secretly a crisis event all along! Get multiverse'd, idiot!

Vic's hanging out on Earth-4 :')

Ohh Booster and Ted. I can't. Booster's SO good in this. If I was like 5% less dedicated to finishing the Renee reading list I had been using and 10% more into time travel I would have came out of 52 and gotten right into Booster Gold.

Renee bookending her arc with Kate...

It's been a bumpy ride, but I love 52 so much.

[septembersghost]

I absolutely hate when people talk about Taylor's rumoured hookups. This is why I hate the theories like WD=AS or Tenfefife sea is about Taylor or even her supposed hookup with matt Healy . Being invested in her s*x life is weird. Talking/guessing about whether joe banged her when she wore a black dress is weird. Swifties really think stanning someone means you have authority to discuss most intimate details of their life. (Same with harry. I saw someone diagnosing him of ADHD on fucking tiktok because apparently he forgets things is invasive.) Also if you don't think she was being truthful about a song make up your own story for that instead of playing guessing games. Saying she *definitely* did x y z is fucking weird. We don't know them. They are strangers to us. She is a celebrity not our best friend. Let that woman live her life

yeah i am very uncomfortable with that myself. i don't have a problem discussing her muses/experiences to an extent, and the way she embeds that into her work, because i think it's worthwhile in understanding her and what her writing means from her (even when we then internalize it and make her music about experiences/feelings for ourselves! which we should!), separating her and what she's telling us from her art does her a disservice, i think, and there are so MANY meaningful connections between her various songs/albums that the whole picture of it is more clear when we do extend her that understanding. but, for me, that's different than "theorizing" about stuff that isn't a part of the work or we don't have a concrete basis for. (this is not even to MENTION some of the things that go on, i just don't know how people get so lost that they can't see when what they're doing is invasive and wrong to the point of being unwell). the talk about [insert famous man she interacted with here] upsets me when we know how much that damaged her and made her feel like she couldn't even have a relationship! and maybe i'm a hypocrite because i've discussed situations and romances she expresses in depth on the albums, but by the unfortunate default of our celebrity culture and the reporting that goes with it, we do know those things and recognize the people and connections in them, there are just...lines to what i'm comfortable with. like, for example, i don't mind talking about what joe means to her because it's literally all over five albums' worth of material and has fundamentally changed her life, but publicly assuming things about their intimate moments or dissecting them to exploit their presumed flaws is just...??? those are real people!!! their status as public figures doesn't make them less deserving of respect and consideration! it's super weird to talk about real peoples' lives and most private moments like that. or with wcs, i don't feel it's okay to guess what she experienced (and it's even worse to say she's lying for attention...my god), all we need to recognize is that whatever happened traumatized her and is something she's spent many years processing, and that's enough to give her compassion!

i also really do not like the armchair diagnoses that go on in fandom either (since you mention that with harry), treating human beings like fictional characters simply doesn't sit well with me. if someone hasn't openly discussed a struggle or a diagnosis, it's not up to us to assign it to them.

why do you think they then express feeling trapped or feeling like they're not allowed to breathe or ever slip or up that they've been turned into dolls? it's remarkably unfair. :/

idk i just feel like it becomes far too easy for some to separate from the idea of famous people as also being real, flesh and blood, people in this world. everyone has different lines in discussing that, but there are some very firm ones for me.

[kaylor]

i need someone to rant to and i'm so sorry i chose you but i really like talking to you lol, but i just saw someone say "It pisses me off when people say “if any other artist released midnights it would have flopped. of any other artist made a beautiful album like this one everyone would be saying how talented they are because it is an objectively good album,” and i'm like... bestie are you fucking blind? the amount of times i've seen artists release a beautiful album and it was payed dust just because they're not mainstream or massively known? like i don't want to discredit taylor's work because the album is alright and yeah it might not be her best work but still it has its very high points but to be so absolutely naive to think that taylor's fame and popularity isn't another factor or another reason why this album is getting this absurd and insane amount of hype... idk, anyways thank u for coming to my ted talk and i'm sorry for the rant

no you're totally right, the fact she is ubiquitous and inescapable as a pop culture phenomenon and has been for years absolutely plays a part in the way her art is reviewed. everyone who knows about music will know about taylor swift to a degree they probably wouldn't any other artist unless they actively invested time in learning about them as people. and everyone who knows about taylor swift will have their preconceptions about her, which in turn will inform how they review her art! and especially in recent years (excluding folkmore!) her art has relied heavily on knowledge of her previous art, and her personal life. where you are "rewarded" if you understand the self referential lyrics, and probably left somewhat baffled if you don't.

but for someone like taylor whose body of work (and perhaps life) since reputation has been almost performance art itself, both her fan base and herself not being able to separate herself from the lyrics she writes, she becomes the object of the review itself. you're no longer just reviewing the music, you're also reviewing her.

[rikumorimachisgirl]

Title: Eyes on you

Pairing: Shaw x You

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 2,901

A/N: You (Y/N) are not the MC in MLQC. This is a plunny that's been bugging me for quite a while, I had to write it. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own MLQC or its characters, but I do own the concept of this fic.

There were a few mysteries in this world that the esteemed Archeology Graduate Professors at Loveland University can't explain - for instance, the formation of the Stonehenge, the exact location of the lost city of Atlantis, the origin of the Nazca lines… and your presence at the Metro Art Gala dressed to the nines, positively gleaming as you strode arm in arm with your classmate and Thesis partner Shaw, who seemed like the perfect gentleman that evening. Thanks to your work at the Loveland Museum, you scored two invites to the gala featuring the recently discovered works of a well-known artist - an event any Archeology fanatic wouldn't let pass. The two of you walked along with LFG's Exhibition Hall, pausing occasionally to admire one of the recently discovered sculptures by the Renaissance artist D'Romani. As you both looked at the intricacies of the artwork in front of you, your charming companion would lean in slightly and whisper something in your ear, causing you to roll your eyes or stifle a giggle. 

To the guests in the prestigious gala, the two of you looked like two young people at the cusp of falling in love, but the members of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Archeology saw it differently - this was a real-life mystery if they'd seen one. 

As your eyes swiftly swept through the entire room, you could see that your professors only had one question in mind - how'd this happen? How did two people as different as day and night, who argued with each other throughout Graduate studies, end up amiably enjoying each other's company tonight? 

You drew a sharp breath and sighed. The answer was simple: Your Thesis defense was right around the corner. You needed him to cooperate, you were willing to go to great lengths to make it happen. And your Thesis partner (unfortunately) was ready to take full advantage of the situation. 

***

"Tell me why we're doing this again, " you said through the door that separated you and your date, as you were putting on the dress you bought (or invested on, as he casually stated) for tonight's gala, which he insisted on attending with you. It was six in the evening on a Friday, and you had just arrived home after cramming your workload at the Loveland Museum and foregoing your meal breaks just so you could leave work at exactly five-thirty. 

"I already told you a couple of times - you want me to cooperate with you so you can pass our Thesis, and I need a reason to be around her," the purple-haired man waiting at the other side of your bedroom door called out nonchalantly. "You can drop your fantasy about me asking you out because I'm attracted to you."

You hissed silently at his snarky remark and counted to ten. You haven't even left your apartment yet you already wanted this night to be over. "How do you even know she's gonna be there?"

She - the Miracle Finder Producer, the object of your Thesis Partner's fantasies, and as fate would have it, his brother's girlfriend. 

"They're doing a show featuring our Thesis adviser. Didn't he tell us about it during our last consultation?" He asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I wasn't listening," you shot back, as you took off your ponytail and started styling your hair with your curling iron. You chose a one-shoulder fitted black dress that stops right above your knees, so you thought of wearing your hair down for a change. 

"Ah, yes. You were too busy looking at your notes, trying to prove me wrong as always."

You closed your eyes, as you continued to make big beach waves and prayed to the gods you wouldn't commit murder tonight. 

"How much longer are you gonna take?"

"Excited much?" You asked, smirking while you now removed your glasses and put on your contacts. "You sound like a teenager excited to see his crush in a school fair!"

"Don't compare me to you!" 

"I don't have designs on anyone in the party," you called back. "Unless your brother's attending the event, that is. From what you've been telling me, he seems like a great guy."

Silence. You arched an eyebrow as you strained your ear to listen for any sign of life outside your bedroom door. What must your grunge-rock skater boy-turned-date-for-the-evening be thinking? 

"Do you want to pass our Thesis or not?"

You struck a victory pose at his remark. Finally, one point - you, Shaw - about twenty. 

"Are you done yet? This suit is really uncomfortable. Damn, why do people even wear these?"

"Because they're decent?" You shot back. "You know, you can always go home if you're not comfortable in your attire because when we get there, you need to act decent, too. Can't have your usual swagger in a formal affair."

"Just hurry it up already!"

You rolled your eyes as you applied your nude-colored lipstick to finish off your look before putting on your black stilettos, and stuffing your phone, wallet, and your makeup in your purse. 

"All done," you replied, as you finally emerged from your room. 

***

A part of you wished that the dynamics between you and Shaw were different. While he was a pain in the neck, and too carefree for his own good, you also thought he made for a good intellectual sparring partner, quite attractive, and it was hard to deny that he's got your heart beating double-time whenever he got too close for comfort like he was at that very moment. 

"My, you two kids seem to be having fun tonight."

You gasped, at the sound of the voice behind you, and you felt your date nudge you ever-so-subtly while straightening.

"Hey, Professor Adler," he said in his usual unruffled tone, his lips stretched into a smirk as he held his hand out to your Anthropology professor and Thesis adviser, who watched you both amusedly. His gesture made your eyes shot wide open, you thought they'd fall right off. Shaw shaking someone's hand? That's one for the books. 

"Shaw. Fancy seeing you here," the stout middle-aged man greeted while shaking your date's hand. "This isn't your usual scene though."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't exactly turn a pretty lady down, can I?" 

"I can see that," your professor said as he looked at you appraisingly. "Well, well, you clean up well, Miss (y/n)."

You fought the urge to squirm at the older man's words when you heard your date cluck his cheeks with his tongue and suddenly felt his arm around your shoulders, pressing you protectively close to his side. 

***

"All done!" You happily announced as you stepped into the living room of your small apartment where your date was impatiently waiting for you. 

You could've sworn he was stunned for a second or two before he shook his head and tried to regain his usual impassive expression. Finally, he stood and walked closer to assess you better. 

"You're not wearing your glasses. I thought you said you're practically blind without them?" 

You cocked your head to one side. Out of all the things he could've complimented or called out, that's the first thing he noticed? 

"Wouldn't it look awkward if I wore glasses to a formal event?"

"Your hair is all curly," he continued as if you didn't say anything. "And your shoes are so tall, won't you trip? Also, surely you have a jacket to go with that dress, right?" 

You stared at him in disbelief. Why did this carefree, bass-playing skater boy turn into your dad all of a sudden? 

"Uh…"

"Well, at least you're not wearing red lipstick. You don't have to try too hard to look sexy. Geez! I've got plans of my own this evening, so don't expect me to be your bodyguard," he continued to mumble as he circled around you. Before long, you felt something warm and heavy on your shoulder. His coat?

"It's just until we get to the venue," he shrugged as he led you to the car he borrowed for tonight. "I don't want people seeing you freeze to death."

You sighed, your shoulders slumped as you followed your date to the car. You already expected he wouldn't throw you a compliment for looking like a proper human tonight, and you cursed yourself for feeling gutted over it anyway. 

 ***

"So, which one of these sculptures did you like best, Professor?" You sighed in relief as Shaw changed the subject, his arm still wrapped around you, making you blush furiously. 

"Oh, I have to say I liked Eros and Psyche best. In case you haven't seen it yet, it's located a little further down the hall near the bar area," the older man was starting to explain when someone tapped his shoulder from behind. 

"Excuse me, Professor Adler," a gentle voice called out, making both the professor and Shaw jump. From behind the old man, a pretty petite with brown hair and big brown eyes, and the biggest smile on her face stepped up. "My name is MC from Miracle Finder."

Almost immediately, Shaw withdrew his arm around you, almost causing you to stagger backward. He straightened up and feigned disinterest. 

"Hey. It's a little rude how you stepped in while I was talking to the Professor," he said, his tone teasing. 

"Oh, I didn't notice you here. Do you mind if I talk to your Professor? We've invited him for an interview about the exhibit," the girl said sweetly. 

Based on how unconsciously coy she acted around Shaw, and the way he kept egging her, there was no doubt that this was the girl he was crushing on. You felt like the odd person out all of a sudden and needed to step away. 

You backed away slowly, careful not to rouse their attention because it would probably suck if you knew how Shaw would introduce you to his little crush. As soon as you were in a safe distance, you turned and walked aimlessly down the hall, pausing briefly at paintings or sculptures that caught your fancy, looking at its intricacies as you did so earlier. But somehow, it wasn't as fun as it was before, so you moved on quickly, to give way to the other guests who also wanted to view the artwork.

Finally, you came upon the bar and decided to rest your tired feet at the far corner, hidden from the rest of the world. Sighing, you slipped your feet off your stilettos and quietly watched as the guests around you - mostly couples - happily chatting away as they enjoyed the beauty of the art around them and the wonderful music that filled the air. You knew somewhere in the crowd, your date was fawning over his lady love, probably getting in the way of her filming your professor. 

Tch. 

You knew he liked her - he always told you he did. And why wouldn't he? MC was pretty, seemingly sweet, and dainty - the kind of girl any guy would like to protect. And you. You were the opposite. You lived for your work, were 'one of the boys', and didn't need anyone to protect you - that's just how you were - and now you started to realize that maybe guys don't exactly like that. At least not Shaw. 

Wait, what were you thinking? You scolded yourself as you shook your head. Why were you even thinking of what he liked when you don't even like him to start with. Or did you? 

"Ugh. What the hell is wrong with me?" You groaned when a cold bottle of beer and a frozen glass was placed in front of you. 

"I was gonna ask you that myself." 

You straightened up in your seat and shot a look at the guy seated beside you. Dressed in a nice grey suit, he smiled as he raised his beer bottle in front of you. 

"You look like you needed a drink. I hope the beer is okay. They don't have fruit beer or soda," he said calmly, his amber-colored eyes never leaving yours. 

"Y-yeah. Beer is perfect," you replied while pouring the amber liquid into the glass. "Thanks," you muttered before raising the glass to your lips to gulp down some liquid courage. 

"I saw you with Shaw earlier -"

The name on his lips drove you to a coughing fit, as you choked on your drink. "Sorry, " you mumbled in between coughs. 

"No, I'm sorry," the brown-haired guy said, as he cautiously and politely patted your back. "I didn't mean to bring that up. I was just curious."

"It's fine," you replied when you finally regained your composure. "Yes, we're just classmates in Grad school who decided to check this exhibit out for the heck of it."

"Classmates, huh?"

"Yeah, that's what we are," you said, taking a sip off your glass. "Grad school classmates."

"Are you telling me or telling yourself?"

You looked up and saw him smiling. There was something about Dreamy McHandsome who was seated beside you that felt so familiar yet different at the same time, but you couldn't point a finger at what it was exactly. 

"We're classmates, and we're working on our thesis together. But we're not friends - far from it even. We hate each other's guts."

"Can't blame you for doing so," he shrugged as he drank his beer. 

"Yeah. He dragged me here so he can get with someone he's been crushing on for so long," you rambled on, frowning. 

"Oh? And who might that be?"

"The Miracle Finder Producer. You know, the pretty girl in a blue top and white skirt. He's been going on and on about her for weeks…"

"You mean my girlfriend?" 

His girlfriend. You choked on your drink once again. "Y-y-your girlfriend? You mean to say…" You gasped. Has the beer made you stupid? You've barely drunk half of it, you thought as you fought to regain your dignity. This was Shaw's brother you were talking to - and boy, we're they blessed with good genes…

… And the same social awkwardness, you noticed, judging by how he kept his hand at your back, but not exactly touching it, as if trying to assess if he had to pat you or not. 

When you finally calmed down, he cleared his throat and gave you a small smile. "Don't worry. She talks to me about their conversations. I know what that guy is playing at, and I most definitely know he's not after my girl," he said, his voice broke no room for doubt. "My name is Gavin..."

"Yeah, I know…"

"You - what?"

"Oh," you said, tapping on your glass nervously. "Shaw kinda mentioned it in passing before."

"I see."

"So, what were you saying earlier about Shaw?"

"Oh. From what my girlfriend tells me, he's got his sights set on…"

"Ahem," you heard someone say loud enough for you and Gavin to turn your heads around. And there, standing behind you, was an angry-looking Shaw. You sat up, your gaze shifting between the two brothers as the air started to thicken with tension. "I talk to someone for a minute and the next thing I knew, my date walks out on me and right into the one person I'd hate for her to meet."

"Well, if you were just honest with her as with a lot of other things in your life, maybe she wouldn't have left your side earlier," Gavin retorted flippantly. "Is she finally done with filming?"

Shaw simply grunted in reply as he watched his older brother finish his bottle of beer and stand. "Well, Miss, there's a lot I've heard about you. Seems somebody couldn't stop talking about you, but I'll leave it at that." 

With a wink and a mischievous smile upon his face, the brown-haired guy sauntered off to look for his better half, as you and Shaw watched in awkward silence. 

He cleared his throat and glanced at you. "Hey."

"Hey," you replied, shakily. 

"So, about what that jerk said -"

"Yes?" You asked, feeling your heart hammer against your chest by the second.

"Whatever he said is not true," he said dismissively, as he took his coat off and draped it over your shoulders. "I told you before, I don't find you the least bit attractive."

You felt tears starting to sting your eyes, as he continued with his harsh commentary. "You're tough, highly opinionated, and you always want to come out on top. I don't find those attractive at all," he said. "I prefer a damsel in distress. I want someone clingy… someone, needy."

"I know that -"

"Oh do you?" He teased, his amber eyes twinkling. "You seem to know a lot about me."

"We've been working together for months now," you said. "Of course, I'd know more about you."

"I see," he said, as he took a step closer to you and touched your cheek, rubbing the stray tear that had managed to slip down the side of your face. "So, you must know I'm also a good liar. After all, I've kept all these feelings to myself for quite some time."

He snickered when he saw your frown deepen and he bent down just as he had done so earlier, to whisper. "I made you think I liked someone else when in fact," his low voice made you shiver. "I've always eyes for you."

The End.

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

What do you think of this thing going around about fans projecting onto their favourite characters as a criticism of their meta or things like that? Because I don't know, it seems like we all do it at least a little, and sometimes we find certain things or characters relatable. I don't think we should necessarily feel bad about that. Working through things using fiction seems commonplace in fandom. There is a difference between fanon and canon, but people can interpret canon differently anyway.

there does seem to be an idea that people mostly have certain interpretations of characters because they're projecting their own issues, with the corollary that this projection and emotional attachment makes the interpretation automatically less valid, and I'm...not really a fan? I mean--it's probably an important thing to consider, for people who get really upset about new canon that contradicts their interpretations, whether your interpretation had textual basis in the first place or if it was just a matter of "I relate to this character and therefore they are like me in every significant way and therefore these new actions are wrong and bad representation of people like me".

but at the same time--okay, the discussion of characters being "coded" in certain ways is probably overdone on Tumblr, but we're really talking about long-term tropes and patterns when we talk about coding, and that's...a thing. there's history to that discussion. and we all have access to the same text, and there are almost always genuine text-based reasons that people relate to certain characters. (for one thing, when something is designed to appeal to a broad audience, that also typically means the characters are literally designed to be relatable to as big a portion of that audience as possible.) I think it's totally possible for different people to come to the same text in good faith and leave with very different interpretations, and it's possible for people to develop completely buckwild interpretations that require actively reading against the text, but like--an interpretation isn't automatically the latter just because you relate to it personally, right? hell, it isn't even automatically the latter when new canon contradicts, or seems to contradict, your existing interpretation, especially when we're talking about a canon like the MCU that involves so many different creators with their own massive array of interpretations based on wildly varying types and degrees of experience, emotional investment, research, personal preference, etc. that seems to go without saying for comics in general, and the MCU is theoretically a lot more cohesive than the comics on which they're based, but like...the damn thing's been around for over a decade now. nearly every individual project has involved different different directors, writers, actors. Kevin Feige is maaaaaybe not as serious about his job as continuity caretaker as he's supposed to be.

so, sure, sometimes fanon interpretations end up diverging pretty significantly from what's presented in the text, but I still don't think that means the canon interpretations are necessarily better in some objective way when the whole thing's being made by multiple committees, especially considering the only thing really separating canon from fanon in most cases is...money. I mean hell, sometimes fans end up getting actual Disney jobs and then their fan interpretations can become canon, and that's not some kind of meritocracy, that's...well, a lot of factors, but the vast majority of them don't rely on objective differences in quality. the longer the MCU is around, too, the more that's likely to happen. plus there's a difference between reading against the text of a complete canon to develop a fanon interpretation that has almost nothing to do with canon, and making a completely reasonable interpretation based on the text you have that is later somewhat contradicted by new text from a totally different person. like--in a universe where Ken Branagh kept directing the Thor movies, we'd probably be having a different conversation about canon vs. fanon because the canon itself would have to be different.

and, you know, there's "this writer's interpretation doesn't match mine" and there's "this writer didn't understand the assignment," right? like, I know I keep harping on this but the What If? writers in particular have been factually wrong in very weird ways despite getting money for it, which doesn't even get into explicit retcons like Gamora being the last surviving member of her species in GotG and then surprise, Infinity War and its All New All Different Thanos reveal that he only killed half the inhabitants of her planet and thereby supposedly turned it into a "paradise". and Feige either didn't notice or didn't care, so at this point I'm kinda like, hmm, if existing canon isn't sacred to the people shaping it because that apparently doesn't affect their bottom line, why are we yelling at each other about whose interpretation ended up being better or more accurate?

...I've probably wandered off my point, if I even had a coherent point to make in the first place, but yeah, that's...basically what I think about this. fanon can be very dumb. canon can also be very dumb. (comics canon in particular can be extremely dumb, so it stands to reason that adaptations of comics canon can also, at times, be pretty dumb.) in most cases, neither is inherently superior to the other because what separates the two is mostly luck and money, and it would be cool if people tried to chill out a little bit about hating fanon or canon. in a lot of cases, things can coexist pretty well as long as people are willing to try.

(ON THE OTHER HAND, academics can get famously vicious over conflicting interpretations of the same text, so maybe that part really is inevitable. or maybe everybody everywhere should make a serious effort to, you know, touch some grass and try to chill out a little.)

[movienotesbyzawmer]

April 12: Rocky III

(previous notes: Rocky II)

Because now that Rocky has done the unthinkable and become The Champ, we want to see him tackle the next challenge… win AGAIN.

I remember seeing this in the theater with my buddy. I don't know if I liked it. I'm pretty sure I found Mr. T to be as charismatic and as terrifying as they wanted. I'm pretty sure when I bought the ticket I hesitated and asked the cashier, "hey, wait, we get to see him do some variation on the triumphant steps jogging moment, right? Otherwise never mind I'll go see Poltergeist again". If I'm paying good money for boxing sequels, I want to be assured that the formula has not been altered.

Okay let's go.

Once again, this is Un Film De Sylvester Stallone.

Slight variation on the fanfare with the title, now there's a close-up of the Important Belt Buckle Of Punchsport.

Then we see the climax of the previous movie, maybe edited slightly for time. But not very noticeably different.

That segues immediately to a montage of Rocky doing many successful beatup games, scored by the enormous pop hit "Eye of the Tiger". I suspect this isn't the last we'll hear of this number.

The montage morphs into a different story, one starring Mr. T! He's watching Rocky win stuff and he is not pleased. He can also fist-game, it seems. But the montage makes it clear that it is our hero Rocky who is the star of commercial endorsements and marriage love.

I mock but this visionary filmmaker has indeed opened this movie with energetically cinematic choices.

0:8:40 - Arcade games! Paulie goes to an arcade and it is like the arcades I went to when this movie was out and I see games that I played! But Paulie doesn't like the Rocky pinball machine. It seems he is a sore brother-in-law.

Rocky is now very dashing. Paulie is drunk and whiny about how Rocky is such a big shot now, but he has a point about how prettied up he has become.

Later that night Rocky and Adrian are in their bed and it has a rich person headboard. The director, also visibly present in front of the camera, clearly instructed the production designer to create a bed that would reflect the elite level of financial flexibility that the protagonist has reached.

So apparently Rocky has gotten himself into the strange situation where he has to do a charity boxing match against a wrestler played by the increasingly famous Hulk Hogan. I had forgotten that Hulk Hogan is in this movie. Mr. T is watching this match and he looks intensely the same way he only ever does.

Whoa Hulk Hogan is way taller than Sylvester Stallone. Is that allowed? The rules have changed! And this whole thing is not boxing it is wrestling and it is that silliness instead of boxing. This is a long scene that is the same as a typical Wrestlemania thing, all manufactured drama made to seem like fighting and true menace, but at the end we see that they are just professional coworkers and we have all learned a valuable lesson haven't we.

At a statue-unveiling, Rocky announces that he is maybe retiring. MAYBE. But then Mr. T shows up talking smack, and ladies and gentlemen we have ourselves an end-of-Act-One.

As Act Two begins, we have a scene that was an A+ homework assignment for the screenwriting teacher of Rocky III's screenwriter, who you will recall is the craftsman Sylvester Stallone. Burgess Meredith is like "I quit! I won't help you with this fight! Mr. T is too hard to beat!" But then they talk it out to advance past that scripted complication. And now Rocky and Mr. T are training for their fight in their separate worlds.

Speaking of worlds, in the World Of Rocky, the famous theme that was introduced in the score of the first movie is actually known to the characters in this movie as Rocky music. They play it for him publicly to celebrate their pride in his violence accomplishments.

Apollo Creed appears to be retired, but he is a commentator at this Rocky/T fight.

0:40:00 - They're about to do the fight, but Mr. T is so The Way He Is that the wants to fight on the way TO the fight. That results in some tumult that makes BM have health problems. It was vague what happened, it seemed like BM was shoved aside by all the mad/scared/fighting people, so then he has a conversation with Rocky in a back room where he's like, don't stop the fight even though I am suddenly vaguely frail. He sort of clutches his chest like maybe there's a heart attack but just one of those everyday ones. I have those every time I click send on a work email. My friends should not be discouraged from championship fisticuffs when that happens.

This is the first Rocky movie to be made after Raging Bull came out, and I detect some influence in the boxing footage, like with close-ups of Mr. T.

Rocky loses that fight pretty quickly, and maybe the problem is that he didn't do a pre-victory steps jog. But the movie is telling us that BM is dying on a table in the back room and that's the real problem.

BM dies and SS has done some pretty ambitious cry-acting. Then the funeral is in one of those indoor above-ground file-cabinet-style cemeteries, which is not the normal cinematic choice so nice job there.

I can already tell that we're going to have another thirty minutes of a bummed-out Rocky to fill out Act Two before it starts to look like the setup for a fulfilling climax can begin. It's what I would have told him to write if he were my student at the third-rate community college where I'm a part-time screenwriting teacher in this scenario.

Apollo Creed has shown up to try to pep-talk Rocky, and he keeps saying "eye of the tiger" because of marketing departments. But also, he is a more mature person than in the first two movies. Even though it's a character shift, I do kind of buy it. It seems like another side of the character we knew slightly.

0:59:00 - Another scene beginning with dialogue that sounds like it was improvised by people who don't know what real life is like. "Come on you're going to be late to the airport!" "Maybe you should have packed another sweater" "no in California it's not too cold". AHA THEY ARE GOING ON A TRIP TO CALIFORNIA I AM ON TO YOU ROCKY III

When they go to Los Angeles and show us people on the street and the people have been told to look and act super different so that the audience will be like, wow California is different, then, well, we are at this part of Rocky III did you know.

Although there was my earlier expectation that we were going to have a prolonged funereal story arc, but what's happened is that Apollo is invested in training Rocky so they're showing us that side of Apollo, and that's interesting. But also it's the template of "Rocky is training and he doesn't look like he's going to get there, but then inspiration will hit and he will look like he is going to get there". S. Stallone, noted filmmaker, is using montages and flashbacks to show how recent bad news moments for Rocky are haunting him. It is working.

Adrian performs a pep talk monologue for Rocky. I don't understand her point. It's like a box of those refrigerator poetry magnets jumbled up together and spoken as movie script lines. I guess the gist is "don't give up" and he starts to think maybe he shouldn't give up. Then it's a new training montage, and it's got the classic "running far now" Rocky theme so we know it's going well. The twist on the classic cheering-atop-stairs cadence is it's Rocky and Apollo on the beach, and Rocky is a little faster than Apollo and that is great news for them both.

Now we're right before the final fight, and we heard Mr. T tell a reporter that he "pity the fool". I didn't hear the rest of what he said, I was just so happy to hear him say "pity the fool".

Oh but shortly after that he is asked what his prediction is, and he looks at the camera, OUR camera, at US, and says "PAIN". Submitted without comment.

That face-to-face moment right before the fight starts, Mr. T says "imma bust you UP" and Rocky says "go for it". Advanced Scripted Dialogue with Professor Stallone.

The final fight happens, and it's mostly the same as how the other ones went except without a montage summarizing a whole bunch of rounds. I think this whole fight ended in three rounds. But it ends with the exact same music that I'm getting sick of….

BUT! There is a follow-up scene this time! It's some other day later on and Apollo and Rocky are just palling around at the gym. And THEN the movie ends. I feel that the producers must have implored Stallone, artisan that he is, to just end the movie on that climactic moment right after the fight ends, just like the other movies, but he said NO. That is not ENOUGH for a SYLVESTER STALLONE FILM. We will have an additional scene with INCONSEQUENTIAL BANTER. It will last OVER ONE MINUTE. And here we are. Rocky III: it's like Raging Bull, but better!!

I think Talia Shire is the only female actor with any lines in this movie.

One thing that's very much worth saying about this movie is that there is WAY more actual boxing in this movie. The other ones had almost no scenes where there were live boxing matches, but this one had lots. Plus that wrestling one! And as I observed, the directing style with this one also had a newfound sense of visual pop. But the story seems like it changed not at all from how it was described in the first studio board room meeting where jackass producers blurted out what Rocky III might be like.

(next: Rocky IV)

[helloandwelcometomariasblog]

Review #69: Love in the Moonlight

I was going to write about this drama after I finished the last episode, but I'm halfway through and I just can't contain myself anymore.

This drama is such a joke. I'm honestly laughing incredulously here. Well, I'm up to the part where Yoonsung goes to fetch Raon with a bunch of guards behind him to - in his own words to his dad - "test the depth of his feelings for her". What a joke. You know and I know and he knows and we all damn know that he's too soft hearted to hurt anyone. And the writer is expecting us to believe that he would hurt Raon? The girl he's in love with? The girl he would go against his long-term friend and family for? The only girl he's ever liked even after frequenting a hundred kisaengs? Yeah, right.

That is this writer's biggest downfall. They're just too much of a softie. I'm pretty sure this writer fell in love with their own characters, so much to the point where they're too mushy-hearted to do anything bad to them. This happens multiple times throughout the drama, I can't even count. Nothing bad EVER happens to the characters. Well, let me rephrase that. Nothing bad EVER lasts for long with these characters - because the writer just can't bear to see them suffer for long!

Think about it. EACH damn time Raon and Young have to go through a tearful and heart-wrenching separation, they just get back together in the next episode or even earlier. The writer can't pull through with their own storytelling. The separation of the two main characters is always presented in this intensely tear-jerking fashion as though it's the hardest thing they have to go through, but in less than an hour there the prince is AGAIN, and all I can do is sit here and cry out in frustration because there are no stakes! How are we as the audience supposed to be sad and emotionally invested and feel like their love is a life and death situation when it just really ISN'T?

The examples go on and on. Think about the time Byeongyeon sacrificed himself for Raon and the prince. (Don't worry, Raon's unbearable passivity is coming up in another huge post of its own.) I actually liked that scene. I mean, yeah I love Byeongyeon as a character (more than Raon for sure) but his death meant something. It was an incredibly meaningful moment. You could see how much love he had for the prince and the entire scene was done pretty well, including the dialogue. And then what happens? HE DOESN'T DIE. Like, really? Okay, so he got shot by several arrows (and one of them definitely hits very close to his vital organs) and gets slashed by a sword and he still LIVES? So a hundred other people who gets slashed just once in the drama all die but this dude LIVES? Oh please. I swear, the moment I saw him lying down getting taken care of I wanted to smash the wall. That's not how it works! When you do that, you totally destroy the meaningful scene that you initially set up. If he comes back to life so easily, what was his death for? What meaning does it hold now? Ultimately, it tells the audience that nothing really is at stake, and that all of the "important" characters will come out unscathed. Nothing bad will ever happen to them. And what does this do? It destroys every ounce of tension in the drama. Nobody in the audience is going to ever feel that the situation in the drama is a life and death situation. Because it isn't.

That's really bad writing. One of the first things I learned in my screenwriting class was that you gotta put your main character through hell and you gotta have zero sympathy. You have to keep making bad things happen to them. The moment you become a softie, the tension just goes splat. It's really got to feel like a life and death situation and the stakes have to feel REAL. At the moment, the drama does none of that.

That's why I had to stop watching and rant when Yoonsung (of course) takes out his sword and slays the guards. Of course. I wasn't expecting anything else anyways. Who in the world would even think Yoonsung would do something other than protect Raon? Well, for a second I guess I was kind of hopeful - but only for a second, because the drama of course ruined it as quickly as possible. The drama never lets things simmer and turn bad. The writer is too weak-hearted for that. They probably can't bear to see any of their characters suffer for long. So of course Yoonsung would take out his sword but of course it wouldn't be to harm Raon. Of course he would stop at the SLIGHTEST squeak from Raon and start slaying all of his guards lol. I was trying really hard from not typing lol but I really can't help it. It's just too incredulous.

If only the writer would pull through with their threats. If only they would actually let things go bad. Then the tension would rise and rise and the rubber band would be pulled and pulled tight until all that's left to do is for it to snap and all hell breaks loose, which is when you reach the story climax before the happy happy ending. Other dramas do this really well. Especially when they make the main couple break up for reasons outside their control. You really gotta milk that situation. But this drama just can't do that and has never done it. It's supposed to do that the most right now, when there are only so many episodes left until the end. However, the drama DOESN'T do that when it most needs to. I'm so frustrated.

Don't get me started on how much I hate Raon. Well, more like, how much I hate the way Raon is written by the writer. Raon used to be a great character in the beginning. But the moment she falls in love with the prince - well, let's say "falls in love" but where's the evidence that she even loves him? I could write ten pages on how much Raon doesn't love the prince and how passive and wide-eyed she is while the prince actually loves her and ACTS it out ALL the time. Okay, let's have a pause here, and I'll go watch the rest of the episode (well, try to) before going on another huge rant.

If you're going to do a sageuk, do it like 100 Days My Prince or don't do it at all. Or even like Scarlet Heart. At least the stakes there were huge. So many people actually died and the main girl was ACTUALLY tortured. The biggest advantage of sageuks (compared to modern dramas) are the fact that the situations can get really life-and-death. This drama didn't use any of that strong point. What a waste.

Okay. I just came back from watching the rest of Yoonsung's sudden attack on the guards and wow. I was not expecting HIM to die. After all that ranting I did up top about how the drama doesn't pull through and doesn't kill any of their important characters, this is kind of a huge blow. But I have to say, I don't understand why he had to die. When Byeongyeon sacrificed himself, it made all the sense in the world - with his sacrifice, he was able to save Raon, her dad, and even the prince. But didn't Yoonsung lead the guards to Raon himself? He then attacked the bunch of guards himself. Then you see Raon actually try to do something FINALLY but it might have been better if she hadn't done anything this time, cause he clearly got stabbed trying to save her. I guess I just wish his death was worth more than this. I really liked him as a character and I still feel like the drama did him dirty. He could have died a more meaningful death. Not like this.

Now everything is being wrapped up and I honestly feel like there was no real climax in this drama. Maybe it's coming up. Let's see. But from the look of things everything is being wrapped up like a pretty gift box with no imperfections. Have I also mentioned just how much I hate the fade out transitions in this drama? I honestly hate it. It feels like a cop out each time. It feels like a lazy cop out instead of following through with the action that is presented at the time.

As the drama wraps up, I gotta say that I've grown to really love the second female lead. I started off disliking her (just cause I liked the main couple too much back then) and thinking she was just a plot device but she's shown a lot of character throughout the time she was in the drama. SHE is the one who truly loved the prince and actually acted it out each time. And just as I say this, here we go again - the writer lets her off easy, making the king erase her princess-to-be history and ultimately making her sacrifice useless and bland. Sigh. Just LET people sacrifice and be selfless and just let the audience see and feel the deep worth in that! Why you gotta keep taking that away from us?!

I have finally finished the entire drama. I loved Young as a character and I love Park Bogum as the actor who acted him out. Young was BY FAR the best character in the drama, followed by Byeongyeon. Raon was annoying until the very end and even seeing her smile was annoying me. All I could think of was the fact that she was lifeless and had no personality and didn't even properly love the prince and even despite all that she was standing in front of him receiving his love. The prince deserves better.