#which was a plot that happened on this very show!!

[theweewooshow]

you taste like cold and lonely nights

bucktommy | 1.5k | prompt: kissing out of habit

Buck is so goddamned embarrassed.

He’s not even sure how this happened.

He’s babysitting and house sitting for Maddie and Chim while they take a pre-birth vacation for a few days and he very nearly burns their house down.

He stepped outside for a minute to see what Jee was doing in the backyard and then the smoke detector was going off and when he went back inside, the oven was pouring smoke.

He swears this house is actually haunted. That’s the only explanation for why it would spontaneously start smoking the minute he looked away from it.

He turns the oven off, fanning away the opaque smoke as he opens it up to stare at the ruins of what were supposed to be snickerdoodle cookies.

He fans the smoke away from the smoke detector with a kitchen towel and after another minute, the noise stops.

When he opens the back door to let the house air out, he sees Jee looking at him curiously from where she’s assembling the collection of rocks she’s found.

He grins sheepishly and says, “The cookies might take a little longer than expected, but we can have some later, okay?”

She nods and turns back to the rocks and Buck thanks his lucky stars she’s not in the mood to ask any questions.

He returns to the mess and grabs the sheet tray from the oven with the towel in his hand. Half the cookies are pale and gooey, underdone, and the other half are miserable little pieces of coal that stare at him menacingly as he shoots off a text to his group chat Maddie and Chim, letting them know what happened.

How long was the smoke detector going off? is what Chim texts back a handful of minutes later as Buck is cleaning up the mess. Buck furrows his brow as he looks at his phone.

A few seconds later, he hears the telltale sound of a firetruck nearby and he groans audibly.

He forgot that Chim was telling him about their new Hildy security system and how it was hooked up to literally everything in the house, including the smoke detectors. She must have alerted 911 somehow when the alarm went off and they dispatched the fire department.

He texts Chim back, too long.

The series of emojis he gets back has him plotting and scheming Chimney’s demise as he closes the oven and waits for the fire department to show up.

He gets up and heads to the door when he hears the fire truck in front of the house and wonders which fire house he’s about to embarrass himself in front of.

He thinks the 133 is the closest, which is probably a good thing since he’s kind of in Captain Mehta’s good graces. Maybe he can convince him not to let his team tell everyone in the fire department about this.

When the knock at the door comes, he’s already armed with an excuse as he swings the door open to see who’s on the other side.

It feels like all his higher brain function comes screeching to a halt as he wordlessly stares—his eyes flitting from Tommy’s face to his team a few yards back.

“Buck?” Tommy says, confused. He looks at the house number and then back at Buck, like he’s making sure they got the right house—which makes sense since they never got around to coming over here for dinner before they broke up.

“Uh, Tommy, hi,” Buck says when he regains some sense. “Sorry. I, I set the smoke alarm off and Chim has this new Hildy thing that apparently calls 911 when the smoke detector goes off for long enough.”

“Oh, this is Chimney’s house?” he asks.

“Yeah, uh, he and Maddie bought it a while ago. It was haunted, or people thought it was haunted because they thought people got murdered here, but it turns out that was a lie. Except I still think it’s kind of haunted because the cookies I put in the oven were burnt to a crisp after only being in there for like five minutes.”

Tommy nods and chuckles. “Okay, I’m getting a picture of what happened. Give me a sec, I’ll let the others know it was a false alarm.”

Buck appreciates the discretion as Tommy turns back to the others in the driveway to update them, shielding Buck from their line of sight.

When he comes back to the door, Buck is tense as Tommy says, “I just need to do a walkthrough to make sure everything’s alright.”

Buck nods and says, “Oh, uh, sure, sure,” and lets him inside, trying to slow his heartbeat down. “So, why is the 217 responding out here?” Buck asks as he leads Tommy into the kitchen.

Tommy says, “Mehta and his men are at a warehouse fire and we were nearby after finishing up at another false alarm nearby. Those Hildy things are not very good at determining what actually warrants a call to 911.”

“You should definitely tell Eddie your thoughts on Hildy sometime,” Buck says as they come to a stop.

Tommy takes in the whistles lowly. “Yeah, definitely haunted,” he says, a sarcastic lilt to his voice, picking up a blackened cookie off the baking sheet and tapping it against the sheet tray. It thunks loudly against it.

“Yeah, ha ha, laugh it up,” Buck says.

“I’m not laughing at you. Just—you are the only person I know who gets himself into situations like this. Cookies spontaneously turning to char in the oven and AI sending the fire department to the house. It’s kind of Classic Buck.”

“Yeah, I definitely Bucked this one up.”

Tommy glances back over at him after he wipes his hand off. When they make eye contact, they both burst out laughing.

It feels good to laugh, the tension in the room dissipating a little. The laugh lines around Tommy’s mouth and the scrunch of his nose makes something ache inside Buck.

“Maybe it’s me who’s cursed,” Buck says after his laughter subsides.

“Nah,” Tommy says, waving a hand, “These things happen. No curses this time, probably just faulty wiring that created hot spots in the oven.”

“Probably,” Buck agrees.

They stare at each other for a moment before Tommy says, “Well, since I’ve confirmed it was just a false alarm, I should head back out, let you get back to it.”

Buck nods and leads him back to the door.

“It was, um, it was good seeing you,” Buck says, meaning it. He’s been kind of afraid of seeing him again, but seeing him was good. He looks good.

But when Tommy smiles at him, standing only a foot away from him, it’s like he’s transported back to the loft, to all the times Tommy smiled at him in front of the door there.

He’s leaning in before he realizes what he’s doing, his hand sliding up to Tommy’s neck as he drags him into a soft kiss. It’s out of habit to kiss him goodbye at the door like they’ve done a hundred times before.

His brain catches up to what he’s done and he pulls away, about to apologize profusely when Tommy’s hand comes up to wrap around his wrist, like he wants to keep him there.

So Buck stares into Tommy’s eyes and stays put. He leans in again, pressing their mouths more firmly together.

Tommy kisses him back, their heads tilting, their mouth sliding together in a dance they know intimately.

He feels pinpricks in the base of his scalp as their tongues press against each other, as the distance between their bodies closes on instinct, as Tommy’s free hand comes to rest on the small of Buck’s back.

They kiss and they kiss and they kiss, and Buck revels in every single second of it, memorizing the way they fit together.

A knock at the door startles them out of it, snapping them back to reality.

Buck can see Tommy’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallows and says, “Um, I have to—“ He points over his shoulder and Buck nods stupidly.

“Right, right. You should, you should get back out there,” he says, his heart pounding in his throat.

Tommy turns to leave and Buck feels like crying or maybe screaming. But then Tommy puts his hand on the doorknob and freezes there, not turning the handle to open it.

Something like hope bubbles up inside Buck.

“Hey, Tommy?” he finds himself saying after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah?” Tommy asks, looking back at Buck, his expression open and vulnerable and scared.

“Press send next time,” he says, and then watches as Tommy opens and closes his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words.

Tommy looks only a little embarrassed as he nods and says, “I’ll do that. Bye, Evan.”

A minute after the door closes, that bubble of hope blossoms as his phone pings with a text.

drop a kudos or comment on ao3! <3

[autistichalsin]

Today's hot take is that actually, in the main (Arabella survives) plot, Halsin handled Kagha's punishment perfectly, and that exiling her actually would have been the wrong move.

Yes, exiling her would have been amazing and a huge check on her ego. You know what else it would have done? Made her a martyr, and possibly inspired her to start her own circle, or go back into the arms of the Shadow Druids (especially if she hadn't been convinced to turn on them already). She had clearly won the loyalty of quite a few of the Druids- if she left, it is very possible quite a few would have joined her, causing her influence over the other Druids to expand instead of be reduced.

Demoting her may make her angry, but it reduces her reputation a lot. No matter what the Druids' feelings towards Halsin, they still respect the order/hierarchy within the Druids (which is why Kagha didn't attempt anything until she was made First Druid by Halsin's disappearance). With Kagha demoted to a novice, she loses a lot of standing in their order, has been shamed, and further, with a new leader coming who has no relation to Halsin, they are being guided by someone who can show them how Kagha was wrong. Shame is a powerful motivator and social tool, and demotion is even more shameful in many regards than exile. There's a sort of admirable "rebel" quality taken to exile, but demotion? It carries so many connotations of shame and incompetence. And this goes for Kagha herself, too: "I was exiled for protecting the Grove" is a lie she can tell herself easily in isolation, creating the feelings of victimhood that would leave her easily influenced in future, but being forced to stay and learn all over again denies her that chance and forces her to accept/live with the shame her actions should bring her.

Demoting her rather than exiling her also gives a chance for Kagha to be "deprogramed" so to speak. Deprograming from a cult is extremely difficult, but the key is that it doesn't happen alone. It requires other, non-cult influences. Kagha could never be deprogrammed if she was exiled (and, as noted above, if she was, many others would follow her and in turn lose their own chance at deprogramming). In a scenario where she hasn't actually caused any deaths yet, it makes sense, acknowledging her talents and the person she was before the Shadow Druids, to give her a chance to unlearn the harmful cult ideology and find her place again.

In short: keeping her in the Grove removes her standing both by stripping her of her rank and by using social stigma to make her less appealing to the other Druids, while also removing issues exiling her would cause (IE making her a martyr and making her impossible to deprogram, thus making her a potential enemy later on, along with the other Druids who probably would have followed her).

[hobbitkiller]

It’s not a perspective. Cait and Vi didn’t have different goals in that scene. Also, not every scene that sets up joining forces has to literally spell out that’s the intent of the scene. I honestly don’t get your insistence that everything be spelled out for you like you’re a child.

I’m also clearly going to have to explain foreshadowing to you. Foreshadowing is a literary and story telling device that is used to plant an idea in the reader’s/viewer’s mind for later. Introducing the idea that Piltover and Zaun had joined forces before was placing that idea in the viewer’s head.

You are very much reaching with your analysis of Ambessa just being there to raise tensions. You seem to not grasp how stories develop. In interesting, multifaceted stories like Arcane characters don’t show up with a moist ache to twirl indicating evil intent. That doesn’t mean it’s bad storytelling for them to become the major villain. That’s good storytelling, actually. That said, someone familiar with tropes and story structure could easily predict that she was going to become the new big problem.

Again, you keep acting like every bit of setup had to be super explicit in spelling out the two sides were going to fight together and that, if it didn’t it means that wasn’t the plan. That’s not how writing works. You’re supposed to be able to put all of the pieces together.

That said, they pretty explicitly showed where the use of hextech could lead without nuance in the second episode, so acting like that wasn’t set up as a major threat frankly feels intellectually dishonest. Sure, at the time we maybe thought Heimerdinger was being an alarmist, but everything that happened with hextech from that point forward drove the plot more toward that point he warned about. Even when they spell things out for you as clearly as they can, you don’t want to see it.

As for agency, season two was very much the “find out” part of “fuck around.” What happened with Viktor was a result of his dangerous experiments with hextech. If he hadn’t done that, Jayce wouldn’t have been able to use the hex core to heal him. Him and Jayce going their separate ways was the consequence of Jayce weaponizing hextech. The anomaly was the consequence of Piltover overusing hextech. Ambessa’s ability to take over was the consequence of Jinx blowing up the council. Season two was where characters had to deal with the consequences of the choices they made in season one.

None of these consequences were forced. Yes, they had big fantasy/Sci Fi fallout, but that’s because the show is Sci Fi/fantasy. That tends to be what happens in the genre. You could easily replace the implications and fallout of hextech with nuclear power or similar technical advancements that created massive problems in the real world, and an imperial power like the US, or Noxus in the show, taking advantage of social and political division in a smaller country to try to control its land and resources is a common refrain throughout history.

You’re right, the arcane isn’t the main focus. The main focus also isn’t the political strife. Both are devices used to tell the story of the characters. The show is not about Piltover versus Zaun. The show is about how that conflict has shaped the characters. Feel free to read my other posts on the subject.

Not sure wha t your Warwick point is. Yes, he is there to retraumatize Vi in the end. Yes, his agency is taken away. That would be the tragedy right there.

As for Mel continuing the cycle, that’s up for interpretation, I guess. I think the cycle she’s specifically breaking there is the one where “Medarda’s only take.” She ended the cycle where her family raises itself up by taking from others.

Your argument against the acceleration rune doesn’t make sense because the device that could only be made with it was Ekko’s which was, in fact, the difference. Pointing out how everything else is the same actually hurts your argument there.

Also, a big lipped alligator moment is something that comes completely out of nowhere and serves no purpose. Neither of those describe Viktor and Jayce. Do they have to explain the exact mechanics of what happened? Would stopping to go into some technobabble have made the show better? Because we always pay close attention to characters doing that in media right? We’re really in it for the made up technobabble.

Your desire for the show to end in a civil war makes it neither better writing nor what the show initially intended. You like to reference what actually happened in the Jayce Silco scene to try to say it wasn’t foreshadowing (again, because I can only assume you don’t know what foreshadowing is)? What did Jayce say would happen if they actually went to war with each other? Zaun would have been crushed. Yes, it would have been a blood bath on both sides, but a Piltover army with hextech and the Noxians would have either won or would have claimed victory and been dealing with insurgent attacks from Zaun for the foreseeable future.

There would be no reconciliation at all unless the show wanted to really abandon one of the ways it was most grounded, which is how violence and vengeance feed each other. There’s a reason why, after most revolutions and wars throughout history, the country is drawn into another war pretty quickly after. One conflict breeds another.

There’s a reason why regions like the Middle East are seemingly caught in endless cycles of violence—because people don’t generally forgive losing a war easily, because wars are costly in lives and resources, and because generational traumas and wrongs often come back to haunt us. Even if the war ended with a miraculous agreement on both sides to lay down arms, there will be people who lost family who will still want justice—to feel that their loved one’s death meant something.

If, however, people’s loved ones died fighting together, that’s a powerful reason to try to make a positive change. Because, again, people want the sacrifice to mean something. It supposedly partly why Britain and other European countries established services like the NHS after WWII. After living through the Blitz and the destruction, it made them want to create a better future.

You keep complaining that the show largely drops the class conflict story after episode four, and that would be a problem if that was what the show was about. However, given the show is about the characters and episodes five and six are mostly about bringing Jinx and Vi and Vi and Caitlyn back together, it made sense to narrow the focus back down to that family unit. The conflict is still there in the background—it’s in the tragedy of Vander, Silco, and Felicia. It’s in the fact that Noxus and Piltover feel entitled to take Vanwick, but it’s not the focus.

I’m honestly not a huge fan of episode seven, because I’m not a huge fan of TimeBomb, but that was an interesting take on what else could have helped bridge the divide between Piltover and Zaun—the tragic loss of a child and the loss of the technology that further drove Piltover and Zaun. The episode is about the class conflict in the sense that it introduces a world mostly without it, showing that, just like it’s possible to have “good” versions of Jinx/Powder, it’s also possible to have a works where Piltover and Zaun have peace. That was the lesson Ekko took away from his AU adventure, to not give up on a better world—that things aren’t “too far gone.”

I also find your point about Jayce not talking to Viktor weird…you do get that he wasn’t really in his right mind there, right? We also can’t say for sure what would have happened if he hadn’t shot him. Maybe the fallout would have been worse. Maybe Viktor would have made more followers so that there were even more dolls when it came to a head. But, again, Jayce wasn’t in the mental state to have a rational discussion right then.

The conflict does come back in the last two episodes because it is somewhat a question of whether or not Zaun will help—which would be Piltover suffering the consequences of its actions. Now, you’re right, arguably the question would be what choice did they have in the end, but that’s again honestly true to many real life conflicts. You’re stuck working with the lesser of two evils.

As I said, what would have been completely unrealistic would have been if everyone hugged and kissed and had a huge barbecue together with fireworks after the Noxians left. We know from history that old prejudices often return once the battle is over—take how Black soldiers were treated in the US after…I was going to say WWII, but really every American war.

I also honestly can’t help other people deciding Sevika being on the council is supposed to be a resolution instead of a first step. It was clearly not framed as a resolution with everyone sharing mistrusting looks and her looking, frankly, uncomfortable. If people decide to be obtuse and not read the overt visual language of the show, that’s a them problem.

And guess what? The show isn’t about class conflict. Yes, it’s an essential element, a major theme, and vital context. It is not what the show is about. Just like unchecked scientific progress is a theme, but not what the show is about.

You bring up what Silco said about the cycle continuing. My point is not about how all violence will always and forever be no more; it’s about how these specific characters are breaking their cycles. Again, this show is about the characters first, which is why it makes sense that they didn’t solve class inequality in a year. It’s about these characters and their stories.

Really, though, much of this conversation has strayed from the original point, which is that this was the direction that was set up in the first season. You may not like it. You may have wanted it to go another way. But it was, in fact, set up. The memory Heimer has of the horrible fallout from Arcane is essentially what happened. They deliberately planted the seed (which, again, is the purpose of foreshadowing—not explicitly stating what’s going to happen next, that’s just exposition) that the thing that originally brought the cities together was a common enemy. They had this conversation one episode after Ambessa, a war monger from an imperialist nation, was introduced.

Even if the show did what you wanted and went with a civil war, there’s a very good chance it would have developed into Piltover and Zaun versus Noxus anyway. Cait/Jayce would be trying to stop the war on Piltover’s side, but Ambessa would refuse to give up the fight and leave with nothing. This would have caused Noxus to turn on Piltover, and then it would have been up to Zaun to either help or let them take each other out first and then fight the survivors. Maybe that would have been better. I personally would be asking, “Hey, what happened to the existential threat posed by hextech that was also being built up in the first season?” But maybe you’re fine with dropping the whole “arcane” bit of arcane.

“What happened to rebel Vi? Season 2 destroyed her character!”

“What happened to rebel Vi” is that Vander took her to the bridge where her parents died in his revolution and asked her what she was willing to lose. Then she meets Cait who is gentle and kind while still being tough and it makes her rethink how she sees topside. When Jinx tells her she changed too, that’s what she’s talking about.

I’m sorry if you thought Vi was going to be a topside-hating revolutionary in Season 2, but that’s clearly not where her character arc was going. Remember how she forced her way between Ekko and Cait? It seemed very straightforward that was the role her character was taking on.

I feel similar about people who act like the show was betraying its premise because it ended with reconciliation/Zaun and Piltover working together. Again, the fact that two of the most important relationships were between characters from both sides and that they made a point of talking about Zaun and Piltover first coming together against a common enemy was a pretty clear indicator that was the plan.

Now, I get being annoyed that that was what they chose to do. You don’t have to love the creative decisions of media, just like media doesn’t have to compromise its creative direction to satisfy you. But not liking that they went that direction is not the same as the show having bad writing or engaging in character assassination.

Everything Vi did in season 2 was very much in character with how she changed and who she became throughout Season 1. Hell, she used enforcers and Hextech to raid Shimmer facilities before Commander Kiramman ever threw on a beret. So, yes, actually wearing the uniform was a huge and complicated decision that she was definitely not happy about, but it also fell in line with what she had been doing.

There’s meat for another post at some point about the three different Zaun/enforcer partnerships we see in the show: Vander/Greyson, Silco/Marcus, and Cait/Vi; but I’m not going to go into that now.

TLDR: “Rebel Vi” who wants to fight all of topside hasn’t existed since the end of the second episode of the show.

Editing to add that Vi doesn’t see attacking Chem Barons as attacking Zaun; she’s taking down the people who are destroying Zaun.

[utilitycaster]

I read your posts regarding c3 and what could be done differently, and I’ve always thought the way they handled Bertrand Bell was weird. He’s only in three episodes, then dies — c3 was my first campaign, and I had no idea who he was before, nor sure why I should care . Emotionally he didn’t leave an impact on the other characters (although I love Fearne’s jazz monologue) or the audience who has seen him one time before. They use his name for their party name but then don’t bother to see his grave, or remember him at all.

His death also means that we are tied to the moon plot very early on with an emotional weight so it feels like the group have to follow that story thread early on, setting up the mystery too early which then becomes exhausting to the audience. I wonder if c3 would have been better off if they didn’t bother with him, or if Matt and Travis agreed to really wait a while before killing Bertrand off, when they actually want to escalate the plot (would have had accusations of ‘scripting’ but who cares if it’s better narratively.) I think if he died around when Molly died then it would have been stronger (maybe too close a copy of c2, but at least that worked?)

I think a planned player character death can still be shocking and dramatic to the other players who weren’t expecting it, but how c3 executed it feels like a nothing burger and a waste of time. I don’t really know what would have changed if we just had Chetney at the start.

I'm going to be totally honest: I disagree strongly and I think you are assigning blame to a completely wrong place. That doesn't mean that you can't feel this moment failed to land (though I think that too is a criticism more of the overall campaign) but the concept of having a character show up, be quickly killed, and be replaced by the actual character isn't a particularly new one, doesn't require you to have a pre-existing attachment to the initial character for it to be a fun concept. It also, in my opinion, did serve a good purpose and frankly Bertrand had, in his three episodes, a stronger and clearer arc than several party members who have had over a hundred episodes.

I may put this specific piece in a separate post because I believe it's a requirement for understanding the failings of Campaign 3 but: A lot of discussion positions Campaign 3 as the story of Bells Hells, who were ill served by the Moon Plot. This is, in my opinion, incorrect. Campaign 3 is the Moon Plot Campaign, in which Bells Hells are ill-suited characters pushed through said plot because they happened to be played by the cast members. And to that end, I think that actually, introducing the moon plot immediately was a good idea. The problem was that the execution of that mystery was very poorly done. Bertrand led the party to Eshteross, and was then not long thereafter killed by a group of people working to destabilize the Chandei Quorum on behalf of Armand Treshi, so that he could bring in the Paragon's Call as a means of reinstating order in Jrusar. This presumably would also help them because then they wouldn't have to use Jiana as a middlewoman for the shipments they were receiving via her in Jrusar, and would generally increase their power. Bells Hells found out this was happening and thwarted it, but Treshi escaped.

This is when the plot began to become a mess, and while there were plenty of further opportunities to right it, I think basing the entirety of the early campaign in Jrusar and Bassuras, and severely paring down what was done in Bassuras [probably a whole other post but I'd have had Treshi remain captured in Jrusar but give up the information, making Bassuras entirely a data gathering mission, thus freeing up a lot of time in Bassuras for personal errands and bonding time] would have fixed a lot of the issues.

Again, that doesn't mean the concept worked for you, but this isn't even rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic - it's complaining about the meal that was served on the titanic 4 days prior to them hitting the iceberg.

[lover-of-mine]

It’s unsurprising they’re trying to steal your color theory and make it about Tommy. They tried to steal all of Eddie’s character traits and give them to Tommy, I hear they’re also trying to make Buck baking for Eddie to give him in that clip about Tommy, because they just cannot accept what is right in front of them which is that Tommy was a plot device, not a fleshed out character, and that was purposeful.

It's funny that when I was making breakup green posts, they were searching high and low for proof that the show doesn't use color theory, calling me every name in the book, accusing me of being delusional for desperately chasing crumbs and not we are here.

Like, lw was literally telling me earlier about the whole baking and how Tommy will be in the car and that will be about Tommy and Buck not Buck and Eddie.

And somehow, we have them looking at a scene where buddie is having a very intense conversation in the fucking rain, framed like every romcom ever, and breadcrumbing their way into Tommy. I'm sorry, are you seriously desperate enough to settle for yet ANOTHER major buddie thing happening in the middle of your ship? Like, that's about Eddie. Clearly about Eddie. And somehow they think Tommy being there will make it better. Bestie, for the love of god, snap out of it.

Imagine going this far for a plot device.

[0aurelion-sol0]

My Arcane Season 2 criticisms:

Things I actually disliked:

How the Hextech plot turned out, I though it was very badly executed especially in terms of Viktor's evolution through the whole show. Lack of proper explanation about what was actually happening, unnecessary and horribly executed twist at the end, clumsy established rules and dissapointing payoff for anyone involved in this plotline. Final battle was cool and I like the Commune's designs but dear god, was this storyline confusing...

Ekko's community plus the tree's state at the end of the show. You really couldn't put a 15 seconds shot of the community being well and tree being ok ?! Seriously I know you had to make choices given it's animation but come on now... It was like one of the main driving points to stop Hextech for him & one of the safe haven of Zaun & Piltover and it's completely shoved to the side but no, we have to see minutes of Loris, Steb and Sky being there just being a representation of our characters' inner conflicts as if them doing it and/or saying it out loud wasn't enough...

Ekko convincing Jinx to not kill herself by telling her what he experienced, Jinx rallying the undercity to protect Piltover & Zaun from Noxus & Viktor and a proper conclusion to Sevika's story regarding all of this. WHAT THE HELL ?! We needed to see this, this is so important & it's completely ignored. IN WHAT world, did anyone think cutting this was a good idea ?! We needed to get a proper closure & development about Ekko & Jinx's relationship which was already thin to begin with. We needed to see Sevika affirm what she truly thought about Jinx and a moment about Isha regarding the two of them even if Sevika wasn't super close to the kid, we needed to see Sevika get to see the Undercity finally rallied together after spending the ENTIRETY of the show trying to do that and see how that whole thing came about for them to fight with Piltover. It is ridiculous to that me that this was cut... It was so important!

Things I didn't necessarily dislike but I have mixed feelings about:

Jayce not getting a single scene with his mom. I know she was there at the end, in the crowd, mourning him but come on, not even one scene with her before the end where she could allow him a form of reflection and comfort before putting his life in danger or after, I don't know... DISSAPEARING FOR WEEKS IF NOT MONTHS! I know you could interpret it as Jayce being so lost on his mission that he forgets about her and her importance but she was one of the reasons they ended up in Piltover in the first place. It's of course not as vital to the story but it could have provided some breathing in this fast-paced season.

Vi's character arc this season. While there are some part that I like, I feel like it wasn't explored as deeply & as fully as it could have been. The foundations are there but aspects like her relationship with Vander, violence and Zaun could have been pushed far more than they were in this season.

Caitlyn's arc and how the most important bit happened off-screen, again, just like with Vi, the parts it would have been better to see or being more developped weren't as much as they could've been. I am not of the conclusion she didn't face any consequences or was let go by the narrative of the things she did. But her coming to terms with her actions happened mostly off-screen and that is a shame because it was one of the more interesting parts of Season 2.

Singed's characterization. Now I understand why he was developed the way he is, in terms of what he represents for Caitlyn and for the show, but I don't think it was as compelling to me to have him be yet another parallel for the themes of the show or being a reminder of them was completely necessary for me. We got it the other times, I understand why, it had it's purpose; I just prefer how evil Singed was in the original lore & the story he had back then. I understand humanizing antagonists & reinforcing the theme of your story but sometimes it's nice having an element that's a bit of an outlier and explore other themes to give some variety to the story.

[ematini]

I think the biggest problem with Arcane season 2 is how disappointing the characters' personal arcs are. The writers seem to have missed the mark with what they were originally going for, aka what the entire concept of season 2 was.

We know that season 1 was mainly about the conflict between Zaun and Piltover and the conflict between Jinx and Vi. Those two main themes carried over (or at least they were supposed to, but the writers fumbled that), but what about everything else? The whole premise?

The intro sequence hints for it. The way all characters are dressed in very plain clothes, not their signature outfits, which signifies how the story aims to challenge their identities. Outfits, especially in animated shows, where characters often wear the same things, are very important. That's what makes them recognizable. Taking that away foreshadows how vital parts of their characters will be put into question, too.

Vi's scene confirms this. We see her wiping off her VI tattoo, which is a foreshadowing to her loss of identity, how much she struggles with who she is now that Jinx is gone. Also, her becoming an Enforcer, against everything she believed in.

Jinx waving a flag, a reference to Liberty Leading the People, showing how she will become a symbol to Zaun, an inspiration for the revolution.

Caitlyn stepping into the spotlight, and later, her pose, which is a reference to Macbeth. That's her taking on the role of a leader and later struggling with her choices.

The problem is, in the actual show, all those concepts are just briefly touched upon and essentially left unfinished, forsaken for the sake of the plot as a whole.

Vi becomes an Enforcers, but we barely see her struggle with that choice. It comes and goes, just like her pitfighter arc, and just like that, we're in act 3, and nothing happened. She has exactly two lines about her internal conflict, not just about being an enforcer, but EVERYTHING. I'm a die-hard Vi fan, so that breaks my heart the most because if you think about it, Vi was never allowed to be her own person. And that's how she remains. She doesn't come out of the arc as a new, changed person with a new identity she's confident in.

Jinx does become a symbol for the revolution, but aside from breaking people out of Stillwater, she does nothing. Her story is mainly connected with Isha, and after she dies, Jinx reverts right back to her broken down from. Instead of leading Zaun to freedom, she leads them to join the war between Piltover and Ambessa, which is not even connected to the Undercity. It's all about Hextech. Zaun's freedom isn't won by revolution, but because Piltover had a change of heart.

Caitlyn becomes a Commander, but we never get a glimpse into her internal conflict. All of that is quickly skimmed over with brief lines. In season 1, Cailtyn was a kind character. Privileged and a bit ignorant to Zaun's issues until she sees them herself, but ultimately, she's a good person. But by the end of season 2, we don't get to see that part of her return. Her values end up not as much being challenged as completely erased. That entire imagery would be a lot more meaningful if we at least got a glimpse of her helping the Undercity instead of claiming crimes can't be undone. We don't get that vital part of her character, which was her kindness and willingness to help back.

All that is not even mentioning how certain parts of the intro weren't even touched. What about Jayce? We see him shielding his eyes from the spotlight, reminiscent of how he steps on the stage during Progress Day in season 1.

What could this possibly mean? Him struggling with his identity as the face of progress because all he worked for essentially ended up turning against him? Him struggling with what he did while he was part of the Council? Wrong, he spends most of season 2 in a cave.

At least Mel does end up taking Ambessa's place, even though she's barely in this season, so I'll give them that. Reluctantly.

Those are mostly my personal complaints because I always care about the characters more than the plot.

[ilikekidsshows]

It doesn't happen often but sometimes I see people say "core four" as a way to group together Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino and I just have to scoff at the idea, especially now. I've seen similar titles applied to other media but it usually refers to groups that are actually a team. ML isn't really a teamwork show anymore. It's just about Marinette who sometimes brings Alya along, rarely respects Chat as a teammate, let alone someone she claims is her partner, and Nino is typically forgotten and the last time he wasn't, they basically made him liability to the sercret identity thing.

There is no "core four" because having a "core" group would require there to be equal focus on the members of that group. That's not how it is in Miraculous. They can't have a character do anything without shoving Marinette in and making her look like she's incapable of minding her own business. We've already seen that Marinette was ready to replace Chat Noir until she decided that she needed to have a mini wangst fest about it and cry until he came back. There isn't a team or anything now, it's just Marinette and her minions.

---

While I wouldn’t say a core cast of characters necessarily requires equal focus, since even ensemble shows tend to have one main focus character, you do require characters to have more focus than the rest of the cast to claim they’re special in any way, whether it’s called “core” characters or “main” characters. You are absolutely correct that Miraculous can’t even manage that, since it notoriously can’t even manage to give its second title character more focus than side characters. As such, your criticism of using this term for Miraculous’ notorious “Marinette and her puppet theater” cast is 100% accurate. Like, Nino barely shows up more than the rest of the classmates, and that’s mostly because he’s dating Alya and helping her and Alya get Adrien with Marinette, which just makes this “core four” dynamic exist in Adrinette scenes, that were mostly “let’s trick Adrien into spending time with Marinette”. Not very “core cast” to me.

I think the core four idea might have been born either from that shipping dynamic, or the first S6 episode we saw, which showed Alya and Nino being very proactive as heroes. It gave off the idea that these two are a larger part of things than they are but, like, Sublimation is now out as well, and Nino was a no-show. Besides, as of the reboot, Adrien isn’t core anything. We have two episodes with no transformation sequence for him, and Plagg only showed up in one of those for a single line about it being snacktime. Adrien is barely a character, and Plagg is barely a cameo.

Miraculous could arguably have a core duo now, and that’s Marinette and Alya. Alya is involved in both of the S6 episodes we’ve seen so far. She’s presented as the cool, competent and collected foil to Marinette’s spiralling mess and she’s being set up to take on as leader once Marinette crashes and burns. If that’s the route they’re going, this new story arc would clearly just be about Marinette and Alya, Nino and Adrien have no space in it as anything more than “the boyfriends of the characters the actual plot happens with”. Although, since I have no faith in this show, I’m convinced it’s still “Marinette and her most useful tool plus the rest of the puppets” and they’re not going to commit to the idea of Alya stepping up and taking up any of the spotlight, instead merely acting as Marinette’s sounding board and biggest cheerleader.

[magicanddragonsgalorebookclub]

ONYX STORM SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!

So fun fact about this book club blog - I created it because of Onyx Storm. I had just finished the book and the one girl who I knew was reading the series was ghosting me, so I was harassing my mother (as one does) and she suggested what became this.

Anyways. Needless to say, I have many thoughts and questions for the future of these characters.

I need more information about Brennan and Naolin. I really thought we were going to get more concrete answer and this book and then we didn’t (except for the mention of Brennan’s first love who was a rider a year or two older than him, which I was THRILLED about, but I want answers)

The obvious question: who is the brother at the very end? I am very much so in the camp of it being Bodhi, but I can be convinced otherwise

I need more bonding between Imogen and Violet because I feel like everyone else Imogen was close to is either dead/venin/Garrick (who is missing)

Capital Q Question: how is Violet going to handle her second signet? Xaden mentions that it’s a form of inntinsic, so it’s not like she can just tell people that it manifested, but people are going to question what her second signet is. Is she going to explain it off as her not manifesting a second signet because Andarna broke the bond? But then she showed up again, so that complicates things. I don’t know, but I guess we’ll see.

…This last thought scares me so much.

We’ve seen with Jack Barlowe that venin riders can have their bond with their dragon broken without them dying. This means that Xaden and Sgaeyl could theoretically break that bond without Xaden dying and this thought relies on Sgaeyl also not dying, but that’s a little more up in the air. So. Xaden and Sgaeyl’s bond is broken and both of them are alive. Does this mean that Xaden could theoretically die (in book five, I highly doubt that he would die in book four) without Violet also dying? I really don’t think that Rebecca Yarros is going to kill Violet, but Xaden doesn’t have the plot armor of the chain reaction death thing anymore and that SCARES me.

Slightly less worrisome follow up question though - what’s going to happen with Sgaeyl? She and Tairn can’t be separated for too long, so either she’s going to stay with Xaden and then just randomly pop up every week or so to say hi (TBD if Xaden would be with her or not, I truly do not know what Xaden’s going to be doing in book four) or she’s going to break the bond with Xaden and just fly around with Violet which, as much as that breaks my heart, I think it would be funny if Violet just ended up with three dragons following her around

I have many more thoughts running through my head (I’m already re-reading the book via audiobook), but that’s all for today.

[lune-moon-nuit]

What if Will has a coming out scene to Lucas, Dustin and Mike? I feel like that would interesting. I feel like Lucas and Dustin could possible have already guessed that Will was gay or like in retrospect it fits. Mike would obviously be shocked. He definitely doesn’t think Will is gay. I don’t think he’d have any reason to. I think Mike was so preoccupied with his own sexuality and keeping it hidden that he just didn’t think anybody could be like him let alone the one person he likes. So busy keeping anything from getting too romantic on his side when it came to interacting with Will that he didn’t notice all the hints that Will might’ve been throwing his way. Maybe Will coming out could possible inch Mike a little closer for his own coming out. Maybe he comes out to Will. Then with them both out and going on this supernatural plot uncovering adventure together we could see them leaning more comfortably into the romantic side of things. Where they aren’t shying away from those feelings that have been brewing inside.

I'm not entirely sure that Dustin and Lucas have figured it out. Aside from the bullying by Lonnie and the school bullies, there’s nothing that objectively ties Will to homosexuality. He doesn’t seem interested in girls and has never dated one, but honestly, at 12-15 years old, that’s the case for the majority of boys his age. The only reason Will is perceived as gay in the eyes of Lonnie and the bullies is because he’s a sensitive child. And that’s literally just prejudice based on gender stereotypes—because, to them, being sensitive and showing emotions equals weakness, which equals being like a woman, and therefore, if you’re a boy and you’re sensitive, you must be gay.

As Will has grown up, he hasn’t exhibited anything beyond that regarding his sexual attraction—whether it be through his clothing style, the way he speaks, or his interests. When you look at Will from an objective standpoint, without being blinded by misogynistic and homophobic biases, he’s just an introverted and artistic boy who has been drawing since childhood and later took up painting. And the only reason we perceive his homosexuality is through his love for Mike—because we see things from his point of view.

Aside from Jonathan, who directly witnessed Will and Mike’s dynamic multiple times in Season 4 (which is why the van scene was literally confirmation for him of everything he had observed since Mike arrived in California in Episode 2), no one has actually seen Will exhibit openly "gay" behavior or display obvious romantic feelings for Mike—including Dustin and Lucas. So, I really don’t think they’ve figured it out—or if they do, it will likely happen in Season 5, as Mike and Will will find it increasingly difficult to hide their feelings for each other when they’re in the same room. That would certainly make for a very interesting scene, but I honestly have no idea how to imagine it in a realistic way.

Because, even though they’ve been outcasts their whole lives—first as children and now as teenagers—it doesn’t change the fact that they grew up in a society that instilled heteronormativity in them. Take Lucas, for example—he immediately assumed Mike had a crush on El in Season 1. So, even when you're the most open-minded person in the world, you can still have automatic thoughts that need to be deconstructed. And maybe, if Will comes out, their initial reaction could be awkward—unintentionally—before they correct themselves afterward? It’s really hard to say, and even harder to put ourselves in the shoes of teenagers who have spent their entire lives in a society that has depicted homosexuality not only as a sin and a vice but also quite literally as a sign of death and disease during the AIDS crisis.

I have no doubt that they love Will and will support him, but let’s not forget that Steve’s reaction to Robin was the exception to the rule at that time—it’s not that easy, even with people as safe as Dustin and Lucas. As for Mike, I believe he feels it unconsciously but refuses to acknowledge it—just as he refuses to acknowledge his own feelings. Because… ever since Season 2, when they’re together and having their moments—even in Season 4, like the two bedroom scenes—the chemistry and connection are so palpable that you know, you just know that the other person knows. I mean, anyone who has shared a deep emotional connection accompanied by romantic feelings or mutual sexual tension with someone will understand what I mean.

Mike and Will are not stupid—they feel their connection, but because the external stakes are too high, combined with their inability to communicate, they don’t understand each other enough to believe that their feelings are mutual. I’m not sure if I’m being clear… For example, I think Mike did understand—or at least suspected—that Will was talking about him in the van scene. But when Will insisted that Mike declare his love for El to save her, specifically mentioning "you are the heart," Mike convinced himself: "Oh, so he really was talking about El… so those weren’t Will’s own feelings in the van. Okay." And misunderstandings like this have defined their relationship since Season 3, but especially throughout Season 4.

I also believe that, deep down, Mike senses that his feelings for Will are reciprocated—but admitting that would mean also admitting his own feelings, which would, in turn, bring everything else into play: being a gay teenager in the 1980s, in a rural American town, in the middle of the AIDS crisis, with parents who voted for Reagan, a deeply conservative president. I’m not sure if they’ll have an actual coming out—maybe Mike could have a scene with Nancy that parallels Will and Jonathan—but what is certain is that Mike and Will will have that scene, the one where the truth finally comes out, and it will be the catharsis for all these years of repressed, hidden feelings that have caused so many misunderstandings between them.

Don't hesitate to share me your opinions, I would be curious in case I didn't analyzed well the characters

[mrs-stans]

Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve Reteam for Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord

Like so many other actors sucked up by the Marvel machine, the extensive shooting and promotion commitments often mean a plethora of projects showing their more adventurous, praise-worthy acting talent never see the light of day. As Sebastian Stan begins to expand his career, he’s building up quite the resume of performances. Following one of last year’s best performances in A Different Man and his Oscar-nominated turn in The Apprentice, he’s now headed to Europe to work on Cristian Mungiu’s R.M.N. follow-up and new plot details have arrived.

Also starring his A Different Man co-star Renate Reinsve, the project is revealed to be titled Fjord and it will begin a 40-day production this March in Norway, according to Cineuropa. Set in Ålesund in the west coast of Norway, it’s described as a “tense family drama.” With cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru (R.M.N., Întregalde, Malmkrog), editor Mircea Olteanu (R.M.N., Graduation), production designer Marius Winje Brustad (The Innocents), and costume designer Kirsi Gum on board, see the synopsis below:

The plot revolves around two families living in a small, remote Norwegian village. One family is Romanian, while the other Swedish-Norwegian. Their children, of similar age, attend the same school, and the families initially bond over their shared experiences as parents. However, their seemingly harmonious relationship begins to unravel as differing cultural perspectives on family life, education, and societal values emerge. The film explores the challenges of reconciling personal beliefs with societal norms in an increasingly globalised world, diving deep into cultural differences, the boundaries of personal privacy, and the limits of tolerance within a close-knit community. Stan plays Mihai, a Romanian expatriate living in Norway, and Reinsve will play Lisbet, Mihai’s Norwegian counterpart.

“With all of these smaller indies, I always feel even while I’m on the plane going there, I’m always worried, ‘Is the financing going to come through?’ It’s on its way,” Stan told IndieWire. “He’s been up there with me for a few years with filmmakers from Romania where I’ve been calling him trying to find a way to work with him, where I can speak Romanian as well. We finally found this story, which is about a Romanian family who’s moved to Norway and then ends up in this very complicated trial. There’s a system [that] investigates cases if there’s ever been physical abuse in the household between the parents or the kids. They go investigating the family for an incident, and it leads to this trial. It happened before the pandemic, and it became national news. There were a lot of religious communities that came to their side, and it’s really interesting and quite complicated.���

Fjord is expected to have a 2026 premiere.

[rei-ismyname]

Thor vs Magneto - Journey into Mystery #109 highlights

This cover is fantastic. Look at Thor, the chump, losing Mjolnir to the power of the Master of Magnetism! At this point in time, if Thor stops holding Mjolnir he reverts to Donald Blake, his mortal form, after sixty seconds. I assume that the Brotherhood wear pink on Wednesdays but only Wanda and Mags remembered. I'm pretty sure Mastermind owns no clothes besides that potato sack, but he could use his illusions.

Thor is doing some 60s Thor bullshit, but I don't care. Magneto and the Brotherhood have a submarine, lol. I think he's in the Hudson River, looking for the X-Men of course. His lackeys are going stir crazy playing pranks on each other so he sends them on a mission - to find the X-Men! Once they leave he straps himself into a giant magnet (though not the biggest he's used) and just starts fucking around. It's the best.

The people of New York, including Donald Blake, wig out when objects start levitating. I kinda love that Mags is doing this for shits and giggles. It's not exactly a dastardly scheme. Thor the nerd just has to investigate, blowing off his dinner date with Jane Foster. Mjolnir leads him to the source of the chicanery without effort.

Ahh Magneto, you should have hid your periscope better, or just retracted it when you're not using it. Thor just bashes the door open and barges his way in. To a submarine. That's underwater. It's funny, whatever. Mags gives him a zap to scold him for his rudeness but then thinks he's clocked him as a mutant, so he offers an alliance.

Mags gives Thor a tour of the submarine, showing off his treasures, but the Prince of Asgard is not impressed. He strongly objects to Mags' plans for conquest, despite being royalty of the most imperialist polity in existence. The Nine Realms weren't lining up to be ruled by Odin, dude brutally subjugated them and stole their stuff.

Mags insinuates he's a hippie then wraps him in metal, presumably the stuff Thor smashed to get in.

Thor escapes from that pretty easily and throws Mjolnir at Magneto. It follows him around so he uses his powers to deflect it and leaves it stationary in the air. Bereft of his one good trick, Thor tries to punch Mags and gets laid out. For some reason he runs away, planning to sink the submarine with him in it. Thor's sixty seconds are up and he is now a powerless mortal.

Magneto doesn't know that, though and wonders why he's gone silent. After wondering where the walking stick (Mjolnir) came from, he decides fuck it, and goes to just kill him with metal. The very squishy Donald Blake should have absolutely died right here - if not from the rivets then that huge grille that pinned him to the ground. However, he's the hero, can't just have Magneto kill his ass, right?

Conveniently, he's distracted by a call from the Brotherhood. They found the X-Men and didn't consider the 'then what?' Yeah, that's a failure of leadership. Sorry Mags, you blew it. Check out the optic blast fucking shit up.

Somehow Thor found the walking stick and has all his powers again. Mjolnir's previously unseen magnetic powers drain Magneto's energy or something? Mags gets pounded, it's like he ran out of steam.

The Master of Magnetism drops down a hatch and arms a thermonuclear proton bomb. Silver Age Magneto loves nukes and gets his hands on a fair amount of them. The X-Men, despite not appearing at all, manage to A) be on this submarine and B) freeze the bomb. Is that how bombs work? I don't know. Realising that the plot is bending the laws of physics to defeat him, Magneto bails in his MAGNI-SUB! Sadly the MAGNI-SUB is never seen again, but Magneto gets away. I'm calling this a draw, which is pretty impressive for Magneto. When you consider that the unseen X-Men have an X-submarine and follow him after the story ends, it's like Thor wandered into an X-Men comic and has no idea what's happening. I love that Magneto has a submarine within a submarine. It's some real ACME Corporation shit. Fantastic.

[mixelation]

i read through part 2. spoilers i guess. also, again, if you can't handle reading critique of a professionally published book, don't read

so the reviews on storygraphs indicate a lot of people were frustrated with part 1 because zetian is basically confined to a room the whole time. i do think this whole section could have been condensed by a lot because it was pretty repetitive and filled with a lot of characters just explaining "laborism" (communism, basically) to each other and also with the nuance and vocabulary of the average twitter user, but i don't actually think it was a bad writing choice. it lets the breakneck speed of the previous book take a break and lets zetian orient herself to the next step in her... whatever her plan is. she is a uneducated 18 year old whose only talent is having a lot of qi, suddenly being handed a crown and betrothed to an emperor deadset on revolutionizing society. seeing her learn to navigate this new type of life is genuinely an interesting concept

so what is zetian's plan? one of my big criticisms of this series in general is that what Zetian is even trying to do at any given moment is frequently completely unclear. if you read my Iron Widow review, I said that the later ~2/3s of the book feel really unfocused because Zetian doesn't have a real goal or driving force. things just happen because the plot requires them to happen. Heavenly Tyrant is..... a little better about this. Zetian wants to kill the "gods" and get Shimin back. Qin Zheng, the emperor, also wants to kill the gods. This part is solid and the plotting revolving around making this happen while the gods can see their every move is easy to follow with clear action -> consequence.

but then there's zetian's other goals about making society better, especially for women. she doesn't seem to have.... any sort of real plan here? she has very few specific goals for improving the lives of women, and when she does come up with a goal (like getting more female pilots), it's often unclear how exactly she thinks her actions will lead to the outcome she wants or what the outcome will look like. then some outcome happens and it feels more like we just hit that part of the story outline rather than an organic consequence of characters' actions. and "zetian keeps doing shit despite being bad at planning" is a fine character trait, don't get me wrong, but the writing is not good enough to make this feel like it's what's happening instead of just a bunch of "just trust me bro" moments

another complaint i had about Iron Widow is that we get told all these worldbuilding details for qi and how the mechs work, but none of it is actually used to be plot relevant. this.... also gets a little better. but not a lot better. mostly we just see Zetian struggling in battle a lot, even though she should theoretically be more experienced and have all this special training from Qin Zheng, which made me wonder why she's the empress at all. she's bad at politics and she keeps flubbing her robot battles. oh, plus-- the fights are not written super well. i know Zetian can pull the tails off her nine tailed fox mech and form them into lances, but i still don't really know what a hundun looks like??? also what happens to the lances she drops? and they just gone? what's happening

we do slowly see her get better at politics in part 2, but it's slow going and also largely boring. the "laborism" theory as presented feels juvenile and a lot of the societal problems are just "telling" and not "showing." there's a few scenes where we actually get to see problems illustrated, but they're few and far between, and there's so much boring internal monologues and poorly written dialogue spaced between them.

and guys.... the dialogue. it's so bad. everyone speaks with the exact same voice, and that one voice does not adequately mimic how real humans speak. there's a line where "and/or" literally appears in the dialogue.* every other spoken sentence ends with an exclamation mark. i grew up reading fanfiction so more exclamations mark than usual seems fine to me, but it's SO MANY. plus a lot of descriptions are written like the writer is unsure of what things are actually called? i don't know how to describe this feeling but i don't like it. it's like a watered down version of when fanfics will say stuff like "an oven-like device"

*yes i KNOW some people say this irl. i say this sometimes. do you think an ancient emperor who speaks with a cockney accent** says this???

**I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP

i don't think i really talked about this in my Iron Widow review, but this series has a lot of characters that are there for structural support and nothing else. an example in Iron Widow would be Sima Yi, who's there because a strategist character is needed, but barely has a personality and zero interesting things about him. there's no point to him except that this specific type of role needs to be played by someone. and that's fine in small doses. some characters are just there to be the usher at the theatre. Heavenly Tyrant is better at making its side characters actual characters (like Wan'er and Taiping), but then there's still more and more named characters you have to keep track of who are barely characters. like in part 2, Qin Zheng has to go into quarantine for... almost all of part 2, so Zetian needs a new copilot and recruits two prisoners. one of them is basically not there, and the other is a guy named Di Renjie whose narrative job is to be there and occasionally lecture other people about prison reform to remind you that he is a person. he's barely present at all and has no emotional or narrative impact, so it doesn't feel like much when he dies. there's not enough room in the novel to flesh him out (it's not impossible to communicate a character quickly, but this book doesn't seem to be good enough at character writing to do this) or to explore the absolutely horrific situation zetian forced him into, even though this seems like it definitely should be explored because it's what happened to her. he's just there because the plot needs her to have a copilot who's not qin zheng. zetian does spare a few thoughts of guilt about di renjie, but he's very much a non-character

as for the quarantine thing..... qin zheng gets confined to a single "sterile" room because his 200 year old body supposedly has no immunity to modern pathogens. my educated scientific opinion was "that is bullshit evolutionary biology" so (SPOILERS) i was relieved when it turned out to be a lie. however i need you to understand that that is the tone of this book. i read a completely bullshit explanation, knew it was bullshit, but everything is so overexplained yet immature that I was just like "yeah, seems like that's real for this world"

i will say the Fake Quarantine Reveal briefly had me excited. but i have read the first couple chapters of part 3 and it's just about sex. these two do not have enough chemistry to make this interesting or spicy, and you guys know i love characters who hate each other so much they simply must have sex about it. nope, these two just regular hate each other and their interactions are largely unpleasant. please bring back the plot

their safeword is "private property" and once again i am choosing to believe this is a joke for my own sanity

i've been reading heavenly tyrant (the sequel to iron widow by xiran jay zhao). thoughts after finishing the first part below the cut.

note my impression is mostly critical so far, and so clicking will reveal negativity. i assume most people have control over their own ability to gauge if they can handle this or not, but i've been proved wrong before

bullet points:

i feel the writing has improved on a structural level, but frequently veers into strange twitter-esque rants about the evils of capitalism? and often there are very first draft vibes to descriptions

there is a scene-- i shit you not-- where zetian accuses qin zheng (a legendary emperor who was frozen for 200 years that zetian woke up) of treating her like he owns her, and then makes a quip about how a guy who's against private property shouldn't be like that. qin zheng then replies-- i shit you not-- by explaining the difference between private and personal property. then he says something like "i have to go reform the education system" and leaves. i choose to believe this is a joke for my own sanity, but it is genuinely unclear

one of my complaints about iron widow is that the last 2/3-ish of the book seem to lack focus because zetian doesn't really have a specific goal, she's just doing stuff. in the first third of this installment, she spends 85% of her time confined to a single room. so now she doesn't seem to have much of a goal (she keeps talking about learning how qin zheng became powerful, taking that power, and killing him... but it's unclear why she wants to do this or what she thinks will happen if she succeeds) AND she's not even doing stuff.

i do like qin zheng more than shimin or yizhi. probably because he is the only one in this book making any sort of decisions. that being said, his ~toxic situationmance~ with zetian isn't... like... fun? they just don't like each other

if you liked yizhi or shimin then bad news!!!! they're barely here!!!! i didn't really care so i'm having fun with this new guy. how are you going to uplift the common man but live in a palace, new guy? hmm?

also zetian has gone from "ridiculous but fun to watch break things" to just like. unlikeable. it's to the point where it's hard to feel bad for her because some of her problems really do feel like they wouldn't exist if she was just, like, polite.

ANOTHER complaint i had about iron widow was that there was too much telling instead of showing. i felt this had improved a little with heavenly tyrant, as we see zetian actually attempting positive interactions with women (one of her repeatedly stated goals in the first book was wanting to help girls, and yet we barely saw her give a shit about any individual woman) and the narrative actually gives itself enough room to have zetian and qin zheng interact. however qin zheng keeps giving speeches about new policies he's going to use to fix society and folks, we have not been shown all these societal problems. like at all. there's medical debt? educational debt? no named character has these problems. i did not know these problems existed in this society before this speech.

also his big plans really do read like a 16 year old on tumblr making up an imaginary government based on some posts they read and 0 real world experience. slay

a lot of the reviews on storygraph complain it's too slow but honestly i read the first ten chapters really quickly because like. what is happening here. we'll see if anything manages to happen in the next part

[musical-chick-13]

Related to previous post: I am genuinely curious if H/Lizzie would have been the fan-preferred-couple if Lizzie had been neurotypical.

[bunnieswithknives]

Gore, Violence and Blood under the cut

What a mess

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Embrace the truth

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