#you think this ship is gonna go canon NEXT EPISODE

[usercelestial]

watching people say bvddie is gonna go canon next episode is like seeing someone stick their hand in boiling water and say next time it won't burn

[barblaz-arts]

I know you've been making a lot of art of it lately, but out of curiosity, what's your opinion on Hazbin Hotel in general? I'm referring to both the show and the fandom here. Just curious.

God. What a loaded question. Are you ready? Bcuz I'm fresh from Vaggie discourse on twitter and I have a lot to say.

I think that Hazbin Hotel seems worse than it is for people who know the fandom but haven't actually watched the show. Honestly, I think it's a fine show. It isnt super incredible and I'm not gonna sing praises about how deep and thought provoking it is or whether it's an artistic masterpiece. It never tried to be that and was never advertised as such(to my knowledge) anyway. I just had a lot of fun. Like, yeh sure the cussing in the dialogue can be a bit much, especially in ep 1, but there are different writers in other episodes, so it gets better. It can be super crude yeh, but I grew up watching things like the Scary Movie franchise and other dumb american movies (yes, i was too young for them. yes, i still watched them), so it's pretty tolerable for me. It also helps that Charlie is the main character. That's one of the main reasons why I watch HH but dont watch HB. It's probably a fun show, but without a sweetheart like Charlie to balance things out, I'd just get tired of the sex jokes and mean jokes.

Compared to my last hyperfixation, I think I have more things to love about Hazbin Hotel, believe it or not. With Netflix's Wednesday, I had already been an Addams Family fan for a while and hung on because I loved the family and eventually Enid and wenclair. The show itself was honestly meh... so far! I'll give season 2 another shot.

But with Hazbin Hotel, it catered to a lot of things I've always loved. Found family with a bunch of misfits? We didnt get to see it much bcuz of the fuckass 8-ep per season format we have nowadays, but its fine its there! The juxtaposition of a kind hearted woman in a harsh world? Love love Charlie for that, I watched the show in the first place because of her. A canon lesbian lover with a "fuck the world cuz my world is you" type of love for the protag? Fuck yes. How very Pearl-from-Steven-Universe of Vaggie. And the music? The music is soooo good. I didn't know the songwriter prior to watching, so I was nervous about the songs, but I knew most of the theater actors they cast(still cant believe Jeremy fucking Jordan is Lucifer) so I figured even if the songs are mid, at least the performances would be topnotch. And they were! But the songs were a pleasant surprise. Sam Haft did real damn well. I still listen to the soundtrack to this day.

The fandom, however, is probably the worst one I've been in. And I've been in a lot in my big age... Just... lacking media literacy, and based on the replies I get when I say something on twitter, it seems a lot of them lack reading comprehension and just plain emotional intelligence too.

There's a lot of criticisms about this show that I honestly think is fair. Pacing, character design, overuse of the F word, whatever. But in my opinion, claiming that Hazbin is a male-centered show is an unfair misconception that is mostly the fault of the fandom.

Bcuz, sure, the male characters are uber popular. Alastor, Vox, Lucifer, Angel Dust and the many web of ships they're involved in went trending every few business days. But come on now. How often does a fandom even have their main protag as the most talked about character? This has been going on for ages. Just because the boys have the most merch and fics and fanarts and thirsty fans doesn't mean that they had the spotlight for most of the show itself. It only meant that they were the ones the viewers paid attention to, in a fandom filled with people drooling over the next tumblr sexyman and toxic yaoi ship of the month.

But if you actually look back at what the show gave us so far, the boys didnt outshine the women. I actually think the women got to do more and be more as characters than the men did. Let's take a look at the male characters.

Alastor was not in all the episodes. In fact, he was MIA in two out of the eight episodes. In all the episodes he was in, he was a mere side character. His purpose in season one was to stir the pot and be the intriguing mystery that occasionally quips. But he was not the one whose deeper thoughts were explored and whose character and goals was challenged THROUGHOUT the show, merely alluded to at the VERY END of the season, which is hardly him taking the spotlight away from Charlie. If you merely looked at the fan content of him, you'd think he were a father figure to Charlie(or a love interest. whatever) and that he has developed a soft spot for the Hazbins deep down in that cannibal heart of his. But if you pay attention to the show, he never had even a meaningful one on one conversation with the Hazbins. The only time that happened is when (a)he threatened Husk's life (b)when he constantly mocked Charlie while she was down in the dumps and used this as an opportunity to manipulate her and (b)when he told Niffty watching the crew sure can "make one sentimental", even tho he had taken no prior opportunity to bond with them! There's no foundation for all the fandom's claims that he could be redeemed bcuz of a budding fondness for the group, but that's all you see of his fan content(aside from the horniness). I dont have any problem with his lack of an actual relationship with the Hazbins bcuz I believe redemption for him is not what the show is going for, but it's frustrating to see people interpreting it that way BUT not seeing how horridly developed it would be if that is the case, meanwhile they turn around and say that Vaggie and Chaggie as a ship "had terrible development".

Then we have the male Vees. Vox was only ever in episode two, and was essentially a youtube reactor in episode 8. He was in ep 4 but had no speaking lines. We only know of his obsession with Alastor and the toxic relationship he has with Val. Val, meanwhile, is merely shown as the sex obsessed fiend behind Hell's sex industry and Angel's abuse. They did what they needed to do with minimal screentime. It was fine, but that's IT. Despite what little CANON gave so far, you have hundreds of people writing essays and fics and fanarts about them being complicated characters. But to reiterate, this does not mean that they are bad characters or that they don't deserve the fame. But to say that these men are better written within canon than the women is such a bold statement when most of the depth they knew of these characters were lore drops given before the show and their own speculations as they dug into the shallow soil of what the show has so far.

I'm not gonna speak about Angel and Lucifer. Because I think they were characters who were legitimately well-explored so far.

Now onto the women. So many of them were given the opportunity to have their characters challenged or given the agency to push characters and the plot forward or give you intrigue about implications of what's to come for the characters and the plot. I've talked a lot about Charlie and Vaggie. So let me talk about the other, terribly underrated women of Hazbin.

Velvette and Carmilla were the ones who advanced the subplot in the war against Heaven. Because of Carmilla's love for her family despite being a demon, an angel was killed. It gave Heaven the excuse to escalate things, but it also gave Charlie hope later on in the season that they're not powerless. Carmilla was also the first demon shown to make selfless actions that is contrary to what is expected of demons, making it proof that Charlie's belief that demons deserve a second chance isn't unwarranted. She's an interesting character, as an overlord who hangs on to power but clearly has morals. But how often do you see people writing essays about her? Eating up the fact that she's a powerful overlord but would sacrifice anything for her daughters? If Carmilla were a man, hundreds of girlies would be drooling over the crime boss who has a soft spot for his daughters.

Meanwhile, Velvette got to demonstrate why exactly she's an Overlord despite being the youngest demon in there. She's calculating and observant. She gives off a haughty vibe and constantly boasts about how she's young and fresh, but she isn't naive. During that meeting, she paid attention to Carmilla and Zestial's relationship. In order to find out who killed the angel, she riled everyone up, and when she got the feeling it was Carmilla, she mocked Zestial so that Carmilla could slip up. By playing these Overlords who are older and more experienced than her, Velvette showed what exactly her asset was to the Vees and why she's a threat, something that Vox and Val have yet to be given the opportunity to do when they were busy eye-fucking Alastor and literally fucking Angel. But in fan content about the Vees, Velvette is almost treated as an after thought to the boys...

Then we have the Seraphs. Not only were their designs gorgeous, their dynamic and presence as characters had impact to the plot and main characters.

Emily is a much needed character to show that this story isn't meant to tell you that Heaven = bad; Hell = good. There is good and bad in both, and it is so important for the protags to know that they have an ally in Emily who represents the true virtues that heaven is supposed to uphold. And I love the confrontation she had with Sera when her own view of what's right and good was challenged. We got to see the strength of her character and started the seeds of what could be heaven's acceptance of Charlie's goals.

Sera is such an interesting character to me. She was also important to show that not all angels were sadistic like Adam and Lute, but not in the same way Emily was. I have no idea so far which direction this show would go with her. But I'm intrigued by the fact that she seems to be driven by fear, unlike Adam and Lute's cruelty. She knew Lucifer and was there when he was cast out for his disobedience. Whether everything she's doing is to prevent that from happening again remains to be seen, and I'm looking forward to this kind of subplot for her.

And then Rosie! I really really look forward to seeing more from her. Spoilers aside, something I barely see people talk about is how interesting it is that Rosie is every bit the leader that Charlie hopes to be. Rosie is able to be a respected overlord in her own faction without needing to sacrifice her love for showmanship and music and her positive disposition. When we were officially introduced to her, they show how she seems to care about actually taking care of her people, not JUST ordering them around, by talking to them personally and giving advice. That's exactly what Charlie wanted to do for her people, isn't it? The hotel to Charlie was what the emporium was to Rosie. They have a lot of similarities that could set up for Rosie to be the one to teach Charlie in becoming a leader. Now whether that's a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, but it is rather compelling.

So yeah! With all that said, I really dont think this show ignores its women at all. Just because a bigger part of the fandom gravitated towards the men doesn't necessarily mean its a misogynistic show so far. But if certain people are claiming that the women are badly written, then I hope they also own up to the fact that their blorbos are just as shallowly presented within the show, maybe even more so. Which wouldn't even be a bad thing! Since when did a show or character have to be amazingly written for a person to like them? That's just no fun at all. All I'm saying is... Fuck this fandom's double standards, hiding behind claims that it's the writing's fault when the problem is they couldn't be bothered to think about the women.

[miriadalia]

Things you can comment on the fanfics you love when you have no idea what to say

From what takes less time to what takes more

~show those writers your love, please!! They do it for free T-T and they deserve better

1. Emojis

You know the vibe of the fic you're reading, chose the ones that suit it better.

❤❤❤

💔💔💔

🙈🔥����

You may think this is kind of stupid, but trust me, it is NOT for the writer. It shows you've read until the end of the chapter and that you liked it so much that you decided to say it publicly. Your presence means A LOT.

Also, leaving kudos or votes takes literally just 1 second, what are you doing NOT doing that?? 🤨🤨🤨

2. Simple phrases

I loved it so much!!

Can't wait for the next chapter!!

This was just so good 😍

Amazing as always, keep it up!! 🙌🏼

Writing is a lonely work if you think about it. When I'm in a writer's block, just one sentence can hype me up for the rest of the day and give me the spirit I need 💪🏽

3. The emotions you felt

Yes, you DO matter. That fanfic author cares more about your opinion than your stupid ex so you better write to them instead 🧐

The plotwist was so unexpected, I'm shocked 😱

You can't end with that cliffhanger, how am I supposed to wait another week??

Excuse me, I will now lock into my room and cry all night, thank you 💔

I've read some people saying they won't comment how they felt because they feel ashamed or shy. Take it as if you were about to post a tweet or comment on a friend IG's story 👍🏻

4. One piece of dialogue/prose that really amazed you

Oof 🔥 this happened to me a few weeks ago and that comment still lives in my mind rent free. There's no better way to compliment a writer's work than to highlight something they wrote that left a true impression on you.

And it literally takes no time:

[Insert piece of dialogue], oh she didn't just say that, imma throw hands 🤬🤬

[Insert piece of a description], I could really see it with my own eyes, loved how you described it!

5. Hopes and wishes for future chapters

C'mon, you're going to comment this anyway with some of your fandom mutuals or friends, why don't let the writer know that too?? COPY AND PASTE IT ✍✍

I just need Chatacter A and Chatacter B to kiss, how long is it gonna take?? 😩

Watching that scene in [Canon series name] would have been awesome!! Maybe in future seasons 👀👀

I hope [Ship Name] don't break up in the next chapter, they are so cute 😭

6. Character discussion

Okay, we're entering deeper waters here.

But the truth is: if you love that fanfic that much is because the characters really resonated with you. So express your first thoughts without any fear:

[Chatacter Name] is so important to me, like you have no idea. All the things they went through... But they still manage to be a better person ❤

[Chatacter Name] was so forgotten in [Movie/Series Name], I'm glad they're getting the development they deserved here!

7. Scene discussion

Again, you might think the comment section is no place to start "fangirling" over the stuff you liked. But IT IS!! And the writer wants to know your thoughts on their work, especially if your opinion is all positive 💞

This will take more time, sure. But if you're going to write it anyways for other people, COPY AND PASTE AGAIN, hon!

8. How this story is impacting your fan life (or even personal life)

You don't need to overshare, but simple comments like:

Your fic has really changed the way I think about [Character Name]'s decisions, I feel like I can understand them better now.

This story has motivated me to rewatch all the episodes again 😢 the nostalgia!!!

What you did with [Character's situation] was incredible! I've been there myself and I could have not explain it better 😔

... They will be the ones the writer will remember the most, I can assure you that.

9. A simple THANK YOU

At the end of the day, fanfic and fanart creators only have your feedback to rely on when the block or discouragement hits... This is about showing appreciation to someone you may not know at all, but that has brighten your day with their creations and efforts ❤

[burningcheese-merchant]

How on earthbread do you ship BurningCheese. Im gonna try to not judge you. This is 80% a non-rethorical question. like genuinely how do you ship them?? /lh

I was wondering when someone would come ask me this lol. It's ok though, you can be honest, I can feel you narrowing your eyes at me through the screen 👀

I could honestly go on for a REALLY long time about why I ship BurningCheese/GoldenSpice. But I'll try to distill/narrow down my thoughts the best I can so my answer isn't longer than the Bible

I adore the enemies to lovers trope and hero/villain pairings in general. I did long before Cookie Run and I will long afterwards

I like how they complement and contrast against each other, aesthetically + personality-wise + backstory-wise

I love how they interact with each other. I love how they talk and snipe at each other. Golden Cheese's frustrated yet unyielding confidence and wit VS Burning Spice's brash, raucous excitement is fun to see. (The back-and-forth they have during their fight in episode 6 is dangerously close to how I've written them in my fics, even before the episode came out. So technically, in a way, my fics have been canonized lol)

It's fun imagining them together in different ways. A one-sided crush/obsession on Burning Spice's part is fun in a dark way (my Yandere Spice). So is a mutual love and respect between them. Main canon for me is a slow burn romance and a slow redemption arc for Spice alongside it. I also have an AU where Golden corrupts and becomes a Beast herself, and they become an evil villain couple. I have another where Spice doesn't get better and Golden doesn't get worse, they just have the standard forbidden love affair that they hide from the world (the latter out of fear of judgement, the former just so no one can try to keep them apart). I've got a million story ideas with them. You can do all sorts of things with them imo. And I think it works because of how they bounce off of each other. Put them in different situations and see how their relationship changes/adjusts/adapts, see if love can exist and how

I like their size difference. Spice is significantly taller and wider than Golden and it's really funny to see lol

The way they and their relationship/dynamic parallel actual Egyptian and Indian mythology (the latter in particular) is absolutely unreal

Not kidding, I can go on about the symbolism and allusions and references forever. I could write an actual paper on it. How can a ship go THIS hard

Come on, don't act like they wouldn't give each other a fantastic time in bed lmao

They follow each other around in my kingdom almost 24/7. Literally every single time I log in they're next to each other or one is trailing behind the other while they walk somewhere. If they want to be together that badly, I'm not going to stop them

They are literally the cycle of life and death, they have the single most important connection of all the Beasts and Ancients, one simply cannot go on without the other for together they make up the foundation of the goddamn cosmos

It actually all started with me and someone irl joking about Burning Spice having a stalker crush when the very first trailer came out. Then I went "haha that could be a funny fic". Then I wrote it and went "wait this is an interesting idea". Then episode 5 came out and I went "wait wtf does he actually want her??? He's acting like he does in my fic!!!" Then I wrote more and got even more attached to the one-sided attraction dynamic. Then I started imagining them in an actual, normal relationship and how that might pan out. Then I started writing stuff for/about that and I got extremely attached to that. Now they have a fully fleshed out relationship and they're married and have two kids, and I have a billion side stories and AUs, and any other ship involving either of them viscerally repulses me. I unironically memed too close to the sun and immediately fell straight down into BurningCheese hell (but it's ok, I like it here and I don't plan on leaving ever)

I can and I want to and no one can stop me

I still wrote a Bible, didn't I lol. BurningCheese/GoldenSpice is perfect in every way, they are my ride-or-die and you can pry the ship from my cold, dead hands. The end, roll credits

[cassiebones]

Please Chill

Please, I am begging you all to chill out. I'm speaking specifically to my wlw Agatha fans right now. Even more specifically to the ones who are angry that the last episode revolved around Teen/Billy.

He is a main fucking character. His backstory is important to the plot. We only get nine episodes in this series and the plot needs to move forward. We cannot do that without revealing who he is and what his motivations are, from a storytelling standpoint.

I studied creative writing in college. I worked really fucking hard to get into my program, too. I took classes on novel writing, mainly, but also in screenwriting and playwriting. I took classes on TV writing in the mid 2010's at a time where the trend was shifting to streaming services putting out entire fucking seasons at a time.

But I remember having to wait a week for an episode of a show I loved. I remember what happened to my favorite wlw characters. I remember being absolutely devastated by Lexa's death in The 100. I know you're scared of it happening again, but there is so much evidence on the contrary to prove that it's not going to happen here.

Firstly, I don't think for a second that some of the actresses who signed up for this would have done so if they thought they were going to pull the same shit. I don't think Jac or Kathryn or fucking Aubrey, who legit said that she signed up because it's a queer show, would do that.

But i don't know. Because the show isn't over. We have three episodes left over the next two weeks. I, like you all, am praying that they're not about to pull some bullshit, especially considering the majority of their current fanbase is comprised of queer people.

But you can't just call them lesbophobic because they focused on a canonically gay character rather than your favorite lesbian ship for one(1) episode. They have confirmed that Rio and Agatha are estranged exes. They showed us so much flirting and yearning and longing. From a storytelling standpoint, they are building that tension for a great payoff. Its's gonna happen. Please, just be patient.

I was upset, too. I did not want them to shift focus to Billy. When I saw that that was going to be the majority of the episode, I was upset. I made a couple posts about it. But I still watched and it was honestly a pretty good, important episode. And fucking funny as all hell. We truly saw the aftermath of Wanda's actions. Wanda, who wasn't trying to be malicious or harmful, but she still caused so much harm.

As much as I would have loved to see Rio, I understand why she wasn't in this episode just yet, but she'll likely be in the next one. It was probably only like 2 minutes after he threw them into the mud that Agatha crawled out. Also we see Lilia and Jen in future promos, so they'll be fine.

I predict that the next three episodes are going to be longer and more plot heavy moving forward. I really hope we see more of Agatha's delusions from the POV of Rio, because Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey are fucking hilarious and I know it's going to be just as funny as last night's Teen POV.

I want to see people theorizing about the next three episodes and what's going to happen and how they're going to rectify anything, but I'm seeing so many negative posts about why your favorite lesbians didn't kiss or fuck yet on this Disney show. Please, just be fucking patient. It's coming.

That being said, if I am wrong, I will be the first to admit it and be super salty about it. I hope I'm not, but who knows? I'm not going to make a snap decision either way. You shouldn't either.

[blorbologist]

S3 eps 7-9 thoughts below the cut

This is all fresh after the episode and I gotta be up in a couple hours so it won't be fully thought out but...

I love a lot of the creative choices being made! But I think many weren't implemented well, or balanced nicely.

Just! as someone who has deconstructed Campaign 1 and made deviations to the timeline of events and etc (mind you, without the same goal of condensing things for television… but somehow the show has an equivalent perc'ahlia focus to a ship-centered fic?) I think… I can see several avenues of narrative choices that would strengthen the ideas they're going with instead of weakening them.

(My credentials here are 'almost 300k canon divergent AU that converged on a handful of similar plot points to TLOVM', but also the aims of an AU fanfic =/= that of a show. I understand and respect that challenge the team faced. But when a single amateur can point out issues that would be pretty easy to solve and detract from a very enjoyable experience... there might be a Problem)

Ripley doesn't need a sob story, she's getting a book anyways leave it there. Fully agree with @/aq2003. The whole point is that she's monstrous and evil and got her PhD out of a fucking cereal box. Percy is less like her than he thinks. But he dies and she just??? escapes??? IF Percy had to die without VM being present, having Ripley either die of her wounds right after or be unable to flee and get torn to shreds by them would have been excellent.

On that note - only Vex and Cass seem to show strong emotion about his death. Keyleth's supposed to be his best friend, and he and Grog were close this season, but. Well, not like we have any platonic relationships. Everyone's just Kinda Sad.

MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC OVER PERCY'S DEATH HUH. Flashbacks to watching Vampire Diaries as a teenager and pop songs coming on over the end-of-episode drama.

Again just. All the platonic, non-familial (Pike n Grog count. to me. buddies <3) relationships are so scant, which is especially hard on characters who lean on that so hard! Grog and Keyleth especially are hurt by this. Does Keyleth have a single conversation (not quip, conversation) that isn't with Vax? And in group contexts she only loudly brings up her distrust of Raishan without any of the solid backbone it has in fact. (Also her going from Raishan was right last time we should trust her now / She betrayed us! Knew it! / oh maybe she didn't and I should apologize. girl. come on. please)

I have Concerns about 'late Game of Thrones teleportation' syndrome happening here. Scanlan goes from Wildemount back to Whitestone (which are completely different continents) with no explanation. Kash and Zahra make it to Emon (again, different continent to Issylra) just in the nick of time. Which, sure, would take a couple of days to carve Percy a nice likeness (but you have a druid who can manipulate stone right there), and if Kash and Zahra changed their minds and set out as soon as Vax talked to them they might make it! But uh. There's a lot of transport that's omitted, while the scenes give the impression everything is happening within a short period of time. And a lot of these conversations are one-on-ones with the relevant characters without acknowledging they couldn't be there without magical transport. Where is Allura or Gilmore or Keyleth in the back of these shots twiddling their thumbs 'hey can we teleport to the next person on our HELP US list'?

IDK what's going on with Kash. He's likely gonna be used as a lead-in to Something to rez Percy (and him?) but. That quick buildup of him being too carefree to getting smushed was very transparent and Zahra's grief didn't feel earned (though it WAS baller. yes they made them bleed girl <3).

The fact Vax didn't ask him At All about the resurrection ritual in the Tomb stuns me tho. You think Vax remembered the offhand comment Kash made about the body needing to be warm while his sister was dead? We as an audience could have used a reminder, and Vax too. Because anyone who Doesn't remember this one line from S2 is Extra frustrated at everyone for being stupid.

Raishan or Ripley being moved to be the 'Vox Machina, united, with all their Vestiges' fight is... hmn. You could argue Raishan has solid buildup (what with the cameo in Brimscythe's lair), and it does follow campaign canon. She lacks the devastating power to justify the use of all the Vestiges (tbh given Thordak it might feel like a curbstomp unless her necromantic plans are successful)... but I could see it working. But why the fuck has Ripley escaped A THIRD TIME. Percy even duped her twice! How many times are we gonna do that song and dance?

If anything, I'd have moved some Ripley stuff here. If she escapes so be it but VM putting the fate of the world on hold to avenge their friend, THEN have Percy be back for Thordak, would be tasty.

... wait does this mean Percy might not have Cabal's Ruin by the final dragon fight of the season? ffs-

DID NO ONE LOOT CABAL'S RUIN FROM THE FACTORY.

Thordak fight was baller, having all our NPCs there to worry about? a bit much. Cass why are you here. Go home before Whitestone loses its last de Rolo.

Also. Thordak my dude I know you're insane. mad even. but uh... you sent your children into battle. A TON have already died by the time you sadly nuzzle the hatchlings. This was kinda your fault. There's a reason animals don't send their babies into combat. then again you're a large reptile who talks about milk so what do I, a reptile researcher, know -

(Don't give me that crap about reptiles being bad parents we have several snakes who require maternal attendance after birth or they're Asocial Weirdos, crocodilians are VERY goo parents, and there are social lizards too.)

'fix him - FIX HIM' being gutted fucking killed me :c

I sure hope Pike's 'IT'S ME' was uh. about faith in herself. Not abandoning the god she spent all of S1 figuring out how to devote herself to. While wearing the Vestige associated with another god. the vestige that explicitly made this possible and not a nuke fire falls u all die tpk. haha. ha. (@/burr-ell)

Yes yes yes I know the voiceover and visuals fill in for 'I hear my mother in the morning. Fuck you'. but. idk. Felt like the grief of that moment was taken out of it? Also it's a banger line

Raishan's little killsteal attempt being bumped from Vorugal to Thordak was tasty! Go green girl go! ... except it did nothing but set up a few quiet moments before she turned on everyone again.

The amount of times I'm seeing things happen Again in this is... not great.

Glintshore is Not Glinting. Where is my broken glass difficult terrain?

Perc'ahlia arc fuckin impeccable tho. Delicious

And Pike got lots of fun and stunning moments so far! And Grog takin down the lair!

I love a lot of this though. The hallucination gas. Percy vs Ripley in the factory was so cool. Percy downright being Put in a Box for a while. VEX'S CONVERSATION WITH SYLDOR!!! SO MUCH!! Her being the leader and feeling so responsible for all this, and seeing herself become her father! ELAINA BACKSTORY! Scanlan leaving the party only to miss Kaylie too! Thordak being A Dad! Percy's death/Vex's grief being the catalyst for Vaxleth! The animation was fucking stellar - Vax killing Thordak, Percy's death, Pike mastering the Plate.

I don't have concrete thoughts on how I'd restructure the episodes/season (seasons?) to better balance platonic and romantic relationships, and utilize the changes to their fullest potential. But damn if the temptation to do ANOTHER canon divergence rewrite / exploration of cause and effect to make things hit a bit more nicely... make myself a challenge to only use X amount of scenes per episode/chapter, to try and match the difficulty of adapting this to television... idk

[stgosupremacy]

you're probably wondering what that nutcase stgosupremacy is gonna post next well you hve your answer now

YEP YEP YEP HERE'S THE NEXT ONE!!!! 🤩🤩

right

let's start off with

this

"Hey Goh, uh, I'm right outside of your apartment-"

"YOU ARE?!"

just the casual moment where goh thought he had a stalker in his hands

actually i didn't really have much to say on this i just thought it was cute when ash explained cerise gave him goh's address and asks goh, where are you now?

THEN HE MAKES THIS FACE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW cmon like HES LITERALLY CRUSHING SO BAD I CAN'TT 🥺💖💖💖💖

like in goh's perspective he didn't know ash was coming to give him the thing he dropped, so he must have thought ash had for some reason changed his mind about going to pallet town and wanted to go with goh instead?? (ok even tho this wasn't the actual case ash actually stays with them anyways so-)

I love it when Ash answers for Goh the second they meet his parents then

LOOK AT THIS SNEAKY BLUSHY GLANCE TO ASH BEFORE THE ANIMATORS SWITCHED THE SCENE WITHIN A SECOND THINKING NO ONE WOULD SEEE 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

goh was down badd the first few episodes cl

bahahaha this is such boyfriend teasing from ash I LOVE IT 🥺😂

right. here comes the best bit

"I had something else for you, I guess I must have lost it or something..."

"You mean this?" 😉😉

i love how you can hear the smile in his voice and it sounds like he was waiting forever to give it to him 😂

I'm not joking i heard like literal wedding bells in this scene 💀 BUT LOOK AT GOH'S LITTLE BLUSH AND HES SO SHOCKED HJFDKN\FDM

"You dropped this right before you got on the bus."

"Wow- You don't really mean you came here just to give it back do you?" (🥺🥺🥺) "All that way?"

THIS IS SO PURE. OHMAGOSDSJ

mk when he said all that way as well you can see how much Goh cant believe him like omggg 😭💖 we all need an ash in our lives i think

"Course!"

what the hell ash is actually so cute bless him

goh seems to think so too bc LOOK AT HIS REACTION BRO 🥺🥺🥺🥺 nah his eyebrows literally start shaking like he cannot contain himselfff and for some reason these wedding bell noises still keep ringing out in this scene HmMMm 😂😂

love to point out the sunset behind them too 🥰💖

"Ash, you're the best!"

he really is 🥺 goh says this a lot actually which he rightfully should

the way goh peeks out over the present to look at him is actually so cute HOW IS THIS SHIP NOT CANON I STILL CANNOT UNDERSTAND

"It's cool!... Now why don't you give it to your mum and dad?"

Ash actually looks kind of looks and sounds nervous when he started speaking which i thought was pretty cute 😂

THIS SCENE IS SO ADORABLE OMG LIVES IN MY HEAD RENT FREE AND I SMILE EVERYTIME I WATCH IT <3

i noted someone pointing this parallel to amourshipping and can't unsee it , this is surely too similar to be coiencedence lmao ‼🤨

the ash de-maturing animation style still trips me up especially when we go to a later scene in the ep...

....they are literally so goofy i actually adore them 😂😂😂

enjoy this beautiful view of vermillion city to finish off!!! (sorry this post seemed so long but it's actually cos i shovedlike 30 pics in it so😍)

this episode is so stuffed with satogou it's insaneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 🥺💗💖

[lover-of-mine]

It's so frustrating. And it's even more frustrating when it's people who supposedly want what we're all saying it looks like is happening just doom shouting into different inboxes and then when we do try to explain it, for the thousandth time, they come back and reargue the same point we just explained away. No television show is going to have their actor break the fourth wall and say "okay so my character just said that but what he really meant was this". That will never happen. I don't understand what they think they're watching. the show has really not made it complicated to follow at all. It's pretty in your face.

EXACTLY!! The show is very obvious. When they want us to care about something they make it clear. When they need us to feel a certain way they make it clear. You have no idea how many "oh I wanna believe your analysis but I've been burned by *insert queer ship was objectively more fanom than canon and people lost sight of the show it belongs too* so I need to believe *worst outcome possible*" I get. I'm sorry, but how do you live like this? You think I was right about the breakup green because of luck or something? And like, this fandom is allergic to letting a storyline develop. If everything isn't solved as quickly as possible, they don't want it. "If they don't kiss on 810 then it's not happening" is the new "if Eddie doesn't come out on 806 then it's not happening" and dear god, just watch the show? I don't know if this is a product of being newer fans who binged the show after s7 and don't know how to handle a season happening week by week or if this is because people got used to made to binge 9 hours movies split into 9 episodes streaming shows, but people need things to be fully spelled out by episode 2 or else the world is ending. Jesus.

Yes, I know I'm saying this as someone who wants buddie to go canon this season and have been very loud about it, but I don't want to gamble on a season we're not even sure we are gonna get when they already pulled the trigger on Buck's feeling realization and it would be odd to let this drag out for the next at least 13 episodes for no reason other than to drag it out when that means making it happen at the earliest in October because for some reason people seemed to have decided the clock restarted when Buck came out and that's not how it works. Like, every procedural slowburn has the "external force keeping them apart" phase and that's the "believing they are straight" thing they have, there's no reason to delay that more once they are out.

[ethmintt]

HELLO MAGLUCK NATION !! (If there even is one, lol)

they were "holding hands" this one time in the manga i thought it was cute 😭😭 don't mind how Luck is dying he's fineee everything's okayyy

okay onto the serious part lol

SO, I wanna talk about this frame real quick. This is in the manga, after Rufel (Elf Luck) vs. Magna, Vanessa, and Asta in the Elf Saga. Nobody talks about this enough lmao

this frame was made a very, very big deal in the manga and I think it was watered down in the anime. "It's gonna be me... and Luck!!!" Was reocurring in Luck's flashbacks of the Bulls shortly before he regains control over his body, and then the image above was at the end of the chapter as an extra. This sorta shows how much Magna's words meant to him; it says in the Assorted Questions Brigade that Luck wants someone who's strong and can go at it again and again, and the fact that this was included in the end of where Magna and Luck's bond became something stronger than just "best friends" sort of reinforces their ship for me? I feel like if just anyone had declared that the the final battle was between them and Luck, he would've just gone "oh yay someone to fight" but the fact that he had that special reaction to Magna and Magna specifically just... ough please make them canon.

these were my thoughts when i was reading the Black Clover manga. If you want to read it for yourself, it's chapter 160 i believe.

another shippy detail: Magna and Luck use their Combo Spell, Flame Lightning Explosive Cannon I think is what it's called, every time their friendship reaches a higher point. The first occurence of this is Magna and Luck vs. Vetto of course, where they have their super cinematic fight and where we get an origin for their friendship. They seem so much closer after that; when they recover and throughout various other missions.

the second occurence is after Luck gets possessed. I feel like that sentence speaks for itself. And then after that, in the anime, we get an absolutely GOLDEN filler episode where Magna and Luck are definitely a bit more fruity... not only does Luck want a room next to Magna to, "sense his mana and know what he's doing, man i cant wait to mess with him" Magna has this whole speech about how he won't let Luck leave him behind.

the third occurrence was in chapter 369, if i remember. Do correct me if I'm wrong, I'm going solely off of memory. This was after Magna and Luck reunite after being apart for 6 agonizing months for MagLuck shippers, in which they have a whole reignition of their rivalry, basically.

"If I'm with this guy..."

"I'll never slow down."

"I'm not... gonna mess around!"

"Yeah, me neither!"

It's just precious to me how their friendship rivalry and one day canon relationship, hopefully, is displayed. The fact that Magna and Luck have all these details attached to them makes me truly believe that they'll one day be canon, or at least implied. Something like Bow and Dazu, idk.

big thanks to all the magluck shippers out there, all of yall are automatically my friend you guys have taste.

[neopoliitan]

RWBY Evermorrow Ep.7 Director's Commentary (or something)

The newscast segment was a late addition, we decided it was best to move a scene to a later episode for a better sense of narrative. I even already animated that whole scene so we don't need to worry about it!

We were gonna use Lisa Lavender here, but decided it was better to use Cyril due to availability of existing cast members as the scene was kind of last minute. We see it as Cyril being the guy in the studio, and Lisa being the reporter in the field.

Khaki's prison number is funny if you can decipher it.

Originally this episode was a big ol scene of RWBYCRDL recounting the mission to Oz and Glynda, then the punishments being dished out, but I was having such a dull time writing it that we decided it was best to cut the recap of the immediate previous episode and hope the teams' reactions did the work. I think it was for the best, a glorified recap episode seems like it would've been a waste of production; if it wasn't fun to write it wouldn't have been fun to watch.

It was a good time to bring in Glynda as she's always been Beacon's voice of reason around Oz's more whimsical tendencies. She's to-the-point and will make no excuses, which sells the teams being reprimanded more. Plus the added questioning of what exactly Ozpin is saying to Cardin offscreen is an interesting question in the viewer's mind.

(Also our Ozpin VA was kinda unavailable but for a very good reason lol)

Let's talk Dove. You've probably noticed he's very much the reasonable one on EM CRDL at this point, which is very intentional as going in I wanted to make them more interesting than Cardin and the Cardins. CRWBY once said Dove was the most skilled of CRDL, which is an interesting angle, and Doves are a symbol of peace which inspired me to make him the """nicer""" one, albeit a bit embittered by his lot in life. This episode has a montage of the moments in ep5-6 that really lay it all out that he's a little better than the others on his team, which is why Ruby vouched for him.

There was going to be a decent focus on family in this episode, but eventually we whittled it down to just Russel's and Dove's. Being like "oh and here's a character's parent being funny and mad" worked twice, but three to eight times might have gotten old lmao

Why did I pick Bertilak for Russel's guardian? Green. Mohawk. Moody. Not a big Faunus fan.

Okay so that's only part of it. Russel has been consistently portrayed as a bit of a doormat in EM, following Cardin's orders or deferring to the next biggest fish if he's not around. His actions around Bertilak imply that the latter is the source of all that behaviour.

Dove offers Ruby an "Olive Branch". I don't know if I can get more unsubtle than this.

Don't ship them they literally feel nothing about each other. That's canon.

Why did I pick Shopkeep for Dove's grandpa? Closed eyes, and Shopkeep is everywhere. That's literally the joke.

Pyke Rite from The Grimm Campaign.

There were a few characters I really wanted to get involved sooner. Can you believe it took us till Ep7 for Ren or Nora to say anything? It felt good to have all of JNPR and OP(A)L fully animated in the same scene, and was fun to set up dynamics like Oscar being a fanboy, Alyx being a little shit and the two teams generally getting along.

In comparison to 6 this episode was a lot calmer and a lot more talk-y, but hopefully we managed to make it fun. The animators and VAs did amazing as always (the former has basically eclipsed my efforts at this point), and I'm looking forward to ep8 very much! Bigger and better!

If you have extra questions about this ep you can shoot me an ask, I'm always down to self-indulge lmao

[helluverse-rewrites]

Talking about the Plot

Okay so I think (???) I got everything out of the way. I talked about the characters that got a rewrite, and then I talked about some ships. I might be forgetting something but I'll just take care of it later if that's the case

Anyways it's time for the fun part >:)

So season 1 is gonna be about the original premise of the show. I. M. P going around and killing people for their clients, you know, what the shiw was originally about. This season is to really get to know the characters and their relationships with one another. Even little things like likes, dislikes, and hobbies. Of course there are still hints and small scenes of what's to come in the next season, but for the most part it's going to be about I. M. P

One thing about season one is that Stolas (and the Goetias in general) are a huge mystery in season one. We only get a couple mentions about them, and Blitzø sometimes mentions about meeting up with Stolas. We also get the rest of I. M. P constantly referring to Stolas as "that damn bird" so the audience can at least know he's a bird of some kind at least

(I'm saying this like none of you guys know who Stolas is-)

Now season two is where it gets interesting This is where most of the important characters get introduced. I want each sin to have an episode where the audience gets introduced to them. I'm debating whether or not to introduce Ozzie in the first season. But yeah, we also get officially introduced to Crimson in this season. This season is really where the plot kicks in and we also finally get to see the Goetias faces! In fact, the first scene of season two is where we finally get to see Stolas for the first time! I. M. P is still out there doing their job, but this season has a lot more focus on the Goetias and Sins, to get to know them a little better. Most specifically Octavia because she's probably the best character tbh

Now season 3 is probably the season that I have no real idea on what I want to do with it. Because for me, I need to see what canon season 3 will be like so I have a basic idea of what I want to do to change it. Which is partially why I'm waiting for season 2 of Hazbin to come out before I do anything with that. But I will say I definitely want to end it at season three. So this is where all the crazy shit happens

[captainjackscoat]

SPOILERS FOR ROGUE

I usually do "live reactions but make it Theo" on quotev when it's smth I've been looking forward to, so I did it for Rogue. Because Activity is still there and I plan on enjoying it for as long as possible.

so here are the highlights from Rogue's reaction last night!

"DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN WEE WOOOOOOO WOO WEE WOOOOOOOOOO"

"LMFAO IS THAT BAD GUY (BRIDGERTON'S VERSION) OR SOME SHIT"

"m u r d e r"

"welp ok as first dates go I'd say that was disastrous, but hey, you've still got 33 minutes to sort yourselves!"

"THEY BETTER FUCKING SNOG WITHIN THE NEXT 33 MINS"

"I'M JUST SAYING RIGHT WE'VE GOT TWO GAY ACTORS, ONE IS A CANON GAY CHARACTER AND LITERALLY JUST CALLED THE OTHER ONE HANDSOME, AND THE OTHER ONE IS PLAYED BY JONATHON GROFF SO THEY'RE GONNA FUCKING SNOG OR ELSE"

"omg THAT is a spaceship. he's living it. he's a queer (to be confirmed) bounty hunter, who has a MASSIVE INVISIBLE SPACESHIP???? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP"

"THE DOCTOR CALLED ROGUE "BABY" I REPEAT THE DOCTOR CALLED ROGUE "BABY""

"I've been shipping these two since the casting announcement, DO NOT FAIL ME NOW DOCTOR WHO"

"MY NAME'S BOND. MOLECULAR BOND"

"the doctor's fucking grinding to Kylie while pissing off his crush. living my life ngl"

"THE PSYCHIC PAPER DID THE JACK THING IT DID THE JACK THING IT CALLED ROGUE HOT AND ROGUE STRAIGHT UP FLIRTED BACK OHMYGOD KISS NOWWWW"

"Uhm so did Rogue really think the Doctor was taking him to a SHED????? TO DO WHAT, ROGUE??????"

"SORRY WHAT"

""I'M IN LOVE"?????"

"THE DOCTOR'S FACE L M F A OOOO"

"fuck he's only in love with the TARDIS (you'll get there honey dw)"

"OHHH ROGUE DARLING YOU JEALOUS????"

"THEY'RE DOING THE RUN AWAY WITH ME CONVERSATION AND WE'RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH THE EPISODE I THINK I'M GONNA BE CRYING AT THE END OF THIS AND IT'S WRITTEN BY KATE AS WELL OH SHIT"

"THEY WERE ABOUT TO FUCKING KISS AND THE FUCKING TARDIS BEEPED BECAUSE THE FUCKING TRAP WAS READY SO THEY DIDN'T KISS WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK"

"OH GOD THE'\RE DANCING THEY'RE DANCING THEY'RE DANCING AND THE DOCTOR IS TEACHING HIM ABT COSPLAY AND ROGUE IS LOOKING AT HIM LIKE HE HAS THE UNIVERSE ON A PLATE JUST FOR HIM AND MY HEART IS SO FULL RN"

"USING THE POWER OF GAY SCANDAL TO BRING DOWN THE EVIL PEOPLE"

"THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IS CINEMATOGRAPHYING THEY'VE TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS AND THEY'RE NOT MOVING THEIR EYES OFF EACH OTHER AND WE'VE GOT A PANNING CAMERA AND ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE ARE GONE AND IT'S THE MOST ROMANTIC SHIT EVER, MY FANFICTION DRIVEN HEART CANNOT HANDLE THIS"

"they're fucking cosplaying gay Bridgeton to save the universe THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN MISSING MY WHOLE LIFE"

"MARRIAGE PROPOSAL HUH"

"THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS AND RUNNING AHHHHHHH"

"YOU HAVE 17 MINUTES TO SNOG GUYS CMONNNN"

"zizz"

"when (if) they snog, there had better be a romantic build up, and setting, and GREAT FUCKING MUSIC alright????????????? YOU HEAR ME KATE??????"

"NOOOOOO EMILY'S A SHAPESHIFER THEY WERE GONNA BE A CUTE COUPLE BUT IT'S ALL MURDER AND IDENTITY THEFT NOW :(((("

"RUBY NO YOU CAN'T DO THIS NOT AGAIN STOP FUCKING DYING"

"THIS IS WHAT THE THIRD TIME YOU'VE DIED SO FAR???????? FOURTH????????? STOP"

"OH MY DEAREST TIME LORD VICTORIOUS, I HAVE MISSED YOU"

"oh she's fine she just dance battled to Poker Face (Bridgerton's Version)"

"NO BECAUSE NOW HE HAS TO CHOOSE OH SHITTT DOCTOR YOU'VE GOT PROBLEMS"

"THEY KISSED WITH THE FRAME AND THE MUSIC AND THE CAMERA ANGLE AND THERE ARE TEARS OH GODDD"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO THAT'S THE MOST DEVASTATING SHIT I'VE SEEN SINCE CHILDREN OF EARTH OH MY GOD I CANNOT, KATE HERRON YOU EVIL GENIUS OH MY GOD OH MY GOD NO THEY CAN'T BE TOGETHER ANYMORE HE'S GONE HE'S ACTUALLY GONE AND THEY KISSED AND HE GAVE HIM FLOWERS AND HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF SO THAT THE DOCTOR WOULD BE HAPPY WITH RUBY AND OH MY GOD NO WHY WHY WHYYY"

"he left the flowers on the floor where rogue left I'm not ok"

"KATE HERRON, WHEN I FIND YOU KATE HERRON"

"he's wearing the ringggg"

"THE SALUTE HOLY-"

"THAT WAS TOO MUCH FOR MY LITTLE GAY HEART TO HANDLE"

"Rogue is everything to me I fear"

[writeforfandoms]

Shatter Me 15

Find the series masterlist

Things can never go according to plan with Mando and Grogu, something you're reminded of rather forcefully when the three of you reach the next planet.

Oh boy. Guys. We're getting into the good stuff here. We've got I think five chapters to go before the interlude. Hee hee hee. Don't mind me sitting here rubbing my hands together in glee...

Warnings: Canon typical violence, swearing, Feels, Mech is going through it, we're on season 2 episode 6.

Word count: 2k

You were in the hold when the ship dropped out of hyperspace, and you balanced easily against the hull. You gave the two a bit of time - you could just hear Mando’s voice, but not what he was saying, and only if you concentrated. You waited until he had gone quiet to rejoin them in the cockpit. 

The planet below you was new, shades of brown and tan and green. Mostly the vegetation seemed to be low-growing - grass and shrubs. You hadn’t seen any trees. Mando guided the Crest above the planet easily, keeping an eye out below. 

Up ahead, you could just see some ruins, jutting up above the ground in an impressive display. There was nothing else around it, just hilly land and rocks. 

“Looks like that’s the magic rock I’m supposed to take you to down there,” Mando observed, tipping the ship to circle around the site, to get a better look. Grogu burbled and then went quiet, looking out at the ruins. “Sorry, buddy, I can’t land on the top. Too small. Looks like we’re gonna have to travel the last stretch with the windows down.”

What was he talking about? You eyed him, a little nervous. The windows didn’t come off. 

He landed the ship as smoothly as ever and picked up the kid, carrying him down and out. You followed, curious and a little apprehensive. 

And then Mando set the kid down briefly to slide his jetpack back into place, and you understood. 

So when Mando turned to look at you, you didn’t give him a chance. You weren’t sure if he was going to offer to take you with, or tell you to take the long route. But you already knew what you wanted. 

“You two go,” you told him, glancing quickly at Grogu. “I’ll follow behind you. You’ll be faster with just you and the kid.”

Mando hesitated for a moment before he nodded. “Keep your blaster with you,” he instructed, picking up Grogu and cradling the child against his chest.

“I will,” you agreed. “Now go.” 

Mando hesitated one more moment before he nodded and took off. His ascent was smooth, and you watched them for a few moments, just to watch them go. 

Then you sighed and turned to get your blaster.

It was far from the worst walk you’d endured. Sure, it was a little ways away, but it wasn’t boiling hot. You weren’t surrounded by people. It was quiet, with a gentle breeze occasionally ruffling the grass at your feet. 

This was a different kind of quiet. Not the quiet of night, or the quiet of a crackling fire, but the quiet of lack. Lack of people. Lack of life. 

It was starting to get to you, just a little.

Even Tatooine had life, had little noises. This? This was… unnerving. 

Idly, you wondered if Mando even noticed. Did he feel unnerved? Ever? Or was he too much a warrior through and through to feel something like that? 

You stopped, eyes going wide. Why were you thinking about him? Why were you even wondering? His emotions (or lack thereof) were his own business, not yours. 

You were just… You liked him. He was… kind, in his own way. Polite. He’d treated you better than many people had. 

And you were maybe a little enamored with that kindness, that hidden softness in him. A little. But it was a passing fancy, that was all. 

Besides, you didn’t even know if you’d stay with him, once the child was gone. 

If the child left. If a Jedi responded. 

So many ifs. So many possibilities. It was… staggering. Weighted. Both better and worse than what you’d grown used to. 

You sighed, a short exhalation through your nose, when you missed your step and nearly fell. Okay. That was enough time wondering about the future and what ifs and all this nonsense. You needed to focus on where you were going. 

The sound of another ship broke your concentration yet again, and you ducked low into the foliage before looking up. It was an unfamiliar ship, oddly shaped, and you frowned as you watched it go past overhead. It was headed towards the Crest. 

But you stayed put, well aware of your limitations when it came to fighting. Namely that you couldn’t. 

As soon as the other ship was out of sight, you booked it towards the seeing stone, as fast as you could manage. Mando was up there, probably. Unless he had gone to investigate. 

You were no good in a situation like this, and you knew it. 

Mando dropped down in front of you, and it was only habit that kept your lips closed. His hand landed on your shoulder, firm but grounding, not painful. 

“Stay down,” he told you. “Looks like trouble. Get to the kid if you can, but stay out of sight.” 

“Okay,” you agreed, heart pounding. For a moment you simply stared into the dark visor, hoping you were meeting his gaze, hoping that nothing was going to happen. That this wasn’t about the child. That these two weren’t in danger. 

Then he nodded, once, and took off again, far quieter than you would have guessed considering all the beskar. You took a deep breath, trying to rally yourself, and continued on. 

It was slow going, trying to stay down and out of sight. Especially since you didn’t know what you were staying out of sight from, or where, or how many. Your hands shook a little as you scrambled up finally to the top of the hill, ducked low. 

A faintly pulsing blue… energy? Something like that, surrounded the kid and the stone. Grogu’s eyes were closed, and he seemed oblivious to the world around him. You pulled your blaster out, holding it down and closing your eyes briefly.

Maker, you hoped you didn’t have to use this thing. You were absolutely no good at it. And you didn’t want to hurt anyone. You really didn’t want to have to shoot someone. You would, if you had to… Probably. But just the thought of it, even to defend this precious child, sent your heart fluttering with anxiety and made your chest hurt. 

You had the brief, wild thought that you should never have let Peli bully you into this. 

And then you swallowed and drew in a deep breath through your nose. Nothing had actually happened yet. You needed to pull yourself together, get a grip. You could do this. Mando had only given you one task: get to the kid. You’d done that. 

Now, you wanted to defend the kid. You wanted to. You. Just you. 

Your hands steadied, at least a little. You kept breathing, slow and steady. You didn’t hear shooting, didn’t hear shouts of pain. You also didn’t hear anyone approaching, not for long minutes. Long enough that your heart had almost settled back into a normal rhythm. 

And then a third ship emerged, flying low towards the Crest. And that ship? You knew the shape of that ship. You knew what the inside looked like. 

You’d had to work on one, once, as a personal favor. It had taken every ounce of willpower to not ask about the blood stains in the hold. 

This was bad. This was very bad. You wished briefly that you had a way to alert Mando, to let him know. 

But he was smart, he’d probably already seen what was going on. 

“Grogu,” you called, unable to contain the fear in your voice. “C’mon, we need to finish up and go.” 

But the child didn’t move, motionless atop the rock, eyes still closed. You swallowed hard, turning in a slow circle to try to see if anything was coming your way. No Mando. No soldiers. Nobody. 

And then the blaster fire started, the shouts drifting up to you, too distant to hear clearly. You swallowed, gripping your blaster more firmly. Okay. You could do this. 

You turned and started towards Grogu, even as the air felt oddly heavy. Trying to get too close felt like pushing through something thick and heavy, your hand meeting resistance as you reached for the child. 

And then the tension snapped suddenly back against you, pushing you back and sending you stumbling several steps away. You gasped in a breath, shaking a little, looking at the energy field around Grogu with awe and frustration. 

Even if the first ship hadn’t been here for Grogu, the second definitely was. You needed to get Grogu out and get going back to the Crest. 

“Grogu,” you called again, pushing closer to the child, struggling against the tension. “We have to go, kid.” 

But he didn’t respond, and after a few moments of holding steady, you were shoved backwards again. You stood there panting, trying to figure out if there was another way to get to him. 

“Hey, kid! Time to go.” Mando emerged from the rocks, starting towards the kid. You opened your mouth to warn him, but not in time. Mando got close, though, almost reaching the child before he was shoved backwards hard enough that he actually went flying a few feet. But he got right back up. 

“I tried that,” you told him, skirting the edge of the blue energy field to stop next to Mando. “I can’t reach him, not while he’s doing this.”

Both of you turned and watched as a second transport ship landed next to the first. Oh, kriff that was bad. So bad. You were all so screwed. 

“Stay with him,” Mando ordered you, turning away. “I’ll buy you as much time as I can.” 

“Mando–” 

But he was gone, leaping back down the rocks and out of sight. 

Your heart hammered in your chest as you took a moment - a few moments, really - to look at what he was facing. That was… a lot of potential troops. No matter that the Empire was supposed to be gone. 

You sucked in a couple deep breaths and turned to look at Grogu. Still doing… whatever he was doing. Okay. You licked your lips and held your blaster a bit tighter. Would it be better to walk around, keep an eye out in multiple directions? Or to just keep watching from this area? Did they even know the kid was up here? 

No. No, you needed to focus. Just stay here, where you had a pretty good view of the area below. You could hear the shouting and blaster fire, could even faintly see the flashes of red. 

You shifted your weight, anxious and feeling the need to do more. But you were guarding the kid, you were doing what you could. You would be no good in a firefight, and you well knew it. You were just as likely to hit an ally as a foe, and that… that was unacceptable. 

Too jittery to hold still, you started pacing, back and forth. The shouting was less now, farther away. You watched as first one, then the second transport ship took off, flying away. Your shoulders sank in relief. 

Behind you, the sudden cessation of humming made you turn and look, just in time to see Grogu slump sideways, passed out on top of the stone. 

An explosion made you turn again to look and see that one of the transport vessels had been hit and collided with the second one, sending the both of them into flaming ruins falling from the sky. 

Relief made your hands nearly numb, and you dropped your blaster to run to Grogu. “Kid. Hey. Grogu. You alright?” Carefully, you stroked one downy soft ear, but there was no reaction from him. Just soft breathing. He was out for the count, then. 

It was easy to scoop him into your arms, holding him close as you turned to look in the direction Mando had disappeared. Maybe you could leave now, could get going to… wherever was next. You allowed yourself a few moments to feel hopeful.

[agentoffangirling]

Ranking AoS ships (canon & non-canon) bc I can:

FitzSimmons. If you don't have this as your top, I DON'T TRUST YOU. They are the blueprint, the very epitome of romance. If someone doesn't dive through a space rock to reach me on another planet, I don't want them

Dousy. Ik some people much prefer Sousa and Peggy, and they have a great relationship, but I don't know, I just like Dousy more. Maybe bc I want Daisy to be in a healthy relationship for once? But for only appearing in around half the episodes of s7, they don't feel rushed, and Chloe and Enver have great chemistry. They're so sweet together, I can't say much else other than I love them

Skimmons. Okay okay ik what a lot of people are gonna say, but I just think they're wonderful together. I've drifted a bit from shipping this, I do see the sisters aspect of them (I don't see them as sisters and romantically at the same time, that is WEIRD), but I still have a small soft spot for it. I think it's mostly Chloe and Elizabeth's love for the ship that sells it

Philinda. Tbh this and Skimmons could be switched, they're very close in my brain. While I don't necessarily feel too bad about them splitting up in s7, I like both the platonic and romantic versions of them, I think they were really great. They so obviously love each other, and what more can I say to that?

Huntingbird. 100% compatible 50% of the time, as Hunter puts it. I don't believe this to be the healthiest of AoS relationships, but not everything has to be perfect all the time. One moment they could be making jabs at one another, the next they're making out. Who knows? Their moments are a fun time either way

MackElena. I think what this ship needs is more time. Compared to the other relationships, MackElena doesn't get to share the screen all that much. I do love how they learn from one another, and they've always given me a kind of comforting type of vibe. They're just cute together

Simmorse. This feels like a relatively newer ship in the fandom, and I am all for it. I don't ship it massively, but I 100% see the potential, I think it's very easy to see that Jemma was crushing on Bobbi a couple times

QuakeRider. Just like Simmorse, I do see it, but I've never really been a big fan of it. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it has great vibes, I love the rogue x rogue type ship, I just don't ship it that much. I personally see them closer to older brother, younger sister type of dynamic. But I do see the potential

Staticquake. HEAR ME OUT OKAY? I used to like Staticquake a lot, but on my rewatches I see myself getting farther and farther away from it. It's not that they don't have good chemistry or that I don't think they're really in love, oh no, they have all of it, it's just not the best relationship for Daisy. There are more than a few moments where they're arguing, majority of the time Lincoln being in the wrong, and later Daisy apologizing for it? It always struck me as odd. I also feel like resolved too many issues behind the scenes, relying on exposition to make the audience believe they had gone further in their relationship

DekeDaisy. Idk if they have an actual ship name, so I'm going with this one for now. It's just wayyy too one-sided and doesn't seem like it would work anyway. Daisy was not in the right frame of mind for a relationship, and she seemed relatively blind to Deke's advances. Also considering that Deke sold her to the Kree earlier... yeah, it was never gonna work

Skyeward. It might get up one spot for the Framework version of them, but as it stands, the real life version of them is AWFUL. Ward lied to Skye on almost everything, hurt her, hurt her loved ones, kidnapped her, became obsessed with her, and countless other things I can't remember rn. They're so toxic and if you ship them (not Framework or pre-betrayal), I have genuine concern in your love life

[erithel]

Piggybacking off of your response to the previous ask, man can I just say what an utter clusterfuck the whole "gone" situation was follower-wise... i'm gonna make this about me so sorry about that, however i'm the kind of person that can't really articulate their thoughts, can't see through the layers as clearly as others and when people post a thoughtful analysis that reflects my feelings about the fic while the best thing I can come up with is something like "wow, fic good❤️" (which yeah I know is still fine but anyway) it makes me feel so much better because what is trapped in my head is articulated as I wanted to express it... that being said, seeing you explore ptsd and lance's grief like this stirred smth in me, I cried at times, so I was very excited to see people in your asks sharing their thoughts and all... And then they didn't seem to care so much about it (not all of them obvs) and at first it was like "hahah yeah.. we all want them to kiss xd lol" but then seeing you post about how people would essentially flood your asks for klance to KISS ALREADY™ plus with other general stuff... Idk if it was frustrating for me I can't even begin to imagine how it was for you, because this is like.. still a story, just in comic form, so yes it has an arc it need to complete. We could see the episode count from the beginning too if I remember correctly, so being so insistent about it was weird? Either way, it was a story and it was getting somewhere and spamming about when your ship will be canon is kind of annoying. So sorry this happened to you and so happy you pushed through! I binge it on the regular!

I feel like I could do a Ted Talk on the etiquette of commenting at this point, through my own experience, and also reading comments my friends have received on their work.

But essentially what it boils down to is two things:

Creators put a lot of work into their stories, and

They choose to write stories their way

The way that I write fan content (both fics and comics) is because these stories and these subjects are important to me. Some of them are very personal, too. And I know I am not the only creator who chooses to write this way.

Obviously the way I reacted to the "just kiss already" comments may have seemed like an overreaction from the outside (I thank you for being understanding in your ask btw).

But the message those constant comments were sending was a very clear one of:

All the thought/time/work you put into this story does not matter

Everyone who ever told you to "just get over it" was right

Grief can be a very physical and powerful thing.

Losing someone you love leaves you with this excess of love and affection that now has no where to go. You used to have a place to direct it, and when that place is suddenly gone, it takes a while to learn how to function again; to redistribute that love.

It's something that never goes away, it just gets manageable. And it's definitely not something you can "just get over."

I'm not saying I'm the greatest storyteller of all time, but I was tired of reading books and watching movies and shows where the characters never felt the aftermath of a loss. They all just moved onto the next episode or the next chapter like nothing ever happened.

And I do think it's important to tell stories like this in fanfiction. Because many readers are younger. Many readers rely on reading fanfiction because it's free. Many readers need hope and catharsis. And getting to read about their favorite characters go through terrible things but realistically come out on the other side is, to me, very important. Because the stories we read - no matter if they are free or published works - can stick with us for the rest of our lives.

This is why it was such a big deal for me. Because I was trying to tell a story that said "Please take your time to get over things. Please know that it's okay if you don't immediately snap back to the way things were. Please know that it's okay to feel whatever it is you are feeling." And getting comment after comment that said the exact opposite was honestly just crushing.

I would take a "wow, fic good" comment any day. Because it acknowledges what has been done, instead of demands things to speed up to suit someone else's needs.

And, on a slightly more petty note... it was a klance fan comic. It's not like they weren't going to kiss. They just weren't going to do it in the middle of an argument where it wouldn't have stuck!

(I do also think it's funny that there's a perfect comic example of a kiss happening too early, before communication which happened right around the same time as Gone. And for the record, she's gotten way more and way worse comments than I did, so that's something worth mentioning, too.)

The point is that some stories are very personal to the author and very important to certain members of the audience. Of course no single story will be for everyone, but just because it is not going a certain way does not mean it's okay to demand it be changed.

[kiisaes]

tell us about vld 👁️

(only if u want to)

i'll spare you a truly unhinged ranting for perhaps another time (even though this is gonna be long anyway) but tldr: vld is a show that could have been really good if it just stuck to its direction from the first two seasons!!! and also if its crew didn't accidentally breed the worst possible fandom ever!!!

it had a really good identity at the start— its characters were entertaining, its art and animation were charming if anything, the VAs were genuinely excellent picks and in terms of story it was simple (considering it's a kids show) but effective. the first two seasons focused on one-off, character-driven episodes that gave room for a lot of character writing, team bonding, and tone establishment. i believe that the reason why vld shipping was already so aggressive since s1 — without crew interference — was because the character writing was like, actually good. good enough where people could take their starting characterizations + team dynamic and run wild with it

vld was never going to be an enlightening, mature, groundbreaking show about anything super deep; it's a Y7 show about robot lions in space. but i'm sure most ppl going into vld didn't expect a piece of art, they just wanted to have fun with an atla-adjacent show, or they watched previous voltron iterations. and for what it was, it was very successful at the start! and one of the more popular netflix originals at its time!

but then vld tried taking itself more seriously in s3, and changed its primary storytelling method. now the episodes weren't usually problem-of-the-week, but each episode's plot had to feed into the next episode in line. which would've been fine, if the crew planned ahead and kept track of its characters and plot

but since the lion switch was also conveniently during this season (which inevitably implied switches in character arcs), keeping track of everything suddenly got way harder. also, the lion switch was ass. breaking my silence: that shit made no sense. why didn't they make allura the black paladin??? why do all those mental gymnastics with moving keith from red to black and lance from blue to red just to give allura blue, which was a lion that didn't even really fit her??? (i know the reason was cuz dotf did this lion placement, but is vld dotf? are the characters archetypes the same? no? i didn't think so!!!)

anyway because of the new serialized storytelling format, vld had to follow this really serious, high-stakes, even occasionally dark narrative to keep viewers engaged, and it just .. wasn't the same? like not only are characters' arcs dropping like flies, we're introducing new characters with barely any development or even personality, and it's not even that fun to watch anymore. what happened to my silly guys. what happened to goofin off in the castle. what happened to episode-long missions. this is not avatar. if i wanted to watch avatar i would just watch avatar.

and! in later seasons i think the crew caught on to how fans loveddd the episodic narratives in s1 and 2, so they tried bringing back one-off lighthearted episodes (dnd episode, game show episode, clear day episode, etc.) in an attempt to relive the old glory— and they were fun to watch on their own, sure, but were completely detached from the rest of the story atp. literally the only reason why i even remember these episodes is because they weren't a part of the narrative's incomprehensible sludge

don't even get me started on how the crew hated its audience. don't get me started on the ship bait, the weird canon queerbait situation(s), the irresponsible encouragement of parasocial fan relationships with VAs, artists, creators, you name it. it's how we got one of The worst fandoms in recent history. it's how vld was one of the newer fandoms that started an whole new era of fandom etiquette — namely, disregarding all previous fandom norms in favor of the most childish, pearl-clutching, moral-panicky discourse you'd find daily, and consequently you wouldn't EVER dare bring up to a normal person who exists in the real world.

the crew hated its audience so much, it essentially punished its fans by shutting down all fan theories, purposefully writing AROUND plot twists THEY SET UP, leaving a really messy and plot-hole-filled final script. they especially hated the shippers so much that they shut down BOTH main camps — klance and sheith — for canon allurance, a truly horrible way to end both their character arcs since neither character gets all that satisfying of a conclusion (lance becomes a farmer, allura fucking dies)

this is already long enough but i hope this gives you a general idea :') i have so many emotions about vld. someday i'll make the retrospective video essay of my dreams. this was my nonstop fixation for two straight years. i wasted two years on this shit.

also this show's 8 seasons were released all in a span of 2 and a half years.