#also always down to plot this more in depth 😊

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#43: The Good Life (1.05)

gif cred: @nerd4music

The vibes of this whole sequence are so good. The good life truly. 🤩And Say Yes has always been a comfort ep for me, so I love that this montage has such Say Yes energy and parallels. If ever I need a pick-me-up this tranquil series of clips from Richonne's road-trip home will lift my spirits every time. I love the way this montage depicts that in finding each other again, Richonne refound the best, most at peace parts of themselves 😌...

So after that teaser with Father Gabriel, we get our babies back on screen. And it hit me that Episode 5 is the first time there are even scenes that don't feature Rick and Michonne. In episodes 1-4 of TOWL, Rick, Michonne, or both are on screen in every single scene apart from that one episode 2 teaser. Which I was very much in support of this as a long-time card-carrying member of the Give-Richonne-More-Screentime ministry. 😊

After how excellent the plot, pacing, and dialogue were in episode 4, I will say that ep 5 & 6 are a bit clunkier in those areas to me. But one thing is for sure, the Richonne content in ep 5 & 6 is still solid gold.

While these last two eps are ranked lower than episodes 1-4 for me, the good moments in these last two episodes aren't just good, they're great and include some genuinely Top 10 worthy Richonne scenes. So we definitely have to break it all down.😇👌🏽

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

The montage starts with that yellow truck turning the corner and then they just get right into the good vibes and romance as we see Richonne calmly driving.

I love that they use 'The Good Life' by Tony Bennett to set the mood. Rick and Michonne both just look so relaxed and happy and it’s super refreshing to see. 🥰

gif cred: @msanonships

After everything they’d gone through thus far it was so nice to arrive at a point where Rick and Michonne are back in sync and as connected as ever.

I love the way Rick seems so content and peaceful with his hand out the window. Michonne has that man feeling on top of the world again. �� And then it’s so sweet the way he looks over at Michonne and the way she smiles back at him while driving. All is well with their soul and mine. 😌

Then we get one of my favorite Richonne actions ever when Rick takes her hand and kisses it. 🥹 It’s perfect.

I love the lingering depth of this hand kiss and that it’s such an illustration of how much Rick loves and cherishes Michonne. It was another soul kiss. And you can just tell how much peace Michonne brings Rick. She’s like his medicine. The cure to his anxiety and to his life. 👌🏽

gif cred: @msanonships

Something I so appreciate about Richonne is how every moment like this feels like such an organic outpouring of love in their hearts. And it feels like it’s the exact thing they both needed. Like Rick is offering Michonne so much love with this hand kiss but you can tell it’s also for him too, because she brings him so much peace and happiness and calms any anxiety he might have about really being able to break away from the CRM this time and go home.

This might be the furthest Rick has got in terms of actually breaking free from the CRM and heading home. I know he knows it has everything to do with Michonne that they’re making it this far and actually going to get home this time because they can do anything together.

I appreciate how this hand kiss is just one of the many ways Rick’s romantic heart so naturally wants to show his love and that Michonne is so receptive to it. Like the way she looks at him while he kisses her hand. They really know how to make the love they have for each other leap off the screen. And I know she knows that her Rick is fully back by him doing this.

The song lyrics that play say “don’t try to fake romance” and truly this is just giving authentic romance. Richonne's hand kisses in Say Yes were always so incredibly sweet to me so I love that we have another precious one to add to the list.

I also love that now that Rick isn’t trying to shut Michonne out, he’s immediately back to loving on her every second. This is how Rick loves.

I appreciate that Rick and Michonne immediately started living out that sentiment to love on each other as hard as they can while they can. Loving on each other is what they're both so good at doing. And the way they love is beautiful. 🥹

gif cred: @coalfires

So then they pull up and find all those ramen packs because the universe loves them some Richonnne. And y’all, I adore that they are matching again. 😊 It’s another signature Richonne thing. And it's great how they aren’t just matching in the same general color - no they're basically both wearing the exact Pantone shade, honey. The best. 😋

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

And Rick and Michonne are just at their all-time adorable when the noodles fall out of the trunk and they excitedly laugh and pick them up. Michonne looks like such a cutie when she holds up a pack and amusedly addresses their punny name “Tasteful Noods.”

gif cred: @perryabbott

And Rick looks like such a cutie laughing and just seeming happy to be there. I love that they always bring out such a smiley playful side of each other. 😊

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

Another thing I love about TOWL whenever I think about it is how Rick and Michonne's journey of refinding each other was never rooted in questioning if they're still compatible as a couple. After nearly a decade spent apart, some characters who aren't soulmates could have easily changed too much and been unable to rekindle this type of comfortable passionate chemistry so quickly.

But while Richonne had to navigate the way their circumstances had impacted and altered them, they still always operated like they knew the other was their person and the love of their life. And now that they've risen from their ep 4 timeout stronger, they're so effortlessly back to being best friends & lovers.

That's part of why I love how passionately Richonne kisses in their episode 2 reunion scene because they didn't have to hesitate, wait, or wonder how the other felt about them after all these years. Without even needing to verbally confirm it, they immediately knew the love, chemistry, and connection they have was alive and as strong as ever.

But back to this heavenly episode 5 montage - We get a sweet moment of the two having dinner together and I’m just smiling from ear to ear yet again. 😁

I love how this montage moment really highlights how far Rick and Michonne have come in their journey since that season 4 moment beside a fire.

Also, in the TWD series finale when Rick and Michonne were both writing letters alone by a fire, I remember just feeling like I cannot wait for them to be side by side again and it was lovely to see that time finally come. 🙌🏽

During this dinner in front of the mural, they’re both looking out at something but I can never tell what exactly. And then Rick puts his arm around Michonne and I love that he looks over at her first, watching her taking in whatever they’re seeing like maybe another mural/painting or something idk. Either way, Michonne is clearly the true view to Rick. 🥰

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

And then Michonne turns to him with the sweetest smile as they share a kiss and I just love how warm this whole moment is. It's great how they take a moment to just smile at each other before having yet another kiss infused with passion. And the way they get lost in this kiss - equally addicted to each other. 😊 They’re so blissfully in their Richonne bubble and it’s great to see. 

gif cred: @lousolversons

As they drive along the scenic road they also come across a vending machine and I love how their movement is so synchronized as they look from the vending machine to a walker with a sword stuck in its neck. See how the universe always wants to provide the things Richonne needs? 😋

Also, what this episode really hammered home is that Richonne communicates with words pretty much for fun, because they’re entirely capable of having whole conversations by just looking at each other.

And in this moment they both immediately get the same idea at the same exact time to use the blade in that walker to hack through the vines covering the vending machine. And they’re so cute and determined as they go to take care of it.

Clearing out the vending machine was clearly a success as they cut to Richonne back in the car while Rick chugs a soda. And even the soda moment shows that he’s really released a lot of the stress he was carrying in the first four episodes and just seems so at home. And of course he seems at home because his home is right next to him looking beautiful while driving. 👌🏽

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

Also, you always know you’re truly comfortable with someone when even just sitting in silence together brings you peace and I felt that from them in these car clips.

Then this heavenly montage wants to make me teary by having Rick take out the phone with the image of Carl and just take a moment to appreciate it. Again, Rick loves his son so much. 🥲 I'll forever be moved by the love this father has for his boy.

It's heartwarming that Rick gets so much comfort from these images of his family. And it really is one of the greatest things Michonne’s ever done for him by giving him this drawing that brought his son's face back to him.

gif cred: @taiturner

I love that Michonne looks over at him and gets to again see how meaningful having this piece of Carl is for Rick. The way she looks from the phone to him, both those Grimes boys forever have her heart. 🥹

(And she knows soon Rick will get to meet the third Grimes boy, RJ. 🥲)

I think about the OG Richonne episode Clear when Michonne was behind the wheel as Rick sat silently beside her with a hand out the window. Now, years later they do the same, no longer strangers but soulmates.

The biggest difference between the two moments is Carl is right there with them in the back of the car in Clear, and now in TOWL he's with them through a phone portrait. 🥺

Carl would be so proud of Rick and Michonne for finding their way back to each other and finally going home together. 🥲

Also just looking at Rick and Michonne in this car heading home, y’all, we really made it. 😭 All those years without them and we really made it to a point where Rick and Michonne are back on a road trip home together and at peace. And so I just adore this whole opening sequence for perfectly painting the picture of their travels home and how in love they are at every turn.

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

Rick and Michonne looked so refreshed with vacation vibes as they finally got to just enjoy each other without the threat of the CRM nearby. Beyond here for it. 😇

Then, as they drive they come across a souvenir shop...and it’s there we get another one of my absolute favorite TOWL scenes. 👌🏽😌

[vinelark]

can you talk more about your writing process? do you outline? what does your drafting process look like? I love to hear about the ways my fave fic writers write because everyone is so different!

hello! a while ago i wrote a bit about the broad idea-to-ao3 journey my fics usually take, and i’m always happy to go more in depth about outlining/drafting since i find it really interesting when i see other writers talk about it too 😊

i do outline, and often extensively—my outlines start out long and get longer as i go. usually my initial outline is a basic version of me telling myself the story; i have all the major beats in chronological order and all the random details/scene ideas i’ve already thought of while brainstorming. it’s very messy and often just for me, so i’m barely even using punctuation at that point. but by the time i start drafting i know where the fic ends, even if i don’t know the exact final scene/beat. for example, before i started even drafting chapter 1 of bbts i already knew what all the 5 + 1 scenarios were, when the identity reveal dropped (and didn’t drop), who the Big Bad was, and how that overarching plot connected to each scenario, so i was ready to start filling in the actual story details from there.

after that my outlines are constantly growing documents because i jump around and add things as i go, getting more detailed the closer i get to drafting—by the time i reach a scene to actually write it, it’s usually pretty well beated out for me. i zerodraft scenes right in the outline document, and then draft over those zerodrafts, so the outline eventually becomes the fic itself.

here are a few examples of what some bits of bbts chapter 4 looked like in the outline by the time i started drafting it vs. the final fic (also copied under the cut because they’re a bit long for alt text):

i don’t write every day (i wish!) but i do usually at least open the document every day or jot down ideas. especially in a mad scramble after i shower, because i always end up planning whole conversations/action sequences in my head while showering or brushing my teeth or otherwise doing something where i can’t reach for my phone immediately 😅 i tend to outline/zerodraft quickly but draft slowly (details always take so much longer than i expect), but i do write faster and faster the closer i get to finishing a chapter/fic.

also, i workshop a lot as i go! going to friends like “hey i’m trying to [hurt a character in a specific way] but having trouble blocking the scene. can anyone help me achieve this more practically” is one of my favorite parts of the process.

text for outline vs. final snippets:

original outline:

have you ever been?

hmm? yeah i, uh, studied abroad here for a bit.

ah. kon should’ve figured;

before he can feel too disappointed, though, tim flashes a small smile and says, never seen it from this angle, though.

final snippet:

“Have you ever been?” Kon asks.

“Hmm?” The mylar crinkles as Tim leans further. “Yeah I, uh, studied abroad here for a bit.”

“Ah.” Kon probably should’ve figured.

Before he can feel too disappointed, though, Tim flashes him another smile and says, “Never seen it from this angle, though. Plane windows don’t really do it justice.”

original outline:

tim and bruce talking, bruce is like, yes, it’s safer the less people know who we are, but it’s not just about that. i want you to have something to return to. i want your civilian identity to be a haven—i don’t want robin to define you. if you ever stop being robin, i want you to still be able to be tim.

also if bruce wayne is compromised, it compromises my ability to keep you safe. i want you to be safe. but i also have another reason. it’s selfish of me. if tim drake is compromised, it would be much harder to keep you here with me, as my family. as someone i can care for as bruce wayne. and i want to keep you, tim.

final snippet:

Bruce holds up a hand. “It’s not that. That is—yes, the less people who know, the safer we are. But I’m trying to say…it’s not just about that. I have trouble explaining this part; it always comes out wrong. I think the first time I tried was the first time Dick called me a despot, actually.” He snorts, quiet and wry. “I’ll try to do better this time. What it really comes down to is this: I want you to have something to return to. I want your civilian identity to be a haven—I don’t want Robin to define you. If you ever stop being Robin, I want you to still be able to be Tim. If Tim Drake is compromised, it’s harder for you to have that option. And if Bruce Wayne is compromised, too, it compromises my ability to keep you safe. I want you to be safe. But I also have another reason, and this is the selfish part. The part I couldn’t explain right last time. Which is: if Bruce Wayne were compromised, it would be much harder to keep you here with me, as someone I can help in all of your identities. As my family. Not impossible—I would never let it be impossible. But it would make it harder, and that’s what scares me, more than the rest of it combined. Because I want to keep you, Tim.”

original outline:

oh, tim says. no, that’s. it’s fine. i didn’t. doesn’t know what else to say. it’s just. i’m robin, there on the tip of his tongue. he can’t say it past the hot embarrassment clawing at his throat, pulsing behind his eyes. he summons his mother, summons brucie wayne, summons normal, boring, see-through tim drake, and manages a vacant smile

final snippet:

The words have sort of been washing over Tim like a tidal wave, but he recognizes that he’s probably supposed to respond in some way. “Oh,” he says. “No, that’s. It’s fine. I didn’t.”

He doesn’t know what else to say. His hand is still resting against the mask in his pocket, I’m Robin right there on the tip of his tongue, technically irrelevant to whether or not Kon wants to date Tim Drake. But he can’t say it past the hot embarrassment clawing at his throat, pulsing behind his eyes. He wants to ask for a minute to think, to turn around so Kon can’t see his face, and immediately feels even more humiliated for needing that. He should’ve known. He should’ve known.

“Tim?” Kon says quietly.

Tim draws in a long breath. Another. He summons his mother, summons Brucie Wayne, summons normal, boring, see-through Tim Drake, and manages a vacant smile. “It’s fine,” he says. “I get it. Thanks for being honest.”

[zuppizup]

Hi Zuppi! Sorry if this is a bother, but I was really curious how you (and fic authors in general) plan longfics?

I've been working on a couple really steadily (by some ADHD miracle) and I've hit the point where I really need to start planning them out, but I genuinely don't know how.

Do you do it chapter by chapter, or is it more just a vauge idea? How do you know how long something's going to be, or how much time to spend on it?

Thank you so much 😊

Both your asks made it through, but I’ll stick them in one so as to not clog up your notifs. 😊 And no bother at all! It’s always fun to get asks!

I have been asked this before, but it was some time ago and, oof, Tumblr search. I managed to track down those replies, where I go a little more in depth in to my, cough, “process”. They’re here and here.

I guess, first of, you need to get a feel for whether you’re a planner or a panster. There’s pros and cons to each and I don’t think anyone’s really truly one or the other, but most of the writers I talk to do lean one way or another. There’s really nothing wrong with writing and seeing where the story takes you. You don’t have to plan out a story and I’ve certainly written fics where I just started with a vibe and then ran with it. In fact, one of the fics I enjoyed writing the most (Rumour has it…) was pretty much written based on a couple of ideas I thought would be dumb, along with a vague “Rayllum ending”. The rest of the fic, the characters sort of wrote themselves.

Having said that, I am generally a planner and I do generally have pretty detailed plans. 😅

If you also prefer to plan, again, there’s no right way or wrong way to do it. You could have an ending in mind and need to find a way to get there. Or perhaps there’s an inciting incident you want to write but you don’t know how to resolve it. In that case, what are all the things that could happen? What are they things they definitely wouldn’t? Why? Honestly, some of the most enjoyable things I’ve written were stories where I took what was most likely to happen and then threw that idea out the window.

Personally, once I have a rough beginning, middle and end, I break those down into more manageable chunks. I’ll note plot points I want hit or character arcs I have planned and then where they occur. As I said in the links above, I tend to do this in a spreadsheet at this stage, because I find it easy visualise connected plot elements that way and I can quickly rearrange them. A lot of my fics also involve actual dates or action that has to occur around particular moon phases, and I personally find that easier to visualise and manage in a spreadsheet.

So, a basic first pass might be something like this (from Husk)

Generally before I even get here, I know the beginning, middle and end, as well as a few major plot points along the way, but once I start writing this sort of thing out, more ideas flow and it’s easier to add to them.

Beginning - Rayla cursed by Claudia

Callum finds Rayla cursed

Struggles to accept it’s fatal

Glimpse of improvement only to hear terrible news

Middle - Callum attempting to find a cure

Distraction - Rayla’s parents and Runaan decoined

Strained relationships

Ezran arrives for help and support

End - Possible cure found

Things not as they seem.

Temptation and resolve

Conclusion

Usually from here ideas start to flow and I’ll begin to organise by “chapters” though they invariably change a lot in the planning process. Once I’ve got to this point though, I’ll usually have a pretty feel for the whole fic and ideas flow on from each other. Some nitty gritty stuff I honestly ignore in the planning stage. If it’s, say some spell I need or a conflict that I know “will” happen, I’ll add a place holder (e.g. [research spell] [Rayllum disagreement]) and then move on, because I don’t want to get distracted by things I can work out later. Durning my brainstorming time, I really trying to get the idea written down before it drifts on into the ether. Certain details can and usually are changed when it comes time to refine the whole thing.

How do I know how long a fic is going to be? Oh dear, I can already tell a number of people laughed at that question. I am utterly woeful at predicting how long my fics are going to be. Woeful. I thought I could wrap up Zoom-mates in three chapters. It’ll be over 250k by the time I finish posting. Someone asked me if I thought Purgatory would get to 70k and I thought “jeez, 70k?! Imagine!” Likely to be closer to 170k, all in. Even Rumour has it… went twice as long as I had planned.

So in that aspect, I very much cannot help you. 😆

I try! I bunch together plot points and group them into chapters, but invariably I go over, it’s just a matter of by how much. I want to say I’m getting better at predicting, but I think it’s more I’ve conceded defeat and acknowledged I am not in charge of that aspect of my fics.

So after all that talk of planning (which again, is just how I write, but there are many, many pansters among the Rayllum writers and they write gold), onto what I think is really the most important aspect of planning…

Once you have a plan (however detailed), I honestly think the most important thing is to ensure you don’t rigidly stick to it. I don’t mean throw the plan out, but if you find you’re forcing writing or the story doesn’t feel right, the plan might need adapting. Maybe a subplot went places you didn’t initial envisage or character’s motivations were changed by the events that led you to where you are. Don’t be afraid to change the plan, even if you initially thought it was perfect or you’re afraid of “wasting” ideas. I don’t delete anything. If something just isn’t working, then I “scrap” it, banishing it to a seperate document so that it doesn’t distract me from my current project. I’ve recycled plenty of stuff by doing this, and even if I abandon some of it, I think any time spent writing is time spent learning and improving, so it’s worth it all the same.

If while writing you finding yourself caught up writing dialogue or introspection, go with it. You might not use it, but if you’re really in the zone, if the characters or setting are really speaking to you, I think it’s best to run with that and decided if you’re going to use it after. Even if it doesn’t get published in the fic, it likely is telling you something about your story.

I hope this ramble is helpful. I can only talk to my process and experience. I’ve no training in writing, I merely like quiet hobbies and get very obsessed with things.

I’m sure others have some helpful tips to add to, so please feel free to reblog/comment with what you find useful!

[muiitoloko]

I love your stories and you have so many ! What’s your secret tips to write good fic but also to be able to write everyday like that ? Besides your stories are nothing but short I think it’s impressive . Also, I read in an old post you wrote in Portuguese before translating it but do you still write like that or do you write in English now ? If not I can’t imagine the work you have to produce to rewrite the story in English once finished in your native tongue but thank you for your hard work.

Thank you so much for your kind words! 😊 I really appreciate it. I always make an effort to write every day, even when I'm out of ideas. Sometimes I manage to write two or three stories a day! A lot of the time, I just jot down sentences or bullet points, like "the character works as a receptionist" and build from there.

And yes, I still write everything in Portuguese first and then translate it into English using Google Translate. I also use various English spelling and grammar tools I find online to polish it up. It can be a bit of extra work, but I love doing it and I'm glad you enjoy the results! Thanks for your support! 😊

Now, here are some tips from me:

1 - Write Every Day: Even if you’re out of ideas, try to write something every day. It can be as simple as a few sentences or bullet points. Consistency is key!

2 - Keep a Notebook Handy: Inspiration can strike at any moment, so always have a notebook or a notes app ready to jot down ideas. Sometimes the best plots come from random thoughts.

3 - Read a Lot: Reading widely can help you understand different styles and techniques. It can also spark new ideas and improve your vocabulary.

4 - Outline Your Stories: Before diving into writing, create an outline. This can be a detailed plan or just bullet points. It helps to have a roadmap to keep your story on track.

5 - Don’t Fear the First Draft: Your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Just get your ideas down on paper and worry about polishing it later. Editing is where the magic happens.

6 - Character Development: Spend time developing your characters. Make sure they have depth, backstories, and motivations. Readers connect with well-rounded characters.

7 - Show, Don’t Tell: Instead of telling readers how a character feels, show it through their actions, dialogue, and thoughts. This makes your writing more engaging and immersive.

8 - Use Dialogue Effectively: Dialogue should sound natural and reflect each character’s personality. It’s also a great way to reveal information and move the plot forward.

9 - Seek Feedback: Don’t be afraid to share your work with others and ask for feedback. Constructive criticism can help you see your story from different perspectives and improve it.

10 - Edit Ruthlessly: Be prepared to cut out parts that don’t work, even if you love them. Every scene and sentence should serve a purpose.

11 - Take Breaks: Don’t burn yourself out. Taking breaks can help you return to your writing with fresh eyes and new ideas.

12 - Keep Learning: Writing is a craft that you can always improve. Take writing courses, read books on writing, and keep honing your skills.

And remember, writing is a journey. Enjoy the process and don’t be too hard on yourself. Happy writing! 📝

[jyushi-thoughts]

have you watch the Takoyaki Party? how do you like it? I'm kinda satisfied cause I'm surprised by the descriptions about Totoko's growth😊she's such a nice girl who loves fish as always☺️☺️

OOC: I have! Funny you send me this ask, I was just about to talk about it on my main! EXTREMELY LONG RAMBLE INCOMING!!

Ahh what a sweet little movie.. While the wacky shenanigans are my favorite part of this show, I always still love a slice of life "nothing happens" kind of plot. And it couldn't have come at a better time honestly. I've been feeling like Totoko a lot lately.

As a character, Totoko hasn't really been focused on in depth very often, but it's clear that she's always had a problem with comparing herself to others. She always wants to be better than everyone else, and feels self conscious about it. She's also always trying to force herself into feminine stereotypes that don't really fit her personality or interests. It's nice to see that explored a little more here, though it's osomatsu san so they won't get too deep into it of course.

She's anxious at the pressure to become a "real adult" like Nyaa and her brother Fighting Yowai are. Specifically the focus here seems to be on having children. I mean when you really think about it, that's the supposed "end goal" of being what society says is a "proper adult" yknow? Especially for women. She's clearly feeling kinda behind when she's seeing Nyaa chan be an independent single mother, and now with her brother coming home with his wife and new baby. Totoko is nowhere near ready to be independent like that.

Sooo it's easier to just forget about real life for a while and hang out with the Matsus! They're always the same, ever since they were kids! They're not "real adults" either, but they seem to be carefree and having lots of fun every day! So everyone in town who has to work so hard, they can just party with the matsus for as long as they can!

The matsus are sorta anxious about their lack of independence too, but that feeling kinda lessened ever since season 1. It seems like over time they accepted it to the point where they're PROUD to be NEETS now, or at least apathetic to it. So to them, they don't really understand why everyone else wants the sleepover to last forever. Time stands still for them anyway.

Plus either way, while they are pressured by society to be "proper adults", it's kinda different for them as cis men. Totoko's focus on having children is something that comes with very different social expectations and baggage. Pretty much all women are expected to be mothers someday, and it can feel incredibly stifling and stressful when you know that there's a time limit on that. A time limit on finding a partner and settling down, thats terrible! Plus then, even when that happens, the idealized version is never the reality. At the party, everyone is so happy. The old guys are full of energy, and Nyaa's toddler is behaving as a perfect cute angel. But in the split second flashbacks at the end, we can see the tedium of their day to day jobs, Matsuyo coping with aging, the struggles Nyaa goes through to raise her baby alone, ...Dayon's cat dies or something.. idk

So isn't it easier to forget about that reality and hang around with the matsus, who always go at their own pace? That's way more fun!

I've also been thinking too, on a more personal level. Gosh this show is 8 years old. ITS 8 YEARS OLD!!! ITS IN THE THIRD GRADE! What a nightmare the passage of time is. So yeah I've been feeling like Totoko. And I'm sentimental about this show! For whatever reason, my brain decided to fixate on it for all this time.

The matsus were kinda my ambassadors to adulthood really. I just graduated highschool and was starting my first semester of college when I first watched this show. And the feeling of "oh god we're supposed to be adults but we don't know what we're doing!!" that went from being funny to WAY TOO RELATABLE super quickly. And man, back then I certainly didn't think id still be feeling that way after 8 years. I'll probably be feeling it forever. Buuut reality still goes on and time is passing, and we're all older and Nyaa chan's baby is a toddler now. But the matsus are the same, and for a little while we can forget about reality and party with them for a little while~!

Even if the matsus are reeeeeeallly sick of it..

And that reminds me of another thing too. When the matsus were like sick and dying and begging for sleep when the whole town was forcing them to keep partying... That.. was meta commentary right? Like, I can't interpret that any other way. Like the show writers are just trying to tell us that they're BURNT OUT. Which, let's be fair, that's understandable I guess. (I mean not to ME because I feel like the matsus have infinite stories they could be used for but. anyway.) If that's true, and the writers are just begging to let the matsus finally go to sleep. I'm kinda fine with it! I genuinely think that this movie is a PERFECT series finale. It brushes on the anxiety of adulthood that the show is known for, it gives a spotlight to the beloved side characters, and it feels like a nice calm little summary of the whole thing. We had a fun party with these guys, and we can go back and play with them whenever we get tired of being adults for a while.

...so yea! I liked it! :3

And I'll be ready in 20-30 years when they reboot it as Osomatsu-Ojiisan where the brothers are all middle aged lmao

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Zombie Boys Review

Synopsis: It’s been a year since Will disappeared and was rescued from the Upside Down. Now he and his friends are attempting to adjust back to normal with little success. Will is struggling with PTSD, and his friends are on-edge as they’re failing in school. At Mr. Clarke’s suggestion, they team up with a new transfer student named Joey Kim, an aspiring director, who encourages the Party to make a zombie movie for extra credit, as well as to help them come to terms with what happened the previous fall.......

Observations:

Unlike prior reviews, this one won’t be thick with theories and speculations about season 5. This is a stand-alone graphic novel that focuses on the trauma and internal issues the characters go through following the events of season 1. I appreciate this because, while I do like what season 2 did with its exploration of trauma and grief, there were aspects the show didn’t have time to fully flesh-out before they threw these characters into life threatening situations again. Having a story that goes more in-depth about their struggles (and does so in a mature way) is refreshing.

This graphic novel is written by Greg Pak. He would also go on to write for Stranger Things The Bully, the short story Erica’s Quest, Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen, and Stranger Things Erica the Great!

The artwork for the graphic novel is beautiful. Hats off to Valeria Favoccia for the artwork, Dan Jackson for the coloring, Ron Chan for the cover art, and Nate Piekos for the lettering.

The idea of the Party making a Zombie Movie and drawing on past experiences to write their story and craft certain scenes was fantastic. There are plenty of people in real life who use creative outlets (writing, filmmaking, drawing, etc) to deal with personal stuff that’s happened in their lives, and I’m glad the graphic novel touches on that. Bonus points for showing some of Will’s drawings:

They do explore the issues other members of the Party are dealing with, but Will is at the center of the plot. At this point, he hasn’t really dealt with what happened to him in the Upside Down. His drawings, as well as his attempts to have Joey direct the film as a comedy, are a coping mechanism so that he doesn’t have to relive past trauma. There are parts of the graphic novel that are difficult to read because his friends have a hard time understanding where Will is coming from and why he treats the movie as a joke. It doesn’t help that, barring Will, none of them really want to talk about what happened.

But of course, making the zombie movie allows them to open up. Not only do they have fun doing so, but it also leads to a comforting scene towards the end:

Speaking of which, they introduce a new character named Joey Kim, who directs the Party in his Zombie film:

Joey falls into the category of “Characters who sadly weren’t on the show, but should have been” levels of cool.

Not only is he an aspiring director with a knowledge about how films are made (and whose mom works for Sony), but he manages to blend in well with the Party, and his friendship with them feels authentic. He’s empathetic towards Will, listens to Will’s creative input (even if he doesn’t always agree with it), and it’s heavily implied he isn’t just making the movie because it’s a fun idea, but because he’s trying to help Will deal with his issues:

On top of that, he’s one of the few characters who comes to Lucas’s defense when he’s targeted by Troy and James.....

.....and he genuinely listens to Lucas when Lucas worries about their film invoking the “Black Character Dies First” trope:

I wish he'd been on the show and became a permanent member of the Party. I love his character! 😊

Speaking of Lucas, they pretty much cement that while Troy and James frequently target the Party for bullying, their harassment of Lucas is racially motivated. From their slurs directed at Lucas, to this particularly nasty moment:

I know this isn’t the only time in the series Lucas has been targeted out of racism (*cough* Billy Hargrove *cough*), but for all the fans who repeatedly insist this isn’t something Lucas to deal with.....................YES IT IS! Even the novel Lucas on the Line goes in-depth about it, and provides Lucas with a first-person perspective about all the hateful bullshit he puts up with on a daily basis. To put it bluntly: I don’t have any patience for fans out there who either want to pretend Lucas hasn’t been subjected to bigotry, or who want to downplay/erase the racism that other characters on the show and in the comics/books have directed at Lucas.

I also like how they call back to Mike’s grief over losing El, and how Dustin (despite initially appearing to be adjusted) is also trying to sort out his own problems:

It’s sweet to see the Party bonding and continuing to reinforce their friendship. I love how the Zombie movie they made was a success, and how the graphic novel ends on an uplifting note:

Also, the makeup they used for Zombie Will and Zombie Mike was great 😅 :

Overall, this is a must-read. I enjoyed it, and it’s one of my personal favorites.

Side Note: I recently got a new phone that I’ve been using to get photos for these reviews, and I’m still figuring out how to use it. I know previous reviews I’ve done have had pictures/photos that appear sideways instead of upright, and I will be going back to fix those.

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Right back at you, buddy! 3, 5, 12, 13, and 19 for the behind-the-scenes ask game :D

~ @sammys-magical-au 🫶

(Thank you, Sammy~ 😊😊😊)

3 — Do you write fics from start to finish, or jump around?

When I officially started writing fanfics, I mainly jumped around with the plot until I was satisfied with how things went in the story. And that was years and years ago. More recently, I decided to try writing from start to finish, and honestly. . .I see it as sort of a bad habit? That's not to say it can't work for other writers, but it just seems to slow me down. So, I'm trying to unlearn it and go back to my old tricks.

Like, I tend to think of climax scenes first. You know, the really dramatic/important stuff because, well, it's dramatic/important. I feel that once I get those particular details out of the way, it'll be easier for me to write other stuff around it until the story is full. Plus, that type of format allows for random ideas to pop up and potentially make things even better.

5 — What is the perfect environment for you to write in?

Typically somewhere quiet with no distractions. I take meds for my autism and ADD, but I can still be tempted to focus on other things, thus procrastinating my stories. I don't like to, it just happens, and I'm still working on it.

When the weather is nice, I love riding my bike over to the library and just writing there for a few hours (so long as some disruptive asshole doesn't waltz into the areas that are CLEARLY MARKED FOR SILENT STUDY. It happens more frequently than I care to admit, but oh well. Not the end of the world).

But if I'm really focused/dedicated to the story at hand, then I can write pretty much anywhere. Just a year ago, I tagged along on a family vacation and seriously surprised myself via writing a full story for Goretober 2023 during the several-hour-long car ride. And I didn't feel carsick once, which was practically a miracle. I'd brought one of the cool-looking notebooks I'd collected on a whim, as well as a pencil and a lap-desk thing. I totally covered the entire backseat with eraser shavings, but it was worth it!

12 — Is there a trope you haven't written yet but really want to?

Hard to say; I've written with tons of tropes—I've definitely done so without even meaning to. If you've read my stuff, then it's probably very obvious which tropes are my personal favorites, but I still try to be open to new ones.

I suppose I haven't written Talking Animals, since the stories I've been focused on are somewhat set in reality (fictional, but not Fantasy, you know?). But I always loved seeing that when I was a kid. Since a lot of my fanegos have pets, perhaps I could write a snippet from said pets' perspective? I know it technically wouldn't count as them talking, but it'd be pretty close, right?

13 — Is there a trope you wouldn't write if it was the last trope on Earth?

It's a tie between two tropes, actually: Minority Character Dies First, and The Pure and The Promiscuous.

The former is completely stupid and racist/ableist/etc., and I don't understand how or why it's still being used in some movies or books today.

The latter is more complex, since it's typically used in romantic scenarios, which I don't write very often anyway. But I still hate it because it just seems insulting to the characters. Like, I can understand the appeal of having one character teach things to an inexperienced character, but the way I've seen it handled almost always leads to the character on the receiving end being infantilized or dumbed-down. Which is bullshit, because the character deserves more depth and thought than that!

19 — Who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? Why?

Maybe this is obvious, but fanegos are the easiest for me to write! True, sometimes I struggle a bit, since I want to have a balance of originality and a clear tie to the content-creator the fanego was inspired by. But otherwise, I make the rules. Canon egos also aren't too tricky for me to write; I feel like I'm pretty decent at learning/feeling a character's quirks to make that character seem authentic in fanfic settings.

One thing that's undeniably difficult for me to write is reader-inserts. No shame to those who have requested reader-insert fics from me, because I love engaging with people on here. The problem I have with it just seems to be my own self-consciousness. You already know why I tend to avoid shipping in fanfics, and I guess that also counts as a factor.

[Ask Game]

[mirrorball-leclerc]

i did something bad - part three

FERRARI MULTI-34

masterlist//previous//next

ABU DHABI 2023

daniel ricciardo PARTY FOR CHECO AFTER THE RACE!!

charles leclerc it's thursday, the race isn't until sunday.

daniel ricciardo i'm planning ahead, checo, we still expect you at races once you leave us.

sergio perez i will try my best to be at races, but no promises.

alex albon AFTER THIS WEEK MY MAN IS FREE!! WAR IS OVER!!

pierre gasly IT'S TIME TO REJOICE!!

charles leclerc i think you two are being dramatic

teagan horner DOUBLE PARTY! ONE ON MONDAY, ONE ON SUNDAY! HE'S FREE!! CHECO WE'RE GONNA MISS YOU!!!

charles leclerc yup, you're all being too dramatic.

liam lawson the fia wants carlos dead. have any of you looked at the press schedule for this week?

daniel ricciardo what were they thinking putting him in same room as charles and max?

teagan horner that one of them is going to snap and get fined and dsq'd for the race this week?

mark webber if it comes down to it, pull a seb, multi-21 style

sebastian vettel oh for fucks sake mark

logan sargeant does anyone know why alex keeps shouting 'war is over' at the top of his lungs? i would like to sleep a few more hours, it's 6am.

max verstappen no clue charles leclerc no idea daniel ricciardo i haven't got a clue pierre gasly isn't alex always doing weird shit? sergio perez i've given up questioning why most of you do half the things you do yuki tsunoda ask george

george russell all of you are acting weird, what do you know?

pierre gasly aren't you basically dating alex? you should know.

george russell first of all, fuck you. second of all, i have a girlfriend. third of all, i don't know why alex does everything he does.

alex albon WAAARRR IIIISSS OVEERR!!!! THE SHACKLES HAVE BEEN BROKEN! THIS IS THE PART WHEN I BREAK FREE!

daniel ricciardo ALEX! HAVE SOME DECENCY MAN!

lewis hamilton i don't think we want to know

oscar piastri this is too much for a thursday morning at 6am. why are any of you up?

pierre gasly scheming with yuki

esteban ocon regretting ever becoming an f1 driver.

fernando alonso GO BACK TO SLEEP YOU BABOONS!!

lando norris sorry father

fernando alonso AND DON'T CALL ME THAT!

teaganhorner monthly dump

view all comments

username ma'am who's that man?

↳ username forget the man, look at the way they're celebrating checo!

username that one picture of max smiling at charles is hilarious, man was plotting world war 3.

maxverstappen1 did you have to include that picture? it’s from like 2020? where did you even find it?

↳ teaganhorner of course i did, people must see how in love you are with charles. i found it in the depths of my camera roll.

↳ landonorris #lestappeninlove #bewhoyouare

username gonna miss seeing checo in teagan's photo dumps

↳ teaganhorner i'm gonna miss checo in my dumps too!

landonorris but has the boyfriend met the dad yet?

↳ teaganhorner he has you know this lando

username teagan baby, what about us? what about everything everything we’ve been through?

username it’s okay guys, i’m their third, they just don’t know it yet.

username HE CARRIES HER SHOES FOR HER!!

gerogerussell63 since when do you have a boyfriend?

lewishamilton you have a boyfriend? why am i just finding out now?

oscarpiastri please tell alex to stop screaming ‘war is over’ it’s been happening periodically for the past 4 hours.

↳ username why the heck is alex screaming ‘war is over?’

↳ alex_albon THE SHACKLES HAVE BEEN BROKEN!

↳ landonorris alex, mate, we still don’t know what that means

danielricciardo wow, never thought i’d live to see teagan horner soft launch her bf

↳ teaganhorner oh shut up, you’ve known from the start

↳ pierregasly it’s been a year and you’re just now soft launching? my man deserves better

↳ georgerussell63 PIERRE KNEW? WHAT ABOUT ME? HOW DID HE KNOW BEFORE ME?! BEFORE LEWIS?!

↳ teaganhorner 😊😊

↳ alex_albon I’VE ALSO KNOWN!!!

↳ oscarpiastri lando spilled the beans one time so now i know.

username so only a few people know who mystery man is.

↳ username from what we’ve gathered, max, lando, oscar, daniel, alex, and pierre know.

↳ username there’s a common thread here and it’s red bull. except the mclaren boys.

¡leclerc-s speaks! it’s so easy to write for this story because i have so many ideas for it. i don’t think i established that every part is going to be a race or two each one. meaning, winter break incoming before we head to preseason testing and the bahrain gp. fret not people, checo is not 100% gone, he’s still going to be mentioned from time to time.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[destinyc1020]

My Movie Review: "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"

I saw “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” this past weekend!  I just wanted to share my own personal Movie Review, and maybe we can discuss it (Spoiler-Free). 

**NOTE:  I will first start off by giving a very general overview/review of the movie overall, and then further down below in the “keep reading” section, I will discuss the pros and cons from the movie, and will go more in-depth and be more candid with how I felt about the movie, but IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, so I just want to make sure everyone is aware of that.  So, if you DON’T want any spoilers, DO NOT click the section to “read more”. 

With that said….

OVERALL:

Overall, this movie is definitely one to check out and see on the big screen.  It is visually spectacular, the music is great, and the story definitely held my attention.  I LOVED how this movie dealt with grief and the up and down rollercoaster of emotions that someone can experience when they’ve lost someone that they love dearly to death.  ☹  The film was VERY moving, and I found myself shedding a tear in a couple of parts during the movie, and not too many films did that for me this year. 

This was a visually spectacular film.  The costumes were AMAZIINNNG!!!!!!😍 OMG they definitely deserve an Oscar nod just for the costume designs ALONE lol. 👏🏾 Oh and the ACTING!  Chiiiiilllle….the acting in this film was SUPERB!  Miss Angela Basset did her thing y’all!  Letitia had some pretty decent scenes as well.   I see some ladies are already LOVING the villain in the film, Namor lol.  He wasn’t bad-looking imo.  He’s already got some fans I see hahaha. 🤣

I felt like the film did a very nice tribute to Chadwick, and I found myself getting sad during certain parts remembering his passing.  You can definitely tell that they have to rewrite the script almost completely and change the plot direction of the film due to their lead actor’s unexpected passing away, and so I will try not to be TOO overly judgmental in my more in-depth review of the “pros” and “cons” down below.  I liked how they also kept some humor in the film though, so it wasn’t all just crying and pain. 

I’m definitely going to have to watch this movie again soon in order to get some more of the subtle messages in the film as well as to appreciate it more.

MY OVERALL SCORE:  7.5/10   (I know I’ll probably get pelted with tomatoes for saying this buttttt….. Honestly? I felt the first “Black Panther” movie was MUCH better. Sequels are tough sometimes because there’s that huge pressure and expectation to be better than the first movie.🥴)

**HINT: Make sure to stay to the mid-credt scenes after the movie has ended!   You definitely don’t want to miss that lol.  There isn’t a second after credit scene, so you don’t have to sit there until all the credits are over lol.

Now on to my more CANDID review (WITH SPOILERS) below…

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⚠️⚠️DO NOT READ if you DON’T want any SPOILERS!

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I’m warning you lol…

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Turn back now lol….Last chance….😄

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PROS:

I LOVED seeing “Black Excellence” onscreen.  Omg the women were so beautiful!  It’s so rare that we see DARKER-skinned black women featured in mainstream films with POSITIVE representation, so it’s just always refreshing to see that in this franchise. 😊

I LOVED how they introduced Iron Heart into the franchise.  Riri!

I LOVED the wonderful little tributes to Chadwick in the film, especially the beginning part with the Marvel “Intro”.  I was so touched that they did that for him.  *sob*😭😭

I loved the humor in the film… Some parts made me laugh literally out loud lol. 

I liked how they kept the subtle political messages throughout in the film just like they had in the first film.  Some of the elements were pretty deep.

I LOVEEEDD seeing my boo Michael B. Jordan back onscreen again!😍😍 I had a feeling they were going to add him in the movie as a cameo in SOME way, so it was nice seeing him onscreen again. I STILL think they killed him off too soon in the first movie imo.   

CONS:

I think my MAIN “con” with this film was that I almost felt like it didn’t really focus on the Wakandans as much as I would have liked.  While I’m glad that they gave the villain Namor a back-story, and explained his reason for why he felt the way he did, I almost felt like they spent just a TAD bit too much time on the blue underwater creatures too soon/early in the film, and all throughout.  Idk… maybe it’s just me.

I felt like the film was missing the same “Magic” that the first film had, but I think that had more to do with the fact that the film didn’t really seem to focus on “US” (black people) as much as the first film did.  I don’t think it had much to do with Chadwick’s passing as it had more to do with where the focus was in the film.  At one point I was like, “Are we watching Black Panther? Or Aquaman??”  ROTFL

I didn’t like how the film made the Wakandans look weak and helpless in so many scenes.  Granted, you don’t want a perfect character or country because that’s just as equally annoying at times.  But I felt that there were so many instances that the Wakandans were made to look weak, and I think that part of the reason why the first movie worked so well was that it FINALLY showed black people (Africans) in a state of POWER, and not weakness.  Idk…just a minor gripe.

My other MAIN gripe was that they KILLED Queen Ramonda!!! I was like, NOOOO!!!! ☹  They did NOT have to kill our Queen like that!  Smh! I was really mad at that decision tbh.  I know they wanted Shuri to have a really HUGE reason to harvest her rage, but they did NOT have to do it like that!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Lawwwddd….why did I get the feeling that M’Baku was gonna propose marriage to Shuri in the forest?? ROTFL!  I was like: “Whaaaaaaa???” 

Omg was I the ONLY one who literally GASPED in the theater when Nakia brought out T’Challa Jr.?? LOL!  I literally sat up in my seat and yelled out: “NO WAAAAY!!!!” 

Did anyone else get the feeling that Namor was kinda feeling Shuri? But then again, I kinda got the feeling that Riri had a crush on Shuri too lol 🤣

What was up with all of the bald-headed/ashy jokes towards Okoye?? I don’t know if I liked that too much.

Omg the little actor boy they chose to be Nakia and T'Challa's son was sooo cuuute!! 😊 He looked like he could have really been their child! Lol

[digimonandpokemon]

YESS we can, I've never seen anything but good reviews for this book, and by reviews I meant a bunch of tropes listed that don't actually tell me nothing about the plot so, please, please share with us about your reading experience thank <3

Aksjdmdkzkjdd alright alright I shall share my reading experience of this book through the lense of an asexual person who really likes fantasy novels because I think world building is really cool and could only read like a few chapters before getting so frustrated with it, it is hiding in the back of my book shelves :)

Spoilers obvs ajdhkdkd

Number one, there is very little world building. The author kind of explains things but it is obviously not the authors main focus cause most of the world building we get is "There's elves :) and they have magic :0 and won't you know it, they hate humans !!!" We also learn that all of elves are cursed to wear masquerade masks for their entire lives which is explained to us with the emotional depth of that one scene in trolls.

Number two, the elves hate the humans except this very mysterious handsome elven prince that has taken an interest in this one main character because he just "see something in her 😊" we learn that the elves live excluded from the rest of the world, divided off by a giant wall. The book obviously makes you feel like the main character is going to be the key to making the elves and the humans live in harmony again. Because duh.

Number three, do not take this as a stab towards the main character. I personally think she's a great main character who's head strong and does what she needs to to survive. She's make the perfect main character for any fantasy novel but since I personally don't like romance novels and I always see romance as "pulling the main character down into a love interest" it just doesn't do it for me. I mean she was a little a bland but I think that's just how the writing is. Which leads me into

Number 4, the writing is very one dimensional. I feel like the author was trying to make the writing interesting and powerful but they fell short and it was just kinda meh. For example after the main character kills a wolf and sells the hide we are lead to belive its a fay. So the author brings in this bad ass huntress who is covered in battle scars and has seen horrors beyond the compression of our mortal minds. The main character sells the wolf hide to her and asks if its a fey after the huntress gives some ominous warning that the elves were beginning to grow a lot more brave, getting closer and closer to towns. She's like "hmm it doesn't look like to be a fey hide but it is an impressive game :]" and you're like great! No author would purposefully mislead us like that after bringing in a clearly experienced character that seems to know what their talking about. Because if they did that would just be a waste of a scene a waste of a character and a waste of my time because that is just sloppy writing. I mean come on hahahaha

Oh fucking wait it was an elf this entire time! Haha! The author sure did trick you! Hahaha! And there other small details that are super inconsistent that I do not want to get into.

I was recommended this book multiple times and it's really popular so obviously there must be a reason and I personally didn't get very far into the book. My judgment just might not be fully flushed out and I may eventually go back and try to read more. It just doesn't do it for me.

However, if you want a YA fantasy series that I 100% recommend you should definitely give Odin's Child a try!!

I read the book in 2 days I couldn't put it down. It's got a good female protagonist with a a really well written out slow burn in it (so good that I even vibe with it which is hard for me to do) and this series kind of pulls a reverse on you. The world its describing is considered normal, yet OUR world is considered strange and hell like. There a three books in total and I'm only the second, but if the other two are like the first one I have no doubts it'll be good. The writing is really well thought out, the world building is so so good. It builds off of classic troupes and flips it right on its head.

I won't spoil anything just in case lmaoo

Anyways I'm done ranting and it is time for me to sleep :) gn

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

I don’t know if you’re still talking about SOA but I recently got back into it (first watched it only in 2020) and I just saw one of your posts with a quote from Charlie that said (paraphrasing) ‘aside from his kids Gemma was the person he loved most in this world.’ Referring to the realization of the kind of person Gemma is after Jax realizes she killed Tara.

Do you think Jax loved Gemma more than he loved Tara? Was he manipulated to do so?

(I love your meta analysis’)

Hi there!

I haven't spoken about SOA in a while but I'm always up for discussing it with fellow fans. Thank you for saying you love my meta, it still surprises me that people read my meta, especially since some of them were written so long ago but I love writing them so it's nice to know that people also like reading them 😊

As for your question about whether I think Jax loved Gemma more than Tara, it's a complex one because in general I think the love that a person has for their mother and their partner is fundamentally different and not necessarily comparable. But the simple answer is: no, I don't think Jax loved Gemma more than Tara.

If Jax had ever been in a life or death situation where he was on the spot and had to choose between Gemma or Tara, he would've chosen Tara. In fact, he did see choose Tara over Gemma multiple times or did things that indicated he loved Tara more than Gemma.

In season 5, after Gemma crashed the car with the boys in because she was stoned, Tara hit Gemma and told her she would never see the kids again, and Jax stood by. He didn't attempt to defend Gemma, he supported Tara. The only reason Jax even "forgave" Gemma is because he decided to use her guilt and desperation to see her grandkids to emotionally blackmail her to get information from Clay.

Later in that season, in a conversation with Gemma, Tara explicitly acknowledged that Jax would choose her over Gemma with the whole, "no [I won't kill you], but my husband might", scene.

In season 6 when Tara faked the miscarriage and framed Gemma as having caused it, Jax told Gemma "You're never gonna see my wife, and you will never see those kids again. Grandma is dead." He didn't hesitate to cut Gemma out of his life for Tara and his kids.

When Jax found out about Tara's betrayal at the end of season 6 with the fake miscarriage and plotting to runaway with the boys, he forgave her. That was completely out of character for Jax so much so that even Tara expected that he was going to kill her. Jax's reaction in that scene spoke volumes. You could see the surprise on his face that Tara believed he would hurt her. Jax was more forgiving of Tara than anybody else in his life. If anybody else had done this to him, he would've retaliated with violence. The fact that he didn't kill her demonstrated the depth of his love for her and that he would never hurt her.

Then there's the fact that Jax killed Gemma because she murdered Tara. If the situation had been reversed and Tara had killed Gemma, would Jax have reacted in the same way? Would he have killed Tara in retaliation? I don't think so. And perhaps that would be because of the different context i.e. if Tara had killed Gemma it would've been in self defence but I have no doubts in my mind that if Tara had killed Gemma, Jax would've at the very least let Tara live even if he couldn't have forgiven her.

Gemma's jealousy of Tara also indicated that Jax loved Tara more. The tension and animosity between Tara and Gemma was always about Jax. Gemma wanted to be the number one woman in Jax's life and she couldn't stand Tara holding that place. They were in competition with each other for Jax's love and attention but most of the time when it came down to it, Jax did prioritise Tara.

Then there's the fact that Jax loved his kids more than anyone else and as the mother of his children, that deepened his love for Tara. It also meant he was more protective of her and more likely to prioritise her because whatever happened to her directly impacted the kids.

Finally, I think Jax's love for Tara was very rooted in the fact that she was the best of him. Tara was the only one that really saw Jax the person and encouraged him to be good, or at least better. At his core Jax was a sensitive, compassionate and contemplative soul. The corruption of the club and the traumas he endured throughout the series turned him into a monster but that wasn't who he fundamentally was and Tara was the only one that connected him to that part of himself. That's why he was able to forgive her betrayal in season 6, because she represented a life and a person that he yearned for and believed in but that could never could be due to circumstances.

In contrast, Jax knew who Gemma was even before he found out that she'd killed Tara. He knew she was capable of something like that and was aware of a lot of her misdeeds. Jax repeatedly called Gemma out for her shit and saw the worst parts of her. He knew she was toxic, controlling and manipulative. At points in the later seasons he was outwardly bitter and hateful towards her because of that.

So I think that Jax loved Gemma in spite of who she was because she was his mom, but he loved Tara for everything that she was by choice. That difference in how he loves them is why I think that he loved Tara more.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on whether you think Jax loved Gemma more than Tara. It's definitely a complex one to analyse for so many reasons!

[emelkae]

Hey Emel, nice meeting you, I got a weird timing question for you. I have been reading through your novel tag - it's so amazing it's published btw - and I would like to ask, what's the story behind this story? How did you come up with it? How was writing it? What are the plans with the sequels? What are your favourite kind of scenes to write - I'm seeing hurt/comfort, siblings and brothers which are my fave things ever so I'm squalling - in short: what kind of writer are you? I wanna know

@writingonesdreams

Thank you so much 😊 That makes me remember that I should've tagged more stuff honestly lol, I have so much Wannabe content

This answer ended up loooong, so I'm putting it under a cut:

The War Machines series started as an AU fic idea. It turns out that if you keep asking "what if," scramble up traits, change dynamics, and add new goals and new characters, you're gonna end up with whole novel full of OCs. Or... a trilogy of novels. I'm happy that my little AU scene got so wildly out of hand.

I could easily write the prequel to Wannabe now, but the sequel (Warrior) was giving me a ton of trouble. I recently figured out why:

I write best out of order; the first scene I wrote in Wannabe ended up in chapter nine I think. For Warrior, I was trying to start at chapter one and placing loads of importance on it, then writing myself into corners and having to scrap my draft over and over and over and over. I'm going to start writing the scenes I want to first and then filling in extra stuff the way I did with book one.

The goal I had in mind for the characters in Wannabe was "how can I get the Machines to realize how deep their bond is/how can I heal them?" But the goal for Warrior was literally "what sort of painful stuff can I put these characters through to make them develop" and that ended up dragging the tone down a LOT, obviously. So I need to keep in mind that even though there are some heavy topics they have to deal with, this series is ultimately about love.

I was overthinking character arcs and motivations. Instead of coming up with something external for them to deal with and letting the internal changes happen naturally, I was coming up with internal changes first and then forcing situations that would make them change the way I wanted them to. Basically, I was treating my characters like tools or puppets instead of letting them grow organically, and then not understanding why every plot point and interaction seemed so stilted. So now I'm just gonna Put Those Boys in Situations and let them tell me how they're feeling.

Even if none of the 100k+ words in my scrapped drafts end up making it into Warrior, I don't see the time as wasted at all. I've learned so, so much more about writing in the past year alone than I've learned from every class or book on writing I've ever taken/read.

I really really like writing angst and whump hehe, but I tend to get heavy-handed with the Angst Hammer in my original stuff. I think it's pretty easy to write character development that way. While there are angsty parts in Wannabe for sure, there's also fluff and a ton of bonding in between crazy action scenes. I especially love subverting romance tropes to make them platonic, hopefully adding a depth to Found Family outside of "these people are around each other a lot."

I can't mention the War Machines series without also mentioning @avrablake. Avra was honestly the reason I ended up learning so much. She has this incredible knack for offering feedback and criticism in a way that ends up feeling so encouraging, and she always gets me to think deeper about my plot and characters than I could on my own. I am truly grateful for the time she's spent on helping me through the best and worst of my ideas.

I'm about to start trying to write my sequel again. I have a few scene ideas and I'm itching to play around with them :)

[seabreezeraincloud]

First off, happy 2023 and I hope this year will bring wonderful joy for you!😊 Anyway, I saw your tweets about the Lost Lagoon book. I've heard about the book on a couple occasions, but never looked into it. So if it's as bad as you mentioned, then thanks for the warning! I hate when my favorite characters aren't their canon self too. But with that being said, have you also checked out the other Tangled series books/comics yet, and if so, what do you think of them?

Okay, so I wanted to finish it before responding to this ask, which...proved to be rather difficult because large chunks of it are actually pretty boring. Full disclosure, I've always had trouble staying focused while reading - I zone out, I skim paragraphs, I often have to reread sentences multiple times, blah blah blah, I'm a shitty reader - but...this is Tangled. More importantly, this is Tangled prominently featuring Cassandra. My current obsession. All things considered, I should at the very least not be bored by this book. And yet, I found myself not really giving a shit about what was going on until the climax (which...is supposed to be the most exciting part of a story, so at least it achieves that bare minimum). I didn't care about the lagoon, I didn't care about any of the new characters, and I didn't even care about Rapunzel and Cassandra. It felt like a whole lot of nothing. It honest to god gave me flashbacks to elementary school, trying so hard to finish books I didn't really like because I had to take tests on them as part of my grade.

While I don't think it's a downright awful story or anything, the fact that it's working with already-established lore and characters that I practically know like the back of my hand at this point is the main reason I'm so critical of it. There is a slight improvement in the characterizations after the interlude, but that "off" feeling still lingers throughout, especially with scenes that directly contradict what happens in the show. The dialogue comes off as rather stilted half the time, and everyone only loosely resembles their canon selves. Honestly, while I could probably rant on Cassandra's characterization in more depth because she's the character I'm the most passionate about, Rapunzel and Eugene are arguably even more out-of-character than she is. Cassandra's exaggerated introversion is paired with a much less socially stunted Rapunzel who actually reflects on the way she treats Cass and a way too polite and humble Eugene who's actually nice to Cass when he first meets her. It's like their flaws were sanded down to balance out this portrayal of Cassandra being overly whiny and rude like an angsty teenager instead of the socially apt 22-year-old with reasonable reservations she is canonically. Y'know, like a fanfiction.

Honestly though, I am glad I read it. It's not good, but there are some scenes I enjoyed at least a little. Like I said, the climax was generally able to hold my attention. The scene where Rapunzel admits that telling Eugene about Cassandra sneaking her out of the castle was a hurtful thing to do was kinda nice, despite it further hammering in the fact that this story is very much not canon to the series lmao. Are these canonical contradictions in both characterization and plot distracting? Yes. Is it boring at points? Yup. Are there parts of it that are downright stupid? Of course. But at the same time, getting mad at a children's book released back in 2017 near the beginning of the show's run in 2023 as an adult who has been obsessed with the series for almost three years now is a little silly. After all, it did get the gears in my head turning about Tangled and I love thinking about Tangled a little too much.

And that's...believe it or not, the short version of my thoughts lmao. I have a lot more to say, but this post is already a bit long and I haven't even answered your question yet, so I'll stop myself here.

Anyway, regarding other Tangled books: I have seen random bits from various picture books floating around on social media, although I haven't had the means to actually read through any of them in full. They seem...cute, I guess. If anything, they have some really good illustrations that are fun to look at (I mean, I do have one of them as my blog header lol). I plan on giving Vanishing Village a chance eventually to see if it's any better, but I'll probably need to take a break first.

I have read most of the IDW comics, and I think they're pretty fun for what they are. They do represent the characters better than Lost Lagoon does, and while they obviously have no impact on the series, I find them more worthy as soft canon content as they do capture the style and tone pretty well. I think it helps that they generally stick with short, light-hearted adventures without really poking at the larger narrative too much. I enjoy them.

[pondering-apollo]

Hello, Apollo! I hope you’re doing well!

For the author ask game (if you want): 1, 3, 12, and 74?

Have a good rest of your weekend! xx

From this ask game.

Hey Sage!

1. What got you into writing?

I've loved writing since I was like, six or seven years old? I remember watching a kid's programme where Roald Dahl was talking about how there's a story in all of us and just generally being encouraging about giving it a go. I made myself a little book out of folded card and drew pictures and wrote myself a little story about a wizard, and that was it. I'd fill notebooks and take them into school to show my teachers. The first time I ever wrote FanFiction, I was thirteen I think? I wrote a story about Team Rocket from Pokemon being involved in a heist, then changed all the names and a few details and submitted it to my English teacher for an assessment 🤣 (I don't think she had any idea; she gave me great marks). I went on to study Literature & Creative Writing at uni. I suppose I've never really stopped, ever since Roald Dahl told me I could do it if I wanted to. It's helped me through the shittiest years of my life, and I will never tire of running away to the weird little world in my head.

3. Is writing just a hobby or is it something you would like to pursue as a career?

I guess I kind of touched on this before, but I have a love-hate relationship with this question. The short answer is, yes. I would love nothing more than to write for a living. The longer answer is that a lot of what motivates me is feedback and interacting with people as I write, and writing a novel is a hard slog where you don't really get that. I've tried so many times - I have a story that I've planned out, and a couple of characters who actually I really love. But it's lonely when you're the only one who knows them and loves them - whereas I could be writing about characters who I love who lots of other people love equally, and we can scream about together, and I just ... I quickly fall back into fanfic writing every time I try. The second thing that's always present at the back of my head is the idea that as soon as you make something more than a hobby, you run the risk of taking all the enjoyment out of it. As soon as you put deadlines on it and make it the thing that pays your bills, you're writing because you have to, not because you necessarily want to. Studying literature killed my love of reading for a while. Picking up a book was a task and not a treat, and that sucked. I'd hate for writing to become that.

4. Do you have any fics planned for the future that you're excited about?

All The Queen's Men. Hands down the most excited I've been writing anything in so long. I just don't know if it will translate ... like. I've never written anything on this scale before. At least, not that I've shared like this. There's a lot of planning that's gone into it and lots of ideas and depth to backstories, and I'm scared of info dumping or not weaving the plot together well enough, of it being boring or too complicated or only making sense to me - the list goes on. But despite all that, It excites me every time I come back to it. I also have an idea for another canon based fic after I'm done with Crossing The Line - this one set before No Regrets and concerning Levi as the gang leader in the underground, and a reader/OC who is empowered and a little bad-ass and very clever and sort of an enemies to lovers type vibe.

74. Share a line, or ten, of a new or old wip

Okay this is getting long, and I've been looking for an excuse to share this half-done bit of Riptide that I don't know if I'll ever finished but brought tears to my eyes to write - so I'll post it separately and link it. 😊 HERE.