#also another plotline with no aftermath

[inazumaclown]

i have a LOT of opinions about dark emperor kazemaru bc ofc i've always been a kazemaru stan but i became a kazemaru kinnie by season 2

[lemotmo]

The Buck brain rot is real for some Buckley's

Q. My mistake for believing that as a self proclaimed Buck girlie that scene would have bothered you. It was not okay and you're allowed to say so.

A. That scene was a couples fight. Full stop. It was written. Filmed. Blocked. And acted as a couple having an argument. Neither one of them was the bad guy. But the reality is that Buck does tend to make things about Buck first. Not in a bad way, but in a 'I'm always the one not being chosen in these scenarios' kind of way. Buck isn't doing it out of malice or self service. His default setting is to believe everyone will choose whatever outcome doesn't include him. And that makes it difficult to reason with him occasionally. It was a classic miscommunication argument, which was also kind of the point, and part of what contributed to the overall couple feeling of the fight in general. Buck's first reaction to bad news, or the potential of bad news, is to think how the choices on the table will affect him first. Again, not out of genuine selfishness or cruelty, but he still misses the fact that sometimes there is no fair to all involved choice, but a choice still has to be made. And no one, especially Eddie, is ever going to choose something to intentionally hurt Buck. But in those situations Buck insecurities override everything else for him.

Aside from the fact that the fight was clearly foreshadowing an NDE of some kind for Buck, putting Eddie in the position he wasn't able to be in for Bobby, helping to save Buck. Aside from the foreshadowing element the other really interesting thing was that this time Buck and Eddie were arguing from the side the other one usually occupies. Normally Buck is the one needing to talk about things, and Eddie is the one trying to keep everything shut inside. But this time Eddie is begging Buck to talk to him. He's desperate for them to grieve together and be the support for one another that they usually are, but Buck is denying them that because Buck is refusing to talk at all. Instead he's distracting himself by trying to assess how everyone else is handling their grief. The plotline for Buck and Eddie has been building to this all season long, but especially since the show returned from hiatus. All of their scenes have been building towards this upcoming finale episode. Eddie has been working on himself all season, and has become aware that he has to deal with things and talk about things before they spiral out of control, but he needs something that puts the Buck thing into perspective for him. Buck has been avoiding the Eddie of it all the entire season. He's hidden behind the things that he can fix and help with, subletting the house, talking Eddie through his nerves, but he has avoided examining the Eddie thing in general. Once it was verbally brought to his attention, by both Maddie and Tommy, Buck doubled down on his refusal to think about and acknowledge things. Both men are about to be put into a position that's not going to allow that to continue. Everything this season has been leading to this episode. I have no idea if the outcome will be full Buddie canon or just the clear knowledge thats where we're headed. But either way their moment of reckoning is coming. Buck being trapped with Ravi is literally trapping Buck with everything he's trying to avoid/overcome and putting Eddie in the position of possibly losing Buck is the universe screaming at them to talk. Talk about all the things they have spent years actively avoiding talking about. The fight was the final step leading to that reckoning. But even in the aftermath of that fight Eddie knew exactly what Buck needed. Buck's plotline for that episode was missing family dinner, the Bobby of it all, but it was represented in this episode by the family dinner tradition. Eddie was not aware of that because Buck's not talking to Eddie and Eddie isn't at the fire station to witness the lack of family dinners. Eddie still knew Buck enough to know Buck needed family time. Eddie didn't call the 118. He got Chris and pepa and gave Buck the family dinner he needed. No one knows Buck better than Eddie. No one knows Eddie better than Buck. Like any couple they knew exactly what buttons to push to set the other one off. That's what that scene was about, anon. Any argument desperately trying to make it something else is projecting and that's on you not Buck or Eddie.

Thank you Nonny!

I'm going to let this one speak for itself.

I fully agree that this was a couple's fight. There was no malicious intent to hurt each other. Eddie just 'reacted' and got lost in his grief there for a moment. That is all.

It's time to lay this discourse to rest now and focus on the next episode. 🤗

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[myalchod]

On the WoT Series Finale ...

Okay, now that I've had some time to mull over things, some (potentially incoherent) Thoughts on 3x08 ... well, specifically That Thing and some broader tropey stuff.

I get why people are upset -- I absolutely do, especially given that this show has made some rather unfortunate choices vis a vis optics. Colour-blind casting is wonderful, but it also means that you run the risk of accidentally (or subconsciously) falling into tropes you didn't necessarily think through. Valda and Fain are both examples -- the actors for both are utterly wonderful, but the two Most Problematic Whitecloaks being particularly dark-skinned definitely has Unfortunate Implications, especially contrasting Valda against avuncular, generally well-intentioned Geofram Bornhold. And there's a trend in this season in particular with PoC characters being the ones who die, especially in more unpleasant ways. Ihvon dying over Maksim. The White sister in Liandrin's cabal being the first to go (and to get absolutely smashed in the process). Ispan's death versus Nyomi's. Loial, generally.

At the same time, I get why there are deaths. The source material has eleventy billion characters; it was inevitable we'd see them, especially as the show goes forward and focusses more and more on the 'kids' without the need for established names to carry the show. It's even more inevitable as plotlines proliferate, and threads have to be tied back in and the show made to work within its constraints. I hate them -- I have a habit of picking out, as my favourites, characters who very often end up dead (or, if not, sidelined, but that's not important here). When I read the books, many years ago, Siuan was my unequivocal favourite from the moment she first showed up, and when I read the spoilers last night, insomniac and trying to convince myself to sleep and not watch, I was simultaneously shocked and not surprised.

So I went in knowing that Siuan was going to die, but I didn't know how they'd handle it. And it was heartbreaking. But thinking about it, in the aftermath, there's one thing in particular that I actually do like about the change, and that is how it makes her an active participant in the Tower's breaking. Not that she causes it -- that happens in both books and show -- but that she isn't silenced, stilled, bundled off into a cell, and then basically vanishes from the Tower. We see more of her mistakes play out on the screen, but in addition we see her try to make amends for them. "I am Aes Sedai" felt like a challenge as much as a proclamation -- a reminder of what the words mean, of what the Tower should be, at this time above and beyond any other. It felt like more agency than I remember her having in the books. (Could it have been done without her dying? Arguably yes. But if she was going to go out, and if they wanted to give Sophie a suitably dramatic moment to play, this was the best opportunity within her book arc. Could it have been done without such a violent -- if mercifully off-panel -- death? Again, arguably yes, but as someone pointed out on Bsky, it's a definitive shorthand for Actually Deceased in a show where anything short of death can be Healed, and even more than that if you're the Dark One, but that's another story.)

Would I have liked to see the show go a different way? Maybe. There was a lot of speculation floating around about ways show Siuan's storyline could go, especially in connection with Moiraine's book arc, and especially after Siuan and Mat's conversation I really warmed to the idea -- it would have been lovely to see more of their dynamic, and there were some very interesting ways that could have wound. My ultimate response depends a lot on how the rest of the show (which we hopefully get!) plays out. But there will always be things you wish a show did that it doesn't, and that's what things like fanfic are for. I've been disappointed many times, and this one hits me less hard than some, because even if I dislike it at first blush I can see how it makes narrative sense.

But again: I get it. I get that there are actor conflicts, and cost ramifications, and any one of a thousand things that might have precluded Sophie's continued involvement as a regular -- and if they followed book!Siuan's storyline, that would have probably warranted regular involvement. I get that there are issues with killing a woman, a character of colour, a lesbian in an onscreen relationship -- so many issues, taken in the context of an industry that is pretty awful to minorities of all sorts, and especially when it comes to SF/F. I'm not saying all of this to try to convince anyone one way or another, but mostly to kind of get my thoughts on the events of the finale worked out, when it's not what I expected.

Your feelings on this, whatever they are, are absolutely valid. If you walk away from the show, that's your prerogative -- goodness knows I've done that with shows in the past. If you choose to defend it or to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, those are equally justifiable. Everyone has to decide what their personal break point is with the media they engage with. I hope, if you do walk away, that you're able to keep whatever joy the show gave you; feeling like a piece of media you love has betrayed you is always painful. Personally, I hope we do get more of this show, and I'm willing to give them a chance. I haven't agreed with all of their choices, but overall I'm still enjoying it, and I'm definitely eager to see what comes next ... though not to wait two years for it, assuming it's a similar cadence.

(Anyway. I hope that was some measure of coherent in the end. But now I'm going to try to do something entirely different with regards to another character on this show, so I'll shut up instead of going on any further.)

[zetalial]

You know, I wonder if when the writers were first plotting out FMA 03, they were planning on the liore arc being the finale.

There's absolutely something to the idea of starting an ending in Liore, giving Ed's story a full circle, beginning with him naively toppling a corrupt priest and unknowingly beginning the chain of events that would lead to an uprising and eventually the creation of the philosopher's stone. Ed finally confronting the past after being in denial all series is a great conclusion. The liore arc is basically where everything comes together. Scar's arc reaches a conclusion. Lust chooses not to follow Dante's orders here. Ed confronts Sloth here. The stone is made here. It even has Roy in the position of seeing another Ishval happening when everything he'd been doing in the military had been justified by searing to gain power to prevent it from ever happening again. His arc has all come a full circle.

Also just the philosopher's stone formation is a big finale moment on its own. To compare it to Mangahood, the promised day arc is literally all about a mass transmutation to creat philosophers stone.

I do like the finale we got, I think ending below Central City which is of course a centrepoint is also very elegant and I love the aesthetic of the ballroom. Underground city is very cool.

Liore would almost work but while its the climax to a lot of stuff, it would have to expand into something else to conlude a lot of the plotlines. For Roy's side, he can witness that everything was for naught in Liore, but the response, to that in the form of a coup and personally killing the Fuhrer is equally necessary to his arc. Sloth's arc is far from done if Ed only first confronts her here. Seeing the response, him deliberately digging up Trisha's grave is important.

That said, a lot of the finale does feel messy, particularly in how the characters move around. It's functional, but it definitely feels random that Envy just captures Al for instance. If they intended Liore as a sort of finale in earlier drafts, it would perhaps also explain why Rose is present in the ballroom, if the scene had been originally conceived as occurring somehow within Liore. as she's actually connected to that place.

Anyway this is just a thought I had. I like the ending as is, seeing the aftermath is super important. It wouldn't just smoothly fit into Liore which might be why they didn't attempt that but I wouldn't be surprised if it was considered originally as the finale.

[wangxianficrecs]

Rewind 2024 - Proud Author Spotlights

WangxianFicRecs - Rewind 2024

Here are some recommendations from 2024 sent in by our fandom's authors themselves. Make sure to give them much love. PS: Authors, don't be shy! Submit more Proud Author Spotlights!

~*~

I published the latest extra off my dynasty fic in March 2024, and it might be my favourite so far! Feat a lot of politics in the Wen Sect, wwx being his badass self, some ocs and a lot of Yiling siblings feels.

💙 Hope is a discipline (Something you choose)

by One_eyed_God (@oneeyedoctogod)

T, 15k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Under the harsh and merciless sun of Nightless City, Wen Ruohan falls. But even with its leader is dead, the Wen Sect must live on, to avoid the dreaded future Wei Wuxian has already lived once. And though he never expected to be the one to lead them, he will carry this duty without fail. Or: The aftermath of Wen Ruohan's death.

~*~

Hello! ☺️ First of all, thank you for running this wonderful blog!!

This is for Rewind 2024 Proud Author Spotlight. It is a 29k story I recently finished translating (I'm also the author of the original version) and I'm really glad to have been able to do this within less than a year.

It will not please everyone as it is mostly CQL-based (CQL post-canon) but it is first person Wei Ying POV and I haven't read a lot of that in this fandom, so I hope maybe some people would enjoy it!

Thank you again for everything!

Léli.

The Unsung

by Leilwen (@leilwe)

E, 29k, Wangxian

Summary: Lan Zhan... would you come over the mountain with me one day? … … I would have liked for him to give me a real answer and I cursed the Lans' nocturnal almost-hibernation. … … … When Yunshen Buzhichu no longer needs me, you will be my only horizon. When I returned and lay down beside him, the crescent moon no longer looked so sickly pale.

~*~

Hi ! This is for the remind 2024, I don't know if authors can boosted their own work. But I wrote this fic for my very first RBB, and even if it ins't perfect I am very proud of it.

Convergence

by Czeriahx (@czeriah) & Sirendipity (@lwjsbedtime)

M, 77k, Wangxian

Part of Yuyu Respectarium's Reverse Big Bang!

Summary: In a world governed by the Wen Empire, the Wei Coven's Oracle prophesize the coming of a new sun. Together with its moon counterpart, they are to bring back balance to the world. That is, until the Wen Emperor send assassins to take care of the threat against their rule. [Art by Siren, Embedded in the fic !!]

~*~

My submission to the TopXian RBB event that was boosted here a few months ago. I got a wonderful prompt and art piece to write for. Links in my fic!

An AU Canon Divergence where after the betrothal with JZX is broken off, JYL becomes betrothed to WWX. The plotline is retold with this twist, leading to events both familiar and not. JYL is the pov character, navigating her new life after devastation and war, with WWX at her side. But let no one forget LWJ - WWX and JYL certainly can't, though for very different reasons.

Come along for character study fix-it fic, with a happy ending for all the main characters!

Not Unwilling

by somevariationofgay (@somevariationofgay)

E, 48k, Wangxian & Xianli

Part of the TopXian RBB

Summary: The young mistress of Yunmeng Jiang clan, raised to marry out for the benefit of her family, dutifully waits for her parents to arrange another match after her troth with the young master of Lanling Jin clan is broken. When her father decides the new betrothal will be to their sect's head disciple, she finds herself not unwilling. But the ambitions of Qishan Wen clan surge and a bloody flood overtakes Lotus Pier, changing the course of her life forever.

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – these stories.)

[avoicebehindthestars]

How much Aziracrow can we hope for? (I did the maths)

tl;dr It can be as little as 17 minutes.

I went over both seasons of Good Omens over the past few days and I wrote down how much screentime Aziraphale and Crowley have in them. Then I did some maths…

*Btw. I've rounded my equations for clarity because I reckon tiny fractions don't matter that greatly. I have a whole excel chart with the scenes length counted in seconds and meticulous calculations based on that if anyone wants to see.*

I'll start with season 2 because it has spoiled us rotten. The season (without the opening and ending credits - though I did include e6 credits up to the point where their faces blur out) lasts 259 minutes. The scenes with Aziraphale and Crowley take up 118 minutes of that. That's 45.5%. If you apply that number to the 90m, you get:

90*45.5% = 41

Forty one minutes of Aziraphale and Crowley's shared screentime. Depending on how you take it, it doesn't sound like much (in fact it's 21 minutes less than all their screentime in the minisodes), but it's like an entire season 2 episode made up entirely out of their screentime.

Except…

Over a half of their screentime (62 minutes to be exact) in s2 is in the minisodes. And, let's be real, we're not getting any of that with just 90 minutes to tell the story of another Armageddon't. So! Season 2 minus the minisodes is reportedly 142 minutes. 56 minutes of that are taken by Aziraphale and Crowley in scenes together, which gives us 39.5%

90*39.5% = 35.5

That's roughly 35 minutes 30 seconds. Still doing okay with that? You'd better, because we're about to leave our sweet delululand.

Season 3 was never supposed to be like season 2. That was our "gentle, quiet and romantic" intermission, a backdoors prologue to the final season. Season 3 was always supposed to be like season 1: another mad-paced stop-the-apocalypse narrative. Just like the majority of season 1 focused on Adam and a plethora of side characters that had a role to play in stopping the Armageddon, the 90m will have to tell the story of the Second Coming and show how those characters move across the board towards stopping it (let's remember that Shadwell is low-key confirmed to return, so yes, we are getting thost side characters and each of them will need screentime); as well as the child of god themself, of course.

So, let's look at the numbers for s1 instead. Season 1 lasts a little over 306 minutes (again, minus opening and ending credits). The scenes with Aziraphale and Crowley take up 73 minutes of that. That's 23.8%.

90*23.8% = 21.5

Twenty one minutes and thirty seconds. Ouch.

Unfortunately, we're not done yet. 30 minutes of Aziraphale and Crowley's shared screentime is in the first half of e3 (the much-loved through-the-ages sequence) and the second half of e6 (the body swap plotline) - both of which only found their way into Good Omens because there was time left. The scenes in total last 56 minutes (btw I decided to count in the whole epilogue, minus the Ritz, even though a lot of it shows the aftermath for other characters - if I'd counted that into the "main" season, seeing as a lot of it is in the novel, the numbers would look even worse), leaving 250 minutes of the actual season 1. The scenes with Aziraphale and Crowley now take up a bit under 48 minutes. That gives us 19%. So, ready for the final equation?

90*19% = 17

Seventeen minutes of Aziraphale and Crowley's shared screentime.

That's less than 2/3 of the through-the-ages sequence. It's roughly as much as there is of them in s1e1 (only the episode itself is 47 minutes long - it's the second most Aziracrow-heavy in all of s1).

And just so we're clear, when I jotted down the scenes to include, I took ALL scenes that have both Aziraphale and Crowley in them - not only those that are about them, when they are talking or otherwise interacting, focused on each other, but also e.g. when Crowley talks to Gabriel and Aziraphale stands in the background, or when they bring back Job's children. I did that because MS and DT are brilliant actors and I firmly believe they can saturate each such scene with love and longing so much that it'll leak off our screens. See? I can be quite the optimist.

So yeah, enjoy your New Year and the upcoming 6 weeks of filming, I guess.

[enkays-den]

YEAH it's been rough ever since cub decided exile wasn't enough punishment. there have been times I've had to pause watching and remind myself that at the heart of it all it's a bunch of theatre kid friends playing a really intense game of cops and robbers and that, if nothing else, the poe vs no poe stuff seems to be pretty good for boosting the numbers of hermits like jevin and cleo and joe who aren't in the spotlight as much.

(...also might be occasionally going back and watching the clip of skizz talking about that time he threw a burning pallet at a cop. for enrichment, lmao.)

I haven't really watched hermitcraft before this season so I don't know how their plotlines work but it seems to have been majorly ramping up lately, so maybe it'll be resolved soon? my personal hope for the endgame is that skizz and poe skizz duke it out somehow and poe skizz gets booted from his body exorcism style /hj I keep thinking about the phrasing of skizz saying that as regular, non-poe skizz, he's "allowed" to be happy to see cleo when they got home from exile...

anyway, tl;dr, I super feel you on the discomfort with the storyline at the moment, so fingers crossed things settle down soon! love your posts and hope you have a great day!

THIS IS ALL METAFICTION, NOT A STATEMENT ON THE HERMITS AS CONTENT CREATORS OR STORYTELLERS

yeah, i think that the anti-poe movement hasn't been unified at all, no fault to them, but the POE rn just seems like a very Brick Wall concept in terms of narrative, especially with cub at the helm. The oppressive, conformist government department is just wayyyyyy too easy of a villian to play, and the first step to confronting a force like that is you need the numbers and the motivation, and right now it's mainly been scattered mild defiance. I will have more concrete thoughts once we have a few episodes with skizz in exile and grian and scar in the mainland, as well as having two powerhouses like Joel and False exiled.

With Cub permanently in Exile, just killing him doesn't solve the problem, because he just comes back. He doesn't care if he blows up or the things he builds are destroyed, he's the perfect apathetic villian. Combined with the fact that he has lackeys to drop him supplies whenever he needs it, Cub is just this pit for the exiles to throw their time and resources into until they tire out or give up, and just slink away into the wilderness and not give in to the POE's demands.

I know Joe is trying to connect the two spawn points, and honestly i think he could ally with doc if he presents it as a way to get out of the conflict he's been "dragged into".

I think that contacting "Upper Management" might be the way to go here, because it's basically a way to nerf the POE somewhat. The idea is that the POE are somehow the authority and power here, but who gave them that right? The right to move spawn 30 million blocks away and start sending the hermits to permanent time out? (ignoring the meta for a moment). Another boss. The only thing that validates the POE's power is the POE itself, and once they lose that identity, it just exposes that it's all a bloodthirsty power play.

I love Skizz, but i think slowly 'losing' his friends is the perfect price to pay for mindlessly doing what is told of him. The mans isn't even involved in the discussion of exiling, he just sees the aftermath and says "those brutes need to be punished" without knowing what was even done. He didn't even get told that Ren and Cleo trapped the basement, he just assumes they're an enemy because he's told so. Skizz didn't show compassion or care for his fellow Hermits or give them the benefit of the doubt when told to go on a headhunt, why should he be given that luxury in return?

He's the most likely to go "hold on a sec" when FINALLY directly witnessing Cub's relentless campaign against those exiled, because skizz is a softie that likes his friends, but it will be hard to tell who's at the helm now that Poe skizz lost his sexy sexy accent.

but yeah ACAB. Legal does not inherently mean good; illegal does not mean immoral; laws are a manmade way to enforce compliance with the threat of violence as a consequence, and not inherent rules about how people should act. Catch me in a Joe Hills stream for the next while.

[bengiyo]

Unknown Ep 12 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Wei Qian and Xiao Yuan consummated the physical desire in their relationship, before Wei Qian ended up trying to deal with his head injury on his own again. Yuan broke through that and the two went home together, where Li Li was being supported by San Pang. I'm still feeling some consternation about the way they framed that sex scene and how they handled the emotional aftermath.

Li Li is reminding me of my own sister handling my coming out somewhat poorly because she was mad that she wasn't informed sooner.

I like her moving around the table to talk more intimately with Yuan after getting the big answers she needed.

Episode 12: Us

I like everyone trying to navigate this dynamic between Wei Qian and Yuan carefully. I'm a big fan of Xiong wanting to make sure he knows he's on their side.

Wei Qian looks so much better when it doesn't look like he's being crushed by the weight of the world.

Men should grab each other by their ties and kiss each other more often.

Yuan is a menace! He was not going to keep this on the DL at all.

Oh no...top-bottom discourse. Thank you for shutting it down, Wei Qian.

Li Li is pregante!!

This hallway scene is phenomenal. Wei Qian really is such a good brother, and I really love the way this scene reminds us of that. This thing with Yuan was super confusing, but he kept his cool so quickly with Li Li and focused on the important things. Yuan coming out of her room to intercept Qian. Li Li coming out of Yuan's room to talk. San Pang entering from Qian's room, and then the ensuing fight across all three rooms.

See all of Qian's reactions here are well-grounded in what we know of his relationship with Li Li and how hard things were with their mother.

Not me crying because of this group handhold.

I'm not sure it was clear earlier that their mom chose to die. This adds another harsh layer to Wei Qian's worries for Li Li.

They're doing that thing where they focus on Yuan maybe a little too much.

I'm relieved to know that Li Li had her baby without many lingering worries.

Final Verdict: 8.5, Recommended. I think the early parts of his series were incredibly strong, but I think there were some problems after they sent Yuan away to NYC. I feel like they didn't properly capture the turn for Wei Qian where things go from fraternal to romantic, and especially sexual. They introduced terrible sexual trauma to his story in a way that went unresolved, so it hurt the big moment where he decided to accept things with Yuan. I'm also high-key mad about this head injury plotline because they ended this show without telling us about the surgery, too. It didn't fully-connect with the family angst they were going for and left me a bit unsatisfied with it as a running plot in the background. That said, I think this show took the found family and relationship change conceits seriously and I respect that.

[tripleglitchwriting]

My earthspark Season 2a thoughts

Warning: SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE THING!!! And a lot of rambling. And negative thoughts.

As much as i hate to admit it, I was kind of disappointed. It’s not that it was bad, I did still enjoy it, but I feel like there was so much missed opportunity.

The show wasn’t well advertised for, especially season 2. I have a feeling Hazbro doesn’t really care much for it. I think the team that works on the show is great! They’re obviously very talented, passionate, and hardworking, but (so far) season 2 saw a definite downgrade from season 1.

The animation is the first thing that comes to mind. While it is still tv show quality, when compared to season 1 in some parts it feels clankier and less polished. Though I don’t know much about 3D animation other than it’s hard, so I suppose I can’t really critique something I have no practice in.

Then I come to the characters. Here I see the seasons biggest flaw. Starscream’s character arc got completely obliterated, (though they did at least mention his interaction with Hashtag) Nightshade got sidelined compared to the other terrans, and Breakdowns character arc also got the boot.

Breakdown interacted with Bumblebee once, and it was in the finale while they were fighting in the background. If it were just this plotline that got pushed off, I would be fine with it. It’s hard to fit in every single character thread in 9 episodes while also introducing new things. Except it wasn’t just this.

In season 1 they set up the perfect redemption arc for Starscream. Him finally meeting someone that actually listens to him, Megatron’s past abuse and Starscream feelings about his subsequent redemption, it was really interesting to see! But then he pulled a Steeljaw and decided to make New Cybertron. Character wise, sure, I can see why he would want to do that. However, it totally disregards his past interactions. We don’t even know how he found out about the titan, there are so many missing pieces.

Then there’s Cosmos. I think Cosmos is great! I think it’s cool that his voice is Weird Al! I was so excited to get to the next episode and see him take Robbie’s offer to join team Terran and the autobots… and then we don’t see him again. They even set up a potential conflict with Megatron being redeemed! And then nothing! My theory is they couldn’t afford weird al for another episode. Maybe he’ll be back in 2b?

Personally, I don’t like the chaos terrans. It’s an interesting concept, and it isn’t executed as poorly as it could’ve been, but they just fell below the bar for me.

Aftermath has one character trait and it’s hitting things. For the start of his character, that’s fine! Having him only see value in destruction is an interesting foil to Jawbreaker and the rest of the terrans. However, even after the episode with him and Jawbreaker, he doesn’t change. He steals the cave water (which, by the way, how do they get fuel now???? Does it come back???) and goes back to being terrible. I can see what they were trying to do with him, it’s cool having a character that was made to be evil go up against characters who try and Steven universe anybody that shows a hint of the possibility to change. But there’s just nothing interesting about Aftermath. They don’t even dive into his relationship with Breakdown that much after his debut episode.

And then there’s Spitfire. I have mixed feelings about her. On one hand, shes pretty much the shape the hedgehog of transformers. She’s the mean edgy version of an already established ‘good’ character who is designed to be better than said already established good character. On its own that’s pretty overdone, and so is the body switch troupe. It’s a good hook but super predictable. She’s more interesting than Aftermath, at least she has a reason to stay evil, but she just feels like a plot device to create conflict rather than an actual well-formed character. Maybe that’s what she is? On the other hand, her debut episode is really well directed! It was some fantastic shots and combat sequences! I absolutely love what they did with that! The fact she nearly killed Wheeljack was really surprising (in a good way) to me! It even played to Wheeljack character by having him be the first to figure her out!

A good amount of the episodes were as well directed as episode 6. They have a lot of good moments! Some I even laughed out loud at! It may just be the fact only half the season is out, but really 2a felt a bit empty. We got no new characters other than Cosmos (who had like 10 lines and then dipped) the chaos terrans, and the fairmiestero. There were a lot of missed opportunities in that department and in the department of pre existing characters.

Nothing new about Megatron (though I did enjoy the part we got to explore cybertronian culture with the polyhex tournament!) and no comebacks of older characters (where is prowl).

I thought the quintesson lore was pretty interesting though! They will probably be the villains of 2b. I still have hope for the series. They could right a lot of wrongs with the next part of season 2. I sincerely hope these loose ends get tied up.

I’m tired, I have more to say but the energy to type it all out is not there. I also didn’t proofread this so sorry if it’s just rambling and spelling mistakes haha.

[classicanalyzer]

Battle of Jakku Maxiseries Review

"The Empire has been defeated. Its body prone on the floor, shuddering a final breath. For all intents and purposes, the Rebels have won. But my people don't need to know that. Shouldn't know that. A lie is only a lie when discovered. Before then--for as long as you can stoke the flame of deception--a lie is your truth. And I will share my truth with my people. I am Moff Ubrik Adelhard. I rule this sector. Once in service to the Emperor, now in service to the Empire's flickering memory. A memory I will keep alive. By any means necessary." Ubrik Adelhard's thoughts on the Empire's fall

What started as a promising, ambitious story became one of the biggest disappointments this year for Star Wars. It's a shame that the Battle of Jakku maxiseries was one of the most disappointing experiences I had with a Star Wars comic. Some good aspects make me hopeful about Alex Segura's (the writer of this comic) run in the mainline comic, but for this comic, it's clear he needed more time to write this than with 12 issues. If you want the story of how the Galactic Civil War ended at Jakku, read the Aftermath Trilogy.

The premise of the comic is truly one of the most exciting ones. A story that not only answers what Luke was doing during the Aftermath Trilogy but also resolves the Uprising storyline. The first arc gave me hope, and it was written pretty good for the most part. To say the next two arcs were disappointing would be an understatement.

A major issue is how Alex Segura tried to connect to the Battle of Jakku, since it led to some awkward and conflicting ways it tried to force Luke and Adelhard to Jakku. Not to mention the actual Battle of Jakku is only two issues long. They should've just confined the storyline to the Anoat Sector and leaned into resolving the Uprising plot threads. I always wanted to see a Noble Court Throneship, and that'll never happen now. We also still have no idea of the relation between the Purge Troopers of Uprising and the Inquisitorius.

Another major issue is that for 12 issues, there's little going on in Republic Under Siege, and so much happening in Last Stand because of the limited number of issues. It's very hard to tell what to care about, as we don't spend enough time with characters and understand the stakes of the plot. The Iron Blockade is just casually lifted, and it's a pretty underwhelming end to that plotline.

The biggest issue has to do with the continuity errors of this comic. The most egregious continuity errors have to do with Gallius Rax and Rae Sloane. Gallius Rax told the Shadow Council and Sloane about the Contingency, which, as I mentioned before in my Republic Under Siege thoughts, not only contradicts the Aftermath Trilogy but also Rax's character to keep all the cards to his chest. Rae Sloane continuing to work under Rax after Liberation Day is also egregious since Sloane was no longer working for Rax after Liberation Day and was going on a revenge quest against him for months. This error really conflicts with her character journey in the Aftermath Trilogy. The sad thing is that the entire comic has a lot of continuity errors, and it's really hard to reconcile some of them. I wonder what Lucasfilm Story Group was doing during the comic's run.

Segura did do a great job with Luke's characterization, mostly. I was a bit thrown off by how Luke acted in Last Stand Issue 3. He embodies the noble last Jedi characterization RotJ defined him as. His compassion and concern for his friends and the New Republic shine through the comic despite its many faults. My favorite scene is how he tried to save Adelhard despite everything he did, wanting to try to save his soul from the dark path he was on, and sadly, Adelhard's soul was far too gone for him to save.

While the execution of Adelhard's arc wasn't great, I do like the concept of Adelhard going insane and retaliating with death to every faction after realizing he's nothing compared to the machinations and influence of Rax and Sloane. I just wish he had only focused on locking down the Anoat Sector and inflicting a brand new Operation Cinder, which forces Luke to stop him. Adelhard's stories in the first issues of each arc are also pretty good. They really do a good job of establishing him as a credible threat and his mental state in each arc.

I don't care much for the new characters, and Renya really got on my nerves by the end. The biggest sin was not including the Aftermath protagonist cast at all.

Note: I will say Gallius Rax in the comic looks like Matthew Rhys, and I hope Matthew Rhys portrays Rax in either live-action or animation. It's also funny how Belos (Matthew Rhys' character in TOH) has a lot of similarities with Rax.

Well, on to better things with Alex Segura's run on the new mainline Star Wars comic (the image of Luke Skywalker is a variant cover of the first issue of that run). Let's hope the mainline comic will be where Alex Segura's writing thrives.

"The fighting on and around Jakku continued for several months after the Ravager dropped from the skies--but the war was over in every meaningful way. What remained were the final spasms of a beheaded monster. But some monsters scratched and scraped for even the slightest chance at...revenge. While the remaining creatures skittered into the darkness, a bright new peace arose to light the way. A year after the Battle of Endor, the destruction of the Second Death Star and the deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, the Galactic Concordance was signed--formalizing the surrender of the Empire. But the treaty wasn't the only major change brought into our heroes' world. The birth of Ben Solo, the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, seemed to sound out across the galaxy--a peaceful echo to the new era of peace. And an affirmation that the dark days were over--and would not return." The conclusion of the Galactic Civil War

[codenamesazanka]

Reread, Chapter 306 to Chapter 328 (Edgy Deku Arc). How Does Deku Approach Saving Shigaraki? He Doesn't.

If the chapter number is not listed, it's because there's no significant development in the Deku Saving Shigaraki plotline (Deku being absent from chapter/chapter focus is about other things/etc).

Chapter 308:

When confronting Muscular, Deku thinks back to Shigaraki/The Crying Child - imagery is of them overlapping.

Deku does think: "But at least I want to learn what makes [Shigaraki] tick deep down."

When trying to understand Muscular (by asking him three (3) questions about his motives) fails to pan out, Deku says "Seems like this fight is inevitable," recalling his response to Nana about having the resolve to kill Shigaraki if Shigaraki is beyond saving. Then he KOs Muscular.

Chapter 309:

Gran Torino says "Don't be so rigid. Killing can be another way to save someone. Never forget that." Deku, consistent with his own wishy-washy response in Chapter 305 that doesn't take killing off the table, doesn't refute that; also takes Gran's cape as a gesture of carrying on Gran's legacy.

Chapter 310:

Deku mentions Shigaraki only in the context of a threat. "Don't have leads on [the Villains]" "With All For One's quirk transplanted into Shigaraki… he was too strong for us to bring down, even with Endeavor's and Aizawa Sensei's help."

Not Deku, but a note on Kudou - in a flashback to the immediate aftermath of the scene in Chapter 305, Kudou complains about devoting the vestiges efforts to "one who wants to 'save' our mortal enemy", except 1) Shigaraki is not their Mortal Enemy, AFO is? 2) Did Yoichi not made clear just in-universe moments ago that Shigaraki was a victim of AFO's?

Chapter 311:

Endeavor says: "It must be like Deku said... Right now, [AFO's] top priority might be hijacking Shigaraki." Heroes acknowledge that Shigaraki is AFO's possession victim.

Chapter 314

Deku learns about Nagant's backstory. He admits that he was ignorant, but now he's starting to see things clearly - that the world is in shades of gray, a blend of fear and anger. As he says this, among the memories he's thinking of, is Shigaraki's Jaku speech.

Deku also recalls a line from Shigaraki's Jaku speech - "…Swept their pain under the rug… With maggots crawling out." Then says "Which is exactly why I gotta extend a helping hand."

I do consider this Deku reaffirming his desire to save Shigaraki.

Chapter 318

Not Deku, but the vestiges talks about Deku. Nana worries about the burden she has placed on him. Banjo says Deku sees every cause as worthy. Shinomori says Deku seeks to save everyone as a true Hero. Kudou says Deku is choosing the right path.

Is this about Shigaraki? ...Maybe???

...And sadly that's actually it! After Nagant explodes, Deku is Very Angry about AFO. Then he's a one-man Villain hunting machine. Doesn't really spare a thought about Shigaraki anymore beyond "I have to stop Shigaraki and the League."

I'll allow that he's super stressed out and lonely and overwhelmed by the duty he's taken on... but any thoughts about even saving or even understanding Shigaraki or even the Crying Child has evaporated after Muscular.

It's notable that during the Uraraka Speech And Umbrellas Scene, Uraraka gets a flashback to Toga crying when she talks about everyone smiling together in the future, while Shouto and Endeavor think about Dabi as they promise to 'do this together', but Deku gets nothing. In fact I don't think he makes any mention or even thinks of Shigaraki/Crying Child until... Chapter 342.

:

Last on-page declaration of saving Shigaraki Crying Child? Chapter 305

Last solid implication of Deku wanting to save Shigaraki? Chapter 314

Last time Deku thought about Shigaraki in a context that isn't 'need to find him/stop him'? Chapter 314, when he flashbacks to Shigaraki's Jaku speech.

[As always take however much blame you think I'm unjustly putting on Deku to put on Horikoshi doing bad writing.]

[smokestarrules]

May I ask about the Star Vs downspiral? I remember seeing commercials about that show but that's the extent of what I know. But I'm curious now.

Well, honestly there was a Lot that contributed to its fall from grace, but here are some of the lowlights.

(It's been a very long time since I watched this show so I may be forgetting some details; this is how I remember it).

A) Four prominent characters are drawn into a horrible, horrible love square. Star herself, Marco, who is the other main character whose family she stays with while on Earth, her ex-boyfriend Tom, and another character who we meet later, Kelly. I'm sure some people always shipped Star and Marco, whatever, but a significant amount of the fandom including myself were beyond content with their relationship staying platonic---romance was not a factor that needed to be brought in to make us care about their dynamic. In fact, romance just about killed any enjoyment for them at all because it was so poorly written.

Marco and Star go back and forth between taking that romantic step and subsequently rejecting each other for various reasons. At some point Star gets back with her ex, Tom, who seems to have turned over a new leaf. Marco and Tom even have episodes where they hang out together too. Then Marco starts dating Kelly at the same time Star and Tom start to fall out again.

Now that I'm writing this I've realized I actually forgot another entire character who was wrapped up in this; Jackie Lynn, who Marco has a crush on in the early season(s?). She and Marco are together at some point until she leaves him because he's clearly not into her anymore. There are five characters who get stuck in this terrible plotline.

It's just... so needlessly dramatic and completely unnecessary. Star and Marco end up together, of course, but in doing so they completely screw over those two other characters, and by that time, their relationship just leaves a bad taste in fans' mouths.

B) Star VS as a show initially started out as pretty episodic and pivoted to a more narrative-driven storyline later on, which isn't at all necessarily bad, but a lot of what I personally liked about the show ended up being pushed to the wayside because of the bigger emphasis on the plot, and it was disappointing. Not everything needs to have a massive earth-shattering narrative to be good.

The early episodes were character-driven, full of incredibly interesting worldbuilding, and just fun to watch. All of those things were shoved away to make room for something more dramatic and serious.

C) The main bad guys are also pretty much an entire species which is never a good idea because it breeds so many uncomfortable writing decisions. They're "monsters" and they are The Bad Guys, who the Regular People need to stay away from. The narrative kinda tries to challenge this concept, but in the end it's really just not important whatsoever.

Honorable mention) When the show was still good, Marco had a couple episodes in which really interesting things were happening with his gender; he crossdressed as part of Plot and then seemed as as if he was confused about how it made him feel? But later on that plotline turned into more of a joke than it already was and went nowhere. Just weird.

D) How the show ended was one of the absolute worst I've ever seen. I truly cannot explain to you just how--bizarre it is; anticlimactic, rushed, unexpected in the worst way. To stop people from fighting, Star makes the incredibly quick decision to just. destroy magic.

So she does.

The aftermath shows that the two dimensions (Earth and Star's original home, Mewni) are now merged together in some sort of 'happy' fusion, magic is completely not a thing anymore, and entire species that have before been shown to canonically need magic to survive are dead because of it, though the show doesn't think to provide a better explanation for that at all.

And it ends.

[polyhexian]

Okay arcane s2 thoughts in it's immediate aftermath

Jesus christmas. Finale fucking delivered. The drama was insane. god there really are just SO many characters and narratives going on simultaneously in this damn show. Constantly has me wanting to skip back to other characters and I'm never like UGH these guys I hate this plotline

Oh my god they DELIVERED on some gay ass jail sex. I kept thinking okay, NOW we are going to cut away... Oh? We get more? We get as far into it as the straights usually get and I'm living for it. I was also waiting for the season's single "fuck" as in the spoken word and "I don't fucking care" was so peak.

Love that the girls are endgame... Meanwhile jayvik has the doomed yuri ending instead, holding hands in the astral plane or whatever

Truly most doomed of all is jinx and ekko tho fucking ripppp lol. Entire episode of showing this poor man there's a version of all of this where things work out, where he is allowed to be happy, where he gets to pursue his own passions rather than set aside everything he wants for the greater good... He gets the girl... He doesn't just get the girl. Its not just that the girl loves him. It's that she's happy. He gets to see a version of the universe where the girl he loves is happy. Where she isn't suffering. Where she smiles. And then he has to leave that world. And like oh my fucking GOOODDDD he immediately has to watch her kill herself like six times in a row. AND WHATS HIS ENDING?????? Oh my god he literally saved the universe (the multiverse maybe?) like the only thing that ACTUALLY stopped Viktor, the deciding factor between this ending and the one jayce actually saw is that Viktor had no way of accounting for an object that literally could not have been created in this universe and did not exist in this universe prior to this unstoppable madlad inventing it in another dimension and then smashing it into his fucking face. Gay sex saved the universe or something but actually it was just this guy serving mad cunt. And what does he get? New paintings to make. Oh my god. No wonder they gave him the best song of the season

The jayvik oh my GOOODDDD L + ratio + my love for you is unconditional + you are perfect with and not despite your flaws + you have no flaws actually + i will stay with you until the end

I'm fucking dead

Yeah I'm insane

[lazaruspiss]

recently realized that dick had a relationships with all three of his rapists beyond one incident, like he lived with liu and eddie for a while, mirage posed as kori for an extended period of time and we really have no way of knowing how long he was with catalina, this creates a pattern of people that he knows betraying him and using him for their own gratification

which makes me think of his relationships with his family and friends rn, if one of them started crossing boundaries would he accept it? would he even have expected it? if babs didn’t hear him say wait one night would he know that it’s a mistake or would he think “ah, you too?”

like he loves his family and trusts them with his life but I don’t think he can trust them not to hurt him and that includes sexually, part of it is the constant paranoia that comes with being a vigilante for almost two decades and part of it is unprocessed trama but thinking anyone could start to abuse him probably isn’t good for his health or for his relationships lmao

oh for sure for sure!! im also fairly convinced dick would struggle seeing any of those incidents as rape. the liu incident doesn't meet the proper legal qualifications, he was at times blamed by his own team for what happened with mirage, and so much plays into the situation with catalina that im not sure he'd even be able to process it at all. the murder takes priority, and he'd see it more through a lense of him failing to save cat than him being assaulted.

dick wouldn't /want/ to have been assaulted, so i don't think he'd categorize any of that as rape. if others cross boundaries, he might justify/minimize it out of habit. less that he thinks anyone could/would abuse him, and more that he would never recognize harm done to him as abuse.

(some notes for those without context on some of the stuff being referred to!)

liu and eddie: there's a storyline in which dick runs away at 16 (or as he puts it, one month short of 17) and lives on his own. by which i mean, most likely homeless. he works as a dishwasher iirc. one day, his coworker recommends these people who take in teenaged runaways and offers them a place to stay. it's functionally a gang that uses cult recruitment tactics to manipulate teenagers into doing their bidding. the /they/ being liu and eddie. dick is just another kid, and doesnt realize what they're doing until he's already pretty deep in it. there's a fair amount of bonding and attachment, with liu and eddie showing him favoritism and singling him out in a way that makes them his primary support network. eventually this all leads to a sexual encounter between dick and liu. something worth noting: the age of consent in new jersey (where gotham is and where this story is set) is 16, and as it was a technically consensual encounter it is incredibly unlikely for it to be legally classified as rape/sexual assault.

mirage: ok imma be real u gotta ask someone else for this one. or maybe read the actual comics bc tumblr is a mess when looking for actually useful info.

catalina: ok!! ok... from my understanding there was originally going to be a full plotline about dick being in an abusive relationship with catalina, but it was rushed/cut short so that DC could put nightwing in a batman crossover event. classic. but dick had already been trying to mentor catalina for a decent while before she started abusing him. tried to /mentor/ her. her hurting him? to dick, it would likely feel like a reflection on him. that /he/ must have fucked up for her to end up doing something like that. it's left somewhat vague, but we don't have any reason to not believe cat continued to sexually abuse dick off page. we see her get him drunk and try to get him to sign marriage documents, she wants to /possess/ him. dick is incredibly dissociative throughout the aftermath, up until DC needed to force him out of his own story arc to hold daddy bat's hand. sorry lol

[cherrytimemachine]

Soooooo....How was earthspark, my friend? 😬

I know this has been sitting in my inbox for like two weeks, sorry bro.

Season 2 was... a lot. I have a lot of things I wanted to say about this, so I'll try my damn hardest to keep this as short as possible without it becoming an essay rant.

First off, it felt like they weren't really sure how to start the next season. They skipped through a whole year of potential plot. It felt like I the plot started midway through the season. I wanted to see the aftermath of the battle with Mandroid, the fallout between the Autobots and the Decepticons, the characters grappling with being under mind control. Dammit, I wanted Megatron angst.

Speaking of which, he wasn't in there enough. In the first season he was there all the time, but he was only in two episodes. I see this a lot with shows or movie sequels where they try to introduce new characters to keep the story interesting and fresh, but what happens is that they push the main characters into the background and essentially replace them. And they made everyone dumb for some reason. Like in the second episode when Mo's parents didn't even notice how weird she was being, like, what was that ?? I know it's a kids show, but good grief, at least try to make it more sneaky.

The Chaos Terrans were meh. They felt more like unnecessary additions if you ask me. I wasn't much of a fan of Aftermath, and Spitfire (who's name I kept forgetting for some reason) was interesting in the beginning, but her character arc went way off the rails really fast. How did she go from "angry competitive person who will do whatever it takes to win" to "murder is ok and fun actually"? That feels like a real leap in logic.

I think they're trying to pull that same plotline from Cyberverse with Shockwave, where his spark was just "made evil", leaving no room for depth or development with his character arc. I already made my thoughts on that very clear when I watched Cyberverse two years ago. I was really mad when I wrote that lol.

This season also has a major problem with the thematic elements being discarded from season 1. The story felt bland and flimsy, the characters were more like two dimensional caricatures of themselves, and the ending was beyond rushed.

I did have a few things I liked about it though. I liked the filler episode with the carnival magician, it's probably my favorite episode this season. The Quintessons looked cool as hell, and I hope we get more of them at some point. I also liked Terratronus a lot, and I wish they had done more with her. I'm glad this show is tackling the idea that the Primes weren't perfect, and they had flaws in their ideology. Mo actually questioned Quintus's decisions of making these new races to support his own and then abandoning them, and Terratronus defended his authority and ignored her questions, which I thought was well done showing how Terratronus has been trained to be loyal to her creator and refuses to question his choices.

The Starscream thing was ridiculous though. His potential was left in the dust. I was so ready for him and Megatron to have another fight where they address their hatred for each other, but that didn't happen. For most of the season, he was just kinda there being a no nonsense leader guy lacking in his own personality. He only got his time to shine towards the end, and he wasn't written very well. There was only one interaction between him and Hashtag, and there was no emotion behind it at all. Then he rips the sparks out the sparks of the Chaos Terrans, which I thought was excessive but cool anyway, and then he takes over Terratronus. Starscream's defeat happened way too quickly and they didn't even really explore what he was going to do when he got control of the titan. We didn't get to see much of his point of view on how he was going to transform Earth into their new home, we just knew that was his goal. I do wish they added more of the rift between Shockwave's ideas and Starscream's as well, it would've made their retreat much more impactful.

That's all I have to say for now. I could go more in depth with it (and the lack of Prowl and Tarantulas, don't think I didn't notice that), but much like the writing team, I don't have any ideas right now.

[aalinaaaaaa]

Happy STS! What is the main setting of your WIP? How important is it to the story?

Happy (belated) STS! Thanks for the ask!

In the instance of A Healing for the Birds, that would be the city of Arobyre (North Arobyre, specifically). It's where the Chalice gets stolen to, and also where most of Alycja's plotline is based. To a lesser extent, Eshani spends some of the plot here, but she also spends it elsewhere.

Most of the cast appear in this city for one reason or another. It's also of note that it's the seat of power for the Helindian Magistrate, containing the main government, the legislature and the anointed judiciaries. This comes into play a lot in relation to the country's resentment over Arobyre getting everything (including the Chalice!) and also for the aftermath of said theft.

Additionally, the city also holds importance due to its proximity to the Court of Morilast (the other major setting in this wip). It is the only major city in Helinda to conduct its affairs during the day rather than the evening/night, all because of rampant superstition that Morilaste's creatures roam its streets at night. That and some of the crows plaguing their rooftops are also from up north. While the cityfolk fret over crows and creatures, they are blind to the strings being pulled beneath their feet and from their face...