#also i'm almost sure that person didn't tweet it like that on purpose

[ingravinoveritas]

I think I’m sensing a theme here... (Click for audio of David’s quote.) Bonus:

[eriexplosion]

Yesterday everyone was posting their feelings on TBB. I'm glad I waited, because there's a lot swirling around. Cut for negativity again.

I was introduced to The Bad Batch in August 2022 and fell instantly in love. The characters, the story, the complex family dynamics, they all spoke to me. I wasn't even a Star Wars fan but I went through and devoured The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian, all of it. I threw myself into this world and adored every second of it. I must have rewatched season one over five times before season two even came out.

When season two premiered I loved it. Every Tuesday night I stayed up until the episode drop and devoured it immediately. I looked ahead at the schedule and took days off work for the double episodes, for the big Crosshair episodes - he was my favorite early on and season two only made that grow. But season two also really brought Tech into my radar even more. I had always liked him, but here he was shining. The Crossing really solidified it, as an autistic person. I'd never heard someone describe the difference in processing so succinctly before, so clearly, and it spoke to me like very little had. Here was a character that was like me. Here was a character that I needed when I was an undiagnosed child, someone that would have made me feel like I had at least some way of describing my differences.

Then, well. He died. It was an affecting scene, but it felt out of nowhere, it felt unfinished. Tech didn't even get the climax of the episode. He just fell into the clouds, the Batch grieved for a few minutes, and then the plot steamrolled right along.

I didn't believe it, not after the mad scientist presented his goggles and claimed not to salvage anything else. It seemed like such an obvious fake out. The longer I sat with it the less satisfying it felt. It felt so brushed over, so pointless, all for a mission that they accomplished nothing on. Then came the social media circus. Again and again his fall was shoved in our faces on Twitter, demanding we stream it. TikToks were made that were so out of touch they felt like parodies, the wound ripped open again and again, and I thought surely there had to be a purpose to it.

So I waited for season 3 as interviews were done that seemed to almost intentionally avoid calling him dead. As tweets were made promising we'd be so fulfilled if we could only see who was onscreen in the mid-season! (A tweet that immediately garnered dozens of people hoping it referred to Tech, all without a single comment to try and quell the speculation.) It felt already like we were being toyed with, but I thought it had to be for a reason or a purpose. More weirdly vague discussions went up about his Sacrifice, his Fall, his Anything But Death, even as everyone insists that it was so meaningful, the way he died on a mission that accomplished nothing. Jokes were made around Valentines Day.

He Fell For You, get it?

The first official use of killed went up on the databank right after the trailer, on Hunter's page of all places. The first time the interviews used dead was the Friday before the premier. It all felt too late, theories had already grown for months by that point.

Season 3 finally came and I waited up for every episode drop just like I did for season 2, hoping for him to come back or at least for him to be properly grieved, since we had barely a couple of minutes in Plan 99 before it was swept away for the next plot point. Surely Tech's impact deserved an episode of focus, if he were really gone.

The previously on plays his last words twice. But then we skip months into the future. We don't see Crosshair find out the news - even though Tech died on a mission to retrieve him. We don't watch Omega grieve. She barely seems to notice she's missing a brother. We got a brief allusion in episode two. It took three episodes to even mention his name in passing. Five episodes in everyone got their chance to look sad about him, but only for a few seconds and only when his skills were relevant. Compared to the gorgeous callback to Mayday in the same episode, it felt shallow. He had to have been more important than this didn't he?

Episodes 6 & 7 felt like maybe there was a reason. We see a new masked assassin that gets extra focus, who got put through a series of Tech-adjacent situations, whose beef with Crosshair was just a little too personal, who survived longer than all the rest but stayed masked. Rex talks about losing brothers, but Hunter says nothing about the brother they lost. I hoped it all meant something, that this was the reason that he felt so much like he was thrown away, so that he could come back in.

More one off mentions that only really come up when it's about how useful Tech would have been. More poking at the wound that still felt open and raw because we'd never gotten any closure. The closest we get is a single scene in episode eleven, so late in the season and so brief that I thought that couldn't possibly be it.

CX-2 comes back, and he talks like Tech. He's still not unmasked. I really need him to be something because otherwise what was it all for?

The most emotion comes in Juggernaut, from Phee. Its a highlight because it actually feels like it was about him, like he mattered as a person. It's episode twelve and we finally talk about him like a person. We never saw her get the news either.

Episodes thirteen and fourteen pass without any mentions at all. We're running out of time. Episode 15 hits and we get one raw one from Crosshair that Clone Force 99 died with Tech. It's the first time they directly say he's dead in so many words. It's the season finale. CX-2 is a nobody it turns out, and he dies faceless. Everyone gets a happy ending and after over a year of wondering if we'd ever get closure, it turns out Tech's just dead. But look how happy everyone else is!

Everyone gets to grow old. Except the autistic one of course. He's just dead and it hardly feels like it mattered at all. Did you know Wrecker and Hunter don't use his name once in season three? Omega and Echo mention him once each. Crosshair twice, only once with any emotion behind it. Phee tops the charts at three mentions, two by name and one by nickname. We see his goggles four times. I kept count.

There was never a bigger plan, this was just all he was worth. We spent two seasons on Crosshair's absence. We spent a whole episode dealing with it when Echo decided to go with Rex. Tech dies though and all his life amounted to was a handful of mentions when his skills would have been useful, some shots of his broken goggles, and endless cooing out of the text over how meaningful his sacrifice was. Too meaningful to take back, of course, even as Ventress is brought back from her own sacrifice.

I had really, really thought that this time autistic life would be worth more than autistic death. That a character that felt so carefully handled couldn't have just been thrown away for shock value, barely to even be mentioned again, his memory used to string us along to keep us watching. If you added up every mention and shot through season 3 it might actually clock in at less time than was spent on Mayday's send off.

I'm an adult. I'll survive, though the sting of seeing yet another character like me used as a stepping stone for everyone else's happy ending will take a while to fade. But I think about the child I used to be who needed a character like Tech. And I think about how it would have felt to actually get that only to watch him die a handful of episodes later as a side note to his family's story, barely even mentioned again. How badly it would have hurt, how deep it would have scarred.

I'm not that child anymore. But there are a lot of autistic kids out there that are the same as I used to be, and they're learning for the first time that people like us don't get happy endings. Instead they die so that everyone around them can rise up, and they might even get mentioned a few times. But don't worry. Everyone will tell you how meaningful and special it is and how delusional you were to ever hope for anything else.

The Bad Batch still means a lot to me. I think it always will. I love the characters. I love the family, and all the potential they had. But the sting of not belonging in this happy ending is there, and it's deep. It's been a long time since I trusted a show. It'll be a long time before I risk trusting another. And I hope that the autistic kids trying to learn how to close their hearts off behind new walls are doing okay.

[freakbullet]

so this video (it's pretty good, worth a watch) basically saved me having to clean up the big word salad post I was drafting but I'm gonna reiterate a few points -

firstly, this isn't mentioned in the video but I think it's so, so important: unlike the valentine author, Gaster has never, ever used a single contraction. Toriel is another character who never uses them, no matter how casual the context. for something like this to suddenly change for no reason makes no sense. Toby is meticulous. I genuinely believe this is a HUGE strike against it being Gaster, yet almost no one mentions it. next, the valentine author speaks as if they don't know us: "you seem reliable", "you are very odd". and as we know, Gaster's well acquainted with us by now, so it'd make no sense for him to speak to us this way. (but what it does lend credence to is this being a character we either haven't met before, or haven't extensively interacted with.) additionally, in all instances so far, Gaster's been keen, focused, sharp. why would he suddenly be so addled and confused? the author saying they forgot who they're supposed to help, and it possibly even being themself, doesn't point to Gaster either - in fact, just the opposite - because the idea of him being forgotten is pure fanon. the game explicitly states that Asgore took so long to hire a new royal scientist because Dr. Gaster's brilliance was irreplaceable. how would the king know that if he didn't remember? fictional characters, by their very nature, are presented to us in a deliberate and finite way; our interactions with them have specific purpose. this means that when we try to hold them to real-world standards like "I, a real live person, write differently depending on the occasion", it won't always hold up. we have to go by what precedents have already been set by the creator, in the context in which these characters exist. on occasions when characters in UT/DR have spoken in a different way than usual, the fundamental, anchoring traits of their speech still remain intact (see: contractions), which would not be the case if Gaster were the valentine author.

(and of course, this doesn't even touch on the Japanese translation highlighting how wildly different the speech styles are, which I personally put more stock in than they do in the video.) the last 3rd of the video is more opinion/headcanon-oriented but he makes his point well. even if you disagree with his perception of Gaster (I do to an extent), it's true that there's already no shortage of whimsical, silly, lighthearted characters in UT/DR, and surely, if Gaster were meant to be one of them, Toby wouldn't reveal it in a way that's so out of left field. I love silly goofy wingding man as much as the next guy, but I also agree that attributing this personality to him out of nowhere, when it's incongruent with everything we've seen so far, would only serve to undermine his character and the uniqueness of it. none of this is to knock anyone whose opinion differs from mine! I'm just laying my thoughts out, for whatever that's worth. I've seen an unfortunate tendency in the community to lump the valentine in with the tweets and gonermaker text as all being on the same level of "obviously Gaster", and then tout it as proof that their headcanons are real. (we all have our headcanons! just don't be a dick about it eh?) at the end of the day, personally, I try to absorb and cling to as much canon evidence as possible, scant though it may be. because what I really really want, is to know who Gaster is. in the truest sense, as he is intended to be by his creator.

(but isn't it wonderful how much we all love this character, no matter how differently we may see him? I mean ultimately if we're not having fun here, then what's the point, right?)

but yeah, give the vid a watch! it goes into more detail and makes more compelling points than my sleepless brain can atm. :p

[majaloveschris]

I’d say Chris is a legitimate source; if he claims they are together then that’s the fact (whatever his way of statements have been), and it being a contract/stunt is the conjecture. Not the opposite. //

BUT HE HAS NEVER CLAIMED ANYTHING, that's the kicker. Even when he posted the video dumps, no where did he claim to be with her, but rather heart emojis and the year that was. Every word that he said during the SMA contradicted the actions that proceeded into the whole pap walk. Remember how he likes PDA? There is literally no where he has showed an ounce of affection for that girl, even in those videos. They are just cringe stuff that he has done with every random person he knows,just to paint a narrative.. just enough to creat a story but with enough room for deniability. Another little thing that people forget is , People magazine also reached out to sources and NOTHING was CONFIRMED. The same magazine that interviewed him before the public launch and claimed that if he was in a relationship he would say it himself. Just Jared coming out with a story before the dumps that was quickly deleted.

Now if liking posts is a confirmation of relationship then that man has been in a relationship with a lot of women.

My point is, even Chris is not a source. Because he has not said anything about them being together. Yet when he was with Jenny Slate,it was CONFIRMED by HIS people , with Minka it was CONFIRMED by HIS people.

Did anyone confirm that he and Lilly James were together, yet there are photos of them. In fact there is more PDA in those two days photos than in this:

" two year relationship with the love of his life that he will marry and has been married to,or have a house together to be featured in AD" and every other little thing we have heard.

Again creating a story and narrative for a purpose. Basically, a STUNT..

But let's look at his recent activities, when he speaks when events have nothing to do with her. He has said that Dodger is his true partner, just recently at a Walmart event, he said that a dog gives you what no other relationship with a human can and again right before he deactivated, he said how good it feels to be ALONE. I don't know anything about that man or more than what is speculated about him on SM, but that doesn't sound like a man is in a happy and healthy relationship. That doesn't even sound like a man in a happy place at the moment IMO.

Food for thought, didn't anyone notice the timing of all this. The public launch aka pap walk was right on the day of WN series premiere and Chris deactivated right after Netflix released WN to be picked up by another service. What did Simon Barry do on that fateful day of the pap walk, he tweeted, "he could do this all day." He also seemed very proud that WN did so well with little marketing. And just recently,what did he tell his WN minions, that the show has been renewed even though that is clearly a white lie.

Justin's father Facebook post really NEEDED to remind us that the marriage was to "Captain America" not even Chris Evans.

A STUNT. ✨

And the little pause after it. It was so funny!

I don't know if the fact that it wasn't confirmed means something. I think that's usually how it goes with these types of articles: when a "source" talks about something rather than the people involved.

I always loved the scare videos with Scott because they were genuine and funny, but theirs with Alba was neither.

I agree that he doesn't talk about things like being super in love and being in an almost 2-year relationship. I'd get it if they were in a super secret or private relationship; however, they aren't. They did a pap walk, and he's shared several stories about their relationship. I'm not saying he would talk about her or mention her name all the time, but I think he would phrase a lot of things differently.

The fact that he was Captain America had nothing to do with what Justin's father was talking about. We know Chris Evans is dating Alba, and I'm pretty sure people know he played Captain America. It was all for the show.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.188 thoughts

[That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Fencing Prodigy]

(Contents: Apocalypse speculation, lore, thematic analysis - nature vs. nurture)

Huh, so Master Rule VIIII really was Language. Looks like I owe Nico an apology, I wasn't really familiar with your game. This just goes to show how much of a beast Nico was in the last loop, I guess, if he was able to take down a Master Rule 1v1!

Also, evidently, there's been a little update to the terminology - the ten Rules of the Master Room are being referred to here as Superior Rules, which I think is meant to differentiate them from the more generic "Master Rules" term that encompasses all 100 on the tablet. Might send a tweet to David Evelyn for clarification later, hopefully he can help

The big thing for this chapter, aside from the confirmation that Juiz and Victor really did get trans'd at some point down the line, is that we got some insight into Apocalypse of all characters! The first time we met him, he bit off Andy's hands for grabbing him, and yet he just kind of grumbles when Juiz flips through his pages. He even lets her cuddle him! How cute!

Could he have been rougher with Andy because he knew he was Undead and could take it? Is he sweeter on Juiz specifically? Or was he mad at Victor for forgetting Juiz and finding someone else? Or all of the above?

Either way, it definitely seems likely that Fuuko's assessment of him is right and that he doesn't want to see Juiz getting hurt anymore. Perhaps it was the mere exposure effect, and he got attached after seeing so much of her, or perhaps she said something that touched him in an earlier loop. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope we get to learn more about Apocalypse through Juiz's arc!

Of course, the thing that's the most interesting about this chapter to me personally is the lore drop! Any new info we can get on the mechanics of the loops is greatly appreciated!

I've always wondered about what happened to Juiz and Victor's families since they've been looping and therefore wouldn't need to be born again, but I never considered the possibility that parenthood was a rule that didn't exist at some point. Were there even people other than Juiz and Victor in the initial world? Were Juiz and Victor Adam and Eve?

It makes sense, then, that if Juiz didn't have parents originally that her soul would need to reincarnate somewhere, so going to a couple that never had children seems like a very elegant solution. On the reverse, this also suggests that Fuuko's parents are still a couple in this world, but never had her at all. That's kind of sad to think about, isn't it? That even with her parents alive again, it's not like they can become a family like before. Maybe she can use Remember, but the ethical implications of going up to a couple and forcing them to realize that they lost an entire lifetime with their daugther AND to remember their horrible explosive death? I'm sure it'd be handwaved away for the sake of narrative catharsis, but putting it in real terms like that is pretty upsetting

Then there's the implications of reincarnation as a concept, but fortunately they're a lot more hopeful than they appear. As Apocalypse says, Julia's name and appearance are dictated by her parents, so for all intents and purposes, Julia is a distinct person from Juiz. However, Julia was never technically supposed to exist at all, this is effectively just a new body for Juiz's soul to inhabit, so as evidenced by her retaining the same non-verbal tics and a talent for fencing, this is most likely the same Juiz in terms of personality!

While her nature is undoubtedly the same, we can't rule out the effects of her new nurturing. What kind of parents did she have? What sort of environment was she raised in? What friends did she make? UU has always taken a pretty hard stance that people are defined by their relationships, so there's almost no way that Julia will behave 1:1 with Juiz, even if the most important aspects of her are retained. How different Juiz and Julia are will likely be an extremely important detail to consider when weighing the options of whether or not to use Remember once all of the Union has been assembled, but we'll likely have to wait a while on that one

Finally, I'm very interested in what Juiz meant when she said there was a way for someone to understand her relationship with Victor without him cheating on her. Obviously I get that Fuuko is the person who understands her, and I know it happened because Juiz used Remember to reset Victor's memories, but is the implication that Juiz was always planning to do that? Or did she have something else in mind that we'll understand better later?

This conversation does paint Juiz and Fuuko's discussion about the Rio mission a lot differently, though. Juiz told Fuuko to fall in love with Andy so she could draw out as much of Unluck's power as possible, but now it seems like her motive was to raise Fuuko to be her successor from the beginning, knowing that Fuuko would be the one who would help the new her reenter the fight without letting Victor keep her out. I really do wonder how many steps ahead Juiz was looking or how many contingencies she was accounting for, again I really hope we get some exposition on that

Tangentially, I'd also like to point to the panel of Fuuko saying she fell in love with the same man as Juiz: look at Gina's smile! She knows she fell in love with him in the previous loop, and now she's absolutely in love with Fuuko too! She knows exactly what it's like to be on one side of a love triangle, and she is sympathizing hard. UU's gonna end up having the best polycule since 100 Girlfriends, just you watch!!!

Until next time, let's enjoy life

[mitraoki]

HIII!!!

I saw your latest kaveh fic and I just wanted to ask if you could do some kaveh x rockstar reader?? (Btw it's my first time making a request so I might do this wrong ╥﹏╥)

the moon and star (kaveh x gn! reader) (modern! au)

note; HIIII ANON! i'm SO SO sorry for the extreme delay on this - my new semester has officially begun and it has been a wild ride.... and it's your first request too OMG🥺🥺 i really hope you enjoy this though!!!! i really love this idea hehe🤍🤍✨ i also decided to write modern! au model kaveh hehe (bcs think about it....)

masterlist.

(god i'm going insane just looking at this gif-)

+ gorgeous model kaveh takes his time to appreciate the little things. an form of art is an emphasis. i'm sure one of them is music. he enjoys music, dances when no one is looking, feels like he is high up when he's listening to it. no one can bother him - it's his world.

+ i think you can already tell how MUCH support he's going to be providing to you and your career of being a well-known rockstar.

+ there are all kinds of music around him that he can bop his head to, jam out, or possibly even rage to; but something about your music has allowed him to finally come to terms with the existence of his comfort zone. he loves the fact that you were able to discover various different genres and create music out of them. each time you do it, it just works.

+ i think kaveh has been your 'since day 1' kind of fan. but he certainly had NO idea he would be talking to you as often through your social media platforms, to eventually growing a strong bond with you, all the way to the constant dates whenever you both had the time of your busy schedules - and the fact that your hand is now in his. for a couple of years now, too.

+ he couldn't help it - you were so, so breathtakingly alluring. the same person he was with at the very moment is the same person's face being all over billboards, attending show after show, touring the world. kaveh wondered if he was in a trance himself; for he was experiencing them all with him by your side.

+ naturally, fans do have mixed reactions when they found out you were taken. both his and yours were all over the place. kaveh didn't take it lightly at first - was it because of how he looked? why weren't they happy about it at all?

+ you were, on the other hand, worried about how distant he got from you around that time too - you thought it was his schedule being super packed due to high demands, or it could be because of the way you may have treated him.....? you don't remember any mishandling, but enough is enough. you two needed to talk it out.

+ 'nothing is going to come our way, kaveh darling. be as it may, those nasty comments aren't going to take me away from you.'

+ 'us against the world?' he questioned teasingly, his ruby red eyes dreamily staring into yours.

+ 'i know we both made the right choice, kaveh. and i know it can last till the end of our time.'

+ HOW HAS HE NOT PUT A RING ON YOUR FINGER YET

+ when i tell you this man MELTED- and then a wave of relief crashed into him so hard he felt like he could conquer the world with just his love for you. (kaveh has a wild imagination i just know it)

+ he's always backstage or at the very front, admiring you from any angle. his gallery is FILLED with videos and pictures of you. i can guarantee you this man has taken a selfie while you were on stage, and he's pointing towards you as well.

+ OF COURSE he's going to be posting that on his feed as well, and it's probably captioned "that's my lover right there!!!" and yes of course he has a thread of it.

+ has a special account dedicated to you, this is where he posts almost all of the pictures he has taken of you over the years. this man saved up throughout his career to get a camera and when he did, i guess he finally found his purpose🧎‍♀️

+ will tweet "get y/n's new album or else🤺" will spam his friends about how amazing you were. when you were away, they would hold a listening party. thanks to kaveh, they were all big fans of you too. <3

all created content belongs to mitraoki. reposts/remakes are not allowed.

[stomp-that-ho-regard]

Now, as a continuation from my previous twitter rant...

While I was doing my digging, I found out that beau/jes is the same person I screenshotted in my 'FJ was weird in the reunion' post. Here's the tweet link. (I was genuinely surprised. I tend not to remember handles once I gray them out in a screenshot.)

They're apparently 'new'. Like, started last year, new. Along with most of the people they interact with.

The thing about them, as evidenced by their complete dislike of FJ, is that they're actually NOT a complete dumbass. They genuinely ship BJ, list it as their #1 ship (over BY), and agree with our gripes about how BJ was handled...

Along with a bunch of other stuff. (Even their mutual in this screenshot is talking sense.)

That's why it boggles my mind how a person with seemingly this much sense, can still have such a dense take on such a casual comment.

But now, here's where my general gripe with new fans comes in...

'Canonically lesbians from ep1' WRONG

In the very beginning, people kept going back and forth on whether Beau was gay or bi. Because of the slightly odd way Marisha was playing her at the time. I still remember the confusion and the speculation that followed Beau's interaction with a male captain. (I'm blanking on which ep this was, if someone can help me out, that'd be great. I think the party was talking to some soldiers on the road. That's not the best hint but it's all I've got.) Later in the ep, when Beau and Jester were having 'girl talk', Beau asked Jester about the guy and asked her if she thought he was 'checking her out' or was 'into her'. People were very confused, myself included. She didn't seem to be asking because she was bothered by it. She seemed... intrigued? It was fucking weird.

Much later in the campaign, there was an episode of TM, where Marisha received a question about the fandom calling Beau a 'disaster lesbian'. And all Marisha said was, "Yeah, that seems accurate." And it was only UNTIL that moment, that we had gotten any kind of official confirmation that Beau was for sure gay, and not possibly bi. (It was a very lazy confirmation, but a confirmation nonetheless.)

As for Yasha, well, I addressed this in the retcon post. She was also not confirmed as even being into women UNTIL the wife reveal in ep46. FORTY-SIX! Even then, there were people saying, "ok, but she could still be bi." And for all intents and purposes, she could've been. At the time, she was still not really responding to Beau's advances, and she never gave any hints on where her general interests lied.

So, what the fuck are these people talking about? That BY were 'canonically lesbians' since episode 1? Where does it say that? Who told them that?

It's impossible for me to take new fans seriously on most of their talking points, because they weren't here while it was happening. They have NO CLUE about all the conversations, and speculation, and drama over this shit. These people have never watched TM either. They don't know about any additional information that was disseminated or gleaned from that show that clarified some things and added depth to others. (And now, unfortunately, they never will, because CR took down all of the episodes. With good reason of course, but still, it sucks. Unless someone had the sense to rip the episodes from YT, then all we have are the little snippets/clips on Tumblr and twitter.)

So these people's takes are very often warped. Filled with either misinformation or missing context or both. A lot of the in-fandom stuff are things that you'll never find on a wiki page, or YT highlight reels, or official 'recaps'. That's why when I find a person who was not in the fandom when all this stuff was going down, yet feels bold enough to start speaking on developments in the show or fandom drama, and pontificating over what's right and what's wrong, and policing how people should feel about certain things (i.e. BJ not going anywhere), it makes my blood boil.

This has happened in almost every fandom I've been in, but it was worse with this one. Especially when we had such a large influx of new people just before and after the hiatus. And it was obvious the BY's had gotten to them right out of the gate, because these people immediately boarded the BY train, while simultaneously boarding the BJ hatewagon. They were turned against us as soon as they showed up. That misinformation I mentioned, no doubt came from BY's. As we all know, BY's LOVE to misinform people.

They're the ones who are constantly making up stories about our fandom. About the kinds of people we are. About the kinds of lives we must be living. Claiming "If they're saying this, [insert idiotic assumption here]: "they've never been in a relationship before" or "they must be straight" or "they just hate gay women being sexual" or "they must be virgins". Then there's the two most prevalent ones: BJ's are biphobic, and BJ's are TERFs.

Again, I can't take these people seriously. I cannot stand them.

Last thing... there were at least two people in the replies (of the 'heteronormative' tweet) calling BY butchfemme. In what universe is BY butchfemme?

They'll say wild shit like that but expect not to be mocked for it.

[talkfantasytome]

Going to delete ask posts that directly linked other people's posts, based on this feedback and suggestion (which I thoroughly appreciate!), as I'm not trying to point fingers at anyone or directly tell a specific person they're wrong. I'll repost the general content, with a summary of what was asked, starting with this post.

Anon Ask: Some people are saying that SJM has confirmed Vassien by saying that she'd like to do retellings of firebird legends, swan lake, and Vasilisa the Beautiful, using some shots of her comments. What are your thoughts on this? And the time on facebook that Sarah said E\ain and Lucien have a lot of "tension, growth, and healing to be found (together)".

The most important thing to consider here is timeline. Both of the twitter shown were made in April of 2015. The first one is, honestly, fairly irrelevant. First of all, she's just saying fairy tales she might like to retell. And, for the record, she has also said she'd like to do a retelling of The Little Mermaid, yet often people disregard that as an argument for Gwynriel. So, either her comments on what she'd like to do a retelling of matter, or they don't.

And, if they're saying that those comments are foreshadowing a Vassa + Lucien book, then clearly The Little Mermaid comments are foreshadowing a Gwynriel book. And then...where's E\ain's?

E\ain is getting a book, so which fairy tale gets the short straw?

Or, maybe, the story won't be exactly like the fairy tale.

I do think that both of those comments are important, but Sarah said she wants to do a retelling.

That could literally mean anything. All that tells us is that she will take themes and ideas from the story. I'm not saying Vassa won't be important in a later book, but Sarah can retell the story any way. She could have Vassa betray E\ain, get Koschei to transfer the curse over to the middle Archeron, and now E\ain is the swan on the lake (cause, come on, E\ain's def. a bit swan-like), and Lucien has to rescue her. Or, maybe Jurian is the one that rescues Vassa while Lucien and E\ain deal with Koschei?

There are so many options in a retelling that to say SJM telling us she wants to do a retelling of these stories is a clear sign that Vassa + Lucien are endgame is, honestly, not a very critical analysis.

I'm going to address this tweet next:

This twitter exchange happed April 30, 2015. ACOMAF was published in May of 2016. This post can not be used as foreshadowing of Vassa + Lucien, because it happened before we found out E\ain and Lucien are mates. That "at some point further down the road" literally means "any time after book 1".

People keep using this tweet and presenting it as if Sarah's response came recently. They're spreading misinformation - it may not be purposeful, they may not have seen or noticed the date, but this twitter exchange can't be used as proof that Lucien's person has to be someone other than E\ain, because when it was made we did not know about the Lucien and E\ain possibility.

That doesn't mean it definitely is talking about E\ain, but my point is that this is not proof of Vassa + Lucien, of someone else + Lucien, because of when it was posted.

As for other comments on retellings Sarah would like to do - it's the same argument as the first one. Sarah said she wants to do a retelling of the firebird and swan like. We all know this. It's not new information. People who are saying Vassa + Lucien won't happen aren't ignorant of this fact. We're well aware, and we're also well aware of every other thing Sarah has said, mentioned, foreshadowed, and we're tying it all together. Focusing solely on stories Sarah has mentioned she'd like to retell - not confirmed she will retell - and ignoring everything else doesn't provide a solid analysis. You have to weave how those stories would fit into the grander scheme, and look at the other surrounding factors as well.

And, again, we need to remember that Sarah can do whatever the hell she wants in terms of the story and how she chooses to retell a fairy tale. I mean, how often is Little Red Riding Hood turned into a werewolf story? And sometimes even Red is the wolf?

Writers use fairy tales as a base, a foundation, but then they make it their own. No writer is going to tell the fairy tale exactly how it first was. They're going to adjust it...a lot...to make it their own story.

I'd also like to point out that both times she mentions Vasilisa, she says "Vasilisa the Beautiful". The first time she also said 'the Brave', but the second, solely 'Beautiful'. Vassa is beautiful, of course, but one of E\ain's defining characteristics is her beauty. Even in ACOSF it was again mentioned, discussed, about how her beauty made others hate her.

Could Vassa be Vasilisa...of course. However, I think people are a bit blinded by the similarities in names. Remember, Vasilisa the Beautiful wasn't the firebird - those are different stories. And, honestly, after doing a bit of research into the tale, I'm starting to get more and more sure of the thought that the character who would portray Vasilisa is E\ain.

I think I'm going to do a post on it...

In the later comment on retellings she'd like to do - which we know came after the first as the first came out in August 2015 and that story she's telling was given after the second set of books was confirmed - I also find it interesting that she said Vasilisa the Beautiful (specifically) and Swan Lake, subbing out the firebird.

Why would she do that? Perhaps because she's already brought in the firebird pieces she planned to bring in. We already know that retelling, and how it's come to play. Vassa is a firebird by the curse.

I'm not saying it couldn't end in a Swan Lake thing, as that is what the curse reminds me of. But, personally, I think the fact that she's saying Swan Lake now is also symbolic of something more, possibly another character getting trapped by Koschei.

As for the other piece you asked about, I don't have much to say about it, because it feels like the closest we'll come to an elucien confirmation.

That was also posted a while ago, back when ACOMAF came out. So, it's not like this is recent information Sarah is providing us. However, we know that Sarah can sometimes end up choosing endgame based on gut and things that just hit her. Cassian and Nesta - literally didn't know about them until she wrote them on the same page and was like "oh shit". So Sarah saying that she and Lucien didn't see E\ain coming...I'm sorry, but that feels almost more telling than even the next part of the sentence - where she says they have growing and healing to do together.

That's so huge. And we haven't seen that yet. We've only really seen the tension.

Sarah said this back when ACOMAF came out. And it was around writing or publishing ACOWAR that she got the okay for the second set of books (I think?). Which means she was likely thinking about the longer-term stories before that. Which would explain why we didn't get that growth and healing in ACOWAR.

Instead, she left them in a spot where it seemed like a possibility, and then for the later books has just added more tension. But that journey is still there. She's had it planned for so long. And yes, maybe she could change her mind, but we only know of two cases where she did just that:

Az and Mor

Nesta and Lucien

For Az and Mor it was because she decided to make Mor bisexual and unable to be in an emotional relationship with a male. This was due to complaints over diversity. It's the closest Sarah's probably come to 'fanservice' - except, admittedly, this is so not fanservice. Fanservice is doing something like, say, having Voldemort and Bellatrix have a secret love child despite the fact that Voldy never once came off as having any form of romantic or sexual feelings for her or anyone, ever. (Seriously, that guy was asexual and that is a hill I'll die on.)

Adjusting a character due to legitimate complaints and concerns on diversity, not just fanservice. It's more a full on social service, really, to try and provide that representation better. Yes, it wasn't done in the best way, but she did make an attempt.

The second one - Nesta and Lucien. That was her general plan, until she put Nesta and Cassian on page together. Then it all went out the window. Just like all of Nesta's thoughts when she saw Cassian. Just like Cassian's entire brain when he saw Nesta. 👀

And we get it, because we see it too.

So, while Sarah could have changed her mind about E\ain and Lucien, the only reasons she'd do that don't yet apply. She's already made a change for the diversity complaints, and I don't see her doing that with these two. As for finding out they actually belong with someone else when she sees them on page - well, that hasn't happened yet. She made the E\ain + Lucien decision after we see E\ain and Azriel interact, so clearly Az is not that for E\ain. And we've seen Lucien and Vassa on page together. There's nothing there except Lucien being pained about her curse - which, yeah, she's his friend. How often is one IC member described as looking pained for another? Or thinks about how much it hurt them to see their friend hurt?

But we know what it looks like when the chemistry is so undeniable it will adjust Sarah's plans. And if you're not sure - go back and read all the Nessian scenes in ACOMAF. And then see the one scene where Lucien and Vassa are on page together - I think you'll find there's another male there that, with Vassa, rings closer to the Nessian home.

There was no on page chemistry between Vassa and Lucien, and certainly not enough to change Sarah's mind. Which would also mean E\ain already wasn't meant for Az, which is likely why no one arguing for Vassa + Lucien seems to care as much about that, because most people who ship them are already dead set on E\ain + Azriel.

So, there you have it, my point of view/rant on those two pieces. But it's always important to look at the context of a post, and especially the "source material" people use to provide proof. It's why I tend to stick to the text where I can, and only use SJM statements that don't have an expiration date to their importance. SJM saying something about how she loves happily ever afters, for example, no expiration date. SJM telling us in 2015 that there is someone special for Lucien down the road - an expiration date after the first sign of a possible love interest for Lucien. Once E\ain was declared to be his mate, that statement became irrelevant, because regardless of whether it will be E\ain or not, you can no longer state that it's clearly hinting at someone else, since E\ain is a love interest for Lucien.