#and I so dislike the trope where two future love interests kiss for plot reasons

[llycaons]

my actual, serious thoughts are that this romcom setup where two love interests try to set up two other characters only to each fall in love with one of the people they’re trying to set up is absolutely perfect for an ironic double twist that would play out in a unpredictable, refreshing, and satisfying way. obviously it won’t happen, but let’s explore that route

first of all, it’s funny in a shenanigans way this series is already doing so well with, and second of all it wouldn’t occur to the audience before it actually starts to happen. I truly believe a relationship between former enemies who tried to kill each other and who meet again under different circumstances and become good friends and inspire openness and joy in each other is much more appealing than a relationship between a man who abuses, attacks, mocks, and assaults a woman while she desperately tries to 1. survive 2. keep him from destroying her home and 3. make it so that he can actually experience emotions. I deeply dislike straight couples where the woman goes to all this effort to ‘fix’ the horrible man who she’s going to end up with and endures suffering upon suffering to get to a place where he finally treats her well, while he faces no repercussions for his actions towards her besides...feeling bad, I guess. she’s like his guide to good behavior and acting normally, more like a therapist than a partner. I don’t think it’s fair and I don’t enjoy watching it and I don’t like the message it sends. it’s the reason I had to take such long breaks in watching this show. this is not a relationship I endorse despite the early-episode humor

so I would vastly prefer it if orchid and dfqc remained important people in each other’s lives, but strictly platonic friends. dfcq/changheng would take a lot of effort in reworking the plot, but I think it would be a fantastic choice. of course, the reveal about who dfqc is to ch has to come eventually, but I think the betrayal would just add some drama and depth that, in the...couple hours we’ve seen them together, it just doesn’t have. and after the betrayal is forgiven and dfcq shows he’s changed, their relationship would only then be that much stronger! right now changheng is SO happy to be with dfcq, and encouraging dfqc to come out of his shell and talk about his very painful experiences with his father and they genuinely have a great time together and I can see that turning so easily into something more romantic. imo they have more chemistry with each other than either has ever had with orchid

I also don’t want to ignore orchid or cut her off from the happiness she found in being the center of someone’s attention or the growth she’s undergone or the questions of her identity or her centrality in the plot - she’s the main character! to make the romcom switch work, she’d then be with the god of war, but I feel like they might be related maybe? so that’s off the table. but I really like the idea of orchid and danyin! they were also off to a rough start, but danyin now sincerely respects and admires orchid’s courage, and she defended orchid and stood up for her after the exam. and just like it would be good for orchid to stop mooning over changheng, I think it would be really good for danyin to move on from him as well. honestly, I think I could make a case for danyin as a lesbian who’s experiencing comphet and focusing on changheng as the ‘perfect’ man who’s also unattainable. she doesn’t seem to have much else going on in her life besides disobeying her father and being catty with other fairlies, but this loneliness and fixation on changheng feels characteristic of someone who’s unable to connect easily with others despite her ‘popular girl’ status - maybe because she’s not being authentic to herself and she’s clinging to the thing she hopes will make her ‘normal?’. this reading makes a lot of sense to me and I think danyin realizing she has feelings for orchid instead could be a really beautiful and liberating and affirming story...and I know this won’t happen but I’d like orchid to put her foot down and be able to walk out of this situation where she’s treated so shittily half the time and where dfqc always seeks to dominate and control her. I really love the idea of her and danyin finding freedom and peace with each other....that’s the dream for this show

[captain-aralias]

Immediate thoughts about Wayward Son after just finishing and not that much sleep

..

I’m really hoping this spoiler cut works.

...

RIP Micah :( 

So - the first thing I’m going to say is... I didn’t think we would lose Micah. Weirdly this is the thing that is probably the biggest negative for me about the book.

Just yesterday I was confidently saying that I didn’t think Rainbow would do anything that would muck up the way I saw canon and most that’s true. But I am vv sad about Micah, even though - as I read on - I thought: I get why this has happened. 

It’s so Penny has a story too, and it’s not just all about Simon. So in this book she not only loses Micah (which it turns out wasn’t that bad because I guess she didn’t like him enough), but she loses her certainty in herself - and has to get it back. And that’s a story. 

So yes - I get it. It’s because it’s a book, not a fanfic where Penny doesn’t have to be a character. But alas - I really liked the idea of Micah and Penny, even without knowing Micah at all. I was invested! 

On the other hand - now we don’t have to deal with the Penny moves to America forever to be with Micah trope, which never made sense to me because I always thought Penny would stay and Micah would move with her. Which I would guess may be the plan for Shepard. Interestingly he’s totes into magickal creatures, which makes him quite a bit like the Micah I wrote in the Mage’s Heir - but also, I am sad.

RIP Agatha in America

The other thing I think we lost was the idea of Agatha being happy in America.

Even though Agatha’s a main character, this means less to me than the Penny/Micah thing - although I am still sad about it. If ‘Carry On’ had a secrets meme, I would probably write ‘You guys don’t know what you’re missing - the Mage is OBVIOUSLY one of the most interesting characters in this canon’, but  after that my second secret would be: ‘I don’t dislike Agatha, but I don’t like her that much’. (Clearly neither of these things are secrets and I just wrote them into a post). 

When I read the preview of the 4 chapters on Kobo, the thing I was most disappointed by was finding out that Agatha and a cult were going to be important to the plot. I thought Agatha’s story was over, because she just didn’t want to be part of the story! (That the cult turned out to be a vampire cult turned it around for me a bit, but we’ll talk more about that later).

I still don’t really like Agatha’s story in ‘Wayward Son’. I don’t like that she has to come home, even though I don’t really like her. I liked our idea that she was happy. That said, I DO like the clear plot arc that she’s been given here which is that she rescues herself. And she rescues everyone. Not just a bit, like how Peter Pettigrew was redeemed a bit by holding back a bit (which was one of the most disappointing parts of Potter canon for me - can you tell?). She uses a power that frankly I don’t think most magicians have, and then set a lot of vampires on fire. That’s good! That’s a reason for Agatha to be in the book. She grew!

Simon/Baz 

I can see a few people being upset about this in some of the spoiler posts I’ve glanced at (I basically just came on here and started typing after trying and failing to find the Discord so I haven’t read anything in detail). I actually don’t get it. People are saying that Rainbow isnt supporting the gays... because Baz was sort of into another guy? Maybe? Because Simon and Baz didn’t kiss in that final scene? 

I actually literally do not get it, so maybe someone will tell me in response to this post! No gays were ruined in the making of this story; they were just sad. 

Again - it makes sense to me that they’re having relationship difficulties, given that Simon’s so tuned out. But never in either of their POVs do I get the impression that they aren’t still mad for each other. They both just have other stuff going on that they’re having to deal with. 

Personally I quite like Simon being really jealous about Baz and other guys. I can’t remember exactly if Baz thought it was super hot - but I did. I like possessiveness as a trope.

The kissing in the truck is lovely - and clearly the chapter 61 we were promised. Simon flying with Baz - Simon FLYING. I’m pretty sure none of us saw that one coming. 

I can’t remember whether it was ever said (even though I’ve read ‘Carry On’ loads), but it may have been implied that Simon’s wings don’t work in ‘Carry On’... but clearly they do. Or he got better. 

The future

There are lots of dangling threads from this book

Rainbow is a massive Star Wars person. This book is CLEARLY supposed to be ‘Empire’, it’s the dark one. The one where everything goes wrong, and relationships don’t quite work out. And the next book is set at Watford - hooray! That means we can have the political schenagins I was saddened I wasn’t going to get from a book about a roadtrip set in America. 

For me the other dangling threads that I’d pull on are: 

The Next Blood are trying to give people magic. So for the first time, I’m thinking... maybe Simon will get his magic back, whereas previously I thought: he’s going to have to deal with it being gone forever, and with the wings (which are clearly now shown to be a good thing. I always wanted him to keep them - but now I’m not sure whether he will ...)

Blue, the water demon, said that Simon gave the world back MORE magic than he took from it. Again - this feels like Simon gets his magic back in book 3. Or does something to bring magic back properly, or change it. 

Baz learned about being a vampire!! He learned that vampire bites don’t necessarily kill. I think we all know what this means. (I was really worried when Simon got shot that Baz was going to have to vamp him. Glad he didn’t. I don’t want vampire Simon and vampire Baz - one vampire is sexy, two is a problem). Baz also learned that he might well live forever. What will it mean for his future??? 

Penny/Shepard - I mean, either that or Rainbow’s going to blindside me with Penny/Agatha after all these years. I mean, she wrote it into ‘Fangirl’ as the thing Cath always read, but I was very much of Baz’s mindset - that bit where he says ‘hey, it’s your ex-boyfriend, and his boyfriend, and a girl you don’t like very much’. I thought  yes! That’s exactly how I see it. But now I’m thinking.... why has Penny been texting her so much? Maybe there IS something there... I’m convincing myself more and more with this post. Christ. Well, let’s see. 

Something about magic and secrecy maybe. There’s something in that... 

Let’s talk about mah fic (the Mage’s Heir) quickly

Since we’re talking about what I’d do with this. 

I didn’t think the book would be very similar to Mage’s Heir, because it was set in America and about a roadtrip - but it was more similar than I expected.

It’s about Simon feeling better through being useful and kicking the shit out of dark creatures (the final chapters where he accepts he’s not a superhero don’t feel right to me. I think he needs to re-evaluate that again). 

Penny feels out of step with what’s going on... Wayward Son is much more advanced, obviously. Mine is very soft as it’s only a sub-plot.

Baz finds out more about his vampire heritage, and learns that he can definitely bite Simon and that it will be sexy when it happens. (That’s my reading of it, anyway). 

There’s an alliance with various sets of magickal creatures. I thought there might actually be a vampire alliance, but the problem is that I guess Rainbow really does think they are legit evil. More to do on that one. (There’s a misprint where Nicky’s surname is given as Ebb - I’m guessing it will be corrected later. Either that or Baz just forgot what he was called, which I can believe.) I think this could be in the third book - it feels to me that that’s what Shepard is for, to tell us that magickal creatures are good actually. For me it’s the thing the Mage got most wrong (in terms of the vampires and the goblins), and the most right (in terms of letting in pixies and centaurs, etc).

I would argue... maybe... that it’s possible the Mage’s Heir might seem more satisfying than this book to readers. Difficult to say this without seeming up-myself, but I’m arguing it because I sort of feel that way about my favourite (that I didn’t write) post Watford fic, which is ALSO a roadtrip in America: There'll Be Peace When You Are Done. 

I don’t think that means either fic is better than ‘Wayward Son’. They’re fic. To some extent, even if you don’t expect what will happen in the plot, they give the reader what they expect. A strong focus on Simon and Baz and their relationship working out, relatively minimal other stuff that doesn’t support this as the major plot. 

Rainbow sort of talked about this recently on Twitter as well, about books that feel like fic being great. So it would have made sense for this book to read like a fic.. 

Interestingly, it really doesn’t.

I purposefully used the Mage’s Heir to close off all the loose ends I thought had been left by ‘Carry On’, and ‘They’ll Be Peace...’ closes off its own story about how Simon gets over his trauma and fixes his relationship. ‘Wayward Son’ doesn’t do that at all. It opens up a whole bunch of new shit for our heroes to deal with, and doesn’t close any of it off - because it’s Empire. 

Sidenote:

I was told we were going to find out the Mage’s name - I believed it! But we didn’t find it out at all. In a way, I like that. Because one of the things I was semi-worried about (even though I was like - there’s nothing to worry about!!!) was finding out more about Watford and the Mage, which would mean that more of the Watford-era fic we’ve got wouldn’t work as well anymore. And I guess I’m invested in the Simon parentage question. I know - you’re all shocked. 

I was surprised we didn’t find it out in this book - again, it makes sense given that we know there’s another book to come and it will be set back in the country where all this shit went down. 

The one thing we did find out about the Mage was that he hates America. 

Maverick and terrorists. No sense of community, no common goals. Half of them using their magic to wash the dishes, half of them living like debauched sultans. I blame the vernacular. Wholly unstable! Too much in flux! Their dialect is like a river stripped of its natural bends and shallows - their spells expire before they even master them. My heart is always with the rebels, Simon, in any struggle. But America is a failed experiment. A chaos country where mages have lost all sense of themselves. Where they live off the Normals like parasites-like dark creatures.

I’m not sure, having read this book, what that means for my idea of the ways he’s right and wrong. When I read that bit I was like - man, this is about how he’s a hypocrite again, boo, like how he’s a sexist. But then I read the rest of the book and I’m thinking... maybe the Mage is right and America is legit terrible for magic. 

We only see it being bad  (even Micah was bad!! RIP Micah). It has its own Humdrum just because it’s BIG, and almost everyone wants to kill our heroes. Maybe it’s a helpful sign of what the UK might become unless it changes. (Metaphorical, ain’t it?)

Things I loved

- the ren fayre. I mean, I loved all of this scene. Even though I am still a bit anxious about Simon just hacking people’s heads off without working out whether they are really really REALLY evil (I’m still like - maybe Lamb just isn’t that bad REALLY? If you spoke to him more??? He’s just racist. IDK) I loved the fight, I loved Baz not being that good at sword fighting, and being very good at fake olde english. i didn’t actually get round to putting it into the meme, but one of my prompts would have been ‘simon/baz, swordfighting’ - so thank you Rainbow. You delivered.

- Baz teaching Simon to drive <3

- Baz having to pretend to be a super glam vampire in a den full of vampires. It didn’t quite play out exactly how I would have liked, but when I realised that was what I was going to happen, I almost clapped my hands in real life, I was so happy. I like that the plot was about vampires, even if the cult stuff still didn’t work for me even at the end. Cults are boring.

- Dragon lady. Dragon lady calling Simon ‘kitten’. (But I don’t want him to ACTUALLY turn into a dragon)

- All the boring mudane stuff at the beginning where they’re on a plane and Simon’s watching shit movies. 

- More info about how magic works, the dead spots (not even CAUSED by Simon’s magic. Maybe this is something we could use in terms of getting the magic back that the Humdrum stole. Martin Bunce should come and investigate). Baz is too British for America. (Poor Baz, he hated this holiday so much. It was terrible, I agree)

- I liked the vampire showdown at the end, as I said. Simon kicking people and flying, and there was a bit where Penny had no plan and Simon had the plan and I was like ‘OMG SIMON YOU HAD THE PLAN’. It was great. 

- Baz chose clothes for Simon. Baz wore nice clothes. 

- Baz drunk. Simon jealous. 

- I liked Sheperd, even though I was angry at him for not being Micah. (He could have been Micah!!) 

- Baz’s mother’s scarf and the fact that Simon saved it for him, because he knows it’s important. 

Things I didn’t like/conclusion (for now) - 

There’s not much I actively didn’t like, to be honest, except the Micah stuff, and the fact we had to deal with a cult. I guess I thought Simon and Baz would have fixed things up by the end, but once I hit the end and saw there would be a sequel I realised why that hadn’t happened. 

BUT I think it might have been a mis-step to not even hint at the sequel, even though it feels like a spoiler. Because I think where people feel disappointed, it’s not just that it’s not like a fanfic - is that it didn’t do any of the things we expected. Simon didn’t even get over his trauma - which is fine. It’s the second book of at least three (probably three), but none of us knew that when we were reading it, which probably made other people anxious as well.

In general, I think it’s a more difficult book to like than ‘Carry On’ - because it’s pretty depressing throughout. There’s not much joy in it, which makes it hard to get jazzed up about. I thought the chapters we got in the preview were going to be the most depressing ones and Simon would cheer up once he got to America. And he DID - but everything else went to shit, and the way Baz and Penny hated it made it not fun, even though it was interesting. 

Interesting in the right way, though? Don’t know. 

I’m not sure how much fic I’ll be able to get out of it.... I guess I’ll have to think about it.It doesn’t feel as world-changing important as ‘Carry On’  It’s so clearly half of a story, so harder to write more on from since it’s really not clear what will come next (my guesses aside). I guess that’s the other thing we lost - post-Watford cuddling and first-time fics. Because we know they haven’t had sex by ‘Wayward Son’ and we don’t - yet - know how they’re going to get their relationship back on track.

There aren’t so many open spaces as there were in ‘Carry On’ which gives you eight years of open spaces to play in, as well as all of the future. 

So yeah - I don’t know. I definitely didn’t dislike it. And I’m excited for the next book.

I’ll listen to the audio book, and read it again a few times, and hopefully talk to some people about it a bit more. And see what I think. 

[silverbastardgoldenfool]

Realm of the Elderlings Ask Meme Thing

Created by @hermitknut and brought back by @elderling-magic

Thanks @blackandwhitemotley for tagging me :) this is gonna be unnecessarily long because I’m a messy bitch with too many feelings and not enough brain cells

Favourite RotE Book: God it’s impossible to choose properly so let’s just go with the one that always gives me flashbacks when I see it on my bookshelf: Golden Fool

Why: I was already deeply obsessed at this point and had laughed, cried and panicked countless times throughout the series BUT Golden Fool stands out because of the Fitz/Fool confrontation which all but gave me a panic attack. Sure, I’ve been overly invested in book characters my whole life but the fact I was like physically fuckin sweating just because these guys were having a verbal fight, which had nothing to do with the actual plot, is fuckin wild my dude. Also despite my distress I was thrilled in a way because I never expected Robin to address the homoerotic tension in the actual text - and I was even more impressed that she makes the Fool the winner in this fight. You feel for him (ouch!!!!!!!!) but he gets the last word and the whole time you’re on his side and wishing Fitz would just keep his goddamn mouth shut (unless he’s gonna use it to kiss the Fool). She makes you empathise with the Fool without compromising his dignity, without making him a pathetic pining gay stereotype. He is hurt, he is human, but Fitz is the fool in this exchange (forgive the unintentional pun). It’s crazy how this one scene defines this whole huge book for me but it overwhelmingly does. Man it fucked me up.

Top Three Favourite Characters: I’m excluding Fitz, the Fool and Nighteyes cos that’s just a given honestly and there are too many incredible characters to choose from. Also I’m going to choose three characters I think are exceptional on a technical level since that’s the easiest way for me to pick a few out.

1. Burrich - Forever fascinating to me because I disagree with him probably more often than not AND YET I love him so much. It’s seriously like I have the same relationship with him that Fitz does - and/or the same relationship many of us have with father figures. That weird thing where you can fundamentally disagree on some pretty important stuff, and he makes a lot of mistakes and probably irrevocably fucked you up in a lot of ways but you can’t help but love him because you know he’s not doing anything from a place of malice or pettiness or selfishness. He simply knows what he believes and is righteous to a fault. He’s always doing his best - whatever that looks like to him. There are so many things he says or does that make me amazed that I don’t hate him. I think in another series he is the kind of character I would hate. The fact that Robin makes me love him - and conflicted about that love - is a marvel.

2. Malta - I won’t harp on about this too much because we all know the deal. Malta’s early POVs were a tween nightmare. I had to skim them because they were so viscerally irritating. I guess it’s a huge testament to the writing that it really did feel like you were stuck in a tween girl’s head; the problem is that is the worst hell imaginable. It’s an even greater testament to the writing that, through some of the most masterful character development I have ever witnessed, you actually end up loving this girl.

3. Kennit - He’s such a monster that I hate actually saying he’s one of my favourite characters but it’s true. Especially from a writing perspective; it’s fucking witchcraft how Robin has you judging everyone around Kennit for falling for his charms even while you are in some way charmed by him. He’s intelligent, charismatic, enigmatic. You know he’s not a good person yet you enjoy spending time with him, you’re kind of rooting for him just because he’s interesting and you want to see what he’s going to do next. You even know - the narration straight up tells you - that most of his successes are down to pure dumb luck yet we still kind of buy into this persona of his. Absolutely brilliant writing. Not to mention his backstory, which is so tragic and compelling, and manages to explain his actions without excusing them. Without a doubt one of my top five favourite villains of all time.

Top Three Least Favourite Characters: Okay so again going for the writing angle; characters I just felt weren’t handled all that well on a technical level. Keep in mind that this is suuuuuper subjective. Also I can only think of two.

1. Molly - I’ve seen a lot of people assume that people who dislike her feel that way because she “gets in the way” of Fitz/Fool but that’s not true for me. I’ll try and keep this shortish because I have way too many feelings about this topic lol. Having read the whole series I wouldn’t change anything, but for a long time I really felt like the story would have been better if she wasn’t in it, or especially if she had not come back after Assassin’s Quest. Maybe that’s harsh, but I honestly just generally dislike the whole “first love, last love” trope (and in my personal experience have found it v toxic). I never found her character particularly engaging, but by the end of Farseer I had made my peace with her role in Fitz’s story; the way I saw it, she represented the life Fitz wanted but could never have. Of course you could argue then that it makes sense for Fitz to get her back once he is allowed to have a window of normal life - and that would be true EXCEPT the whole reason I saw her as a symbol and not a real love interest was because their relationship was TERRIBLE. It was seriously toxic and literally based on lies. I really felt what would have been healthy for Fitz at the end of Tawny Man would have been to find peace in realising that Molly was his past, not his future, and that what they’d had was teenage lust and not the stuff of soulmates. I don’t like the implication that Fitz was right to idealise this tumultuous, dishonest, immature relationship he had as a teenager all these years. Honestly this is why I was FURIOUS when I finished Fool’s Fate lol, even though I knew this wasn’t the ultimate ending. Now that I know where Robin went with this and that Fitz wasn’t really fulfilled in his life with Molly I don’t mind it as much but I still don’t love it. There was never enough of an honest, genuine, selfless connection established between the two of them for it to feel like anything other than an unhealthy fixation that Fitz projected all his unattainable fantasies onto. He never seemed to see Molly as a fully realised person which made it hard for me to do so. Also seriously, if I had been pining after my high school fling for the last ten years everyone would agree that the best thing for me would be to move on, not get back together with them. I’m not saying Fitz didn’t deserve his little bracket of peaceful years, but it just didn’t have to be with Molly. Sometimes not getting what you thought you wanted is the happy ending - I guess it’s just really jarring in a series that’s generally so subversive to get a standard fantasy trope like this. I really truly was shocked when Fitz got his feelings back from the stone dragon and his realisation was not “Molly is kind of just a girl I used to know a long time ago and our paths have long since diverged” but “yes no actually that girl I haven’t talked to in over a decade is my soulmate” like, wig in the worst way. ALSO SHE WAS FUCKING HIS DAD ALL THAT TIME. SHE BORE HIS DAD CHILDREN. HIS DAD HAD TO DIE SO THEY COULD BE TOGETHER. BRUH. Seriously it did feel like Burrich was sacrificed solely so these two little shits could get back together, and again, that was so infuriating and so not like these books. This and Burrich not being canonically in love w Chivalry are the only two points I actually get riled up about from a writing/critical perspective lol, every other flaw and quirk in this series I will absolutely pardon but for some reason these just get to me dude.

2. Starling - Promise this one is simpler lol. I always found Starling quite irritating “as a person” but didn’t mind her as a character. What I didn’t love was the way her lifestyle (promiscuity, independence, nomadic etc.) was kind of justified when it didn’t need to be, with the typical explanation that she’s only like this because she can’t have kids. It just felt really unnecessary, and it was even worse when she did get pregnant and basically just became a completely different person. But I’m generally touchy when it comes to female characters and fertility/pregnancy storylines as I just feel like they’re rarely done well. And I just really don’t like it when infertility is implied as a justification for character traits (usually traditionally male traits) that don’t need justifying.

Favourite Ship (of the floating kind): Paragon of course, we love a problematic fave.

Top Three Favourite Ships (of the people kind): Fitz/Fool, Sedric/Carson, Althea/Brashen (the only heteros whomst deserve rights)

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled: Honestly wouldn’t want either but if I had to choose I guess the Wit? I’d much rather be inside an animal’s head than another human’s no thanks bb

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with?: If I’m still living in my current situation in this hypothetical then I guess a house cat. If I really get to go wild then I am absolutely bonding with a big cat, like a tiger or a panther IMAGINE THE SNUGGLES.

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, the Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, the Pirate Isles, or Fool’s Homeland?: Dude I am so bad at visualising locations so idk lol, I guess queer utopia Kelsingra although obviously it has its drawbacks.

How were you introduced to the books? My mum had been telling me for years that if I liked A Song of Ice and Fire I would like Realm of the Elderlings. I was putting it off because there are so many books and I also knew how much she loved them so I was worried I wouldn’t like them and she’d be let down. But I eventually got so close to rereading ASOIAF (which I swore I wouldn’t do til Winds of Winter is released) that I decided to finally give RotE a go in its stead.

Share a quote you love: I don’t have a book on me rn but that part in Fool’s Errand when Fitz is talking about how the Fool has wandered into the place he’s been living for years and immediately, effortlessly made it a home is TENDERNESS BEYOND COMPARE ARE YOU KIDDING.

Tagging: if you see this and haven’t done it yet, consider yourself tagged!

Take the thing, copy and paste it into your own post, tag it “elderlings” and then tag as many people as you can that you know in the fandom.

[the-gongoozler]

POST-TROS Trilogy reactions, my own opinions.

I just saw The Rise of Skywalker. These are my opinions as someone who doesn’t follow any of the actors (besides Adam Driver’s charity because that’s something I wrote a paper on) or fandom drama (racism! sexism! something happened with John Boyega?)

Preface: I don’t need outrage. I don’t care. I will block you if you’re rude, period. This is my opinion and I am not a crazy fan, I just watch the movies about once a year and I enjoy every single one of them. I loved The Rise of Skywalker and found it to be a fantastic full circle for the entire 9 movie series as well as the trilogy. Don’t need any negative vibes, thank you :)

Ben Solo

I really enjoyed Ben Solo. It felt like the point of the series was the redemption arc of Ben Solo. It was a symbolic repeat of Anakin/Vader’s story line. Anakin was alone, taught by masters, tempted by the dark side, and then turned into a completely separate man. They both came back to themselves in time to save the day, but there is a massively key difference. Darth Vader is not Anakin, he is the darkness that lives inside of Anakin (and everyone has this darkness). Kylo Ren was the corrupted Ben Solo, but he never got the foothold in Ben’s psyche that Vader got in Anakin’s. Anakin was controlled by Vader completely whereas Kylo Ren never had complete control over Ben (first example I can think of: He didn’t shoot Leia when he had the opportunity to kill her). In the body of Anakin Skywalker, there is only Vader, whereas Ben’s body has two battling minds: Ben v. Kylo Ren.

What I found really really cool was that Rey killed Kylo Ren. On the Death Star II in IX, where Darth Vader died in VI, Kylo Ren dies when he is stabbed by Rey. Then, with Rey’s help, Ben Solo is reborn as the only mind in his body. He was healed by light and love and then told that if he was just Ben Solo, she would have taken his hand. If he hadn’t thought that he needed the Dark Side to be whole, he might have had everything that he could possibly hope for (romantic love, familial love, a future, power).

The tragedy of Ben Solo is that Luke saw him tempted by darkness and accidentally pushed him toward the darkness. If Luke had talked to him, expressed love and understanding instead of fear, then Ben Solo would never have been controlled by Kylo Ren. Instead, he fell and was corrupted only to be brought back by someone truly understanding him (which, other than through unstoppable access to his deepest thoughts,would have never happened) and then choosing to love him because of that understanding. Ben didn’t have to bring Rey back, he could have just mourned her and disappeared to live his life, but he was driven to sacrifice himself by the love he felt for Rey.

I am a HUGE fan of a redemption arc and I think they pulled it off beautifully for him. His last words ever spoken (while holding Rey’s lifeless body) were “Can you hear me? Hold on.” The instant recognition of his goodness by Rey, the smile on his face when he saw the result of his sacrifice, and then their kiss (a recognition of his return to himself) was honestly just... it was achingly gorgeous. I really liked the film.

Rey

A strong force wielder, a mechanic, a scavenger, and an orphan. She kicks ass, she takes names, and she is the strongest Jedi the world has ever seen. Love her.

Finn

Finn is cool in VII and IX. He was funny, smart, and helpful in the first and last of the trilogy, both playing a stand alone and serious character while providing good comic relief. I also really appreciate the platonic nature of the relationship between him and Rey, something that could have turned romantic. He’s a good soldier and he found his way out of the ranks of the Storm Troopers on his own. He’s obviously less developed in VII because it’s the first movie, but he’s generally a nice guy (not a Nice Guy) and I was excited to see more from him. I loved his connection to BB-8 and Poe immediately.

In VIII, he did more harm than good. Had he not disobeyed orders and left the ship, less people would have died. He left the ship, freed that guy from jail, then that guy gave the plans away and made the bad guys aware of the escaping ships that they otherwise would have missed. If Finn had stayed put, those ships would have escaped. It was a failure in writing and his character would have been better served by not even being in the movie. His near-sacrifice didn’t even make sense to me? He would have been obliterated by the laser before he could have reached it anyway? Give him something more epic, thank you please.

Then, IX. He kicked ass. I don’t know what he was going to say to Rey, but everything he said to Poe was golden. They are a great duo and I enjoyed every moment they interacted. He was a good friend and he tried to keep his group together (mostly having to go after Rey when she was being a stubborn brick wall). I mean, Rey made it to the Death Star because she had a lot of experience with machinery and the force. He did it by sheer “I gotta save this dumbass” willpower. He had a similar energy to Steve Harrington in Stranger Things (”mommy steve”).

Poe Dameron

Love him. No complaints. He was Han Solo but less brash and more funny. He was funny as shit and I enjoyed him from the first moment we saw him. I really wish he was in more of the trilogy, but the parts that he was in were great. Him and Finn kicked some serious ass. I love the way that he incorporated Finn into his family unit immediately and then again with Rey. He is a dedicated and headstrong and funny pilot. That’s it.

Rose

Tbh, I don’t care too much about her? I just disliked everything she did/was involved in in VIII and the way she was introduced was mishandled, really. She was 100x better in IX and I definitely cared about her more. Her introduction felt rushed and forced and she was a big character before I cared about her at all, then she was put into the worst plot line in the whole series (discussed in the Finn section). I think that they could do more with her, but I don’t mind if they don’t.

Luke Skywalker

His whole thing was kinda bullshit? He was the catalyst for the birth of Kylo Ren, he abandoned the galaxy when it needed him most, and he wasn’t gay- those pussies. I didn’t like when he yeeted his light saber, it felt disrespectful.  I didn’t like the way he died. I did like his personality and the way that he dusted off when Kylo Ren shot him all those times.

Leia Organa

People I’ve talked to keep bitching about her using the force and like... what? She was always force sensitive and she had a long time to learn between series. Plus, she lived with or around Luke for a long time before he decided to fuck off into a corner of the galaxy. She was a general and a Jedi and a gorgeously perfect woman. I also love the way that she was always ready to give her son another chance. The only way to get someone to come back is to tell them they are welcome and no matter what he did (HAN SOLO) she could always accept him if he changed. Adore.

Han Solo

He was also ready to help his son, if it was necessary. He had faith that Ben could do what needed to be done. Also, the version of him that is in Ben’s memories is so sweet and fantastic. I loved that little bit. When Ben calls him “dad”?? my heart melted. Plus, his mentorship of Rey combined with him and Chewie’s interactions? God, he’s cool.

I didn’t like that he was so dispassionate though. That was bothersome, I would have thought he would have been more for-the-cause since he was connected to the rebellion the whole damn time. It would have been cool to have him havea moment where you saw that change.

Chewbacca, R2-D2, C3-PO, BB-8, and D-O

Obviously fantastic?

General Hux

rat bastard

Snoke

Weird thumb man

Palpatine

Aggressive tickle monster

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Another note-

Rey/Ben

I saw it coming the moment I watched VII. I really enjoyed it. They both were so closed off to the world and so horribly alone for various reasons, both in and out of their control. They were tempted by the dark side and anger and hurt and betrayal. They were scared of their own burgeoning power. Where Rey’s powers and temptation were met with support, Ben was met with fear. That drove him down.

Because of their force bond, they were literally soul mates. Not in a romantic way! They literally were made with an unbreakable connection through the force and that allowed them to speak and know the depths of their hidden thoughts and desires and fears. Ben knew Rey better than anyone else did and better than he knew anyone else, the same is true in reverse.

Rey could see the dual nature of his mind and understood his struggle. She knew Ben Solo and she knew Kylo Ren. She also recognized that it was his fight to win and that all she could do was offer her hand to take if he wanted it. She admitted outright that she would have stayed with him had he been just Ben Solo when he offered her a place by his side. She was in love with Ben Solo as soon as she knew him and that was shown very explicitly in that moment by the fire, when they were both vulnerable and curious. In the moments that he was Ben, she would reach out to him. When he was Kylo, she had no interest.

I love that she had no interest in Kylo Ren. She wasn’t about to stick around and fix him, that was his job. This sort of draws the line between physical attraction or shallow attraction and the true bond that she had with Ben Solo. She wasn’t drawn to him out of interest, she loved him and understood him and was not going to be tricked by that love into falling for Kylo Ren. Super strong choice for her and it goes against a lot of Enemies to Lovers tropes.

When she stabs him, she kills Kylo Ren. When she heals him, she revives Ben Solo. She all but says that she loves Ben and that provides the momentum that he needs to move forward. She held out her hand one last time by saying that she would have stayed with Ben, then escapes for her own safety and the safety of the Rebels in case he makes the wrong decision once again.

Then the fight scene where she transfers him the saber? The way that he limps over to her and hold her in his arms? The way he smiles when he looks at her beautiful lively eyes? The kiss that said “You saved my life/I’m so proud of you/You are the only person in my entire life that truly understands me” on both parts? Gawjus.

[freakypumpkin]

Unpopular Opinion Book Tag

Original Video  I wasn’t tagged, but I thought ‘Why not?’ as I tend to have unpopular opinions on books ... I think. Okay, I mostly had them on TMI, but anyway ... 

What is a popular book or series that you didn’t like? Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare I know a lot of people love it to no end, praise it over The Mortal Instruments, but I read the first one, got halfway through the second one and it was mostly just boring and honestly I didn’t like the dynamic, that developed between Tessa, Jem and Will in that love triangle thing, that I still don’t get and no, I don’t like the conclusion it got after City of Heavenly Fire either. It just left a weird aftertaste.

The other choice would be The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  Though I’ve only gotten through half of the first book and I just felt like nothing of the plot worked naturally, everything was sort of forced. But again, I haven’t even finished the first book, so who knows what the future will bring.

Then there’s The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I had to read this one for class and it made me so angry. 

Also the Starcrossed Trilogy by Josephine Angelini. (Don’t know if it’s a popular series though) Again, I had to read all three for a class and it dethroned TMi as my most disliked book series. It just made me so furious I wanted to hit the MC over the head with a brick. 

What is a popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love? Captive Prince by C.S.Pacat I know this is loved by a lot, but also quite hate with a passion, so I decided to go with this one. Also, I usually am on the other side of the discussion with people loving a book and me not getting it.  Anyway, I really enjoyed the Captive Prince trilogy. I still wish there would have been some sort of epilogue after the final events (before Summer Palace). It just ended a bit sudden for my taste. Now, is it perfect? No. Is it the gay romance it’s often advertised as? No, I mean, it’s gay, but the romance is more of a subplot. It’s more about earning respect and had a lot of great elements of what makes good leadership. I really liked Laurent, surprisingly I think, I did so from the start because I admired him for his way of pulling strings (not for the cruel stuff, but he had a reason). And to really grasp what happens in book 1 and why, I think you have to read all three and then go back to book 1.

What is a love triangle in a book or series where the main character ended up with the person you did not want them to end up with? Or an OTP you disliked.  I don’t read many love triangles, I have more just pairing, that I didn’t like. So, as for love triangles, I think, I only have the ones from The Mortal Instruments and they should not have ended up with anybody in that thing. Clary-Simon-Jace: Clary and Jace kind of deserve each other, Simon deserves a lecture of ‘How to respect the feelings of your best friend and women in general‘. Isabelle-Simon-Maia: Isabelle and Maia would have been a better outcome in this one.  Maia-Jordan: Should never have happened and was a plot-device to solve that love-triangle-thing.

Then as I don’t want to keep bashing on TMI. Havald-Leandra from the german fantasy series ‘The Secret of Askir’. I saw it coming, and it never worked, there was zero chemistry between those two and the books would have been better off without them becoming a couple.

And from the Princess Series by Jim C. Hines. I would have liked Talia to end up with Hephyra or stay with Fazya, I think, instead of where that storyline actually ended.

Other couples, I liked ... I think. Or just didn’t care enough about to hate it.

What is a popular book genre that you hardly reach for? YA Contemporary because I’m strongly addicted to fantasy. Thriller/Crime because I’m a fan of sleeping peacefully.

What is a popular or beloved character that you do not like? Leo Valdez from Heroes of Olypmus by Rick Riordan. I don’t exactly know why I didn’t like him that much. Maybe because I had Simon-flashbacks from TMI and that wasn’t pretty. I just couldn’t warm up to him and his character did not work for me. I even decided against continuing the Trials of Apollo, when it turned out that Apollo would be travelling with Leo?

Who is a popular author that you can’t seem to get into? Christopher Paolini - I have the audiobook of Eragon and I tried more than once to get into it, but it didn’t work.

What is a popular book trope that you are tired of seeing? ‘To protect you I make you hate me’ - Just why?  Anything with ‘you’re not allowed to love Xy’ as a rule because how do you control that? Like, not having sex, not kissing somebody would be something you have imo more control over than not loving somebody ... also, who’s going to control that and how? ‘I’m not like other girls‘ - If you’re not, then you’re a guy I’m guessing. ‘Useless adults‘  ‘The mean girl being mean for the sake of being mean‘ - give her a personality and some sort of motivation you cowards!

What is a popular book or series that you have no interest in reading? The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare, does that count?  Apart from that the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke (at least at the moment, let’s see what the future brings), though I don’t think it’s that popular outside of Germany.

What is a movie or TV show adaption of a book or series that you like more than the book/s? I don’t really have one for this, because I either only read the book or only watched the movies ... and in the case of Harry Potter, where I did both, I liked the books better. But most people go with Lord of the Rings on this one, and I did like the movies, so that could be a possibility here. 

If you want to share some unpopular opinions as well, feel free to do so. If you have questions, feel free to ask them and as usual, these are my opinions, you are free to have your own, that are different from these.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 1X10 - 7:15 AM

Unfortunately, I’ve no jokes popping out at me for my opening this time, but a little birdie told me you should head below the cut.

(Got that one in at the literal eleventh hour! I work for my lovely readers ;) )

Press Release Mary Margaret and David continue to grapple with their unrequited love, and Emma and Regina grow suspicious over a mysterious new stranger in town. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Snow White yearns to ease her breaking heart as Prince Charming’s wedding to King Midas’s daughter approaches. General Thoughts Past During my review of “Snow Falls,” I commented on the fact that as that would be the only time we’d get any substantively meaty Snow and Charming scenes for quite some time and that every other episode’s flashback would depend on how well that episode handled them, I wasn’t joking and this is the first episode where you feel the effects of it. (For more on that, head on down to “Flip My Ship”). It’s weird, I never saw the nuance in King George, but damnit, he is right. True Love being worth fighting for regardless of the obstacles is one of the central themes of OUaT, and I think for the most part, the show does a good job of showing that. However, we sometimes forget that that pursuit is not without its consequences (Depriving others of the prosperity and peace that David and Abigail’s marriage would bring to their kingdoms), and here, George lays that out in no uncertain terms. Is he most likely acting more in the interest of himself and his kingdom more than anything? Yes, but the validity of what he’s saying still remains. His plans and reasoning are well thought out and admirably complex. I feel guilty. In the past, I just saw him as this one note villain, but holy hell: a few years can really do a lot to change one. I wish we saw more of him, only to see more of this viewpoint. Snow and Charming definitely do end up winning the day, but the idea of sacrifices and bloodshed are for the most part all but abandoned after this episode. The fact that David, immediately after hearing what George has to say, writes a letter to Snow discussing how he’s willing to abandon everything else without a second thought for her almost makes him unlikable in the face of that. The only thing that save his is that damnit, Charming lives up to his nickname!

Snow’s aspect of the story is interesting too. We see these two sides of her battling. The first side, of course, is her love for Charming, and that’s strengthened both by the letter she receives and the fear she has of losing him to his arranged marriage. However, what’s really clever is that the fear she had back in “Snow Falls” didn’t go away, and Rumple, Grumpy, and George help to reinforce her own doubts by giving the pursuit of love an actual cost - one’s heart, freedom, and potentially not theirs, but their beloved’s life. It’s a very clever use of characters. Actually, after a day or two, I realized that Snow’s arc was even stronger than I gave it credit for. In this episode, despite having her reservations about love, she does overcome them despite what I pointed out, and it’s only the fear of Charming dying that makes her back off. The ultimate resolution is so much like the character herself: Tragic, but not without that bit of hope always by her side (In this case, her new friendships and the breaking of David’s marriage). Present So I basically had no strong thoughts on this episode (Apart from dread at a certain aspect, but I’ll discuss that shortly) until we see Mary Margaret nearly fall down the cliff. 

Then it hit me: The David and Mary Margaret storyline is this episode is the most fanfic-y, romance novel-y material I have ever seen (And that’s not a bash against it at all). Like, you get that mutual pining, David saves Mary Margaret after some tension, they’re stuck in a cabin together, they both love animals. Entire weeks’ worth of soaps don’t have half as many romance tropes as this storyline does! That said, the more I see of David Nolan pre-broken curse, the more I dislike him. He simply refuses to own the choice he makes and with these small windows of time the show is giving us, it’s either unrealistic or horrible of him to jump from one woman to the other. And yeah, at this point in the series, Abigail wasn’t too kind, but David didn’t know that, in hindsight, she hasn’t done anything more than be annoying, and everything we’ve seen of Kathryn has been delightful, patient, and kind thus far. I really feel like there needed to be more of a time discrepancy or evidence of some real trying on David’s part before suddenly doing whatever he could to see Mary Margaret. It makes David’s speech after releasing the bird so eye rolling to listen to (Though Josh’s puppy dog eyes and loving gaze make me really wish there was more to it) because while he claims that he has feelings for Kathryn, the most we’ve seen of it is a shaky scene together outside the Nolan house and a kiss that is now spoiled with the knowledge that it came right after David made a move to go see his crush. As for the August and Emma storyline, well, for one thing, they have a fantastic rapport. August’s ability to dodge questions like a skilled Mario Kart player dodges banana peels faced off against Emma’s focused and pointed questions is the greatest battle of wits. It positively glued my eyes to the screen, and the fact that I can say that despite knowing exactly what happens is so cool! Insights I love that opening shot! For one thing, it grants a special level of ambiguity as to what realm we’re in for those slow first couple of seconds. For another, they get Henry walking towards August through his reflection in the motorcycle! The cinematography of this show is so under-celebrated, and my ful props to them! Also, completely-unintentional-and-thus-hindsight-ily-badass foreshadowing of Henry riding a motorbike in the future! So I’m aware I’m 100% wrong about this wacky theory, but follow me on this. The episode is called “7:15am” and the most famous time on the show is 8:15. Is this, alongside a significant time for David and MM, an allusion to the fact that they’re figuratively one step behind the curse? I started blushing out of secondhand embarrassment when Mary Margaret revealed how much she knew about David’s schedule. “Love is the worst. I wish there was a magic cure.” It’s called booze! Wow! This is the first time I’ve seen Snow and Red have a scene together in a while! I missed their friendship! I find it so interesting how stories of The Dark One are kept under such wraps. In the “Desperate Souls,” the Dark One’s existence is borderline common knowledge because of how the Duke yielded him. However, Rumple - possibly due to fear or just a desire to be left alone - took the opposite approach and kept his reputation so quiet over the centuries, so much so that his mere existence is now questioned. Given his rather large...estate, what do you think he had to do to make that happen? Yay!!! We get to see Snow’s cloak again!!! Also, I don’t care if it’s just a set - the design for the scene between Rumple and Snow is creepy and beautiful! I love the atmosphere! It’s simple and shady! Rumple’s going on about all this anti-love stuff and I’m like, “Let’s talk in a year, bro.” Seeing Charming send out that bird makes me wish for a scene where the two of them spoke of Snow’s uncanny ability. ...Also, nice transition! XD I actually forgot that Grumpy gave the basics of his origin story before his episode came out. “Give us our best shot.” I can’t help but feel like that was so intentionally slightly off the mark from “our best chance,” showing that something’s not quite right. I love how as MM is getting her coffee at the end of the episode you can just HEAR the “fuck” as she hears the bell. Arcs David and Mary Margaret finding each other - One thing that I can say is that we get development here. Look, I’m not a fan of cheating plots, but it is interesting to see Mary Margaret and David struggle to find a happy middle ground in an emotionally complicated situation. That said, the lack of time and real commitment to being with Kathryn makes me question why they’d even bother having the cheating subplot. Snow and Charming finding each other - This episode builds right off of both the conclusion of “Snow Falls” and the insight of “The Shepherd.” Additionally, I like that Snow and Charming aren’t stuck in the “Do I have feelings for this person” phase of their romance for long because it allows for the rest of the arc to take off well from here. The Mystery of August Booth - We get a brief introduction of this arc here, and it wastes no time connecting to the main players: Emma and Henry. There’s also a cool subversion where we get an immediate insight into something that would otherwise be a several episode mystery in another series. However, both the man and mystery are still prominent and we as an audience know there’s still leagues to explore with him. Favorite Dynamic Snow and Grumpy. While their friendship is given very little time to build, not a second of it is wasted. Even as I know how Grumpy’s story ends up, those first niblets we get here make do a really good job painting his emotional dilemma and making a connection to Snow’s quest. Snow - in turn - gets to build off of Grumpy’s negativity by showing both optimism that opposes him cynicism and kindness when Grumpy and Sneaky leave the jail cell despite them intending on leaving her there. That wish for happiness is so sincere that it could melt steel. And the reciprocation that blossoms as the flashback progresses is just wonderful. Writer Had to do a bit of research (And by research, I mean a Wikipedia article, full disclosure) for this one because while the story (The basic actions and plot points) was written by A&E, the teleplay (The dialogue and smaller actions) was written by Daniel Thomsen. Thankfully, in regards to breaking this down, this information does me quite a few favors. Last time, I wasn’t able to do more than theorize what each writer contributed to the scripts, but right now, I can do a bit more to discuss the finer points. First, let’s tackle A&E’s role. I genuinely feel for the basic layout of this story. Regarding the past, I have no complaints. The broad strokes of emotional buildup work and the conclusion feels completely earned. My thoughts on the present prove to be more challenging. I don’t like that it ends as a cheating story, per se, but if that was to be the story, the basic layout of it does work. There’s a proper building of stakes and the big picture character beats hit home. However, execution is where I have my problems, so let’s tackle Daniel Thomsen. Again, I really have no problems with the execution of the flashbacks, save for oddly amazing piece of development for the villain and his motivation that is just kind of brushed aside. But that’s just a matter of doing too good a job. My issue is really with the present events, or just the things that aren’t on the page that really should be. It’s hard for me to feel sorry for David for walking out on Mary Margaret when there’s hardly an implication that he’s giving himself and Kathryn a fighting chance. I know I’m supposed to be feeling how he’s caught in between these two sets of memories and the kiss at the end does retain its weight, but so often during this episode, I just wished that he would make a choice and stick to it. What makes this all the more aggravating would be if there was just one or two more lines about making an effort there. And for a while, Thomsen was showing that through David and Kathryn’s interactions and the way he talked about her and things were feeling more like a real push-pull for him, but it was ruined the moment David said that he had been planning his coffee trips to coincide with Mary Margaret. At that line, my faith was shattered and it harmed my perception of the character. Rating 8/10. This was an entertaining episode to watch. Snow’s journey in the flashback was such an exciting story to witness, especially when it comes to seeing her interact with all of these characters for the first time. This is Ginny’s episode to shine in both realms and the show makes sure that you know it through the array of emotions she pulls off throughout the runtime. So much of Snow and Mary Margaret’s character is expanded upon through all of this. The present stuff is pretty flawed for reasons I explained above, but damnit, this show knows how to sell fairytale magic and fate and some impressive forest locations, music, shots, and animal habits really sell the scope of the small story. Flip My Ship Snowing - I love that lingering effect that’s clearly been had on Snow. Love nestled itself into her like coins in a couch sofa. But at the same time, there’s still that cynicism from the last episode and while love is pushing it out, the tragedy of their circumstances still keeps it there. And the cute look as she’s watching Charming go off to pack - both times! That is a woman in love! And then the sorrow when she has to end things with Charming is so hard because every gleam of her eyes just screams that this is the last thing in the world that she wants to do! AND as she’s walking away, she looks like she’s gonna collapse from utter sadness! DAMNIT, GEORGE! Swan Queen - Emma’s so flirty in that scene by the car and it’s just adorable against Regina’s no-nonsense business attitude! Captain Swan - “Not a day goes by that I’ve not thought of you.” Oh, that line brings back retroactive parallel memories! :D

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Thank you for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales for putting this rewatch together! See you all next time and...be careful of the fruits you eat. They maaaaay be from a poisonous tree. ...If you can’t tell, I love a good stinger.

Season Tally (81/220) Writer Tally for Season 1: A&E (31/70) Liz Tigelaar (17/20)* David Goodman (16/50) Jane Espenson (16/60) Andrew Chambliss (8/40) Ian Goldberg (8/40) Daniel Thomsen (8/10)* (* = Their work for the season is complete)

Operation Rewatch Archives

[violent-as-flowers]

Welcome to my 2018 Yuletide letter, Yuletide is a fanfiction exchange for rare fandoms that happens during the winter months. I’m on AO3 as ViolentFlowers and I’m a lurker who likes to write with a deadline breathing down my neck.

I’m not strict on the format for gifts, I love first/second/third pov, past or present tense, fic or art; so please feel free to write in what you enjoy the most. Any rating is fine.

Likes!  I enjoy stories about women with established relationships where the sharp edges of the characters remain, but because of or in spite of those edges the characters still fit together and make each other happy. I like restraints and power plays. I’m into snarky characters that bounce back from being pushed down. I’m also way more into Rivals to Lovers then Friends to Lovers. I love femslash.

I’m open to dark themes, but I also really enjoy it when even dark stories can make me laugh. I enjoy crack so feel free to play around. My favorite type of story is one where the normal tropes are subverted in interesting ways. I’m very fond of music, band, or musician AUs. Throw them into any of these fandoms!

I love porn! I enjoy reading about characters exploring their bodies as they fantasize and figure out what gets them hot and bothered.  Stories that include masturbation would be amazing. I’m interested in both plot-driven stories that have a sex and PWP (Plot What Plot/Porn), but I’m also fine if you fade to black on the sex or if the characters just show affection to each other. Hugs, hand holding, kissing, support, and love are also great! If for whatever reason you don’t want to write porn please don’t force yourself, I love the bond that characters can have with each other when they love each other and that doesn’t have to be detailed porn… unless you want to write that.

Do Not Wants - No incest, please. I do not want men raping women, but I’m okay with rape in other aspects. I do not want watersports or scat.

I would prefer if underage characters were aged up to 16 for explicit porn. For fade to black sex, I don’t mind if the characters are underage.

Fandoms!

Anya’s Ghost - Elizabeth Standard, Anya Borzakovskaya, and Siobhan

You do not need to include all of the characters I’ve requested in your story.  

Anya Borzakovskaya - I’d love to see Anya deal with more ghosts or supernatural. What happens in the future? How does she deal with college and moving away? Does she share her experiences of the supernatural with anyone?

Siobhan - I’d like to see her encounter the supernatural just to see how she’d handle it. Does she freak out? Take it in stride? Call Anya in a panic? Does Anya ever tell Siobhan about her freaky ghost encounter?

Elizabeth Standard - I’d like to see what would push Elizabeth to the point of letting go of her bad relationship. I felt she was a pretty sympathetic character and would like to also see her deal with the supernatural. How would she handle it? What if she’d been the one to find Emily’s bones instead of Anya?

Femslash pairings (Any rating is great! Porn is awesome):

Anya/Siobhan - I’d love to see these two grow closer while dealing with the supernatural! Possessions, witches, spirits, werewolves, things that go bump in the night. How did they become friends? What kind of embarrassing crush on Anya has Siobhan been hiding? Or is it Anya that has the crush? Or does it turn out to be both? What happens when one or the other starts dating a boy/another girl? Does college change anything? Dealing with the supernatural? Getting a car?

Siobhan/Elizabeth - Siobhan is sort of a bad girl, I’d love to see her and Elizabeth, the popular girl, hook up. Sneaking around and hiding their relationship? Fake/pretend dating to get back at Sean? Siobhan and Elizabeth growing closer while trying to handle the supernatural?

Elizabeth/Anya - Has Elizabeth been trying to deny that she really likes girls or has it been a thing that she just tries not to think about because of course, she likes boys, right? All of the coming of age stories realizing that maybe they’re not straight, with spooky things.

Other ideas: Summer Camp! Ghost Busting! Cuddling for warmth! Bitten by a Werewolf!

(I know Emily was not nominated this year, but I’d still love to see her being a creepy ghost with any of my requested characters. If you want to go with possession, haunting, horror stuff or even further to rape/non-con, that would be awesome.)

Other Space - Karen Lipinski, Tina Shukshin

Karen Lipinski -  Karen is terrible with feelings and I’d love any story where she is forced to admit that she has them. Where her being successful is the first clue she has that something is wrong. What would it have been like if she’d been captain of her own ship, still stuck with Tina and the crew?

Tina Shukshin - Tina is completely self-absorbed, I’d like to see her take over and be captain of the ship. How horrible/awesome would that be? I’d like to see way more of Karen and Tina interacting with each other. What was their time at the UMP Academy like? Did they hate each other on sight or was their dislike something that grew out of their hookup.

Femslash pairing (Any rating is great! Porn is awesome):

Karen Lipinski/Tina Shukshin - I really like Karen, and want her to get closer to Tina… But Karen can’t seem to handle emotions so it’s way more likely that they’d get dosed with space sex pollen or be accidentally married or get shot into space sharing a tiny escape pod that was originally a reality show closed set where they used to shoot porn.

Feel free to use any sort of cliche SF space plot, space madness, accidentally becoming gods to a tiny civilization, trapped on a planet, aliens made them do it, fake married, hey I grew a tentacle, end of the world sex, or good old body swap.

I’d love a story set back when they were both at the UMP Academy. Maybe a story where after Karen and Tina have their terrible first time together, they for some reason keep having unsatisfying sex over and over until they manage to have really amazing sex, which ruins everything.

I’d like them to wrestle in space jello for dominance! Neither of them lose, both of them win!

Annihilation (Movie) - Lena, Cass Sheppard, Anya Thorensen, and Josie Radek

You do not need to include all of the characters I’ve requested in your story. Also while I didn't have room to request her if you want to include Dr. Ventress in your story or pairing that'd be great.

I love this movie, so I’m very excited to see it in Yuletide. I would be super excited if you want to ship any of these women with each other in any combination and I would be very intrigued by selfcest for this fandom. I love porn and PWPs and I’m also interested in non-con/rape if you wanted to explore darker themes.

I’d love to learn more about these characters and their expedition into Area X. What happened in the days they can’t remember? How did they coop with the strange yet familiar environment and the horrifying dangers that lurk in it?

I’m open for all sorts of canon divergent scenarios either inside or outside the Simmer. What if someone else came back instead Lena? What if they all came back, but are changed? What if things went differently inside Area X?

The idea of self destruction is really strong and I would be down for all sorts of body horror or dark themes. Feel free to write about them changing into monsters or acting out monstrous thoughts. Maybe they die and are reborn again and again, or maybe they become something else all together. Maybe they somehow fuse together. Maybe they start acting out all of their worst thoughts and ideas. Maybe they don’t go to Area X at all, but it still finds them. Maybe they meet each other in a completely different way.

I have read all the books so feel free to include things from those if you want to.

A Simple Favor (Movie) - Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson

There’s just something about the relationship between these two women that’s really intriguing to me and I really want more of it. I ship these two really hard and would love a story about them getting together or just having sex.

Future fic where Stephanie can’t get Emily out of her head and visits her in jail. All those times Stephanie got drunk and kissed Emily, did it go further than that?

Maybe Stephanie never lost touch with her sister and they both fall hard for Emily and build a family with her. Or maybe they kidnap her.

I’m open to all sorts of AUs for this. Stephanie is a high class hooker that Emily hires every now and then. Coffee shop, youtuber, or fantasy AU! I’m also into dark fic so if you wanted to go the non-con/rape direction I’m down for it.

I rather liked Sean so please don’t kill him, just either have him be okay with his wife hooking up with another women or hand wave him away into a better life.

Uprooted - Agnieszka and Kasia

Agnieszka - Does Agnieszka end up with an apprentice to teach her strange version of magic to… or is it much like her own training where she ends up with an apprentice who needs to learn a wildly different form of magic?

Kasia - How does Kasia deal with her body being so changed? Being partly a magical tree must get weird.

Agnieszka/Kasia - I’d love to know more about what happens after the books with the two of them. Do they get together, pulled back towards each other like magnets?

Does Agnieszka end up back in the capital, back in the court, charming Kasia with her awkward unaccustomed handing of court intrigue? Does she show up to save the day or does Kasia end up needing to help her out?

What would the two of them talk about while locked in prison on false charges? They’ve been there before but now they’re older, wiser, and hopefully going to confess some feelings to each other.

Alternatively anything about the time in the tower right after Kasia was freed from the Wood-queen’s influence and Agnieszka tended to her, sleeping with in the same bed while nursing her back to health. Tender face touches, hair brushing, hand feeding, leaning on each other to walk around, stolen kisses, and hand holding.

Thanks again for writing for me! If you have any questions please feel free to send me an anonymous ask or look through any of my past yuletide letters for inspiration (I also still love any fandom I’ve asked for in my past letters and would be overjoyed to get a story for one of them).