#and guess what. i feel more fulfilled with the (CANON might i remind you) arc between crowley and aziraphale than i ever did with destiel

[buckleydiazmp4]

no but the thing is. they KISSED. on screen. it was a real scene, not deleted, not removed from a script, it HAPPENED in front of the world's eyes. and AND the actors are normal about it and the whole cast and crew is normal about it and it's not vague and it's IMPORTANT. no matter the rest of it and what came after it, it happened!!

[sagemoderocklee]

⭐the most recent chapter of taol with shadow!shikamaru⭐

ohhhhh thank you for asking about this chapter! this is definitely my favorite non-gaalee chapter! it was also the chapter that I was probably the most nervous about because of the direction I took Shikamaru in!

it’s been a while since i published that chapter, so i had to skim before i could really touch on the elements of it that I really wanted to talk about, so sorry this took so long to get to. again, not something i could really reply to in the midst of having my tits tattooed. and i was too tired last night after my appointment to reply to this cause i knew it was gonna be long.

anyways, director’s cut for chapter 11 of The Art of Love is below the cut:

so a quick breakdown of what happened in this chapter to refresh anyone’s memory:

This chapter was a Shikamaru PoV chapter, (and aside from Gaara and Lee, he’s actually one of my fave characters to write. It’s hard to rank who I love writing the most, tbh, but I really do love Shikamaru as a character and enjoying writing from his POV.)

With this chapter, things are really starting to progress in a very material way--we’ve got Shikamaru’s fake arrest, Chouji taking his place in Iron, Shikamaru’s team for a secret mission is formed, and his escape from Konoha takes place. He rendezvous with Team Eight and Sai, and they begin a long journey, posing as civilian travelers who’ve been impact by the outbreaks of violence throughout the last five years.

First they go to a town I made up for this fic, Kōten Outpost, where they uncover a small bit of information. Here, things take a drastic turn: Shikamaru makes a pact with Shadow Kami--a pact that hasn’t been made in hundreds of years, and the records of which are unclear and incomplete. This reveals something about the Nara clan otherwise unknown. They’re abilities to manipulate shadow comes not from chakra specifically, but from ancient pacts, magic that has since been forgotten by shinobi.

This pact poses a danger to Shikamaru, to his teammates, to the world, but he takes it on because he is more than determined to rescue Temari. He cannot possibly predict the consequences of the pact, but he knows it will give him unimaginable power. Power he definitely cannot control.

After this, they move northward, making their way out of Fire Country and into, first Steam Country (originally Hot Water Country), and then Crystal Country (originally Frost Country). Their goal is to make their way to Kumogakure in Lightning, but posing as civilians means traveling slowly. And Shikamaru is no longer in the best condition as he struggles against an unimaginable force that now lives within him.

The journey from town to town, and village to village takes months. They disguise themselves in numerous ways, and eventually they do make it into Lighting, a harrowing feat made possible by Shikamaru’s growing strength and understanding of the Shadow Kami.

The chapter ends here, after they’ve crossed the boarder into Lightning.

So, brief(ish) recap.

I think the main things I’d really love to talk about are Shikamaru’s pact with the Shadow Kami, the team he put together, Hinata’s role, some of the minor worldbuilding that went into this chapter, and his relationship to Temari. Which is obviously a lot to talk about lol but i really love this chapter.

So, to start with, I wanna talk about the less in depth stuff, which would be the team he put together and Hinata specifically.

I think it’s obvious that Team Eight and Sai were the best choices for this incredibly covert operation. Sai with his experience in ROOT and Team Eight as a team of trackers were the best candidates, even though Team Eight doesn’t necessarily specialize in undercover work. My thinking is that every shinobi has to have at least a basic grasp (cough except Lee) of undercover work and disguise. We obviously don’t get a lot of that in the series proper, but the series sort of takes the fact that these characters are ninja as more of a loose concept. ANBU and ROOT are really the closest to actual ninja, I’d say. Whereas Genin, Chuunin, and Jounin are more like your standard military personnel, I guess.

But that all being said, I don’t think you could really have someone be a successful Chuunin or Jounin without some experience and skill in these areas. I mean, as we saw in the first Chuunin exams, one of their tests was literally intelligence gathering without getting caught.

The team itself is large, but I didn’t want to skip out on using any of these characters, because each of them offered something vital to the team, and I don’t think Shikamaru would want to risk not using all the skills available to him that Team Eight and Sai offer. Sai’s obviously the best and most likely to fit into this role, and I think Shino is also well suited to this kind of work, but Kiba and Hinata are a little harder to place here. Kiba because he’s rather brash, and Hinata because she’s so... meek and bland. But Kiba is honestly easier to justify than Hinata from the off.

Hinata is always the character I struggle with the most because she doesn’t really offer us much in the canon. I’m sure someone will tell me I’m wrong or whatever, but Hinata exists specifically as a vehicle for male fantasy fulfillment. She’s fan service. Big tits, sweet, meek, totally devoted to the hero. Her arc revolves around Naruto, she exits to prop him up.

And that was a big reason why I wasn’t going to avoid writing her into TAoL. I couldn’t. I needed to address the issue of her relationship to Naruto, for starters, and I wanted to give her the chance to grow. I like her more when I separate her from Naruto--whether that’s presenting their obviously imbalanced relationship as detrimental to her and thus something she needs to finally let go of, or just not having her interact with him at all (like in Kado).

Shikamaru wondered if Naruto would even care that Hinata's acceptance of this mission was her way of breaking up with him.

I wanted to make it absolutely clear that this was the end of her relationship with Naruto and the start of her becoming her own person. We don’t get her PoV in this story because she’s not a central character in the grand scheme of things, but she has her own journey, and that revolves largely around her being a more competent shinobi and defining herself separate from Naruto. She’s faked an illness without telling him and he never went to see her--their relationship is over, and Hinata can finally move on.

And she starts to come into her own within this journey. She’s not in Konoha anymore. She doesn’t have her father to contend with or her sister or Neji’s death. And she doesn’t have constant reminders of Naruto (except when Kiba’s being an ass). Writing her as a more confident shinobi is... difficult to say the least. I personally don’t think she’s actually suited to shinobi work (politics, sure, but not actual combat), so even though I’m writing her as a more competent shinobi, it was very hard for me to suspend my belief for that. But that’s always been my problem with Hinata, and I kinda had to push myself past that hurdle of “is this recognizably Hinata?” because 1) she isn’t the central figure and 2) I need her to not be too much like Hinata because otherwise their cover is blown. So I can accept that she might come across as a lil OC. She’s undercover anyways, so she’s not gonna act like herself. And again, I want her to be more interesting and more dynamic than she is canonically.

But it definitely was a struggle.

Setting aside the issue of Hinata, I think the most fun I have when writing Naruto fics is really the worldbuilding aspects. For TAoL, I have like countless reference books and my kanji dictionary is always on hand. You can bet that any original towns and characters, I spent a lot of time scouring my kanji dictionary for a good name. Even if the name is fairly innocuous in meaning, I didn’t just pick it at random.

So for instance, Kōten Outpost uses kanji 995 in my kanji dictionary which mens ‘take a turn for the better’. Kōten is at a four way crossroad, and it’s specifically a place for travelers, merchants, etc.

Kōten Outpost was a quaint, sprawling town at a four-way cross-roads and the oldest settlement in Fire.

Long before Konoha or the rule of shinobi, before the daimyo, before the Warring States era, Kōten Outpost had sat like a picturesque painting. In the midst of wars and battles, in the midst of political upheaval and petty squabbles over boarders, Kōten Outpost had withstood the test of time for long centuries and would most likely continue on well after the age of shinobi.

Obviously, if you’re reading TAoL or just about any canon setting fic I write, you know I like worldbuilding. Kōten is a small piece of worldbuilding, whereas Gyokukakushin is a much larger piece, but Kōten still has it’s place within setting the stage and developing the world of Naruto. I really liked coming up with all the different towns in Fire that were affected by the skirmishes, and I really enjoyed imagining what the towns not run by shinobi would be like. What the people are like, what their culture is like, how they feel about shinobi. I think Kōten is a good example of a snapshot of worldbuilding--not a lot of depth per say, but enough that you get the sense of what it’s like.

With this chapter, however, the focus isn’t on the places and the culture of those places, so it really is just snapshots of places. Yugakure, Shimogakure, Kōten Outpost... This chapter is about the desperate hunt for information and doing whatever it takes.

That being said, the worldbuilding element comes into play again in a big way with Shikamaru and the Shadow Kami.

Admittedly, this was not in my original outline of this fic at all. It was something I came up with in the midst of writing this chapter, and it did make me kinda nervous to take this mystical route with Shikamaru given that nothing in the canon supports it. But then again, nothing in the canon supported aliens, and yet we have canonical aliens. \

Anyways, I felt that, despite my anxiety over the reception, Shikamaru was at least suited to this because I think it’s much easier to pull off mysticism with something like shadows. Plus, we don’t have a lot of canonical backstory for most of the clans, and I enjoyed bringing something new into the canon history, something wholly different.

Precautions had been noted in the scroll for this ritual, warnings from the first ones to perform it of the dangers it posed; his ancestors reaching from beyond the past to guide him through a long forgotten practice: Never look upon the Summoned, for they are more than mere shadow. Never show weakness to the Summoned, for they do not borrow hearts and souls, and will not show you any compassion. Never appear before the Summoned without an offering, for they are bottomless voids and will take you if you have nothing to give.

I really wanted to emphasize that the Shadow Kami do not follow human laws and are entities outside of human conception. There’s a lot more planned for Shikamaru and the consequences of what he does here are far reaching. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can promise that what Shikamaru’s done doesn’t end at the end of this fic. This isn’t a one time deal, like “oh you can use our power for a little while and then we’ll slip away and you can be a normal shinobi again.”

Shikamaru has unleashed something that will live within him forever. And it will pass on to future generations (assuming he has children at any point.) He, of course, knew the risks, but Temari is everything to him, so what’s being a vessel for Shadow Kami if it means having the power to save the woman he loves?

I wasn’t entirely sure how successful I was in conveying these consequences and I really worried over how OP Shikamaru would be, but the questions I always ask myself are:

1. Is this errand? 2. Are there consequences?

And the answer to both of those questions are yes, in this case.

Shikamaru is a genius, and he’s in line to be the head of the Nara clan. He has access to the scrolls that contain these guarded secrets, and he absolutely doesn’t care about the consequences even though he knows there will be heavy ones.

While yes, at this point, Shikamaru has essentially achieved god-like powers, he cannot control them, and he is always going to run the risk of losing himself completely to the shadows. Shadows aren’t human. They don’t have human rules. They don’t have human wants. And the Shadow Kami, like I said, are bottomless voids. They take and take. Shikamaru has to rely on his own willpower to not be lost.

I imagine that the next Shikamaru chapter will explore more of the Shadow Kami history and the Nara clan history, but I think overall, the introduction to the Shadow Kami was good. It’s a hard balance though for sure because on the one hand, the Shadow Kami are a HUGE plot element that needs to be explored and talked about, but I also don’t want to take away from the immediacy of what’s happening in the overall story--the danger that Temari is in, which is always at the forefront of Shikamaru’s mind.

Which brings us to his relationship with Temari.

She’s his motivating factor in all of this. He does care deeply for Kankurou and Gaara as well, but Temari is the love of his life. That’s his everything. I personally am not a fan of maintaining Shikamaru as this like misogynistic person. He was twelve at the start of the series, and I think it’s safe to say he outgrows that, and also his desire not to get married. I think he genuinely values Temari--as a person and as a shinobi. She’s his equal and his partner.

And I think she’s sort of the great equalizer between him and the Shadow Kami:

Shikamaru's resolve hardened. He wasn't shadow, he wasn't just an empty void for them to fill. He might have given up his body and his humanity to them, but he would never give up his love. He sat back down, and forced the shadows to recede from his veins.

I personally feel like Shikamaru as this sort of embodiment of the lazy genius, this very blase and carefree “i wanna look at the clouds” character has a lot of potential to fail and become uninteresting. I think Temari makes him more interesting because she challenges him, and I think that the focus on their relationship really helps to highlight the pull of the shadows. Now he’s in this constant dance between giving himself over completely, and not forgetting Temari.

The antler that comes up repeatedly throughout this chapter is a symbolic link to Temari.

The antler ring tethered him; it was a blinding light to chase away the darkness; a necessary reminder of who he was and what mattered to him.

I think by the end of the chapter it’s fairly obvious what this is meant to be: an engagement ring.

I decided that it was a Nara tradition to make a ring out of antler, and Shikamaru carries this with him, making the ring when he has downtime on the mission. It’s not just a symbolic link to Temari to help him stay grounded, it’s also his assurance that he won’t let her die.

The repetition of the ring as an item on his person is inspired by a creative writing assignment I had back in college. There’s a story called The Things They Carried, and it kinda reminds me of being in theatre and having object work for a character you play. But the idea is that the things a character carries tells you a lot about them. It’s a window into someone’s soul, a way of communicating something about them without outright telling you about them.

So Shikamaru carries this piece of antler, that starts out as nothing more than a piece of antler and slowly turns into a ring, because he’s lost any and all reservations about marriage in the face of losing Temari. His love for her drives him onward, and his love for her is why he can’t fail. The ring is his refusal to fail.

I think that the ring is one of my favorite elements in this chapter. It’s obviously very subtle and small compared to like the Shadow Kami, but it’s such a desperate and beautiful element of romance. The image of Shikamaru awake late into the night, whittling down the antler until it becomes a ring, his promise to Temari whispered into the night. I think that’s powerful, and I think the ring really does highlight that in a way that not even the pact he made does.

And.... that’s I think the main stuff I wanted to talk about!

This particular chapter was actually supposed to cover their time in Kumo, but the chapter itself had gotten so long at that point that it didn’t make sense to keep going. Plus, the way this fic is planned out, it made sense to move everything that will happen in Kumo to a later Shikamaru chapter.

Thank you so much for this ask! It was fun to talk about this chapter! <3

[janiedean]

Honestly, I would like to hear you rant about Brienne's s5 storyline and her killing Stannis. It felt weird to me that in the book there's this whole thing with Lady Stoneheart wanting revenge and using Brienne as a tool to to try and get it tho she probably won't get it, and then in the show it's Brienne still seeking revenge for Renly and actually getting it. Like there's a "revenge isn't actually a good thing" theme that got lost along the way.

... lmao.

well okay this is not for renly fans so just so you know, you’re warned.

now.

I don’t have.... like, anything specific against renly nor I think he’s a Bad Person which is why in modern aus I just let him be his best version, but.. canon renly Is An Asshole when it concerns his brother, his niece and brienne and that’s A Thing because like sorry but skipping succession ‘because no one likes you but they like me’ is not a good reason to do anything, ‘my niece is so ugly ew grayscale’ is just bottom level of being... let’s just say vapid, and it’s canon that the reason he keeps brienne around is not that he cares about her, it’s because he knows she’s good at what she does and doesn’t want nothing in return and actually would die for him, which........

considering that brienne would have died for renly because he was nice to her once and danced with her which is like bare minimum for decent human being, sorry if I side-eye this narrative that renly believed in her etc because sorry guys renly in asoiaf canon didn’t give a single fuck about that;

specifically, when it comes to brienne renly is that one crush you get at some point that you’re in love with the idea of, not with the person they actually are, and as someone wise said on some post once, brienne thought she would die for him and didn’t and didn’t know she could die for jaime but she immediately knew when she had the choice, so I think that just seals it, but ahead with that...

affc is also about brienne getting over renly because she was in love with the idea of renly, not with renly himself, never mind that renly wasn’t in love with her anyway and could have never been. like, all of her affc povs are about that. she thinks about him less and less, she superimposes jaime on him like ffs when she’s naked in the bath she has to MAKE HERSELF THINK ABOUT RENLY, at some point she dreams of renly’s death except it’s jaime in his place, then jaime puts renly’s cloak on her shoulders and at the end of it when she has that dream which is sort of very similar to jaime’s in asos where he sees people he thinks he disappointed and she sees renly and cat.... well. it’s because she thinks she disappointed them, or that she failed them, but she’s plain not in love with him (or his idea of) anymore;

now, she also swore to cat she’d kill stannis in revenge for him... and she’s never so much as thought about it. ffs there is ONE single instance of brienne thinking about stannis in affc. THIS ONE:He shrugged. "Sometimes. At tourneys, from afar. Once at Baelor's Sept. The gold cloaks shoved us aside so he could pass. Another time I was playing near the Mud Gate when he come back from a hunt. He was so drunk he almost rode me down. A big fat sot, he was, but a better king than these sons of his."They are not his sons. Stannis told it true, that day he met with Renly. Joffrey and Tommen were never Robert's sons. This boy, though . . . "Listen to me," Brienne began. Then she heard Dog barking, loud and frantic. "Someone is coming."IT’S WHEN SHE RECOGNIZES THAT GENDRY IS ROBERT’S SON AND THAT STANNIS WAS RIGHT WHEN HE SAID TOMMEN AND MYRCELLA WEREN’T HIS. that’s it. that’s all brienne has to think about stannis in affc. she doesn’t think about killing him once.guess why? because meanwhile she’s found better things to think about and she doesn’t feel the need to avenge renly as much as she feels the need to fulfill her vow to catelyn and jaime and she’s fucking over renly and she has realizes at least subconsciously that guess what she didn’t want to die for him;

the entire point was that she is over her crush on a guy who might have been decent to her though it was the bare minimum anyone should have shown her but who didn’t give two shits about her personally and that she thought she could and would die for, and sorry if being willing to die for someone because he danced with you isn’t healthy as much as people don’t want to accept the fact that brienne has Issues with the capital I;

therefore, the moment the show dragged her north FOR RENLY and OMG I HAVE TO KILL STANNIS FOR RENLY before getting her stuck watching a tower for a season for that crap joke of a winterfell storyline and don’t get me started on how they made brienne’s sl secondary to sansa for three seasons when surely her point in her narrative is not that ita) ignored that brienne had a character arc that included getting over renlyb) elevated renly to sainthood (forget saint tyrion) because it implied that yes he was that nice dancing with her so yes he deserves her avenging his death when sorry but what the fucking fuck he just paid her the bare minimum it didn’t mean she should have joined his army for it or that she should avenge him for having being a decent person oncec) made it look like renly actually gave a shit about her for real when lmao nod) trashed lady stoneheart when as you said they lost the REVENGE IS A BAD IDEA theme and all that she brought with bc stoneheart is fundamental for both jaime and brienne as characters but hey let’s just stick brienne serving other people without a personal storyline and let’s not let jaime have his arc because what the fuck amritee) missed all of the themes in her affc arc because where was meribald? where was the anti-war message? where was the fact that brienne is a vulnerable person with doubts? we saw none of that shit except oMG SHE KILLED STANNIS BADASSSSS. yeah, no. character assassination my old friend here we are;

now, specifically re stannis: what angers me on a molecular level in that choice, not counting the fact that never in my life I ever want to see character #1 I relate to in a series (and period) kill character #2 I relate to in that same series without any goddamned reason to do that but that’s personal is that....... since brienne doesn’t give a fuck about avenging renly anymore in the book it’s very likely that if she and stannis meet again they might actually like talk about things and now I’mma give you the other hot take of the year....

... which is that I would like it if people saw that actually if brienne were to get along with one baratheon brother, she and stannis would have a lot more chances to hit off than she and renly ever could have because sorry but:a) they’re both introverts with huge issues communicating with others who also have been treated like shit for their entire lives based on people judging them before they opened their mouthb) as much as brienne isn’t THAT hard on it she has a sense of justice that he’d definitely appreciatec) if we assume that a guy with a daughter with grayscale whom renly also referred to as ‘that ugly daughter of his’ who is considered disfigured by everyone who still treats her like his only heir and doesn’t gaf about her looks would give two shits about brienne’s looks and not about her skills instead then we assume wrong nvm that stannis has a hand who used to be an illiterate commoner and melisandre used to be a slave like.... come on he’d definitely treat her with respect and not just because he needs herd) reverse, if she saw how he is with his daughter thaaat might remind her of her father not having forced her to marry eventually and agreeing to let her join renly/learn swordfighting instead I mean... come one) never mind that as stated before both of them are way more similar when it comes to take your vows seriously than notlike........... okay but with these premises if they meet when they need all the men they can spare to fight the white walkers I’d presume they will actually talk about renly’s death and get an understanding, not that she’ll take out a sword and impale him there especially if it’s post lady stoneheart which is the point in her sl where she 100% understands you can’t follow all of your vows and you will have to choose at some point (btw she chose jaime already over stoneheart and we all know it bye)...

which means that having her kill him in the show after a thing they made happen from 0 to 180 just to make him look irredeemable, for renly when brienne doesn’t gaf in the books anymore and reinforcing this - excuse me - bullshit narrative of saint renly who was the ideal king and never did anything wrong except trying to pass over stannis who was ahead of him in the line and further creating drama in that damned war because his brother didn’t happen to be immediately likable (nvm that I have issues with the fact that renly doesn’t even seem to remember having been at storm’s end during the siege which means that stannis made sure he actually had to eat while everyone else was starting to consider cannibalism but hey who cares that my brother almost died and never let me starve with the entirety of the castle I’ll now go and stab him in the back because NAAAH WHY SHOULD I SUPPORT HIM? sorry but what the fucking fuck) while stannis was an asshole who eventually got what he deserved because he wasn’t fun amrite will never not irk me to a molecular level because that wasn’t brienne’s storyline anymore and it hasn’t been since asos, the renly vs stannis situation is way more complicated than renly was nice and stannis was an asshole, stannis is nowhere near the piece of cardboard dnd think he is and the fact that both characters didn’t move on from their renly-related trauma but that it went down in the cheapest most ooc way ever should have woken people up about how dnd couldn’t be trusted for shit with these books if the WF adaptation of the adwd storyline hadn’t showed that already.

tldr: it was ooc and an insult to both characters and also can we stop with the saint renly narrative, thanks.

[littlemisssquiggles]

You know, I can't help but stop thinking about how Cinder's Grimm arm reminds me on Peter Pettigrew's silvery hand in Harry Potter. So... Do you think it is possible Cinder might die (that is, if she dies... Which I just assume since I see now way she can be redeemed anymore) not by Ruby's hand, not by Neo's hand, but instead by her own? Like... Literally. Sorry, I couldn't stop myself from making that pun...

Heyo Seaberry! That’s actually a cool observation. Outside of theconnection to Team STQR, Cinder is sort of like Peter Pettigrew, only minus thecowardice. If anything, LeonardoLionheart was more like Pettigrew in terms of personality and motives fortheir betrayal, at least in my opinion. In regards to your question; not tosound negative or anything like that but if I’m being completely honest withyou fam, this squiggle meister is at a bit of a loss on what the CRWBY Writersare doing with the characters and their respective stories; particularly thevillains.

I was already kind of iffy on their choice last season to bring Neo back intothe story to play pawn to Cinder andher schemes. Even now when we’re nearing the finale of V7, I still personally thinkthat Emerald Sustrai wouldhave been the better candidate to be Cinder’s accomplice while in Atlas. Itstill peeves me a little bit that the CRWBY Writers' rationale for Neo's returnin V6 was because "theythought Cinder having an accomplice to Atlas would've been cool" according to the V6 DVD Commentary.

Even though….Cinder has always had accomplices throughout her whole run in RWBY. In V1, she was Roman's formersidekick before she received a promotion within the PLOT and becameSalem's representative with Neo taking over as Roman's right hand protégée asof V2 while Emerald and Mercury became Cinder's primary two goons.

This dynamic was retained until theconclusion of V5 only for Cinder to wind up on her own after suffering ahumiliating defeat by Raven Branwen. If you’ll allow me to get nit-picky here, I’m still in awe that the Writers believed resurrecting afan favourite character for the sole purpose of slapping her with a new backstory that was never previously established in the main canon, repeatingthe same purpose that she had in prior seasons minus the emotional connectionand history was a quote, unquote, “a coolidea”.

In my opinion, it would've been more compelling towatch Cinder all alone; forced to claw her way out of her rut and find her ownway to Atlas Kingdom by her own devices and naturalcunning. It could’ve also been an appropriatetime for the story to touch base on Cinder’s past and how she became themegalomaniac we see her to be now. But nah, let's do the exact same thing we'vealways done with her character. Give her a pawn to manipulate and get to do herbidding.

But at least with Emerald, therewas the established history and relationship between her and Cinder that’s beenhighlighted since the events of V2. Cinder even once referred to Emerald as her‘apprentice’ or rather her ambition was to mouldEmerald (and by extension Mercury too maybe butthe focus was more on Em) into her perfect apprentice in a similar fashion tohow Salem moulded her.

Emerald being Cinder’s accomplice toAtlas would’ve been a great opportunity to not only flesh Cinder out more as avillain but Emerald as well.

But nah, let's side-line the characterwho was actually built up as a close accomplice and apprentice under Cinder formore than two seasons (both before and during the Mistral Trilogy) and had amuch better chance for development in favour of bringing back a belovedcharacter who had zero connection to Cinder outside of being the boss to herformer boss.

I don't care if Miles and/or Kerrypromised Neo's return from seasons before; given how V5 ended, Emerald should’vebeen Cinder’s accomplice to Atlas, exactly like she’s been for several seasons,more so than Neo. We could’ve had a Claudia from the Dragon Prince moment forEmerald where she refused to believe that Cinder’s dead and out of her loyaltyto her, ups and abandons Mercury and Hazel in favour of remaining in Mistral inorder to track Cinder down.

Imagine if…LittleMiss Malachite and her Spiders had double crossed Cinder---but instead of ratting her out to Neo, theywere going to apprehend Cinder to collect the bountiful reward for her captureas advertised all over Mantle as a result of what happened at Haven.

Imagine if…Cinder found herself cornered by theSpiders only to be saved by Emerald of all people, who instantly made waste of the Spiders. Without hesitation,Emerald kills each and every last Spider who dared try and harm Cinder; furtheremphasizing her loyalty to the Fall Maiden as a means of remaining by her side.Imagine if this move even earns Emerald great respect in Cinder’s eyes.

Instead of using Neo, imagine if …Cinderfulfilled the very desire she voiced back in V3. Back then, Cinder said thatshe desired to become someone powerful enough to be feared by others who stoodagainst her.

Instead of using Neo, picture analternative scenario in which, after Emerald had saved her, Cinder returns thefavour by protecting Emerald in a sense from an enraged Little Miss Malachitewho draws a weapon on her. Picture Cinder unleashing her fury on poor MissMalachite; overwhelming the crimeboss by pinning her down with her Grimm arm while her other hand threatened toburn her face off with her Maiden Magic.

Instead of using Neo, let’s say Cinder used her own powers to intimidate a fear stricken Little Miss Malachite into using her resources toget Cinder and Emerald to Atlas in exchange for spearing her life. Let’s say…forwhatever reason, MissMalachite had Spiders in Argus whocould’ve easy commandeered a Atlesian airship from right under the military’snose for her if needed. So that’s what happens. Cinder and Emerald receive whatthey need from Malachite and as soon as she had served her purpose, Cindereither could’ve killed her to prove her power or…chosen to spare Malachite as auseful ally to her and Salem later. That could’ve been a neat, small littlealternative to what was done in the canon.

I guess what bothered me the most aboutthe decision to suddenly bring Neo back was that you didn’t really need Neospecifically for this role of being Cinder’s accomplice for the Atlas Arc.Personally, I think the showrunners missed a golden chance to further developEmerald. Instead of Neo, I would’ve gone with Em since her connection to Cinderactually ties into her own respective story as opposed to some shared vendettaon wanting to kill Ruby. Not to mention that I believe Emerald’s Hallucinationssemblance would've worked just as well as Neo's Illusions; probably even bettersince Emerald could’ve further messed with a target’s mind similar to what shedid with Yang and Pyrhha back in V3.

Nothing against Neopolitan.I don’t dislike her as a character. I just personally feel like this shouldn’thave been the purpose the Writers brought her back into the main story for.

Youbrought her back to be Cinder’spawn. Not sidekick.Not even apprentice. But her pawn. Her tool. Her little ice-cream flavoured puppet. That’sthe best you got for her? A rehash of her last purpose within the PLOT onlythis time with a character who doesn’t share any kind of emotional bond withher and has a better chance at double crossing her once she’s done using herfor her own personal gain.

The only saving grace for this ideawould be if Neo becomes the General Jinjur of the RWBY story and actuallysomehow winds up becoming an unlikely ally to the heroes once she learns herlesson with Cinder. Either that or my “cracktheory” about Neo double-crossing Cinder firstby pilfering the Relic of Creation for herself

But then again, this is only my opinionand these are only my thoughts and ideas.

In terms of Cinder Fall, I have afeeling that they're going to give her a win this time. I'm more leaningtowards the hunch where Cindersucceeds in gaining the Winter Maiden magic with her sights set on acquiring the Relic of Creation; especiallyin the event that Neo fails to claim the Relic of Knowledge from Oscar and asCinder told her, she needs a relic to basically get back on Salem's goodside.

So if Neo fails in retrieving the lamp,the staff will be Cinder's next best option at redemption in Salem's eyes.

Not to mention that I remember hearingsomething about us learning about Cinder's backstory at some point for thisarc. I know the likelihood of her being killed off is there given the way thePLOT suddenly had her and Neo reappear for this season after the end of V6which reminded me an awful lot of how they handed Adam Taurus last season. Butneedless to say, I think it's safe to assume that Cindermay survive for another season or two.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2020) 

[happojin-blog]

Best part was the all for one hug? Like really? Dunno I mean its pretty sad tbh, all for one only took him in to spite all might. It's not heartfelt or nice it's really sad, he could have been helped an lived a happy life but now he's a spitefull little man using people's torment to fuel his desire to see everything destroyed. I mean if deku had a quirk he would have been used for a nomu. His childhood friend was. I think it's pretty obvious spinner is gonna leave soon

Hey, that’s cool, we’re into different things. Obviously it’s incredibly fucked up. Taking Shigaraki in, teaching him to hate, handing him a plate of the severed hands of his dead family members and reminding him that he’s the one that killed them all - none of this was nice or heartfelt. And that’s why I love it. I’m all about fucked up implications (and text, though I prefer subtext). It’s deliciously wrong. Also, I’ve always thought that Shigaraki isn’t actually touch-starved as so many have headcanoned, as I’ve always imagined that All for One was “affectionate” with him in this sense, so it’s nice to have it confirmed and see it in canon.

Honestly there’s two camps here, neither which I’d call “pretty obvious,” though I have my own bias as to which I think is ultimately more likely. Either Spinner feels a stronger connection with himself and Shigaraki now, feels that his question was answered, feels empowered by Shigaraki’s vision and will go all in to fulfill it. Or, alternatively, he has acknowledged to himself now that he and Shigaraki ultimately have different goals, and will leave.

With this new arc in mind, I’m leaning towards option one not just because it’s what I’d prefer, but because I don’t think it’d make sense in an arc which is about strengthening the League to remove yet another of the very few members left, unless, at the very end, the heroes are supposed to fight only against the High-End Noumus and Shigaraki (unless we’ll finally get some new blood, which would be cool also), instead of multiple villains we’ve grown to feel some sympathy and understanding for, which would include Spinner.

It’s also possible Spinner could play off Hawks in some way which would show him to be a weak link of the League - however, I think that would have made more sense without all this new focus and insight into Spinner’s motivation, and parallels drawn between him and Shigaraki: and Shigaraki providing him with the answer he was looking for.

How you want to interpret Spinner’s reaction in today’s chapter is up to you. Does he feel satisfied hearing Shigaraki echo his hate towards society? Does he view Shigaraki as, to quote myself: “ someone just like him?” Or instead, as I’m guessing you’re thinking, as an extreme, distorted version of him and his own hatred - a cautionary tale, not to follow?

Time will tell. Thanks for the question!

[chromsai]

5Ds Review

Wooo... another Yugioh down, just 2 more to go on this challenge... (yeah, just a reminder that V//r//ains will not be included in this challenge).

This one I was very excited to get to rewatch... at first. I’d only seen this once before all the way through, and halfway through I remembered... that I only actually really enjoyed about half this show. My last attempt at rewatching this show failed completely (yes, I admit that I abandoned ship as soon as I hit about the halfway mark... or even a little less), but this time, by some fucking stubborn as hell and definitely worn out miracle, I succeeded. Barely. But I did it. I may have... lagged it a bit here or there (even worse than when I watched GX, surprisingly), but I finished right on schedule.

And right on schedule, here’s my honest review of what, for a short period of time back in like mid-2014, used to be my favorite Yugioh spin-off: 

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds.

(Note: Before you skip through all this and just scroll to the bottom to read my final rating of this show, just know my breakdown, because I tried to be the nicest reviewer I could when reviewing this, for the sake of... idk, my sanity, or whatever. The breakdown I chose is:

1. Season 1 2. Season 2:

a. filler episodes b. Crash Town     i. Bonds Beyond Time (BBT) c. WRGP + Ark Cradle d. Finale

Why in the hell am I making this so complicated this time?! Reasons. Reasons to be discussed...

And don’t worry, as always, I’ll do my best to keep it short and just my overall thoughts.)

Season 1 - Fortune Cup + Dark Signers (Episodes 1 - 64):

We start off with something that’s very promising and fast. I don’t necessarily mean “fast-paced”, per say— the show, at least right here, doesn’t seem to struggle with pacing much at all— rather, 5Ds exudes the sort of energy that it’s set a course and it knows how to get there. Where is it going? It doesn’t know yet and it doesn’t care, and honestly in this first Season, that’s completely fine because it knows how to make each pit stop into a memorable detour worth paying attention to. It doesn’t waste your time, is what I want to say. 

The first leg of the Season, the Fortune Cup arc, does a great job establishing its main cast and their reasons for being involved in this dystopian mess of plot. Regarding said dystopian mess, rest assured that the show’s world is pretty well established within the first few episodes, so world building is not an issue either. It’s already going pretty great, and then we’re gifted with the excellent Dark Signers second leg which builds on character’s backgrounds, establishes relationships even further, and raises the stakes just enough that things actually matter. That’s right. Consequence finds its way back to Yugioh... or is it introduced into it, actually? It’s been so long since we’ve had some consequence in Yugioh and yet its existence is so fleeting, as we soon realize, right at the end of this arc. 

It’s something to get used to for the next... a while.

Regardless, Season 1 of 5Ds is without a doubt an enjoyable watch with some solid presentation (for the most part). It’s something that’s an incredible breath of fresh air for this anime franchise. Though perhaps a short one...

Overall rating for this arc: 4/5 - very good, but still lacking on that much sought after umph that we crave from a lot of shows, an element we’ll keep missing in this franchise for a good while...

Season 2 (Episodes 65 - 154):

Here comes... this. Mess. If you;re getting the impression by now that I’ve been procrastinating talking about this, you’re right. I’m going to go pretty fast on this... or ‘least I’ll try...

a. Filler Episodes (Episodes 65 - 85):

Although, yes, we are indeed introduced to a “new threat” this season, we spend the majority of the time these 20 episodes exploring the daily lives of the 5Ds cast and crew, introducing new (95% useless) side characters left and right. At first you might think, You know what this is kinda fun, but actually you are wrong. The only episode in here that anyone ever remembers is that one where Yusei and Aki go on a roller skating date. Because it’s cute. But superficial. None of these episodes carry much weight at all, perhaps baring, like, those two or three episodes that introduce Sherry and, later, Bruno. But otherwise? None of this matters. Harmless tho? Mostly.

Season 2a rating: 1.7/5

b. Crash Town (Episodes 86 - 92)

“Wait, I watched this show and these episodes were also filler, what gives?!” You’re absolutely right, my friend. But you’ve forgotten one thing:

That’s right. Yusei’s classy ass.

No, but in all seriousness though, Crash Town offers some weird, old-western-style fever dream. It’s ridiculous; It has nothing to do with 5Ds at all. It’s like the producers decided to just drop us in an AU without warning, and honestly? It’s not terrible.

Season 2b rating: 2.8/5

i. Bonds Beyond Time (BBT - movie)

So this movie was canon to 5Ds, but was it 5Ds? No. As such, I won’t rate or review it here, but I’ll admit it’s not not a fun time for a fanservice movie. Is it of good quality, though? Not really, aside from its presentation. Do I have to mention that it’s canonically a part of this show? Yes. Do you miss out on anything important later on if you skip it? Aside from a small mention of its antagonist’s existence in one line of 5Ds’ climax later on, nope.

c. WRGP + Ark Cradle (Episodes 93 - 153):

*Sighs groaningly infinitely*.

This leg of Season 2 is, easily, the worst part of this entire show.

Before I continue, I need to mention that, as you might have guessed by now, the show has resorted to talking endlessly and vaguely about “destiny” and “zetsubouuuu” in place of its original, wholesome themes relating to self-worth and the intricacies of the relationships between people called “bonds”. But I’m sure that was a given by now; hopefully I didn’t have to clarify that.

The WRGP and Ark Cradle comprise a total of sixty-one (61) episodes and a shit ton of duels, but only exactly one (1) of those duels is decent-good (and it’s still very skippable. I know. Because even though I remembered I liked it the first time I ever watched this show, I decided it wasn’t worth it and still just skimmed it, much like I did for most of this Season).

The WRGP itself is an incredible drag to watch through. The pre-duels are cluttered with unnecessary exposition, Yusei becomes the only useful character through the end of the show, we’re met with uncharismatic and unoriginal teams characters that make Doma’s goons from DM Season 4 seem interesting in comparison. Every duel goes pretty much the same: Team 5Ds is losing... until Yusei takes the reigns and wins for them... again.

Of course I won’t forget that the main group of antagonists don’t ever use a lick of logic, and their plot unveils always resort to a mix of shock and un-awe, recounting “oh woe is me” tales that not a single person could ever care for, much less remember, all for the sake of “justice, destiny, and redemption”. All of which falls flatter than if this show was called YuGiOh 1D.

Lastly, I will absolutely not end this portion of the review by not reminding everyone that, no matter what they say about that-one-spinoff, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds had, unarguably, the worst plot twist of all time *mic drop*. That’s a fact, not an opinion. This is my review, not yours.

Season 2c rating: 0.4/5 - I’d rather watch GX Season 4 than this because at least that one ended quicker.

d. Finale (Episode 154):

I won’t waste any more of your time here, I’ll just straight up say it: This episode, directed by the series’ original director (who had been absent since the end of Season 1, mind you *cough*), was, as they say, pretty damn good and had me feeling a tinge of that emotional umphness, but only just a tease. It exudes actual care for the cast of this show, something that hadn’t held its presence in this show for an unfortunate amount of time. It’s a satisfying ending and leaves us without a doubt in our minds that these characters will go on to continue meaningful and fulfilling lives. A gentle, but firm send off. Nice.

Season 2d rating: 4.6/5 - wonderful ending, irked only by the distasteful amount crap preceded by it.

Season 2 overall rating: 2.375

Final Thoughts: Right, I usually add on something after I give my final overall rating, but before I do that, I just wanna say this: people talk about wasted potential all the time, but confuse nostalgic presence with excellence. What I mean by that is, this show had all the major markings of a narrative that conveyed meaning, and yet that got terribly lost along the way. The Finale brought it back up, reminding us why these characters were so endearing and why we bothered to stick through it all with them to the end, despite distasteful ventures. It took a few creative twists at first— in approach, most notably, throwing us into the action before building up its world and characters, and it paid off early on— but the obvious shift in direction less than midway through the series did not pan out well for it overall. Instead, 5Ds left us with a satisfying ending, sure, but about 2/3rds of its journey was just crashing and burning, and we just sat there feeling the bruises of the characters we watched, urging them to just get to the finish line already so we never have to experience this sadly mediocre trip ever again.

Final Overall Rating: 3.2/5.

[callioope]

OKAY SO THIS HAPPENED the other day:

Fuz: thoughts on 6th harry potter book

Me: … I mean Me: It's my favorite Me: Harry and Ginny get together Me: Back story on Voldemort Me: There are parts that are ridiculous but I enjoyed it

Fuz: apparently [his coworkers] hate it because harry and ginny get together Fuz: so i guess books depend on what ships you like

Me: I will fight anyone who doesn't like Harry and Ginny Me: You will get an essay during my lunch

Later, during 45-minute lunch break: 

Me: *typing furiously on my phone* Harry and Ginny make a good match because of their rapport and understanding of one another. No one else truly “gets” Harry the way that Ginny does, not even his best friend Ron. Also, Harry and Ginny was telegraphed from book one and their getting there is a satisfying fulfillment of that arc.

We'll start with book one. Ginny and Harry really only interact for a short period on the platform. However, this is an important meeting. It's worth noting that JK Rowling’s parents met on a train platform. The fact that Ginny and Harry meet this way telegraphs that JKR planned on them getting together from the very get go. This is the beginning of their full relationship arc.

In book two, we finally get to meet Ginny and she in fact plays an integral role in the story. One key H/G moment, which is one of my faves, occurs towards the beginning of the book when the Weasleys and Harry run into the Malfoys while shopping for school supplies. The Malfoys tease Harry about his fame and celebrity, and it is GINNY who steps forward and defends him, saying, “he doesn't want all that!” This is a twelve year old standing up to LUCIUS MALFOY. what a rock star. She might not even have a wand yet. I can't remember. Can provide actual quote later. Anyways, this is also, incidentally, the moment Lucius slips her the diary which is also super important because Harry and Ginny experience a traumatic event together that no one can really understand. They both have the shared experience of being possessed and influenced by Voldemort. That in and of itself wouldn't be a REASON to date someone, but it does build the foundation of their closeness that is INTEGRAL to their complete understanding of each other.

On to book 3. Ginny's around, I guess? I don't really know what she does because this book is largely about Ron and Hermione, which is a whole separate essay that I will gladly also write upon request, especially as it's necessary to demonstrate why Hermione not only isn’t right for Harry, but that she doesn't even want to be. She's got eyes for Ron, it couldn't be more canon. (Haphazard comments from an author desperate to stay relevant, who contradicts herself, who cannot understand the problem with Johnny Depp, and who was instigated by an actress whose portrayal of Hermione isn’t accurate DO NOT COUNT.)

Book 4. Harry thinks of Ginny as a given back up date for the Yule Ball. BUT OH BOY Ginny's already taken, she's going with her friend Neville, who she likes and who asked her because he is a good guy. Harry, you did badly on this one, and Ginny calls you out for it rightly so. Also, I think she starts dating someone else by the end of this book. She's moving on from her crush, she's learning about herself and she doesn't need to wait around for dense Harry Potter to find romantic partnership.

It's also worth mentioning that our good man Ron Weasley, who's got such a case of insecurity for many valid but irrelevant, for today's purposes, that he contributes to a nasty fight with Harry based on a foundational misunderstanding of Harry's character. Ron is jealous of Harry's fame with regard to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, complicated of course by the fact that Harry should not be competing in the tournament because of his age. But remember how two years ago, Ginny demonstrated an accurate insight that “Harry doesn't want all that”? When it comes to Harry, Ginny has always had her pulse on his feelings!! She gets him!

Now we come to book five. Ginny's doing well for herself, doing well in school and romance, Harry's hung up on Cho Chang cuz he's ridiculous. I'm going to remind you he was attracted to her mainly bc of her badass Quidditch skills (and, of course, she's pretty and also a nice person). So early on in book five, angst y over the fact that Voldemort is back, no one believes him, he had to stay at the Dursleys, Dumbledore won't tell him why or tell him anything (bc he's a tool but separate issue), Harry goes off on Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. He says some nasty comments and Ginny Weasley will not stand for it, she calls him out on his shit and reminds him that she, too, has faced Voldemort and that she knows What's Up, that she gets it and he's being an ass. This is very important in the development of their relationship because it proves that Ginny is not just some fangirl with an awkward schoolgirl crush on her brother's best friend. She can stand up to him, and she gets him, they are equals. At the end of book five, we find out that Ginny is now dating a second person, and Harry is jealous!!!!!!! Then the book ends.

Book. Six. This is what we've been building towards. The final segment of the arc of their relationship story line. Harry finally opens his goddamn eyes and realizes this girl, this woman, Ginny Weasley, whom he has spent every summer with at the Weasleys, who sasses him back as no one else can (remember Harry is a sassmaster), is an amazing, bright, beautiful, badass witch and he. Is. Swept. Away! He has got it bad, just as he should because Ginny is the shit.

She joins the Quidditch team and shows off the talent that will lead her to the professional Quidditch pitch later in life. She becomes Harry's partner in leading the team. Quidditch has always been important to Harry so SHARED INTERESTS/PASSIONS, my friends. Also remember that's what caught his eye with Cho. This is what Harry looks for in a partner!

Now. Now. This is when we get the magic, what has been building!! Ginny dumps Dean at some point. And Harry and Ginny rock the Quidditch pitch. Ron comes into his own, too, and Gryffindor WINS. riding the pure, ecstatic thrill of their win, Harry and Ginny turn to each other in the common room and THEY KISS!!!!!! AND IT IS SO PURE AND HAPPY!!!! what more could you want for Harry??!!!?!!!?

They date for a couple months, wonderful months, they are so happy together and everything clicks! Amazing.

Then Dumbledore dies.

And Harry knows what he has to do.

And guess what. Ginny does, too. She gets him. She supports him. She lets him do what he needs to do.

That's what Harry needs in a partner.

In the meantime, (book seveeeen!) Ginny and Neville hold down the fort at Hogwarts, kicking butt and taking names, so when Harry's ready to come back, they're ready for him. They're ready to face Voldemort.

And they do. And they win. And Ginny and Harry love happily ever after. Oh, is happy ever after not enough? Do you want to complain about how Harry probably has PTSD and it's never addressed? That may be valid, but as a reminder, he's got Ginny Weasley at his side, a woman who has always understood him, always had his back, always had to live with her own trauma from Voldemort. They'll get through it together.

FIN

Epilogue:

Me to Fuz: So did you WANT to talk about Harry Potter, or….? :P

[clonerightsagenda]

Kanaya’s arc part 2: Cherubquest onward

Canon doesn’t really have Kanaya and Terezi talk, which is kind of goofy considering they are theoretically friends, played a killer game together, and then lived together for three years.  So we do that.  They both confess that they have seen other people is more capable than themselves, which is a common problem.  Impostor syndrome, I guess.  Also, in the refuge of the bubbles and in the presence of probably the person with the most fucked up love life choices, Kanaya finally admits her concerns about her relationship. Although she feared that calling Rose on her behavior would might lead to a breakup, she now worries that her reluctance to act has destroyed them from the inside out.  She is also hurt that Rose concealed these things from her because it feels like a betrayal.  As I’m reading this I’m realizing that my more recent Kanaya updates were not all that original and kind of repeated a bunch of shit I already said.  Oh well.  We’ve been going so slowly I’ve forgotten stuff. 

She references her quest again and reiterates that she is happy to have it, but she also suggests that she’ll be happy to finish and be able to set out on something of her own.  Just because we’re content to do something that was asked of us  doesn’t mean we want to do it for the rest of our lives.  She doesn’t want to be defined solely by that role - the role of always dedicating herself to others heedless of her own desires or needs.

One would expect a space player to have a sense of space.  So I think it’s fitting that it is Kanaya who ponders what exactly counts is home for these kids at this point.  Their old planet?  The meteor they spent the last three years on?  Instead, despite her spatial orientation, she identifies not a spot but a group of people as their true home - the people they spent the last few years with.  That’s the home that they can take with them.

When the girls meet Vriska, Kanaya brings up her worries that she did not act enough.  However, Vriska suggests that it probably wouldn’t have changed anything and might have made things worse.  When it comes to light heroes who can accept constructive criticism, she doesn’t make the top of the list, not that any of them love it.  The conversation between the two isn’t a lot, because I’m really focusing on the sisters, but I did want to give them some sort of closure, considering they had the whole red pale thing going on.  As a side note, you think that would come up at least a little bit in the retcon universe, considering they were in the same place, and Vriska is shown having a heart next to her after Kanaya punches her. But who knows.

On to the first update I stalled this response for. Allegedly Kanaya’s outfit here is based off some sort of metal gear thing, because Gill just does that all the time now.  Don’t ask me what or which one.  I’m pretty sure that’s why she has an armband, although the explanation we’re going with is that Rose tried to start knitting her a scarf and never finished it.This conversation starts with Rose brooding, because that’s just what her family does.  When she mentions that her universe is dead, Kanaya gently reminds her that she’s not the only one.  Kanaya also lost a world and a mother.  This reminder isn’t meant to belittle her feelings, but to let her know that she’s not alone, and she doesn’t have to feel like it’s just her against the world. Space heroes often end up in emotional labor source-sink relationships, and you really see that play out here.  At the beginning of the conversation, Rose is angsting, and Kanaya is doing requisite supportive body language.  We see a little bit of her insecurity peek through

KANAYA: It Got Us Here KANAYA: Thats Not All Bad  KANAYA: Right

But she is quickly reassured.  Like I said before, space players tend to deal with what’s in front of them and not stress as much the alternate possibilities.  As far as Kanaya’s concerned, shit happened, and here they are. She is more worried about the responsibilities lying in her future than other ways things could have gone when she knows they had no other choice. As the conversation goes on, though, she begins to voice more of her fears.  A big theme of this conversation is stewardship are motherhood and how to take care of things.  Rose’s stance is more aggressive.  To protect someone, you have to destroy what might harm it.  Kanaya isn’t so sure about that, but she is worried about the responsibility of bringing back an entire species.  That’s a lot to deal with, especially when you’re a kid and your world is gone.  The world isn’t great, and she has to deal with the responsibility of subjecting her future charges to that.  Parenthood is hard.

KANAYA: Echidna Handed The Burden Of An Entire Race To Me And Everyone Expects Me To Carry It KANAYA: They Believe I Can Do It Because I Have Been Carrying So Much For So Long

She is also learning to start admitting some of her stresses instead of being the typical space player burden-bearer.  More on that in a bit.

KANAYA: Not To Mention As An Agent Of Creation Both Through Space And Prospit I Can Tell You When The Balance Has Been Struck KANAYA: To Avoid Any Too Reckless Acts Of Destruction Merely To Break With The Old KANAYA: If You Dont Mind That Is KANAYA: I Dont Want To KANAYA: You Know

I mentioned this before, but we see back in act five that Kanaya’s worried about accidentally wandering into the pale quadrant with Rose.  She also doesn’t want to give the impression that Rose needs watching or that her job is simply to rein her in, however, she does want to help with her endeavor. There’s a difference being the one trying to control someone, and being a co-collaborator in their efforts. Despite her thinking that Rose sometimes may be too reckless, she also knows that is part of who she is and would not want to lose that. 

On to our most recent update. If you go back and read early scenes, Kanaya is at her most awkward and funny when meeting new people, so I played that up here with Roxy and in her later walkaround logs. 

In this conversation, Kanaya finally escapes the typical space player source-sink emotional labor relationship. Instead, she is honest: about her fears of smothering Rose, about her drinking problem, and about frustration she feels over Rose’s addiction. She also admits to her own insecurities, especially in comparison to her dancestor. “I can control myself,” she says. A lot of her story is about control. She enunciates carefully. She grooms topiary into beautiful shapes. She tries to keep the social dynamics around her orderly. I think part of the reason she keeps mum about her problems is because it betrays that facade of control, and admitting her addiction problem does too. However, that silence only prevents her from truly getting a grasp on her situation. Sometimes you have to loosen your fingers a little bit in order to get a better grip. 

Moving on, I honestly thought she would make use of all the blood she purchased in canon. She didn't, but we do. Symbolically, she is taking a former weakness and symbol of death or loss and turning it into a chance to fulfill her quest and bring about new life. Of course, in canon they just use the ectobiology labs, which raises the question of why the orb was such a big deal in the first place, but oh well. I guess they used it for the initial population surge to keep going. Rose throws her two cents (or rainbow lifey water) into the mix, because girlfriends gotta work together. 

KANAYA: Are You Breaking Up With Me ROSE: Think of it as offering a strategic retreat, if you want to take it. KANAYA: Is That What You Want

Like I said, this is her chance to be honest. At first, Kanaya shows some of her typical passivity, responding as if she is leaving the choice up to Rose. Rose, of course, would probably then wriggle her way out of the relationship out of a misplaced sense of duty and/or the belief that she is not worth it. It's a family trait. We mostly see the angst on Rose's side of the relationship, but now Kanaya gets a chance to speak, repeating a lot of the same concerns she finally spat out earlier to Terezi. This isn’t a situation I am familiar with personally, so I did do research into how alcoholism affects partners or other loved ones. I think more than anything else this is Rose’s wake up call and what will prevent her from falling off the wagon again. She doesn't want to do to Kanaya what her mother did to her.

KANAYA: I Kept Hoping I Would Find A Way To Fix It KANAYA: But Thats Not What A Relationship Should Be

Space girls do seem to favor fixer uppers, especially Kanaya. And as she says, you can't build a relationship just on that. It's unhealthy and one-sided. However, even if they're going through a rough patch, that's not all their relationship is. And for once, Rose leaves a crucial decision about her life in someone else's hands, and Kanaya is willing to make the tough choice instead of letting someone else make a call she doesn't agree with. Communication, guys. Astounding. 

They close out the conversation by talking about having fun. This is partly because they have all had some terrible times, but also because this couple is often painted as the "boring lesbians" or "background couple" and that is silly. They're going to have a good time. 

Like I said, Kanaya still has several more significant updates ahead. I just didn’t want to sit on this DVD commentary forever. So stay tuned for the conclusion of her hereditary quest and a few other bits I think you'll find interesting. Overall though, what I tried to focus on was her putting herself first a little bit.  We know she's insecure and will sometimes avoid conflict or try to help other people even if it isn't in her best interest or she disagrees, so throughout the story I tried to make sure she stood up for herself, learn to voice her true feelings, and put her foot down when she thought it was necessary. She may not be a beacon of self confidence – I don't think any of them are – but she's doing better.  That's what we can hope for.

[rpedia]

[Ask RPedia] Does the Main Character Have to be “Good” to be Liked?

Anonymous asked: Do you think a character HAS to be likeable for people to like them, if they're the protagonist in the story? I've had a lot of conflict over this, as I myself enjoy having unlikeable/mean/"villainous" characters as the main character, but I'm unsure as to whether this would go well over with the majority. Do you think being likeable is a must-have trait for a popular, or enjoyable character?

Hi yeah okay uhm, no. Never. Nope. Honestly people just love a character they can connect with, and there’s a lot of people out there who look at themselves and are guilty that they have less-than-perfect responses to situations. Seeing someone who does similar, yet thrills and interests them, can give them that hook. Let them know they aren’t alone, and give them a fictional anchor to see themselves in. That connection, be it fascination, love, attraction, or reflection is the important part. Let’s examine a few of the ‘most popular’ characters from recent shows and see why they were popular, because surprise surprise, most of them were straight up villains yet everyone loves them. ... I’m going to talk a lot about basically these two paragraphs ad nauseum as I explain, get ready for it.

So we’re going to jump right into some fandoms people have hashed back and forth to the point that, really, we want to gag. Yes. Let’s walk directly into hell and pick up BBC Sherlock, the MCU’s Avengers, Game of Thrones, and... you know what, let’s do it. Let’s go grab that Nolan version of Batman.

You probably realized who I was talking about first for each and every one of them, so let’s point at our targets. Moriarty, Loki, Joker, and Joffery come on down! Actually GoT has a lot of fucking targets let’s be real. We’ll leave that one for last because we can drain it of the most meat before we toss it aside. Anyways.

What do these characters have in common? They’re evil, yes, they’re strongly represented in their respective canons, and holy shit the fandom fucking loves them. Like everything about them, there’s fanart, and fanfics, and rewrites, and redemption arcs in every little fanish heart for miles. (peep TVtropes about this following phrase) They have more Leather Pants than Draco Malfoy, another fond favorite but we’re not gonna bother with him because he doesn’t have much hearty fulfilling canon meat on him. Fandom strongly wishes that these characters, despite their issues, were ‘good people’ and could care about another person. They want them to be a little bit goofy, and are completely willing to overlook everything they’ve done if they could get better now.

So my theory, and oh no I have a theory, is you can get away with a character being a total fuckface if you pick which part of Triumvirate of Attraction they fail at and keep the other two. It’s a triangle. The corners are: Attractive Looking, Witty/Sarcastic/Intelligent, and Relatable. So if you have a character who is relatable and funny, everyone loves them even if they are literally made out of goopy clay pasted onto some sort of twig framework. If they’re good looking and horrifyingly intelligent, no one ever has to bond with them or understand them on a deep personal level, because wow they’re funny and I can look at them! 

Seriously.

Each of these character has unlikable aspects, and I’m sure the fandom can give me a real debate about each so this is a minefield. Just remember, everyone has their own interpretations of the characters, and mine are not 100% correct, nor do I claim them to be. But my view is useful for breaking them down and explaining them as a POV to learn from, so bear with me even if I insult your favorite by accident because I’m using them for examples of assholes right now. (Hint: I've roleplayed most of them, so I love them too, I love them even if they’re horrific pieces of burning trashfire. )

So, Loki. He was raised as the second son to is King-God father and warrior son, tended towards trickery because of a rift between him and his family. He tended to be blamed for things, and then do other things. We know him as a character who has ripped people’s minds out to use them as pawns, murdered people by stabbing them through the gut, and seemed to quite enjoy warring with other planets. These, regardless of how desensitized to them we are, are not good things. That’s mind-control, murder, and murder on a team he tricked into it, and we aren’t even going to look at various things he may have done elsewise. This character is not a good man, he’s flawed, and yet people adore him. Why? Well, mostly it’s because he’s hilarious. The man turned into Captain America for a crack, he says those snappy little one-liners we all wish we could, and he’s brilliant when it comes to an extended master plan. He keeps things interesting. He’s also not bad looking, sure he might not be to your specific taste (especially after people have harped on it so long) but he’s got the kind of face that blends in with the bland circus of ‘handsome actors’ well enough. Not to mention we also identify with him, he’s got the triumvirate. The outcasts, walking in people’s shadow, who feel they’ve been pushed into being bad. Those people who want power to help others, even if it means destroying them in the process. People who need to prove themselves, and get the love they crave. They’re all seeing their reflections here, even if Loki is haughty, extremely intelligent, and out of reach as a bit of an Ice King.

Now Moriarty. Once again, we have someone who is handsome and witty! He’s sarcastic as hell, uses his voice in a certain patter to draw you in for the punchline, and then lets it rip. He knows how to keep people pulled in waiting for him to say his next memorable line. He also fucking poisoned kidnapped children with mercury, paid men to kill other people with Russian Roulette style bets, caused several man hunts, and forced people to commit suicide for kicks. Wee bit of not-good there. Is he relatable? Maybe on some shallow level, but widely, he’s too smart for us, he’s doing things we probably wouldn’t do because, well, they’s a bit mean ain’t they? He’s a mystery in many respects, and we can’t so much as bond with him, as pretend to bond with him by trying to enforce the character of Sebastian into a world he doesn’t exist in as our ‘in’, or by using Sherlock to wedge in the same ‘mirror’ so we can understand the guy who is outside of our league. We fake understanding him because we like him. So, strike relatable, keep him attractive (bisexual jokes nab a lot of looks and he’s handsome) and witty! Add as much asshole as you want the fans are snagged. He could kick a puppy and fans would croon about how evil he is, an awful sinnamon roll they want to see more of. That’s how it works. (And as a reminder, our Smart/Pretty Sherlock over there isn’t much of a relatable person or nice either.)

Why not jump to Nolanverse’s Joker now. He’s one of the first who break the ‘Handsome and Witty’ pair up, because look at him. He runs around in unshaven legs in a nurse costume with soggy makeup. He’s not clean, he probably smells funny (get it, because clown), and he’s an abusive piece of shit out to murder half the city for kicks and to get Bat-Sempai to notice him. But we find him funny and relatable, he hates how the world is dependent on money and wants to change it. He considers the world one big nasty joke being played on the people. He’s got one-liners everywhere, and frankly good advice (never do something you’re good at for free). He’s against society, against money controlling people, and wants to ‘level the playing field’. Sure, he finds that graveyards are all remarkably flat as a playing field goes, but we get it. He’s miserable and wants to do something with his life. This is how cults start to be honest. He’s an angry ugly man with a funny way of looking at the world that makes you think he’s just like you, and maybe he does have a point? So people latched onto him, he became the figurehead of a movement. Anarchy, and chaos, something they could look up to even if it wasn’t a very good thing. He is beloved, whether or not you personally like him.

Then there’s Joffery. I want to make an agonizing groaning noise over him because he’s got one trait: he’s not bad looking. If he wasn’t a raging shitstorm of pubescent narcissism bent on destruction for kicks, he’d be kind of hot. He’s not very smart, he’s not witty, he’s just cruel. If he’s relatable, it’s not through direct relation. It’s through knowing that one little prick you had to deal with your whole life who was just like him but without the power. Or I guess, there’s a lot of power fantasy loving folk who probably just liked him for him. I’m not judging. ... I’m judging a tiny bit. There’s some judgement. He’s a little shit okay, he’s a pretty nasty little shit. But was he popular as fuck? Hells yes! Everyone knows Joffery if they’ve watched the series! He’s bigger than life, people groan loudly at his name, he’s got a fandom supporting him and his tragic life. Tragic in part because he had one. People looked forward to episodes with Joffery to see what evil stunt he’d pull next, to see what happened to his victims, and most importantly to see the evil little booger meet the finger that picks him. We couldn’t wait for something to happen to Joffery, whether it was a slap to the head, a stabbing, being shoved off a building, being eaten by dire wolves... the list goes on, everyone wanted to see his comeuppance more than anything. He was also, somewhat, creative and stylish about how he went around shit. Not clever, but creative, and he made evil look descent. 

Now here’s where we turn on GoT In full force, gimme a second. So we have Cersei, and her twinsie-lover Jaime. Both assholes, but we love them too. They’re pretty, and immoral, and actually witty as fuck honestly. We watched fervently to see what would happen to them, but were they specifically likable characters? Hell no! Especially not at the beginning when they started really being massive tossers. How about Littlefinger? Oh no, he was nice once. But he’s witty, and pretty, and relatable, but a total fucknard too. The Mountain? We love his rude, violent, smouldered off face. He’s not pretty, but he’s his kinda street-smart, and he’s relatable. See how this is working out? My triumvirate of interest is proving out in our illustrative pudding. It doesn’t even have to be bad guys, look at Tyr. He’s fucking smart as hell, hilarious, people adore the shit out of him. He’s not supposed to be that pretty, but he is. He’s a total cock to people a lot, but he’s funny, and relatable. Everyone relates to Tyr. This is why Tyr is so beloved.

... now that I’ve nattered uselessly on that for a while, let’s look at the other reasons these characters were delightful. Because believe it or not there are totally other reasons beyond my theory.

If you look at everyone I’ve suggested here, there’s another reason people watch shows with them. Morbid, or entirely reasonable, curiosity what the fuck is going to happen next. So you need to set up a story that draws people in not with your characters, but with what their future holds. Is the testy little jerk going to die? Are the demons going to eat him? What horrible thing is he plotting next? God, I just want to see if it gets worse actually... These are the thoughts in the back of people’s heads. This is why Clockwork Orange went over so well, the surrealist batch of malarkey, sex, and ultraviolence that was. This is why Neil Gaiman’s American Gods has so much pull, when the protagonist was drawn on by events, rather than being an excessively fleshed out and interesting character. He was surrounded by interesting things and characters, he didn’t need to take that away from them. Sure he had interesting moments, but he wasn’t in and of himself extremely out-there and trying to take the spotlight and yet he was the main character. And I still couldn’t put the damn thing down. Thank you Neil.

So if your character is lacking in ways for people to be attracted to them, if they’re mean, ugly, horrible little people, who want nothing more than to hurt others, who aren’t funny, or even very smart. Who are disgusting wastes of flesh, who are too violent to live, and empty hollow unrelatable characters-- you have to compliment them with the most excessively interesting plot anyone as ever made, with fantastic background-characters and a shout-outloud-at-the-library ending. Something’s gotta be palatable if your characters aren’t, but do they need to be? No. Not at all. 

Can you think of any characters that have had a complete failure even though they’re marketably pretty, supposedly witty, and but-we-made-them-relatable? You’re probably, through no fault of your own, going to think about lots of mass produced strong women characters written by people who don’t ‘get it’. They assume that prepackaging the deal will instantly catch them views, I mean, she’s got sex appeal right? That’s what sells! That’s all that matters! We gave her little quips, and made her fall in love or out of love or something to do with love or the usual standard ‘I’m just as good as the guys!’ storyline, so why aren’t you falling for her yet? Because, consumers (that’s you readers!) know when something tastes like plastic. It’s fake. 

So yet another thing to keep in mind is making sure your characters steam with realism. Balance your traits, good and bad. Make sure that their reactions aren’t forced or canned or seen in every version of that character ever. It’s surprisingly easy to write characters once you treat them as 3D human beings with entire lives we’re just dipping a tow into, rather than a 2D story helper to act out our little head play and then go away. Hint at their lives, draw people in. Make them realistic. Give them reasons to say the things they do, and show those reasons if you can instead of just telling them. Avoid serious stereotyping and handwaving characters as unimportant because they’re fictional.

You are a writer have one job. Make them real. If they’re real enough, it doesn’t matter what kind of a person they are. You’re telling a story, telling something that should feel real and thick like some sort of reality soup you’ve made special. Unlikable protagonists tend to be plastic cutouts, that’s the real big issue writers face. So, even if they are horrible, make them. Tell their story. Tell all their stories. Express them like the finest of anal glands. It’ll touch someone, in their heart we hope, and it’ll grow their vocabulary. People read to expand their horizons, not to fall for the same cookie cutter good guy everyone’s afraid to break the mold of.

Remember, you can write anything. Anything. Everything. It doesn’t matter if someone will find it offensive. It doesn’t matter if it grosses someone out, or someone hates it. It doesn’t matter if it looks like a first grader should have written it in crayon. Nothing matters except getting it down on paper. After that, you can pick through it with a fine tooth comb and clean it up. Then leave it alone for a while, reread it later. If you love it and feel like it’s something that can be shared without people throwing a fit? Share it. 

But before that, you have to write it, and you don’t need anybody else at all to tell you what’s good enough’ when you’re trying to birth a word baby at 3AM in a mad dash of typing. Story now, let the true thing out even if you’re embarrassed, guilty, ashamed, threatened, and upset by it. You know it will hurt others, but you’re already thinking it. Get it out of you, like a poison and onto the paper so it stops bugging you. 

You aren’t breaking your morals, or doing something that anyone else matters in by letting a story out, if you don’t share it with anyone you know it will hurt. You’re just helping yourself. It already exists in your head, and once you accept it and let it go on the page, finally, you can pick to delete it, or just save it and never share it and die off before it gets published, whatever. Think about the details and fixes later, let the story flow, and do not let the judgement or enjoyment of some other fucker ruin that flow by making you second guess everything. 

You got this. Write that less-than-stellar character, and see where they lead you. Good luck.

[francel]

rambling;

i have nothing good to post, so i thought it might be fun to compile some answers to various ffxiv- and rp-related memes and questionnaires i’ve done on my private accounts! please enjoy my screaming.

8. Is there a character that embodies your good traits, or traits you wish you had? Several characters? Which ones and what traits?

i wish i was handsome and suave like all my characters thanks

13. What’s something you’ve never thought about your character?

a certain someone recently decided to remind me that francel's house has no bathroom... and i had honestly never considered, in two whole years of playing him, where he goes to pee?

"do you mean poop" francel is a delicate maiden i will not consider this

(we figure there’s probably an outhouse... somewhere...)

3. What’s something that surprises you about your canon?

Wiltswys: You think me cold? Well, fie on what you think! I wanted something better than tilling salty fields and spilling small fry out the nets, and occasionally taking a passing sailor into my bed for more o' the same!

LISTEN THIS IS THE MOST VULGAR LINE IN THE GAME I SWEAR TO GOD

i have done this quest at least... 4 or 5 times now and it never fails to make me scream. and every time i do it i have to zoom in on her and look at her face because she is a really cute roe girl, so i wonder what her taste in sailors is...

19. Give me an appearance-related headcanon of your choice.

LAUGHS OK hmm what have i never said before...

i have definitely mentioned that i don’t think francel likes his appearance very much — he especially wishes he had lighter-colored eyes like stephanivien and aurvael...

i personally want to think that chlodebaimt looked very different from francel BUT, although i have never datamined the necrose knight (i really should), a friend of mine took screenshots and his eyes at least look like francel's eyes

...but they might very well have just used a generic house haillenarte knight model for that, so who knows what chlodebaimt looked like?

i also like to think that baurendouin (francel's father) persists in the belief that his youngest son will do great things because he at least superficially resembles driancoin de haillenarte (the haillenarte founder you see in the haldrath flashback scene). i mean, i doubt portraits of driancoin survived or anything, given the nondescript statues of thordan's knights, but i’m sure comments about him did?

"he was fair of face and fair of hair" idfk some shit like that

5. What do you hate about your canon?

i am always, ALWAYS so tired of hearing people complain about how “no one ever” treats the wol like they’re “a normal person” ah, yes no one no one ever has treated you nicely never mind the fact that people regularly apologize for turning to you in their hours of need, and for asking you to kill things, and you usually just dismiss their applogy no one!!! has ever!! been nice!! to the wol!! i know the entire arc of my francel writing career has been bitching about similar things but at least i find new ways to do it

ok wait i have to vent more about how people still persist in the NO ONE WAS NICE TO THE WOL BUT HAURCHEFAAANT!!!!! delusion like tataru fucking made you clothes recently IS THAT NOT THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF LOVE? YOU'VE FINALLY BEEN REWARDED WITH SOMETHING PHYSICAL AND TANGIBLE!! STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW YOU DON’T HAVE FRIENDS!!

24. What’s a song that reminds you of your character?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B7VKiJhU_s “Dear Jack,” by Jack’s Mannequin.

lately, i’ve been listening to this... i don't like every part of this song, but lyrically, it is such a perfect francel song

dear jack, i write you as a friend dear jack, i write for fear the end is coming soon to you it's not so clear it's clear to me it's clear as glass

dear jack, wherever you are, hold tight wherever he is, shine light right there be strong i dare

i had songs for you i had all your music written out the words came when i heard you screaming i had plans for you until the plans fell through now there is no turning back, my dear jack

11. Something you like to look at.

i have complicated feelings about haurchefant these days, but sometimes i go and look at this mug and cry about his handwriting

like from a lore perspective i know he can't be writing in english because they write in eorzean but until then, my friend...

14. When writing for specific characters, is there anything you have to do to get in the specific mindset?

yes! but it depends on the character. for ramza... i either read shakespeare (for real — i have lifted quotes wholesale from hamlet and the tempest) and/or listen to "rather be" by clean bandit? seriously, that is my most strong ramza association... which is weird because the song and the game are like 20 years apart? or i listen to the FFT ost...

for francel i have a whole playlist, but most importantly i either go on twitter and look at wolchefant fanart or read bad wolchefant fanfic on ao3... (don’t judge me; it keeps the bitterness alive)

18. Is there anything you really wish you could do that you feel is outside your current ability? A concept that you wish you could pull off but are uncertain about?

UMMM... hmmmmmmm...

i dont know... i don’t really think any plots are outside of my current ability, but i admire my friends for being so consistent and on the ball with their dignified prose? i can be dignified too, but at some point i'll crash and start writing intensely silly tags

i would like to do more plots where francel is a badass for whatever reason, but that’s just wish fulfillment

17. Which character is the easiest to write? Why do you think that is?

francel is the easiest to write because he has the ugliest emotions

ramza is the hardest because he is always so virtuous

everyone else has varying levels of self control, but with francel i can usually succumb to base impulse reactions. i like his unguarded nature...

6. When writing a character, do you find it easier to work on their external or internal ticks first? oh, internal, definitely. i think my tags suffer from the fact that i often don’t describe what my characters are doing or what is around them? just... just assume on my behalf lmao.... so IF FRANCEL IS CAUGHT UP IN INTERNAL TL;DR there's a 90% chance he's doing that kicked-puppy stare at the floor

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you? XIV, hard mode: no Haurchefant/WoL.

LMAO THAT HARD MODE...

xiv's fandom has rarely "ruined" pairings for me, as in "i liked them before but i hate them now solely because of fandom"... that said, i think i kind of liked the idea of zephirin and aymeric as a rivalry ship, but i hate when fandom takes the "oMG ZEPH RAPED AYMERIC WHEN HE WAS HELD CAPTIVE" route...

i think this perception of zephirin as this horrible awful evil man comes from the fact that the information on the ward happened after the game was released, so... in the span of time between "zephirin killed haurchefant" and "wait actually zephirin is a virtuous man," people formed their opinions, you know?

but it's still really annoying, and to some degree the misconception persists...

i was also okay with guydelot and sanson at first, but i’m a little annoyed by them now, too... it’s not for any particular reason — i just think the fandom is annoying in the "THEY'RE SOOO MARRIED!! EVEN THE OTHER QUEST NPCS SAY THEY'RE LIKE A MARRIED COUPLE!! THEY’RE SO CANON!!!" way and i’m like Please Shut Up. that said, i guess it’s mostly jealousy because none of my pairings are ever canon, but whatever...

so i guess i'm going with zephirin/aymeric, guydelot/sanson... and oh btw like. urianger/moenbryda to a degree? i remember when the wind-up moenbryda item came out and the english item description was like "you don't want to know what urianger did to this" or something like that, like, i just took it as — like urianger probably dressed it up in a little maid outfit and had it serve him tea or something equally otaku-like?

but the entire fandom was like OMG HE JERKED OFF TO IT OR USED IT AS A SEX DOLL OR SOMETHING and i was like ... okay. like if that's how you're determined to see it, fine, but fandom always takes the worst possible interpretation of something i swear to god

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

LAUGHS WELL I GUESS MY USUAL TIRADE: i don't think of haurchefant as the perfect cinnamon roll angel and actually he annoys me a little...

my friend just finished running coerthas quests on her balmung alt and like... even she commented on how brusque and condescending he seems to francel? and she has no reason to be tainted by my perception of him, it's just... it’s just that he is brusque and condescending.

back when i liked haurchefant/francel, i told myself that it was just how he acted in the heat of the moment and i was sure he was gentler later... but now we’ve seen so much of haurchefant that from the way he treats francel it really feels more to me like francel was just a friend of convenience. i don’t know. i’m bitter. maybe i’m just bitter because it’s easier to cope that way.

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

um... well, i think everyone in the ffxiv fandom also agrees that the fandom is annoying...

something i sometimes worry about, but which is not exclusive to ffxiv, is like... people who rp wind up with such a different impression of things than people who just play the game? 

i'm not judging either side on this but... i have rp friends, and i observe the rp community on tumblr/balmung, and i also have friends that are just gamers? and you know, like. sometimes rpers get carried away and invent all these narratives, like i know some tumblr rpers had a bunch of "plots" where a murder mystery happened in ishgard and it was all full of like noble OCs and intrigue or something?

but my gamer friends will sometimes be like, “ishgard is so boring.” so they... see it differently? you wind up viewing the game differently based on what you do in it.

there's also the divide between the english version of the game and the rest of the world, which i bitch about a lot but

just as an example, in english the nobles of ishgard are kind of broadly characterized as being unintelligent and shallow and foppish, whereas the other versions of the game really take a much more neutral approach?

or well i can really only speak for the japanese, but in general the german and french versions of the game are loyal to the japanese, however, 2.0 content was often based on the english...

so, for example, 2.0 content was EN->FR, but ever since 3.0 most of the patches have been JP->EN/DE/FR

however, the EN version continues to make changes, whereas DE and FR don't really change many things!

so i worry a lot about the different perceptions people have of the game, and what that means, like, when i write fanfic...

does my interpretation of coerthas align with other peoples' interpretations of coerthas? probably not. that’s something that’s deeply distressing, as a writer and as someone who prefers to have control, but i don’t know...

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen...

STARES INTO THE VOID it's it's too late for any of this

2 years ago i would have told you without hesitation that i wanted haurchefant to be alive and for him and francel to have eloped together, but now i just...

i've learned to play with the cards i've been dealt

[cheerleader-and-the-burnout]

Your analysis is so perfect and I get so happy when I see you've written! :) I'm not the same anon that asked about season one JH but I'm wondering what you make of season 4 JH, particularly the last few episodes. With it being the last season before they get together, I never really knew what to think of their relationship. They weren't really friends necessarily but they didn't burn each other like they used to. But knowing what happens soon after I wonder how they felt at the time. Thoughts?

Aw, thank you! I love hearing from people who enjoy my nerdy ramblings.

That’s a really great question. Externally, from the perspective of the writing, I don’t quite know what to make of it. Much as I love JH coming to fruition, I still find the transition from JK breaking up in one episode, getting “engaged” in the next, to JH hooking up in the S5 premiere really clunky. It’s bad writing, almost on par with the dreaded S7/S8 transition (the only difference being that there was much more evidence in-universe pointing to a JH relationship than there was to a JH breakup). I can’t claim to know what happened exactly, but my best guess is that writers Jeff and Jackie Filgo were the main proponents of the JH relationship and, by the time they were made executive producers on the same level as the creators (which according to IMDB happened in Donna Dates a Kelso) most if not all of S4 had already been written leaving them without much room to properly transition from a JK to a JH relationship. But, like the S8 show runners, they did it anyway. Their saving grace is that there had already been a substantial amount of groundwork already laid for the JH pairing (both intentionally and coincidentally) that made their sudden relationship more believable. 

(Read more for JH friendship fluff)

In-universe, the JH relationship had been gradually building since S1 before finally coming to a head in S3. But after their aborted kiss in JBH, the JH romantic relationship just sort of falls by the wayside. What the writers reasons were for this at the time, I have no idea. It seems fair to argue, based on both Kitty’s insight and Hyde’s own behavior at the time (struggling to agree that he felt nothing and wistfully touching his lips), that Hyde had well and truly fallen for her, yet no direct reference to this is ever made. Instead, what we get are lots of little indirect references to it, all helped along by the actors’ performances and open to interpretation: not only does Kelso explicitly exclude him from their “double date” in Ice Shack, but Hyde smashes the egg Jackie is using to gauge Kelso’s parenting skills in The Trials of M. Kelso, he tricks Kelso into telling Jackie everything he’s ever lied to her about in Eric’s Naughty No-No, tries his level best to get them to start fighting again in Fez Dates Donna, and looks visibly disgusted at the prospect of them being together forever in Promise Ring. (I’ll have to properly gif the exact moment I’m thinking of later.) Again, all of these things are open to interpretation, and perfectly in keeping with his attitude towards the JK relationship in S2. In Hyde’s own words, he’s “just trying to prolong [Kelso’s] suffering” (Laurie Moves Out). But it’s the consistency with which he tries to make Kelso suffer solely in respect to his relationship with Jackie that stands out to me, and it was precisely that attitude that Kitty took in JBH to be evidence of his (deeply repressed) feelings for her. 

So, with that in mind, now let’s take a look at S4. 

For the most part, I think Hyde had pretty much reconciled himself to the reality of Jackie and Kelso after Promise Ring. He didn’t interfere as much in their relationship, and even took a few stabs at having one of his own in Hyde Gets the Girl and Third Wheel. But there are two key moments that stand out to me as fairly objective examples of… let’s say his “unchanged” feelings about her:

First is in Donna’s Story when Hyde tattles on Kelso (in an awfully up close and personal kind of way) for having lied to Jackie about about what he was borrowing the $50 for. So long as Kelso treats Jackie well, Hyde is able to keep a lid on whatever feelings he might suppressing. But there’s just something about Kelso taking advantage of her that Hyde seems to be fundamentally incapable of ignoring.  

The second is perhaps one of my favorite JH scenes in S4. In Jackie Says Cheese, when the news breaks that Jackie has to chose between continuing her relationship with Kelso and keeping her allowance, Hyde blithely retorts, “Wait, if you break up with Kelso, you’d be rich? Talk about your win-win”. Like I said before, Hyde has done a pretty good job thus far of not commenting on Jackie’s relationship, but that doesn’t mean he’s changed his mind about whether or not he thinks Kelso is good enough for her. And when he calls it a “win-win”, what he means is breaking up with Kelso would be a marked improvement on Jackie’s life roughly on par with inheriting a small fortune. 

But beyond that, you’re absolutely right–there’s something decidedly different about their rapport in S4 than what we’ve seen in earlier seasons. It’s not like they spend a ton of time together, but when they do, they’re at ease. They share a sense of humor. He approves of her burns, and she of his. He flirts with teases her. I would argue that they are friends, but that their friendship is fundamentally different that the ones they have with the others because of the romantic arc it’s predicated on. (Not even Eric and Donna got their start by kissing one another in the moonlight.) Hyde clearly still has a protective side when it comes to Jackie, and Jackie’s birthday gift to Hyde was a kiss on the cheek. (A kiss which, it should be mentioned, served no other purpose than to remind the audience that Kelso and Jackie are on the rocks–so who better to step in as an alternative should an alternative be needed?) All in all, whatever else might be going on between them in S4, it’s safe to say that they like each other in a way that they absolutely did not in S1. But looking at the series as a whole, that still leaves a gaping hole in the JH storyline. 

So. How does that figure into the last few episodes before they go canon*? 

If it does at all, the best interpretation I can come up with is this: 

Because of the risk he ran to his and Eric’s friendship in S1 (not to mention the abrupt/disappointing end to their kiss in S3) Hyde is determined to leave the ball in her court–

She wants to accept Kelso’s promise ring? Fine. 

She wants to dress like a milkmaid and sell cheese at the mall so they can keep dating? 

Fine. 

Oh now they’re engaged?! FIIIINE.  *passive-aggressively stuffs Kelso’s hubcaps full of dead fish*

Meanwhile, despite how much their relationship matured, Jackie and Kelso are once again nearing the end of their rope. Jackie is equally determined to prove that that safe and familiar relationship she chose over a rockier (but perhaps more fulfilling) relationship with Hyde is still, as she once put it, “how it’s supposed to be” (Prom Night). It’s a matter of pride for her, I think, and of fear. Neither of them is willing to admit the failed relationship, so she just doubles down on it. It’s the only outcome she’s prepared for. And speaking from experience, it’s hard to let go of the fairytale you’ve envisioned for yourself–even when you know it’s the wrong one. 

I hope that answered your question, Anon! Thank you for the ask!!

[janiedean]

What do you think about all those dudebros talking about how BRieNNe ARc Is NoW COmPlEte and she can rest in peace? Please, send help. =__=

well.

*deep breath*

first thing to be entirely truthful I would like to broaden that statement to ‘people in general who say that’ because from what I’m seeing it’s hardly a dudebro exclusive and it’s been a pseudo anti-brienne argument for ages around here (ie the SHE’S A KNIGHT SHE CAN ONLY BE A KNIGHT THE MOMENT SHE’S ONE HER ARC IS OVER) so like.... I wish it was just one category X°D

second thing: nope.

nooowwww, here goes the rant.

I would like to start by pointing out that this episode was named a knight of the seven kingdoms. and what’s the point, you will say. well:

now: who is the protagonist of AKOTSK?

and what’s the point, you will tell me?

well, half of it is that he’s most likely brienne’s great-grandfather:

which is not just because of that but also because he’s basically genderswapped brienne:

or better, he’s genderswapped brienne except that he’s Hot For Regular Standards but like if you read those novels he’s so much like her it hurts and actually... THICK AS A CASTLE WALL?

The wench has built a fortress inside herself. They will rape her soon enough, but behind her walls they cannot touch her. But Jaime's walls were gone. (asos, jaime iv)

"Do you mock me?"That pricked him back to anger. "Are you as thick as a castle wall? That was an apology. I am tired of fighting with you. What say we make a truce?""Truces are built on trust. Would you have me trust—" (asos, jaime v)

I’m not gonna go into how the most important romance dunk has in those novels is with a great-great-aunt of jaime’s and how those two have actual jb imagery in their novel because that’s not the point of this rant, but my point is: while obviously this is book canon, in the show they called her the way her ancestor is called in the collection of novels about his adventures and both brienne and duncan are 100% what you’d want in real knights, like dunk is 100% True Knight TM material if jaime had run into him instead of arthur dayne he’d have gotten an even worse mancrush.

now, dunk starts the novels as already knighted (even if no one gives him much credit for it), but what happens to dunk is that before going into the kingsguard he has a very long time of going around westeros with egg doing good deeds and establishing his name to the point that when he goes into egg’s kg everyone recognizes him as a paragon.

now: brienne has strived all her life for that validation of being knighted and recognized as such and she’s spent all her life dreaming of not only being a knight but to be seen as one and respected as one, she gets her wish with the man she’s in love with (because she is) and that she respects and whose worth and honor and bravery she sees to the point that she’s willing to put her own reputation on the line for him in front of people who might not take her seriously actually knighting her, in an episode titled after her ancestor who’s a true paragon of knighthood and who’s known for having been a knight for years and for his quests, and I’m supposed to think that the coronation of her arc is that.......... she dies not even twelve hours after that? it’d be cheap, it’d make no sense and it completely would kill the importance of the moment. if she’s been recognized as one after years of efforts and eating shit for it, it means that now she a) gets to prove it, b) gets to go around and say well fuck you I’ve earned that title, c) gets to come into herself fully and she can be whoever and whatever she wanted to and if she dies that gesture and that moment are worth shit because what was it that for? the last hurrah so she can die happy? fuck that, brienne worked her entire life for it, she got it and now she’ll damn well make use of it, and sorry but if gwendoline is going around talking about how this season she takes her decisions, she goes beyond serving others and does finally things for herself that include embracing her womanly side which she denied until now there is really no way that this is it. this is the premise brienne needs to get the push to actually see herself as not just someone whose worth is tied to her being in service of someone else, and the fact that jaime basically pledged his service to her even before knighting her should say everything about where the priorities lay here.

brienne’s arc isn’t complete for shit. brienne’s arc has just started and it’ll be complete when she’s lived a long fulfilling life in which she’s been a knight, saved people, held up that paragon of virtue thing she has going for her, didn’t do it sacrificing her own wants and needs but along with that and doing it with people who finally see her for the amazing person she is. and like.... ‘okay but grrm is evil’ and ‘okay but people die on got’ aren’t Actual Objections because grrm is hardly as bad as everyone thinks he is and he actually does like a good love story himself and he said he wants the bittersweet ending like lotr, not a bloodbath, and I would like to remind everyone that lotr ends with sam gamgee going back home to his wife and children and living a happy life before going off to join frodo in valinor, not with middle earth being razed to the ground by sauron.

also: the fact that she’s directly paralleled with dunk doesn’t mean that she’s ending up in a kings or queensguard whatsoever. the point is that *dunk* being in the kg was something he’d never even dream of and his coronation of his journey, brienne being paralleled with him means that she most likely has to get what *she* wants full package after being denied it for all her life and I’d like to remind everyone that brienne of tarth actually never said she never wanted a husband or a family case in:

Brienne had been betrothed at seven, to a boy three years her senior, Lord Caron's younger son, a shy boy with a mole above his lip. They had only met the once, on the occasion of their betrothal. Two years later he was dead, carried off by the same chill that took Lord and Lady Caron and their daughters. Had he lived, they would have been wed within a year of her first flowering, and her whole life would have been different. She would not be here now, dressed in man's mail and carrying a sword, hunting for a dead woman's child. More like she'd be at Nightsong, swaddling a child of her own and nursing another. It was not a new thought for Brienne. It always made her feel a little sad, but a little relieved as well. (affc, brienne iii)

never mind that she is attracted to men and she does suffers knowing it’s Not For Her To Be In Love With Guys Who Respect Her.

well, guess what, she has one now riiiight there who has just knighted her. *shrug* and okay, you’ll say, that’s book canon and not show canon, but ffs since this season it seems like they remembered proper characterization and the endgame should be roughly the books’s....... well. my money is that she gets to have the cake and eat it after all the metaphorical (and not) shit she had to wade through for years to get it and that’s my two cents.