#anyways i wanted to give them both something nicer but also... FORESHADOWING

[rorykillmore]

if you're up for a short writing prompt, may i ask for something with cloud and dolores on denny? or maybe one for glory and flame instead of? though if you're more up for an ask, maybe smth about what you're looking forward to/enjoying dynamics wise with em?

“He does really like you.”  Dolores teasingly makes sure she sounds at least a little surprised as she watches Cloud move Flash along at an easy stride.

“Yeah. Well.” Cloud keeps his eyes on the trail ahead of them, but his lips almost twitch in a barely-there smile that she’s come to find familiar.  “No one ever said he was smart.”

It’s just the right amount of playful self-deprecation to make her laugh a little -- it always surprises her that on occasion, Cloud actually manages to do that.  But he’s never been bad company, and maybe that’s why she indulges in spending time with him more than a roommate would strictly on obligation. 

She hasn’t been riding like this with someone - just for the fun of it, just for the sense of freedom - in so long. She can’t pretend there’s not something a little personal about it, and maybe that should worry her.

Maybe this world is making her sloppy. Or soft.

“I’ll give you one thing -- you do seem to have a natural talent for this,” Dolores concedes, not allowing that thought to make her stumble. “I guess there’s something to be said for growing up riding...”

She pretends not to remember the word, if only to make him say it.

“Chocobos,” Cloud mumbles, and Dolores bites the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. “And I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. Walking around on a beginner’s trail is one thing...”

“Have you tried taking him any faster?” Dolores leans over a little from the back of her own horse, prompted by genuine curiosity as much as anything.

Cloud shoots her a sidelong, considering glance.  “Just once or twice.”

It’s difficult to read his expression, but something about the way he says it makes it seem weighted. Suddenly she’s dying to know exactly how much he’s been practicing (or trying to), and it’s such a simple, genuine moment that she forgets to dissect it with the proper distance.

“Show me,” she tells him -- and then adds innocently, “We can race.”

She counts the snort that gets out of him as a small victory.  “Somehow that doesn’t seem fair.”

“I’ll give you a head start,” Dolores offers, only slightly smug. Maybe there’s a small part of her that can’t help but indulge in one-upping the humans around her (even the ones she’s begrudgingly fond of) where she can, but she’s hardly even thinking about that, just now -- it’s more amusing (and slightly gratifying) to nudge Cloud out of his shell only because he’s stayed in it so long.

And, well. Maybe she’s missed this sort of thing.

Cloud doesn’t answer for a moment, long enough that Dolores is beginning to wonder if he’s trying to dodge the subject through stoicism alone.

And then, completely without warning, he spurs Flash and takes off.

“Cloud --” Dolores only just manages to protest, failing to keep amusement from seeping into her tone. She did offer him a head start, after all -- so she waits another beat before she takes off after him.

It’s easy enough to gain on him with the experience she has, but she pulls back a little once she’s leveled off with him, long enough that she can shoot him a quick shadow of a smirk.  “I said I’d give you a head start, not that I’d let you cheat.” 

“I have to make use of every advantage I have!” he calls back to her, and then urges his horse on even faster. Dolores slows just a little to let him pass for safety’s sake - they’re nearing a bend in the trail, and she doesn’t want to risk one of the horses spooking too close to the edge - but then, without warning, Cloud slows again.

She follows suit with a sudden twinge of unease, though she can’t yet see what’s captured his attention as he slows to a final stop. She realizes why a second later -- rifts in the air, she remembers, are almost invisible unless you’re looking at them head on.  But from this new angle, she can see clear through into a...

...It looks like a forest. More still and tangled and wild than the wider spaced pine forests around Beacon Heights.  Dolores quiets for a moment simply to watch it, because something about it draws her in and repels her all at once.

“Just another rift opening up,” Cloud comments, though she can tell by his tone that he’s similarly entranced.

She glances at him briefly, and then back to the rift to consider it more carefully. She’s already suggested to Maeve that they mark down wilder, more secluded areas to search for William in, and she can’t deny that this looks like the perfect fit.

Of course, she can’t exactly wander off to comb it with Cloud right there.

“Let’s go back the other way,” she suggests idly instead. “We wouldn’t want one of the horses to accidentally wander through.”

“Yeah,” Cloud agrees after a slight delay.  “Alright.”

But Dolores has already marked the place down in her memory as she turns around, and she wonders from the slightly distracted expression that’s settled itself on Cloud’s face if he has too.

[blorbosexterminator]

Sergio's not gonna die, he is needed for a possible re-opening of the show. Palermo is too obvious (and that matters to pina), Raquel was already fake-killed. OTOH, Denver: has a lot more protagonism this season, with flashback and all, he is a universally beloved character (always a good candidate to kill), Jaime Lorente has been seen in some town with pedro and alba filming (prob flashback but why with those 2?). 90% sure he's the dead (if anyone).

Honestly, the only thing that would truly surprise me at this point if they indeed don't kill anyone next volume. Would be a move™, I'll give them that. But yes, I do think that they'll go with Denver too, and it has been foreshadowed to be honest. Doesn't change how much I dislike and genuinely disagree with that choice though. I don't think the actor would be up for a spin-off honestly, but anyway Sergio only has the element of surprise and the parallel with his father (the show is too fond of parallels lmfao) not much else to make his death a good choice.

And as you said, Palermo is predictable. And I imagine, with how politically aware™ the show is this season, they might also try to avoid the 'bury your gays' trope.

The thing is, most of what you and I just listed are just meta-textual reasons. I'm not saying those reasons have no place at all when considering writing choices, of course not, but I do disapprove, generally speaking, of writers taking this too much into account when writing their finales.

Sergio would be shocking to a more extent than the others, but that doesn't make him any more a good choice. Denver would guarantee as much of an angry and frustrated reaction as Nairobi (Although I honestly don't dislike Nairobi's death as much as everyone else. I thought it was well-played to an extent) and would have a strong emotional response plus parallels with Moscu, but to me it would be very misplayed.

I wasn't really talking about what I expect from the show as much as what I personally believe is a good writing choice. I most expect Denver to die, but I think Palermo is the most fitting choice.

Like sure, those things are subjective, and they change from one fan to the other as well as from one writer to the other. But just because the death of a character is predictable doesn't mean it's not the most fitting choice for the situation. Not really, I think it means the audience sees something there.

Look, before anyone starts assuming I just *want* Martín to die to see some afterlife scene for my ship, or even a parallel. Yeah, sure, preferablly as a fan of them I'd love this, but I don't think they are in any way necessar. To me, they would just be peppering that would make the death scene nicer stylistically speaking. I don't even think the show canonized the after-life or something of the sort, again I just think they are a mere stylistic choice. I wouldn't be at all actually bothered if we got nothing of the sort.

I just wholly believe the best choice to go with for both textual and meta-textual reasons is Palermo. First, the meta-textual ones, despite the fact that I disapprove of how they got there, I have to admit that the show managed to get him to be more likable this season. General audiences that have previously hated the hell out of him like him enough now. But at the same time Martín is still not Sergio, Raquel, or Denver. His death would cause some sadness and emotional response in the audience but not literal rage and feeling of betrayel, like say for example how GOT fans felt. Also, Martín now has enough alive characters that care about him that would make his death sad. It's unlikely an audience would give a shit about a character's death if none of the surrounding characters do. But now there is Helsinki, who incidentally Martín is also much nicer and caring towards this season, so Helsi would have "good reasons" to react strongly to his death, Sergio supposedly also cares for Martín, and we can say Raquel respects him. So the characters around him wouldn't be indifferent, especially if his death has value in the narrative, say an actual sacrifice for the rest of them. The show itself is VERY fond of the sort of arc that goes along the line 'Selfish character who caused harm and pain to all around them reaches selfishness and then sacrifices their life for the sake of the others.' It happened with Berlin, it happened with Tokyo. And it seems is effective enough. So if I were the writer and wanted a death that is effective but won't anger audience too much, I'd 100% go with him.

And again, a point is Martín even has something that neither Tokyo nor Andrés did, he had a very direct hand in the killing of a very beloved team member. Sure, you can say Tokyo had a hand in what happened to Moscu, but Tokyo legitimately had very little choice because she couldn't find Sergio and she had no intention to do harm, she didn't know her entrance would literally cost the man's life. Martín knew very, very well what Gandia was capable of and this is exactly why he did what he did.

Martín is narratively still responsible for Nairobi's death and took no hand in even avenging her from Gandia. That was Bogota and then Tokyo. And the character seems to be weighted by that guilt to a large extent. And I think the absolute best way for the narrative to resolve this point is by Martín dying directly to save Helsinki, who the show also made a point of also incapacitating, and I'd imagine that would have repercussions on how efficient getting out of the bank would be on him. Characters rarely get injured just for the sake of it, Nairobi's terrible injury from Alicia made her much more susceptible to Gandia, who had a huge leverage on her as she was physically incapable of resisting anything. (I imagine Monica's situation would also have repercussions--hopefully just not on Denver lmfao)

So despite generally not being a fan at all of the pairing in any way or form, and how they generally make no sense to me, with how the show is going now it's definitely best for Martín to die partially for his plan and partially for Helsinki.

Like ideally, what I'd personally most love to see and what I'd personally write a 2573 different fic versions of, is for Martín to die for his plan and for Sergio. I personally believe outside of the plan, Martín's most important relationship in his arc is with Sergio. But the show already ignored their relationship enough this volume as a first and Sergio already got the strong death scenes with Berlin and Tokyo as a second, it could be seen as an excess. But with Helsinki it's meaningful on a different level. The character Nairobi cared about the most is Helsinki (and he's also nearly as well-liked by the audience), so this would balance what he did to Nairobi in a pretty significant way, not completely out-do it, but the two acts would definitely balance each other. To both the audience and to the characters, Martín would be truly "redeemed." Which despite how much I dislike, and genuinely don't agree with it, the show is already putting a lot of focus on his 'redemption'. I don't like redemption arcs generally speaking, I don't think Martín is fit for it, and I don't think it's happening in an organic way at all, and I frankly believe it made him boring, but alas, it is what is is, the show is already half-way there, it already took that route, so the only end for it is to finish it and go all the way. It would be very useless if he ended up surviving lmfao.

And of course the other reason is for Martín's personal arc. The plan is his life's work, the thing he showed most loyality and love to from the moment he showed up 2 seasons ago, the end of his arc is with the end of his plan. Never mind how A LOT of scenes would be useless if Martín doesn't actually die for the success of the plan; the whole reason Sergio opposed it so strongly is because, in his own words, it was completely suicidal. Sure, you can say that they already proved the plan is dangerous by the army going in and all of this "war", but there was no Rio, Raquel, Plan Paris or Plan Roman in the original plan, so there would have been no reason for things to go that bad in that respect, all that happened in volume one is by direct consquence of the plan changing, so that still leaves the question why was Berlin and Palermo's plan so wrong and so suicidal if we don't take into account this war? If there is no answer and if there is no answer that is actually anchored by a death in canon, then those were really all just empty scenes. And of course it's Martín, the mastermind and engineer, the artist who crafted this poem, that has to die for its completion and overall success. Since day one, his arc has been tied intimately to this plan, we barely even know anything about him beyond it. And like, three people died for the mint heist and it was a plan made to work perfectly without a single flaw, where does this put a heist that was just full of romanticism and complete focus on the gold with disregard to the people? All of the scenes we saw of Sergio rejecting the bank heist in the flashbacks on that basis have to mean something now.

Against all of this, what does Denver have? What will his death signify? Nothing, in my opinion. The man didn't even want to be there. Also I guarantee you, if he does die for Monica the way he said, every single fan will turn against her and the hate the character will receive will be insane. Like why end the story of those two characters this way? What is there beyond edginess and grimness for their own sake?

Martín's death, even if it causes sadness, will be satisfying for his character. Besides, Martín as a character is too much like Tokyo, I don't imagine he himself would be very satisfied growing old and dying under the radar somewhere; going with a blaze now, sealing off his life's work and having his death mean something too is a much, much more satisfying ending for him.

Tldr; Palermo in a very balanced position to kill, especially that he is currently the actual leader, a position the show has given him with more space and better, much nicer spotlight now than in the third season. And I imagine with volume two focused more on extracting the gold, his role will get only bigger in that respect. He's still responsible for Nairobi's death. And he should 100% die for the Gold and the completion of his plan.

[lostinfinity1]

Fun speculations theories for The Umbrella Academy mostly the tv series (includes spoilers from both seasons and potentially the comic) They are for fun, not to be taken seriously by any means. (written August 2020)

Quick summary of the theories for those who don’t want to read with more explanations below.

1.     Five will join the sparrow academy.

2.     There will be a fight for “Time” at the end.

 First theory.

 Why would Reginald want Five back in the group? Easy.

1.     Five’s power is incredibly versatile to include in a team. Add a scene where Five discuss his first (spoilers last ep. Season 2) rewind with Reginald to thank him for the advice. That alone would increase his interest in him. I also think he might want to prevent the apocalypse on his own planet. Anyway lots of potential.

2.     Five is the only TUA member that Reginald that he didn’t seems to despise or find annoyingly stupid. (We all can relate to that, I think. That diner scene was marvelous.)

3.     To have 7 members in the sparrow academy. That one is a bit my own interpretation. That cube. Nope. I really don’t want it to be a member of the sparrow academy, maybe a guardian figure like Pogo at worst, but I want it to be an extension of one of the kids power. Like a technological based power. If the cube is out, that means the 7th spot is free. Five could take it.

Other reasons:

1.     Foreshadowing. His name is still a number. Probably going to fit perfectly with the sparrow academy since they didn’t have a Grace mom to name them.

2.     That would increase conflict between the two teams like crazy and keep TUA stuck in that timeline for a while.

 How would that happen? A rumor-like power like the one Allison has (comic spoiler from what I could find online) is also seen in the sparrow academy. A power that alter reality like that could be easy to use to brainwashed Five into thinking that his Family is the Sparrows not the Umbrellas. Easy peasy.

Now imagine Five in the Sparrow academy. That would be a hell of a ride.

The smol angry psychopathic family-obsessed old man with a bunch of kids who likely never had any kind of love or support and that probably do not see each other as family.

In a way, Five is like a glue that brings the TUA siblings together. He would act the same with the sparrow kids. That over aggressive love is what the sparrows needs. Like they might brush him off at first, but unlike most TUA Five would never back down. Bonus points if he act with one sparrow kids like he does with Vanya, (infinite bonus point if he does that with all sparrow kids), giving them advice during training (he is a pro assassin after all) and support and maybe even stand up for them to Reginald.

… And imagine the TUA sibling being sooooo pissed off that Five act like a softy while he was a meanie to them with Vanya hiding in a corner saying oops when she realises he was nicer to her and her alone.

 Second theory.

The moment Five said  “Time changes everything”, I was hooked on the character and the possibility of what it could mean. Five is the one who says that in episode 5 and I just love the potential implications of that sentence because he could be referring to himself. The unchanging Five stuck in a teenage body, never changing his name, not even his clothes. He is basically turning into “Time” itself, changing timelines every single time he jumps. His first time travel changed everything for the remaining member of the TUA creating fractures in the group. Subsequent time travels influence greatly the events that unfolded afterward.

Ending

And all good time travel plots end with a fight for Time. In this case, Time would be our adorable assassin Five. If Five powers increases and him becoming more time, I can see him be captured by bad guys (Alien? Reginald? One of the other 43 kids? The sparrow academy rogue?) either brainwashed or being used in one way or another to control time. (ex: controlled but not brainwashed by another 43 kids, being a component of a time machine that supply him with power, etc. Anything goes.) With all his siblings fighting for him (might include the sparrow kids if the 1st theory happens)

Imagine the potential. The TUA struggling to save him. Five bonding with the villain with how incompetent they are at saving him. The villain agreeing (A “you had it rough”, kinda speech). Five’s power going berserk and fast forwarding individual fights and slowmoing others fights in a chesslike mosaic. Even rewinding fights. Like I am completely sure the production team could pull off something epic. They already are.

And then someone finally reaches Five. Would like Vanya since she was always the cause of the apocalypse and with how close they are. The ending could be five choosing a timeline that is good for them and jumping. 

That was long. Hope you enjoyed it. I’m just throwing it out there because it was all I was thinking the past few days and I needed to move on. haha. Now off to work on other projects. 

[bumblepuppy]

Well, since you asked!

They’re pretty on the mark in their review, yeah. I got to the trans character after the worst parts were patched out, but she is still... not handled well, which is pretty egregious since The Missing came out not too long ago. To start off as to why she (and pretty much every other character who isn’t York or Patricia) is handled poorly, I have to talk about how the game is structured compared to the first one. The first game had twenty-something chapters. These could range from long to short and after you visit Harry’s mansion for the final time the game goes into railroad mode, but for the earlier chapters you can talk to characters and do quests for them, as well as explore the town. The characters have at least one unique thing to say per chapter (probably two depending on weather/time of day?), which makes avoiding the main plot and doing meandering around town a lot of fun. A lot of this dialogue gives backstory for the characters, and even for the flatter characters it helps for the town to feel more alive. The second game only has four chapters, and the last one is railroad mode. There are far fewer named characters, and they only get one piece of dialogue per chapter. Disappointing, especially when this game has a week system that the first game doesn’t have but characters will say the same thing regardless of the day of the week. With one exception, the sidequests add nothing to the plot or give you any insight about the characters. Also, pretty minor, but you can’t peak into characters’ houses anymore, which just adds to the characters being pretty flat. SO... only four chapters and no extra dialogue. That’s kind of boring, isn’t it?  It doesn’t stop there, unfortunately. Most of the victims die in the chapter they’re introduced in, and Lena (the problematic trans lady) isn’t even a character that you can meet outside of the story--she’s mentioned a few times and you pass her once, but she only exists in cutscenes and as a boss battle rather than having any dialogue or motivation outside of that. And this hurts her as a character a lot. So, her introduction! In itself, not bad. York runs into her by accident, addresses her as a stylish woman, and after the worst mandatory quest (not offensive, just boring and time wasting), he finds out her name and address on her hormone prescription. He goes to her house and she’s not there, and has a conversation with Patricia about her where Patricia reveals that her father tells her to stay away from Lena (presumably because she’s trans) and how she gets angry about Lena being treated differently, York says Trans Rights, but that he still wants to talk to Lena because she’s a suspect, all good so far. When he actually meets her in the bar... this is where the dialogue was patched. Lena isn’t telling York everything and he’s suspicious, so he skateboards after her and ends up at her family’s mansion. Otherworld gameplay commences, and this is when the player realizes that all of the otherworld levels look the same instead of looking like corrupted versions of hospitals/lumber mills/ art galleries like the first game. You find out that Lena is trying to murder her father, the big bad patriarch of the family, and will go down with him. Before she explodes the house, her father tearfully says that he was okay with her being transgender, while also deadnaming and misgendering her the whole time. Hm. He also says that he knows that she and her sister had sexual relations with each other. Okay. She explodes the room and both of their heads fall off and are impaled on a chandelier. End chapter 2. But... that’s not it for Lena! Chapter 3 begins with Patricia’s dad and the town cop, Melvin, disappearing. You find Lena’s journal where she mentions canoodling with her sister and the fact that they had a kid together. She also mentions getting Candy, her sister and girlfriend, addicted to a drug she’s been manufacturing, which is made with the red seeds we know and love. Other stuff happens, Patricia is kidnapped, and you find out that Melvin has kidnapped her and is doing some ritual where he’ll kill both her and Candy, who now weighs like 500 pounds due to being pumped full of St. Rouge and is a non-character. Melvin rambles on about how much he loved Lena and how her sister was just a pawn in their vague family murder plan. York yells at Melvin and tells him to snap out of it. He does, and he and Candy end up dying instead of Patricia, and then Hurricane Katrina happens and the case is left unsolved. Then Zach comes back almost twenty years later to solve the case and it turns out Patricia was kidnapped again but this time by Avery, a giant man who the game makes sure that you know is so mentally impaired that his boss battle form is a giant child.

Blah blah, Kaysen appears, Zach kills him once and for all and this also kills his terminal cancer. I do actually like the ultimate ending because it’s a nicer turn than the original because you find out that York and Zach are communicating between our world and the realm of the forest goddesses via instant messaging and that’s cute, I like that. Also Patricia and Zach become lifelong friends and that’s also sweet because Patricia is probably the best thing about DP2, but ultimately the game itself is empty at best and offensive at worst, in a way that’s really a step back for Swery. I’ve seen a lot of defenses for it because, hey, the first game was a janky mess with some weird decisions too! But... sure, it’s glitchy, but it also has its own logic and world building and it feels lived in, not to mention that you can actually solve the mystery with what’s in the game itself. Even if Thomas isn’t handled in the best way, the game’s final verdict is that Thomas is a victim who deserves sympathy. And ffs, the first game had symbolism and foreshadowing and characters who had likes and dislikes and secrets and hobbies and aaagh... ANYWAY, I’ll stop here, but ultimately it just feels so... rough draft compared to the first game. I think it would have worked better as a book or visual novel, since there’s really no reason for it to be interactive with how nothing the characters are. Patricia is still great though.

[thelastjaedi]

TROS Rant

This post will contain spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker, so below the cut is spoilers.

The Palpatines Ultimately Win

Rey, a palpatine, ends up taking everything that belong to the skywalker family: the legacy saber, the millennium falcon, Han’s blaster, leia’s ex machina saber, the chosen one prophecy, the last skywalker’s life force, and their name/legacy. And her first act as a skywalker is to bury their sabers on the planet they all hated. The planet where Anakin was enslaved and where his mother’s life was stolen from him. The planet Luke could not wait to get off of and where his aunt and uncle were murdered. The planet where Leia was enslaved by a crime lord.

And the worst part is that Palptine gets what he always wanted: the lifeforce of a skywalker is used to keep a palpatine alive.

It Makes Everything the Skywalker Family Went Through so Pointless

If they were going to undo RotJ’s happy ending, they should have made the ending of the sequels even happier and more triumphant.

But instead, Anakin’s sacrifice amounted to nothing because Palpatine just lives on to completely wreck his family. Luke was a complete failure when it came to rebuilding the Jedi order. Palpatine manipulated/groomed Ben Solo since infancy, turning him against his family. Leia‘s wish was to create something better than the Republic and the Empire, but the New Republic was destroyed by the First Order. She wanted her son back, and Han sacrificed his life to try and bring their son back. Luke did too in TLJ. He gave his life to manufacture a situation where he could apologize and acknowledge what he did to his nephew, and in such a way to where Ben could not act out without ending up with another family member’s death on his hands. And then with the whole “salt purifying wounds” symbolism of the planet in general, it felt like the first steps to repairing this family. This story’s trajectory seemed to be about saving the last skywalker from the mistakes of the previous generation and in doing so, allowing the new generation to learn from those mistakes and build something new. Han, Luke, and Leia gave their lives to try and right that wrong and bring the last scion of this bloodline home. And when Ben FINALLY makes the right choice, he is excluded from the final fight against Palpatine via yeet pit, and then dies 2 seconds after finding the happiness and acceptance he was never allowed to have with Rey. 

They Did The Character of Ben Solo So Dirty

They took a huge retconnish step back after TLJ paved the way for something really cool in TROS. He was finally free to be his own person, out from under the thumb of an abusive master, leader of his faction, and resolved rather than conflicted. Resolved to do what, we will never know—would he have acted as an anti hero against palpatine’s sith army? Would he have been dethroned by Hux/Pryde and have to operate independently? WHO KNOWS. But instead of exploring anything NEW with him, TROS has him reforge that mask (for no given reason), still be conflicted about everything, and have to plot with Rey to overthrow yet another abusive master. He just repeated his arc in TLJ, but with prequel-level dialogue with Rey and a RotJ-Vader ending. Except he gets NO LINES in the last act beyond “ow”. After his scene with Leia-induced-memory!Han, he essentially becomes a mute. Also that scene where Luke gives Rey Leia’s lightsaber, saying that she always knew Ben would fall so she gave it up and wanted Luke to pass it on to someone worthy? What? Give up on your son I guess. Way to destroy Leia’s character and make her look like a terrible mother.

And because of how exhaustingly how contrived the whole reylo angle was presented in general, the kiss scene probably felt REALLY forced for the general audience. Like the actors played the scene well—Adam’s facial expressions of utter hopelessness and regret upon finding her dead was absolutely gut wrenching. But his death happens SO fast: he meditates, she wakes up, they kiss, the music swells and you think everything is going to be ok—then he drops dead 2 seconds later and neither the audience nor Rey are given enough time to process that. It moves on to the celebration montage ripped straight from RotJ’s remastered version—AND HE IS NEVER SEEN OR MENTIONED AGAIN! Not even as a force ghost on Tatooine with Luke and Leia when she proclaims herself a Skywalker. Are they going to edit his force ghost into the scene 20 years later when they remaster this film? Or are we just going to pretend this character never existed and he was not the hero--because he really was the hero of this film.

Balance is Never Restored

Did that “Journal of the Whills” passage in the TFA book even matter? In the end, balance was never reached. The light won the day and the darkness perished. Again. History literally repeated itself. So what’s the next fascist regime or sith zombie that’s going to sprout up in 30 years? There was no resolution or catharsis between the two aspects of the force. It was just “Sith avatar Sideous bad, Rey jedi avatar good, don’t think too hard, enjoy the holidays and see you in 30 years when we want to see what Rey Skywalker is up to!” And you know that’s coming — they did not even give us closure to the Skywalker saga because they can always make movies about her and any of her false-Skywalker decedents! It’s SO UPSETTING. 

I’m mostly disappointed because it would have been nice to see a resolved view of the force that is not so black and white. Like maybe the Sith were a perversion of what the dark side is: a cancer or parasite that has corrupted it. TLJ opened the door for so many nuanced and honestly really intelligent concepts that TROS just threw out the window for “cool force powers”.  There is absolutely no “peace” in the force, it’s used with straight up aggression constantly save for the force healing/life transferring, which is overused in this film and has therefore lost any substantial weight in the story because of it.

Rey Repeats the Mistakes of a Past Generation

She literally repeats Leia’s mistakes. She is a Palpatine, but in choosing to hide that from everyone (besides Finn, I guess) by taking another family’s last name, she is essentially lying. That did not work out so well with Leia, who hid the fact she was Vader’s daughter from everyone besides Luke and Han. It got out, her political career was tanked, she lost the trust of a lot of her friends, and it helped alienated her son from their family. 

And what is this nonsense about Luke and Leia having always known she was a Palpatine all along, but never said anything? Even though she was aware of Rey’s desperation to know where she came from and why her family left her behind? Did she just omit the truth from Rey just like she did Ben? WHAT? THIS IS SO HORRIBLE.

If they had to make her a Palpatine, why not have her own it and be like “it is not my bloodline that defines who I am, but the choices I make.” Which is a nicer message and juxtaposes with Kylo who accepted his dark legacy because he felt like he had no other choice—especially when everyone who was suppose to help him thought he is another Vader/a lost cause anyway. 

I personally really like the message that she was no one, and you did not have to be anyone special to be a hero. I also hate how her bloodline diminishes her struggle with her affinity for the dark side. Her backstory as an abandoned orphan provided enough reason for her to struggle with the pull to the dark side. But this reveal oversimplified that and just chalked it up to her genes. And to say that her power was a result of her heritage, and not because she was a chosen vessel of the cosmic force is a mistake. 

Rey and Kylo’s Force Bond is Terribly Misused

Their force bond (which was arguably the most compelling part of TLJ) was turned it into exposition fodder and weaponized. It was originally created for the purpose of allowing these two opposing forces to TALK to each other rather than fight. TLJ established that they could not use the force on each other OR harm each other through the bond for a reason: so they could communicate and learn from each other. It really felt like foreshadowing for some sort of catharsis or resolution between the light and dark aspects of the force. Especially with the whole spiel about balance, and how the light and the dark are both natural parts of life and the force (warmth, cold, peace, violence, death and decay that brings forth new life ect). That was such a lovely and spiritual interpretation. 

But instead of expanding on that idea, TROS not only made them able to fight each other through it, but he took it to video-game-super-power level extremes. And it was just plain absurd. Were some scenes cool? Yeah, I thought him pulling the legacy saber out from behind his back to fight the knights was great, and the teleportation was hinted at in TLJ, but I hated their lightsaber fights. It was too over the top with the flipping and such. I really liked TLJ’s message that the force is not a super power, but rather a mystical force that guides you if you are open to letting it work through you. This movie just spat in the face of that idea. 

And it’s so annoying that they described their bond as this mystical “dyad” that occurred because of who their famous grandparents were—THAT IS SO INFURIATING! It’s not the will of the force that these two people on opposing sides were linked so deeply, but because of their family legacy. Bloodlines are all that matter apparently—not that the force is working through these two similarly broken people in an effort to fix and balance itself. And ultimately refine the incomplete view of the force that the Jedi and Sith tore the galaxy apart over. 

I also hated how the bond is described “two as one”, but then one dies without the other (twice!) and Rey can wound him without so much as a flinch. If the bond is really one life force/spirit inhabiting two bodies, shouldn’t they have to die at the same time? Or at least be able to feel each other’s pain? Or be able to share this life force they supposedly already share and both survive? Like you can’t kill one without killing the other, sort of deal? It just feels like it was hyped up to be this immensely powerful thing, and that in order to defeat Palpatine, they would have to do so together. But all that exposition seems pointless after one half of the dyad survives without its counterpart. And it is never addressed after. Like what even is the point of any of this yin yang stuff if yin can just die off with no consequences? Was the entire point of that plot thread meaningless exposition? And if the explanation is that Palpatine stole their force bond to revive himself, that’s straight up stupid. TROS will have wasted this unique connection that had so much potential for good and for meaningful resolution and fabricated yet another way to empower the already OP villain. 

But if you pretend none of that dumb dyad shit happened, Ben Solo’s death is one of the ONLY things about this movie that makes sense thematically. I’m not happy that he died. I do not think it was necessary. But I am trying to make peace with the fact that it is a beautiful sacrifice. I always felt like their arc was reverse Padme x Anakin, and Anakin’s entire fall to the dark side was because he wanted to become powerful enough to save the person he loved from death. He never achieved that because his love for Padme and his motivations were inherently selfish. He wanted her save her so he could keep her beside him. Ben, however, rights that wrong and selflessly gives his life for the one he loves. He does so knowing that he will die, and does not even hesitate, because he wants her to live even if he can’t be with her. So in that way, and excluding the dyad stuff that makes his death confusing and nonsensical, I actually felt like it was fulfilling. Sort of. One of the only things that came close to feeling well thought out in that movie, I suppose. But it still did not land quite right because of how poorly it was orchestrated. I genuinely do not think people picked up on the subtle romance hints they dropped around those two. Like the tropes are there, but it’s almost entirely subtext and not something the general audience picked up on until the shirtless scene and even then it was more of a meme. But regardless of whatever romance was set up in the previous films, I felt like their entire arc in this film was dysfunctional as fuck and not cathartic at all. It was very juvenile and reduced to a series of “join me! No! —sword fight— Join me! No! —sword fight—” Did I enjoy some of their banter, yes. But it was not nearly as satisfying as their exchanges in TLJ. 

The Retconning of TLJ and Extended Material 

It felt like TROS was trying so hard to pacify everyone who hated the direction TLJ took the narrative. And so much of the movie’s run time is spent retconning what was revealed in that movie, with no explanation other than “from a certain point of view” loopholes. And there were so many tasteless digs at TLJ. The comment about the Holdo maneuver. Luke catching the lightsaber and raising that ancient, sea-corroded x wing from the water on Ach-to. Rey’s parents becoming nobodies to protect her from Grandpappy Palps. Leia unable to get a single ship to answer her distress calls at the end of TLJ, but Lando can fetch the whole damn galaxy in an End Game like fashion.

Poe is randomly a drug smuggler despite his backstory already being established as being a part of the New Republic’s Navy and having Rebel Heroes for parents. 

Chewbacca already got a medal in the comics, so that scene was so redundant. Did the writers even consult with the Lucasfilm’s story team?

Leia was trained as a Jedi and only gave it up because she knew her son was going to turn to the dark side. It was already established in Bloodlines that Leia chose to be a senator because the galaxy needed her in politics more than it needed her with a laser sword. That was where she could do the most good. And she sacrifices everything--even her family--for the sake of building something better and new. But that sacrifice is reduced to her giving it up because she essentially has given up on her son before he is even born? I just do not understand why that flashback was necessary. Or why she needed a lightsaber. It is like it was included to pacify people who were upset with Leia using the force to save herself in TLJ, but an explanation is not needed because we have already established in the films and in extended material that she is force sensitive.

I don’t even want to talk about the vats full of Snokes.

Finn being force sensitive is cool, and I could totally see the potential in that from TFA, but it goes absolutely nowhere and his character is back to being Poe’s sidekick and Rey’s lost puppy. Rose gets absolutely NO screen time, and is sidelined the entire film to pacify people who hated her character in TLJ. I do not need FinnRose to be canon, either. I loved their development in TLJ because Rose challenged and progressed Finn as a character. And even though I always thought FinnPoe was going to be endgame, I never thought they would sweep her under the rug. Speaking of Finn and Poe, they queer-baited everyone with Stormpilot, only to give both of them hetero love interests. Finn and Poe have so much natural chemistry and meaningful interaction, especially in the last resistance novel that came out, that it was a slap to the face to see Finn psuedo-paired with Jannah/Rey and Poe paired with Zori.

Hux was set up to have all this ambition and a tense rivalry with Kylo Ren. But he gets shot by a random new character for helping the Resistance he hates so much-- that is incredibly nonsensical. There was so much potential for a First Order civil war between Kylo Ren and Hux, and he was hyped up in the comics to be a very dangerous adversary. What a waste. 

Were there moments in the film that were fun and enjoyable, sure, but I find that all of the problems eclipse those moments. It’s really hard to find stuff I actually liked about it. C3PO was great, but I felt like him getting his memories restored removed the weight of his sacrifice. Much like everything else in this film. There were way too many fake out deaths for anything to be meaningful. The movie itself was, admittedly, gorgeous. The Death Star ruins was such a magical set. The soundtrack was beautiful as ever. But I just feel so depressed and sorry for the tragedy that was the Skywalker family after watching it, that I cannot even enjoy the parts that were enjoyable.

[spnfanficpond]

December 2019 Pond LiveChat Recap - Structuring Longer Plots

We had a great time chatting with @jhoomwrites​, today! Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your wisdom and experience!

Our chat was all about structuring longer plots, filler vs plot, and the different types of structures that are out there. (Mostly, we talked about how we don’t always have a structure in mind when we’re writing, and how we deal with it when a story breaks apart the structure we’d so carefully constructed.) A rundown of the chat, as well as general Pond news, is below the cut!

For those who don’t know her, Ashley is an avid writer, not just of fan fiction. She’s popular on Tumblr and AO3 for Destiel stories of all lengths, from little emoji ficlets she bangs out from requests (where followers send her a short string of emojis and she writes a story using them all) up to epic stories. She’s currently working on a hockey fan fiction that was her NaNoWriMo project, but with 120 SPN works on AO3, we’ve got plenty to read while she’s distracted with her hockey boys! (I’ve convinced her to be a member of the Pond, so hopefully we’ll see her around a lot in the future!)

We started off talking about how long our fics can get ( @katehuntington​ won with her Sullivan Series, which is currently at 570k), and whether we’re planners or pansters or a mix. Kate and Ashley are both kind of mixed, while @mrswhozeewhatsis​ has never successfully outlined a story, yet. 

Q: Was My Liege Lord (her longest at around 80k) planned or pansted?

Ashley: It was both. I had planned out some things, but then I got new ideas as I went that I wanted to explore and it padded out the length. I had a whole fic worth of plans, but just the amount of time in their lives I ended up covering necessitated adding things. Kate: I do that too. I stick to the plan, but I add soooooo much stuff along the way.

Q: When you write, and plan out a story, do you use a particular structure?

Ashley: I haven't written out a plan for a fic in some time, but I was really consistent with the style I used for a while. I would do a chart with the main plot points to the left, and then details (excerpt of dialogues, notes about specific scenes, etc) to the right. Here’s an example:

Ashley: It helps me when I get ideas later, I can find parts in the story by looking to the left and then add notes. It's my favorite way to plan out a story, especially if I know it will be multiple chapters and if I might not be starting it any time soon. This is much nicer than the outline for the story I'm working on now, which is just a list of events in chronological order (and another list of "things i could add but i don't know where this goes"). I wrote the outline about a day before I started so I didn't need as much structure.

Q: Having a plan helps, then?

Ashley: I didn't used to plan, but then I started a multi-chapter fic and realized...... I don't have an ending. So, I like to plan that out to make sure I have an actual beginning, middle, and end. Michelle: When I start, I have an idea and an ending. That’s it. All my stories have the same ending, though: And then they kissed and lived happily ever after!

Kate: It does give freedom, not having a detailed outline.

Ashley: That is true, it does make me sad when I get somewhere in the outline and there's something I'd liked, that I'd wanted to include, but it doesn't work anymore and I have to scrap it. Gotta balance sticking to the outline vs adapting to how the tone/characters have developed.

Q: Is your planning method something you learned, or something you developed? And do you use the same structure for all of your stories?

Ashley: Something I developed. I haven't had any real training or instruction in writing. I was struggling with longer fics being unorganized and not coming together at the end, so I needed something for myself. I like making charts, so I figured that was a good way to start! lol It's not something I do as much, anymore. It was a great tool when I started doing it, and I did it for years... but possibly because I've gained more writing experience with longer stories, I don't need to do it anymore. I start a fic with a general idea, I figure out where that idea is going, and start writing. I do more of a mental checklist now. Of course, for original stories, things I hope to one day publish, I will still outline.

Q: Do parts of your structure have names? A quick Google search on how to structure novels brought back about a lot of different methods for structuring a novel, all with different numbers of steps. Each step had a general idea, like rising action, climax, falling action, etc. I guess I mean, what parts of a story do you feel need to be there for it to work? What are the parts of your structure?

Ashley: Having never paid particular attention in my English classes, I would be hard pressed to put names on different parts of my story structure. I view it as beginning (set up, putting things in place), middle (the actual story more or less, all of the action), and ending (wrapping things up, resolution).

Q: When you half wing it and the story is coming along, and then you hit a plot hole, how do you handle that? 

Ashley: Well uh... **points vaguely towards abandoned WIPs** it can be rough. I do have some people I work with in terms of brainstorming. And if I get stuck with a fic I'm committed to, that I'm enjoying writing, then I talk it through with them. Sometimes, those issues are coming up--not because the story wasn't outlined--but more because I've just lost that spark of interest that I had before, and it's time to move on, anyway.

Q: There was a question submitted to the Pond by @kittenofdoomage​ about filler vs. plot.

Ashley: I think that's a real issue I face, filler vs plot. For some stories, I feel like I write a chapter and then can't really see what it adds to the story except maybe giving more characterization. My Liege Lord, I can think of some examples... and sometimes those things are cool, they're fun little ideas to explore and that's the only universe you could do it in, so you do it maybe for your own sake more than the story's. I think there's also a difference between reader and writer perceptions of what's filler. For my current project, there are scenes I wanted to include because I felt they were necessary to the plot, but I got the impression from people I'd polled that they would not be interested in those scenes (basically it's a romance and I was going to include things that were not directly related to the romance aspect and they said if it was more than a few paragraphs or so they didn't care). Michelle: I struggled with that with The Babysitter. Almost half of that fic is flashbacks to when the brothers were growing up and how their relationship with the reader developed. I considered cutting them all, but the fic felt thin. Sometimes, I'd pop a flashback chapter in there just to slow down the action in the present a bit, if you know what I mean. Like, chapter X is the night before the big battle, and chapter Y is the big battle, but it felt rushed to just go from X to Y, so I stuck D in between them. Ashley: Yeah, pacing is important, so the "filler" can help regulate that. It might also depend on if you view stories as about the plot or about the characters. If you view it as plot, then yes, you don't want that non-plot filler. If you view it as characters, then the filler doesn't necessarily move the story, but it adds depth and dimension to the characters and makes you appreciate them more. (I mean... I love the characters so much, I'd watch an episode of them just doing chores around the bunker...no plot, just them.) Kate: I just write what I feel like is right. Plus, I’m a sucker for a slow burn myself, so I’m not scared to let the readers wait.  I like to use fillers as a stairway to the big reveal or moment. What I love even more is to put a lot of foreshadowing in there, so when they read it the second time, they go: oh! Rhi: The thing is that I've found is that filler serves a lot of purposes. As mentioned above it's great for dropping a bit of foreshadowing. It's also great for expanding your background and making your characters more than two dimensional. It also gives your readers a breather. Especially if it's a heavy plot. I often find myself rambling in filler, which is where rereading is key. With longer stories, I have a brief outline of what I want. Sometimes I'll write the major points first, the ending etc then follow up with the filler. On occasion, your filler will end up imploding your plans but that's cool. That's when you either roll with it or take a break and neither of those are bad choices. It depends on the individual.

Q: (In one of the articles linked below) Peter Behrens mentioned a novel idea. He basically said he doesn’t worry about structure until the revision stage. He writes what he wants to, and then when he’s revising, he tweaks the story to fit whatever structure it fits to best.

Ashley: I do like that, and that's something that @unforth-ninawaters​ has mentioned. We're working on shorter stories that would need to be under 7.5k and I said I don't know if I could hit that. She said to write the whole story, even if it's longer, and then have someone edit it with an eye to shorten it, if necessary, and you'll probably end up with a tighter story that way. So, basically, that's how I view writing things, now. I write what I want to write for the story, and if it needs to go, it'll disappear later in the editing process. But what if it does belong? Well, then it's there, already. And yes on slow burns... for fic, it's a staple, and for WIPs, it's part of the lure, the draw in, as a reader--knowing that maybe they will maybe they won't hook up this week.

To close out the chat, we talked about the story structures listed in the following two links:

How to find your novel’s structure - This article discusses the traditional 5-stage plot structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution) and the 3-act structure (setup, confrontation, resolution), as well as some other points, like how characterization can affect structure.

Writing Cooperative -  Use a story structure to make writing your novel a lot easier - This article lists several structures, and includes links to read more about each one and their strengths and weaknesses. Different stories might do better under different structures, too. A romance novel wouldn’t necessarily need the 12 steps in The Hero’s Journey.

These links are definitely worth checking out if you have any fears or concerns about your story’s structure!

Next month we’re going to talk about Real People Fiction! We’re still looking for a guest speaker, so if anyone is interested, send a message to @mrswhozeewhatsis​!! Date and time to be announced!

General Pond Updates and Reminders

What we’ve got cooking up next: Not much, at the moment, since everyone is busy, so we’re just trying to keep up with the day-to-day at the moment! Our to do list is still long, though, and will not be neglected forever! Next up is organizing the tagging system on the blog to make it easier for readers to find the stories they’re interesting in and for writers to find the help they’re looking for!

Reminders:

Angel Fish Award nominations are accepted all month long! No need to wait to tell us how much you liked a fellow Fish’s work!  IF YOU HAVE SENT IN A NOMINATION, BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED A PRIVATE MESSAGE CONFIRMING WE RECEIVED IT, WE DIDN’T GET IT. Be sure to use Submit instead of Ask!

Don’t forget to submit your stories to be posted to the blog! When your stories are on the blog, then they are easier to nominate for Angel Fish Awards!

Say hi to November’s New Members! (If we missed someone, let us know!)

Check the Pond CALENDAR to see when Big Fish will be in the Skype chat room/discord general channel and other Pond and SPN events are happening! Know of something that’s not on the calendar, send us an ask or submission with the deets info details!  The calendar offers a lot of features, such as showing you when things are in your own timezone! Since we’re an international group, that’s a definite plus!!

We’re looking for a guest speaker for January to talk about RPF! If you know of an RPF writer that you’d like to hear from, let us know!!

[strifelockhart]

Hello. I am the same anon who sent the "Fuck it!" post and honestly, I'm considering being a Clerith only to ease the pain of CloTi (my otp) not being canon. There's so much Clerith fan service nowadays in works such as Möbius that I believe that SE is foreshadowing the confirmation of Clerith in the remake/KH3. I even read essays written by @astoryofalove and (s)he used canonical evidence that are against CloTi. I'm sick of being bullied all the time by Cleriths and I even puked/cried about it!

I'm very sorry for overreacting, but I'm done with the arguments, the hate, and the rage associated with the LTD. I want Cleriths to stop being so rude to others who disagree with them and the same should be said to CloTis. Had SE been less ambiguous about CloTi/Clerith/Zerith, none of this shit would've happened. I want to like Clerith because it is a beautiful ship, but the fandom scares me so much that I began to hate it. Please help me because I don't want to be picked on anymore. 😖

There’s no reason for you to pretend to like something you don’t. If you ever need someone to talk about Cloti, come to the inbox (or send a chat message) and we will get back to you! There’s plenty of Cloti media out there (fanmade and otherwise) for you to enjoy. I say stick to your fandom and don’t get into the debates, because they can get rather ugly sometimes. There’s a reason I have stopped debating. And it’s not because I don’t love Cloti. It’s because I just don’t care anymore. I love Cloti, I think Clerith is cute//ok and I’m happy for my friends that ship it if they get anything. But I pretty much refusse to argue anymore. I will give my two cents and opinion on things, but that’s about all.

Let me ask you this, why are you reading Clerith essays? You should be reading Cloti ones and reminding yourself how great your own ship is. ^^ To me, there’s just as much evidence for one ship as there is the other (when it comes to fanservice). If we’re looking at the original game alone and Advent Children + Dissidia, ofc I believe that Cloti was/is canon. 

However I also know that is just the way *I* interpret things, and that other people interpret it differently. There’s nothing wrong with that or pointing out which parts of the game made you feel that way. I’m sorry if anyone is actually bullying you, thats not cool 2 do.

But I think you really need to relax from debates and reading things that dont pertain to you ;-; Surround yourself with people in your fandom, and ship stuff that actually makes you happy. I’ve been done with the LTD for a long time now. I’ve been arguing about it since 1997 and there’s only so far you can go before you realize that you’re tired. 

I don’t ship Clerith romantically, I probably never will. But I don’t hate seeing it , nor will I be upset if it actually did become canon. I’ll always be rooting for Cloti though, and I will always be happy if SE throws it a bone outside of canon. I was so super stoked when the Cloti event was announced and once again it focused on their promise, one of my favorite aspects about the ship. That didn’t happen too long ago! So I’m sorry if you’re feeling like C/T stuff is nonexistent lately... but I really don’t think that’s the case. c:

Like I said before , if you need an ear or a reminder on why Cloti is great, the CT fandom is pretty open and willing! Just ask any of us tbh, im sure there’s plenty willing to remind you why it’s a great ship. And plenty of people that will make you feel happy in the ship.

It’s exceedingly easy to ignore other shippers. Just don’t give bullies the time of day, and stay away from the LTD if it’s too stressful for you. There are also many friendly people in the Clerith fandom too. As a multishipper and someone with friends in both ships, I can say that honestly. So if you’re really interested in Clerith because it appeals to you, you’ll be accepted for sure. It’s about respect really, and as long as you’re being respectful to each ship that you like Im sure things can be fine.

I too would love for the arguments to stop, but thats unrealistic! The FFVII fandom is kind of up there with the Bleach//Naruto fandoms when it comes to shipping wars. People can get personal... It can cause hurt feelings and spite. If more people just stepped down and apologized and agreed that their own views were acceptable things would be a lot nicer! But for big fandoms like these, some people will just not change.

Anyways, if you need a friend in fandom like I said before there are plenty of shippers who are nice, willing to talk about their ship, and will encourage and be there for you. This blog will definitely count as one for Cloti. ^^ So I hope you cheer up and feel better! Please join us for future Cloti events and remake in the future. Don’t be sad!!