#bc the characters wouldn't have made the decisions differently bc of their characterization

[loregoddess]

so I've been watching the KH Union Cross stuff (in order, thank goodness, this would be so confusing to piece together otherwise), and like, I knew enough about UX that the appearance of the foretellers at the end of KH3 wasn't confusing bc I knew who they all were, but getting the expanded, explained lore and I'm like okay, actually these weirdos in animal masks are pretty cool, glad to know they'll show up (presumably) in future games

also I'm glad that memorizing the Latin names for the seven deadly sins is finally paying off

[vampirecatprince]

Rewatching S1 and S2 right next to each other bc I wanted to recenter my read on Robotnik and Stone after months in the fanon mines and remembering what I do of S3 and....

WOW- his time on the mushroom planet REALLY fucked with Robotnik, huh.

Like... there is a notable characterization difference between him in the first movie and him in 2 and 3 that I've never noticed before. Like- Stone has the biggest shift between 2 and 3, but is still pretty consistent compared to Rob in a way that makes the shift in behavior feel more intentional? There really is an extra mania and desperation to S2/S3 Rob that really isn't that present in the first movie and I always misremember being there.

And yes- a hell of a lot of what happens in Sonic 2 is motivated by decisions he's making and are objectively bad decisions to make, but bro is clearly not all together anymore after living in complete isolation while handling survival conditions for as long as he did.

But- I've never sat back and really pulled apart that in the first movie despite being widely disliked, he is still a successful scientist with a lot of authority and resources behind him. He's in a stable, respected role and clearly enjoying what he's doing.... Then he abruptly gets thrown onto another planet not even days after discovering that aliens actually exist, finally returns to earth after months of being completely isolated from other people to the point that he made a stand-in to talk to, absorbs a borderline eldritch form power source, loses said power to the teenage alien that started this whole going to begin with, and then nearly fucking dies and is so badly injured he's essentially in hospice care for at least a year.

Like- I'm not surprised that between 2 and 3 and decides that he wants absolutely nothing to do with Sonic and gets depressed. He lost his entire career and the ability to do something he loved easily and was hurt a lot in the process. And he's CLEARLY been unpacking a lot of his trauma in S3 with how he randomly trauma dumps to Sonic right before Gerald shows up?

And I also think that Gerald's manipulation of him in Sonic 3 wouldn't have been as easy or as possible with the Sonic 1 version of him? I really feel like a lot of what he went through damaged a lot of his confidence in a way that he's never going to acknowledge or admit to or even notice, but he probably subconsciously missed having an external authority figure in some way. I mean, he did contract work for the government. It's implied that he's been in the military industrial complex is entire life.

And especially after NEARLY DYING because of his own impulsive decisions AND his canon family issues already being a soft spot? It all just made him more vulnerable to being manipulated.

I just... Ohhhhh, his character arc in the movies so far is so fascinating to me, guys.

[irrealisms]

for the fic writing ask game, any combination of [31, 32, 49, 50]?

31. What’s your ideal fic length to write?

idk, a few thousand words? 1-5k.

32. What’s your ideal fic length to read?

5k, ish? but i'm flexible in terms of oneshots and will happily read anywhere between 1k and 25k. above 25k i start putting it off bc it Seems Long, lower than 1k and i don't always have space to get super into it. so, similar answer tbh, though i'll flex higher for reading than writing.

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

sooooo i've got a few projects in the works (all divorcesteal). the primary one i'm working on for publication is will/angel but it hasn't actually been started to the point of "having lines"; the thing i've been adding the most words to recently is drawerfic canon divergence. i'll give you the opening to that one, bc i'm doing the whole thing interspersed with fake discord chatlogs and i think that's really fun as a format decision:

THOUSAND SUNS TIME BAYBEY LETS GET IT hearts — 4/3/25, 3:58 PM fuck fuck fuck hey  so. i think i might need help [😭2] [🫂2] seri1248 — 4/3/25, 3:59 PM WILLLLLLL

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

ahhhhhh decisions.....scary.......uh something i've been thinking about recently is that divorcesteal has been doing wild things to my word count and there are a lot of reasons for that (a big one being "don't have to do voice study or watch vods or be nervous about my characterization/timeline/whatever being off when i am writing myself") but one of them that i think is interesting is that....i write divorcesteal fic with a different intent than i write most fic? most of my fic is meta, or meta-adjacent. i have Something To Say with it & i'm assuming my audience is familiar with most or all relevant canon. with divorcesteal, since i didn't stream and a good chunk of the ppl who care about divorcesteal are on the server and so wouldn't have been able to watch it until postseason even if i did, often...like i'm mostly not writing specific things that happened (although tall trees bend and lean is exclusively a recounting of specific things that happened, and it's my longest divorce fic!), i'm mostly writing missing scenes and ~expansions on canon, but the thing i am intending to communicate is primarily "this is what happened from my pov, this is how i felt about it, this is what my relationships look like & why i made the decisions i did; now you know more about me & my character than you did before". which is....a lot easier than most of my other fic which is trying to add something to canon or advance an argument about my interpretations of canon rather than just .... straightforwardly conveying what happened to a specific character? relatedly i think i'm struggling more with the will/angel fic than a lot of my divorce fic bc it's not that lol.

(questions for fic writers)

[tio-trile]

came back here on tumblr after literal years just for gomens 2 stuff and i got a notif from you. I feel happy seeing your blog again,, so its so surprising for me that you disliked s2, purely just bc youre someone i consider as monumental to the entire fandom bc of your loyalty pre-TV era. so it's intriguing to know your thoughts abt the tv version.

i read your points and DAMN you reminded me of the stuff i didnt like back in s1 that I FORGOT bc so many years have passed since i watched + read the series. I forgot how much I loved bastard, asshole Aziraphale. TV him is characterized as 100% good, better than heaven dude which isn't bad.. and hes very fluffy and adorable. But i always liked the difference between that and crowley being a demon and yet nice. i always missed him calling him "my dear" too. If theyre gonna make them lovey dovey in TV, make him call him my dear damn it!!

As a book fan too, i personally loved s2. But reading your points made me realize it wasnt completely perfect so I respect your side. I do hope s3 turns out to be better than our expectations so you can tune back to it again. I just want you to have more content that you can enjoy even if it's completely new stuff. I understand the feeling so bad of having new stuff but being unable to enjoy it (a diff show for me). Makes you wonder what kind of plot he and Terry originally planned for all this fanservicey stuff to happen. I agree about the book part too, Crowley would never throw those around! The part with them meeting as angels, honestly I think it wouldve been better if they just didn't remember it so they wouldn't ruin their first meeting in the book. It would've been fine as a throwaway like "they met but don't remember."

With the finale,, hmmm I think TV!Azira's characterization def plays a part in why he did it. TV!him screams as someone who is still insecure about being an angel and losing his privileges. So he took the only opportunity he could to change heaven so he and Crowley could live in peace, after seeing Gabriel who is alr so powerful, be cast away after that decision. I'm curious though, how would you think book!him would think in this decision?? With an Armageddon 2 coming up again I can't imagine of anything else the two of them could do to fight it again w/o an influence in higher power.

Oh geez, I sure hope that nobody has notification on for my blog right now 😂 (or ever)...it'll be so annoying for them 🤣🤣 and honestly, I'm just some guy on the internet running a blog with no profit to gain from being "loyal" to a fandom, so I'm gonna truthfully share my opinions. And yeah like you said, it's possible to enjoy the book and the show at the same time, just taking into consideration that they are different media and characters. It's hard to imagine book!Aziraphale in this situation because there has been too many differences that led to this situation......and I just don't see book!Aziraphale in this situation, because to begin with, I don't think Gabriel would even go to him in times of trouble, lol. So let's say that Metatron directly went to him after everything had happened and Gabriel had already ran off and offered him the position (with an offer he can't refuse) -- I think he would have to accept on the surface, and then he would immediately go to Crowley to try to work their way out of it/figure out a way to keep the position but still slacks off all the time like he's always done 😂😂

[byfulcrums]

I hate the third movie so much!!!! Like a lot!!!!!!!

Prepare for a rant (under cut bc it got a bit long, sorry!)

First of all, here's a thing I always complain about when talking about HTTYD 3: the designs, and the characterization

The designs as in, the armor, is cool as hell, I'm not complaining about that I love the armor so much. But I hate how they made Toothless a literal puppy. His head is literally a square!!! They changed his personality too, when he's always been more similar to a cat than a dog

There's also the light fury. I have no words for this. The fact that they only made her Like That because they needed her to be "feminine" says enough about her

It was weirdly sexist for a HTTYD movie, considering how well done the female characters are in this series. They only made this character to be Girl Toothless, and being a girl was her only character trait

Besides that, they gave some of Toothless' mannerisms to her! The more cat-like behavior, at some points, for example. Toothless in the first movie was more graceful, stealthy, moved silently, etc. They gave all of his different, elegant ways of moving to her, because they wanted to push the golden retriever agenda on him (that's a joke btw. Like they did do that but "golden retriever agenda" isn't a thing)

Ruffnut was far too stupid too. She would NEVER in rtte

Now; let's move on to why the ending is shit

First of all! Toothless is not an Alpha. He is king, yes, but king of Berk's dragons specifically. When he defeated Drago's Alpha, he did not suddenly gain telepathy powers; the dragons under the Alpha's control went to Toothless when he won, and it was a willing decision. They listen to him, yes, but not every dragon will, because HE'S NOT OF THE SPECIES THAT HAS LITERAL DRAGON MIND CONTROL POWERS

That being said!! If Toothless isn't an Alpha, then why the hell did all the dragons leave when he did? And why did all the dragons in the Hidden World immediately bow down to him? Maybe they recognize his status as King (of Berk), but that doesn't mean he's the king of them

There's also no way all the dragons wanted to leave. Just no way. I know I wouldn't!

Then, there's the Death Song problem

There are multiple cannibalistic dragon species. If they go to the Hidden World with the rest, they will try to eat everyone else, and if they can't do that, they'll starve. These dragons can't just change their entire biology and start eating fish, plants, boars, or whatever thing you have in mind. They have to eat other dragons, or they'll die. Sending them all to the Hidden World means that either they'll eat all the other dragons and eventually they'll be one of the few species left standing (highly unlikely) or they'll just go extinct (most probable)

Along with that, there's the fact that many dragons are extremely territorial. if stuck in the same place for the rest of their lives, there will be fights, and dragons don't have medicine! They can only heal naturally, there's no outside help. So many will die, far more than necessary

Now, I do like the ending of the dragons leaving. In the books

And sure, dragons die every day; no one can stop that (no matter how sad this makes Hiccup), but putting them all in a big cave will result in losses that are WAY bigger than necessary and than what they're used to

Plus, what about the species that can't fly? The Speed Stingers, for example? The mutation in RTTE was a thing that only happened with that one group. Only they would be able to reach the Hidden World

I understand that they were trying to end the sagas the same way the books did, but it doesn't work in the movies! Also, (I haven't read all the books yet, it's a work in progress, so correct me if I'm wrong, but) as far as I know, in the books the dragons were basically slaves to the Vikings. It makes sense that they would want to leave. In the movies, it's not like that. Berk's dragons are friends, not servants! They have no reason to want to leave!

And even then, I'm like 99% sure that in the books Toothless still didn't leave Hiccup. And even then, apparently leaving (or when to leave, most likely) was left to be each dragon's choice, not something a random telepathy powered Toothless told them to do

The villain also sucks. I didn't like his design, but I'm not gonna complain about that

It makes no sense for just one person to wipe out an entire species! And besides, Grimmel wasn't scary, wasn't interesting, wasn't anything at all. He's as bland as the Light Fury

Also also also. Toothless would never leave Hiccup for a girl. I'm not talking about a "bros before hoes" thing (I hate that phrase) I'm talking as in, Toothless would never leave Hiccup. Ever. No matter the circumstances. ES MÁS, he wouldn't have let the Light Fury get close to him after she attacked Hiccup! He would've defended him! That's his friend. HIS FRIEND. He's his best bud, his soulmate!!!!!

God the Toothless characterization pissed me off sm

I'd say Hiccup was pretty spot on in the sense that if Toothless wanted to leave and could leave without, like, dying, he would let him; he'd be sad about it, but he would let him. There's other things I don't like about the way he was written, of course, but that wasn't too bad. WHAT WAS BAD IS THE FACT THAT TOOTHLESS LEAVING WAS EVEN A POSSIBILITY IN THE FIRST PLACE

And, to add something: doesn't the "oh I built a new tail and now he can leave forever because it's like basically his old tail! It's like it was never missing at all!" thing feel a bit ableist? Idk that's just a hunch, I'm not disabled so I can't talk about it, but. Just leaving that there

Still, even without the ableism, it's still shitty. The tailfin would never hold that long. It'd need repairs. Things like that can't be permanent, and I know Hiccup is a great inventor, but he's not a god, come on. He can't do everything

Toothless can fly on his own now, yes, but if the tailfin breaks (which is a thing that can happen, either because of an accident or simply because of time), there's no one to fix it. In a place like that, he'll be stranded. It's dangerous!

Also they made Snotlout, Hiccup's cousin in the books, be attracted to Hiccup's mom. HIS AUNT

The HTTYD universe's ecosystem must've been so damaged when all the dragons dissappeared.

"but people wanted to hurt them!" people want to hurt wolves to, but we don't send them all to an isolated cave because it would destroy the ecosystem.

In fact, "dragon" is just a collective word for multiple species so they really fucked themselves with that one.

In conclusion, the third movie was stupid.

[evilkitten3]

i think one thing the owl house has done really well is with tying events to characterization. a lot of the time in other medias, things happen and the characters react to it, which is all well and good, and that frequently leads to role reversal fanfics and whatnot.

but toh has a very unique way of creating scenarios where the thing happens specifically because of who the characters are. an eda-lilith roleswap wouldn't make sense bc eda isn't ambitious enough to curse her own sister - and i really can't think of any other scenario where doing so would have even occurred to her.

the last ep i saw made a point of comparing amity to hunter, and while they definitely have a lot in common, they don't react to things quite the same way.

every time a character makes a decision, it feels like it's that character doing it, like other characters would react differently or even not have ever ended up in that position by sheer virtue of who they are as people.

anyway it's really good

[hopefromadoomedtimeline]

Unprompted ask but is there any pet peeves you have about trunks, either the character themselves or in the community?

Oh? Hmmmmmm I guess I could share a bit of insight into a few things that peeve me, why not. This is gonna be a bit long, just fyi.

The first and foremost thing being that Present Trunks is more or less shafted by the narrative post-Z in favor of Future Trunks, as it's a little more than just pandering to the fans of F.Trunks and makes it kinda a waste that P.Trunks was created only to be ignored time and time again. I think the most blatant time this happened was in GT, where Trunks had little to resemble his fun loving, challenge seeking, irresponsible self that was a little too cocky for his own good, instead he became a watered down version of Future Trunks: anxious, serious, and constantly attempting to be the voice of reason and failing. And in the GT opening they even gave him a sword that is there for no reason than to say "hey! remember future trunks and how he had a sword??? well this one has a sword too! isn't that cool???" It just made me be disappointed with him, and even though there are signs of his old characterization, it's miniscule (but notable when it pops up). Like, okay, you wanna say GT Trunks grew up and matured, okay, but have him mature that makes him distinct! otherwise the whole point of the two Trunks of Z having vastly different characterization means nothing! Because they have the same personality so apocalypses and deceased friends and family don't change you at all.

And I personally am not a fan of Future trunks being relevant in like, sooooo many games of DBZ. Like, I get it, he's a good character and fun and popular but he either shows up to either be like "hey, I'm here, remember me? I'm important" or "I'm not important and my appearance doesn't make sense but focus on me anyway" Admittedly, I think Trunks in Xenoverse is a good take, like he's a logical option and he's gonna be happy there, which he deserves. But it comes at the cost of having him put in dumb positions that come at the cost of his characterization: Him letting his guard down in the middle of a fight is pretty bad. But the most blatant is in Xeno 1, where he challenges Beerus to fight Demigra only to get folded in a minute and leave you in a 2-on-1, which by the way, it's a decision that caused everything to be endangered when Demigra corrupts everyone in the Time Nest (including him) and leaves them as his pawns! People probably died! Like, if Beerus dealt with Demigra it wouldn't have been climatic, sure, but fuck dude that was just- there was no point in doing it. I still think Xenoverse! Trunks is a good boy, but fuck, he kinda took some dum-dum pills.

Lastly, I kinda actively dislike the way a loud (not necessarily vast) portion of fans see Future Trunks as this "oh badass that could kill anyone bc he's pragmatic, he wouldn't lose bc he's different" like he isn't a flawed character, it becomes borderline mary suing at points when Trunks is very flawed as shown in the Cell saga. He makes mistakes! He overestimates himself! He's lost a countless amount of times! He's not some badass that's gonna insult his allies or family like some people like to think, he's much more than "heheh stabby man go slice" It honestly seems like those people want Namek-Era Vegeta, but for some reason think Trunks is just carbon copy Geets with less ego.

tldr; Future Trunks should be in less, Present Trunks should be in more, and Future Trunks isn't an almighty hyped badass.

[janiedean]

Have you seen the stuff that's come from GRRM's reps? I always thought GRRM seemed to have gone along with the idea that he told D&D the ending of the story, but the execution had been bad. Now he's hinting that he never told them a thing about the ending and that they ran with their own ideas from season 5 on. Do you figure this is just Martin backtracking because he's realised how badly his original ending was received?

I've seen now bc this week I was like insanely busy and like.... it doesn't change my general mind about wtf went on but:

I don't think d&d understood anything that george told them - like I don't doubt that he told them something but again.... he told them shireen gets burned and that is the way happens in the show which made no sense whatsoever and was just so they could off stannis? suuureeee like I don't doubt he told them hints or smth but they never actually gave a fuck or interpreted them extremely differently

'they ran with their own ideas since S5' is correct because nothing they did from S5 onwards made sense with the books so I can't say anything about that

now I'm 100% convinced that something of the actual finale comes from grrm - as said, I'm betting money on king in the north bran + small council made up of previously disadvantaged categories + jon going off with the wildlings eventually which was a thing I've been sort of thinking for ages so if that's part of the actual ending okay but the way dnd inserted it in the middle of a bunch of other crap that's never gonna happen (qitn!sansa, aryagendry splitting, jon not getting kingship, joncon/aegon not being there, dany dying that way, brienne in the kg, jaime dying with cersei, sandor dying dot, bran getting kingship in someplace that's not the north etc) made zero sense and made things look bad but like... I'm absolutely sure that the moment george does that in the books it will make sense

idt he's backtracking on anything bc that is not his original ending and the elements in it that imvho are original were implemented in a way that Did Not Make Sense and anyway came after four season of wild nonsense starting from S5 onwards and S4 was already on the way to get there and everything that was bad about got is dnd's fault not his, but if he doesn't want ppl to think that is his ending or that he's happy with it I can't fault him bc if I were him I wouldn't be happy with how they massacred my books either X°D

like: the got ending is not his og ending because 85% of it makes zero literal sense with his themes, his narration and his characterization, what little there is of it was wildly misunderstood by dnd and their crap decisions wrt excluding characters and so on and idt he's backtracking on it just specifying it wasn't what he wanted which..... I mean X°D kind of blatant ;) but that said idt showtruthing is a thing we should do at this point bc if any of the show post S4 was truthing it was immersed in such an amount of dnd-only crap that even if it happens in the books it doesn't mean it won't make sense in a wholly different context X°D

[charlieweasleyy]

THE ONE WHERE WE ARE COMFORTABLE

WTN WEEK 2021 → day seven (episode seven) Hiiii friends so I decided to talk about things that bring me comfort and for me the thing that brings me the biggest comfort is the friends I've made on this board. I spend my time talking to these four basically allllll day long. If you can guess by the graphic above on who is who, but they have become some of my best friends so *drum roll* please and let me tell you about the people i consider to be my f.r.i.e.n.d.s.

MY LOBSTER Apparently, I am someone who when they find someone they mate for life. When I latched onto Elle I latched on and didn't (lol won't) let go. Like when I say she is my person I mean it with every fiber of my being. She is the soulmate. My wife. My lobster. She is like that perfect pair of sweatpants that you know are dependable and can count on and you don't want to let go of. She's like the television show that you need to put on because you've had a bad day. She's the first person I call when disaster happens. When I am having a bad day she is the first person I want to talk to and 10/10 she can say something to make it better.

We laugh until we cry and she likes to yell at me... but 9/10 I do deserve it. So, it is valid. If you see me flirting with her on the server (no you didn't) it's mostly because I can't help myself. So... just divert your eyes. It's very cliche to say that your life has changed after meeting someone, but that's what it has done. I am a better person for her, I'm more mindful, more open, and I don't think there isn't a person on this board who wouldn't say that Elle hasn't changed them for the better. It is who she is. She leaves you with something to think about, she challenges you. She pushes you. She has a heart for those who are misrepresented and misunderstood. I swear if Elle had her own talk show I'd listen to it every day. The girl is *passionate* and that is one thing I can't help but love about her. She is passionate about diversity, about the people on this board, I have watched her struggle with some hard decisions this year and how it has affected her mentally, but she also rises from the ashes because she has to. I have watched her countless times put this site above her own needs. I have watched her struggle. I have watched her doubt (herself and her future) and I have watched her wonder if she is doing the right thing. I have watched her feel remorse and pain and I'm telling you if you do not think Elle cares about WTN and everyone on this board then you've not seen her struggle the way that I've seen her struggle. It's probably why I'm so damn protective of her, but I don't regret a single second of it.

Okay, I've spent this whole time talking about how great Elle is but I've not spoken about the writing. I've run out of room... her writing is amazing, she is the one person I can respond to no matter what day I'm having and no matter what ship it is. I love all of our threads and I'm always so happy and excited to see an elle reply in my alerts waiting to be read and responded to! I find it hard to wrap them because they are just so good! If I have a day where I don't feel like doing replies good chance I'll still pull up an Elle reply because it normally makes my day better 99.99999% of the time. The .1% doesn't exist, but it's including the slight possibility of error and the fact Elle will have something to refute that claim with.

THE GIRL I'D MOVE FURNITURE WITH I don't think there is anyone else I want around my side to do some of the heavy lifting and I don't mean that in the physical sense, but in the writing sense and the mental sense too (tho I don't need to see Kae in real life to know that she's strong). You know that saying about people who struggle in silence. I think that describes Kae because sometimes it's like using a crowbar in getting her to open up and to TALK. It is one of the most frustrating things. It's kind of like a treasure box when you have the box sitting right in front of you and it is impossible to open. Okay, half the battle was finding it. You have the map in front of you and when you finally find it, it is STILL locked. That's Kae. It was quite the struggle in getting her to be open to more plots like I knew where to find and how to find her, but actually getting to Kae felt impossible even though I had all of the directions in front of me. But once you put in the time and effort to get to know her.... like *really* know her, it's like discovering treasure. Not only is she one of the most dependable writers (like I said she will carry the heavyweight in all of her threads), but she is one of the best writers! I love reading her threads even if I'm not in them, they always leave me on the edge of my seat and that characterization *chef's kiss*. MAKES JOKES WITH BC HUMOR IS BAE Oh you know the one who tells the jokes when they are uncomfortable. It is a friends reference and the only one I could think of when I thought of Aria. She makes me laugh. She probably makes me laugh more than anyone especially during WTNWeek because of these videos. When I say read something in an Aria voice I mean it! She isn't really that awkward!! But I'm sure she'll say differently so YOLO. Aria doesn't know a stranger, she pops into your DMs and suddenly it's like you have known her all of your life. We have not known one another as long as I have known Kae and Elle, but she fits in so well. Her writing is beautiful and I love how she is in my DMs daily with inspiration for our ships. I started out with zero Aria ship and Aria made two new characters just to have ships with me and I love her for that. I can gush about how amazing she is because she is one of those people who will provide you comfort. If she knows you are having a bad day, she will send you something to make you smile and she'll remind you that she loves you. And I can't even tell you how having those videos during WTNWeek has made my days a little bit better! If I'm feeling frustrated or sad I just turn one on and it has made my day ten times better. It's funny how she is young, but she is kind of my teacher. She sends me videos to help me when I don't understand something and I am SORRY Aria because you've had to send a lot of videos lately, but I don't think the staff could have made a better decision in asking Aria to hop on board. She is always so helpful and the thing is -- she *wants* to help. She wants to pitch in. She always puts her best foot forward and I love that. And cand we talk about those posting and organization skills #swoooon MY SMELLY CAT In reality I am probably singing this song to Jasmine, but I feel like you'd join in sooo here we go. I wanna preface and say I am not calling Bela a smelly cat! But she speaks in references I don't understand sometimes and sometimes she talks about these weird noises she makes so I think this description is perfect for her. Bela came into WTN and I normally have trust issues BUT I trusted my gut and Prudy is one of my favorite characters on the board. We have been trying to get her cousin on board for as long as I can remember. Prudy deserves all of the good things so I really wanted Bela to stay on board. I threw her practically everything I could think of and I am so glad I did because it has allowed us to get close over the years.

Bela and I have created some fun dynamics over the years between readie being the superior of them all, but we also created dynamics that I never expected to create like Manny, Sieun, and Dylya. They have come to be some of my FAVORITE pairings. It's kinda funny we often joke about how we only have one ship on the board, but it feel like we have a billion. Bela always enjoys sending me music, it's like when she knows I need some writing music, and that's part of the ways she fits into my comfort. Bela is a listener. She listens and she is one of those people who are easy to talk to. I enjoy sharing headcanons and future headcanons and character ideas that we won't create but would like to! I like that she is open and she is honest with me - if she is having a bad day then she'll let me know. But I also think we've talked so much that I can just tell.We are comfortable with one another and I absolutely LOVE it.

I know confetti has been going on for a while, but there are not many people you write with and write WELL with but I have found multiple people I LOVE writing with and I absolutely LOVE talking to. I have found my person (lol more like loml), my partner-in-crime (like if I'm going to go to jail I need her in my corner), my cheerleader (and child), and my ship in the night (lol, we gotta be on at the right time and at the right time to talk).

[clericbyers]

I honestly don't understand why everyone is so crazy about Mike and El. Their relationship was cute and pure in s1, they got a really special bond. In s2 it just went completely down, bordering obsession and being really too much of a cliché which just didn't feel genuine. In s3, well, it was kind of cringy and uncomfortable. I wouldn't be so bitter over their relationship if it had been well developed, but it feels really forced and Mike is not just El's boyfriend. Did they forget that in s3?

mike is interesting to me because he had a lot of characterization in the first season and it was really interesting to follow his character as he attempted to grapple losing—and then attempting to find—his best friend, taking care of a girl with superpowers with his other two besties, and keeping this all from his parents. season two is my favorite yes, but mike was no longer a focus as much as will and el and their happenings with the lab/MF/gate/etc. he was very proactive and attentive and he again in a way kickstarted a plot point with the season with his decision to stick by Will’s side as the MF made his mark, but mike was still very much used to tie the party back to el via obsessive “I knew her for a few days n can’t stop thinking abt her” moodiness. and it’s just ?? I understand he’s a kid and el is the first girl to ever like him and he misses that but it’s just..they never even established a solid friendship, they still barely know each other, and while there’s sadly not much to know about el because her upbringing never afforded her a childhood to learn about, she barely knows about him and is simply going through the motions with him. it’s cute on the surface, and I will always enjoy seeing their relationship develop as they mean a lot to each other having saved and protected e/o repeatedly throughout st1 and st2 which does create a type of bond no doubt, but st3 in particular did damage to mike’s characterization with more than just “let’s make him an even bigger sexist asshole.” I’ve seen ppl say el is a bland character who only swoons over mike and that is literally the worst read on El ever, she’s one of the few depth-built characters on the show, but Mike too is unfortunately being dumbed down to nothing more than El’s boyfriend, even if focus in the season is on El being seen as nothing but Mike’s girlfriend. they both treated each other as just the other’s s/o, going through the motions they had been taught, and the breakup was good to get them to realize they needed to develop a friendship and focus on being more than each other’s center. st3 also showed us that while there’s not much childhood in el’s past, she still has to find herself and who she is, and learn to be herself as she’d never had the chance to before. and so i think it’s undeveloped on purpose? but also we know their pairing is a trope minefield (height difference, el’s a blank slate that “needs” a man to teach her love (think the fifth element), group leader falling for the newbie, protector/caretaker, etc) and makes bank bc that’s how media rolls. I do hope tho that if the show does continue their relationship romantically, that we get actual development more like how st1 really showed us reasons why mike liked her, and st2 kinda-ish showed us why el liked him back. but most of all I think the show has only shown us they work best as friends.