#because while fanon can be added to that to make it great and cute or whatever

[anemo-writes]

hello travelers! again, thank you for putting up with my inactivity, it’s been hard to write lately haha. anyways, i thought this would be something fun to post and for everyone to enjoy, whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not :) (note: this will probably be more fanon than canon so please bear with me, i’ll make it as canon as it can be :’) i also kept this pretty short, so hopefully that’s okay too,, and sorry for this being late haha—i wrote this very late at night so don’t mind any typos you find please)

much love,

~ anemo-chan <3

(The Playable) Genshin Impact Characters on Valentine’s Day (Romantically)

super romantic; gifts you a bouquet of flowers and takes you out to eat at a fancy restaurant/cooks for you.

Diluc

He is nervous. He’s never paid close attention to the countless amount of people who have lined outside the tavern to ask him to be their Valentine, only to be rejected. There was absolutely no way that he would turn to Kaeya for advice, so unfortunately this was something he would have to figure out for himself. He figures that it wouldn’t hurt to go traditional, so that’s what he does; he buys a large bouquet of roses (which he had to get from Donna, seeing that at the hours that he ended work were very late and Flora’s shop was not open at the time—yeah, that was not fun) and presents himself outside your doorway, to which he invites you to join him for a late dinner—which he makes!

Lisa

She leaves a letter on top of your nightstand, paired along with a singular rose. The letter states for you to meet her outside of Good Hunter, where you find her sitting at a table with a candle dimly-lighting up the surroundings. She greets you with a warm smile, gesturing for you to sit down—the two of you enjoy a candle-lit dinner as well as bolognese she specially requested for Sara to make for the two of you to enjoy together why does this remind me so much of Lady and the Tramp,,

Tartaglia

Oh boy. It’s always a fun time spending a holiday with him, seeing that it could go two ways; one, he would be too busy to celebrate it with you on the day of, and he would take you out the day after, or two—have a store’s entire line of merchandise presented to you outside your doorstep, in which a very, very smiley Tartaglia hidden within the pile (after all, he was the best present!) After you’re done moving all of the gifts into your house (it took up the space of your entire living room), he tells you to cover your eyes and follow him. He takes you to one of the most well-known restaurants in Liyue (which currently doesn’t have a name because it is very late here!), and insists that you order whatever you want, and however much you want.

Zhongli

Over the years, he’s witnessed many, many couples celebrate this holiday and every year he’s wished to do the same. He finds the perfect opportunity to do so when Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and boy does he plan it out for the two of you. He’s even made sure to have his wallet on him at all times—it would be extremely rude for you to have to pay if he happened to forget his wallet. He makes sure to stop by to pick up a bouquet of flowers, as well as a bottle of perfume (not in a bad way, just to clarify) from Ying’er’s shop that he recalled you liked. He makes sure to pick you up early from your work place to make sure you made it to your appointment on time; after all, being late to an appointment was similar to breaking a contract, no?

surprises you with homemade sweets.

Fischl

Oh, she is so nervous—of course, she doesn’t show this. The entire week, she spent researching recipes to create a special batch of chocolate-dipped strawberries just for you—she even sent Oz to the nearby farms to “borrow” the freshest strawberries for the treat (the farmers were too scared to confront the talking bird who “borrowed” their strawberries, so luckily they got away with it). She dips them in a purple-colored chocolate (because what other color would she use, really?) and drizzles on a dark-chocolate syrup to top it off. She’s too shy to actually give it to you herself though, so she has Oz drop it off for her.

Ganyu

Even though she’s quite busy, she’s somehow found time to whip up a special batch of chocolate just for you! She shapes them into Glaze Lilies (which she found quite hard, which is why there are so few of them) and presents them to you in a neatly-sealed box. She’s quite modest when your eyes widen and tell her it’s the best chocolate you have ever eaten, claiming that she only followed a recipe, when she really made it from scratch.

Keqing

Like Ganyu, you have no idea how she finds time to create a perfect array of chocolates, which she made herself! However, with her tightly-packed schedule, she has to drop it off at your house in advance, to which you accept happily. She tried to decorate them with designs of cartoon-versions of your faces, but they’re a bit...messy. Nonetheless, they’re tasty, and to her relief, you enjoy them.

Mona

Somehow, she’s managed to scrape up enough mora to buy you a necklace; yes, a necklace, and a real one at that—none of that fake, costume jewelry stuff! She even added a pendant shaped like star, just so you could be reminded of her whenever you fiddled with it or even glanced at it. She’s quite flustered when she gives it to you, ignoring the way you ask how she managed to save this much mora to be able to buy something like this, changing the subject on how you should never-ever take it off (because it looks great on you.)

Noelle

One word: pancakes. (Have you seen the ones she makes for her special dishes? They’re frigging amazing) As a dutiful maid should, she wakes up especially early to prepare a homemade breakfast just for you, to which she serves to you just as your wake up in bed. The fluffy stack of pancakes are decorated with fruits cut up in heart-shapes, as well the words, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Y/N”, written neatly with chocolate syrup—it’s quite a sight to see, to be honest, and utterly delicious. Lucky you!

Xiangling

The day before, she tells you to meet her at the restaurant around noon. When you arrive, the restaurant is adorned with Valentine decorations, as well as a terrifying amount of food; she insists that she only made it for you, so you better eat up! Before she can show you the other dishes, the restaurant is suddenly filled with a strong, bitter smell—something burning. With a yelp, she runs into the kitchen, coming out a few minutes later with a tray of half-scorched cupcakes, their Gouba-shapes adorned with...a lot of burn marks. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts, doesn’t it?

buys/makes a present for you.

Albedo

Without your knowledge, Albedo has been creating a collection of artworks throughout all the time you had spent together. The pieces include portraits of you, portraits of you and him (sucrose helped with this), as well as just random sketches of the little things that remind him of you, such as the bare, snowy-white terrain where the two of you first met, as well as its flora and fauna. If you request it, he’ll even make the painting come alive (literally), and the two of you run to Sucrose’s dwelling, who is very shocked to see the pair of you running from a Frosted Lawachurl when she peered out her window to see if she could pinpoint the sounds of distant screaming.

Amber

Is there anything better than a matching set of wind gliders? Not only that—they were homemade! She spent the last couple of weeks putting together a pair of gliders for the two of you, customizing them to your tastes (which she nailed!) She quite literally drags you to the nearest hill to test them out, and the two of you end up challenging each other on who can get back to the Knights of Farvonius Headquarters the fastest—spoiler alert: she did.

Barbara

Oh, she would make the cutest card for you—the envelope is decorated with cute stickers (some of them even had her face on it; there’s nothing like promoting merchandise, am i right? jkjks) She also pairs it off with a box of chocolates that she bought from Sara—however, what she didn’t know was that in the box was a special-edition spicy chocolate truffle. With your luck, that was the first one you chose—and boy, were you met a surprise (it was so bad that you were begging Barbara to use her Vision on you, which she refused of course). Fun times.

Chongyun

He’s real sweet. After his expeditions and commissions, he opens the freezer (yes he keeps them in there, don’t judge him) to an array of ice sculptures, shapes varying from flowers, hearts, and such—although it’s quite the simple gift, he’s put a lot of effort into them, even putting in the extra effort to cast a spell to make sure they would not melt; it’s all worth though, when he sees the absolutely giddy expression on your face, and the look of pure awe as you pick one up and study it closely, admiring all of the details and work that’s he put in.

Ningguang

She sends out informants to find out what you like, whether it be something that your gaze settled on for too long or something you’ve mentioned while talking to her—on the day of, you open your door to a mountain of gifts, with Ningguang herself peering out from behind it with a calm smile and a wave (which was the opposite of your reaction, because who has that much mora to purchase all of these gifts?!?)

Razor

He doesn’t have a clue on what the holiday until Lisa asks him if he’s planned something for the two of you during one of his lessons. When he shakes his head no, Lisa suggests that he make you something, to which he sets out on an adventure to do, looking for flowers and flower stems to weave into a pair of matching bracelets—they’re not the prettiest, but he is pretty proud of it; after all, it was his first time making something like that. He’s quite nervous to present it to you, afraid that you might not like it, but all feelings of worry melt away when you slide it on with a huge smile on your face, insisting that he wears his too.

Sucrose

At first, she considers gifting you a present that she created herself; of course, with her work being alchemy, she isn’t sure if that would be the safest option, despite being talented herself. And so, she resorts to buying a present for you—she is very picky with the present though, insisting that it should be perfect since she could not make one herself. She even consults Albedo when selecting some of the presents (he doesn’t help her unfortunately; he believes that she should figure it out herself haha). Like Razor, she’s quite nervous to give it to you, but lets out a huge sigh of relief as you thank her happily for the gift, wiping a bead of sweat from across her forehead (sucrose bby anything you give us would be perfect,,)

whisks you away somewhere sentimental, where the two of you can enjoy a special date.

Beidou

It’s ungodly early in the morning when Beidou presents herself in front of your doorstep, announcing that you’ll be joining her and the crew on a special ride. She tugs you along beside her until you reach the harbor, where you are met with the sight of her ship adorned with streamers and banners, varying between shades of pink and red. Onboard, there is a table filled with goodies the crew collected and made, and boy do they look delicious. The group sets out to sea, and you take your place next to the captain, who even lets you steer the boat (momentarily, at least.)

Bennett

He takes you to meet his dads; yes, yes—he knows that it’s not the most romantic thing to do on a day dedicated to lovers, but he figures it’s just as important. Besides, they’ve been asking about you for quite a while—they even set up a small party within the Adventurer’s Guild, with the help of Bennett, of course. You spend the day listening to their old adventuring stories, as well as bits from Bennett’s childhood (poor boy is flustered from all the information his dads are spilling, but he’s still happy either way; after all, he’s with the most important people to him.)

Kaeya

He quite literally kidnaps you; one second you’re walking in the streets of Mondstadt on your way to work when suddenly someone grabs you by the waist and pulls you into an alley way (that sounds so creepy but i swear he means it in a good way). He only chuckles and shields himself with his arms as you punch him lightly, retorting that he scared you. He doesn’t care that the two of you have an overwhelming amount of work to do—after all, Valentine’s Day only comes once a year, right? Surprisingly, he doesn’t take you the tavern, but instead...Dawn Winery! Diluc received quite the surprise when he is met with the two of you standing outside his gates, with Kaeya requesting a wine/grape juice taste-testing. Yeah...you guys didn’t get any of that, but you did manage to snag a couple of grapes on your way out! Good for you!

Venti

You wake up in your bed, opening your eyes to see a very-smiley Venti laying beside you, chin propped up against his hand as he watches you yawn sleepily as you force yourself out of bed. You’re then presented with a handpicked-bouquet of Ceceilias, the freshest of the bunch, if he may add. You barely have time to thank him before he hoists you up in his arms and out of your dwelling, gliding over the city of Mondstadt as he whisks you away to Starsnatch Cliff, where he’s prepared a special performance just for you (and no, you don’t need to pay.)

Xingqiu

While he’s not the most romantic, he does have a clue on what people look for on Valentine’s Day; after all, that’s what cheesy-romance novels were for, right? Unbeknownst to you, he takes you on a date very similar to the one the main characters in his favorite novels partook in—and you don’t find out until you catch him peeking into the pages while you weren’t (you were) looking. Again, it’s the thought that counts—

doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Jean

Sadly, she probably forgets about the holiday. She’s too busy holed-up in her office to notice the couples gathered up in the courtyard, sharing moments with their lover. It’s not until she walks out to take a breather that she notices the commotion—she immediately calls you over, apologizing frantically. Of course, to this you respond that’s it’s okay, but that you would much rather her take the rest of the day off to spend time together, to which she reluctantly agrees.

Xiao

“I do not have time to celebrate silly human traditions like that.” He would say as you bound up to him, exclaiming that it’s Valentine’s Day, the day where you can give sweets to your loved ones, and asking if he had someone special in mind to spend it with. He’s irked when your gaze falters and the grip on the object you’re hiding behind your back tightens—he only grows more irked as you mutter to yourself how you’ll give the chocolates you made to someone else. He scoffs loudly, avoiding your gaze as he lays out his hand in front of you to accept the chocolates (just because he doesn’t celebrate the holiday doesn’t mean he can’t get jealous!)

[umbreeonic]

why is this “"anti plaxance”“ discourse still going on oh my GOD

[goblinconceivable]

All The Feels

Random bulletpoints of Annie/Jeff analysis because I am overcome with shippiness.  :D  Also more like bullet-lengthy-paragraphs.  You tried, self, you tried.

Pascal’s Triangle (PT) is not a love triangle.  

Sure, look at the top two rows and you’ve got a binary split, ie, choice between two women.  But PT is row based, your current row based on the one above.  It’s complex.  Look below the binary surface of choice to row 3, where it actually becomes PT, where the complexity begins (and Community is about complexity.)  1, 2, 1, a total of 4. The 2 is the merging of the two 1s from row two - Ie, two women who get lumped together.  And beyond them is a 1 that springs out of nowhere - Annie.  Surprise!

Kiss at the end of S1

Jeff’s major deal is being afraid of expressing caring/vulnerability, while desperately craving/needing it.  Britta and Slater were both saying they loved him, and he does want to take that, but runs scared because they are  challenging him to admit his feelings in public, which no one who really knows and cares about him would do.  His scene with Annie is private. And she isn’t asking him FOR anything, she’s just asking what’s up, because she cares about the answer.  He feels safe, he opens up, it’s intimacy, which is both giving and taking.  Notably he admits he’s glad she’s staying after his share, this is him saying he cares about her too.

His explanation of the situation is a perceived choice between being the New Year’s guy (who he wants to be) and the Three Weeks Later guy (who he is.)  But the thing about New Year’s is the initial momentum always fades, and you have to put in the work, which Slater doesn’t help him with.  And he WON’T be able to sustain it on is own.  The guy he IS isn’t who he wants to be, it’s just giving up, rather than striving, even if imperfectly, to reach those goals.  Annie falls into the sweet spot: she understands what his default is, but shows him that he CAN be the man he wants to be, shows him what those steps ARE, encourages him to take the steps to be that person, and rewards him when he succeeds.  Which he does, with her behind him.  

And she kisses him first.  Which is an offering similar to Britta and Slater’s public announcements, but through action, not words.  Jeff uses words as shield and weapon, as did the other two.  Bypassing this essentially shortcircuits his brain.  His brain will warp and analyze and question, but she kisses him gently, an invitation not a demand.  He’s already put aside his sword and shield during their talk, and doesn’t feel the need to pick them up because he feels safe and cared for and is okay accepting and reciprocating that.

Play

Jeff is all adult and aloof and beyond such petty childish pursuits such as play, which is the scoffed at domain of Annie/Troy/Abed.  But he actually really wants it.  It likely stems in part from his loss of a proper childhood, but it’s also just who he is.  Imagination isn’t just for the young, the loss of the ability to play is an oft-bemoaned feature of adulthood, one the learned remind us we ought recapture.  (And a joy of parenthood is getting to do that through your children.)  But look, he literally was playacting being a lawyer.  It’s how he engages with the world.  He just justified that as a means to an end and did it for power and profit, rather than for enjoyment.

We see this, I argue, when responding to Annie’s playacting they were married. Annie anticipates a bad reaction, but he doesn’t give one.  No judgment.  He then establishes it’s not a deeper issue (”do I have to worry about this” ie, is this real/insanity).  When he says “I can tell you one thing your fantasy got wrong...” he’s not challenging her, or even taking offense, and while he’s not entering into her fantasy world (which is over anyway), he’s offering fodder.  He’s involving himself in the narrative process for her benefit.  And in the couched language of daydream he’s reassuring her -if- it was true, he would be devoted.  IF is a super important word in play, because you don’t have to believe, for example, you ARE a pirate.  You just need to act as IF you were a pirate.

Also cute, I take as justified fanon the deleted scene where he orders her appletini.  He was whining to her about it but it was relaxed because they both know he’d do it anyway.  And when the bartender turns out to be a believer in Annie’s created fantasy world, Jeff stops himself from correcting him and destroying the world.  Instead, he lets it persist just far enough to let himself glance at Annie as if it was true, and in that moment he sees her through the eyes of fantasy, and sees a beautiful woman, rather than all the complexity of their relationship.

Then there’s basically all the giant Greendale instances of play.  Which one way or the other, he gets roped into and ends up jumping into with abandon.  (Paintball, lava etc.)  And they’re often paired, because he enjoys playing with her, and the “if this” acts as license for them to explore their compatibility.  And their capers, when they pair up in the “real world”, is really just a sophisticated form of play.  As brought up pointedly when they were searching for the ASB, there’s a dual nature here.  They aren’t just buddies, like Troy and Abed, who are also very fantasy oriented (cardboard submarine!).  There’s a level of daydream beneath the fantasy world where they can set aside the complexities of their relationship, and say “if we’re solving this crime, then we can live in this bubble and just be together.”

I also really love the whole Professor Professorson episode because of course the layers are just so intricate and delightful when they unfold.  He tackles her which was total overreaction, he’s in a heightened world and committed to it.  They plot out this crazy intricate play to teach the Dean a lesson together, where they involve real emotions.  Many of which are Annie’s, but that means they’re creating a world in which it is safe to amplify her feelings which they are both aware of but are usually repressed, especially by Jeff.  And he praises her for that later (she went off book and deceived like a master) rather than being uncomfortable.  They exit play safely because they trust each other while playing and can leave that permissive world as an if.  And it ends with the blanket fort collapsing and cocooning them.  It is a play space literally being broken, begging the question of how much impact our play can have on our real selves.

Season 6

So basically I think I missed fandom the first time around and just binged on meta and there’s (fanon?) that Jeff spent the season looking for her attention, but Annie had pulled back?  I zipped through a bunch of scenes they were in together, and heartily agree.  Also I think I went a little nutty but What I see:

Annie doesn’t ignore him or anything, but where she might have previously inserted herself in his life, she starts to let him fend for himself while she diverts her attention to other relationships, and treats him more like she does the others.  I don’t think she really does anything like taking his class so she can evaluate his teaching and bludgeon him into being better?  But when they’re in a situation, like City College’s ad, she stands up to him as normal, challenging him to be better and do the right thing, as she always has.  Rewards him with approval when he does, and his whispered “thank you” is the cutest thing ever because it’s an intimate choice in a rather boisterous exchange.

Meanwhile Jeff does seem to spend a lot of time and energy trying to get back to a place where he’s first in her eyes.  There are a lot of shots in S6 a the Table and group scenes that involve him looking at her disproportionately, first, last, or only when speaking, esp when they’re all at the table.  When I went back and tried to do the same to S5 those scenes are set up a bit differently and I saw less of it but I think there’s just fewer group scenes in general though?.  In S6, he often ends a comment directed at the group (non table) by looking at Annie, indicating he wants her response, and thus her attention and engagement.  And often, she is the next person to speak.  Which is her personality as a leader, which supports the idea that while he’s seeking her out, she isn’t necessarily responding to that but just being her. 

Finale

I’ve sort of run myself dry thinking through other things.  And great analysis is plentiful and most recent.  So not even bullet points just ramble But:

Oh3, so when Garrett proposed and Abed noted Jeff had a funny look, he’s been daydreaming marrying Annie for that lone plus longer?  That took me a long time to put together as an actual literal thing.

Oh2, it’s all canon that he has issues with prolonged eye contact because he doesn’t want people to see him broken and he doesn’t break eye contact through any of this.  He knows she knows he’s broken already and is quietly fine with her seeing everything and this is a moment for *sobs*

Oh wait hey, so callback to that bit where she’s like “your words don’t mean anything” and he’s like “That’s what conversation is, people saying things to get stuff.”  Because he’s 100% not trying to get anything by telling her he’s let her go.  And he means a lot by saying it.  And if he said “I love you” there’s an implied sense of obligation to say it back and since he means romantically he can’t do that.  So this is just him letting her know, no pressure, no expectation, that he loves her and has loved her but it’s okay because she’s free and he wants her to be free because he loves her.  And he means it so hard when she says “kiss me goodbye” he’s all “you don’t owe me anything.”

But she does love him too, except she knows she’s in a different place emotionally and professionally.  And it’s sweet and a gift because she doesn’t make this about her but about him and his feelings.  So she preempts his regrets because she knows he WON’T kiss her goodbye unless she invites him to.  There’s something I’m reaching for and can’t find here.  She doesn’t admit to anything because there’s no point?  It would just hurt him either way?  Sharing her feelings through action rather than words?

And so much squee thinking how far everyone’s come for this scene to be a thing which could happen.

Callback to Annie’s marriage fantasy when Jeff has his own.  Hers was external, by her personality (esp at the time of her maturation) and thus public and psychologically working out a reasonable feeling of abandonment as she gave their fictional selves marital difficulties.  His is very internal, and occurs after Abed, always so reliable as a gateway to fantasy, turns the tables on him.  He’s experiencing reasonable feelings of abandonment, and while he runs, it’s to a safe space of “what if,” a coping mechanism he has learned, and which allows for working out of psychological issues.  

It’s dual: in that the larger issue is his need for a sense of stability.  Though he’s staring at the table the scene doesn’t involve Greendale at all, he already had that fantasy.  This is about wanting a life outside of the safe zone of the college.  And while he suggests a dog as an option he imagined a kid because having one represents stability for him - it was his father who left, and he won’t leave.  If there’s a kid, this is a life, Annie can’t leave.  But he offers her imaginary self complete editing powers, because all he really wants is to be able to love and be loved.  It’s indulgence, a desperate grasp at balm because while he let her go, he can’t let her -go.-  He was okay with being close friends, they do love each other as friends.  See his pitch.  But faced with losing that, he’s stripped bare.  He indulges in his supressed hearts desire and is faced with the reality of what he already knows: it’s not in the cards.

And he’s stripped down to insecurities that aren’t limited to Annie.  It’s cute how they jive over Marvel, though it’s weird to me and takes up more time and weird dramatic looking around that doesn’t feel playful enough to be justified.  The tone of their voices is too serious, it’s a mismatch.  I like how he admits the huge thing that he let her go as far as he has control, and suddenly a time pressure is on their alone time.  Everything is immediate right now, everything happening fast.  I wonder what Annie would have said if not for the text.  But that’s the thing, it’s the wrong time for them and this is a goodbye.  It’s too late but just under the wire all at once.

In this chapter at least.  In the safety of the group Annie brings up a season 7, which we all know could happen years down the line.  Would have been more fitting if she said movie though.  Still, he takes that as the comfort in which it was intended.

WTF with his all coed season 7?  Yes, we cut to it so it totally isn’t happening, but has he put his issues to rest and is just fantasizing crap or what?  It makes no sense to me.

I love that he not only puts her first after she invites him to kiss her goodbye by asking “what about you,” but is -asking for consent.-  He doesn’t even move towards her until he gets it, he’s literally just standing back.  What’s up with the penis thing?  Meta reference to shortcut arguments that it’s not true love but lust?  Is it Jeff acknowledging his own cynicism and how he’s dropped it?  Since he’s so clearly not in a lust mode here.  Is he adding a tiny bit of his usual pointed add ins to his speeches?

I guess it’s like...  this is one of his speeches, but it feels out of place because of his delivery?  Which is beautifully subdued and resigned and honest and just defeated, but defeated in the sense that he defeated all the barriers he still keeps around himself.  

and goodbye hug and kiss at the airport.

[coinofstone]

3x12 The Coming of Arthur pt 1

The title is such low hanging fruit I feel bad cracking a joke about it.

It's a quest episode! I love a quest episode. Srsly feel free to send me any and all Merthur quest fics. I can't get enough 😂

This is the episode responsible for the lovely Leon fanon headcanon that he's immortal. Always handy in an Arthur Returns fic.

Uther: you must go on this mission alone

Arthur: *brings Merlin*

I do love Merlin being being a smart alec and nagging Arthur while packing. Excellent banter.

Arthur said

Arthur threatening a young boy like this is such an ugly and uncharacteristic action it makes me angry.

Merlin tending to Arthur while he's sick and injured 🥺

Also I'm sorry but Merlin shows fuckin Gilli his magic but he's hiding it from fuckin Gwaine while Arthur is suffering? Silly.

Cenred's massive army makes me wonder if it's a result of his tolerance of magic or lower standards than the knights of Camelot, or some combination of both.

Poor Leon, though. He's just got back from near death in that forest and Uther sends him right fuckin back in 😂

Looks like they snuck in to Camelot via the dragon's cave. I doubt that was the intention but I still approve 😂

Knowing he's on a suicide mission, Arthur gives Merlin an out, knowing he'll never take it, knowing he doesn't even want him to: he still presents him with the choice.

How come literally everyone else gets a crown that fits them but Arthur walks around looking like he's wearing hand-me-downs?

Morgana might be evil but she looks damn good on a throne.

3x13 The Coming of Arthur pt 2

There's a post going around Twitter about ppl who nitpick at TV shows... this comment falls into exactly that category 100% but I'm sorry, I cannot just ignore the fact that Morgana's got these massive banners and an entire army's worth of uniforms, I mean look:

Every guard with the sigil on his uniform and half a dozen banners in the council chambers alone. That's to say nothing of the ones outside. I mean look at the sheer fuckin size of these things:

Look how tiny the ppl are next to em! They've gotta be at least 15 feet long, at least. Where did they come from? Were they all magicked into existence? Who designed that sigil? What does it represent? Is it Gorlois' banner? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

Leon isn't someone I've ever been particularly attracted to, personally, but his defiant shout of "Long Live the King" in the face of Morgana's threats, is sexy as hell.

Depressed Arthur is such a mood.

So. Gwen. Originally in 3x12 when Morgana essentially invited Gwen into the fold (insofar as a Queen's servant can be), it seems to be a set up, because Morgana has been treating Gwen like shit for ages, why would she suddenly want her friend back? Especially since Morgana knows something is going on between Gwen and Arthur - there's no way she believes that they were actually under the spell of some random sorcerer, that just doesn't make any sense. So you kind of assume - or at least I did - that Morgana is keeping Gwen close knowing that she'll be useful as bait or a hostage, just essentially as a person of value to Arthur. She's known Gwen for too long to actually believe she'd cross Arthur, there's just no way someone as machiavellian as Morgana doesn't see Gwen's 'loyalty' as a simple survival tactic. All of this is to say, when Morgana and Morgause eavesdrop on Gwen's conversation with Sir Leon, Morgana is just like, 'welp, she's betrayed me. Guess I'll kill her in the morning.' as though she was actually expecting Gwen to do anything else?!?! Like, why? It would've made so much more sense to just cut that line entirely and go straight to something like

Morgana: it's as we suspected, she's betrayed me

Morgause: yes, now she can lead us straight to Arthur

And it would've made so much more sense than the weird sort of purgatory they've implied where Morgana changed her mind about Gwen very suddenly the night before she took the throne. It's not a super important detail in the overarching story but it's another example of how carelessly their story has been handled.

Me rn:

I do love that they made Freya the Lady of the Lake, and that she kept her promise by telling Merlin how to defeat the army of the dead.

How Merlin really sees Kilgharrah:

Gwen really is the smartest of all of them.

I do love that Merlin's first undead kill with excalibur is entirely an accident lol

The subtext between Morgana and Morgause is really gross. I haven't said anything before because I generally don't approve of ship shaming but the not so subtle subtext gives me the heebies.

This is such a great shot

Everything about it, his woman at his left and his man at his right, his romantic rival opposite him on his wife's side, as directly opposite her as possible at a round table with an uneven number of placements. It's a really beautiful shot, fitting for an equally beautiful scene. It's a very moving scene, the music really adds the exact emotion you'd expect for this moment we all recognize... and I feel like the knights' oaths are very well matched. The snarky part of me wanted to make a 'call me maybe' joke about Percival, but he's so sincere I just can't do it. The moment of levity added by Merlin's banter with Arthur is really, really well paced. Honestly I think it's probably the next perfect, iconic scene since Gwen and Arthur's first kiss. Hats off to this crew.

(Don't worry dear reader, I'm sure I'll get back to complaining shortly)

Santiago is so dreamy. I'd share his bedroll any day.

I like that despite all the talk of equality and doing the thing Uther wouldn't approve of, Gwen still worries about the company seeing her and Arthur kiss. Like, he's planning an insurrection with a bunch of commoners and two dudes who've been officially banished from Camelot, but she's internalized the classism and the rules of royalty so deeply that even amongst friends she instinctively keeps their relationship hidden. I'm not sure how intentional that was but it's brilliant.

The fight big fight scene with Merlin just barely missing the cup while the knights are cornered, and Gaius showing up like the brilliant deus ex machina that he is, honestly makes the previous budget-slashed episodes more bearable. Because this really is great, even knowing it's great at the expense of those others.

Morgana's screeching is eerily similar to Aithusa's.

I wonder if they knew they were getting renewed for a fourth season when they wrote this. Because you know, it really could've worked as a series finale as well. An open-ended series finale, but a series finale all the same.

As a Queens kid, I cannot explain to you the joy it gives me to watch Arthur and Merlin just chillin on the steps to the castle as tho it were a stoop, which I suppose, in a sense... it kind of is. Ahhh youthful days.

Commentary is Jeremy Webb and Julian Murphy.

And this kids, is why we're watching with commentary! They've just explained that Morgana's sigil is supposed to symbolize the Rowan tree that's supposed to be at the heart of the Isle of the Blessed. That suggests she designed it herself, so there's at least one of my earlier questions answered.

They talk a lot about how Emila Fox was very pregnant when they were filming her in this season, and they shot entirely around it - and I can't help but feel anger toward Joss Whedon and his 'handling' of Charisma Carpenter's pregnancy during S4 of Angel.

One of them called the round table scene 'curiously moving' and I think that is really fitting. They'd had this in mind for about two years, which is probably why it's so extraordinary. That's a great gestation period for a scene as iconic as this.

One final tidbit: the sword in the stone was filmed in France, and made it back to Wales intact. I guess nobody wanted to take it out. That's kind of an interesting thought, like a little set superstition or something. It's kind of cute.

The DVD extras/special features will get a separate post if I feel I have comments worth sharing.

[suckishima]

what are some of your other themed tags? ive noticed the some one even better for kagehina one and a few others? im curious how you chose them too!

Ah, okay! So I’ve only started using them for a couple weeks and I haven’t been too good about it either lol, but I wanna fix that bc going through that kind of thing is really fun for me lol.

My somebody even better tag is sorta, uh complicated lol. It IS for kagehina, but like, more specifically for either canon things or fanon stuff that is very closely related to canon. Basically, even though I definitely see Hinata and Kageyama as narrative soulmates, I don’t really ship them romantically in a canon setting. Like, I just can’t see them as they are, or have been, in canon, ever like holding hands or going on dates, etc. Their relationship/partnership/rivalry in canon is SO strong and specific and nuanced that to me it sort of takes up this space in my mind that can’t really be classified as like any one kind of “normal” relationship between two people, if that makes sense. So, that’s what the tag is for, it’s for things that feel like and relate to the specific aspect of their relationship that involves them being continually inspired by each other while simultaneously pushing the other further, in a way that only they can do for each other as they continually revolve around each other throughout their lives lol.

HOWEVER, I do still think they’re cute as a ship in a more fanon-only setting and use the regular kagehina tag for things that fall more into that category.

Then for the theme tags:

coach what should i eat is for anything related to the hunger/food/drive theme. I liked that quote for it bc when Hinata first asks Ukai what he should eat was the first time I really like actively noticed the theme being used. I liked how Hinata’s reaction to realizing he needed to change perspective was to think hard about everything, and that that made him hungry. And his first instinct when he was hungry, was to ask his coach of all people what he should eat. And Ukai, of course, knew immediately what Hinata meant. Plus then it transitions from there to that moment of Hinata biking up the hill to his house (which is another symbol of his drive bc he’s willing to do that work, while building his stamina, just to go to school far from his home), while Washijo’s monologue about height and hunger is overlaid on top of that.

this is still volleyball is for things related to self care/personal maintenance in how it relates to volleyball, but then also how it relates to everyday life too. the quote comes from takeda’s speech to hinata during the kamomedai match. i feel like this one is mostly self explanatory, but i really liked how the message is about how just caring for yourself and your basic needs is not only and important life skill, but an important volleyball skill - which in the context of hq!! makes it wrap back around to being an even more important life skill, because of how much volleyball means to the characters - hinata and kageyama the most specifically though. this one feels kind of silly to talk about lol, bc when i explain it i feel like i’m just talking about how much i like volleyball, and like “duh of course self care and personal maintenance are important” but it’s the WAY it’s shown in hq!! that i think is so powerful lol. kita’s whole character is a great example of the theme, but i mostly love how we get to see hinata slowly learn the importance of it throughout the series

and then my connect tag is in a more general way, basically just my tag for love throughout the series. anything involving love and the human connection will get tagged under the “connect” tag. it’s about friendship, and teammates, and unlikely relationships on the same side of the court as well as across the net, that are all formed bc of their shared love of the sport that literally can’t function if they can’t connect to each other both emotionally and physically. (this is the tag i’ve started consciously using the most recently tho so i need to go back and add it to things lol)

i thiiiink that’s it? i’m considering adding another for themes surrounding inarizaki’s banner and how “yesterday is just muscle” or the “what will you become tomorrow” line, but at this point the themes are all overlapping a bit lol and even though i understand the differences, in a lot of places they’re all connected (lol) and happening at the same time, soooo we’ll see if i end up doing that lol.

[silvia7272]

? ~ Threats & Frights Tonight

I decided to do some smaller fanfics to just make sure everyone is on the same page as me so the SongFic will be revealed later on. However, I’m going to write out of order just like season 3 because I thought this would be cool and a nice way to introduce my OC.

I believe this takes place in season 3, after Lila gets back but before the oh so great finale episodes, so they’re still like around 14. I won’t mention all the episodes but I will post more about how my OC becomes friends with Kagami and Luka. (And Felix because I love Fanon Felix)

Also, I want to ask, do you want consistent salt, salt but redemption for few or all?

Edit: The question mark just means I’m unsure which part this takes place in my main story. It doesnt mean too much.

Word Count: 2203

***

“HAWKMOTH!”

Marinette stood there frozen, her new best friend, one she knew she could trust with everything, one who knew her identity… Was being Akumatized right in front of her.

Rosina, the newbie of Collège Françoise Dupont, the one who was able to get Marinette and Chloé to settle their differences and let them become friends had fallen for Hawkmoths Akuma.

Why don’t we go back to see how that happened?

***

Ever since Marinette and Chloé’s friendship blossomed apparently overnight, things had only gotten worse for the girls.

All the classmates had believed that they were always friends but decided to trick them so Marinette would be seen as their ‘Everyday Ladybug’ while Chloé was the bully.

Thank god they ditched her as soon as they saw her “true inner colours”

However, even with all the glares and comments directed towards the girls they never even bat an eye to them, they just kept on walking ahead never looking back. They even had the nerve to smirk back at them.

And now it had appeared there was one more person they wanted to convert.

Rosina Scoats.

She had been a new student to Dupont, and everyone had been excited.

She had looked so pleasant, and everyone had tried to warn her of Marinette, the bully, the one who had made Lila feel so sad and disheartened after Marinette had openly tried to oppose her for being a “liar”.

After all, she had done nothing wrong.

…Nothing wrong.

And yet, no matter what they did, she had always gone back to the outcasts of the class, and they talked as if they had been long-time friends.

It was hopeless now, she had fallen for their lies, there was no way they could save the poor girl.

Although they thought it weird it was only after she came that Marinette and Chloé became friends.

***

It had just started like any other day. Marinette and Chloé had arrived first and walked to the back where their seats were located, not that they minded being at the back.

Because Rosina had been staying with Marinette she made sure the busy girl got up early for school much to Tikki and her Parents comfort, although she hadn’t appeared yet as there was something the girl had to take care of before coming so the trio became dos at the back.

Then the quiet ones, Nathaniel, Juleka, Ivan, Mylène and Adrien came in. The latter held a disapproving stare at the two girls who should’ve taken the higher ground. They shouldn’t have rocked the boat, and what did they do? The exact opposite.

Honestly, they were worse than Lila at this point.

He just wanted them to apologise to Lila and they could be friends again, couldn’t they see the error in their ways?

It was even worse when he had that argument with Chloé. After that everyone told him it was great, he finally got rid and stopped being friends with Chloé, he could, at last, see just how much she had hurt all his friends and he felt like a fool; he only just realised. Chloé had hurt people while Lila hadn’t.

How ironic right?

Then all the rest came in, ending with Lila, again sprouting some nonsense about meeting several celebrities and she was like a little Sister to them all. Alya was sucking all this information and typing it on her Ladyblog, which by now should be called ‘Lilablog’ considering all the information dedicated to her ‘bestie’ instead.

“Of course, but because they live so far away, they can’t come and celebrate my birthday. Sometimes it’s hard being so far away from them, they’re like family, but they always give me a message and the best presents to make up for it” Her fake tears earned her so many sympathy votes the girls were surprised she wasn’t nominated for best actress.

A scoff was heard, and all heads turned towards the back, it would’ve been creepy considering how in tune they all were, but they didn’t say anything.

“Yes, is there anything wrong?” Lila innocently asked but pulled a disgusted face when no one saw her.

“Oh, nothing nothing, I just love watching Reality TV so early.” Chloé knew they all hated her, but she didn’t care, Lila had already turned Sabrina against her, so she only had Marinette and luckily newbie Rosina as friends.

“Don’t listen to them Lila, their just jealous of all the people that love you compared to them” Some snickers were heard but the girls didn’t pay them any thought. However, a noise disrupted the talk amongst the students.

A phone ringing.

Marinette’s phone was ringing.

“H-” Before she could even get a word out, she had to pull her phone back by how loud the girl’s voice had been on the other line.

“OPEN THE WINDOW NOW OPEN THE WINDOW NOW OPEN THE WINDOW NOW OPEN THE WINDOW NOWWWWWW!!!!!!!!” Marinette confused but used to weirdness in her life did what she was told and opened the nearest window. It was a close call as a body slammed into her just as the window opened, leaving no room to run.

“Owww…”

“Sooooooorrry about that Mari. I got held up again. That thing I told you I had to do while here, weeeeell it came up, so I had to take care of it, and then Piper wanted to- AHH! Piper are you ok? You aren’t hurt, are you?”

The redhead turned to the bundle she had been carrying while she flew through.

A child, possibly 4 or 5, with black hair and pink eyes in a colourful mini dress, that looked incredibly cute on her all the girls awwed at the girl that they all knew as Piper.

Their meeting would be stated for another time.

Part of her hair was tied in a small high side ponytail, adding to the girl’s cuteness as well as her fringe. They just hope the girl wouldn’t become a bully like the other two. But whenever they tried to come up to her she was always too shy and would bury her head in the girl Rosina.

The little girl nodded before going over to Marinette and trying to help her up. Even if she was shy of the class somehow the bullies were able to warm their way into the girl’s heart, it seemed surreal.

What did they have that the rest didn’t?

“Don’t worry Piper I’m fine you don’t have to worry about me.” The girl nodded before hugging her after noticing everyone was still glaring at her, or rather Marinette.

Before they could even sit-down Lila just thought she should tell the class her thoughts.

“Shouldn’t Piper be around some nicer people? I would hate to think what would happen if she continues to be in that type of environment?” She said sneakily yet no one seemed to notice while they all still nodded.

Rosina although knew about the situation between her friends still always wanted to remain positive for her besties and besides, she was great at being civil.

“While I appreciate your concern, Layla-”

“-Lila-”

“Layla, my seat is assigned here, and Piper would tell me if she wanted to move. So, Piper, would you like to-?”

“No thanks,” A barely audible voice spoke before she could even finish.

“Well you heard it folks the answer is no. Hey, Piper, you want to draw something?” She nodded enthusiastically and started drawing while Lila wasn’t finished.

“But I’m worried. I’ve been to multiple care homes and helped out whenever I could, and all children love me. You can just leave her with me, I’m sure it would be good for her to spend some time with new people.” The rest seemed to agree with her and started to encourage both girls to hang out with them instead, even if the child had previously said no.

But Piper had been focusing on some particular words.

Leave her with me.

Leave her.

Leave

Leave

LEAVE

‘No’

“No no no, p-please don’t leave me, p-please y-you promised me you would s-stay with me!”

Everyone stopped, they didn’t realise the girl would be so upset over this. Even Lila, she was mean but not heartless, especially to a kid.

The three girls at the back tried to comfort the girl with her worries, one bluenette especially worried.

But that didn’t stop the Akuma from entering. Mylène had been the first person to see it.

“Quickly move! The Akuma’s headed for the girl” Even if the teacher was there what could she do? Become Zombizou and have to go through all those Kissy Boo again? No thank you.

Rosina didn’t know what to do. Sure she had faced Akumatized victims before and helped Ladybug (Marinette) whenever she could, she was an amazing fighter, but that was all after the Akuma.

This, right here, was now.

And like hell, she would let Piper be Akumatized.

“Chloé!” Before the girl could respond Piper was placed in the blonde’s arms anyway, the girl would’ve denied but she could see the urgency in her eyes, plus she was trying to be a better friend anyway.

At that moment Rosina was concentrating. She focused her feelings, learning that you must keep a level head in this city, she had to make sure to display positive emotions all the time.

So she threw all of that out the window.

The Akuma had nearly touched Piper but quickly changed course once more prominent emotions appeared. Surely Hawkmoth would prefer a capable fighter to a little girl?

Hehe, you’ll see.

There was a bow in her hair, just begging Hawkmoth to Akumatize it.

And so, that was how everyone stood in terror to the girl with the magical pink mask on her face.

***

“HAWKMOTH!”

“Rosina please control it you have to!” Marinette grabbed onto the girl, trying to calm her. Tikki looked apprehensive, there was no way Marinette would be able to turn into Ladybug now, all they could do was wait.

“Angerella, that anger is nothing like I’ve felt before. I am Hawkmoth, I see all you want is to protect your little girl, I can give you the power to make that come true, all I ask is for Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.” Hawkmoth’s offer and voice seemed so tempting.

“I can protect and conquer” No. No this couldn’t be possible, all that’s left would be the purple substance covering her, she was going to have to fight her friend.

A friend with a lot more fighting experience.

…

“If I cared.” Marinette breathed a sigh of a relieve, as well as Adrien. She knew she should’ve trusted her newfound friend but she was so scared. She’d make it up anyhow.

“What!?”

“Now Hawkmoth, I have your attention and you best listen to every word I say” The class looked on in anticipation, some had run off to try and get some help from teachers. Alya, thinking it would be great for the Ladyblog, started recording the whole ordeal.

“That girl you were about to Akumatize, if you ever try to Akumatize her again I will give you hell. Not even the heroes would be able to protect you from my wrath, understand”

“…”

“Your answer is duly noted. Now!” She but her hands on her head, seemingly struggling with the sudden Akuma. Was Hawkmoth increasing his control?

“Get out of my head! Now!”

…

Swoosh

“It's… Gone…” They didn’t expect that to happen, certainly not.

So they cheered and raved how great and cool she was able to do that. Alya cheerfully exclaimed how excited that scoop she was able to get and posted it on her blog right away.

And they all carried on as nothing had happened.

As if it wasn’t important.

Little did they know repelling an Akuma took a lot out of you, ask Chloé she’d tell you.

“Rosina are you ok? You had us so worried” When Rosina stumbled because of her unbalance, Marinette held onto her tighter, that ordeal really frightened her.

“I-I -pant pant- just need a moment, can we get some air? Please?” She nodded and the four immediately left.

“Rosy? Are, are you ok?” Rosina smiled and hugged the girl as they approached the entrance.

“Of course, don’t worry Li’l Piper, no one will ever hurt you, if Hawkmoth knows what’s good for him he will stay away from you.” She rubbed her head as the little girl smiled.

“I gotta say that was impressive, you had me worried for a sec but of course you’d be able to pull something like that off” The blonde lifted her ponytail up and down while commenting the tired girl.

“Thanks for your belief. I never would’ve forgiven myself if I hurt either of you. I love you two so much” She hugged them both surprising them more.

“We love you more Rosina. But please don’t scare us like that again. Angerella” Marinette couldn’t stop the light punch coming from the redhead before they all laughed.

All the while Hawkmoth in his lair was coming to a conclusion.

“She is the one who will bring me both the Miraculous’”

***

I just noticed this was more about the OC than salt so sorry, I’ve never done salt before so hopefully, I’ll get better as time goes on. But anyway I hope you liked it and I may do another one to add more details if you want.

Have a good day/night.

[padme-amitabha]

Hello since you mentioned you are anti Disney are you anti Reylo too? What are your thoughts on other ships

Hmm I wouldn’t exactly call myself an anti Reylo. To be an anti you need to have strong feelings against something and I feel nothing about these two characters and the entire sequel trilogy. Kylo and Rey are so poorly written and underdeveloped characters to the point they feel like blank slates in my mind. So I don’t really care about them getting together. But I’ll acknowledge some parts of their relationship seemed abusive (especially their interaction in TFA) and them getting together after TFA is by no means healthy. Still I’m just not passionate enough to argue against this ship. The only ST ship I like is Finn/Poe because they are cute together have been through a lot together and their relationship could develop over the course of the films.

I’m okay with Jyn/Cassian though they lack solid character traits as well but it’s fine because I think Rogue One was a plot driven movie anyway so fanon works on them are cool. Not sure if it’s an actual ship but I do like C3PO and R2D2 together. With Luke and Obi-Wan, I don’t necessarily think romance is necessary but I’m open to most ships involving them. I do occasionally enjoy Obitine, Codywan and Siriwan. I have a soft spot for Siriwan because of the legends novel ‘Secrets of the Jedi’. If anyone hasn’t read or heard of it, I highly recommend y’all to check it out. I’m fine with Han/Leia though I’m not a big fan of their dynamic (especially in ESB) but I still think it’s great.

Now about the ships I actually don’t like: You can say I’m anti all master/student relationships because I personally just find it really icky. All of the masters and students have big age differences and the masters knew the latter as children/preteens and in some cases raised/groomed them so no. All master/student bonds are meant to be platonic and anything else just feels wrong.

I’m not a big fan of crackships in general neither do I like Anakin/Vader and Padmé being paired with other people. They seem like the only couple who actually matter to the story because without them there would be no Luke and Leia. I love that George based them on Romeo and Juliet while adding bits of Othello/Desdemona to complete the tragedy. I think they only loved each other and just like Anakin’s fate it was destined to happen. I just can’t imagine them loving anyone else. I’m only basing this on the movies; I am not a big fan of TCW nor do I like they created Rush Clovis, a stereotypical clingy ex, just for unnecessary drama and made Anidala unhealthy just because the writers fail to grasp what George intended. I don’t think Anidala is by any means unhealthy or Vaderdala for that matter. I honestly don’t like the distinction because Anakin is Vader at a different point in his life. He made a mistake of choking Padmé on Mustafar because he was unhinged. For the record, he has never been fully mentally stable unlike Kylo Ren as shown in AOTC so you have to keep that in mind. Plus he still regrets doing that to her very much and she’s the first thing he asks about after his surgery. But his actions still break her heart and she loses the will to live. So Vader remains alone with his regrets and in a way this is very fitting because abuse (even if it’s unintentional or accidental) should not be tolerated. Or murder for that matter so even though Anakin’s fall is understandable, karma gets him and he loses everything. I have seen a lot of Anidala fans say Vader and Padmé is toxic but I think it’s only toxic if you make it out to be. I have seen some suitless Vader fics where Padmé is forced to marry him or be with him against her will which is very much abusive. But if Vader still has Anakin’s personality he wouldn’t be abusive at all. Ambitious and power hungry? Definitely but Anakin’s past as a child slave and his mother impacted him deeply. I think he would have respected women even more because of it and definitely wouldn’t force someone to be with him against their will. I dislike how people view Anakin as a saint or like “the good side” of him because it’s the same Anakin who slaughtered the sand people. Viewing him as different from Vader is glossing over his flaws and crimes while undermining his redemption. Vader isn’t a demon possessing Anakin; Vader is Anakin who has no one left and he’s alone and depressed. AOTC Anakin even after his dark moment acted normally with people he cared about (he didn’t exactly lash at Padmé when he returned, did he?) so I don’t think he would have been abusive to Padmé had she lived and I think Padmé would rather die than be abused. If anything Vader would have killed Palpatine much sooner if Padmé was alive.

Anyways there’s only one ship I absolutely despise and it’s a popular dark ship. I don’t think I hate any other ship with such a burning passion and it involves Anakin/Vader and a certain shitty OC from the marvel comics - an unoriginal and trashy character who exists because Disney has given certain writers far too much freedom to write their fanboyish fantasies. So they write a sort of dark Padmé who’s into women but that doesn’t stop them from shamelessly dropping sexual innuendos in every interaction with Vader. The worst thing is the writer pretends it was unintentional while pretending to “discover this ship” and I find it direspectful to the lgbt community that they wrote a character who even though she’s gay is shipped with every male character she interacts with (including Luke), because clearly her preference is not that important. She’s conveniently morally gray too because that way she can team up with both sides. I don’t like any ships where characters have a big age difference and this “dark ship” has about twenty years of it and this OC Smelly Lunatic A*hra is closer to Luke and Leia’s age. She is a mixture of Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, Padmé and even Anakin himself and fangirls over him with plenty of forced and obvious parallels. She even has plot armor and I can’t believe Vader - who kills his own officers for failure - tolerates her when she double crosses him multiple times because Disney is too afraid to kill women especially ones they created to push their own propaganda. Hell she even survives after being thrown into outer space and when she’s alive Vader is a petty villain obsessed with hunting her down and killing her and all these supposedly take place before ESB when I’m sure he had other things on his mind than this one insufferable brat. Even while she’s working for him, he doesn’t hesitate to choke her or use the force to hurt her. He only keeps her around for her skills and it’s not like he cares about hurting her so it’s absolutely toxic but people who ship them seem to think otherwise. She is also allowed to pry on his past and joke around with him which sounds so unrealistic and terrible. To top it off their last interaction involves her, a non force sensitive, trapping him and leaving him to die and giving him some much-needed life advice because she’s clearly very wise and knows better and Vader is an incompetent fool who walked into a trap. Not only does it butcher his character, it makes him a typical and petty villain. I truly can’t express how much I hate this ship and this character. It’s just laughable and insulting to Padmé to think Vader will be with someone else after he believes he killed Padmé or was at least responsible for her death in some way.

(If you happen to like her character or support this ship, feel free to unfollow because all you will ever find in this blog is rants on how terrible the character and the ship is.)

Anyways, there you go that’s my opinion on the SW ships. I’m neutral about the ships I didn’t mention above.

[arabian-bloodstream]

Love and Lust

There has been some thought that the depiction of the sex between Arya and Gendry was just that of Arya wanting to see what it was all about or even just horny lust. While those were both clearly aspects of what happened, I think anyone seeing either of those things as the only interpretation of their love scene—because, yes, it was a love scene—missed out on quite a few key things not only in that scene but in their interaction earlier in the episode.

I also think that all of their interaction in this episode—including the lustier aspect of their lovemaking—made it fairly clear that, no, Gendry is not going to being dying in the upcoming battle. Read on…

The first episode established their attraction to one another with the flirting calling back to their shared history. This episode upped the ante with the attraction by adding a dose of lust, but deepened it by showing both the trust and ease they still share with one another that we know neither would easily share with others due to what’s happened to them in the intervening years.

There was a reminder of their history again (she remembered that he's a smith’s apprentice), he told her about beyond the wall, she called him out on glossing it over and made him tell her the truth. They were completely real with one another.

Arya showed Gendry her skill with a knife and her knowledge of death, making it clear how skilled a fighter she is, not hiding who she really is. Gendry told her that he was Robert Baratheon’s son, what Melisandre had done to him (in so many words) and his sexual history. That’s a lot of private, vulnerable information to share. And yet both did it easily. (Well, OK, Gendry was a bit cutely flustered with his last bit of share.)

There was so much stuff that the episode’s writer Bryan Cogman got in their two scenes... so much about their history, their trust in one another, their feelings, and how much set-up for what's to come to. All of that? Was showing how strong the foundation this relationship has.

I will circle back to some of these points later with regards to Gendry’s future, but first, let me tackle their other scenes. I mentioned at the top that their sex scene was a love scene and not just about horny lust or Arya wanting to try sex. And going into detail about that first scene was part of laying that down. But the second scene before the love scene as well goes into that.

It’s obvious with regards to Gendry that it is not just lust. The boy is completely gone for her. We saw that in the first scene after she threw the dragon glass knives and then said she wanted her weapon again and walked away, Gendry—unlike most sane people—looked completely awestruck and watched her walk away with hearts in his eyes. He’s completely lovestruck.

Also, in this second scene, after Arya made it clear that she wanted to have sex, Gendry’s said her name all soft and breathily. He didn’t pull away, he didn’t resist, he said her name and you could read exactly what he was saying in that exhalation of her name and by the expression on his face. He was saying: ‘Girl, you know I love you, but I'm not sure we should do this because I want to treasure you and treat you right, you know—’ But then she kissed him and he was like 'OK, fuck it, I'm having some SEX with milady! YEAH!'

And another so not just lust for Gendry, although this was more in between the lines. They wouldn’t have all but made the guy pretty much this close to a virgin. I mean… seriously. Honestly, I figured Gendry being practically a virgin would be fanon. I can’t believe that they basically made it canon. The guy was off of the show for three years—looking like that, fine as all hell—and they canonically had him actually say he only had sex with three women?! Bronn was literally with three women at the same time in the previous episode. I mean, yeah. Arya Stark is his fucking OTP. That essentially was the show’s shorthand way of saying so.  

Finally, anyone saying that this love scene was just lust was not paying attention to the last five to ten seconds. The final shot of Gendry before she comes down for the kiss he's just looking at her with complete and utter love in his gaze. Joe Dempsie played that like Gendry just completely adores Arya.... total heart eyes there.

So, you know that had to have been the direction, in the script, the plan… not lust… but love. And there is this comparison shot from Jon and Daenerys’ first-time making love where she is looking up at Jon with love and it is LITERALLY the exact same framing. LITERALLY.

From a directing point of view that is really telling. Jon and Daenerys are supposed to be this great love and there you have literally an IDENTICAL shot of Gendry and Arya. What these two shared in this episode was a lusty love scene, not just a sex scene. You can feel lust and love at the same time.

And, yeah, it was love for Arya too. She just didn’t quite realize it. But look at her face as she’s leaning down to kiss him. It’s dark and we don’t get the best angle because it’s a close-up, but there’s a softness there you can see. Which leads us to that final scene. She’s not numb; she’s not dissatisfied. She’s freaking the ever-loving fuck out.

She was feeling all kinds of hot, hot lust for him sure, and then she opened herself up to the feels and suddenly it was hitting her, she might die, *he* might die. And it was gonna hurt. A LOT. She’d already lost him once and it was going to be a helluva lot worse now because she’d re-opened herself up to him a lot more now. And in the past, Gendry hadn’t allowed himself to open himself up to her, but now… this time he had. They were open to each other and now they could very well both lose each other. She was shaken to the core. That was what we saw from her in the final scene.

A few additional thoughts…

- I loved the parallels beginning each of their scenes. Gendry doing his thing and then there was Arya watching him silently in the first scene. In the second, Arya doing her thing, Gendry watching her.

- Speaking of Arya watching Gendry in that first scene, damn, she was all but licking her lips…

- And then that little eyebrow raise she gave him when he first saw her and that smoldering look he sent back her way in return.... SO HOT!

- Joe Dempsie and Maisie Williams have such great chemistry. Damn, that scene was so fucking hot.

- Hah, it was funny. Silly Gendry, he was trying to assert some kind of dominance at one point, reaching out to wrap his hand around Arya’s head while they were kissing.... and boom within like two seconds, she shoved him onto the bags, LMAO. Nope, Gendry, she's the dominant.... always.

- Aww, but she let him take off his own pants. She was in complete command from beginning to end, but still gave him his own agency. She's so sweet.  It was definitely mutual all around.

- Speaking of… after Arya said that, the way he was so quickly untying those laces, LMAO.

- I did love that Arya just shoved him down (and, yes, it did remind me of when she did it when he kept calling her “Milady” back in season 02).

OK, circling back to Gendry’s future like I said I would… a lot that happened in this episode between these two actually made me more strongly believe that Gendry will *not* be dying any time soon. Why?

1.) Arya’s commentary about knowing death. 2.) Her knife-throwing kills. 3.) The focus on her scars, and then Gendry focusing on her scars. 4.) Gendry bringing up her wanting him to come to Winterfell. 5.) The fact that despite all of the set-up and the obvious love from Gendry’s side, Arya went into it just wanting his hot body to give her some loving. 6.) Gendry telling her he’s Robert Baratheon’s bastard. 7.) Arya’s realizing that she’s scared out of her ever-loving mind of losing Gendry (because, yeah, I’m sure that’s what the final scene meant).

In other words, there was SO MUCH SET-UP for more of their love story to flourish to come. Not to mention that Gendry still has more weapons to make, the Baratheon line is not going to die out. GRRM had three Baratheon bastards in the books and yet D&D only brought ONE to the show. I highly doubt it was just so that Arya could lose her virginity to him. If it was to have an “emotional impact” on her when he died… she would have been the one all “heart eyes emoji” during the love scene as opposed to Gendry.

Also, Joe Dempsie is wearing a Baratheon-style costume in the behind-the-scenes video for episode 01 while sitting on the set of a sunny climate and I doubt that Michelle Clapton would have created that for funsies.

Ergo, Gendry is not dying.

Thank you for coming to my Gendrya-themed Ted Talk.

[gringoslur]

Curious Beginnings: Mollymauk (Part 1)

I’m re-watching campaign 2 focusing in Mollymauk’s behavior and trying to analyze it. I don’t know i will continue this, or the reaction that this might get, but here it is. It’s a simple way to divide canon/fanon Molly that i enjoy doing, so just...you can read it and comment your opinions if you want. Sorry if there’s any mistakes or nonsense in my writing, english isn’t my first language. (next part) (all parts)

The first encounter is easy: both Molly and Yasha enter the bar where the rest of the group just met. This is interesting because it makes you think why Molly, who is just leaving invitations and selling the event, needs security there? Did something happend in the past that made them do this together or is just simply two besties deciding to do a walk together while they spread the news of the circus? Matt mentions how Molly jumps from table to table ~the tiefling engaging in some distant conversations, leaving a slip of paper, walking to the next table. Gauging the atmosphere, not leaving a slip of paper, and quickly moving on~ this honestly makes me think that something DID happend in the past and thats why Yasha is there, especially because Molly is a tiefling and he has a bold personality. But he can read the situation and remove himself from it quickly before having to deal with the consequences, even if he is someone that a lot of times tries to be persuasive. Matt mentions that the table where the group is, is very awkward and tense. Taelisin asks if he sees any coin and Matt answers that no. The combination of awkwarness, tension and no coin is not good for someone that is trying to sell something, but Mollymauk for some reason still decides that he will talk with this group. Which also means that the other tables that he did not engaged a lot with, it wasnt for the lack of coin or the amount of awkwardness\tension.

As someone who is introvert, Mollymauk's attitude is ridiculous but i know it works, he is fantastic at his job. Even if has a very strong presence, and he notices that Jester and Beau are the ones that seem to be more able to communicate with. When Jester asks if he performs, he says "AH......i'm less of a performer and more of an intermediary for these parts" you can feel his brain going around and changing the tactic to not lose the excitement that Jester is showing, thats why also he might not be so comfortable in what he is saying, unlike his first rehearsal speech "I do on occasion perform...ah...i can read fortunes-" he doesnt go too deep into anything, either because he's throwing things and seeing if he can catch anything or because is possible that the perform part is not that truth, or at least he's not that confident in selling that part of himself. So he goes with what he knows: fortunes. When Jester responds to that very excited, his seller confidence and ego go high again. (Jester) "You are so smart!" (Mollymauk) "thats what they tell me". And he sits down, completly confident on whatever he plans to do. Sidenote: he does this in the middle of Beau saying "I don't...think...". She kind of fascinated with this event and seemed very interested in the "good time" that Molly was selling without any animosity, thats it, until the mention of the cards. This is where this relationship starts to shift in the one that we all know.

Now, he's looking for coin. And Jester is right there. (J) "Do you know my name?" (M) "What is your name?" (J) "Jester" (M) "I know your name now!" *both laugh* ah, thats so fucking cute. (M) "And we are friends now!" like yes, Molly wants money from her, it might be kind of fakey, and thats not actually a bad thing in my mind. He's doing his job, trying to live and make others have a good time while he does that. I do think that he likes Jester, she seems a very nice client, i'm sure that he has to deal with some assholes. His job is engaging with the public, we all know that that is a nightmare. He introduces himself and then Yasha, adding that "she's a charm!" and then laughing. This happens, i think, because for him, Yasha IS a charm, he loves her. But he also is very aware of the importance of looks and presentation, which makes his words funny if you don't know her. He continues trying to sell the forture, and he is very sure on how much he wants: this is business, this is his nature and he is in his sauce.

Ok, let me stop a moment because...i knew that doing this was gonna kill me because of the Yasha and Molly moments but man, this is an early start. When Molly is trying to do the fortune for Jester, Yasha says her first long sentence "He's really quite good, you all should line up and get your fortunes told". Sure, she is selling the business but she's also selling his friend's "talent" and this is just such a sweet thing to say.

Fortune moment. Insight and sleight-of-hand. Matt focuses the insight in "what this person, Jester, wants". The proper reading consists in giving the client what Mollymauk feels that they want, again, gaining money but also making the other person happy. First card: Silver Dragon. "Pure, virtue, wonderful human being!" Love that, go secure: the bs that the horoscope always sells and makes the person happy. Adventures in your future, you have a destiny! (queue to Yasha doing "ohhhh" with Jester. guys this is so cute). And then Taelisin, or Mollymauk decides to grab another card when he hears about the snake adventure: the serpent card. Oh, he is now sitting in the throne of his own bullshit and he loves being the king: "i'm a simple vessel for highter powers"'. Jester can't be more happy. Curious and suspicious Caleb tries Detect Magic, nothing shows up. Without actually knowing how this fortune thing works, he whispers to Nott "he's bullshiting her". Tealisin laughs. But i can see also Mollymauk laughing to be honest. And then, the Eye card (which is interesting because there's so many mentions of eyes in this campaign), "you've already found the clue" which we know its true, because of Beau, the card and the Gentleman. Mollymauk was looking for a mysterious route, Taelisin at least knew that this was the beggining for Jester and this was the group that will be with her. He says that the specifics are much more expensive, and i cant blame him for looking for more money. Then, as the master seller that he is, he makes the compromise of doing an extensive reading if they show up at the show.

The barmaid comes back with Yasha's ale and is on the house, because Yasha is intimidating as fuck. Both Molly and Yasha seem celebrate this and i can already see how this dynamic works and how they unite to get the most money and the least cost, honestly? bestie goals. Why the fandom doesnt have more stupid adventures of these two doing this kind of stuff?? gay disasters. and talking about gay disasters, Beau asks what Yasha does, and she answers that she puts the tent because she's very strong, but doesn't do anything in the show. She doesn't seem to make a big deal out of this. Molly immediately jumps and with some fancy language, he basically says that Yasha is "capable of keeping issues contained", implying the trust that they have in Yasha with their security, an important job in their line of work.

He shows even more of his skills of selling with Nott and Caleb, saying that they are gonna waste MORE money if they don't go to the show. He sells it so naturally that if you don't stop and think for a second on what he's saying, you totally buy it. I think that something similar happens with Percy in the last campaign, people think that he's really smart even when his plans mostly fail and sometimes what he says is just bullshit-but the confidence is what makes it all great.

Do you guys remember the moments where Fjord tries to make Beau more charming? that's exactly what i'm seeing with Molly and Yasha. I do think that they have those kind of conversations, especially hearing their goodbyes. (M) "You are all the most charming people that i've met in-" and then Yasha tries to clumsy copy it (Y) "Yep, nice to meet you all. You're so, uh, wonderful". Mollymauk, without laughing or making a joke of it, or at least i don't feel it, gestures to Yasha saying "Charm! Pure charm!" This feels like someone seeing their best friend trying to do the best and he encourages it. His interventions make Yasha's awkwardness less awkward, and shows his support.

And then they leave.

(I just watched one hour of the first episode, if someone likes this i can continue)

[waltongoggins]

ohhh may i ask what you didn't like about the first season? fyi i never read the comics and i think the story kinda dragged at times (esp. abt the hazel&chacha bits??), and ik i'm gonna be lynched for this but i think ellen page was pretty meh as vanya...but since you've read the comics i'm curious abt what you think

yes, you can absolutely ask but the answer may be long...and keep in mind this is from the perspective of someone who not only has read the comics, but has been completely enamored with them since ‘07...i’ll start with hazel & cha-cha since you mentioned them and because it’s a Big One for me. (this is going under a cut because it’s long as hell, and i’m prone to rambling)

steve blackman, the showrunner, was so excited to bring H&CC into s1 and yet what he essentially did was create two OC’s. on one hand, i get. in the comics they have very little depth, but the few key traits they do have were essentially erased. they became bland, joyless versions of some of the most iconic characters in the whole series. the more time i spend with tuatv the less i give a sh*t about hazel/agnes (and it was already part of the show that dragged for me). i’m annoyed they massively revamped these characters, but i’m disgusted by the way they made the White Man redeemable and Loving and Soft, while focusing on the hyperviolent, revenge-seeking black woman trying to ruin the Quirky White Indie Couple. i’m annoyed they ruined the love and camaraderie between comics H&CC in favor of a forced romance subplot that they used to fill time. i’m mad that hazel got a second chance and a few layers worth of depth while cha-cha started and ended with “she likes murder!” with about one second worth of deeper characterization before it gets shit on again. either give both characters the same care and attention or keep them both as Gleeful Assassins, prioritizing and humanizing the white man while reducing the black woman to harmful tropes at the same time without even hope for something more is UGLY.

moving on to vanya because you also mentioned her (and i’m bitter) i love ellen page and i think she did an amazing job in the show. and i like tv!vanya for what she is, but it didn’t feel much like vanya to me and while i work really hard to keep the show separate from the comics and enjoy both for what they bring to the table, i wish i saw more of that character on screen. that’s essentially the base of a lot of my issues with the show as a comics fan...in so many ways it doesn’t /fee/ like the comics at all. and that’s a bummer for me, because i spent over a decade imagining what this adaptation would look like. i could go into detail here and make a list of specific things that disappointed me re: character details, personality changes, world building, etc. but it would be long and tedious and it’s just as easy to say that it wasn’t what i hoped it would be. (not that i don’t love the show, i do!!!! but coming from this specific perspective, some of these things are just hard to accept, and a lot of the changes i’m just not a fan of, no matter how hard i try to be. some of them make sense and some of them just didn’t need to be done imo...). overall i feel like the show lost a lot of the magic from the comics, and certainly much of its uniqueness.

as for some Bigger, more Tangible issues i have with the overall narrative of the show itself:

dave. listen, i was ecstatic when i read that klaus was going to have a canon boyfriend, but this isn’t what i expected nor what i wanted. you want to talk about Bury Your Gays? this is a pretty significant example, and dave doesn’t even have any actual characterization out of fanon and/or what the actor had to make up for himself to give any semblance of life to that relationship (or the idea of it). in the end he was simply fodder to klaus’ arc and while i respect any/all fans who try to salvage this and make the best of it, it really did Nothing for me at all besides make me angry.

EUDORA PATCH. similar to above, another example of a harmful and ultimately unneeded trope to fuel diego’s pain and personal tragedy which he’s already full up on. another new addition to the story i was excited to see on screen that really just ultimately left me bitter.

to be fair, both of these could be fixed or at least revisited via time travel, but i’m still cautious about being hopeful. i feel like the chances of seeing dave again might be higher than that of patch bc of certain details of the Dallas arc that might land them back in the 60s, but STILL. a season with this kind of thing back-to-back just ain’t cute.

on a different level, i have such a big problem with how the plot is revealed in this show, specifically re: pogo. let me say this, if your entire plot can be avoided by ONE CHARACTER revealing some truth then it’s...Not Great...and the fact that pogo has THREE bombshell pieces of news that are littered off one after the other and significantly drive the story just feels lazy, frankly. and the more i watch it the more i hate it. (also i feel like they missed the opportunity to make the audience really /care/ and /feel/ for pogo. maybe instead of all that time with hazel/agnes they could’ve added in more flashbacks to reveal character rs’s for ALL the kids and their parents/guardian figures hmm just a thought...)

give me time and i can think of more, but i guess (barring some of the more petty issues i have regarding certain choice changes from the comics) these are mostly the Big Ones i feel toward the show.

[buggeredson]

✍ Favorite thing about writing the muse?

Mun talks about the Muse

I mean....

There’s a lot of things I really love about writing for/playing Crowls, which is why I bounce back to his blog as often as I do, despite my many, many well-documented issues with canon, the writers, the fandom, the RPC, etc. I love writing a villain; I love writing complex antagonists who never really side with anyone but themselves; I love writing characters with a clear but complicated arch of self-betterment. I love writing charmers, flirts, unconventional good-lookers, romancers, confident swaggerers. And Crowley is all those things and then some.

But recently I’ve turned my mind towards wider arcs of representation within and without the RPC, and I feel that putting my primary focus on an older character of less conventional beauty standards and a different body size, shape, and height is where it’s at for me. It’s nice to have all these good-looking 20- and 30-some-odd muses, but you know what else is nice? 40- and 50-some-odd muses who are still seen as viable and often even necessary members of this community.

If I really had to pick one singular element of Crowley that I love to write, it would be his versatility - hero, villain, antagonist, human, demon, high-ranking, low-ranking, captured, capturing, it all makes sense with him - but there’s a lot more in the dynamic of actively choosing to write him while disregarding nothing about his physical appearance that very deeply appeals to me.

This is the optional part of the read: the “why it matters,” beyond what I had to say about added representation in the RPC. About a year ago I picked up a character who has a very well-known physique: he’s short, he’s round, and while far from being vital character elements, these are typically traits that translate for him across all or an overwhelming majority of representations of him. He’s a great character who will remain nameless because I’m about to throw down on his behalf.

There was a small little community of us playing this character and a few mild variations on him--I remember distinctly someone writing for a childhood version of him that was really stinking cute--and we got on fine, for the most part! We all really identified with him, and I know that for myself and at least one of the others, who I was very close to at the time, a big part of it had to do with body positivity. A fat guy whose weight was never the butt of a joke, despite being an easy target? Helllllllllllllllll YES we stan that here!

Well, one member of our little family for this character became increasingly agitated because no one wanted to ship with them. The reality is that they were kind of mean, kind of pushy, tried hard to guilty-trip people into doing shit with them, and tended to spring sexcanons on people at random--and if anyone disagreed, they would be a real ass about it. They decided, despite the fact that quite a lot of us had some really great ships, that the reason no one wanted to ship with them is because the character is short and fat.And so they promptly changed the FC and struck out the character’s height and weight as having ever been a thing.

Fat characters don’t get a lot of love in popular media OR in fanfiction, and a bunch of us were beyond upset over this bullshit move. I don’t know what happened to them after that, just that a bunch of us--myself included--unfollowed. As was our right. I know they didn’t take that well, as was their right. Hell, changing the FC and writing out the height and weight was their right! But we didn’t have to agree with or support that kind of nonsense, especially since they out and out blamed the character’s canon physique on their inability to find a ship partner.

Moral of the story: representation matters, and that includes representation of less than ideal body types.And I am goddamned happy to be back in the swing with a character who, while not the BEST kind of representation, still at least supports the fact that you can be fat and fabulous at the same time. Even if Mark and thereby Crowley weighs less than fandom and fanon make him out to.

[mianmimi]

Dude, you have the junior novel? Give us the good stuff! I actually love the novelizations because they're script-based, so you get to see what was an ad lib and what got cut. I get the feeling that most of the beautiful gay shit was purely Chiwetel and that Mordo in script is just a charmless str8 tough guy tbh lmao

This is going to take a while Nonny so buckle up and let’s go! I can’t outright screencap the novel cause of copyright so I’ll just write out brief summaries of things that were omitted from the film.

When Stephen is taking that fateful drive and making a phone call, the movie has him talking to Billy. In the novelization he’s talking with…..Claire. Now it’s not specifically stated that this is Claire Temple but like, come on. They both work at Metro-General, she’s a nurse, and nurses often float from one department to another. Also doesn’t that make you wonder if she and Christine met? :D *eyebrow wiggle*

We’ve all seen the deleted scene of Stephen and the wounded dog (that looks just like him, I see what you did there Scott Derrickson). But what didn’t make it to the screen was the scene before that. Stephen’s asking around for where KT is and Mordo notices him. Stephen comes across a kid begging for money. Stephen gives him the last bit of his money for directions to KT. Kiddo points to a direction. Stephen makes a snide remark. Kiddo speaks in English and tells Stephen that he’s the beggar not him, making Stephen smile. It’s a cute little scene but I understand why it was cut. Makes me wonder if he was part of KT and gets kicks giving different directions to people seeking it out, only giving the correct directions if the person parts with the last of their money. Just another headcanon. Who knows?

And now we get to Mordo’s great appearance. And he’s rather pissed D: Like he doesn’t come off as the calm, gentle Mordo we see on screen. He’s described as being uncomfortable talking with Stephen, and he looks annoyed with Stephen’s comments, even glaring at him. He’s more business minded here and doesn’t really give off that compassionate, soft spoken vibe when we first see him.

When Stephen gets a room he thinks the book on the table is…well, a book. But really it’s just a tablet in a case that looks like a book. KT’s keeping up with the times.

There’s a sweet little paragraph just describing a tree in the courtyard, and Stephen realizing it’s been forever since he noticed how beautiful flowers are. Idk, it was just really sweet and spoke to how Stephen’s now appreciating things he didn’t before.

Wong! Ah! Wong my man, Wong! He’s described as being a large man, a stern teacher who watches his students like a hawk as they train. Very drill sergeant like. Stephen’s one of his students, and Stephen’s trying to copy the other students trying to conjuring runes. He’s scared of Wong hahaha. Intimidated. Thinks that Wong’s powerfully built beneath those robes (Yes for you Worange otp-ers, that’s pretty much directly from the book….Stephen think’s Wong’s BUILT) Also, Stephen knows that Wong’s not someone you mess with. He too, glares at Strange.

Wong judges Stephen. Glaring, staring, eyes narrowing, his motions revealing that he’s annoyed with Stephen saying he’s already read through the books he was given. Pretty much says that Stephen isn’t funny.

This part hurt me nonnies….Mordo looked embarrassed when Stephen couldn’t conjure the portal with a sling ring while The Ancient One was assessing the students. He felt like a bad teacher for Stephen’s inability to make a portal ;___;

Super cute confirmation that the Everest Test is a favorite teaching method of The Ancient One. Mordo doesn’t like it. This part is more in line with the characterization we see on film. He was about to go save Stephen but TAO makes it clear that he won’t lift a finger. When Stephen finally returns he looks at TAO with a ton of anger and wanted to rant but he was too happy that he conjured a portal that he doesn’t.

GUYS. NONNIES. The classic training scene…..occurs with Mordo removing his shirt, leaving his entire torso exposed to Stephen. Our baby baron has a lot of scars on his skins though :( And Stephen noticed bullet wounds. Like the fuck right? And Stephen wonders what Mordo’s backstory is cause…that’s a lot of story written on his skin.

Oh god I wish I could screencap this cause man oh man….Stephen and Karl’s training is laced with a lot of flirting. It’s probably meant to be playful banter but like…I’m reading it with my shipper heart and I’m gonna say it’s flirting. Stephen asks questions about TAO and Mordo makes up these obviously silly answers like she was born from the tree thousands of years ago. Stephen actually believes him and Mordo LAUGHS and tell him he’s just kidding, only to tell Stephen another obvious lie that TAO was a hitchhiker who wandered in and never left. Once again, Stephen falls for it and once again Mordo’s…giddy XD And yes, he’s still shirtless while all this is going on.  Mordo teases him, while smiling, saying “Look at you, Doctor I-Don’t-Believe-in-Fairytales- ready now to believe anything I say!” I haven’t done sources in forever but that’s the direct line from the book, not mine.

While teaching Stephen about relics and simultaneously beating him up, Mordo and him are joking and laughing and just having a very good time ^^ They speculate what TAO’s actual name is. Stephen believes she looks like an Elizabeth. Mordo beats him in the sparring session and ends it by saying that she looks like a Catherine. Of note, fanon’s headcanon that Karl loves romances seems to have made a weird retroactive cameo her. Elizabeth Bennet and Catherine Earnshaw are the heroines of Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights respectively, novels that people have headcanoned are among Karl’s favorites.

The novelization ends right after Stephen messes with the Eye and Kaecilius attacks the London Sanctum, so unfortunately we never get a description of Mordo and Stephen’s argument or Mordo leaving. The novel’s also structured oddly with a lot of flashbacks. One chapter has the time moving forward and the next one talks about what happened to lead Strange in the past. Weird but kinda fitting for the time theme.

I also have another novelization called…*deep breath* Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes’ Journey (Road to Infinity War). Yes my dear nonnies, that’s the entire title. Whew. It’s a long book and honestly I was only really interested in the DS section. I think they complied a bunch of other novelizations together into this big one. What I like about this book is that it’s told through the pov of side characters. Like Captain America’s section is told through Natasha’s pov. I did read this section and it made me really feel for her :( I think they kinda did her an injustice on screen. Nat’s got a very big heart y’all, and she loves Steve. Not in a romantic sense either. The vibe I get is more that of siblings/really great friends, and she wants his happiness so much.

But anyways, back to DS things…..Wong is the pov character for the DS section. He journals to unwind and de-stress, it’s his major coping skill so to speak. He rips out pages in his journal in a rage when he gets stuck or doesn’t feel like it’s good enough. Relatable as fuck. It’s heavily implied that he and Mordo were really good friends and gossiped about Stephen. So yeah, Wong knows a lot about Mordo and understands how dangerous he can be when hurt. I think Worange fans should check this novel out as it has Stephen constantly trying to make Wong smile and Wong being very -__- about it at first but slowly warming up to him :)

[taotrooper]

The nicer development of Zeno/Kaya in the anime

A meta post I’ve been meaning to do for two months! Because we all like to ramble about our ship being cute as heck. Sit tight, this is going to be long and full of images.

I think Kaya and her relationship with Zeno gained a lot in the OAD. There were some great expansions that don’t seem like much in the long run, as they’re new parts of old scenes, but they help fleshing them out and being cuter. Less than 30 pages for a romance shouldn’t give much material, and trying to do too much wouldn’t give enough time for the rest of the flashback, plus the HakYona story. However, every extra second and new detail count!

The manga cuts from Zeno fainting to him waking up on Kaya’s house. Here, however, we see Kaya finding him. Look at this Totoro child with her hat and coat, ready to do stuff under the rain. Thanks Pierrot for this detail.

The next scene? Kaya making dinner. Again, I feel blessed.

Here’s an interesting difference:

In the original we see the coat (and I wondered WTF that was, incidentally) but not the hat! Great addition.

The animation of the door breaking down and her “aww maaan” little face!

Anime Kaya owns candles somehow. Shhh, this is an important difference.

That said, there are a couple of interesting missing lines that were side text in the manga that didn’t make it to the anime.

"It might be bland, though." Kaya, when giving him food.

"Even if I told you to stop laughing, it's too late huh?" Zeno, while carrying her.

That last line wasn’t in the manga. And now the one we all noticed and adored!

(I love that he doesn’t get it at first and thinks she’s calling him X3)

Using different tones, playfully. I’m dying of cuteness. He’s screwed. Look at him, he’s already lost. Just see his added reaction to when she says she’s really happy to have someone to talk to. His eyes sparkle and all!

The scenery porn is strong, but that’s a given with this team.

And another vast improvement where we can all agree: someone in Pierrot noticing that both Zeno and Kaya were holding stuff in the manga when they did the “yay!” Where did those things go? To the fucking ground.

A+ gravity, would “yatta” with the bae again.

We do get to see Kaya’s sloppy vegetables. No fucks given.

She has her own crops. I love this detail, just like the hat.

This simple line isn’t in the manga. Whether it’s in the script or it’s Shimono improvising, it’s adorable and so Zeno. I’m also not going to fill this post of caps or gifs of the azalea scene, but seeing all the Kaya expressions and also Zeno’s SD face (instead of giving us his back) was excellent.

The only sacrifice: not seeing Zeno putting it on. But then we get like 3 angles of Kaya wearing the flower, so there’s that consolation?

I adore this brand-new apple tree scene ;A; And how it ties to hobo Zeno later.

And after he let her go...

We get seconds of Zeno alone between flowers at dusk. Hello daRKNESS.

And of course we SEE THIS HAPPEN, with Zeno being extra as usual.

I have nothing to add, I just like the direction of this scene.

And this one, especially when contrasting other scenes of Zeno talking to pretty skies (episode 24, for instance). The light blues of the night match his desperate eyes and the shining tears falling like shooting stars.

...

Look, I’m no adding screencaps of the skeleton hand scene, but we can all agree that JESUS FUCK YOU GUYS JUST MADE IT x2000 MORE AWFUL DX

And we all sigh with relief as Zeno actually buries her and makes a tomb. Adding a pink azalea, of course, to punch us in the feels.

Overall, I’m super content with the Zeno OADs. I was pretty scared they could mess things up or shorten the screentime of the minor characters, but no such thing happened. The Emo Forest Hippie exposition was the only part that got rushed and cut that I recall, but it still conveyed most of it. I would’ve liked more Original Dragons screentime the way Kaya and Hiryuu (in a lesser degree than Kaya, but still had awesome stuff going on) were subtly expanded. The drinking game without the rest knowing was bittersweet. But anyway, shipping wise I think we KaZe fans were blessed with an improved retelling of their story, with more personality for Kaya, more emotion for Zeno, and cute domesticity all around. I’m extremely in love with my ~10 minutes of animated OTP and I’m all for bringing anime-only canon as manga fanon, personally.

Credit to Happy Hungry Subs for their translations!