#essentially after each arc i jump to the ones i am the most excited about

[thisworldisablackhole]

Hyperion, by Dan Simmons - 4/5

Long time no see. I have been extremely distracted by video games lately. Helldivers 2 has consumed the past few weeks of my life, and I also just decided to take another stab at Elden Ring, so this book took me much longer than usual to get through

Hyperion's format of storytelling actually lends itself to longevity though, as it's essentially a collection of short stories. This worked out nicely for me because I didn't have to worry about forgetting any details after not touching the book for a few days in a row. To sum things up quickly, the stories are shared by a group of pilgrims who are travelling to the Time Tombs on Hyperion to request council with the Shrike; the mysterious Lord of Pain and/or bloodthirsty murderer who's intentions are unknown. All the citizens of the Web know is that the Shrike holds insurmountable power and secrets. That alone was enough to hook me in.

Each character takes turns sharing their backstory of why they decided to join this potentially fatal pilgrimage, and it is through these stories that the world of Dan Simmons' immense universe comes to life. Hyperion takes place in a distant future where Earth has been destroyed and humans have officially become an interstellar species. Almost every planet in the galaxy is not only inhabited, but connected by "farcaster" portals (a technology passed down to humans via the AI conduit) which makes access to these planets almost instantaneous. These planets are part of the "World Web", which is governed by the Hegemony (because of course the entire universe is going to be ruled by one totalitarian government). Hyperion is the only planet that sits outside of the Web, and it's incorporation into the Hegemony is highly debated due to the absolutely violent, maniacal God that roams it's plains.

Time is a very important aspect of this book. Not only are the Time Tombs themselves very central to the plot, but there is also the problem of time debt. To put it simply, people who often travel in space ships at a speed faster than light experience less time than those who don't. 9 months of space travel for one person could be 10 years of local time for their family back home. This makes the universe quite unique, because as citizens of the Web experience time at different speeds, the cultures and technologies of past and future begin to bleed together. The result is a book where the exact time period is really hard to pin down. Descriptions of 19th century peasants are contrasted by space ships and laser guns, and it gives the whole book a really special vibe that is equal parts confusing and exciting.

If I have one gripe with this book, it's with the inconsistency of the writing itself. Hyperion often shifts in and out of sci fi genius in one moment, and then eye roll inducing space opera pig fodder in the next. Some of the pilgrim's stories are really imaginative and unique, and then others read like something I would have written when I was 12. I don't fault Simmons for letting his inner child run rampant throughout the novel, but some of the romance and power fantasy action scenes were just a bit too shallow. Regardless, the world building is so fun that even the most shallow stories climax with intriguing information and a foreboding twist that will engage you further in the plot and make you feel more connected to the individual characters.

Overall I'd say this is an essential read simply due to the innovative ideas and masterful storytelling. It's genius is sometimes bogged down by adolescent fantasies, but it's not enough to detract from the central plot, which is definitely meaty enough on it's own to keep you engaged. From what I've been told, the second book doesn't follow the same format of storytelling, so I am really excited to jump into it. As much as I enjoyed getting to know the characters through their individual sub plots, I am looking forward to a more straight forward story arc. I must find out more about the Shrike.

[pencilofawesomeness]

Hi!

I'm sort of wondering when FT members will learn more about the dragon family's history, and who in particular will learn about it.

I mean, Mirajane finally guessed that Natsu is a demon, and while I doubt Natsu will explain everything to her (given that it would imply revealing secrets that are not only his own), I'm actually not even sure he will mention being an etherious specifically, but if he does, I rather doubt he will disclose what his true relationship with Zeref is (since it would be hard to do either of those things without explaining the whole time travel thing or at least that Zeref is immortal, though I guess he can asks Mirajane not to question that part, but more than that there's a significant difference between being created by a "bad guy" and being related to a "bad guy", so I'm not sure he'll trust Mirajane with that information.)

Anyway my point is : he might not tell Mirajane everything, but the fact that she found out but did not hate him might actually change things for him. What's more, hearing about the part where Erza, Jellal, Lucy and GRAY of all people, made friends with a village of demons might also quell some fears. (As long as he doesn't hear about the Deliora part of the story or that it doesn't affect him too much, that he understand Deliora was hated (and frozen to death) because he was destructive and killed people (including Gray's parents), not just because he was an etherious).

So I wonder if Natsu will start being more open about the fact that he's part demon, at least with the guildmates he's closest to. I mean, sure Acnologia told him it might be better to keep it quiet but a) he meant that in a general context, b) he barely knew let alone trusted the guild and its members at the time.

Speaking of which, I'm also thinking about the dragon's families other secrets, namely their origin, Acnologia's past and their connection with Zeref.

For now, I believe that except for the Exceeds and the dragons slayers plus Anna, no one has the whole story? Lisanna maybe? She knew most of it, I'm just not sure if she was ever told why they were sent in the future (in other words, what Acnologia did).

Other than that, the people closest to them would be Mystgoan, team Thunderstorm, team Shadow Gear and Jellal & Erza. It was pretty clear in the 24 hours race one-shot that Jellal and Erza knew next to nothing, basically they're just friends with Erik and they learnt about dragon slaying magic in passing. Regarding team Shadow Gears, I'm not even convinced Jet and Droy know of the dragonlings' dragon slaying magic, so I doubt they know anything else. Levy does know Acnologia is a dragon (and I must say I'm curious as to how that happened), but I'm really not sure about the rest, I would guess she might know about the time travel, but not Acnologia's past or Zeref. Thunderstorm is probably pretty much unaware of everything - I'm actually not even 100% sure Laxus knows about Zeref. Though with the summer camp thing he would have found out about Natsu, so... Mystgoan I'm really not sure about, but I also don't think he knows anything, if only because he's always too busy with other things.

I'm really curious to see if any of them will be told more in a near future. Or someone else entirely, Lucy for instance. Or if the revelations will always happen accidentally, on the battlefield, through another person, etc.

I'm fondly imagining Erik reassuring Natsu that Erza and/or Jellal wouldn't hold his being a demon against him, nor his being Zeref's brother, nor his loving him still, nor even his not (completely) believing Zeref is a bad person, as long as Natsu explained why he believes that. Because Erik does know enough about them (and the past they share) to know they wouldn't care, would still trust him and care for him all the same. I can even imagine Erik supporting Natsu telling Gray or Lucy about his being a demon, if Erik heard about their demon friends of Galuna Island. (Maybe not the Zeref part though. A bit too risky I'd say.)

I'm really found of secrets and reveals, of the hurt and comfort and the drama. I really look forward to pasts being revealed, be it by choice or due to old enemies (or friends) coming back to haunt the Fairies.

Ah yes this is an excellent question anon. Especially since I know I've been bad/vague on establishing who-knows-what since I've been hitting major events and then going back and filling in details at random times, both because of my flighty mind, and because I've been toeing around some things until I committed. Like this one.

Nevertheless, there are people who know, and over the course of the series, more people will find out in-story. Especially once we hit major group-fests like the Tenrou and GMG arcs.

Their squirreliness and awkward relationship with secrets is certainly something to be addressed. Really, it's like this with the majority of Fairy Tail, and it's a theme I am absolutely fascinated by: FT parades around as a "family," and they trust and love each other, but very few people in the guild are comfortable trusting each other with emotional hurt. Which is to say, the fact that FT is a fresh start for people is an amazing thing, but the focus on moving forward sometimes causes things not to be addressed. Erza would never have told anyone about the Tower on her own; Cana won't tell Gildarts he's her dad; the dragon slayers don't want to bring up their time displacement and quasi-dead parents; Gray didn't want to tell anyone about his and Ur's last conversation; Mirajane didn't want to be anything reminiscent of her younger, scared self. The dragons have created a sort of microcosm of emotional vulnerability within Fairy Tail, mostly by accident and the nature of shared secrets, but that doesn't extend to all of the guild. It's a question of whether it should, or by how much; of where to draw the line between lingering in the past and letting it drag you down unwittingly; of what makes family, and what that really means.

I ramble, but I say that all to say that it's a theme I want to try to intersperse and play with as the series progresses. So to answer your question: yes, secrets will be spilled and/or shared willingly. More people will find out more information. Like with Mirajane in this arc, because Natsu—despite having the most secrets—is a very trusting individual once it starts to unravel. (Almost like secrets can take a toll on the mind: what a concept.) So, without giving away everything, I will say that Mirajane will learn quite a bit by the end of their adventure.

As for who knows, there's actually a handful of people who know a lot, maybe save a detail or two. It's been mentioned a few times (I think, like with Acno's retrospection in bringing in Erik) that once somebody starts being at the house all of the time, secrets go out the window. The fun thing about that bunch is that while they have a ton of secrets, personality-wise, they're not very secretive. That's why the go-to response is avoidance 80% of the time. So Lisanna, Levy, Mystogan, Laxus, and Bickslow know pretty much everything, from a combination of being told things and exposure from always being around. (Lisanna got told everything out the gate by Natsu, since secrets are like his least-favorite thing, and then she was around when other stuff was discovered. Similarly for Levy, Mystogan, and Laxus. Bickslow found some things by accident and then the rest through him being surprisingly chill with everything; I have a side story that I think I referenced in another one that I've been wanting to write that focuses on Bickslow and Lisanna having to figure out soul magic because they're all confused af, but I haven't gotten to that one yet so I understand that nobody knows of what exists in my head, lol.)

It trickles down from there. Erza and Jellal know about what Erik went through, and they know about some dragon slayer magic stuff, but not any of the backstory. (Mostly because Erza didn’t think to question anything, and Jellal was too awkward too, hence the 24-Hour-Race stuff.) Same with Freed and Evergreen. Jet and Droy know a bit more, including about some of the time travel stuff, but nothing in regards to Natsu or Zeref or the Acno-is-an-actual-dragon thing.

With more to come, as I said. Because yeah, as things progress—like with the Galuna peeps figuring out more—it will start coming up slowly. It’s gonna be a lot of fun, that’s for sure. I, too, love all the revealing secrets tropes. >:)

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 5x02-- Once there was a court...

Season five is off to a great start. I’m feeling more energized about TGF than I have in ages, maybe since the beginning of season three. After the mostly standalone premiere, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the rest of the season. Episode two introduced a lot of new elements that I’m intrigued by and excited about, so here’s hoping the rest of the season can sustain that energy. (Many) more thoughts under the cut.

And, again, since the most consistent thing about Tumblr is its inability to roll out new features that are actually helpful, here is a link to view the post so you don’t have to read it all on your dash. (Omg, Tumblr, not only do you force people to keep reading on their dashes but you also jump down to the middle of the post when the full version opens? Do you have ANYONE beta test these features?)

Reddick/Lockhart is bustling when the episode opens. The fact they’re calling it Reddick/Lockhart seems like an indication that Liz chose to partner with Diane—it's not. The firm just needs a name, and it can’t have Boseman in it. (The signage still says RBL... for now.)

Everyone in reception is talking animatedly, except for Carmen Moyo, who’s just taking it all in. You might be tempted to read her as nervous. You would be very, very wrong. But we don’t know that now. Right now, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume she’s Maia 2.0. This scene strongly parallels Maia’s first day at the firm (opening with the reception saying “Good morning” and the firm name, then showing new associates waiting for an orientation by David Lee). And in that scene, Maia is absolutely nervous, like you’d expect a new hire might be.  

Carmen focuses on another associate’s hand. I assume this is meant to be a parallel to how Maia fidgets with her rosary ring in that initial scene. Carmen then peels a price tag off her portfolio—possibly another Maia parallel, since the portfolio Diane gives Maia is such an important symbol in Maia’s arc.

I also see shades of Alicia and her first scene here—Alicia's silent and focuses on small details (the thread on Peter’s jacket) too.  

I don’t say any of this in hopes of comparing Carmen directly to either of those characters. Carmen is not like any other character this show has had before. But these parallels are quite good at establishing character, building intrigue, and showing contrast (even if you don’t see them as parallels, we’re still getting a lot about Carmen just from watching her reactions, even if we don’t yet have the context to understand how to read Carmen). Since I’m now thinking about Maia and Alicia, I’m also now thinking about how Carmen is different from them and triangulating her spot in this universe—that's a good thing. She’s not a copy of either character, but I understand a little more about what the writers are telling me about her from the parallels.

The RBL sign in the background is being taken off the wall. It falls and adds even more chaos to reception.

David Lee walks in and screams, “Stand up! Those seats are for clients.” This is the exact same language he uses in the 1x01 scene; this is definitely an intentional parallel.  

Btw Carmen already has more personality than Maia and she’s been in one episode so far! I didn’t hate 1x01 Maia, but I will say that nearly everything that intrigued me about early Maia was that I could project more about Alicia (whom I, obviously, care a lot about) onto her. I can and will compare Carmen to Alicia, but when I do, it won’t be because Carmen is an interesting lens through which to analyze Alicia... it will be because Alicia is interesting precedent to use to understand Carmen.  

I still hate Maia, yep.

David Lee accidentally instructs a client to stand and then has to save face, heh.  

In David’s tour of the office, we see the partners squabbling. Sounds about right. And STR Laurie is still a thing, which explains why David is there (though not why he is giving a tour).  

Throughout the tour, we get a lot of shots of Carmen. Again, she’s silent and looks like she could be nervous. (Spoiler: this is a fakeout and when you rewatch this scene, you can see what new cast member Charmaine Bingwa is doing here—expertly putting on a face that looks like anxiety in one context, but is actually just Carmen calmly sizing things up.)

Marissa eagerly joins the tour. “That’s right. They’re letting you play lawyer, Marissa. How nice,” David says. Carmen takes this in, too. “Fucking prick,” Marissa mutters. Carmen hears.

David Lee introduces “someone from HR” which is a great sign that HR is very effective at this firm.  

In the conference room, the partners are still arguing about who should replace Adrian. Diane tries the “all options are open to us and we plan to decide in the next 48 hours” strategy, but this audience is too smart for that. Madeline asks about the new leadership structure. (I am kind of hoping that one nice side effect of having to kind of shoot the season in a COVID bubble will be that we’ll get more small recurring characters. Madeline’s been around for a little while but we’re already seeing her get to do more this year.)

“Diane and I are going to run the firm together. For now,” Liz says. Oh, no, Liz, do not open the door to change. Letting the partners know you’re not sure is probably the worst strategy. You’ve gotta decide or they’ll sense weakness.  

“Just the two of you? A black firm being run by a white woman?” a partner asks. “Well, I’m not running it alone. I’m here to assist Liz,” Diane says, trying to deflect. “Really? Because she needs assistance?” he counters. Diane doesn’t know what to say, but she and Liz both know these questions aren’t going to go away.

HR is running an orientation for the new hires and it involves having them all take pieces of toilet paper. Man, I hate ice breakers. Carmen takes a moderate amount and then passes it to Marissa, who takes only one square. Carmen notes this and makes eye contact with Marissa. And this is where it starts to become obvious that Carmen is not nervous—just observant and not chatty. Carmen knows Marissa is one to watch from how David reacted to her presence. She gives Marissa a look that’s meant to be noticed and start a conversation. It works, and Marissa explains that for each square you take, you have to share a fact about yourself. Carmen hates this and hides the rest of the toilet paper so she only has one square.  

Liz tries to say there will be a discussion about the partnership, and Daniel (that’s what the captions call him, though they do reference him as “Barry” at one point but I'm like 99% sure I know which actor is Barry and it’s not him) says it feels like they’re just being told what the new state of things is. Liz says she hears him but right now they need a senior associate to backfill Lucca.

Daniel doesn’t think they need one. I don’t get why, unless it has to do with the budget cuts.  

“We need someone with real experience to take on her caseload,” Liz notes. Hell yeah you do!

Liz asks if any of the partners want to take over family law. None do.  

After the meeting, Liz asks Diane if she can call a head hunter. Diane approves. David Lee pops up to ask which one of them is taking Boseman’s office and they haven’t discussed it yet. I love that they managed to order a sign with their names on it before they’ve talked about how being partners will actually work.  

(Also, Adrian’s office is quite obviously going to end up with Liz. And it would be weird if it were Diane, anyway, because it’s Diane’s old office from Lockhart/Gardner and it would look it if she sat there again lol)

David notes that an empty corner office looks like failure. He is correct. He gives them until Friday to decide.

Marissa does not like the ice breaker at all and pointedly notes she only has one secret, and it is that she used to be married to a mime. She makes a whole bit out of it and then whispers to Carmen, “I usually just make things up.”  

Carmen’s next and she finally gets to speak her first words of the series. You know who else didn’t speak at all in her first scene? Alicia Florrick. Very different scenes, but I can’t help but think this is intentional. From what I’ve seen of Carmen, both she and Alicia use silence strategically and are comfortable with quiet. Alicia’s first scene is silent because she doesn’t need to use words to be expressive, but it does establish that she’s going to be a character with a lot of internal thoughts she won’t vocalize and that she’s observant and tries to maintain composure. Sure, you can watch the first scene of Pilot and just see a woman who’s stunned into silence, but when you watch it knowing Alicia and realize how much of the essential parts of her character are in her totally silent intro sequence that kicks off the show... it’s kind of amazing.

So comparing Carmen’s introduction to that? I mean this as a huge compliment. Carmen deploys silence for reasons both similar and different to Alicia. While Alicia uses silence to maintain some kind of boundary between her inner thoughts and the outside world, Carmen uses it to get a chance to observe and take things in without showing her cards. (We do see Alicia do that as well, especially at work, but I would call this a side-effect of Alicia being a quiet person rather than her intention; Carmen seems to be more conscious of how she uses her silence.)  

Carmen is from Victorville, California. That means nothing to me but I’m sure there’s some significance. Carmen mimics Marissa’s response when asked for her secrets—she also responds with, “secret,” emphasizing she only has one. But what she says next also shows her in contrast to Marissa. She says her secret is she hates games. We already know so much about her and she’s said like ten words!  

I think it’s smart to set Carmen up as a contrast to other characters. I know who Carmen is not because of how she differs from more familiar presences like Alicia, Maia, and Marissa. Marissa hates ice breakers, but her reaction to them is to use them as an opportunity to say something funny and over the top. Many others (including probably both Alicia and Maia) would likely resent the activity but play along and say something unremarkable (I could see Alicia overthinking it and sharing something surprisingly quirky though!). Carmen just does not give a fuck, and in a different way than Marissa doesn’t give a fuck. Marissa insinuates that she thinks the whole activity is stupid... Carmen just flat out says it. I would not pull this move on my first day of a new job! And that is the point—who is this person who is so self-assured she’s willing to insult HR on her very first day of her very first job as a lawyer?  

ALL OF THIS FROM A FEW WORDS AND SOME WELL-ACTED GLANCES! As I said, I’m very intrigued by Carmen. I have some questions about the logistics of this plot, her endgame, and how she’ll function when brought into the firm drama/debate plots, but for now, I only have good things to say.  

Liz interrupts the ice breaker to announce that everyone will be assigned a mentor. She then pauses to greet Marissa, which Carmen, again, notices. Liz is really there to say that they’ll be working on client maintenance that day, and each new hire will get to help with one of their clients. When she reads off their top clients, all the hands shoot up—except Carmen’s.

Madeline’s last name is Gilford. Noted. John’s last name is Wilson.  

No one raises their hand to assist with Oscar Rivi, who is in a maximum-security prison. Carmen confidently raises her hand.  

Barry’s last name is Poe. Noted.

Marissa and Carmen exchange glances. Super curious to see how this evolves. There are too many Marissa/Carmen exchanges in this episode for the writers to not plan to have them interact more in the future.

I’m kind of loving that it seems like the show’s leads are now Diane, Liz, Marissa, and Carmen. Diane’s obviously great, Liz is someone who’s been deserving of leading material for ages, Carmen seems interesting, and I’m so impressed they have managed to make Marissa, usually good in small doses, into a character who can handle larger plots without wearing on my patience (like that awful Elsbeth centric episode of Wife).  

Diane has a client who received a summons directly, which Diane finds strange. But, since she is already working with this client on the same case (teaching kids during COVID) in another court, Diane is optimistic about this second suit. She thinks it could set a good precedent.  

Diane introduces Phoebe, an associate who will help out on the case. Diane says she’s not personally going because it’s a formality and Diane needs to work on the brief. I’m like 99% sure Diane isn’t personally going because Diane’s role here is to convince the client she’s getting senior-level attention while having junior people do the work, but nice story!  

Diane asks Marissa to go along with Phoebe. Marissa thinks she’s going to get to argue in court... Diane says no, Marissa gets to hand hold a client.  

Oscar Rivi is basically Lemond Bishop, which is the only explanation I have for why RL would represent him. And, you’ll recall, I didn’t understand why RL would represent Bishop either. But we’ll just have to go with it.  

(I think representing multiple drug lords is probably a bigger PR issue for RL than having a white partner! How come no one ever talks about this! Actually, new complaint: wasn’t Liz, who now has more power than before, the one who was most against representing Bishop?)  

(I guess it may make sense that she’d be more okay with this Rivi dude than Bishop. Whatever Rivi’s done, I don’t think he’s threatened Liz’s kid like Bishop did!)  

(Also, I’m fine with them switching it up and suddenly having this new drug kingpin. Mike Colter is obviously unavailable since he’s a lead on Evil, and I was tired of Bishop anyway. If the writers stop using Bishop and Sweeney as shorthands for corruption I will be very happy; I don’t think there’s much more mileage left there. Speaking of, Dylan Baker popped up in 2x02 of Evil!)  

“I don’t want you to be intimidated,” Barry tells Carmen as they arrive at Rivi’s prison. Carmen reads articles about Rivi on her phone, saying she’s taking notes. Barry tells Carmen to “sit, listen, leave.” But then he discovers his ID is expired (he didn’t get it renewed during the pandemic) and he can’t go visit Rivi as a result. Carmen says she’s fine alone—she'll sit, listen, leave. She’s calm and not at all cocky as she says it, and it really takes until she’s actually talking with Rivi to realize that she’s not (just?) a hypercompetent law school grad trying to impress. She doesn’t seem to care at all what people, no matter how powerful, think of her, as long as she’s able to find security of any sort. (Tbh, it is kind of amazing she doesn’t get fired in this episode.)  

(I’m getting ahead of myself but in Alicia’s first ep, she also changes up strategies on the partners. Alicia does it almost without realizing she’s gone against their wishes—she's just sure of the right strategy—and Carmen does it much more intentionally.)  

Marissa and Phoebe can’t locate Judge Wackner’s court. Marissa asks a security guard she’s friendly with (of course she is) for help. He says there’s no Judge Wackner there, and the security guard notices that it’s a summon for a “9 ¾ Circuit.” The guard laughs at the Harry Potter reference; Marissa is not amused. They leave the courthouse when Marissa spots a sign for “9 ¾". She follows the sighs down an alley. Phoebe wants nothing to do with this; Marissa and the client are intrigued. They end up in a store called Copy Coop and are directed to a warehouse.

In the warehouse, an argument is resolved through Rock, Paper, Scissors. Then it’s Marissa’s turn. She asks for a continuance just like she was supposed to, but she uses the wrong phrasing. Judge Wackner notices. That’s when Marissa notes she’s not a lawyer, and Wackner responds that he’s not a licensed judge. So it’s fine that Marissa isn’t a lawyer.  

Marissa tries to protest again that she’s not a lawyer, and Wackner basically tells her to proceed anyway. The client wants to stay, weird as this fake court seems.

Carmen reads with Rivi. She stares at him, getting him to speak first. His translator asks if there’s another lawyer with her; she just introduces herself. The translator does a terrible job of translating Rivi’s complaints, sharing very little of what Rivi said with Carmen.

Unsurprisingly (to me at least, because scenes like this ALWAYS have the twist where a character doesn’t let on that they speak the language until the exact right moment), Carmen speaks Spanish.

She lets Rivi know she speaks Spanish AND insults the translator in one go. Pretty big move. That gets Rivi’s attention and he kicks out the translator. He asks who she is and she repeats her name again (characters reacting like this will never not remind me of “Who are you?” “Kalinda.”).

Carmen notes that she’s just out of law school, explaining that’s why she’s eager to help. She doesn’t reveal that by mistake—she's using it to her advantage.  

Credits! As I predicted, things are blowing up again this week like normal. No more kittens and puppies. There’s a new couch that blows up in the credits. Wackner’s desk also makes it in. I can’t remember if the purses were in this position before; they might be new. All the exploding TVs show footage of January 6th (which I hear is going to be a major theme of the season, though it’s not heavily featured in this episode). And the zoomed in shot of the closet (that I’ve never really liked) is gone, as is the falling curtain!  

I still hate the font of the logo for this show. I also don’t understand why the show seems to have three logos—the one that’s the TGW logo but with “fight”, the one in the credits, and whatever the one they’ve come up with for this season’s marketing materials is. I like that they’re trying with the marketing of this season but I don’t get why the show has three logos.  

While I’m talking about the marketing, can we just talk about the “Goodbye Lucca” graphic the official social media account posted? It had a fucking crown drawn over her head like this is a 2013 Tumblr shitpost!!! Who are they targeting with this?! WHO ARE THEY MARKETING TO? DOES THIS WORK ON ANYONE??? It literally says, “Chi-Town” on it. I cringed so hard. Sometimes I feel like the marketing of this show is meant to cater to the people who would, like, watch the credits of last week’s episode and be like, “Yes! It IS all now puppies and kittens! Everything bad in the world has been resolved!”  

But hey, at least it’s better than the absolute trash they used to post for TGW. Remember when there’d be episodes about Alicia making career moves and they’d be like, “#TeamPeter or #TeamWill????”  

OR, OR OR OR, the fucking time they tried to crosspromote TGW and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show (yes) with a tweet that read, “All ‘Saint Alicia’ needs is a pair of wings&she practically turns into an Angel.” I... have no words.  

Hey, Caleb is back! I was not expecting them to actually wrap up his arc with Liz. I think I’m actually pretty thankful it’s ending like this—he comes back for what I assume is one last episode and I don’t actually have to deal with the Liz/Caleb plot. Apparently the writers were setting that up so they could do some plots about power dynamics and interracial couples and who is seen as having power. Caleb and Liz were going to have an encounter with the police, who were going to listen to Caleb instead of Liz even though this encounter would’ve taken place in Liz’s house and Liz is the name partner and Caleb the employee. Interesting enough, but anything boss/employee just squicks me out and I don’t need it around and Liz deserves better.

But I did like Caleb as a character, so I’m glad he gets an exit, unlike past characters who have just disappeared. (Remember Robyn Burdine? Or that time Taye Diggs was a major character for two seconds?)  

Liz was NOT expecting to see Caleb as a candidate for Lucca’s old role. Things are instantly awkward. I guess Caleb left STR Laurie?  

Diane immediately senses that things are awkward with Liz and Caleb. Caleb is very professional throughout all this. Diane gets an important call and leaves the room, so Caleb and Liz can chat privately.  

Caleb says he thought Liz was reaching out; Liz says she should’ve reached out but things ended abruptly. Love that Caleb checks that no one else is in the room with Liz before getting even more personal. He says they should just act like nothing ever happened between them and Liz asks if he can do that. “I’m the employee. Of course I can,” he says. This is why you don’t sleep with employees.  

He says he really does want the job and he liked the firm. Liz says she’ll talk to Diane. Caleb says if it doesn’t work out he’ll be fine.  

Phoebe tells Diane about 9 ¾ and Diane does not understand... at all. “If it has no power, and it doesn’t have jurisdiction, what does it have?” Diane wonders.  

A little more on the case: RL is representing a woman who taught a small group of students during the pandemic, and some parents are suing her for preaching socialism at the children.  

The woman suing did NOT like being called a Karen by her daughter or being compared to the family from Parasite. She wants a refund.  

Marissa objects and makes up her own grounds, realizing that since it’s not a real court, she can object for any reasons she wants—as long as they follow common sense.  

These scenes could so easily feel ridiculous, like a gag that goes on for too long. They do not. There’s just enough zany humor and theatrics to make the 9 ¾ court feel surreal. And, most helpfully, Wackner is a GREAT judge. He is engaged with the work and only concerned with the facts and arguments rather than politics. He’s tough but fair. He’s direct and he maintains control over his court. He’d be one of the best judges in a normal court. His sincerity is enough to make you wonder why courts DON’T operate like this. It’s easy to see why the characters are sold on this BS-free, rational, and effective system, even if it makes no sense that it would exist and it has no power. It’s simultaneously idealistic (if only things were resolved fairly) and threatening (how can something like this exist?! What does it mean that the real courts are so ineffective that there’s a need for something like this?! What happens if this goes beyond what are basically mediations for simple issues?).

This type of thought experiment is where TGF excels. I think they were going for something like this with Memo 618 (which hasn’t gone away!), but that arc always felt like it was on the verge of going off the rails. Mandy Patinkin’s performance and the writing for the 9 ¾ court already have me more invested in this than I was in Memo 618.  

Marissa tries yet again to wait for help to arrive, but Wackner insists that they keep things moving. She tries to stall and ends up referencing George Clooney. Wackner cuts through that, too—he hates speeches “unless I'm giving them, and even then I’m just trying to stall.” Then he holds up a sign that reads, “CUT THE SHIT” and the audience laughs. He says this isn’t the kind of court where you can just run out the clock. Kind of ridiculous that real court IS that kind of court, no? (And that’s why this is an effective device so far.) (I say so far because I have watched content from these writers for long enough to know that things that work in small doses or initially can go wildly off the rails.)  

Marissa changes strategies and does what she does best: she goes on instinct and adjusts her strategy as she goes. She eventually catches the woman accusing her client of teaching socialism in a lie about Parasite. It’s very Legally Blonde and very smart of Marissa. And I’m rather proud of myself for seeing what Marissa was doing (getting the woman to commit to a time frame and then baiting her to talk about a moment that proved the time frame fake) before she revealed what she was doing.  

Sarah Steele is so good in this scene. I love her smile when she realizes the woman took the bait, and that she reacts with “AHA!” instead of something more proper. This is pretty much the perfect court for Marissa.  

Diane and Jay arrive; are confused.  

Carmen leaves Rivi after quite a bit of time has passed, making Barry nervous. Carmen tells him very little and repeats that she sat, listened, and left. She told the translator to go fuck himself (almost in those words) so she’s gotta know that Barry will hear what happened from someone. She does not care. She lies to Barry like it’s nothing.  

Diane does not understand the 9 ¾ court, nor does she understand why a non-lawyer like Marissa is arguing. She does not understand why losing in this venue would matter or why a lawyer she knows (ha, I looked him up to see if he’d been on Wife or Fight before, and he has... as a totally different character!) is there.  

“Okay, I’m losing my mind. Look, this is not legal. We have got to get out of here,” Diane says. Toni, the client, wants to stay.

I don’t actually know the answer to this—would there be repercussions to someone who is a member of the bar participating in something like this? Everyone knows it’s not real or binding, so nothing is being misrepresented, but this FEELS illegal?  

Toni notes that a lot of people suing her are there watching, so walking out or losing would look bad. She also likes Judge Wackner because he is “better than the judges in real court.”

“Diane, what is real?” the client asks when Diane points out again that this court is fake. The client’s spent 8 months on this case in limbo, so this feels like reality to her. Fair point.  

Diane chats with the other lawyer and asks what he’s doing here. He says he’s getting paid—with business down and court dockets backlogged (how much would that affect a large firm that settles most cases out of court? I’m actually curious about this), it’s a good source of money.  

Diane realizes it’s basically arbitration. Then says she doesn’t understand anything anymore. The other lawyer replies, “Sure you do. That’s why this is throwing you. Welcome to 2021.” Yup.  

Diane goes with it. A former teacher is on the stand. He’s got a grudge and wants money, so he’s helping out. He tries to say something that is the most obvious hearsay ever... and Wackner has no problem with it. Marissa likes that.  

Wackner basically says he’s fine with hearsay because he can use his brain to figure out what’s real and what’s fake, just like we all do every day. Crosstalk is also allowed.  

Wackner also doesn’t allow for bullshit breaks where lawyers tell clients what to say, because he “likes the truths found in sudden utterances.” All his rules make a lot of sense. They are all also counter to every single sneaky legal strategy these characters tend to use.

Toni made a comment that she “couldn’t fall in love with anyone who voted for Trump.” That gives a point to the plaintiff. Diane notes that this belief is shared with most of the country, and Wackner asks her if she shares it. “I’m not the question,” Diane replies, because she definitely doesn’t want to talk about her husband who worked in the Trump administration.  

Wackner flat out tells Diane that Marissa should argue instead of her. “Marissa is not a lawyer,” Diane tries to say. “Well, I’m not a judge!” Wackner responds. And that’s it for the day.

Diane asks Jay for intel, and then we get one of the most effective Jay scenes in a while—he bonds with the Copy Coop security guard, who only has good things to say about Wackner. I like how the writers use COVID in this episode—they treat it like it’s recent past (fingers crossed) and reference it when it makes sense, like how the courts are backlogged, or this guard was laid off.  

The security guard notes that he thinks Wackner is building something good in his spare time. He also notes that Wackner is a big Grateful Dead fan.

Carmen takes it upon herself to visit someone else in prison to help Rivi. She points out they’re under surveillance and convinces this other dude to take the fall for Rivi so he can go free. It’s very smart. I assume this is all her own strategy, as we see her look up this other dude before she’s even met with Rivi, though it’s possible Rivi came up with some of it.  

There is something about Carmen’s demeanor when she deals with clients that is very Alicia-like in interesting ways. She’s very direct and unflappable in a way that people seem to take to (remember how all the creeps loved Alicia?), and she only shows emotion when she decides to. The similarities stop there. Carmen doesn’t seem remorseful or conflicted (Alicia always did). Sociopathic definitely isn’t the right word for her, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it didn’t cross my mind. Carmen knows that her clients are bad guys. That doesn’t trouble her. And she doesn’t try to take the easy way out—she does more than she needs to. I don’t know what she’s really trying to do here, but I suspect she does.  

Carmen is 28, just fyi.  

Liz gets a call from Charles Lester. Obviously, Lester now works for Rivi, because Rivi is New Bishop. (Usually I’m a bit against saying any character is the new version of an old one, like how Lucca was not the new Kalinda (even if she was brought in to bring new energy to the space Kalidna occupied) or how Carmen is not the new Lucca (same), but I’m pretty comfortable saying Rivi is New Bishop. He’s not the same personality, but he... is New Bishop.)  

Lester notes that Rivi only wants to meet with Carmen from now on. Liz does not understand this and she’s not thrilled with it. She notes that Carmen is a first year who has been there for two days, but she doesn’t want to lose Rivi’s business so she goes along with it. Was that Carmen’s endgame? Job security? Does she not care about the RL job and see a good opportunity to... just represent Rivi without a firm behind her? I can’t tell.

(This is where I could see this arc faltering. I get why Liz keeps Carmen on—she doesn’t want to lose the client—but I don’t really understand why Liz wants Rivi as a client. Losing Carmen who’s been there for two days and Rivi who she probably doesn’t want to represent seems like a fine outcome to me. And, beyond that, if Carmen doesn’t care about the firm and also doesn’t need them, what’s in it for her to stay? I don’t think she really cares that the firm would have more resources to use in defending Rivi. Like, why isn’t the outcome here just that Carmen teams up with Lester and leaves RL behind?)

Diane listens to the Grateful Dead and writes down lyrics she can use in court. Kurt gets home from work. Diane asks him if he thinks she should give up her name partnership since it’s a black firm. Kurt asks if she’s the best lawyer there. She says no, but she’s one of the best, and besides, it’s a bad look and she wants to do what’s right for the firm. “You and I disagree on so much. You obviously ask my opinion because you know that I will argue something you know you won’t,” Kurt says. This is a very good, and very accurate, response.

Diane keeps going, though. Kurt plays along and starts talking about identity politics. Diane starts debating back, ignoring that Kurt is not really wanting to play devil’s advocate. Kurt doesn’t give Diane an easy out and tells her she’s right—she should step aside. That’s not what she wanted to hear. Kurt laughs and then goes to take a shower.  

Liz is eyeing Adrian’s office when Carmen walks up. She’s invited Carmen to talk to her. She asks her how things are going. Carmen just wants to know if she did something wrong. Carmen says she likes the firm and it’s great to be out of the legal clinics.  

Liz shares the news that Rivi only wants Carmen going forward. Carmen is pleased and says that’s surprising... though she looks more pleased than surprised.  

Liz suggests maintaining a professional distance, to which Carmen replies “I’m very professional.” “Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Liz tries to backtrack. “Is the firm dissatisfied with my work?” Carmen asks bluntly. Liz says no. “It’s my intention to treat all my clients like humans. Even the ones who might be murderers, or definitely are murderers. And I think Mr. Rivi might be responding to that because it’s something that he hasn’t received at this firm previously,” Carmen notes. This is QUITE the tone to take with your boss.

One question I have—and this is mostly inspired by the recap at I think Vulture?-- is to what extent Carmen knows what she’s doing. It seems like a lot. I can’t tell how much Carmen knows vs how much Carmen THINKS she knows. She’s definitely smart, and I don’t think she is an idealist (when she says her intention is to treat her clients like humans, she means that’s her strategy), but she is young and new to the law and only out for herself, which makes her vulnerable.  

Liz does not take well to Carmen’s talk and notes she’s talking about her personal safety. Carmen thanks her and says she’d understand if Liz doesn’t want her on the case.

There is something a little unnerving about Carmen. She keeps saying things that are boldly inappropriate but masked by how professional and correct her arguments sound (like the line about treating clients like humans). And she has a way of gaining power over a conversation. Liz squirms way too much in that conversation and loses some of her control as a result.  

I just need to know more about her!!! The fact that I can’t understand her makes her immediately interesting.  

Diane and Liz interview Julius for Lucca’s position. They all know it would be a demotion for him, but they’re seriously considering it. I feel like this would look awful for the firm and they are going to handwave it anyway after a few lines about how bad it would look.  

Diane quotes the Grateful Dead in court and it works. The other lawyer tries to quote songs too... it does not work.  

Carmen gets Rivi a bunch of candy bars from the court vending machine so he can have a snack he enjoys. The security guard doesn’t want to let Rivi eat them, but Carmen is right that this is permissible. The guard smashes the bars in defeat. Carmen opens one for Rivi.  

It is a little distracting to see the main characters pretend that COVID is in the past when the extras have masks, but honestly, that’s kind of what life is like right now?

Carmen zones out a little in court—not sure if she just does that or if she is trying to look unfamiliar with the rules so people will go easy on her/have low expectations. I think it’s a combination of both, considering that we’ve seen her laser-focus on things elsewhere in the episode AND she tells the judge it is her first day in court.  

Court stuff happens; Carmen’s strategy works.  

The judge tries to give Carmen advice and a warning. Liz is also there, watching, which is good because I was shocked anyone would let Carmen do this unsupervised.  

Carmen is also kind of like if you removed all of Maia’s worst traits (her selfishness, her spoiled brat attitude, her sense of entitlement) and skipped right to her willingness to partner with Blum.

Liz and Carmen talk again, this time about the reputation of the firm. Liz notes that Carmen is clearly capable and reminds her sternly that she needs to conduct herself in a manner that does not put the firm at risk and that’s the only reminder she’s going to get. Carmen twirls a pen and stares at it instead of listening to Liz. She says she’s just listening like she’s perfectly innocent. It’s the right thing to say and, again, it’s SUPER UNNERVING.  

“Wow. You really don’t give a shit what people think about you, do you?” Liz says in frustration. “I’m here to do a good job for my clients,” Carmen notes. Is she??? Does she just not care who she’s representing and want to do a good job, and that’s her whole motivation?? I would find that interesting but I need more to believe it. She’s so perplexing.

(Again, I don’t really get why Liz hasn’t fired her, because if she and Carmen keep having these interactions, Liz IS going to end up ceding all of her power and looking weak. But maybe Liz is as intrigued as I am.)

Liz also tells Carmen she’s going to be her mentor. Carmen says thanks and that she respected Liz’s father. Liz does NOT take that well. Audra’s reaction—a mix of shock, irritation, and confusion—is perfect here. I think Carmen is trying to say that she respected Carl Reddick—but she has no such respect for Liz. (It could also be about the sexual harassment, but I don’t think that’s public knowledge.)  

I noticed earlier that the courtroom was #305 and was wondering why they chose that number (it’s similar to Courtroom 302, the book that inspired the bond court arc, which is why 305 stuck in my mind). I see now that the Copy Coop’s address is 305. Heh.  

Turns out that the woman suing Toni is someone who would break COVID protocol and be generally terrible. I’m shocked.

Wackner decides to skip closing arguments and rule. He sides with Toni.  

See, this is where this kind of thing is dangerous. Wackner is great and fair. But you can’t really replicate a system like this (though I also think this system would fail if replicated on too large of a scale; the reason it works is that everyone involved is buying into it and if it were to be corrupted no one would buy into it unless forced to—and if people are forced to buy into an extrajudicial system then that’s its own problem). What if some other judge were to just decide to skip closing arguments or decide suddenly a trial was over? That could be unfair in so many different ways.  

After the resolution of the case there’s clapping and even Diane is surprised at how reasonable the verdict was.

Wackner then insists that everyone shake hands because “the thing we all crave most is respect and acknowledgement.” They also have to say, “I respect and I love you.” And they do! And no one even seems that unhappy with it Marissa and Toni are super into it.

And, someone in the gallery wants to get Marissa’s number because she did such a good job. Yep, sounds about right.

Diane fills Liz in, and Liz can’t believe it. Liz wants to hire Wackner (jokingly). Then she says she wants Julius since they know and trust him. Diane’s good with that, but she also chooses this moment to playfully let on that she knows Liz slept with Caleb. We’ve seen Diane observe Liz’s reaction to Caleb/mentions of Caleb all episode, and I don’t think it’s coincidental that Diane brings this up now, and in a friendly way. Diane doesn’t need to bring it up. I don’t think Diane needs the answer. I think she just wants to throw Liz off without making it obvious that’s what she’s doing.

I really, really hate to say it, because my whole thing about this season is wanting to see Liz be a great manager, but I don’t... actually think... Liz is a great manager? She’s second-guessing herself far too much. She’s more thrown in this scene than Carmen, who has like two days of experience, is by anything she encounters. And worse, she doesn’t hide it when she’s thrown. I think Liz is very smart and capable, but this episode is a pretty good case for why she might not be able to manage alone.

I know I’ve said that I want to see Liz manage and think she’d be good at it. I still think she could be. But I’ve also tended to think that Liz is a good manager and Adrian talks down at her, and I’ve dismissed some of her less strategic ideas as the fault of the Adrian/Liz dynamic. But nothing in this episode seems out of character, so now I’m less sure. (And to be clear, Liz not being a great manager isn’t a problem with the show, it’s actually pretty interesting to me.)  

(Here are some of the things Liz has done in this episode alone that she needs to stop doing to be more effective: 1) Everything about her reaction to Caleb (and the fact she slept with him-- and yes I would, and did, say this about Will too so this is not a double standard!) 2) Not having a clear plan when meeting with the partners, even though she—and not Diane—is the one who is seen as having power. 3) Not being able to hold her own nearly as well as she should be able to with Carmen. I’m curious to see how the other partners hold up, and in fairness to Liz, I may be able to make this criticism of any character who doesn’t just immediately fire Carmen.)  

And, I say all of this now because Diane in this scene is SO smart and SO strategic. She mentions Caleb to disarm Liz, then casually notes that she thinks Liz should take the corner office since it’s a black firm.  

Liz isn’t sure if she should thank Diane for that (it is a little patronizing) but she does anyway.

Diane has another “last thing” to say, and it’s that she wants to bring on another partner, a black one. She wants to be in the discussion and to retain a name partner position. Liz says yes, as long as she has any power over the decision. This is a very smart move for Diane. It’s a compromise that’s to her benefit, and she makes the request of Liz at exactly the right time. I think Diane likes Liz as a person and wants to work with her, but she’s definitely buttering her up. This is kind of like an audition to show Liz that she should stick with Diane—Diane will be friendly with her! Diane won’t judge (but definitely knows about!) her indiscretions. Diane is reasonable and not power-hungry! Diane is understanding!  

(And again, to be clear, I don’t think Liz is falling for Diane’s trap or anything. If Diane is smart enough to plan all this out, Diane is absolutely someone you’d want to keep on as a name partner. It’s just that Diane showing how smart she is, is a pretty stark contrast to Liz getting disrespected by a first-year associate.)  

(And, because I feel like I'm being quite harsh on Liz, I don’t think Liz has handled the Carmen situation badly... yet. I just see signs that Carmen is able to shift the balance of power in her favor without really trying, and that Liz is getting flustered. I think Liz mentioning the mentorship is a way of Liz asserting power, and I think/hope that now that Liz knows the situation, she will try to regain control. And, I could very easily see this same plot happening but with Diane—it's just that there are a few other plots where Liz seems flustered in this episode alone, so it feels like a pattern. I’ll be looking out for more of this.)

Marissa and Carmen, both with large folders of casework, get in an elevator together. “So. I guess it begins,” Marissa says as the episode ends. I very much want to see more of Marissa and Carmen interacting. Mostly, I just want to see what Carmen does when she’s in situations that aren’t about representing a client or defending her work. I know what type of lawyer and employee she is, but who is she as a person?  

Wow, this might be the most I’ve written about characters on TGF—as opposed to plots—in quite a while. I think that’s what has me so excited about this season. Carmen is interesting as a character because she’s so unique (or, perhaps, because she feels so much like a part of this universe yet so little like any other character—that's why I keep trying to compare her to others and find out where to place her). The 9 ¾ court is interesting because Wackner is so grounded, because it challenges Diane’s sense of reality in a way that’s new and interesting (this whole series is about making reality seem like it’s shifting under your feet; this is a new take on a familiar theme), and because it is a great match for Marissa’s personality and will give her a lot of opportunities for growth. It seems like we’re heading for some interesting material with Diane and Kurt, and there’s been a little bit of a tense undercurrent in their interactions in these first two episodes—I truly can’t tell if it’s supposed to be part of their banter or if there are mounting frustrations; I think the former but could see it being the latter. And, as I’d hoped, Liz is getting a lot more material.  

[rukakikuchi]

LOONAverse timeline theory (REDUX!)

So... Yeah. This is something I’ve thought about doing for a while now. It’s been a little over a year now since I started getting into LOONA and analyzing the lore, and my views on the timeline have changed slightly.

Nothing major, but I still wanted to do an updated version of the timeline since now feels like a good point in doing so.

In the year since becoming an Orbit, I’ve used the theories of others as well as my own to get a better understanding of the story of the LOONAverse. This has led me to questioning and critiquing certain theories, and even going back and revising my previous views on the lore, and seeking out other interpretations to come to a new conclusion.

There are some theories from my old timeline analysis which I feel are outdated, since I no longer agree with certain points, and other elements which I want to bring more into question.

For those who may or may not know, I’m on the autism spectrum. And ever since I started listening to their music, LOONA has been one of my most recent special interests. I got hyperfixated on the story that was being presented, and I wanted to analyze all the pieces of the puzzle to get the bigger picture in my head.

With all that being said, let’s go ahead and get this started.

Part 1 - The [+ +] timeline

I think this is the part of the LOONAverse story we can get the clearest view on. This encompasses everything from pre-debut, starting with Heejin, all the way up to Hi High.

It was the first chapter, or the first major story arc of the LOONAverse. We were introduced to the characters of the 12 girls, the worlds they inhabited, their individual conflicts, and an established main goal: finding each other and breaking the loop, an enigmatic force that’s opposing them.

Here’s my breakdown of the timeline of events:

This isn’t a perfect charting of the timeline, since we can assume certain events overlap or run parallel with each other, or take place in a very close amount of time between each other.

Part 2 - The [X X] timeline

Just going to refer to this as the “new” timeline. I believe this is the current timeline we are in in the story, starting from “Butterfly”. This is where Go Won created a butterfly effect by going to Iceland, Haseul’s location, and changed events of the timeline.

For now, let’s assume that everything before love4eva/Let Me In still happens, since that is the point where Go Won changes the timeline. Here is what the new current timeline looks like:

Because of Go Won altering the timeline, the events after love4eva/Let Me In never happen and certain events that occur in the [+ +] timeline have been altered.

ViVi doesn’t meet ⅓ and is still an android, though she presumably had found a way to become human again by “Why Not”.

Yeojin doesn’t get lost in the endless forest.

Olivia no longer resents Yves since she was not abandoned. Her journey to loving herself begins anew through “So What” and “Why Not”.

Odd Eye Circle has yet to reunite. However, we see that Choerry was with Hyunjin in “So What”, and the girls are rediscovering the powers of Odd Eye Circle in “Why Not”.

Part 3 - Updated theories

This is where I want to bring up some previous points I made in my last timeline analysis and how they have changed.

No one killed ViVi

I am no longer sided with the theory that Olivia or any of the members were involved in ViVi's death. Instead, I think she could’ve become an android after an accident. (See my “How did ViVi become an android?” theory.)

Yves does not lure Yeojin into the forest

I think something else might’ve happened that caused Yeojin to wander off, but I have seen a theory that Yeojin was in Eden and the “frog prince” she saw was Yves. I don’t think this was the case, since they have also said that the frog prince represents Yeojin’s “boyfriend” in the LOONAverse, but it’s an interesting perspective nonetheless. (Check out fairypinch’s video on Youtube.) 

Side note: The “forest” that Yeojin has been described to be lost in has been referred to as the “endless forest” aka “the Moebius forest”.

I watched a video that was part of a “complete” lyrical analysis of LOONA’s discography (unfortunately, they’ve only done up to Olivia’s solo debut T T but it’s a very interesting watch regardless; the channel is Ross Kpop Stats.) and based on their theory, I think Yeojin could’ve heard a song calling to her and wandered into the forest.

Yves meets Choerry prime, not mirror Choerry

Mirror Choerry cannot come into Choerry prime’s world; however, she can still communicate with Choerry due to her Odd Eye powers connecting her to the mirror world.

I do still think, however, that Mirror Choerry did see Go Won, since she was upside-down and I previously theorized that what we saw in “One & Only” could be a dream. (See my dream interpretation analysis on Go Won’s MV.)

Olivia’s heart was not “swallowed”

I’ve begun to think that Jinsoul’s rap in “Egoist” might not be referring to her herself “swallowing” Olivia’s heart. It might be Jinsoul acting as shadow Olivia (as I’ve theorized Olivia has a split personality; link here). Regardless, there’s still some significance that they chose Jinsoul for the rap.

Also, she doesn’t wish for the other yyxy members’ hearts to merge with her. When we see her bite the apple in that same video, it is showing her finally decide to reject Eden and be free of it completely.

yyxy are not “one” as in they are literally one person; they are “one” as a unit and a part of LOONA as a whole.

No broken cassette tapes

Loominosity debunked the idea that ViVi’s tape case was cracked; it’s just tree branches behind ViVi. (Link here)

No diverging timelines either; The Carol 2.0 is just a cute holiday video with ViVi, Choerry, and Yves!

Everything from Butterfly to Why Not is one timeline

Essentially, Butterfly showed us the catalyst of LOONA’s “butterfly effect” to change the timeline. We see the result of that in “So What”, which has many parallels to “Hi High”, and “Why Not”.

I’m also beginning to theorize that Heejin actually jumped forward in time. She could’ve temporarily escaped the loop (as we see in the #1 teaser) and fell back into “So What”.

This also means that Go Won would retain her memories of the previous timeline, while everyone else has forgotten them.

I’ll admit, a lot of my old ideas felt like reaches since I was still learning about the lore. Now that I’ve spent time becoming more familiar with the group and their music, I think I’ve come to a clearer vision of the story.

So with all of that said, here is my new breakdown of the current storyline...

The LOONAverse started out as stable, but then something caused it to become unstable. This resulted in the universe becoming a Moebius strip, separating three worlds (Earth, Middle Earth, and Eden), and creating a time loop.

We don’t know when or how this happened; all we know is that the loop exists and it is a force that is preventing LOONA from reaching their goal.

At some point, Odd Eye Circle was formed with Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Hyunjin, and were given the powers of the Odd Eye.

In Eden, Yves finds and eats the forbidden fruit, where she’s given knowledge of her fate and of the loop. She decides to rebel and travels to Earth, where she meets ViVi.

Shortly after, however, ViVi gets in an accident, nearly dies, and is converted to an android, where her memories get messed up and she forgets Yves.

Hyunjin receives a mysterious bracelet from an unknown sender, and tries to search for answers. 

Odd Eye Circle finds the cherry that can send them to Earth. Jinsoul leaves one for Choerry, and when she eats it, she and Hyunjin switch places.

Jinsoul decides to go to Earth to look for Hyunjin, and meets Olivia Hye. She gets trapped on Earth and loses her powers and memories.

Heejin, a normal girl in Paris, is bored of her repetitive daily routine and wishes for her life to be filled with color. In search of some excitement, she decides to go travelling.

Two of Yves’ friends in Eden, Chuu and Go Won, decide to reject Eden and join in her plans to escape to Earth. They meet Kim Lip, who was searching for Jinsoul, and it’s revealed Go Won made the bracelet that was sent to Hyunjin.

Now, Hyunjin lives in Tokyo, with no memory of the Middle Earth or Odd Eye Circle. She meets Heejin and the two become friends. They both befriend Haseul and Yeojin, who are like sisters. ViVi meets Jinsoul in Hong Kong.

During Christmas time, Haseul finds Chuu when she first fell from Eden and wakes her up.

Haseul then has a dream where she finds and kills her doppelganger.

Yves, Chuu, and Go Won escape from Eden, leaving behind Olivia Hye, who feels resentment and anger for being abandoned.

ViVi meets Heejin, Hyunjin, and Haseul, and eventually becomes human. However, they learn Yeojin has wandered off into an “endless forest” and went missing, so they cast a spell of love to find her.

Olivia Hye falls to Earth, and learns to love herself and let go of her anger. She then meets Heejin after she went into the endless forest and learned about the loop. She convinces Olivia to join the others on Earth, and eats the forbidden fruit to be free of Eden.

Jinsoul regains her powers and memories, and Kim Lip senses Choerry and pursues her. They revitalize their powers during an eclipse and learn of the loop. 

Kim Lip helps Choerry find the mirrors where she awakens her powers, connects with the mirror world through her reflection (her shadow/mirror world counterpart), and learns of the loop. They reunite with Jinsoul to merge their moons and complete the Odd Eye Circle.

Choerry meets Yves when she first fell from Eden and helps her escape by meeting Go Won in her dreams and leaving the roses for them in the forest.

After all the girls gather together on Earth, they try to break free of the loop, but fail as the time loop resets.

In order to change the events of the timeline and break the loop, Go Won stays behind in Eden while Olivia takes her place. She then goes to the dreamworld/mirror world to stop Haseul from killing her doppelganger and changing her fate.

Due to Go Won’s butterfly effect, the timeline begins to change. Heejin temporarily breaks out of the loop before falling back in and chaos ensues. The girls start a rebellion in their efforts to break free. They see the moon burn and meteors fall to Earth.

After the chaos, the Odd Eye Circle members start to regain their powers, and the group holds a midnight festival in celebration for the rise of a new moon.

...

And there you have it! Like I said, this may not be perfect, there are definitely parts of the story I want to re-analyze, and I’m sure whenever LOONA make their next comeback, it’s going to lead to some very interesting developments.

But I also wanted to do this since some of my theories have changed. The LOONAverse is so fascinating because it can lend itself to so many different theories and viewpoints, that it even challenges the viewer’s own thoughts on the story.

I hope you guys found this interesting. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions as well! Have a good day and, as always...

Stan LOONA! 🌙✨

[forkanna]

[AO3] [WATTPAD]

WARNING: A little NSFW.

NOTE: Welcome to July! I went nearly a week with no internet, but I have returned and I intend to start jamming this fic through to the end. We're essentially entering the last "arc" of the story now and I hope you're all ready for it. Thank you for the reviews and continued readership, I appreciate that so much - especially when I'm taking forever to get this finished.

---------------------------------------------------

"Aww, c'mon, why am I the only one excited about this?"

The rest of the gang sort of shrugged noncommittally. None of them seemed to want to say aloud that the reason they couldn't summon the same level of anticipation as Yosuke was that they were still missing Narukami. Chie was staring down into her usual bowl of meat, stirring it distractedly.

"Not even you, Satonaka?!"

"Why me?!" she protested grumpily. "Like, single somebody else out, you jerk!"

Wilting in defeat, Yosuke leaned back against the railing around the school roof. "Ugh… you're all impossible."

"It's just Golden Week," Yukiko protested with a slight squirm. She wanted to be kind, to resist the temptation to pop Yosuke's little bubble of joy. But she also wanted to be realistic. "I agree, it would be wonderful to have a little vacation, but if we can't agree on where to go, and aren't that excited as a group…"

"Come on, we shouldn't have to give up that easy." Rise shrugged and hopped up from her seat. "Why don't we just do Okinawa? It's far enough that it's a vacation without being so crazy that all our time would be taken up by travel. I mean, unless we have to go all the way to Hawaii or something to have a good time."

The floppy-haired boy looked at her like she was the coming Messiah, drifting down from upon high to bless him with her presence. "Bless you. Absolutely bless you for saving me! I could kiss you!"

When he started to approach, she held up a hand palm out. "Try it and I will be wearing your teeth as a necklace." As he deflated, she turned the charm back on and pressed her hands together on one side of her face, smiling a dazzling smile. "Okinawa it is! We just need an adult to accompany us, or we're gonna get hassled a lot."

"Hmm, good point," Naoto said. Then the group as one looked toward the unsuspecting Kanji.

"Huh? Wha- I'm younger than most of you guys!"

"Yeah, but you look older," Chie pointed out with a thoughtful expression, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Do you think we could pull it off?"

While the taller boy was very clearly fuming that they thought of him as an old man, Yosuke put his fists firmly on his hips. "Yeah! I'm liking this! Next stop, the island of Okinawa!"

                                                        ~ o ~

Of course, even though at that time Rise was overjoyed, there would be complications. And one of these was pointed out to her by Ebihara after school, when they were stopping off at the Shiroku store just to take a poke around.

"Why didn't you suggest everybody go see Narukami?"

Rise stopped dead with her hand halfway reaching toward a candy bar. "Oh… I… wow, that is a really good point."

"As if I make any other kind," Ai scoffed with a half-smirk. "But yeah… probably a little late now, since you have everybody amped up to go to Okinawa. But hey, there's always summer vacation."

"Yeah, that's true… but I feel incredibly stupid. Seriously, why didn't I think of him first? We all miss him… me most of all, since he's my boyfriend."

The taller girl rolled her eyes as she picked up a bottle of green tea. "Are we going back to that? You can't do anything about it publicly right now, anyway — since the entire world is convinced you're having a 'Class S fling' before you grow up."

The words hit her so hard she had to brace against the wall to keep from pitching over. "You saw that one, huh?"

"All over every tabloid. They really like that outdated way of thinking; like girls can't legitimately want to be with girls for their whole lives. To be honest, I'm a little shocked you aren't being hounded by paparazzi at this exact second. We don't exactly have a lot of LGBT idols."

"Yes, well… there aren't any pictures, so technically, it's just a bunch of gossip from teenage girls. Only had a handful of phone calls about it, and saying 'no comment' to all those seemed to actually stop them. Pretty weird."

"That's because you're all washed up, Kujikawa," she sighed, smirking hard at her. "Yesterday's news. Retired before your time."

"Stooop! Why are you so mean to me?!" She slapped her a few times on the arm, and Ai laughed and held it up to shield herself a little better.

"Kidding! God, take a joke, bitch. But for real… maybe the word isn't out about your comeback yet, so they don't think you're worth being headline news. It will get a lot bigger when you get a lot bigger again."

At least that was a less bleak spin on the situation. Rise smiled over at her as they paid for their odds and ends and headed out. "Fine. I just don't know what difference it makes to you where we go."

"Hey, maybe I want to see Okinawa just as bad as you. Why are you the one that gets to decide everything without my input?"

"Oh, don't be such a…" Then it caught up to her, and she turned with raised eyebrows to look at her girlfriend. "What?"

"You're the one who can't finish her thought. What what?"

"I didn't think you would want to come with us."

Ai scowled as they came to a stop in the middle of the main street, hands on her hips. "You really think you're going on a big Golden Week vacation and I won't want to go with my supposed romantic partner?"

"No, not… I didn't think you would want to go with them. After what happened."

"Mm. I mean, clearly they are complete morons. But… being with you trumps having to put up with their idiotic antics. Besides… you gotta."

Jutting out her chin, she said, "Hey! I don't 'gotta' do anything but stay cute and talented!" Ai only laughed, so she stamped her foot. "Don't you laugh at me!"

"Why not? You're adorable. And anyway, I meant because I'm your giiirlfriend, so how would it look if you showed up there without me? Or if the town spotted me wandering around this week while you're out there living it up. Face it, you really painted yourself into a corner this time, Kujikawa."

Still pouting, she muttered, "Fine, senpai. I guess you know best."

"I do," she replied, mussing her hair up. Rise slapped at her hands and she laughed, and eventually Rise couldn't help laughing as well. "Sorry, I know that's a pain in the ass to fix. But you're just too cute!"

"I am," she admitted with a sigh. "And you're right; I did this whole 'public relationship' thing to get you to listen to me, and it was a dirty trick. This is my punishment. I must accept it diligently."

"Who the hell are you supposed to be now? Wait, you know what? Don't tell me. Let me just believe you lost your goddamn mind." That one earned her a lot more smackings.

                                                        ~ o ~

Everything bumped along easily enough through to the following Saturday. The minute their classes let out, the whole gang was racing home to their already-packed bags, ditching their uniforms, and hopping the train to a bus, to the airport. It was a mess of changeovers and stress, but Naoto had mapped the perfect route that would limit their time spent travelling without costing them extra. Without her, they would have been sunk.

The trip itself took the entire rest of the day. By the time they dragged themselves into their rooms in the rustic inn, they were all ready to fall immediately into bed and be dead to the world for several hours so that the next day they could enjoy themselves. The problem was…

"Wait, where are our beds?!"

Yosuke wasn't wrong. The traditional-looking room most certainly didn't have beds at all. The boy pouted as he dropped his duffel bag and clutched at his hair, scanning every nook and cranny as if one would jump out at him from the shadows.

"This does seem to be very traditional," Yukiko pointed out, scanning the room again. She immediately crossed to the closet and yanked open one of the sliding doors. "Ah! Futon."

"Futon?! Aww, I thought they'd have Western beds! We're on vacation, for cryin' out loud!"

"Don't be such a baby," Chie sighed, stretching her limbs. "Feel more sorry for those of us who don't like sleeping with a bunch of nosy jerks so close to each other. Like you."

While he was pouting and grumbling, Rise glanced between her and the dutiful Yukiko, who was already laying out the futons for everyone without prompting. Falling into her usual job. Chie probably meant that she was upset she wouldn't get much "alone time" with her girlfriend while they were all lying on top of each other. That really was too bad; even if she had barely tasted true love with Narukami, and seen hints of it in a certain affluent team manager, she knew that being kept away from it would likely be as agonising as it sounded.

And speak of the devil…

"Sucks to be you guys."

They all turned at once, and Rise cringed when she noticed everybody else froze. So she tried to be quick about announcing, "Hey, Ebi-chan! You made it!"

"Thank you, Welcoming Committee Of One," she snorted as she glanced around at the rest of them. "And you guys, too. Really doing a great job of making me feel like this trip was worth it."

"You don't have to be here," Chie muttered.

"What's that? It almost sounded like you had something to say, Bowl Cut."

Said bowl cut almost seemed to bristle as Chie rolled up the sleeve of her green jacket and started to stomp over toward her. But Kanji grabbed her by the neckline to hold her back. "Can't you guys save it till tomorrow?" he yawned. "I'm beat."

"Please?" Rise insisted. The tomboy looked like she wanted to protest, but she dropped back to fold her arms over her chest sulkily.

"Beautiful," Ai snorted. "I've just come to collect my property and then I'll head back to my room."

"What property is that?" Rise asked. When Ai pointed at her, she gulped and whispered, "Oh."

"I don't think that's very nice," Yukiko remarked with a slight frown.

Summoning a smile wasn't exactly easy when she was dealing with all those butterflies in her stomach, but Rise managed. "She's kidding, Yuki-chan. Thanks, though."

"Who says I was kidding? If you want me to keep playing along with this media circus, you're my bitch. Get used to it." Then she smirked at the others. "I promise to return her in good condition. Slightly used."

As they headed out, Rise bowing slightly and apologising, she overheard Chie muttering "The nerve of that guy" before the door shut behind them. Great.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yep."

"I'm really sorry. I tried to explain ab-"

"I don't give a shit what Bowl Cut thinks about me. They can all think I'm some drag queen if they want; there are worse things in the world. Like bigots."

"Y-yeah," she laughed nervously. "But I'm kinda hoping… we can all get along during this trip. Maybe they can even be better than-"

"Don't hold your breath."

"I will," she told her, a little frustrated with being cut off so many times. "I'll hold my breath until Golden Week is over if I want to, you aren't the boss of me. No matter what you just told them."

Finally, Ai turned to smirk at her as they walked along toward the other hotel room. She had flown ahead, given that she had access to more swift modes of transportation than the plebs; Rise could have done the same, but she wanted to hang with the group. "Oh, we'll see about that, bitch. But not tonight. Everybody's exhausted."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." However, she changed her tune quick when Rise turned on her heel and started walking back the way they came. "Wha- hey!" She jogged a couple of steps to catch up. "Where are you going?"

"Back to crowd into that shitty little room. It's better than being called your bitch every five seconds."

"Hey, whose fault is that? And do you really wanna have a public fight where the paparazzi can see us?"

"I don't even care. Maybe that would be for the best; then it's a public end to the public thing, and you can be an asshole to… to whoever you want, on your own time! So just leave me alone and go… to…"

The hand clamped onto her own gave her pause. The touch was firm but not rough; just enough to keep her from storming any further toward where her friends were getting ready for bed. When Rise didn't try pulling away, she caught up enough to place her other hand on Rise's shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Wow, you really are a jerk." Ai swallowed hard before continuing, "I'm sorry… for being so… ugh. This is a pain in the ass."

"Then I guess I'm not worth it to you."

"Wow, loaded statement much?" No response, so she pressed ahead, "I'm trying. Okay? I'm just a bitch by default, you know that — and you did some fucked shit to me. Let me work through it if you want to get anywhere."

Rise turned and buried her face in Ai's chest, nuzzling against the side of her neck. The taller girl's breath caught and held fast. "Just be nice to me. Try?"

"Rise…" After a second, her hand drifted up to press into her back, holding her there. "Come on. Let's go get some sleep."

"Yeah." They parted, turned to head for Ai's room… but weren't walking nearly as far apart this time. That was marked progress.

                                                        ~ o ~

The next morning was a lot more interesting than that evening. They were so dead tired that they only got about half their clothes off before crawling into the futons Ai had set up — right next to each other. Her rationale was that if anyone checked the suite, it would support their claim that they were a hot-and-heavy couple. Rise found it hard to argue with that.

However, waking up with a decent-sized boner digging into her hip was a fine hello.

'Oh GOD,' she squealed internally. 'This can't be happening! Ai is all horny and too asleep for me to be able to ask her to cut that out!' In fact, she had tried to dig her elbow into her side, just enough to rouse her; no luck. If she did more than that she was afraid of robbing her of her sleep, or waking her up in a bad mood that might persist for the remainder of the day. Or worse: waking her up and embarrassing her, which she didn't want to do, either.

Then again… she couldn't pretend some part of the reason she didn't wake her was interest. What was it like to touch her directly? Not just petting along it with one finger for half a second — or through underwear and a long t-shirt; she already knew what that felt like, given that she had been dealing with the sensation for about fifteen minutes by now.

The worst part was how her own body was reacting. At first, she was just nervous and maybe a little creeped out, even though her curiosity was always there. But by now… she felt her heart pounding, throat dry, and tingles in places she had rarely felt tingles before. All thanks to a rigid little monster hiding in her girlfriend's panties.

"Wakey-wakey, Ebi-chaaaan," she whispered to the figure slumbering against her side. She really did look so sweet there. So pretty… she wanted to kiss her again. But that wasn't okay! She was asleep. Even though she knew it was a relatively harmless thing to do, she still didn't feel quite right about it.

Maybe she should try to slide out from under her. Yes, that sounded like a much safer idea. Nobody would feel like they had been violated this way. So little by little, she began to inch away from her, keeping her eyes on Ai's flawless features…

"Nnnhh…"

"Hey!" Rise squeaked when the sleeping girl redoubled her grip on her. Shit! She bit her lip, trying to ignore how much closer to a certain area that firm presence was now. Could she find no relief from this personal hell?!

This was supposed to be Narukami. Oh, she had dreamed many times about waking up beside him, letting him see a glimpse of a sexy shoulder before she pulled her kimono on and went to get breakfast. Sometimes, he dragged her back to bed, began to ravage her with kisses. And sometimes…

Well, no, she didn't really imagine sex. That part wasn't as integral to her fantasies; she just wanted to enjoy the physical and emotional intimacy. The act itself might be fun but she wasn't as concerned with that. But from time to time, she did imagine Yu kissing all over her neck, or-

OH NO. Now she was even more tingly and right up against the thing that had instigated these tingles in the first place. This was getting bad! Ai was groaning a little from all the movement but not quite rousing from her slumber. So she was still stuck fast.

"Ebihara, please," she hissed, pushing at her shoulders slightly. The noises got louder. "Hey! Are you in there, somewhere?!"

"Mhhh?" she asked as her hips began to grind a little — and Rise could swear she was seeing stars. This was awakening her body for the first time and she was just starting to wish that this wouldn't stop. "Who… wha?"

When Ai's eyes slit open and she saw Rise was beneath her, she blinked a few times. Rise gulped and grimaced. Then the teen queen began to frown down at her pop star girlfriend as she struggled to come up with a proper greeting.

"Oh. I uh… good… morning?"

                                                                To Be Continued…

[fynslife]

Thoughts re Bryce x Hunt (HOEAB)

(spoilers, duh / also spoilers for TOG and ACOTAR)

TW: I do mention canonical abuse and drug use in passing

I recently finished Crescent City (HOEAB) after putting off reading it for a while given the numerous reviews about the heavy world-building in the first 300 pages or so. Safe to say I have some thoughts on the novel, namely that I think it’s the weakest of Sarah’s works when considered in the same vacuum as TOG and ACOTAR. I’ll probably do a full review at some point, but today I just wanted to say a bit about my thoughts on Bryce and Hunt as a couple, because I need to know if I’m the only one that feels this way lmao.

I think what’s bothered me most about the pairing of Bryce and Hunt aka Quinlar, is that I don’t really feel that Bryce had a choice in her relationship. Please hear me out. In their respective series, Aelin and Feyre both, in my opinion, have a good level of autonomy over their romantic choices, and I don’t feel that this is the case for Bryce. In TOG, Celaena/Aelin initially chooses between Dorian and Chaol, and then later finds love with Rowan. We see Aelin develop through her relationships, experience her perspectives and priorities change and therefore we as readers are happy with the choices she makes that eventually lead her away from Chaol, and to Rowan. Aelin grows as a person and realizes what she both needs and wants in a partner as the series progresses, which allows her to find and accept her mate. Throughout the series, Aelin has always had romantic options, so seeing her end up with Rowan feels natural and right, and comes after she has explored relationships that naturally dissolve on their own.

Similarly with Feyre in ACOTAR, while the situation is different in that Tamlin is abusive, Feyre still retains autonomy in her choice of romantic partner. Rhys doesn’t try to stop her being with Tamlin, he just works hard to give her the space to sort through her emotions and work out what she wants and needs on her own. When she does choose Rhys, we as readers know exactly why as we’ve seen their relationship blossom from her perspective, and so we support it! Feyre doesn’t choose Rhys because there are no other options – she chooses him because time and time again he has proven to be her match. Rhys earns Feyre’s love, and this is against the backdrop that Feyre is beautiful and desired by most Fae, so she really could have picked anyone!

In contrast, when I look at Bryce and Hunt I feel there’s a bit of a sticking point. At the start of HOEAB we’re presented with Connor, and throughout the novel we get insights into how Bryce feels/felt about him. Bryce’s thoughts essentially boil down to she knew they were going to end up together and she was happy and excited for that future. The only reason they hadn’t got together yet was because she wasn’t done with her party days and she was nervous about how strongly she felt for him, at least that’s how each Connor flash back read to me. It’s evident, in my opinion, that he was her mate. They knew it and so did everyone else. It was only a matter of timing, but they were unquestionably, inevitable. Bold of me to say, I know. So when Connor died (I had no idea that this was coming as I didn’t read the blurb beforehand) I was blindsided. I kept expecting him to come back somehow, as to me it was clear that he was the preferred romantic partner for Bryce. Cue Hunt’s entrance to the narrative.

If I sound a little bit salty now, it’s because I am! Hunt is introduced and it becomes clear that this is going to be Bryce’s new partner, based on that fact that aesthetically he fits the descriptor bracket of both Rhys and Rowan respectively. In my opinion, their romantic arc is a bit lazy. To link this back to what I’ve already said about TOG and ACOTAR, I feel that Bryce has essentially no choice now when choosing her partner. The relationships we saw her in before Connor died were marked as frivolous and meaningless, and her would-be boyfriend is then murdered before Sarah even tries to lift their relationship off the ground. This leaves Bryce with no significant former romantic relationships (unlike Aelin and Feyre) and really no other romantic pursuits as the book progresses. We are immediately supposed to jump aboard the Quinlar ship, even though we have no one else to root for. Hunt is (at this moment in time) Bryce’s only viable option for a romantic interest in the novel. 

Bryce doesn’t choose Hunt because he’s the best person in the line up, she chooses him because he’s the only person in the line up. Yes you can debate that once they’re friends this is a different case, but initially, and for a good portion of the novel, Hunt is the only viable male we see her interacting with with any sort of regularity. Does this not feel slightly Tamlin-esque to anyone else? Not in terms of abuse, as Hunt clearly does not display any abusive traits, but in the sense that when Feyre/Bryce are at their lowest, Tamlin/Hunt appear in the narrative, and provide them with the ‘love’ and support they both so desperately crave.

Now this isn’t to say that Bryce and Hunt don’t have some good moments, because they do! What bothers me, is that unlike Feyre and Aelin I don’t feel that Bryce has had the same space to choose her partner. I think Sarah knew that if she didn’t kill Connor right away, the Bryce x Connor ship would be too strong and wouldn’t leave the door ajar for Bryce x Hunt. I think she knew the only way she could’ve made Bryce x Hunt the preferred ship would be to completely torch Connor’s character in the second or third book, or to kill him off at a later point. I personally don’t feel that Bryce and Hunt would’ve ended up together, had Connor not been killed. I recognize that you could argue the murder is a necessary plot device, but I think it’s a lazy one! Killing off Connor is the easiest way to avoid having to resolve ship-conflict, or having to explore the idea of loving two people at once if that’s the route she wanted to take idk.

It’s possible SJM will bring Connor back in a later book, I noted that there are necromancers in this world so it’s not completely off the table I don’t think, but if she does I worry it’ll just be a throwaway plot line to solidify Bryce and Hunt.

As the novel is classified as an “Adult” read, I just wish that SJM had done more to explore grittier aspects of romance. Ie. the loving two people at once, dealing with grief and loss and seeking an equilibrium after that, or even just a more serious look at Bryce’s drug abuse?! There were so many opportunities that I feel got skipped over in favour of a hastily patched together romance (forged by trauma no less, yikes) and an at-times hard to follow murder investigation.

As I said at the start, I think HOEAB is the weakest of SJM’s books that I’ve read, which is disappointing, as we know she can do better. It’s also worth noting that I don’t hate Bryce and Hunt together, I just feel that Bryce lacked autonomy in her romantic choices because SJM quite literally killed off her only other option. I would’ve liked to have seen some deviation from the norm of love interest – I’m as much a fan of wings as the next person, but must all the key love interests be aesthetically the same just in different fonts? Could we not have run with the sexy werewolf just this once?

Anyway this was a bit of a ramble, but did anyone else feel like this? I have a lot of thoughts on the book but none of my friends have read it yet and I need to process with someone, so pls do hit me up xo

[drunklander]

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 511

Ok so this episode is like the perfect embodiment of my love/hate relationship with the books. And the show, but since the author wrote it, the books too, and her writing/plotting in general. I hated the other episode she wrote so my expectations going into this were *rull* low.

This episode was like a series of character-driven vignettes, which is what I like most about her writing (and why I bother even sticking around): random scenes here and there that I really enjoy as standalone bits. But, in true Outlander fashion, it also like ticked a lot of the boxes for stuff plot-wise that I can’t stand. Namely, yet more violence against multiple women, Marsali and Fergus getting shortchanged, Lord John crossing just over the creepy line for a sec with Jamie and the situation with Ulysses’ legal status. It didn’t check the rape box, but we may have to revisit that next week. I sure as fuck hope we don’t have to, but seeing as this show never met a rape it didn’t think was ToTaLlY nEcEsSaRy to include... *preemptive sigh*

Show-wise this very much felt like a penultimate episode and in that respect it accomplished what it was supposed to. In the overall arc of the season though, much like when considering the whole book series, a few solid standalone scenes here and there do not equal a good whole. To be in this fandom is to be an expert in eating around the moldy parts of the bread to get a few nibbles of good stuff.

Anywho, SCIENCE!JIZZ 5EVA!

Fuck yeah PB&J, and Claire is forgiven for not mastering fluff yet. But fluffernutters are also a staple in any growing kid’s diet.

Poor burned girl. It’s not her fault she vaguely resembles a walker so I spent the whole time thinking about TWD.

Omfg I got like PTSD flashbacks when I saw that dress in the title card. KILL THAT DRESS WITH FIRE!

There may not be fluffernutters, but Bree and Claire fluff and Young Ian and Jemmy fluff are good substitutes.

This kid is adorbs tho.

They’ve been really blasé about mentioning time travel in front of folks this season. First Marsali and now Young Ian. The latter will be remedied, but I’m still lowkey annoyed that Fergus and Marsali aren’t brought into the circle of trust... Esp. when there was a perfect opportunity for it later on.

I cannot with men, tbh. Seeking justice for a daughter who’s been “dishonored” by killing the dude is like the most overused trope of toxic masculinity ever. And now we’re supposed to be all like oh look how relatable the Brown guy is! Because our tropey men wanted to kill a dude like that last week! Hard pass. Also, fucking his kid wasn’t raped, she loves a guy who happens to be married, but everything was super consensual. Sooo like double gross points for you, dude.

And yes, I know it’s ThE pAsT, but I am not in the past, I am in the present, and the show is airing in the present, so thinking this sort of behavior is gross is totes ok. So the fucked up squad of randos who always jump into my notes about how they like “their men to be men” can just shove it, ok? Ok.

They’re like really not subtle with the foreshadowing this episode are they. But then again, when has subtlety ever been a thing on this show. That’s a nice still you got there, shame if anything were to happen to it...

I’m really digging the decor in this living room.

Oh hey! They finally decided to stop pretending like Young Ian was dumb and didn’t notice literally *gestures* everything about Claire.

I’m still salty they never told Jenny and Ian in S3 tbh.

Shockingly, considering who wrote it, so much of this episode is directly from the books. So I’m sure the Cult of Herself folks will be obsessed. And like yeah, some of the stuff in this episode is some of the bits I really like from the books as individual little scenes. However! I know some in the cult will use this as a reason why the show should StAy TrUe To ThE bOoKs more. And please, for the love of fuck, fight that instinct. Parts of this episode aren’t good “because they’re from the book,” they’re good because they’re emotional moments between characters, which is where both the books and the show are strongest. “Sticking with the book” on everything would make an already not great show even worse. I mean, the show ain’t great, but thank fuck they’ve streamlined the book stuff as much as they have.

Yes, I did notice the Pamela easter egg from the book. No, I’m not one who gets excited about shit like that.

Aaand here we get the problematic af bit about Ulysses and his legal status. In the book, he was offered freedom and turned it down to stay with Jocasta. Which is twelve kinds of fucked up. Here, he *is* a free man and he chooses to stay and cosplay an enslaved person so he can chill with Jocasta? FUCK THAT NOISE. That is some “benevolent slave owner” bullshit. They don’t get overt with the Ulysses and Jocasta are banging stuff from the book, which is also epically fucked up considering the power dynamic and how a fuckton of men enslaved their own fucking kids because they’d raped the mothers and children take the status of the mother. I’m glad they didn’t come right out and say that. But it’s like lowkey implied and even if it’s not supposed to be taken as canon, having a Black man be given the option to get the fuck out of there and choose to stay with someone who enslaves other Black people is like some dangerous white fanfic nonsense.

Also, thinking about the slave/master relationship dynamic today really makes me wish I saw Jeremy O. Harris’ play while it was running...

Oh yay, Bree and Roger are actually leaving. Much like the Bonnet shit, credit where credit’s due, I’m glad they’re not dragging the will they/won’t they go out for another season.

Don’t sound so butthurt that you didn’t get to murder a guy, Jamie.

Poor Young Ian. Buddy needs a hug. And more screentime for his story. Like, do we really need something else traumatic to happen to Claire when we could explore family dynamics instead? This time with Young Ian and his wife and their Mohawk family?

THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER WAYS TO HAVE DRAMA AND CONFLICT THAT CAN TAKE UP THE RUNNING TIME OF A SEASON THAT DON’T INVOLVE CONSTANTLY PUTTING THE WOMEN IN PHYSICAL DANGER.

Lol at the thought of LJG “working the land.” Like, buddy, have you seen yourself?

“No doubt there a great many things I shall miss about being here.” Don’t make it weird bro.

Yes, I know he’s like gonna miss their friendship and stuff. But he’s always been just a smidge too intense about it. And by a smidge I mean the gay guy openly in love with his straight best friend a gross trope and I don’t like it.

Ok so if we’re following the “rules” of the show that the production used to recite ad nauseam to justify why Jamie and Claire barely seemed to even like each other for a few seasons (”they’re married, we don’t need to see them fuck!” “we already know they love each other, it’s a given!”), this sex scene shouldn’t exist. Because it’s really not essential to the plot. Which just proves the “rules” are and always were bullshit excuses. And the author/writer of this episode def spouted that bullshit too, so she can also shove it.

Because this scene *should* exist and those “rules” *were* complete crap. Because Jamie and Claire are very sexual/physical people and, especially when they’re going through things, use sex to center themselves where they are and in their relationship. Bree and Roger are leaving. Jem’s leaving. They’re sad about that. But they’re also happy that they made a family and got to be together as a family and are glad to have had that chance. (And, they just like to fuck.) So of course this is a good character moment. This is the kind of shit we should be seeing instead of just a constant barrage of plot and violence. And the crew can fuck all they off with their not at all convincing talking points about “rules.”

Also this is a much better use of sex than them constantly having them fuck after a fight instead of actually working through the issue between them.

Also, fuck yeah, get it gurrrl.

SCIENCE!JIZZ! (I’m gonna need a gif of Claire’s face when Jamie’s figuring it out because that’s gonna be in heavy reaction rotation.

I just love Claire fuck yeah science Beauchamp.

It’s also another scene that does nothing to advance the plot, but is a nice respite from the constant trauma. The show has yet to find a balance between the two, which is annoying af because they’ve had five seasons to figure it out. So like whenever there is fluff, folks pounce on it like starving animals. Which some in the crew (and some fans) like to point out like “see, you all like everything now!” Or “look, why are you whining so much, we gave you this!” Or “wow you hate the show but now you like this part? Hypocrite.”

But like, no, that’s not what it means. Not giving someone water for days and then throwing them a small canteen doesn’t mean everything is hunky dory. It’s still super fucked up. So no, enjoying the fact that there are a few fluffy scenes in an episode doesn’t mean the show is good. If they made more of an effort to center the characters and spread the fluff around a bit more instead of waiting until there was like trauma fatigue and throwing in a fluffy life raft, the show as a whole would be stronger.

</rant>

Ok it’s super fucked up they hadn’t told Bree about Willie yet, but I’m glad Jamie is the one who tells her.

“And it wasn’t a matter of love between us, but it was her choice, and that’s all I’ll say about it.” BECAUSE SHE RAPED HIM. COERCION IS NOT CONSENT AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT HOW “HOT” THAT SCENE WAS ARE FUCKING DISGUSTING AND THE PRODUCTION IS DISGUSTING FOR SHOOTING A FUCKING RAPE IN THE MANNER THEY DID. AND ALSO FUCK THEM FOR HAVING IT BE A RAPE IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN IT COULD HAVE SO FUCKING EASILY BEEN CONSENSUAL.

This show is so fucking not good.

This scene with Jamie and Brianna is super nice, but like, we saw nothing of them building their relationship. He didn’t even fucking hug her after Murtagh died. The scene loses so much of what it could have had because they never did the legwork to show us what they mean to each other.

It’s the same old shit they pulled with Claire and Jamie. “Oh they’re together and endgame so we don’t actually need to show you them building and working on their relationship that much. Because you know they’re together so just go with it.” Like no? Fuck you? That’s not how this works?

FERGUS AND MARSALI DESERVE BETTER!

Of course Marsali’s preggo again. Why the fuck should she do anything but spit out babies. Also, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PERFECT TIME TO HAVE THE FRASER KIDS TALK ABOUT TIME TRAVEL.

And Bree’s become a sister to Marsali? We saw one fucking scene of them together. See above rant. Fucking show us them becoming sisters. Sorry to interrupt your constant stream of violence and trauma, but fucking actually SHOWING characters building relationships instead of TELLING us they did the thing is how this is fucking supposed to work.

I’m rull pissed we never got quality Fraser kid bonding, y’all.

And ditto with this scene with Lizzie. We saw more of Bree and Lizzie than Bree and Marsali, but like we never really saw them becoming friendly post Bree’s rape and Rogergate.

All the goodbyes are like making me feel inch deep feelings because they’re rooted in nothing we’ve actually seen. And I’m not a Bad Fan or dumb for not filling in the feelings myself. I’m the viewer. It’s not my job to fill in the show’s gaps. It’s the show’s job not to have emotional gaps.

Oh hey! Another shitty man who hurts his wife and another woman trapped in a physically abusive relationship who thinks the abuse is her fault! On Outlander? Who’da thunk they’d have something like this?!

I’m so tired, y’all. So. Fucking. Tired.

I HOPE YOUNG IAN FINDS HAPPINESS TOO, ROGER.

Ok but for real, every time Lord John talks about how Willie and Bree are like Jamie it has that gross tinge to it. Like I know he’s not meaning it like a creeper, but they leaned so fucking hard into him being so into and not over Jamie that the layer of grossness is always there.

Also like, grannie and grandda, we got like one scene of Claire and Jamie playing with Jem. WE COULD HAVE FELT SO MANY MORE FEELINGS ABOUT THEM BEING SEPARATED IF ONLY THEY HAD TAKEN THE TIME TO BUILD THE RELATIONSHIPS ON SCREEN.

Claire making everyone PB&Js is fucking adorable and I love her.

Old timey forks will never not be fucking weird looking.

“And now it’s just you and me again.” Uh, Fergus, Marsali and Young Ian might be a tad offended by that sentiment, Clairebear.

Ok but like do they really think a rope is gonna hold up to fucking magic time travel rocks? It’s gotta just be like a mental security blanket thing, right? Because if not, loooooooooool.

Ok but the really just let their kiddo run off like that in the middle of the magic time travel rock circle? Dumbasses.

Ok but like what’s the betting they ended up in like a RenFest type thing and think they haven’t traveled but they have and it’s like lol look at them fitting in with their old timey clothes vs. skipping them going back to the future and doing the going adventuring around the even past-er past part but with them all together instead of Roger and Buck?

I’m just hoping it’s something completely different than the books because I have zero interest in Bree and Roger in the 20th century and hate the Roger and Buck nonsense with a fiery passion.

Erm, that’s a little close to the house to build a privy, my dudes.

Is the setting a guy’s dislocated shoulder thing supposed to be a cute callback? Because like hey wink wink, first she was kidnapped and then set a shoulder and now she’s setting a shoulder and then getting kidnapped is kind of a fucked up “joke.”

But how about we get more of Nurse!Marsali and less of Marsali just being constantly preggo.

“Sort of like the opposite of what you do when ya joint a hog.” I JUST LOVE NURSE!MARSALI A LOT OK.

Aaand now that we’re all good and docile little fans who have been placated with some fluff and Fraser fucking as a treat, we can go back to the regularly scheduled violence against women. Because we literally just had a violent abduction last week. So clearly it’s time for another.

Everything in this story has been done before...

I swear to fuck, if they do the thing I think they’re gonna do next week, I hope they get rightfully dragged by fucking everyone.

And if by some fucking miracle of Caitriona putting her foot down they don’t do the thing next week, they get zero brownie points. You don’t get rewarded for doing what you should have done the whole time.

And of course the closing is Jamie lighting Flaming Dildo 2.0. His men swore oaths to him, not any government or crown, and protecting his family has always been the top thing for Jamie. So good choice there with saving Claire being the reason he calls up the men.

[rpgmgames]

May’s Featured Game: Cadeau

DEVELOPER(S): HALFWORLDstudios ENGINE: RPG Maker VX Ace GENRE: Horror, Fantasy, Puzzle WARNINGS: Blood, Mild Gore, Suicide Mentions, Death SUMMARY: Cadeau is an RPG Horror game about a lonely, yet stubborn, young woman named Charlotte-- who finds herself in a world unknown to man, wearing clothes that do not belong to her. Wonderful and tragic events are to follow suit, as all of her greatest wishes come true. However, as these things often go, her happiness does not come without consequence...

Play the beta here!

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! Macdev: Greetings and salutations. I'm Mac, writer, artist, and programmer for Cadeau, as well as the founder of Halfworld. I've loved Rpg games since I was about 10, and have been creating them since! Bruno: My name is Bruno and I'm the music composer. I got into game music approx 2 years ago and I've currently made music for a couple of games and other projects, and Cadeau was the first one of them. Aidan: I'm Aidan/kanteramcneil on Tumblr! I'm one of the voice actors, and I'm super excited to be able to follow Cadeau's progress! I've been in the RpgMaker community for a few years now and I adore being able to watch all the devs progress and grow Rindre: Hi I'm Rin! Currently, I'm on an indefinite hiatus, but Big Mac managed to catch me, chain me up to a chair, and make me say stuff about myself against my will. So... I make games, I guess. - Note from macdev: Erm, not true? These accusations are SLANDER and I will not stand for it. WariA: Hello! I’m WaraiA, one of the voice actors of Cadeau — A pleasure to meet you! I will be voicing the oh so mysterious ‘Your Admirer’, so please look forward to listening to my antics ☆〜（ゝ。∂） I am a Japanese/Chinese Australian born citizen, with a tendency to speak in an American accent. Any pronouns are fine for me My most notable role so far has been Harpae from Pocket Mirror, so some of you may be familiar with my voice already! Nothing much has changed — I enjoy cosplaying, role playing, drawing every once in a blue moon, Final Fantasy XIV, and most importantly, catboys (Nael, I’m coming for you, boy) As ‘Your Admirer’ is a rather elusive character, I cannot disclose much. But I do suggest always keeping one eye open throughout your journey

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Macdev: Cadeau is a game about a troubled young woman named Charlotte Émile-- who is a "tomboyish" and bold individual who has been unfortunately presented loneliness by a series of disastrous events. After giving up on companionship, she miraculously receives an affectionate letter from a mysterious person aliased as her "Admirer". This "Admirer" character beckons poor Charlotte to visit them at a mysterious well in the woods, and to come armed with nothing but a strange golden coin. From there, madness ensues. Our protagonist must learn of her past and the events that lead to her misfortune, all while becoming entangled in a family drama rooted in witchcraft, raging years before her unexpected arrival. It is a story about self-love, friendship, acceptance, magic, and all that corny-ness. Sounds fun, right? My initial inspiration was The Witches House. The game was originally meant to be simple, and maybe an hour or 45 minutes long. A simple story, and a straightforward 2-ending path.... How have we managed to get here from that?

How long did you work on your project? *Macdev: Two years, I believe! Its anniversary is April 8th. In the beginning, it was very off and on-- because I was having a difficult time with school and-- as I mention-- organization. So not a whole lot of progress was made then. I'm proud to say I've been chugging quite a bit faster than my previous pace!

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Macdev: My inspiration would probably lie in Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts, and Alice returns to madness. As for RPG games? The Witch's House, Havenfell, and Pocket Mirror. As well as many other beautiful artists and creators in the video game community. Overall, my biggest inspiration for this game has got to be the stop-motion movie: Coraline. I even reference the movie once or twice in Cadeau. The tone of Coraline, and the whimsical yet eerie people and creatures within it give me inspiration for this game. It was very much a favorite of mine when I was younger, and that still applies today!

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Macdev: The biggest problem I've run into has been a lack of structure. In the beginning, I hadn't even written out the story halfway. I was just pulling ideas from thin air, going back and forth, and deleting entire concepts-- only to bring them back and re-arrange them as I went. Characters weren't fully dished out; the game didn't even have an ending. This state of creating is fine, but not when you have other people expecting things from you. Thankfully, things are sailing much MUCH smoother than before.

Did any aspects of your project change over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Macdev: It's absolutely taken a turn from what it was originally! As I say, it was meant to be an extremely short game in the beginning, and now obviously that’s not the case. The goal for Cadeau now is: around 2-3 hours long in playtime, and full of many diverse character types! As well as a storyline that extends far more than face value. Which is in high contrast to the basic, short, immemorable experience that it was going to be.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Macdev: I do have a wonderful, beautiful, talented team working with me on Cadeau. - A composer! (Bruno Buglisi), - As well as voice actors! (WariA as Allete, Aiden/kanteramcneil as The Botanist, and Rindre (who I have definitely not kidnapped...) as The Maiden) I met everyone in the team through volunteer posts-- and I had never done that before-- but it worked very surprisingly well! We worked very quickly together, and we had a very mutual understanding of what each other wanted. It feels good to know I have such talented people helping this game come to fruition. I owe a whole lot to them for helping the game become what it is now.

What was the best part of developing the game? Macdev: Being able to make the world in your head interactable, for sure. Since I was 8, maybe even younger, I have loved writing stories and making art. Webcomics were my main thing as a kid, so story-telling is something I’ve always loved. So, the fact that I can turn my ideas into something someone can experience and interact with is a wonderful feeling. There's nothing more fulfilling, honestly!

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Macdev: Very often, actually! I try not to ride too close to the material I see in other games, but I do gain lots of inspiration from my fellow creators! One thing I am laser-focused on, though, is making Cadeau quite unique content-wise. I want it to have very interesting, uncommon puzzles and mechanics that you may not expect from this type of game-- or one of this engine. So far, I think I've achieved this-- so look out for that!

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Macdev: My favorite character has got to be The Botanist. At the beginning of the game he has no dialogue, yet still presents such a strong personality. They are kind, thoughtful, and absolutely adorable. Look at that foofy hair! I'm a sucker for it. Their character arc is something I'm excited for. It's been a blast writing it so far-- and I won’t spoil anything-- but you guys will love him. I'm sure of it. Now if we're talking character design, Naël has got to be my favorite. He recently received a “tune-up,” as I would like to call it, and I think everything works together very cohesively in his design now. It's probably one of my favorites out of all of them, at this point.

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Macdev: Thankfully, things worked out perfectly-- and the universe blessed me with a wonderful team in the end-- but it was very stressful once I realized I had asked for help way too early. I essentially made a single map, and a little character sheet-- then asked for a whole team to help me out. As I said, it luckily worked out in the end. Now we have so many amazing people helping us-- but we also lost a few in the madness-- and that's a mistake on my part, 100%. If you don't know what you want, it's hard to ask for help. It will lead to confusion, lots of back and forth, frustration, etc... Just wait until your way further in development. Trust me. I know it’s easy to jump the gun and shoot for the stars, but sometimes it won’t work out as well as it has for the Cadeau team!

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Macdev: I won't say as of now! The idea of a sequel/prequel has floated around, but if it does come to fruition, it won't be until way after the release of Cadeau. We'll just have to see. (This isn’t to say I’m not hopeful!)

With your current project, what do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Macdev: I have so many amazing project ideas lined up for after the release of Cadeau. I won’t spill too much, so they'll be more of a surprise-- but they range from classic, adventure-themed true RPG's-- to 3D teenage-thrillers. I'm honestly stoked, there's so much in store for Halfworld.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Macdev: I think my biggest fear is letting people down. Also, I worry about losing interest or having people form the idea that the game is never going to be completed. It’s just going to take some time, is all, and that’s okay!

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Macdev: I already mentioned above not to jump the gun and ask for help too early, so some more advice I'll give: is to keep all your material, all your ideas, and all your concepts in one concise place. I would say do it digitally from the get-go, but if you would prefer to write it down physically that's fine! Just make sure it's only one or 2 notebooks, and not 13. The information for Cadeau is spread throughout my hideous mound of notebooks, as I get up during ungodly hours of the night to scrawl a sudden idea down. So, I'm currently in the process of moving them to one digital spot-- and while it's generally easy-- I would have been able to avoid it if I had just put everything in one spot in the beginning. Oh, and back up your progress regularly! I have separate backups of Cadeau from months in 2 different years, and in 4 different places. So, I take backups very seriously—and so should you!

Question from last month's featured dev @atlasatrium: What's your favorite RPG Maker game and why? *Aidan: I love End roll, Ib, OFF, Prom Dreams, From Next Door, and Aria's Story! Bruno: Mm, definitely Long Gone Days (though it’s not being made on rpgmaker now) Midnight Train, Heartbeat and Glitched! WariA: I don't really have any :0 the devs I've worked with so far have all been really sweet (´꒳`);; Macdev: This is a tough question! I have a lot of favorites. Probably Stray Cat Crossing overall, but I also love Home and Starboy. Starboy brings a lot of memories, and Stray Cat Crossing was what inspired me to start making games! Oh, and Home is just very cute.

We mods would like to thank HALFWORLDstudios for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Cadeau if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum

[windrocklibrary]

Galemont Talks About: Things That I Recall From E3 Conference (now that they’re over)

These are a collection of things that I mainly remembered the most in regards of the 2018 E3 Conference and my thoughts on it. They’re all a combination of things that I both like and not really like. Either way, all of these are my own opinions and spins on it.

Disclaimer Note #1: Yes, I like video games. No, I don’t/can’t play them or rather to an extent that I can play MAJORITY or ALL of them. Why? Because I’m poor -- so I might as well revel around other people’s emotions and mine (makes me sound like a vampire or something).

Disclaimer Note #2: I won’t include the sideshows or extras (e.g. Nintendo Treehouse). I am going to state things based on the things that are presented at the conferences.

ELECTRONIC ARTS (EA)

Frankly not the most memorable for me. They mentioned not much from EA other than sports games like Fifa, NFL, and NBA (ones I remembered at least), Battlefield V, Command & Conquer Rivals, and Anthem to name a few.

I kind of like how the folks at EA are somewhat self-aware on what they’re doing when talking about Battlefield V, stating that they want to depict their own image of WWII; though that’ll probably start a conversation for some folks I can imagine. It’s a bit of a downer for me considering that people are applauding at the information that there won’t be any lootboxes. Whether or not this will be true is beyond me.

Anthem looks interesting, to say the least. Though it’s such a shame that they didn’t mention, let alone, showed much. So with that being said I can’t say anything and even be very excited about it. We’ll see how it’ll go.

MICROSOFT STUDIOS

Lot’s of games. They showed off first party games like Halo: Infinite, Gears 5, and Forza Horizon 4. Ori and the Will of the Wisp was pretty neat and made me somewhat interested in trying out the Ori series.

The reveal of Devil May Cry 5 and Jump Force was very wild! The rumors that I often hear regarding DMC5 since last years Game Awards were very enticing, it was very cool to see it actually be true on E3.

Seeing Jump Force was surreal, especially when you’re watching Naruto, Goku, Luffy, and Frieza beating up each other in a hyper-realistic depiction of New York City’s Time Square; the shot of Ryuk and Light from Death Note is pretty wild too--would love to see what other Shounen Jump characters to be revealed there.

The trailer for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice looks very slick, kind of expecting it to be shown here especially after the teaser during the Game Awards.

The Amazing Adventures of Captain Spirit looks charming; a story that sets in the same universe of Life is Strange makes it interesting in my book. The game’s also free.

I’m super glad that Studio MDHR is making an expansion for Cuphead! It has always been a dream of mine to for Cuphead to have an expansion of some sort and I’m actually really excited that it’s real! They even made Ms. Chalice a playable character so that’s cool!

The game Cyberpunk 2077 was almost thought to be a myth until now. It’s essentially one of those games where you heard it and you’ll never know when the game will actually be released or revealed again; so seeing it back up again is pretty cool especially with their own flares for an introduction. Hopefully, it won’t go off into dark again.

BETHESDA

What’s the deal with that big dude during the Rage 2 presentation? He was like silent for a straight 15 seconds or something, some said that maybe his prompter bugged out? Who knows. Most of the presentations there were a little awkward, though it’s probably because most of them aren’t exactly used to standing in front of a big crowd or something.

Speaking of awkward, the Andrew W.K. live performance was whacked. He didn’t sound good there if I have to be honest, I don’t think most of the audience were jazzed about it too.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood was interesting, DOOM: Eternal caught me by surprise. Most of the other games shown there were interesting but didn’t really move me a lot.

Frankly speaking though despite the often awkwardness, there were some funny moments as well. Todd Howard’s presentation was a fun one to me; he was very self-aware of the jokes that went all over about him. I’m glad that Fallout 76 was expanded more in this conference because it was showed on Microsoft’s; it’s going to be an online multiplayer experience but apparently, it’s pretty divisive among folks, I personally think it’s neat--the nukes, however, is probably going to be a little sketchy in my opinion.

They also announced Elder Scrolls VI. Well, I say announced, it’s basically a tease; then it’s over.

DEVOLVER DIGITAL

Same thing they did last year: a satirical shitshow that makes fun of the conferences. It’s pretty fun, but admittedly I kind of got bored with it and I just want to see games more than them losing their minds. I say that because most of the jokes they do are basically beating on the same old topics that have been talked by folks for so long. Their conference is basically a self-contained story-arc, this one being the continuation of the previous one and I’m sure they’ll probably continue it next year.

They did show some games. 3 I believe. A battle royale shooter (I think?) called SCUM, a frenetic and comical platform shooter called My Friend Pedro (the one I’m most interested), and something called Meta Wolf Chaos XD which is a remaster of the cult favorite FromSoftware game of the same name. I’ll probably need to look it up on that more, looks fun.

SQUARE ENIX

Not really intrigued with it to be perfectly honest. Some of the things that they showed there have already been shown during the Microsoft conference (Kingdom Hearts 3, Just Cause 4, and Shadow of The Tomb Raider). While they did somewhat expand on it a bit, it kind of lost the impact that I think it could’ve had.

They announced an expansion of sort for Final Fantasy XIV Online along with a crossover with Monster Hunter World, showed Dragon Quest XI, and a new title called Babylon’s Fall by Platinum Games that is basically a teaser. Speaking of teasers, they also teased another new title called The Quiet Man; which admittedly has the strangest trailer.

Somewhat disappointed that they didn’t show anything about Final Fantasy VII Remake. It’s been so long since they announced it and showed a gameplay footage of it. Hopefully, they’re doing alright because the longer it goes on like this, it might become stale.

UBISOFT

The things that they showed there feels rather unsurprising because I kind of expected the things that they would do at the conference.

Kind of happy that they showed their new Just Dance game as their first thing, that way they cut the fluff and make the rest of the show focus on larger titles. There’s also a dude who tripped himself into a television.

Beyond Good and Evil 2 showed a new cinematic trailer, featuring Jade--but evil or something. The presenters said they want to show a gameplay footage but they showed very little. Joseph Gordon Levitt popped in and talked about putting people’s creative work into Beyond Good and Evil 2 (at least, that’s what I recalled)--didn’t really go into details on the incentives though.

For Honor got a new update featuring Chinese warriors into the mix, and they’re making the game available for free to grab for a limited time until June-18-2018.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 was showed again but explained a little more there, it looked interesting despite feeling like another generic rpg shooter. It looked interesting, they mention how they’ll do season updates throughout the year for free and I thought that’s cool. I do hope they’ll do well on this one.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas was showed a bit more again there and good golly they made a surprise with Star Fox crashing the scene, especially making Fox McCloud being playable with his Arwing. Pretty slick. Yves Guillemot even made a surprise by giving Shigeru Miyamoto a gift and I thought that was adorable.

The DLC for Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle that features Donkey Kong was shown there, looks neat but didn’t show much, it was explained in further details during the Nintendo Treehouse though.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey was announced there and it’s surprising to me considering that Origins was out since last year. It looks pretty I’ll say that much. You can also play between two characters in the game: Alexios and Kassandra. It also looks like they’re making the game very action rpg-esque, kind of like Origins.

PC GAMING SHOW

This flipping conference went on for WAY too long. 2 hours for crying out loud! I also fell asleep halfway through or something because many of the things they showed there weren’t fascinating to me.

Satisfactory won the award for the punniest game title.

Lot’s of SEGA games are coming to PC, ones that caught my attention being Shenmue I & II and Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 0.

 Untitled Publisher, a publisher that’s new to me announced 3 new indie games--2 of which I found the most interesting: Bravery Network Online and Overwhelm.

The game Maneater is basically a game about you being a shark and I have an iffy feeling it’ll shed a bad light on sharks for the public (I hope not).

Took so long for them to show Ooblets, a game that I’m very excited for, showed a new trailer though it showed some things. Wished there was more though.

SONY

The conference kicks out with The Last of Us: Part 2. Ellie is pissed as hell and I have no idea why and I’m scared. She also kissed a girl so that’s something. It kind of caught me off guard because I didn’t follow the previous game and its DLCs, so the whole information of Ellie being a lesbian is pretty new.

Resident Evil 2 Remake is revealed and it looks slick. The fact that Capcom released and announced games lately that actually looked cool as heck is wild. Hope it goes well for them in this one as well as DMC5!

This year’s E3 Conference showed off not one, but THREE samurai games; two of which were shown off in Sony’s conference: Ghost of Tsushima and Nioh 2. Not complaining, they all look slick.

Kingdom Hearts 3 also appeared in this year’s E3 Conference not once, but THREE times as well at different conferences. I should’ve mentioned before that every trailer did show something different, with the one in Sony having the most difference. It looks like Kingdom Hearts 3 is going to have Ratatouille and Pirates of the Carribean joining in.

I remember wanting to see more of Death Stranding and know what the heck the game’s about, and they showed some gameplay footage during the presentation. Still have no clue what it’s going to be about though.

There’s a weird looking game called Control, something to do about a girl with a gun who has telekinesis. Looks minimalistic and clean; it might be good too.

Spiderman features a handful of villains beating up on Spidey in the end. It’s a gameplay footage and oddly I don’t feel that intrigued by the trailer for some reason.

NINTENDO

Surprisingly not a lot of big games were announced on Nintendo Direct. I’ll say it here and now that the majority of the Nintendo Direct is mainly for the new Super Smash Bros. Aptly named as Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Needless to say, a lot of people were happy and so was I; though I’m surprised and mildly sad they didn’t show anything about Metroid Prime 4.

The first thing they showed was a mech game called Daemon X Machina. I first thought it was Armored Core, but the surprising part is I somewhat half-correct. The game was actually made by the same people who made Armored Core! Pretty funny to me considering that the design of the mechs in Daemon X Machina and Armored Core looked very similar. The trailer was wicked sick too so I’m sold.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 got a new DLC called Torna: The Golden Country that is available this September, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses is also announced to come out next year. So I’m sure the fans of those series would be very excited.

Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee got a small spotlight there, but it’s mostly on the accessory Pokeball Plus. Turns out, every Pokeball Plus comes with a Mew for free inside; which to me is basically a way to make people want to buy the accessory then (that’s marketing ploy right there). This is interesting to me because it reminds me of the message in the last Let’s Go trailer that mentioned: “you’ll meet a special Pokemon”. This could either mean Mew or something else. So we’ll see.

Fortnite is on Switch, not a surprising thing to me and I think it’s good for the game and the devs who made it. I personally think Epic Games deserve the success with their game in my opinion.

Overcooked 2 is coming soon and now features online co-op which is great! Killer Queen Black looks interesting and my personal favorite Hollow Knight is finally out the day the Direct was on! If you’re into metroidvanias I highly recommend Hollow Knight very easily--the game is generally worth having as well in my opinion.

Super Mario Party was also revealed and I’m genuinely happy; it would feel weird for a Nintendo console to not have a Mario Party game. It also has a Goombah as a playable character there too!

The Direct also bust out a montage of games; the ones that caught my attention were Dragon Ball FighterZ, The World Ends With You, Splatoon 2 Octo-Expansion, Wastelands 2 Directors Cut, Megaman 11, Paladins: Champions of the Realm, Arena of Valor, and Ninjala.

Now for the big one. Super Smash Bros Ultimate. The announcement was great and crazy long, and you can definitely tell that Masahiro Sakurai and the devs were busy when they made this game. It’s essentially a port of the Wii U, but it’s brand new and it adds so many things it might as well be a new game. The game’s biggest feature is the fact that they’re having ALL of the characters throughout the history of Smash Bros. ever; being someone who got introduced to the series since Brawl, seeing Snake and many other old characters was super cool.

They also showed off new characters as well. Princess Daisy is finally in Smash and that was very exciting to me; she’s treated as something called Echo Fighters, which is a fancy term of a character that is a clone but with some variations (other Echo Fighters being Lucina and Dark Pit). They showcased Inkling and what they can do, and in the end, they announced Ridley from Metroid.

END

And thus concludes the many things I found interesting in 2018 E3 Conference. I think this year’s E3 Conference has been rather modest as so many of the games are mainly coming out next year--and these are the ones that are meteoric as well. As to who won E3, well that’s beyond me, especially considering all the factors on what makes someone win E3. If you’re talking about the number of games revealed, I’d say Microsoft. If regarding the games released in 2018, I’d say Nintendo. Either way, I just want to see great games that are fun for people to play with. If the anyone can have a good time and be genuinely happy with a game; then that’s a win in my book.

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: How I Got Into the Fate Franchise

                                The third and final Fate/stay night Heaven’s Feel movie just released in U.S. theaters, and I'm bound and determined to find a way to watch it. Looking back though, it’s not like I was always such a diehard fan of Fate, what led me here?

  My first exposure to Fate was when ufotable’s adaptation of the Unlimited Blade Works route first started airing on Crunchyroll (routes are essentially alternate timelines with the same start point). I was in college at the time and went to my local anime club to ask where to start. Even back then, I had heard about Fate and knew it would be confusing to get into.

  I spoke to two of the club’s senior members, and the moment I asked, they looked at each other and started laughing. One eventually calmed down enough to ask if I was looking to get into the entire franchise or just the anime side of things. For the full franchise, he took out some flashcards and used a nearby filing cabinet to start detailing continuities.  The anime answer was, “Yeah, just start with the new one. It’s a good enough jumping on point."

    So I watched the show and enjoyed it quite a bit. The animation is great, which gives the fights a level of visual spectacle that make them a treat to watch. I was aware this was a franchise known for being difficult to get into and that the plot would be wrapped in lore from other entries, but since Fate/stay night was the first Fate property, it does a pretty good job of explaining what’s going on while hinting that there’s a wider story to explore.

  And after that … honestly pretty much nothing. I knew of Fate/Zero and various other Fate properties and even started watching some of the other shows like Apocrypha and Prisma Illya, but with my college workload ramping up and there being so much other new anime to watch constantly, I just didn’t really bother getting further into Fate until after graduation.

    That was pretty much where I was for around three years, until one lazy afternoon at my parents’ house, I randomly decided to give mobile games a chance. 

  After a bit of research, I realized the Fate game I vaguely remembered hearing about was actually a thing and that it was running its first summer event. I had about two days to play as much as possible to get the Scathach — mentor of Cu Chulainn from the original Fate/stay night — in a swimsuit.

  So I downloaded Fate/Grand Order and pulled an all-nighter trying to blitz through the event story as fast as possible. And that’s how Fate became a part of my daily life. Look, I’m not proud of my reasoning, but that is quite possibly the most thematically appropriate way to become a Fate fan ever.

    For the next six months, I logged in every day for my daily rewards, but otherwise just played a bit when I felt like it.

  Then the North American FGO servers hit the end of arc one just before New Year’s 2019 and everyone who completed the story got a little symbol next to their name to show they had stopped the Incineration of Humanity.

  And that was the moment I started seriously playing the game. Yes, really. A little gold star saying whether a player had finished arc one of the main story was the final push I needed. Again, I am not proud.

    It turned out that was a pretty opportune time for me to more start getting more into Fate, too. Only three months or so later, ufotable’s second movie adapting the Heaven’s Feel route released in America.

  My sister and I have always bonded over anime and showed our mother various shows for the same reason. I showed her the Unlimited Blade Works anime and she seemed to genuinely enjoy it. When I heard the second Heaven’s Feel movie was about to get a theatrical release, I watched the first with my mom and she was totally in favor of seeing the new one in theaters with me.

  I realized literally about a minute before buying our tickets that the original Fate/stay night visual novel has sex scenes. The anime had maneuvered around them, but that was both a different route and made for TV. The movie would obviously be different.

  After several awkward moments sitting next to my mom in a dead silent movie theater surrounded by strangers, I had become a devoted fan of the franchise. The last half an hour or so got me extremely excited for the final installment, and FGO tided me over for the next year of waiting.

    Fast forward to spring 2020, and I was truly in the depths of the fandom. I got the special edition Blu-ray DVDs for both movies, was fully invested in FGO — I even wrote a few stories for Crunchyroll trying to make sense of the insanity of the franchise from an outsider’s perspective to help people join me.

In preparation for the final movie, I got a few friends into Fate by showing off part of the Saber versus Berserker fight from the second movie, then getting them to watch the entirety of the Unlimited Blade Works anime before showing them the Heaven’s Feel movies. For those keeping count, I think that was my fourth time watching UBW?

    And now my journey with Fate has been put on hold. Thanks to the pandemic the latest Heaven's Feel movie was delayed from March to November — I could finally watch it. I'll be honest, I agonized over this for almost a week. I talked to my family who I bonded with through watching Fate, and my friends who I got interested in the franchise specifically to watch this movie. In the end, I can't justify going to see the movie with the way things are at the moment.

My passion helped me be patient for months, avoiding spoilers while still hanging around the online community. It'll just need to power me through a bit longer until the DVD releases, whenever that is. Personally, I'm really hoping for a Christmas release, but if I need to wait longer, so be it.

  How did you get into Fate, or haven't you joined in yet? What's the best way to start becoming a fan? Any particularly funny or awkward moments from the "mana transfer" scenes, like what I had? Let me know in the comments below!

      Kevin Matyi is a freelance features writer for Crunchyroll. He's been watching anime for as long as he can remember, and his favorite shows tend to be shonen and other action series.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Kevin Matyi

[minijenn]

Universe Falls, Chapter 40, Part 2

AHHHH YES HERE WE ARE FINALLY! I”M SO EXCITED YOU GUYS THIS ONE IS SO GOOD AND ARC 4 IS FINALLY OVER AND AHHHH YESSSSSS But alas, I am proud of this one, even though I wrote like probably about half of it today alone. SO yeah, shows how incredibly motivated I apparently was on this one. All the same, I’ll shut up now and let you have at it; enjoy!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/164523277631/universe-falls-chapter-40-part-1

Chapter 40, Part 2: Jailbreak

ORYV XKA PXMMEFOB CFOB XKA FZB TEBK CRPBA FKQL DXOKBQ QEBFO ILSB TFII PRCCFZB

There were three things Mabel was acutely aware of as consciousness slowly returned to her.

The first thing was pain, thumping dully throughout most of her body, her head in particular, though its apex was clearly her right ankle. Before she could even open her eyes, she made the mistake of attempting to move it, only for a sharp, stinging wave of agony to go spiraling through her leg as a result. It was more than enough to get her to open her eyes and let out a soft hiss of pain, though she was still a little too out of it to pick herself up off the ground immediately.

The next thing was her brother, lying prone and motionless in the dirt just a small distance ahead of her, his arm outstretched, almost as if he had been reaching towards something. Even as unconscious as he was, his expression was clearly awash in worry and woe, something that Mabel didn’t quite understand at first as she looked to him through initially blurry vision.

She understood it though the moment she picked up on the third thing: the emerging sound of a nearby, unearthly engine roaring to life.

With a loud gasp, Mabel bolted upright, ignoring the burst of pain and dizziness that filled her head as all of the memories prior to her blackout came rushing back to her in full force. The hand ship, the evacuation, their rushed return to Gravity Falls, Peridot, Jasper, Garnet’s defeat, Lapis and the other Gems’ capture, Steven being knocked out and dragged onto—

“The ship!” she exclaimed, eyes wide as she looked to said ship, which, miraculously enough, was still somehow positioned only a few feet away from the twins. They must not have been unconscious for very long, Mabel figured, seeing as how the ship was still there and not already afar in the depths of space by now. But given the fact that its engines were growing louder and louder and the circuitry on the ship itself was shining brighter and brighter were both good indications that it wouldn’t be on Earth for much longer.

“Dipper!” Mabel lunged forward, still a little too dazed to stand, especially with her leg in the condition that it was. Still, she managed to pull herself over to her brother, reaching for his shoulder to shake him awake, only to hesitate upon noticing how bruised and battered it was, no doubt a result of how roughly and tightly Jasper had grabbed both of them earlier, just as her leg was. So instead, she grabbed him by the shoulders, trying her best not to lose her nerve as she watched his unconsciously loll forward, his body much too limp in her grasp as she began to carefully jostle him. “Dipper, come on! That freaky hand ship is about to leave and Steven and the Gems are on it! We gotta stop it before it can take off which means you gotta wake up!” Unfortunately, Dipper didn’t really heed her seeing as he was still mostly out of it, though a small, short groan did escape him, filling Mabel with relief over the fact that he hadn’t been hurt too badly. “Ugh, bro-bro!” she shouted, starting to lose her patience, especially as a loud whoosh sounded from the ship. “Snap out of it! If we don’t hurry, then we’ll never see Steven again! O-or Garnet, or Amethyst, or Lapis, or-”

“…L-Lapis?” Dipper finally muttered, his eyes slowly starting to open, though he was clearly still dazed and unfocused.

“Y-yeah! Lapis!” Mabel nodded vigorously. “And Steven and the Gems too! Peridot and that big mean cheese puff she was with are about to take them into space and w-we have to figure out some way to save them, before it’s too late!”

“S-space…?” Dipper repeated, disoriented and confused. “But… w-what… when did…” He trailed off weakly, before abruptly being jolted back into full cognizance by a sharp burst of recollection and realization. “Oh my gosh! The ship!” he gasped in alarm, pulling himself up and out of his sister’s grip on his own accord. “Mabel, we have to stop-”

“I know!” Mabel cut him off, knowing there was no time for this. “And uh… I-I think we better do it fast! Look!” She pointed over to the hand ship, now fully functional as its lowered fingers began to slowly rise up off the ground. The twins shared a horrified gasp, knowing that their incredibly brief window of opportunity to do something about the situation was quickly starting to disappear. And at that moment, all thoughts of logic or plausibility about whether or not they even could do something about it couldn’t have been further from either of their minds. Their friends were in danger, to an incredibly life-threatening degree. And if they didn’t help them, then who else would?

“W-what do we do?! What do we do?!” Mabel asked anxiously as she watched Dipper unsteadily stand before he extended a hand out to help her up. She accepted it, though she found she largely had to lean against him for support because of her injured leg.

“We… w-we, uh…” Dipper trailed off, just as panicked and distraught. The hand ship was slowly but surely starting to depart, taking Steven, the Gems, and Lapis with it, and leaving them with essentially no way to reach it. Or there wouldn’t have a way to reach it if Lion wasn’t fortunately still waiting right beside the temple, just as Steven had instructed him to earlier. “I have an idea,” Dipper finally said with as much resolve as he could muster. “Come on!” Taking care to mind Mabel’s hurt leg, they hurried over to the pink beast, whose sights were already set on the hand ship in a fierce, blatantly outraged glare. In fact, Lion was so focused on the retreating vessel that he hardly even noticed the twins hurriedly climb onto his back. “Ok, Lion,” Dipper began firmly, hoping that the often finnicky pink cat would cooperate with them in this crisis.  “We need you to—whoa!”

Without warning, Lion suddenly bolted forward, rushing towards the hand ship as soon as both of the twins were securely on his back. Dipper and Mabel both held on tightly as the pink beast rushed forward, a piercing, savage roar pouring out of his maw, easily tearing open a temporal portal that he charged into without delay. In fact, Lion only came to a stop when they arrived on the other side of the portal, which, fortunately enough, was right at the top of the high temple hill. From this vantage point, the hand ship was still below them, but just barely. For a moment, both the twins and the pink beast froze paused as the ship became almost level with them, dwarfing all three of them and casting its eerie green light upon them as it suddenly stopped in midair, its fingers lose and sprawling. And then, in a painfully slow, articulated movement, it swiveled to turn around, gracefully repositioning itself so that its fingertips were aimed towards the sky. Or, more appropriately, towards space.

“I-it’s about to leave!” Mabel cried, her heart breaking at the thought of never seeing Steven or the Gems ever again. “Dipper, we have to do something!”

“I’m working on it!” Dipper retorted, frustrated under fire as he gave Lion a nudging kick in the side in an attempt to get him to move. “Ugh, come on, Lion! Jump onto it or roar at it or do something to help us reach that thing!” Of course, the pink beast refused to heed such harsh commands as he instead refused to take his sights off the ship that he knew his true master was on. “Seriously?!” Dipper exclaimed, irate at Lion’s passiveness. “Now is when you go back to being as annoyingly stubborn as you usually are?!”

“Dipper, wait!” Mabel gasped, her eyes widening in realization, especially as she took another look at the hand ship and noticed something quite fortuitous about it. “Maybe we don’t need Lion’s help after all!”

“What are you talking about?” Dipper scoffed, beyond aggravated and distressed by this point. “There’s no way we can get to the ship on our own, it’s way too far!”

“Maybe it’s too far for us…” Mabel agreed with a growing smirk as she reached into her sweater. “But it’s not too far for… the grappling hook!”

“The grappling hook?” Dipper repeated incredulously as he looked to the tool his sister was proudly brandishing. “Mabel, how in the world is that thing supposed to-”

“There’s no time to explain!” Mabel cut him off, her manner quite tense as she gripped her grappling hook tighter. “You just need to trust me on this one! You do trust me, don’t you, Dipper?”

Dipper hesitated, his expression tight as he looked between his sister and the massive hand ship before them, its engines revving up to go soaring through the sky very soon. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the journal’s timeless mantra of “trust no one” found purchase, reminding him that trust was a dangerous thing to give away, especially in dire straits like these. And yes, while Mabel was his own sister, the fact that they could very well die if even just one thing in her unknown plan went wrong made him even more wary of bestowing that trust upon her. But the journal’s warning fell away as he looked to the ship, his heart aching as he thought of Steven being locked away on it, hurt and confused and more than likely alone. Of the Gems, all separated from each other, desperately and flutily trying to break free from captors who wanted them dead. Of Lapis, who hated the feeling of being trapped so much, who fought so fiercely to escape, who had risked so much to stay to protect them, to protect him, reduced to nothing more than a mere prisoner once again. And it was because of them and because of the pleading, desperate, earnest look his sister was giving him, that Dipper knew he had no choice but to give that trust away in full.

“Of course, I trust you, Mabel,” he said with a small smile, one that was filled in the upmost confidence in whatever her no doubt arcane, reckless plan was. “Probably more than I trust anyone else. Especially right now.”

“Great,” Mabel grinned warmly, reaching her hand out to him and letting her nerves cool off as she watched him accept it. “Then let’s do this crazy thing. Together!”

Without any further deliberation, Mabel took aim, pointing the tip of the hook right at the tail end of the ship, or rather, right underneath it, at the base of the wrist. Dipper quickly glanced over that way, still somewhat confused by what his sister intended on doing until he finally saw it for himself: a small, cracked panel in the otherwise smooth green surface, likely created by the light cannons or Opal’s arrows during the ship’s descent. It wasn’t much of a target really, but it was an opening all the same, one that Mabel knew she’d only get one shot at. Still, it was a shot she took all the same, for after she steadied her shaking hands, she boldly pulled the trigger, keeping her aim true as the hook flew towards the breech in the hull. And, by either fate, luck, a miracle, or something else entirely, it hit its mark, latching onto the edge of the opening just in time.

“Hold on tight!” Mabel commanded, her tone and expression surprisingly serious as she kept a steady grip on the grappling hook while Dipper rushed to latch onto her. The twins had readied themselves not a moment too soon however, for before Mabel could even retract the hook, the ship suddenly lurched forward, instantly pulling both of them right off of Lion’s back and into the air behind it. The ship gained momentum at an alarming rate, with the force and speed of their ascent forcing the twins to hold onto both each other and the grappling hook for dear life, lest they lose their hold and fall to what would without question be their demise. Still, that didn’t keep them from letting out unified cries of terror as they haphazardly dangled behind the ship as it continued to steadily soar upwards towards the upper layers of atmosphere. The only time Dipper even thought to glance at the ground below was when he felt his hat go flying off his head, though as soon as he looked down he quickly wished he hadn’t seeing as how Gravity Falls couldn’t even be made out now amidst the blurry sea of trees that they were leaving behind far too fast. At the same time, Mabel was struggling against the rapidly rushing winds to even get her finger to move, to simply release the trigger so they could pull themselves into the opening, but her reflexes were unfortunately acting against her amidst her paralyzed fear, which was forcing her hand to remain frozen in place. Still, she knew she had to force herself out of it, because if she didn’t, then not only would they not be able to save Steven and the Gems. They wouldn’t be able to save themselves either.

With a determined shout, Mabel finally pried her finger off of the trigger, and Dipper echoed her cry much more fearfully as the hook retracted, pulling them both forward to its resting place. The speed of the ship itself did little to keep the barrel from snapping back to the hook, positioning the twins directly underneath the opening that, fortunately enough, was just large enough for both of them to slip into. And, just before the ship could leave the Earth’s atmosphere entirely, they both clamored through the crack and into the ship itself.

They were in. Which meant that, unbelievably enough, the easy part was over. The hard part, however, was just about to begin.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh, ah-ah-ah-ah-ahh…”

This odd, distant, yet melodious song was what startled Steven awake, a sharp gasp escaping him as his eyes flew open. Well, mostly flew open. His left eye was awash in pain, and young Gem didn’t even have to put a hand up to it to know that it was probably bruised and blackened. The rest of his head did feel much better, a dull but persistent ache pounding through it even as he slowly started to sit up and take in his surroundings. He vaguely remembered being in front of the temple last, but where he was now couldn’t have been any further from the deep pine forests he was used to. Ironically enough, however, green was still the dominant color surrounding him, the metallic, with the sturdy walls surrounding him in whatever small enclosure he was in being enveloped different shades of the color he had been seeing so much of in the past several hours alone.

Still, Steven was rather disoriented as he gingerly rubbed his sore eye, trying his best to make sense of the situation. He remembered the hand ship, and how him and the twins had hurried back to the temple to help the Gems counteract it. He remembered Peridot, as well as the buff but hateful and terrifying Gem who had accompanied her, Jasper, as well as Lapis rushing in to try in vain to save them. He remembered the lasers, his shield going up to protect them all before it collapsed just as he did. But what he remembered most was fear, a blind sense of completely paralyzing and crushing terror, unlike any he had ever felt before, as their entire defensive fell apart, as Jasper called him by his mother’s name, as she easily knocked him unconscious with just a single, incredibly painful blow.

Which, of course, provided a pretty good explanation as to where he was now.

“Amethyst!? Pearl?!” Steven called out, knowing that if he had been taken captive on the hand ship, that probably meant there was a very high chance the Gems were there too. However, as he considered this, a sharp burst of alarm filled him as he wondered if perhaps Dipper and Mabel had been captured too, an idea that simultaneously terrified him and filled him with immense guilt. After all, if they had indeed been seized along with the rest of them and dragged off to Homeworld as prisoners as well, then it would certainly be all his fault for letting them come back to Gravity Falls with him in the first place. And certainly, if they all did make it to Homeworld, then there would be no telling what kind of dark, no doubt deadly fate awaited them all there.

But they couldn’t make it there. They couldn’t go to Homeworld. They had to make it back to Earth, defeat these cruel, powerful Gems, and most of all survive.

Which meant that escape was their only option.

But even despite this new resolve, Steven couldn’t help but think he was forgetting something incredibly important. And as his head finally cleared up completely, he remembered what that something was as clear as the memory of a pair of gemstones delicately bouncing off the ground flashed across his mind. “Garnet!” he gasped, the scarring image of the Gem leader’s form being violently ripped apart right in front of him rushing back to him in full force. “W-where are they?!” he exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet and running to the other end of the cell he was being kept him. He paused, however, upon noticing what was keeping him trapped inside: some kind of thin yellow barrier, humming with electricity, just as the rest of the cells lining the rest of the prison block hall beyond it were. Though behind the humming, he happened to catch onto the sound of what sounded like incoherent shouting, clearly angry and clearly struggling, if the fierce grunts and bitter cries were anything to go off of. Steven’s brow furrowed in confusion at this, but he figured that there would be time to help whoever the indigent noise was coming from soon enough. If he hoped to save anyone else, then he had to save himself first.

The young Gem hesitated as he reached towards the yellow barrier, but as he touched it, he only felt a small, painless spark burst through his fingertips. His hands flew away from it regardless, surprise filling his features before he tried again, though this time, with just a single finger. And, much to his surprise, he found that his hand didn’t bounce back towards him, nor was he even shocked by the electrical field at all. Instead, his entire hand seemed to clip through it, almost as if it was nothing more than a sheet of running water. Intrigued, Steven looked to his hand, noticing a visible yellow current running through it, like the field was lighting up his veins somehow. “Ew…” the young Gem chuckled, pushing his hand out further. The current ran down his arm as a result and the field opened up even wider as his entire appendage began to tingle with its strange, warm, but seemingly harmless energy. “Cool!”

Seeing that there was no apparent ill effect from touching the barrier, Steven decided to try something risky. The ongoing tingling sensation intensified as he shoved both of his hands through the field, the odd yellow current flowing across his body as he forced himself through the disrupted barrier. The feeling continued for as long as the young Gem was in contact with the field, but the moment he finally stepped out of it and emerged into the open hallway on the other side, it came to an abrupt end. All the same, Steven shook himself out, releasing himself from the odd sensation as he reached the realization that he was indeed free.

“Oh! I’m out!” he cheered, spinning around to look at the now empty cell behind him. “Ok, now… where is everybody?” Not wasting any time, the young Gem ran forward, looking back and forth between the empty cells on both sides of the hall. “Gotta find them, gotta find them, gotta find-”

Steven stopped in his tracks as he passed by a cell that was actually occupied, though not by Amethyst, Pearl, Garnet, or even one of the twins. Rather, its prisoner was someone he had never seen before, clearly a Gem given her odd coloration, which was predominantly red. She was rather small in stature, just about Steven’s height, but stoutly and firmly built, with bright crimson skin and short, thick burgundy hair, arranged into a shape that almost reminded the young Gem of Garnet, though the headband tied around it clearly set it apart. He couldn’t really get a good view of her outfit or face, however, seeing as how she was hunched over against the wall, her head buried in her hands as she trembled and let out a low, almost agonized groan.

“Uh… hello?” Steven addressed this new Gem, concern washing over his expression as he took a step closer. “Are… are you ok?”

The Gem flinched at this, bolting upright as she looked to the young Gem in startled alarm. Now he could see that her outfit was rather simplistic: just a maroon tank top, darker shorts, and short boots. He was also able to notice her gemstone, which was a vibrant shade of red and fixed to her left palm. Her eyes were wide and frantic as she pressed herself against the wall, panting anxiously for a moment before a look of almost burning rage flashed across her features.

“Ugh!” she shouted hotly, slamming her fist into the wall beside her hard, the residual force being more than enough to knock Steven to the ground. “Great! This is just perfect!”

Slowly, Steven stood, confused and worried as he tried to reach out to the red Gem once more. “Uh… do you need any help?”

“No!” the Gem protested with an indignant scowl, though she was quick to retract her refusal. “I-I mean—I… You shouldn’t—Augh! Don’t look at me! Just… just go away!” With another audible shudder, she curled up in on herself and turned away, her hands pressed to her head as a further sign of her apparent distress.

“But… wha…?” Steven frowned, wanting to help this trapped Gem, though given the dubious situation he was in, as well as her rather cross behavior, he wasn’t entirely sure if that would be such a wise course of action. However, before he could step away from the cell completely, the red Gem quickly sat up, her eyes still wide and her manner still stressed as she looked to the young Gem again, this time in stark realization.

“Hey, wait!” she called, hopping to her feet and stopping him before he could get too far. “You’re out! How did you get past the field?”

“Oh, I just kind of…” Steven trailed off, reaching his hand out towards the barrier, much to the red Gem’s alarm.

“Wait!” she gasped in a sudden panic. “No, no, no, no, no, wait! You-” She cut herself off as his hand seamlessly phased through it, yellow lines of circuitry pouring down from his fingertips once more. “It’s… ok…?” she questioned as Steven pulled his hand out before putting her own up to it. She was quick to realize this was a mistake, however, as the field zapped her hand, letting nothing go through and instead partially destabilizing it until she rushed to pull it away. “Augh!” she cried in pain as she shook her hand out before looking to Steven suspiciously. “What’s going on…?”

“Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh, ah-ah-ahhh…”

The red Gem gasped upon hearing the same distant, almost haunting melody that Steven recalled being his wakeup call just a few moments ago. “Somebody’s singing…” he mused curiously, figuring that the source of this song was likely somewhere else on the ship.

“Sapphire…” the red Gem whispered, her hands clenched close to her heart as the singing continued. “Let me out of here!” she demanded as she turned to Steven, clearly desperate. “Please! You have to help me! I need to find Sapphire!”

“Sapphire? Is she your friend?” Steven asked worriedly. “I’m looking for my friends too.”

The red Gem largely ignored this statement, far too wrapped up in her own panic at the moment to care about much else. “She’s all alone! I need to find her!”

“Don’t worry!” Steven assured with a daring, reassuring smile, more than convinced by the red Gem’s touching resolve to help her companion that assisting her was the right thing to do. “We’ll find our friends!” Without wasting any more time, the young Gem stepped into the barrier, his arms held out wide as the tingling current coursed through him once more. “A-and we’ll d-do it t-together!” he stuttered, smirking as he nodded down to the opening in the barrier he had created.

The red Gem didn’t hesitate to smoothly slide underneath his arm, her expression hardened as she began to race down the hall, though Steven wasn’t too far behind. “Hey! Wait for me!” he called after her, catching up with her quickly as she stopped to scope things out at the end of the hall. A beat of somewhat stilted silence passed as the red Gem glanced down the next corridor, signaling to Steven to remain still and silent, which he did for the most part.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh, ah-ahh, ah-ah-ahhh…”

“Coast looks like it’s clear…” the Gem mused, her brow knitted into a tight, scrutinizing scowl. “Come on!”

“Wait!” Steven interrupted once more, much to the red Gem’s immense frustration.

“What now?!” she snapped, spinning around to face him fiercely.  

“Uh… I-I just… Um, M-my name’s Steven, by the way,” he introduced rather awkwardly, smiling slightly as he extended a friendly hand out to her. “What’s yours?”

The red Gem paused, her expression softening somewhat as she looked between the young Gem and the hand he was offering, though she didn’t really take it. “It’s Ruby,” she muttered, glaring to the ground as she crossed her arms.

“Ruby,” Steven repeated with an affirmative smile. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Ruby.”

“Hm,” Ruby simply nodded tersely, still quite surly as she hurried on ahead.

“Ah-ah-ah-ahhh, ahh-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh…”

“So… were you and Sapphire captured by Peridot and Jasper too?” Steven asked curiously, trailing just behind the red Gem.

Ruby didn’t respond to this question with anything more than another nod and a bitter, petulant growl, her hands clenched into tight fists as she raced out of the prison block and into a connecting hall. She stopped short upon emerging into it, her hands flying to her head as she closed her eyes, seemingly trying to concentrate as Steven began asking her another question.

“What did you guys do to get-”

“Quiet!” Ruby sharply cut him off with a loud, almost pained groan. “Ugh! I can’t see!” she exclaimed after a moment of trying and failing to focus.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah, ahhhh-ah-ah-ah…”

She stopped, glancing around for a moment as the song continued to ring out from no direction in particular, but even so, she forced herself to choose a path regardless. “This way!”

Not wanting to get separated from his only ally at the moment, Steven ran after the red Gem, noting the ship’s winding, green-tinted hallways and the strange yellow tubes running parallel along the ceiling as they rushed through them. Somewhere amidst this labyrinth of doors and passageways, the young Gem figured, the Crystal Gems were trapped, maybe Dipper and Mabel too, but he sincerely hoped that wasn’t so. After all, if Homeworld Gems showed no mercy to their own kind, then certainly they would show even less to a pair of humans, given the opportunity. “H-how many more Gems are trapped here?” Steven asked Ruby, hoping that she could at least provide him with some kind of lead on where he could tangibly begin his own search.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Ruby replied shortly, still running as intently as ever. She slid to a stop, however, as the ongoing singing abruptly went silent, something that alarmed the red Gem quite a bit. “She stopped singing…” she murmured, her eyes wide with concern. “Sapphire!”

As Ruby continued calling for her missing companion, Steven happened to notice the wide window behind them, one that gave the young Gem his first clear view of where they were. On the other side of the glass, the endless, inky expanse that was space stretched out before him, innumerable stars filling in every direction. However, despite this, they still weren’t very far from Earth, as the blue and green planet rested a short distance underneath the orbiting hand ship, the moon rising over its distant edge from afar. For a moment, Steven paused to look out over the planet he called home, simultaneously amazed and frightened that he wasn’t on it any longer. Still, the young Gem hoped to get back to it as soon as possible, knowing that there was no place in the entire universe he’d rather be than on Earth, with his friends and his family by his side.

Which was why Steven staunchly continued on his way, determined to turn his hope into a reality.

Considering their perilous, death-defying flight through the Earth’s atmosphere, both Dipper and Mabel considered it perfectly within reason to allow themselves a chance to recover from the harrowing experience. As soon as they made it safely on board the hand ship and put enough distance between themselves and the vacuum that was now the hole they climbed in through, both twins flopped onto the floor, breathless, but mostly unharmed, save for the injuries Jasper had inflicted upon them earlier. Fortunately, neither the orange nor the green Gems were in sight as they found themselves in what appeared to be an engine room, based on the plethora of noisy machinery and tubes that all seemed to lead up a room somewhere above it. Still, they didn’t pay their surroundings much attention at the moment as they instead focused on regathering their bearings so they could begin their self-imposed mission in earnest.

“W-whoo!” Mabel cheered as she finally caught her breath, pulling herself up into a sitting position. “We’re in! My plan worked, just like they always do! You gotta admit, bro-bro, it was pretty genius of me to come up with something like that on the spot, huh?”

“Mabel, are you kidding me?!” Dipper exclaimed caustically, looking to his sister in disbelief as he also sat up. “That was seriously the most dangerous thing we’ve ever done, even on top of fighting killer water clones and a giant robot! Do you realize just how close we were to dying back there?!”

“Yeah, but we didn’t die!” Mabel pointed out triumphantly. “Which means, my plan worked, like I just said it did! But just for the record, as fun as that kinda was, I gotta rank it a 0/10, would not do again. Mostly because of that whole ‘almost dying’ thing you just mentioned.”

Dipper rolled his eyes at this, knowing that now was certainly not the time for his sister’s usual antics. “Ok, fine,” he begrudgingly admitted as he stood up. “Your plan worked. Now we just have to sneak all over this ship, find Steven, Lapis, and the other Gems and set them free, all while making sure we aren’t discovered.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Mabel shrugged somewhat obviously as her brother helped her onto her feet.

“Sure, ‘easy’,” Dipper deadpanned, using sarcasm to mask his anxiety towards the situation as a whole. “Because if we are caught, then I’m sure that Peridot and Jasper would just love that two human kids snuck onto their massive alien war ship, and that they totally wouldn’t just toss us out into the deadly cold void of space without a second thought!”

“You really think so?”

“Mabel,” Dipper let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Could you please at least try to keep up with me here?”

Finally picking up on her brother’s usual cynicism, Mabel stuck her tongue out at him, though she did find herself needing his help in getting out of the engine room since she was still rather unsteady on her injured leg. Likewise, Dipper kept his own bruised arm close to his chest, cringing every time he accidently bumped or jostled it as they began making their way down the lengthy corridor ahead. The twins both figured that their injuries needn’t be a priority at the moment, especially since they could be easily healed once they found Steven. That is, if they found him at all.

“So what do you think these guys wanna do with Steven and the Gems anyway?” Mabel asked somewhat fretfully as she glanced around the intimidating metallic hallway.

“Well, you heard what Jasper said,” Dipper noted with a frown. “She wants to haul Steven off to Homeworld and show him to ‘Yellow Diamond’, whoever that is.”

“You think she’s bad news?”

“Seeing as how pretty much anything connected to Homeworld is bad news, I’d say more than likely she is.”

Mabel nodded, absently grabbing her hair was a sign of her growing dread. Unable to keep her growing concerns to herself for very long, she spoke up again a moment later, even if she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to say yet. “Uh… Dipper?” she began tentatively, stopping in her tracks and prompting her brother to do the same. “I… I, um… Y-you… I just… Oh gosh, why am I so bad at these kinds of dramatic speech-type things?”

“Uh… Mabel, what are you talking about?” Dipper asked, completely confused as to where she was going.

“Augh! I wish I knew!” Mabel groaned, frustrated and unnerved all at once. “Just… Dipper, listen. I know and you know that we’re gonna make it off of this ship with Steven and the Gems as total heroes and we’re all gonna get back to Gravity Falls safe and sound. But… just in case something goes wrong a-and… and that doesn’t end up happening… I-I just want you to know that I-”

“Wait!” Dipper cut her off, his eyes wide as he put up a hand to silence her. “…Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Mabel pouted, annoyed that her moment had been cut short. “The sound of you interrupting my heartfelt possible farewell? Cause that’s all I hear.”

“No, no,” Dipper shook his head, far too invested in the soft, almost inaudible noise he had managed to pick upon on to pay Mabel too much mind at the moment. “Just listen for a second. It’s coming from down there.”

As he pointed to the hallway ahead, Mabel begrudgingly decided to poise her ear to listen, at first not hearing anything but the static hum that rumbled throughout most of the ship. However, after a moment of otherwise complete silence, she finally managed to catch onto it, as distant and gentle as it was.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh…”

“Is that… singing?” Mabel asked, bewildered as she looked back to Dipper.

“I think so…” he mused, just as lost. “But who could possibly singing in a place like this?”

“Maybe it’s one of the Gems? You know how much they love to sing, after all.”

“But it doesn’t sound like any of them,” Dipper countered thoughtfully. “And it doesn’t sound like Peridot or Jasper either, not that I could peg either of them as the kind to burst out into song in the first place.”

“What about Lapis?” Mabel suggested with a shrug.

Dipper paused at this, a deep look of worry for the blue Gem crossing his expression as he listened to the song once more, a part of him hoping that it really was her, even if he didn’t know her to be much of a singer either.

“Ah-ah-ahh, ahh-ah-ah-ah…”

“It’s not her either,” he concluded with a sigh of disappointment, knowing that the distance voice was too deep and too refined to belong to the blue Gem.

“Well… maybe we should follow it and find out who it is!” Mabel quipped with newfound verve. “It might be someone who could help us find Steven and the others!”

“Yeah, or it could be another Homeworld Gem who wouldn’t waste any time in getting rid of us,” Dipper remarked sardonically.

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Mabel shrugged, pressing on ahead. “Let’s go!”

Dipper nodded, deciding that some plan was better than no plan at all, though he did pause another moment before moving on in earnest. “Wait a second, Mabel. What was that thing you were trying to tell me a minute ago?”

Mabel flinched, her former nervousness returning as a part of her prepared to say what she knew she’d regret never telling him if something did indeed happen, but the other part of her not having anywhere near enough courage to face such a horrific possibility at all. “Uh… i-it was nothing,” she assured with a small, forced smile, one that Dipper thankfully bought for now. “Now, come on! We got ourselves a super mysterious singer to find!”

The twins set out to do just that, quickening their pace as they hurried down the hallway, to the point where it branched out into what were likely the fingers of the ship. They paused, only for a moment, to listen for the voice once more, before pinpointing the direction they believed its source to be. And sure enough, as they began hurrying their way through another prison block, the melodic song became louder and louder, until they were certain they were right on top of it.

However, before they could catch sight of who it belonged to, the sound of two sets of thumping, storming footsteps drowned out the melody as two dangerously familiar figures headed for the same place that the twins here.

“Hide!” Dipper exclaimed with a gasp as he managed to overhear Jasper and Peridot arguing from a nearby corridor. Him and Mabel were quick to pull themselves into another hall, staying just out of the Homeworld Gems’ detection as they passed right by them, bickering all the while.

“But we can’t leave yet!” Peridot protested crossly as she trailed just a bit behind Jasper, who had come to stand before the sealed-off cell that the ongoing song was coming from. “The whole point of coming here was to check on the Cluster!”

Jasper didn’t respond to the green Gem’s complaints at first as she instead rammed her fist into the wall near the cell, abruptly silencing the song. “Stop singing!” she ordered fiercely, clearly annoyed as she turned around to address the now-frightened Peridot. “Rose Quartz takes priority, above everything else!”

“B-but… but I also picked up on a strange, unknown energy spike that somewhere close to where we landed!” Peridot countered, forcing herself to be brazen before the intimidating Gem warrior. The twins exchanged a glance upon hearing this, neither of them having the faintest clue about what she could be referring to, but even so, they continued to tentatively eavesdrop all the same. “It was more powerful than anything our sensors have ever found on Earth before! We need to go find it, to investigate it and if it can be an asset to our Diamo-”

“I don’t care!” Jasper growled, her hands curled into tight fists as Peridot fearfully backed down. “I’m in charge of this mission, remember? Not you. Now, get back to the bridge and set a course for Homeworld!”

The green Gem let out a disgruntled sigh as her apparent superior abruptly turned and walked off before she began to do the same. The twins pushed themselves back against the corridor they were hiding in as Peridot sulked by it, grumbling to herself all the while. “‘Go to Earth,’ they said,” she huffed sarcastically, beyond exasperated with the end of her mission. “‘It’ll be easy,’ they said…”

As soon as they were sure Peridot and Jasper were both well out of earshot, both of the twins let out a shared sigh of relief over miraculously avoiding detection. “Yikes! That was way too close,” Mabel remarked fretfully, carefully peering down the hall that the green Gem had just gone down.

“Tell me about it,” Dipper diffidently agreed. “By the way, what do you think that ‘unknown energy spike’ Peridot mentioned was?”

“Who cares?!” Mabel exclaimed with a delighted grin as she glanced down the other end of the hall. “Look!”

Dipper did so, peeking out from behind the wall to where his sister was pointing, only to let out a surprised gasp of his own at what he saw. Trapped behind the yellow electric fields of one of the otherwise empty cells was what was unquestionably a Gem, though she was easily the smallest one either of the twins had ever seen seeing as how she was likely about their height. Her coloration was generally a mix of gentle, pale blues, from her skin, to her thick, long, poufy hair, some of which draped over her eyes, covering them completely. She was clad in an elegant, yet simple gown, which was also predominantly blue, with rounded sleeves and a billowing, flowing floor-length skirt with a neat, folded pinafore over top of it. Overall, this Gem carried an air of regality and mystery about her, especially as she folded her opera gloved hands, the right one housing the gemstone on her palm, and resumed her hauntingly beautiful song.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh, ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh…”

“Who is that?” Dipper asked in a tentative whisper as he raised a curious eyebrow.

“I dunno, but she’s so pretty!” Mabel quipped brightly, quite intrigued as they continued to spy on this new Gem. “And what do you know? She was the one singing this whole time! We should go say hi!”

“Mabel, you can’t be serious,” Dipper scoffed, pulling her back into the corridor before she could go rushing out into the open. “We can’t just run up to some strange Gem we don’t know and expect her to be friendly!”

“Says the guy who became besties with some ‘strange’ Gem he found behind a waterfall,” Mabel countered, rolling her eyes.

“B-but Lapis was completely different!” Dipper exclaimed defensively. “What if that Gem out there isn’t like her or any of the Crystal Gems? What if she’s like Peridot and Jasper instead?”

“What, you mean a bully?” Mabel remarked, clearly doubtful. “Come on, bro-bro, stop being so suspicious all the time! Why would she be locked in a cell like that if she was one of them? Plus, from the way it sounded, Jasper really didn’t like her pretty song! So there’s no way she could be on their side!”

“Ok, fine, I’ll give you that,” Dipper relented, annoyed. “But she’s not who we’re looking for, remember? We need to find Steven, Lapis, and the other Gems, and get out of here as soon as possible! We don’t have time for any side rescue missions!”

“Aw, but she’s just one Gem, Dipper!” Mabel pleaded. “It’ll only take a second to get her out of there! And besides, maybe she might be able to help us look for them!”

“I doubt it,” Dipper crossed his arms, still staunch in his refusal. “We’re not saving her, Mabel. And that’s final.”

“Uh, yeah we are saving her, bro-bro,” Mabel argued crossly.

“No, we’re not.”

“Yes, we are!”

“No, we’re not!”

“Yes, we are!”

“No, we’re-”

“You both know I can hear you, right?”

The twins froze, their argument completely broken as the blue Gem addressed them from her cell. Hesitantly, they both peeked out from behind the wall, only to find that she was looking directly at them, her hands still folded and her expression (what little of it they could observe just from her uncovered mouth alone) expectant. Needless to say that there would be no hiding and debating over the matter now, which was why Mabel was the first to gleefully emerge from their hiding spot and run over, while Dipper did so much more begrudgingly and hesitantly.

“Hi!” Mabel greeted cheerfully as she came to stand before the blue Gem. “I love your song! And your dress! And your hair! Are you some kind of Gem princess?”

“No,” the blue Gem answered, her voice rather flat and unmoved. She did pause however, looking between both twins for a moment before letting out a small, almost worried sigh. “You two aren’t supposed to be here… And to be honest, I had hoped that neither of you would come. But… I suppose it was inevitable…”

“Uh… what’s that supposed to mean?” Dipper asked, still quite wary of this unknown Gem as he gave her a rather suspicious glance.

“It’s… complicated,” the blue Gem noted thoughtfully. “But don’t worry. All will be revealed in due time, Dipper.”

“W-wait, wha-” Dipper balked, clearly startled. “How… how did you know my name?”

“She probably just overheard the rest of our argument a minute ago, dummy,” Mabel remarked teasingly before blithely addressing the blue Gem once more. “But if you wanna hear my name again, its Mabel! What’s yours?”

The Gem paused, tilting her head somewhat, almost as if she didn’t really know how to react to Mabel’s boundless enthusiasm before she answered, just as calmly as ever. “I’m Sapphire,” she said, adding a small, but graceful curtsey to her introduction.

“Yes!” Mabel squealed in absolute delight. “I was hoping you’d do a curtsey and you did! How did you know?”

“It was… a lucky guess,” Sapphire said, somewhat hesitantly, though she was smiling coyly all the same.

“Well, uh, it was… nice meeting you,” Dipper interjected as he began pushing Mabel away from the cell. “But we really should get going. We have people to find, places to be, you know how it is. So, we’ll just, uh, s-see you around and-”

“Wait!” the blue Gem called after them. “I need your help!”

“Oh, of course we’ll help you, Sapphire!” Mabel exclaimed, running back over to the cell and ignoring Dipper’s groan of protest. “What’s up?”

“Well, first, I need you to help me out of here,” Sapphire began evenly. “And then I need you to help me find another Gem who’s also trapped on this ship. Her name is Ruby.”

“Ooo! Two new Gems in one day!” Mabel grinned excitedly. “Well, technically three if you count Jasper, but she’s kind of a jerk, so we won’t include her. So this Ruby, is she a friend of yours?”

“She’s… a bit more than that,” Sapphire said, her tone turning somewhat wistful as she glanced down at her empty left palm. “In fact, she’s much more than that… So much more…”

The twins exchanged a confused glance at this, neither of them sure of what she meant, but all the same, Mabel was quick to perk up and step forward. “Well then, by all means, let’s get you out of there so you can go find her!”

“Mabel, wait,” Dipper interjected, eyeing the field keeping Sapphire trapped in the cell cautiously. “Don’t touch-”

“Whoa!” Mabel gasped as her hand slipped right through the barrier, almost as it if wasn’t even there. Sapphire also seemed somewhat surprised by this as she took a short step back, though she still made no attempt to touch the field herself. “This is so cool! My hand just goes right through it!” Mabel grinned as she kept sliding her hand in and out of the barrier. “Oh my gosh! Have I somehow gained the power to walk through walls!?”

“Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, Mabel, but no,” Dipper pointed out as he easily shoved his own hand through the field, just as seamlessly as she had. “Still, this… doesn’t really seem like a very effective prison cell if you can literally just walk through it. Why haven’t you tried to escape?” he asked Sapphire dubiously.

“Oh… of course!” the blue Gem exclaimed in newfound realization. “That’s why you both phase through it. This energy field destabilizes the physical form of Gems, but it doesn’t detect humans at all. It’s just like…” She trailed off, glancing down apprehensively before continuing. “There should be a panel on the outer wall that can disable it.”

“Oo, found it!” Mabel announced, looking over the aforementioned panel, though she was instantly intimidated by how technologically complex it looked. “Uh… you mind giving this a go, bro-bro? You’re way better at this techy nerdy science junk than I am.”

“Uh, I’m not so sure… that’s a good idea,” Dipper remarked, crossing his arms as he tried his best to avoid mentioning how he still wasn’t too keen on the idea of letting Sapphire out, based on how little they knew about it. However, the blue Gem picked up on his hesitance and skepticism all the same, and she was quick to attempt to set it to ease.

“I know you don’t believe you have any reason to trust me right now, Dipper,” she began placidly. “But I can promise you that you will not regret helping me, especially if you want to save Steven and the others.”

“W-wha—How did you know-” Dipper cut himself off, annoyance flashing over his expression as he realized this was a futile question. “Let me guess; it’ll all be ‘revealed in due time’, right?”

Sapphire simply nodded, knowing that nothing else needed to really be said. Dipper let out an exasperated sigh as he looked over to Mabel again, who was giving him a rather pleading look, one that he eventually ended up folding to, even if he didn’t really want to. “Fine,” he grumbled, stepping up to the security panel as he got to work. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Mabel grinned in bright satisfaction over her brother’s agreement to help, though Sapphire’s expression remained as calm and unreadable as ever. While it took some doing and quite a few failed attempts, Dipper eventually managed to figure out the basics behind the complicated security system keeping the energy field up. And, sure enough, he was able to disable it, all without setting off any kind of alarm that would otherwise tip the Homeworld Gems off.

“Thank you both,” Sapphire said as she stepped out of her how unbarred cell.

“You’re welcome!” Mabel exclaimed blithely, even if Dipper was still somewhat petulant and distrustful.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” he huffed impatiently. “Can we finally get going now? Each minute we waste standing around here talking is probably another lightyear we get away from Earth, which is really scary to think about, to be perfectly honest. So let’s just get moving already, ok?”

“Of course,” Sapphire firmly agreed, already heading off down the hall at a steady pace. “This way. Hurry!”

While Mabel readily and eagerly followed after the blue Gem, Dipper did so much more hesitantly, still not entirely sure if trusting her was a good idea or not. But still, he knew they didn’t really have much of a choice. After all, they were largely alone on a massive alien war ship, where their foes could be lurking around literally any corner, just waiting for them to happen across them. Any ally, even one as mysterious and puzzling as Sapphire, was a welcome one at a moment like this. Though still, only time could tell if her and her aforementioned companion Ruby, would end up being a help or a hindrance to them all.  

It didn’t take Steven too long to discover that Ruby wasn’t much of a conversationalist. As they continued searching the halls of the hand ship for the elusive Sapphire, the young Gem had made something of a habit of asking the red Gem whatever curious questions popped into his mind, most of them pertaining to her and the situation as a whole. Of course, as hard focused on her mission as she was, Ruby mostly ignored his inquiries, and whatever questions she did choose to answer were usually just in the form of terse nods or unceremonious yes’ or no’s. Steven could tell from her tense, tenacious manner alone that the red Gem was not going to rest, even for a moment, until her companion was found. A motivation the young could certainly relate to, seeing as how he wanted nothing more than to finally find his own friends somewhere on this labyrinthine ship.

In fact, it seemed as though he had finally found at least one of them as the pair hurried their way down to a cell in an otherwise dead-end hall. Ruby came to a grinding halt, letting out a relieved gasp upon seeing the blue coloration of the Gem trapped inside the cell up ahead. Her excitement was quick to diminish completely however, upon seeing who it really was.

“Oh… It’s just you…” she grumbled, clearly disappointed. Steven, on the other hand was anything but disappointed upon seeing the tear-drop shaped gemstone on the back of figure sitting dejectedly before them.

“Lapis!” he exclaimed with a bright smile, startling the blue Gem as she turned to face him.

“S-Steven?” she asked, both surprised and rather dismayed to see him.

“Lapis, I can get you out!” Steven proclaimed, not paying much mind to Ruby as she anxiously paced around behind him. However, as he reached out towards the field trapping Lapis in, she abruptly halted him.

“Stop!” she exclaimed, fearfully backing away from the field.

“No, it’s ok,” Steven assured. “I can-”

“No!” Lapis insisted once more, obviously distraught. “I don’t want your help! Things are bad enough as it is. I’ve already made too much trouble. The only bright side in all this is that Dipper and Mabel are still safe back on Earth, but you… Steven, I-I…” The blue Gem choked up, unable to even meet Steven’s concerned gaze out of an immense amount of guilt. At the same time, the young Gem couldn’t help but feel somewhat relieved upon hearing that the twins were indeed still on Earth and not on board the ship. In the event that him and the Gems didn’t actually escape and make it back, at least he could be assured that two of his friends would continue to live on in safety and freedom, even if they might not.

After a moment of fighting back tears, Lapis finally continued, her tone betraying her terror well. “Once we get back to Homeworld, they’re going to decide what to do with us,” she theorized, though she was cut off before she could say anything else.

“Augh! I don’t have time for this!” Ruby growled angrily, not hesitating in running off to continue her search.

“Ruby, wait!” Steven called after her, but Lapis was quick to stop him before he could follow her.

“Steven, whatever you’re doing, just stop,” she cautioned fretfully. “If we do everything they say, then they might go easy on us.”

“But… but they’re mean!” Steven protested fervently, refusing to give up so easily. “They hurt my friends! They hurt my face!  They’ve got you here in prison!”

“That’s why we can’t fight them.” Lapis insisted glumly.

“That’s why we have to fight them,” Steven reasoned with bold resolve.

“I already tried that, Steven!” the blue Gem argued bitterly. “I tried fighting back. I tried escaping them! I tried to prevent all of this from happening! And look at where it’s gotten me. I’m right back to where I started: trapped, just like I always have been. Just like I always will be…”

Steven paused, deep sympathy for Lapis filling him as he watched her turn away and pull her legs to her chest morosely. He desperately wanted to do something to help her, to reassure her, to give her hope that they would all get out of this alive and unscathed. But after all the blue Gem had already gone through, he figured she likely wouldn’t accept such sentiments. So instead, he settled on offering her the next best kind of hope.

“I’ll come back for you, Lapis,” he assured, knowing that he had to catch up with Ruby before she could get too far ahead. Still, his tone was completely sincere as he turned to leave, but not before offering the blue Gem one last kindly smile. “I promise.”

Lapis said nothing as Steven ran off, leaving her alone once more in her dark, suffocating cell with her dark, suffocating thoughts. She knew well what would happen once they got to Homeworld, how her time was more than likely growing short, for certainly there would be no chance that an escaped prisoner like her would be allowed to live after essentially making fools with the Gem elites, as well as conspiring with the Crystal Gems and humans. But even if she knew she knew she was likely not to last for much longer, at least she could take solace in knowing that the prelude to her final moments were certainly a bright spot in her otherwise largely bleak existence. And, she knew she had Dipper to thank for much of that, though her heart did ache a bit upon realizing that she’d really never get the chance to give him that thank you. Still, she couldn’t feel too miserable over the matter as she realized that, against all odds, she had fulfilled the unspoken promise she had made to protect him all the same. Dipper was still on Earth, where he belonged, alive, mostly unharmed, and free, that she was certain of. And as long as she kept that comforting thought in mind, then Lapis could hardly care about what Homeworld did to her. Let them imprison her, injure her, even shatter her if they wanted to.

For as long as the young human she had come to care so about was safe as a result of her suffering, then she was completely willing to suffer as much as she had to, and then some, all for his sake.

While Sapphire wasn’t exactly running through the halls of the hand ship, she was moving at a surprisingly fast pace, one that both of the twins had to essentially jog to keep up with her as she seemed to glide down the lengthy corridors. And of course, all the while, Mabel blithely kept up conversation with the blue Gem, asking her a seemingly endless barrage of curious questions.

“So how did you get your hair to look so perfect? Do you maybe have any other pretty ball gowns like that one that you’d be willing to lend out for a while? I know you said you aren’t a Gem princess, but do Gem princesses actually exist? And if so, do you know any? Do you think-”

“Ok, Mabel, can you cut it out with all the questions already?!” Dipper interjected, clearly annoyed, even more than he already was. “We’re trying to sneak around this ship, remember? If you keep this up, then Peridot or Jasper will hear you for sure!”

“Aw, but I can’t help it!” Mabel exclaimed. “It’s not every day that we get to meet a new Gem, especially one who’s actually nice and friendly and doesn’t wanna kill us for a change!”

“…Well, I can’t really argue with you there…” Dipper noted with a somewhat caustic frown.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, Mabel,” Sapphire finally spoke up, her sights still set on the path ahead. “But the best answer I can give to any of your questions is that you’ll find out all of the answers you’re looking for soon.”

“All of them?” Dipper asked, knowing that several of his sister’s questions had been rather out there, something that the blue Gem acknowledged as well.

“Alright, well most of them will be answered soon.”

“How soon?” Mabel asked eagerly, hating the idea of having to wait.

“Very soon,” Sapphire replied, finally glancing over her shoulder. “In fact-”

“Sapphire!” a distant call stopped the blue Gem in her tracks, a gentle gasp escaping her. At the same time, the twins also paused, neither of them entirely sure of who this shout had come from, but based on Sapphire’s reaction to it, they could both take a pretty good guess.

“In fact, you’re about to find out right now,” the blue Gem quickly finished before grabbing both of the twins’ hands. “Come on!”

Before either Dipper or Mabel could think to question her, Sapphire suddenly bolted forward, confident of her path this time as she ran at an alarming speed. In fact, she was going so fast that she was essentially dragging the surprised twins behind her as the halls of the ship flew by in an intangible blur. After mere seconds of this, however, Sapphire came to a grinding halt near an open entryway, the twins stopping along with her, though it was clear they were rather disoriented from having traveled so fast.

“W-what was that?” Dipper asked, grabbing his head to try and ease the lingering dizziness away.

“A-awesome is what it was!” Mabel exclaimed with an exhilarated smile. “Sapphire, can we do that again?”

Sapphire didn’t answer, her focus instead devoted to the doorway opposite of the one they were standing in. Or rather, on the red Gem who had just happened to step into it.

“There you are!” Steven exclaimed somewhat breathlessly as he arrived just seconds after Ruby. “Y-you know, you were running so fast, I thought I-”

Ruby cut him off with a loud gasp, her eyes wide as she noticed the blue Gem, the very one she had been searching for all this time, standing afar, but in plain sight at last. “Sapphire!” she shouted, a huge smile of relief spreading across her features as she ran forward into the large atrium ahead.

“Ruby!” Sapphire exclaimed, just as allayed as she hurried to meet her, finally allowing the kids a clear view of each other.

“Steven!” Dipper and Mabel exclaimed in elated unison upon noticing the young Gem.

“Dipper?! Mabel?!” Steven gasped in surprise, rushing into the atrium just as the twins did. The kids ended up ramming into each other in a haphazard three-way hug, one that was filled with plenty of warm, relieved laughter. “I-I can’t believe you guys are here!” the young Gem exclaimed with an incredulous chuckle as the hug broke apart a bit. “Lapis told me you were still back on Earth.”

“We were,” Mabel said with a bold grin. “Jasper beat us up and left us behind after saying a whole bunch of really mean stuff about your mom. But we snuck onto the ship like a pair of expert stowaways just to save you and the Gems! So yeah, we’re pretty much the most hardcore people ever.”

“R-really?” Steven asked as his smile faded somewhat. “You guys… you snuck on here… just to save us? T-to… to save me?” He paused, worry and slight guilt washing over his expression, especially as he noticed Dipper’s bruised arm and Mabel’s injured leg. “That… sounds like a really dangerous thing to do…”

“Well, yeah it was dangerous,” Dipper shrugged, as though it was obvious. “I mean, we were basically just dangling hundreds of feet above the ground behind the ship with Mabel’s grappling hook as it took off. But we couldn’t just let them take you, Steven. Who knows what they’d do to you guys back on Homeworld?”

“Yeah! We had to do something to save you after all the times you’ve bailed us out of tight spots before!” Mabel readily agreed. “So, here we are! Pulling off the coolest jail break of all time! Pretty impressive, huh?”

“Y-yeah…” Steven said with a faltering smile, unable to shake his dread and guilt away as tried to imagine just how close the twins must have been to death trying to get onto the ship. All for his sake. “I-it… it’s pretty impressive…”

“So, uh… what’s going on with… that…?” Dipper interjected, nodding towards Ruby and Sapphire. The pair had long since embraced from the moment they made contact with each other, their arms wrapped around each other tightly in a desperate hug that they refused to break and their faces pressed intimately close together as they whispered sweet nothings to each other.

“Ugh, I hated being split up,” Ruby whined, absently running her hand through Sapphire’s hair. “It’s like torture…”

“Ruby…” the blue Gem chuckled softly, giving her partner a small kiss on the cheek. “We were only apart for a few hours.”

“Every second I’m away from you feels like years to me…” the red Gem sighed contentedly under her lover’s feather-light touch.

“Oh my gosh!” Mabel exclaimed in a whispered gasp as her and the boys watched this blatantly romantic exchange. “I get it now! Ruby and Sapphire really are more than just friends. They’re a couple! And a really adorable one too!”

“…Well, I gotta admit,” Dipper remarked, rather surprised by this revelation, especially as the Gem couple nuzzled even closer. “This… really wasn’t what I was expecting to see on a deadly alien war ship…”

“They look so happy to see each other again…” Steven muttered with a warm smile, his guilt dissipating into satisfaction upon seeing the pair harmoniously reunite. “They must have really missed each other…”

Ruby and Sapphire remained close as their hug finally broke apart, but they didn’t dare break physical contact with each other, out of fear that if they did, they’d be separated once again. “Did they hurt you?” Ruby asked intently, gently caressing the blue Gem’s cheek.  

“No, no, I’m ok,” she assured, placing her hand overtop her lover’s. “Did they hurt you?”

“Who cares?!” Ruby laughed mirthfully, her eyes filling up with joyful tears.

“I do!” Sapphire exclaimed with a bright smile, leaning forward to playfully kiss the red Gem’s tears away. These peppered kisses soon turned into a full-on one, as Ruby pulled her lips to Sapphire’s, catching the blue Gem off guard. Still, she happily accepted it as they drew their arms around each other once more as their kiss grew even deeper and more affectionate. It didn’t last for too long, however, before Ruby surprised Sapphire once again, breaking the kiss off as she easily hoisted the blue Gem up, both of them laughing brightly as she began to spin her around.

Their loose, ecstatic, love-fueled dance continued, their warm, united laughter continuing as they spun in wide, uncalculated circles, paying no mind to the trio of kids still watching them curiously. In fact, they paid nothing but each other any mind, even as their gems began to glow in bright harmony and as their forms began to merge together. The emerging fusion continued laughing as the two halves meshed with each other, their laughter starting to become singular as they rose higher and higher into the air before the immensely intrigued trio. And, as the light from the fusion abruptly cleared and the couple’s affectionate giggles turned into the triumphant laughter of one, the trio was met with an unquestionably familiar figure.

Garnet.

A stunned, unified gasp escaped all three of the kids as the Gem leader herself emerged from the light of the fusion, still laughing jubilantly, clearly delighted to be herself again. As she remained hovering for a moment or two, the kids were able to see that her appearance had changed as part of her regeneration. Her afro seemed tighter, neater, and more cubical, her skin taking on a bit more of a pinkish violet tint. Her body suit was also different, with smaller puffed sleeves and vibrant shades of pinks, purples, and blues replacing the old maroons and blacks. In fact, her entire manner seemed more vibrant and vivacious, clearly a sign of her elation at being reunited, as she landed before the kids, her uncovered trio of eyes sparking with excitement just as much as her huge smile was.

“Steven! Dipper! Mabel!” she exclaimed, her laughter still apparent in her tone as she remained on their level for a moment. “Thank you!”

“Garnet!” Steven gasped, stars in his eyes as he looked to his guardian. “Y-you’re a fusion!?”

Garnet nodded with a small, somewhat awkward chuckle. “Aw, sorry! We didn’t want you meeting us here like this.”

“Oh my gosh!” Dipper exclaimed incredulously, clearly beside himself with this revelation. “T-this is incredible! How did we seriously never figure out that you were a fusion this whole time?! Everything makes so much more sense now! L-like your three eyes, and your two gemstones, and-”

“And you being such an awesome relationship expert!” Mabel cut in excitedly. “It’s because you are a relationship! Literally!”

“And the fact that you give out such great advice about fusion!” Steven added as Garnet let out another small, amused laugh. “You probably know more about it than anyone else since you’re fused all the time!”

“And this explains how Sapphire already knew who we were!” Dipper continued, though he paused for a moment as he looked away apprehensively. “Oh, uh… By the way, sorry for, y-you know, not really trusting her—er, uh, you? Whichever one of those applies here?”

“It’s alright, Dipper,” Garnet assured with a knowing smirk. “You had your reasons for wanting to be careful. Besides, I told you that you wouldn’t regret helping Sapphire.”

“Heh, yeah…” Dipper grinned, scratching the back of his neck somewhat depreciatingly. “I’m really not regretting it now that we know the truth.”

“And the truth is so amazing!” Steven exclaimed brightly. “So, um… did we make a good first impression? On Ruby and Sapphire, I mean?”

“Oh, Steven…” Garnet said with a warm, affectionate smile as she placed a hand against the side of her young ward’s face. “We already love you. All three of you.” The Gem leader’s smile widened as she embraced the trio, the kids more than happy to return it as their excitement turned to relief upon having Garnet back after how she had so viciously been torn apart back on Earth.

Ironically enough, however, this tender moment was cut all too short as a gruff, outraged shout echoed through the nearby halls. “Where is she?!”

“It’s Jasper,” Garnet reported, her manner turning as serious as it usually was as she turned back to the kids. “Steven, Dipper, Mabel, find the others and get to the control bridge.”

“But we don’t know where they are,” Steven shook his head, knowing that Lapis had been the only other Gem he had found earlier. Garnet was quick to rectify this however, by leaning forward and giving the young Gem a quick, gentle kiss on the forehead, seemingly out of nowhere. Though initially confused by this, Steven let out a sharp gasp as a quick image flashed through his mind, guiding him down the halls of the hand ship and to the pair of cells that Amethyst and Pearl were being contained in. “W-whoa!” the young Gem exclaimed as his thoughts returned to the present. “I-I just saw where they are! How did you do that?”

“Future vision,” Garnet winked slyly, knowing there would be more time to explain later.

“So you’re really gonna stay and fight Jasper?” Mabel asked, somewhat worried. “Even though she has that weird zappy thing that broke you guys up last time?”

“Yes,” the Gem leader nodded, resolved as she rose to her full height.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to beat her on your own?” Dipper asked, still rather uncertain of her odds in such an arduous fight.

“It’s ok,” Garnet assured with a strong, confident smile. “I’m never alone.”

All three of the kids smiled, allayed upon hearing this as they realized she was right. With the two halves of her whole together once again, then certainly the Gem leader would be just as unstoppable as she always was. And perhaps, even then some.

Without wasting any more time, the kids departed to take on the mission Garnet had just imparted them with, the twins following Steven’s lead as he already knew where to go. They left just in time too, for right as they ran through the door, Jasper rushed in through the opposite one as Garnet turned to face her unflinchingly.

“Oh great…” the orange Gem grumbled in clear disgust and disdain. “You’re both out? And you’re fused again? Why? Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Gems stronger. Quit embarrassing yourselves! I’ve seen what you really are.”

Garnet simply chuckled at this, knowing from experience and beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything Jasper had said was a lie. “No, you haven’t.”

And then, the Gem leader did something that the orange Gem had not been expecting. She began to sing.

“This is Garnet,” she began in something of a bold, proclaiming rap. “Back together. And I’m never going down at the hands of the likes of you, because I’m so much better. And every part of me is saying ‘go get her’.”

Jasper scowled, clearly not amused by this boast as her and Garnet began to circle each other, both of them clearly ready to fight. “The two of us ain’t gonna follow your rules,” the Gem leader continued, taking up a defensive stance as Jasper pulled out her Gem destabilizer. “Come at me without any of your fancy tools. Let’s go, just me and you.” Jasper brazenly rushed forward at this challenge, all while Garnet smirked, flicking her fingers over her eyes as her iconic visor materialized once more. “Let’s go, just one on two.”

“Go ahead and try and hit me if you’re able,” Garnet sang properly now, her melody swift and bold as she easily jumped out of the path of Jasper’s first punch. “Can’t you see that my relationship is stable?” She gracefully flipped out of the path of each of the orange Gem’s swipes, staying clear of the destabilizer all the while. “I can see you hate the way we intermingle.” As Jasper kept throwing wild, angry, uncalculated punches, Garnet continued to avoid them, all while keeping in the succinct, catchy beat of her song. “But I think you’re just mad ‘cause you’re single!”

“And you’re not gonna stop what we made together,” Garnet got low as Jasper swung for her again, surprising her by kicking the destabilizer cleanly out of the orange Gem’s hand and inter her own. “We are gonna stay like this forever.” With a triumphant smirk, the Gem leader snapped the weapon that had defeated her before cleanly in half, easily leveling the playing field, much to Jasper’s fury. “If you break us apart, we’ll just come back newer.” Garnet smoothly slid her hands over her body, proud of her form and everything it represented as she summoned her gauntlets, paying Jasper no mind as she summoned her helmet in response. “And we’ll always be twice the Gem that you are!”

The two Gems lunged for each other, ready to attack each other with everything they had as Garnet continued her daring, heroic song all the while.

“I am made o-o-o-o-of lo-o-o-o-ove, oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhh…”

Amethyst and Pearl sat, their backs against the walls of the walls of their adjacent cells, both of them dejected and resigned to their no doubt bleak fates. However, amidst all the ways they had anticipated their captivity ending, the last one they could have expected was Steven, Dipper, and Mabel suddenly arriving out of nowhere to rescue them. While the pair of Gems immediately fretted over the kids and their apparent injuries, and expressed their fearful disbelief at the twins being on the ship at all, the trio was quick to not only reassure them, but also set them free. Fortunately, Steven’s odd ability to clip through the energy field made easy work of the jail break, and while Pearl in particular wanted to voice her distress over the kids doing something so risky, Amethyst was quick to remind her that there was no time.

“Lo-o-o-o-ove…”

So instead, the collective group followed what Garnet had ordered, rushing for the bridge and knowing that taking control of it was the only way they would ever be able to get back to Earth. Of course, upon arriving there, they were quick to discover that it was anything but abandoned, as Peridot sat in the control seat, intent on guiding her ship back to Homeworld. The green Gem let out an appalled gasp as the unexpected intruders arrived, but even despite her surprise, she was quick to grab the closest Gem destabilizer she could find, ready to put an end to this nuisance.

What she didn’t know, however, that the weapon was essentially useless against Steven, brazenly rushed forward to counteract it. The only oddity he suffered was the usual yellow current as he fiercely grabbed the tips of the weapon, prying it right out of the shocked green Gem’s grasp and sending her reeling backward. Fortunately, Dipper and Mabel had made sure to position themselves appropriately beforehand, which was how they were able to easily trip her up and send her falling to the floor as Amethyst and Pearl rushed forward to subdue her.

“Lo-o-o-o-ove…”

At the same time, the brawl between Garnet and Jasper continued, both of them throwing blows back and forth at an incredible speed. Amidst singing her chorus, the Gem leader outmaneuvered the orange Gem most of the time, her smaller size and higher speed proving themselves to be an advantage over Jasper’s ferocity and muscle. She even managed to get a few sings in herself, including a particularly nasty uppercut to Jasper’s jaw, one that she retaliated against by catching Garnet’s wrist as she readied another punch. Enraged, the orange Gem threw her opponent down hard, creating a sizable dent in the floor of the atrium, but even so, Garnet only stayed down for mere seconds, her melody continuing as she picked herself up to face the charging Jasper once more.

“Lo-o-o-o-ove…”

 “Don’t touch that!” Peridot ordered hotly, struggling to wriggle free from the whip that was restraining her, as well as the purple Gem keeping a heavy foot planted on her. She scowled up at Pearl, who had already hurried for the ship’s control panel, outraged with both her enemies as well as herself for being defeated by them so easily. “You clods don’t know what you’re doing!”

“Oh, we know exactly what we’re doing,” Mabel said with a triumphant smirk as her and the boys stood over the downed green Gem. “We’re beating you!”

“And what do you know?” Dipper added, his tone just as righteously smug. “Looks like we didn’t even need four arms and a shield-producing journal to do it this time either, huh, Steven?”

“Nope,” Steven grinned as he exchanged a triumphant high five with Dipper. “I guess we didn’t.”

“Grr! You’ll pay for this, you… you filthy traitors!” Peridot threatened, even if she was really in no position to make good on such a threat.

“Yeah, yeah, keep on yelling about getting your revenge or whatever,” Amethyst rolled her eyes, tightening her whip somewhat before turning to the white Gem. “You got this, Pearl!”

“Okay, ship,” Pearl took in a deep breath as she took a seat, not quite familiar with such advanced technology, though she was more than willing to give it a try to get them home. “Turn us around!” The white Gem thrust her hands into the panel, shivering somewhat as lines of data and code flashed through her eyes. At the same time, Steven gasped as he noticed a nearby monitor showing a live feed of the ship’s atrium, one that he was quick to point the twins towards as they watched Garnet’s duel against Jasper continue to unfold.

The Gem leader had given her song a momentary break as she struggled to hold Jasper back, the orange Gem pushing her across the floor using her battle helmet. Garnet broke this tension by delivering a heavy punch to Jasper’s stomach, sending her flying upward into the glass dome of the atrium. The orange Gem didn’t miss a beat, however, as her body instantly charged with electrifying energy, curling up into a rapidly spinning ball for a moment before she threw herself down at Garnet hard. While the Gem leader blocked the blunt of this attack with her gauntlets, the immense force of it was more than enough to send both Gems crashing in through the floor of the atrium. They fell, hard and heavy, through several layers of the ship’s infrastructure, before finally plowing into the large engine room towards the base of the vessel, sending them both flying to opposite ends of it amidst the resulting rain of wreckage. And, as damaged and battered as she was from that last attack, Garnet was clearly not beaten yet as she picked herself up, her confident ballad continuing as the smoke cleared.

“This is who we are, this is who I am,” she sang, ignoring Jasper’s cruel smirk as she hardened her resolve once more. “And if you think you can stop me, then you need to think again.” She rose to stand, both of her halves brimming with bravery, determination, and love that filled every harmonious word of her song. “Because I am a feeling, and I will never end.” Her gauntlets formed over her hands once again as she prepared to finish this fight, once and for all. “And I won’t let you hurt my planet, and I won’t let you hurt my friends!”

“Go ahead and try and hit me if you’re able,” the chorus began again as Garnet beat back Jasper’s thrusts, only to get caught with a brutal left hook that sent her flying to the ground. “Can’t you see that my relationship is stable?” The Gem leader jumped to her feet, sending a fast kick Jasper’s way that she only barely dodged. “I know you think I’m not something you’re afraid of,” Garnet saw her opportunity and took it, jumping in and bashing both of her fists against the sides of Jasper’s helmet, breaking her visor easily. “Cause you think that you’ve see what I’m made of.” She leapt back, amused by Jasper’s blatant fury as she recovered from the assault and madly charged at her with another spin dash.

“But I am even more than the two of them,” Garnet jumped out of Jasper’s path, steering clear of the resulting explosion as she collided with the wall before throwing herself at her again. “Everything they care about is what I am.” The Gem leader paused as she watched Jasper zip around the room wildly, giving both of her halves an idea about how to claim victory against the orange Gem. “I am their fury, I am their patience,” she paused, just for a second as she caught Jasper squarely by the helmet, stopping her assault right in its tracks. “I am a conversation.”

“I am made-” she threw the orange Gem hard over her head, flinging her right into the central core of the ship. “O-o-o-o-of lo-o-o-o-ove, oh-o-o-o-oh.”

The resulting explosion was immense, painfully zapping Jasper and even sending Garnet flying as a massive hole tore itself through the hull of the hand ship. This eruption was easily felt throughout the rest of the ship, even up to the bridge, where it roughly knocked the kids and the Gems forward, releasing Peridot from under Amethyst’s foot, despite her attempts to keep her held down.

“L-o-o-o-o-ove,” Garnet sang victoriously as she dashed away from the blast, leaving Jasper behind as she hurried to rejoin her team. “And its stronger than you.”

No longer trapped by the purple Gem, Peridot inched forward, still tied by whip as she flung her head against the deck of the ship. A strange green orb formed around her, one that sunk into the floor before Amethyst could leap onto it and stop it. The rapidly descending hand ship curled up at this, the green Gem’s escape pod launching out of it and jettisoning back towards Earth, letting Peridot get a rather haphazard getaway, but a getaway all the same.

Still, there would be time to worry about the green Gem later. Instead, Amethyst, Pearl, and the kids all gathered around the front window, watching in fearful dismay as the Earth grew larger and larger by the second as the ship they were on hurtled towards it. With the vessel as damaged as it was, there would be no slowing its descent, meaning that a crash, and a likely deadly one, was inevitable.

“L-o-o-o-o-ove, o-o-o-o-of l-o-o-o-ove… And its stronger than you.”

The entire group gasped as the bridge doors flew open, revealing the Gem leader, looking worse for wear after her intense fight, but still standing strong and in once piece. “Garnet!” they all gasped in surprised relief, though she allowed them no time to celebrate.

“This ship is going down!” she announced, confirming what they were all afraid of.

“But what about Lapis?” Steven asked, remembering his promise to return to rescue the blue Gem.

“There’s no time!” Garnet staunchly insisted, but the kids, Dipper in particular, refused to simply leave it at that.

“What? No!” he exclaimed fervently, trying to push past Garnet in an attempt to searching for her. “We can’t just leave her behind! We have to-”

“There’s no time,” the Gem leader repeated firmly, gently pushing Dipper back. “I’m sorry, Dipper, but it’s too dangerous.”

Of course, Dipper resiliently wanted to argue against this for the sake of the blue Gem certainly deserved to be saved just as much as anyone else did. However, before he could really protest, the ship violently lurched once more as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere. Flames had surrounded its prone form as it plunged towards the ground in a rapid freefall, shaking its structure violently all the while.

“L-o-o-o-o-ove, o-o-o-o-of l-o-o-o-ove… And its stronger than you.”

Lapis could feel this steady quaking from her cell, and though she was momentarily startled by it, she still made no effort to try and escape. After all, she knew that whatever was about to happen, she was more than likely powerless to stop it anyway, just as she always was whenever something disastrous happened. So instead, she remained curled up in her cell, forlorn and dejected as she tried to give herself some semblance of solace, only to find none at all.

The hand ship plowed down through the dawn skies over Gravity Falls, the entire town still completely dark and abandoned as the hand ship appeared again. Only this time, its time in the sky was incredibly short lived as inevitably crashed into the base of the cliff near the lake, its thumb sliding off and into the water upon impact.

“O-o-o-o-of l-o-o-o-ove, l-o-o-o-ove…”

And then, mere seconds after it landed, the entire ship exploded.

The blast was incredible, one that could have easily been seen from anywhere in Gravity Falls if any of its residents were still there. Pieces of broken metal and debris of all shapes and sizes poured over the surrounding area, many of which splashed into the lake itself as green flames scored the darkened shore. The only one who had arrived on the dangerous scene was Lion, who had seen the ship’s descent from the temple and wasted no time in dutifully rushing over to search for his master. And, after only a moment or two of glancing around the wreckage, the pink beast managed to pick up on the young Gem’s presence, running over to a cluster of debris before unleashing a powerful sonic roar upon it, blowing it back to reveal a sturdy pink bubble and the six figures huddled together inside it.

As soon as Lion had released them from the rubble, Steven dropped his bubble with tired sigh, strained from having to keep such a large one up for so long. Likewise, Garnet also released her protective hold on everyone, allowing them all to collapse onto the lake shore in relative safety. “Nice one,” the Gem leader congratulated her young ward with a small smile.

Steven returned that smile, though it only grew wider as he remembered what had happened on the ship earlier. “Oh my gosh!” he exclaimed excitedly. “Garnet! I still can’t believe you’re a fusion all the time!”

“Wait, you guys met Ruby and Sapphire?” Amethyst interjected, surprised.

“Heck yeah we did!” Mabel quipped zealously. “And they were adorable!”

“Thank you,” Garnet remarked with an amused, gracious nod.

“Oh no!” Pearl exclaimed, slightly disappointed. “We were going to introduce you. Garnet, your plan!”

“We were waiting for your birthday, Steven,” Garnet shrugged, not too upset over her plan being accidentally ruined.

“We can still do it!” Steven reassured brightly as they all rose to stand. “I’ll just pretend I didn’t know! We can all act surprised!”

The Gems shared a warm laugh over this, one that they were certainly glad to have after all they had just been through. Still, it didn’t go on for too long before Garnet’s manner turned a bit more serious, especially as she placed a hand on each of the twins’ shoulders. “Dipper, Mabel,” she began, her tone gentle but also somewhat disapproving. “What you two did was very dangerous.”

“I’ll say it was!” Pearl cut in sharply. “Sneaking onto a highly advanced Homeworld ship in mid-flight using a grappling hook of all things?! You two could have been killed!”

“Yeah, you guys are totally nuts!” Amethyst added just as incredulously. “What if Jasper or Peridot had found you? They would have beaten you into squishy human pulps!”

“But… but we just wanted to-” Dipper’s attempt at defending their choice was cut off by Garnet, who’s grip had not left their shoulders the entire time.

“But…” she began with a growing smile. “I was also going to say that it was very brave too. You risked your lives to help all of us, even though you didn’t have to. And for that, we all owe you both our deepest thanks.”

Amethyst and Pearl both hesitated somewhat to agree with their leader, neither of them really wanting to condone such dangerous, reckless actions. Steven remained oddly silent, averting eye contact with the twins as his former guilt over the entire situation as a whole returned, even despite how things had turned out. But all the same, the white Gem and the purple Gem couldn’t help but eventually smile and nod in firm confirmation that they were indeed grateful for what all three of the kids, really, had done to turn these disastrous circumstances around.

However, the disaster wasn’t over quite yet.

Before either Dipper or Mabel could humbly accept the Gems’ shared adulation, a hand abruptly shot up through a large pile of smoldering rubble a few feet down the shore from them. The entire group gasped in alarm as Jasper emerged from the rubble, disheveled and injured from her duel with Garnet as she stumbled forward before breathlessly collapsing to her knees with a loud, pained groan. Yet even still, the orange Gem’s brutish, irate manner was as present as always as she glared up at the Gems and the kids, her immense hatred for them all clear by burning expression alone.

“Don’t think you’ve won…” she growled threateningly, scowling at Garnet in particular. “You only beat me ‘cause you’re a fusion! If I had someone to fuse with, I’d-”

Jasper paused as another pile of rubble close to her began to shift, a familiar blue figure lifting a heavy piece of rock off of herself before collapsing to the ground, exhausted.

“Lapis!” Dipper exclaimed, both alarmed and also somewhat relieved to see that the blue Gem was mostly unharmed.

“D-Dipper?!” Lapis gasped, her eyes wide as she glanced over to him, though her fear only grew as she noticed Jasper rushing over to her. In that moment, her flight instinct overrode everything else as her aquatic wings unfurled, but before she could even get a few feet off the ground, the orange Gem seized her by the ankle.

“Come here, brat!” Jasper snarled, roughly pulling Lapis back down and keeping her in a tight grip. “Aw, don’t fly off so soon!”

“Hey! Let her go!” Steven exclaimed fretfully, cringing at brutally the orange Gem was handling the blue Gem.

But all the same, Jasper ignored the young Gem as she instead held Lapis up to her face, a sinister sneer crossing her features as the blue Gem shuddered away. “Laps, listen! Fuse with me!”

“W-what?!” Lapis asked, completely taken off guard by such an unsavory, out of nowhere request.

“How long did they keep you trapped here on this miserable hunk of rock?” Jasper coldly began her appeal, letting Lapis slip out of her grip and onto the ground at her feet. “These Gems, they’re traitors to their Homeworld. And those humans aren’t much better. They kept you prisoner. They used you! This is your chance to take revenge!”

Lapis slowly rose to stand, not sparing Jasper, or even the Crystal Gems a glance at all as she instead looked solely to the kids, all three of them meeting her gaze with looks of desperation and despair. While Steven and Mabel’s expression were awash in apt terror and dread, Lapis noticed something else in Dipper’s: desperation. The very same kind of desperation that had been in his eyes just the other night, when he had begged her to stay on Earth, begged her to not leave him without the close-knit bond they had managed to form over just a few mere days alone. A bond that she didn’t regret forming, a bond that she would never regret forming. A bond that she also didn’t want to lose, but knew she was ultimately going to, no matter what choice she made.

“Come on,” Jasper purred with a leering, sensual smirk, her voice almost gentle and patronizing, though still dripping with malice. “Just say yes…”

“Lapis, don’t do it!” Steven shouted fearfully, Amethyst essentially having to hold him back from running to her.

“Y-yeah! It’s not worth it!” Mabel added, just as terrified as she tucked herself safely behind Garnet.

Both of their pleas seemed blurred together to Lapis as she instead kept her sights mostly on Dipper, who was much too stunned and distraught to say much of anything at the moment. His eyes were wide and fearful as they met hers, and she noticed that he was trembling ever so slightly as he simply shook his head softly, his silent plea quite clear. Lapis knew well that he wouldn’t want her to go through with something like this, that he likely believed she deserved better, but she knew the truth, and the truth was that she didn’t. She deserved this, just as much as she deserved to suffer, to be a prisoner, to go through such torture. She had deserved all that and more ever since she had abandoned that innocent human back on Homeworld, likely leaving him to die, or worse. The Crystal Gems had kept her trapped, yes, but in a way she had always trapped herself, and in a prison that lied far beyond that mirror or any Homeworld prison cell. She trapped herself in fear, in lies, in empty-soul crushing loneliness. In fact, the only time she had really felt some meager semblance of freedom had been during the few, all too brief days she had spent with Dipper. Because of those days, for the first time in her lengthy, lonely existence, Lapis had finally felt like she had connected with someone who didn’t remind her of her time as a prisoner, who didn’t make her feel like she was anything less than cared for and important, who gave her a genuine reason to smile and laugh and hope again, even after centuries of not doing any of those things.

And at that moment, the blue Gem remembered her resolve, her willingness to put herself through whatever suffering she had to, if only to keep him from having to suffer. To do whatever she had to to keep him alive, to keep him safe, and free. To protect the one who had saved her in so many different ways, regardless of the cost to herself might be. And while she knew that what she was about to do would be nothing but endless suffering, she prepared to put herself through it without question, no matter how bad it might be or how long it might last. She was going to do this, to put herself through untold suffering and torture and agony for as long as she had to.

And she was going to do it all for him.

Lapis took in a deep, steadying breath, finally closing her eyes for a moment as she hardened her resolve. When she opened them again, she refused to look at Dipper this time, knowing that doing so would make her want to turn back and refuse, if just to remain with him a little longer. So instead, she turned to Jasper slowly, her expression cold and unreadable as she began to extend her hand out to her, only for the exchange to be abruptly interrupted before it could even begin.

“W-wait!” Dipper suddenly exclaimed, finally breaking out of his lingering shock as he watched Lapis extend her hand. “Wait, no!” Without thinking, he rushed forward, ignoring both Pearl and Mabel as they tried to reach out to stop him as he instead ran towards Lapis as fast as he could possibly manage. “Lapis, stop! You don’t have to do this! You can’t just-”

Dipper was quickly cut off courtesy of Jasper, who abruptly and harshly silenced him with a brutal backhand swipe, one that was more than enough to send him flying backwards several feet. “Stay out of this!” she hissed fiercely, sending him a sharp warning glare that was more than enough to keep him away.

Lapis flinched, fear washing over her expression first as she watched Dipper land roughly, though upon seeing that he was indeed harmed by the attack, his arm bruised even more than it had been before and a small trickle of blood pouring from his mouth as he clutched his chest in apparent agony, rage filled her features instead. She would make the orange Gem pay dearly for the grave mistake she had just made, just as she would anything that dared to hurt him in any way. But for the moment, she forced herself to hide her fury under a mask of apathy, knowing that the time for that would come soon enough.

“Stupid, useless humans. They just don’t know when to quit,” Jasper grumbled disdainfully as she turned her attention back to Lapis, her malicious smirk returning. “Now… where were we?”

“L-Lapis…” Dipper choked weakly, coughing up a small bit of blood as he struggled to sit up. “Please…” By now, Steven and Mabel had rushed to his side, both of them quite concerned for him considering his new injuries, though he hardly paid them any mind as he instead looked to the blue Gem desperately. Lapis finally glanced over at him, hearing the desperation and despair in his tone as she simply returned it with a tense, pleading look at that told him to stay down, to not make this any worse than it already was, to let her throw herself into this purposed torture willingly. And while Dipper wanted to do the exact opposite of all of that, he froze as he noticed her subtly mouth only two words to him, two words that filled him with far too many emotions than he really knew how to handle at a moment like this.

“I’m sorry…”

Once again, Lapis held her hand out to Jasper, finally forcing her gaze away from all three of the kids as they looked to her in shocked disbelief. And this time, the orange Gem wasted no time in taking it, gasping the blue Gem by the wrist tightly and refusing to let go for anything.

“No!” Steven and Mabel shouted in horrified unison upon seeing this, but Dipper was silent. In fact, at that moment, he was so silent and so still that he practically could have stopped breathing and not even noticed. Some part of his mind, a part that was being overrun by fear and grief and a million other things at once, screamed at him to get up, to run forward again, to do something, anything to stop this from happening. But instead, he remained exactly where he was, almost as if he was stuck to that spot on the shore, as he watched Lapis and Jasper begin their treacherous dance.

It was surprisingly graceful, given the circumstances, as Jasper led, spinning Lapis elegantly before gently dipping her. Both of their gemstones instantly started to glow with the light of an oncoming fusion, but before that light could over take them completely, the orange Gem glanced over to her adversaries again, with a cruel, sadistic, smirk that showed her confidence in her apparent triumph over them all.

As the glow of fusion poured over both Gems, they meshed together into an amorphous mass of light, one that quickly began to grow to massive proportions as limbs began pouring out of it. The Gems were quick to pull the kids out of the fusion’s immediate range, as stunned and terrified as they were, but even still, they all watched growing alarm and panic as the fusion rose to tower over them all before its true appearance finally emerged.

The fusion was monstrous, to say the least, her immense size alone making her a terrifyingly imposing sight. But even beyond that, she looked completely twisted and sinister as she stood on four legs instead of two, all of them bearing much more of a semblance to arms rather than legs as their hands slammed down onto the shore. Her coloration was an almost sickly kind of green, her outfit mixing Lapis’ top with Jasper’s now legless leggings and her skin bearing darker stripes akin to orange Gem’s, though more rounded in shape. Her hair was a white, wild mess, short like Lapis’, though thick and wav like Jasper’s. But by far her most frightening feature was her face; four eyes, all of them sharp, green, and crazed as she looked down to the horrified party before her, her lips curled into a wicked smirk. She let out a ferocious cackle, her voice coming out as both Lapis’ and Jasper’s, as she lifted one of her upper hands, a burst of water in the lake following her bidding as she rose to her full, massive height.

“Yes!” she cheered, her voice taking a bit more of Jasper’s edge to it as she watched her foes cower before her in deep satisfaction. “This is it! Try and beat me now, you pathetic traitors! You’re no match… for Malachite!”

The fusion, Malachite’s, sadistic laughter continued as she prepared to bring her deadly aquatic attack down upon the Gems and the kids. However, right before she could, she managed to bring the attack down upon herself instead.

“Huh?!” Malachite exclaimed in apt surprise as the water stretching out from the lake suddenly latched onto her arm, suddenly forming a sturdy shackle and chain around her wrist. Before she even had time to really react, another burst of water rushed out of the lake, grabbing her other wrist and doing the exact same thing. “What?!” Malachite gasped, her lower eyes wide with alarm, especially as a set of aquatic chains shot out of the water, enclosing themselves around the fusion’s torso tightly.

Needless to say that the kids and the Gems were taken aback just as much as Malachite was by this sudden turn of events, none of them having any clue about what was really happening, especially as the water-based restraints began pulling the fusion towards the lake. Malachite struggled hard against their hold, growling and groaning all the while as she tried to pry herself free from the chains she had created herself and ultimately failing. “What are you doing?!” she asked herself hotly, her voice carrying Jasper’s intense growl before switching more into Lapis’ lighter tone, though she was still just as fierce. “I’m done being everyone’s prisoner. Now you’re my prisoner! And I’m never letting you go!”

The fusion’s voice rose into a powerful shout as a pair of aquatic arms rose out of the lake, grabbing her by her lower arm-legs and pulling her down to the ground roughly. Malachite let out a distressed cry as she was dragged across the shore, her chains unbreakable despite all of her desperate struggling as she began to be pulled into the shallows of the lake. “No!” she cried as she rapidly descended into the water, clearly trying to pull herself apart as her face split grotesquely, only for her to converge and keep herself together all the same. “R-release me! I already told you, I’m won’t! Not now, not ever! And especially not after what you just did! What are you even talking about?! You know what I’m talking about! No, I don’t!”

“Lapis!” Steven called after the unstable fusion as the group ran to the edge of the shore, all of them shocked by what they were seeing. The Gems were completely dumbfounded, while Steven shakily reached out to the fusion, even though she was far beyond his reach by now. Mabel simply stood, gasping in complete shock at every surprising interval as Dipper remained just as stiff and frozen as he had been since Lapis and Jasper fused, unable to even believe what he was seeing at all.

Malachite paid her audience no mind, however, as she pulled herself out into the depths of the lake, still fiercely trying to resist all the while. “If you don’t know, then you will by the time I’m through with you!” she began, her disjointed voices rising in both resolve and panic before making one final proclamation. “Let’s stay on this miserable planet… Together!”

And just like that, she was gone, the last of her form slipping down past the surface of the water and disappearing into the murky depths below.

A long beat of silence passed as the lake waters began to still themselves, lapping onto the shore heavily at first before calming back into their usual gentle motion, almost as if nothing had happened at all. The wreckage from the hand ship was stick aglow in green flames all around the group standing at the edge of the shore, all of them completely stunned and petrified by what they had just witnessed. When this silence finally was broken, however, Garnet was the one to do it, making a rather blunt statement in spite of it all.

“Yikes,” she said, adjusting her shades. “They are really bad for each other…”

No one said anything to disagree with this, largely because it was true though mostly because they were all far too shell shocked to. After a moment or two, Pearl grabbed onto Garnet’s arm gently, her expression downcast as Amethyst kept her sights on the lake, clearly unsure of how to even react to what had happened. Mabel noticed as Dipper let out a small, shuddering breath, his eyes still wide as he looked out over the lake as well, almost as if he was trying to catch one last glimpse of Lapis, or Malachite, rather, that would never come. Frowning sympathetically, she did her best to provide her clearly distraught brother some sense of comfort by placing a consoling hand on his shoulder, realizing that he was still shaking just as much as he had been before, if not even more so.

At the same time, Steven’s jaw was dropped in complete and utter shock as he tried to come to terms with everything that had just happened over the past few hours alone. He didn’t have very long to do so, however, before he suddenly felt his phone buzz in his pocket, his unfittingly cheerful ringtone echoing across the otherwise silent shore as he fished it out of his pocket. “Uh… hello?” he answered, his tone small and wavering as he looked to the lake again.

“Steven?!” Connie’s voice sounded frantic and confused on the other line. “I got your message. Are you guys ok?! What’s going on?”

Steven didn’t respond, largely because he had no idea where to even begin in telling everything that had just happened. In just a few hours’ time, it seemed as though everything he had ever known had changed, from the unsettling outset of this invasion to its horrific, dramatic end. And the young Gem had a feeling that even now, in the uncertain aftermath of it all, nothing would ever really feel the same again, even as Connie worriedly tried to get his attention over the phone once more.

“…Steven?”

Next: 

[rtf393q-latina]

Journal 4

Commenting on Tumblr’s release of top discussed mobile games in 2018 on their platform, Polygon pointed out that 3 of the top 5 were from small studios, marketed to women, and were in the genre of choose-your-own-adventure visual novels. Tumblr’s own user base might skew toward female users, so it is important to be skeptical about what these findings say about culture at large. However, I am interested in this supposed recent rise in popularity of visual novels as a research topic for this class, so I thought trying out these top 3 games might be a good place to start. As an aside, I need to sort out how the different terms I’ve seen floating around these games (visual novel, chose your own adventure, dating sim or game, otome) relate to and differ from each other.

Top 3 visual novels on Tumblr in 2018. (source)

This week I played The Arcana (middle image above; story inspired by Tarot cards), which launched on Kickstarter in October 2016, and released in chapter increments beginning a few months later. Since April 2019, the game is currently releasing chapters for 3 new romance routes (now that the stories of the original 3 have ended). I played the prologue and began the romance route of the mysterious, emotionally unavailable character who I felt the prologue was most pushing you to be interested in. Once I moved past the prologue, I quickly found out that you can essentially only read 3 chapters every 3 hours. Perhaps this wasn’t an issue if you were following along as the game released. You could get excited and turn on the app once you saw an update notification. As a player arriving at this game several years later, hoping to get a general survey of the game over a condensed period of time, I felt viciously stymied and I never got very far romancing my brooding depressive nightmare boy. The overall problem was that I hadn’t found anything that hooked me into the story yet, making the waiting time turn into a total stopping point.

Arcana’s home screen, showing 6 different narrative paths. Minigames, features, and other monetizable parataxets available from the tabs at the bottom. (source)

Furthermore, the amount of paid options was egregious. Anytime someone dragged me somewhere, or I stumbled into a new room, yet again I would be forced to select (because I did not have enough coins, nor would I pay for more) some variant of, “oh never mind, I’m too tired,” as if I would ever willingly choose that option in a game…what I’m trying to say is, I believe they very purposefully made the free option seem as uninspiring as possible. It’s not really an option, it’s just a way to end the scene suddenly and rub in your face that you’re missing out on something. I am also not convinced that the paid options are just bonus material that’s not central to the story. It seemed like the most interesting potential plot developments had a paywall. What do you mean that after transporting unexpectedly through a magical fountain to see my romancee, all of a sudden I have to pay if I want to explore the mystical dream world he’s in with him instead of just going right back through the fountain to sleep? As a whole, playing this game was a very frustrating experience and the intrusion of monetization everywhere I turned made it unpleasant and deflating. How can you get excited when the game keeps trying to pry money from you?

Examples of in-game monetization. (source)

A question I should perhaps have led with is whether Arcana and other games of the visual novel variety would be considered games at all in the conceptions of the readings this week. I did wonder what Frasca would make of this game. Simulation is a part of the name (dating sim) and this genre encourages players to keep trying out different choices so that they can collect all of the different possible endings. (In addition to having different character romance paths, Arcana also has two different endings for each character. Also, each character has a gallery section with black squares to be filled in once you discover them in the story. Other similar features encourage you to play over and over.) This exploratory format, where the player is an author of what happens, seems as though it would appeal to Frasca’s ideas about the possibilities and specificity of games compared to representational media. On the other hand, visual novel is an alternate name for these games and they have the qualities Frasca associates with ludus: a 3-part story structure, an Aristotelian ending with closure, a world that has simple definitions of good/bad, winner/loser. Though I cannot comment on a full story arc in the Arcana, the game has a very clear goal of seeing the story play out to its end. Frasca does however admit that games might have a ludus structure.

In Grodal’s work, I found a very apt description of why Arcana did not interest me as a game. Grodal writes that third-person stories in video games often fail because “In films and novels (third) persons are infused with the life and agency by authors and characters, and most readers and viewers will attribute that life to the characters, not to the ‘storyteller.’ In the video game, it is the job of the player to create ‘life’ in the third person, and failure to do so will create feelings of a mechanical lifelessness, eventually perceived as due to the designer and his or her system” (152). Beyond not feeling like my choices had an impact on the story, I could not really insert myself or a character I gave life to much in the story, which did give me a feeling of mechanical lifelessness as I jumped through the hoops of the narrative. I think for this genre of games to work for you, you need to be imagining the character; I didn’t and the narrative felt blank and unfulfilling. Meanwhile, fan reddit and tumblr accounts often make fan art of their insert character. The Polygon review also claims that being able to control the personal pronouns in use and add a character name added a lot of enjoyment to the experience. But it’s just not something I invested in. I wanted to experience the story in a third-person way.

I’m not sure I agree completely that games best describe a first-person perspective and first-person emotions, as Grodal lays it out. Grodal links exploring, fighting, sex, eating, and laughing to first-person, active experiences, and other emotions stemming from empathy, like pity and admiration to third-person, passive experiences. This seems problematic to me because I enjoy reading novels and experiencing the emotions of the characters second-hand, an (active!) experience Grodal also recognizes in watching movies. While I do not have proof, it seems wrong to say that video games cannot also function in this mode.

Finally, Grodal suggests that emotions related to sex are ideally suited to video games whereas Juul argues that games resist complex themes like love, because you cannot really implement them in the rules of the game. He disparages the connection between simple mechanical tasks and the love story in Myst. Meanwhile, Grodal leans in to the aesthetic of repetition in video games, how they mirror the gritty, repeated, procedural actions of everyday life. Whereas I agree with Juul on the one hand, that dating simulations might be a rigid representation of romantic relationships, I do definitely agree on the other hand with Grodal that a relationship functions like a task that requires a repeated set of interactions, moving from unfamiliarity and challenge, to mastery, to automation. There’s something about how games represent relationships that really rings true to real life. Or rather, dating sims make sense in their representation of fiction through rules.

[owl-eyed-woman]

Attack on Titan Season 2 Episode 36 Analysis Part 1: Why I Love this Show

So we’re finally here. After two mini arcs, several betrayals, buckets of blood and a generous heaping of world-shattering reveals, the climax of Attack on Titan season 2 has finally arrived. This was an episode where I gasped, cried out, prayed for mercy and generally jumped up and down madly in my seat. I was intensely invested in each blood-boiling moment of excitement and tension and I loved all of it.

Now, I’ve spent the past several months analysing AOT and generally rambling on and on about this one anime. With each episode, I’ve come to appreciate the many things that make this show so special for so many people, myself included. It’s not just one thing, obviously: it might be the unique fantasy setting or the gravity-defying, vertigo-inducing action scenes or it could be something else entirely. But as time goes on, I am continually struck by the richness of AOT’s character writing and the ways Isayama has taken what could be clichéd, conventional characters and elevated them far beyond their initially humble and archetypal beginnings.

So even though this is the climax of the season, where the action and thrills are at their highest, AOT still manages to keep the focus on character drama and development, for both minor and main characters. As I rewatched this episode, this was the part that stood out to me; thrilling action is great and all, but this is what makes this episode truly soar.  

In a way, this episode perfectly embodies everything that makes AOT more than just another gory action anime but with naked cannibal giants. Ultimately, this special something goes right back to the way these characters are constructed and how they relate to and engage with AOT’s central conceit as a story.  

If you strip AOT down to its very essence, taking away the violence, the fantasy, the twists, the turns and so on, at its heart, AOT is a story about normal people trying to live within horrific circumstances. Happiness is rare, death is ever-present, and the absolute destruction of the entire species is a very real possibility. Every moment of their lives is informed by a crushing awareness of their utter hopelessness and they carry the baggage of this reality with them every single day.

This alone would give a writer more than enough material to pull out a few compelling characters and novel themes. But that’s just one tiny part of the whole story. Let’s not forget that our main characters are all traumatised 15 year-olds who have somehow found themselves with the fate of the world in their hands. They’re impulsive, they’re hormonal, they’re selfish and they are entirely unequipped to navigate the situation at hand.

In this context, typical teenage hang-ups are displaced onto this horrifying reality and expressed in a grander, almost cataclysmic scale. A typical sense of adolescent powerlessness becomes powerlessness to ensure your own survival. Finding your place in the world becomes finding your place in the fight to save the world. Figuring out the right thing to do becomes figuring out the right thing to do that may ultimately decide the fate of the world. It’s teenage angst writ large in the apocalypse.

It’s the combination of these two disparate concepts for setting and character - apocalyptic-action morality play and teenage coming-of-age drama -  that forms the foundation of AOT as a show.

At its most basic level, this is a perfect recipe for intense moral conundrums and glorious melodrama, which AOT delivers in spades. But this doesn’t give nearly enough credit to Isayama and the specific dynamic he has harnessed so effectively.

Essentially, Isayama has ingeniously combined these two ideas in a way brings out the best in each by making up for what they would lack alone. It’s this weird and wonderful interplay between the cataclysmic, crushingly bleak conflict plaguing this world and the relatively crude emotional landscape of our main characters that truly sets AOT apart.

Take the apocalyptic setting and the way themes of despair and morality are mixed into it. These are extremely heavy ideas that, while fascinating, always run the risk of becoming alienating, pretentious or impersonal. But when we combine this with an adolescent perspective and the emotional earnestness of youth, AOT’s fantastical conflict and heady themes are immediately placed in an emotional reality we can all empathise with. It grounds the subject matter.  

Now, consider the teenage melodrama. Adolescence is a fundamental part of the human experience and a period of growth that contains perhaps the most significant development of our entire lives. But it is also a period of ignorance and inexperience, and the struggles of characters dictated by teenage angst, selfishness, and short-sightedness can easily stray into frustrating, juvenile or cliché territory. However, when this crude emotional state is placed in AOT’s apocalyptic context, the gravity of the ideas at play and the moral complexity of the situation lends weight and nuance to these teenagers’ broad, unrefined emotions and choices. It elevates the subject matter.

This exact dynamic is brilliantly highlighted in this episode. Every significant character beat involves our main characters contending with high-stakes questions of morality, purpose and survival all framed through their intensely personal and flawed perspective.

So to do this episode and the characters themselves justice, I’ve decided to split this analysis up into 5 parts, with each part focusing on a different character/group and their struggle. This way, each character can get the treatment and thought they deserve.  Hopefully, in my next few posts, I’ll be able to touch on the specifics of how these characters reflect this dynamic and generally express their emotional turmoil in the midst of such trying circumstances.  

In the next part, we’ll start looking at the episode in question and the character development therein, starting with Ymir and Christa!

Links: Part 2: Ymir and Christa Part 3: Mikasa’s Co-dependency and Morality Part 4: Armin and Sacrifice Part 5: An Ode to the Ensemble

[waddlesdpig]

TOP COMICBOOK WRITERS OF 2018

The following is a quick write up about my personal favorite writers for 2018, spoilers and bad jokes ahead. 

 Wow, will you, wow, just look at, wow all that time wow. 2018 came and went like my dad after McDonald’s McRib was back in season! Tragic loss of delicious parents aside, we can’t look ahead to the new year without reviewing what the things that came before! 

 In this case the Top Comicbook Writers of 2018. I mean you knew this was coming, you read the title. Y-You can read the title right? Oh god all those people with Can’t-Readitis are going to be so lost!

2018 was crazy, but for comic books it was like a good crazy. Kinda like when you eat at a Chinese restaurant and find out they sell pizza, but like actual pizza. And not just in the movies, with Marvel and DC digging deep to revitalize and strengthen their IP’s, we got some of the best comics from the big two in a long while. At the center of this movement has been fresh and exciting writers taking these titles in new directions. So now being the leading authority in basement dwelling blogging hogs, i felt the need to highlight some of my favorite Comic book writers of 2018. First examining those wonderful folks at Marvel Comics.

(Side note, not only am i the world’s greatest blogging hog, i am also a huge flithy casual of the highest order and as such any of my lists for 2018 will not include any indie titles even though there be a great many fantastic non-big two comics.)

MARVEL

DONNY CATES

Whoo boy, i don’t think it’d be a exaggeration to say that Hank Hill’s next door neighbor has had a stellar year comics-wise. Coming out early in the year with the stellar “ Thanos wins” story arc that pushed the big man Grimace himself into new territory in fantastic fashion. Something that would only carry forward with his brand new OC introduced in the run, that being “ Cosmic Ghost Rider.” Which is like the regular Ghost Rider but in SPAAAAAACEEE! Suffice to say he’s a very cool character, with his spin-off title living up to the hype.

These two runs in themselves would be deserved feathers in anyones cap, however with the Marvel Fresh Start initiative, Cates provided what is the crowning achievement of his work this year. This being Venom. Without a doubt since he and superstar artist Ryan Stegman have taken over, the title has become one of the most entertaining books Marvel has been pushing out. 

Cates has done a wonderful job of balancing the tone, knowing when to lean into the edge associated with the character and but also not depraving the title of brevity or more light hearted moments. This coupled with the epic reimagining of key aspects of Venom’s backstory and building to climatic moments that i hate are going to be sullied in the next Venom movie ( Dem Chinese audiences enjoying something that mildly annoys me ;-;). 

In Venom however we find more than big action, grand stakes, and epic concepts, as Cates has made it a point to consider introspectively Venom and it’s host relationship with each other. At some points wholesome, at others disturbing, but always engaging and because of that it has propelled Venom to a title worthy of standing alone from it’s Spider-Man origins.

CHIP ZDARSKY

I love Spider-Man, you probably love the fashion model dating luckless webhead yourself in one way or another. Whether it’s the original Lee/Ditko comics, the 1980’s animated show, MCU movies, or this guy, one way or another Spidey has found a way to web himself into the hearts of generations of people all over the world. So i can almost guarantee you love Chip Zdarsky and you didn’t even know it. (Think about all those valentines you missed out on sending to the man!)

 Chip’s run on Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man didn’t start in 2018, but it ended this year so i’m still counting it. While the first few issues were enjoyable in their own right, for me it wasn’t until Spectacular Spider-Man 6 ( #296 legacy number because Marvel never learned counting in pre-school) that things really started kicking into gear. As readers we are well aquatinted with the quipping more ridiculous side of the menace, but from issue 6 onward Chip makes it his focus to remind us that the Man matters just as much as the Spider. 

He portrays Spider-Man as he should be, the everyman hero that anyone can look up too. You still got your jokes and your villains and your good times, but more than ever Chip’s Peter is willing to lift the mask and show that he just that, a man.  So many times throughout the title we find Peter allowing himself to be vulnerable, not just to friends and comrades but to those who have sought his end so many times.  Giving us a Peter who is a hero, not just through his heroics, but also because he is willing to look for the good in others and not afraid to empathize with those around him.  And in that way Chip has given us, in many respects, the Spider-Man we’ve always known and love. And for that he has my thanks.

In addition to what will probably become a fan favorite take on Spider-Man which already warrants use of the “ Spectacular” adjective, Chip also helped bring the Fantastic Four ( or at least The Terrific Two) back into the spotlight with Marvel’s Two-in-One. ( A title name which might excite and immediately disappoint fans of Chip’s earlier work at Image.) 

Marvel Two-in-One focuses on the two remaining members of the splintered Fantastic Four, primarily how the main duo deal with assumably losing the rest of their family and just how far both are willing to go to regain them. In this book particularly i feel Chip did a magnificent job exploring the character drama, you can really feel the longing and grief that these two are experiencing, but at the same time manages to balance this with fun reality jumping shenanigans that never overstay they’re welcome. All in all another incredible title that made 2018 an absolutely amazing year for Chip, with 2019 looking to be a another stellar year for him. ( Can’t wait for his run on Red Batman!)

Side note it should be no surprise that my top two Marvel writers for the year had a part in this hot spider on spider strip here.

AL EWING 

BOO! Scared you? Probably not ( scary amount of cringe if anything ). Now if you want some real spookums Al Ewing is just the guy for you as 2018 saw the release of The Immortal Hulk, one of if not arguably the best comic of the last year. 

The Hulk has always been a mixed bag for me, i love the premise of the character: Quiet on the streets, radioactive green giant in the sheets. There’s an inherit struggle that can make for some compelling story opportunities in the right hands. But that’s just the thin, for me personally i hadn’t read anything that spoke to that idea i have for the character. Don’t get me wrong in the 57 years of the characters existence there have been some pretty good Hulk stories. ( Some of which i’m still getting around to reading) 

But none have appealed to me quite like Al Ewing and Joe Benett’s run on the title. The two masterfully has given this tale a fresh start by ironically taking the character back to his roots in the horror genre. The creative duo manage to achieve this through turning Hulk from misunderstood hero to essentially a wandering monster bent on exacting his own sense of justice on the scum of the world. This change in the status quo is excellently executed effectively through the artwork. No longer standing proud in defiance of those who would doubt him for the hero he is, Joe Benett pencils depict the hulking giant now as a grotesque monster lurking in the shadows ready for his next victim. 

This would all be for nothing if not for the strong voice Al Ewing has for this title. The Immortal green bean is not scary only because he can snap you in half like a brittle wishbone, but because he instills fear with the scariest thing known to man.. emotional insecurities. (That’s right folks we got a bitter beefed up Dr.Phil serving justice up like it’s a buffet.) Not content to beat you dead, Hulk now tortures those unlucky enough to be his targets by holding up a mirror to the horrors that haunt them. This applies to more than those Hulk seeks to punish, the real genius of The Immortal Hulk isn’t that he is the thing keeping scum up at night, no it’s that he is the never ending nightmare of Bruce Banner. Throughout the run Hulk haunts Banner in showing that they’re only two half’s of the same coin. Leaving Banner and the reader with eerie thoughts that linger on whether the mad beast is right all along. 

This is all too say that The Immortal Hulk is pretty dang good, your probably reading it already, if not you should probably read it. ( You know as long as you don’t have can’t-readitis) And if issue 11 is anything to go by 2019 is looking horribly wonderful for Al Ewing and the jolly green giant.

And that’s it, my top three Marvel writers for 2018. In all honesty last year was crazy for Marvel, i’m leaving out so many amazing people making their mark in the comics industry and all things considering here’s hoping we’re in store for even greater things in 2019.

[aaquollaa]

Farewell Black Sails

And that’s a wrap. Land of SPOILERS (until the broadcast anyway).

I’m going to miss starting off my Sundays watching this show on my little tablet while tucked into bed. I’m pretty satisfied with this send-off, some things more than others, of course. I’m going to be pondering it for a while. A few thoughts:

Treasure Island: I’ll be excited to revisit the book and think about that story both with and without this extra narrative of the show. It’s a nice place to leave Black Sails as representing a relatively short moment in history where we know the story continues to the benefit and detriment of our players. I came to appreciate the show outside of the book (that I barely read a long, long time ago, and thought was just okay). Mission accomplished on helping bring it to life in a different way for those of us who find that appealing.

Madi and Silver: I love those two so much. There’s such authenticity to their relationship and how they love and struggle through the ways that they’ve come to value each other, despite coming from different perspectives. The interspersed scenes during the battle where we got to see Silver making his way to learn Madi’s fate worked for me, even if it was a little transparent. As a viewer, I was pretty sure she was alive, but I enjoyed watching those emotions play out through Silver. It really hit me in the heart, both watching him think he was too late to save her and also watching her unmoving as this battle is going on around her, seeming to have considered her death inevitable.

It’s interesting that both Flint and Madi kind of forced Silver’s hand—neither asked him to choose per se, but instead to act (Hands too). Flint did so when he unilaterally accepted Eleanor’s bargain; Madi when she said he needed to neutralize Billy. Yet Silver also listened too, especially when Madi said that they could make a life without the cache if they willed it so. So he did act, just not as expected.

In the moment, I was kind of annoyed at his paternalism. I am still wavering about it. But I think Flint and Madi were the impetus for it and enabled it so I can let it go. I didn’t doubt that she’d forgive him for going behind her back. She was never really like either Flint or Silver. I see her as not mad about the outcome because she understands the advantages of it and the counsel behind it from Ruth, her parents, even Flint and Silver in their own way. It’s the betrayal that hurt, and Rogers and Eleanor were instructive on that too. She can accept it because despite her belief in her cause, she also values that having the love of Silver, her family, her people her home is a victory too. I love the validation that there are lessons from all of our experiences, both good and bad.

Max and Silver: A nice parallel for their characters based on where they started as partners. It’s a testament to how well this show handles internal histories and arcing. Their conversation right after the pirates took Nassau seemed to be a turning point for both: figuring out what they could live with in the name of ambition and make solid choices and sacrifices to see them through. Also, did Max orchestrate sending Mary Reade to Jack and Anne? I’ve enjoyed that trio so much in this run.

Billy: Sucks for him. He really could have gotten everything he wanted if he’d calmed TF down. But his downfall was his short-sightedness. I always liked him, thought him smarter than what he ended up being. In the end, he couldn’t see past his bitterness over Flint, even as everyone else attempted to play the long game.

Woodes Rogers: I never hated him per se, but I always knew he was doomed both because of actual history and because someone drinking that much of their own kool aid is bound to fail at some point (just like Flint in the end). It was satisfying to see Flint further break down his military legacy while Rackham got the last word on his narrative (for a while at least). And he lost Eleanor, a relationship I was never sold on in the first place (especially because I hated Eleanor from jump—it’s fitting that she didn’t survive this because she didn’t deserve to live in this new world for never truly serving its best interests over her own).

Flint and Silver: The friend who introduced me to this show is a huge fan of their dynamic. I’ll be interested to get her take. I find their arc fascinating, but it was never the main draw for me. But I like that they played with the idea of who sees who through the dark times in a friendship that was hard-earned. At the end of the day it’s a blurry back and forth and probably doesn’t even matter.

Flint: Did he come out of this too neatly? Maybe. But I’m okay with it. In terms of weaving a compelling story, I like the idea of him revisiting who he used to be by physically returning to the most positive and motivating influence on him. I’m a sucker for that kind of shippiness. But I’m also interested in how deviants reenter into society and what debts they have to pay to be in it. So in that sense, this ending is a fascinating one.

Nassau: So where does that leave Nassau? What Silver did was essentially enabled the status quo to return, and that’s the problem I had with his paternalism. Yes there were benefits for the Maroons and pirates and Nassau but the stakes for him were personal ones. That makes me uncomfortable. What of that spirit of revolution and fighting back against the corrupting powers of colonial rule? And so much could have gone wrong. But maybe it isn’t the status quo. Nassau IS changed, who runs it and has power within it (I love what Max, Featherstone and Idelle’s role implicate here). I think back to what both the Queen and Julius said at different times. Their plan sought to change the world all at once and that is kind of foolish--there’s room for more than one strategy. Expansive civilization isn’t all good but it’s not all bad either, and we can make progress to reshaping it towards the good in whatever ways we can. We can make steps to create peace and prosperity for a short time, make it more inclusive, live with who you love and make a life for yourself. It may not be revolutionary, but it is progress and Nassau ended up seeing that eventually.

This show really was like reading a good book, in tone and language and narrative. Even seconds after watching, I missed it. It’s definitely on my top ten best.

[geneshaven]

Ever Evolving

Every once in a while, a show like Arrow comes along (and there are not many like it) that just settles in on me.  It has sailed along now for 5 ½ seasons, and I’ve become familiar with the characters and the story narrative. It takes me on a journey. Yes, occasionally it will throw me some curves, but over time, I see the rhythms and the speed of the pitch, and I learn how to recognize the dips and swerves of the ball and can swing at it and make a connection (sorry for the baseball analogy.)  Tonight, at times, those curves left me frozen at the plate. What was familiar and comfortable became unknown and unexpected. And I loved every minute of it.

There is a certain symmetry to storytelling. When it evolves, the characters and their motivations evolve with it. If everything just stayed the same in every episode, those characters become predictable and stagnant and uninteresting. The story feels flat and one-dimensional. The excitement is gone, and not having to think or speculate or invest myself in the tale---I am just left wanting to get up and change the channel. I am sure that I will probably not do justice adding my two cents to this episode, and I will more than likely omit some of the other elements that made it good. But these thoughts are first impressions and they are bursting to come out. So I apologize in advance.

Talia. Her training Yao Fei was out of the blue (and now I want to watch Season 1 again and try to recognize that training.) Her giving Oliver his first bow; it felt like she was passing on some kind of family heirloom. Her telling Oliver that when the monster inside of him becomes someone else, something else, then he will be free to become Oliver Queen. Felicity said essentially the same thing to him at the end of Season 3, just before they rode off into the sunset. I guess it didn’t take hold then. That somebody/something else turned out to be just another part of their fantasy together. The monster in him (fear and uncertainty) awoke when he lied to Felicity and started all of us down the road that led to where we are now---Oliver and Felicity devoured by said monster, (well, mostly Felicity was, but she has her own monster inside of her now.) I’m sure I am leaving out more about Talia, but this is what jumped out at me about her.

Tina was another breath of fresh air.  I agree with everyone who is saying she is going to be a fantastic Black Canary. Her attitude and toughness and skills definitely remind me of Sara. Even it Laurel hadn’t died, it would have taken her a few more years to come close to this version of BC. Tina just doesn’t hold back; case in point, killing that dude in cold blood. It was brutal and savage and really good stuff. She also is not going to take any shit from Oliver and the rest of the team. She is like Felicity in that way. Felicity is badass in her computer skills, (and last week she showed everybody that she is also badass throwing a straight right hand); it really isn’t her forte. Tina is skilled, temperamental at times, brash and tough as nails. She is also beautiful. I am curious if she and Wild Dog do have a background. If they do, maybe Tina can be the person (like Felicity is to Oliver) who can temper him and teach him how not to be so abrasive and grating and annoying. We’ll see. Anyway, I am looking forward to watching her evolve into this new version of BC.

I want to step out of my main narrative for a second here and just say that James Bamford and the whole stunt crew really made it happen in the action scenes. Just phenomenal.

OTA. I felt, finally for maybe the first time this season, the writers brought them together in a way not seen since it was just the three of them. Their dynamic, their love and trust and need to protect one another---their sense of family. Felicity putting herself out there to save John was a refreshing change of pace. Usually, it is John who is the protector and the strong shoulder to lean on. I know that this story arc is just beginning and Felicity is going to sink down into the darkness through grief (for Billy) revenge (Prometheus) anger, pain and deep lose (Oliver). I’m not sure what Helix is (it was a good show on SyFy Channel) but I think it is going to be the vehicle that carries her forward, and will give her character a new direction and motivation. The look in her eyes when she was looking at the information she got from her hacker disciple was haunting. It reminded me of the glare that Oliver displayed in Hong Kong after he tortured and killed that General. It was a seed, and it is going to sprout into those ‘morally questionable’ things she is supposed to involve herself in. But because Felicity is strong, made so by all that she has gone through all these years, that part of her is going to keep afloat, because she is subconsciously doing it out of love and the need to protect those she loves the most---namely Oliver and DIggle. I think it is going to be a treat to watch her, (and EBR as well.) Already, this is having payoffs. John is free. He found his own ‘another way’ by choosing to fight back, legally and morally. He was not going to give up this time. When he found out (and Oliver too) that he was going home, that moment was worth me having to wait for half a season.

And Oliver. He is just cruising towards the complete and flawed man and hero he is destined to become. And Felicity, I think, has acknowledged this, if not to him, to herself. Their banter with each other tonight was pretty special, even though the scenes were brief. I think they are becoming more familiar with each other’s rhythms again---one shoe size fits both of them. They still have a bit to go, but I can sense at the end of that journey, they will arrive together at their ultimate destination---happiness and endgame and a nursery full of babies.

Like I said at the beginning of this, I might have skipped over some things. But my ultimate point is---the show is evolving. And I am evolving with it, as fan and as someone who just appreciates a good story.

I can’t wait for the next chapter.