#i get it for moving the story forward but also i think the immediate aftermath could have been interesting to explore

[lovelaceisntdead]

okay well that was the best episode yet. why did it take so long.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 166 thoughts

As of chapter 166, Oshi no Ko has finished a roughly four-and-a-half year run started back in 2020. While there's some speculation about an epilogue or some extra content in volume 16 when it drops, this is where the main story ends. And you know what that means!!!

OSHI NO KO HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED WITHOUT ADDRESSING OR ACKNOWLEDGING THE FACT THAT RUBY KISSED HER BROTHER IN CHAPTER 143

please understand that this is FUCKING BOGUS

I'll probably do a longer post on this subject specifically, but my main critique of 143 when the chapter dropped was that while I liked the individual beats in it and I was really glad to see Akasaka finally addressing this tension bubbling underneath Aqua and Ruby's relationship, the immediate swerve away from showing us the aftermath of that kiss felt to me like an admission that the story was going to needlessly draw this out even more. Now that the story has ended and we can see that moment had literally no impact on the plot or even the character dynamics, I'd like to revise that statement - it feels like an admission of compromise. It feels like crumbs thrown to AquRuby fans to tempt them to keep reading and to stir up the waters of the ship wars, so people would keep reading and stay invested in the manga right to the very end. But most of all, it feels deeply disrespectful to both Aqua and Ruby as characters. Rather than exploring their feelings and giving both of them interiority and complexity in relation to incest or even just fucking acknowledging that the kiss had happened and letting their dynamic evolve, the series just memory holes the entire event and asks that you do too. Rather than letting Ruby have any development whatsoever as pertains to that relationship or, god forbid, let a female character move on romantically from the male lead, the series ends with her feelings so up in the air that I literally could not tell you what she thinks of Aqua by the time he dies.

ANYWAY… FINAL CHAPTER. BREATHES OUT VERY HARD.

I really can't believe it's taken us until the final chapter to actually deal with Ruby's grief over Aqua lol. We got a snippet of it last chapter but it was so brief that it really just felt like a tease. I also just think it's kind of bizarre that we're spending this little time on Ruby having feelings about Aqua's death to the extent that I have no idea how or when she found out about it.

It's also kind of hard to feel particularly strongly about Ruby's grief when the chapter doesn't really bother to explore it all that much. It's just a montage of Ruby quite literally Screaming, Crying and Throwing Up while Akane dispassionately narrates it all. The art also doesn't really help in terms of connecting with the emotions at play - I usually really like Mengo's expression work and the way she depicts extreme emotions but this all just felt like of… I don't know how else to put it. Goofy??? Is that an insane thing to say about Ruby grieving her brother???

Idk, something about both the panelling and just the extreme on-the-noseness of Ruby, again, literally Screaming, Crying Throwing Up while she's wearing a Burning cosplay Just In Case You, The Audience, Didn't Get It only for her to abruptly be done crying with no exploration or insight as to what's going on in her head that allows her to move forward.

Honestly, this is kind of the issue with everyone in the cast. The resolution is just sort of "Aqua died and we were sad about it but then we stopped being sad". I know what the story is trying to go for here - it's trying to express that even when you're in pain, life goes on and so you have to find a way to go on with it. But the result is that we spend all this time oogling at their pain without spending equivalent or even meaningful time on their recovery process.

It feels both excessive and undercooked at the same time and I'm left with the same icky, voyeuristic feeling I got from Aqua's funeral last chapter. This should be the point in the story at which we empathize with Ruby the most, but she remains a frustratingly distant figure right to the final pages. Part of this is an unfortunate consequence of Akane's narration directing these final chapters meaning that we're hearing about Ruby from an outsider's perspective and thus don't really see what's going on in her head… but if I can be frank, this has been an issue of Aka's with Ruby in particular basically nonstop since chapter 123.

As others & myself have noted, despite the absolutely catastrophic downward spiral Ruby is in at that point, Aqua revealing himself as Gorou basically flips it all off like a switch. There's some mild lipservice paid to the idea that Ruby is just using her dependency on Gorou to prop herself up and it's pointed out that the issues that contributed to her breakdown haven't actually been resolved - but none of these issues are ever even acknowledged again, let alone resolved. So, functionally, that reveal does fix all Ruby's problems in the space of a single chapter and the result is, again, that we spend multiple chapters gourging on depictions of Ruby's absolute rock bottom only for her to ping back to normal like a lightswitch. As such, the depictions of her pain feel less like explorations of Ruby's interiority and more like voyeuristic oogling at Ruby's misery and trauma and the effect is that the resolution to it all is both unsatisfying and a little gross. The result is that it feels like Akasaka is just indulgently mining the imagery of cute girls suffering because it causes simple thoughts neuron activation but doesn't respect these girls enough as characters to build them back up.

It doesn't help that this is basically the in-universe excuse for Ruby's career further skyrocketing. Instead of Ruby becoming a star on her own merits as the story keeps insisting she was supposed to, she's artificially buoyed by the public's morbid fascination with her tragedy. If I was feeling charitable towards the story right now, I would say this is an avenue of intentional critique but… well, I don't feel super charitable about the story right now lol

I WILL say that the one part of this chapter I did just uncomplicatedly like was the beat of Mem trying to suspend activities (presumably in the wake of her grief for Aqua) only for Kana to basically immediately explode into her room and help her get back on her feet. It's a beat that would've been much more effective if we'd, you know, seen it, but I otherwise enjoyed it and I thought it was sweet.

But. pbbbbtttt. I guess I can't talk around it any longer… let's get into the Dome concert.

To start things off on the immediately worst note possible, Akane describes Ruby performing at the Dome as being 'everyone's dream', including Aqua's. I'm reminded once again of the strange turn the story took in insisting that um, actually, performing at the Dome was totes Ai's dream all along (even though she literally didn't give a shit even a week before she was due to perform there herself) so Ruby performing there is fulfilling that dream for her!!! and I can't help but wonder if this abrupt shift in focus is an attempt to make readers forget what Ai's actual dream was - to see her beloved children grow up happy and healthy. Hell, it wasn't even really Aqua's dream, until the story suddenly had to try and convince us that his entire purpose for existence was to kill himself so Ruby could be an idol for slightly longer than she would've otherwise. The only people whose dreams she's textually fulfilling are Ichigo and Miyako and Ruby herself, but…

Honestly, is this really Ruby's dream anymore?

Who is Hoshino Ruby? What does she want? Why does she want it? These should be the very least of what we can concretely say about not only a protagonist but a character who has become a central figure of the entire story as Ruby has, but with the way Oshi no Ko has warped and distorted her, I find myself increasingly unsure of what the story wants her to be or how I should answer those questions.What does Ruby feel about Aqua? Was she still in love with him? Had she moved on, romantically? Was she still waiting for a response to her confession? Did she finally realize it was probably kind of shitty to respond to her brother going "lowkey wanna kms" by sticking her tongue down his throat? I Guess We'll Never Know.

This extends to whatever the fuck Ruby's relationship with idols and being an idol is. Almost the entirety of Ruby's time in the story has been spent reiterating over and over that Ruby cannot just be an idol who imitates Ai and that to truly shine, she needs to step out of her mom's shadow and shine in her own way. Ruby even literally tells Kana in no uncertain terms in 137 - "I'll be a star in my own way. I won't be like Mama."

While this has always been the text of the story, as I've pointed out before, the actual art with which Ruby's idolhood depicts her basically just as Ai 2.0. It relies so heavily on mining the imagery of Ai's charisma and personality as an idol and using them as the measure of Ruby's success as an idol that Ruby essentially has no visual or conceptual identity of her own as an idol. She's just Ai, But Arbitrarily Better, For Reasons The Narrative Fails To Actually Establish But Hopes That You Just Accept Anyway. This was always kind of annoying, but now that friction seems to have been resolved by… just making her Ai 2.0, But Arbitrarily Better (etc, etc) in the text as well. The fact that we're given no further insight as to Ruby's feelings and continue to just have Akane Explain Ruby's Character Arc to the camera also doesn't help.

All this combines to make the Dome concert and the final few pages feel exceptionally cold in a way I really don't think was intended by Akasaka. Yes, that splash page was nice and flashy but… I just felt nothing. I have no idea if or why Ruby cares about this. And even though the Dome concert has been hyped up through the entire story as the peak of Ruby's achievements as an idol, I feel no sense of accomplishment in her finally being there - not just because her journey to it was basically sneezed at us across two panels, but because it just feels hollow as a victory lap for Ruby. Again, she feels so distant and abstracted as a character that I can't bring myself to feel very strongly about her good or bad.

I think the perfect encapsulation of this are the final four pages of the story. Ruby's words here are very clearly intended to be a callback to Ai's words to Gorou in chapter one but as @all-of-her-light pointed out in our initial discussions of the chapter, Ruby very much does not have an equivalent to Ai's conclusion that she nevertheless wants and values the opportunity to find personal happiness and fulfillment outside of being an idol. Are we supposed to believe that simply being an idol is all that Ruby needs to achieve a similar degree of happiness and fulfillment? Is there no more to her than that?

I've seen a lot of people interpret this ending as exceptionally bleak and, as usual, gleefully predicting Ruby's immanent suicide because her beloved oniichansensei isn't around but this is indulging in, if you'll allow me to be frank, some pretty transparently ship-motivated flanderization. Despite what certain sections of the fandom would like to believe, Aqua and Ruby's lives, past and current, have never revolved around each other to the exclusion of every other relationship in their life. Ruby has a massive support network of people who love and care for her and actively want her to get back on her feet. I can one hundred percent believe that she does not need Aqua in her life to be happy and content.

The issue is that we don't see enough of Ruby to understand that ourselves. Again, she has become such a distant figure with so little insight into what she's thinking and why that this ending is basically a Rorschach test in which you can interpret basically whatever the hell you want or assume because we have so little canon basis to support or debunk our assumptions.

and yes. don't think i didn't see them. it IS both grimly hilarious and weirdly tonally appropriate for this ending that ruby has a bunch of oshi goods of ai and aqua including their fucking autographs set up to say goodbye to every day.

AND…… WE'RE DONE!!! THAT'S OSHI NO KO, BABY!!!! well, technically, there's going to be a 20 page extra chapter in volume 16 but I don't see it being big or substantive enough to meaningfully change my feelings about the ending so… I guess we're leaving it here. Damn. Feels crazy to be done with it.

I'll probably do a bigger post down the line about my thoughts on the ending as a whole but in terms of just How This Chapter Made Me feel, I guess the word is just… meh! It's definitely not an ending I like and I think the execution is sloppy and rushed but I also just don't really have the energy to feel angry about it. Maybe that's sad in its own way but tbh… I still really love Oshi no Ko! I still find it engaging and I find the characters I enjoy rewarding to talk about. I like the artistry of the anime adaptation. I don't blame anybody else for being so turned off by this ending that they're done with the series but for me, I like what I like about OnK too much that this ending could retroactively ruin it for me. Whatever else happens with the OnK franchise, whatever directions the anime and live-action take, this will always be the series that gave me Ai and the Hoshino family and. look at me. look at what she's done to my brain. could I really ask for anything more than that?

That being said, I'm definitely not done with discussing the series! I have fics to write (including a VERY exciting large scale project lined up with some friends), my Ai analysis post to finish and I also want to do a re-read of the series and finish my anime rewatch. I'll be here to discuss Oshi no Ko as long as I have things to say about it and as long as you guys will have me! Despite how the series ended, I've had a genuinely wonderful experience in the fandom and I really don't want to let go of the little community we've built together just because the series is done. I'm Ai's fan for all eternity!!!

[thatgreyjedi]

So I saw this template somewhere (I forgot who made it but kudos to them!!) and I thought it was a good thing to reflect on this year’s highlights of AO3!

Turns out, I wrote a lot more than I realized. So in addition, I’d like to draw some special attention to some of the accomplishments my fics achieved in my eyes this year!!

I Bet My Life-

After almost two years (including a 6 month hiatus in 2023, oops) I finally concluded my largest fic to date. I think my favorite moments that I wrote in this story was the interaction between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. When I first started writing the story, I knew I wanted a moment between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon that would leave an impact on the narrative of the story and I think the master and apprentice duo meeting in a sort of between-life-and-death world (Kind of like the World between Worlds). I really enjoyed writing this scene because it allowed Obi-Wan to finally overcome his past and move forward on his path of training the future Jedi that will defeat the Sith. I also enjoyed writing the scenes with Reva and Cody because it highlighted their special father-daughter bond that wouldn’t have happened if they never met in the aftermath of Order 66. This fic will always hold a special place in my heart for several reasons, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to bring this emotionally heart-wrenching story with a heartwarming ending to so many people!!!

Dennis and Mac Have a Secret-

So my introduction to this fandom was kind of funny, meaning that I started watching this in order to ease my nerves about my upcoming AP tests (and it paid off because I ended up doing pretty well on them). Well, I ended up loving the show so much that I wrote a fic about it. Although it’s not one of my more successful fics I’ve written, this one holds a special place in my heart. I love how the direction of this story went and it truly showed that even some of the most vulgar, self-centered characters can be changed by one person in their life. For me, it’s a beautiful story of love coming in several different forms all tied together to create a bittersweet ending that is how Mac and Dennis finally get together (I won’t spoil too much, but it gets kind of sad at some points).

Lights Will Guide Us Home-

Similarly to IASIP, I fell head first into the 9-1-1 fandom and immediately became infatuated with it. However, this show has quickly became one of my favorite shows of all time and Buddie has became one of my favorite ships of all time! So, when I was waiting for S8 to drop, I decided to write my own sort of post-S7 fix-it story (let’s just say there were certain things about the end of S7 that made me mad and confused). So I combined my favorite trope of trapping characters in a cave together (if I had a nickel for every time I wrote about two characters trapped in a cave in life-threatening circumstances and they confess their feelings to each other, I’d have two nickels, which is really weird that it happened twice…) Regardless, I loved writing this one because it was something new, and I really enjoyed writing for these characters and all their dynamics and small little details. For me, 9-1-1 not only really inspired me in more than just the writing aspect as it gave me a fresh canvas for art pieces (which I’d been struggling to make for a while until now), but it also created memories with some of the most important people in my life (my family would sit down every night to binge episodes and we’d all share our theories/predictions together. Also, my best friend started watching at the same time and we’d talk about everything, including the Buddie moments). This show will hold a permanent spot in my heart for years to come.

Love Like This-

Oh boy, where do I even begin with this one? So, one of the most common questions I had while watching this show is “Why doesn’t Buck have a kid of his own yet?” Sure, he basically co-parents Christopher with Eddie at this point, but like, I want to see Buck actually take care of a baby-baby. Hence, Ellowynn “Elly” Buckley(-Diaz) was born. But, I didn’t just stop at giving Buck his own kid, no no, obviously Eddie would baby trap himself the same way Buck did when he first met Chris about 7 years ago. Either way, I have so many ideas for this fic that I want to turn it into a series, but I needed to lay down the basic groundwork for it before I started adding one shots to it. Also, it has been SO MUCH FUN drawing this family dynamic!!! I’m excited to continue with this series and hopefully you guys will enjoy it too!

I think that my main takeaway from 2024 is to not be afraid to explore outside your comfort zone. If you would have asked me two years ago if I would have written outside the Star Wars fandom, I probably would have said never. However, I’ve learned that the most meaningful pieces that you create, whether it be a drawing or a written work, is something that holds value to what you love. It’s okay to expand out of what you’re known for because you can be defined more that just someone that writes for a specific fandom.

So, my advice to anyone who is new to Tumblr/AO3 going into 2024 and to those who maybe have been members for a while:

Create art that makes you happy.

And:

Don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday Season (Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or an entirely different celebration!!!) and I hope you all have an awesome New Year!!!

With Love,

ThatGreyJedi

[boasamishipper]

I’ve been rereading No Grave Can Hold My Body Down because it’s bringing me so much comfort and I absolutely adore it. Seriously, it’s so beautiful and it’s been such a wonderful way to still have Bathena in my life. So thank you so much for sharing it with us.

I remember you mentioning there might be a companion piece eventually of Athena’s perspective, do you know yet if that will cover their reunion at the call and the immediate aftermath at the hospital? I was absolutely dying at that part to know what was going on in Athena’s head immediately after finding him , if she rode in the ambulance with him, finding out where he’s been and meeting Tovah and the rest of his new family and then finally being reunited at his bedside.

I truly don’t mean this as a way to pressure you for these scenes, I’ll happily imagine it on my own, you write so beautifully that I would love to see your take on it. Either way, I’m so excited for what’s to come and so thankful for your writing of Bathena because it’s honestly been a huge comfort over the last month 💙

hi nonny! first off thank you so much for your kind words, i'm so glad that you're enjoying amnesia fic ❤️❤️❤️ to answer your question, there Is going to be a companion piece with athena's pov of her and bobby's 127 days apart (it'll be called Lay Me Gently In The Cold Dark Earth), which will also cover bobby's sudden reappearance, athena meeting bobby's new family, and bobby and athena's bedside reunion. i'm as yet undecided if the story will go any further, but the scenes you mentioned i will be including for sure.

below the cut is a sneak peek of bobby's return from athena's pov:

Athena feels a scream begin in her lower back and work its way up through her body only to jam in her throat, leaving a strangled choking noise in its wake. She can’t move. She wants nothing more than to fling herself into Bobby’s arms and feel his pulse under her fingertips and his breath against her mouth and the strong, steady thud of his heart against hers, but she can’t make herself move. Her vision swims in the sunlight and she blinks once, twice, sure that when she opens her eyes again Bobby will be gone, that this is all another cruel trick the universe is playing on her, making her think that she’s gotten him back only to take him away from her again—

“Get your fucking hands off me!”

Bobby’s voice shocks Athena back to earth. Eddie and Buck have caught up to him and are trying to get him to sit down, asking him where he’s been, what happened to him, Bobby let me take a look at you, c’mon, but Bobby fights them like a man possessed: elbowing, kicking, clawing, throwing his head back, wild-eyed and screaming, screaming, screaming.

“Get the fuck off me! Get off! Let me go, I need to see her—let me go!”

All at once, Athena’s feet come unrooted. She rips her arm out of Tejada’s grip, shoves Williams out of her way, and runs for her husband, who has finally jerked himself free from Eddie and Buck’s concerned hands. The obstruction in her throat vanishes; her scream finally makes it through in one piece. “Bobby!”

Bobby’s head snaps up. His eyes find her, and he freezes. His chest rises and falls rapidly. He goes white, like he’s come face to face with a ghost.

Athena’s spine turns to ice.

“Athena,” Bobby says, and Athena thinks she could live forever in this moment, watching Bobby’s mouth wrap around her name after one hundred and twenty-seven days apart, if not for the shock coloring each syllable. The low, warm timbre of his voice wavers and thins like the air in the mountains. “I found you.”

Then his eyes roll up into his head, and he collapses to the ground.

It isn’t slow, and it isn’t graceful. He falls as if all his muscles have given out at once, making no attempt to catch himself at all. If not for Buck lunging forward and grabbing him around the waist, Bobby would have cracked his head open on the asphalt.

Someone is screaming. It takes Athena a split second too long to realize that it’s her, silently, in her own head.

[tenisperfection]

I’m done with the show now because I absolutely do not trust they can write a satisfying arc that’s true and honest to the characters. The actors are amazing and will break my heart but it’s the writing that can’t keep up as Tim had shown over and over.

It’s also a completely different show now. It disregarded its own set of rules and world building and I can’t stand when shows start to betray their own rules, it’s always a sign that they’ve jumped the shark and quality is going down. Even if the show stays on air for years to come, like Tim obviously wants, he now needs to adjust to his new set of rules and we better see another main character death in the next few seasons. He can’t coast now. Shock value is now his main goal, not telling cohesive and compelling storylines.

He had the opportunity to be different, to really make 911 a true (silly, soapy but with so much heart) standout character driven emergency show but he gave that up the second he turned it into a show that’s just about disaster film remakes and choosing shock value storytelling over compelling and consistent storylines. And seriously, you have the icons of Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Aisha Hines, Kenneth Cho, JLH, Tracie Thoms and you fumble this!?

What he did may work, he’s getting the online buzz he wants, some people are going to continue watching because they value trauma porn over compelling storylines. He may even get some of the people who are thinking of leaving after the funeral episode to stick around when Peter shows up again in the final three episodes in ghost form or flashbacks because it will give them some sense of closer and their grieving will have moved to acceptance.

I can’t stick around even for that because I loved the show too much to watch what it becomes now. I’ll happily follow Peter and eventually the rest of the cast to their next projects.

This is so valid, and a lot of this is how I feel about the whole thing too. At this point I am more disappointed than anything else, though anger is still prevalent, especially on behalf of the cast, especially for Ryan and for Peter. I would've been okay with this if they'd done this because Peter didn't want to be back for S9; though their execution was shitty, I'd have found a way to be okay with the outcome. But yeah, it was just Tim being Tim. I can't say anything new about the Eddie of it all that hasn't been said already, but yeah it's all unbelievably shitty.

I'll push back on people continuing to watch only for trauma porn though; I am not arguing that it is trauma porn but I think the audience is more complicated than that. I think I am done with this show but I will still watch the rest of the season to at least see what happens with these characters in the immediate aftermath. But yeah, I think a lot of people, myself included, have loved and been deeply invested in these characters and stories and relationships for several years now, and it's hard to just flip that switch to not caring even when the show's let you down multiple times. It might be more easy for me because I've only been a grade above a casual viewer for most of 8b, but Bobby was the reason I continued to watch this show in S1 and his arc, apart from Chimney's, has been my favorite on the show. I can't explain the amount of whiplash and heartbreak the abrupt end to his story has caused, but it's hard and I don't blame people for whatever their relationship—or lack thereof—with the show is moving forward. Not saying that's what you're implying, but just clarifying because I've seen a lot of reactions to the episode and how people are moving forward and I think don't think it can be distilled down to one thing.

Anyway, I don't know. I am sad. I am angry. But if this is the end of the road with this show for me, I'll still be happy and grateful for those early seasons full of great stories, for this fandom which has changed and evolved and worsened in nearly every way but still brought a lot of really great people my way on tumblr. I'll watch the rest of this season, and I never want to be an absolutist so never say never, but unless they manage to restore my long lost faith in this show's ability to close out story lines and deal with trauma and grief in a meaningful manner, and somehow do that in two episodes, I won't be back. Oh well. We'll always have season 5, yeah?

[gemmaswriting]

Hellooo okay so many thoughts about the chapter of FY that I have to say here because I don’t have an ao3 account:

1. I know she’s an oc but i absolutely adore Arievel and i think what you’ve done with her character is really great. I think her and Anakin are my favourite characters in the story.

2. On that same note it started off as a crack ship but IDK I like the concept of Arievel and Anakin together. I think it’s cause of that one side chapter you posted a while back but I like their dynamic. Don’t really care for Padmé and Vader either as individuals or as a ship (please don’t stone me. I know lots of people who read the fic adore them) but I think Arievel and Anakin as a pairing kind of move me even though I 100% made it up and I know nobody else agrees with me😂

3. I think we already all knew Anakin was alive based on that flash forward a couple chapters ago but the more I think about it I just don’t think he was referring to Padmé as “the Empress.” I just can’t wrap my head around how he’ could ever forgive her for this whole Vader thing especially when his body was (thought to be) barely cold. (Deluded crack ship mind is telling me it’s Arievel but I’m striking that down cause I need to be realistic)

4. You’d said that you have around 60 chapters planned for the trajectory of this fic a couple months ago. Do you still see that or has the number changed based on how you’ve been writing?

5. Vader is still sick with that disease I think and IDK I just feel Padmé has something to do with him not eventually dying and maybe even being cured.

6. I think Jinn is definitely gonna be Vader & Padmé’s child together but thinking about that made me realise that I completely forgot about the lack of Luke in this story so I guess that’s a route too.

Sorry for the long dump. This is really all I have in the immediate aftermath of this chapter but I look forward to future updates. Glad your recovery is going well and I love your writing and stories. Hoping to see more Ahsoka and/or Leia also in this story cause I like the way you write them.

Thank you sooo much for your message!! I really appreciate it!! (Also I am suuuuper behind on my messages so if you're waiting for a response from me, I'm so sorry and I will get to you, I promise!!)

Aww, I'm so happy you like Arievel!! I was super nervous introducing her that people wouldn't like her, but I've been very pleasantly surprised. I love her! I think she's tragic and deeply interesting. Hahaha, omg, Anakin and Arievel together is certainly a first! But you know what, I can see it. Maybe if things had been different and he and Padme broke up, maybe those two could have had a chance? Even as a political marriage, I could really see those two being quite happy together.

I know you sent this ages ago, before we knew Anakin was actually alive, but I hope the reveal was still a surprise to you anyway. There is some serious drama and a whole lot of healing ahead of us, that's all I'll say!

Oh gosh, I know!! Originally, the story was supposed to be 45 chapters, then 50, then up and up and I've given up guessing how many its going to be now. I know what's going to happen, when and in what order, but god knows how long it'll take to get there anymore. One of my big regrets with this story is not splitting it into 3 separate fics. The first would have been the Hedsard gala drama, the second beginning with Padme's first pregnancy and ending roughly about them having Leia and then the third everything we're going through now.

Oooh, maybe she is the cure somehow!! That could be so interesting!!

Hahaha, everyone seems to forget Luke hasn't appeared just yet (and I have reasons for that...) but your theory about Ginn definitely seems to be a popular one!

Never be sorry for reaching out!! I loooove chatting about all things fics and Anidala! <3

[dreamweaversfavsandthoughs]

Rick and Morty S7 Ep. 3: Air Force Wong

(We’ve come a long way since Pickle Rick)

Spoiler Alert. Can’t say I didn’t warn you.

My Favs

Unity!

Really wasn’t expecting to ever see them again so it was a pleasant surprise! Bringing back Unity could have crossed the line into being too fan service-y but I think they were incorporated into the ongoing story of the Rick/Rick Prime saga nicely.

“Don’t be a Space Mormon!”:

But immediately being apologetic about making fun of the SS agent’s religion.

“I volunteer to do acid to prove I’m not a cop!”:

Me too. Me too

President’s cellphone wallpaper:

Rick and the President posing with a recently caught Nessie cracked me up more than it should have.

“Call in a chopper. I’m being cockblocked!”

Rick almost died trying to defeat Rick Prime?!:

I need the details! I NEED THEM!

Summer and Rick’s interaction:

We haven’t gotten a lot of Summer this season so it’s nice to see her trying to reach out to her grandfather. Summer is probably the second smartest member of the Smith/Sanchez and made the connection pretty quickly that Unity was back and that Rick would be deep in his feels. I love seeing Summer’s empathetic side but it was also sad to see Rick shut her out in the guise of creating “boundaries.” He still has a long way to go.

The President becoming a hive mind in order to achieve an 100% approval rating:

Honestly, a politician enslaving the minds of his constituents in order to get unanimous approval is something that would happen in real life if they could. Absolutely realistic.

*traumatic flashback of the last 7-8 years*

David Miscavage voicemail:

Unless you are familiar with the history of Scientology, you’re probably not going to get that joke. That was written for nerds like me. (Real talk though, I believe Scientology is a dangerous cult. The actress, Leah Remini has done some great work exposing this cult for what it is and some of their abusive practices.)

My Not Favs

Has anyone seen Morty? He’s gone missing and we’re so worried about him:

I have it on good authority that he’s going to be more prominent in the season going forward. Hope my sources are correct…

Mr. Stabby:

The bit didn’t really do it for me.

The romantic arc between the President and Dr. Wong:

Fortunately it was ditched as quickly as it started.

My Thoughts:

A couple of things come to mind:

First, I want to discuss my biggest problem with Auto Erotic Assimilation as an episode. The episode ends with a pretty moving scene of Rick attempting suicide after Unity breaks up with him. Iconic scene no doubt, but a scene I felt had poor justification. The reasoning being is that the only thing we ever really learn during that episode is that Rick and Unity like to fuck…a lot. And abuse substance…a lot. Frankly, the relationship struck me as being awfully shallow. This most recent episode, however, added some much needed substance that was previously lacking. We find out that Rick has confided in them about Rick Prime and possibly Diane and Beth. They were around for the disastrous aftermath of his previous attempt to hunt Rick Prime and when they find out Rick is going to attempt to go after him again goes to extreme lengths to get Rick’s attention and dissuade him from going through with it.

Now, I don’t really want to see Unity and Rick get back together and I do see this episode as a sort of resolution to this relationship. Two people may not be able to make a romantic relationship work but sometimes that can pave the way to something better. Maybe a friendship can form from this that is much more meaningful than a romance, when they’re ready. They both still care about each other that’s for sure, but Rick still has some work.

Secondly, I’ve seen some conversation that Dr. Wong was in the wrong to side with Unity and tell Rick he was squarely in the wrong. Rewatching the episode, in the scene before Dr. Wong and Rick confront Unity the two of them discuss how they are going to convince Unity to take over the President’s hivemind in order to restore everyone. In this discussion they say,

Rick: “So you need to convince [Unity] I’m worth it.”

Dr. Wong: “You aren’t”.

Rick: “So lie”.

A possible interpretation is that Dr. Wong took his advice and said what she thought would be necessary to bring order back to earth which meant placing the blame on Rick. It’s a thought. I don’t know if if clears anything up but that’s kinda how I see it.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode. It wasn’t nearly the fun romp we had with the second episode, but I appreciate a fresh insight into Rick and Unity’s relationship and I like to see Rick gradually warming up to therapy to the point that he values his relationship with Dr. Wong. She’s one of the few people not intimidated by him or afraid to call him out on his BS. Sometimes, finding a therapist that really clicks with you can be a monumental task so Rick got pretty lucky finding the perfect therapist on the first try.

[llycaons]

reread ch 55 -56 : THEMES! OF! SEXUAL! REPRESSION! AND! SHAME! *clapping and cheering*

there's nothing in the next scene I want to particularly highlight but he's definitely become more open to and aware of his feelings of sexual desire since imuri moved in and that's on purpose on her end

OH BOY!!!!!!! this scene apparently got some pushback for being 'weird' but I support it as a writing choice! it's a bold move with thematic and character weight that pays off!

the glowing coming from it...😭

Fukayama does 'miserable shame' SO well. buddy :(

trying to read the bible...I wonder what those other books are and how many copies of the bible he has

last imaginings were various and non-specific but his next imaginings are ALL boob shots....okay no I won't make fun of him

there's real desperation here...the other part of dante's advice coming in handy

they're looking at him so he puts them all outside lmao...

I like how this scene progresses. it's extremely clear what's going on without any dialogue or internal monologue at all needed to convey priest's mental state or decision making process. the still is great too - an actual flashback would disrupt the silent, oppressive atmosphere

if this was ever animated I'm sure it would be endlessly giffed by both the most tasteless and creepiest people but anyway I think it should be totally silent except for the rain and his vocalizations

he's shaking so bad...aw buddy it's okay :(

it's a really great part of the series that he's horny. like I legitimately love that so much. it's normal! lots of people get horny! he's not a holy soldier made of stone, he's a regular teenage boy. and he gets horny

wow he really imagines a variety of situations like immediately. this is another point where the style really bothers me tho bc I feel like I'm looking at shitty cartoon porn 😭 everything is so exaggerated and almost infantile. and why do her boobs look so massive...

sees the aftermath of an expression of his own sexual desire involving nobody else and immediately throws up...this manga is so good

A LITTLE SELF-HATRED AND SHAME IS A BUMPON THE ROAD!!!!!!! HE'S STILL ON HIS JOURNEY!!!!! the dimensions that priest being transfem would add to this tho...like his intense religious repression and trauma and shame around existing as a sexual being would be even better...

actually tho I don't think this was a step forward after all. he just became more withdrawn and unhappy after this...

can't believe all she had to do was convince him to jack off...no I do not think this is a total victory for lust but priest becoming more and more close to his humanity HAS been weakening him so...maybe. and it actually is also distancing him from imuri because he feels so much shame about it and terror of hurting others and horror at his own desires...but that's not even from lust, that's from the church. I mean, partially. lust made it worse but they truly do pass horrors back and forth between them...

I wonder if it's like that for the other exorcists. I kind of doubt it bc the exorcists verge have been killing were corrupt for 'pimping'....and nicholas complains about dante being a 'womanizer' but never says it'll impact HIS power, only that the boy must never pick up his habits. I think regular exorcists have a lot more leeway, and the boy is a special exception spiritually

now I wonder if dante takes his own advice and does too...or if he's too miserable and focused on the verge issue post-2018...hmmm I am inclined to believe the 'jacks off alone and cries' reading <3 and fwiw I seriously doubt he thinks of verge's frozen-in-time body sexually at all I think he cries himself to sleep about it and about being too late and lost opportunities and betraying him instead

bel makes his appearance, we're in the sloth arc already! but how does he know now is the time?

SLOTH IS THE ONE PUTTING ON THAT OMELAS CHILD PLAY....oh you WOULD see a story about a child suffering and go 'oughhhh we need to end the world and kill ourselves' wouldn't you

I was so confused first read 😭 like 'damn, who could THIS be?' IT'S A CHARACTER THAT'S BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME, IDIOT! just...lurking in the shadows

god's most powerful soldier, felled by 'too horny to do domestic tasks'. sad!

for some reason this panel of him looks weird. too cutesy?

this IS kind of weak for rehab. also...does he not trust him? :(

dehumanizing :(

can I say something. Queen shit

also yayyy the witches!!!

charlotte really always looks pissed...

and she really always goes around without a shirt or pants, just that cape with sleeves and tights....enthralled by her choices

also I like how verge has a cute little smile even in the background and char's like :I

funny that he identifies indolence as the issue here but it IS the sloth arc...

he's couching it in language of practicality - and he's RIGHT, they can't keep using him like this and expect him to be fine - but I know he also heard about the situation and went FUCKKKKK this kid needs a break we have got to keep him off the battlefield for a while. they need a child therapist who isn't affiliated w the church onsite or something bc none of these people know how to deal w this

[jon-withnoh]

Hello! Hope this isn't a bother, but do you have any tips for thinking up plots? I mean for the whole story. Reading Nie Wirst made me want to try to write something longer, but I'm a bit lost since all I've ever written are short one-shots or drabbles. Again, hope this isn't bothering you, feel free to ignore it! Also, this goes without saying but I'm looking forward to the sequel if you do write it

Hi! I love this question, thank you for asking it 😊 I'm pretty sure you'd get a variation of answers depending on who you ask, so my way might not necessarily work for you. (I'm thinking of this as a fun Pick&Mix of things that work for me and might work for others.)

My strategies differ for different kinds of writing. When I'm working on a poetry collection, it sometimes takes years to accumulate enough individual poems that fit together for me to start working on the arc or through-line of that collection. This just for context, since you did ask me about prose.

Whether for fanfiction or original fiction, I've found that I can only keep up my motivation for a longer piece if I am absolutely obsessed with it. Was wird aus uns was born from the immediate aftermath of me seeing Rebecca in Vienna, reading the book and pretty much every single fic on Ao3 and just needing those two fools to be okay. That one really came out of pure obsession. Nie wirst Du was a lot more considered and since the plot is quite complex, I did plan things ahead of time.

I'm going to try and sum up some of the things that I need in order to sustain my focus for a longer piece of writing under the cut!

I need to be absolutely obsessed with the initial idea. No matter how interesting a concept or fic idea is in theory, if it doesn't have that spark of obsession I might toss it around in my head for fun, but I won't actually write it. If an idea doesn't grip me enough that I'm constantly looking forward to the next plot point I'm "working towards", then I'll get bored and abandon the piece. This is especially true for fic. For Was wird aus uns, the first plot point everything was moving towards was their first kiss. Then Christmas, and then, finally, Danny's collapse and the changes that it brought. With Nie Wirst Du, I was constantly hooked, tbh. It's a little bit like a soap opera in that it has many twists and turns, very complicated relationship dynamics and many big feelings. Some plot points I was working towards there were the tea party and the costume ball. Once I knew what the fallout from the ball was going to be, I had a much better idea of how things would continue to escalate develop.

I figured out how I need to approach plot. A friend of mine is a hardcore plotter with detailed outlines, diagrams and everything. I used to try and approach plot like that with the result that by the time I'd thought everything through, I was bored and didn't actually write the story anymore. The thing I do is apparently called pantsing. It means I know the inciting incident of the story, maybe a few major plot points and I have at least a vague idea of how I want it to end. There is an overarching structure, but it's loose enough that it keeps me interested. I can decide to add or take away smaller plot elements without having to do major rewrites.

There needs to be a drive to the story. I need a sense of movement when I'm writing. Even if a story is set entirely in one place, there needs to be some undercurrent of change or development. If the story feels static, I don't have any way of getting a character from point A to point B.

I write the things I want to see. If you find yourself looking through Ao3 thinking "I wish someone had written about xyz", then that might be a sign for you to write the fic you're looking for! For example, I needed a happy ending for Danny and Ich, so I wrote one. Then I became really interested in learning more about Rebecca as a character. Who is she outside of the stories being told about her? To find that out, I needed a story where she was alive and since I didn't want to write a prequel, the idea for Nie Wirst Du was born.

I hope this was somewhat help or at least interesting! It also really helps to have a person who's just as excited about your story idea as you are. They might ask you questions you hadn't considered and give you a whole new insight into what you're writing. Feel free to ask more questions about this if you want. This was really fun!

[ecargmura]

My Happy Marriage Episode 7 Review - Endings and Beginnings

When one door closes, another opens. That’s what this episode technically is about. The door to the conflicts with the Saimori family has come to an end and then a door to a new arc with new conflicts opens. I really like the relaxed nature of this episode and the buildup of ominous things to come towards the end. I think the way the sakura tree stump disintegrated is a good representation of that; Miyo’s reliance on her mother ends as she steps forward into a new beginning with her fiancé.

The aftermath of the whole kidnapping ordeal ends with the Saimori and Tatsuishi families suffering severe consequences for their actions. The entire Saimori estate is burned to the ground. Mr. and Mrs. Saimori moved to the countryside while Kaya is sent to work as a servant for a strict household. Regarding the Tatsuishis, Mr. Tatsuishi is no longer head of the family; that is passed down to Kazushi now. The Tatsuishi family is now under the control of the Kudou family. I know that many want Miyo’s abusive family to die, but I do think that this is a better result. Falling from grace and then suffering from humiliation for the rest of their lives is the best end the greedy family could have. They all cared about their reputation and wealth, so for them to not have them anymore and whether it would make or break them befits them the best. Whatever happens to them are no longer Miyo and Kiyoka’s issues.

I do like how Kaya’s end is a bit of a foil to Miyo’s beginning. Kaya ends her stint with little luggage and a train ride to her new home where she’ll be treated strictly for a long time. Miyo’s beginning was taking little luggage and a train ride to her new home where she’d meet a strict husband and household, but that was the start of a happiness that will last a long time. It’s ironic in a way that both sisters have that same experience, but with different ends.

Koji also makes his exit as he decides to move to the old capital to train his abilities and to come back a stronger and better man for his family and for his future spouse. It’s unknown whether his marriage to Kaya has been annulled; does Koji even want Kaya? I do like how when Koji first made his appearance, he and Miyo were talking by the lake. For his supposed last appearance, he and Miyo part ways by that same lake. I do like the symbolism. I hope that Koji makes a future appearance and for him to have a cute wife too. He deserves his own happiness.

The end of Miyo’s suffering begins with a peaceful new start as she and Kiyoka finally document their engagement. However, the next step of their marriage process is to meet with Kiyoka’s family. Miyo is worried after learning that the old head of the Kudou family was the one who was sending out proposal requests for Kiyoka. The request for the Saimori household was most likely for Kaya, which is a part of Miyo’s worries as she fears they might be disappointed with her. Kiyoka reassures her that if his father rejects her, he’ll burn him. He’s a future wife guy, seriously. I do like how the marriage isn’t immediate, but takes time. Marriage in general is a long process. I’ve met people who tell me how long and tedious the process is from registering the marriage certificate and then holding a wedding; the whole process itself seems tedious to me.

Meeting the Kudou family formally will have to wait as Miyo wants to get herself educated on how to be a proper lady in order to impress her in-laws. Kiyoka was a bit reluctant at first, but he gives in; he requests that he’d pick out a teacher for her which turns out to be none other than Kiyoka’s older sister, Hazuki Kudou. What? He has an older sister? Miyo is meeting one of her in-laws already? I know that some girls in real life would seethe at the thought of training to be a proper lady, but please remember the time period this story takes place in. Hazuki was educated in a girls school and was once married, so she knows her ins and outs of being a proper lady; also, it’s best to have someone Kiyoka can trust to teach Miyo and not be a conniving person trying to ruin their marriage.

Hazuki is a cool character, I like her a lot. She’s knowledgeable and knows how to have fun. It’s great to see another person adoring Miyo; Miyo deserves all the love. I do like how Hazuki seems to be more into modern society with the way she dresses in western clothes, bobbed hair and has an outgoing demeanor. She’s the very opposite of Miyo, but they still get along well. I do love how she acts like a big sister to both Kiyoka and Miyo. I hope she appears more. She’s fun! I do love how she’s also a stepping stone for Miyo to decide on what sort of person she’ll become; for now, she wants to be someone deserving of Kiyoka.

The ending of the episode was rather unsettling and a huge change of tone from how the rest of the episode was before. The fact that the next conflict the couple will have to deal with seems to be a scary cult makes the Saimoris seem like child’s play now. What are those spirits they summoned? Are those Grotesqueries? Given that this might be the Usuba clan, it makes me worry for what’s to come. What will they do with Miyo? How will they overcome this ordeal? What did you think about this episode as a whole?

[winderlylandchime]

Hello!! I love how we are all hoping that Jordan brings back the podcast, i need those two besties back so badly. I feel like they have so much stuff they could talk about especially now with the strikes, it’d be fun to hear their take on it. I am honestly not ready for him to find out how the filming and the aftermath of the show was on Gale and Randy. I know he’s gonna lose his shit to find out how some people were towards them (especially since his idea of Gale in his head is obviously different and in his mind Gale and Randy are bffs like how he is with his friends.) but also i think he will be shocked to find out they both kind of stepped back from the show and had certain issues with it. He did storm in my room randomly today and went ‘IS THAT WHY THERE WAS LESS SEX STUFF?!’ Which btw it was 10 am when he did that, I barely knew i was awake. Basically he was up almost all night thinking about the finale and the podcast (he is once again that conspiracy meme) and he realized in later seasons there’s less sex scenes and now he is distraught that maybe it’s because Randy was uncomfortable. He was having an entire crisis over it. While I don’t know what all i will show him/what he’ll see on his own (i wanna show him bts content and like obviously anything else i can find) but i will be keeping con videos/posts FAR away from him because some of those are the worst things ive ever seen in my life, no offense to anyone. I will say, If you or anyone has any ideas what else I should show him, let me know because he has been losing his mind begging me to let him listen to more of the podcast.

As for our mom, i swear that woman is actually pretty chaotic herself but unlike my brother she hides it better. Both of our parents are insane but for some reason only he doesn’t even make an effort to hide it. She did get a long email sent to her by my brother because she was ignoring his calls and he wanted to talk about s4 finale. It was titled ‘IMPORTANT! NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SHOW’ and then it was almost a short novel about the show.. He wanted to hear her thoughts since he is still undecided about Justin not saying yes to moving in. And he wrote a little bit about the podcast and he also asked her if she thinks Randy would like him if they met (clearly he is feeling a certain way about this) which caused a different crisis, a much bigger one: would Gale like him if they met. That crisis lasted almost 2 hours btw. Anyway as a reply to the email she just forwarded it to our dad who forwarded it back to me to tell me to ‘change the wifi password.’ And then I immediately got a call from my mom about the podcast asking me if it’s about the show and how he already has enough weird hobbies and why can’t I get him into something normal like a pottery group or painting group or something with normal people around. And then I heard in the background our uncle who went ‘after all the stories about him talking to DOCTORS, you want to unleash him on a person who is not medically trained?’ So he is now being encouraged to stay home and watch tv. Also: he is currently talking to his best friend about the finale, while writing down mind maps and lists of what he thinks season 5 will be. He’s having a bit of issues with it because the LA offer apparently fucked quite a lot of things up for him so his original list no longer makes sense. He is also talking to him at the same time (he’s jumping from topic to topic) about Gale and how shocked he was that Randy didn’t enjoy the qaf fame. I don’t know how this became my life. More importantly I would just like to say: i cannot wait for your new fic! I mean your last fic got us here so I can’t wait to see what happens next. But also bearded Brian>>

The podcast talking about the strikes would be amazing! I was hoping we would get a Barbie movie episode but alas. I really want to hear the besties talk about Greta Gerwig.

I have never seen the con clips and I’m grateful. I have too much secondhand embarrassment to sit through that boundary-crossing behavior and invasive questions.

I LOVE that your parents were like “change the wifi password” and uncle was like “unleash him into the world?” and they responded “jk never mind.”

I personally think Gale and Randy are still friends but we would never know with the one proof of life per year Gale gives us and Randy being tightlipped about his time on the show.

Wait until your brother realizes that one of Randy’s partner’s is named Justin (or is that the kid? either way there’s a Justin!)

I am dreading his reaction to S5 but we all watched it so he must as well…

And, yes, bearded Brian >>>

BUT I saw your request at the top - folks let’s start to pull together a post-S5 education for all necessary BTS for Brother Anon to fully understand QAF! In box me or comment on this post.

[eurydicees]

10 👀

[wip amnesty ask game details] 

ooooh #10 (“be still my foolish heart don't ruin this on me or whatever hozier said”) is one of the spotify wrapped prompts i’ve gotten really fucking far with and have now hit a horrific block on and given up on. im so mad because i really have gotten so far with it and im so close but i just. can’t get to the end. 

the song prompt is (obviously) hozier’s “almost (sweet music)”! i have a pretty well designed outline for it and it’s all RIGHT THERE but im so stuck on the actual writing part. i think i just got too ambitious with it, ngl. 

the concept started as a wicked post-canon fic! and that shit SPIRALED. it became the beginnings of the rewrite of gregory maguire’s son of a witch that i dream of at night. and so now it’s this ridiculously ambitious character study of nor and glinda in The Aftermath, gliyeraba in the intermission years and a little at shiz, and nor’s childhood with fiyero and sarima raising her. 

the fic follows the two of them as they go on a “celebration tour” on the five year anniversary of elphaba’s death. at each stop on the tour, glinda tells nor a story about elphaba and fiyero so that nor can kind of reconnect with them and glinda can finally speak about them/their relationship and mourn without being vilified for her grief. here’s the draft of the ao3 summary: 

Years after it all ends, Glinda is once again forced to celebrate the anniversary of the killing of the Wicked Witch of the West. Through it all, Glinda and Nor search for a way to rid themselves of their hauntings.  Or, sometimes moving forward does not mean never looking back.  (Five effigies to destroy and one love to keep.) 

i’ve also been writing out of order, which is always a challenge for me lol. i have all the ideas (TOO MANY IDEAS!!!) but actually putting them into sentences is harddddd. would love feedback on the premise and on the snippet below the cut!!! 

“And you remind me of her sometimes.” 

“I’m nothing like her.” Nor’s voice is a snarl. There is no question on who her is. 

“They weren’t bad people. They weren’t, Nor.” 

Finally, Glinda turns around. Her expression is stone, impassable, unreadable. Nor meets her eyes. Her own gaze is hard and burning, but the longer that the silence lasts, the more it feels like Nor is about to cry—cry for all that she had and all that she lost, cry for all that could have been, cry for all that will never be. Cry for her father and mother, cry for her brothers, cry for Elphaba, cry for herself.

Glinda takes a shaky breath. She steps forward and starts to lift her hand to Nor’s cheek—a gentle touch, maybe, but Nor flinches back anyway. Glinda drops her hand immediately, looking like she was the one who feared being struck. 

“They weren’t bad people,” Nor repeats. She doesn’t know if the rasp of anger in her voice is directed at Glinda or them or herself when she continues, “I guess that’s why we celebrate her death every year and can’t even speak his name, right?” 

Glinda stares at her for a long moment, some terrible series of heartbreaks crossing over her face. “I—” 

“Don’t say anything,” Nor cuts in, not wanting to hear whatever excuses Glinda has to make for herself. “I don’t need to understand.” 

She isn’t really sure what she’s referring to understanding, she just can’t keep having this conversation. She can’t humanize either of them in her head or heart because to humanize them would be to let the grief overtake her. It would render her useless and helpless and broken. 

Nor has survived all of this by clinging to her fire and her anger and her hatred. She has survived by sharpening her edges and hardening layers of armor. She has survived by putting the past behind her. There is no recovering what she lost, and so there is no use mourning it. Not like how Glinda so privately, so secretly mourns it. 

“You can,” Glinda says, and there’s a kind of teary desperation in her voice. “You can understand. Someone needs to understand. Nor, you knew—” 

“I didn’t.” Nor’s voice is hard and fueled with anger. “I didn’t know either of them. Not really. And I never will.” 

Glinda closes her eyes. When she opens them, tears spill over her lower eyelashes and Nor is reminded that she hasn’t done any of her makeup yet. “You can. I can tell you everything I remember about them. About Elphaba, and about Fiyero.” 

She should shoot down the idea right now. She should stop this before they get ahead of themselves. She should get that fanciful dream of returning Nor’s father to her out of Glinda’s head immediately. She should stop Elphaba’s redemption story before it starts. 

She should tell Glinda to stop now, to sit down and let Nor do her makeup, to go get coffee, to go on the Celebration Tour without any more nonsense about their shared past. She should tell Glinda to stop talking about this before they both get in trouble. Nor doesn’t know why she doesn’t. 

Instead, she says, “I can’t promise I’ll believe you.” 

“But you’ll listen,” Glinda counters. 

Nor stares at her, wide-eyed, practically trembling. 

She feels young again, like a child in the dark, Fiyero at her bedside asking, Do you want a bedtime story? You have to listen really well or you’ll miss the good parts. 

And she feels so fucking small standing in front of Glinda and hearing her six year old self answer, Tell me the one about the two witches, please, Daddy. 

“I’ll listen,” Nor says hoarsely, bravely. “I’ll listen.”

[ladyofpembroke]

Really feeling this with House of the Dragon right now. It’s a show with such a large cast of characters, limited time, and multiple plotlines. Something had to give. And a lot did.

Many of the secondary characters, Jace, Helaena (despite the focus on her in B&C) Aemond, Baela, Rhaena, etc are only defined by one to four short scenes. Yes we are obviously only two episodes into the second season but there have been so many opportunities within the narrative to tell us more about them but because of limited episodes we often get the bare minimum to shape the characters in our minds. Is more necessary? Perhaps not, but it would flesh out the story more and ultimately add to it.

Which ties into one of the other points listed above: cutting away from the reaction/action or excluding it all together. For example, the reaction of team Green to Aemond telling them that he killed Lucerys (undoubtedly an event that caused tension and the need for much more consideration about their moves going forward), season 2 starts ten days afterwards, the news is stale and we are left to assume the fall out. Another example is Alicent and Criston starting a sexual relationship, we don’t get to see the very momentous, character defining moment they set aside their values and honor, we only see them having sex (this was particularly egregious to me due to the huge character implications and I think if they weren’t prepared to give the storyline time to play out they should have cut it.) For Jace, his diplomatic mission to the Vale and then Winterfell/the Wall would have been a great opportunity to learn more about him and TB allies and see how he operates, instead we only get a glimpse and the assurance to Rhaenyra that he did indeed deliver. Baela and Rhaena’s perspective/personality have been markedly absent until we finally got a short scene with Baela this episode.

Even for the immediate aftermath of B&C, it seems to go by so quickly.

Now again, yes many of these things can be implied. But it sometimes seems like there’s so much implying going on, so many short scenes where you get a snippet of a character to imagine around. And HoTD does have its main characters that it gives more focus to but even those characters are not immune to this treatment.

It just makes me sad that Studios are green lighting these shows that have extensive casts and plotlines and then not giving them the episodes to actually deliver on the immensity of the world. Like yes, a story with the fat trimmed off can still be good but that fat also could have brought so much flavor to the story.

It’s become really apparent to me how TV has changed based on the shorter seasons.

I feel like so many TV shows want to tell really in-depth complicated plots, but they’re only given eight episodes (sometimes less). And this can work if you have a smaller cast, or you are very strict about who the core cast is, for example in succession, the core characters are the family unit and the secondary characters—the people who work at the company— are not given a similar level of focus, the actors do a really great job of conveying who those characters and what their motivations are, but they still leave you wanting more because ultimately, you know, you might get a hint of something in the script that you can’t go into in depth.

I think the problem is trying to fit a really complicated plot(s) in an eight episode season that also has an extremely large cast of characters that they want to focus on. I see this in Wheel of Time, I saw it in The Gilded Age too.

And one of the main ways I feel like the stories really suffer is that you don’t really get to sit with a story or the implication of things that happen like you do if there is a longer season. For example, there’s a lot of cutaways right after dramatic event instead of seeing peoples’ reactions and afterwards reactions are implied, or perhaps you skip an important scene altogether, and then just tell people that it happened. 

And I think there’s choices that you can maybe make as a writer or a director once or twice for a meaningful reason, but sometimes it happens so often it really feels like it’s only to save time. You didn’t want to see the character having in that emotional reaction for more than two seconds because you don’t have enough time the episode to focus on them, now you have to go to someone else’s plot. Or you skipped over that explanation/event to just have the character have already found out in the next scene because you know if they were to have that scene, it would take up at least a couple minutes because of course they would react to strongly to that news. But now they have known for hours/days etc so their reaction is stale and can be implied with a withering look or a long sigh and a quick mention to let the audience know that something happened.

When you have a large ensemble cast in a short season, there simply isn’t time to give everyone a meaningful plot all the time or there isn’t time to examine everyone’s deeper characterization as a result of their plot; this often ends up with audiences wanting more and writers relying slightly on stereotypes or character tropes to help round out the character in audiences minds.

I really hope the strike helps reverse the trend of shorter and shorter seasons for television shows, because while not every show needs to be more than eight episodes, many shows would benefit from the ability to have more time to tell their story. It is wild to me that a 12 or 13 episode season for a drama series is now a long season to me.

[tomorrow-and-tomorrows]

JJK 149. Mai Zen'in

It’s fascinating for a battle shounen manga to have a character like Mai who is diametrically opposed to the ideals of strength and self-improvement that are usually valourized in this genre. Mai doesn't die because she can’t get stronger, but because she doesn’t want to. And although that attitude is evidently incompatible with an existence within the world and situation she found herself in, there is no negative value judgment imposed by the narrative itself condemning her unwillingness to unlock her "full potential".

JJK has always foregrounded competing worldviews and how individuals’ different perspectives and values can either coexist or conflict with others. Maki's ambition to transform the Zen'in clan vs. the Zen'ins' regressive conservatism; Gojou's vision for the jujutsu world vs. the higher ups' ; Yuji's "I want to save everyone" vs. Megumi's "I choose who I save" ; Mei Mei's "I'm on the side of money" vs. Nanami leaving a lucrative job to save people out of compassion, and so on.

So it's particularly impressive that, while operating within the shounen genre, the story continues to maintain its respect for this ideological diversity by preserving Mai’s belief in her own worldview to the very end. Simply put, not everyone wants to become powerful even if they may have the potential to. Not everyone wants to live a life of violence, and not everyone wants to be a saviour for others at the direct expense of their own sanity.

It would be perhaps the more optimistic yet potentially oppressive narrative move to demand for Mai's character to undergo a transformation from a character who resists the shounen ideals to one who accepts them. This type of transformation would by no means be inherently negative; I'm definitely not saying that going down this path would have been bad for Mai's character or for the story. But it would succumb to a temptation to move towards a kind of 'sameness' rather than difference in its depiction of ways of acting in the world. I think Mai's ending is all the more striking because it resists this temptation.

Because I think that the more typical - and optimistic - development arc for Mai would have been for her to learn how to be willing to become stronger as a sorcerer and eventually fight alongside Maki.

But instead, Mai never ends up conforming to those dominant values of strength and ambition. Neither is she subjected to the kind of development traditionally favoured by the genre that are along the lines of, 'you just need to believe in yourself and work hard' -- because if we really think about it, often times a lot of feats in shounen are accomplished by sheer willpower and self-conviction. (JJK is not always an exception to that trope, nor is it necessarily a bad thing!). Mai had previously firmly stated her opposing point of view, and this essential attitude never changes even when we perhaps most expect it to.

In this situation, rather than working to improve her technique to create stronger objects without it costing her life, Mai passively accepts that her weakness will require self-sacrifice.

It’s a fatalistic attitude resulting from having never wanted to partake in a life of violence and hardship.

On the one hand, inflexibility and the inability to adapt are not exactly commendable traits; Mai is certainly fixed in her resignation and refusal to work towards her full potential as a sorcerer. On the other hand, to use Nanami's words, being a sorcerer is shit. All the suffering and regret in the story so far has only continued to reaffirm that sentiment. So we also can't fully condemn Mai for rejecting that way of life to the extent that she would rather sacrifice herself than to push forward to have her own "shounen power-up" moment. Because the aftermath of that would be a path likely filled with death, brutality, and suffering.

The wish to live a normal life is a legitimate and valid one. In an ideal world, her clan would not punish her for it. In an ideal world, opposing perspectives, especially ordinarily pacifist ones like Mai's, would be allowed to exist. Mai having to die because she was unable to escape or adapt to the ruthlessness of the jujutsu world exemplifies how cruel that world is. Mai's persistence in her wish for a normal life, and her "failure" as a sorcerer is not her failure at all; her death reflects a failure of the violently rigid jujutsu clan culture.

In this light, it is all the more tragic that Mai's death was entirely preventable, and fated not by the inevitability of actual "fate", but rather entirely by a radically traditionalist clan system.

At the same time, as I mentioned earlier, I find it impressive for Gege to have allowed Mai to hold onto her values. Just as Maki has always stayed true to her dreams of overturning the Zen'in clan by becoming a powerful sorcerer, Mai has always stayed true to her resistance to that dark and difficult path. From a writing perspective, I think it's interestingly respectful to Mai's character in that way. It's also for this reason that I consider this chapter to be a worthy good-bye to Mai, as she is faithful to her own way of being in the world until the end. It may not conform to the demands of the optimistic self-improvement narrative generally preferred by shounen, but it is a valid perspective, and it is never depicted to be 'lesser than' or 'inferior to' the shounen narrative.

I'm always interested in stories in which there is a genuine dialogue of a diversity of voices, each with their own perspectives and viewpoints even as they conflict with each other - or in other words stories that prioritize 'difference' over 'sameness' in ways of being, thinking, and acting. It's not necessarily uncommon - most if not all stories will feature different character motivations within a given cast. But I think JJK does this particularly well in a particularly convincing way, and 149 is further confirmation of this for me.

Finally, it is notable that Mai herself seems to acknowledge this sentiment. She may have been unwilling to imagine a stronger future version of herself, which is opposite to the advice Gojou had given Megumi if he wanted to reach his full potential. But she died for the sake of believing in the stronger future version of Maki, and this is how she is victorious even in death. All the way to the end, Mai had her way of viewing and acting in the world in her individual way, and Maki had hers; importantly, Mai ends up encourages this difference. Right after she states that "You are me, and I am you", that sameness is undercut when Mai immediately after points to their contrasting motivations:

Mai ultimately encourages Maki to live in the way that Maki wants to live - to the fullest potential of her power and the fullest potential for her capacity to force change upon a corrupt system. Before, Mai had resented Maki for moving on without her ("why didn't you fall down the hole with me?") - she resented how Maki couldn't be the same as her in how she viewed the world. In her final chapter, Mai conversely acknowledged that she herself could never see the world exactly the same as Maki.

Therein lies the cornerstone of her character development; before, she resented that difference between them for those twofold reasons. In the last moments of her life, she no longer resents Maki for moving on without her; she encourages her to move forward into the future. It is of course undeniably tragic, as it must be a future without Mai. And no amount of power gained from such a loss could ever be consolation for that tragedy.

It is fitting, then, that Mai's final message to Maki is full of despair -- yet it is also not without hope. In the interplay between 'construction' and 'destruction', it is ironic yet poetic that Mai wished for her object-construction technique's final and greatest creation to be used to destroy - indeed, to "destroy everything". There is undoubtedly despair both in that command, and in Maki's drive to destruction when she emerges from that room. But somewhere, somehow, there must also be the hope that that destruction will be in the service of "construction", of creating a better future for others, even if it is too late for it to be a future in which they can live in together.

[majac08]

Last Man Standing Great Balls of Fire

Bradley Bradshaw x OC!Mitchell (Commander Hailey Mitchell)

"I tell my kids about him, about my great love story, and I'll be damned if one of us dies before I do what I promised Ice I would"

TW Deals with themes of war, death, grief, alcoholism, suicide, depression 18+

Top Gun was always made out to be a once in a lifetime opportunity, like there was nothing that could possibly beat it, or that it would never come around again. But life is a bitch and will throw everything it has at you, be prepared for the unexpected because it will happen and you will find a way through it.

Yet here Haillie Mitchell stood, returning to Top Gun 10 years after graduating, she had never expected to be back. She never expected to be back here obviously, but also she ever expected to be back in a position to fly. Iceman had ordered her out of the sky just under 2 and a half years before after he came out to visit her in the aftermath of the final missions destroying the enemy fleet that had destroyed the naval base at Pearl Harbor, killing 2207, and he saw a traumatised, grieving, practically suicidal girl. Not woman, not pilot. Girl. He had ordered her to be grounded until he deemed her fit to fly, so for two and a half years she had been in radio control. Until now.

"Everyone here is the best of the best, so who the hell are they going to have teach us?" Natasha questioned, looking around at the group of aviators currently sat beside her.

"I think the better question is which one of us here is the best pilot, Phoenix." Jake chuckled lowly, presuming that most would agree it was him.

"Hails?" Bob practically yelled across the Hard Deck. They turned to look where Bob was gesturing, seeing a woman with a bag slung over her shoulder. Seconds after they all had started staring, she turned to notice them.

"Oh thank fucking god you two are here." Bob smiled at the comment, but Phoenix was still confused and slightly unimpressed.

"Why the hell are you here?" She asked, arms folded over her chest.

"I'm just finally paying off my debt to Penny, the 10 year deadline has finally rolled around." The other woman replied, coming closer to the group, but Phoenix still kept her arms crossed over her chest, refusing to move further forwards. Bob, however did, he took a few steps towards her before giving her a hug. Phoenix just scoffed.

"Now you're looking at the owner of the best bar in the Pacific region." Bob proudly told Hangman, Hailey ducked her head. She hated it when Bob insisted on praising the bar in other bars, it didn't feel right.

"So you know Commander Mitchell then?" Jake questioned, she nodded. "Well I heard she was a dick." Bob nearly spat out his drink.

"Yeah, something like that." She mumbled, not particularly wanting any of them to know the truth. Luckily, their attention was soon brought to the final aviator arriving.

"Bradshaw! As I live and breathe," Hangman smirked as the Lieutenant with the Hawaiian shirt made his way to the group. Hailey immediately turned away from him, not wanting a scene and not wanting any of these complete strangers to know anything else about her.

"Hangman, you look good." He replied, removing his aviators.

"I am good Rooster, in fact I am too good to be true." Jake told him, not even looking at the pool table as he pocketed one of the balls. Natasha walked around the table and as she was about to hit Rooster in the stomach with the cue, he moved. To get a better look. A better look at her.

"Hailey?" He asked, convinced his eyes were deceiving him. She turned to look at him properly.

"Hey Brad." She replied calmly. He raised an eyebrow, she hardly ever called him Brad.

"How do you-"

"Our old men flew together, we grew up right next door to each other." He interrupted Fanboy, she was surprised to say the least. Hailey was almost certain he'd yell at her, it's all they seem to do when they were together anyways.

There was a short silence, before the game continued and so did conversation. "Tell me that wasn't the guy who broke you in the academy." Bob pleaded, he'd heard the story from Mac and Derek and quite frankly did not want to have to try and like someone he'd have to trust with his life.

"Okay... I won't tell you that." She smirked back, taking some of the nuts he'd been chewing and crunching them in her mouth. "I'm going to head to the ladies room, I'll be right back." She told him as she weaved her way through the crowd, passing Penny Benjamin.

"If it isn't my best customer, from what 10 years ago now Mitch?" The older woman smiled.

"Nice one, I've come to repay my debts." She told her, pulling out three shot glasses, "There, my final repayment all done."

"Try four sweetheart." She laughed, moving to give the younger woman a hug, which was reciprocated. "I'm so sorry to hear about Derek." Penny told her, concern lacing her voice.

"Yeah me too." Hailey replied, "I've got to go Pen, but I'll see you around."

"You know it sweetheart."

Hailey existed the rest room, the faint sound of piano keys filled her ears as she stood paralysed at the sight in front of her. Bradley. Playing the piano. Again. As the familiar notes began, she felt her stomach churn.

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain Too much love drives a man insane You broke my will, but what a thrill Goodness gracious great balls of fire I laughed at love when I thought it was funny But you came along and you moved me honey I've changed my mind, this love is fine Goodness gracious great balls of fire Kiss me baby, woo, it feels good Hold me baby, ooh, yeah, you gonna love me like a lover should You're fine, so kind, I'm gonna tell this world that you're mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! I chew my nails, I twiddle my thumbs I'm really nervous but it sure is fun Come on baby, you drive me crazy Goodness gracious great balls of fire Ohhh, kiss me baby, woo-oooooo, feels good, yeah Let me love you like a lover should. You're fine. So kind. I gonna tell this world that you're mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! I chew my nails and I twiddle my thumbs I'm real nervous but it sure is fun Come on baby, you drive me crazy Goodness gracious great balls of fire"

The whole bar had sung with him and was now chanting "ROOSTER ROOSTER" repetitively. There was a time when Hailey Mitchell would have gone and gotten so drunk she couldn't walk, but that was 10 years ago, now she was a grown woman who didn't need to get wasted to feel better about her ex boyfriend who totally wasn't most definitely the love you her life. Quickly hurrying past everyone she ran into Bob. "Are you okay?"

"Great balls of fire." She mumbled very distracted, "I can't do this. I'm going back to base, I'll see you tomorrow." She told him and he brought her in for a hug goodbye, kissing the side of her temple affectionately.

"Love you Hailey Mitchell." He smiled.

"Love you too Robert Floyd." She smiled back, before swinging her bag up and over her shoulder and leaving the bar. Something that wasn't missed by one Bradley Bradshaw and he'd be lying if he said his blood didn't boil at the sight of the only person he knew for absolute certain he loved being so cosy with somebody else.

[bklynmusicnerd]

Bow that we are about to enter the aftermath of the I/S story, how do you think it’s gonna effect Sprina’s mental? For Trina, I think she’s gonna have a period where she’s gonna be alittle closed off from people and want to keep to herself and Spencer. I can hear the “you don’t understand what I’ve/we’ve been through” statement coming from her. For Spencer, I think he’s gonna be even more over protective and he’s gonna be on his toes with everyone from now on. I think Victor was his last straw of having people take advantage and manipulate him. His trust issues are gonna be worse.

Well, for starters, I hope the writers allow them to come back from this adventure affected in some way. This regime is terrified of stakes, and it's the weakest part of their writing. Events should affect characters moving forward, and that should be the case for Trina and Spencer.

Interesting that you picture Trina being reserved coming back from this. I definitely see her being in protective mode. I would not be surprised if her patience for the snide remarks against Spencer is gone. They were in "life and death" mode together for awhile. I don't expect her to just turn that off when they get back. Especially after that cliffhanger.

I can also see Trina coming back from this more sure of herself and what she's capable of. I think we're going to see a continuation of her making decisions without asking for advice first. I do agree with you, though, that I can see Trina not wanting to discuss Greenland with people who did not experience Greenland. Maybe Ava, but that's about it.

And as for Spencer, I agree completely, that I see him coming back from this with more discernment. I think going forward, he's going to be less trusting and harder to manipulate. He's not just going to take what people tell him at face value anymore. I can also see him wanting to take on more responsibility in terms of righting the Cassadine ship. Since he can't take over until there is some resolution with Nik. His idea of stepping up might be leading the search for his father.

Considering Victor was so supportive of his custody plan, I see Spencer rereflecting on that and probably putting a pin in it. He'll probably still care a lot about demon spawn, but I think he's going to prioritize his and Trina's relationship more. Like I said, I don't see them immediately switching off that "life and death" mode when they come home. I see those two clinging to each other, critics be damned.