#i like fleshing out the trio's friendship lol

[wyrdle]

For the TrainerClavell au

If I read correctly, you guys talked about Clavell helping the kids with their nightmares and problems but what about Clavell having some really upsetting dreams about the professors :'D

Maybe it doesn't happen that often but when it does it's bad :'/

((ok now imagine Tyme comforting him🙂🙂🙂🙂))

SCREECHING. Ok. I had brain worms from this prompt. Enjoy a crazy spur of writing (it turned out way longer than i expected)

CW for: Nightmares, implied injury/traumatic experiences. Enjoy!!!! Hopefully this is a fun read lol

Clavell was huddled right outside the Zero Lab, a space cleared out for the scientists within  when they needed an escape from the stuffiness of the indoors. There was no breeze so deep underground, but the caverns were still chilly, and Clavell regretted not wearing something warmer. Stuffing his hands into his lab coat pocket, he gazed at the peaceful scenery around him.

Area Zero, for all the inconveniences it brought, was beautiful at night. There were the glittering crystals, but also the Glimmora blooming to life, their bio-luminescent petals reflecting in the pools of water. The ethereal quality of the land only made Clavell feel even more homesick.

The Tera Orbs were well on their way to being finished, a project spanning years. Though the scientists had had designated breaks to leave the place, Clavell sorely missed the rest of Paldea's crowds, its food, the sights. Plus, he was tired, the numerous late nights of research wore down on even the most devoted academics. The wrap up of the greatest discovery in his career couldn't come sooner! 

"Boo!" 

Jumping at the sudden scare, Clavell became the subject of peals of laughter.

"Sada!" He grumbled, almost pouting. "I came out here for peace and quiet."

"Not my fault you make it so easy.” His colleague and dear friend flashed a toothy grin, taking a seat beside him even as she asked: “Care for some company?”

Even Clavell, for all his gentlemanly niceness, had his limits tested when it came to the brash and brazen Professor Sada. 

“As if you’d listen to me.” he huffed, with faux grumpiness.

“True.” A third voice chimed in to gang up on Sada, to Clavell’s pleasure, even though he knew it’d be temporary.

Professor Turo, despite his quiet and less expressive demeanor, was a man who’d just as quickly strike jabs and jeers back in pettiness. At least he was too distracted by the three, probably scorching, cups of instant noodles in his hands to say anything. Yet.

“Turo! How could you!” Sada mock cried, dramatically wiping a shed tear.

Quietly, and with a smile on his face, Clavell passed her one of the cups, feeling his frosty fingers warm up as did his heart. Wedged between his friends who were complete opposites, he didn’t mind the badly cooked noodles, and the sadness from before was replaced by fondness for the two bright people beside him.

“Did you even put in the seasoning?!” Sada screeched.

“Um.” A cough. “Yes?”

“You put all of them into yours by accident, didn’t you?”

Dumbasses, both of them. Clavell mused internally, letting Sada tear at Turo’s terrible cooking for him. 

As he ate quietly between them however, something began to feel wrong. Did he eat too quickly? Was the spice getting to his throat?

“Clave11, is that y0u?”

Suddenly Sada and Turo’s banter had turned cold, their voices beside him twisted and electronic. Worst of all, it felt laced with genuine hatred and scorn. Directed at him.

He was choking on his food, that was the only explanation for why he couldn’t breathe. In his seat, he was frozen, unable to look up at either of them, the warm bodies by his side now cold and metallic. Staring at his feet, the ground shifted from the rocky terrain of Area Zero and into man-made obsidian tiles. Gone was the soft glow of blue, dangerous red drowning everything around him.

[OBSTRUCTION TO TIME MACHINE IDENTIFIED]

The sounds of Pokemon at night were replaced by the blaring warning sirens, the whir of a machine drawing power, the rumble of vertical constructs rising from the earth.

[PARADISE PROTECTION PROTOCOL INITIALISED]

"H0w c0u1d y0u, 0ld friend?"

The cup of noodles he had been holding had been hot, but they'd become scorching in an instant, the pain allowing him to break free from his paralysis to look up…

… at the angry, inhuman, glare of his two friends.

[PARADISE PROTECTION PROTOCOL HAS INITIALISED BATTLE]

[P-R-DISE PR0TECTI0N PR0T0C0L HAS INITIALISED BATTLE]

[PROFESSOR TURO AND PROFESSOR SADA HAVE INITIALISED BATTLE]

As their voices echoed from all around, Clavell was too frozen by his terror to dodge the blur of red and blue speeding towards him. Even as his very being screamed to run, to hide, the monsters drew close enough for him to see their long claws, open maws and sharp teeth.

"Tra1t0r!"

He screamed.

“Clavell!”

He was trembling, clothes sticking uncomfortably onto damp skin, lungs desperately attempting to draw air. A strong and warm hand was on his shoulder, gently shaking him awake. 

One moment he was in horrible pain and mind-numbing terror, the next he was lying on his back on his couch, blinking up at the familiar white lights of his office.

“You’re alright, Director, just breathe.”  Blearily, he recognised the owner of the comforting voice, glancing up at Tyme's concerned expression. 

How did he…?

"You were taking a break from the paperwork. We were going over the Academy budget for expanding student services." She helpfully explained, shifting slightly to allow Clavell's Houndoom to move forward and lick his hand, whining in concern. 

His heart was still racing, calming slowly through Tyme's comforting words and instructions to ground himself in the present. Houndoom’s soft fur under his hand helped, too.

Eventually, he collected himself enough to speak.

“...Tyme?”

“6:00PM.” She joked, at her own expense. Fortunately, it drew a bewildered, if shaky, laugh from Clavell. “We had a lot of papers to review, remember?”

Right. They were going to approach Chairwoman Geeta with several new proposals for further funding. In particular, to expand the Academy’s student counseling services as well as mental health first aid classes. Especially after… the events of Area Zero.

The glitter of crystals, the whir of the time machine, Not-Turo and Not-Sada’s expressions twisted with hatred-

Unwillingly, he shuddered, tensing up at the memory of his nightmare/memory. Clavell’s Houndoom, sensing his owner’s distress, decided to lick at his cheek, prompting Clavell to readjust his non-existent glasses. A bad habit, really, for anytime he needed something to distract his hands.

“Here.” Tyme presses his glasses into his palm, nodding wordlessly as he whispers thanks. She stands, informing him she’d be back with a glass of water, leaving him some privacy to recollect himself.

Sitting up with his full vision, he absorbed the comfort and familiarity of his office, pointedly ignoring the lab equipment he had kept in memory of… them. He had hoped, once, that they’d return, with all of their fiery personality and quips he’d grown used to after spending years in the labs together. 

But you never really knew them, did you? His vicious thoughts betray him, and exhaustion seemed to weigh him down even more heavily.

“Drink.” Tyme instructs when she returns, taking a seat on the couch as she hands him the cool glass. If it were eerily similar to his dream, Clavell didn’t comment.

“T-Thank you, Miss Tyme.” Remembering himself, he flustered. “I-I’m sorry you had to witness that-”

“Hush, you.” She sighs, shaking her head in what Clavell assumes to be exasperation. “Everyone has bad days, you’re only human. Do you… want to talk about it?”

Clavell winces, biting his lower lip. He was an adult, for Arceus’ sake, the director no less. It was highly inappropriate for his co-worker to be the bearer of his troubles… even if it was Tyme.

No, the real reason he kept tight-lipped was because of how much it hurt to speak openly of what he’d experienced, of the friends he’d lost.

“Take your time, Clavell.” Tyme cooed, patting his back gently. In lieu of a verbal response Clavell leaned into her side, appreciating the firm one-armed hug. “If ever you need a listening ear, I’m here.”

In the end, that was all the difference, between Tyme and the professors, wasn’t it?

Clavell’s grief and anger curled tightly around him, but just for that moment, he breathed easy in the comfort of a friend by his side.

[horsetailcurlers2]

addison montgomery fanfiction recs by pairing

(although i am *relatively* new to the greys fandom, once i finished season three i immediately obsessively scoured the internet for any addison montgomery centric fanfiction i could get my hands on. here are just a few of my favorite ones for each of my addison ships (of which there are many). this is by no means an exhaustive list. my qualifications for this are that i’m cool and have good taste and spend way too much time thinking about fictional people)

ADDEK:

-“The Climbing Way” by winter machine (this is actually probably one of my favorite fanfictions of all time, period. this author is just absolutely brilliant at capturing their dynamic and all of its complexities. the entire thing is actually from derek’s POV which i was surprised how much i enjoyed considering i can sometimes be a derek hater lol but it provides some really good insight into his character without being as forgiving as canon or as bash-y as some fics (if that makes any sort of sense?). it also combines two of my favorite addek tropes: “sad baby backstory” and “traumatic event forces them to actually confront their issues”. it is also a very captivating portrait of derek and mark’s realtionship and has lots and lots of flashbacks. big angst warning especially for the early chapters.)

-“Some Bright Morning” by winter machine (i just can’t get enough of this author. i love any addek fic that heavily features savvy and weiss bc i think they should have made more appearances in canon. or savvy should’ve at least lmao. weiss was kind of a dick. but i like him in this fic! this is a very very interesting AU because it takes place largely outiside of canon settings and features a lot of OCs. it also takes place around early season one so the mark wound is still very fresh. its set entirely on a small island in georgia during savvy’s mother’s funeral so there’s plenty of forced proximity and bed sharing. the original setting and cast of characters are really fleshed out and completely captivating. like, i would read a whole separate story just about this island and its inhabitants. also features lots of background on savvy and addison’s friendship. and plenty of angst of course. you may be sending a pattern with these recommendations)

-“do you think i have forgotten (about you)” by crime_wives (this one legitimately made me sob. like, my body produced actual tears. angsty one shot. not happy-addek. a perfect snapshot of their tragic ending)

- “Unhinged (AddisonandDerekandMark)” by RulerOfAllThatIsEvilChiFlowers (very dark. very twisty. somewhat non linear.)

- “This Hurt Can Teach Us Both” by darlingwrecks (oh my lord this one is so so addek- bittersweet, sexy, nostalgic, painful and delightful all at once. my favorite thing about this writer is the way they write backstory, especially for the Med School Trio. this is also kind of fun because we never got to see how these two dealt with their post divorce logistics. derek was just kind of like “take all the property and fuck off” which is not at all how these things work lol)

MEDDISON:

- “lately she’s undressing for revenge” by emilyprentits (only read this if you want to be driven to tear your own hair out by the emotions this will make you feel. this is one of the fics that fully convinced me to ship meddison. so so so good and it’s like it was written from inside of meredith’s actual brain)

-“i’ll show you every version of yourself tonight” by withpeopleinperson (two words: stripper addison. read it. be forewarned it’s only one chapter and has not been updated in a few years but it’s a GREAT chapter regardless)

-“the seven stages of intoxication” by theprincessdiarist (meredith grey doling out meredith grey levels of emotional dysfunction. featuring loads and loads of delightfully frustrating mutual pining)

-“Sex and Caring in Seattle” by Bluefall (meredith once again having totally normal and regular feeling about her ex boyfriend’s wife. i love this one because they are both just kind of bisexual disasters and derek is just Also There. i love the way this author perfectly captures meredith’s perpetual inability to navigate her own emotions)

*EDIT: i also realized i forgot to add that these last two were recommended to me by @crime-wives !!!

-“open the floodgates up” by SugarsweetRomantic (this has EVERYTHING you could want in a meddison fic: mutual hurt/comfort, bed sharing, friends to lovers, these two being absolute dumbasses about each other. had me crying and also kicking my feet. genuinely)

MADDISON:

-“Make This Go On Forever” by darlingwrecks (i am so in love with this universe. i usually don’t gravitate toward kid/family centric fics but this one is so so much more than that. it’s maddison, if those two had made a real go of things, stayed in new york, and kept the pregnancy. there’s even some background merder eventually (which is not usually my jam but i like in this context). very very fluffy at times, a bit angsty at others, super in character but iirc i think this was written pretty early on in the show so addison and mark’s backgrounds may be a smidge different than in canon. this is the link to the rewritten version (i think?) on ao3. the author had the original up on live journal back in the day and i could have SWORN i read a sequel that i found a link to in the depths of their LJ but i cannot find it anywhere rn)

-“When I Grow Up” by winter machine (another maddison-if-they’d-stayed-in-new-york-and-addison-kept-the-pregnancy, but with a twist that brings them to seattle to see derek, who they haven’t spoken to in seven years. a fantastic plot but also sort of just a brilliant exploration of how mark and addison would be as parents given their own childhoods and how they have pretty much been cut off from the one healthy(ish) family dynamic that either of them have experienced. there’s also background merder in this one and it actually kind of made me like merder which is a major feat)

-“Celery” by winter machine (a fun little one shot featuring Derek Being An Idiot, Drunk Addison, and Mark Crossing Boundaries. a little bit sad and a little bit funny. again, everything by this author is just great)

JADDISON:

- “A Certain Slant of Light” by darlingwrecks (this is for those of us that were weirded out by addison’s convo with amelia in season 18. a more fleshed out exploration of addison’s mental health during the pandemic. it’s a very raw and honest portrayal of depression and anxiety and how someone like addison would navigate it while being a doctor in a global pandemic and raising an 8 year old. it’s not nearly as bleak as it sounds though. lots of fluff, a little smut. also touches on how addison might’ve grieved mark and derek. and archer makes some appearances which i loved (i know he’s an asshole but i really like addison’s brother lol))

-“Diamonds in the Sky” by Ziaaaaa_sdc (there’s so few jaddison fics out there, probably because of how compressed their relationship timeline was as they tried to wrap up the show, but this writer has several and they’re all so good. there definitely aren’t enough fun AUs for them so i was really excited when i first found this. its Ballet School Jaddison and there’s actually only three chapters atm. no idea if it will be updated ever again but it’s still more than worth a read. a smidge angsty so far. also seems to be setting up a little enemies to lovers arc)

CADDISON:

-“Help Me (With The Butterflies)” by BlackRoseMatron (a very sweet one shot. this author is single-handedly keeping the caddison shippers fed and i love it. they also have some really great meddison stuff)

[kingsandbastardz]

Finished episode 39. May not have a chance to get to 40 until later next week but kinda working through my feelings which are mixed about this episode:

DFS standing front and center with Sigu sect when receiving thanks is so amusing to me. He's a head taller and super visible too. Just the one prominent Jinyuan Alliance representative.

A part of me feels bad for child Shang Gudao - he lived his entire childhood being the afterthought, with less talent and ability over all. But as an adult, I'm just grossed out by him. Like by his age he should have....like. Found a monk to get friendly therapy from, joined a monastery, become an emo poet. He had options. Though with his karma, maybe he'd end up with evil versions of all of the above.

Why did Shang Gudao's meridians explode? Did his energy backfire through the broken meridians somehow?

Never trust emperors no matter how good their reputation is. D:

I still feel like the bug storyline would have been served better by focusing instead on a Di Fortress arc that leads to mind controlled super assassins storming the palace like attack dogs or something. Because as of now, Di Fortess feels like it's separate from rest of the series and just a blip in DFS's character background. While the palace stuff needs an additional episode to flesh out the emperor and the politics they hinted at

Over all, i enjoyed the episode! Buuuut I found there was a weird emotional disconnect between when the trio were working together and later on when the battle is done and DFS gives them the Styx flowers. It felt like the two were emotionally closer to DFS during the fight, but in the later scene, everyone was taking a big step back and deliberately resetting themselves to an earlier time.

Like FDB repeating an earlier line "You do have a conscience!" As if he's been consistently surprised at DFS doing anything altruistic. I know LLH never explained anything to him, and FDB bought into the demon sect narrative (which tbf is understandable - heretical sects have a reputation for reason) but he's seen evidence first hand that DFS does have it in him to help ppl if he wants to? So i find this flip flopping in attitude strange. He goes back and forth with being familiar and then acting like he doesn't know him at all.

I find it interesting that LLH equates fighting with promises of friendship between the two. Which, I think he thought dfs getting married to him, i mean, being friends that drink and look at the moon together, meant dfs had agreed. To be fair, dfs talks around it without promising anything, but I can see why llh would think otherwise lol.

LLH also repeats an early line to dfs, "You need to break your habit of eavesdropping."

Maybe it was all for the sake of emotional security, but I kinda want to shake them because I thought they moved from this point. But here they are, walking everything back so far they're repeating old lines from earlier episodes. 😬 Boys.

[luliho]

For the Echoes thing: 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 22, 35

THANK YOU FOR ASKING 💖💖

1. I generally think Celica is more interesting and she's more different in terms of FE Lords. So in a vacuum probably Celica. But I'm such an Alm's Side fan that Alm generally comes out on top. I'm too invested in the Ram Village Group to leave him out. So probably Alm.

3. This is such a lame answer but Atlas. He's kinda like Tobin and so I was like yeah that's my guy. Celica is my other favorite, as well as Valbar's trio. They're fun.

5. This is hard! I think most of the good parts get praised a lot. I think the base conversations are a really nice thing and idk how much they're talked about as a mechanic. I think it's great to have character development tied to the timeline in the story. I think it could return separate to supports, it's nice to get a view of how the characters feel about what's going on right now and helps tie non-plot-relevant characters to the plot.

7. Other than the characters definitely the overall plot/theme about the gods. Sometimes I just think about how cool it was that the Valentia gods had physical form and are just kind of around. And then they die and humanity has to learn to live on their own. It's so poignant and interesting. And when they have to CHOOSE if they're going to kill the god. That's so crazy. And Tobin isn't sure if his family will survive. I think it's one of the most interesting FE plot points. I like it so much better than Evil Dragon God. The gods felt human and there were stakes and consequences for what happened to them. Friendship is stronger than the power of the gods not because it can take down a dragon but because your friends will help you when no greater power can!!!!!

14. Thank you for asking this specifically <3. FE4 is probably (hopefully) coming but my choice if I could have anything would be some kind of 4+5 dual release. I think Thracia's characters need the Echoes treatment more. Most of the Genealogy cast is iconic and memorable with strong personalities, and the in-game conversations make the lack of supports bother me less. But FE5 1. Has such fun levels and 2. Has so many characters who have very little to them. And I'd love to return to those guys and come to love them with the added depth. Like Carrion is cool and I like him and I used him for a few levels, but you could do so much with his dedication to Leonster. He could be so much more. And that applies to a lot of the cast. I want to see their relationships fleshed out too. I have many thoughts on what I would do for a Shadows of Thracia lol

22. I think Celica's route as a whole and especially Conrad's subplot could have been a lot better. Conrad should be a BIG DEAL but he just kind of isn't? Also I think the pacing in the early game is kind of slow. There's a lot of dialogue for levels that weren't built to have story, you know? In Gaiden there wasn't a dialogue there so sometimes it makes the story drag when we add it to explain the current battle when nothing important is really happening.

35. Please IntSys any Tobin at all I'm begging you. On my knees. Crying. I have 1500 orbs I refuse to spend before him what more do you want from me. I think Valentine's would be cute but the chance has passed since we had Valentia Valentines. Summer no. Christmas no. Pirate? 👀. But actually I want one of the ones where it's clearly Post-Game Tobin. I want to see him after he's come in to his own and accepted who he is and what his role is. I want to see his arc completed and have him say some nice things looking back on the game. And I want him to have a cool outfit.

[quidfree]

do you have any thoughts on class 1a dynamics as a whole? i really love whenever they make an appearance in your fics (like the party in tlaao) would love anything more you had to offer, whether in high school or in a hypothetical future

honestly i dont have that many thoughts on the subject bc if im being real i only care about like 40% of class 1-a lol. sorry to the extras but so many of the charas are not developed or interesting enough for me to have thoughts on them. i vacillate between wanting to just flesh out characters myself or point to canon and just give in to the fact that loads of the characters are boring / have no depth, so i dont have specific takes on like The Entire Class. but i do enjoy the way certain charas bounce off each other and some of the friend groups, notably the whole kirishima/kaminari/sero/ashido subgroup who i think feel like an actual group of friends w clear similarities in temperament but distinct personalities, unlike a lot of the nebulously fanon friendships in the class.

for the class as a whole i do find their like group dynamic interesting objectively given 1) the insane amount of trauma theyve been through and 2) the way certain classmates are unarguably like the mvps of the class. theyre all traumabonded war vets by this point so i imagine theyre pretty close regardless of personal affinity, but then also 5-10 of them are consistently involved in high stakes drama and 3 of them are like the main characters of their universe, espeeeecially bakudeku. i have this whole thesis on 1-a v bakudeku that ive never worded properly which is like… yk how all might says theyre 2 sides of the heroism thing? i think thats also true wrt to their class. like in their own way i think both of them are kind of the heart of the class/the class mascot. i know that may seem like a stretch regarding bakugou but i think its p true. theyre both fairly aspirational and also heavily involved in class plots (for bakugous side think sports fest and kidnapping for starters lol), n i think lowkey both have similar leader traits ™ despite opposite approaches as the story progresses. importantly they have like opposition/foil roles to each other so i think in conjunction is when they really act as class mascot. and i love that in recent arcs bakugou is like the class voice of reason leader to midoriyas rogue agent thats a fun reversal (altho id argue midoriya has always been a pretty reckless and independent actor who is a team player only by chance).

also i just enjoy narratives where there are some people that Stand Out and i wish there was more of a… idk, Vibe there where 1a acknowledges the Otherness of some of their classmates instead of typical ‘together we fight! we are here for each other! go team!’ ra-ra shonen bs. bc it would be really weird and interesting to examine what its like to be a character w like normal / above average but normal for 1A abilities but then have to contend w these Super OP classmates. imagine going to class and endeavours kid is there w two quirks. and one guy has all mights quirk. and the other guy gets kidnapped by the league of villains as a recruitment stunt bc hes that good. ok.

i realise ive gotten very off topic from ur ask i think in a less meta way something i enjoy is the semi unlikely spinoff friendships that develop w age. like i always enjoy making uraraka close with both bakugou and todoroki bc i think she admires them both a lot in hs and sort of befriends them individually by accident through midoriya except it just sticks bc shes good-natured but not much of a pushover so she can handle their antisocial antics. or like sero is unexpectedly one of those ppl who just has everyone’s number bc hes really chill and has unlikely hobbies. in general i think 1a likely hang out a lot even as adults and their in-jokes are all really disturbing but funny to them alone. they also try to drag the horror trio kicking and screaming out of pure workaholicism whenever they can (kirisquad esp). i feel like the first couple of times 1a went out they went massively overboard bc of their abnormally important need for stress release and it was a complete mess that barely anyone remembers anything of except the usual sober(ish) contingent. todoroki and bakugou both know more than they let on but will take the memories to the grave for a variety of reasons.

theyre probably all very competent heroes in general when older also but like yk how when youre surrounded by smart people you forget theyre smart? i feel like their sense of normalcy is so skewed none of them realise how impossibly trained they all are at their jobs. their peers/the GP is in consistent shock and theyre just like ‘whos up for drinks next tuesday lol’. running gag that all of 1-a is ridiculously overqualified and also like way too used to dealing w earth-shattering danger so normal villains avoid them like the plague to spare themselves the embarrassment.

[alienheartattack]

Hiii!! Quick question, what is ur otp and brotp for snk? It’s probably rm, but what r ur thoughts on other Mikasa and Levi ships? (Rivetra, levihan, eruri, ereri, rivahisu, rivannie, rivasasha, eremika, arumika, jeankasa, mikahisu, mikahan, Mikannie, erumika, mikasasha) thx so much love u so much :D

Thanks for your message! 💖💖💖

Otp is absolutely Rivamika. No one even comes close. (Although I've def enjoyed some NSFW works of Eruri, Erejean, and the holy grail of gay SNK, Erurimike.)

I have a few brotps. The veteran trio is pretty great as well as the individual relationships therein (Eruri/Eruhan/Levihan), and I like the potential of EMA even though it was squandered in the end. I also loved Sasha and Connie's friendship, and Sasha and Mikasa's friendship even though we didn't get to see it as much.

Gonna rate these ships behind a read more so this post doesn't take up your entire dash.

Rivetra - Don't like it. I headcanon this as one-sided love on Petra's part. (I liked her and Oluo better.) I feel like Rivetra has pretty much disappeared from the SNK fandom landscape, I used to see it a lot more in the dark times between seasons 1 and 2.

Levihan - S-tier friendship, hate it as a romantic pairing. I've seen a lot of otherwise very good Levihan art that makes Hanji more feminine, which I don't like. Plus I feel like even if the two of them got wasted and fell into bed together, Levi would be incredibly turned off by Hanji's bad personal hygiene and nothing would happen.

Eruri - I don't think they ever got sexual in canon, but I do think they genuinely loved and respected each other. Eren and Mikasa take note: THIS is how you do an Ackerbond.

Ereri - Meh. Not a fan.

Rivahisu - Hate it. It feels weirdly gross to me, for some reason? Even though, fun fact, one of my first fic ideas was Hisu domming the shit out of Levi after he roughed her up and yelled at her about becoming queen. Idk, they're both so small. Their babies would be like hamsters.

Rivannie - I can't even imagine this lmao. What a weird pairing.

Rivasasha - Another one that doesn't make sense to me.

Eremika - The worst and most toxic pairing in the series. I hate everything about their dynamic. Eren is cruel to Mikasa and she just accepts his treatment without wavering in her obsessive love. She infantilizes him even though he clearly hates it, although she's right that he usually needs someone to clean up his messes. I hate that Eren claims he loves her even though he had, like, 2 moments in the entire series where he wasn't openly contemptuous of her. I don't see them as a tragic couple, unless the tragedy is that they had great potential as characters but Yams decided to hamper all the development they could have had as individuals in favor of smashing them together at the last minute with no buildup. I don't even think Eren likes Mikasa as a person very much. I'm not against childhood friends to lovers as a trope, but I think Yams did a really bad job of depicting any kind of mutually positive relationship between them.

Arumika - Cute! I have a headcanon that they've fooled around as sort of an exploratory thing out of mutual platonic love rather than being sexually attracted to each other. They have a great friendship and although I don't think they have endgame romantic potential, I could see them trying out dating but deciding that they're better off as friends.

Jeankasa - I go back and forth on this one. It's not bad, but it's no Rivamika. I did ship it initially but then Levi showed up and my interest in JK went out the window entirely. I think Jean would be a good husband to Mikasa, but after the ending of the series I question her love for him. I think she'd agree to marriage more out of the idea that they have a mutual goal of love and family and the knowledge that he'll take good care of her, and then over time maybe she would fall in love with him. I feel bad for Jeanbo because he's Mikasa's second choice both in canon and in my headcanon!

Mikahisu - I haven't really considered them as a pair before; I got the vibe that Mikasa kinda hated Historia for capturing Eren's attention before she was shoved off the page to get pregnant and... whatever she ended up doing. Fascism, I guess. I could see them getting off to a rough start but Hisu wins Mikasa over with her charm and determination.

Mikahan - Another one I haven't really considered. I think Hanji's overzealousness would turn Mikasa off, although they could have a friendship like a less playfully antagonistic Levihan.

Mikannie - I want them to be friends so badly! They could be gym buddies who kiss sometimes. With the right AU you could make this pairing like lesbian Rivamika because those girls do not like each other.

Erumika - I'm into it in theory, but when I think about the pairing I don't really feel anything about it.

Mikasasha - I wish we'd gotten to see more of their friendship. One of you (I forget who lol) also reblogs a lot of romantic Mikasasha and it turns out I'm into that as well. I think Sasha would be a good influence on Mikasa, getting her to loosen up a little, but I guess asking for well-fleshed female friendships in shonen manga is probably a bit much.

[espoir-et-reves]

hi hello it’s me again - the anon that cried really hard over the TOC death and is reading would you…

OKAY SO i finished would you… and started reading A Tale of Songs and Ashes and oh my god - not only is the writing absolutely breathtaking and complex (you write so stunningly and create such an image with your words!!!) but everything about the plot from the details, to the subplots, to the characters and their dynamics and then the way the POVs play off one another and have common threads JEEZ DID YOU SELL YOUR SOUL OR SOMETHING ???? ITS AMAZING !!! i binged that entire story in a day (well two, bc i read through midnight) and it’s been stuck in my head like a really great song and i just really wanted to leave a comment to you about it (tbh i might read it again asap bc i just love it so much)

Sakura smiling at Madara at every Celebration evening and the against-all-odds friendship between Shisui and Mitsuo and the way Kakashi finds/interacts with the trio and just the DETAILS OF EVERYTHING !!! i feel like i could go into a huge rant about this work - honestly i could do it w all of your works i’ve read so far - you’re just an amazing writer and i admire you so much and thank you so much for your writings!!! 💞💞💞💞💞

Hello again dear anon!

Hahah you’re on a binge and I’m incredible grateful for that💕

A Tale of Songs and Ashes has been my favorite story to write since the day the idea formed in my mind. At the same time it’s the most difficult bc of the plethora of elements I have incorporated and all those I plan to include in the future, thus it’s unfortunately lacking frequent updates.

lol no, I did not sell my soul à la Faust—if I had I’d probably have finished the fic by now😂 thank you so much for the compliment though; you’re so sweet💕

Sakura’s greatest goal in life (or at least for as long as she’s still young) is to make the fearsome, cranky Head of the Uchiha smile. She has a way to get what she wants, so stay tuned for when that happens. Ah, Mitsuo…I always worry when I create OCs but Haruno Mitsuo is a delight to flesh out through words and his friendship with Shisui (and Itachi) has affected their lives in ways that leave many, including themselves sometimes, baffled.

I love rants, so you can do that whenever you feel like it! Again, thank you so much for your kind words and for reading my stories!! Until next time💖

[carynsilver]

Favorite Fics: Drarry Edition

Like I mentioned last time, reading has been a big comfort to me with all this craziness and sheltering at home, so I want to pay it forward and send love to some of the writers whose work has been brightening my quarantine. Thanks, guys!

For this list, we’re leaving the MCU for a while and heading over to the Wizarding World. I liked Harry Potter when it came out, but I never really read much fanfic until I realized a couple of years ago how much a redeemed Draco fit into the redemption trope that I loved in Harringrove, LoVe, SnowBaz, and other fandoms and ships. Once I started perusing the fics out there, I realized that one of the strengths of this fandom is the length and quality of the stories. I love stories that are a meal, and Drarry provides so many!

As I’ve gotten into the ship (so many years late, lol), these are my top 10 favorites.

dirtynumbangelboy by @magpiefngrl

This is probably the Drarry fic that I most enjoy. I come back to it fairly often when I need just a good read in the HP world. Fake dating is one of my absolute favorite tropes, which made this one an automatic win for me, but it’s written with such heart. I really, really love Draco in this fic. His uni studies and his flat being so different from the diffident image he projects. This is also probably the best Astoria I’ve ever read. Also--Jam Today! Read it now!

Do It All Over Again by DracoWillHearAboutThis

I only discovered this series earlier this year, and I’ve already read it at least three times from beginning to end. It’s a re-telling of the original series starting from Book 1. Draco sends himself a letter from the future basically saying that his dad is wrong, and he needs to give up his pure blood ideals and befriend Harry, then--boom--the Golden Trio’s adventures all happen with Draco in tow (and eventual romance, of course). The plot is fairly similar to the actual series, but I am there for the angst and the character growth. Narcissa kicks ass in this ‘verse, and Draco/Hermionie as besties is a treat! Book 4 and Book 6 are both amazing. And her titles are hilarious. This is the only series on my list that is still a WIP, but there’s plenty to read. Books 1 - 6 are complete, and a new chapter for 7 comes out every two weeks. It’s a safe bet so far, and it’s so good--why wait?

A Secondary Education by Thunderbird587

In this fic, Draco takes a job as Potions Professor at Hogwarts after getting divorced under horrible circumstances and renews his acquaintance with Harry, who is the DADA Professor. It’s got a bisexual awakening, and manages to combine friends with benefits with some supreme pining. Like a whole pine forest. Thunderbird587′s Draco POV is so fleshed out, and yet it also lets us see how Harry is pining, even when Draco himself doesn’t. Plus, at over 200K, it is long enough to get lost in for ages, which is perfect right about now. And when you finish the main fic, there are three other ancillary fics, two in Harry’s POV that take place during the main one. The cufflinks one is my favorite, but the writing is so good that I even thoroughly enjoyed the third sub-fic that fleshed out an OC. So, so worth the read--all of it!

The Foundations!verse by Saras_Girl

All of the fics by Saras_Girl are great. You can’t go wrong with any of them. But Reparations, Foundations, and all the little one-shots after are my favorite. It honestly surprised me at first, because alcoholism is a trigger for me, but this fic actually helped me realize that it’s the addiction part, the fall to rock bottom that triggers me. Recovery stories are different. And, I guess, this one is a bit different in that, though it has plenty of characters recovering, Draco himself is actually in a healthy place and facilitating recovery without relapsing. Harry is a Healer in this one, which is not the usual, and I quite enjoy his other relationships in this ‘verse, as well. He, Ron, and Hermione’s friendship is great in this one (their pub nights crack me up), but I also really like Harry’s friends at St. Mungo’s. My second favorite Terry Boot ever, and two awesome OC chicks. And the process of Drarry going from can’t stand each other to in love is slow and prickly and yet really believable. Oh, and Harry and Narcissa’s relationship in this one is just fabulous.

Golden Age by zeitgeistic (faire_weather)

The Hufflepuff in me was bound to fall in love with this fic. I really enjoy Eighth Year fics, especially the ones that embrace inter-house unity (shouldn’t have taken them a war to see the need for that!). This one takes it to a new level when everyone in... I think it was 6th - 8th years were resorted at the welcome feast, and the whole 8th year dynamic is shaken up. Harry, Draco and Neville become Hufflepuffs; Hermione and Pansy become Ravenclaws; Ginny becomes a Slytherin; and somehow Ron and Blaise are the ones who stay in their houses because the hat thinks they are basically the uber Gryffindor and Slytherin. But with the rest of them, we get to see them embrace other facets of their personalities, which is super interesting. And then, after the resorting, we find out that Hufflepuffs have a whole different world going on that basically no one outside their house knows about, and that world is brilliant. Even Hufflepuff food in the Great Hall is different! Everyone would enjoy this story, I think, but if you are a ‘Puff, you really, truly should not miss it. And if you like this one, check out some of zeitgeistic’s other works. Her world building is fabulous.

Life skills outside the curriculum by Endrina

In this fic, Harry gets fed up with the Dursleys before his 11th birthday and runs away before he gets his Hogwarts letter. He ends up on the streets and somehow embraces this kind of instinctual magic that is really fascinating. A few years later, Draco runs away rather than get involved more closely with the Dark Lord, and of course they meet up. This whole fic is super compelling. Harry’s world view and the way people gravitate toward him even without chosen one status. Also, this fic has one of my favorite versions of Remus and Sirius ever. I really wish there was a part two that went in depth on everything that happened after the end of this one, but even on its own it is so worth the read. And everything is wrapped up. I’m just greedy and would’ve loved more. :-)

A Convenient Impracticality by @firethesound

This fic combines friends with benefits and fake dating into a really enjoyable story. Harry is so oblivious, but it all works out in the end. And Draco is a secret mastermind, but in a good way. So is Hermione. Unlike some of the other, angstier stories on my list, this one is so fun, and I love it. And if you like it, check out more of firethesound’s work, as well. It’s worth it!

you’ve got the antidote for me by kandakicksass

And then, back on the angst train, lol. Soulmates, red string of fate, rejected bond = terminal disease. Whew! There’s a lot to unpack in this one, but after I read it, I never forgot it. I read a lot of fic in a lot of fandoms, and I always know a story is going to become a favorite if it stands out so much that I remember it later and think about it. That surely happened here.

(We’ll Call This Fixer-Upper) Home by phdmama

This is one of the first fics I read on my first Drarry binge, and I’ve always remembered it. Just like I love Eighth Year and Hogwarts professor fics, I also love fics where they have really unexpected jobs--pretty much anything other than Aurors. In this one, Harry is an artist/photographer and Draco is an up-and-coming rock star. The music and art, the creativity is important in this fic, but it also really looks at Draco’s recovery after the war in ways I haven’t read since, and I’m also a sucker for our favorite characters actually addressing and recovering from their trauma. 

Boom Clap (The Sound of My Heart) by @femmequixotic and noeon (noe)

This fic takes the Eighth Year trope to the next level. Draco, Harry, Hermione, and some other faves are teaching fellows at Hogwarts. Junior professors, kind of. It read like if the HP crew went to college. And, of course, Draco and Harry fall in love along the way, but not without much angst and obliviousness. I really enjoy the Draco POV in this. His worries and anxieties feel so real for that stage in his life, but amped up because of the past. This was one I read, never forgot, and then had to go back and find so i could read it again.

So, those are my top 10, but there is lots of other good Drarry out there--both from these authors and all the others in the ship and the fandom. Thanks for all the writing you guys do.

Oh, and tagging @virtual-insomnia, but only because she said she might want to make some quarantine fic lists of her own. :-)

[firefletch]

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?) 👀

Ooooh, I love this question. there's so much where do I start

In a trilogy I have planned, each book has a similar structure meant to parallel the other two; those structures center around the arcs of the three main characters, that also parallel and reflect and build off each other - even while offering three different perspectives/flipped scripts. It's been interesting to plan ahead and see how the similarities and differences flesh out some aspects of the characters, and make certain scenes/traits/actions more impactful to the end of the series. they're also a trio of reckless drama queens lost in a large universe and I love them It kind of happened by accident at first (and I don't know how obvious it will be in the final product), but I really love that aspect of the series now.

A symbolism thing in the most recent world I've written: the number 9 shows up a lot - it's a sort of alternate universe nod to the Trinity (3x3), as well as representing the three “components" of the the world: Mithae, Aedrir, and Ae (there are some in-world theological theories about how the three components tie back to the Trinity, but that's another discussion).

Another by-accident-but-it-turned-out-cool-when-I-developed-it thing: all of the main characters in my Kaslay series have surface level fears that directly symbolize what they fear the most in a deeper sense. For example:

Andren is cleithrophobic (afraid of being trapped and unable to move); his main fear is being helpless to protect his friends and family.

Lenesse is nyctophobic (afraid of the dark); a lot of her underlying (and mostly unacknowledged) fears relate to things she can't see and understand. She is also afraid of becoming "dark" herself, not only losing her own light but losing sight of anyone else's (and potentially snuffing out other peoples' light).

Esyin is acrophobic (afraid of heights); also, knowing that he is actually one of the smartest people around makes him afraid that he will reach too high, overestimate himself, become too proud, and so "fall from grace" - and even worse, take people with him when if that happens.

These fears also have very tangible roots, both for the surface level fears and the underlying fears. Andren was trapped in a small space for two days when his brothers needed him; and he's generally felt helpless since the beginning, due to the enormity of a war in comparison with his ability to keep those around him safe. There was a whole traumatic experience with Lenesse that I won't get in to now, but beyond often using knowledge as one of her main weapons and so being afraid of losing that, she (slight spoilers) is also afraid of her magic powers, which are complete unknowns to her; magic is something she's only ever (in her admittedly limited experience) seen used for evil and for twisting people, and she is terrified that it will turn her into something that could hurt/ruin her friends and family - something "dark". Esyin fell off a very high cliff when he was kid and broke his leg - he's also seen brilliant, highly-regarded people (like he gradually seems to be becoming) bring the entire country of Kaslay to ruin for egotistical (and supposedly logical) reasons.

Narin and Tresha are the other two main characters but there's so much that I haven’t even got to with these three, so they’ll have to wait for another time

On more character stuff, another ask reminded me of one of my favorite character arcs, where the main character goes from selfish, revenge-obsessed loner to understanding, self-sacrificing leader through the Power of Found Family™ and also Friendship.

Partially since I’ve been developing it recently, I am excited for some foreshadowing in a newer project, building up to a twist that I am also excited for (which will feature a lot of callbacks). But I can't really go too far into that now because spoilers (also I may need to apologize in advance to my writing group and I haven’t done that yet).

Considering the amount of stories and WIPs I have in mind, there is more - however, this post is long enough as it is lol, so I’ll end it there.

[shima-draws]

pls tell us more about the ocs! :0

[[Anonymous said: *Kicks down door* Tell me about your OCs!!]]

🥺 THANKS YA’LL FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO RANT

Okay so idk how many of you are familiar with Kaz and Ginni but long story short, they’re part of the Next Generation, 25 years after the main story of ATS ends, and where we get all of Team Star’s kids. Basically everybody paired up and made babies and now those babies are teenagers and part of the Amethystus Guild, along with Ginni who is the Guildmasters’ daughter. My new OCs all tie into Ginni and Kaz’s story!

There’s Olivia, Ginni’s best friend and partner in crime at the guild! Olivia is very cheerful, very friendly, and very loyal to her friends. She’s one of the most popular members in the guild because of how open and helpful she is to others. (However, she’s completely oblivious to the crushes that several people harbor for her lmao.) She can be a bit of a ditz sometimes and is occasionally clumsy but she tries her hardest! Ginni’s a known troublemaker but Olivia doesn’t mind helping her get into trouble lol so they both often get scolded together. I haven’t decided what sort of elemental type she is yet but I can say she’s very strong and has a great handle on using her magic—it’s something that comes easy to her, a natural talent that makes her flourish even more c:

On Kaz’s side of things, when he was with the Novune Forces he worked with two other high ranking soldiers in his sector—the colonel, ranked above him, and the first lieutenant, ranked under him. The colonel, like Kaz, doesn’t have an actual name. The first lieutenant picked a name for herself at some point, and her name is Mallary! The three of them are the child prodigies of the Forces and were raised under their care, so they all grew up facing the same sort of awful treatment and experimentation and were trained to follow orders without asking questions.

Mallary is...a very unstable sort of person regarding her emotions. Despite being around Kaz’s age she acts like a child most of the time and often throws tantrums when she doesn’t get her way, causing huge outbursts of magic. She is very attached to Kaz, the two of them having grown up in close proximity, and she thrives off of the praise that both of them get. She basically sees Kaz as a possession and treats anything belonging to her as a contest;; This mostly derives from her insecurities and trauma (thanks bad parenting!) and deep down she’s just afraid to lose the only person she truly cares about. Kaz has a soft spot for her too, since she’s practically his only friend growing up, and knows that she hides her fear by acting arrogant and cruel to others. But a rift forms between them when Kaz escapes the Forces with Ginni, and Mallary views it as a “Kaz picking this random girl over me” situation, so she hates Ginni with a passion lmao

And as for the colonel!! I haven’t picked a name for him yet, I’m debating between Hickory or Hiro, so let me know which one you guys like better c: Anyway, he’s considered to be the golden child between the trio, and despite being the youngest he has the highest rank out of the three of them. He’s kinda like a rubix cube if I’m being honest LOL he’s a very multi faceted character with a lot of different sides. Like Kaz he does what he’s told without any complaints and has a record for never failing a single mission the Forces have given to him. Any enemy considers him to be absolutely ruthless because he does not hesitate in battles and will kill with no questions asked. He’s a cocky little bastard around enemies lmao he loves to snark them and tease them. He’s extremely intelligent—he’s able to read an opponent just by looking at them, so he’s considered the most dangerous out of the trio despite not being the strongest one physically (Kaz is). He fights using his intelligence—he sets up traps and watches as his opponents fall right into them. Because of how clever he is he can come up with countermeasures very quickly.

Unlike Kaz and Mallary the colonel is actually the one person that gets sent outside of HQ on missions—so he’s been more exposed to the outside world than the two of them have. This eventually clues Kaz into the fact that maybe the colonel isn’t as loyal to the Forces as he thought, most likely because the colonel slowly began to rethink his loyalties after spending so much time around people with normal lives. Both the colonel and Kaz hate their upbringing and hold a grudge against their superiors for their treatment and experimentation on them;; And eventually Kaz is able to use this to get the colonel to act as Amethystus’ spy ;)

Kaz eventually asks the colonel why he doesn’t just leave the Forces if he knows how fucked up their very existence is, and the colonel’s just like well look at me. I was raised in this environment to be a killer and to follow orders, I am broken lmao who is going to want me after this. How am I going to make it in this world if all I know how to do is be a mindless slave. He mentions that the only person who’s ever treated him normally besides Kaz without any judgement or care for his position is Mallary—and the colonel has a HUGE crush on her, but it’s very unhealthy because she honestly doesn’t give a shit about him besides their weird. Tentative friendship. Mallary’s only got eyes for Kaz and the colonel is usually too busy to dedicate a lot of time to wooing her, but when he is around she basically has him wrapped around her finger and he’ll do whatever she tells him to. It’s just yikes. He deserves better.

Once Kaz, Ginni and the guild tempt the colonel over to their side, Olivia pretty much calls dibs on him and she’s like “Listen Ginni got to give Kaz his name so can I give the colonel a name?? Please???” So she starts calling him Hickory/Hiro! And finally baby boy smarts up and starts crushing on a girl that actually gives a damn about him and god dammit it’s the cutest fucking case of puppy love since Dusk/Nozomi. The colonel absolutely adores her, but he’s too nervous to actually do anything about it because he’s got huge abandonment issues (thanks again bad parenting! And Mallary!) and doesn’t want to ruin one of the only genuine friendships he’s ever had. But he is head over HEELS for Olivia and it’s so......softe. Ginni and Olivia get to crack open their boys and resolve all of their fucked up childhood issues and watch as they finally learn how to be stupid teenagers and feel human emotions. The colonel turns into a huge crybaby and nobody even blames him because he deserves to release his trauma okay

Anyway yes sorry for the long intro (you can tell I’ve developed the colonel the most despite him not having an official name yet fnnsnfndn) but those are my new kids!! Mallary has actually been a character for a while I just haven’t had the chance to flesh her out until now, and I added Olivia and the colonel to the story recently :’)

[zirkkun]

1 - 20.

(sits down) alright this is gonna be one hell of a post

What was your first viewing experience of Promare like? Was it in theaters or at home?

In theaters! I saw a trailer for it as an ad just before it started rolling out in the US and I was like groaning to my friends I wanted to see it bc Lio was hot (yes this was my only motivation to see the film, one smol pretty boy). And then we just decided at 11 am on the Saturday after it came out that we were gonna go watch it. At a theater 3 hours away. For a showing at 3 pm. It was worth it.

How would you rate the film?

10/10 would HIGHLY recommend. It's so good from the animation to the soundtrack to the plot to the character design,

Did you make any new friends through Promare?

Kinda yeah! Not super close friends, but my friend (that I already had lol) and I decided to make a discord server, and it was really fun for a while! But eventually it died down and now there's just a couple people in there who send memes every once in a while.

What made you want to watch Promare? What drew you in?

Lio Fotia being pretty. The only motivation I had to see the film.

Did your opinion on a character change over time?

Galo! I typically hate the dumbass protagonist thing, esp when like he was introduced and kinda came off pretty vain by like, acting as the center of attention lol. But by the middle of the movie I had changed my opinion on him pretty much entirely.

What is one of your favorite moments in the film?

thhhhheeee whole film,

No but actually I feel like the intro scene from the beginning of the film to when the Mad Burnish trio show up is a phenomenal scene in the movie that no one really talks about. The timing of the music, the animation, the sound design, the short introduction to the world and characters that was created so fluidly, like, it had me on the edge of my seat. Of course, I do like the following scene with the Mad Burnish just as much, but I feel like no one talks about the intro scene as much.

What is the worst moment in the film? How’d you want it to change?

uhh. uhhhhh. Oh no this is really hard. I know it's not a perfect piece, nothing is, but at the same time I don't dislike any part...? I guess maybe when Deus shows up. The dump of plot is kinda meh, also I feel like the poor animators had to rush that part out based on a lot of the choppiness of the walking animations and stuff. I'd like that scene to be a bit more fleshed out, really. Give Trigger a chance to work with it without feeling the rush of a deadline.

Who is your favorite character !?

Gueira!!! I cosplayed him in February (we actually had a whole Promare cosplay group) and even dyed my hair red bc of this man. I secretly want him and Meis to have their own little spinoff thing, because Trigger did tell us Gueira's backstory, so I kinda want them to tell us more about their characters. Especially since??? Them not telling us their last names specifically is very suspicious?????

Who is your least favorite character/character you just don’t really care for?

Kray Foresight.

What character do you feel is under appreciated in the fandom?

Pretty much any character who isn't Galo or Lio. I feel like they're the only ones I see people talk about, with the occasional Aina or GueiMeis, but like that's it.

What character do you think deserved better in the film?

Ainaaaaaaaa oh my god. They built up such a weird character arc for her that got so tossed around? She really deserved so much better.

Any unpopular opinions on a character/moment/etc?

Because I see people very aggressive sometimes on Twitter about it, uh, people are allowed to like Kray even tho that's not the popular opinion. I wouldn't touch anything with him with a ten foot pole, but that doesn't mean I should tell people to hate him 😅

Your favorite pairings? Platonic or Romantic!

GaloLio (this is almost like a freebie) and GueiMeis for romantic. Aina and Galo platonic friendship and actually I wish more people would think about the absolute chaos Gueira and Lucia would cause together.

Least favorite pairings? Platonic or Romantic!

Kray and Galo probably. I just can't see Galo liking him. The only time I could see this like maybe working is if like, in a Foresight!Galo AU where Kray just kinda trains him to work for him. I'm also not a fan of the age gap.

A popular opinion in the fandom you just wish would go away?

uhhhhh that doing x thing they say is bad means you should be blocked by the entire fandom? 🙃 These are things I have seen, genuinely, on Twitter, and Promare is the only fandom I've seen do it and it's a yikes. It's not even like, actually bad things. I saw one like "this person is a Kray stan go block them" and I'm just;;; that seems a bit harsh.

Though the Twitter fandom has kind of died down recently, so I haven't seen much of that since like fall of last year.

A popular opinion in the fandom you can’t get enough of?

Gueira and Meis are Lio's dads now. They've adopted him.

But like I feel like it would be in like that friend way where it's like "yup we're your dads now" and then Lio lowkey hates it bc hes like "you're like 3 years older than me" and they're like "still your dads. You should respect your parents no matter our age."

Favorite AUs you’ve seen/heard of or your own?

I always love the ones that mess with Galo's role in the story. I love the Foresight!Galo AU idea, I love the swap AU where Lio is a firefighter and Galo is a Burnish, and I like this one AU I came up with but didn't do anything with where Galo's "burning firefighter soul" actually ended up being Promare and he turned into a Burnish mid fight with Lio.

Oh! And the fast food AUs. McDonald's Gueira, Hooter's Galo, and what I made up, Domino's Meis. McDonald's McGueira is an iconic visual novel for the ages and it will go down in history.

Would you want a sequel/prequel or any sort of extra story? And what about?

More GueiMeis official content please. It's all I ask for,

What are your self indulgent head canons?

Gueira and Meis are married and that's why they can't officially tell us their last name bc it's the same and they can't spoil their wedding day to us just yet.

Would you/have you recommended Promare to anyone?

Oh absolutely! I have both already recommended it and would recommend it to people! The DVD came out recently, so if you can I totally recommend checking it out in either the original Japanese or the English dub! I haven't seen the dub personally, but I've heard it's good and actually a lot of Japanese fans prefer it even which is wild.

Okay that's the list!!! Thank you anon this was a great way to start my morning 😊

[precuredaily]

Precure Bonus Day: “Futari wa" Era Overview

Across the last year and 4 months, I rewatched all of the Futari wa Precure branded shows that ran from 2004-2007. These three shows form the foundation of the Pretty Cure franchise that currently spans 16 television series, 27 movies, and multiple stage shows. The end of the FW era marks the beginning of a shift away from the franchise’s roots, so before I dive into Yes! Precure 5 and beyond, I want to take the time to reflect and analyze the past three seasons as a whole. What did they have in common? What aspects did they change? Where did each show succeed and fail, and what common threads are there between these successes and failures?

Hopefully it goes without saying that there will be spoilers, but just in case, I will be discussing each of these series in their entireity, including plot twists and details about their finales.

Futari wa Precure (2004)

Obviously, this is the show that kicked it all off. Toei made this two years after their highly popular Ojamajo Doremi series ended, with the gap year 2003 being filled with a non-magical girl shoujo anime called Ashita no Nadja. I don’t think they meant to start a franchise, and honestly I don’t think they even meant to make it a year-long show. The plot wraps up pretty nicely in episode 26: Nagisa and Honoka have defeated all the henchmen and the main villain and they can return to their normal lives, having become great friends along the way. However, it was popular and the merchandise sold well, so they continued it. At least that’s my theory, maybe it really was meant to be an annual show, but the back half feels extremely stagnant and not particularly connected to the first half. They changed the objective, changed the villains, and the animation quality went down the toilet.

Nonetheless, it established important concepts for this era: most obviously, the two-girl team. It’s in the title: “We Two are Pretty Cure” (there’s a reason you don’t see it translated much, lol) The two girls also come from different walks of life, and would probably not have much reason to interact if it weren’t for being Precure. This first season in particular establishes something of a yin-yang theme with the two. Short hair and long hair, sporty and scientific, middle class and upper class, black and white. While less prominent, this idea of girls from diverse backgrounds coming together will remain a theme well beyond the FW era, to the point where the current (as of this writing) team consists of two space aliens. A key element of the two-girl teams is that they have to transform together. They cannot operate as individuals; they are a pair and they are strongest when they work together. From a writing standpoint, this is an excellent idea that allows for a lot of scenarios that can test and strengthen their partnership.

Another big aspect of FWPC is the supporting cast that flesh out the world. Nagisa and Honoka have friends other than each other, who sometimes have their own story arcs despite not being the main characters. Shiho stands out from this series, as we saw her develop and explore an interest in theater, but possibly the unexpected breakout character was Odajima Yuka. I’m getting ahead of myself, because she didn’t really click with me until her single appearance in Max Heart, but that wouldn’t have been meaningful without her sporadic presence in this show. There are also a half dozen other characters who get a focus episode and then recur in the background throughout the show, and I love the consistency. The girls have love interests and we get to see them wrestle with their feelings. It all makes the girls feel more ordinary, despite their secret lives as superheroes. They have normal lives with normal problems. The girls aren’t the center of the universe, they just happen to be the focus of the show, and there are lots of other people that also inhabit it, going about their lives, whose paths sometimes cross with the main characters’.

FWPC established a bit of a trend for the villain faction: they were fronted by a big, giant monster of literal darkness and each of the subordinate generals has a portion of the macguffin. Each general had a gimmick in how they plotted and attacked, be it brute force, overwrought scheming, subterfuge, or infiltration. The inevitable result of this was that some villains felt more interesting than each other, of course. Pisard and Gekidrago were nothing but archetypes. Poisony had a personality, because she played off of her brother Kiriya, and he had his own arc where he learned to appreciate the good side of humanity. Ilkubo combines aspects of several of them, being extremely powerful and basically the Dark King’s right hand, but for all his gesturing he doesn’t amount to much. The Three Seeds of Darkness from the second half of the show have less going for them. They have personality quirks but they’re not particularly memorable as characters. A lot of their time was spent sitting around saying “We need to find the macguffin.” Their most interesting moment was when they realized that they would be consumed by the Dark King, and tried to betray him (unsuccessfully), otherwise they were just kind of there to pad out the series.

Aside from the down-to-earth nature of the characters and the world, the other biggest element that FW gives us, which the series became famous for, is the fighting. The show’s director, Nishio Daisuke, had recently come off of work on the Dragon Ball series, and he went into Precure with the mindset that “girls like action too.” The combat is physical, the girls kick and punch the monsters rather than fighting with magic wands or special attacks, except for the finisher. This set Precure apart from the crowd and I honestly think it was a big contributor to its early success. It offered little girls something they didn’t often get without branching out into the other Sunday morning offerings, which were targeted at boys. Nishio was good at directing action and he made the fights entertaining to watch.

The major failures of FWPC are some truncated character arcs. Kiriya deserved better than to be forgotten halfway through the series, only to come back as something of a guiding spirit at the end and then die an unsatisfying death. Yumiko (the lacrosse captain) was completely forgettable despite the show trying to make her a notable recurring character. Some of the early guest characters of the week had really lame reasons to exist, like Mayu (the girl who looked like Nagisa). The Seeds of Darkness were utterly lame villains so the second half of the show feels less compelling than the first half. Also, the ending is just kind of strange. Mipple, Mepple, and Porun go to sleep seemingly forever, and Nagisa and Honoka’s graduation feels bittersweet when they think about that and see a boy that looks like Kiriya. I’m still not sure if the ending was so sad because they knew the sequel was coming or despite it, so if it’s the former, it’s a strange choice that only kinda works if they knew that the audience knew that Max Heart would be starting the next week and all the sad stuff would be undone. If it’s the latter, then it’s a bold choice to have a downer ending that was undercut by the show’s own popularity. Either way, I don’t think it was effective given the direction Max Heart took. Without Max Heart I’d consider it strong, but I can’t ignore the effect of the sequel. Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Futari wa Precure Max Heart (2005)

Max Heart is an interesting animal. As the sequel to a fairly closed-ended series, it has to invent a reason to exist and uh.... it doesn’t do that very well. The Dark King apparently attacked the Queen of Light before his defeat, and now a few months later she dies and splits into her life, heart, and 12 wills, each of which are marketable in their own way. It essentially turns into another Macguffin quest, but the girls aren’t even actively seeking out the Heartiels, they just come to them. And unlike FWPC’s quest which wrapped up in the first half of that show, they stretch this one out for the entire season, so it gets tiring. That’s my big criticism of MH, but it’s not all bad.

Nagisa and Honoka were enjoyable characters in the first season and I am beyond delighted to get to spend another year with them. This season sees them deepening their friendship as they deal with their new leadership positions in their clubs, offering advice to underclassmen who are struggling with issues they dealt with in the first season, and further exploring Nagisa’s romantic feelings. She finally confesses to Fuji-P at the end of the show, even if he doesn’t actually hear her and consequently nothing comes from it. Season 1 Nagisa would never have gotten that far. Honoka’s development is rather subdued. She learns how to be a good club leader, and in episode 17 she helps push the club out of safe territory for the sake of their passion, but there’s really not much else to be said. She acts as Nagisa’s life coach sometimes when she has anxiety about her future, and helps her confess to Fuji-P, but she really does take a backseat this season next to Hikari. With that said, let’s talk about Hikari!

Hikari is, of course, a new character for this show, and thus her character arc is the most prominent of the trio. She also has more room to grow, since she starts out as basically an empty shell. Even if she is the Queen’s Life, she fully develops into her own person with her own life, friends, interests, and personality. Her overall kindness is probably a side effect of the Queen but she’s still not the Queen. She goes to school, makes friends, gets a job, builds a family, and generally discovers the joy of life. She’s a really enjoyable character to follow, because her journey isn’t just friendship like Nagisa and Honoka’s was, but becoming human. The tragic irony of her character is that the more of an individual person she becomes, the closer the Queen’s resurrection is, which means losing Hikari, and by rights this should form the backbone of the show’s conflict, but they don’t really seem to get this until the last quarter. They raise the question periodically but they don’t give it the discussion it deserves, and that’s a major weakness of the series. They ignore the problem until they can’t anymore. If they had given the audience the sense that this was intentional, that they were actively ignoring the matter, then it could have been interesting. Unfortunately, we never get the sense that Nagisa and Honoka were deliberately ignoring the inevitable question, and it seemed more like they just didn’t care.

As Shiny Luminous, Hikari somewhat changes the team dynamic, but she’s also not just a third fighter like Black and White. She is less combative, except when she has to be, and instead her abilities are more support-oriented. She stays back and activates barriers, slows down the enemy’s movements, and powers up Black and White. Her lack of combat skills means that sometimes Black and White have to protect or save her during fights, which interrupts the flow of battle and can make the fights a bit more drawn out than in the first season. I appreciate what they were trying to do by adding Luminous, and I am not in any way calling her a bad addition to the team, but her particular skills aren’t a very good fit for the style of fights that this show was built on. A lot of times she hides away from fights instead of transforming, making her more vulnerable. It seems like the staff wrote themselves into a corner with that aspect of her, and weren’t sure how to properly utilize her abilities.

The villains in Max Heart are an odd bunch. They’re slightly more memorable than the Seeds of Darkness, but no more competent. Their fights are meaningless, because Baldez is the only one who understands what’s going on with Hikari and Hikaru and the Dark King’s resurrection, and he doesn’t explain anything to the other three, so sometimes they just straight up defy his orders because he hasn’t told them what their objective is. I’m fine with villain infighting but I want there to be a good reason, a clash of ideals or something, not just straight up lack of communication. They have personalities, but that doesn’t play into their fighting styles in any meaningful way. The most interesting thing about them is how they form a family around Hikaru, and try to nurture and protect him while he grows. It brings out the soft side in some of them at home, and causes them to lash out in anger if he comes in contact with the girls somehow. Watching how Hikaru grows and parallels Hikari’s growth was a nice subplot. I’ve never been certain if the audience was supposed to recognize that he was the Dark King’s life before they reveal it in the series, but I really hope they were. Hikaru goes from a carefree kid content with living in the manor to wanting to get out of the house and see more of the world, which leads him into contact with Hikari on a few occasions, spiking each of their innate powers. Since he’s younger, though, he never reaches Hikari’s level of emotional maturity, which actually makes him a little more tragic because he’s just a little kid who unknowingly hosts this great evil. He just wants to do his own thing. Fortunately, in the end he is able to have a life with Hikari and Akane, even after the Dark King is destroyed. Which brings me to.....

Baldez. The final arc where Baldez revives the Dark King and then reveals that he himself now has the power of the Dark King is a neat subversion on expectations. He was always the most mysterious villain of the bunch, he was absent for half of the series and when he was around he played his cards close to his chest. He encouraged Hikaru’s growth by stoking Hikari’s development, and got in the way of Uraganos, Circulas, and Viblis when they tried to defeat her outright. He was a large threat to the girls whenever he did appear, and in a lot of aspects he seems like a precursor to Gohyaan. Ultimately though I can’t say he left a big impression. Most of the time he sat around the mansion saying “They’re developing nicely, the Dark King’s revival is soon....” and rarely set foot on the battlefield. He had no personality to speak of, and didn’t answer to anybody, so he was just flat and boring.

The next thing I want to discuss about Max Heart are some continuing storylines. I discussed the evolution of Nagisa and Honoka’s characters, but their friends get some further development as well. Shiho comes to mind, of course. In the first season she flexed her creative muscles by directing the action version of Romeo and Juliet for the cultural festival. In the sequel she goes a step further, deciding that she wants to be a Hollywood movie director, and chooses to incorporate special effects into their school play. It’s not a lot, but since not a lot of the side characters even get a character arc, it sticks out. However, there’s one character from the first series who didn’t get much to work with who suddenly is a lot more interesting when she recurs in this season, and that is Odajima Yuka, which is especially surprising since she only appeared in one episode, but due to it, all her past appearances suddenly make more sense. This is the episode where she, as a high schooler, joins the middle school science and lacrosse teams on their annual retreat, and ends up challenging Nagisa in a game. She gets out there, works her hardest at a sport she’s never played, and goes toe to toe with the team’s star player. They never outright say this, but what Yuka needed was to be challenged, to compete against somebody at her level. In all of her encounters, Nagisa is the only person who can outrun her. Nagisa may be clumsy at times, but she excels at athletics and gives Yuka the challenge she craves. In fact I think Yuka even envied Nagisa’s laid-back lifestyle. It is remarkable to me that the writers brought her back for Max Heart at all, and saw fit to conclude her story. She was never an important character, but she was memorable, largely because of this season. Later seasons with more main characters tend to sideline their supporting cast, so it’s nice that a minor character gets this kind of focus.

Lastly, there was some attempt to develop Akane early on. There was a three episode arc where a man from her old job stopped by and the girls all thought he was trying to pull her back into an office job. In the end, she declined his offer but he was still interested in dating her. She seemed to take to the idea, and there had been some hints that she wanted to get married and have kids someday, but after this arc, her potential suitor was never seen again and nothing more ever came out of it, beyond her effectively adopting Hikari and Hikaru as her children. It would be interesting to see adult romance play out, even in the background. The first season had Ms. Yoshimi getting married but we never saw any of her life outside the classroom, so giving Akane a little bit more spotlight would have been nice. Sadly, this was not the direction the show took.

Max Heart also got the theatrical treatment, and the movies were honestly very good. Famously, it’s the only series to get two movies, because the first film was originally intended to be just a FWPC film. They share a premise of whisking the girls off to a different land to resolve a problem that the locals are having, and they have their friendship tested along the way before coming out as better and stronger friends than before, acquiring exclusive new forms to defeat the villains. These would become signature elements of all Precure movies.

As I said earlier, the ending to FWPC was very finite, and that was strange juxtaposed to the fact that there was an imminent second season. There’s some strange irony, then, that the finale to Max Heart, the final series that will ever follow this cast of characters, feels a lot more open. It ties off loose ends, of course, and Nagisa and Honoka graduate from middle school, but while it’s implied that Mepple and Mipple go to sleep again, and Hikari is gone after reviving the Queen, less than two minutes pass for the viewer before they find out she and Hikaru are living with Akane, and that all their fairies are awake and as energetic as ever. Even though there ultimately weren’t any shows with these characters, there is room for more. Could they have known what the franchise would become? Could they have had any idea that these characters would still be popular 15 years later?

Futari wa Precure Splash Star (2006)

Splash Star is of course the first full reboot. I don’t know why, maybe they didn’t think they could continue the story of Nagisa and Honoka into high school. Could’ve been neat, but I’ll save the “what ifs” for another time. It rebooted the series, and that set a precedent for shows to follow. It keeps the two girl dynamic of course, and the visual similarities are hard to ignore, but those are fairly superficial, and it manages to find its own identity while improving on the ideas of the prior shows. The theme of the show changes from yin and yang to nature, and that affects everything: the aesthetics of the heroines and villains, the objectives they fight for, and most especially the combat style.

Once again, one girl is athletic while the other has a more academic hobby. Saki has two major friends on the softball team where Nagisa had two major friends on the lacrosse team, but Mai’s companion in the art club is less notable than Yuriko was to Honoka. This time they attend a coed school, and their circle of friends includes a couple of boys, as well as another girl who isn’t a member of either of their teams. Splash Star does the best job at managing its recurring and ensemble cast out of these three seasons. Characters are introduced, have their focus episode, and continue to make notable appearances, often hanging out with the main characters. Kenta even helped Miyasako find a hobby outside of being a class representative. They keep the number of recurring characters lower than FW/MH, use them in better roles, and the result is that they’re better developed and remembered. The romance plots are less fleshed out than in FW, but that’s about the only drawback. Also, Saki and Mai’s relationship with each other is much more immediate. Nagisa and Honoka took a few episodes to warm up to each other and only really cemented their friendship after a big fight, but Saki and Mai are fast friends by the second episode, and all attempts by the villains to introduce discord just backfire because they have absolute trust in each other. 

The villains are also extremely fun and memorable. Whether you like them or not, they leave a distinct impression, much like the generals in the first half of FW. They have unique designs, quirky personalities, and at the end of the series we get to see them interact with each other. Karehaan was fairly straight-laced and I don’t like him much. Moerumba has a spicy personality, his problem is his short-sightedness. Dorodoron gets a laugh from me for being so timid. He might have been boring on his own, but he got to spitball with the Kiryuus, which helped him a lot. Miss Shitataare is powerful and cocky but completely inept. Kintolesky was easily my favorite of the lot, being honorable and straightforward and impeccably muscular. Aside from Karehaan’s overall blandness their biggest problem is not having enough cross talk with each other, with that being saved for their revival arc. Later shows do this a lot more often and better, thankfully.

Speaking of villains, however, Gohyaan stands out. He kind of serves multiple roles as both the comic relief of the villains, like the Zakenna Butlers, and as the right hand to the big bad. He spends most of his time sucking up to Akudaikaan, but occasionally he does go out on the field and demonstrates how powerful he actually is. His memorable personality and the twist where he reveals he’s the mastermind all make him a welcome addition. And just to reiterate, that twist had very minimal foreshadowing! Akudaikaan himself was the opposite, very not memorable, he’s blander than the Dark King, and that’s no easy feat. The most interesting thing about him is his physical design, as rather than being an amorphous blob like the Dark King, he has a defined face and a robe. His head resembles a Samurai helmet and a demon mask, and he has fire in his eyes. It’s a shame this theme didn’t really amount to anything.

Michiru and Kaoru’s redemption arc has to be the highlight of the show. The writers took some cues from Kiriya’s similar storyline in the first show but they gave the sisters a lot more time in the limelight, which allowed their characters to be better fleshed out. Over the course of the second quarter of the show, we get to see these girls go from a faux friendship with Saki and Mai into a legitimate one, because they actually listened and learned about the beauty of the natural world. They start to understand what it means to be cared for, to be appreciated for who you are, and not have your value be dependent on what you can provide for someone else. If more villains would take the time to see things from the perspective of the people they’re trying to defeat, they might also understand this, and truly some of them do. We’ll explore several types of redeemed villains in the shows to come, and I look forward to comparing and contrasting them with this. The biggest problem I have with the Kiryuus is that they were absent between episodes 25 and 41, and barely mentioned. Mai and Saki worried for them, and Miss Shitataare gave them hints that they were still alive, but it was sad to see them shoved aside for half the show with no particular explanation being given about what Gohyaan was doing with them. That’s my only major strike against Splash Star.

The fighting in the series is still punchy, but this time the spirits spice things up. There’s bursts of spirit energy whenever they kick and punch, they can concentrate the spirit power in certain parts of their bodies to jump farther, punch harder, and block attacks. As Bright and Windy they have elemental attacks using the light and wind. It’s an evolution of what the first series started, and I enjoy it. Finally, the victories feel meaningful, because every battle they get the reward of a Miracle Drop. Every seven episodes or so they collect enough drops to revive a fountain, and Princess Filia grows more and more complete. There is constant progress throughout the series, so even the slow parts of the show feel meaningful.

Of course, the series got a movie, and it was very similar to the prior two in overall plot: Tension arises between the two, they’re thrust into another world before they can resolve their feelings, the villain takes advantage of their personal conflict to overpower them, they get separated, then they make up with each other and come together stronger to defeat the villain. The closes they get to a movie form in this one is a glowing outline surrounded by the spirits of the zodiac, somewhat bucking the trend, but it’s an excellent movie. That really isn’t something I can say about all of them, so I’m grateful that these early films are so strong.

Splash Star has been described as the perfection of the Futari wa formula, and overall I have to agree. Of the three shows, it is the most consistent in all regards. There’s constant progression, character growth, meaningful supporting characters who you really sympathize with, and a fun and enjoyable cast of both heroes and villains. The first half of FWPC may be more fun, but the second half drags it down. Max Heart as a whole isn’t really sure where it wants to go. Splash Star sets a destination and arrives there at the right time, with some twists and turns along the way. I strongly recommend it to anyone trying to get into the series for the first time.

Unfortunately, despite Splash Star being arguably the best of the three seasons (both Eastern and Western fans ranked it above Max Heart), it tanked in sales after its first quarter, so it was decided that, if the franchise was going to continue, they needed a new look. Thus, they turned to the most enduringly popular magical girl series around for inspiration for their next season. But that’s a story for later.

Analysis

The most obvious shared elements between the three shows is the two-girl team, which they each used slightly differently. In FWPC, it’s the two of them against the world. That’s it. Max Heart switches things up with a third hero, who is not combative, but supports them, and they have to protect her at times, sidetracking their fights. Splash Star goes as far as to introduce two more fighters whose power stems from the darkness but they use it for good. They help the Cures out and the Cures help them out, but it’s Bloom and Egret at the core. The key aspect of this period of Precure is that the duo are regular girls who can only transform when they’re together, and that their powers become stronger when their feelings are in harmony. The shows each explore the pros and cons of this setup, concluding that their teamwork is the most powerful force in the word, and this is quite possibly the best thing to come out of this period of the series. The thing I especially like, however, is that being Pretty Cures means that the protagonists have an especially close bond with each other, moreso than their other friends. Since they have to transform and work together, they more intimately understand each other, and they share experiences their other friends will never know about. They look out for each other in every aspect of their daily lives, they have absolute trust in each other, and they will go through hell to protect each other. Pretty Cure’s most powerful weapon is friendship.

As far as their individual personalities go, Saki tends to be more optimistic than her counterpart. Nagisa is lovable and relatable as all heck, but she had kind of a pessimistic view of the world at times. It’s evident even in their catchphrases: Nagisa always says “I can’t believe this!” while Saki proclaims she’s “In top form!” Neither of them would ever hesitate to help a friend, and especially their partner, but during the daily grind Nagisa is more likely to be upset at her circumstances. Meanwhile, Honoka and Mai are even more dissimilar to each other. Honoka has a scientific mind, she’s very astute and good at picking up details. She kind of struggles with making friends but she tries to help people out, always, especially when they don’t want to help themselves. She puts up with a lot of crap but she will chew you out in the name of making you a better person. Mai, however, is observant but she tends to hyperfocus on one thing while drawing and space out a lot. She is a little timid but not afraid to express when she’s upset. Both Mai and Honoka serve to temper and balance out their more energetic partner, serving as the voice of reason when they get heated, and in general keeping them grounded. I love how, despite the differences in their friendships, both sets of partners help to round each other out and make each other better people. It’s a testament to what a good friend can do for you, and of course the central motif of the shows.

Consequently, other friendships form a big part of these shows, too. The small cast means that the girls have friends besides each other, and in each series we see how the protagonists influence their friends, their friends influence them, and we even get to see Hikari make new friends of her own. Again, all the shows handle this well, and it’s something that will be missed next season, since the larger team size means their friendships are more insular. Having friends outside the team grounds the shows in relatable situations as the protagonists go about their daily lives, hanging out with their friends who become beloved characters and get story arcs of their own. Shiho, Rina, Yuriko, Nao, Miu, Hitomi, Yuuko, Kenta, Miyasako, and Kayo are all memorable and important pillars of the shows. They encourage the leads when necessary, get into hijinks with them, explore their own interests, hang out, and have fun together. This also allows conflicts to be resolved without the Precure. In most superhero media the central conflict of the episode is between people’s feelings or beliefs rather than a physical altercation, but the fight usually resolves things somehow, while in Precure, since the combatants are often not the ones with a disagreement, it instead helps them figure out how to help their friends resolve their troubles.

Since these are the stories of regular girls dealing with regular adolescent issues, love is not a strange subject. Nagisa and Saki each had crushes on slightly older boys in their shows, and they handle it remarkably similarly. They get flustered, embarrassed, and have trouble even speaking to their partner about it. However, Honoka is shrewd enough to discern Nagisa’s feelings, while Mai never learns that Saki has a crush on her brother. The writers even approach their romances differently. Nagisa tends to be more proactive in exploring her feelings. She makes active efforts to make gifts for Fuji-P and confess her love to him, ultimately culminating in that fateful Max Heart Christmas episode where she yells it for all the world (but him) to hear. Meanwhile, Saki tended to just admire Kazuya from a distance, except when he came to her. She got jealous when it appeared he had a girlfriend, but she never acted on her affections in a direct way. I theorized that Fuji-P might actually suspect Nagisa’s feelings, and possibly share them, but he wants her to be ready to tell him. Meanwhile, as far as we can tell, while Kazuya finds Saki interesting, he doesn’t really see her as anything more than a friend. I like these different representations of young love, they show how much or how little of a priority it can have in someone’s life.

Famously, Honoka also got a brief pseudo-romance with Kiriya. She helped him grow as a person, he challenged some of her overbearing ways, but they clearly respected each other. She was distraught when he was taken back to the Dusk Zone, and that was one of the most heartfelt episodes in the entire series so far. There were echoes of his impact on her in the rest of the first series, but I never felt like they explored that story to its full potential, and he was not even mentioned in Max Heart. Mai never got a corresponding love interest, and Hikari’s love was more familial: for Nagisa and Honoka as her partners, for Akane as her guardian, and for Hikaru as the only person who could possibly understand her existential crisis. She learned about romantic love but never experienced it herself, which is fine. Girl has enough to worry about as it is.

The physical fighting pioneered in FWPC set the groundwork for the rest of the series, and you can see it slightly evolve over the course of these three shows. While FW is pure punching and kicking except for finishing moves, Max Heart introduces a character with support spells to help the team, and Splash Star gives the combat a bit of flair and style with the spirit trails and elemental attacks. Each show has carved out its own little niche, and I really think that’s one of the fascinating elements of the series. YPC5 will usher in special weapons, which are a genre staple that the original trilogy avoided. That will become standard for all series going forward, so these three shows with their almost entirely unarmed battles are a true highlight of early Precure to me. They manage to keep the fights interesting, always, it’s not just straightforward sparring. The girls do a lot of jumping around, flipping, fighting in sync with each other or tag-teaming. They always have to find weaknesses in monsters that are designed specifically to be hard to beat. Sometimes they’re fast, other times armored, or they’re heavily offensive, they have special abilities of their own, or the commander is threatening someone else. Always, the heroines find an innovative way to defeat their opponent and save the day in a visually exciting manner.

When it’s not showcasing awesome girls fighting for friendship and love, Precure is about selling toys. Bandai has a long history of designing toys to coincide with Toei’s Sunday morning shows, and they put their experience to work here. Nonetheless, they had some difficulty with the rather nondescript themes of the early shows, so the toys sometimes come across as very out-of-place. The transformation toys are generally cutesy enough to pass, the powerup braces stand out, the mid-season fairy’s compact forms are extremely gaudy (ESPECIALLY the Splash Commune, it’s literally just a computer in a show about nature), and the macguffin storage object of each show (Prism Hopish, Queen Chairect, Fairy Carafe) starts a proud Precure tradition of being a large, expensive toy first and a sacred artifact later. Additionally, there’s at least one object in each show that is Precure-branded merch in the real world which has no combat use and is forced into the plot of one episode before being quickly forgotten. As the years go on, the toys will be more unified with the theme of the show, and we’ll see some new patterns emerge.

One last element I realize that I forgot to bring up before now, but that becomes a franchise trend, is a trademark food and a restaurant of sorts. In FWPC and Max Heart, of course, their food of choice is takoyaki from Akane’s Tako Stand, where Hikari winds up working in Max Heart. Splash Star’s restaurant is Panpaka PAN, the Hyuuga family bakery, and their signature food is chocolate coronets. The restaurant or food stand is always a recurring location, where the girls and their friends often meet to talk and hang out and eat some delicious food. This is certainly not exclusive to Precure, or even the magical girl genre, as having recurring locations saves on the budget, both in animation and live-action, and food is an easy way to get people to congregate. Nonetheless, it’s sort of brought up in Precure All Stars, and there’s some truly great food ahead of us, so I wanted to point out that the trend goes all the way to the start of the series.

Obviously, 2004′s Futari wa Precure wasn’t intended to kick off a franchise, so when it got popular they stuck to what they knew for the second season. I’m not sure why they didn’t take the Doremi approach and keep aging them up a year for more seasons, but perhaps they thought they had exhausted the storytelling potential of the original cast and realized that it had franchise potential if they followed the annual reboot model of other superhero shows. The biggest issues with the first two shows are pacing, which is fixed in Splash Star, and you can see them tweaking and refining the formula in other ways through the three shows as well. If I had to describe this era in a word, relative to the overall franchise, it would be innovative. While the two-girl partnership would take a break for a few years after this, these shows laid the foundation for plot structure, villain organization, toy integration, and combat that would be utilized and enhanced by the rest of the franchise, so it’s cool to trace the roots of many Precure conventions back to their origins. What began as a humble action show for girls meant to sell some toys got popular, and continued past its intended conclusion. It was even referenced in other pop culture of the time.

Powerpuff Girls Z (2006)

The series had gotten the attention of the masses and was a proven success. We got five memorable and lovable heroines, a bunch of beloved supporting characters, some wonderful villains, and even some welcoming food stands. Of course, there were bumps in the road. The series was still finding its footing during this period, and will continue to do so as we head into Yes 5, but without these three shows laying the groundwork for the franchise, I might not be here talking about it.

That’s my ode to the Futari Wa era of Precure, I hope you enjoyed it, I’m sorry that it took so long to get out. Look forward to Yes! Precure 5 reviews coming your way shortly, and remember:

Your best! My best! Ups and downs! Together We are Pretty Cure!

[thirstyforbettertwilight]

I wish...I wish Bella and Rosalie's friendship was fleshed out more properly. Rosalie was literally the only person to support Bella's decision to keep her baby but for some reason it's always written off as "when Bella dies she'd take the baby for herself" which is so fucked up and most definitely not true???? Like it was made known from the moment Rosalie voted no she was only looking out for Bella in her own way, and wouldn't this have been the most wonderful thing to bring them closer the way Bella and Alice are???? (lol maybe not the most wonderful thing but you know what I mean)

Also iirc, but didn't Leah said she'd do the same as Rosalie??? I wish the three of them became lesbians friends and became the trio I wanted Bella to be part of. She didn't have it when she was human, but she'd have it in immortality.

[demigodofhoolemere]

Saw The Rise of Skywalker last night. I went in totally expecting to hate it because that tends to be the way with my favorite franchises these days and I’d heard about how bad everyone seemed to think it is. No one is more surprised than me, but... I really liked it?? I do understand why others don’t, plenty of the content is pretty subjective in terms of the tastes of individuals. But I really didn’t have all of the problems I thought I was gonna have.

Plenty of spoilers below.

~~~

Negative:

- I can really only think of one huge negative which is just knowing behind the scenes info, assuming this redditor’s source is telling the truth (looks credible to me and we already know that things have been disastrous behind the scenes of the sequel films in general so I really have no trouble believing this): https://www.reddit.com/r/saltierthancrait/comments/eisnd8/heres_what_ive_been_told_from_a_source_that/ . In which case my biggest problem is how severely Disney/Lucasfilm screwed JJ and the cast over and altered what they’d made. From the perspective of ‘this isn’t what we created anymore’, if I were among them I’d be ticked, too, and I am ticked on their behalves. I do want to see the un-altered, complete version that they did and even though I enjoyed the movie as is, I would probably enjoy that version even more because it sounds like important emotional stuff got shelved, and it didn’t deserve to be (Finn being force sensitive, dang it!). There were a couple of things that made less sense because of the way it got pared down (like the fact that Han’s appearance was apparently Leia manifesting him to Ben and that’s what sapped her strength so badly - that wasn’t made clear at all to me) and I’d love to see what it was like before it got messed with. But this knowledge is really my biggest problem. If I’d never seen this, I wouldn’t have anything truly bad to say about the released product.

Iffy:

- Re: Leia, without it being made totally clear what was happening, I thought they were repeating Padmé’s ‘lost the will to live’ send-off. It’s not something that particularly bothers me about RotS, Padmé did just have the stress of pushing two human beings out of her body all while living with the stress of her husband falling to the dark side and all of the Jedi are being murdered and the list of awfulness goes on, so even though she definitely has her kids to live for, I also know that she was undergoing unimaginable agony both physically and emotionally, and you CAN die from your body physically giving out and from broken heartstrings, so I don’t think that was stupid the way others seem to. But they needed to make what happened to Leia clearer, because I thought they were reusing that, and *that* I did think was weird, and kind of a cheap way to take her out of the picture. Not that Leia hasn’t been through hell enough for broken heartstrings, and losing her son on top of having lost her husband and brother could certainly do it, but because the movie didn’t give any further context for what was happening and what she was doing, it just looked like she passed out and then the next time we see her she’s covered with a sheet and I’m like, “Wait, that’s it?” So I do wish we’d gotten a little more in the way of explaining that sequence, so that Leia didn’t die from just passing out. That didn’t feel completely right to me. I much prefer the idea of her using up her strength to save her son.

- Leia dying at all. I get why, but... owie.

- Shortchanging Rose. I don’t feel terribly strongly about her but in any case it’s not fair to her and especially not to Kelly.

- Very convenient dagger rofl.

- The Palpatine stuff was very sudden. No prior hints anywhere. I don’t know if it’s something they decided late in the game, or if they were going to allude to it but felt TFA was too early and would have in TLJ if Rian hadn’t had such full control over doing whatever he wanted, but whatever the story there is, it felt very out of nowhere. We’re supposed to suddenly accept that Palpatine survived the fall down the shaft and has been living on life support in a cave making creepy clone Snokes. And like... it seems like the sort of crap he’d pull, so I can buy it and I’m not really too bothered, but wow. I can also get behind Rey being his granddaughter, I thought they dealt with that very well and I surprisingly enjoyed it, but again, it’s very sudden, and also because of the implications of that I have to live with the mental image of Palpatine getting it on with someone and for that alone I could have added another to the ‘negative’ list.

- So... Reylo. I constantly have mixed feelings about Reylo. I’ve very much enjoyed their force bond (one of the only things I did like in TLJ), I love the focus on redemption and good winning out, their dynamic is very interesting and I can see the allure of pairing them because of the balance of light and dark, they just have a fascinating thing going on. But I also can’t help but think about him having tortured her in TFA, and as much as I’m here for redemption and I love Rey’s heart I still think it’s weird how TLJ is like three days later at best yet she’s so ready to look past what he did to her, what he did to Han, and to plenty of other people, and those things still really aren’t acknowledged. We can have redemption without having amnesia lol, especially when those are the things he needs to redeem himself of. By all means, redeem him, I love a good redemption and I’ve found myself far more attached to his character than I would have ever expected, but don’t have Rey immediately ignore the past to do it, and... I don’t know how to feel about that kiss. Part of me liked it (especially his sweet genuine smile), but part of me still kind of goes, ‘Wait... no. Didn’t want this. Not like this.’ It’s not the affection that bothers me at all, but the fact that it’s romantic affection. I love the dynamic that’s been built between them but considering their history I’d prefer that they actually get some footing as proper friends (whether that be before anything else happens, or it just stays that way). Way too sudden for anything romantic. And really I just wish this trilogy hadn’t attempted any new romances at all, because I feel like things would be more meaningful if they were all left to be platonic friendships. There really wasn’t room for couplings in this trilogy and it sours things a bit for me that they tried to fit them in anyway. So tl;dr, I very much enjoy Rey and Ben as a dynamic but I’m more here for a platonic Reylo.

- I get the poignancy of having him use his life force to save her, I understand killing him off, but for ONCE can I have a redeemed character continue to live their new life and figure out how to navigate that? It also makes better sense to have characters like Ben try to pay for their past while they’re still, idk, alive and have the chance to do more. For once. Please. I’m not mad that they did this but I’m tired of redemption=death.

Positive:

- Pretty much everything else. I can’t believe how much I actually liked this movie.

- LANDO CALRISSIAN LANDO CALRISSIAN LANDO CALRISSIAN LANDO CALRISSIAN LANDO CALRISSIAN

- FORCE GHOSTS!!!!! ANAKIN. OBI-WAN. AHSOKA. ALL OF MY FAVORITE JEDI FOLKS. LIGHTS OF MY LIFE. I’VE BEEN WANTING TO SEE THEM THIS ENTIRE TRILOGY AND I FINALLY HAVE THEM EVEN IF THEY’RE JUST VOICES. NEW HAYDEN-AS-ANAKIN CONTENT. I’M OVER THE MOON. Ahsoka must be dead then but I’m overlooking this.

- Whatever the heck they did to use the deleted Carrie Fisher footage to give us more Leia in such a seamless way... hats off.

- Seeing the sequel trio actually all be together and working as a trio. I can finally feel like they’re actually a unit.

- That hug between the three of them at the end, my heart.

- I really do adore Rey. She has such a good heart. Seeing her fight against her ancestry and adamantly trying to be a force for good makes me happy, I love that she believes so strongly in redemption despite her anger, and I love that they still keep character details like her brilliance with mechanics and the way she’ll use scrap to slide down sand hills. I’m so proud of her progress with using the force. Rey is precious and I love her.

- Ugh I love Finn, too. He has a strong spirit and he’s come so far. I love that they delved (or tried to delve) into him being force sensitive as well, and that he has such belief in it now. It made me so happy to see other former Stormtroopers who couldn’t live that life and that Finn can have those people to relate to. Can’t say enough good things about Finn. Very proud of him.

- Interesting learning more of Poe’s past, and I enjoyed getting to watch him try to be a leader in Leia’s absence and feeling like a failure, since I felt he was the least developed of the trio up to this point so I’m happy I have more to go on. He felt a lot more fleshed out in this one and I really appreciated it. I’m glad to be able to say that I genuinely love all of the new trio now, because it used to be that I casually liked them but couldn’t connect. Although I connected to Poe’s love for BB-8 from the start and that’s still going strong. Only he and Anakin have ever truly understood my droid love.

- Always a sucker for redemption arcs. I never used to have many feelings about Ben one way or another, I didn’t feel there was anything in TFA to make me like or dislike him from the get-go because it was too soon to say, but TLJ (for all my issues with it) made me care more about what happened to him, and now this movie got me super invested. Did not see this coming. I’m glad I was able to like him and be emotional about his conflict and his ending.

- Already covered this but I really like Rey and Ben’s dynamic. I loved seeing them use their force bond to their advantage and work so well as a team. And I love that her healing his wound also healed his scar, symbolically healing him of Kylo Ren. GAH.

- Han!!! Just Han.

- CHEWBACCA GETTING A MEDAL. Both incredibly emotional because that’s probably Han’s medal and incredibly satisfying because darn right he deserves a medal! In your face, ceremony scene from A New Hope! Now give them to the droids and I’ll be appeased.

- Chewbacca just generally destroying me. His wailing hurt me even more than Leia’s passing itself did. Did not need that but also thank you. (Why am I such a masochist?)

- C3PO taking one last look at his friends 😭 I cannot tell you how relieved I was that R2 really did have his memory backups, because I was fully prepared to put “C3PO losing his memories!!! 😡” under the negative column. Thank goodness for droid friendship.

- Speaking of droids, new droid! D-O really had little purpose for being there but I’m a sucker for a new cute droid to love so I’m all for him. Bring on all of the new cute droids!

- Really liked that planet with the festival. So many cute baby creatures and I loved the subtle Easter egg of 42 years referencing the original release in 1977.

- Rey healing the snake thing! I’m all for NOT shooting or killing Star Wars creatures, there’s too much of it and it makes me sad (R.I.P. Rancor, so sorry Rancor handler. And I’ve never gotten over Ratts Tyrell and his crying family and I never will. Stop killing Star Wars creatures 2k20). Rey gets me.

- Liked the new characters. Zorri was interesting and Jannah made me emotional.

- With the context of Jannah having been meant to be Lando’s daughter, the scene she has with him in the end has even more to it than on the surface (not that either of them would know, but still), but I really do just appreciate Lando reaching out to a stranger to help her uncover her past and recover her life. Sweetheart.

- I loved that Hux was the spy, and not because he cares one wit about the rebellion but just because he really hates Ben. Talk about petty.

- The fact that Palpatine was behind every voice Ben has ever heard means that he manipulated him his whole life just like he manipulated Anakin and now I hate his guts all over again for the same darn thing. Incredibly satisfying to watch him shrivel away. Screw you Palpatine.

- LUKE AND LEIA FLASHBACK. LEIA TRAINING IN THE FORCE AND OWNING A LIGHTSABER. FINALLY.

- Briefly seeing other old characters like Nien Nunb and Wedge Antilles. That kind of thing just makes my day. Also pretty sure I saw Naboo ships in that enormous fleet and I know I’m never getting Padmé back in any shape or form so I’ll take it.

- Seeing Luke’s old home wrecked me. Seeing the binary sunset wrecked me. Luke and Leia’s force Ghosts wrecked me. Rey calling herself a Skywalker wrecked me. That ending wrecked me.

I think I covered most of it which leads me to my verdict:

I understand why this isn’t popular with everybody. A lot of it is completely dependent on personal taste. Luckily for me it actually was very largely to my taste, somehow, which I never would have seen coming because I’m usually so frustrated with recent things in the big franchises like this, and after TLJ I had no trust. But I was pleasantly surprised and actually pretty satisfied. They hit a lot of nostalgia buttons for me, made me care a lot more about the new characters, made me cry a ton, and generally delivered something I could be pleased with. Don’t know how it happened but I really liked this movie and no matter what people feel about it I don’t think it deserves the sheer vitriol it’s received (there’s criticism and then there’s yikes). I thought it was a pretty good movie and I’d watch it again willingly.

[nadziejastar]

There didn't another game to flesh out Organization XIII if they had made proper use of the space they already had. They had a game where all the members were playable and they seemed to go out of their way to not give them any development aside from Roxas, Axel, Xion, and Saix! And even then Axel and Saix's relationship falling apart is a subplot, never the main focus. It's quite clear that the Nobodies still being underdeveloped is due to lack of interest in their stories

Well, I certainly think you’re right in regards to Demyx and Luxord. Those were two of the “nicer” members, after all. Roxas got along well with them, and even Axel didn’t mind them. If they really wanted to, they could have done more with them in Days. The manga did. I guess they just weren’t that important in the grand scheme of things. I don’t think Demyx was supposed to be important at all. Just more of a novelty. Hey, look at all these criminals. Then there’s this goofy guy who doesn’t seem so bad. He wasn’t even a real Seeker of Darkness. Luxord was an actual member of the real organization, so I assume he would have gotten a little backstory, but probably not too much.

I would say Xemnas and Xigbar got a fair amount of screentime. They’re important, but they’re not going to be the type to fraternize with the others or do a lot of grunt work. They’re secretive. We learned more about Xemnas’s secret agenda and subtle implications that he had Terra’s memories. But there was obviously supposed to be a lot more to learn about them.

What are the details of Ansem’s apprentices fall into darkness?Most of what had happened with Ansem’s apprentices before their fall into darkness is unknown, aside from what was touched upon in Secret Ansem Reports. And the mystery of “the plan that was decided on after Axel and Saix entered the Organization” that was talked about in the Secret Reports in Days still remains. According to Nomura there is still much about the Organization’s humans that has yet to be said.

I think Nomura originally was extremely interested in delving more deeply into members I-VIII. Their story was obviously supposed to be a major focus of the cancelled game. Most of the founding members got annihilated very early on in Days, so there wasn’t much that could be done with them. Same with Marluxia and Larxene. So, I do think we needed another game to salvage things.

I didn’t really mind the way Days focused on RAX because the organization is supposed to feel like a really cold and a bleak place. They were supposed to feel isolated, like they only had each other. After all, the main factor in Axel chasing after Roxas like a puppy in KH2 was that Roxas was the only one he liked. He literally had no other friends. So, they couldn’t have Axel get too close to anyone else. He was supposed to be hopelessly lonely. And Axel was supposed to seem like a “special” organization member because of his extreme interest in friendship. It’s unusual for a Nobody, and especially an assassin. So, it wouldn’t work for Roxas and Xion to get too close to anyone else.

Just one more thing that I think everyone is wondering, just what does the title "358/2 Days" mean?

Nomura: That's the question that everyone has to ask in interviews. (laughs) There is an answer, but I think it's best not to answer it. Well okay, I'll give a little hint. "/2" is read in English as "over two", but this isn't the kind of over that means to "pass over" something. The 358 days are shared between two people, so "/2", but I'd rather you imagine which two we are talking about. After you've finished playing it you might change your mind about who the two people are.

Also, a lot of the lack of development was very intentional. Hell, for all the screentime he got, we barely even learned anything about Axel. If we barely learned anything about Axel of all people, then they definitely needed another game to flesh out the organization. Days was the very first new game to come out that was building up to KH3. It was more about setting up mysteries than giving you answers. It wasn’t supposed to go into detail about the members’ pasts. They were saving that for later.

As for Axel and Saïx, yes it was technically just a subplot. But I also think it was the most important part of who Axel was as a person. And also the reason why he interacted with Roxas and Xion the way he did. But. It needed another game to truly be understood. Days was NOT supposed to be a full picture of Axel’s character. I’m pretty sure the two people Nomura was referring to were Roxas and Axel. He was reliving his past, which was parallel to the present situation with Roxas. Sure, it was not supposed to be apparent at first. But I still feel like people missed the whole point of Axel in 358/2 Days. I see the game getting made fun of with jokes like this ALL the time:

I thought this comment was funny because if you take Saïx out of the story, that’s pretty much what it would have been like. I also find the comment sad because that IS the only thing so many people took away from the story. But it wasn’t supposed to be “Axel befriends Roxas and Xion and they become best friends, yay”. The sea-salt trio was NOT comparable to TAV or SRK. Axel cared about Roxas and Xion a lot, but let’s be real. They weren’t REALLY his best friends. They didn’t know anything about Lea or who he really was. And he never wanted to tell them, either. 

I swear, the fandom’s view of Axel/Roxas/Xion makes me feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone because it’s so different to what I observed in the games. People especially interpreted Axel and Roxas’s relationship to be a LOT more intimate than it actually was. To me the most compelling part of Axel/Roxas was that they WEREN’T intimate. Like, at all. And that lack of intimacy just made Axel miss his REAL best friend even more. Roxas and Xion were his “best friends” because they were his only friends. That’s why all the talk of “best friends” felt so forced. Because it WAS forced. It was supposed to feel exactly like that Youtube comment, lol. The whole point was that they’re NOT his real best friends. Isa was.

Now that BbS is finished, we can’t help but think about the next game in the KH series…

For now while FF Versus XIII is still being worked on, there isn’t much I can do on KHIII, but we’ve already begun work on the next game in the series. There is one that we are hoping to be able to release within this year. Then the next year there is one more game we are planning on releasing. I think it will probably make the main characters more complicated.

We were supposed to get a game that gave Lea/Axel an actual backstory, and then his relationship with Saïx would seem a lot different in hindsight. Sure, when you first play Days, it seems pretty cut and dry. Roxas and Xion are “good” and Saïx is “bad”. Axel cares about them and hates Saïx. He found happiness with his new “best friends” and forgot about Isa, right? Wrong. Sadly, KH3 made that Youtube comment true.

[malexfan10]

Things I would like to see overall

Now that season 1 is over, I have some thoughts on what I would like to see next year and going forward.

For me, I think it certainly didn't help that this season only had 13 episodes. Some storylines were fleshed out really well like Alex's journey while others felt rushed and weren't fleshed out as well as they should have been.

* These are just my personal thoughts. I don't mean to upset anyone *

WHAT I LOVED ABOUT SEASON 1:

LIZ: I loved how the lead on the show was a kickass girl. She may have said this about someone else (Maria is her own savior), but I feel like it applies even better to Liz herself. I think it was episode 5 where she was locked in the burning crate. She didn't need Max to come save her because she saved herself. I want her to continue being the strong woman she is. I love Echo as well and can't wait to see how Max is brought back ❤

ALEX: Where he started and where he ended up. What a journey. Confronting his father was such a freeing & cathartic moment. Opening himself up to love and happiness was so beautiful to see. As much as I hated him waiting alone at the Airstream in his final shot, seeing him dressed more like himself, more comfortable in his own skin, was incredible. I want him to continue his growth and not just so Michael will come crawling back but for his own emotional betterment. Love Tyler's portrayal as Alex. His eyes speak a thousand words in the silent moments. Just amazing ❤

KYLEX: How surprisingly wonderful have these 2 been? Their complicated history is one that could almost rival Malex. Started as friends, grew apart with Kyle's sudden change and bullying temperment, and finally started finding their way back to one another. Love how considerate and almost sweet Kyle is with Alex. They're definitely my favorite friendship on the show and I can't wait to see them growing even closer. Some fans ship them as a couple but for me, I love the feeling of true brotherhood ❤

MICHAEL: Yes, there have been moments where the cowboy alien made me want to scream but overall, I love his character and that's in no small part to Vlamis. You can see how lonely and heartbroken he's been, never feeling like he belonged. I don't like that they are pursuing M&M but I understand why he would think he needed something else right now, as much as it hurts my Malex shipper heart. That scene with his mom was 💔

AND OF COURSE MALEX: Honestly, what more can I say? You just can't beat that history. Their love story is incredibly moving, heartbreaking yet uplifting. All that they have been through, for their love to still shine so brightly gives meaning to the words "epic", "cosmic" and "everlasting". They are truly my favorite TV pairing in a long, long time. It hurts that they are never on the same page, worse that this triangle even exists but I truly believe they will find their way back to each other. They have to. My fragile heart can't take it if they don't ❤

VLAMBURN: The entire cast is really close (The Real Vlamis lol) but how amazing are these two? You can feel the genuine love, respect, admiration and friendship between them. Vlamis is the more outspoken of the pair and the way he goes on and on about Tyler is so endearing. Their strong connection outside of filming shines through in Malex scenes ❤

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IMPROVED/FLESHED OUT BETTER:

THE HUMAN FRIENDSHIPS: From the bits of friendship we've seen between Liz, Maria & Alex, to me Maria & Alex have been shown to be closer. They've shown Alex at the bar several times and the episode where they spent time with Mimi, it was Alex who went to Liz for Maria. Liz and Alex, in comparison, have hardly had any one-on-one time with each other. With Liz & Maria, outside of the first couple episodes, I don't really see the connection as best friends. It's true that Liz has had a lot on her mind with Max, Rosa and the aliens. But I guess for me, Maria and Alex just seem closer between the 3 which is one reason M&M hurt as much as it did. But overall, I don't think these friendships have been developed as well as they could have been (like Kylex for example). The aliens are important but so are the humans. I definitely think the show would benefit from strengthening what should be the core female friendship between Liz & Maria.

MARIA: Why did the writers lead you astray? Her character started out strong and spunky, loyal and true to herself. But to benefit the triangle, they kind of stuttered her character growth. I've said before that the foundation for M&M was underdeveloped. Had they shown M&M having a relationship in those 10 years or had they shown M&M being close friends before the first episode, the storyline would have been more believable. Whereas now, this triangle feels like it was just shoved between Malex for dramatic effect and used as yet another reason to keep them apart. Maria as a person is so much more than the owner of the Wild Pony and one end of a love triangle. Give her the depth she deserves. Looking forward to the expansion on her family history and her psychic powers.

THE POD SQUAD: Don't get me wrong, I love the alien trio wholeheartedly. But it's sad that the connection between Max & Michael was ruined over the years. In the flashback episode, they were so close and I want them to find that bond again. Their moment in episode 11 was a step in the right direction. With Isobel, her bond with Max is strong and I love seeing her interact with Michael but overall, I want the bond between all 3 to be more equal. Max just needs to be alive for that to happen.

* These are all just my personal thoughts. Most people could see things differently or see them the same. None of these characters are perfect. We all have our individual favorites and who we root for as couples. For me, aside from a few particularly weak character developments, I've mostly enjoyed all the characters on the show.

My favorites are Alex and Michael and of course Malex. I've been a fan of Tyler for a long time and Vlamis is a gem that I cannot believe was only discovered last year. But my love for them doesn't take away from how much I enjoyed the others. I just want all the characters and dynamics to reach their full potential.

❤