#i thoroughly enjoyed her character arc

[altairsun]

i'm having a blast playing ffxvi it's such a great game but man do i have conflicting feelings about jill's treatment in the story

[mrynnn]

Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung ship

When I read the novel I used to ship Joongdok and thought Han Sooyoung loved Kim Dokja by the end of the novel. Now that I’m rereading the novel to enjoy the side stories thoroughly, I don’t think Han Sooyoung’s love is unrequited. The signs are subtle but I think Kim Dokja is also at least slightly interested in her. after Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung’s first parting (when HSY ran away leaving her avatar corpse) I could feel Dokja’s panic and sadness at that moment before he could think and Han Sooyoung’s expectations and thoughts on meeting him in the future (that was the first of it)

There was also that time when Kim Dokja was missing Han Sooyoung mid scenario soon after. The two were clearly interested with each other from the beginning and had some sort of tension. While Han Sooyoung’s feelings were comparatively more evident in the novel, we should agree that by the end that she did have some feelings for Dokja. As for Dokja, that dense bastard who didn’t even consider that his companions loved him and even when they showed clear affection towards him, he would get helpless as to how to respond to their affection, I doubt he actually caught on to Han Sooyoung’s feelings for him and actually started liking her without realising it himself, plus all the WOS coming to life and scenarios one after the another, I doubt he even had the time to care about who he has feelings for (and even if he did, his fourth wall or even his own personality would try to self rationalise to convince it to be something else)

The whole Kaizenix arc, the promise between Sooyoung and Dokja that Dokja wanted to read a 3000 chapter romance novel she wrote , the epilogue chapters, the 1863rd arc and literally every arc where both Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung play a major part and actually spend time together they have some tension between them. Personally, I like their relationship a lot and I think it plays a major part in the story, way bigger then some might realise other like realise cause yk… a female character getting between the more popular male x male ship…

The romance aspect of the story is really vague (except Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung, Hades and Persephone and Yoo Joonghyuk and Lee Seolhwa, even 999 Uriel and 999 Yjh)

in general but you cannot turn a blind eye to their relationship.

At the end what do y’all think ??

[bibibbon]

smth i hate abt hori is how easy it would’ve been to use the lov to show how hero society lets people slip through the cracks as a result creates villains, but he never fully expands on the idea.

jin’s parents died when he was in *middle school* MIDDLE SCHOOL! which means he could’ve been anywhere between 12-14. and then because of a motorcycle accident that *wasn’t his fault* he got a criminal record, was fired from his job, and became homeless. and then he just spiraled from there.

toga is biologically wired be to fascinated and obsessed with blood. but instead of helping her, her parents are disgusted by her and force her to suppress herself until she inevitably snaps.

dabi is a product of his fathers abuse and it was allowed to go on for decades because his father is a famous pro hero

compress is just an unapologetic evil bastard tho and i love him for that

This is also one of my problems with horis writing!!! Villains in MHA all had wasted potential and I absolutely hated the way their arcs went!

I guess the only arc that I can semi agree on is toga himiko's arc to a certain extent but that even has wasted potential that I talk about down below 👇. I discuss what togas arc could of been and different directions her character could of went.

In my opinion himiko was already introduced as somewhat irredeemable. The first time we see her we are told that she killed 6 people known so far and on around 5 of them she performed blood letting. Also her first victim she literally sliced him up and started drinking his blood (some including I theorise that she maybe even ate some of his body parts). I think it adds to the story simply because togas love or idea of love is based on her becoming that person and having parts of them on her whether that be literal or metaphorical.

I personally like the idea that toga is an irredeemable victim. Toga is someone who was failed by the system and had went through a lot for sure but the actions she did were also things that she should be accounted for ( I talk more about toga and what makes her different from lady nagant in another post). In the end I personally enjoy seeing toga be a humanised not redeemed victim of society that has also commited many crimes.

When it comes to other members of the league I feel like they could of all had better arcs in general.

I remember talking to @doodlegirl1998 and she suggested that twice and togas characters could of very much switched roles as twice is a character who parallels more with ochako (both struggling financially) and hawks would get more repercussions for killing a child (toga). However, I also do like twices death but I do have some problems like how I wish his death would of been thoroughly explored and we see how it impacted everyone or we should of gotten more from twice himself in general.

Dabi deserved better and I really would of wanted him to have a redemption arc, receive some concequences but end up with the todoroki family WITH ENJI DEAD (I HATE HIM!). I hated the whole Dabi always had an ice quirk and that he was just the second choice, always the second choice all along.

Shigaraki and just how much AFO was involved ruined everything for me also Shigaraki knowing about AFO was a horrible twist which made shigarakis characterisation even more inconsistent. I would of liked to see a Shigaraki redemption where he himself works towards one by starting to question AFO and get into the leader role a whole lot more while using the MVA to his advantage to get information, resources and more.

Spinner could of ended up being the better stain and learned form stains mistakes while also changing with shigaraki. I also feel like he needed more build up with his own counterpart like shoji and a thorough explanation and development of the whole hetamorphis discrimination thing.

Compress was evil for fun and it's fun to have those types of characters. One thing that I really would of liked to explore is compress's and magne's interactions. I feel like their arcs could of been interwoven (maybe I ship them a little who knows 🤷‍♀️) magne's death should of had more substance to it and all it just felt lacking and compress's disappearance the same.

Now when it comes to minor villains Iam a huge advocate for MUSTARD!! AND GIVING US A MUSTARD REDEMPTION 👇👇👇

I also think that muscular and moonfish should of obviously went to prison but that this could of been used as a way to shake the leagues trust for shigaraki. If any of the league members were to end up in jail would shigaraki help them? Maybe he won't as he didn't do that to muscular or moonfish or maybe he has stated to care for them more and he would as he is growing into that leadership role.

I would have it so that the Dr garaki is just an evil menace who starts to become much more greedy and manic causing AFO's death and going insane.

Kurogiri or kurooboro in this case would go through a different type arc that's down below.

In the end all of the villain characters or characters that don't up hold the status quo are victims of society. I think your ask could also apply to the hero characters that are also harmed by the system like hawks and izuku.

[mykingdomforapen]

LC's Link Click fic shout-outs

I worry I'm going to come off as nagging but I do feel strongly about it. Link Click has some INCREDIBLE fic, written by people who put a lot of time and energy and effort into writing, but they don't always get a ton of reader interaction. I feel like I often find a fic I enjoy, scroll down to comment, and find I'm maybe one of 2 or 3 people to comment on it.

Link Click is technically not a small fandom--on the contrary, it's so incredibly active! But it seems that unless a fic was published in the s1 era or happens to get lucky, this is the norm. Which strikes me as sad, because the fandom is popping and active on other platforms.

So here are a handful of fics (by no means exhaustive) of fics that I've thoroughly enjoyed that I had scrolled down and went, They deserve so much love! (again, not exhaustive!)

liminal by Anonymous

Qiao Ling and Lu Guang talk. Much is left unsaid.

It's such a subtle fic, but so effective in showing Lu Guang's emotions, Qiao Ling's worry, and the nature of their relationship in conjunction to Cheng Xiaoshi. It's truly just so soft and nice.

stain by HeavenlyDusk

The only way for Cheng Xiaoshi to be dead is for Qiao Ling to have died first.

I just love a Qiao Ling confronts Lu Guang about Cheng Xiaoshi's death fic, and this one really captures big sister Qiao Ling and how much she cares about both of her boys. I love it!

resolve and reverberations by macrauchenia

Lu Guang rarely fumbles, rarely cracks, and rarely steps up to the sparring mat first. Nevertheless, on a random day in the middle of September, he does all three. Alternatively, Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi can't figure out why their best friend seems so *wrong* for no explicable reason.

A slice of life fic that adds such a delicious sprinkle of angst at Lu Guang's expense hehe. But it makes me feel so sad for Lu Guang, who just is so traumatized of losing Cheng Xiaoshi, and then it gives him a soft encouragement at the end. It's so sweet.

Instinct (Part One) by JordannaMorgan

Hired to solve a wealthy client’s personal mystery, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang discover there are even darker powers in the world than they realized… and the damage left in the fallout will not be easily fixed for anyone.

Man, this fic is so CREATIVE. It is great at suspense, kept me on the edge of my seat from chapter to chapter, and the Cheng Xiaoshi angst is so delicious. And then the ENDING. gahhh, I cannot wait for Part Two and really hope that it will come!! I think about this fic so often

A Day Like Any Other by rane_ne

After three long years, for the very first time ever, Lu Guang finally gets to turn 20.

It's just ... gahhhh. Cheng Xiaoshi is my blorbo, yes, but Lu Guang being so relieved and emotional at the end because he's finally done it, and is turning another year older because he no longer has to dive back because his friend is alive??? GAHHHHH

Memoriam by JordannaMorgan

Even for those who have no powers, photographs are powerful things.

This is a lovely case fic that is so thoughtfully, emotionally, and tenderly told. I love the compassion that the story has for the characters, and it gives me the feelings that the Earthquake arc concluded with--finding joy and kindness even within the tragedy. I really love it.

sept, oct by Toothpaste_Fresh

The first time around, there are no rules, and Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi must learn all of their lessons the hard way. The first time around, Cheng Xiaoshi is the seventh of Liu Min’s victims. The second time around, there will be no seventh victim.

Gosh, this fic is so goooood. I love the speculation of what the first time round was like, and GOSH it's just such a gut punch of dramatic irony, of both CXS and LG being bold and idealistic and naive, and then how it tragically leads to CXS' death. It's EXCELLENT.

Golden Hour by StuckIn_aTimeLoop

The salty breeze feels nice. Cheng Xiaoshi smiles as he kneels down in the sand, happy they managed to make it in time for golden hour. Cheng Xiaoshi holds up the camera to capture his shot.

I LOVE ME SOME PARALLEL SCENES THAT ARE CONNECTED AND INTERTWINED BY AN EMOTIONAL MOTIF!! The juxtaposition of two types of golden hours is done so well, and both are so full of energy of opposite kinds in such a well balanced way. I was so excited when I heard this fic was being written and I was so happy reading it.

the shine in your eyes reminded me of the moon by StuckIn_aTimeloop

Cheng Xiaoshi was barely a child when his parents died. The king took him in, raised him as his own. Now he's older, it is time for him to choose his own knight.

Prince Cheng Xiaoshi and Knight Lu Guang. Need I say more??? It's so indulgent and I love it.

[nekropsii]

“Bad Representation” is actually a topic I’m really passionate about and interested in, I could talk about it for ages. The way people handle “Bad Representation” as a concept is genuinely fascinating, too, so this is both an analytical fascination and an anthropological one.

For clarity, I thoroughly do believe there is such thing as “Bad Representation”, especially when it comes to expressions of pure bigotry from the person doing the representing… But I personally think everyone’s bar for what counts as “Bad Representation” is set a little bit too strictly, has no real account for capitalistic and/or historical restrictions - For Example: Language and common understanding of queer identity being far different in the 1950’s than it is now, and Studio Meddling - and also, interestingly, tends to take no account for the opinion of those getting “represented”, or the idea of individual satisfaction.

There’s been many, many times where a character is objectively pretty bad representation by modern standards, but discussion surrounding it takes no account for the concept of Resonance. Sometimes a character is not “Good Representation” as an objective concept, but they are relatable, likable, and quite fun to watch. I’ve seen quite a few instances of people talking down to the mentally ill or disabled for enjoying a Slasher in part because of their disorder/disability, or queer people for enjoying Hays Code villains. Sometimes a character isn’t written kindly, or isn’t written well, but they really resonate with you… And that counts for something.

One of my favorite characters - one who has helped me come to terms with my cPTSD and OSDD - is a representation of PTSD + DID that is objectively not very good. He’s basically a Vietnam War veteran, who gets an Alter in the middle of the war that is basically a self defensive Murder Mode. It’s literally the PTSD from The War and Evil Alter cliche, but there’s just some aspects that really hit for me, like the fact that he’s considered the nicest, kindest person in the cast, and the alter is portrayed clearly as being in constant self defense mode, thinking he’s still in the middle of the war, and also being quite silly. There’s several details I view as being done pretty well, a whole arc about him grappling with his mental health in a way I find quite fascinating and visceral, and I enjoy him quite a lot! But many would agree that he’s “Bad Representation” because of the War PTSD and Evil Alter tropes. Even I agree that those things kinda suck, but that’s not stopping the fact that this character has meant a lot to me, and that I really would not be the same level of okay with myself if I hadn’t discovered this character.

I’ve caught flack for this. I’ve seen many other people latch onto a character who is not executed very well because they find them personally relatable, or are using them to figure some things out about themselves, and also catch flack for it because the character is not “Good Representation” for a group as a whole. No account for Resonance, no account for Individual Experience. It’s a fascinating lack of a sense of nuance.

I think people have forgotten - or perhaps do not realize - that criticizing a base concept, or base execution of a concept, is different from criticizing individual experience. It’s like the difference between criticizing the makeup industry vs. criticizing someone’s personal choice to wear makeup. It is good to point out when something is written or executed poorly, but you do not know the reason why that one individual disabled person enjoys a poorly written character who shares their disability. I would even say that they probably know more than you do that it’s written badly, because they have lived that character’s disability and you likely have not. I think you should maybe step off if a blind person really likes Terezi or something. You do not need to patronize them by telling them that she isn’t “Good Representation” because her quirk isn’t screenreader friendly, and that her blindness has a magical workaround. I think they already know that these are facts about her that are true. They like her for a reason, and that reason is Resonance.

[yumeka-sxf]

My thoughts on Spy x Family: EYES ONLY Guidebook (English ver) - part 3

Continuing from my previous two posts, this will be my last post discussing the English version of the SxF manga guidebook "EYES ONLY." I'll discuss some of Endo's and Lin's comments on specific chapters, some of the included concept art for the series, all the Twiyor tidbits the book has to offer, and conclude with a couple things the English version of the book omits.

Endo's and Lin's comments on specific chapters

There's at least one comment from Endo and/or Lin on every chapter of the manga from when the book was originally published (up to chapter 61). Unfortunately I can't cover every single comment, but I did want to highlight a few (more will be covered in the Twiyor tidbits later on).

So Bond wouldn't have actually died from Yor's cooking then? Good to know her cooking isn't that bad, lol. Also that's a good question, Lin, maybe you should ask Endo? 😅

Lots of great info about the cruise arc. Makes sense that they had to plan it out many months in advance and keep revising it to patch up plot holes. All that work definitely paid off! Interesting that they almost considered not having Loid on the ship at all. Glad they didn't because otherwise we wouldn't have gotten one of his best outfits! 🤣 (can't wait to see this piece of work in color in the anime!)

Incidentally, the scene Endo mentions where he "managed to make Yor look pretty cute" is this one (she does look pretty cute here).

My favorite comment of Endo's about any chapter has to be this one for chapter 56. Never change, Endo 😂

And lastly, some good comments about chapter 59 (Becky visits the Forgers).

This is one of my favorite stand-alone chapters so I'm glad it was well received. Funny how they kept going with the joke instead of ending it "normally"...but when you have such great characters and setups, good comedy writes itself!

Below is Endo's commentary about Henderson, not a specific chapter, but thought I'd point it out since he mentions Henderson is the only character he's done a shower scene for...not anymore!

Also, while not related to a specific chapter, I do like what Endo says below about Loid and Yor's "dark sides."

He enjoys drawing them this way, which is cool, but he's also cautious about not overdoing it and saving those expressions for important situations.

Concept art

Most of the pre-serialization character designs included in this book were also in the exhibition pamphlet, which I already discussed thoroughly here (wish I had remembered these were in the fanbook so I wouldn't have put so much effort into trying to read Endo's scribble notes). So I'll just mention a few of the most notable things.

As I discussed in my post about the pamphlet, Franky was at some point intended to be the uncle of the family. Though I do think it would have been fitting to make him the uncle, I also like the main focus being on just the "nuclear" family, with the uncle and other characters having supportive roles.

An interesting note about the beta version of Yor is that she seemed to be more like Fiona - she was in love with Loid right from the start, to the point of trying to eliminate Anya! I doubt this is something she would be doing all the time as it would have been difficult to make her a likable main character if she was always trying to kill her daughter...in all likelihood, she would have tried to kill Anya at first before eventually learning to love her as a daughter. While I see how this could work for an intriguing character arc, I'm glad Endo decided to make Yor a loving mother to Anya right away, and not make her feelings for Loid an obsessive "love at first sight" kind of thing.

Twiyor tidbits

Being the shipper that I am, I tried to see if I could pinpoint any Twiyor subtleties throughout the book, as vague as they may be! 😂

Below are excerpts from Loid and Yor's character pages where we're given info on their current stance about each other.

Love the emphasis on their bond of trust ❤️

Below are excerpts from chapters 14 and 35, probably the most Twiyor-heavy chapter pages in the book.

This confirms that Loid did indeed interpret Yor's kick as her not having any romantic feelings for him.

Below are comments by Endo and Lin for chapter 30, where Fiona is introduced.

Endo's line is a little ambiguous here, but I think he's saying how people sympathize with Fiona because she's "doomed to lose," which is...telling 😅 (does Fiona's loss automatically mean a Twiyor win?)

Endo says he likes the "You're strong, Yor" conversation, one of the most Twiyor-ish scenes in the series so far! 😊 Lin also mentioned how they got to use that theme again during the Becky chapter.

Weird that he chose to highlight this line of all things as Loid's "Family Comment" for chapter 10. Could this and chapter 79 be more foreshadowing for an eventual "Twilight vs Thorn Princess" showdown? 👀 Or maybe he just likes teasing fans because he knows it's something they fantasize about.

English version omissions

There's an additional Endo interview that's missing from the English version of the book: an interview with him and Kazumi Takayama, a former idol of the group Nogizaka46.

At first it seemed very odd that they would leave out just this interview, but after discussing it with others on Discord, I realized it's because it has to do with an idol. Apparently getting licensing rights for anything that has to do with a Japanese idol group is very difficult, which is further hindered by the fact that Takayama isn't even part of that idol group anymore, which makes getting the content green lit for official release overseas even more taxing. So probably Viz decided it wasn't worth the trouble and just left out that interview. But thankfully u/Nemshi on Reddit posted a fan translation of it, which you can read here. They talk a bit about SxF, but most of it is just general questions they ask each other.

And the other thing missing from the English version that I really can't understand is the inside cover! Another great 4th-wall breaking joke from Endo (I added a quick translation of the Japanese version below).

Unlike the Takayama interview, I have no idea why they didn't include this. They include the inside cover as an extra page in all the English volumes, so why not here? Very weird.

---

And that's all I'm going to share for the "EYES ONLY" fanbook! Honestly, there's so much great content in the book that I didn't touch on, like info about East/West relations, about Eden Academy, Endo's comments on all the designer chairs for the volume covers...and lots more. So definitely get a copy yourself if you can! It's a must-have for any SxF fan 😁 Books like this aren't officially released in English very often, so the fact that Viz thought it was worthwhile to make this proves how much of a hit SxF is!

<- Return to Part 2

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

The C file & her reverse psychology

She's a reflection, a shadow of the past and that was graphically depicted by Storer with the very first image we had of C on the show:

She showed up like that, not like this:

Carmy was blindsided when C showed up unannounced and uninvited.

Syd walked into his life right in front of him and knocked first, they were face-to-face, after calling for the sous position and scheduling an interview.

C was always represented as a mirage.

An unwanted figure in his life, that's why he gave her the wrong number to begin with.

The fact that later she forced herself into his life.

And he ended up giving in and even enjoying it, as I mentioned in this previous post → He let her take the wheel, is beside the point because in this case, the point is his real intention behind that behavior all along because he was compensating - projecting - sublimating and masking with her, as I thoroughly pointed out:

Here

So what was behind all that or underneath, what was he trying to cover with C?

His real feelings → More about that here and here.

The haunting

The haunting feeling Carmy described, is nothing but ruminating thoughts based on guilt, which is rooted in his own omission and irresponsible behavior and the fact that that relationship lacks closure, and that is what is keeping him stuck till he faces the consequences of his actions and turns the page but not just unilaterally as he did here and here, it has to be agreed upon or at the very least briefed. All parties should be in the loop for "the haunting" to end, the unfinished business is what's causing it, and giving it closure is what's gonna end it.

Reverse Psychology

What in this case triggered the ruminating thoughts was not just Carmy's inaction but also Claire's.

In the past C did the chasing now she's no longer doing that and the reactive nature of Carmy is reacting to that change of pattern C initiated. Since he noticed, his haunting began.

Typical reactive nature. If she had kept the chasing pattern they had going on, he would have either apologized and continued going out with her or apologized and ended things, but no "haunting" would have happened. One way or the other he would have "reacted" to her actions but since she halted all efforts he has no way to react, so he is stuck as I explained above.

This will end when they finally have a conversation and he reacts to her words.

As far as I know, that scene has already been shot, so we are cool.

Catalysis

C is a catalyst character as I explained here.

That being said her role can't be fulfilled unless Carmy is ready to realize what she's gonna show him.

Meaning: Claire shows him what he needs to heal because she's a healer, what he needs to change because after her he will be very clear on what not to do. And with her he will also learn to do what needs to be done, to use his words, to open up about what he wants and what he doesn't want, and also who he wants it or not with. She enables all of that in him. But not if he doesn't react.

So right now her role is unfulfilled because they are yet to have that conversation and that will enable Carmy to make a final decision. At that point, the catalysis will be complete and her role will no longer be necessary in the story. I'm not sure how they will go about this, therefore IDK if she will definitely break up with him after that conversation, or the other way around, or even if they will agree to give each other another chance, which is a possibility. What I do know is that when Carmy goes through this catalysis with her, she will no longer be necessary for his redemption arc because after that all those feelings that he keeps in his BOH, will move to his FOH, more details on that metaphor → here. This catalytic process will enable that.

Bonus track: The L Carmy already made a decision about his priorities, which are the restaurant, and the star, in that order. That leaves no room for C, and that decision was confirmed in the last scene where symbolically he was being "signaled" by the L to Loop back → The Loop. If he'd loop back to C, assuming she'd still have him, that is, he couldn't focus on the star, because he has always seen her as a distraction and he has already vowed not to leave Syd alone again:

And regardless of how Syd feels, in his head, he hasn't broken that promise because the one who is haunting him is actually → Sydney.

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋

[eggsaladstain]

so i thoroughly enjoyed season 2 even if it was extremely rushed and the fact that it’s not a 1:1 adaptation is genuinely so fun to me.

like i get it, things are different from the books, the characters have developed in way they did not in the books, but the books still exist. the show canon does not negate the book canon in any way - we just have twice as much canon now and honestly i fail to see the downside to that.

book/show spoilers under the cut.

let me start with the not so good before i get to the good.

the crows really got shortchanged this time around and most of their storyline definitely felt more out of place this season compared to the first. and as satisfying as it was to see kaz beat pekka, all the wesper and kanej moments, and have 5 of 6 crows all together (sorry matthias, better luck next time buddy), the show was not nearly as successful integrating the crooked kingdom plot points as it was the storm and siege and ruin and rising ones. but i get it, the crows were always going to be secondary to alina.

that said, i do love the idea of taking this heist most of us are already familiar with and turning it on its head with these new character dynamics. imagine an empowered and free inej returning to ketterdam to help a less burdened, less haunted kaz plan the heist. imagine jesper in his element, confident and proud of his grisha abilities now that he’s made peace with his past. imagine wylan and jesper openly flirting at the most inopportune moments. imagine nina and matthias presumably actually getting some screen time together?? the possibilities are endless and i can’t wait to see where they go with this.

now, onto alina’s storyline, which has the biggest departure from the books.

the show ends with alina killing mal, amplifying her power to singlehandedly destroy the fold, bringing mal back to life with merzost, and then killing the fjerdan intruder with the cut summoned from shadows instead of light and seeming to enjoy her newfound shadow power. this is the story of a savior who becomes a saint who finds herself turning into a heretic - dark alina arc let’s go!!

i love this direction for the show because it’s incredibly consistent with alina’s journey and the way she is constantly presented as a foil for the darkling, following in his footsteps even without realizing it. she has tremendous power and a desire to protect those she cares about, and she’s clever and cunning and willing to do whatever it takes to reach her goal, whether that’s burning a set of maps so she can join mal in his trip across the fold or agreeing to a political engagement to give ravka hope for the future. though she has mal and nikolai and her other allies, this is really her journey and hers alone - her journey of discovery to embrace her own power, even as she becomes that very evil she worked so hard to destroy. the message of the show is that power corrupts, and it corrupts even those with the best of intentions, perhaps especially those with the best of intentions.

in contrast, the book ending is pretty much the exact opposite - alina fights the darkling’s forces inside the fold alongside both the first and second army. she kills mal to amplify her power but ends up losing it altogether. instead of amplifying her, the amplifier gives her power to the first army soldiers and other non-grisha around her and they, an army of sun summoners, destroy the fold once and for all. alina then kills the darkling, mal is resurrected using regular grisha-means, and alina and mal live a quiet life running the orphanage in keramzin. this is the story of a savior who is allowed to die a saint and live a quiet, happy life afterwards - poetic cinema, beautiful in its subtlety and restraint.

there’s a lot of criticism about the way ruin and rising ends and i get it, i really do. was it necessary for alina to lose her powers in order for the other sun summoners to gain them? why is her love for her power seen as something greedy, something to be punished and taken away? god forbid women do ANYTHING. but i will defend this ending with my last breath because it’s such a wonderfully subversive way to conclude alina’s story and i really don’t think it deserves most of the hate it gets.

the original trilogy started out as a pretty generic story about a chosen one who was destined to defeat a great evil and ended instead with a group of ordinary soldiers and orphans being the heroes instead. call me sentimental, but i ADORE how it comes full circle - alina was, after all, an ordinary soldier and orphan when we first met her. throughout the books, we see how she struggles under the weight of her power and the burden of her responsibilities, and i just really love the way ruin and rising said no, you do not have to do this alone, you are not the only light in the dark, here are your fellow countrymen to support you in your greatest hour of need. so often, these stories end with the heroine saving the world and then being expected to continue keeping watch with the knowledge that they will be called upon again the next time the world needs saving. and ruin and rising again says no, you have done your duty, let someone else stand guard, you have earned your rest and you deserve it.

all this is to say that i loved alina’s ending in the books, and i love that it’s different in the show. we get to explore the other paths her story could have taken, we are not just limited to the one. i love the crows as they are in the books as well, and i don’t entirely mind how different they are in the show for the same reasons.

this is an adaptation that knows when to pull from the source material and when to create something entirely new. it was never meant to replace the books, it was created in addition to them, and i hope we get many more new stories after this.

[saintsenara]

Do you think ronarry works better than hinny? (I do.)

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

the advantage ronarry has over hinny is that ron is a man who also has a defined character archetype both within the series as a boarding school romp and as a folkloric epic, which means that - very much unlike ginny - he is permitted to actually undergo some onscreen character development throughout the seven-book canon. ginny, in contrast, does everything which might make her interesting as a character in the background of the narrative, before turning up fully formed to serve as little more than a tool to underscore that harry's definitely super cool, hot, and fun once he's stopped being canonically short.

besides this, however, the two ships have a huge amount in common. both ron and ginny are people harry adores because they're fundamentally fun to be around - he just likes hanging out with them both and draws comfort from their presence precisely because they let him just be [unlike hermione, who likes to nag him]. both ron and ginny are also people whose relationship with him harry doesn't fully understand the complexity of - he's incredibly dismissive of ron's feelings of jealousy at having to play second fiddle to him; all of the things he does to keep ginny "safe" in the war are straightforwardly paternalistic, and he spends deathly hallows oblivious to the fact that she's, presumably, having quite a miserable time at hogwarts... ron's arc gets a resolution when harry is compelled to watch the locket-horcrux's softcore porno and finally understand what ron's been bottling up, which i do think is written really nicely in canon. the resolution of harry and ginny's relationship - like so much about them - happens offscreen, which is why I think the timeskip to happy-ever-after feels so unsatisfying canonically. but that's why we have fanfiction.

which is to say, ronarry is a hot ship - and i will defend it with my life - because it is the crucial combination of two lads having a great time, two lads having deep-and-meaningful chats after being idiots for ages, two lads having a nice cup of tea after enjoying themselves thoroughly in the bedroom, and two lads who are - canonically - the loves of each other's lives, whether you wish to interpret that as platonic or not.

[chevaliersnumberoneguy]

I just finished Ward and was inspired by a friend to make a review about it here so uh here is my semi-non formal review of Ward.

So to provide a bit of context I became a Parahumans fan back in 2019 and read alongside it with a veteran Worm fan and it easily became one of my favorite pieces of fiction. After a decent break I began reading Ward on and off again for a little bit (not because of the quality I’m just weird when I dedicate time for reading) and after about 3 years of reading it over work breaks and doing a last hail mary sprint for the final couple arcs I feel as though Ward is an amazing follow up to Worm. I know that may be a hot take since I have heard from a friend that general sentiment on Ward isn’t all that positive, but I found myself enjoying it quite a lot.

Wildbow in my eyes managed to expand upon a lot of things I like about Worm and answered a lot of questions I didn’t think would be answered.

Let’s start with a big thing first. I think overall Victoria was a fantastic pick for the protagonist to follow along for this adventure. Not just because she is overall very well written, but out of all the existing characters Wildbow could’ve picked, Vicky was probably the best one for orchestrating the main message of overcoming trauma and learning to love yourself in Ward. It was very fun and satisfying the overall arc she had in Ward.

Breakthrough as a whole was also full of extremely well written characters with all of them enamouring me with their backstories and character arcs in their own way. I didn’t come to think Chris of all people would become such an interesting “minor” antagonist until the Simurgh reveal.

Overall Wildbow has has gone forth and continued to have shown his great ability to present mysteries or seemingly random moments/information and manage to paint it in a completely different light with a massive reveal later on in the story. Chris is a pretty big example of this with all of his behaviors and relationship to his tinker power being weird at best to making a lot of it make sense in retrospect with the reveal that he was more or less created by the Simurgh to help her out in her grand plan. Another example of this is all of the hype and build up to the reveal of Shardspace and the Cracking as a whole.

Now I’m willing to admit it isn’t perfect with all of the Wildbow moments and pacing at certain parts of the story, but I can really appreciate it for what it is at the end.

The parts that got me loving it the most is the expansion of powers as a whole. I’ve always been a nut for eldritch content and Ward managed to satisfy me with that in dividends when it showed us Shardspace, the Titans, the Agents, the conclusion of Entity cycles and actually giving us a full description for the Entities appearance as well. 

All of the cluster stuff was thoroughly enjoyable as well. I loved every second of Rain and his story that was in the spotlight. Easily provided some of my favorite arcs in all of Ward. It was just so fun to watch him develop as a person as well as watch the dynamic he has with his cluster. Cradle in my opinion stole the show being the antagonist of the group. Everything he did was appalling and I loved it. Whether it was him chopping up people with whips or manipulating people in the dream room it was all great to watch play out.

Also god all of the Titan stuff was amazing as well. From the early preview of it from Dauntless becoming one, to all of the build up to this massive event in the Teacher arcs and finally the beginning of the end when Fume Hood second triggered and started the Cracking off as a whole it was all amazing. Then we get into all of the fun combat with the Titans just showing off how formidable of a threat they are, the reveal that if they win everything is over and that this event may never be over, to all of the exploration of Shardspace it was all so well done and great to watch play out.

Another thing I loved was the Teacher stuff as well. I always knew he was going to play a massive part in Ward ever since his epilouge arc in Worm and boy I wasn’t disappointed (mostly). From the disinformation campaign to the assault on his complex it was all fantastic. The arc as a whole did a great job at planting seeds for what would happen in the future. My only real disappointment about him is how he really didn’t play much of a part during all the Titan stuff, but eh it’s whatever.

I thought the ending as a whole was a satisfying conclusion to the story and tied up a good amount of loose ends while still clearly leaving the door at least ajar for Parahumans 3.

Overall, while not perfect I think Ward as a whole was an amazing follow up to Worm and I look forward to reading Wildbow’s other works.

Anyways thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[marlequinncos]

Now that HOTD Season 2 is over, I have a lot of thoughts about what has transpired. Full disclosure: I basically wrote an essay, so long post ahoy! I have read the book, meaning there are a couple book spoilers in here along with show spoilers. Also: there are all my personal opinions, so you may agree or disagree.

The Good

The show is beautifully shot and the cinematography is excellent. We've gotten some really gorgeous shots this season.

The dragons look great, they're animated well, and I like how we can really see their different personalities and their relationships with their riders.

The acting is solid pretty much across the board. Folks like Emma D'Arcy, Matt Smith, and Olivia Cooke are excellent as usual. The standout for me this season, though, is Tom Glynn-Carney as Aegon. He's thoroughly fleshed out his character and given him some really interesting shading and depth and I really enjoy watching him on-screen.

Some excellent new additions to the cast! Ser Simon Strong is a national treasure, Gwayne Hightower is a mood, Alys Rivers is who I aspire to be in life, and the Hull brothers are both interesting (especially their dichotomy) and they better show more with them as per the book.

Rook's Rest gave us our first real dragon battle of the show, and I thought it was really well done. I was concerned that it would be the kind of fight that's hard to follow visually, but it was clean and worked nicely. I also love that they made Aemond torching Aegon a conscious choice.

The costumes are, once again, beautiful.

The embroidery title sequence kicks a lot of ass, and I like how they're adding to it with major events.

I do really like how they've made Helaena a dreamer (which they started in season 1) and how she's a tragic Cassandra figure. However, I do have some issues with her that I'll talk about later.

The Red Sowing was done well. I was hoping we were going to see some people get incinerated to really underscore how dangerous claiming a dragon can be, and that did not disappoint.

Little Oscar Tully verbally suplexing Daemon through an announcer's table was everything I've ever wanted.

I really like the relationship between Rhaenyra and Alicent. That said, I think there are some real issues with the writing that I'll discuss below.

Big fan of them putting Tyland Lannister in Situations.

Aemond committing war crimes and serving cunt as ye olde Sephiroth. 10/10 no notes.

While I do think the tripping balls in Harrenhall arc went on for far too long, I like how the show is leaning into the magic of the world with the weirwoods and insane visions of the past, present, and future.

Women kissing

The Bad

The pacing. Listen, I like a slowburn (one of my favorite horror movies is The Witch which many people find boring), but the slow pacing has to build to something, and this entire season felt like it was just build-up with no payoff. Last season ended with a consequential event (death of Luke), and this season began with another (Blood and Cheese), yet I don't feel like those events have managed to push the plot forward. Even Rook's Rest, which seemed like we were finally getting the ramp up to all-out war that's been teased for one and a half seasons due to Aegon being burned and Rhaenys dying, didn't really ramp up the stakes. We're still waiting for the war, and it feels like Season 2 was just a giant teaser for Season 3 rather than a stepping stone of the whole story. Think of it this way: season 1 ended with a build-up to the war and yet somehow this season also ended as a build-up to the war. It doesn't feel like progress was made; we're essentially in the same spot. The season should have ended with either the taking of King's Landing or the Battle of the Gullet.

Blood and Cheese. There is a reason this event lives in infamy for book readers. It's essentially the Red Wedding of the Dance of Dragons, because of how truly heinous and horrifying of an event it is. But the show toned it down a lot, and I think that was a mistake. Not to mention the fact that the death of Aegon's heir, who was a literal child, only seemed to be an issue for about an episode, and then everyone kind of forgot about it. Frankly, I don't like how the deaths of Luke, Jaehaerys, and Rhaenys were somewhat glossed over other than an episode of some characters being sad. Those deaths should have reverberated with long-ranging consequences and I don't feel like that's the case.

The writing. It's just not as good this season. Yes, I know the writer's strike probably affected it, but still. The conversations are nowhere near as engaging or interesting as they were in season 1, and I'm someone who loves dialogue scenes of political intrigue. I also think some of the character decisions they've made don't work. The biggest issue I have in that regard is with Rhaenyra. I don't actually hate the scene in the Sept (even though I think it is kind of silly how Rhaenyra managed to sneak into KL without being detected), because I like how they establish that Alicent knows that was wrong in her assumption about Aegon and yet she doubles down and they both realize that war is now inevitable even if it all began because of a misunderstanding. But book Rhaenyra is both far more active and ruthless than her show counterpart. There's a reason they call her "Maegor with teats". I thought we were getting some of that "warrior queen Visenya" Rhaenyra during the Red Sowing episode, but the fact is that she's spent most of the season trying to decide on a course of action and trying to do everything peacefully. She should have thrown that out the window after her conversation with Alicent in the Sept. It's especially weird considering she ended season 1 out for blood for the death of Luke. I feel like the writers are afraid that having her sometimes make nasty decisions will make her unlikeable to the general audience. But by doing that, they've also reduced this fascinating woman into a shell of who she should be. Look at Dany and Cersei from GOT; both of them were women in positions of power who did not hesitate to make (sometimes bad) decisions and/or commit horrible acts to further their goals and guess what: for the most part, the audience liked them! Give me "blood and fire" Rhaenyra! Support women's wrongs! Make characters morally grey! LET WOMEN BE AWFUL!!

I also think that the writing is doing Alicent a disservice. They really don't know what to do with her, and its a shame because Olivia Cooke is great. She just feels rudderless to me.

It really looks like the show is cutting Nettles entirely and giving her plot to Rhaena and I don't like this choice. Nettles is an amazing character in her own right, and her relationship with Daemon is key for him to start changing his Targaryen supremacist worldview and for his arc as a whole. Plus, this takes away the significance of Rhaena and Morning at the conclusion of the Dance.

While I like Helaena being a dreamer, they need to give her more screen time and dialogue. Girl had almost nothing to do this season.

I wish we had seen more of Jace and Cregan in the North and the Pact of Ice and Fire. Not saying we need 20 minutes of that, but 5 would have been nice.

I like the idea of that big vision of the future in the finale, but knowing how GOT ended does soften the impact quite a bit. And I don't love that Daemon and Aemond kind of already know their fates?? That's definitely going to hurt their arcs going forward.

The season should have been 10 episodes. Having it be only 8 really messes with the pacing of the story. Not loving the 2 year breaks between seasons either.

The "Let's Wait and See"

Aegon said that Sunfyre is dead. I really hope he's wrong about that because boy howdy that will have major plot implications if Sunfyre really is dead.

DAERON REAL. It would have been nice if he had been mentioned in season 1 and actually seen in season 2, but at least we know he exists and isn't a cryptid. Hopefully we finally get to see him in action in season 3 because poor dude has just been implied for two whole seasons.

I hope we see more of the book's excellent side characters like Black Alys, Benjicot Blackwood, and Sabitha Frey (who we did technically see briefly, but if you're a book reader, you know what I'm talking about). I'd also like to see more Cregan.

Overall, I think the season was a mixed bag. I hope season 3 fixes some of the issues with pacing and writing, because they have a great cast and a show that looks beautiful.

[jessread-s]

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

✩🌊🖤Review:

A dazzling adult debut from Saft!

“A Dark and Drowning Tide” follows Lorelai Kaskel, a sharp-tongued folklorist, and Sylvia von Wolff, her academic rival, as they pair up to solve their mentor’s murder whilst on an expedition to find a magical spring for their king.

Saft’s atmospheric writing contributes to her immersive world-building. Her story is set in the fictional kingdom of Brunnestaad, a country heavily inspired by Germany, that is populated by both Brunnestaaders and the Yevani, akin to the Jewish community. Saft tackles problems of nationalism and antisemitism through the perspective of her main character Lorelai, a young Jewish woman whose determination to make a name for herself in being a part of the Ruhigburg expedition stems from her experiences in being “othered”. I really appreciate the Jewish representation and how Lorelai’s rich knowledge of Jewish and German folklore contributes to the reader’s understanding of the country’s history, culture, and politics.

I could not get enough of the murder mystery Lorelai tasks herself with solving as well as the sapphic, academic rivals-to-allies-to-lovers subplot! Sylvia is the only suspect that Lorelai can rule out following their mentor’s murder. These circumstances push them to strike a begrudging alliance as they work together to prevent the murderer from striking again. I love the slow pacing of their relationship development as they are forced to confront their feelings while in each other’s proximity. I thoroughly enjoyed occupying Lorelai’s mind during this time. Lorelai is fascinating to follow as she draws on her knowledge of folklore, quick wit, and keen observation skills to find the Ursprung and the killer. At the same time, she is actively fighting against her love for Sylvia by burying her emotions and masking them with self-loathing. I adored watching Syliva break through Lorelai’s stubborn and guarded personality with her unrelenting optimism! They are truly opposites in every sense of the word and complete each other. Nothing was more satisfying than watching them capture the culprit and each other’s hearts!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[quidfree]

accidentally deleted this ask but for the anon asking what my gripes were with iwtv’s finale / this season:

look i love this show. ive never read the books* and i thoroughly enjoyed the one time i watched the movie mostly bc of tom cruise and kirsten dunst acting circles around bradd pitt. the show to me really elevates the material, it has phenomenal writing, the acting is obviously stellar, i think it does a great job at being that dark gothic romance that is both deeply tragic and fucked up and funny etc etc.

a key element of the adaptation is evidently that they have recontexualised the characters in ways that both add depth and nuance to them. when we meet him louis is a black gay man in a deeply racist and homophobic setting who hardens himself to survive and rise above as much as he can. claudia is a young black woman who has always faced societal violence and neglect because of this. armand’s whole arc as an exploited and fetishised child whose trauma has become his identity is also encased in colonial violence. i’m not from the communities they are so i can’t speak for everyone, but i think for the most part the show is pretty good at having these changes enrich the show and acknowledge what an impact this has on dynamics and the characters. s1 explicitly addresses how lestat handwaves away the racism louis experiences as something he can just overcome because he’s a vampire now, how lestat himself plays into racist imbalances of power in his patriarchal relationship in their home esp wrt claudia, how he goes to capture claudia on the train being portrayed to echo a slave-catcher, etc. s2 has the trial obviously set up like a lynching (claudia says so much herself), with lestat’s testimony framing the two black people he abused as the aggressors and himself as the victim, and even when lestat is genuinely apologetic and remorseful it’s because he’s allowed his tears and victimhood while louis and claudia are not. all this to say there is obviously lot of conscious thought that goes into the way the characters’ races feed into the show and the story and it oftentimes is very effective, as well as aware of audience perceptions of the characters and how the irl audience’s own biases might need addressing.

unfortunately for me there are two aspects of s2 that i feel are kind of outliers in this regard, and not in a way that makes sense/feels intentionally uncomfortable to me. 1) is madeline’s backstory, and 2) is the change of having armand actually have been plotting to murder both louis and claudia at the trial, and lestat have been the one to save louis.

1) to me is just really… weird. i feel like i know why they wrote her that way. it makes madeline a ~morally grey character~ by default so she fits in with the rest of the cast, and there is an element to the very real misogynistic vitriol and violence post-ww2 directed at french women even falsely accused of having slept with the invading nazi occupiers that feels very in line with the things the show likes to examine and point to as examples of plain old human barbarism and othering. but the way they present it in the show, unquestioned, not as a dubious survival tactic or a multi-faceted situation but an actual love story that madeline has no remorse for, is very off-putting to me. madeline is not louis and claudia who ignore the atrocities of the war because those are human affairs and they are no longer human but supernatural monsters. madeline is a normal person whose peers- jewish people, queer people (surely her own community), political dissidents of any kind- have been put down like dogs throughout the occupation, sent to prison camps at best and death camps at worst, and she never even has a line of dialogue addressing conflicting feelings about this? no one ever challenges her on it? the people painting nazi symbols on her shop are consistently framed as villainous? it just feels weird to me that claudia’s “weird white lady” has this saccharine romance with her, a black woman, without the show ever exploring any friction in that dynamic given madeline’s apparently uncomplicated nazi romance. madeline being a femme tondue is a great idea, but the execution leaves to be desired imo.

2) … oh boy. i feel like i’m wading into discourse here bc i’ve seen really confrontational takes on this, esp a lot of “responses to” people who didn’t like this change, where this is presented as those people being dumb babies who are blinded by their liking of armand and don’t Understand The Show. im sure there are those of which this is true (and ppl have explained better than me how antiblackness feeds into everyone jumping into ship wars and defense of louis’ abusive partners in general) but also it feels very reductive of some valid questions people have. people can argue the change is consistent with armand’s characterisation, which, sure, even though i feel like it feels a little flimsy / contradictory for armand to finally Choose The Coven and allow for them to execute louis but then go feed him blood and allow him to revenge-kill all of them immediately afterwards, etc. i don’t mind characters being More Evil on the Evil Vampire show.

my bigger question is why this change was made. bc my sense is that the change is less about armand than it is about lestat, and specifically setting the stage for the loustat reconciliation, and i do not love that. it’s one thing to make it so armand wanted to kill louis too, just for the extra drama of daniel’s reveal and scale of his betrayal, another push for louis to leave. it’s another to make it so lestat was the heroic captive who not only was forced to be there by armand as per but also bravely exerted the limits of his strength to save louis from execution and then nobly didn’t tell him about this. these are both monstrous vampires who have abused and betrayed louis in their own ways (armand has already orchestrated claudia’s death and kept louis in a purportedly protective mind prison for decades! that’s betrayal enough! you could even have armand originally want to kill louis too and then change his mind!), so why at this juncture choose to have lestat save louis in a move that was originally armand’s? just from the way the audience (fandom and casual watchers) is reacting it makes me wonder if the showrunners were just oblivious to how much this worsens people’s takes of armand (the brown man) being the “real villain” and lestat (the white man) being the redeemed self-sacrificing figure. i’m sure people will say this is placing too much weight on race blah blah blah but it was so jarring to me and the change in viewer attitudes so immediate that it left a really bad taste in my mouth.

inb4 the inevitable: i actually really liked the loustat reunion in the finale! i don’t hate loustat! i like all of the dynamics between all of the characters, albeit my favourite louis ship is louis x therapy (an obvious inference from my favourite character being daniel lmao). this is not a change that i hate because i’m a bitter lestat hater. i have no issue with armand doing bad things, episode 5 was my favourite episode! i just think this particular choice was weird, and felt kind of thoughtless in the service of speedrunning a lestat hero role in advance of his season.

i have other less tangential complaints but overall i think this is a great season of television. these are just two points that stood out to me as being handled with less grace than i expect of iwtv.

*i just started reading the first book today on the airplane so. we’ll see how that goes. book loustat is so funny compared to the show. book 1 louis hates his ass 😭

[fountainpenguin]

Zombiewood, my beloved...

Man... thinking about how much I love Double Life Martyn & his interactions with Cleo again. There is... so much silliness going on there. Legit, they can barely hold a conversation without giggling. And the drama... Just existing together under the drama umbrella makes them fantastic story material. 10/10 soulmate pair.

Martyn's terrible game show flop. Devastating. Him getting in a fistfight with Cleo at the end of it. That little fast-paced vent he does while ranting to Jimmy about how Cleo is really into building bridges with Scott but not him, which pitches up into a scream. I love how 'into character' he gets there; it's so good...

The entire hilarity of Martyn building a giant heart in front of Cleo in an attempt to win her back, which she loathes and ignores while he spends the series fighting with the HOA for the right to keep it. Everyone constantly yells at him for dropping their property value. All he wants is Cleo's attention and Cleo just... is not impressed. so funny.

"It's small, but it's enough. Just like me." - Martyn, what??

The way Martyn builds his base "in Cleo's front yard." That's so nuts. From an in-universe perspective, I love that swivel from denial and anger in Episode 1 to bargaining in 2.

So many good tidbits throughout their 5-episode relationship... Martyn peeping at Cleo through his spyglass at night and muttering "She seems safe; she seems happy; she seems healthy" before zooming in all "Wait, she has to use the furnace OUTSIDE?? Take it inside! Look, he's ruining you!" Like... Okay, Martyn.

"This is all her fault, 100%!!" He's a needy, angry man grasping at straws. I love dumb roleplay drama. Ugh, the commitment to the bit is so glorious. What a great arc.

The way Martyn thoroughly convinces himself that Scott's the shoulder devil who swayed Cleo away from him, so he shows up to speak his mind ("We can be real, proper soulmates, but right now you're being really selfish. You let him speak in your ear! You let him tell you that I was off not caring about my soulmate! I was providing!" and Cleo hits him with "Martyn... I was the one who brought it up first."

Just... idk, the way he freezes right then is great. The "emotional damage" clip he plays right then just makes it for me. That right there is the moment that Character Martyn splinters. It's so good. And yet he doesn't give up?? astounding.

I really enjoy how Pearl took the divorce quartet situation and spun it into clingy 'crazy ex' roleplay with Scott, and Martyn went the complete opposite route and tried to woo Cleo over with grandiose gestures of affection, really playing up the "I'm a provider; I didn't want to show up emptyhanded" angle. They were so different in how they handled the break-up and I still think that's cool. They did such a good job. Fantastic season.

Martyn: I care about us! I bring the skill; you bring the vibes- That's what I was signing up for! Cleo: If you look at it this way- You don't have to watch out for me. I've got somebody else who's willing to lay down their life for me.

Like??

Martyn wants someone he can share affection with. Cleo wants stability and trust. The whole "This is better for both of us" is so good... Hilarious.

The part that really makes it for me is Martyn starting to protest "So this is what we're doing?" and Cleo softly shushes him, just like "Shhh... They're coming over."

They kick off a secret alliance they don't discuss in public... Cleo apologizing for misjudging him and extending a hand. Martyn playing the part of jealous lover who's got an open door waiting for him if he'll meet her halfway, which he can choose to do at any time if he swallows his pride... It's SO GOOD... What a set-up!

Martyn & Cleo, my beloveds... Where else can I find the goofy 'jealous ex with a flair for art and drama' + 'Annoyed ex who moved on with their life and got a new partner and a home' health-sharing soulmate combo with this much commitment to the anger and grief and forgiveness and regret... They're great.

Martyn: I don't know where I stand with her. She sort of seems to be looking out for me but absolutely wants nothing to do with me. It's all very confusing... and maybe Cleo will come back to me one day.

Well, I've got good news and bad news, boss...

Cleo giving Martyn a heart-to-heart and he quietly wanders back to his base, turns to look at them, and tells the audience "Maybe me and Cleo are more on the same page than I initially thought" while in Cleo's POV a moment later, she's like "Look, sometimes you just have to speak to him in a way he'll understand" [gameplay strats] ??? slkdjf

Cleo sending Martyn on his way with his first diamonds of the series to craft a sword with... the "Don't die" / "I promise; I'll do us proud- Don't you worry" / "[Sigh]... Do yourself proud" exchange just kills me. Martyn swivels to his softer 'serious roleplay voice' to 'pledge loyalty' to her and Cleo just Is Not Having It With Him and shuts that down so fast.

Cleo: You don't need to worry about me. I've got my partner. Martyn to the audience, so Cleo can hear: She's saying that even when there's nobody around. I am VERY confused."

Two dead, many injured.

Cleo tossing a flower in his inventory when he wasn't looking. Cleo offering to let Martyn stay with her after his base gets griefed. Also ??? Martyn and Cleo getting a house together when they were constantly fighting?? why did they do that.

Cleo and Scott on their bridge above the ravine, doing their daily axe crit to the chest... Martyn in Ep 3 whips around and yells "Do you two mind??" Cleo tells him it's their way of showing affection and Martyn immediately gets out his enchanted axe and goes for her. He looks Scott in the eye and says "At least I've got a heart" and Scott's instant reply is "Do you??"

Martyn later refusing to use the bridge because it would be "awkward"... Martyn sneaking around Cleo's house and getting upset that she joined the HOA, immediately followed by her chasing him out of her yard insisting that she didn't. Martyn's swap into bubbly music when he's in the panda reserve. "The admission fee is love!" / "Oh, I come with buckets of that because somebody isn't accepting mine."

On the way out the door, Scar tells Cleo and Martyn that he'll find more romantic music to play the next time they visit and Martyn doubles back and says "Yeah, if you could." Love that for him. All the man wants is a partner who doesn't want to kick him in the teeth. What a great episode.

I love how Martyn and Cleo interact on their weird stepping stone bridge above the ravine... He keeps pushing for "I'll take your gear and go down to the ancient city to get your enchantments sorted out," trying to kill two birds with one stone and play up that role of being "the provider," and Cleo just... keeps trying to reel him back.

"No, no, no! You don't even have to do that! All you have to do is say 'I'm sorry for abandoning you on the first day.'" / "Mmmmm... I don't understand." sldkfj. "All it takes is an apology, Martyn." / "You're not getting one. We both know you're not getting one."

Delicious self-inflicted drama. Cleo's so willing to bend and he's so dang stubborn. I love them...

Personal highlight for me is right after Martyn kills both Cleo and himself by punching them off a cliff. Scott puts himself between the two of them while Cleo seethes and Martyn apologizes profusely and he just keeps saying "You have ruined every chance of ever being with her as your soulmate. You have lost every opportunity." Cleo following it up with "Remember when I said Martyn would be a good person to have on our team?

Yeah, just drive that sense of "Nobody wants you" into the one guy who's been so desperately roleplaying affection... topped off by the fact that when they're alone, Cleo drops the loud angry voice and cracks up laughing. Your honor, they are literally just some guys.

The fact that Cleo had to save him from an enderman while he shrieked and buried under her bedroom floor. I cannot get over the mental image of "Take me back, babe" immediately followed by them almost dying twice in 5 minutes. Martyn literally runs inside and hides under Cleo's bed... they can't stop giggling. Yep. He's here: the perfect man.

DL!Martyn is so funny to me... He explicitly uses the phrase "I'm breaking up with you too" when he dumps Pearl at the end of Episode 1, and then he does it AGAIN when Ren says they should bring Pearl into the Broken Hearts club.

The whole "Uh... I broke up with Pearl, so this might take some convincing" bit just cracks me up. Ren so wanted this alliance to work and Martyn is like "... ah. Yeah, about that..."

Semi-related, but thinking about that one Reacts clip where IRL Martyn said "See, this is why me and Cleo are soulmates" while listening to them talk about his LimLife finale betrayal...

idk; that's funny to me- I like the in-universe image that character Martyn is still hung up on Cleo (and/or the mental image of character Martyn hanging out with her at a post-LimLife party, trying to study her and figure out why they were paired).

Martyn and Cleo are on the same page in so many ways... but they have different communication styles / preferences and they crashed and burnt so hard... Ah, the sweet tragedy of it all. I'd have loved to see how well they could've fared together as a team.

Cleo losing their Yellow life because Martyn scrambled towards her begging her to eat and she forgot she was drowning as she opened inventory to check her pockets... His "Leave her alone!" and "Cleo, we good? We good?" during the ancient city fight. Cleo inviting Martyn into her Red Life base. Yeah. Them... Messy to the end.

Anyway, they're hilarious. GG to them on the improv and the commitment to it, even though the break-up was probably a scary roleplay / gameplay choice...

Also that moment where Bdubs casually says hello to them while they're walking home from the panda reserve and they immediately go for their weapons and start threatening him "Your money or your life" is so perfect... Love me a couple improv troublemakers in total sync. They're my favorites.

I love them and their silly donkeys Glen and Schmoobles... Nothing like two soulmates both picking the same companion animal without coordinating and both giving them silly names in the complete opposite directions from each other. They're great.

I love them...

[fanstuffrantings]

I was wondering what your thoughts were on the battle of fairy tail arc and what if anything you would change. Personally I would have liked it if they Laxus had a better relationship with the thunder legion - or there had been some stuff before that showed they were close so his spiral over the arc into being kinda a dick to them too was more shocking. On a side note, I'm kinda sad they didn't include in the anime the scene where he overhears people bashing fairy tail in a pub and beats them up because I feel it speaks to his character more!

Anyway I've been really enjoying your headcannons and they've made all the arcs you've discussed better in my head lol

Thank you! My goal when thinking up rewrite ideas/alterations is always to enhance the story presented more than fully, outright change it to something else entirely.

I didn't read the manga prior to Grand magic games since I was anime only, but I probably should at some point because scenes like that would be interesting to see!

I fully agree with you on the "Laxus should've cared point". One point I always think about every arc is just how much Mashima doesn't trust his audience to hate villains without making them horrible, sadistic people. Now I don't need villains to be written as redeemable, I myself thoroughly enjoy writing heinous individuals who are cruel to their core with no regard for life outside of their own (and even sometimes no regard for that). But if you want to make a villain that the audience can accept as redeemable you either need to make them complex and sympathetic, or show us their hard earned redemption.

Now, for Laxus, I personally would've made it clear that he cares about Fairy Tail members. Not just the reputation of the guild. Though his ego and insults towards others would often have people believing that. Makarov and Erza would both be capable of seeing through this and understanding that every criticism he has towards his guildmates comes from a place of trying to help them get better to keep them safe. I'd hint at him having a history of being close to guildmates who die or leave due to permanent damage sustained on missions.

This underlying care would be the reason Makarov would believe him to be the one right to take over as master. Because in spite of his inflated self worth, he still cared for his family.

Phantomlord arc would've been his breaking point, I would remove the scene of him saying he'd only help if Lucy dated him (that was only added to make him hate worthy) and have it simply be that he can't be reached due to a mission with the thunder legion. A rift forming between him and Makarov for Makarov letting Gajeel into the guild with no explanation after the dude hospitalized team shadowgear and tormented Lucy would cause him to believe Makarov incapable of putting the safety of the guild above the redemption of enemies.

The battle of fairy tail would be his way of proving to various members that they aren't cut out to be mages because if they can't even take care of themselves in a controlled environment, how can they hope to do so out in the field. He'd have a desperation as well to show that he is the strongest person in the guild thus the only one capable of stepping up to the role of guild master (Him having divine magic in the au would also explain this solid belief, god given magic and all that.) Rather than getting angry when Evergreen, Bixlow, or Freed loses, there would be a resignation that they aren't meant to stay. A sadness to it because he'd have known them all for almost a decade at this point.

"Why would people get frozen in stone" rather than it being all the girls who competed, it would be every member he deemed too weak to compete safely. People who use primarily support magic or haven't been with the guild long enough to make a mark in his memory of what they're capable of. Erza would be post tower of heaven nerf at this point so she'd be far below her normal strength level.

Makarov nearly dying this arc rather than being a moment of elation, would simply reinforce his need to get things done. To prove his own strength and take the position he was destined for.

When Makarov sends him off to self reflect he would note "You can't know what will come of people. Dangers exist in the world whether you're part of a guild or not. People will do as they please and all you can hope is to prepare them for what comes."

I would also throw in a few flashback scenes during the arc, scenes of guild members interacting with Laxus and Laxus meeting/grouping up with the thunder legion. I'm personally partial to Makarov raising Erza post tower of heaven so I'd have loved if prior to this arc we got some Erza/Laxus sibling scenes.

Again: I don't need villains to be tragic always, I think gajeel being a horrible person that has to earn his place is something I like (wish it was better handled) but for characters like Laxus I think them being complex and sympathetic is crucial. Especially when we don't see them until they've completely changed.

[rochenn]

Why don't you like dark disciple?

It doesn't fit well into tcw canon imo. Asajj already spends seasons 3 and 4 of the show launching two in-person assassination attempts on Dooku and one voodoo attack. All of these attempts failed. She came to terms with that and ultimately started going down a different path in the episode where she rescued the Kage princess from the lecherous king. It's clearly communicated that she's over the whole vengeance thing past that point.

And I'm all for characters relapsing into old patterns but her revenge quest in DD just Does Not do it for me. It feels too much like a repeat of the Savage arc. Find some guy, train that guy, sic him on the old cunt only to fail AGAIN. And for what? To be uwu redeemed in the eyes of her boyfriend who vouched for her post mortem? In the eyes of the Order she was never really a part of? Nah. She was already on the path to redemption after S4, and all Dark Disciple did was re-tread that arc with the fun addition of a ✨man✨she can get fridged for. Fun book, there are parts to be enjoyed, but overall redundant. Why does there need to be romance to redeem her? Leave the poor woman alone she was doing fine

It also doesn't help that I'm super indifferent about Quinlan (unless we're talking about his dynamic with Aayla) and VERY invested in Ventress and Dooku. Everyone else can leave, just let me see that fucked up broken betrayal-poisoned master-student relationship instead!!

Hope this clears things up :'D Nothing against ppl who enjoy the book thoroughly but it's just not for me so I choose to ignore it