#i'm not sure whether i want to quickly get through this arc to get to the comforting part

[partycatty]

was requested to write interviewer!reader by this lovely post so here we are. @super-ssimp

johnny cage > interview

you, a reporter, have some questions for the hollywood heartbreaker. he just can't seem to focus on your questions.

notes: heheheheeggeheegehehegeh he's so fine in the gif i'm gonna shit everywhere

[ masterlist ]

• a box-office smash hit dropped after a long quiet period from hit star johnny cage, back stronger than ever with a movie that blew audiences away with its storytelling and casting. you had to squeeze in an interview with the director, cage himself. you were a part of a big company, front lining with interviews and now face to face with probably one of the most attractive men you'd ever worked with.

• johnny sat in his chair across from you, adjusting his hips ever so slightly in his seat as he holds intense eye contact with you. you return the stare, as hard as it is while a makeup specialist tidied up the powder on your brow.

• "you look great, doll," he's quick to charm, pointing a finger with a grin. "don't sweat this. you'll be fine."

• "i know i'll be," you return his affirmations with your own confidence, a beaming grin on your features that makes his breath hitch. "i've been in this job for nine years, mr. cage. we just haven't met."

• "what.. a.. shame," his voice is teasing, somehow his flirtations come off as honey smooth rather than sleazy. you scoff playfully, earning a laugh from the both of you. two assistants clip microphones to your tops, testing them quickly and hearing a full go-ahead to begin the interview.

• "i'm here with johnny cage, director of the new smash hit 'mortal kombat,'" your voice is smooth, experienced. "i suppose my first question is; what inspired such a story? it's unlike anything we've seen in films."

• the question seemingly didn't register at first, his faraway gaze blocking his thoughts. realizing his flaw, johnny snaps into celebrity mode, "oh, hrm — the ideas that came to me were because of a massive arc in my life. uh — without getting too into it, i was at a low point in the last year, running myself into the dirt. something changed and i wanted to be the new, young, and pretty one behind the camera for once rather than in front of it. i spent the entire summer writing and consulting some friends of mine and we were able to pull this film together based on our relationships and experiences. you won't see anything else like it because there isn't anything else like it. i was inspired by my life, and there is no other johnny cage in this timeline than the one you're talkin' to."

• you nod and agree, face hot at the way his expression lights up with passion as he walks you through his process. "right, and this was after a long hiatus, was it not? there were, rumors, so to speak—"

• "my divorce?" he cuts you off with a glint in his eye as he toys with his ring. "no need to dance around it, i suppose. yeah, different life paths, but i'm a changed man. single and ready to mingle as soon as me and my team crank out some projects we've had in the works."

• "so you confirm yourself to be single? confirming the rumors?" you clarify, leaning forward in interest — whether it was for your own or for the public's, you wouldn't disclose.

• "why?" his question catches you off guard. johnny rests a hand on his chin, tilting his head as he squints. a large grin creeps up onto his lips. "you interested?"

• you tense up, nervously giggling as your eyes dart around the small production team who is trying equally as hard to not laugh at your position. you were trained and professional and yet this man turned you into a blushing mess for all cameras to see. "that's not my question, mr. cage—"

• "—johnny," he interrupts you, pose unmoving. "the pretty ones get to call me johnny."

• what was he getting at? your notecards feel unreadable and your brain's fuzzing from the sudden attention. he was a pretty man, that much was sure, but was he really flirting with you or pushing his behavior for attention? it was hard to tell, his affections were dizzying enough.

• he chuckles at your blank, sweaty stare, your lips opening and closing like the dumbest fish in the tank. you'd been hit on before by interviewees but johnny took the cake without a doubt, from his veiny arms to his touchable hair, all the way to his tight, round—

• "earth to interviewer," johnny's teasing fingers wiggled in your face, grounding you back to the rickety wooden chair and blinding lights. "too much, or not enough?"

• "neither," you lazily protest as you come to. "just didn't... expect all of that." the interview proceeds as normal, with johnny's clicks and compliments littered to keep you flustered right when you regained your composure. it must've been a game to him, how long you're heated over a simple compliment. but it wasn't the compliment necessarily, it was the person giving them.

• it wraps up just as quickly as it started, and the production was being wrapped up the moment you delivered your outro. johnny's suspiciously large, dreamy grin was plastered onto his face for a strangely long amount of time.

• "it was nice working with you," you try to be cordial, it's hard when that smug look is looking back at you, like he's planning something. before you could stick around to figure it out, you spin on your heel with a beet-red blush on your cheeks.

• johnny visibly startles at your sudden turn, reaching forward to grab your wrist before you could fully face away. he flinches at himself and his abruptness, too eager to give away his desperation for just a little more time. he pulls away, scratching his neck.

• "sorry, doll," he gestures toward your wrist, a confused frown on your lips burying his ego for a moment. "just... hey, listen."

• "i'm listening," you cock a brow, stomach flipping at the out-of-script interaction.

• "me and you," he starts with a groaning sigh, struggling to find the words you stole from his throat from one look. "just us two. no cameras, no questions, no divorce — wait —" his slip-up makes you giggle. "no, no, really. lets go out sometime. gimme a shot, whatdya say?"

• "out?" your tone is teasing, a smirk of your own forming on your lips. "you flatter a lowly reporter."

• "you're not lowly," his voice drops down, more serious with a heartfelt smile. "you... make it hard to focus." he's silent for a moment before jumping into his playful attitude. "pick a different career, you're distracting me! but seriously, dinner? movie? not one of mine, i swear!"

• "only if you swear," you grin up at him, feeling far more human with johnny than you had in the interview.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Something I find interesting when viewing the two recent Dune movies as a whole is that initially, Paul is more than willing to use the prophecy and his visions for his own gain to convince Liet to help them, while Jessica whispers "careful!" at his side, and she later recommends they leave the planet entirely. But Paul decides they'll stay with the Fremen. Even at the beginning of Part 2, Paul is like "fuck yeah let's wage war on the Harkonnen" and Jessica is again counseling caution: "your father didn't believe in revenge." She goes through the Water of Life ceremony not because she wants to help Paul fulfill the prophecy but because she's forced to: do this or die. And even then, the old Reverend Mother had to use the Voice on her to get Jessica to drink.

That all changes when Jessica nearly dies during the ceremony. After that, Paul becomes more wary of embracing the prophecy, and she just throws herself into it. Paul nearly loses his mother (and his unborn sister) to a painful, agonizing poison - mere hours/days after losing his father and all their friends/allies to the Harkonnen slaughter - and decides it's not worth it. Meanwhile, Jessica gets a direct download of memories of millennia of oppression and goes "yeah let's burn everything to the ground."

It's an interesting, quick reversal at the beginning of the second movie, and it's great.

Ooh thank you for this great ask. I can always count on you for smart and thoughtful Jessica takes!

You make a really good observation about their reversal of positions--I had been struggling to figure out how Paul's line about "I must sway the non-believers" fit into his overall arc, but you are absolutely right that this feels like a continuation of how he talks to Liet. We're seeing the first stirrings of that little "maybe I am special" thought that later takes center stage.

For most of Part Two, Paul has several reliable counterweights pulling against that streak of arrogance and high-handedness that he's had from the beginning. Jessica almost dies drinking the Water of Life, which, like you point out, has got to make him think twice about encouraging people to believe in the prophecy. Then, he spends most of the movie surrounded by Chani and her friends and comrades, who seem the most skeptical of the prophecy and also aren't going to give his ego the time of day. And at the same time, he has an opportunity to pour his desire for revenge into collective political action that seems to be making a difference.

It's only when those countervailing forces start collapsing (the people who had started out as his equals are now becoming his followers; the Harkonnens attack Sietch Tabr and other civilian population centers, proving they are far from militarily defeated; Gurney shows up and immediately offers what seems like an easy solution to their problems that only Paul can access) that the little maybe I am special voice starts winning again.

As for Jessica, her journey doesn't get as much focus in the movie but it's also fascinating. She's a great character because she is so fucking smart at navigating power structures from what seems like an unenviable position. Did she have any choice about being sent to Caladan to become Leto's concubine? I am guessing she did not. But she sure figured out how to work that situation to her advantage. It happened that along the way she and Leto came to genuinely love and respect each other. But I'm sure she would still have figured out an angle even if that had not been the case.

In Part Two she starts out in a frankly quite terrifying position: she can undergo this unknown, dangerous ritual or die, and also possibly put Paul's safety at risk by raising doubt about whether he is the Lisan al-Gaib. But after she survives the Water of Life, she is launched into a powerful position in Fremen society and pretty quickly realizes she can use that to both protect Paul and get her revenge on the people who tried to kill her whole family. And unlike Paul, she is much more cognizant of the intergalactic power structures at work and aware that the Harkonnens themselves were a pawn in all this, so her target is the Bene Gesserit and the emperor.

I would have loved more time to explore Jessica's relationship to Fremen society and her POV in general. Because in some ways she becomes as Fremen as it's possible for her to be--she has access to thousands of years of memories of Fremen history and culture and politics; she becomes instantly fluent in the language and she is immersed in Fremen daily life in the sietch. (If there's one single thing I wanted more of, it was daily life in the sietch.) But she's still the same person she was, so she hasn't lost that ability to be ruthless and calculating and see people as forces to be manipulated. In Part One, her love for Paul and Leto provided an interesting counterweight to this that allowed us to see some moments of vulnerability from her (ie. she knows Paul has to undergo the Gom Jabbar test but she's terrified for him while it's happening). In Part Two she is so isolated for most of the movie (away from Paul; surrounded by followers who were never friends; I think we can all agree that talking to your unborn fetus doesn't really count) that we don't get a lot of these more unguarded moments from her. (I would have loved some Jessica/Stilgar action and it seems like the potential was very much set up for that, but I understand why they didn't have time.)

But in general I thought they did a great job of setting up this contradictory tension between Jessica and Paul, where they both want so desperately to protect each other and they both want revenge, but the way they each go about it ends up putting them in direct conflict with each other.

[another-kshit-blog]

I want to talk about just how different the characterization of Ciel and Sebastian is in the original anime versus in manga canon, because it's very drastic. I'm not even talking about Ciel refusing chocolate or Sebastian being an emotionless robot man who never emotes, but just how their dynamic seems essentially different on a base level.

This is just based off of observations made from seeing clips of the anime and others' summation of it, I haven't actually watched it so if someone wants to clarify things for me or just have a big long conversation about kshit that is what this blog is for, I'll turn on anon asks as well but reblogs, replies, messages are all welcome.

Anime Ciel treats his servants poorly in comparison to canon Ciel. He injured Finny with a dart in the first episode for his own amusement, but canon Ciel would never hurt his servants and actually treats them quite well and is close with them, Finny in particular. Yes he bops Finny on the head in the first arc, and Sebastian does the same to Bard, but that sort of slapstick tone has been moved away from, and we haven't really seen it again. Sebastian did punch Bard in a much later chapter, but it was a flashback to when Bard was still in his initial training when Bard and Sebastian were still getting to understand one another, Bard had insulted Sebastian repeatedly and spat on him, and Sebastian himself said he wasn't partial to this method but would use it if it was the only way to get through to him. We don't see Sebastian feeling the need to strike Bard or any of the servants in current time, and they all adore him and cling on him and fear only his "scolding," so I think it's safe to say that they are not being injured even in punishment, let alone for Ciel's amusement. Ciel doesn't hit his servants, not even Sebastian. And no, I'm not counting all the times he slaps someone's hand away when he doesn't want to be touched, that's the action of a traumatized kid, not a master looking to slap around his underlings.

Ah, but what about that time Ciel slapped Sebastian with all that he had in Book of Murder? I'll get to that. I really think Ciel using Sebastian being forced to play dead in the murder arc as an opportunity to slap him is a good example of how they're characterized so differently in the first anime versus in canon.

In the first anime Ciel is always going for Sebastian's face, slapping him or throwing plates of food in his face, and he just takes it and has no reaction. Sure, nothing Ciel can do could cause real harm to Sebastian in either canon, but attacking the face is quite rude and personal and a huge disrespect. In canon, Sebastian is immediately pissed from Ciel just splashing water in his face during the first night in the manor, and when it's clear Ciel needs his help he quickly sets the status quo straight that while he is servant and Ciel master, Ciel is a child in need of care and that Sebastian isn't going to tolerate him acting like that.

It comes up again in the Green Witch Arc, Sebastian is not happy with how Ciel is acting and decides the contract is over if Ciel doesn't shape up. Sebastian has disciplined Ciel from the very beginning, and continues to do so. Look at how he gets on Ciel for his bad manners at Lau's opium den in front of everyone there. Whether or not it is "right" or "proper" for a butler to grab his master's face and scold him, especially in front of all of the other staff and in front of an important business partner, Sebastian will do so regardless, because Ciel needs structure and discipline, so Sebastian is going to provide it.

Ciel is a child, so of course he's going to test the limits of what he can get away with. He playfully kicks at Sebastian for asking why he hasn't grown. He tosses pillows at him when he's mad. He hits him with a pillow when he's having a breakdown and scared/mad at him for eating his brother's soul. He sneaks extra sweets. And he thinks its a really funny, sneaky trick to slap Sebastian when he's playing dead! Look at how he's barely holding back laughter afterwards. That's a naughty child playing a mean trick. And Sebastian immediately knows it. His comment about it to Arthur suggests that while he was surprised Ciel would think of doing that, he wasn't impressed with him for it. Indeed he looks surprised when it happens, even as he keeps his dead act up! And I wouldn't be surprised if Ciel later got in trouble for that, though Sebastian might just let it go considering there isn't really a standard for how to treat someone when you're pretending they're a dead body you're distraught over.

Ciel does not respect Sebastian on a personal level, at least not initially. (That's another conversation, but I do believe they've come to have some respect and even a level of fondness for each other as of the current arc.) He calls him a dog, a vicious beast, and says he will commit any atrocities, which he will. Ciel may hate and fear Sebastian, but Ciel respects Sebastian as an authority figure who keeps watch over him, and as said authority figure, Sebastian has laid down the rules for how things work between them, and what behavior he expects from Ciel, and he will correct him when he gets out of line. And this aspect of their relationship seems to be entirely missing from their relationship in the anime.

[elliepassmore]

The Tainted Cup review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, sci-fi, greenpunk, murder mysteries, powers, disability rep

Big thanks to Netgalley, Del Rey, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To start, I'll say I'm not sure whether to classify this book as fantasy or sci-fi since I feel it has elements of both. The world the book is set in is 'greenpunk,' with buildings grown from plants and things like AC from mushrooms, and the characters have powers augmented through some kind of medical procedure. At the same time though, there are leviathans that rise from the ocean depths and threaten the empire. The genre isn't really important, but I will say it isn't super clear-cut and think it could fit easily into both sci-fi and fantasy.

The world in the book is super interesting. As mentioned, the buildings are largely grown from plants, with some more plant-like than others. A lot of the buildings have fernpaper walls, which serve well to keep out the humidity and don't mold, while also being sturdy enough to stand and not too heavy in the case of an earthquake. A couple of buildings are made from a different plant that can be grown in any shape, allowing for a more personalized architecture. Plants are pretty central to life in the book, and are used for additional things like AC, vaccination, medical treatments, and human augmentation. I love all the plant stuff and think the focus on 'green' things is a really interesting worldbuilding piece that isn't used nearly often enough. We get a good background on how the greenery works without going too in-depth, though I honestly could read an encyclopedia on this world and be happy.

In terms of the augmentation, there's a breakdown of the different augments people can have, with grafts being temporary and more for things like increased immunity in humans or faster growing in plants, while suffusions are permanent and change a lot more about a person/plant. If someone is employed by the empire and has a suffusion they're called a Sublime, with Sublimes categorized into how their suffusion works (axioms are good w/ numbers, linguas are good w/ languages, spatiasts are good w/ spatial relations, engravers who memorize everything, cracklers who are superhumanly strong, etc.). It was really interesting to read about the suffusions and the different Sublimes, and I really enjoyed the background info we get on the augmentations. I also thought it was pretty cool how the augmentations seem to be everywhere, including to help plants do different things and to help medications and vaccines be produced against the wide range of issues people might come across.

While this is a SFF story, the bulk of it is the murder mystery. It's twisty and deliberate, but at the same time has moments when it's very fun. Ana reminds me at times of Benoit Blanc from Knives Out and I really enjoyed her method to solving mysteries. There's a good mix of humor and seriousness here, and I think Bennett struck a good balance between the two.

Din is a Sublime engraver recently assigned to be Ana's investigative assistant. He's a rule follower and so his and Ana's approaches clash at times, though never majorly. Din is very clearly dyslexic, which gave him trouble in training, and at times he runs up against needing to read things during the investigation, but he's figured out a work around using his engraving skills which I found to be a really smart way of going about it. He's clever and a good observer, and is able to put the pieces of things together quickly even though he's new to investigating. I liked seeing things through his eyes and and way he would meticulously go through a scene to find evidence. It was particularly interesting how he interviewed people because Din seems to have a knack for knowing how to circle a conversation around to what he really wants to know without being too obvious about it, thus putting the interviewee at ease and getting them to open up. It was wonderfully subtle the way he got people to open up.

Ana is the main investigator on the case and is not the sort of investigator you'd expect. She prefers to stay in her house (or later on, in her borrowed rooms) rather than going outside to investigate on her own, and when she does leave the comfort of her accommodations, it's with a blindfold on. I suspected she was autistic throughout the book, and then toward the end she basically comes out and says it (without saying it since...you know...this is a SFF novel not set in our world with our terminology). She's quick to make deductive leaps and is often several steps ahead of everyone else involved. It was fun to read as she snapped through deduction after deduction, using the evidence Din collected, and coming to a conclusion that made sense but you didn't always see coming. Ana is also pretty funny and I enjoyed the humor she brought to the book.

There are a bunch of side characters who come in and out of the story as needed, and I found them to be pretty well fleshed out. It definitely felt like each character had their own lives and concerns and didn't just cease to exist once they left Din's presence. Miljin is the side character who's probably around the most, he's one of the investigators working the case with Ana and Din. At first his demeanor was pretty gruff and unwelcoming, so I didn't think I'd like him much, but over the course of the book his character grew on me and I actually ended up liking him a lot. He's just the kind of person that doesn't immediately warm up to people, but once he does he's got quite the quick brain and lots of humor and advice to go around.

As mentioned, the main point of this book is the mystery. At the beginning, Ana was making all sorts of leaps that I just took her word for, but as the story continued, I began being able to make guesses of my own. Some of the stuff I was able to guess correctly, sometimes in a surprising way, but other times I was still puzzling it out when Ana and the others came to their conclusions. There are so many moving pieces and different elements to the mystery going on in this book, I enjoyed trying to figure out the solution myself as well as seeing what the actual solution was.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series. This is the kind of book that makes me want more SFF backgrounds for mystery books, it added a really interesting layer to things that I enjoyed.

[pikahlua]

I'm not the same anon but I feel like asking, did you always enjoy the relationship between Bakugou and Deku? I like Bakugou and I hated the relationship (still don't like it and I wanted to see Bakugou caring for Kaminari and Kirishima or even Uraraka instead, it would've been much more enjoyable to me), I don't think how Bakugou's benefiting from being one-dimensionally only focused on Deku. Hori's ruining him imho, even if Bakugou gets a powerup his potential is still wasted

One-dimensional and primary focus are not the same thing, anon. I wish you had given me a little more to go on here, because I don't understand what is being "ruined" about him or what "potential" of his is being wasted by your standards. I'm left with only the option of explaining what it is I get out of Katsuki and why that so deeply ties into his relationship with Izuku (regardless of shipping!) to give you an opportunity to point out where you and I are diverging in thought. This is the only way I can answer your question about whether or not I always enjoyed their relationship together.

So, you know, buckle up, kids. It’s time for...

What the Fuck Does Pika Even Like About Katsuki Bakugou and His Relationship with Izuku Midoriya?*

*this post is not an exhaustive list

Did I always like the BakuDeku dynamic? That’s a hard question to answer, because there’s a period of time in the first chapters/episodes of the story I would like to call “buffering.” It’s that time frame after I’m first introduced to the characters and still evaluating the story’s themes and coming to conclusions. I have to take some time to formulate my opinions before getting a grasp on where I think the story is going. I would say the proper timeline on my opinion forming looked something like this:

Beginning through Deku vs Kacchan Part 1:

This was pure buffering. I wasn’t fully invested but had committed to watching the show through the end of what was released (season 2 at the time). As something of a shounen veteran, I recognized a lot of familiar tropes but also noted how they were being played around with, I just didn’t have an idea of what that meant yet. Katsuki Bakugou at this time represented to me my LEAST FAVORITE shounen trope (the stubborn lancer rival character), so I didn’t have high expectations. I related a lot to Izuku Midoriya, but as we got into the childhood backstory of these two, I did uncannily relate to both Izuku and Katsuki as children, and so I was most captivated by Horikoshi’s depiction of that part of their relationship.

Katsuki’s Starting Line:

This was the first episode that took me completely off-guard. Katsuki’s speech at the end demonstrating the logical conclusions he comes to in order to achieve his biggest dream is something that still shakes me to this day. Why? Because it’s the first time I’ve seen a character like this learn his lesson so quickly AND maintain that character development in the story without any regression. All his actions following this speech make perfect sense with respect to his goal. This is the point where I began forming my initial hypotheses about the story and its characters to use as a lens for the rest of the show.

USJ arc, Sports Festival, and Internships:

With my new lens, I engaged in a lot of focused observation and information collection during these arcs. I particularly noted how Katsuki’s words often did not match his actions. The first instance of this I consciously remember is how Kirishima interprets Katsuki’s attitude at the USJ to be one where he trusts their classmates to take care of themselves. From there on, I was dedicated to wrapping my head around Katsuki Bakugou’s character.

I also explicitly noticed how the narrative was rewarding Izuku for imitating Katsuki, so I kept an eye out for moments like these going forward. This was probably the most intriguing aspect of the show to me at the time as I wasn’t yet sure why the narrative was doing this.

Final Exam Arc:

This was the epiphany arc. Katsuki Bakugou Origin is probably my favorite episode of the whole show. Because of my previous lenses and hypotheses I was using, I was able to understand this episode’s implications in full the first time watching it. Before the episode had even ended, my brain came up with the prediction that at some point Izuku was likely to give One For All to Katsuki (Heroes Rising was a wild ride, let me tell you). I can say with confidence that I was consciously enjoying Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship from this point on.

Little manga-only tidbits:

With season 2 finished, I went to the manga and discovered the manga-only scenes where Katsuki tells Izuku he should have killed Shigaraki at the mall and where Ochako tells Katsuki she thinks he’s afraid of Izuku and she wants them to be friends again. Those cinched it for me that yeah, Katsuki fucking cares and he’s just hiding it or unable to express it clearly. A+ 10/10 would tsundere again. (Yes, I’m aware he’s not a straight-on tsundere trope character, I'm just using the term for convenience.)

Summer Training Camp and Kamino:

OH MY HEART. I loved all the kids at this point, but Katsuki Bakugou rose so high in my esteem from this part of the story.

License Exam and Deku vs Kacchan Part 2:

100% sold!! Katsuki Bakugou is king and all other characters shall grovel before his supremacy!

Overhaul Arc:

Long and boring as fuck (it played better in the anime, at least). Sorry, but I don’t need another shounen story about a kid learning how to beat bad guys in a fight. Like, I get it, it works with the structure of the story where Izuku is learning to win while Katsuki is learning to save, but it was LOOOOOOONG and pretty tedious without Katsuki hanging around. I became more of a casual fan at this point.

Remedial Course:

Final confirmation that if Katsuki Bakugou isn’t in-frame the story is probably boring. I fucking love this mini arc.

School Cultural Festival:

Vastly underrated arc. Wait, are you telling me Katsuki Bakugou’s character development has been happening subtly in the background of every arc and keeping this whole story together? Holy shit, time to reread the whole manga!

Joint Training Arc through Christmas:

Absolutely zero character development happens for Katsuki in this arc, and if that’s a surprise to you, let me explain. I predicted 100% of everything that happens in this arc and confirmed to myself I’m absolutely keyed into Katsuki Bakugou’s character progression. It all comes down to DvK2. Katsuki challenged Izuku to beat him someday. Katsuki also represents victory to the whole class, and he has consistently demonstrated a desire to grow and succeeds each time he tries. With All Might’s advice to him at DvK2, it was very obvious Katsuki would kill it in the JTA. Katsuki always wins, so the next stage of growth would be to win while saving people (his team). That just makes the most sense with the story. And Izuku, if he truly has been working hard and growing since DvK2, has to meet Katsuki’s challenge--which means he has to win his match. Anything less and their characters would both have regressed.

My Villain Academia:

Neat concept, boring execution (there, I said it).

Endeavor Agency Arc:

Finally the story’s getting back to what makes it great! (aka Katsuki introspection and personal growth into a hero who saves.)

Paranormal Liberation War:

“All my predictions are starting to come true and I don’t know how to handle it.” In particular, my early hypothesis that Katsuki, in his journey to become a hero who saves, would have to save Izuku--and potentially fail at it, because he’s still got a lot to learn and room to grow, and failure would demonstrate that.

In other words, I got sucked back into the fandom from this point, and everything became about Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship as the rest of the story revolved around it.

So why is the dynamic between Izuku and Katsuki so important to the story for me?

Well, first I have to start with the major theme I think the story explores. To me, the best stories center around a question and then explore it from multiple angles. Whether or not the story offers a conclusive answer to that question is irrelevant (although usually such a conclusive answer feels preachy, reductive, and often detracts from the story). With that in mind, I think the question My Hero Academia explores is:

What is a hero?

The setting is integral to exploring this question, because instead of a story about a hero in a society of normies, the story is about a normie in a society of heroes. The hero society, at first, seems to have this question all sorted out. But as the story progresses, we learn that the superhero society has thought the least about this question, and we see the seams slowly tear apart with time. A society that demands heroes also demands villains for those heroes to face, and so the society assigns the “villain” role to people based on arbitrary factors in order to meet the hero demand.

And the lens through which this society is scrutinized is in two young boys who by all means SHOULD have been great friends but were torn apart by the expectations of their society. As Izuku and Katsuki grow up and navigate this corrupted world, their heroic spirits guide them to their own answers of what true heroism is. Their noble hearts cleave apart the obfuscations of their society and lead them back to each other. It’s a slow burn because they have so much wool placed over their eyes to clear away little by little. The fact that they restore their friendship is a testament to what great heroes they are. And each time they learn a new lesson or achieve some heroic epiphany, they put a piece of their friendship back together.

So to say something like the focus on Katsuki’s relationship with Izuku ruins his character or wastes his potential feels extremely backwards to me. The opposite--a story where Katsuki does NOT focus on or have those interactions with Izuku--would utterly miss the mark and fail to explore the themes of the story. Sure, it’s fun to watch Katsuki interact with other characters, and that sort of “filler” is the detail that helps give a story style. But to remove the interaction with Izuku would be to remove the foundation of the story itself. Katsuki’s growth as a character and a hero uses Izuku’s growth as a jumping off point all the time, and it’s not bad writing to do so (I would argue that’s exactly how Izuku as a main character often holds the story together, by allowing the other characters to learn from and contrast with him). It’s not taking anything away from Katsuki if Izuku is intricately tied into the epiphanies he has. Everything he learns and does and fights for is still just as heroic. I want him to interact with (or just internally consider) Izuku because I know that’s where he’ll achieve the most growth--and that’s where I’ll find the most to chew on. I like all his other interactions as well, but my primary goal is to analyze the story and characters. Literary analysis butters my toast and brings me joy. I want to see how far Katsuki as a character goes, and Izuku owes him a long toss through the air to the finish line.

[derekscorner]

Fated Rantings: Remnants Rambling

A Game Better Than It Has Right To Be

I recently finished what is my fourth romp through the Fate Series. It has been slow going due to life but truth be told I didn't want to rush either.

My go of Fate Grand Order is still ongoing, my first anime was Apocrypha, then I watched the 2006 Fate Stay Night, and now I've finished Samurai Remnant after 70+ hours.

Each of these has been good so far. I may hate gacha games but FGO has a solid initial story arc and it's Lost Belt 6 story is also great apparently. I'm not sure I'll get that far but I am determined to finish Solomon's villain arc.

While I'd rate Apocrypha a better anime than it's often given. I am still in shock from the sheer contrast of Astolfo in-story vs the internet osmosis he's become. While the 06 anime was decent for me I do admit I had already seen plenty of lore videos prior so I knew what was going on.

Then there's Samurai Remnant that is better than I expected. I tried it because I am a new Fate fan and Type-Moon doesn't localize things often. I'd argue it is my second favorite story so far falling just behind Apocrypha.

Imagine a Fate Stay Night remade in this style!

Game mechanics weren't perfect or without annoyance for me, I will admit. I feel like Iori gets knocked around far to easy and can be stun locked.

The barrier gauge among most enemies and bosses is honestly a pain and feels like it's padding a bit (until you hit max level anyway) and it is easy to get lost in the towns at first.

Yes you have a map but I did get annoyed more than once be slow traversal hazards or dead ends. Granted, this is an aggravation for extras.

When in-story it is all fine. There's story reasons or game mechanic reasons for why you will have to crawl around, sneak, and so on. It was very much an issue I gave myself for wanting to do every thing and search every corner.

Many other things that annoyed me at first quickly vanished later as I leveled up or filled out skill boards so I will not list them. It was a somewhat basic but unique (in ways) game play set up for what is essentially a visual novel.

I only mention it all because I think this game would be an amazing blueprint for other Fate games. I've already seen people hope for a Fate Stay Night remade in this game's image.

Whether it's a new route or just the old novel redone the hope is now there and I find myself agreeing with them. Samura/Remnant is a great prototype for taking visual novels that began Fate and turning them into a video game that can reach more people.

Story is where it Shines

I won't lie, I expected something 'okay' or "mid" as kids call it, but no. This story actually is rather good. Several characters have more going on than it initially appears and multiple runs are required.

You'll play this game 3 to 4 times if you want every ending or to finish ever digression mission. Something I highly recommend you do because you'll miss out on explanations for several plot points or character motivations.

Admittedly, there are several things that I didn't get answered despite my thorough go of the game. I completely missed the fact that Tsuchimikado's family can use divination for future sight. It was this very skill that allowed him to create the Waxing Moon Ritual.

The whole reason the ritual is flawed is due to him using imperfect foresight to orchestrate the event. The story tells you several times that the ritual is a sham compared to the Fuyuki Grail War but I don't remember it ever actually stating why.

The wish of Rogue Berserker was also something I missed in-game. I won't spoil who he is (or was?) but knowing his wish now makes his finale and leyline placement much more sensible.

Leyline you ask?

Ah yes, it's explained in-game but I'll spoil it here since it's not that much of one. Due to the rituals imperfection a number of extra servants are summoned to Edo.

They're "rogue" or stray servants who are bound to a leyline in the land. (A spot of particularly high mana essentially.) On top of the rogue servants a pseudo servant and ruler class servant are also summoned.

Of course, none of these extra heroes have much interest in the ritual. You can befriend them in the story but the actual war itself is carried out by the 7 actual servants and their masters.

As for the ruler, well, Gilgamesh really just proves why he never gets the role in the funniest way. He doesn't care about the false grail, he doesn't care about the half-assed ritual, and he doesn't care for his job as a ruler.

He literally fucks off, weebs out, and opens a store five houses down from yours early into the game. It is one of the funniest fucking things.

It's small things like this or Gilgamesh's antics that give the story life. I don't want my section above to paint the image of it being bad for some things going unexplained. It's entirely possible I missed the in-game explanation.

But do know that characters will sell this story too you more than the plot beats will.

The story itself, in terms of progression, is simple. Iori gets drug into the ritual like most Fate protagonists do. Many of the events triggered are usually by way of the other masters having an actual battle.

Iori is there, he's an active participant, but he mostly runs around seeking information or making allies while major events are kicked off by the magi or servants triggering them. The digressions show you a lot of these perspectives.

Iori isn't a fool or ignorant of magic, he's just not a man of status or means to pull the stunts many others cause. I would argue he "has no desire too" but that in of itself is a murky topic.

Overall, I do consider it a good thing because the story is character driven instead. So much so that I won't even dare to try and fit it all in a post. I'll let you discover that for yourself...except for Assassin.

Not a bad character by any means but he has a moment in the game mid way and to this very day I do not get why he does what he does. It's like they just did whatever they had to for that boss fight to happen...

I just find it a shame because his digressions are actually humorous. Many character interactions are funny at times. It's always the small things too, little scenes that you could miss if you rush.

Other Questions & Conclusions

To be honest there's more I could ramble on but it won't fit into one post and I do not feel like I can make more than two or three. One reason is due to me obviously missing details that I only learned later due to a video by Otakudaikun.

Another reason is due to the sheer number of characters. There's several I've only seen for the first time outside of FGO and do not feel like I can do them justice due to my lack of familiarity.

Others are so simple that I do not think they have much to be said. They're not bad for it they're just simple and true to their nature.

Such as Jeanne. I didn't even get into how disappointing it is for her personality to be muted. And make no mistake, this is Jeanne corrupted not FGO Jalter.

I didn't cover just how much Rogue Berserker hit me personally since I liked his legend as a child.

I'd need a whole post of it's own to talk about Rogue Rider and her antics. Sure you see a loli but by hell I know Amaterasu's lore in Fate, her nature, so I only get nervous seeing her grin. (though I do love her dynamic with Kaya)

Nor did I elaborate on how cool it is for the main servants (the ones paired with masters) to be legends from Japan or China. I actually learned a few interesting ones due to this writing decision.

There's the other endings as well but nothing is as deep as the 'Entreat the Darkness' ending imo. They're all decent though.

I even have this theory that Iori is the reason Musashi was summoned to t his timeline with no proof other than he wants to best his master and she wants a decent opponent.

What I will reiterate is that you should try this. It's a great place to start Fate and it's a good one to try if you already follow Fate.

Go give it a try, bye now~

================================================

Other Fate related ramblings here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/tagged/fated-rantings

[technicallyblakebelladonna]

Anything you want from ilia that’s isn’t related to Blake or yang? Personally I want to see a little of ilia finding herself not in relation to Blake or Adam. And my personal hope is that we see anything to suggest she isn’t just following in ghira’s footsteps, I’ve been dissapointed by the white fang plotline and that’s really all I can hope for at this point

im trying to discern whether or not this is a subtle passive-aggressive dig at the fact that when i rambled about ilia earlier, basically all i did was talk about her and her relationship with blake and future interactions with yang.

but i'll do my best to answer in sincerity in the case that it's not.

so just to quickly state, i'm of the stance that i'm not someone who should be speaking about the white fang/faunus arc and how it's been handled previously since i am white (and the faunus arc has been most widely discussed as a metaphor/narrative vehicle for real world racism) -- and also i don't believe that my opinion should matter for that very reason. far better people than me have had better things to say about all of it, and usually i try to avoid getting too much into rwby fandom discourse in general bc it just turns into a hot mess extremely quickly no matter where you end up in the fandom. so i'm just going to avoid all that and say it's not my place.

having said that, i genuinely believe that i don't think it's a bad thing for ilia to work with ghira and kali to reestablish a better white fang. it feels like a natural continuation of ilia's arc to have her further split from adam and his influences. blake even directly compares ilia and adam, but follows that comparison up by stating "i don't think ilia is like adam - not yet at least" so it really makes sense that ilia would continue to strive for a goal that she once had -- working towards the betterment of the faunus -- but through a lens that is no longer twisted by spite and rage and a overzealous desire for power, as adam's goal for the white fang was. actually, adam never used the white fang for what they were actually meant for in the first place, he just was doing whatever he could to have as much power as possible (but most specifically, as much power as he could over blake -- and he sought to do anything and everything he could to gain control over here).

so for ilia to continue her journey, unfettered by misguided leadership, to step into her own leadership role in regard to the white fang, i personally feel like that's a good continuation for her character. for her to completely abandon the white fang and just leave it for ghira and kali feels like a weird characterization for her, in my opinion. plus, on top of that, really what else would her character do? with her character redemption arc resolved and now that she's on the side of good, why would she just stop there? that doesn't make any sense to me, personally. like, canonically, that makes sense to me from both her character stand point and giving her an in-story reason to continue on with her journey, rather than just having her drop off the map entirely bc all of the sudden now her redemption is complete and we have no need for her. she's a tertiary character for sure, but i dont think even miles and kerry and the other writers are that lazy to just simply drop an entire character. not when they went decided to include her in the montage shots during ruby's v8 monologue. they plan to keep her around, and clearly they plan to keep her around through her connection with ghira and kali - likely meaning, the white fang.

now for something that i would LOVE to see them do with ilia that "isn't related to blake or yang", but will likely not happen, is for ilia to become a maiden in some way, shape or form. i've seen, specifically, that ilia will become the summer maiden somehow as a theory that's gained some popularity. specifically because the maidens (other than cinder, who is basically ruby's main antagonist) are tied to our protagonists in some way -- winter is weiss' sister, and raven is yang's mom. so it feels like a fairly short leap to assume that the next revealed maiden could end up being tied to blake in some regards.

there are a couple other posts that completely sold me on this (as if i needed much convincing in the first place bc i love ilia so much and having her be a maiden would just be dope as fuck) that you can read HERE and HERE if you so desire to, but basically they boil down to how thematically ilia could fit in as the summer maiden and how it would make sense, actually. one point is that the maidens themselves have interesting relationships/connections between themselves, so it stands to reason that the next maiden-maiden connection would have something similar. and it would be a connection that winter would have with another maiden. and winter and ilia have interesting established narrative parallels already that could be more deeply explored in ilia becoming a maiden.

the other post talks about how team rwby would become guides to the maidens, rather than becoming maidens themselves. this is already showing up with yang and raven, with ruby and cinder (to a degree), and certainly with weiss and winter. blake currently does not have a guide position to fill -- except that she already has guided one character along their path back to redemption. so, again, not a massive leap to see the possibility of blake further guiding ilia in that journey. again, the posts say far more and say it much more eloquently than i did, so feel free to read those instead.

there's certainly a lot the writers could do with ilia's story that isn't related to her interactions with blake or yang, and a lot that i'm excited for if they choose to bring her back, but in the meantime, i'm just gonna keep hoping we see her again, somehow.

[reunionatdawn]

My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 13: Ignatz/Leonie)

Ignatz: It's said that if a man and a woman make a vow tonight at the Goddess Tower… She will appear before them and bless them, ensuring that vow's fulfillment. I envision the goddess as the most beautiful creature in the world… More beautiful than any landscape, any artwork. Utterly beyond compare. That's what I think anyway. Or perhaps, what I hope.

Ignatz's dream was to meet the goddess. That was who he was hoping to run into at the Goddess Tower. And his paired endings fulfill that wish. Whatever woman he has a chance encounter with is the "goddess" who appears before him.

Leonie: Someday, I'm sure your art will save someone's life. Ignatz: Oh, no, I wouldn't go nearly that far. Leonie: Remember that girl you told me about? You made her so happy. And you were only just starting out. Think about what you could do now that you've had so much practice! This is your calling.

The tagline for the game was, "Sweet memories twisted by time's cruel hand". Ignatz always wanted his art to be useful and make people happy, like it did with Maya. He didn't want to be a knight, and his other dream was to become a painter.

Ignatz: I'll try to discuss it with my parents after the war. There's little demand for knights in peacetime. In fact, painting might be a more reliable way for me to support my family. I'll try to persuade them with arguments along those lines.

Like most of the other characters, his arc was about living for himself and pursuing what makes him happy in life. Leonie was one of biggest supporters, convincing him his talent was indeed useful.

Jeralt: Aren't you a little old for childhood heroes? Leonie: Maybe, but I'm still happy. I worked my whole life to be a mercenary like you, after all. And now I get to fight at your side? Dreams really do come true! Jeralt: I'm glad. It's not often childhood dreams actually come to pass. I recall you always scampering a few paces behind me as a kid. You'd stare at me and ask all kinds of questions, even when I was clearly too busy to answer.

Leonie idolized Jeralt ever since he saved her village as a kid and gave her a good luck charm. Her fondest memory was meeting the Blade Breaker, and her dream was to become a top-tier mercenary just like him. That was what she prayed for at the Goddess Tower.

Leonie (Solo) Leonie joined up with the mercenaries formerly led by Jeralt. As his greatest apprentice, she quickly took on a leadership role and eventually even inherited the title of Blade Breaker. She came to be known as Jeralt the Second, as she began to resemble him in all things—including his drinking habits. She left behind many unpaid tavern tabs.

But in the endings where she achieves her dream, it doesn't make her happy. Her solo ending and several of her other paired endings (Alois, Raphael, AM Felix) mention her being a heavy drinker and unable to pay off her tavern debts. Considering how thrifty she was, that says a lot about the severity of her alcoholism.

Shamir: The longer you do this, the more grudges you earn— whether you remember them or not. You've been a merc for a long time, though. I assume that kind of stuff doesn't bother you anymore. Shez: Yeah, mostly. I try to stay detached, but every now and again something slips through. Leonie: Ugh, I'm not so sure I could keep my emotions in check like that. I guess that shows how much further I still have to go.

In her Hopes paralogue, she knew she had a long way to go to make it as a mercenary and doubted whether she had the emotional fortitude for the job.

Leonie: I'm from Alliance lands, but I'm only a commoner. The idea of fighting Alliance nobles isn't exactly losing me any sleep. Fighting old friends though? That's something else. Ugh. I'd better clear my head. Captain Jeralt used to say a mercenary has to be thoughtless. Guess I finally get what he meant.

And in CF, she also struggles with being detached.

Leonie: The worst part about going into battle is knowing you might have a friend fighting for the other side. You were a mercenary, Professor. Were you always prepared for that? Byleth: Absolutely. Leonie: Guess I need to learn. Won't make a very good mercenary otherwise, will I? Fighting old friends—there's nothing worse. My hands shake just thinking about it. I'm glad Claude didn't die. Does that make me soft?

She is afraid she's "gone soft".

Alois: It was Captain Jeralt who first taught me how to fish. We had spare time between missions, and he said it was the perfect hobby. Gilbert: Is that so? Alois: He was always looking out on the water as though lost in thought. Perhaps he wasn't fishing to catch fish either. Perhaps he was facing something within himself. Silently struggling with his thoughts and hiding the struggle from me and everyone else.

Ideally, Leonie's arc is about realizing that she saw Jeralt through the rose-colored glasses of a child. He was not someone to idolize, and it is better for her not to follow in his footsteps. Jeralt was a broken man who only knew how to make a living with the sword. The only way for him to cope was by drinking.

Jeralt: When I was first getting to know her, I never saw her laugh or cry. Just like someone else I could mention. Byleth: You know, you never used to talk about her, but you've been doing it a lot lately. Why is that? Jeralt: Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'm feeling a little regret for dragging you into the mercenary life. You've never had a place to call home, and you don't have any friends your age. And it's been one bloody battle after another since this war broke out.

Jeralt loved Byleth, but he really didn't have the means to offer them the best life. Leonie was jealous of Byleth's upbringing, but she really shouldn't have been. The Crest Stone played its role in making Byleth so unemotional, but so did the wandering mercenary life. That's why Byleth was only able to smile after living at the monastery.

Leonie & Ignatz Leonie, who once inherited the mercenary group led by Jeralt, became renowned as a top-notch mercenary. On the other hand, Ignatz, persuading his father and brother, embarked on a journey of artistic training to establish himself as a painter. Continuously depicting beautiful landscapes and the lives of people in various places, he had a fateful reunion with Leonie during his travels. Leonie, feeling the peace settling in and the decrease in work, recalled their past promise to travel together and decided to disband the mercenary group, opting to journey with Ignatz. Eventually, the two set out to explore the yet unseen world beyond Fódlan, but their subsequent whereabouts remain unknown.

In this ending, Leonie has a chance meeting with Ignatz around the time the post-war chaos is subsiding. So, by fulfilling his own dream, Ignatz saved her from living her whole life as a broke alcoholic. Leonie was from a small village, which was why she looked up to mercenaries so much in the first place. She was interested in expanding her worldview. Traveling the world and searching for beautiful sights with Ignatz is a much better road to happiness than killing people for a living.

[cuddleswinchester]

HawkCharles and/or CharlesMarg :3

Playing the 'do I ship it' game is easy for me bc I use it to mean 'relationship' and there are so so many kinds of those, so I ship just about everything including both of these. But I'm also terrible at answering questions so.

Hawkeye/Charles

What made you ship it? when Hawkeye pushes Charles to admit to making a mistake, both of them only grow from there. I think they respect each other which is more than can be said about Charles and... anyone else at camp. I also like to note, because I'm me, that part of 'let's introduce the new guy' involves Charles asking what Hawkeye is up to a few times (and the answer is always sex stuff and Charles never understands what or why, which I love, but anyway.) Charles needing to have about a hundred layers of irony and distance between feeling a pleasant, generous feeling toward anyone, and Hawkeye who is moving the opposite direction because he gets attached and hurt so easily because he is giving his whole self away constantly... hello... they're going to crash into each other on their respective ways aren't they... opposites do not attract but they do trip over each other in the dark. And while they're opposite in that way they actually have a lot in common, in this essay I will--

What are your favorite things about the ship? I think Charles has the (perhaps slightly buried) quality of DOTING on people he cares about, it's true I've seen it in the visions, whereas Hawkeye has had to become self-sufficient and resilient throughout the war, I really believe in my heart Charles needs to dote on him, either during the war or after they get home. That's a made up favorite thing but it's true actually. I love that they become more and more open and vulnerable to one another over time. I love that they respect each other professionally and how that turns into friendship.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I don't know enough about the shipping standard of them to say whether I have an unpopular opinion sorry!

Charles/Margaret see this is one I 'ship' but in a way I cannot define, and I think that's beautiful. They're gay besties, lavender married, aggrieved siblings, professional partners, roll all of that up and feed it to me please and thank you.

What made you ship it? This is going to be my answer to all three questions, and it's 'the writers trying to set them up as a couple and realizing the chemistry was there but it sure was not romantic or sexual.' I love that they gave up quickly on Forcing it, and just let them be friends, because they're a delight to watch on screen together. I looooove the transitional role he plays in Margaret's arc too, like, we meet him when we know a Margaret who is concerned with money and the finer things and in walks this smug mf. Okay. Love it, here for it. And then as he kind of.... tones down the materialism, so does she, and they're left with just Each Other.

What are your favorite things about the ship? I know Charles has sitcom disease and had to continually learn his lesson about Women's Work, but that being said I do love when Margaret has to rampage after him and he hides under his cot? Pathetic??? MORE importantly I love how often they work together in OR, how impressed she is by his abilities, I think there's a lot to sift through in there. She's the head nurse so she would want to assist on the toughest cases, sure, and I think she also (won't admit it but) wouldn't want any of her nurses to get yelled at by Charles if they made a mistake... she will yell right back, we know this. An early moment that I always like to rotate is, after they finish a case, she is complimenting his technique along the lines of 'wow that was amazing, you must have done that a bunch of times before!' and he is... for the first time, a tender little guy, who just quietly goes 'no... that was horrific, I have never done that before' and the way that clicks something for each of them, totally separately, wow.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I once again do not think so? Maybe the fact I like them together at all? I Love the early awkwardness of them not Clicking as a Couple Couple??

[achairwithapandaonit]

EXACTLY that title makes me scream

Editor K had a habit of suggesting rather humorous titles, yes, (like "A Vile Worm Of A Butler" or "Butler = Slave"), but his titles also do show a bit of an insight into how he views Sebastian - whether it be making fun of his character or saying what Sebastian thinks of his role in a humourous way (another two suggested titles were "Reduced to Butlerdom" and "Lord Butler"). So the title of "The Self-Destructive Butler" is quite interesting.

For me, it's always brought up the idea of Sebastian starving himself. He's gotten attached to Ciel, and though he wants to eat (he's starving, after all), he is unwilling to take Ciel's soul. He's gotten attached. Of course, he refuses to acknowledge this.

It also makes me consider it from a meta perspective where Editor K knows more about the plot than us and is making fun of Sebastian - perhaps Ciel will die before Sebastian can take his soul, or something else about Ciel that has been predetermined but isn't obvious to us (or Sebastian) yet will get in the way. If Editor K is aware of this, it would make sense that the title is poking fun at Sebastian unknowingly dooming himself to starvation.

Similarly, Sebastian talks about how other demons will go through contracts quickly just for a quick meal, and it made me think - what if Sebastian's habit of taking longer contracts is bad for him? What if he is slowly starving himself, and completely unaware of it? The panels you pointed out could fit into here as well, since we see most things from Sebastian's perspective, maybe Ciel noticed something concerning, but Sebastian is completely unaware of it. Self-destructive indeed.

There's also the possibility that he's starving himself on purpose, and I could talk about that, but it's wrapped up in religious trauma and Sebastian not actually being as self-confident as we're led to believe. And also possibly that season two theory of Sebastian being human at one point.

(I think about this... A lot.)

This is all very interesting. I'm a big fan of the idea of sebastian being cheated out of his meal through his own actions. Also this is the whole scene from the start of the green witch arc

I...literally do not have anything further to say on them so I'm just putting them out here because I feel like you're right and ciel has noticed something. I just don't know what. But he did notice something from their conversation and it's likely that whatever it is has to do with sebastian and sebastian himself is unaware of it. I do suspect that sebastian has been going through an arc this whole time but he's so sure of his lack of an ability to be changed by creatures as lowly as human beings that he and we by extension, seeing most of this world from his eyes, can't see it quite yet

[imogenkol]

I’m curious about your thoughts on Bix in that leaked teaser because I’m VERY worried about her storyline 😞

!!!!! thank you for asking!!! I am hella stressed about it too and I've got some long winded scrambled thots under the cut here:

As we know, she obviously isn't in/never mentioned in Rogue One and sometimes that implies a prequel character is doomed by the narrative so my main fear is that her story is going to end in her death. There's also a few lines from Cass in RO that could reinforce that theory (ie: him telling Jyn she isn't the only one who lost everything). Apart from me being totally biased, I do think it'd be a waste of her character, especially since she was criminally underutilized in s1 imo

anywho, from the poor quality clips/screencaps I've seen (I will admit that it can be kinda tough to tell who is who and some scenes flash by so quickly) it looks like Bix might be struggling a lot with feeling like her life is out of her control, even after at least a year time jump from s1. I do think it looks like she is the one who goes after Gorst either as revenge or to regain the control she lost or both. Then that shot of her in bed with the blaster could be the aftermath of that encounter, whether she succeeded or failed. If that's true then it doesn't look like it made her feel any better. But I imagine she'll be a very broken version of herself from when she first appeared in ep 1 because she basically did lose everything and was tortured to near insanity

All of this must have radicalized her, but it's hard to say what kind of rebel she'll be. I hope her storyline is centered mostly on herself, her healing, and the kind of person she wants to be in the war against the Empire. Based on the trailer and some set pictures I've seen, it looks like she’ll thankfully be taking on a more active role and I'd really enjoy seeing her kick some ass. At least for herself considering she had to get rescued a couple of times in s1.

It also very much looks like they're putting her back with Cass and, my own personal ship biases aside, I don't really like that at all. I really love the history and dynamic they share and I thought they made it pretty explicit that any romantic ties between them were cut. I've seen people theorize that she isn't in the right state of mind and might be grasping for any physical connection that makes her feel safe - which can make sense given the trauma she went through - but idk I wish we could explore more of a nuanced friend/familial relationship between her and Cass. I know it’s his show, but I really don’t want to see her be reduced to a romantic prop for him or god forbid she’s that and he loses her to further fuel his storyline. Either way, Bix is in a very vulnerable emotional state and I'm not sure any love interest would be necessary for her (yes I know how ironic that is coming from me and my many oc x canon google docs lmao) at least not until she's had the proper time to heal.

All this to say that it looks like they're setting her up for another pretty tragic arc next season and I hope the payoff doesn't end in complete emotional devastation, but this is one of, if not THE darkest star wars stories out there 🙃

These thoughts of course are just based off a grainy one minute teaser trailer that could very well be purposefully deceptive considering the show hasn't even finished filming yet. But I'd love to hear other people's thoughts too!

[notebookmusical]

What's your opinion on her having not read the source material and writing a retelling anyway? Do you think people are justified in their anger or overreacting? I just think it's hilarious she said reading percy jackson made her qualified enough to write about this and that she thinks the Internet will forget, on the other hand people are way too quickly angry and should give more things a chance without jumping on the hate train immediately

good afternoon! i think that this conversation actually is a little more complex than just "are people justified in their anger or overreacting", and i've been trying to figure out how to respond to this ask for a while now (sorry it took so long). i'll preface this answer with the fact that i haven't looked into this book/this author too much, but i went and skimmed through the original interview that you're referencing for the sake of answering this ask. i also think that if the book had been marketed as "inspired by" rather than "a retelling", we'd be having a different conversation!

my thoughts under the cut because this got very long!

do i personally think that authors should read the source material before writing a retelling, a remix, etc.? yes, very much so. i don't think that you can subvert a classic and do it justice if you're not also addressing the original themes. it's why i have a problem with most (if not all) austen retellings i've read, because very few of them include social commentary and just focus on the romance, when social commentary was a large part of austen's works. (and also why i am constantly disappointed with the retellings i've read). do i think this got blown out of proportion/do i think people made this just about this specific author and interview when there is a larger conversation to be had (and when other authors have done the same)? also yes.

"I read a lot of the stories within The Odyssey, because they’re in things like Percy Jackson, and those little books of mythology you get as a kid, but I actually started and finished writing without sitting down and reading the whole thing. I have various translations; there are parts that are very beautiful and readable, but it’s so long, and written in a ‘prose-y’ way that’s kind of impenetrable." "Largely mythology has bypassed YA, which is why this is quite fun, because I love Greek mythology and YA, so it’s a little fun melding of my favourite things." (x)

i think the way people on twitter/instagram talked to/about this author (back when i was more active on twitter) was incredibly unnecessary; there's no reason people should be sending hate, and i feel very strongly about this. and i think that it's easier to target one person/one incident, rather than have productive conversations about how publishing doesn't want to tell stories of color, or how publishing fails to support authors (whether it's with media training or marketing), or how publishing fails to support their own staff, or how publishing rewards white mediocrity, or how publishing is a huge cesspool.

i think that there are several layers to this: the first, being that this author is now a new york times, indie, and international bestselling author. which is great for her, especially as a debut author — that's going to open up a lot of doors for her, and ultimately it is a huge triumph! from what i've seen (just from scrolling twitter/feed osmosis, really), her book had a pretty significant marketing budget (or at least, more than some other debuts, given that they had personalized ARCs), which i'm sure also helped a lot. i'm also going to say that the NYT bestseller list is a bit of a scam, but that's a different conversation. she also got a movie deal for this book, but i never really think too much of movie rights being sold until casting has been announced. by all of these metrics, it seems like (from my limited outside point of view) the author's career hasn't really been affected by people's "anger or overreaction", as you put it.

i can't help but wonder how this would be different if the author was a person of color. there's another (longer) conversation on which books and authors publishing sets up to succeed in terms of marketing budgets (and how many authors aren't really given any help, how authors are being thrown to the tiktok wolves, author burnout, etc.) to be had as well.

i also can't help but think of how authors of color are constantly told that they don't know their own stories/culture etc. well enough, or that publishing already has one book that is vaguely similar (and by that i mean 0.0000001% similar). and then you get this author, who is able to not just publish her book (and become a bestselling author) by rewriting a story that she didn't read entirely (i won't speak to how well she knew the bit of the story she was inspired by, because i 1) don't know the odyssey that well & 2) have not read her book), but also reach such levels of "success". i remember seeing on twitter that people were talking about how authors need media training (which is true), but also that i only ever see the "authors need better media training and support" argument when we're talking about white authors.

something that i personally wish people wouldn't do though, is rate books on goodreads a 1 star (with a comment about not having read the book) for the sake of giving it a 1 star without reading it, because then it makes it harder to see reviews that properly criticize the writing/plot/etc. and people aren't able to make as informed of a decision when picking up a book. and this goes for all books, not just this one.

i definitely have more to say on this, but i'm going to cut myself off here since 1) this answer got really long & 2) if i don't i'll never hit post

[ljf613]

Decided to finally bite the bullet and read Magi: The Adventures of Sinbad.

In the middle of the Mariadel arc, and whoa does it get heavy.

[sapphicscholar]

i just need more director sanvers. if you're still taking requests, the triad meeting through a book club?

Sure thing! For the last of the requests I received, here we go! (And as a heads up, I went full AU meet cute here with grad student Maggie, bookstore employee Lucy, and newly out Alex, so think mid-20s or so for ages)

*

Really, Maggie should have known better than to think that a lesbian bookclub would be any better than a straight one. Sure, this one is slightly better in that she's fairly certain most people have read the book. Or at least they've watched Carol and are pretending it's the same thing as having read The Price of Salt. But it's still just a group of women sitting around and not talking about the fucking book. At least not in any of the ways Maggie cares about.

Maggie wants to talk about the narrative arc, the way temporality gets torqued around Therese, what it means that this queer, queer book's road chase scene inspired Nabokov, how the weight of certain scenes changed from the book to the film (and why didn't Carol get to have a loaded gun in the film, huh?).

Everyone else wants to talk about feelings. Not even the characters's; no, their own.

Maggie tunes back in to hear some other 20-something bitching about Highsmith because the plot "feels unrealistic." Apparently it's not "good writing" to have a character fall in love so quickly because she has never personally felt anything like infatuation at a checkout counter.

Doodling in the corner of her notebook, Maggie finds herself sketching out big block letters: I HATE THIS. Again and again and again.

After a few minutes, she hears a snort of laughter from beside her and looks over to find a rather attractive woman about her age glancing down at her notebook. After an initial surge of annoyance, Maggie scrawls out a brief: "Sorry."

The woman shrugs. Maggie thinks that's the end of it. At least until she hears a quiet shuffling beside her, then finds the woman snatching a pen right out of the hand of the blonde sitting next to her. The blonde looks more than a little affronted.

The woman spins Maggie's notebook toward herself, and Maggie would be royally pissed if she wasn't so intrigued. (As it stands, she's just a regular amount of annoyed.)

"Don't be." The handwriting is a sloppy scrawl, and Maggie's deeply glad to have done enough archival work that she can read anyone's writing at this point. "I didn't really think this would be an hour of hearing people debate whether you can fall in love at a department store."

Maggie snorts loudly enough to draw the attention of everyone around her, and it's a testament to the years she's spent honing her passive listening skills during seminars full of theory bros enjoying an intellectual circle jerk that she's able to pipe up like she'd been intending to contribute to the conversation all along. She gives a vague nod of acknowledgment to the ongoing conversation, then tries to segue from the time element of the infatuation question that is, apparently, so open to debate, to the discussion questions she'd written out before coming about queer temporality. (Other than a conciliatory little, "Interesting!" from one of the attendees, no one engages, and Maggie goes back to doodling.)

A minute later, a freckled left hand drops down in the middle of her notebook again, and a barely legible, "Your point sounded cool," appears down the margins of her page.

"Shame no one else thought so," Maggie writes. She can't quite shake the feeling that she's back in grade school passing notes during the good years before all anyone wanted to talk about was boys.

"Alex," the blonde woman hisses, "give me back my pen!"

"I'm using it," Alex grumbles, clutching more tightly to it, only to have her fingers pried back one at a time in what looks like a familiar ritual, if the way Alex immediately throws her other hand around the top of the pen is any indication.

"Ladies." The tone is sharp, and both Alex and the blonde woman sit back in their seats, looking slightly and thoroughly chastised, respectively.

Maggie drops her own pen in front of Alex a moment later, and Alex shoots her a grin.

"Sorry. Kara didn't bring enough to share with the class," Alex writes.

Maggie snorts and steals the pen back. "Your gf?"

"Ew," Alex says aloud, earning another set of glares from the room that she resolutely ignores. She does shift back to the written word, though, taking the pen from Maggie's outstretched hand and scrawling, "Sister."

They go back and forth for a while, writing notes about the novel and the other book club members until a bookstore employee appears behind them, laying a hand on both of their shoulders and leaning in close. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you both to leave the book club table."

Maggie can feel her cheeks warm, and Alex swallows heavily.

It's only once they've been led out to the cafe area that the woman--Lucy, according to her name tag--lets out a loud laugh that transforms into a full on cackle. "Sorry," she wheezes between snorts of laughter, shaking her head and looking not at all apologetic. "I've just never seen anyone get kicked out of book club before."

"Yeah, well," Maggie shrugs. "Guess you can't pass notes during book club. Not like we were even talking about the book..."

"Yeah, and if we weren't gonna talk about the book, pop culture led me to believe there would be a lot more wine," Alex chimes in.

Lucy grins. "Hate to break it to you both, but there's a lot of feelings talk and no wine here. Unless you smuggle it in yourself. But I wouldn't encourage it. I think it's probably a two strikes kinda book club. One if you're bad enough," she adds with a wink.

"Oh?" Maggie lifts an eyebrow.

"Turns out it's in really bad form to hit on the organizer's girlfriend."

Alex lets out a bark of shocked laughter.

Lucy holds two hands in the air. "It's not like she was wearing a nametag that said, 'Callie's girlfriend; do not engage.'"

"Some real L Word level shit here," Maggie says.

"We might have some aspiring Jennies in there, too. Who knows? There may just be a sequel to Thus Spoke Sarah Schuster being typed out right in my cafe." Alex glances between them as they laugh, and Lucy raises her eyebrows at Alex. "Never seen it?"

Alex shakes her head. "Kind of, um, new to all this."

"Oh. Well, welcome," Maggie says. "We have Subarus and good coffee and shitty book clubs."

"And some truly terrible television," Lucy adds.

"Yeah, that. It's better to get all your gay friends together to watch with drinks or something. Makes it a little less sad."

Lucy nods sagely.

"I guess I probably just ruined my chances of turning any of them into my new gay Central Perk gang, huh?" Alex asks, gesturing in the vague direction of the book club table.

"Probably," Maggie sighs.

"But hey," Lucy says, "you've got two queer women standing right next to you. Play your cards right, and maybe I'll give you my number when my shift ends in"--she glances up at the clock--"half an hour."

Alex's cheeks pink, and Maggie wonders if she's just managed to become a third wheel to a very attractive relationship in the making.

But then Lucy nudges Maggie. "Offer goes for you, too, you know? Just because you've already seen it doesn't mean you can't help me indoctrinate a new baby gay, am I right?"

Maggie manages a small smile. "Only if I wouldn't be intruding."

"No!" Alex's voice cracks on the word, and she bites her lower lip and wrinkles her nose at the sound. "No, I mean, it'd be fun to have you there, too."

Lucy nods and turns on her heels, pausing only briefly to toss over her shoulder. "You know, I always said that the show coulda solved a lot of its problems by letting Shane be poly. Food for thought..."

[snowstark]

This has been done to death i know BUT I'm a sucker for it - thoughts on Tony working on Bucky's arm

this one will always be a fav headcanon of mine dear god i'll never get enough of it also fuck civil war that never happened in my universe, this blog is a massive the-avengers-all-live-together-yay vibes zone.

They're both idiots.

No, really, they are. Bucky starts to have some arm problems in the middle of the week, at 9:33 AM on a sunny Wednesday. It's not like he's being stupid on purpose, though. At least, he wasn't, at first. He just really doesn't know what to do. It isn't anything special, just phantom pains. Or something. It'd scared him the first time, but now he's just used to it.

Tony notices Bucky wincing in pain during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He makes it a point to ask Steve to ask Bucky to pass him the mashed potatoes, or to ask Clint to ask Nat to ask Bucky whether he could set the table for dinner (and he can't lie, it's kind of a funny, endearing sight to see none other than the Winter Soldier setting the dinner table for the Avengers). Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, Bucky grimaces every time he moves, and Tony notices. Obviously, he's gotta do something about it.

Tony's not sure whether no one else cares, or if they're all just too dense to notice (probably the latter). He almost wishes that other people would notice, because, well, he and Bucky, they're not exactly on the best of terms. The guy did murder his parents, after all.

But Tony can't just sit there and watch someone in pain. He knows how that feels—to be watched and have them do nothing about it. His hand creeps up to the arc reactor in his chest unconsciously, tapping absentmindedly until he catches Natasha staring. He quickly drops his hand and excuses himself to the lab after that.

It goes on for another week. Tony can't help but feel pent-up energy bubbling in his gut. Why can't the stupid arm fix itself? Oh, right, because it's a shitty arm that HYDRA gave the guy to make him a murder weapon, an asset to their operation. And Tony's just sitting here and letting him be in pain.

He can't take it anymore. He sends everyone who might interfere (Steve, Clint, Natasha, Thor, Bruce... yeah, everyone who might interfere meaning all of them) out to get shawarma for dinner and directs JARVIS to guide Bucky down to his lab.

And when Bucky enters the lab, he feels faint. A bit light-headed. He's not sure whether that's from fear or anger or just nerves.

Bucky's face is stony and expressionless. It's a bit too similar to the Winter Soldier for Tony's liking, and he has to tell himself that appearances aren't everything. He still has a heart, doesn't he?

So, taking a deep breath, he says, "C'mere," and gestures to the seat. Bucky doesn't move. Tony frowns. Bucky doesn't move. And then Tony realizes what's wrong. He doesn't really know what happened, doesn't really know what Bucky went through, but he was told enough to know that chairs that looked like this brought up bad, bad memories— "That's okay. Um, you wanna sit on my stool instead?" He pulls out his stool as he speaks.

Bucky moves.

When Bucky sits, his hands are twitching into little fists, even the metal one, despite the pain that he has to be feeling at the actions. Tony pretends not to see it. He doesn't like his scars, and no one points it out, so he gets it. He knows what not to say.

He doesn't end up talking at all, really. He helps fix Bucky's arm, and the man sits still and quiet, just like Tony expected him to.

Tony lets him go after figuring out the problem with the wiring. The moment Bucky leaves, he begins to pull up a scan of the arm and work on a new, better arm. It should feel weird, that he's making a new arm, quite possibly a weapon, for someone who murdered his mom, but he doesn't... it doesn't feel weird. This is what Tony does. Tony tinkers. Tony fixes. Tony creates. Tony helps.

The next time Bucky finds his arm hurting, he goes down to Tony's lab by himself. It nearly scares Tony shitless, because the guy didn't even turn the lights on while he waited on the stool, but he tries not to show it.

He tries for a light, easy chit-chat this time. A conversation. "So, how're you feeling?" "Do you have a favourite colour?" "Do you like cats? You seem like a cat person."

Bucky answers. "Good." "Green." "I like cats."

It's progress.

Tony continues to works on the new arm design. He wants it to be good. He takes his time.

Bucky comes down to see him again. He turns the lights on this time. He even plays some classical music, which isn't really Tony's thing, but he figures Bucky wouldn't really want loud AC/DC music playing. He knows that the smallest of things like certain sounds can be a trigger.

Chopin's Nocturne op.9 no.2 floats through the air gently as Tony tinkers away at Bucky's arm. And before Bucky can leave this time, he shows him the new design, nervously.

Bucky stares. And keeps staring. Tony wonders if he made a mistake, until Bucky says, slowly, voice low and raspy in a way that sends shivers down Tony's spine, but not from fear, "This is for me?"

Tony tries to keep it casual. He doesn't want Bucky to feel like he owes him anything. He knows the guy also feels terrible about the whole I murdered your parents while I was brainwashed thing. He can suck it up. For Bucky. "Yeah, big guy," he says, even nudging him lightly. Bucky stiffens, and then leans into the touch, which makes Tony's mouth go dry with shock and—and fondness. He's like... a big teddy bear. Wouldn't even hurt a fly. Yeah, Tony's pretty sure Bucky Barnes is scared of bugs. Hastily, he adds, "It's not—it's not completed, or anything, but I just wanted to show you because it wouldn't be such a hassle like the one you have right now. Um, nanotech, and it won't be such a heavy clunky thing—"

Bucky's arms fly towards him, cutting him off, and pull him into a hug. A big teddy bear hug.

Tony freezes, stiff from shock, before he melts into it. Cautiously, he wraps his arm around Bucky. He smells good, like wood and leather.

"Thank you." Bucky's voice comes out raspy again, and this time, there's emotion in it—a lot of it. "Thank you."

"I've gotcha," Tony assures, because he does. This is nothing, it's all easy stuff, to design an arm for Bucky, because Tony cares. It's not a big deal.

But to Bucky, it is.

Touch-starved, he clings onto Tony harder, tighter, until Tony eventually says, "You wanna watch me design it? You can tell me what you think as we go, even."

Bucky finally pulls back and nods. "Yeah," he says, softly. "Yeah, okay." And he sits on his stool.

Tony works, and Bucky watches.

ask me for my thoughts!

[writerforfun]

Writing advice: Show don't tell!

I'm coming in with this as a lot, a lot of writers seem to have a little trouble with this. And it's fine it really is, I had to work a lot to understand this myself. It was awful to read my old work when I did learn to describe well.

One of the best ways to improve your writing is to

SHOW DON'T TELL!

It's not easy, despite being such a common part of creative writing. Some find it difficult to start of even explaining it, or implementing it in their tales.

Well, let's see if we can change that!

Let's first look at what it means:

Show don't tell: is the use of excessive descriptive words that produce an image of what you wish to show.

Confusing? Hold up I'll explain. See the main point is to use detailed action and images to show what is going on in the story.

A great example being the famously said on the topic "Don't tell me the moon is shining show me the glint of light on broken glass"

Let's look at some examples:

Telling: When they embraced she could tell he had been smoking and was scared.

Showing: When she wrapped her slim arms around him, the stench of tobacco assaulted her nostrils, filling her nose up with the filthy air. She felt consumed by the substance. Dread rose in her body, completely throwing her in hopelessness.

Telling: It was late fall.

Showing: Red-orange decorated the path in front of him, colouring the road as he walked, crunching under his weight.

Do you understand what I mean?

Here are some effective tips to help you:

1. Use strong details to give a good image. Say your character is blind, don't tell us they are blind show us. Tell the reader they are blind, let them know from the way the character acts, how they feel for things, how do they know someone is in front of them. Show it all!

Maybe she uses a cane to walk or maybe she has a dog to help her, or maybe she has a guide to take her different place. 2. Create the setting Want to show a spooky and eerie setting?

Describe it. Speak about how fog, how thick is it? Temperature, is it cold or hot? How cold or hot is it? Are there cobwebs? Crows crying out in the distance. How is the character responding to it?

How are they feeling in the scene? Showing their impression is quite important as well. You want the reader to feel what the character is feeling and actually have the reader feel it too.

Do they feel calm or do they feel scared? How? Describe it in the best way possible.

3. Use dialogue.

Dialogue is the best way to show a character's personality rather than telling about it. Showing their interactions with others, with objects through dialogues is a really useful way of showing their personality, we can understand what they value, their relationships with others.

Say you have a character who gets annoyed easily. Someone might do something or interrupt them while doing something important and they might just yell out in frustration or huff and walk away.

Show that interaction with words and dialogues.

4. Use themes.

If you wish to know more about themes let me know.

For now, I'll give a little context on how to use it here.

The language and details you use show the theme of your story. It provides the theme in a really subtle way but it's there. A reader may not pick it up at first but over time it becomes clear. It also creates that overall thread throughout your entire book.

Takes this as an example:

From this, we can sense the theme is focused heavily on loneliness and craving for human connection. This is really prevalent throughout the entire book but it's done through showing not telling. So if the author was simply telling it you would just simply read it as the character was not lonely at all and she just needed a friend. Like a direct path to her thoughts but that's not what we want. Because at the end of the day, it's not interesting is it?

5.Don't label emotions Don't show emotions, especially if you're not sure whether you are showing or telling, look for actual emotional words. This is called emotive language. When you use words envoke strong emotions but describing those emotions.

Words such as happy, angry or sad are examples of telling. They tell the reader how the character feels not show.

Telling: John was depressed that day and he wanted to cry.

Show: John didn't feel well. Hos heart felt heavy, under great strain. He didn't feel joyful or motivated or enthusiastic. Instead, all he could feel was the suffocating hold of depression. The great urge to push open his eyes and let them rain. He truly wanted to cry.

Sometimes you need to ask yourself "How does this feel?" and then write how it feels.

So, when should you use TELL?

While summary narratives don't work well in stories, telling is needed at times. A great example is in the Novella Court of Frost and Starlight. Where a character spoke of her sexuality and it took 6 PAGES.

I'm not kidding, and those 6 PAGES were all on her sexuality.

Telling in this case would have been so much better.

Don't use show if there’s no value to the plot/tension/conflict/character arc by showing some mundane but necessary information, telling is preferable.

For instance, say you have to get your character to an important meeting and back before the real action happens. Maybe he has to get clearance from his superiors before he can lead a secret raid.

Rather than investing several pages showing every aspect of the trip from packing, dressing, getting a cab to the airport, going through security, boarding the plane, arriving at his destination—you quickly tell that this way:

Three days later, after a trip to Washington to get the operation sanctioned by his superiors, Casey packed his weapons and camo clothes and set out to recruit his crew.

Then you immediately return to showing mode, describing his visits to trusted compatriots and getting them on board.

Here is an other example:

Sorry, for the long post and thank you for reading.