#i'm satisfied in the sense that it was phenomenal and i'm so so happy with what we got

[wistfulwatcher]

in an era where every show without record-breaking ratings gets axed immediately, i would just like to say how deeply grateful i am that crazy ex-girlfriend managed to air for four whole seasons and tell one of the most beautiful and moving stories of self-acceptance and love i've ever seen.

i just finished rewatching it (yet again) and every time i do i just think what an absolute shame it would have been if it had been cancelled after one or two (or even three) seasons. because, while it was clever and fun from the beginning, rebecca's mental state required the show to be so boy-crazy that it was a little tough to believe that the show would end up seeing the story through to where we eventually end up. the audience certainly got hints as to its final message early on ("love doesn't need to be a person, it can be a passion"). but because rebecca was rejecting those messages, the audience sort of had to, too. and if the show had been cancelled while rebecca was obsessed with josh? certain that her only path to happiness was romantic love and validation from a man? if we had never seen her truly understand and acknowledge ghost!akopian's words? i'm sure there would have been articles speculating on where the series could have ended up, acknowledging with resigned tones that the show had potential, with the seeds that had been planted.

but god, discussion of "the potential" of the show would have paled in comparison to what we got. because hot damn, did cxg end up doing character growth better than the vast majority of other series. (and not just for rebecca! almost every character in the large ensemble got to grow in a very organic, subversive, and meaningful way!) for a show that was consistently in danger because of their extremely low ratings, it was pretty ballsy of cxg not to rush through rebecca's story to prove its intention. for them to let rebecca be as frustrating and unlikable and unhealthy as she was for so many episodes, simply because they knew how necessary it was to show us the depth of rebecca's mistakes and struggles before she finally sought help and began to heal and grow. and the story was so, so much better and poignant for it. rebecca's season four growth feels very earned, and her end of series resolution to pursue her passion (her true love!) is so satisfying because it feels realistic. the audience has spent four years seeing her love for theater (and how it got tangled up in josh/the idea of romantic love) and when rebecca eventually realizes the same it's such a satisfying sense of finally.

it's an experience that has become painfully rare lately; too many series feel as though they're trying to cram as much into the first season as they can for fear of cancellation, and allowing no room for characters or relationships or story to grow naturally. they don't allow for anything other than the bare minimum plot. their characters can't breathe.

cxg didn't do that. they continued to tell the story they were telling, at the pace at which it needed to be told. and the series was truly phenomenal because of that choice. because of that trust in its own story and characters. cxg is a perfect example of what television can be, how powerful it can be, when it's allowed to be treated like the long-form storytelling medium it is. and i am so grateful for that.

[antiquarianandunusual]

I’m running on 3 1/2 hours’ sleep, rewatching season two, and writing what is one of the single most angsty short fics I have ever written. Life is good. :)

[n6co]

— EVENTUALLY by Tame Impala.

"Eventually" is a breakup song told from the side of the person who wants out. "I find there's a lot of poetry, art and songs singing about the plight of someone with someone changing in front of them," explained Parker to The Guardian. "It excited me to tell the story from the other side. Trying to explain that it's not a bad thing, its just natural."

"Eventually" is a song about someone who knows they're about to damage someone," he continued. "They're not going to be the one experiencing the pain that's dealt. They're the one dealing it. Arguably, it's just as emotionally crippling knowing that you're gonna do that. It's just as heavy. It's just as torturous."

NR: It feels like I’ve been racing him forever and always he’s just managed to edge me out and get the title even when we were small in go-karts.

And he’s just an amazing driver and of course one of the best in history so it’s unbelievably special to beat him because the level is so high and that makes this even more... for sure, so much more satisfying for me because the benchmark is so... and I took the World Championship away from him which is a phenomenal feeling.

LH: We obviously had a very good relationship generally when we started out, when we were kids. Back then a race weekend was generally... for kids karting it's... you're out having fun. You go out and drive and you come in and you fool around, you give a bit of information to your mechanic and you go and play Playstation or you go unicycling. We had a lot in common.

We both love pizza, we loved eating boxes of Kellogg's Frosties and doing all the crazy things and we go out on big motorbike tours. We did all those things. I still do everyone of those but Nico has shifted in the sense that he's very very solely focused in terms of looking after himself.

But then we got to Formula 1 and this was something that we had spoken about as kids and yeah, we obviously had ups and downs but ultimately I think we've managed to - particularly in the last year and at the age we are - which is pretty old, considering when we first met,

I think we've been able to manage it pretty well and I'm really happy for him and his family and proud of stepping away from being our competitive selves, proud of him of how he's driven, particularly this year obviously and generally it's been a pleasure having him as a team-mate.

( 🔗 : song meaning, nico's part, lewis' part )

[bloodied-serpent]

i hope you know you are driving me & my friends up the walls (in the best way) with your comments on our gifsets about emhyr and cahir. you get them, truly.

tell me more pls 👀

Thank you, I'm so happy to torture you with my tags.

I do want to give major credit to both actors, because the physicality in their scenes is *phenomenal* visual storytelling. The delivery of their lines, from their body language to the tone of voice and the microexpressions, has so much nuance that it creates a really compelling dynamic between the two of them. In every interaction between the two of them, there is purpose behind everything, and it elevates the scenes.

In terms of the characters themselves, vengeance is an ouroboros, and I think this shows in how both of them navigate the world.

What fascinates me about Emhyr is how he weaves the illusion of the White Flame- this untouchable leader who is not only certain in his plan, not just guaranteed to succeed, but he acts like he's already won. His posturing is so cleverly constructed to manipulate the person(s) in front of him. We see this in how he interacts with the dwarf bladesmith, sharing drinks but reminding her of the fact they are not, can not, and will not *ever* be the same. The dwarf says as much, blatantly stating he'd kill her if the sword was faulty. And he doesn't shy away from the admission. He leans into it, cultivates that quiet fear that makes people obey. We never see Emhyr without a signifier of his position. He welcomes Cahir back in armour, as the army leader. He wakes Cahir in elaborate dress, as the emperor. Emhyr is always performing, even when he is alone, and that is his tragedy. He only ever dares hesitate when he is alone, but even as he burns the remnants of his old life, he is not allowed to be himself. He is not permitted to be Emhyr. Emhyr is the ashes of a portrait he threw in that brazier. He is the White Flame, because *that* is who will get him what he wants.

And the show emphasises how everything around Emhyr is cyclical. He condemned Fringilla to unending wine, letting her poison herself just as she poisoned his trust. He drinks with his weapon crafter, in moderation and in good spirits. He banished Cahir to the border, where he had to fight tooth and nail for his life, because he sought to cut Emhyr away from his goal. He asks Cahir to kill the only friend he has, knowing Cahir forgets the word "no" around him.

Cahir, on the other hand, is grappling with his sense of self. The only constant in his life is his king, and his king has no mercy for Cahir. Cahir cannot see choice past yearning for Emhyr, because all he has known is loyalty to him. And this hesitation, this doubt, it's apparent. And Emhyr does not hesitate to exploit it. He understands, I feel, on a fundamental level, that Emhyr understands the fact Cahir treads a fine line between his loss of self and finding one that doesn't need a king. Everything Emhyr does, from rousing Emhyr and using the advantage of his still-hazy mind to feed him crumbs enough to satisfy the ache in his heart before he asks the impossible. Something Cahir is more than willing to do, because it's for Emhyr. And this is validated- brilliantly portrayed- by how Emhyr uses language to alienate Cahir from the Others, effectively telling him things like "do it for us" because he KNOWS how desperate Cahir is for there to be an "us"

And I don't necessarily mean a romantic or sexual us here, it's more that Cahir at his core has a need to belong. So what does Emhyr do? "I wanted to welcome you back myself." Entering his room, throwing him his trousers and sitting with him, shoulder to shoulder, looking him in the eye, and telling him what he wants to hear, all the while affirming his standing as the arbiter of life itself. "Fringilla is dead. You are here," he says, meaning "You are here because I have permitted you to be."

Cahir shatters the mirror, whereas Emhyr burns the portrait. One has potential for introspection. The other is a cut link. We see how killing the elf affects Cahir, how he crumbles inward from the act. There is no one to catch him, and he doesn't recognise who he sees in the mirror, but he's not able to let go. And who would? When you have that security, that fragile peace where all you need to do is obey and you'll be rewarded, why step out of line? He tried it, and it almost got him killed. That is what makes this riveting. Cahir is painfully aware of the danger his doubt brings. And he still voices it anyway, sat side by side with the White Flame, he asks "How do you know when someone's a good leader" but he means "How do I know you're what's best for me?" And Emhyr deflects, using Cahir's need against him to placate him.

Emhyr communicates his inner world beautifully - he lays out expectations rather directly, like when he told Cahir "You did as I asked without hesitation." Hesitation is crucial to Emhyr's character, because it is his weak spot. He clutches the portrait of baby Ciri in his arms as he walks away, carrying only his agenda into the future. He buries anything that will not further his obsession, letting it suffocate and rot, instead of killing it outright, because he fears its ghost too much.

Cahir's woe is intelligence, in that he is aware of it all. He's aware of his need, of his desperation, but he's too afraid to break the cycle. The gravitational pull of Emhyr's influence keeps him in this unending loop of doubt and breakdowns and having his faith affirmed, and he's not allowed to change, because if he regains his sense of self, he will no longer be a malleable asset. Cahir can't seem to fix himself up, which shows in how he has looked throughout the season. Hair and clothes unkempt and rough, the most he managed was washing his face. Compare that with the jewellery and velvet Emhyr wore to wake him, and you get two very different worlds that mirror each other. Emhyr is scared to be himself, Cahir is scared of not being who Emhyr wants him to be.

[kurisus]

Noragami reread: Volume 17 & 18 thoughts

Probably the most "I want to throw up and blow up" volumes out of the series.

Tenjin's speech about humans becoming cruel when they have something they want to protect...oh I'm so sad.

These are the volumes where we see shinki acting against their gods' plans--Yukine plans to let Father live to save Yato's life, while Kazuma plots to stop Bishamon to save hers. Kazuma even stings Bishamon over this, a first for him. It was also preceded by him lying to another god that he would let her be subjugated.

Meanwhile, Yukine doesn't sting Yato but he's really not happy about Yato opposing heaven either, because all he wants is to protect him, and here Yato is throwing his life on the line for someone who's trying to cut his. I am once again banging my fists on the ground.

We also have Kiun, who deliberately lets himself get hit to hopefully spur Takemikazuchi to action, but he just gets mad Kiun didn't become a hafuri. However, through Take's tantrum after unlocking his true power, they're able to come to a understanding of sorts.

This is the most intense ceasefire battle ever, lol. Yato basically beats Take into submission because he doesn't want Bishamon to get killed, Yukine wants a ceasefire so Yato doesn't get killed, and Take is just here to have a good time and make Kiun a hafuri.

The art goes insanely hard. All the fighting between Take and Yato is so detailed, the lighting is phenomenal, and the part of me that isn't jaded thinks it would look so cool animated, since Take is basically described to move as quickly as lightning, plus there are all the panels of him and Kiun striking the ground as dragons. Too bad there never was an anime...

Okay so the apology between Kazuma and Yukine didn't happen in a FORMAL sense, but Kazuma tells Hiyori he acknowledges them as allies still, gets her out of danger, and provides an incantation to block Kiun's lightning, for which Yato and Yukine are very grateful.

I think a lot about how Yato was so excited about his Kamuhakari outfit, and it gets progressively more shredded as the fight intensifies. He gets his arm almost ripped off, limbs sliced, neck cut, loses his ponytail, and the entire white covering on the right side, then on both sides, falls away. He truly can never catch a break, but I feel like his injuries get worse every arc.

Although I talked about Yato and Yukine having differing ideals, they both very much protect each other here, and their ideals haven't yet caused them to have a falling-out. Yukine fights like hell against Take and Kiun, while Yato shields Yukine from the lightning strikes despite his own injuries, and of course he reassures him that everything will be okay when the heavens capture them. BLOWING UP!!!!!!!

Shinki are people who wanted to live, so it stands to reason they'd fear death in the afterlife and thus why they're weak to Chiki. Nana is a rare case of someone who wanted to keep living, but doesn't mind if she dies either, so she's satisfied by the knowledge that she died fighting once already.

Anyway Kazubisha. Kazuma dying before he could marry the girl he loved, so he attaches himself to Bishamon without realizing why--a parallel to Daikoku as well, who died before having kids of his own so he now has an urge to parent that won't ever go away. Man, no wonder Kazuma is so unhinged.

Everything about Kazubisha in volume 18 makes me want to blow up. They're so tender yet so ruthless with each other. They're so determined to protect each other that they keep throwing themselves into danger. They want nothing more than to be a husband and wife. These flashbacks are interspersed with present-day pain. I'm crying.

Everything about Yato and Yukine in volume 18 makes me want to blow up even harder. For once in his life Yato thinks he's actually going to protect his loved ones, and then...box. In so much pain he can barely move or speak, as Yukine relives his final, terrible moments. Watching as his friends sacrifice their shinki for his sake, because he failed them again. Begging Amaterasu to let Yukine out, then very nearly attacking her and certainly sealing his fate. Oh my god. Oh my god. I need to take deep breaths. This volume is the absolute pits. Worst for my mental health. Dropping it in a fire. Et cetera.

Discord reactions. There are a lot more I didn't even screenshot. I was really going through it.

[sonofthesaiyans]

Attack on Titan, where to even go now?

I don't even know how to feel about Attack on Titan ending. After years of cursing its existence, I'm just not sure what the hell to feel or what to do now that it's really done. After years of constant raving over every new opening theme, trailer, and after the thousands of cracks made about how season four just would NOT stop dragging out.........I honestly feel even emptier than ever.

I still remember back when Avatar: The Last Airbender was on.

For me, every episode of that show was a freaking experience. Everything about the world and its characters had me completely captivated, it was a phenomenally fun ride, and waiting for season three to air was a torturous wait. One that was worth it though.

When that show ended, I was truly happy and satisfied with its final episodes. I was on the edge of my seat, and it was so rewarding. I was heartbroken when I realized it was over and I still dearly miss my favorite characters from that show........but it truly ended on a high note, even if the ending was far from perfect.

With Attack on Titan...........the experience has unfortunately been the complete opposite.

It's been nothing but a trying ride, in the worst way possible. Despite my investment, it usually only filled me with dread. After that travesty known as Chapter 105: "Assassin's Bullet", I could not wait for the series to just die, or better yet crash and burn.

For me, the possibility of any satisfying conclusion went out the window five years ago, the only satisfaction I had was seeing how many people were as pissed a the manga ending as I was. I still stand by the fact that it's a hollow, unsatisfying end. In spite of all the anime onlys losing their collective shit because they think the animation and music magically did away with all its problems.

Unlike Avatar, I just feel regret with the ending. I can't watch the show again because of how angry it made me, but I'm even angrier than I hate it so much because I genuinely wanted to love it and for it to be better. The ending sucks, the entire fourth season I think is the worst and most shallow spectacle in anime. And yet it's because of what an empty and joyless experience it was that I'm actually devastated that it's over. Like, yeah I am fed up with the people who hyped this thing to hell and back, but I've invested so much into it and now I don't know where to turn that energy.

I have a far more sincere attachment to AOT's characters than I do to the actual show, like Avatar before Attack on Titan has some of my absolute favorite characters. So I take it VERY personally that they were treated this way and that this is the finish we're left with on the heels of all that.

I don't WANT to hate on Attack on Titan. I'm sorry I couldn't have attached to this the way everyone else did. But I also CANNOT defend the reasons so many people have for staying with it to the finish.

I try to swear off Attack on Titan: The Final Season as noncanon as I don't even like the people who animated that.......But the images that made it such a torment are too deeply burned in.

I wanted this show to go away and I wanted to see the ending fail, yes. Because I hate Hajime Isayama with a burning passion. But I love its characters and the people behind them too much that I desperately wanted better. I don't want to let those go.

Sorry, this post has gone on much longer than I was intending........I just don't know what to feel now.

Somebody help me make sense of this because I am scared of everything falling into irrelevance now.

[highflyerwings]

Criminal how most of the fans are ignoring the stellar older cast in Bloodhounds. Makes me wanna howl in frustration.

That said what are your thoughts on Myeongil and how the series ended?

Oooooo, first of all, congratulations on being my first (hopefully of many) Bloodhounds discourse asks!

I'm going to answer this before diving into any of the tags on social media, because surprisingly I haven't done that yet. So I haven't seen any of the conversation about the story or characters outside of the very few mutuals I have on twitter who've watched the show. So to be honest I didn't realize people WEREN'T talking about the older cast.

To that I'll say, uh. EXCUSE ME???? This show has such a great balance of ages within the cast, and I know I'm dilf biased, but come ON.

The younger cast is phenomenal, but the older cast is what adds the flavor. And Myeonggil (and Sungwoong) especially is the ultimate spice.

He's such a good villain. Unsympathetic, and evil from every angle. We aren't given a tragic backstory for him. He's simply greedy, and self-serving, and manipulative, without ANY remorse or explanation. And I LOVE that about him. And Sungwoong of course plays him brilliantly, because that's what Sungwoong does.

I will say my ONE disappointment was that Gunwoo and Woojin didn't end Myeonggil completely. They didn't kill him like he so very much deserved. But that would have gone against their characters, honestly, so I see why they didn't, and I respect that decision. But that would have been such a satisfying conclusion for Myeonggil. It's the least he deserved.

I'm going to be honest, this show grabbed me so completely because of the ending. There's always a halfway point in kdramas where the vibe falls off, or the tone shifts completely, and things start happening that don't make sense, and dynamics between characters change that leave a bad taste in your mouth, and rarely have I gotten to the end of a series (kdrama or not) and thought "goddamn that was satisfying." But I did with this one. I burst into tears when the final credits rolled, because there was something so satisfying about Gunwoo and Woojin reuniting with Gunwoo's mom. And while it wasn't happy all the way through, those three at least had each other and had a happy ending together.

There was definitely a difference halfway through the series. Characters left, and characters were introduced, and it presented a little bit of a question mark in the back of my mind, but the most important thing for me about this series is that I absolutely fell in complete love with every single character -- even minor ones introduced late in the game -- so I was completely on board with whatever direction the story was going. My love for the characters distracted me from whatever minor shift in plot was happening.

Anyways. Before I ramble too much, I'll leave it there. I just adore this series so much, and I can't wait to start digging in and talking about it with everyone else!

[pastramimommy]

6/2/24

Ok let's see how were doing!! The month of May was actually phenomenal, but the mental health took a teeny hit the last few days. I have been off orientation for 3 weeks and I am honestly having a really great experience so far. I don't feel overwhelmed!!! and I really do feel much more socially comfortable with everyone there. Just trying not to get too comfortable!

Habit consistency has been great, especially with pole. I recognized that if I want to many any progress, I need to dedicate more time to practicing at home. and I did a pretty good job with that, using youtube videos and recording myself. I changed my workout split to prioritize pole and calisthenics and enjoying it so far. Still slacking on the embroidery but I have 3 new projects loading so I have no excuse now. Completed my 1 book per month. the sourdough making is happening but we'll see if im making any progress when i cut into this loaf.

By 3.5 months I am honestly satisfied with the amount and quality of friends I have made and now its just time to focus on strengthening those new relationships. I successfully hosted 2 pregames and I have still been really assertive about hanging out with people. Best decision to DM kenzie bc I know we are going to be close. Getting closer with Gemma. Holly and Jackie are a lot of fun. And I foresee myself being closer with some of jackie's friends as well. I followed through with my goal to catch up with old friends more, including Lucky, Gerr and Omer. I will make a list of friends I need to catch up with. I also solidified trips to go back home so i can see the extended family and friends.

I'm finally starting to see some consistency with church and finding some sense of community there. I want to attended services a little bit longer before attending events. I have also been consistent with my morning guided prayer on weekdays, but I can feel myself getting distracted when i do it sometimes. I still feel this barrier with Jesus. and i cant really commit to a church if I don't confidently believe one of their most important pillars. I want to get there but i don't really know what work there is to do. I do believe that God has been paying special attention to my transition here and leaving me little easter eggs to make my life easier and i am so grateful. i am really working on giving up my anxieties about the whole living together situation to god because it is truly the only source of uneasiness in my life. but maybe it is my cross to bear and lesson that god wants me to learn.i think he is trying to demonstrate that i cannot control everything and in fact there is literally NOTHING i can do to help myself here. i really just need to have complete faith in god here.

I am having slightly increased anxiety about relationship stuff due to a conversation we had recently. his sister is not a huge fan of me after the white coat ceremony, so when i visit Philly i really have to put in effort. but it is just so stressful knowing that someone has negative feelings towards you. He also mentioned that he is anxious about living together after the incident nathan's bday, because he said it happened so soon after our convo about respect. Things I have realized: 1. i need to work on my tone and bluntness. 2. chris is way more sensitive than he ever let on or said he was 3. most of our issues happen in a going out setting. maybe I am just too damn much and need to know when to stop drinking and stay home. Maybe that will be the theme of 27? Ill be spending most of the time grinding anyway so I guess it is inevitable. I am having a lot of uneasiness and insecurity while he is gone. we are completely fine and happy when we are together. I really get in my head and have horrible thoughts when hes gone. i like to tell myself that im just overthinking things, but i am so scared that im not. i know he wouldnt cheat on me, but i have this horrible thought that he has been in situations where he considers that it might be worth it not to be with me to explore other options. but why is my brain going there?!

ugh, honestly i have nothing to complain about, life is good. i just need some sort of sense of security with him. but i know the best way i can get that is to just respect him and have faith that he will figure out the rest.

[mineeveninadifferentlife]

I'm extremely happy with the evermore section, a standout for me being tolerate it - while it wouldn't have been initially my pick for the permanent set her performance of it is phenomenal. I'm also more or less content with the lover and folklore sets. In my personal fantasy I have songs I'd prefer to hear live over cardigan betty yntcd and the man but I understand why she picked them. My biggest disappointment is cruel summer not being given a slightly bigger moment to shine because we have all waited for so long, but the bodysuit makes up for it. I like the midnights set, even vigilante shit because while I detest the song I love the choreo.

No real thoughts on the fearless and red sections, they make sense length wise and song wise as insight into the eras and I love the costumes for both. The who is taylor swift anyway? ew line is so iconic. And her holding up her hands in a heart? Excuse me while I sob. I am over the moon she is playing fearless, I adore that song so much. Love story and ybwm are some of my favourites from the album as well, we've just heard them enough I would have loved a deep cut, but they are so emblematic of the era I don't think it would make sense for her not to perform them

I cannot understand why she didn't cut down on some of the performances from 1989 and rep. They have the most recent tours, rep especially had such a phenomenal tour. I'm tired of seeing takes like 'obviously she prioritized her new music over stuff she got to play before!!!' when these sections were the most bloated on the tour. Even though I particularly enjoyed the rep section, I would have cut a couple songs from these for my biggest disappointment:

Like many others, I am distraught over debut being entirely cut the second night, and as a speak now girlie my heart is sad. The ballgowns for enchanted are perfection, I just wish she got a couple more songs in it. Long Live would obviously fit the theme of the tour so well, but there are so many career defining songs and moments from that era... I feel very let down over it.

And debut my beloved. As she never headlined a tour I think the longer sections of already toured albums should have been shortened to make way for her (and honestly the people who say 'it had no hits' what are you even talking about? Teardrops picture to burn our song...) it is an important foundational era that should have set list permanency.

Idk I honestly think taylor just doesn't really like country music anymore and it makes me so sad

There's so much I love about tour and I'm overall really happy and satisfied, there's just a couple big disappointments *dives under the stage*

[ceriseisland]

your takes are always great, i would honestly love for you to ramble about any arc in pokespe... especially R&S, because it's the best in my heart (i think it's one of your faves too but correct me if i'm wrong) but i'm terrible at desconstructing things like story structure or pacing or, well, writing in general?? also i'm addicted to all of your playlists! ...that was probably too random. sorry about that!

(I am so sorry this took so long ily) Oh thank you, that means a lot ^-^ I don’t have a favorite arc, honestly. RS used to be my favorite, but I’ve been hyperfixating on it off and on since I was a kid, so the charm of it has rubbed off enough that it isn’t my absolute favorite anymore, so I kinda just cycle between favorite arcs. I can give my thoughts on BW (since I’m pretty sure that was the post you sent this in reference to). But first I can give you a rundown on how story structure works. Storytelling is my special interest and I’ve read a ton of books on it, so I’m more than happy to talk about it. (Also i hope this makes sense and I’m not just talking out of my ass)

There are some competing theories, but the book I agree with most is Into the Woods by John Yorke, which I highly recommend. Stories are made up of several units, with the biggest one being the act. An act is comprised of a series of events that culminate in a turning point, which takes the story in a new direction. Stories can have as many acts as needed, but the most common are the two act (which is mostly used for episodic tv shows), the three act, and five act structures, with the three act being by far the most common. All stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end, so it naturally follows that the acts will fall along these lines. Acts are made up of events, and the events of an act in a well-told story will fall into roughly the same places every time, whether the author is aware of it or not. It’s sort of like an unspoken law of the universe that a satisfying story follows these patterns, like how 1+1 will always equal two. It’s pretty cool, actually. The arc with the strongest structure is RS (obviously), but RS goes above and beyond because a) it pulls off a circular structure, the hardest structure to get right, and b) the degree to which it pulls it off, with the number of circles it contains and how well they’re woven into the narrative, which make it a phenomenal feat of storytelling, but if we’re talking about the basics I’ll use BW’s impeccable structure as an example.

The first act of a three act structure sees the protagonist in the “normal world.” He becomes aware of a world outside of his own by the first major plot point, which is usually referred to as the inciting incident, (but I like to call it the “first act twist”). He’s forced to react to this new information and make a decision, which leads to the first act’s turning point. In BW, Black and White both begin with their respective dreams and their plans to achieve them, which constitutes their normal world. They come to face Team Plasma, culminating in the ferris wheel scene, which is this story’s inciting incident. White has a mental breakdown after losing Tepig, and Black announces that Team Plasma is evil and that he’s going to stop them, which is the reaction to the inciting incident. As the last point of the first act, they decide to part ways, with White traveling to learn about what N said to her and Black to win the pokemon league and fight Team Plasma along the way. Now that Black has been set down the path of accomplishing the goal of the story (beat Team Plasma), we see the turning point that marks the end of the first act.

The second act in a three act structure begins with rising action as the protagonist takes his first steps to accomplish the story’s goal. These attempts culminate in the midpoint, where the first serious attempt at the goal is made, and whether the midpoint ends in success or failure dictates the direction of the second half of the second act. This point of the story, the second half of the second act, is hard to get right and prevent from lagging. It usually features a subplot or two focusing on a minor character to help develop the theme, as well as a second act twist, which gives the protagonist new information to act on to help propel the story into the third act. Just like the end of the first act, the second act ends with a decision and a turning point. The decision is also usually preceded by a “darkest hour,” or the protagonist’s lowest point where everything has gone wrong. BW’s second act features rising action where Black continues to encounter Team Plasma, like in the cold storage, leading to him being recruited by the gym leaders. The midpoint of the arc is the battle at the Nacrene museum, where Team Plasma wins and gets the dark stone. Black then learns that he has been chosen by the light stone and that the date of the pokemon league has been moved up so that he won’t be able to participate in it, which is the second act twist. Black refuses to accept the role, has a meltdown, and runs off (reaction to the second act twist). Then there are two subplots to expand the theme, with White taking Bianca to Cafe Sonata to help her discover her dream and those two ladies encountering Cobalion in Minstralton Cave and reconciling with each other. Then N defeats Alder and Munna leaves Black, which causes Black to announce that he’s giving up on his dream and returning home to Nuvema Town (darkest hour). But after seeing his pokemon and remembering what they’ve been through, Black decides to not give up and ask Drayden for a final chance to participate in the league (end of second act).

Third acts usually have the climax of the story (though not always, since the climax is simply the point of highest emotion and doesn’t necessarily always happen at the end). It also usually features a third act twist, where new information is added and reacted to that narrows the focus of the climax, as well as falling action and the resolution, which concludes the story. BW’s third act has Black competing in the league. He beats Cheren, summons Reshiram, and Munna returns to him (climax and twist). He fights N (falling action), defeats N (resolution), and is sucked into the light stone (what the fuck).

The reason why it feels like BW has a steady pacing of events and build up of tension is because it’s structured well like this. An example of an arc with poor structure would be the XY arc, specifically the second half of its second act, which to be fair is a hard spot to get right. XY has two separate midpoints in sucession, first freeing the townspeople from Team Flare and then Geosenge Town immediatley after, which I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just save Geosenge Town for the end, but anyway. After the midpoint there isn’t much new information revealed, no big revelation or choice that X has to make. This is the point in the BW arc where Black learns that he is the hero and struggles to deal with it. Instead the Kalos kids just have a series of showdowns with Emma and Team Flare that wander into the final battle, so it feels a little anticlimactic. Having a twist/plot point toward the end of the second act is important because it helps the story keep its momentum up. Otherwise it rambles.

The beats of the character arc usually happen around the same beats as the story. (I also recommend the book Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland. It does a good job explaining this.) For example, a good story should have a single, emotion-packed moment where you know for a fact that the character has completed their arc: Red returns with the resolve to fight Deoxys, Black summons Reshiram, Ruby exclaims that true beauty comes from the heart. This moment usually happens at the end of the second act right after the Darkest Hour (like in Red’s case) or during the climax (like in Black’s case), since these are the two most logical locations for the point of highest emotion to be placed. A way to fix XY’s second act, outside of giving a twist, would be to give X a big decision to make right before the final showdown, or some big moment of growth for him. XY doesn’t do either of these, and so the story loses momentum after the midpoint. (And that’s not me railing on the XY arc; BW has plenty of problems, and I’ll get to that in a minute. I don’t know how to interact without dissecting the story quality ^ ^’)

A good story will incorporate character into its structure in deeper ways, too. For example, RS is a story about the balance of nature, both in the natural world and in oneself. The war going on inside of Ruby is mirrored by the war going on outside him, a conflict which he has the power to stop but only if he overcomes his inner turmoil. This is something that BW does poorly: there’s nothing about Black’s character that necessitates him being chosen as the hero of truth. Ruby, on the other hand, is inseparable from the plot, and you couldn’t substitute him for any other character without fundamentally changing the story.

Another thing to note about acts is that they should be clearly defined. If you can easily tell where one act ends and the next begins, then the structure is good. If you remember, an act is defined by a series of events that lead to a twist, a decision, and a turning point, which then takes the story into a new direction. BW is one of the best examples for this, but I’ll use FRLG too. FRLG’s first act (the first half of the first volume), has Red and Blue traveling around the Sevii Isles trying to learn more about Deoxys, which leads them to meet the three beasts. After their introduction, the three beasts broadcast that they are going to destroy the islands if Red, Blue, and Green aren’t captured/turn themselves in (the twist). The characters talk about it and decide to try to fight the three beasts and stop their attack (decision), and then board the Seagallop to travel to the islands to fight (turning point). FRLG’s second act sees Red fight Carr and then lose a fight to Deoxys (which is also the story’s midpoint). Red breaks down and runs away from the group, lamenting that he knows he can’t win and doesn’t have a reason to fight (which is also the darkest hour). After talking with Pikachu he decides on a reason to keep fighting, and, after encountering Mewtwo, returns to the group, and he, Blue, and Green take off to face Deoxys, which is also the end of an act. (The rest of FRLG’s structure is kinda wonky specifically with how trainer tower is placed, but that’s just me being a perfectionist.)

Though the three act structure is the most natural, stories don’t have to have three acts. Another common structure is the five act structure, which is like the three act structure, except the second act is split into three parts. This structure is horseshoe-shaped, like an arc, with the height of the action taking place on top of the horseshoe, during the third act. The defining feature of the five act structure is the midpoint, also called the climax, which happens in the middle of the third act. The midpoint is important because it marks the point of highest emotion, where the protagonist becomes their complete self and emerges with a new revalation that lauches the story into its second half.

RS is an example of a story with five acts, since its middle is massive: The first act is from the beginning to the introduction of the evil teams (around the abandoned ship event); the second act is from their introduction to when the volcano shuts down; the third act is from the volcano shutting down all the way to when Ruby and Sapphire get blasted out of Sootopolis and Steven finally manages to summon the Regis; the fourth act is mirage island and summoning Rayquaza; and the fifth act is the final showdown at Sootopolis. RS’s midpoint is in Slateport City when Ruby decides to stop running from the side of him that enjoys battling and returns to Sapphire with the information that lets them to dive to the seafloor cavern, which of course happens in the middle of the third act. Part of what makes RS so satisfying is how strong its structure is. But I’ll go into that some other time.

Down from acts and events, the next biggest unit of a story is the scene. Scenes can take place over multiple locations, and build up to a turning point (like an act does) that take the story in a new direction and lead into the next scene. Scenes are made up of beats, which is the smallest unit. Beats are the series of actions and reactions that make up the scene. The really cool thing about scenes is that the beats of a scene mimic the pattern of events in the three act structure (see the fractal theory of story structure). This further supports the idea that there is a natural pattern of events that all good stories fall into. A simple example of this pattern would be the ferris wheel scene: White wakes up on the ferris wheel, N asks her why she has pokemon perform (inciting incident); White gives her motivation and backstory (reaction to inciting incident); N tells her that it’s okay to have pokemon perform but that she isn’t listening to what her pokemon want, White doesn’t want to believe him (rising action); N proves himself right by showing that Tepig wants to battle (twist); White asks Tepig to choose between her and N, Tepig chooses N (turning point); White goes into shock and falls off the ferris wheel (resolution).

So the units of a story are acts, events, scenes, and beats. So basically, there is a pattern of events that every good story contains. It can deviate, obviously, but no matter what story you look at it will always resemble others. That’s the idea behind story structure: to use that universal framework to make a story that feels as satisfying as possible, and if something about a story feels wrong, you have the tools to figure out why. Storytelling is a concrete art in a lot of ways, and that’s what I like about it.

So BW does a lot of things right. It’s probably one of the best structured arcs, but outside of that it has a more mature and grounded tone than most arcs. It’s also really good at creating compelling relationships between characters. Black and White are both incredibly likable and subtly flawed characters that fit together like puzzle pieces. Their relationship is so compelling that “when will Black and White reunite” feels like its just as central to the narrative as the question “will Black win the pokemon league.” There’s only one main plot scene outside of the flashback where Black and Cheren interact (cold storage), but it’s done so well that it feels far longer than that, and the same with White’s scene with Bianca. White spends five minutes with N and yet we get to know them both intimately in that one scene. The realistic relationships are a big part of what makes the arc feel so grounded.

BW is also a bit of a study in how characters are more likable the more motivated they are. Black’s entire personally mostly revolves around his motive, and his flaws, like how he has a black-and-white worldview, derive from how strong his desire to win the league is. I also like how fluid his traits are, in that the same traits can either be flaws or strengths depending on the situation he’s in, and those traits are what make him a cool twist on the “stereotypical shonen protagonist” archetype. Black is a good guy who helps fight Team Plasma when they cross his path, but what’s cool is how we get to, at least momentarily, see him in a position where he can either be the hero who defeats the evil team, or he can accomplish his dream, but not both. In fact, Team Plasma’s existence is causing him to not be able to enter the league. All Black wants it to be able to enter it, wants it more than anything in the world, and so when he’s pushed into being the hero of Unova, a role that he doesn’t want and isn’t prepared for, he breaks down. It’s so cool how we get to see what he does when he’s pushed to that point. He appears to be just your average shonen protagonist on the outside, but by placing him in situations like that, he becomes three-dimensional.

This happens with White too, specifically with how their existence in the world around them adds depth to their characters. The first half of BW especially (I’ll get to how the second half kinda falls through on this in a minute) feels grounded, possibly even more grounded than RS. I think this has to do with the wealth of subtext and how human the relationships are. Subtext, where you leave parts of the story to be inferred, is something that GSC lacks (and no shade on GSC; it’s not supposed to be anything more than a fun classic shonen story). Except in a few places there’s really nothing left to be read between the lines. BW’s world feels very real because it doesn’t explain every bit of itself. For example, we’re told that lots of people in Unova see pokemon battles as uncivilized, which allows us to put together for ourselves things about Black during his interactions with the world, and also adds weight to N’s stance in the ferris wheel scene. The fact that we can dig deep into BW’s world and the significance of certain parts of it really helps it feel real, but an even bigger factor is with how the characters interact with each other.

SM and the beginning of DPPt are good comparisons for this. (And I’m explicitly talking about the first five volumes of DPPt; the second half turns on a dime and does an amazing job with grounding itself.) In my opinion, having characters interact in ways that feel realistic is the number one way to make the story feel grounded. There’s a reason why Pearl’s character arc feels like it comes out of nowhere: we see him time and time again do the slapping gag with Dia, which is never treated as anything more than a gag, so we accept it at face value and don’t think about it. Those interactions feel a little surreal, and then all of a sudden when Dia takes offense to it and it becomes a big deal, it feels like it comes out of nowhere. The first half of DPPt has tons of interactions like this that don’t feel realistic, like how they’ll mention to Platina that she did something and she’ll deny it as a gag, and then they move on without thinking about it. (That’s why her character arc is a little lacking in execution: it’s not enough to just show her lying; you have to show that her lying is a problem.) This is what causes DPPt’s initial tonal problems: we have gag after gag that causes the world to feel a little divorced from reality, and then we’re slammed with a super emotional plot point, like them watching Platina’s bodyguards get zapped by Saturn, and then we’re slammed back into gag mode. SM comes out of the gate better with this. It has the same feel as the first half of DPPt, where it’s all jokes and a good time, but it feels more grounded from the beginning because even though it’s full of gags, the way the characters interact with each other and the world feels realistic, which creates a feeling of depth to the story. And boy does BW do a amazing job with adding depth.

So BW does a ton of things right, from it’s structure to the characters to the general feel of it, but BW has one main problem, and it’s a big one in my opinion. The problem is that it backs out of any attempt it makes at nuance. While the Team Plasma grunts are depicted as well-meaning hypocrites, N’s ideas are reasonable. N isn’t saying that all humans are bad and should release their pokemon; he’s saying that humans don’t listen to what their pokemon want, which honestly tracks. Across multiple arcs we see people just give one of their pokemon to someone else with complete assurance that it will listen to that person and be happy with them. Hell, Blue got his Porygon from an arcade machine. And while the power of friendship is real, the fact that there’s a bit of a power imbalance in the pokemon-human relationship is worth exploring, and the BW arc takes steps to do that. N comes out on top in the ferris wheel scene. White is pressing the kind of life she wants to have onto her pokemon, and this is proven when Tepig leaves her for N. I think it’s pretty objective that N is correct here, not to mention how White releases her Tepig at the end of the arc to show how much she’s learned. And that’s kind of the point of the games: N isn’t wrong, but his truth is only part of the whole truth, and nothing is so simple that it can be boiled down to a black-and-white worldview. White realizes that the world and her relationship with pokemon is more complicated than she thought, and she goes on a journey to grow as a person so that she can give her pokemon the option about the kind of life they want to to have.

And then later they double back and say that N somehow “manipulated her,” which is pretty emblematic of the rest of the arc. The ending we get, where Black causes N to realize that he was wrong, doesn’t fit with the story that has been set up, especially since every interaction that N has with White and Black outside of Accumula Town went in his favor. The ferris wheel scene ended with Tepig proving N right by choosing him and White passing out in shock. After that N doesn’t interact with either of them until right before the pokemon league, and that scene goes about the same way.

N tells Black that his Munna was only with him because it wanted to eat his dream, which is pretty heavily foreshadowed: starting when Black has his meltdown we see Munna in the background of several panels shying away from Black with a disgusted or uneasy look on its face when he lashes out at people or wallows in pity, so when N tells Black that Munna was only with him for his dream it makes sense. Munna leaves and Black passes out in shock. That isn’t exactly a good look for convincing N that he’s wrong. And that’s all the interactions they have together. Outside of Accumula Town, Black and N only ever interact once before the climax.

It’s also worth pointing out that Cheren’s heel turn is emblematic of how the arc deals with nuance. I’m glad they did something with Cheren since they kind of forgot about him after the cold storage, but what they did doesn’t make much sense. So Cheren started listening to Team Plasma’s preachings and as a result started treating his pokemon coldly and using them as tools, which... what? Team Plasma’s whole deal is that they are a group of people who care about pokemon who were manipulated by Ghetsis. Even if the seven sages viewed their pokemon as tools, why would they want to teach someone to do the same and then have him represent their organization, when Team Plasma needs people to believe that humans are abusing pokemon? In the arc’s eyes Team Plasma is Evil and therefore everyone who associates with them is Evil, ignoring the fact that it’s canon that half of Team Plasma’s members are good people who were manipulated, but that’s only ever gestured toward.

Also, why do we just assume that all gym leaders are good and all Team Plasma leaders are bad? The scene where the musketeer trio watch the Striaton triplets fight the shadow triad doesn’t sit right with me. We spend several pages hammering in the idea that humans have harmed pokemon in the past with their wars (which, I mean, is fair, like it’s canon that humans fought wars over Victini and hurt it) and the musketeer trio have spent hundreds of years distrusting humans because of it, and then suddenly because they see that the shadow triad’s pokemon are abused and the Striaton triplets’ pokemon aren’t they decide that humans are all right? It’s canon that not all gym leaders are good. It’s a position of power that has been abused in previous arcs to harm pokemon, so why is it that all gym leaders are suddenly objectively good. The way the final volume forgets all the nuance that has been set up and goes for a generic good guys vs bad guys power of friendship ending feels weird.

I think it has to do with how Black isn’t set up to be the hero truth. Black would have been better for representing ideals, but since N isn’t good for representing truth either it falls to Black, even though there’s nothing about his character or motivation that embodies truth. The narrative does backflips to justify it, and eventually lands on the idea that Black represents the Objective Truth and that N is Objectively Wrong, which feels like a regression from what has been set up. N gives his speech at the end about how his encounters with Black caused him to doubt his worldview, which doesn’t track because N was proven right in both of the two main times he encountered Black and White. The fact that Black is a flawed character who goes through a flat arc doesn’t feel right to me.

Sidenote, the only requirement for a character arc to exist is that it causes change in a character, so there are multiple kinds of character arcs, but broadly speaking there are two kinds: the change arc and the flat arc. A flat arc is where the protagonist starts out flawless, then goes through trials that test his beliefs and end up causing change in others. (Dia and Red are good examples of this kind of arc.) In a good change arc, the protagonist starts out with a want, a need, and a flaw, and these should be set in opposition to each other, so that in chasing their want the protagonist is forced to confront their need, and will either achieve it and become their complete self (positive change arc), or fail and be consumed by their need (negative change arc/antihero arc). For example, Ruby’s want is to win the contests without having to battle, his flaw is that he’s running from himself, and his need is to accept the side of himself that enjoys battling, so you can see how he’s forced to face his need while chasing his want. Platina wants to leave home and experience the world like a commoner, but she’s used to getting her way as a rich girl and lies to people, and she needs to stop lying and acting in the ways that have always benefited her in order to be accepted as a regular person like she wants to be. You get the picture. On the other hand, the requirement for a flat arc is that the character starts out flawless, and Black definitely isn’t flawless. And not only does Black have flaws, but he has flaws that are in line with the theme of the games.

It’s stated early in the story by Grimsley, one of the people Black needs to beat to achieve his dream, that Black has a childish, black-and-white mindset. His one track mind is a huge part of his character. Elesa drags him away to let White solve her own problems because in his mind he has to help. He insists on having a gym battle while strapped into a roller coaster because rescheduling is out of the question. His brain short-circuits when his all-or-nothing mentality prevents him from seeing other options to a situation. I adore his characterization. Black (and White, too) comes off at first as a generic shonen protagonist who is engineered to be as likable as possible, but him having flaws that align with the themes of the games adds a lot of subtlety to him. There are more layers to him than it seems at first glance, especially since the world he’s running around in feels more grounded and complex than most arcs, like I talked about earlier. The whole arc feels like it’s leading up to him having major character development, and he goes through all the motions of it in the second half of the second act. Which is why it feels weird that he doesn’t change and instead changes N at the last moment.

The cool thing about Black is how he puts a twist on the stereotypical shonen protagonist archetype. While Black is a good person and helps people along the way if he can, he never wanted to fight Team Plasma, and defeating them only became important to him when he realized that they might stop the pokemon league. When Black learns that he needs to become the hero of truth and that he won’t be able to enter the league, he doesn’t take it well. He has a meltdown, lashes out at people, and runs away. And while this is great from a character perspective, it doesn’t make him seem like a good candidate for a flat arc. He literally tries to throw the light stone onto the ground and smash it skdsjdks I feel like that should automatically disqualify him from having a flat arc.

And that’s kind of what it comes down to. Black goes through all the motions of a change arc, with his meltdown after learning he needs to become the hero, then his acceptance of Munna leaving and deciding to not give up on his dream, but he doesn’t actually learn from it. His subtle flaws are reinforced, and it’s revealed that he was objectively right the whole time, despite the content of his interactions with N suggesting otherwise. That’s kinda like if Ruby didn’t learn anything from the final battle at Sootopolis, like if he made a deal with Archie and Maxie or something and ended the arc with being rewarded for running away from his problems. There’s a reason why the scene where Ruby pushes Sapphire into the air car feels so weird and uncathartic: it’s Ruby regressing and having his flaw reinforced at a moment when it feels like he should be having a cathartic moment of growth. That’s kinda how BW’s third act feels to me.

Pokemon Black and White (the games) are about the idea that nothing is black and white. The original dragon that represented the objective truth split into Reshiram and Zekrom because the two brothers couldn’t stop fighting over their differing perspectives. N’s perspective isn’t wrong: there’s a lot of truth to what he says, just like how in the arc he’s right about White and people in general not listening to whether their pokemon want the kind of lives their trainers assume they do. And while N is right, his position is only one slice of the truth, and the world is much more complex with different worldviews for different people (*cough* new york city *cough* melting pot), and Ghetsis almost took over Unova by forcing a black-and-white worldview onto people, which is dangerous. It’s also interesting to note how Black, White, and N all have the same flaw. Wouldn’t it have made more sense if the three of them go through the same arc, where they learn about the morals of the games, and, after coming to an understanding with each other when their worldviews collide, team up to defeat Ghetsis and stop him from imposing his black-and-white worldview onto the world? Wouldn’t that have made so much more sense? It just feels disappointing to me that after everything BW sets up in its first act, with N causing White to rethink her worldview to the motif of trying to solve an unsolvable puzzle, to have the story turn around in the third act and go “jk the puzzle was solvable the whole time and the solution was that N was Wrong.” It feels like a cheap way to conclude the story. But that’s just my opinion.

Anyway, I hope that was along the lines of what you were thinking of and I wasn’t being too critical again ^ ^’ Again sorry this took so long to respond to lol

[peebin]

Overall, I'm satisfied with Attack on Titan's ending. It wasn't perfect, but it's not going to take away from the fact that the series as a whole is so darn close to a masterpiece.

Here are some things that I liked:

It did a fabulous job of tying together and finishing up Eren and Armin's arc. The conversation between kid Eren and kid Armin in the paths will probably end up one of my favorite moments in the series. As an Armin stan, I'm happy to see him emerge as the hero. I was also happy to see Eren as human again, it was really tragic to see him face all his guilt and his regrets.

I really love (in a twisted way) that tragic irony of Eren essentially being a slave to freedom. This panel right here:

There's so much here. He's constantly said he is free, but is he? He's done terrible things and he knows it, he chose to become the bad guy and it's something he's shown clear remorse for. Yet he said he wanted to do it, but he's not sure why. I wonder if similarly to how past founding titans have been a slave to the will of the first king, has Eren become a slave to his own will? All he wants to do is live and die with Mikasa and Armin, yet he's cursed by his own child-like determination to acheive freedom, so much so that he never does.

It was neat they confirmed the theory that Eren spared Bertholdt from the smiling titan.

Jean and Connie are alive.. thank goodness

We got about as close to a happy ending as Isayama could have given us, it was nice to see everyone in the aftermath. I'm happy we got Armin and Annie together after the timeskip.

The parallels between the final panel and the first panel was a really nice touch.

I really appreciated how Mikasa became a major player in the end. It felt like she was pushed to the sideline for a while. These panels were beautiful and heartbreaking:

I actually really loved Mikasa's development at the end after I thought about it for a while. It led up like it was going to be some emotional moment where she kills Eren Jaeger and lets go of him when he has been somewhat of a curse for her. And in a sense it was. On the other hand, her killing Eren can be seen as an act of love and an act of loyalty. I never saw her loyalty to Eren as a flaw- of course you would want to protect the person who saved your life and the person you love to the best of your ability. The notion that her only trait is her loyalty to Eren is overblown anyway (let's not forget her relationships with Armin, Historia, Sasha, etc., and the fact that she was so quick to take charge and move on after she thought Eren died in season 1). Mikasa letting go of Eren would have been a betrayal to herself, but killing him was something she had to do. Her grieving in the final panels makes perfect sense.

As much as I loved it, there's a few things I didn't like:

What happened to the worm? It just, disappeared.

In fact, there's a lot of ambiguity as to what actually happened. Why did the titans turn back in the first place? Was that Eren's doing? Did the founder have the power to do that all along?

I thought Historia's baby was going to have a lot more significance within the plot. In fact, Historia's ending is the only characters ending I genuinely didn't like. It felt like she was going to be a lot more important than she was, but instead she's just chillin as the queen with her random ass husband that she hates. She deserved better. So did Ymir. God dammit.

The panels about the Eldian military didn't exactly sit right with me. Sure, titans are gone. But with the rest of the world crippled by the Rumbling, aren't we just in the same place we were before the Great Titan War with Eldia as the world's major power and everyone else just kind of at their mercy? After all the very clear anti-imperialist messages throughout the entire series, it makes me nervous how this can be interpreted.

It's a miracle this story even existed. Isayama is a phenomenal writer and Attack on Titan will always hold a special place in my heart. Eren Jaeger has got to be one of the most beautifully complex, morally gray characters ever written. It's almost impossible to write a perfect ending and there was bound to be some disappointment, but I'm satisfied with the way it ended. I'm so excited to see the rest of the story get animated. Thank you Isayama.

[penrose-quinn]

Waaaaaah I love the excerpt! I love From Eden! It's easily one of the best written fics I've read and I'm so siked that you're updating another chapter 💖 Your writing is phenomenal! Hope you're getting enough praise for it because it's so beautiful and captivating to read. I appreciate the research you put into this because I'm half Italian and the details you put in Easter reminds a bit of home :))))) I haven't been to Sorrento, but this is making me want to go there lol. Don't know how to say it but there's something very satisfying with the religious imagery and how it just delivers regarding the whole theme with MC and Prosciutto. The symbolisms with MC's Stand and the flowers are interesting! I've only heard about folk healers from others but it's interesting how you wove it into the canon lore. Oh yeah I also looked up the painting and it's so pretty! I see how it really says a lot of their relationship. I know you put unhealthy relationships in the tags and there's the stalking too but I really want to ship this so bad. I'm horrible 😭 👉👈 but mutual pining is my weakness 😩 There's something in the way you write them that's so meaningful and bittersweet. Like I get MC for not wanting to put up with his bs anymore but him not wanting to move on yet is so selfish but human.

That there’s a rare genuineness in there he can’t find in anything else that makes him selfish and starved because people like him are just beggars, piss-poor at mercy, and cruel enough to kill one of their own; a sentiment he doesn’t mind committing when the consolation comes with a paycheck and a twisted kind of satisfaction that he’s done it.

I love this line so much 😩❤️💔 It's terrible but it humanizes him. Cuz he's still an assassin and I don't think he's capable of empathy BUT THIS. I think if he does actually *love* someone it'd be twisted like this. You're right to tell us that he isn't a good guy. This is the same guy that would kill everyone in the train. Prosciutto wasn't really my fav but I was craving for some La Squadra content and your writing of him is so good! I really want to read more about him from you! 💖

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS, ANON GDJDLALAKAHAJAKA ❤️🧡💛

I wasn't really expecting love for From Eden, but this makes my heart leap :')

I'm happy you enjoyed the excerpt! (that scene is actually longer than it is and it drags) I'm so glad I got the culture right. It's a little weird how similar some aspects of the culture of my country is with Italy, but it's one of the things I enjoyed writing. I've never been to Sorrento either, but I'd love to go there too! Ahh, we can never go wrong with religious imagery haha. Oh thanks for mentioning it! I love the Stands in Jojo so much and I really want to make one up whenever I have the chance. I thought adding folk healers in the lore is something interesting to explore because it seems plausible, considering how there are already more bizarre things existing in the world of Jojo. Magic and mystical saints don't seem that unlikely. Couldn't agree more! Régnier's painting is something that stood out to me when I was making a reproduction of it awhile back and that's where the muse began for this piece. Oh, you're not horrible, anon. A lot of good relationships do turn south at one point, and because of their circumstances, the pining just hurts to write about (and don't we all long for it? The pain only makes it sweeter).

I'm so happy you thought so! The prick is really being selfish here, but it's understandable. It makes him human, yes. It's what I really want to have a grasp on when handling his character because I don't think we get to see much of it in canon, if we exclude his last redeeming moments in the train scene (still, that doesn't excuse him for being such a gorgeous prick tho). I'll never see him as a good guy tbh. Besides, I already like him flawed and a little fucked-up. It makes sense to me because he's still an assassin, but that doesn't really take away that he's still just a man in the end. He's still gonna make screw-ups no matter how much of a smartass he is, and no one really screws up more than people who're still hung up on their exes lmao. Anyways, thank you for sharing this! I'm so giddy with everything you said and I hope the next chapter of From Eden doesn't disappoint! ❤️💜

[ocalaghan]

i thought it was so weird at the end how sherlock just hugged her and said "i can help you" and then she's back to normal. ??? i get that she was the little girl on the plane, she wanted help or whatever. i'm just really confused about the whole thing. the ending felt rushed. i read an article where the writers said it might be the last season but it depends on the actors' availability

MAJOR SHERLOCK SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT.

If any other Sherlock fans wanna come discuss the finale (or this whole season), pop into my ask! I wanna know your thoughts, I just watched it today.

I think they would all like to do another season but if that was the last season, it did end nicely? Like, I’m a sucker for happy endings, so I’m glad everything was okay by the end. My friend thinks that even if we don’t get another season, they’ll maybe still do Christmas specials like that episode in... early 2016? Where it was actually set in the past and it was like a dream of Sherlock’s or something, I can’t remember. But if that was the final season, I’m headcanoning that Molly got closure lol. Cos that was fucking shitty. The writers are bad at writing women and giving women satisfying storylines. 

Anyway, I understand what you mean about the ending. I think the twists can be so fun but the one about the little girl being pretend was overkill? Not that I wanted a little girl to die on a plane, I understand the metaphor too, but it was... dull? 

To be fair, it didn’t really turn Eurus back to normal though. Like, it comforted and calmed her in that moment but I don’t think she’s “cured” or anything. It was kind of boring and useless that her whole motivation was ‘wanting a friend’ and some kind of childlike, lonely innocence as well. Like, that didn’t make sense to me? An unfeeling, murderous, twisted, incomprehensibly smart woman on one hand... and a soft, lonely little girl on the other? I’m sure there’s a way you COULD blend those two traits into one person but the way the writers did it was the wrong way to do it, and making it her whole motivation was just so pathetic. 

Overall, I can see why the episode has been so widely criticised, and I didn’t feel the urgency of the mystery like I have in past seasons? Although, I was a bit shaky/edge-of-my-seat when she was making Sherlock choose between shooting Mycroft and John. Like, legit, for a second, I thought Sherlock was actually going to shoot himself, and I was like, UHHHHH THEY CAN’T DO THAT? But then I remembered how much the writers love to suck their own dicks -- they’d never kill him off if they still had opportunity to do more episodes at some point. 

Anyway. I don’t know. I have such mixed feelings about it. I’m glad everyone was okay and all, but the whole season was a let-down. I really enjoyed the first episode, the second one felt misplaced and confusing (although the acting was phenomenal throughout), and this finale was just... too much of the writers patting themselves on the back and trying to pull the rug out from under the viewers too many times.