#like the sh fandom has its issues but nothing this bad

[minheeskitten]

Some of my opinions on kpop.fandoms and general fandoms as well:

-You can't call yourself the parent of a fandom if only a few people call you that. Don't force it. No one can say you are part of any family without you consenting to it.

-Fanwars are stupid and have no place in kpop. And fanwars in other fandoms make people who are in multiple fandoms feel bad. Stop starting fanwars. They're useless.

-Making idols act like you are family is gross and creepy Especially if you try to get them to call you 'mom' or 'dad'

-People who collect album versions instead of photocards deserve just as much a chance to show off.

-Fatshaming any idol is wrong. Even Sh*nd*ng. No matter how much you hate anyone. Do. Not. Fatshame.

-Titles mean nothing. "It girl" and "It boy" are useless terms. This isn't high school.

-Anyone under 18 is a child. Don't make *any* sexual comments about them. Its gross.

-"S/Hes so fine' Is a sexual comment. As is anything of the sort. If you think otherwise, block me.

-If an idol says they're uncomfortable with something, a specific photo set or something else. Stop using it, and spread the word.

-Stop asking idols to marry you. They *can't*. And they likely don't want to.

-If you're creepy/ making an idol uncomfortable in a fancall you should get banned from fancalls with them.

-If you call anyone in their 20s 'old' you are factually incorrect as well as obviously a young teen or preteen, and you shouldn't be interacting in fandom until you learn to interact. Fandom has no age limit, but there shouldn't be any age shaming.

-No amount of bullying is okay. Don't be ableist, or rude. Or racist. Kpop has no space for that. Fandom in general has no space for it.

-You shouldn't be ableist. Fans have disabilities, and you not allowing those fans into fandoms, is why you're toxic. Not everyone who is disabled has a 'visible' disability.

-Dont make fancams, if you don't want people to use them. Fancams are gonna be used. If you don't want others to use them, don't make them.

-If an idol wants to ruin their reputation by doing stupid things, then let them learn it the hard way. Trying to teach an idol who doesn't want to learn is stupid.

-If an idol wants to ruin their reputation by doing stupid things, then let them learn it the hard way. Trying to teach an idol who doesn't want to learn is stupid.

-Defending islamophobic idols is stupid. And it only proves you yourself are islamophobic (if you are, gtfo my page.)

-Stop making every little thing a scandal so quickly. It's pointless and just gets more unrightful hate.

-Stop blaming groups for things when the company is the one in the wrong. Most of the time, it is the company in the wrong, not the idol

-Hold your idols and companies accountable for their mistakes.

-If you see a scandal or issue, do your research and look into it, instead of just spreading it around.

-Don't overreact to scandals or problems. It's pointless and just becomes hysteria.

-Idols shouldn't be made to feel ashamed of needing glasses to see. Or any sort of aid like that.

-Purposely ignoring a boycott of a group is wrong, and oftentimes will make the groups situation worse. (i am begging you, boycott e'last rn)

-Calling any group a 'flop' is rude. It's even more rude when they clearly aren't.

-Stop acting like you know the idol personally. You're a fan to them. Yeah they want to know fans, but there's no way you'd know them personally from fancalls.

-If you say an idol is being problematic. Show us your source. Where did you hear it from. Tell us.

-Don't tell people who are using a fancam to source the fancam. They're not always going to source it. It's only appropriate if you're asking so you can use it as well. And do it nicely.

-If you are incapable of basic human decency, you shouldn't be interacting with idols or other big figures in your fandom.

-Don't shame someone based on how many albums or photocards they have. Their worth as a fan is not based on those things.

-You don't need everything an idol ever suggests they like. Don't waste your money on something you won't use.

-You don't need any merch or anything at all, to call yourself a fan of someone or something. Saying otherwise, is rude and classist.

-Don't bash fan creators. They're doing this for free. This includes, editors, artists and fic writers. Even if you don't like the content, don't bash the creative behind it. Block them and move on with your day, it's that simple.

-Stop being so fucking judgmental. Not everyone is going to be like you, accept that.

-Every fandom has toxic people. No fandom is free of it. Stop focusing on outcasting other fandoms for having toxic people and start outcasting those who are toxic within your own fandoms.

[antthonystark]

i know the sh fandom has drama and there are some crazies in the mix but it makes me happy that 90% of the fandom isn't disrespectful to the cast's significant others and you will rarely find people that romantically ship the cast together bc i think of other shows or movies where cast members get uncomfortable with each (glee comes to mind) or don't feel comfortable sharing their personal life any more bc i know that should be the standard, but im so glad the fandom isn't like that

yes!! you’ll know i have quite a few gripes with the shadowhunters fandom lol but i’ve always been really really happy that our fandom doesn’t have this problem at least (or, not to any significant extent), because this is the kind of thing that doesn’t just affect us but would really negatively impact the cast’s relationship with the show and the fans. 

like, of course you’ll get the odd RPFer or some jealous fangirl who might not be so kind towards one of the guys’ significant others, but overall there’s no trend like that – and glee is a really good example of how much it can really ruin things for a fandom and for the actors themselves. and i’m really glad that the actors in our show can share whatever they want to share and know that there’s not going to be any weirdness or hate when it comes to things like that 

[rogueshipagogo]

the time has come. for my big JaneAce Manifesto. i’ve been talking about them a lot for the better part of an entire year on my dead by daylight twitter, but i havent been posting about it Here, or really Anywhere that is easy to access and doesn’t just disappear into the ether after a few weeks. but i really like them and genuinely think they are among the better m/f [not straight. There is a difference] dbd ships, and there’s probably been a Noticeable uptick in content about them since i started uhh requesting it and commissioning it and spreading the word about how epic they are over on That website, so- why not on This website??? buckle up for lots of rambling and big reaches over this games tiny scraps of lore. also sorry if you’re looking at this on mobile, for some reason it keeps getting random formatting issues that literally dont exist in the copy im posting from my laptop so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ its just gonna be kinda ugly

it is simply economical to ship the two hottest characters in any given series. when you ship janeace, you are speedrunning looking at some sexy old people having fun being in love. it’s not rocket science. thread over

no actually. anyways. OK so. this all started bc. a long time ago. i was playing a game as ace where i had a rainbow map and the lens that lets everybody on your team see what you're looking at, right. and i was going around looking for totems and chests and the exit when i realized there was a jane player following me who was pointing at the stuff that was glowing with my map and dancing around all like ‘woah i want that thanks for finding it’. i thought that was rly cute so i moved out of the way to let her open the gates and take down all the totems and have whatever was in the chests whenever she found me. and then the game was over.

But that rly cute interaction just kind of gave me brainworms. afterwards i couldn't stop thinking about how funny it would be to imagine that scenario having dialogue and jane just marching up to ace opening up a chest like ‘hey. Can i have that’ and also how fun and good they would be as a ship if you didn’t look at it like the classic ‘opposites attract’ scenario, and more as if they actually weren't very opposite at all, and were in some ways Very compatible, they just had completely opposite circumstances that made them seem, on the surface, like they were from 2 separate worlds entirely.

like, there’s a handful of janeace content that existed before i got into the dbd fandom, right, and its not Bad?? but it tended to have vibes of ‘this is a stereotypical relationship between a super laid back toxic levels of egotistical manchild and a super uptight prudish nagging woman’, like some sitcom straight people meant to entertain jaded cishet 45 year olds. And i Guess i understand why that’s the obvious trope to apply to the concept of them dating each other. and i Guess i understand why people in the dbd fandom got that impression of them, and decided they Hated shipping them, if it was just going to be nothing but ace being like ‘haha you are so sexy and i am so immature why dont you just be the more responsible one forever’ and jane being like ‘noo stupid man i am so much smarter than you i am le epic girlboss and you are perpetually mentally 25 years old so now i have to be mean to get you to do anything’

but that interpretation is entirely reliant on bad faith takes on Both of their personalities!!

its easy to see jane as a flawless queen of everything without a loosey goosey bone in her body, but that ignores things like her painter cosmetic, where her face and hands are Covered in paint and all her brushes tucked into her hair; or the lines in her biography about her early days as a radio host, where she was fired within months for making too many ad libs and being ‘too frank’; or the fact that her rockabilly cosmetic is from an episode of her show... implying she regularly wears costumes on her show. shes literally from new jersey

its easy to see ace as a lazy asshole who only knows how to manipulate people- but that ignores things like his waiter and fisherman cosmetics, where he’s making an earnest effort to earn money doing honest [enough] work, but simply suffers from low self esteem if he feels inadequate and unprepared, and routinely goes back to being a gambler out of convenience.

i’d also like to take the moment to point out how they Both struggle with mental health issues. i think there’s a tendency in the fandom to gloss over a lot of the issues they write jane as having, making her seem perfect and mature and universally appealing with very few flaws, And a tendency to act like ace’s issues are all there is to him, someone who contributes so little and takes up so much space that it’s hysterical- which does them both a disservice, especially for My intents and purposes of saying wow both of these characters only get by running on alternating manic and depressive episodes. clearly aces entire life is centered around having addictive personality disorder and being in relationships that are toxic for him- in his lore, ace is encouraged to put himself in an extremely dangerous situation by a friend who is amused by watching him embarrass himself, and we get the idea that ace socializes with people entirely on a metric of ‘is this person impressed by how cool i seem when i win’ and ‘is this person just really into watching me lose because its funny and entertaining’, which he might not even be aware of.

clearly jane.... janes entire story is about her childhood trauma. Like i dont want to just have to retype her entire biography and also her tome lore but, in summation, her entire story is about the pressure of the life she had built as a reaction to her childhood trauma and how Even if she hadn’t gotten fognapped, she was likely heading towards a meltdown spiral from taking on too much work, getting too wrapped up in peoples perceptions of her, and becoming obsessed with gaining more influence, to the point of being willing to sell out completely in order to get even a Little bit closer to her audience Really Understanding how much she’s a normal person desperate for people to relate to her pain.

So Now Think About It. they're both among the more charismatic extroverts of the survivors, their livelihoods Both rely on being able to have a good conversation with people and build a really iron clad rapport in a really short amount of time, they both aspire to be sort of fancy and rich and get a lot of attention and clout And, for Both of them, this desire for that sort of life started early in childhood, dreaming about escaping poverty and preconceived notions of who they were. they both have multiple bits of flavortext in game about being naturally optimistic and seeking to share that hopeful attitude with their friends, so i also think jane's method of interacting with people is something that would, like ace's method of interacting with people, not always land.

‘but sunday, she’s an insanely famous self help talk show host!! how could she be Bad at socializing with normal, average, not-famous peons???’ would You want an insanely famous self help talk show host grabbing you by the shoulders just to be like 'dont worry, It gets better :^)' while your leg was caught in a bear trap and you were having your fingers sliced off and your heart ripped out?? and some dudes taking pictures of it?? probably not. People who would be into that are likely in the minority. but you know who Is in that minority???? Ace.

imagine if after Weeks/Months/Years?? of terrifying trials where everyone is getting ripped apart and fangoriously devoured or w/e, jane is Still trying to be helpful in the only way she knows how to her new friends, but they’re all Less than receptive to it. bc you think people like feng min and jake and david, all these tired ass antisocial introverts, want to keep hearing ‘dont worry we can do this’ over and over and over again, every single time this happens??? probably not. at some point they would probably be like ‘wow, jane, that’s great, but im actually? Tired of dying over and over again, and what you’re saying is Not helpful right now’. even her fellow celebrities, like kate and yun-jin and felix, or even just other more sociable and positive types, like meg and claudette and adam, might get really tired of hearing stuff like that as they get shredded up for the 39480459th time.

but it’s the thing that occurs most naturally to jane to do for people when they’re upset. she’s spent Years putting all of her time and money and self worth in being able to do this and watching it make a meaningful impact on people!!! And she’s spent years being validated in her sense of self relying on being that type of parasocial icon for people!!! so how is she going to make it in the fog without getting her heart broken and sent to the void where hopeless survivors go if she cant do the one thing she’s best at??

but then maybe it finally comes down to just her and ace as the last two survivors one night, after getting progressively lonelier and lonelier for what feels like forever, realizing that her Love Language is somewhat inert here, and when she works up the nerve to pull the ‘hey, it’s gonna be fine, we can get out of here’ card on Him??

it finally Works. he smiles back at her and says ‘yeah, youre right!!’ because he is Also a tireless optimist who doesnt believe in bad luck and sees a silver lining to every situation. he’s the guy who is perpetually smiling in order to make sure there’s always at least One person who hasn’t given up hope yet, and knows the value in holding out just long enough to be absolutely sure there’s no possible way to turn things around. he will never pass up the opportunity to look at a bad situation that way- he’s a gambler, the idea of a potential payout for taking that slim of a chance is one of the only things in life he cares about. AND SHE CAN WORK WITH THAT

so the most hilarious thing in the world to me would be if one of the first few times they ever actually speak to each other by the campfire after a trial, everyone is sort of looking around like ohhh god this is gonna be weird, he’s such a little weirdo and she’s so poised and normal

but it Actually isnt weird. for better or for worse, ace is good enough at reading people- and knows well enough just how much power jane has- AND DOESNT WANT TO GET THE SHIT BEAT OUT OF HIM BY A FAMOUS GIRL AGAIN- that he manages to be not a complete loser around her, mostly. she Also has to tap into her ‘talking to normal people’ skills in order to communicate with him initially as well, but even thats just something that would sort of sweeten the deal for her. i’m not under the impression he’d know a whole ton about her before encountering her in the entitys realm, so there’s not even as much pressure in interacting with him as there is with someone who i can easily see being a jane romero show stan before the events of the game, like yun-jin or meg, who she loves and would be friends with, but also still feels a bit obligated to be really put together around, for her images sake. so for her, there’s a bit of relief in making friends with such a comparatively average person, and for him, it’s cool that she even wants to talk to him, and a bit humbling that he can no longer claim to have the most bravado and largest presence out of anyone in the fog.

this isnt to say that they dont have their differences- obviously, she’s a hard worker who wants to come off as entirely self reliant and tireless, and he’s a self professed mooch who wants to just manipulate his way into success without actually applying himself unless it’s easy and fun and makes him look very sexy and cool- but i don’t think thats something that would completely kill their chances of getting along and having a successful relationship. they are adults. they can work it out

in fact its probably for the best that jane has such a well developed sense of self worth, so that when ace fucks up and says something tactless because he’s being a little clown creature, she can swiftly, easily disarm him into taking it back and informing him that he can’t say shit like that, rather than get her feelings hurt or just assume there was nothing to be done about it, like i think a lot of other survivors would do *cough felix cough*. He needs someone who can nip his antics in the bud instead of enabling him. and where anyone else doing that might kind of bug him, in this fantasy universe i have created where i get to dictate how all fictional characters act, it makes sense to me that he would defer to her judgement.

[this is a good a time as any to say I dont fuck with 'ace is unironically sexist' headcanons or whatever, i want him to have moved Past whatever the hell was going on in his tome, as that was Meant to be a painful experience in his past that he’s still hung up over as being one of the worst times of his life, NOT an accurate snapshot of who he Currently is in the game!!! so i dont mean he’s saying and doing Genuinely Problematic things to her or anyone else on a regular basis... he can just be kind of weird and careless]

i like imagining that since she has the status and wealth and influence that he could only Dream of having, its a bit of a ‘whatever she says goes’ situation when she suggests slight changes to his behaviour, within reason. On this note, from the Other side of the fence, jane could eventually have an issue with trying to tailor his personality Too much to her liking- her bio literally says she ‘needed more; she wanted others to follow in her footsteps’, so its easy to imagine there might need to be not just boundaries around reining in his behavior, but boundaries around her tendencies to want to control his behavior in the first place. even their flaws are compatible!!!!!! its nice for me to imagine that there would be plenty of scenarios where jane is the one getting spun out mentally and ace has to be the one to ground her, since at the end of the day, she’s just a normal person caught up in the relentless perfectionism of showbusiness. that their relationship isnt just ‘selfless perfect hot girl fixes stupid washed up scrimblo mans life’, because they Both have valuable things to tell each other and perspectives the other sorely needed. and because honestly??? jane is less content in her life than ace is in his!!! again, on a surface level, it’s easy to see them and think he’s the problem and she’s the problem solver, but its way more complicated than that.

a lot of how i think about them takes place in a post-fog environment- if we’re meant to believe that the survivors in the game will get out eventually, that means we’re invited to consider how they would make it back in the real world. and maybe jane would take this time to say. ‘Well, i can’t really afford mentally to be everyone’s best friend on the tv with a million clothing lines and makeup products any more, now that everyone saw my funeral and all. maybe i should set my sights a little lower and try to just take it one day at a time’. and maybe ace would take this time to say. ‘well that whole experience just taught me a whole lot about what it’s like to care about other people for once. and the idea of being in a casino or bar right now is extremely overwhelming and bad. but What Else am i supposed to do???’ and that’s when they can move in together and she can see what its like to try Less hard and he can see what its like to Try for anything at all even a little bit. it is extremely endearing to me to imagine, like, jane at home painting or writing, and maybe ace has his 2nd or 3rd ever little part time job for underachievers, like being a bartender or waiter, and when he gets home shes there to be like ‘wow you did it im so glad you finally learned to be a relatively productive member of society, i know its your least favorite thing ever but it means a lot to me that you arent fully reliant on all my money also i dont care if you still do gamble shit every once in a while because clearly thats just What Brings You Joy so have fun doing that on your days off still’.

OR!!! flip it turnways: she Does go back to being a tv personality, or writer, maybe talking about what it is she just went through, and needs to come home after the strain of being on tv and dealing with media industry people all day [which was already extremely bad for her, her bio describes her regularly getting migraines after filming] to someone who actually understands the fog and believes her and was there, and spent his day making sure the bed is made and the floor is vacuumed and dinner is ready for her. and you know who can do that??? be a little stay at home himbo wearing expensive pajamas and embroidered slippers, loading the dishwasher while blasting jazz for slutty old men on an expensive sound system in a luxury new york penthouse??? Ace. Again. that’s always what the answer will be here

so we all agree that it’s not epic or poggers to depict utterly useless men riding on successful womens coattails. But. if she makes more money than she knows what to do with, and he actually makes himself useful, Why Not be the sugar mommy rich gf to this dude who has agreed to keep your house running and be your peppy little old man cheerleader in exchange for getting fancy clothes and also lots of hugs and kisses. and also you spent an indeterminate amount of time being tortured to death infinitely in a hell dimension.

I think that’s fine!!!!!!! theres literally no end to the situations in which they can, despite being a high strung girlboss and a manic pixie malewife, get along, and see and value each other for who they are, and how they decide to cope, and what they need, in order to not get utterly lost in the sauce of the weird fucked up mentally and spiritually draining lifestyles they both live. in my honest opinion.

AND THATS WITHOUT EVEN BRINGING UP HOW I THINK THEY’RE BOTH BISEXUAL AND TRANS

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

So, this may sound weird, since I don't ship ZK, but I think the reason some dislike EIP is because they realize it was the first part of a busted enemies-to-lovers arc. EIP was part one, where Zuko and Katara see how others see them, and it weirds them out. Yet, Zuko insisted on sitting next to Katara and Katara pushes Aang away, suggesting there might be something there that they don't want to acknowledge. (1/3)

The first part of the finale was Part 2, where June reiterates the "Hey you're with your gf again!" Zuko and Katara deny it, but there likely should have been an undercurrent of 'Why do people think we're together? Do we act like it? Should we be? S/he is kind of cute.' During this time, Zuko defers to Katara and despite Toph likely being more helpful, asks Katara to be the one to take down Azula with him. (2/3)

Last part of the finale should have been the money shot, Zuko taking lightning for Katara, and in a parallel to CoD, Katara healing him. Dante Basco is right in that there probably should have been a kiss at that moment and the end scene of the gang at the Jasmine Dragon with Zuko and Katara shyly proclaiming their interest in each other. (3/4, sorry I have one more)

Again, ZK is not my ship, but EIP seemed to set up a ZK endgame that jumped the tracks at the end. By all the "rules" of a good narrative, Zuko and Katara should have ended up together, otherwise EIP should never have been countenanced or storyboarded. Full disclosure that I'm not a huge Kataang fan either, but Kataang was done a disservice by having EIP exist. It either should not have ever gotten written, or the ZK enemies-to-lovers arc should have been concluded. (end)

Disclaimer: I don’t care if someone ships Zvtara. Never have, never will. If the takeaway you (the general you, not anon specifically lol) get from this post is that Zvtara is “bad,” then I’m going to assume you didn’t actually read anything I wrote, because that is the farthest thing from my point here. Also, this post is strictly my personal response to these asks. I don’t expect everyone to read this and be like “YEAH” lmao. I am sure some people have different opinions, and that is a-okay!

In short, I think we will have to agree to disagree, anon.

Do some people consider EIP the beginning of a busted enemies-to-lovers arc? Of course they do, they’re “rabid zkers” who wear Zvtara shipping goggles 24/7 lmao. EIP couldn’t have been the beginning of an E-L arc because such an arc was never in the cards for them in the first place! Katara forgave Zuko in the previous episode. Trying to cram a romantic relationship into five episodes after months of hatred between Zuko and Katara would have been awful writing (and thus probably would have been a decision mercilessly criticized until the end of time, lmao). So it’s honestly better that Zvtara gets to spread its wings in fanon instead (much less pressure)! Also, realistically speaking, Katara and Zuko probably still had so many issues to work through in their friendship. Like yes, she forgave him and recognized he was trying to do better, but that doesn’t erase what Zuko has done to her and her friends. There is still plenty of forward progress they need to make before romance can even be considered between them. If that makes sense?

Also, let’s be real: EIP and bit with June afterwards were 100% ship bait. Just an attempt to add to the “drama” of who Katara would end up. A technique only effective while it was airing, for the record, because if you watch the show straight through, it becomes glaringly obvious that Zuko and Katara’s relationship - while gorgeous - was always meant to stay strictly platonic within the canon timeline.

Anyways. I’ll try to break down your ask one piece at a time!

“Zuko and Katara see how others see them, and it weirds them out”

Yes, they are definitely weirded out! The transcript says, “Zuko and Katara inch away from each other, slightly uncomfortable.” Which is just a longer way of describing that they were weirded out by the depiction of their relationship in EIP, lol. However, the play is not how others see them. The play is the Fire Nation’s imperialist propaganda, meant to demean the entire Gaang. I talk about in specifics how the entire Gaang is belittled here, but this is the key stuff I noted about Zuko and Katara:

it’s important to situate that and more importantly situate eip zuko and katara’s relationship within the context of the show. the fire nation is an imperialist country. the southern water tribe has suffered heavily beneath them. we know from “the headband” that fire nation individuals are fed pro-imperialistic propaganda from birth; that combined with zuko and azula’s degrading comment of “peasant” towards katara demonstrate very clearly how the fire nation views every other nation - put simply, they are superior and everyone else is inferior. that attitude is therefore reflected in the eip play:

- katara, an indigenous woman, is highly sexualized and portrayed as overly dramatic and tearful, because the fire nation objectifies women not of their own people and views them as less intelligent and less emotionally stable

- she is thus paired as having a “romance” with zuko in eip because naturally, via fire nation logic, zuko would be able to “score” an “easy” woman of one of the water tribes

- furthermore, the eip “romance” between zuko and katara emphasizes zuko’s position as a traitor to the fire nation; the implication is that as a traitor, he’d only be able to achieve a relationship with a “lesser” woman, e.g. a woman not of the fire nation

That is not how other people truly view Zuko and Katara’s relationship. That is how the Fire Nation depicts their relationship in order to degrade and dehumanize Zuko and Katara. To misinterpret that as “evidence” that Zuko and Katara should have been together romantically is… disturbing, in my opinion. (I really try to stay far away from zkers who use EIP as “proof” of supposed Zvtara interest in each other like honey that is imperialist propaganda please don’t 😭).

If you want to talk about how other people actually view Zuko and Katara’s relationship, look at the Gaang, who were around them most of all! They never tease the possibility of romance between their friends. Why? Because within canon, there wasn’t one. Simple!

“Zuko insisted on sitting next to Katara”

Nope! This is all the transcript says: “Zuko [Removing his hood.] Just sit next to me. What’s the big deal?” He doesn’t even mention Katara! Zuko is literally just like I’m already sitting. Why do I need to move? lmfao. It’s no thoughts head empty for our favorite firebender 😂

“Katara pushes Aang away”

I’m assuming this about the kiss, which I’m going to make a post about in the future because I am TIRED of the tomfoolery. Anyways, I’ll keep this brief - yes, she does push him away. She does not deny that she likes him. For Katara, the issue is the timing: “This isn’t the right time.” Both Katara and Aang know they like each other, plain and simple (which is why Aang doesn’t ask if he returns her feelings - he asks if they’d be together, because he knows their feelings are mutual). Katara pushes Aang away because, as she says, they’re in the middle of a war. She’s already seen Aang die once. He might die again. She doesn’t want that, of course, but it’s a reality Katara is forced to consider.

Anyways, her decision has nothing to do with Zuko. Lol.

“June reiterates the ‘Hey you’re with your gf again!’ Zuko and Katara deny it, but there likely should have been an undercurrent of ‘Why do people think we're together? Do we act like it? Should we be? S/he is kind of cute.’”

June’s assumption - especially because it is a repeat of a gag from earlier in the series, when it is incredibly concerning to assume a Fire Nation citizen would be with someone of the Water Tribes because of the war and its consequences - is comic relief. Not even good comic relief, lmao, because of the horrific implications I just mentioned that come with it, but it’s supposed to be comedy. There was no need of any “Zvtara” undercurrents there because a) Katara and Zuko had never expressed romantic interest in each other in the past, b) it wouldn’t track with the show’s narrative of Katara as Zuko’s surrogate sibling because of her position as Azula’s primary foil, and c) it just doesn’t make sense in general. Katara likes Aang. Zuko likes Mai. There was never a love triangle there, plain and simple. Fandom invented it.

And again, if you want to talk about how people actually see Zuko and Katara, don’t look at June, who has never had a proper conversation with either of them. As I said, the Gaang is a much better example, since they’re with the two 24/7. If they never tease Zuko and Katara about romance, why should we trust this random lady who doesn’t even know them?

“During this time, Zuko defers to Katara and despite Toph likely being more helpful, asks Katara to be the one to take down Azula with him.”

As I mentioned, Katara is Azula’s primary foil, so from a literary perspective she absolutely needed to be the one to take her down. Zuko needed to face Azula, but taking her down - again, from a literary pov - was always meant to be the end of Katara’s journey (she was the only person besides Aang who was ever a match for Azula, after all, as we see in CoD). Also, how would Toph be more helpful?? Not saying you’re wrong, btw, I just don’t understand what you mean. If I was Zuko, I also would have brought the waterbender that I’d already witnessed almost take down my sister already 😂. But even if Toph would have been more helpful, sometimes practicality must be sacrificed for a fulfilling narrative arc, lol!

“Last part of the finale should have been the money shot, Zuko taking lightning for Katara, and in a parallel to CoD, Katara healing him.”

Honestly, anon, this part of your ask baffles me 😂 I totally understand why rabid zkers might make this argument, but taking into account the rest of the show… It just doesn’t make sense? It’s been talked about a hundred times, but Zuko taking lightning out of romantic interest would ruin his redemption arc, regardless of if it was Katara or Aang or Sokka or anyone in the Gaang that he was taking it for, so that should be the end of discussion, full stop. I’ve talked about this issue here and here before, and someone else does a great job breaking it down in this post, too. But seriously. Zuko having romantic interest for anyone in the Gaang would ruin!! His!! Entire!! Arc!! I hate when people don’t understand that 😭 Zuko had to learn selflessness, to learn how to put others before himself, and to unlearn the imperialist rhetoric he’d been indoctrinated with from birth. Romantic interest during canon for Katara, Sokka, Aang, whomever, I don’t care, completely disregards all of his growth of breaking away from the Fire Nation. Plain and simple.

“Dante Basco is right in that there probably should have been a kiss at that moment and the end scene of the gang at the Jasmine Dragon with Zuko and Katara shyly proclaiming their interest in each other.”

I learned in a discord I’m in that Dante Basco apparently hadn’t seen the whole show until this year lmao. He didn’t know what energybending was nor did he know A:TLA ended with a Kataang kiss. Take that with a grain of salt, of course (you can watch the livestream this is revealed in here, and it was also mentioned in the recent StageIt A:TLA reunion), but I think it’s safe to conclude Dante Basco can be treated like any other Zvtara shipper. He likes the ship, which is totally cool, but he is not one of the writers, so his opinion meant naught in constructing the canon narrative.

ANYWAYS. My point is why would Zuko and Katara proclaim interest in each other if such interest would have to be crammed into five measly episodes?? Especially when four of those episodes were the finale?? That is awful writing, of course the A:TLA writers wouldn’t do that, lmao! They’d built up Kataang and Maiko already. Why scrap it and needlessly rush a romance from an excellent - and, important to note, a newly established - platonic bond? Nah.

“EIP seemed to set up a ZK endgame that jumped the tracks at the end. By all the ‘rules’ of a good narrative, Zuko and Katara should have ended up together”

Nope. Idk what rules people have been teaching you, anon, but they were lying!! You deserve better than people who would lie to you like that 😤. But yeah, narratively speaking, Katara and Zuko getting together would have made no sense. It would have undermined Zuko’s and Katara’s arcs, it would have completely disregarded Katara’s established feelings for Aang and Zuko’s for Mai, and again, it would have been totally rushed. Who wants that?? Normal people don’t, lmao. This might be hard to believe considering I occasionally rag about BNF zkers, but I actually have several friends who are Zvtara shippers! They agree that canon Zvtara would have made no sense, and that it’s better to play out a potential Zvtara dynamic in post-A:TLA fanon. I swear, it is only the rabid shippers who think Zvtara should have been canon, and trust me when I say no one should want to associate with them, lmao.

(And again, as I touched upon earlier, Zuko and Katara’s canon narrative relationship was surrogate siblings because of Katara’s position as Azula’s primary foil. The show wrapped their arc up perfectly! With a lovely bow and all. So no complaints from me!)

“otherwise EIP should never have been countenanced or storyboarded. Full disclosure that I’m not a huge Kataang fan either, but Kataang was done a disservice by having EIP exist”

What EIP did right:

- accurate (and horrifying) depiction of pro-imperialist propaganda

- recap of previous seasons

- a lesson on consent (Aang kisses Katara, it is depicted as wrong, and Aang reacts appropriately by admonishing himself and by giving Katara space afterwards. like, people call Aang an incel/entitled/whatever, BUT HE HAD THE PERFECT REACTION?? he literally backed off and never pressured her again. i would have killed for the guy who kept getting in my personal space during my junior year to have backed off when i told him to. spoiler alert: he didn’t)

- hit some good humor beats

What EIP did poorly:

- honestly it’s not very interesting just based on watching it (deconstructing it as propaganda gives it better depth), but that’s to be expected from filler

- stupid shipping drama

- not having an additional conversation/explicit apology between Aang and Katara

HOWEVER. This final point is actually very subjective. For one, A:TLA has a clear trend of not showing apologies on screen. Ex.: Katara doesn’t apologize to Sokka for what she said about their mother, Zuko doesn’t apologize for anything he did to the Gaang, Song, or really anyone (closest we get is “Hello, Zuko here” lmao), Ty Lee and Mai don’t apologize for putting the Kyoshi warriors in jail, etc. etc. So while an explicit apology would have been great, the lack of one admittedly tracks with the show’s pre-established standards. And two, while I of course would love a conversation between Aang and Katara (that’s literally MORE KATAANG. why would I refuse 😂), it isn’t… necessary, to be frank. Aang’s mistake is treated as such - kissing Katara was wrong and he should never have done that. Like I said, Aang acknowledges this error and gives Katara space afterwards. Thus, it is Katara who chooses to be with him when the war is over. She respects the time he gave her to come to a conclusion, and the choice she makes is that she loves him despite his poorly-timed kiss (I mean, she forgave Zuko for being complicit in Aang’s death. Katara is clearly a very forgiving person!). So like,, it gets to a point where if someone doesn’t recognize that, they’re probably the kind of weirdo who labels anything they don’t understand in a story as a plothole, lmao.

All of this is to say that EIP wasn’t a disservice to Kataang. It certainly could have been better, of course, and the kiss was obviously only put in to hype up drama (“will they, won’t they” blah blah blah), but overall it handled consent well for a kid’s show.

“It either should not have ever gotten written, or the ZK enemies-to-lovers arc should have been concluded.”

On the whole, EIP is absolutely an unnecessary episode, yeah. It was just a recap before the finale. The only important thing is its accurate depiction of pro-imperialist propaganda, but most people’s minds don’t immediately go to that, I’ll admit lmao 😂. And as I’ve already said, there was no Zvtara E-L arc - fandom completely made that up. Which is totally fine! That’s the point of transformative works. But they are still fanon. Plain and simple.

TL;DR - Zvtara was never in the cards for A:TLA. I wish rabid zkers would stop pretending it was and have fun in the sandbox like the rest of us 😭

And for the record, anon, you absolutely, 100% do not have to be convinced by any of this! It’s just my own, personal thoughts on the whole dealio. No worries either way!! 💛

[spade-riddles]

"Adjusting Expectations" Post

This submission received a lot of responses and 120 notes, so I thought I would compile the comments here.

Anonymous said:

Adjusting expectations anon was so good. If their timetables are right and we do just need to be patient a little longer, can Kaylor please send us a sign? I guess it would be too loud to slip "adjusting expectations" into social media posts, but maybe they could both do something with playing cards? To show they are card sharks right now but they'll find their way home eventually? That would reassure people. And it would fly under the radar.

casuallycruel131313 said:

I agree with a lot of this but I think the main issue right now is that moral and ethical lines have been crossed and there's no coming back from that. In these post-Trumpian insurrectionist times it's unfathomable that they could continue the Kushner narrative I no longer care if or when they come out, I enjoy the music and I'm happy to observe from a distance because I'm interested from a PR/marketing point of view but my opinion of T &K as people has changed irrevocably and I don't see how they can clean the tarnish off.

@theprologues said:

Agree with most of not all if this but I would like to say as a Kaylor the toe Grammy stunt didn’t phase me. I was not crushed by that by any means. I just shrugged and honestly expected it. It was the attributing Betty and exile to him during the LPSS in November that bummed me out and really made me go...really?

rockcrow20 said:

Have to say I also agree with most of this.

I no longer have any expectations on anything changing any time soon and have not been surprised by the recent events its to be expected after everything over the years really

Nothing has really changed (bearding narrative wise) since I fell down the rabbit hole in 2017 (except that great night in nashville 2018 rep)

Honestly I can't say I am as invested anymore about them ever coming out as I was.

I think the wb/Joe thing was the last moment for me and the continual kushner connection just troubles me like many others.

I mean my kaylor motto for awhile now has been hope for the best but expect disappointment.

Low expectations = limited feelings of disappointment.

original-cypher said:

@rockcrow20 the WB was a breaking point for so many. You are absolutely right. There are just so ma'y contradictions that feel like absolute whiplash. (I know I seem to have been the only one experiencing that with Gorgeous but... that was a big one for me, too) But like. You go on a whole PR campaign about speaking up and standing up for yourself. You say you're capable and tired of men trying to take ownership of your success and profit off of your name. And you credit you literal damn work to a bloke? Bitch, 'consistency'? Look it up. It grossed me out. It would have felt iffy if I believed they were real. But since I wasn't born yesterday it just sent me the message "this is how far I'm willing to sacrifice my principles to not be queer".

rockcrow20 said:

@original-cypher exactly why it bothered me and I know alot us so much. Such mixed messaging of being a strong fighting for your rights female and then oh hey let me attribute some of my best work to my pr boyfriend and the pr pics where she is walking behind all the time like 🙄 The Betty thing that was big one for me too!

rainbowdaisy13 said:

This write up and the comments are spot on. I don’t have much to add other than like @original-cypher said, Miss Americana is tainted for me now and seems like at the very least, it was released too soon in the plan. I get we think they have had to pivot but man, that doc, and including her literally saying “gay rights make me me” at the end was such a false flag. To see her wax poetic about not taking shit from men anymore and then see her do the same old hetero weak woman song and dance routine with the WB shit for albums that are of her genius mind has been so disappointing. I still believe Kaylor is real and I hope they get a chance to show the world that. Karlie posting that cardigan pic in the woods before the folklore release cemented for me they are still together. Adding a baby makes me feel all kind of weird ethical things but I hope I live long enough to see it play out and wear my I Told You So shirt 😁

@kellykaylor said:

agree with your post... I dont care about toe stunts but what really pissed me of was hetwashing betty 🤮! beautiful post tho anon!!

roameroo said:

Totally agree with these all comments especially the strong messaging of MA only to turn around & pull that WB = my "bf" crap. I was disheartened by her mentioning him at the Grammy's only bc he's getting credit for sh*t he doesn't/didn't do. That is what irks me the most about this, giving him credit for her life's work.

always-the-last-word said:

Can I throw my pennies in the pool ?? Taylor will put out the big three first Fearless, RED then 1989 that should bring us to about August. This is where the excitement should begin. If Taylor preps and waits for National Coming Out day it's a no lose for her. Lover her money making machine will go through the roof !! If things go bad or good in the public eye she'll have REPUTATION Taylor's Version ready to release. It will be epic and she'll own it and be FREE.

@karlie-what-you-want said:

always-the-last-word I like this take a lot! I try not to be too optimistic but if she wanted to come out sooner rather than later, I think this plan would satisfy both business and PR needs (at least on Taylor’s end). Remains to be seen how Tay will help Karlie dig her way out of the mess they made together regarding the K*shners.

always-the-last-word said:

Always remember that Taylor has a PLAN. Some of her plans are year's old (easter eggs). Taylor's one and only LOVE is her music, everything else comes second. If KK wants to change and be with her full time she'll make moves around the same time frame. That's if she chooses to. In any event Tay will be open and own all her music. I've seen this film before and WE might not like the ending.

chosetherose said:

I’ve been going back and forth for a day trying to figure out what I wanted to say when I reblogged this post. I’m tired. I’m frustrated. I understand I’m owed nothing by Taylor or Karlie. I understand that circumstances out of their control have caused the girls to pivot over and over again.

But, the root of my frustration in the past months stems not from me battling with the trivial (e.g. pap walks, etc.) but with my personal principles. I fiercely believe credit should be given where it is earned and I uphold this in my career regularly. To see Taylor crediting Toe with her art was deeply disappointing. Watch the 1989 and folklore acceptance speeches back to back and tell me it doesn’t upset you. I believe the K******s have blood on their hands and that their actions during the pandemic have killed people. To see Karlie still associating with one of them disgusts me.

I can’t help but think back in frustration - Would you really fall from grace to touch her face? (And in the brilliant words of @9w1ft) But would you die for her in public? I go back and forth feeling like questions like this aren’t fair at all and thinking they are sort of valid. At this point, it sort of feels like Taylor would only fall from grace for her lover if all the stars and facets of her life aligned perfectly. But perfection like this does not happen. Such is life. So why am I here?

I do question why Spade left certain messages in their final days. I am still holding hope a fervent revolution exonerates everyone. I so desperately want Taylor to regain control of her masters or re-records. Maybe this is the plan they thought was best with multiple goals in mind (re-records, having a family, coming out of the closet one day etc). I’m trying to remain patient because Spade told us to trust her endless yearning. But WOW it is asking a lot of us at this point.

Anonymous said:

Despite being a pragmatist kaylor and oftentimes getting into arguments with fellow optimistic kaylors (owner of this blog included) I think it's quite unfair -at this point- to say to the optimists who have patiently sat through the worst kind of stunts with the most terrible kind of people (yes I'm talking about the Kushner's friend group too) that they should have seen it coming. Besides, if it weren't for the optimists we the cynicals would have burned this fandom down by now.

Anonymous said:

Even if we ignore that an insurrection happened partially because of the family karlie's still working for and getting paid from, she literally said before the pregnancy debacle unfolded that j*sh was her last client while talking about cutting hair and doing a cutting gesture. How should we have interpreted that? 😤That a year later she would be more stuck with the Kushners than ever? We don't wake up on day and decide to have unrealistic expectations. She feeds into them. 😠

Anonymous said:

I have no expectation of Taylor coming out anymore. Zero. None. I have no expectation of her dropping Toe or even of Kaylor publicly reuniting. It doesn't even matter that much anymore. But I - do - expect 1 thing. Karlie to drop and completely dissociate herself from the Kushners and this has nothing to do with kaylor. It was everything to do with me being unable to support a person who willfully assists (now using her baby too) and receives money from a family that has made so many suffer.

Anonymous said:

A quick word from an ex-kaylor (who will never become an anti). A year ago, when the Trumps were still in power and untouchable and there was no baby, I was excusing and turning a blind eye to many things Karlie did for the K*shners. Even that dinner in September. I had also made peace with the truth never being revealed. But a year later the Trumps are gone, Karlie is still on full stunting mode now with a baby in the mix, a baby that is already being used by the Kushners, and I've really run out of excuses. Now the only thing that could possibly keep me on board is if I knew there was a good chance that the full truth would come out, so that Karlie's inexplicable and honestly borderline immoral actions could eventually make sense. But as your sub said, this is an unrealistic expectation, thus I became an ex-kaylor and I'm not planning to come back even when they reunite. 😕

Anonymous said:

What baffles me is that Taylor has explicitly expressed her regret about not giving her lover the credit she deserves and her doubt whether fame is worth hiding her true love: "when I walked up to the podium, I think I forgot to say your name", "what's a lifetime of achievement, if I pushed you to the edge". But yet again she didn't do anything to change this. I didn't expect her to acknowledge Karlie, but a nod or at least not falsely crediting her beard would be a good start.

Anonymous said:

1🙁 Let me chime in re: "expectations". I'm one of the kaylors who ever since the pregnancy reveal was trying to tell everyone there's NO way she was gonna dump him soon after birth let alone before that. It would bring too much unnecessary attention and Jerk would have never agreed to something that would make him look like a bad guy/husband. For the exact same reasons, I was also saying there's no way he wasn't going to post about the baby. All the above against the popular opinion back then.

2🙁 So I agree that the day of the birth post was known to T, not the timing though. Simply bc Kushner-leaning outlets made sure to note that detail. If they wanted it to go unnoticed, why draw attention to it? That being said, kaylors would have been more patient with this mess, if Karlie hadn't gone overboard with her freedom "smoke signals" last summer and Tay's "insiders" hadn't been insinuating that the end is VERY near. Both of them SHOULD have known by then how we would react to these.

3🙁 So it's natural that everyone feels played and has no patience for any more bullshit. Another sore point is how Jerk AND the Kushner-Trump klan monopolize the baby news. This isn't just to make it realistic, it's an abuse of Kaylor's baby's name to garner good pr for the worst family in America, with Karlie's blessing. In order for her marriage and split to appear realistic she's putting a LIFETIME burden on her child's back. Unless you believe she's eventually gonna say Jerk isn't the dad.

4🙁 So "we’re in a position we should realistically have been able to see coming". But we did see it coming, that why some made these extreme scenarios, bc this is the worst possible outcome. "Good people try to make it work, even in bad relationships." Ultimately this isn't just a "bad rs". It's a horrific association that should have been resolved ages ago, not one to bring your child into, doom it to suffer a similar fate, and expect people to sit idly and watch. That's what frustrates most.

[msgrumpygills]

I feel like stans don't accept that people might have legitimate reasons to not like their fave outside of who they play on TV or what faction of fandom they belong to. For example, i came into this fandom a Dean girl(gn) and i wasn't a huge fan of Sam until season 5 or 6. I had no problem with Jared however. I adored him. I was very pleased to see a celebrity so open about his struggles with mental health. It became a problem however, when he started using his mental health issues as an excuse to act like a spoiled brat.

Those of us who suffer from various mental issues have a hard enough time trying to shake off the "crazy" stigma and having a celebrity, who seems to be an advocate for mental health awareness, turn around and slam someone who suffered from addiction, publicly shame customer service workers while doing nothing to stop the fans who attacked them in his defense, and assault people while under the influence, then turn around and play the victim while also making jokes about it.....not a good look for us, ya know.

Dont get me wrong, it's okay to make mistakes, people mess up. Its part of being human. Own up to it, apologize and move on. But to blame crap behavior on mental health issues while also trying to be a spokesperson for good mental health.....

I know my fave isn't perfect. He says and does some Fd up Sh** and absolutely deserves to be called out on it. I also know there are people in my particular corner of the fandom are toxic as hell, but their opinions do not influence my own.

I can separate fiction from real life. Who i like and what i like and what i do or do not ship has no influence on how i feel about the actors on some tv show. I didn't like Sam at first but it had nothing to do with any ship or any other characters, i simply just didn't like Sam at first. And that didn't make me hate Jared. Now it's actually the opposite. I adore Sam, but Jared gives me all the wrong vibes. I want to believe he will get better, but it seems like the more time goes on, the more controversial he becomes.

I tried watching Walker, and it was BAD. I tried to talk to people about why it was bad and people told me i was just biased because of my preferences in SPN. A completely different show. I pointed out that jared fudged some things about the finale (5 years vs 6months, blurry "gender ambiguous" spouse.) and was ignored because I don't hate Misha. (All three of them said sketchy things about the finale btw i don't want this to seem like jared was the only one)

I'm sorry to rant like this on your page, but you seem to be one of the only anti blogs that can keep an objective view and I'm seriously starting to get sick of all these people acting like their faves sh** don't stink. They're men. Not Gods. It's okay to call them out. All of them. And no one can tell me that if Jensen had beat someone up while drunk he wouldn't be crucified, or if Misha had called a beloved actors death "pathetic" he wouldn't be cancelled. As they should be. Because those are messed up things to do. No matter who does them. And who ever does those things should be held accountable. Not babied.

I just really wish more people would realize the hypocrisy in their favoritism. I'm sorry. Rant over.

You’re welcome to rant anytime you need, love! 

I have an anxiety disorder and depression, and let me tell you, I was stoked when Jared was so open about his struggles and created AKF. But now it kind of makes me roll my eyes. He only brings up AKF when he’s promoting a new product he’s selling, he rarely ever mentions being a “mental health advocate” unless he’s promoting some product. It comes off as really fake. And I completely agree with you that him being able to hide behind his mental illness as an excuse for everything is gross. The fans totally feed into it too because no matter what happens, no matter what he does, he’s exempt from criticism (well deserved criticism) because of his “mental health”. Him making jokes about his arrest while simultaneously dodging responsibility and accountability for it was a big giveaway to him being able to handle more than the fans think. 

There is a LOT of hypocrisy with Jensen, Jared and Misha and a lot of double standards. I try very hard not to be biased with them though! I think you’re right though that if Jensen had done the shit that Jared has done and continues to do, he’d be ripped apart. Misha would be cancelled in a heartbeat and Jared would absolutely stay silent to it all. Jared does it though? He’s just a big ol’ silly moose with depression! Seriously? 

I’m not saying Jared needs to be perfect, I’m not saying that any of them have to be perfect, but at least own up to your mistakes, take responsibility and practice what you preach. No one has made him face actual consequences so he keeps doing it without learning from his mistakes. 

[kangaracha]

tell me about your ocs tho

you asked for this

so it’s been like, a while, since i really looked at my ocs outside of zombies, and also my work with the most proper ocs for zombies isn’t published yet, so i’m just going to do the three from other fandoms that i have big fics for and if you wanna hear about my little zombies ocs you can ask about em. okay. okay.

this is also really hard cause these characters go through so much change over the course of these fics, and i’m trying not to give away spoilers xD i will try. my best.

the OG. the one and only. the working-through-your-teenage-frustrations character. i love her.

IMOGEN HAYLOCK

mcu -  read sparrow

so the thing with imogen is that i wanted to do something different to the other oc fics I’d seen so far in this fandom. which is not to say those fics were bad or anything, i love them, i just want to be different. I was interested in writing a character that was like....not the perfect fit for the avengers, or the girl that got along with everyone, and then i saw TWS and related media (lookin at you, agents of shield), and i was like, ‘okay but if you were just hydra by name and working by shield values and principles all that time, and then suddenly you had to get up and kill your coworkers....’ and imogen Began.

i find her interesting for her wit and dry humour, her sarcasm and her big attitude - but also, her frustration with life, the deep-cut anger that she’s carrying with her like a rock, her struggle with self-worth and the way she presents herself to the world, and her complete average-ness in a place where everyone is exceptional. she’s nothing special - she’s just skating by, actually, she’s a high school dropout and on probation as a shield agent, and she’s really only off the streets because hydra value her as an object that might hold some valuable information related to a twenty year old cold case that doesn’t even have any relevance anymore in the grand scheme of things.

in sparrow, she finds something to relate to in clint barton - avenger, but also human disaster zone, making things up on the fly, most overlooked superhero of the century, completely regular guy with one unusual skill. she has to learn to be open to change and to want to be a good person, instead of an angry, ignorant person who will blindy follow whatever order she’s given and pick fights with anyone that disagrees with her. she also realises a lot of things that she should have realised sooner - that what’s left of her family is toxic as hell, that she’s been blindy following the forces of evil for years, that she doesn’t have to be an angry child from a broken home anymore, and that there’s a whole, scary world out there waiting for her and she can go and find anything she wants.

the rest of the trilogy, flicker and swift, follow her finding her way in the world, figuring out who she’s going to be and what she’s going to do, which is very relatable to me rn. it’s like therapy. flicker is also a great opportunity for me to have a crack at writing a romance as a side plot, and getting to let this character grow and realise her own self-worth and that yes, she can actually love and be loved in lots of different ways, is so satisfying. swift is just the icing on the cake, swift is her coming into her power, in her own way, it’s her looking back and realising that she’s changed her life and that she could do it after all, it’s a satisfying ending, i promise. i’m going to share it with you one day.

the slaughter of the lambs is kind of the sequel to the very first ac game that i always wanted and never got - except it’s not about altair because. i’m ~special~. the fic is set 20 years after the game, in the Levant, and is split into 4 parts spanning most of marwa’s lifetime, starting in 1211 AD and ending in 1257 AD and following her through the golden era of the assassin’s and the brotherhood’s downfall. it’s canon complaint, but runs like....canon adjacent. it’s its own story.

MARWA ABADI

assassin’s creed - read the slaughter of the lambs

marwa begins this story as a novice training in masyaf, the only female assassin in all of the levant. she’s raw and half-trained, never seen combat, her strength and ability put into doubt every day - but she’s talented too, and she works twice as hard as the boys, determined to prove everyone wrong. she’s tough and scrappy because she has to be to survive in the world she’s put herself in, and just a little too self-confident, which leads her to a downfall but also an important learning curve about wit and wisdom and loyalty, and the importance of striking a balance between free will and service to a cause. 

the rest of the story follows these themes on through the times of most upheaval in her life, as she struggles with following the creed and the beliefs of the assassin order and playing her role as a soldier for this cause, and with doubt and acting in accordance with her own personal morals and beliefs, which as time goes on and the assassin’s change, she finds do not always align. she has a strong sense of right and wrong and a strong character to back this up, and she strives throughout her life to become wise like her mentors were and to guide the world as best she can towards the right kind of future, as an assassin is supposed to. 

i wrote this character to explore the idea of being a servant to a higher order, to being faceless and lost to time and serving your cause knowing that, and how you find peace with giving your life over to that. especially coming from this day and age, when everything is recorded and everyone wants to be remembered for something, i found this interesting to explore. as marwa developed as a character, the other things came; her struggle with blind loyalty and festering doubt and the careful balance that she needs to strike between them, the folly of youth and the wisdom that she gains as she grows older, and the struggle of being a woman living in a male-dominated period of history and dedicating herself to a craft usually reserved for men. 

the first thing you need to understand about this fic, and this character, is that this is the therapy fic. this is me working through my own issues, but like also add +10 drama so that it’s interesting. and a romance plot, because i need the practise.

ANGIE SOMMARS

pokemon - read to go beyond your borders

angie’s story is mostly a sword/shield fic, though i borrowed some characters and stuff from diamond/pearl. the timelines are not canon. it’s set the year after the events of sw/sh, in galar. it follows angie through the gym challenge and her own personal conflicts, of which she has a laundry list. the fic finds her freshly arrived in galar from her home region in sinnoh, having run away from her responsibilities and the pressure of them at home looking for some kind of answer to her problems, or reassurance that she’s still good at what she does.

angie’s main conflict centres around her being the champion of the sinnoh league, a talented and experienced pokemon trainer sitting painfully exposed in the public eye. she struggles hugely with the reality of this position, and all the expectations that are put up to the person that holds it - she’s expected to be the strongest trainer in the region, to keep up a positive public image as the figurehead of the pokemon league, to be on the job most days of the year and ready for whatever it might throw at her. there’s always someone pushing her to be better, to present herself the way they think she should - and she’s used to being pushed and to being shaped, but there’s only so far you can bend a person before they will break.

angie is burnt out. she’s been in the public eye since she was five years old and competing in pokemon contests, and she’s far from the perfect princess of the league. her mistakes follow her around like a black cloud, creating controversy every time she reaches a new goal and drawing more and more bad press every time she messes something up. she doesn’t know what her own goals are anymore, and she doesn’t know where to go from the platform she’s found herself stranded on - she’s clinging to a position she’s too afraid to admit she doesn’t want anymore, and she’s scared to fall, or to break, or to look out to different horizons.

angie’s story explores the double-edged sword of fame and fortune, the satisfaction of being the best but also the scrutiny people place you under, the impact of ‘cancel culture’ on an individual, depression and anxiety and the endless circles of guilt in a toxic family environment...but also the hope of finding new horizons and finding the courage to take those first steps into the future that you want. it’s a coming of age kind of story, it’s young people finding their feet and new friends and new dreams and supporting each other through hard times. and it all ends well, which, to me, is the most important thing.

[sohoharlem]

Since I don’t know exactly how many anons are involved in this and who exactly is who, I'm posting this as a post. This is also mainly directed towards the anon who I was responding to yesterday and then deleted some asks. 

DISCLAIMER: Me calling you “babe” or “angel” or “mam” is not me being sarcastic. I actually talk like this in real life lol.

Here we go.

Hey Babe, its Soho here. 

Let’s start on a blank page, okay?  I want to start from the beginning here. I wish there was an easier way, but this will have to do. Let’s talk about the story from the beginning. You were there so you know what happened. Let’s recap.

Let me just start off by saying that I worked up until 4:30 yesterday and I was very tired. Exhaustion leads to human error. 

1) I had an ask sent to me asking about my impression that I got from Sebastian Stan after meeting him. I answered them saying he was a nice guy.

2) You (or maybe someone else, there are multiples in this situation) quoted the anon in your ask and said 

“Meeting him one time isn’t gonna prove that he’s a good person. His actions since last year show what kind of person he is, and it’s not good.” 

Can I first of all say say I COMPLETELY agree with this statement? 

3) Because of my long day, I accidentally thought that response that you wrote was in response to me MEETING him to which I said: 

“I just described my experience, I know nothing else since I don’t know him personally lol” 

Do you see the “lol”? I wasn’t being nasty to you, and I REALLY DID think you were talking to ME. I’m sorry if you thought I was being snippy or sarcastic. I swear I wasn’t. 

So you can see why I answered the way that I did. I don’t know what other way I would’ve or should’ve responded since I thought you were speaking to me, okay?

This is where it got mixed up. I don’t know if you think I was insinuating something with what I said, but I was not. I was answering thinking you were speaking to me. So I admit it, that I DID read your question wrong. But again, up until this point in time I did not know that yet. I thought you were speaking to me.

4) You quoted my above response and you said:

“I was talking to the anon. Thought that was clear.” Okay. Great. Seriously. (again, not being sarcastic or snippy)

I then responded with, “No, mam, it was not.” 

Now, when I said this, I did NOT mean it in any negative way whatsoever. I call EVERYONE mam. It’s how I was raised by my mother. I was showing you respect. I’m sorry if the way I worded it sounded like I was being nasty but I was not, I can guarantee you. I even call Tri mam, you can ask her yourself. All I was saying is was that it was not clear to me. I didn’t think it was important that I needed to justify or explain further details as to why that I had a long day or add extra unnecessary words like “i’m sorry I had a long day” and I read your ask wrong. It was my fault, Okay? I then finished my response with:

 “Anon to anon. Previous ask”  letting the other anon know you were speaking to them. I respected that you were talking to them.

I saw absolutely no issue in the conversation you two were having. 

It was what came afterwards that had me confused as shit.

After all this went down is when I started getting asks calling our FAQ page “dumb” and calling me “a fool” because I disagreed with you (or you guys). Even though I had no idea what we were disagreeing on? I deleted these because these are BULLYING comments. Okay? You also sent an ask before that saying that I was “deleting asks because it didn’t fit [my] narrative …” and you went on to talk about Sebastian and Alejandra, which I have no idea where that came from. I was very confused. I was not mad at you and I had nothing against you, babe. Absolutely nothing. I only deleted it because of the hateful words you were using. Hence my post last night reminder our readers to please refrain from certain phrasing. That’s ALL.

So two things I would like to settle with you first. I want to settle this and lay a solid ground for me and you.

I understand why you sent those asks if I look at the situation from your POV. There was obviously a misconception and misunderstanding. Like Tri said, tone can be interpreted different on the internet. We read something and it can sound totally different than how someone intended it. Now this is me taking fault: When I responded to your ask yesterday, and you were talking to the anon, I read it completely wrong and thought you were speaking to me. Even then, I did not, I repeat I DID NOT, mean anything double meaning with what I said. I’m a face value girl, there is no secret meaning to my words. I’m not a bitch. I did think you were speaking to me, anon. I had a long day at work and was extremely tired and read your ask wrong. Human error. When I wrote both my responses to you, I was not saying it in a sarcastic way, or a rude way. I swear I was being polite to you. You read it in a tone that was completely different that what I wrote it in. I wrote them with a smile on my face. You misinterpreted my tone and words. I did not write them in a tone or with a double meaning. I sincerely apologize for the misunderstand we had and hope we can move on from the fiasco.

I would like to address when you (again, or you guys, I don’t know how many people I’m talking to here and don’t want to offend any of you) started mentioning Sebastian and Alejandra and this double Narrative thing, I only deleted it because there was a certain word in there that I did not appreciate. 

But you know what?  I’m going to do you a favor tonight. This is for you, okay? So we can put all this behind us. I did delete your ask, but I screenshot it before I did so, because I was going to use it in a next post with others that came in and answer them as a group. This one of the ones that I felt was okay to post. So I’m going to quote your ask that I deleted below and I’m going to answer it for you. Okay? 

Again, this is me showing you that I want peace and a truce.

Your ask that I deleted and should’ve answered straight away. This is also to prove we do NOT stick to a narrative:

“Odds are you deleted that ask because it doesn’t fit your narrative. It’s clear that you guys excuse Sebastian’s actions time and time again with your apologist attitudes, whether it be excusing his hypocrisy or excusing this situation because it’s a PR relationship and Alejandra is the culprit. Stop with the misogyny. This is the 21st century.”

My answer to you:

First of all, 

When me and Tri made this blog, we vowed to never follow one narrative. This is a place where people with multiple opinions can come on and discuss without the fear of feeling judged. Second, Me and Tri do NOT excuse Sebastian’s actions at all. We DO NOT approve his traveling during the pandemic nor the scandals he has been involved with the last year or so. It’s why we cut back majorly from his fandom. We DO NOT excuse anything he’s done. He’s a grown man. He knows what he’s doing. He is not being forced and he should not be babied. When I answered my above ask when I said “He did not seem like a bad person when I met him. He’s very kind and shows respect” it was because someone asked me about my experience from meeting him in person for a few minutes, they were not asking how I felt about him NOW or about his traveling or the race issues and all that stuff. I absolutely do not excuse his behavior. Again, he’s a grown man. He knows what he’s doing. He’s not being forced into anything. Right? Right. 

Look, the point is, wording your question the correct way is KEY. You might come to learn that we, me and you, have more in common than you think.

Please take this as a truce. I’d be more than happy to address any other doubts you may have.

And to other anons who I deleted your asks, I’ll be taking a different approach instead of deleting them right away. If I get anything I feel reluctant to post, I will make a comment on here first as to why it’s being evaluated. Okay? 

Love you all so much. And I'm sorry for this misconception.

Thanks, 

- SH

[hanasaku-shijin]

By Her Side

Series: Lapis Re:Lights Characters: Tiara / Rosetta Words: 2,684 Genres: Friendship, General Summary: Rosetta is beyond thrilled to have her childhood friend Tiara join her at the Legendary Academy. Even though their lower ranking is at risk of getting them expelled, there is so much she wants to do by her friend’s side. ||  PATREON  ||  KO-FI  || COMMISSION INFO  ||

A/N: Okay, so I once again proved I have absolutely no self-control when it comes to fun series with cute girls who like each other, and I wrote this the day after episode 1 aired, before Lapis even has a fandom category on any site yet haha At this point, all I know about this series is what's been revealed in episode 1 and that's all. So I tried to just keep it all there and expand upon scenes that happened in canon so far, but just sprinkled in some of what I felt might be relevant, or have hopes for in future weeks of the show.

-----

By Her Side

Truth be told, Rosetta was absolutely thrilled to discover her beloved Tiara had somehow managed to end up at the Legendary Academy with her after two years, three months, and fourteen days of them being apart.

That glee and excitement had admittedly made her a little blind to the fact that - perhaps - some of the things that went on around here on a daily basis might prove to be a little overwhelming to someone who wasn't used to them.

Particularly the exploding arrows.

Presently, as one such arrow hits its target, the ensuing explosion bursts within the barrier in an eruption of flames and wind, and though the spell keeps the heat contained, the gust of air still snaps both hers and Tiara's hair and clothes back in a frenzy. To someone like Rosetta, it's just another everyday occurrence.

"You can basically take out a magical beast in one blow," she explains with a smile.

But as she turns her face to her childhood friend, she suddenly begins to understand this might not exactly be something she was prepared for.

Tiara's expression is frozen in spite of the flames, and as the winds die down, she begins to fall backward. It's such a surprise that Rosetta doesn't even have the time to remember how to reach out to grab her.

"Tiara? What's the matter? Tiara?! Tiara-!"

The poor girl hits the floor with a thud, and the shock on her face finally melts away as her eyelids fall shut and her head lolls to the side. Rosetta's heart jumps in panic as she drops to her knees beside her, and the old nickname comes without thinking.

"Tia-!"

The commotion draws the attention of the professor and the other girls who had been engaged in the exercise. They all peer around the pillars separating the firing range from the observation area in a fluster.

"Eh? What happened?"

"Who's that girl?"

"Oh no! Is she okay-?"

"Sh-Should we call the nurse-?"

Panicked, Rosetta reaches out to her friend and touches her cheek. Tiara feels a little warm, but it isn't feverish - likely just from the hot winds a few seconds ago. And her expression seems rather peaceful, so other than the fact that she's passed out, she seems all right. At the very least, Rosetta is glad she seems to have only fainted from shock, and nothing worse.

Rosetta breathes a sigh of relief. She lifts her head now to call out and answer the other girls' question.

"No, that's all right. I'm going to take her to the lounge."

Rosetta carefully slips her arms beneath Tiara's knees and shoulders, bringing her into her lap and close up against her chest. She strains out to also hook the handle of her suitcase on her fingertips. She braces herself to stand, and gets to her feet slowly. Somehow the weight of the suitcase is much more of a struggle to handle than Tiara's weight is.

Rosetta gets her bearings, checking to make sure her friend is secure in her arms before dipping her head to the other students, and then turning to start back the way they'd come.

As she walks with Tiara in her arms, Rosetta gets several concerned stares cast her way, but she smiles and reassures them all. She's glad that Tiara doesn't feel too hot across the rest of her body, so it's unlikely it's a fever. She has to keep reminding herself it was just the result of the blast, and nothing more.

By the time Rosetta reaches the main building, her fingers are beginning to ache under the weight of the suitcase, and yet holding Tiara still doesn't bother her at all. The stones sense her presence and allow the doors to open, and she hurries inside as quickly as she can manage.

She's a little grateful no one else is here at the moment, or else she'd have some explaining to do as to why their newest student was passed out in her arms.

She hurries to the couch and crouches to her knees, letting the suitcase slip off her fingers and onto the floor at last. With a sigh, she now focuses on laying Tiara down as slowly and gently as possible, doing her absolute best not to jostle her.

When she's finally succeeded in laying her down, Rosetta heaves a long sigh. But the worry continues wiggling in her chest like a fish out of water. She can't help but reach out again to touch her cheek.

"Tia…"

She's worried. How could she not be? After all, Rosetta had seen her fall ill many times in their younger years due to her weak constitution. She'd thought Tiara had grown healthier with age, but she can't help being concerned at seeing her faint like that after they've only just been reunited.

Rosetta shifts her hand, turning it over to rest the back of it against Tiara's forehead. She doesn't feel warm anymore. The fear that it could be another bad sickness like in the past begins to fade from Rosetta's mind.

But just to be absolutely certain, she moves a bit closer to her from her spot kneeling on the floor and picks up Tiara's hand from where it's been draped across her stomach. Rosetta holds her hand for a second, relishing the familiar softness of her touch before she remembers the bigger issue here.

She turns Tiara's hand over and finds her pulse, holding two fingers against her wrist. She locates the clock on the far wall and tracks a minute, counting the beats of her heart until time is up; she's relieved to measure a healthy resting heart rate of about sixty.

"Thank goodness…"

She sits back with a sigh, wiping her forehead where she'd started to sweat a bit from worry, though she still keeps hold of Tiara's hand as well.

Rosetta is quiet for a moment, gently lacing their fingers together and giving her a soft squeeze before letting go. She lays Tiara's hand back over her stomach, then lifts herself up onto her knees.

"Tia…"

She makes a move to touch her cheek again, but just before she can make contact, Tiara mutters a soft little moan. Rosetta gasps.

"Tiara? Tiara-?" She withdraws her hand to clutch them together at her chest now.

Tiara slowly opens her eyes, and Rosetta whimpers in relief.

"Tiara-sama! Thank goodness you're all right."

It takes some restraint not to embrace her. Instead, she sits back respectfully as Tiara slowly pushes herself up, looking around.

"Where are we?"

"This is the academy's lounge," Rosetta explains. "Are you in any pain?" She can't help but still worry for her a little. After all, she had fallen flat on her back and hit her head.

But thankfully, Tiara presents her with a smile.

"I'm all right now, Rosetta-senpai." Tiara takes a friendly stab at her with the formalities, and Rosetta relents.

"Ah… Sorry, Tiara."

"As long as you take the hint." Tiara gets to her feet with ease now, and Rosetta is glad she doesn't seem hindered in any way.

Rosetta stands as well.

"Why don't we head to our dorms for the day?"

"Sure!" she beams, giving a salute. "Lead the way, captain!"

"But before that, we'll need to get a certain something."

"And what's that?"

Rosetta steps up to her and pokes a finger at the thin red ribbon on her chest.

"Your uniform," she explains. "I'll go ahead and get it for you, so you can explore upstairs."

"Okay! Thanks, Rose!"

Tiara smiles again, and Rosetta feels a flutter in her heart when she uses the old nickname. She feels she should be used to it by now, since Tiara's addressed her by it all day, but it still makes her happy.

So the two of them part for the moment, Tiara heading upstairs as Rosetta retreats to the main office to collect her uniform. It only takes about five minutes, and once she has the bag in-hand she finds herself scurrying up the stairs rather excitedly.

She still can't believe this is real, that Tiara had not only managed to make her way here all the way from Bristol, but she'd managed to walk through the Chairman's doors right as Rosetta had. She wonders if it had been anyone else if Tiara would have been assigned to their group instead.

Just thinking about it makes her want to frown, so she shakes it off and hurries to the roof.

And even before she reaches the top of the stairs, she can hear the voice of an angel drifting down through the cool night air.

Rosetta slows her pace now as she reaches the top, and finally comes to a stop beneath the archway. She finds herself gazing at Tiara's back, and that sweet, beautiful voice of hers carries out on the twilight breeze.

"Oh guiding light, please shine upon us. Please shine upon us…"

Though she only hears the end of her song, it still brings tears to Rosetta's eyes almost instantly. She wipes them away, smiling as she offers a soft applause and starts walking to join her.

"You sound as lovely as ever."

Tiara turns around in surprise, then pouts a tiny bit.

"You should've said you were standing there. How embarrassing…"

"That takes me back," Rosetta says. "Wasn't that…?"

Tiara perks up and gives her a small smile in return.

"Yeah. It's my sister's song." She moves aside where she'd been standing at the railing of the balcony, making room for Rosetta to join her. Rosetta gladly takes her rightful place by her side.

Tiara turns around to lean her back on the railing, facing away from this new town of her future, and instead looking back, just for the moment.

"I was always so sickly, so she'd always make me feel better with her songs."

As she recounts the old memories, Rosetta is once again reminded of the troubling times of their shared past, when Tiara would often be bedridden with terrible fevers.

All Rosetta could ever manage was to stand and whimper, never feeling like she could do anything to help.

But Eliza would be there at Tiara's bedside to sing for her every time without fail.

Rosetta always wished she could provide similar comforts for her somehow...

"Eliza-sama loves you very much and was always worried about you."

"Yeah…" Tiara mumbles. "Back then, things were still…"

"Hm?"

"Oh, no. It's nothing!" Tiara gives her a reassuring smile, then leans back against the rail once more. "The reason I'm so much better now is because of my sister's songs. I'm sure of it."

Rosetta feels a wave of affection and adoration flood her heart, gazing at her strong and pure-hearted profile as a small breeze passes over them. She smiles too.

"Yes. I'm sure it is."

The wind strengthens just a little, stirring up their hair and caressing their skirts.

Rosetta looks out over the twinkling lights of the city and closes her eyes, breathing it all in. It's the first time in two years, three months, and fourteen days she's gotten to breathe in the night air with Tiara by her side. If she could be a little selfish, she'd wish to always be able to share her future days and nights with Tiara, too.

"What a nice breeze."

She reopens her eyes and turns to her friend, only to find Tiara's eyes closed once again. She's hunched over slightly, leaning in a comfortable stance against the rail, as if she'd simply fallen asleep on her feet.

And with the wind flowing gently through her hair, the city sparkling far below, and the calm night blanketing all around them, Rosetta believes she's never looked more beautiful.

She reaches for her, gingerly brushing the backs of her fingers across Tiara's cheek. She twirls a lock of her sunset-red hair, letting the strands slip through one by one, each like its own string of fate. If even one of them can connect back to her, Rosetta will be more than fine with that.

She lingers here with her, admiring Tiara's quiet beauty, and by some miracle resists the urge to kiss her.

Moments pass them by, until Rosetta is aware it's nearly time for the Lapis group to have supper. She wraps her arm gently across the small of Tiara's back, carefully coaxing the sleeping girl away from the edge.

"Tiara?"

Tiara moans softly, unconsciously turning toward her to rest her head on Rosetta's shoulder.

"Rose…"

Rosetta wants nothing more than to stay like this with her forever. But she can't let her own selfish desires get in Tiara's way of doing whatever it is she came here to do.

"It's time for supper," she murmurs, gently brushing her head against hers. Tiara yawns a little, but eventually steps away from the balcony with her.

"Okay."

She doesn't open her eyes right away, and seems perfectly content to walk with them closed for a moment, entrusting herself to her childhood friend. Rosetta keeps an arm around her and guides her as far as the staircase.

"All right, you've got to open your eyes now."

"Right." Tiara does as much, and when she looks up at her, it's like gazing into two endless summer skies. "Thanks, Rose."

Rosetta dips her head to conceal her blush.

"It's fine. Shall we?"

"Yes, we shall."

And so they head down the stairs together, and Rosetta savors the last few moments she'll have alone with her before they inevitably join the others.

And they'll still have to figure out a rooming situation, and there's also the fact that she has yet to tell Tiara about the ranks and risks of being a fellow Lapis like herself.

But Rosetta is certain that no matter what happens from here on out at the Academy - even if she gets herself expelled - she'd rather have done so with Tiara by her side.

--------

A/N: Gosh I have no excuse. They're just so good together. And if you really think Rosetta only thinks of her as a friend, I'm not going to say you're mistaken but like... oh man.

Not much for my first fic, but I wanted to keep it all mostly tame and in relation to canon, since at this point we have so little information to go off.

I wanted to mention not only Tiara's red ribbon but her hair also being red. String of fate and all that. I don't know, I think it'd be nice if she and Rosetta could be bound together somehow.

I'll more likely than not be writing more for them in the future if the show keeps being this good. After all, these two are gonna have their own room... My gosh...

[whenimgoodandready]

🎶Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends?🎶 Why!? We have really nice friendships in the show! Marinette and Alya, Adrien and Nino, Max and Kim, Chloe and Sabrina (in a twisted sense) there’s also “Juleka and Rose” along w/ “Nathaniel and Marc” *wink* Who’s the most questionable person you wouldn’t wanna be friends with? Let’s find out:

*Ikari Gozen-It’s Friendship Day in Paris! (Yes, it’s a real holiday, look it up) and the weather girls, Aurore and Mireille, who’ve now become friends, are celebrating by having a contest pairing up random strangers in town w/ others to form friendships and work together through a scavenger hunt all to win a fun filled day with Adrien Agreste! Marinette and the girl squad participate and Marinette is selected to be friends wiiiiiiiiiiiiiith-(drum roll) Kagami Tsurugi! Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! Oh boy! Out of all the 2.141 million population in Paris, she’s partnered up with one of her many rivals for Adriens affections! What a kick in the a**.

Fearing that Adrien will chose Kagami to be his girlfriend if they win since they’re already so close and developing feelings for each other, Marinette does everything she can to sabotage their chances at winning, but like she said, Kagami is brilliant and they achieve in all their challenges. It doesn’t get any better when in the middle of one challenge, Kagami kept asking her weird random questions all w/ a quick forced awkward smile that was quite unsettling for our heroine. Another part of the challenge included swapping phones with your partner and this was a callback to all those times Marinette stole peoples phones and she discovers something about Kagami..........she has no friends :(. (sad violin music plays) Hell! The only person on her contacts list is her mother! There’s absolutely nothing from Adrien on her phone and she was looking up “How to Make Friends” using an app. Marinette felt like sh*t now that she realized she was ruining what could’ve been a beautiful friendship.

Kagami heard about the sabotage from Marinettes phone when Alya sent a video wishing Marinette luck on losing w/ Kagami and she wasn’t mad, but disheartened. Like she failed at friendship :(. (sad violin music plays) Poor girl, she wanted other friends besides Adrien and now she can’t have her own gal pal. No one to shop w/ or get O.J w/ or discuss blood types since that’s kinda her thing right now or whatever. Hawk Moth sends out an akuma on her for that. Oh God, who’s she gonna turn into now!? Kagami gently backs out on the competition feeling unworthy, but Marinette has a change of heart and accepts her friendship even trying to convince her mother that she’s her friend which cheers her up. Not today, little butterfly! Not today! However, we learn Kagami never asked her mothers permission to enter the competition which upset her to steer the akuma in her direction instead and she becomes Ikari Gozen! A giant mechanical centaur w/ her walking cane bokken as a weapon! She has a cool car though. It’s voice activated since she’s blind which is pretty awesome. Better than a chauffeur!

Kagami gets eaten (she’s still alive just kept captive in Ikaries stomach) and Ladybug is given a lucky charm to find Master Fu (who’s still in Paris despite Hawk Moth being aware of him) and she chooses the dragon miraculous! Fellow Miraculers, I present to you the holder of the dragon miraculous, Kagami Tsurugi! A.k.a Ryuko! (trumpets sound). Obvie. Her Kwami was a dragon named Longg, her weapon:a sword, her miraculous:a choker and her power, get this, is a choice between three elements! Yeah! Three! Water💦, Wind🌬 and Lightning⚡️! But wait! There’s more! She doesn’t detransform after one is used, but until all three are used! Best.power.everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

During this years SDCC, someone uploaded the whole ep of this on YouTube when it was shown in the English Dub (thank you kind stranger, much obliged) and although it was in bad quality, I appreciated it and hearing the audience in the background of the sneak peek made it look like a sitcom which was kinda fun! Nice to see friendships formed here such the reconcile between Aurore and Mireille, Alya and Wayhem and now Marinette and Kagami! Thank goodness! It’s what the fandom wanted! Marinette has enough rivals already and it’s time she made friends with one of ‘em. Besides, we all know how Adrien feels about each one of her rivals (Chloe has no chance, Lila is unredeemable, Aurore and Mireille are barely around, so we don’t need to worry about ‘em and Wayhem, well...........it depends on how Adrien rolls). Kagami was the closest (next to Ladybug) on winning over Adrien and even though there were moments where she was nice, Marinette was clouded by her jealousy over her and cuz she always saw her as cold and reserved. She has feelings too Marinette! Shame on you! (course now that they’re friends I don’t know how that’ll work w/ the whole Adrien issue still up in the air. Especially for the season finale!). Strict parents raise rebels they say and we’ve seen Adrien do that, now he’s encouraged Kagami to do the same since “Desperada”. We’ve seen Kagami train her fencing many times (“Onichan” and “Feast”), but the girl needs a break Tomoe! No wonder she and Gabe are close, they both keep their children occupied w/ no time for fun! Master Fu is being extremely cautious now that his identity was discovered (“Feast”), but as we saw here and “Party Crasher”, he needs to still be close enough to train Marinette into guardianship and give her miraculouses when needed. Although, its not necessary, it’s only his name Hawk Moth knows cuz he can’t see from his supervillain form and only sense feelings. Master Fu also used a fake name in “Syren” just to be safe. Ryuko was ✨amazing!✨By far, she’s the best superhero with the best superpowers I’ve seen in the show. The fandom has done it again, Kagami got the dragon miraculous! She has three powers! Sooooooo much better than a single power one shot use! I always thought she’d have pyrokinesis since dragons are fire breathers, but I guess the lightning power was close enough. Still, three powers! More important, her weapon of choice was a sword! Perfect! Unfortunately, it was her first and last day of being a super due to her cockiness and exposing herself in front of her mother and Hawk Moth finding out about it. Damn! In and out in just one day! That’s the shortest superhero career I’ve seen since Electra in the 2003 “Daredevil” movie! Phffft! Guess this means I have to call in the trumpeters (summons the trumpeters and they arrive. I motion for them to play “Taps”. They play “Taps”). Oh Ryuko, although we’ve only known you for about 15mins, you were a gift. Your powers surpassed that of the dynamic duo with your elemental abilities and multiple use also your experience with fencing in your civilian form helped you to wield a true sword. Shame your hastiness exposed your identity and you were forced into retirement, but we shall not forget your presence and pray to the stars that you will one day come back to us. Great! Just great! The best superhero to come into the show and now we’ll never see them again! (crosses arms and pouts). Thanks a lot Hawkdaddy :P.

[sp4c3-0ddity]

Do I think plance is still one-sided in canon?

Short answer:  No

Long answer:

I think season seven - mostly the front half - gave us a lot of evidence to support that Lance feels something for Pidge. But first, a disclaimer:

whether you see it as romantic or not is your prerogative but I’m arguing in favor of romantic so if you disagree this post isn’t for you

(also i got tired of seeing “plance” meta that mostly argues against a//urance - although admittedly this has a bit of that too... - rather than for plance so here this is, in all its “someone’s probably already said it better” glory this is why i don’t usually write meta)

I know Lance’s livid and notable “Don’t you touch her!” stands out in a lot of minds, but I have a confession to make:  that line made me sit up, but initially it didn’t scream PLANCE at me (but i’ll still address it later), so first I want to talk about the other bit of specific Lance dialogue that caught my attention:

“Yeah, Pidge loved that robot.”

Here’s the thing about this line:  it’s totally irrelevant to the issue at hand. Bob is forcing Lance to play a life-endangering version of Guess Who, and when he gets to Rolo and Bob tries to jog his memory with traveled with Nyma and Beezer, what does Lance remember first? That Pidge loved that robot.

He could’ve thought of almost anything else to do with that incident, so why didn’t he say “yeah, Nyma handcuffed me to a tree” or “Hunk never trusted them”? And it’s not like he mulled over his statement of something Pidge loved before he said it; it was easily and most likely the first thing to pop into his head almost like Pidge is often on his mind or something right

Lance has always taken notice of Pidge. The fact that he noticed her issue with the Kerberos mission and confronted her about it is literally what kick-started the plot (see this meta/theory by @anchoredtether). But this line in season seven? It’s different, because it’s almost completely irrelevant to what’s going on, not to mention the kicker:

What was Lance doing when Pidge showed that she loved that robot?

He was flirting with and trying to charm Nyma. And yet, Pidge caught his attention in some subtle way that allowed him to notice that she was charmed by Beezer. It’s nothing like the incident after the simulator crash, when Pidge tried to harangue Iverson for “slandering” the Kerberos pilot; that outburst was front and center so of course Lance would’ve noticed it. But Pidge latching onto Beezer wasn’t so overt, and Lance somehow noticed it despite being distracted the entire time

seriously though how did he remember the fake distress signal before he recalled that they stole the Blue Lion which was his at the time

so now we can talk about the other Revealing bit of dialogue and what it holds...including how it contrasts to other similar instances for Lance:

“Don’t you touch her!”

i know this has been dissected or biopsied to death a lot but i’m fishing it out of the formaldehyde again because i think it’s Interesting how Lance’s protectiveness of Pidge here is just...different

(And also, is it just me, or is this some roundabout indication that Lance actually thinks of Pidge as a “girl”? Because i personally don’t share the headcanon that Lance is bi so if he’s taken notice of that...but anyway that was a tangent we’ll move on now)

In context, Lance acts as soon as Zethrid and Ezor single out Pidge. His voice - and the look on his face - as he charges is angrier than we’ve ever seen him i think?. And i mean, legitimately angry, because the only times (again, i think; memory might fail me) we’ve seen him anywhere close to this angry were (1) at Keith out of “rivalry”/petty jealousy and (2) at Lotor (also out of jealousy and before he showed any indication that he was hiding something).

(There was also at Keith in “The Journey Within”, and while to an extent I think that was legitimate anger, it doesn’t have the same impetus, at least in my interpretation, since he was angry on his own behalf rather than on someone else’s)

Of course, you can say that Lance’s anger and quick action come purely from a place of platonic/familial protectiveness because he’s put himself in the line of fire for other characters before, most notably Coran (season one), Allura (season six), and Veronica (season seven). But here are a few crucial differences:

I’ll start with the scene where he puts himself between Allura and a blast, since i see this get cropped up as Evidence for them as an endgame romantic pairing. Because Lance does undoubtedly have feelings for her (at least in season six), but his protection of her here doesn’t strike me as evidence for them, exactly, because he’s done the same thing for Coran

(unless you want to make the argument that he’s into Coran too, which, uh, i’m pretty sure that’s one thing the whole fandom can agree is not the case)

But there is one thing here that’s different, and that is that Lance (probably) dies and Allura revives him. But Allura’s revival serves another purpose, and that is to foreshadow her revival of Shiro at the very end of the season

(Now you might say but Reem did you see how Allura looked at him!! And i’ll say i’ve seen way too many “meta” posts comparing that Look(TM) to ones exchanged between Shiro and Keith, and if i was a betting woman i’d put money on sh/eith not being canon so that’s hardly what i consider “proof”)

and then, more than that difference, there’s Lance’s reaction. He wasn’t angry here - he’s not angry while defending Coran or Veronica either - not like he was while uselessly throwing himself at someone that threatened Pidge

And that’s another thing that’s worth mentioning:  the enemy threatening Pidge posed a very personal threat in that moment, whereas the enemy threatening Coran, Allura, and Veronica was depersonalized and faceless. could that then be the source of Lance’s anger? That the Enemy was in his face and he thought he could do something about them then?

All right, then what about...Shiro vs. Sendak? Sendak was a very personal enemy to Shiro, and he was very close to killing him before Keith swooped in to off him (which i have Thoughts about but won’t get into in this post). Keith wasn’t angry that Shiro was in danger in that moment, not really. although maybe you can write it off as Keith being “more mature” but i honestly don’t think that’s it because Shiro’s always been a sore spot for him and Keith still gets angry and protective. and i’ve already mentioned what i think about canon romantic sh/eith...

And then there’s the obvious comparison, about how the other members of Team Voltron reacted to Pidge being in very obvious danger during that scene, and the fact is that while they’re all protective of her, they were all much more composed than Lance was. Heck, even Lance was composed before Pidge was singled out

Lance is temperamental, it’s true, but he’s not exactly “volatile”, not in the way Keith was, so this feels especially notable and more than mere protectiveness over a friend or “sister figure”

i know there’s lots more to be said about Lance and Pidge and their relationship from season seven, but i’m more familiar with the front half of the season (i’m never binge-watching thirteen episodes ever again that was a bad idea), so i’ll leave you with a quick comment on their behavior in “The Journey Within”:

they were holding onto each other for most of the episode and did you see the way Pidge clutched Lance’s arm with both of hers also has your otp held hands in canon no i didn’t think so. then there’s this blessed screenshot (thank you @lions-in-hats for it):

tl;dr the writers gave us some indication that Lance has feelings for Pidge, even if they’re not explicit. whether that was intentional on their part remains to be seen, and it’s up to them to do something about it

[1358456]

From what I have seen, people generally don't bother to look up the definition of foreign words and phrases if somebody else has given a translation (even if it is a bad one) at the same time. It can really fuck them over if they keep holding on to a wrong translation or a misinterpretation of, say, scanlators and fansubbers. But the mentality of "the translation provided by the fan has to be 100% correct anyway so I don't need to double check" is, unfortunately, pretty widespread

Exactly. People don’t doubt everything, and generally accept information from anyone that’s deemed as “professional”. And it’s definitely valid and understandable. But the “professionals” are also human. They f*ck up. They have bias. And suffice to say, people as a whole still don’t know jack sh*t. So there’s always the possibility that what they’re saying is wrong. And more importantly, something that’s widespread takes absolutely forever to correct when it turns out to be wrong. This is especially prominent in regards to science, unfortunately. That’s why something that was absolutely proven to be bullsh*t 160 years ago is still in the textbooks. Then people who are growing up memorize the contents in the textbooks, accept it to be true, and so it becomes harder to root out the bullsh*t. And so the cycle begins again.

Anyways. When it comes to translation errors, I obviously don’t doubt everything and double check everything. Why would I? I only check the source for one reason only: if the translation says something that I find weird or interesting. If the translation says something that makes me go “... huh” then I go look it up. And most of the time, the source material does say something that is interpreted that way. So in those cases, I just go “oh, okay”, and move on. But sometimes, the source material says something very different to the translation. Only then I bring it up because it’s wrong. And then the reaction I get out of the translators is nothing. So the situation is not resolved and so I bring it up later on, and the people around them say that I’m bullying them. Amazing.

People not knowing these makes sense. After all, this is an English speaking fandom. And chances are, everyone who’s reading stuff from here, the English Discord, Bulbapedia, etc, don’t know jack sh*t about eastern languages. And also note, I don’t bring up translation issues about Japanese. Because I don’t know Japanese. I know some, sure, but nowhere near enough. So if you took a Japanese course, you immediately know far more than I do, so I don’t bring up any issues because I can’t bring up any issues. I don’t know what I’d be talking about. But what I do know more than most anyone is hanja (漢字). Unless you were born in China and lived there, you would not know more than I do. I have friends who lived in Japan for years. I know more hanja than they do. It makes perfect sense if you know the history. But people in the fandom don’t know that history. And so the nonsense begins. Do note that there are PLENTY of rational, reasonable, thinking human beings in the fandom. But in terms of ratio...

All that stuff aside... When I do post hanja stuff and give the translation, you have no reason to look it up yourself. But I don’t give the translations half the time. Especially nowadays, I don’t explain anything because I want to see what happens. I’m shaking the tree but nothing’s happening! Like the phrase I used for Blue (佳人薄命). If you know its meaning, and look at Blue in the canon AND in my stories (especially SA and Destiny and future Legacy), you’d see that it fits her perfectly. And that’s why she reminds me of that saying. But I haven’t explained what it means, and Google translate doesn’t know either. No one asks either, and so it remains a mystery. But ultimately, does it matter if you don’t know what this means? Is this necessary? No. And so it remains a mystery... until you go ask your Korean friend’s parents or your Chinese friend.

[deans-haunted-baby]

There's a reason I stopped watching Arrow and the Flash seasons ago and this recent crossover event reminded me of why.

The Arrowverse fandom is just plain toxic as f**k. And I thought Riverdale had it's issues which it does.

The blantant ugly treatment and disrespect of Oliver Queen from fans, other characters (some who don't know him at all) and the writers. Even his mental illness is a joke to these people. And I'm for the first time disappointed in Barry who I always considered one of Ollie's truest friends in the Arrowverse.

The writing on these shows just keeps getting worse and worse. I'm embarassed at this point. Glad I bailed when I did. But why am I still watching Riverdale Idk.

Ships have taken over the story and turned these shows into melodramatic shells of what they once were. Seriously (no offense to anyone following me) I am sick to death of Felicity and Iris and their hypocritical/condescending behavior especially towards their spouses. They're constantly presented as the moral high ground and better than the actual protagonists even when they don't deserve it. Why are they the center of Arrow and Flash and not Oliver and Barry?

The teams on these shows suck. I can't stand any of these characters anymore. Worst group of friends these heroes ever had. I get that Riverdale isn't exactly perfect in this area either but at least the characters on that show are still likable and the friendships are more solid. Who needs enemies when you got Team Arrow and Team Flash.

The annual Oliver Queen bashing/villainizing. Oh do I not miss the days of going through his tag to find people sh*tting on this character. And the Arrow writers do it enough, why do the Flash writers feel the need to add their wank every time? How many "lesson of the day" episodes does he need to be beaten over the head with while the other Arrow characters get away with their sh*tty (no consequences earned) decisions and mistakes?

The butchering of Lois Lane. This character finally gets introduced into this universe (along with Superman) and I was excited for Bitsie's portrayal because I loved her on Grimm (before that series went to sh*) but what does she do two seconds after meeting Oliver and Barry? Not only is she gleeful to see them fighting but she actually encourages Barry to assault Oliver (his friend and ally who he's known for years) for sh*ts and giggles. Oh and her reasoning for this (after seeing the guy for about a decimal) is she thinks "he's a jerk" 😡 What is she in 3rd grade? I'm so done with this BS. Sorry Flarrow fans but this version of Clois has got nothing on SMALLVILLE.

The overcrowded Arrowverse. Too many heroes and side characters are being introduced that it's turned into a monster tidal wave of incohesion. The veteran heroes are being buried in this universe (mostly Oliver) to make way for newbies and it's annoying. I feel like all the heart and soul in Arrow has disappeared. And btw that show's darkness was part of its appeal to fans like me.

The action is sloppy. One thing that made Arrow so memorable was the action and Stephen Amell's ability to do incredible stunts. I lived for that but now it's like the fight choreography has taken a massive nosedive. I remember the fights and stunts done in the very first Flarrow crossover and this recent one is abysmal in comparison. I will credit Grant Gustin though he did kick a lot of a**. He looked great in the GA costume too and his fight scenes were some of the most exciting moments. I only wish his physical abilities were utilized more on his show.

Plot holes and continuity errors. This has been my biggest pet peeve for years. You've seen my Riverdale rants on this blog you know what I'm talking about.

Barry Allen. I loved this character so much but ever since the Flashpoint failure that was S3 the writers continue to regress him. I do not like that he refuses to learn from his mistakes. I feel like when he got Oliver's abilities (which would've been a golden opportunity for character development) he treated it like a game instead of understanding/appreciating where thoes skills came from because he knew what Oliver had been through. And it made no sense for him to be so giddy about losing his powers either. Not to mention that immature desire to "get revenge" for the arrow in the back incident (which was obvious bad Flash fanservice). I just thought that after all these years he would've grown up. Oliver and Barry's relationship was my favorite thing about these crossovers, it's the core. They have a very special bond and been through so much together. While they don't always agree they have each other's backs and respect one another. In this crossover I felt the writers fundamentally shat on that and that pisses me off.

In conclusion of this sudden (and final) SuperFlarrow rant I will say that despite its massive flaws this crossover was better than last years. I never want to see that thing again. I liked the concept of Barry and Oliver swapping lives (they both were fantastic in that aspect) and the chemistry between Stephen and Grant hasn't wavered. I liked seeing the Kent Farm (easter egg: it was the same one used on Smallvile 😁), Gotham, Superman (good and bad), the SMALLVILLE theme, Supergirl, Batwoman and the Batman references. There was some funny scenes where shade wasn't being thrown at Oliver. I don't know if I'll watch next years but considering it may be Oliver/Stephen's exit from the Arrowverse (and I'm not thrilled about it) I'll have to check it out.

However watching this crossover confirmed to me that these shows aren't aging well and I'm not sorry I left. I just feel sad over how things have turned out.

[smokeybrandreviews]

A Galaxy Far, Far, Away

I’ve started my fourth play through of Mass Effect Legendary Edition. This is one of the best series of games i have ever played. Not necessarily the overall gameplay loop, but the narrative, the world building, is all just flat-out unassailable. I’m a sucker for deep lore and Mass Effect definitely has that. Revisiting all of that drama, and character development, and pathos, and epic feel, has me completely gripped. So much so that I ended up revisited Mass Effect: Andromeda after my second run through of the original trilogy. I had always planned to revisit the Pathfinder’s adventure after saving the galaxy from the Reapers. I wanted fresh eyes on the black sheep of the franchise, after playing the golden child once again. Suffice it to say, my opinion on the Andromeda sh*tshow has softened considerably. They say time heals all wounds and I guess that goes for tepid games, too.

Andromeda still has nothing on the original games but i like it more than the first Mass Effect. I hate that game so much. I touched upon this before in one of my many, many, Mass Effect posts (look, i really like these games, okay??) but i had a PS3. My first experience with the franchise was Mass Effect 2, which i bought on a whim because i kind of hate shooters, and was absolutely blindsided by straight up quality. That opening sequence is exactly how you start any cinematic experience. It was gripping, tense, and really gets the player to commit, even if they have no idea who the f*ck Shepard is. I didn’t get to play Mass Effect until AFTER i played 2 and 3 so, going back to the first? Man, that game didn’t have a chance. I did try the admittedly superior version on the Legendary edition, but i still hate it. I bailed the first time i had to fight a Thresher Maw. F*ck those things. I said all of that to drive home that Andromeda didn’t have to be great for it to usurp a spot in my favorite ME titles but, after some time and distance from my initial salt about the development of this game, i have to say, it’s genuinely better than the first Mass Effect. Blasphemy, i know, but f*ck that first game, man. i hate it so much.

Andromeda is a hard sell or most and i understand why completely. That first trilogy is gaming royalty and better written than the most Hollywood entries as of late. That bar was way too high. Any game trying to call itself Mass Effect and not starring Shepard was going to fall short. I think that is what crippled this Andromeda, aside from the ridiculous bugs and rather pedestrian plotting. But it’s fun as f*ck to actually play. Listen, that jump pack is a game changer. I like the combat in Mass Effect 3 the most out of the original games and Andromeda builds upon that with gusto. Seriously, being that mobile while maintaining one of the tightest cover systems I've ever had the pleasure of hunkering behind, was a true revelation. I absolutely loved basting around enemy squads, pinning them down, and blowing them the f*ck away before retreating to cover half a map away like nothing happened. It was exhilarating. While I'll always prefer Mass Effect 3′s combat because of nostalgia reasons, Andromeda was the most fun i had actually playing an ME title. So far.

Another solid addition presented by Andromeda are the squad mates. Yes, of course, they are template characters but the way they're written is the draw. They may remind you off the old crew but these youngbloods have a life of their own. Except Liam. F*ck that guy. It’s not hard to see the comparisons; Cora is Miranda, PeeBee is basically Tali, Vetra is every bit Garrus but a girl, Nackmor Drack is definitely the Urdnot Wrex of our cozy little refugee group, and Jaal gives me strong Javik vibes. I think that familiarity was built in for a reason. I think it was to ease us into a completely different world, a completely foreign narrative experience, so as not to alienate the audience before we experienced what Andromeda had to offer. I enjoyed my interactions with these characters and found myself particularly drawn to Cora. I romanced the sh*t out of her and, let me tell you, that love scene? Whoo, boy. Literally the best part of that game. Seriously, the facial animations, which everyone was so up at arms about during launch, are exquisite. The way the models move, that dialogue, the overall performances; Top tier sh*t! If all of Andromeda was that good, no one would be mad. But it’s not. And here comes the poo-poo...

Look, i enjoyed my time playing this game again, for the most part, but this story sucks. It sucks so much ass, man. Even after EA took a hatchet to the original Mass Effect narrative, that storyline is still so much more engaging than whatever the f*ck we got with Andromeda. It’s just so soulless and the cruelest thing about that is; It didn’t have to be. On paper, the plight of the Pathfinder could have been something truly special. Not even counting the laughably ambitious plans Bioware had for the game, itself, just the prospect of being in a brand new galaxy, fighting to make a home in an entire alien existence, terraforming planets and punching out mechanical space dragons, sounds f*cking ridiculous. I’d play the hell out of that game. I'd want to live in that world for years! But it’s not as fun as you’d think. A lot of Andromeda’s issues stem from the abject mediocrity on how that zealously awesome idea, is so poorly executed. Like, the character work is fine, except for Liam (f*ck Liam) but the narrative conflict around all that dope, is dumb. Its just dumb. Coming off Shepard’s epic struggle against the overwhelming eldritch horror of the Reapers, to whatever the f*ck the Pathfinder is trying to do, comes across as flaccid and dumb. If Andromeda made it out the door first, i think people would have been much kinder to it. The fact that it had to follow in Shepard’s shadow pretty much tanked any hope for this game.

Mass Effect: Andromeda isn’t as bad as i remember but it’s not much better either. I enjoyed my time with it, particularly after realizing you don’t have to do every stupid f*cking side quest because f*ck, and yet, i am readily aware of it’s very aggressive flaws. I still get why so many people in the fandom dismiss it. Andromeda is an amazing concept but only an adequate game. It doesn’t deserve it’s incredibly disparaging reputation but it's nowhere near as good as the latter two games of the first trilogy. Ultimately, i had more fun with Andromeda, despite itself, than i did with the first Mass Effect game and i don't understand why more people don’t feel the same. Andromeda has it’s issues, for sure, I'm not even gong to try and say otherwise, but so does the first Mass Effect and that one has aged like milk. Andromeda is nowhere near as bogus and i think if people give it another chance, they might agree with me. But f*ck Liam, though.

[smokeybrand]

A Galaxy Far, Far, Away

I’ve started my fourth play through of Mass Effect Legendary Edition. This is one of the best series of games i have ever played. Not necessarily the overall gameplay loop, but the narrative, the world building, is all just flat-out unassailable. I’m a sucker for deep lore and Mass Effect definitely has that. Revisiting all of that drama, and character development, and pathos, and epic feel, has me completely gripped. So much so that I ended up revisited Mass Effect: Andromeda after my second run through of the original trilogy. I had always planned to revisit the Pathfinder’s adventure after saving the galaxy from the Reapers. I wanted fresh eyes on the black sheep of the franchise, after playing the golden child once again. Suffice it to say, my opinion on the Andromeda sh*tshow has softened considerably. They say time heals all wounds and I guess that goes for tepid games, too.

Andromeda still has nothing on the original games but i like it more than the first Mass Effect. I hate that game so much. I touched upon this before in one of my many, many, Mass Effect posts (look, i really like these games, okay??) but i had a PS3. My first experience with the franchise was Mass Effect 2, which i bought on a whim because i kind of hate shooters, and was absolutely blindsided by straight up quality. That opening sequence is exactly how you start any cinematic experience. It was gripping, tense, and really gets the player to commit, even if they have no idea who the f*ck Shepard is. I didn’t get to play Mass Effect until AFTER i played 2 and 3 so, going back to the first? Man, that game didn’t have a chance. I did try the admittedly superior version on the Legendary edition, but i still hate it. I bailed the first time i had to fight a Thresher Maw. F*ck those things. I said all of that to drive home that Andromeda didn’t have to be great for it to usurp a spot in my favorite ME titles but, after some time and distance from my initial salt about the development of this game, i have to say, it’s genuinely better than the first Mass Effect. Blasphemy, i know, but f*ck that first game, man. i hate it so much.

Andromeda is a hard sell or most and i understand why completely. That first trilogy is gaming royalty and better written than the most Hollywood entries as of late. That bar was way too high. Any game trying to call itself Mass Effect and not starring Shepard was going to fall short. I think that is what crippled this Andromeda, aside from the ridiculous bugs and rather pedestrian plotting. But it’s fun as f*ck to actually play. Listen, that jump pack is a game changer. I like the combat in Mass Effect 3 the most out of the original games and Andromeda builds upon that with gusto. Seriously, being that mobile while maintaining one of the tightest cover systems I've ever had the pleasure of hunkering behind, was a true revelation. I absolutely loved basting around enemy squads, pinning them down, and blowing them the f*ck away before retreating to cover half a map away like nothing happened. It was exhilarating. While I'll always prefer Mass Effect 3′s combat because of nostalgia reasons, Andromeda was the most fun i had actually playing an ME title. So far.

Another solid addition presented by Andromeda are the squad mates. Yes, of course, they are template characters but the way they're written is the draw. They may remind you off the old crew but these youngbloods have a life of their own. Except Liam. F*ck that guy. It’s not hard to see the comparisons; Cora is Miranda, PeeBee is basically Tali, Vetra is every bit Garrus but a girl, Nackmor Drack is definitely the Urdnot Wrex of our cozy little refugee group, and Jaal gives me strong Javik vibes. I think that familiarity was built in for a reason. I think it was to ease us into a completely different world, a completely foreign narrative experience, so as not to alienate the audience before we experienced what Andromeda had to offer. I enjoyed my interactions with these characters and found myself particularly drawn to Cora. I romanced the sh*t out of her and, let me tell you, that love scene? Whoo, boy. Literally the best part of that game. Seriously, the facial animations, which everyone was so up at arms about during launch, are exquisite. The way the models move, that dialogue, the overall performances; Top tier sh*t! If all of Andromeda was that good, no one would be mad. But it’s not. And here comes the poo-poo...

Look, i enjoyed my time playing this game again, for the most part, but this story sucks. It sucks so much ass, man. Even after EA took a hatchet to the original Mass Effect narrative, that storyline is still so much more engaging than whatever the f*ck we got with Andromeda. It’s just so soulless and the cruelest thing about that is; It didn’t have to be. On paper, the plight of the Pathfinder could have been something truly special. Not even counting the laughably ambitious plans Bioware had for the game, itself, just the prospect of being in a brand new galaxy, fighting to make a home in an entire alien existence, terraforming planets and punching out mechanical space dragons, sounds f*cking ridiculous. I’d play the hell out of that game. I'd want to live in that world for years! But it’s not as fun as you’d think. A lot of Andromeda’s issues stem from the abject mediocrity on how that zealously awesome idea, is so poorly executed. Like, the character work is fine, except for Liam (f*ck Liam) but the narrative conflict around all that dope, is dumb. Its just dumb. Coming off Shepard’s epic struggle against the overwhelming eldritch horror of the Reapers, to whatever the f*ck the Pathfinder is trying to do, comes across as flaccid and dumb. If Andromeda made it out the door first, i think people would have been much kinder to it. The fact that it had to follow in Shepard’s shadow pretty much tanked any hope for this game.

Mass Effect: Andromeda isn’t as bad as i remember but it’s not much better either. I enjoyed my time with it, particularly after realizing you don’t have to do every stupid f*cking side quest because f*ck, and yet, i am readily aware of it’s very aggressive flaws. I still get why so many people in the fandom dismiss it. Andromeda is an amazing concept but only an adequate game. It doesn’t deserve it’s incredibly disparaging reputation but it's nowhere near as good as the latter two games of the first trilogy. Ultimately, i had more fun with Andromeda, despite itself, than i did with the first Mass Effect game and i don't understand why more people don’t feel the same. Andromeda has it’s issues, for sure, I'm not even gong to try and say otherwise, but so does the first Mass Effect and that one has aged like milk. Andromeda is nowhere near as bogus and i think if people give it another chance, they might agree with me. But f*ck Liam, though.

[drawerswithouthandles]

"nothing really changed in him, that shows us that he won’t go there again. Cause all the promises, that he would be faithful, to put Aaron FIRST, he had already made them, three weeks before the cheating than happened. " -- Exactly this! It's why I can't get excited about the wedding either. I just don't believe in these characters anymore - what they say, how they react; nothing feels meaningful anymore. They had the big gestures, the big fall outs, and it all gets swept under a rug for plot.

Hiya Nonny,

I think what we experienced in this SL is something that happens to every fandom once in a while. When the fanon and the canon doesn’t overlap during high drama events. We can lose connection and understanding of characters we loved before and thought we knew. Cause they reacted and behaved differently as we expected. 

And when the shift stays, we might never get the connection feeling back. Results are often, that people talk about “characters being OOC” or “bad writing” - and gosh we had a bunch of ‘bad writing’ and characters acting weirdly during this SL.

I would recommend to take a small step back, maybe even from fandom, watch either for yourself or take a small break and come back in the new storyline. It might help to find meaning again. Nothing feels more awful then to not connect with something you once loved and thought you understood. 

Honestly, lots of people I talk on here regularly did exactly that!

Thoughts that have very little to do with your question, mostly rambling about Robert and Redemptions under the cut:

I am NOT saying by ANY means, that I think Robert will cheat again. (any time soon) Its just that after this SL nothing really NEEDS to make that much sense. 

After the cheating this fandom meta’d the HECK out of the scenes, tried to make sense, why Robert would do that to Aaron, why this insignificant prison fight completely tipped him over. And we found some answers. Some things made more sense after the reveal episode. But still some things never really fit together. (Rebeccas whole character for example, the baby first as a constant reminder, then as a sh trigger, now as a cute coparenting option?, Robert turning dark side for a bit etc.) 

But the most popular theory was for ages, that the ONS never happened or we would get a twist and everything would be alright again. Look, even today, the baby is 4 months old, there has never been any real questioning of paternity, a good chunk of the fandom is only here, cause they still hope for a “Ross is the dad”-reveal. 

It’s a soap, they are usually not that deep. You get HEAVY hints if something should FEEL off or get taken by the hand and shown what’s going on. Like comparing it with Vadam, the audience knew for a good while, that Adam wasn’t the dad (and got occasionally reminded) and were just waiting for this to blow up. 

Here, we only have the knowledge, that Lachlan caused the crash, a deleted voicemail and a brain damaged witness. And it revolves around characters, that the GA doesn’t care about anyway( The Whites don’t even have gravestones in the village)

So as for Roberts redemption, it felt for ages, that the show sort of, took loving and compassionate Robert away from us, only to sell him back as ‘new and improved’. 

Even tho we saw him already in his first redemption - getting Chrissie off for manslaughter, this was not connected to Aaron in any way. Robert making up with Andy, in Chicken 2.0 was only indirectly about Aaron. So the fandom picture, that the first redemption was ‘all about Aaron’ and this redemption is ‘better’ cause its NOT about Aaron (where Aaron was the one making Dad!bert possible in the first place) is a bit inaccurate from the get go.

Robert did feel like a 2D version of himself for big parts of this SL, like he was running on heartbreak, I know that, but some of his actions were just really OTT, and all reaction we got from Aaron (the only person that matters to Robert) was “At least no one died” xDD I mean yay! But it’s also… a bit unsatisfying, that Robert got this LOW and there are just no consequences to it… nothing. All people that could hold him accountable for any of it are dead or brain damaged/depending on him. 

And I don’t mean only NEGATIVE consequences!! Robert had severe sleep issues?? He was always living on the brink of a break-down? Why is he not in counseling? The reveal episode in May promised that Robert would go with Aaron, that’s completely forgotten about, even though the dude could really need some support. Look how fast he crumbled on Aaron’s sofa on VDay, the he is still living close to a break-down? Are we not meant to see it that way? Has getting back together with Aaron fixed all those lingering issues? Another pillar of Roberts second redemption is guilt and I am not sure if that is that much better then the first redemption. 

I know, lots of people are okay now with the way this was told and that’s alright. Cause soaps often takes their characters to extremes and suck in the aftermath. So, I try to get on board with things and forget the stuff that happened that just felt ‘icky’. 

There are things to look forward to! We get a more Aaron centric SL in April, the Joe/Robert stuff looks like fun. Liv gets focus, Gerry is in the Mill :D