#ok i'm gonna go through them now bc each has a story of its own

[jewishcissiekj]

Asajj memes because she's literally on my mind all day every day

These have so many layers honestly you guys wouldn't believe it Like I love the way these go from "haha she's bald and kinda looks like an egg what if I edit her face into an egg" to "Fun fact the first thing that was drawn as an Attack of the Clones concept art was a concept a Female Sith bc the artists wanted to go in that direction and they made like so many drawings of different Female Sith ideas but then at the end George Lucas told them out of nowhere Sir Christopher Lee was actually gonna play the Sith villain and that their concepts were going nowhere" because that's just Asajj to me

[thefinalwitness]

ok a lot of ppl are doing it and im just so *BUZZES* about dt so i'm gonna do it too!!! i'm gonna talk about dt and ocs!!!! the readmore contains huge and detailed spoilers so please please do not read it if you havent finished the msq!!!!

also just to set the tone of this post: i LOVED dt SO MUCH so this is going to be an extremely positive post!!!! i loved literally everything about it so ig if u hated it maybe just skip this one lmao!!

IT WAS SOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN WTF!!!! i honestly expected (and dreaded) we'd be immediately foist back into Sole Hero Of The Universe Mode, and the fact we weren't has made me SO HAPPY i decided to stick with l'aiha for dt msq!!!! this expac was PERFECT for her, a chance to learn about a new culture and get away from her mantle!!!! it's everything i could've asked for and so much more!!!!

tural is BEAUTIFUL and so detailed, i loved the rites half of the expac and the way the plot twisted midway through was really fun to me!! i've seen ppl say the first and second half feel like different stories but i honestly disagree, i think zoraal ja and sphene are perfect opposites of wuk lamat and koana, and i think getting to see how coming into your own can be done right and wrong was really neat. i think they're two sides of the same coin, the coin being the story, and while i do wish we'd had more time to set up sphene's storyline, i think all the story beats themselves are great!

i LOVE the implications of the ending too!!!! we have this artifact now that has provably opened passageways to other reflections—something l'aiha has been deeply interested in and researching since shadowbringers!!!! if this is where the next 10 years are going, i am STOOOOOOOKED

i'm also so pleased with how l'aiha and j'sera (her sister, i renamed her bc dyslexia) have developed through this expac! i wanted them to grow closer now that they're both out of their comfort zones, and that's exactly what this story gave me. l'aiha becomes deeply attached to j'sera to the point of overprotectiveness throughout the rites—then, it's decided that l'aiha should stay in tuliyollal during the barrier stuff because there are 4 wols in her canon, and ONE should stay in the city. she therefore has to let sera go, and sera gets the chance to come into her own during the second half of the expac, rising to the challenge without anyone—her sister, her mentor, her parents—to protect her. when they reunite and face zoraal ja together, l'aiha gets to see how capable sera is and how much she's grown since they left sharlayan. l'aiha no longer feels compelled to coddle her, and sera no longer needs to cling to l'aiha! it's SOOOOOOOOO GOOD.

(i've also decided that, when zoraal ja orders the second attack on tuliyollal, the dragons aren't as close as they are in canon, and l'aiha uses azem's crystal to summon them to the battle. because it's cool hehe.)

sera herself got SOOOOOOO MUCH out of this expac!!!! i haven't fleshed out all of it yet, but i definitely think dt is where she and leviathan-egi start to really bridge the gap between them. leviathan-egi deeply respected its previous master, sera's mentor, and it's reacted extremely poorly to sera. it doesn't respect her as its master, treating her instead like a kitten to defend. but like l'aiha, leviathan-egi starts to realize sera has grown a lot in tural, and that it doesn't have to do all the work alone, that they can cooperate and become stronger for it.

i did NOT expect to end up shipping her and erenville, but as the story progressed i really really felt like they were a good fit! i've decided they became friends over the three years erenville was in sharlayan, so they're already familiar with each other, and aside from wuk lamat and krile, they're only REALLY familiar with each other, so they provide one another with much needed support during so much uncertainty and newness! it's sera that goes with erenville to shaaloani, and he tells her a lot about his mom during that time, so cahciua's loss hits her pretty hard too. (cahciua also DEFINITELY knows they like each other LMAO.)

i'm still getting my thoughts together for minfilia and valensia—the expac was just SO perfect for l'aiha and sera that i basically forgot to think about them VKFNKHCCHKVM. i want to though!!! i have ideas, and i think they'll both have their own strong places in dt—i think minfilia and sphene will be SO interesting, as well as valensia and koana!!

i'm just SO happy. i think dt is maybe my new first or second fav expac. i adored every second of it, it's like it was molded perfectly out of what i wanted for l'aiha and sera especially! ough. hough!!! i'm so happy.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

heyooo I just started writing fan fic and I really have no idea what I'm doing haha, can you explain how you draft and edit and write you long fics? i don't know what to do besides just starting at the beginning and writing to the end. (also sending this to multiple writiers so I can get lots of opinions)

hey! first of all, i wanna say i'm flattered that you ask, although i can claim no sense of credibility in the realm of writing anything, fanfic or otherwise. i'm just some guy, like everyone else on here, and i'm just doing my best with what i've got.

i don't believe that every writer will approach a longfic the same way, and i don't think a writer will approach each of their longfics in the same way, either. i know that the fic i'm hoping to write when gocmh is done is going to have a different process than mfl/gocmh did, because the stories are different and the needs are different. i can tell you how i approached mfl, and maybe you'll find that helpful, but if you don't, that's okay. your fic isn't gonna be mfl, it's gonna be yours, and ultimately you're the only one who is going to be able to figure out how to write it.

i'm gonna skip past all the general writing advice, which is read a lot and spend almost your entire childhood and adolescence meticulously picking apart all the stories you love to figure out how they work like they're clocks make of gears and springs. when it came to mfl, i wrote the first 5-8 chapters on pure vibes. every chapter's contents were just as big a mystery to me at the outset of writing them as they were to the readers when they sat down to read them. i was only ever thinking about the next step, the next sentence, the next tiny jump in the story. i was not thinking about where we'd end up, bc as far as i was concerned, that wasn't my business. my business was what happens next.

and in the process of writing that way, i was basically just improvising. it's a cliché, i know, but the first rule of improv is to yes, and, and i yes anded myself over and over and over. if i typed that the world of mfl was like x, then it was like x, and i had to just fucking deal with that. so much of early mfl (and truly all of that world) is just me making up rules and facts that later me would have to treat as sacred. is this the most efficient way to write? idk, and idc, either. this was the most fun, exciting way for me to write the story, and i don't regret it.

after a while though, my brain naturally started to stretch its legs (ew, terrible metaphor, abort, abort), and i started thinking ahead. not like terribly far ahead, but enough where i could say, "ok, if i'm at point a, and i know what point e i want to reach someday, i just gotta figure out points b through d." and sometimes that involved outlining the chapters that could get me from a to e, and sometimes i'd make it up as i went. it depended on the day and the points and what was going on in my life at the time. as i write this, i have the final ten-ish chapters of gocmh planned out, what's going to happen, who's pov it's gonna be in, etc. i actually planned out the last 15-ish chapters this way, and have written some, but even in the process of writing those chapters, shit has changed! something i thought was a good idea in the planning process didn't work out the way i'd hoped in execution, and i had to pivot. that's writing, baby.

now i know this isn't going to work for the the fic i have planned for after gocmh. i'm going to want that fic properly planned out, each chapter outlined and themes woven in carefully ahead of time, bc that's that story. i fully expect for shit to go haywire in the actual writing, of course, because in all my years of fic writing (and friends, there is so much more fic writing than y'all know about with this username), shit has never not gone haywire in the actual writing. but idk, that's the fun part. subverting your own expectations. cutting yourself off at the knees. kicking your own ass. it's fun!

i'll also talk a bit about how i wrote people and rhythm, the originals fic you can still find on my ao3 account. that fic took about six months to write, and to date i don't think i've ever had so much fun writing anything. imagine, if you will, two whiteboards, each divided vertically in half, covered in sticky notes. on each of those sticky notes is written a brief scene description, an event that Has to Happen. each of the four whiteboard halves represents an episode (that fic was organized by episodes, not chapters, bc i fancied myself an Auteur), and i would place and replace and replace those sticky notes until i had all the scenes i needed to make an episode in the order they needed to happen in. and then i would write! and bc i'd already done the organizational work to figure out the story beats, i could write the individual scenes in the order that struck my fancy, bc if i skipped a piece of the story that was important, it didn't matter. i knew where that sticky note went, and i could fill in the blank later. if this type of planning/writing appeals to you, i recommend the website/app trello, which is basically the digital version of whiteboards and sticky notes.

i wanna talk about something you said in your ask. "i don't know what to do besides just starting at the beginning and writing to the end." so, uhhhh, who says? who says you gotta start at the beginning and write to the end? start in the middle. start at the shit that makes you excited. write the scene that makes your mouth water and your hands turn into claws. write the good shit first, and then when you've got it, ask yourself, "ok, how do i earn this? i want my readers to get to here, bc it's good and juicy and so much fun, but i gotta work to get them here." start where you wanna start and work backwards from there if you must. asking "why" is so useful for this. oh, you're at point f? why did point f happen? that's point e. why did point e happen? that's point d. (then, you know, use the rest of the alphabet.) so much of life is just us reacting to shit, dealing with the onslaught of Life as best we know how, even if it fucks shit up for us in the future, so if you wanna write the reaction first, go for it! just remember that reactions stem from actions, so you gotta give us those, too.

(also, a story need not be told in order! flashbacks and the manipulation of time can be extremely fun and exciting! this is something that takes a lot of skill, though, not to say that you don't have that skill, but just be careful when doing this. you can still use the concepts of time jumps in your writing process, even if you don't present your story in a jumbled order.)

i don't know if i've said anything of value here. i can only talk about writing as i experience it, which is not, of course, how any other writer experiences it. i can't give you tips or actionable advice bc i, too, am making this shit up as i go. i write bc i like telling lil stories for my lil internet friends, and bc sometimes ppl say nice words, and i collect those nice words like a dragon hoarding its shinies in its lair. but don't write for the nice words, bc if they don't come as fast as you like or as much as you like, you'll get discouraged, and ultimately it's more important that the story be told than that it be praised.

(not to belabor the point, but there's a john green quote i love so much i have a poster of it hanging in my bedroom now, as an almost 30yo, that i've had since my college dorm room, and the quote is:

“Don’t make stuff because you want to make money — it will never make you enough money. And don’t make stuff because you want to get famous — because you will never feel famous enough. Make gifts for people — and work hard on making those gifts in the hope that those people will notice and like the gifts. Maybe they will notice how hard you worked, and maybe they won’t — and if they don’t notice, I know it’s frustrating. But, ultimately, that doesn't change anything — because your responsibility is not to the people you’re making the gift for, but to the gift itself.”

just something to keep in mind when writing. write for you, and write for the ppl you love, and write for the thing itself. the thing you create is a gift, and the gift deserves to exist for its own sake.)

so that was long! i hope it helps, and if it doesn't, sorry! i did try my best. i hope you find a method of writing that feels fun and natural and exciting to you, one that keeps you coming back for more. writing is the thing that keeps me going on days when i don't really want to keep going, and if it can become that thing for you (or hey, maybe it already is!) then i think is a gift, too.

[taetaespeaches]

look at this bible and i haven't watch festa LMAO

ill do it tonight and ill share my updated report tomorrow

this could be not so well written, bear with me, there is a lot in my mind

and now we're looking into the definition of "hiatus", mistranslated or not lmao here it is

_

SO i was thinking this in the morning when i was driving, (listening to proof with intensity i gotta say)

they are people, each of them are even very different from each other

people who found a family while looking for their future, for a career they love, something that it's in their veins and their hard work, looking out for the same dream

people who bled, fell and got up for it countless of times

suddenly one day their dream found a way to get to us as fans, we surely are connected, yes

they owe us as much as we owe them

but we cannot expect them to live only to us and for us

and i know i don't speak only for myself when i say that i can feel their gratitude to us, //sadly a lot of it we see it in their worry for us to understand how much they love us//

we feel it in every song, every message they sent it has found somebody who needed it, every time without fail

i am not good at all at expressing myself at all, GOD i am the worst, it takes me a long time to find out what im feeling, what im thinking even, what i want to do or say its a whole hard process for me, and it has got me in some messes :)

then they come here and i can feel that they don't need me to be right every time, that i dont have to listen any judgement about it, that i can just feel, be myself, 'cause ill be just fine

i love army community, i love i can wear my bts hat and a girl came to me really excited to say I LOVE YOUR HAT! i love that, i love her, i love army, i love we can share this love with each other, yall are adopted as besties from the start, and we're in this army shit for life

bts formed an army that is right here right this moment thinking, worrying about them

but actually we as army are for each other as bangtan boys are for each other, and then bangtan and army are for each other

i don't want to talk about the comparisons to 1d but at least from my experience all i have to say is something ive been thinking ever since bts came into my life

"it's so different"

not only them and their story

but me, im different,

and let me tell you something, im sad, yes i am, it's fucking scary guys, it really is, i know

but im also so so fucking thankful

the evolution my life went through welcomed bts with an open heart and im gratefull

ive never been the fan who stays up late to catch up, to spend every penny i have on merch, i can't be pending on every announcement, on every selfie, tweet or candid leaks

it was just two years ago i finally learned the names, couple months ago i heard old songs i didn't know existed lmao, everyday i see something i didn't know before

and God, two years is really not enough to catch up with 7 energetic amazingly talented passionate boys that already had 7/8 years of history its crazy

were we so spoiled getting something new everyday we are scared of not knowing it all lol,

but guys it's ok, it's really ok, im sure its not a step down, its not a step backwards, its a "hold on" we're going somewhere just hold on, yes we're good right here, but we have to go better

bc the next comeback doesn't have to be higher in a shocking show business fantasy circus way, anything new it's gonna have soul and truth and different energy bc its necessary, processes are necessary

we're invaluable we have to take care of our own and we can because

these bulletproof boys made a bulletproof army

we can take it

i love you liv, i love whoever reads this ♥

Perfectly said, my love! I don't have much to add, but thank you for sharing this <3 I agree that we can't expect them to live for only us and anyone who is expecting that needs to go take a break from all of this and figure some shit out lol. I'm just very grateful for all they've done for us over the years, and also that they used festa as an opportunity to talk to us like they did. They could have had the company announce something and left it at that, or they could have even had the company announce it before festa where they would then elaborate. But instead they told us during festa so they could be the ones who told us and explain their reasons why they're making this decision. It's just very cool and speaks volumes to the relationship bts and army share.

Simply put, we're in this bangtan shit for life <3 and I love you too, lydia!

[spector]

Earlier anon, I just binged the entirety of Kipo and Scarlemagne's death was so unnecessary. Sure his character arc reached it's conclusion but it was the last episode, everyone's did. Plus nothing he did was bad enough that he could only be redeemed through death. He deserved to live and I'm just gonna pretend the ending was actually him having to spend six months in cast. Then for the five year later thing she's just filling him in on what happened while he was scouting areas outside the vista

it honestly feels like they’ve killed him off because they wanted to have that FIVE YEARS LATER sequence and needed someone dead to ‘fill in’ . i know that its... kind of redundant to critique a show that had to resolve a whole story in 10 episodes 20 minutes each (lbr its kinda nothing, thats not enough time to finish telling the story they set out to tell). im sure the creators felt very limited by the time frame and u can feel it bc scarlemagne’s death kinda comes out of nowhere??? at the end there, he has barely spent any time w/ kipo, he hangs out w/ wolf exclusively and he also has ZERO meaningful lines of dialogue w/ either lio or song. like yeah they shielded him from the cure which is obviously touching but idk, so did everyone at that party ??? he didnt even talk to them he was just like AWW MY FAMBILY <33333 and they just stared at him aHIGFHGFIHG

i thought the beginning of his arc in this season was super strong, when he apologized and everyone said that its nice that he did that but they cant forgive him yet bc theyre not sure they want him back their safe space. i thought that was a great move by the writers bc cartoon villains often say ‘sorry, mb’ and everyone just goes ‘oh np!!! we’re cool now. at best some of us may glare at you sometimes but thats it haha’. amy (the rat) specifically said that, she said she’s not ready to let scarlemagne back into her space after what he did to ratland. and kipo understands that! even scarlemagne understands that! but then he doesnt get to earn that spot back in the mute community because he has to die for kipo and his death is seems super pointless anyways, bc the animation made it seem like emilia was going to mcfreaking lose it either way, regardless of his intervention

ok whatever so hes dead then and five years later they name a Scientific Academy after him and im 💀💀💀💀💀 THIS IS JUST FURTHER PROOF THAT LIO AND SONG REALLY DIDNT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HIM, SCARLEMAGNE WAS LIKE . THE ONLY ART MAJOR IN THAT FAMILY DO YOU THINK HE GAVE A SHIT ABOUT SCIENCE IM SCREECHING LIKE A WILD BABOON 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 MAYBE IF THEY MADE A CONCERT HALL AND NAMED IT AFTER HIM ID BUY THIS BUT THIS IS JUS THIGHFIGHFIGH (and yes ik that could have been a music academy but it was in the old wolf observatory if im not mistaken and the statue of him outside it had like... a spyglass in his hands which isnt very Artsy)

this isnt how i wanted his character to go, i genuinely thought he was going to show hes gonna work to earn his spot amongst other characters, especially the mute community. i genuinely thought he was going to help rebuild the ratland bc it would have been a very satisfying end to his character development arc. he destroyed it with his lackeys and then he’d be the one to help amy rebuild it, with his own hands, no more mind control, just hard work. i know that amy is such a minor character but... w/o ratland NONE of this would be happening and she also got so much shit this season i thought it would have been nice if scarlemagne earned her trust and forgiveness by putting in the work. plus im sure he’d enjoy running a post-apocalyptic didneyland, this would be a very fulfilling position for him and he’d put his skills for the benefit of the whole community etc etc and im just. i can’t believe they didnt go with this. its so obvious. he destroyed ratland, he’s the one who should rebuild it. and like i said, amy went thru so much shit in this season, the two of them working together on rebuilding the ratland would be a very nice hopeful touch ...

IDK i was kinda shocked bc the writing in this show has been so solid and they just pulled the rug out from under me in that last episode ... i was enjoying myself so much and then they murked my monkey my MONKEY my fop monkey ... HE WAS SO GOOD IN THIS SEASON TOO and then they just killed him because idk, its too much work to deal w/ lio and song being shitty parents to him or something.... or like i said, they just needed someone to die so they can quickly drop that ‘FIVE YEARS LATER, EVERYTHING IS OKAY’ scene... i swear to god i cant believe theyve done this ... my monkey... my fucking monkey i miss him every day ... THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST DONE THAT SCENE w/o narration , just kipo running thru the new world and having fun, thats it. 

now that i think abt it, they rly couldnt have killed anyone else from the main cast, everyone else is Too Important and if they killed a human character, it would have been Too Dark for the kids (like... idk if one of kipo’s parents died for example that would have been fucked up). so i fully understand why hes the one who had to bite the bullet but idk, maybe it could have been avoided. or idk at least executed in a better way. i still think there was still a lot of material to go thru btwn scarlemagne and lio (and song) and its just... the fact that he asked everyone to call him hugo before his death, FORGIVING everyone is kinda fucked up bc i dont think they earned that. and i dont think he earned forgiveness from people+mutes either... 

idk, this was too rushed and i didnt like it. but i hope u enjoy this chaotic essay abt a gay fop mandrill

[tayegi]

I'm so excited for the character development in NR. Like, JK really thinks that what he needs to do is to mold himself into what the OC desires, when all she wants is his most authentic self without anything or anyone holding him back. I'm rereading this chapter since I was half asleep while reading the first time, but, good God, woman, your skills are impeccable.

Anonymous said:Lu I just read chapter 12 and cjskhxjsushsjsjs its amazing. I'm an emotional wreck right now. Especially at the last part? I don't really know what to feel, all emotions merged into one 🤧 thank you for your amazing writing as always! Have a great day 💜

Anonymous said:Nursing school has been getting me stressed out and I check tumblr... ch 12 of NR. Omg Lu. The last scene my heart wrenched. Thanks for pushing this out because it made my day!!

lolanian said:I sprained/strained my back recently and I’m supposed to limit movement so If I don’t have class I have to stay in my dorm and ice my back. But I love to read your fics while I ice! It makes it a lot less boring. I absolutely love your writing!

Anonymous said:This might have to be two parts tbh bc I have so much to say, so this will be part 1. I just binge re-read all of New rules and then the new ch and oml I am in love with this fic so much. This fic is so freaking funny but at the same time so emotional and I freaking cried reading the last ch. Everything ab this fic is amazing, it’s rlly well-developed and the characters have so much depth to them and I love how u bring up important topics like feminism in it too.

Anonymous said:Part 2. Just the detail u put into every lil thing makes me so happy like the colors, AHHH I love that the dress y/n was wearing was pink! I’m so conflicted bc on one hand in like y/n move on girl u dont need a mans but then I also want jk and y/n to love eachother and be together soo bad, I can’t wait for what will come next. I could go on 4ever ab this fic, but overall I just wanted to say this is prob my fav fic ever and ur so talented and ily.

Anonymous said:Hi so I just read your chapter and I have to say it is amazing and beyond great. I love the ending of the chapter and the way the main character delivered her speech to Jeon and her conversation with Hyejin /// it was all so good and the writing was truly inspired

Anonymous said:NEW RULES CHPT. 12!!!!????? BIIIIITTTTTTCCCCCHHHHH MY LEFT LUNG COLLAPSED OMFG

Anonymous said:I honestly love how multifaceted your characters in NR are. They are so imperfect. They reflect so well how complicated real life relationships are, either with friends and their significant others. This might be the first time where I cannot tell how a story is going to end. Thank you so much for writing such masterpiece.

Anonymous said:I just want to say thank you for writing this chapter of New Rules. The part where she stands up to Hoseok for herself and other women was so inspiring. I feel like she has gone through such a journey to get to a point where she has really developed as a person even if she will still have the Ice Bitch title guys have given her, and I hope she can learn how to accept herself more overtime. I love all of your writing, but New Rules really strikes a cord in me with each chapter you write.

Anonymous said:my girl u are a wizard with words & storytelling. chap 12 was so beautifully fitting. I truly adore & keep returning for the lessons of female empowerment, trust in friendships, toxic relationships & realistic representations self image intertwined in NR because it is so relevant & relatable. I especially loved the part when the important subject of misconstrued feminism was addressed with hoseok and he was called out on it. U have amazing talent my girl & thank u for sharing ur gift 💝🙆🏽‍♀️

Anonymous said:the newest chapter of new rules was easily my favorite. the way you intertwine feminist ideals in is awesome. we need more writers like you!! great work :)

Anonymous said:Hii! I love New Rules! Cant wait for more! 😁

Anonymous said:Honestly I think this new chapter is one of my favorites of the whole series. You did such an amazing job with it!!!

Anonymous said:bless your god given soul lu. your writing is like none other and wow i just ADORE new rules. the way you created the mc to be so real, so complex, and knows her own values, morals and wants, etc. and it's just mind-blowing!!! i'm honestly rendered speechless!!! i have so much to say about new rules and everything else but shit dude this is an AMAZING story and you should make profit on this for real. ugh your mind? galaxy brain. i wish you the best lu, you writing genius!!! 🍯💝✨🌙💌💫🍯💝✨

Anonymous said:New Rules oc gives me life, like i legit miss reading about her!! Its soooo fucking nice when I find fics where I care more about the oc than the idols!!! Shes too loveable!!!! I don't care who she ends up with as long she has a happy ending then I'm happy!! I know shes fictional but you do such a great job at writing her!!!!

Ok, it’s official: new rules readers are the GREATEST in the universe!!!!!!! i just can’t believe how supportive and loving and truly passionate about this series you guys are!!! not gonna lie, im pretty scared shitless about the rest of the fic bc i dont have it all planned out, but you guys give me the motivation to work hard on it!!! i love you all so much!!!

[bartsugsy]

Is it just me or is anyone else so offended by Rebecca's character because she is such a pale shadow of female representation? I'm outraged that in the 21st century a woman can be not even a set of character traits, but literally a walking (nice dressed) uterus who bends in the wind. No agency whatsoever. Deplorable! Rebecca makes me miss the 90s and the riot grrrl movement. She makes me want to daub myself in blood and put on a baby doll dress and scream into the abyss. What were they thinking?

ah anon, you know i can’tresist a good rebecca ask. it’s my weakness.

and like... you’re really not wrong.

i mean, i don’t know if it offends me - well, yes, it does, buti think rebecca was brought in for a few specific narrative purposes and iguess that’s ok in and of itself, but they’ve never fleshed her out into muchof a real character beyond those purposes so she exists in her currentiteration as a supporting character and they don’t seem to have any desire tochange that. which. just makes it uncomfortable, the more you think about it. andapparently I’ve thought about it a bunch.

i think the other thing is… those narrative purposes she has aremostly related to male characters. they’ve fleshed this out a little but mostlyshe’s been fairly irrelevant to every storyline - except one. there is onestoryline in which she is completely necessary in her function and it is clearly entirely the reason why she was brought in in the first place.

what i’m saying is that rebecca white literally exists todevelop robert sugden as a character and prop up his relationship with aaron.

(you could maybe argue that she is important to the whitestorylines but those have had very little long term affects beyond the waysthat link robert to the whites. i want to go into this more but i need toactually rewatch her white storyline stuff first, so maybe i’ll change my mind,but tbh it feels more like… her relationship with her family is a by-product ofbringing her in for her main purpose of affecting robert and robron. again,that’s for another post)

but that in turn leads to her being written like an inconsistentplot device. i think i’ve sort of developed enough of a fanwanky reasoningbehind her actions so far, but it doesn’t work as well as i’d like. it doesessentially boil down to her being in love with robert, though - she’s, ithink, actually a very tragic character and i have a lot of sympathy for her -but it takes a hell of a lot of mental gymnastics constantly to bring me backto that place, because the show doesn’t care enough to do it for us. and it’sannoying. because i do think they could make her story so compelling if theywanted to.

but ultimately they wouldn’t, because robert is in many ways avillain in her story and the story they want to tell is more robert being avillain in his own story (and again, that’s another post all on its own).they’re not telling rebecca’s story. not at all.

anyway! basically. female character essentially being the toolthe show uses to explore male character robert and his relationships. great. gr e a t.

and because what’s the point in making big sweeping contentiousstatements if you can’t back them up:

so the big thing the show has tried to drill into our headsrepeatedly is that robert was with chrissie for her money and her power,largely. he loved her in his own way, but he loved himself way more. he flirtedhis way up the company through lawrence, exploiting lawrence’s complicatedfeelings about his own sexuality and attraction to robert (see: the iconicscene close to the beginning of ryan!robert’s introduction where he saysexactly that to larry and suddenly we are given a window into why exactlylawrence hates robert so vehemently, to the point of faking a heart attack tostop his first attempt to marry chrissie). saw an opening and got with chrissieand then rebecca and then eventually chose chrissie, who undoubtedly has moreof a pull in the running of the company and more access to the money, as opposedto free-spirited rebecca, who we’ve seen is not at all competent at working inthe business and has very little overall experience with it.

we see robert repeatedly reaping the benefits of the whites’money and power - and the position that we know he is in fact very good at,thereby earning his own money on top of that (but again - in a position hefasttracked his way to via chrissie and lawrence).

anyways (you already know this is gonna be long af bc look howmuch im rambling) we see, particularly in the argument after chrissie finds outabout the home farm robbery and his reaction to almost dropping the cheque shegives him - and really everything robert does in that break up with chrissie,when he’s desperate to get his old life back, that robert ultimately cares moreabout the money than he does about his wife.

fast forward to robert post-coma, post-redemption arc and nowfully committed to being in a relationship with aaron. he still loves money andfights hard to make as much of it as possible, usually still somehow at theexpense of the whites, but we as an audience don’t have any solid proof thatrobert really cares more about aaron than he does about his og love, money.

we’ll come back to this in asecond, but the other thing we see in robert’s relationship with chrissie isthat he never exactly had any compunction to remain faithful to her. he says to aaronearly on (in the barn) that he has had a bunch of one night stands, but neveranything beyond that, which is the first indication to the audience that somehowaaron is different for robert. we later learn that he did in fact also sleepwith rebecca multiple times. according to robert, it was all before he andchrissie got serious, whatever that means in rob’s mind , at which pointhe stopped, although we also know that he and rebecca had sex at rob andchrissie’s engagement party (side note, my best guess - that was the last time they slepttogether and also when he knocked her up the first time).

anyways, outside of rebecca and later, aaron, robert had alsohad a bunch of one night stands and just… generally couldn’t keep it in hispants.

again, robert and aaron later become a real couple, long afterhe and chrissie are over for the last time and robert doesn’t seem to beinterested in anyone else (at all, he basically puts his life on hold tosupport aaron throughout the first part of 2016). but - equally, he’s never putin a situation where he’s had the chance.

bringing this back to rebecca - one of the first things she doesis show that she is working with robert to take down chrissie - she’s angry atchrissie for not telling her about lawrence getting shot, or anything that’sbeen going on (and - it’s chrissie that she wants to hurt, not larry or lucky,so we’re once again treated to two girls treating each other like shit for abit, joy of joys) and she wants to help robert get chrissie her comeuppance andalso protect her inheritance. robert brought her in and robert is the onlycharacter she’s not lying to, when she first comes to the village. her sceneswith her family all have the undertone of the fact that she is doing thisbecause robert convinced her to - it’s all about robert’s revenge, narrativelyspeaking.

to bring back my earlier points about robert’s love of money andinfidelity, a lot of her early scenes exist to set the stage for robertproposing in ssw and to show the audience that rob has, in fact, changed - sheoffers him all of home farm, all of that power back, and he says no. she triesto sleep with him repeatedly and he turns her down again and again.

and this pattern continues - she keeps pushing him and he flirtsback, kisses her even - his stupid way of keeping her inside so that they caneventually clear andy’s name, as he says to her when he finally shuts her downonce and for all outside the courthouse. the lines he says to her repeatedlyare things about how important aaron is to him - the show starts to build upthis picture that aaron is special to robert, but also robert is still hisrobert sugden-y self and isn’t above doing stupid things or pushing his stupidplans too far in order to get his way.

like. god i’m not going to list them all THIS IS LONG AND EXTRA TM ENOUGH but there are literallygifsets that exist of all the ways robert proclaims his love for aaron torebecca. so much of their scenes are used to both strengthen our knowledge ofhow much robert loves aaron and also to sow those seeds that robert does stupidand reckless things at the expense of that relationship sometimes - that heloves aaron but he sure as hell also loves money too.

but - again - in the narrative, we’ve been shown repeatedly thatwhen push comes to shove, robert always chooses aaron, that he doesn’t have anydesire to be unfaithful to aaron and he won’t choose money over hisrelationship. even when he was unfaithful, it was basically the product of an emotional breakdown as opposed to his apparent motivation of eh this person is hot and i’m bored why not when he was with chrissie.

and rebecca is the tool that leads the show to show us that so so often.similarly, rebecca is the catalyst for aaron’s jealousy and his eventual prisonstoryline.

everything since her entrance has slowly allowed the show tobuild up to aaron and robert breaking up. every one of their storylines hastied into that, or somehow been driven by her presence. every single one. andthe thing is… it’s nothing to do with who she even is - beyond that initialmanipulative streak she had which has disappeared entirely, it seems.

i know i’ve spoken a lot about her lack of agency as acharacter (and... just about her in general... here here here here here here here here and here are some casual examples... jfc...), so i don’t want to rehash that aspect but… it is more than that,isn’t it? it’s not just her lack of agency - it’s that, while she is absolutelyCRUCIAL to everything that has happened to robert and aaron and the constantcatalyst for every bad decision they’ve made, to showing us the ways thatthey’re not working, it’s not about who she is. who she is is irrelevant. theonly thing she ever needed to be was in love with robert and passive enough tokeep getting pulled back into his orbit and to help him do his bidding,regardless of how he has treated her. she never needed to be more than that andshe really… isn’t, in all honesty. again, i spoke earlier this week about herlack of core characteristics and that plays into that. more than that, eventhough she is the character that has been driving robert and aaron into Troublewith a capital T over and over, none of it has ever really been about her.

mostly - mostly it’s been about showcasing problems that alreadyexisted between them, working towards potentially resolving those issues, or atleast highlighting that they exist.

one argument to the above - recently it has become more abouther in the sense that aaron says that robert sleeping with rebecca inparticular, as his ex and as the catalyst for aaron’s initial jealousy - androbert being tied to her in particular with a baby, was so much more painfuland untenable to him than it might have been, had rob instead slept with arandom.

(it would never have been a random though because as the showtold us, even robert and rebecca sleeping together wasn’t about rebecca - itwas about robert in pain and wanting to hurt aaron. rebecca was an easy targetfor robert - the only thing she needed to be, in that episode, was desperatelyin love with robert enough to ignore any moral compunction she initially had tonot sleep with an emotionally destroyed dude who was married to someone sheproclaimed to like, which she was).

again - it always, always comes down to aaron and in particular,robert. and MORE THAN THAT, we now have robert on screen, being shown in apretty sympathetic light (for rob), in agony over the loss of aaron, once againallowing robert to show character development, to show his absurd love foraaron. and getting into spoiler territory, we know he’s going to get pulledback into the white orbit in a particularly 2015, pre aaron’s good influenceway - something made particularly possible by this brand new unshakeable bondto the whites through his son, who is currently chilling inside rebecca

(although you would never know if from her outfits)

none of rebecca’s story has been about rebecca. she’s pregnantand they haven’t even shown that really - not much beyond the fact that herfamily are supportive and the ways in which it has affected aaron and robert.

she just. she exists for robert and aaron and their story.possibly also the end of the whites, but that’s to be seen. that’s it. andthat… kind is really offensive.

or at least, it’s just writing that is very careless towards afemale character - something which is incredibly prevalent across the show as awhole, but particularly irksome here because this is the storyline we reallycare about lmfao

[chromsai]

okay so i've been following you for a long time now mostly bc of the FE content, and i always see yugioh on my dash bc of you (it's gr8 i'm not complaining) bc of this i really wanna start watching it but i feel like i won't get things if i don't watch the original or the stuff before Arc V. What would you recommend i watch first? thanks!!!

*slams hands on desk* WOW I’M SO HONORED ABOUT THIS ENTIRE ASK WOW THANKS ALSO WOW I LOVE INTRODUCING PEOPLE TO YUGIOH OKAY OKAY SO

I mean everyone’s gonna have their bias in any franchise with multiple entries and yes by now literally everyone knows my bias but here I’m gonna give you my most unbiased opinion possible on them all to hopefully give you some perspective and hopefully you choose whichever one is most appealing to you and no don’t worry you dont have to have seen any of them in any order before watching any of them!! You can just jump right into any and enjoy card games in heck ok so here goes (I won’t spoil anything, I promise!):

TL;DR answer: No, you don’t need to have seen any of the Yugioh series before any of them to just jump right into any, just like with any FE game. I don’t have a straightforward recommendation for which Yugioh you should start with because I really believe you should be able to start with whichever appeals to you most. Though, if I had you watch only one Yugioh, of course my vote would be for Arc V.

(Longer answer with detail on each of the spinoffs under the cut.)

Duel Monsters aka DM aka “the original Yugioh”:•Number of episodes: 224•Basic summary: Normal high school kid solves the Millenium Puzzle, a mystical pendant with the soul of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, and goes thru many trials and tribulations to find out the mysteries of said pharaoh’s past (with card games!) and save the world.•Who it’s for: This is probably the most mystical/(fictionally)mythological of all the Yugiohs and the original, of course. Major themes include The Power of Friendship and… I mean there’s others but basically that’s the main MAJOR theme. Anyway, if you like archaeology themes and seeing heroes overcome the odds thanks to their friends’ support and don’t mind sitting through really long arcs (with pretty amusing recurring characters), this Yugioh is for you.

GX:•Number of episodes: 180•Basic summary: So dueling is an actual profession and there are actual schools that get you thru all the basics as if it was an actual real life college major or smth and our hero is just a normal teen kid without a care in the world that just wants to be the very best like no one ever was except for the school he applies and gets into and lives for the next 3 years of his life trying to achieve this is literally fucking cursed have fun.•Who it’s for: So you like slice of life anime? So you like slice of life anime with characters that are really interesting and have good development? So you like slice of life anime with teen drama? So you like slice of life anime with a bit of trauma? So you like slice of life anime with childrens trading card games from actual hell? WELL BOY YOU’RE IN FOR A REAL TREAT, THIS YUGIOH IS FOR YOU!!

5Ds:•Number of episodes: 154•Basic summary: Wow how do I summarize this one? Well, basically our hero and his entourage are all trying to save their city (and basically the whole world) from both an ancient mystical force AND a futuristic force. Yes. Time travel is a thing here. Are you also a Zelda fan, by any chance? Welcome to the Ocarina of Time of the Yugioh franchise (#TIMELINESPLITTER).•Who it’s for: Yes, this is indeed the CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES anime that perhaps you’ve heard about, but trust me the concept is more intriguing than you might think. If you like innovative ideas and themes about changeable and intertwining destinies + the bonds between the hero and all those who he’s befriended and met, then you’ll love this Yugioh. 

Zexal (I+II):•Number of episodes: 73 in Zexal I, 73 in Zexal II. 146 total. The shortest of all the Yugiohs (so far).•Basic summary: The entire story comprises of the bond between a boy and his alien (which only he can see and interact with) and trying to regain said alien’s memory back which was split into 99 cards. Zexal II expands on this as the alien begins to regain his memories.•Who it’s for: Major themes in this show include overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles and learning compassion from both your allies AND your enemies. Hell, I’d say rival bonds are one of the major themes here too. If you like ultra sci-fi settings and aliens and intergalactic wars, this Yugioh is for you.

Arc V:•Number of episodes: 148•Basic summary: Our hero starts off wanting to simply work towards becoming a great entertainer like his missing father was but along the way finds out the world is much larger than he ever could have imagined it could be while also finding out the hard way that [Chrom voice] war is hell. (Alternatively, [Kiragi voice] war is HECK). •Who it’s for: Yeah this show is about war but it’s also about the psychological implications of war and the innocents it affects and the irreversible consequences that come with it. It’s also very personal story about overcoming your own self, despite pressure from society. Unlike with the past shows, while there is still a sense of camaraderie between the characters, Arc V’s themes are much more individualistic. The two major themes of this show are to “take a step forward with courage” and finding a way to bring peace and make everyone smile. Ultimately, if you like wonderfully cute/pretty yet heart-wrenching aesthetics, this Yugioh is for you (and for me).Note on Arc V: This show does have references to past Yugiohs and also features characters from past series, but it is ultimately an AU of each of the past shows so there is no continuity from them to be seen here, meaning that even if you start with Arc V, you won’t be spoiling yourself or confused about said references from past series. Mainly the references are there as happy nods to the fandom veterans, kinda like how Awakening has a bunch of nods to past FE games but they don’t meddle with the story (I myself started with Awakening and didn’t find myself confused by any of the references, or noticed them at first, just to put things in perspective since it’s exactly like that with Arc V). [Speaking of FE, I have a feeling that if you liked Awakening, you’ll like Arc V...]

Vrains:•Number of episodes: ongoing (it just started airing like ~8 weeks ago)•Basic summary: Our hero trying to figure out his own past while in conflict with 2 other enemy factions that are chasing him cuz he took a very important AI for hostage. (Tbh there’s not much to go on since it’s still very early so sorry this is the most I can say about it.)•Who it’s for: Similar to Zexal, if you like futuristic, VR-centered themes (kinda like SAO lol) you’ll probably like the idea of this Yugioh. So far, I can’t really say much more because, again, it’s still very early in its run.

Okay well, I tried hiding my bias as much as I could. I think there’s something to be enjoyed from each of the series, but of course my absolute favorite (by a very long shot) is Arc V so I’d recommend that over any of the others. Just a quick ranking of the Yugiohs based on my experience watching them: 1. Arc V3. GX/5Ds (I can never decide, sorry)4. DM5. Zexal

(no ranking for Vrains cuz yeah)Lastly, even despite all this (and my undying love for Arc V), I really, really think you should just watch whichever seems most appealing to you! If you do decide to start a Yugioh, I’ll be happy no matter what! I hope at the very least some of this helped. Happy watching!!