#otp: i love her and that's the beginning and end of everything

[piglet26]

Top Five Reylo Scenes

Before I start I do want to add why Reylo means so much to me. Recently I went through a really deep depression and part of what pulled me out of it was Reylo. I was able to write essays and do analysis about this OTP. Rewatching the films and focusing on theirs scenes helped get my mind off of some pretty deep stuff. I was also able to receive love and connection through the Reylo community. It's meant a lot to me! Also, I know that Tumblr is very supportive to anyone going through a tough time and directing people to self help lines. If you are going through a time that is really dark or challenging I Love You in Reylo.

Now my top three scenes is tough cause I love them all, but if I had to focus on an order to the game I'd say........

5 " You Need a Teacher"

“There’s a history in Star Wars of the attraction between the light and dark…”

Truth be told I'm surprised this scenes ranked as high as it did with me because I do not like that she beat him. The more I thought about it I realized why I did want to rank it. There is something raw and dirty about them here. The look of sheer amazement he gives her after that lightsaber flew to her was everything. The force theme beginning to play. Then when she lit the lightsaber and he was like "oh, you wanna duel? ok, let's duel then." The moment they found the force together with their faces beautifully lit up. It really is great.

There is nothing violent really about their fight, like I don't fear for their lives. Resembling the scene where Kylo Ren said could “take whatever he wants” and “Don’t be afraid, I feel it too” while looking at her lips. The chemistry took me by complete surprise and I shifted in my seat uncertainly watching this the first time. Surely I shouldn’t like a murderer and a villain with Rey, but I couldn’t help it. This very chemistry, though probably amounting to less than ten minutes of actual interaction between each other, leaves the audience with a hungry desire for more.

Reylo and Anidala could be mirrors of each other with Anakin falling to the Dark Side because of his selfish love for Padme and Kylo coming back to the Light because of his selfless love for Rey.

When Kylo is with Rey, he is calmer, and calculating. For Kylo, the seduction is to the Light. However, when Rey first searches out the Force with her feelings, she immediately ends up in the Dark Side, and is unafraid to take what she wants from it. In battle, she is furious, screaming and bent on destruction. As I mentioned above, Anidala and Reylo could be the Force’s attempts at balancing itself. Where Anidala was destined to fail, Reylo is destined to prevail and finally balance the Force.

4 "You'll turn........I'll help you"

“The Abduction,” the song in TFA when the “bridal carry” happens, has a very similar ascending line of notes to a recurring theme in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet overture.

I love everything about this. The infamous elevator scene. Reylo once again dominates the screen in The Last Jedi, easily rendering Finn’s growing romance with Rose bland and tedious in comparison. Rian Johnson is a Reylo stan so I stan him. This is the first time Rey and Kylo are physically side by side since she tried to kill him in the forest on Star killer Base. It's the most sexually charged body language! They spiffed up for one another. She’s changed her clothes, put on makeup and decided to leave her hair down. His hair is freshly washed with a spritz.

“Ben” She’s using his real name now and like in every scene with her now he's calm. He hates his name, but when she says it he hears her. She's appealing to his true nature, or, what she believes it to be. It's possessive as well. He is HER Ben. The way he tried not to have a reaction to her until she said his name. He's trying to stay blank and not give away what he intends to do, but none the less has a reaction to her.

Rian Johnson basically confirmed that Kylo / Ben wanted to kiss Rey in the elevator scene. It’s canon so I am prepared to fight. Not to mention, Johnson tells us that Adam Driver, as Kylo / Ben, seriously considered kissing Rey in this scene. He is, indeed, staring at her lips in the elevator with the most intense eye contact.

Reylo speaks to me, and many others, on a spiritual level. Like many stories of both maiden and monster, Reylo shows us what it means to be a heroine. A heroine reaches her hand out to monsters and says: you deserve love and compassion, no matter the mistakes you’ve made. We're in a movement where women are tired of "fixing" men and I'm here for it. I honestly think that's why so many woman found it difficult that Reylo is not soft and sweet.

3 ........Ben?"

Adam Driver says Kylo Ren can’t help but harbor admiration for Daisy Ridley’s Rey in the Last Jedi. “I think there’s something familiar there, as well as something to be feared, or something… that he (Kylo) can’t quite place.”

Let me go ahead and say that I'm going to cheat.... I'm including the novelization in this because that mixed with novel is what gives me life. TROS brought such mixed Reylo emotions. We got great stuff! In small doses *eye roll* In the novel. She was glad to see him. Glad to be with him in this moment. It was the greatest gift she could have given him. His heart was full as Rey reached for his face, let her fingers linger against his cheek. And then, wonder of wonders, she leaned forward and kissed him.

The way Rey sits in wonder...... never mind she was borderline dead..... Ben is there, really there and she's just staring in wonder. Ben is looking at her in painful awe and relief. They are both almost child-like in their affection. The way Rey hesitates, after years alone, it takes her a moment to work up the courage for her first kiss. Ben just lets her take her time. The way he waits patiently for her to work up the courage and then the moment the kiss, he pulls her to him like she is the air he breathes for his first kiss. Oh! The smiles. Seriously?! Ben and Rey are happy! There was fireworks, champagne and pussy power! Rey’s hand. Ben gave his very life essence to Rey because his love is that absolute.

And let’s not forget the novelization of TLJ had this quote “They will never have to be alone again”.

Now this is where things get messy as hell. Adam was on the set of Tatooine..... but as they cut that ending. Daisy stated regarding the ending “the crew was shaken in a way I had not seen before. and I thought, ‘my god if this is people’s immediate reaction when the scene isn’t even ready, imagine what it will be like to see it in the movies, with the John Williams soundtrack and all that." When Ben faded into the force...... no one felt anything for a moment then there was just confusion and disappointment. You cannot nor will you ever have me believing that this janky ending was the real deal.

2 "Join Me.......... Please"

“He (Kylo) sensed his and Rey’s destinies were intertwined, but how?......"

The Throne Room Proposal! Kylo premeditated in the purest Sith way regarding the murdering of his Master for his bae. Then he gives Rey a furious speech on killing the past in a bid to win her over and fulfill his dark Queen fantasy. “You come from nothing, you’re nothing—but not to me,” Kylo tells Rey, in one of the most beautifully twisted declarations of love ever uttered in a family blockbuster, before quietly pleading with her to join him like he’s the most desperately lonely person in the universe. The duo’s visions of their future together—Rey sees Kylo turning to the Light, and Kylo witnesses Rey joining him in the Dark. However, upon Snoke’s death, the bond still stands. Kylo offers Rey a place at his side and his hand in marriage, but it is the proposal of an awkward boy, grasping desperately at a relationship he has only begun to understand.

And you can see it in her face, that she’s torn, there is a part of her that wants to take his hand, not to rule the galaxy, that’s not her ambition, but to simply stay with someone who truly understands her as well. But it’s the ‘please’ Adam Driver showed that Julliard education with that one word. Both actors just brough it. You can see how far they've come and yet still so far away from each other.

1 "You're Not Alone.......Neither are You"

“When Rey feels rejected by Luke Skywalker, who also sees parallels between the power in her and the abilities of his estranged nephew, the old Jedi master inadvertently pushes the two towards each other.”

You knew it was coming. In TLJ, Kylo is at his most sympathetic and tempting; Rey at her most understanding. Both are outcasts because of their power, they are both lonely, whispering to each other comfortingly “you’re not alone” and “neither are you.” Kylo sees more in Rey than she does within herself. He also challenges her as an equal. Ben ultimately encourages her to not only expand her mind, but in embrace her womanhood. It is no wonder that Rey goes to him. After experiencing Luke and his failings as a master and failing to find the answer's she's been looking for....... Rey ends up relating to Kylo. Kylo, for once, has put the whole of misery and life lessons into something productive.

When we find them alone in a dark hut, slowly lean towards each other, and very hesitantly touch hands in a scene fraught with romantic tension. Notably, the Force music plays during the scene, signaling their relationship’s importance. A tear crawls down Rey’s face as the two connect and understand each other on a level so deep that it is reminiscent of sex, and causes Luke Skywalker to pull the ultimate Dad move and blow up the hut.

As Rey and Kylo develop their bond we see the force attempting to balance itself. Yin and Yang....... the imagery littered throughout the sequel trilogy is drawn heavily from those belief systems. We see continuous parallel shots with Rey and Ben to represent this duality. Both are presented in contrasting surroundings that represent the duality of the masculine and the feminine. In many shots half of their figure is bathed in light and the other half is bathed in the darkness.

This connection is as spiritual as it is romantic. As Jason Fry explained, romance is merely the analog we have in the living force for this deep spiritual bond.

[dangermousie]

I loved the contrast between the opening and final scenes of this ep. In the beginning, he says he did not kill his gf, she hears the lie and clams up. Understandably but (a) to the viewer it's clear it's his sense of guilt and he's not guilty of literally offing her and (b) to him this is yet another in long line of people who do not believe him - his friends, his mom etc.

And he just gives up.

And yet at the end of the ep, thinking through about how while something is a lie it may not mean what she thinks (thanks ex) and just thinking of all her interactions with him, she decides to trust him. Now, the sane part of me is going "lady, this is how women end up dating serial killers" but the drama watcher/shipper part is loving the leap of faith. I do think it helps that he was ready to tell everything (which is his progress from not even wanting to explain; this is him actually wanting to fight for the relationship and not giving up)

I love the look on his face at that, he is so quietly but thoroughly stunned.

PS Thank you evil dude for getting our OTP some contact:

[hanafubukki]

General Lilia YEES ! Thank you for this I loved it 😭 wild cat Lilia, him meeting and slowly open up to his future time traveler wife, poor Baul being like "Heck- What is happening here ?", Dawny already whipped for Y/n, Y/n being a badass girl but in a rough situation...

"You told me you will be in my future. You better keep that promise" My heart- If he kidnapped us on the spot I wouldn't say no, but he's a fine man so he didn't 😭

Bet the discussion with the Draconia couple will be fun- Meleanor being like "What took you so much time ? We even need to send people for your weak being" and Levan just go have a personal discussion after and ended up a simp.

Lilia: Levan. I need advise. There is the annoying girl-

Levan: A girl ? You like her ?

Lilia: Yea- No- Not the topic ! So. She told me I will be part of her future.

Levan: Oh ! She sure know what she wants. Meleanor told me something similar when she asked my hand.

Lilia: Listen ! But, when I asked her to go with me. She said no. I know, we are really different, and she must have friend and family she cannot leave. But the people around her clearly don't see her worth ! Well. No. There is this guy. Who see too much of her worth if you want my thought.

Levan:....Okay. Start with the beginning. My ears are entierely open for this matter. I want to know everything.

- 🦋 Anon

(Fanfic References: Part 1, Specifically referring to: Part 2 )

[Ask References: Ask 1, Ask 2, Ask 3, Ask 4, Ask 5, Ask 6, Ask7,]

Hello 🦋 Anonie,

I'm so happy you loved it! 💚💕🥰 I can't explain to you just how much this fic just took hold of me and kept going and going, and the different routes kept changing too. I really love how it turned out 🥰

I especially loved incorporating little things YN learned along in her adventures, such as lock picking and self defense. Dawny caring for YN was planned from the get go, but Baul appearing later on came about later. Which I love because I like to mess with him too.

"You said you would be in my future." and "You better keep that promise." lines is what drove this fic. It's what I knew I wanted to add and have it center around with YN and Lilia. Another fun fact: "I will be" and "I will." are purposely written that way, but Lilia doesn't realize exactly what that means yet and ahhhh, I just adore the little intricacies.

Meleanor being the older sibling she is and just making fun of him is hilarious. She knew he would be fine and would come back eventually. He is too stubborn to die. Lilia is trying his best not to smack talk back, he still has wounds that are almost healed after all.

I love how Levan is in the fan club. He's the one out here supporting his OTP and wants to know the whole tea, especially seeing how Lilia is obviously infatuated with this girl.

Levan was already interested in YN because of the fact that Lilia was interested in her and she 'proposed' to him like his wife did. But what really got his interest was the fact that Lilia sounded jealous.

Lilia, the wild cat, this overly arrogant fellow General. He's jealous and he's jealous of another human nonetheless. Oh, how interesting this all is.

(I can imagine Levan internally laughing his head off when he realizes the competitor for YN is the Knight of Dawn. Also, I can see Levan now think of ways this Human Vs Fae war can be stopped, so Lilia can pursue his love life 🥹😂)

[gizkasparadise]

final leg of a journey to love thoughts!! (eps 35-40). this got so gd long so under a cut it goes. spoilers, of course:

PLOT STUFF/PACING

pacing for the plot definitely got shredded in the last chunk, which is a damn shame because otherwise i've been finding the pacing pretty much perfect. eps 35-37 in particular felt like they could have been like a 10 episode arc. ep 38, which mostly dealt with wu palace politics, should have been cut or streamlined imo and more time given to the characters we've actually been riding along with the whole story. by the time we get back to the pregnant empress, prince danyang, the first prince whose name i dont even remember, and the prime minister, i do not care about any of them and i think this subplot was simply just trying to fit too much shit into one bag

that said, this show still let the emotional moments hit and breathe and linger. i love the grief for the fallen liudao comrades as we go, as well as the less heavy but still emotionally important moments like yang ying and tongguan bonding over their upbringing. and we got a wedding /;3;/!!! for this show, the relationships and characters matter more than the storyline so im not mad about anything at all

side note: it's so gd millennial to have a story about a bunch of 30 something year olds who want to fake their deaths and retire into obscurity but instead they go and die for a boss they hate

CHARACTER STUFF

this show consistently brought a lot of depth to its side characters (and side side characters!!). i said it in an earlier post, but it bears repeating that even someone like deng hui i didnt expect anything from, but he got such good development and writing that he became a stealth fave. his dying words essentially being "dude, quit fucking around" ? iconic.

i didnt like tongguan as much as everyone else, so im pretty meh about everything regarding him. the attempt to force-wed ruyi was tonally really weird and didnt make sense (i assume there was some cuts made surrounding it). but LOL at him reusing all the outfits and decor immediately for his wedding to yang ying. baby duke, you tacky motherfucker. i ultimately think yang ying deserves better than him, but the good thing is that she knows this, so she'll be able to hold her own and then some entering into this partnership

shisan really was the heart in a lot of ways--the mom to yuanzhou's dad for the liudao. i was not expecting him to break my heart the way he did, but the fact that he held both qian zhao and sun lang as they died and then tried his best to remove yuan lu from harm and saved chu yue and was just very much a nurturer all the way through got me. his character couldve been cheap comic relief but the writing + performance really elevated him into one of the (imo) most memorable wuxia characters. his line wondering who would get to behead his beautiful skull!!! and how his mantra was always that he was going to drink the best wine, see the most beautiful women, and make the best of friends and he dies having lost the ability to see and having just had wine in memory of qian zhao, yuan lu, and sun lang. like. shut up!!

ruyi and yuanzhou were both so great and they're gonna be the drama OTP to beat forever. i loved the gender reversals, that they both were so respectful of each other, and that they also felt very mature in how they handled things and communicated. they were really interesting characters both together and apart and that's always a win-win. they had a schroedinger's ending where it's not super clear if they're alive or dead (i interpreted it as the latter), but what's kind of beautiful is that either option is satisfying to me. if they both died, they're reunited and with their comrades and the story is truly about the journey and the meaningful short connections we have. if they both survived, it's a bookend with the beginning where they each faked their deaths to escape. A+

COSTUMING

i gotta just separately mention the costuming for this show because it was 15/10. the textures, shisan's accessories, the way red became integrated with yuanzhou's wardrobe and blue with ruyi's. the details on the liudao name amulets!! SO GOOD. i love when characters' clothes tell a story on their own

overall i just really loved this drama it is probably my favorite wuxia ive seen so far! it's gonna be in my brain for awhile lol feel free to send fic prompts if you've made it this far :'D

[doverstar]

abed/annie is my community otp, so I would love to hear your essay if you’re willing to share ♥️

girl it would be my pleasure

this is going to be an absolutely enormous word-vomit, please prepare-

I want to start off by saying I actually think Abed is genuinely a little bit crazy. Yes, he might be on the spectrum or have some disorder but the show is so loose with that it never really confirms it, so I’m not going to confirm it either, I just think there’s something-something-spectrum there but I’m not educated enough to understand exactly what they’re communicating he has or is dealing with. I think the safest thing to assume is indeed that he’s insane (he said it himself; he saw literal lava when Troy was leaving) but in a small, functional, unique way that doesn’t make him dangerous except when he wants to cut people’s arms off because “Evil Abed has taken over” hello someone do something about that –

Anyway. It’s super difficult for me to understand what goes on in his head episode-to-episode, but with Annie it’s actually easier? Abed has such a specific set of needs when it comes to relationships that it’s a miracle he found the study group at all. He’s so smart and creative and he’s actually very empathetic and sweet but he doesn’t always seem to know how to express things.

Annie is clearly Abed’s second-best friend in the show (it helps that the actor/actress are best friends too). When he can’t turn to Troy, he can always turn to Annie. She understands him and there’s never been a point where we see that start or end—it just naturally happened and they’re both used to it. Abed is always touching her, always sitting by her, always making eye contact with her, and if you pay close attention to even background scenes, he’s measuring her reactions to things more often than anyone else’s. If I had to guess, I think she’s the group member he understood faster than any of the others. Abed (this is, from what I’m told, part of being on the spectrum? but like I said I am uneducated and don’t want to definitively say something the show decided not to be clear about) needs certain things to be a certain way, or he can’t operate normally. He panics, or gets angry, or tries to mutilate Jeff Wingers. He genuinely thinks he is crazy, and he genuinely thinks no one he meets will be able to deal with him for an extended amount of time. (Let’s begin at the beginning from his POV.) Abed meets Annie (and the group), and she seems like the typical Molly Ringwald girl-next-door; pretty, smart, wants popularity, ambitious. That’s why he chose her when he created the study group. Annie is all of these cliched things, but hey, quickly it’s pretty clear Annie needs things to be a certain way. Annie needs structure and lists and good grades. So she gets it when Abed needs that, what a pleasant surprise! And part of that is that Annie empathizes with everyone around her, without even trying, so much so that she’s depicted often as the heart of the whole study group. She gets Abed, both because they’re the same in lots of ways and they’re the opposite. She can crush easily, explode easily, cry easily, laugh easily. Everything Abed has no idea how to emote. Annie is a volcano of emotions, and they’re triggered most when she’s feeling because of or on behalf of other people.

So here’s this girl near his own age who is orderly and structured, and knows how other people feel and can enter in with them emotionally, including Abed. She’s so nice, and tries so hard. She’s even good at playing pretend (Mixology Certification, party of one?). What a perfect leading lady for the life-movie Abed sees everywhere he goes (because that’s how he makes sense of the world). Annie is the ideal female star he’d want in any story: the girl full of passion and drive.

But then there’s Jeff—the study group’s Judd Nelson—presumably the perfect leading man. When Abed first handpicks the group in the pilot and first season, Jeff wants Britta. Hey, that makes sense, Britta seems to be the leading lady type, actually! She’s nice, she’s strong, she’s beautiful. Works perfectly. And look, Annie wants Troy—the brainy bubbly girl wants the dumb jock, that makes sense too. Everything works. Then things start changing within the dynamic. Troy is actually not that dumb, and not that sports-obsessed—he’s fun, and he’s the ideal bro for Abed, but he doesn’t work with Annie. Britta is not that nice, and not that strong—she’s bad at everything, and she doesn’t understand people, she just wants to and is constantly trying to portray (and then hopefully become) the kind of person that does. And Jeff is a stunted jerk who needs reformation.

Oh, Annie is Abed’s friend now too. She said it herself, and that’s rare in Abed’s life. She called them really good friends, and that’s so important to him that he’ll sit in a room for 26 straight hours with nothing to do because Annie asked him to do it. Troy is not the only character Abed would give up control for. There’s one other from the start, because the moment she told him with all her earnest doe-eyedness they were friends, she had him hook line and sinker.

Season 1 progresses. Jeff and Britta might still work, and Abed seems mildly interested in that if only for the cliches—maybe Britta can make him better. No, wait, Britta is bad at that too. Actually, they’re not good for each other. Actually, they’re bad for each other—they’re bad for everyone. But they have similar terrible flaws and habits, so maybe they do make a good pair. Still fine leads. Still works. And besides, Annie has filled in the place of Troy with hippie Vaughn, which is also fine. Doesn’t really work long-term, but Jeff and Britta drive the plot forward more anyway, so the focus should be on them, right? The group is working. The group is thriving. The TV of life moves along.

(Except Jeff kissed Annie to win the Man Is Good/Evil debate. And Abed predicted it. Which means he was thinking about that as a possibility, because he operates on variables and tries to understand outcomes so that he’s not surprised by anything and can keep his friends for longer by relating to and reacting to them better. Jeff has leading man vibes, Annie has leading lady vibes, that’s one potential outcome. And though he insists he’s just making hypotheses based on what he’s learned about his friends so far, when it does happen right in front of them in real life, they kiss, Abed is just as shocked as the others—he literally can’t take his eyes off them until the debate is won. Then afterward, he tells Shirley he can’t predict the future and uses his plans for Pierce being discovered as a genius next in his home-movies as an example, which he believes would never happen—then Britta calls Pierce a genius right in front of him and Abed looks visibly concerned. Maybe what he predicts about his friends will keep happening, even the things he thinks are the least likely of the potential outcomes. Maybe even Jeff and Annie as the two leads. But that doesn’t make sense, does it? Jeff and Britta are endgame, aren’t they? Annie is too young for a leading man like Jeff. Annie is too nice; Jeff is too selfish. Annie is gorgeous and driven, Jeff is handsome and needs fixing, that would work, no, it would change things too much, it’s too unlikely, back to Jeff and Britta, back to playing with Troy and studying film, don’t give it a second thought—)

Transfer dance happens. Annie is going away for the summer with Vaughn. Classic Annie, has his back, always doing the better thing for the plot, bringing a good end-of-Season twist, but it’s okay, as far as he knows she’ll be back in the fall and besides, Abed’s got to-roomie-or-not-roomie with Troy issues to deal with.

And then the new semester starts after the transfer dance. And Anthropology 101 happens (again, one of my favorite episodes for the group fight at the end when it comes to my lil ships). I’M GONNA TALK ABOUT ANTHROPOLOGY 101 NOW. For A CHUNK of time. Jeff and Britta are doing relationship-drama stuff Abed doesn’t quite care about, until Shirley suggests he’s being selfish and that a real friend would enter into Jeff and Britta’s [incredibly fake and nasty] “happiness” and Abed thinks that could work. Actually, progressing Jeff and Britta’s relationship is a goal he can definitely work with. In fact, if you pay attention to the show, whenever there is an opportunity to advance or out Jeff/Britta, Abed takes that opportunity. And whenever there is an opportunity to put JeffAnnie in an uncomfortable or inevitable, c’est la vie light (which two independence-heavy freaks like Jeff and Annie would consider negatively) he takes that too.

Abed urges Jeff/Britta to get married right there in the library before the fight, gives them the ring, because he thinks that’s the next logical step in their grossness. Special episode, all about Jeff/Britta, endgame endgame endgame! He can work with that. In fact, he’s happy to control that. He leaves the room to inexplicably get an Irish singer, dead-ringer Clooney, and a transportable wedding set.

When he comes back and tries to prep the group for the special wedding episode, everyone is tense and Jeff is bleeding from the nose, and Abed does not notice; he’s intent on advancing the plot and the endgame. Then Troy says, “Abed. Jeff made out with Annie.” And Abed’s immediate reaction is “What? Where? When?” And he looks unhappy, like the rest of them. Jeff made out with Annie, and that means everything Abed thought he understood is incorrect. (And I think it bothers the crap out of him and he doesn’t have the ability to unpack why that is the way most people do because he’s different. Surely he’s just angry for the same reasons the rest of the group is? That must be it. That must be why he’s angry specifically with Jeff, not Britta in any tangible way, or even Annie in a tangible way—until later, which I’ll talk about eventually.) Annie tells him they kissed after the transfer dance in a guilty voice, which is a sheepishness she does not respond with to any of the other members of the group. It’s almost like she’s picking up on Abed’s emotion specifically this time. And while everyone else in the group explodes, and Jeff reduces his kiss with Annie to something he should be ashamed of (accurate) because men are monsters who crave young flesh and Annie looks absolutely crushed like a deer in the headlights, Abed starts packing up to leave. And we only see how angry he is right then—he doesn’t enter into anyone else’s problems. We see him react to “Jeff made out with Annie”, and then this is the next time we see him react. Jeff asks where he’s going and Abed throws out a quippy “I now pronounce you cancelled” with a bounce of his eyebrows in an angry way, at Jeff, and when he tries to leave Jeff hurls insults at his back and Abed stops in the doorway, in a normal-person—again, angry—way and turns around and drops one of the sickest burns of the whole show, that TV makes sense and has “likeable leading men”, and says “In life, we have this. We have you.” And walks out. His anger is not directed at anybody else. He doesn’t help Troy with the Pierce situation. He doesn’t try to fix any of it. It’s like he heard “Jeff made out with Annie”, learned the specifics, and was standing there reeling until eventually he decided he couldn’t deal and went to leave, and wouldn’t have shown just how angry he was with Jeff unless Jeff had provoked him, which he did.

IT'S ALMOST LIKE HE’S MAD JEFF KISSED ANNIE, JUSSAYIN’-

let me pretend I’m a 14-year-old shippy fangirl in my reasoning, okay-

Abed likes logic, and as Season 2 continues, Jeff/Annie gets more and more logical. In fact, even though he has noticed that Jeff and Britta are secretly hooking up in the background of the Season, he is not surprised in Paradigms of Human Memory when Annie calls Jeff out for the will-they-won’t-they he’s been enacting with her, and even says there is something between the two of them, matter-of-factly, which Jeff refuses to own up to. But Abed and Annie are getting closer and closer, too. It’s subtle, but it’s clear they’re 100% comfortable around each other. That becomes super clear by Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, when, besides Troy, Annie is the only other character to enter into Abed’s way of thinking and play with him, because it’s genuinely important to him and she recognizes that this is what he needs, when everyone else kind of drops off. She helps Abed and Troy stop Duncan from dealing with Abed in a practical, normal way, because she sees that Abed is dealing with something and can only deal with it his way to get through it. That’s incredibly rare for Abed, we see. He’s very attached to her—like I said, often touching her, often sitting by her, often reacting to her.

(I mean hi, in English As A Second Language, Abed thinks he won’t be affected by Annie’s Disney Face; when everyone else obeys Jeff in closing their eyes to it, Abed doesn’t. “Oh don’t worry about me, I can only connect to people through...movies...” literally stops in his tracks when he sees her Disney Face with the cutest wistful twitch of a smile. Jeff has to Indiana-Jones-reference him to make him look away. He doesn’t only connect to people through movies—at least, Annie can get through to him without the need of movies; he’s not a quirky lil robot, he can have normal feelings, but boy does it seem like Annie is the one bringing them out of him more often than most. she gets under his skin ajhzsdkejdb-)

Abed definitely has a crush on Annie. But he doesn’t know how to deal with that or portray it. To his mind, Annie should be with a leading man. Any time he flirts with her, he is pretending to be a leading man from a movie or show. (For a Few Paintballs More, anyone?) Because that’s who she should be paired off with. And that’s what she wants, right? She loooves Jeff Winger now. Britta’s not the leading lady, she never was, that role was always Annie’s, and it makes sense she wants Jeff, and it makes even more sense that Abed is observing the love story, not part of it. Abed is not the leading man, he’s the computer. He watches, analyzes, does not get involved or get the girl.

But he still wants her around, and he can have that much—in fact, when he moves in with Troy and Annie tells him she loves their place, Abed instantly suggests she move in. Not Abed and Troy. Just Abed, and he does not discuss it with his roommate. And Troy seems confused and surprised and gives Abed such an interesting look right after. Annie moves in, Abed agrees to sacrifice some of his routine for her (blanket fort for he and Troy, full bedroom for Annie), things are happy. Things are fine. She puts away his buttered noodles when he’s not finished with them, but she adapts to his needs when he expresses he doesn’t want her to do that; she breaks his Batman DVD but he adapts by forgiving her in a role he can express that in—Batman himself, plus, bonus, he gets to flirt with her as that leading man—and things are better. But then Annie starts trying to control things. Annie starts trying to make life go according to the movie in her head. She tries to get Britta and Troy together, which not only robs Abed of his best friend for a day and disrupts his routine, it makes him angry with Annie. And not just because she tampered with the group’s dynamic, which he doesn’t want anyone else but him to do. okay we’re caught up NOW I get to talk about Virtual Systems Analysis, which is my FAVORITE COMMUNITY EPISODE-

Throughout that episode, Annie is trying to speak in Abed’s language in the Dreamatorium in order to teach him empathy. In the past, she’s had success in communicating with him on his level, but this seems extra hard for some reason. She sees somehow through his expressionless face right away and sees he is angry with her, and though he tries to deflect by saying she’s going to ruin the group by meddling, she eventually does recognize what the problem is. At first she’s convinced Abed just wants Abed’s way and that he needs to be taught how to think of others first (she’s right), but he hears her say that to Troy and it spirals him right into the worry he always has—that he’s crazy, that he’s a problem, that he’ll never fit in because of that, and that when Annie (and anyone else) tries to deal with or fix him, they will get sick of it, give up, and toss him aside. He was already angry with her for a different reason, not just wanting his way again—but now he’s sure she’s done with Abed, too. So he becomes someone else, everyone else, to make his point: that she’s just messing with Britta and Troy so that nothing will stand in the way of her and Jeff.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAYS WHEN HE IS PRETENDING TO BE JEFF TO HER? He says, “With Abed gone, and Troy and Britta together, there’s nothing standing in the way of us.” With Abed gone. Why did he say that? Because with Abed gone, Annie gets to be in control of everyone? Obviously not. Or is it because out of everyone, every variable, the only other match that makes sense for Britta is Troy and the only other match that makes sense for Annie is-

Oops, Freudian slip. Oh, she’s not falling for it. And Abed is mad at her because he thinks she set up Britta and Troy so she could be with Jeff. Abed is mad that that’s what she wants. And when she tries to argue it’s not, he literally pretends he is her, logicking it out at her, trying to convince her that that is what she wants, because that’s what he thinks she wants, and her controlling things to cause JeffAnnie makes him mad. But c’est la vie, it’s inevitable anyway, right? Why isn’t she seeing that? Why is she trying to talk about him, he doesn’t want to talk about him, especially not after what she said about him— Then she fights back and tells him that she does not love Jeff, she loves the idea of being loved and if she can teach a guy like Jeff to love her, she’ll never be alone. And then she finds out that’s what Abed is afraid of, too. No—that’s what Abed is used to. “I’ve run the simulations, Annie. I don’t get married. [Why is that the first thing he said?] I don’t etc. etc.”

He’s afraid he’ll be alone, and people will always be getting tired of him and throwing him away. Didn’t Annie get tired of him? But she doesn’t, she’s not—in fact, she understands him. She shows him other members of the group understand that feeling, too. She uses his language to explain to him that he’s wrong, and that neither of them should be trying to make life go according to a script in their heads. Abed sees that she does understand, and if she can get into his head and understand him, she really can do it with anyone, and if she can do it, maybe he can too. Annie helps him and makes him a better person, because she reminds him to empathize, which is something Abed didn’t think he could do. Okay I just spent a long time talking about Abed’s perspective. A tiny bit of Annie now, because this is going on too long. As for Annie, she is afraid of being alone and unloved. She’s “psycho”, she’s crazy too, because someone who empathizes that much and can exude that much emotion does seem crazy to other people. She’s a different crazy than Abed, but her brand of psycho lends itself well to getting and communicating with him, because his crazy is escapism and her crazy is confrontation. His crazy is emotionless, her crazy is emotional. His crazy is control, her crazy is compassion. Her parents cut her off, her high school shunned her, Troy never noticed her, of course she’s scared of being ditched. Of being unimportant. Annie’s need to be perfect comes from the need to feel valued. And doesn’t Abed understand the need to not feel left alone? Doesn’t he understand everything needing to be just so, doesn’t he understand wanting to feel important but never expecting it? Just the computer. Just the observer. Wait. Didn’t he invite her to live with him, voluntarily? Doesn’t he always seem to be choosing her to sit by, don’t they always seem to be reassuring one another with a look or a touch? He gets how she feels about Jeff and Britta and their monopolization (hi Basic Sandwich), he gets when she’s feeling insecure, he gets when she needs to escape, just for a second, to pretend to be someone else in any given scenario so that she can take a risk or get out of her comfort zone, and he excels at that so they often do it together. They don’t have to be alone, they have each other. Annie doesn’t have to be perfect, Abed doesn’t have to be normal, and neither of them have to be in control. But nobody listens to me and instead we have Jeff kissing Annie and Brie Larson in a sweater. And don’t get me started on VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing and why Abed and Annie are individually trying so hard to fight each other’s third-roommate preferences-

[azraeldoesnotdispute]

crusades era joenicky recs

dana asked me to make a crusades era joenicky fic rec list when I mentioned how much I loved them so that no one would rec me what I had already read, so here you go (apologies, I can’t get the read more to work)

The Stiff Heart

I ALWAYS love dana’s fics and it was just by chance that hers was the first one that popped up in my search. This has them having already established a truce and working together to find ‘the dream women’, but it has such a lovely build up to when they get together, sprinkled with plenty of UST and world building as they learn more about each other and dashes of them coming together to a truce.

The Favored Son(s)

Crusade era Yusuf and Nicolo are transported to current time and the boys, Joe in particular, have a hard time reconciling who they were with the love they now share. It’s like having a slow burn, but your OTP is already there and happy together at the same time. Lots of Joe doting, which is always a bonus, and the other two learning about each other and overcoming their past.

The Land of Turquoise

The immortals dream of each other when the universe has decreed that they are not close enough to one another. Joe and Nicky start dreaming of each other a month and a half into their truce, when they are sleeping side-by-side every night in the desert. How much closer can they be?

Honestly, I can’t sum it up better than the actual summary. So much UST and trust building!!!

Ardeo In Te

Omegaverse and soulmates? My fucking JAM

Djinn’s Eyes

Man, this fucking fic. It’s so good, has so much build up and world building, learning to overcome preconceived notions and find love. I can’t even find the words, it’s such a wonderful fic.

 Lessons Exquisitely Crafted

Yusuf goes home, leaving Nicolo behind, but he can’t shake him off because these are dumbasses who are meant to be together. It takes time for them to come back together, but they do, because they’re destiny.

The Weight of Fear

mpreg fic, where they have a night of passion and then Yusuf runs away, only to learn that Nicolo is pregnant once the girls find him to kick his ass. I love the story, how Nicky’s anxieties are written, how much Joe is stressed once he finds out that he accidentally knocked him up.

Heavy with the Weight of Who We Are

Yusuf can’t shake Nicolo, no matter how hard he tries, so they’re stuck together, learning each others languages and trying to figure out how to work together despite their differences.

Beginnings, Middles, Ends

Wind_Ryder did an amazing job with this series! It showcases how PTSD can affect a person, what having someone who cares about you can do to help you heal, and wraps it up by showing that somethings don’t just magically disappear over time.

Pistachios and Rosewater

The food alone makes reading this fic worth it, all of it looks delicious and it’s worked into the story so well, showing the progress of time and how cooking can mean love.

Holiest Among The Living

 This actually has very little joenicky, but I had to include it because it shows Nicolo’s journey to understanding everything he thought was true, isn’t, and that even people you thought were good can disregard others just because they’re a different color/religion/etc

O Jerusalem

Has selective mute Nicky in it, because PTSD is a serious thing, and soft Yusuf caring enough about the man who killed him to not leave him abandoned in Jerusalem. This is definitely a story about kindness and healing.

Death is Just a Beginning

Plenty of hate and anger, and not all at each other. Includes Nicolo being found out for having revived and Yusuf saving him, but the road is paved with plenty of fighting before they find their footing and destiny.

[mymp3]

wave ^_^)/ !!!! i hate to be predictable, but for the ask game - poor ryoji mochizuki ? :]c

VITY! waves back o/

Anyways here's Ryoji Mochizuki world’s most perfect boy ^_^

favorite thing about them

Where do I start. Nyx being the primordial being, God in the persona universe. All life comes from her. She’s the beginning and the end, she is death itself. Having death be put inside a small boy and his kindness and love making death want to be human itself. Wanting to repay that kindness and love, feeling guilt at the way it treated the small boy, ruining his life.

The fact that Ryoji is Death, is Thanatos, is Pharos, is Nyx. They’re all the same being. The concept and execution of that, who had no feelings either way before, being treated so kindly to the point where it takes forms this bond with P3 Hero. Protecting him from the first arcana shadow as Thanatos on the first full moon of the game. The culmination of these forms is of course Mochizuki Ryoji. Who’s become soft and sweet. He copies P3 Hero’s appearance and gender and is everything that he never knew he wanted to be.

He loves the world so much, loves humanity so much. He’s so endlessly kind and having that kindness be a direct reflection of P3 Hero makes it that much sweeter. The fact he created this form because of his desire to have it and desire to separate himself from Nyx is the sweetest thing in the world. Especially when they’re all still the same being. Ryoji just has a hard time putting that in perspective again, he doesn’t want to be that, (Evident by his dumb Ryoji phase) doesn’t want to go back to that. It’s so sweet. He’s the cutest in the world.

least favorite thing about them

I honestly don’t think I have one.

favorite line

“I know you better than anyone after all… That’s why I came back to you as Ryoji Mochizuki.” (I know this is kind of cheating. sry.)

brOTP

Him and Junpei are so good it’s unreal. Just bros being bros. They hang out, are the most frat of guys and its hilarious. But when Junpei is going through a rough time Ryoji always knows exactly what to say. I find it so sweet.

OTP

Ryomina

They are literal soulmates. They are one another. Mirror images. Love birds. Codependent cats. Made for each other in the most literal of senses. Ryoji made his form from Minato so they could spend time together. Minato taught Death kindness.

Sometimes I feel so like I’m making them up they’re so perfect.

NOTP

This is a bit odd to type out but pretty much anyone who isn’t P3 Hero with Ryoji? I see Ryoji as only being made for one person in particular, so the others just don’t appeal to me in the same way.

random headcanon

Can I cheat and put more than one. I’m gonna. These are all Ryoji post P3 unless stated otherwise.

- Ryoji going a step further and taking Minato’s hair and eye color. Draining a blue Minato used to have til his are bright and shining. The same way he absorbed his kindness.

- He is crazy codependent. Like crazy codependent. If he was able to touch Minato for a split second in November they would never be able to let go of one another. That’s why Minato had to avoid him in FES.

-He's really warm! Got that from Minato too so he's left with all the cold. Ryoji's fun to hug though :)

- Him and Minato watch over the world together in the great seal! Ryoji shares the knowledge while Minato catches up on rest and helps explain new concepts to him when he wakes up. He’s his doorman ^_^ (ha)

- He would really enjoy working retail if he ever got the shot. He loves people in general. Getting to meet them, talk to them, the whole shebang.

- He’s embarrassed of being Pharos. Like people get of old baby photos.

- Ryoji is metaphorically trans baby. Wanting to copy Minato and preferring being called Ryoji, a boy. It makes talking about Gods a bit difficult. Dysphoria and all. Poor thing experiences it in the weirdest of ways. But as Minato and Ryoji continue to be the seal, it’ll get easier.

- He likes sunrises and cheesy rom coms and fairy tales. Classic knight and princess stories. Kind of has the most normal taste ever, but a romantic at heart.

- Speaking of normal, I think “Dumb Ryoji” is a representation on what Minato would have been like if Death was never sealed inside of him. Perfect friends with all of the right people, charming, a bit of a playboy, and best friends with Junpei.

unpopular opinion

I personally don’t imagine Ryoji with a sexuality. His human form was made as a mirror to Minato, and so interacting with him throws him off course. He acts different around him, it confuses him. I don’t see anything Dumb Ryoji does as being a real representation of who Ryoji is.

song i associate with them

My Ryoji playlist is just the most cheesy songs you’ve ever heard in your life.

Anyways I guess my pick is “Rhythm Of Love" by the Plain White T's. (yeah ik. please go easy on me he's so owl city 2010's pop to me.)

favorite picture of them

i like how pouty he gets when he's upset ^_^

[theartoflovingthomashunt]

Happy New Year!

[All Thomas Hunt x Alex Spencer Masterlists] [Red Carpet Diaries]

Pairing: Thomas Hunt x Alex Spencer (F!OC) Book: Red Carpet Diaries Word Count: ~450 Rating: General: no warnings, just fluff Prompts: New Year's Eve @choicesficwriterscreations & @choicesholidays ; first kiss in the new year @choicesjanuary2024

Synopsis: Alex and Thomas spend New Year's Eve at a Charity gala.

This incredibly gorgeous portrait of my OTP is by the amazing ArtbyAinna (Insta). I've been holding onto this art for almost 2 years. I can't even begin to express how much I love this piece. It is one of my favorites of them ever. It's so tender and soft and romantic and it's so very, very much them. I truly can't thank Ainna enough for bringing this vision to life.

The ballroom gleamed with soft hues of gold, set against brilliant black. Flickers of gold twinkled like stars in the night upon the ceiling. The shimmering decor exuded elegance, while the subdued lighting provided a warm, inviting ambiance for the luxurious New Year’s Eve charity gala. The event began with a cocktail reception, followed by a charity auction, and finally, a countdown to the New Year celebration.

While most of the guests let loose near the bar or on the dance floor, moving to the beats of a famed DJ he had never heard of, Thomas and Alex found themselves drawn to a quieter corner, avoiding the boisterous revelry. The strands of lights behind them warmed them with their golden glow, a serene environment for the pair to lose themselves together while the year ticked away.

Their movements were slow and graceful as the pair swayed to a melody of their own. Thomas held Alex close in his gentle embrace, his hands resting softly on the small of her back. Alex’s arms circled around his neck as she nestled her head on his shoulder. Her eyes closed, relaxing in the comfort of his arms. She knew if it were up to him, he would have left the second the auction had ended, perhaps even before, had they accepted his offer to purchase a few pieces before the event. But still, he was here with her—because of her. A radiant smile spread across her lips; there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, but that feeling was mutual.

“I love you,” she whispered softly. She tipped her head slightly, her gaze meeting his.

His lips brushed gently against her forehead, placing a tender, lingering kiss. “I love you, too, my Alex.”

The cheers of celebration grew louder, the countdown to the New Year beginning.

“Would you like to join in?” He questioned, though his arms remained warmly around her.

“I have everything I need right here.”

“I could not agree more.”

They leaned in, their lips meeting in a tender kiss even before the countdown was completed.

As cheers of “Happy New Year” filled the space, the pair stayed together, locked in a loving embrace. No matter what the future held, as long as they were together, they would make it through.

“Ready to go?” Alex whispered when they parted. She held her hand toward him.

"Almost." He couldn't resist stealing one more kiss. It was the first of many kisses to follow, but it was enough for now “Happy New Year, my love”

"Happy New Year, Thomas!"

He laced his fingers with hers, guiding her out of the ballroom, without a glance back toward the party, still in full strength. All they needed was each other, their children safely asleep at home, and their beloved black lab.

As much as I'd love to hold onto it, I feel like it's time to share it with the world. I know Thomas and Alex aren't a popular pairing but I appreciate any and all support of them now and always.They will always be the couple that I hold closest to my heart.

[theenbynightingale]

CLONE HIGH (2023) EP. 8 SPOILERS

Okay, I know I’m opening up myself to a bunch of arguing but like... We need to have a talk. I should preface this by saying I’m not a die hard fan of Clone High. I only caved into watching the original series a few days before the reboot dropped despite hearing about it for years. I think they’re both good but I have my problems with both.

But I wanna talk about Topher Bus, a Christopher Columbus clone in a Gen Z world. He’s kind of taken over the role of Ghandi as Abe’s best friend in the revival, since the creators don’t want to bring him back unless they know they’re gonna be able to make more seasons. He hasn’t had a lot of screen time or development because the abundance of characters in this version. However, him becoming somewhat close with Abe has resulted in some fans shipping them.

So imagine their surprise when Topher tries to blackmail (or white leverage) Abe at the end of the final episode because he is attracted to Joan as well. I’ve seen so many people actually get angry about this. Many found themselves disappointed that Topher wasn’t straight or that he’d do something so terrible to Abe.

To which I say... Why would you expect anything else from this guy?

Topher’s whole thing was that he was an asshole who tried way too hard to convince people he’s progressive or an ally or “woke”, a term he unironically uses. He goes on and on about how he’s looking out for poc and women because he’s just trying to survive in a world that has flat out rejected his clone father.

“But he has a ‘Everyone is Welcome Here’ rainbow flag in his room!” Yeah, he does. He also has a co-exist poster, too. Good for him. Except there’s also a poster that says “Not a paid activist”. It’s a front! That’s the point! 

“But he keeps trying to drill it into everyone’s heads that he’s straight, like a closeted person!” Yes, he does. But it’s not just closeted people who do that. I went to a Catholic school and I also live in the real world. I’ve seen dudes be afraid to drink tea or hug because it might make them look “gay” or “feminine” or whatever bullshit.

“The way he said he liked Joan and white women in general was so exaggerated that he must be forcing himself to say it!” This is Clone High! Everything in this show is so exaggerated. From the very beginning, it’s been a parody of teen satires. It was created by the duo that would go on to make Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie. This is their style.

“The episode would have been better if he blackmailed Abe into not confessing to Joan because he had a crush on Abe.” So you’re saying you would have liked the episode more if Topher had gone “Abe, the reason I almost got you molested by a teacher was because I’m in love with you”? I need you to realize how fucked that is.

Topher is a weasly little shit who tries to convince everyone how progressive he is when he’s actually a total asshole. That was the point. Y’all thinking he was in love with Abe or that he had Abe’s best intentions at heart just means that it worked. You took the bait. I’m not saying shipping Tophabe would be immoral (okay maybe after the whole statutory rape thing but that’s just for right now). There’s a solid chance that their friendship could be salvaged after this. I certainly never thought I’d ship Cleo with anyone but know she and Frida are my OTP. But you gotta stop pretending that this character is someone he isn’t.

I might delete this because I’m just trying to get my feelings out. I’m not calling anyone stupid or whiny just because they got upset by the new episodes. (Shoutout to my boy, @warcrimetime​. Sorry they took JoanFK from you so soon). This is just another case of me getting annoyed by people calling queerbait just because a ship didn’t become canon and me getting everything out of my system. (But also, if Joan does see Topher’s blackmail and her reaction is anger at Abe and not “HOLY SHIT YOU WERE MOLESTED?!” then that would actually be legit bad writing).

TL;DR:

Although, maybe I’m just not upset because I got Kahlopatra and you guys lost your OTP and I just don’t understand, I dunno. 

[magicwhiskers29]

For the latest ask game...Great Ace Attorney, specifically

Favourite Character:

Gina, my girl Gina!! I love her development!! She adds to the atmosphere so well in Unspeakable Story, and I love her and Gregson's dynamic in DGS2!

Least Favourite Character:

Roly Beate. I think his gag is a little obnoxious, but I'm less endeared to him than Pat, so... I don't really actively dislike him that much, but he annoys me, so if I have to pick a least favourite...

5 Favourite ships (canon or non-canon):

-Ginasusa

-Haosusa (/Susarei)

-Ginasusaohao

-Asoryuu

-Nikosusa

Character I find most attractive:

Uhm. I don't know if I feel qualified to answer this. Maybe I'll just say whose design I like best... In which case, Gina again, maybe? I think she's very well-designed! :)

Character I would marry:

Also not that qualified to answer this one, uh... I could marry Courtney Sithe to make her history of marriages/relationships even more confusing? lol

Character I would be best friends with:

Iris!! We both like writing and science so I think we'd be cool buddies

A random thought:

Killing off Jezaille Brett at the start of DGS2 is an excellent way of setting the tone for the rest of the game, as well as setting up that, yeah, important characters can just die, so that Gregson's death works better later. I think it's a very shocking reveal that she's the victim, and I like it a lot.

An unpopular opinion:

Idk if this is that unpopular, but I asked my friend, and they told me this is at least a weird opinion, but Return of the Great Departed Soul is my favourite case in the doulogy, and my favourite case in Ace Attorney overall.

My canon OTP:

There aren't that many canon ships, to my memory, but the Vigils (Evie and Daley Vigil), I guess? Better than the Beates or the Garridebs...

My non-canon OTP:

I guess since this says OTP I can't say Ginasusahao, so uhm... Ginasusa, maybe? That's probably my favourite DGS ship, but I'm not like, that attached to it specifically, so...

Most badass character:

SUSATO MIKOTOBA!!! She saves you in court so many times, and she will take down anyone she needs to with a Susato takedown <3

Pairing I am not a fan of:

Hm... The most I think I get towards DGS ships I don't care is ambivilent, tbh. I can usualy see why people like them, though. I guess the ones I stear most clear from would be Baroryuu or Asobaro? Nothing against then, and I can get why people ship them, but they're not really my thing.

Character I feel the writer's screwed up:

Right, this isn't so clear-cut as it would be as if I was writing this about PL, but if you'll allow me to be petty for a moment, I do have a few minor grievances with Susato. I love her writing for the most part, but I think there was a major missed opportunity in the specifics of her ending.

I don't think her thematic beats about choosing her own path work quite as well if her sole motivation to return to Japan at the end of DGS2 os for Ryuunosuke. Like, yes, she chooses to follow him over Kazuma, that's something, but she's still just choosing to follow another character, when she was previously set up in Blossoming Attorney to be capable of standing on her own if the law only allowed it! I think i would have liked it more if it was at least implied that she returned to Japan to help Ryuunosuke AND start to try to begin her own legal career.

Otherwise, I think her ending's uncomfortably similar to the midpoint in her arc for the ending of Unspeakable Story. Albeit indirectly, she's once again returning to Japan upon her father's request, and I think that could have been avoided a little if her motivations for wanting to return were established as being outside of what other characters want, because that is her arc!

Favourite friendship:

Kazuma and Susato. Everything they do with those two is so interesting to me, and I love writing about it. It's so interesting how core Kazuma is to Susato, but how also she can't mean as much to him, because he only met her properly after he's already decided his mission. But she still means a lot to him, and I just, augh. I love the tragedy.

[chenfordsbby]

"The Pilot"

Welome to the very first drop of "Get in the Shop" !

Welcome to the start of “Get in The Shop!” The Rookie Re-Watch Blog! I am not sure how I plan on going about doing this blog, but there is no time like the present to start.  I have to warn that this is one of those figure out as I go type of ordeals; I have never done this before and I did brief research about the “dos and donts” of blogging, especially one of a tv show recap so I truly am just going to go with the flow.  I think I am going to post a new blog drop every Sunday and if I have any extra time during the week, maybe a Tuesday?!

If I try one thing and it doesn’t work, I will move and and try the next best thing with the end goal of having the best blogging/re-watch system that I can create for myself.  I am not an expert in any way.  This blog is solely a fan based one that I am choosing to do for my own mental health to get me, myself and I through whoever long this summer (plus) hiatus may last and if I happen to find friends along the way that will read my thoughts and interact with me then I couldn’t ask for anything better!

I think I will take notes as I watch the episode and then immediately following it, I will expand on those notes or should I watch the episode in its entirety in full and then type up everything I want to say about said episodes…

I want to preface the beginning of my re-watch by saying that I had no idea that this show even existed prior to me finding it on Tik Tok.  I saw a #Chenford scene from Season 5 Episode ! That was blowing up on TikTok and I immediately started watching it so I can obsessed over a new OTP without realizing Tim & Lucy weren’t even a though until Season 5.  So I did start it because of them but stayed because of how much I love this show.  

I am going to try my best to do this re-watch as if I don’t know anything that is to come in later episodes/seasons but I make no definitely promises!!

Let’s get into it!!!

Season 1 Episode 1: 

Title: “The Pilot” Original Air Date: October 15th, 2018

Synopsis: After a life altering incident, a small town guy (Nathan Fillion) peruses his dream of being a police officer.

First Impression of John Nolan: Eager

First Impression of Jackson West: Naive

First impression on Angela Lopez: Badass

First Impression on Talia Bishop: Out of Place

First Impression on Lucy Chen: Hotshot 

First Impression on Tim Bradford: Hot! #IYKYK

First Impression on Wade Grey: Seasoned

First Impression on Zoe Anderson: Authoritative

The episode begins with a bank robbery.  Which is fitting given there needs to be something to correlate this show with the premise of it: “A Silly Little Cop Show”.  John Nolan was definitely at the right place at the right time. Without knowing he goes on to become a cop after the bank robbery- you can tell that John has a passion for helping people.  You have to want to help people in some capacity in wanting to become a police officer right? 

The very first showing of The Rookie theme song.  It is a not even 10 second snippet of a full length song but man does it work.  It works so good that I am glad they never got rid of it.  There were shows that I watched in the past who had a whole opening credit scene/song which eventually faded out for it to just be a title card of the show (One Tree Hill I’m looking at you) so for The Rookie to have just ended its 5th season and to still have the little opening credit is cool!

After the cold open, the timeline jumps to “Nine Months Later”.  The first day on the real job.  No more training wheels, no more tests (so Lucy Chen thinks), no more papers and skills labs.  The beginning of the rest of their lives.

The introduction of Lucy Chen. She isn’t even clocked in for her first day of work and she already makes an arrest.  Way too cool for us or way too over eager to make a lasting first impression to everyone at the station?  Only time will tell.  But do you know what did make a great first impression? Her car!  Let’s hope this isn’t the last we see of that thing!  

I know we are focusing on the present but it doesn’t mean I can’t wish that we saw any kind of flashbacks of the time that not only John but Lucy and Jackson were in the academy. How did they get there? How did they excel or did they fail? What happened in the academy that John, Lucy and Jackson all became friends?!  It would’ve been cool to see!

Enter the infamous roll call room and the immediate jokes of John Nolans’ age. I really have no background regarding anything police related but I am assuming that someone of John’s age normally isn’t a rookie cop.  More so of the age of Lucy and Jackson.  So I don’t think this will be the last we hear of any ageist jokes of John Nolan and being a Rookie.  You can tell it is all in good fun and John takes it in stride. We all love our enemies to lovers storylines, but will there be an enemies to friendship between John and Wade Grey? This first episode shows no, but only time will tell.  We all have to be forever grateful to Watch Commander Wade Grey for playing the “Training Officer Match Game” and matching up rookie Lucy Chen with Training Officer Tim Bradford. (Thank you writers!)

The very first day gets off to a start.  The T.O’s teaching all of their boots the basics of the shop.  The ins and outs of the shop, what to do every morning, before going out on patrol to start your shift.  The basics and less than exciting aspect of being a cop.

Tim and Lucy. Or what we only knew then: Officer Bradford and Boot.” Lucy had no idea what to expect, not form her first day on the job and certainly not from her T.O. I think she immediately wanted to try to create some sort of bond/friendship with Tim but quickly realized that went out the window when he did his very first, what we all have come to learn and love, “Tim Test”.  “I’ve been shot! Where are you boot? I’m bleeding to death and you have to call for help. Where are you?” We will get back to that later on..

Side Note: I am trying very hard to pretend I have never seen any other episode besides this first one.  It is hard to compare Tim and Lucy then with what we know about their relationship now and just how their friendship progressed. I want to recap the episodes as if I was watching it for the ver first time.  It is hard but I ma going to do it!!!

Food Trucks! I never eat at food trucks much but do they officers of Mid-Wilshire make me want too!  The scene at the food truck was a nice way to show the two separate trios separately but together.  You have the experienced, veteran officers: Tim, Talia and Angela and then you have the brand new rookie officers: John, Lucy and Jackson. It’s smart TV. Yes this show is about John Nolan but it’s also about so, so much more.

You quickly start to see how much John cares about wanting to be a cop but in hindsight really has no idea just how to be one.  He thinks he does, mainly because of his age, but he doesn’t, not really.  All he knows is the 9 months he was in the academy. That’s it and it is evident the amount of training that he does need. He hopes he’s doing all the right things in order to succeed but in reality he is not: Using the baton to try to break the car window repeatedly even though it didn’t work the first few times; not putting on his gloves when going to help the husband of the domestic violence call- Blood Bourne Pathogens anyone?  Throughout this whole episode you quickly see how eager John is to be “a cop” but not HOW to be a cop. One thing is for sure is that John knows his way with words. The potential is there- it just needs to be taught.

The comedic relief of this show is introduced and it is much appreciated.  “I just got a disturbing video.  I’ve never seen anything so horrific..so prepare yourselves” said one Grey Wade and turns out it was the body cam footage of John trying to hop the fence.  There needs to be some light hearted fun in a profession where it can be serious most of the time!

I am immediately intrigued by this already established friendship between Lucy Chen, Jackson West and John Nolan. We already saw them interact in their work life so now we see them interacting in their personal lives.  It is a nice storytelling aspect of this episode.  The premise of the show is about the lives of newbie police officers but what happens after they clock out for their shift? And now we get to see it! The karaoke bar cuts right into the morning after where they make us want to believe John called the badge bunny and they spent the night together but SURPRISE! John wakes up to Lucy Chen!

(Please don’t hate me for what I am about to say)

The first time I watched this- I have to say I wasn’t turned off entirely by the brief relationship of John and Lucy. (Considering at this time, the romantic side of Tim and Lucy wasn’t even a thought, to anyone and that John really had better chemistry with literally anyone else). I am not opposed to have seen this relationship continue for a bit longer, if this was the only romantic option for either Lucy or John, I think I would have been okay with this relationship, I think it had potential.  John wants their relationship to become public and Lucy doesn’t. Lucy has every right to feel those feelings. Lucy knew from the start that no matter what she did in her career she would always have to fight for her place in the force where John would never be questioned twice for it and rightfully so: sexism. Talia seeing that little moment between Lucy and John at the end of the episode after the shoot out was on purpose.  It just confirmed to Lucy that she was correct in her feelings and reasonings as to why she wanted her and Johns relationship to remain a secret. 

It’s only the second day on the job and we already start to see Lucy’s frustration with Tim.  She quickly sees that Tim’s training methods are not conventional.  I don’t think we know that they are called Tim Tests yet, but outside of the liquor store, we witness Tim Test #2 and as Lucy is cuffing Ghost Head we meet an Isabel.  The Tim we saw is gone. The second he lays eyes on Isabel he becomes a shell of a person. The tears well up in his eyes and his voice cracks. He is no longer Officer Bradford, he is just Tim Bradford; a man that is desperate for his wife who he hasn’t seen in over a year. That does something to a person and Tim hides it well. Does Isabel recognize him at first? It’s hard to say but what is clear is that Tim is helpless when it comes to her.  I mean wouldn’t anyone who hasn’t seen their WIFE in over a year be, no matter what their profession is. He does exactly what she asked him to do: give her money even though its the last thing he wanted to do.  The quick glance back to Lucy? What does that mean?

You can’t have a cop show without actual action scenes right?!  And this one literally started with a bang!

I never expected Tim to get shot at in the very first episode but it was smart storytelling.  Tim’s first “Tim Test” paid off well because there was zero hesitation when Lucy called in Tim being shot. She knew what to say and how to say it and she did it with fierce conviction. It’s only been two days but Tim knew what he was doing when that first test was executed.

We didn’t see much of Jackson or Angela this episode in the field until the very end. And what a way to end this episode for Jackson, which left us all scratching our heads at the cliffhanger question: Why did Jackson freeze up in the middle of the field?  We can’t get all of the answers in the first episode and the confrontation between him and Angela in the locker room was a nice segue to what’s to come for them.  Not only for them but for the rest of the ensemble! It was a stellar first episode of the start of an amazing series!

At the end of every recap I am going to do an honorable mention that I did not discuss at all in my above rant as well an episode “peak” the high point of the episode, what made the episode great among other things and a “pit” the low point of the episode, something we could’ve done without and just a few random thoughts I need to get off my chest!!

Honorable Mention: The long sleeve uniforms!

Episode Peak: The introduction of “Boot”

Episode Pit: John Nolan’s Hair

Episode Rating: 10/10 (It was the Pilot Episode I would be a troll if I rated it any less!)

Random Thoughts:

I have never heard of Melissa O'Neil until I watched this show and it's safe to say my life is changed for the better now that I know that precious of a human exists. She was made a lasting imprint on my life in the best way possible. I will be a forever fan of hers.

Eric Winter ages life fineeeeeee wineeeeeee

I would love for these posts to be an open dialogue! I want to connect with other fans and hear your thoughts and opinions! What do you agree with? What do you disagree with?!  Is there anything I should change for my future blogs? I want this to be not only a fun hiatus but a fun thing for all of us to do together!

Until next time on “Get in The Shop”!

[naancypants]

I think I've pinpointed the main reason I'm so viscerally unhappy with the direction the writers chose to go in with Nace -- obviously this is just my opinion, so any use of objective terms like "supposed to be", etc is not meant to be taken literally. It's just me airing out my takes on the storytelling.

For me, one of the most appealing things about Nace is how they juxtapose all of Nancy's other romantic endeavors. From the beginning, it's been different with Ace. He isn't a fast-moving hookup or a form of escapism. He gradually grows into the role of a best friend, a partner, someone she is emotionally open with, and the person who can keep her steady when shit hits the fan. Ace's presence encourages Nancy to embrace love (especially self-love) rather than facilitating her urge to push it away.

I associate Nick and Owen, Nancy's season 1 ships -- which ideally would establish a starting point for her -- with Nancy resigning to choices or circumstances that are out of her control, and having to move on from something she really wanted to make work. Both of these relationships were ripped from her grasp, thus leading to pain and reinforcing her belief that she isn't deserving of That Kind of love.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Season 4 has essentially applied these negative season 1 traits to Nancy/Ace, her supposed endgame, with the curse and how it has torn them apart. I've always believed her endgame should break down these patterns entirely, not slap a new coat of paint on them. The idea is for Nancy to learn that true love doesn't HAVE to be painful, that love shouldn't break your spirit. Not when it's the right person. There's no real reason to be rehashing angst and hopelessness and rebounds this late in the game -- not with Ace, who is narratively recognized as The One. This should be the relationship for Nancy that symbolizes joy and the warmth of falling for a friend. It should feel cozy and stable. Why would we want to validate Nancy's belief that great love must come with great suffering? I've always loved Nace for the themes of growth that it reflects in Nancy's character -- that she is learning what real love feels like, that she is embracing her most authentic self, that she has moved away from the closed-off girl we met at the start who used relationships as a distraction from her pain.

Ace is supposed to represent comfort, security, and a safe haven from the strife that surrounds Nancy's life... yet now he is the central cause of her strife. I don't want her to be miserable because of whatever is going on with Ace. I want Ace to be her solace from whatever else is making her miserable! That's how this relationship was built to function!!! That was the entire point!!!!!

I can't help but feel like this star-crossed drama sours their connection a little, when I ship them specifically for the way Ace has always been an anomaly for her; someone with whom she could let her guard down and communicate freely due to the harmonious undercurrent between them. Now they can't make it through (1) conversation without 'breaking up' or stabbing each other in the heart. It's exhausting. It's counterintuitive to everything I love about them. I don't expect a relationship without its bumps in the road, but their arc is so dramatic and heightened now, it's like the writers have disregarded why these two worked so well together in the first place.

All I ever wanted was a sweet little slowburn coworkers-to-besties-to-lovers arc where they both surprise themselves by falling for each other 💐 of course I'm still rooting for them to end up together, but it hurts to know that what was once my #1 currently-airing OTP is barely even a shell of what I hoped it would be.

[dangermousie]

Finished.

God, what a glorious, glorious, glorious ride, a truly solid epic drama in a way I haven't seen in a very long time - there were two other flawless cdramas for me this year - Lost You Forever 1 and The Ingenuous One - but TIO was a smaller scale story and LYF ended in medias res. AJTL was the only complete, epic cdrama this year for me, but oh boy, was it beyond.

First, my two tiny niggles - this is a drama where the 40 episode limit fit badly, like tightly pinching shoes. You can tell how they had to speed and cram to get in the resolutions of dynastic struggles in An and Wu and the war with Beipan. This drama really needed to have been 50 eps. (The cramming also resulted in the sole plot arc that made me go huh - LTG random decision to try to marry Ruyi before he rides off to what he thinks is his last battle and his just as random decision to go "oh well" and agree to release NYZ and then when NYZ shows up before he can be released because he broke out and wreaks havoc, let them walk out. Maybe if they had more time, it would have made more sense, otherwise it felt like an aberration in a character arc that before and after was consistent and made sense.) Second niggle is not really one because it's clearly due to censorship - the last minute redemption of the Wu emperor etc - the writer made is as believable as she could but you could feel the censorship sticky hands all over it.

But those are minor complaints. Overall this was solid from beginning to end, very adult and with secondary characters who all felt real and complex and interesting. A few thoughts:

Our main OTP was incredible. So adult, so competent, so badass but still feeling human. I bought that those two were larger than life legends AND flesh and blood people. And that chemistry!

I loved that this drama allowed relationships to be messy. Yes, we have our epic main couple but I especially loved what happened with Chu Yue and Shisan and LTG and Ying. I loved that neither was an epic romance. With CY and Shisan, I loved that they didn't make him realize he loves her forever blah blah - he was an incredibly consistent character - charming, loyal and utterly clear he's incapable of permanent commitment to a single woman and she never could change that. And yet he died in large part to protect her, and it's in keeping with his character and it makes sense that this solidified her remembering him forever - he's not just the one who got away, but he DIED for her. It's very clear if they both lived, this would have gone nowhere and ended with him wandering off or her moving on wanting commitment from someone who is capable of it, but as it is, it froze the possibility of love in ember.

And I loved the narrative of LTG and Ying. They both come into marriage in love with someone they can never have (Ruyi and YL), they both have similar backgrounds (royals but neglected and looked down upon), they both share the same goals (power but to take care of people) and they really are friends. I love that when we last see them, they have what is a great period marriage - no love but respect and common goals. And she still mourns YL and he probably still thinks of Ruyi but the thing is, I love that the narrative leaves the possibility of them eventually falling in love with each other (or other people) because as she tells him - you think you will always love a particular person but life is long. (And it's so true - she will remember YL until she's old, once again in part because of the unfulfilled possibility of it - but it doesn't mean she won't be able to open her heart to someone again.) It's a surprisingly hopeful ending for them and I love it. I'd totally watch a show where they discover love with each other tbh.

I did love that no character (except possibly Prince Danyang) got everything they wanted even if they emerged alive. They got some and had to give up some.

I loved what it had to say about having to be worthy of your power and position - you are not owed fealty by birth but you have to earn it. It was a surprisingly anti-imperial show for a recent cdrama.

All the deaths of our faves gutted me, none as much as Yuan Lu's. Oooof.

As to the ending, I can tell people are gonna have fits but I like it. I love many an ending legendarily reviled in cdrama fandom (Princess Agents and Novoland Eagle Flag have perfect endings in my opinion; I realize that opinion, especially about PA is enough to get me throttled in certain quarters but it is what it is) and I came to cdramas back when pretty much every costume cdrama ended horrifically tragically - think of the endings of the Chinese Paladins, The Myth (for a long time my n1 drama even though it made me cry so hard I threw up, ending-wise), The Young Warriors, Little Fairy, even Lan Ling Wang, Glory of the Tang Dynasty and Bu Bu Jing Xin if we are going somewhat later. I mean, one of my favorite dramas ever is Royal Nirvana and that ending is like drinking a thermos full of depression. This is nothing.

Honestly, I would have been fine if the ending for our OTP really was them dying pretty much together, in their different battles. That hint that they are alive and living with their kids is lovely and welcome, but I'd have been fine without it and it raises a lot of questions (though if anyone could fake their deaths and survive that sort of thing, it would have been them so fair enough.)

Anyway, this is basically my love letter to this drama. It was amazing and I am so glad I watched it.

[walkawaytall]

Now that I finished reading (and reviewing) Collateral, I thought I'd come with some questions, if you haven't answered them before! This was the first fic you posted, but was it the first HxL fic idea you had? How did you come up with this particular take on the Ord Mantell mission? Are there any subtle Easter eggs that you had fun including?

Ooh, thank you for asking! Other than a vague idea I started to write down as a preteen that essentially amounted to “Han proposes to Leia the night after the Battle of Endor and I’m sure I’ll come up with an actual plot later”, this was the first fic idea I had. I had written for another much, much smaller fandom in high school, but hadn’t written or read fanfic in probably 15 years or more. I was in severe professional burnout toward the end of 2022, had just sort of re-embraced Star Wars after avoiding it a lot post-TROS, and decided to start reading for my original OTP. I had also been working on a novel for quite a long time and it was driving me insane, so after blazing my way through a ton of Han/Leia fics on FFN, and later on AO3, I thought I might try writing some fanfic just to have fun with writing again since the novel was making me miserable.

I remember coming up with the idea for the Committee first — the intent with at least part of the fic was to suggest that a lot of the stuff Leia and Han say to piss each other off in ESB are kind of low-blow-type callbacks to private jokes or things they had discussed previously. I also remember reflecting a bit on their relationship and how it’s portrayed at the beginning of ESB — how some people have interpreted that to mean that they spent three dang years griping at one another, but somehow fell in love in between verbal jabs. I think I mentioned this in an early author’s note on Collateral — I had a friendship that was mostly verbal sparring and stupid arguments about things neither of us cared about and it stops being fun after awhile. Eventually, we both just kind of started acting normal around one another. And I just kind of figured that, even if Han and Leia started out picking each other apart, there’s no way they’d go from that to romance in a few words, so I felt like they had to have a friendlier history than what we’re shown. (Plus, I may be reading too much into it, but the way Carrie and Harrison play those parts in that movie, it doesn’t seem like two people who just hate each other to me; it seems like two people who’ve been deeply wounded by one another and aren’t sure what they’re supposed to do. And you have to care about each other somewhat to be wounded by one another, ya know?)

I wanted a fic that was limited in scope for my first fic so I wouldn’t get too carried away with trying to add to a meandering plot or whatever, so I decided on the couple of weeks before ESB starts. I had read a handful of fics about Ord Mantell or referencing Ord Mantell and decided I wanted to do my own take on it. I didn’t know a ton of Star Wars lore, so I remember having to research on Wookieepedia a ton. I do believe my initial intent was for Han and Leia to start their romantic relationship on the trip, but the characters misbehaved while I was writing and Leia kissed Han in her room instead, and I ended up going with that.

Even though I knew most H/L fans would be expecting Ord Mantell to go poorly, I wanted to repeatedly put people at ease, at least in theory. The gang isn’t even worried about Ord Mantell, so why should we be? Everything’s going so well! Han and Leia go on a cute date and everything is fine! Basically, if someone went into the story not knowing about the infamy that Ord Mantell has gained in H/L circles, I wanted them to wonder if anything was actually going to go wrong.

As far as Easter eggs go…I wrote Han with the “Han Solo is mildly Force-sensitive” fan theory in mind. It’s not blatant, but it’s there. Some of the conversations they have reference Leia, Princess of Alderaan and From a Certain Point of View (Leia knowing Huttese comes to mind), and I do assume people catch this, but just in case someone didn’t, the final big conversation that Leia and Han have in her office occurs the afternoon before ESB picks up. The sensors she talks about are the same ones he and Luke are placing at the beginning of the movie.

Oh! Wait! I forgot my favorite one. I never come out and say it, and I don’t know if I even ever implied it, but in my mind, the reason the Falcon is in such rough shape at the beginning of ESB is because, after Leia and Han’s interactions go entirely sour, she stops helping with background repairs, which means Han and Chewie have more to do with just the two of them.

This was incredibly long! Hope that’s okay 😂

[bluesadansey]

adam from trc? (for the characters ask game!)

Why I like them: Difficult to sum up since he’s one of my favorite characters of all time, I mentioned he’s probably my second favorite specifically male character in media and I stand by that <3. He has a lot of traits that appeal to me between the control issues and emotional repression and being curious and wanting to know what is up at all times and being a resourceful smart bb who can probably (the traits that most make me vibe with male chars tbh), his ambition and drive and desire for autonomy is really admirable to me but I enjoy that his arc in original trc is about learning he’s worthy of loving and being loved and about the value of that, that vulnerability isn’t automatically going to lead to being ruined in a sense. And his whole journey/arc in original trc is really beautifully done, one of my favorite character arcs ever to this day. On the flip side he’s a freak and a menace and I adore that as well, his internal monologue and pov is truly unhinged in the most fascinating and fun way. I definitely wouldn’t be nearly as attached to him without that. And I love stories about identity and masking and characters who feel alien and other having malleable relationships to identity to conform… so that might have started a bit with my love for Adam I’m realizing.

Why I don’t: I’m satisfied enough with how the arc played out in canon to not hold this against him when it comes to my feelings about his char especially since the breakdown of Blue and Adam’s relationship is pretty compelling to me in general, but anytime I see fandom takes that act like he Never treated Blue badly during their relationship at all and blame her for everything … Bombastic side eye doesn’t begin to cover it. But that’s only related to fandom bs, in terms of moments I actually dislike him which are not reckoned with by the narrative at all obviously it’s the racism re: Henry in TRK, ugh.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): tbh so much of my favorite Adam content comes in his internal monologues and PoV rather than what he’s Doing in a scene… but DC Party scene is incredible <33. If you made me pick another scene would go with him blackmailing Greenmantle nefarious king <3. Oh but also being unbothered by Kavinsky’s death iconic… wait I actually changed my mind pretend I never said those things it’s definitely the sacrifice scene in TRB yes that is my final answer.

Favorite season/movie: I love his entire arc and journey in trc so much so it really could be any book each for different reasons but I’ll say TDT, I love a Downward Spiral that’s interesting and messy <33. But also his BLLB arc rules… but it is the more obvious answer since it’s more positive/uplifting so yeah will stick to TDT answer and unpopular opinion but he’s the best part of that book for me.

Favorite line: lonesome internal monologue is iconic for a reason it’s incredible… also his whole internal monologue about being jealous of all combinations of his (hot) friend hanging out without him is soo real and iconic. Oh also ik I slander TRK but his monologue about loving magic and not knowing he was capable of love before and then Cabeswater showing him the images of his friends in moments linked to heightened emotions surrounding them… went off. If we’re going with just dialogue World’s Ending Folks! tirade is iconic + the internal monologues surrounding it… so much fun to dissect together.

Favorite outfit: the white shirt and cargo pants from BLLB ig my man has no drip… actually changed my mind it’s the secondhand tweed suit Gansey’s dad gave him he wears at Harvard for symbolism reasons.

OTP: Adam/Gansey. I love him with Ronan too and find stuff to be compelled by re: him and Blue but Adansey just hits on a different level emotionally and narratively they are everything…

Brotp: Persephone I love their psychic mentorship in BLLB.

Head Canon: would not have said this was my take before this reread but I do actually think of Adam as having some more internalized homophobia than most of the fandom, not as intense and exacerbated by religious shame as Ronan’s but there in a subtler way. I think Adam at the beginning of the series has some level of awareness about his attraction to men without fully registering it/accepting it, when he thinks about a model for success in TRB&TDT it’s this very heterosexual WASP ideal him watching Declan and Ashley as a model is very this to me for instance and I reblogged some older meta posts about this I agree with (stopping myself here because I kind of want to make a separate post about my thoughts here at some point).

Unpopular opinion: He’s quite an emotional mess for most of the series so fanon portrayals of him as totally cool and collected and put together rub me the wrong way especially after rereading where it Really stood out to me how much fanon and canon tend to diverge... He’s a logical, pragmatic person and a brilliant problem solver but that boy is emotional as fuck (Not soft at all which is totally different from emotional imo) and his efforts to deal with that logically make it worse (I can relate but that’s beside the point), he’s also really not smooth it’s just that Ronan and Gansey’s disasternous is more telegraphed and it makes Adam’s easier to downplay, also a trademark of Adam narration is that He prefers to see himself as a totally logical in control of emotions person and will downplay his emotional investment/emotions as a factor even when his feelings come out in other thoughts and especially especially when you look at his actions….

A wish: makes me deeply sad that even though he clearly values knowledge, loves when other people love knowledge for it’s own sake and get’s a taste of that passion himself when it comes to how much he loves being a powerful psychic/doing magic, he never gets to have that in his academic pursuits because they’re all tailored to get him out of Henrietta / help him win at the capitalist American dream… I so want for him to find a major he’s actually passionate about.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: well from the Greywaren spoilers I heard (I read CDTH and MI when they came out and now that I’m done rereading the original series am rereading them and will then read Greywaren so will.. try to reserve judgement but what I’ve heard to me is 😬) but aside from that I did always hate the idea of him losing his psychic powers and I’m glad that specifically didn’t happen.

5 words to best describe them: ambitious, observant, obsessive, practical, neurotic

My nickname for them: don’t have one, but I did call him a Freak (affectionate) a lot while rereading so I guess you could count that

thank you so much! (send me a character for ask game)

[psychewritesbs]

When Opposites Attract, part 4: There are certain things that one must fight to protect

I love well-executed culmination points. 

You know... that point in a story or character arc when emotions are at their peak and the story begins to unravel little by little.

Culmination points like this one...

... where two opposites meet in the middle to create something new.

So please excuse me while I nerd out about one of my favorite OTPs under the cut. Like... it’s nice to brainrot about an OTP that isn’t trying to kill each other every once in a while.

Anyways... to whomever reads this, I’m feeling introspective and melancholic enough that I MIGHT not make fun of the bad writing but can’t make any promises. 

This also got long because there’s a lot happening both to Athrun and Cagalli as individuals, and to Athrun and Cagalli as a ship during the last 10 episodes. I personally like exploring how they evolve as individuals and how they meet in the middle as a result of their individual development, but if all you care about is reading about them meeting in the middle, skip ahead to the second to last section titled Meeting in the middle.

Athrun

”There are certain things that one must fight to protect.”

Ok so we pick up with chapter 38 with Athrun deciding to intervene in the continuation of the battle between the Earth Fed and Orb.

But this time, his intervention has meaning...

I want to think that Athrun has a deeper reason for joining the battle, something heroic like “for justice’s sake” or “because he genuinely thinks Orb is right to remain neutral”... but nah. I’m going to chalk it off to Athrun wanting to protect Cagalli and her ideals which is still basically the whole idea that Athrun might think that Orb is right to remain neutral and to him Cagalli represents this ideal.

So I love to see him finally make a stance, to realize that there is something he wants to fight for and to take action in that regard. And so it is that in this battle, he is no longer ZAFT’s Athrun Zala, but Athrun Zala thinking and acting for Athrun Zala.

It’s a nice payoff to all of Athrun’s indecision and how he was blinded by his unwillingness to think for himself.

Cagalli

On becoming Orb’s symbol of hope and the middle path

Like... to say that Cagalli has character development in this arc is a massive understatement.

Not only does she loose her father and her home country to the Earth Fed, she has also been handed the burden of a symbol. She is to carry Orb’s will and to become a symbol of that will. 

But... isn’t Cagalli the perfect character to become the symbol of Orb’s will? The Princess who turned away from material wealth and went out into the world and educated herself about the hardships of war?

And can I just say that Uzumi’s death and her reaction to it actually made me teary eyed?

I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING!

I mean, speaking of fighting to protect something, Uzumi literally burned everything to the ground and sent his daughter off to space in order to protect his ideals. 

Nope, definitively not crying.

Athrun

On unbecoming ZAFT’s symbol of Coordinator supremacy

And just as Cagalli has become a symbol for Uzumi and Orb’s will, Athrun is facing the consequences of having become ZAFT’s very own symbol of coordinator supremacy.

As Mwu rightfully says about Athrun and his relationship to ZAFT and his father being ZAFT’s leader, “unless you believe in your side’s cause, you can’t possibly fight a war.”

At this point, however, Athrun is already thinking for himself and questioning his own logic. He has also chosen “the middle path”.

In the end, Athrun argues, they all want the same thing--for the war to end as quickly as possible.

Cagalli

”I need your strength”

Cagalli has lost everything. Her home, her father, her people. It is her role to carry on Orb’s will as I mentioned earlier. But Cagalli is just a girl...

And on top of all of this mayhem she’s experiencing, she has also learned that she has a twin brother and that Athrun is engaged.

Like give this poor girl a break!

Despite that, Cagalli carries herself as best she can. And what I loved most about how she handles herself is that she asks Athrun to stay when she is about to reveal to Kira the truth about their situationship.

I mean... I’m sure there’s a million ways to interpret this, but the only interpretation I care about is that Cagalli wanted Athrun there to “stand guard”. After all, even if she acts though, she’s vulnerable and exposed after everything she has gone through.

Even if she acts though... she still needs someone to lean on.

And for once... finally, Athrun, everybody’s favorite emotionally constipated character, recognizes the opportunity to meet someone in the middle on an emotional level when he asks Kira about staying behind to support Cagalli.

Like... yes. Finally. Athrun opening up emotionally. I like to think he would have liked to stay behind, but, unfortunately for asucaga fans everywhere, Athrun has to confront his father before he can truly meet Cagalli in the middle.

Athrun

Committing metaphorical patricide, plot armor and bad writing

Athrun has decided to confront his father to try to change his mind about ZAFT’s role in the war.

We all know how well that went...

Also, can we stop to thank the thick ass plot armor that the writers came up with to make sure Athrun didn’t get shot to death?

Like... there were at least 7 dudes in there with assault riffles or machine guns or whatever and Athrun literally walks away with a single gun shot wound aboard the Eternal.

But before moving on, I’ll admit that I don’t feel like elaborating on why I think that Athrun saying that Lacus is his former fiancé because he was “such a fool” is a poor writing choice. 

Like... it’s a little too late for the writers to try to make it seem like Athrun regrets the state of their relationship given the way Athrun has been written has always demonstrated he is not interested in the state of their relationship.

Aside from that... I much prefer the interpretation that Athrun felt he was a fool to not have noticed sooner what it meant to want to devote himself to someone.

Again, a theme in Athrun’s character arc has been the idea of learning to listen to his heart as his voice of conscience.

And that is how we finally meet in the middle once again.

Meeting in the middle

Ok but listen, moving forward, to anyone reading this, I just want you to imagine me squealing in the background.

I first saw Gundam Seed somewhere around 2002 and 2004. It’s been nearly two decades and this scene still makes me squeal. I just adore seeing Athrun meet Cagalli in the middle the way he had not really done with others before.

Which is why there’s just so much happening in this scene.

What with Cagalli demonstrating she understands Athrun...

To Athrun opening up about how he feels...

But more importantly, Athrun understanding that Cagalli is trying to be strong for him even when she’s feeling vulnerable...

And meeting her in the middle because Athrun now knows that there are certain things that one must fight to protect. And now that he thinks for himself, I like to think Athrun realized he needs to devote himself to protecting Cagalli, not just the person, but the symbol...

Because he knows that even as strong as she is, she is still vulnerable and deserves the very same care that she gives others...

And I absolutely adore the double entendre here because I headcanon Athrun could not help himself and just wanted to hold her, so he’s apologizing both for infringing on her personal space and for her father’s death.

As for Cagalli, her reaction is one of someone who is not used to being met in the middle...

Especially not by someone who can hold her as tenderly as she holds others...

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS?!!!!!!!!

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL ABOUT CAGALLI REALIZING SHE CAN LEAN ON ATHRUN AND ATHRUN OPENING UP TO BEING THAT SOMEONE WHO CAN BE LEANED ON?

ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY BOTH HAVE HAD TO BE STRONG ON THEIR OWN ALL ALONG!

I’M NOT SQUEALING YOU’RE SQUEALING!!!!

Finally, I also have to admit I’ve started fast forwarding... I’m so over Gundam Seed at this point and am only watching for asucaga purposes. That said...

There are certain things that one must fight to protect

I don’t know how else to end this ridiculous ramble other than by going back to where it started... 

The idea that ships can be a source of inspiration... 

After all, ships are a mirror that we can use to reflect back at us not just what it is that moves us in a relational dynamic.

But also how we want to feel in that dynamic...

Also, can we quickly stop to appreciate how touchy Athrun is? Boy can't keep his hands to himself.

And what we wouldn’t do for each other...

...once we have met in the middle and have been changed for the better because of it.

And that’s worth fighting for.