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#them being anything but endgame was insane
edwinspaynes · 11 hours
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Did it ever occur to you that just because you want to ship Edwin with CK doesn’t mean he consented to anything TCK was doing? Edwin asked him to take the bracelet off multiple times because it wasn’t safe for him to stay in Port Townsend. He even told the cat king that the bracelet was their only bond. Implying Edwin was in any way “asking for it” or flirting back with him is really gross. Edwin realized he was gay. But being gay doesn’t mean he likes every boy he sees (which obviously upset Simon too, but that’s a different story).
I... what
You've caught me on a bad night while I'm sick so here we go!
Okay first of all ?? I'm a Payneland shipper who thinks Catwin has interesting story potential??? I would not want them to be endgame???
(Also yeah I like catwin and want to read/write fic about them. Fucking sue me)
But that's not the point??
Second of all no one said he was ""asking for it"". That WOULD be disgusting but oh my God I haven't even met a CATWIN SHIPPER who thinks that the bracelet thing was good beyond being PART OF AN INTERESTING STORY. Literally 0 people in this fandom have insinuated that he's ""asking for it"" you're insane.
Third of all TCK's appeal is that he is a literal fucking cat. He behaves like a CAT.
Fourth of all yeah he's not looking to get dicked down by every guy he sees yeah but also. If Edwin isn't attracted to TCK then pray tell what the hell is happening here
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Fourth of all don't imply that I don't care about Edwin's being happy because anyone who I've ACTUALLY spoken to in this fandom knows that's my top fucking priority here. There are literally FIVE characters I feel THIS fucking attached to and I consume A LOT OF MEDIA and love A LOT OF CHARACTERS. I would take a bullet for Edwin Payne so shut up.
Please leave me and other people who actually ship Catwin alone. One of the best things about this fandom is the lack of ship wars. Don't make it ugly.
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lizardkingeliot · 3 months
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I guess I just didn't, like... expect most of the trial to be about Louis and Lestat's love story? And it's kind of throwing me for a loop rn I can't lie. Obviously those of us who have read tvl know Lestat was forced to be there. He wasn't there for revenge. He forgave them already! But....
I don't know. As hard as it was to watch it almost feels, like... weirdly affirming to the idea that the show is, in fact, all about their love? Like... even with the sham trial and Lestat being such a good performer it was SO evident how much Lestat was actually hurting up there. They had to telepathically remind him of his lines. He looked like he was physically going to collapse on several occasions. He went off script to apologize to Louis while weeping. Even to the general audience who hasn't read the books, there's no way the depth of that love isn't going to come across.
I'm feeling very raw right now and I'll probably need some time before I can articulate this better. I'll definitely need some time before I can articulate this better. But their love is just... right there. In all its toxic, fucked up vampiric glory. They can do anything to each other and the bond can't be broken. They have hurt each other so much. Just so so much it's unfathomable from a human perspective but also...
I don't know that they've ever felt more human to me than they did in 2x07. Not to get too personal on main, but I've been in that unhappy toxic marriage, albeit to a much less insane degree. Still... I know how Lestat feels. I know how Louis feels too. But I especially know how it feels to be neglected by your lover the way Louis neglected Lestat in that very specific way. To want them so badly you ache every second of every day. It is literal hell on earth in a way you can never know until you experience it. To have someone withhold from you (esp as a way to punish you). That shit hurts. And I'm just so glad the show is addressing it while also not trying in any way to excuse the very fucked up thing Lestat did to Louis in response.
Anyway. That's not the point I'm trying to make. The point I'm trying to make is... they're going to be fine. The show wouldn't be putting such an emphasis on their relationship if it wasn't the whole point of the show. It's seriously the whole point of the show and it makes me insane! They both fucked up real bad but we already know they're bloodbound soulmates destined to be together. They're endgame. They're VAMPIRES. They live forever. They will forgive each other. Over and over. Forever and ever...
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astrologydayz · 11 months
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COMPOSITE CHART NOTES❤️‍🔥 - LOVE/RELATIONSHIP WISE
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🖤 A composite chart for a couple literally shows us how their relationship dynamic is, how they communicate as a couple/show love, their sexual dynamic, "challenges as a couple", how "content" they are in their relationship basically&their "reputation together"/outside influences etc. It also shows what their relationship's "endgame" is⛓.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
SUN TRINE/QUINTILE MOON = a real powerhouse. They do NOT need other people's validation, when it comes to anything regarding their relationship. They KNOW they're meant 2 be in this, &won't hesitate 2 cut people out who's trying 2 interfere. They're stable and secure in their relationship, when it comes 2 their differences/"flaws" - they'll guide each other, not mock. They support each other, &will always have each others backs. If they'll ever break up = best friends after, 9/10 times. Won't let one another leave.
SUN SQUARE/QUINCUNX Moon can feel conflicting. They love each others differences in the beginning, but will start 2 point out each others "flaws" later, and make fun of them. "Passive aggressive" comments being thrown at one another, at any moment. It happens without them being able 2 stop themselves. They have these intense moments where they know they want 2 stay together 4ever, but have arguments about every little thing, things that doesn't even matter. They can't let one another be true 2 who they are🙅‍♀️🧡.
🌙 🪐MOON CONJUNCT/QUINCUNX SATURN = restrictions when it comes 2 feelings as a couple. They can feel awkward/weird talking about their emotions together. Like this "bad cloud" hanging over them, every time they try 2 go deep/work out their "problems"/differences with one another. Can also show karmic issues being the reason they can't get "emotionally close". One can have hurt the other one in a past life, & it hinders their connection in this life. Feeling like they can't be 100% open with each other, not knowing why - always a wall dividing them🖤💔.
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SUN CONJUNCT/SQUARE Black Moon Lilith can easily have started their relationship while one of them was already in a relationship🖤. A secret affair, or just a really secret relationship, because one of them/or both, got something going on🤨🤔. SUN CONJUNCT MARS shows a very sexual relationship! They have a very passionate, fiery, action oriented, &strong relationship🤟🧡. They hype each others egos up, & feel better together than they do apart. They can have passionate arguments about who should do what &why, or about what they should do together & who should "decide". They can also end up saying really hurtful things 2 each other, in the heat of the moment, so they betta make sure that they give each other the freedom that they both need👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨. SUN CONJUNCT PLUTO is a total power couple! they'll change/transform each others lives forever, when they come together. Feeling of fate being involved here - "not a coincidence". They got loyalty 4 days, and have a very intense relationship that only they can understand. No outsiders allowed "truly" in. They have 2 make sure that they're always truthful towards one another tho, cuz the other person will find out, as everything is seriously analyzed here. They can get into intense arguments/obsess about things the other person does/did. Not "putting it all out there", can seem crazy sketchy2 the other person.
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SUN CONJUNCT 5TH HOUSE = This couple is social AF! They have a LOT of friends usually, & LOVES 2 go out with them! Parties, events, dinners, u name it. They can even go on vacations with them! They love 2 have fun as a couple! And it can also show that they met, when they were out having fun with their friends/at a place where u can drink/dance. This placement can also show a couple having a kid together/raising a kid together.
MARS CONJUNCT MC can show a couple motivating each other, driving each other 2 succeed in each of their careers. OR one helping the other one reach an insane milestone in their career. But it can actually also show, that A LOT OF PEOPLE are against these 2being together. People can hate on them, for whatever reason they deem fit. Reputation of helping/supporting one another, career wise/looking “hot/sexy together/fighting in public/their fights being talked about publicly/people hating on their relationship - always commenting on it.
VENUS/CONJUNCT/TRINE/QUINTILE MC is a really fucking good placement. This couple shows their love, and how they love each other 2 the world. "One can't be mentioned without the other"🗣🫰. They typically have material wealth, & a reputation for being a creative/artistic/wealthy/loving - giving couple. They can also be seen as a very beautiful looking couple. They can be known in the entertainment/Arts industry, fashion industry, or they can be socialites. It can even show an iconic couple💋.
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URANUS CONJUNCT ASC/OPPOSITE DSC shows a couple having no trouble with showing their "weird sides"/cute quirks - they can't hide it anyway. They're not embarrassed by it. THEY LIVE4IT! They're not gonna pretend 2 be something they're not. They can't hide their forward/original way of living either, no matter how much they wanted2! They're innovative, &will not conform 2 society's way of "living life". People can think of the couple as an "unusual" match/&as unpredictable, but a forward living/creative/out of the box couple. Hating labels = usually a thing here, so they can wait a long time before "finalizing" anything between them. They're not something u see every day! MERCURY CONJUNCT ASC/OPPOSITE DSC can show a couple speaking whatever's on their minds, all the time. "A couple having no filter". They don't care if they're debating in front of people, or alone. It's their thing! It's just how they are/work as a couple. Debating/talking 2each other A LOT, about all kinds of different things, to discuss and then agree, or agree 2 disagree. As long as they both gets 2 discuss their points, It's all good. People can think of the couple as a communicative/talkative/& "open" couple, but sometimes a little 2 open/2ready 2 debate/discuss everything. People can also feel kinda left out, when they're talking with each other - can't keep up with them. MERCURY OPPOSITE MC/CONJUNCT IC usually have really good communication between them, unless their Mercury is really afflicted. They can be seen as kind of "Superficial in public", only really talking about surface stuff. They're really private, when it comes to their problems/debates or fights. If they're fighting, you wouldn't know, unless u know them really well. They do not talk about their issues with each other in public. That's something these two only do behind closed doors. They're very straightforward with each other, & they talk about everything, But only when they're ALONE.
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Always look at everything, 2get the exact details! &always analyze both Natal charts, BEFORE analyzing a composite chart! THANKS4READING BABE Appreciate u, always.
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hestzhyen · 4 months
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Sunken Ships and SoRiku
Hi internet void. I went feral and maybe you'll read the result.
KH has made a lot of choices around SoRiku from a narrative perspective that, in isolation, wouldn't amount to much. A heart-to-heart here, a questionable line there, and so on. The usual things that one would do to court a queer shipping audience in an otherwise het or unromantic work. And SoRiku circles have painstakingly documented every instance to show something that looks more like a consistent and intentional effort rather than a few dollops here and there to keep shippers engaged. There's... a lot. But one stupid, insignificant thing really shook me up and made me a believer in SoRiku Endgame, Actually.
Silly as it is, it's Nomura's reaction to people shipping RikuNami that gets me the most.
Generally speaking a writer doesn't want to interact with fandom shipping unless it's to urgently course correct. As in it would be catastrophic to the narrative if the fandom had the wrong idea. Otherwise it's best to just take note of how people are interpreting things and adjust the next installment accordingly, or live and let live. Keep distant and don't risk accusations of retconning/bad writing/queerbaiting in bad faith. So the normal reaction from Nomura seeing people get excited over RikuNami would have been to just do nothing. But instead, the scene was patched to downplay the smile, and Nomura went on the record to clarify that it's not a setup for a romantic relationship between Riku and Namine.
That's insane.
Why is it so important that Riku remain romantically uninterested in a girl he'd have a natural connection to, huh? What about accidentally implying RikuNami was so detrimental to the story that it was changed and explicitly addressed like that? Even if it wasn't meant to be, surely letting it play out like AkuRoku did would be enough. Just gently clarify and move on with the story (which pretty much sunk the ship on it's own anyway). You don't wade into fandom shipping and launch nuclear warheads like Nomura did against RikuNami unless you want to leave no room for doubt.
Torpedoing RikuNami also doesn't help them keep up appearances in terms of straightness at this point. Leaving it intact would only help the case of Riku and Sora being bffs with the strongest bond 5ever- a huge boon for the writing team if they wanted to avoid things looking too gay. Nomura et. al. are absolutely aware of the impressions and jokes about how gay KH is. And KH definitely would not be the first series to play in to queer ship teasing for the lols until it's time to pair everyone up at the end.
But they did the one thing you're not supposed to do if you're just aiming to queerbait: undermining the plausible straight ship. You don't eliminate the only straight option for your character like that for the sake of "he so gay" jokes! Having a straight option available is vital to make the bait; they don't have to be compelling or important to the story, they just have to exist. Yet at this point, Riku's only option is Sora. They went out of their way to ensure we wouldn't think anything else makes sense for him.
Holy. Shit.
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cerastes · 1 month
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I was wondering if you had any advice on doing well in the new RA mode, I'd like to give it a proper go because the mode is interesting but I kind of struggled with the last version. Mostly with being efficient with resource gathering and getting my base built properly for eneny attacks. Even just a quick list of basic tips would be super helpful, thanks!
Sure thing, a quick and dirty on RA Wiseposting:
A basic understanding of math takes you a long way. What this means is, every time you go on any deployment, no matter how small, you are using resources: Six pieces of Rice at the bare minimum (for 2 energy drinks), and an Act, of which you get two per day. So that's the baseline of what you are spending outside of whatever else you bring, such as Wood Harvesters (7 Wood per unit plus 1 Stone), Crabbie Pumpies (10 Wood per unit), and so on. If you use a Harvester, getting 7 Wood out of it is just enough to break even, any more Wood you get on top of that is what you are actually bringing in. Basically, make sure you are actually not losing resources on each outing.
For the love of god, use your resources. Yeah, you need to accumulate resources to level up your HQ, but you also need to use them for Gameplay. For the low low cost of 2 Stones and 2 Water, you can make Urban Barriers that reroute enemies. For the pitance that is 5 Wood, you can make Battlements, which are your own deployable Ranged tile. For 8 Wood, you can craft a Reactive Barrier, a 5 Block wall that can hold light and medium enemies for a bit while you deploy everything else and build your DP, as RA2 maps open very fast for the most part. These are insanely powerful tools and when I hear someone struggling with RA, my first guess is that they are not using these tools. You can shape any map to suit your intent. If you can't understand how strong that is, then you are not ready to tackle this gamemode, which, actually, leads me to the next point:
This IS endgame. Like, endgame endgame. Besides using the game mode's mechanics, it's also expected that you know your team building besides "I can deploy Surtr, Ch'ung and Mlynar, and win". It's absolutely not going to work if you don't know how else to to build a comp and take on challenges harder than Do Damage To It Without Minding Anything Else. That and the raw requirements in terms of number of Operators to truly enjoy all bonuses within the game mode (like Expeditions and Logistics).
Learn to do maps as efficiently as possible: Try to master getting all the animals or resources in any given map, you are using Food and an Act to do anything, make sure to get as much as you can out of it, how to go about each given hunting or resource map, which units, how much to spend on Gatherers and Watch Towers, etc. This ties in on point one. Battlements allow you to put ranged tiles to burst resource tiles more easily, too.
Cook food and use it. Food is incredibly powerful and gives you a lot of flexibility on what you want out of each individual unit: More Block and bulk, more SP generating, more Attack, less DP cost and redeployment timer, food is just VERY powerful and by not cooking and eating these stat boosting meals, you are very much making your life harder for you. Experiment at first to discover recipes, then start cooking what you need for whatever task you need.
INTERCEPT. Intercepting is attacking enemies before they reach your base. If you lose in your HQ, you lose. If you lose anywhere else, you just keep going and whatever enemies died remain dead. You don't need to kill hordes on the first fight, you just need to thin them and make each subsequent fight easier. Why fight 230ish enemies all hitting you at once when you can attack them, thin that out to maybe 160 then 120 then to 33 and then actually defend against a fraction of them with a LOT more leeway? You can just make a team that has no intention of actually winning and instead just aims to kill as many enemies as quickly as possible before you inevitably leak the boss. Figure out your own strategies and use structures and traps you can craft.
These would be the six fundamental maxims for RA2, I would say. You can use Urban Barriers to make mazes on maps and set up kill points and other things, but that's a whole other post.
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stardustizuku · 8 months
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Something I find extremely refreshing in AoB is how the narrative lets Rozemyne be a warrior, and the one with the most political influence on her own.
Ive read too many Isekai and almost all the time the power a Female Lead wields is entirely on who she marries or who is interested in her. She may be just the daughter of a marquis, but the crown prince is so infatuated with her, he’ll do anything! So that means he’ll solve all her problems for her!
Which is, fine in some cases. But I noticed this means that if she gets wronged, she’s the never the one to get revenge (even in so called “villainess” stories).
This ties into the idea of women having to remain “good”, so while they are allowed to want revenge, they can never enact it. Or at least not be the one to, through violence, deal the final blow. This would make them directly responsible for their actions. So while the villain/villainess can die, it can never be the FL who uses the sword to kill them. It always has to be through the Male Lead, another Villain, or even the Court System.
So by having the Male Lead be the one to physically enact the revenge or wielding the power - the Female Lead gets to come out as the “good” one in the READER’s eyes. Because her actions can never be morally grey (in fear of alienating readers)
HOWEVER by doing this you also make her power subservient to the man’s affection towards her. And makes her overall power to come off as…useless in some cases.
I just read one where the, supposedly, genius swordswoman is almost r*ped. She does try to attack the man, but gets overwhelmed. The prince is the one who jumps into the action to not only save her, but kill the man. Which was infuriating cause: Why did the author chose to rob her main character of being the one to hurt the men who hurt her? Minutes later she does kill a man, so it was entirely so she could be saved by a man from an even worse man.
But AoB doesn’t do that.
Rozemyne is powerful, because she wields insane amounts of power as Rozemyne. She’s the one who creates trends, she’s the one who knows the Bible, she’s the one who created paper books, she’s the one forming alliances and creating her own “faction” of sorts that is 120% loyal to her.
Never does her power become related to who she’s engaged with. Her power is inherent to her, and people try to tie her down or control her via marriage. She gets engaged to Wilfred because she’s becoming too influential and they hope that that can be transferred to Wilfred and cement HIS position as the next in line. She gets engaged to Sisgwald because she’s the one who is closest to getting the Book of Mestionora and they NEED her be part of the royal family.
The only instance in which she wields the power of who she’s engaged to get away with anything - is during the Ahrensbach attack and it’s simply a
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Which facilitated everything but given the circumstances, she was gonna do it even if he didn’t give her his blessing.
Even with her endgame partner, Ferdinand, the dynamic is so different.
In most stories the FL attracts the attention of progressively more powerful and higher-ranking-than-her men, and most always ends up with the one with the highest political power.
In more than one occasion I’ve seen a FL ditch the knight who’s been with her since day 1, to be with the crown prince cause he’s the one who will make her the most powerful woman in the room. It’s always framed as “true love” but sometimes it’s done so poorly you can see that’s just the author wanting her to end up as a princess.
Ferdinand is never the most powerful man in the room. At least politically speaking. Yes, he’s the smartest, most capable and the one pulling the strings, but that doesn’t translate to political power. In part 2, in the temple, the one with the most power is Bezewanst. And part 3 an onwards, you could argue Rozemyne is always the one with the higher rank.
In the temple, she’s the High Bishop, and in the castle she’s an archduke candidate with Leisgang blood. Ferdinand is the High Priest and the half brother of the archduke with no real faction behind him. Rozemyne is aware that titles aren’t the only thing that matters and Ferdinand is obviously the best because he’s capable - but that’s not the norm in most Isekai stories.
It’s even used at times as a way to alíviate Ferdinand’s burden. She’s the High Bishop - she’s capable of denying extra work and even ordering him to take care of himself.
Even as Ferdinand is married off, the one creating connections to the royal family to alíviate his pain is Rozemyne, not the other way around. The one wielding her power to force others to protect her loved ones is HER. Ferdinand is, up to that point, only trying to save himself and Ehrenfest. Rozemyne fits the archetype of a Male Lead far better than Ferdinand in some cases.
And while she never gets to give out the order or kill someone whos wronged her directly, it doesn’t feel bad because one, Rozemyne rarely holds a grudge and sees them getting disposed outside of her eyes as the best way to handle it. Because two, she hates blood and unnecessary violence. And that, in the narrative, is genuinely presented as a flaw. It’s not a “she’s so pure she can’t be mean”, it’s a “she would do it but she genuinely can’t stomach it”. She could do it, she would rather not.
There’s also the fact that she’s genuinely good at combat - at least as a strategist, healer and commander. Her inability to wield a sword to directly attack others (but she did use the spear once) and frail nature, is not doesn’t feel like an excuse to not have her kill, but a limit. She can’t do everything. She’s filling a lot of positions, having her grab a sword is not only out of character but unnecessary.
The only people who she seems to hold a very real grudge against are Georgine and Detline, and that’s entirely for what they’ve done to others, not her. And while I’m still in part 8, her not being the one to directly kill then of get rid of them in the future, does not seem bad. Because Ferdinand and Sylvester have waaaay more reasons to hate them and get their revenge.
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hiii! how are ya?:) can you do shanks headcanons with a female reader who is pretty, sassy and stuck up/conceited?? she’s not easily impressed either
idk if i’m the only one but we need more mean reader. and i mean the kind that can support themself and isn’t a pushover 😭
anyway! don’t worry about it if you don’t feel like it! have a good one!
OoOOoohhh I'm working on developing an OC that fits this exact persona, actually.
Not shipping her with Shanks, but I like this. I like this very much. His golden retriever energy paired with a catty manipulative witch?
Funnnnnnn 😍
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Cat and Mouse
Shanks x Mean!Reader
SFW Headcanons
♫♬ "Dogtown" — The Fratellis ♬♫
Make me insane, I'll be the voice of restrain
I'll take your bullwhips and stones without a hint of complaint
You show just enough interest to keep him coming back for more.
Playing into his flirtations just the slightest bit, then pretending to be bored by them.
He knows he can't just win you over by doting on you with lavish gifts, given you can buy yourself anything you want, but that doesn't stop him—he has something new to give you every time he shows up in port.
It's honestly adorable watching him try to impress you, whether it's with silly jokes and pick-up lines that you roll your eyes at (and laugh about later when he isn’t around) or with lavish stories of his adventures that you refuse to be impressed by. He's like an overgrown kid.
You know he's completely smitten, and stringing him along is just much too entertaining.
He feels much the same where you're concerned—he enjoys that you don't fall all over yourself in response to his not-so-subtle flirting. That you roll your eyes and purse your lips despite subtly leaning in closer.
That you'll scold him, call him an absolute moron all while fluttering your eyelashes and trailing a finger across his jawline.
You're a challenge, and he is always up for a challenge.
You're not sure if you'll ever give in completely, but you do enjoy a good game of cat and mouse, and it's made all the more entertaining by the fact that the "mouse" presently throwing himself at your feet is one of the most powerful men in the world.
He doesn't consider himself the mouse, however; he plays clueless, but he knows better.
It's obvious, no matter how coy you play, that you're charmed by his silliness. He's caught you more than enough times chuckling under your breath at his dumb jokes, giving a fond little smile in his direction when you think he isn’t paying attention.
You might call him names, belittle him for being childish, shove him away when he gets too bold...but not without making little provocative comments here and there to make sure he knows you're just toying with him.
And he absolutely loves it. He knows he's already won you over, whether you're willing to admit it or not.
At this point his crew are taking bets on which of you is going to crack first.
(Proabaly him.)
Whatever the endgame happens to be, he's enjoying the chase just as much as you are, and is willing to keep it going as long as it takes to make you his.
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tanoraqui · 3 months
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Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: Endgame...
I have no real notes on the 'escape from the dungeon' sequence, other than that it IS going to be fun to have an epic 'galloping away from total urban collapse/tidal wave' sequence in the anime.
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This is technically accurate-ish but also totally not, nobody but Laios (and we the reader) knows what happened in that final confrontation, and I wonder if he'll tell them? He has no reason not to, other than it being...deeply Weird(TM) in the way that only Laios really is.
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Namari expresses many feelings, including love, through violence, and I respect and appreciate that.
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I tagged this before, but: future royal advisors lmaoooo. (I know Shuro has his own princedom to rule, but not yet, okay, and even once he inherits, lbr every time he visits Melini for diplomatic reasons, Laios is going to be like, "Shuro!! :D Come to dinner! Do you have any ideas about [infrastructure taxes/crop rotation/vigilante assassinations/etc issue of the day]?")
(Note 2: I also know his name is "Toshiro" but the characters haven't stopped using the mispronunciation, so I'm going with what's dominant in the story.)
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He Suffers for this friendship :)
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CHILCHUCK IS BEING MEAN TO HIS FRIENDS AGAIN! NATURE IS HEALING!!
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THEY'RE BESTIES YOUR HONOR!!
Fun fact: this specifically, screenshot at 4:46am, was the point at which the combination of visibly lightening sky, mortifying threat of my roommates waking up early and seeing me still up, and the fact an eager Shuro/Laios hug signalled that clearly everything was going to be basically happy from here on out, all combined to make me finally close my laptop and get ready for bed...whereupon I read the rest of the comic in bed, because I REALLY needed to see Falin safely rezzed, for my own peace of mind.
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Hell yeah time to eat! our! girl!!!
And btw, shoutout to Laios for, indeed, eating the Winged Lion. King shit. (/Yaad voice) (ah shit, is someone going to have to break it to Yaad and all the other villagers that their "prophecy" was a demon's manipulations? Or has Yaad picked that up by now while traveling with Izutsumi?)
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Kabru: You know what you were doing, right?
Laios: 8|
Kabru: Never mind, don't answer that, so I can sleep at night ever again. Actually, never answer that, especially in front of any sort of press and/or foreign nationals.
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I really like how the orcs aren't offering Laios kingship so much as sanctuary. The underground here is theirs, because nobody else ever wanted it, just like nobody ever wanted them. If Laios is going to be arrested by elves if he stays above ground, and Pattadol and Flamela with their oh-so-polite and flattering invitations trying to do, then he's an orc in all but name and form, and he's welcome among them for the rest of his life.
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Laios: I need you to help me eat my sister!
The rest of the party, as one: We know this sounds insane and we're sorry about that.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS PANEL:
Marcille resignedly headlocking Izutsumi so she doesn't maul anyone in response to being swarmed
Shuro, under duress, defaulting to strangling Laios (again)
Laios rolling his eyes because he's so accustomed to and tired of everyone reacting overdramatically to his perfectly reasonable requests
Kabru just rubbing his temple. He has a headache. He's so tired that he's not even trying to talk anyone down from anything.
Chilchuck closing one eye like maybe if he pretends to be asleep he doesn't need to be involved in this.
Holm nervously saying that he can't because he keeps gnomesher (gnome kosher)
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[happy sigh] politics!
I just love love love the 'all the random disparate allies you made along the way rally together at the end for an epic battle to defeat the big bad" - except the big bad is already defeated. USUALLY the way that works is:
Core hero party faces pre-plot climax interparty conflict, then resolves it
Rally disparate allies made throughout the journey to fight the Big Bad (note: allies may rally themselves; still counts)
Fight Big Bad first as a group, then winnow/isolate down to core party, then down to single Main Protagonist who faces and defeats the Big Bad in a character foil-heavy, extremely thematic final confrontation
Everyone lives happily ever after, the end!
In Dungeon Meshi, however, it was:
Disparate allies made throughout the journey rally together to...help the core hero party deal with their pre-climactic interparty conflict! (Marcille's monster army - which does still come down to the core party, of course)
Core party, then isolated to single Main Protagonist (Laios) faces and defeats the Big Bad in a character foil-heavy, extremely thematic final confrontation
Rally disparate allies to accomplish what Laios explicitly says was the TRUE goal all along: reviving Falin! (Via eating as a group because that's live! understanding! connection! life!!)
Everyone lives happily with continuous hunger, because that's what it means to live ever after, the end!
I JUST THINK IT'S NEAT
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It is sooo notable, though by this point unsurprising, that the elves' chief consideration of the consequences of all of this is that "things" (magic, international politics, etc) may end up "harder to keep under control."
My personal theory/headcanon-until-proven-otherwise is that mana levels above-ground will simply never fully subside to their dungeon-era levels again, and dungeon mana levels will be correspondingly lower - it'll all even out, basically, though underground will still have generally higher levels. This means:
there will be more monsters on the surface, especially large ones
magic will be easier for all races (though limits on how much they can hold at once will remain)
"dark" ancient magic, which (I headcanon) is particularly defined by an assumption that there is a Shit Ton of mana to draw on, will become easier and thus more common...which is okay because "need huge power source to draw on" is no longer the first step on a slippery slope to "let dungeon demon consume the world."
corollary: Marcille is going to live her best damn life studying and innovating with the above
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This micro-interaction is so sweet. Kabru isn't even talking to Laios, but he's still keeping him in mind, and he so casually says "my friend."
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TO LIVE IS TO WANT!!! CONTINUOUSLY! YOU JUST GO ON!
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It's so great and interesting how much the Canaries care about Mithrun! It'd be so easy for him to just be their royally-imposed boss, or their weird mascot that they have to take care of, and both of these things are part of the dynamic. But they also all care about him as a person! Fleki was smothering him like a doll a minute ago, but the instant there's real hope for his life, she's jumping on it breathlessly! They're all suggesting hobbies he could take up, and standing around rapt and breathless waiting to see if Kabru's speech works to get him back on his feet!
There's definitely parallels to be made with Laios here, in terms of adventurin party rolling their eyes affectionately at their leader and saying, "yeah, we WOULD follow this total freak into hell. That's our day job, actually. #onlysomeregrets".
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Mithrun... /single tear
I just wanna see this panel in color SO BAD, though. The green grass, the pale brown earth and the paler birch trees, and the semi-translucent ice fracturing the dark red dragon meat, with Mithrun's pooling green cloak and these 2 guys standing amids all of it... It's going to be so striking.
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I've decided that the one (1) headcanon I'm holding in total defiance of explicit canon is that TO ME, Yaad was the original concept art where's she's a fairy princess in aesthetic, the perfect princess-in-the-tower for a brave knight to rescue and so earn the right to kingship of the land.
She still ends up possessing her grandfather's body, to be clear, and having this and every other conversation. It just intensifies the "I survived 1,000 years of being a ghost by focussing all my hope on THIS TROPE and you are going to play it out!!" Sure, marriage isn't an option anymore but that's fine, that wasn't the most important part! If Laios doesn't know how to govern, then she (in her grandfather's body) will teach him! Or else!!!
TLDR Yaad's gender is Princess and I will not be taking counterargument unless it's very compelling.
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Lol @ how 1 of these guys is the actual, legally appointed ruler of the island and 1 is the top local crime boss, and everyone, even Laios, know they're on equal footing (at best - the Island lord is not a competent man.)
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Kabru of Utaya, PR Professional :)
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This really is a fun little chapter, with Izutsumi's struggle to figure out what to do next mirroring Laios's. She's wandering freely, insisting on her own freedom - and nobody is arguing with her! Everyone takes it for granted, so much that she feels a little unwanted! While every conversation she walks into involves responsibilities to others.
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Holy shit, forbidden civvies!Chilchuck. He has his sleeves rolled up and collar open and everything, sluttily baring his collarbone and a hint of chest hair... He's even implicitly about to get his forearms blood-splattered, while doing a domestic chore and explaining the importance of responsibility to his teen(?) adopted catdaughter. If he still looked like the 50yo tallman with 5 o'clock shadow that he equivalently is, he'd be the hottest sexyman on tumblr right here.
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Even though it has vegetables! Because it's made with love and life!!
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dangermousie · 2 months
Text
Loved the Hou x FFYY plot being all uncovered (and the fact that Jing didn't even need an explanation from XY - she tried and he was all 'I trust you, no need') and of course the man got off lighter. I loved FFYY learning she wasted her life on a psycho tho how she wasn't clued in that a man who tortured his brother to near death and insanity for years is probably not dreamboat material is beyond me.
Also, I love how he physically takes care of her in such practical, constant, little ways. AWWW
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And her reaction on getting confirmation he's never had anything with FFYY.
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I also love that when he asked for another chance, he first promised to not let anyone else or himself hurt her. AAAA!
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In those eps we can see little glimpses of how easily happy they can be if the world lets them be.
I mean, even grandpa likes him:
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Because he gets that it's Jing who can offer XY what she wants - a simple easy life of cottagecore and no great deeds. I mean, we see later them play chess and TSJ the chess genius just does not concentrate because he's busy making eyes at his girl - and grandpa likes it. Because chess is all ambition and war and Jing just doesn't care. He's got the brains for it and no drive. I am in love with the concept of the best love interest being the one with no cause, no ambition, no destiny. Just an offer of peace and normalcy and mundane moments - because clearly that is all XY wants.
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And it reaches its peak when she opens a clinic and he gives her the sign he drew and there are firecrackers and the most amazingly peaceful yuppie life imaginable - as the servant says about them, she will treat people and Jing will collect the money. One of the reasons I really love LYF is that it gets that people love and want different things in life. The default epic/fantasy narrative is people with causes and destinies and quests and kingdoms to conquer and wrongs to avenge. But our protagonist wants only to escape the narrative - she does not want to be in an epic fantasy or a doomed romance - no Game of Thrones OR Throne of Glass is her desire - she wants to live in a xianxia version of PG Wodehouse's Blandings, where the biggest concerns are whose pig will win at the annual fair. And that is one of the reasons only Jing can be a truly happy endgame for her - only with him will her life resemble her ideal vision - neither of the other two men are capable of providing her with cottagecore (and GX is gegezoned also but...)
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This is her dream life.
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Btw, this will never not be funny. Look how smugly she's telling this about her dad to TSJ.
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glorysbox · 1 year
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Hi! Wanted to start off saying I love your writing so much! I had an idea that I’d love to see written by you, though I’m not sure if you do swf type stuff? (If not please totally ignore me!) And also not sure how detailed you prefer people to get, so this might be way too long for a fic lol. Either way, love your writing and hope you’re doing well!
So essentially Leon has a friend (afab) who has had a boyfriend for a while, and Leon begins to notice that she’s been staying home all the time, showing up less and less to hang out with their friend group, and giving excuses to not show up that’ve begun to repeat. Leon gets suspicious and confronts her when they’re alone for a minute, asking if her boyfriend is preventing her from hanging out with her friends and family. She confirms that’s the case, and explains that her boyfriend gets insanely suspicious about her interacting with anyone outside of him because, “Why would you ever need to talk to or be around anyone else? I should be enough for you. I should be your whole world.” And Leon, who has always had feelings for her but never acted on them is essentially like, “You know there are people who’d treat you better than that, right?”
leon x fem!reader
wc: 1.6k
tags: SFW YAYYYY! implied emotionally abusive relationship, hurt + comfort, leon is a cutie that cares about u a lot, dialogue heavy again
It's been a while since he's seen you.
So long, in fact, that Leon is starting to feel worried.
He never liked your boyfriend—couldn't stand the way the guy constantly talked down to you or the people around you. Leon never said anything, though. The guy made you "happy"—(in your own words)—and he would rather keep his tongue shut than threaten the friendship he has with you over this guy.
He thought he was making the right decision.
And yet, here he is, staring at the multitude of messages that he's been sending you over the past few weeks. Invitations to hang out get ignored. Questions about your well-being get ignored. Conversation starters get ignored. It's frustrating. But above being frustrating: it's nerve-wracking. Leon is worried. And he has been for weeks now... you're pulling away from him. And not just him; you're pulling away from everyone.
bestie: Hey. I'm worried about you, can we please talk? You've been distant for a while now. Did I do something wrong? [7:32]
bestie: Hello? Cmon. Dont ignore me [7:47]
You don't even read it.
It's at this point in time where Leon is starting to feel like he needs to do something. To say something. You were never like this before—and he's upset. Really upset. Which leads him to where he is now—fumbling with his phone as he stands outside of your apartment building. What does he even say? Does he call you—maybe text you? Will you even respond? Probably not. What if your boyfriend—the whole reason he wants to speak with you—is over your place?
Jesus, Leon. He thinks, stuffing his phone along with his hands into his jacket pockets. Come on. She needs you. Whatever happens happens.
Three knocks on your apartment break you out of your boyfriend-argument induced stupor. Your mind is foggy as you stumble from your bed—wiping your tears—to head to the door. This time, you don't even know what you've done wrong. You listen to your boyfriend faithfully. You've stopped talking to Leon, stopped hanging out with your friends, stopped messaging your family everyday—what else is there to do? You just want him to be happy.
boyfie: Do you even care about me? [7:26]
boyfie: i ask you to do the bare minimum shit and you never listen [7:26]
boyfie: Maybe we should just break up. i treat you like you're the only girl for me and all you do is whore yourself around [7:27]
He's told you so many times that he's the only one that'll ever love you the way he does. Explained that he is and should be your endgame—tells you that every good relationship needs it's compromise. He tells you that he's compromised so much to get nothing in return. And you believe it.
You'll have to figure out how to make this right—after you see who's at the door. With one final wipe of your tears with the back of your hand, you open your front door—maybe hoping to see your boyfriend, but...
"Hey, I... are you crying?" Leon's face is scrunched together, eyebrows drawn in and eyes squinting at the sight of your (admittedly pathetic, but adorable) display of sadness.
"No—I'm not. I was just..." You trail off, voice low and sad and whiny enough to make Leon's heart break into a million pieces. Guilt rushes over him in waves. He should've come sooner. You feel a firm hand squeezing the meat of your shoulder.
"Don't even lie... can I come in? We really, really need to talk. I—"
"No! No���you can't come in. Look, I'm sorry Leon, but..." You put your hands up defensively, creating distance between the both of you. Leon's heart breaks into a million more pieces. "That's not a good idea. You need to leave."
"Need to?" He sounds offended. "I'm not going anywhere. What I need to do is talk to you. About a bunch of things. It's just a talk!"
He pauses for a few moments.
"He won't get mad at us for just talking," Leon adds, in attempt to quell your obvious anxiety at just conversing with him. It's pretty much just as he thought; you never would avoid or ignore him on purpose. Your boyfriend told you to. You're just too sweet to realize that he's treating you like shit.
"Even if he doesn't... I don't want to risk it. I really don't want to upset him..." You avoid Leon's gaze. "Can you just... go away? I don't want to ruin my relationship anymore than I already have."
Leon's heart breaks into a trillion pieces.
"I'm... not going anywhere." Leon says slowly, taking a step closer to you. "Come on. He doesn't have to know. I'm worried about you. Everyone is."
"I don't want to lie about having you over. That would just be wrong." You pause. "And worried about what? I'm fine. Really."
Leon sighs. You watch as he pinches the bridge of his nose—watch as he looks around your apartment building. And then, you watch as he ducks under your arm to enter your apartment. He's already got the door shut behind himself before you can protest or say anything.
You open your mouth to speak, but—
"Just hear me out! Please. Come on. We've been best friends for years. Don't you care to hear about what I have to say?" He pauses, a pout forming on his face. You start to feel guilty for ghosting him. "Please. I'll be quick."
And you sigh in defeat, saying nothing. Which to him, is an invitation to speak.
"I... uh, okay, I know I said I wanted to speak. But I actually want you to talk to me instead. Talk to me about what's going on—" He reaches for you, putting a hand on your cheek. His thumb swipes away your tears. You don't pull away this time. "I need to know. I've been dying not knowing what's going on with you. At least give me the reason you ditched me."
"I... I'm sorry..." You mutter, eyes downcast as you avoid your best friend's intense gaze. "I should've talked to you about it, I'm sorry. It's just—he didn't want me talking to you, because..."
"Because?"
"Well—he said that you... uh, had a crush on me. And he didn't want me hanging out with you anymore because it's... cheating."
"What?! I don't—I..." He trails off, voice pitched a tad too high considering the fact that he's lying his ass off. Deflect, Leon. "Okay, whatever. What about our other friends? Your family? What's your reason for that?"
"H... he just said that you and—well, everyone doesn't understand our relationship. And that you guys just want to break us apart."
Damn right Leon doesn't understand your relationship with that douchebag. And damn right he wants you to break up with him. He doesn't verbalize any of this—not now, at least. He keeps a hand on your cheek, reveling in the feeling of your warm skin on his hand.
"And... why are you crying right now?" Leon's voice is soft as he speaks to you. He's trying his hardest to coax the truth out of you.
"Because..." You bite your lip, still looking away from Leon. The look on your face has his heart breaking into a quadrillion pieces. He could treat you so much better. "I made a mistake. And he won't tell me what I did... but I want to fix it. I really don't want to lose him..."
"You know... if he was a good boyfriend, he wouldn't not tell you what you did wrong." Leon's brows furrow together once more, replacing his softer expression. "He shouldn't want you to be upset. He should want you to be... happy. That's what couples should do."
Leon's doing a lot of talking for a guy who's never had a relationship before. He'd never admit that the reason is mostly because he only wants you.
"I know, but—"
"There's no buts. Come on. Don't you see? He's treating you like shit. I don't want to see you like..." He gestures to all of you. "This. Sad and lonely and desperate for this guy to treat you well. He's never going to treat you well."
He pauses.
"There's so many people out here. People that can treat you better. That care about you... like me, for example." Very subtle, Leon. He thinks, but thankfully... you don't seem to catch on. Or you don't comment on it if you do. He takes the opportunity, pulling you closer into him.
You don't pull away.
Making progress.
"We're best friends... I only want the best for you." You wrap your arms around his torso. Making more progress, he thinks. "I care about you more than you know. And I've been lonely without you."
You bury your face in his chest. It's comforting. It always has been. More progress.
"Everyone is worried about you. You need to... stop letting him string you along like this. He's taking advantage of you." You sniffle in his chest.
Maybe he's right, you think.
"Let's go back to the way things were before. Me. And you. And, uh... everyone else, yeah. And you being happy and smiling and having fun. I haven't seen you smile once since you started dating this guy." An exaggeration, but not all a lie. Now that you think about it, you aren't exactly happy. At all, really.
You're cracking.
"But..." You want to protest, to say anything, but the words die in your throat. You miss Leon. You miss your friends. You miss your family.
"No buts. Let's watch a movie. We can order pizza and stuff our faces. And you'll block that bastard and hang out with me every day again." You try to hold back the smile that threatens it's way on your face.
You hate to admit that this sounds like a good idea.
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sunnybyler · 6 months
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i’ve been sitting on my thoughts for so long but i just have to get this off my chest. i don’t like to yuck ppls yum so if you like e/riel pls scroll away nd keep having your fun it’s not my problem. however some of y’all can get mean as HELL and as an elucien i have to get this off my chest. (also warning for gwynriels i’m with y’all i defend y’all here however i do go in a bit on az in this so fair warning). i truly have no idea why e/riels cling so hard to the azriel bonus chapter in acosf because that chapter, more than literally anything else in the series, proved to me that e/riel is absolutely NOT going to be endgame. let me explain:
1. it is explicitly stated that azriel did not think of his relationship with elain outside of a sexual nature. i think some ppl get kinda annoyingly puritanical when trying to make this point when it’s like 100% certain lucien had sexual thoughts of elain too. the point isn’t the thoughts themselves. the difference here is the explicit mention that he didn’t consider anything with her outside of that.
2. the point above ^ is further exacerbated by the fact that az did not give a flying fuck if he killed elain’s MATE. even if elain hasn’t accepted the bond, it would still be extremely painful for her based on what we’ve seen with rhys, feyre, and even rhys’s parents (who weren’t good for each other, yet we saw how rhys’s dad lost it when she died). now of course us lucien lovers know damn well he would never in a million years call a blood duel to try to claim elain (and fuck u rhys for saying that, i usually have your back but come ON you are not the only male who can respect their mate’s autonomy). but az doesn’t know that!? in fact seems to agree with rhys that he could. ppl argue on who would win that fight — my opinion hinges 100% on if powers are fully unleashed but that’s not the point at all. no matter WHO wins, elain is going to feel responsible for someone’s death. of course it wouldn’t be her fault if men decided to be fucking stupid, but with the little we know about elain shows that she would feel so guilty if that happened. but azriel doesn’t seem to give af that anyone fighting to the death over her is the last thing she would ever want. not only did az not think of elain outside his fantasies and therefore not fully care for her, but he doesn’t seem to even KNOW elain in this chapter. now, i could go in on this in acosf as a whole. but i’m keeping it to this chapter alone.
3. and further on THAT point, az doesn’t really give any reasoning on his interest in elain outside of this insane “three brothers/three sisters” thing he fully pulled out of his ass. tbh i almost thing this is sjm’s way of addressing the fan theories on that. now i get it to some extent from az’s pov — seeing his brothers happy with these sisters must fuck with your head after you’d all been bachelors together for 500 years. especially considering how he’s felt unworthy of love his whole life and this seems to support that insecurity of his. i get that it makes him feel ostracized from them, and that he’s now an outlier not being with an archeron. i get that. i do. i sympathize with him here. however that does not change the fact that he isn’t speaking of elain like she’s her own individual here — hell he fully calls her “the other”. i think part of this conversation was him being frazzled, i give him a bit more grace than some do (tho he pissed me off BAD in this scene), but we were fully in this man’s head. did he give us a full reason why he liked elain besides his brother’s mates and his sexual thoughts?? they would’ve at least crossed his mind when rhys was grilling them if sjm was trying to set up her next romance here. as it is, we have literally nothing to imply azriel actually likes elain herself and not the idea of being closer with his brothers.
4. az has kinda a habit of ignoring the reality of the women he’s attracted to in some way. he has his own version of them in his head that he puts on a pedestal. now i could do a whole psych eval on this man and how he thinks he’s unworthy of love and therefore only allows himself to have feelings for women he knows/thinks he can’t have. but to focus on this chapter alone, my points above ^ about how he doesn’t really think of elain outside his fantasies/bringing him closer to his brothers and not really understanding her pretty much wraps it up there. i mean he even talks about how he thinks his scarred hands don’t belong on her because she’s so perfect in his eyes. that’s not love, that’s obsession and it’s unhealthy. he clearly thinks himself below elain and ignores that she has her own flaws too.
5. aaaand i saved the biggest for (almost) last….. GWYN. this is a genuine GENUINE question. why in the fucking hell. would sjm make half the chapter focusing on az & gwyn if she was teasing e/riel. like that makes no sense. not to be annoying and mention chekhov's gun but that idea applies to relationships too. i’m sorry but she couldn’t be more explicit about her future romances. you could argue “oh well it’s because there’s gonna be a love triangle”. y’all. elain has. elain has a mate. there already IS a love triangle. there was absolutely no reason for her to bring gwyn into this chapter other than her preparing us for a future relationship, literally none. especially with all the romantic subtext (hell not even subtext, just TEXT). gwyn getting him to talk about himself so easily when he’s so quiet usually, him taking the idea of making her happy and he “buried the image down deep, where it GLOWED QUIETLY” (which SCREAMS mating bond to me but even if it’s not it’s clearly something he cherishes deeply), the SHADOWSINGERS SHADOWS SANG FOR HER!?
6. the fucking necklace regifting. oh it’s bad. OHHH ITS BAD. when the girls realize it’s gonna be SO messy but im hoping sjm doesn’t go the stupid cat fight route bc neither of them did anything wrong. az did. i’m sorry i’m dunking on him so much in this post i rlly don’t hate him i just think he needs like decades of therapy (which tbf don’t we all) which i unfortunately don’t think sjm is going to give him before giving him his romance. but even the biggest azriel lovers have to admit that this was insanity. a few points on it here. first, if it’s so easily regiftable then it couldn’t have been that well thought out in regards to elain. say what you will about lucien’s gifts, even argue that he gave her jewelry too. but elain was actually shown wearing pearls. az’s gift seemed shallow to me — it was something pretty, and elain’s pretty, and it had a flower, and elain gardens. it’s clear lucien put SO much more thought into his gifts, whether he succeeded or not (which i need to remind y’all — we still don’t know. maybe she liked the gifts maybe she didn’t, but regardless she acted the way she did bc of her feelings about the bond, not the gift). and azriel has spent so much more time with elain than lucien has. if that necklace really felt like elain to him, he could’ve kept it or returned it. but nope. buddy gave it to a whole other girl bc he could easily associate it with someone else. he clearly felt some special pull towards gwyn too, going out of his way to give it to her. he had ONE meaningful conversation with her. i already discussed the quote earlier that makes me think mating bond personally. but no matter what, him giving her the same gift he gave someone he was pursuing romantically is a clear sign of what’s to come (and probably a setup for some sort of drama that i don’t think im mentally ready for).
so there we have it! why i think that the bonus chapter thoroughly proves that e/riel is not going to be endgame. i honestly think it’s possible they might be a thing for a minute (tho i could also see this being the closing of that chapter), but i don’t think it’s going to last. sjm just gave us too many blatant hints that elain and az would NOT work together long term, and that azriel in particular is more suited for someone else. i might’ve missed some points bc there is SO much that goes down in this tiny chapter so lmk if there’s other stuff you picked up on!
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eddiegettingshot · 4 months
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no because obviously some people are totally normal and aren’t acting like it’s illegal to have opinions and critiques but it’s actually crazy how quick some other people tripped over themselves to loudly drop buddie for literal canon crumbs and sneer at people who like. have conviction about it. lol. like it’s fine if you don’t care but don’t tell me what to care about?? my concern is a well told story your biggest concern is having your hand held and feeling superior we are not the sameeee… to act like people who prefer something we’ve watched grow for nearly 90+ episodes are children or immature and coping is insane.. like sorry but queer people aren’t interchangeable to me we deserve a well told slow burn too not just smashing any characters together and being happy getting what we get… and they didn’t even wait like I saw people saying endgame after 7x05 and I was so fucking lost like end the game fr actually 😭😭
no so this is whats so crazy to me is the idea that i should just accept whatever i get and if i don’t do that i don’t care about representation. WHATTTTT are you talking about!!! i am actually allowed to demand whatever tf gay stories i want to see!!! i’m allowed to ask for more!!!! SORRY i don’t like crumbs! sorry i want a love story that gets real screen time!! sorry i want to see them show affection and be vulnerable and in love in front of my eyes and i’m not satisfied with just some guys!!! and this is problematic and homophobic somehow. give me a fucking BREAK LMAO!!!!!! the idea that my critiques should be LESS rigorous for a gay ship just because they’re gay so i can’t complain? IF ANYTHING WE SHOULD ALL BE EXPECTING MORE. i’m not in the wrong for wanting more!!!! YES i want to see MY specific guys kiss because i think they’re BETTER and i like their story BETTER!!!! the idea that anyone thinks they can scold us for that is so unbelievably hilarious 😂 like cope!!! cope!!!!!!!!
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works-of-heart · 6 months
Text
I don't get it.
Like seriously, I honestly don't understand it.
Sjm says that Elain was someone who she and Lucien didn't see coming. She had always envisioned him with Nesta, but realized they'd tear each other apart (not in a good way, as she loves that kind of banter, but theirs would be awful). She mentions 'without getting too spoilery' that and I quote:
"there was actually a great deal of tension, growth, and healing to be found for both of them (together)"
You mean to tell me, that she says there is a great deal of tension (which we've all been seeing between them), growth and healing for them TOGETHER ONLY to have Elain break her bond with him and leave him to suffer a broken bond?
You want to tell me that SJM planned to have Elain become Lucien's mate, so they could grow and heal together, only for her to dump him and choose Azriel, and leave Lucien alone with a broken bond?
This woman, who has written Lucien as kind, patient, understanding, and truly concerned for Elain, is planning on making his mate turn away from him? This man who is said to be fiercely loyal, who could have ANY woman in Prythian he wanted but has no interest in any females, who has suffered physical and emotional trauma to help his friends. You think Sarah is just going to be like "Yeah, I'm going to put Lucien with a girl who is all around perfect for him and just take her away so she can run into the arms of another man!"
Look, I torture my precious babies too, but that?! That's INSANE to me that anyone thinks Sarah planned to set him up with a mate and said all those things if she planned for it to be a failure.
Especially since she made a comment, unprompted mind you, about an Elucien date where they go visit the gardens in London, before heading out to the countryside, stating that they're BOTH happy in nature. So she's going to talk about Feysand, Nessien modern dating, and just throw in Elucien even though she doesn't even plan for them to be together?
it simply doesn't make any sense to me.
Like take a moment, to actually sit down and think, why would this author say those kinds of things if she as some had said "planned Elriel since MAF" when she literally states the opposite. She confirmed Nessien in that same moment as well, because the series was originally supposed to finish. Az and Elain didn't have anything together, they were never planned. She didn't change from that trajectory either (as stated in her interview that I guess people want to misquote, forget, or take her words completely out of context).
SJM did say there were SMALL changes, like some characters had been added (which I suspect are Gwyn and Em), Mor's sexual orientation, but the overall arch was still the same.
Honestly, here's what I think about that.
Azriel was always meant to have a mate. A lot of people pointed out that in MAF there was a lot of Moriel hints and they were meant to be endgame. When she got backlash for lack of LGBT representation, she just decided to have Mor's preference shift. I think it left Az without a mate, but by the time SF came around she began to leave breadcrumbs for who he'd end up with. That being Gwyn.
I personally think SJM wants Gwynriel so much so, that she retconned Az's backstory so he was the one at Sangravah. That he killed everyone in site, leaving none left alive (completely OOC for Az, yet fitting with mate behavior). Like if she had no intention for Az to be connected to her in such a way, why actively make HIM the one to save her? Why make it so that Az killed everyone and left not a single person alive?
Why did she have his shadows react to her in a very specific way, a way that's calm and happy? The way they sing and dance to her, reaching out to her in a playful way. Why would she change history and put attention on these things, if there was never any future for them? What, so we can see Az fall for Elain? You mean Sarah went out of her way to change parts of Az's story and how his shadows react specifically to Gwyn, just so he can turn from her and rush into the arms of Elain? Why bother?
And before anyone says "lightsinger" and Gwyn's 'evil powers' are causing Az's shadows to dance and sing... there's a whole bonus chapter where Az's shadows dance to Azriel's singing. Gwyn isn't even there, so that's debunked.
That's all, I just had to get that off my chest. I keep seeing so many people rant and say that SJM's old editor pushed for Elucien and her new one is pushing Elriel because it's more 'popular' and she's going in this new direction now. I have no idea where that came from when she said that nothing's changed from her drunken rant, so we'll see I guess.
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exo-raskreia · 4 months
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Imma rant about Ichigo and Orihime cuz your blog has waken a outrageous fire in me!! And rightfully so! I agree with literally everything you said(btw Karin and hitsugaya are endgame for me too🤭🤭)
Ichihime makes literal sense and it genuinely sucks as a ship and i don't get why the shippers are satisfied with the results. I asked my friend who he wanted to be endgame and answered Ichigo and Orihime cuz they are a better fit. LITERALLY HOW?!! I didn't go psycho on him cuz if Ichigo and Rukia ain't your cup of tea then fine. But why are people answers automatically always Ichihime?? Is it cuz they are canon??? Where the hell was the build-up for it then?! It is nothing compare to ichigo/rukia or orihime with tatsuki/uryu. Idk if Kubo was trying to punk us by pairing them up or not. I feel like he didn't plan our their relationship properly! People say it was obvious from the beginning that ichigo likes her back but i sure as hell didn't see it! Maybe i'm just salty and refused to see the signs cuz Ichiruki is the best ship( and i had a crush on ichigo since forever soooo... 😖😖) ?? I've always been a rukia and ichigo fan rather cuz they actually had the chemistry and insane connection. I'm so mad that they weren't endgame. My girl Rukia was elite why didn't Ichigo went for her and vice versa?? Don't get me started on the poems, the speechs, the way ichigo always and always thinks of rukia. Like the ingredients for the cake was perfect, why the hell would you put gasoline in there💀💀
Some people say that cuz the show is shounen and not a romance, i shouldn't be upset about ichihime ending up together and not be mad of lack of their romance. I'm not expecting ichigo and orihime to have some epic EPIC love story or anything just make it more sense for ME at least. If Ichihime was some side-ship then i wouldn't care as much, but this is the MC of the show i want to see something greater than what we received! If they were to have a love story(ya know a real one) then they should've played it out like in Fruits basket
Ichigo and orihime actually remind me alot of kyo and tohru from fruits basket. And they're all very similar to think about it! Ichigo and Kyo: the grumpy orange haired protecters that have a heart of gold. Orihime and Tohru: the loveable sunshine character that are super traumatized but still manage to keep smiling. The only difference is that Kyo and Tohru actually have the emotional moments and had the chemistry and ya know they actually TALKED and were ACTUAL FRIENDS(as in kyo didn't treat tohru like a acquaintance) before dating. But since Orihime is so much like Ichigo's dead mom, their relationship would've been like Yuki and Tohru. I know the comparison might be dumb to do cuz they are very different anime and different genre but still!! Excuse me for caring so much about that my fav ain't canon. Yes this is a shounen anime but they could've at least squeezed in a bit of the love story of the mc to show they actually care about it. The MC of the show has a better and stronger bond with his bestie than his own wife. Like how is my girl Orihime not bothered by it?! Should've end up Tatsuku i swear. I mean they're literally Nana and Hachi!! 🍓🐶✨
I feel like orihime just exist to be his love interest and that's it! Girl had the potential to be a great character that ain't always there to be the love interest. Her becoming a housewife was insulting cuz what do you mean she ain't a robot destroying a city (i can't remember that scene from the earlier seasons but something in between those lines🤣) I do like Orihime enough but not that much cuz it's Ichigo this and Ichigo that. Like girl i get it. I wanted(and still do) him too but don't settle for being the second choice) HOMEGIRL YOU HAVE OTHER LUCKY DUCKS THAT WANNA BE WITH YOU!!
And another thing: I read somewhere that: just cuz Uryu had a crush Orihime that, that doesn't mean that Orihime should be together with him.... Okay then why can't that also imply to Ichigo and Orihime?? Like why just cuz "She'll fall for him in every lifetime" doesn't mean that he has to do the same too!! Rukia is already the queen of his heart mind you
BUT ANYWAYS!! It's a shounen after all so i shouldn't be expecting the mc to have a well-written love story and not to have high hopes of the MC love interest to be something more than that. But whatever at the end of the day they're CANON and have a kid together so all i can do is cry about it and live in fanfiction.
Ahem, I'm done with my rant thank you 😌 (And yes anti-IchiRuki fans I'll still be salty in my 40s cuz of the ending and I will never shut up about it just cuz they have canonically have kids)
No worries, anon! You've come to the right place! Let it all out~
Not surprised your male friend would choose Ori. Typical. For dudes like him, her appearance, superficial crush on Ichigo, & the word "canon" being slapped on are enough for them, despite there not being any actual chemistry between IH. It is also a common trope in other manga/anime, so they convince themselves that it was meant to happen, but it doesn't mean it makes sense for every story, especially not in Bleach's case; it doesn't make narrative sense if they actually looked into it.
(Canon ≠ good. Just look up what went wrong in 'How I Met Your Mother' or even 'Game Of Thrones' S8).
(While on the subject, since Rukia is a much better written character than Ori, if she had a body like Ori's, & Ori like Rukia's, even less dudes would care about IH 🫢, since they never even have good arguments in favor of it that aren't the 3 things I mentioned already up top).
Ichigo & Rukia had the most chemistry in the entire manga/anime, & it baffles me when people didn't/don't (wanna) see it. I went into Bleach almost blind when I first started watching it & IR really stood out. Their bond is right in your face, playing along the border between platonic & romantic, making you wonder what exactly it is, but knowing they aren't just mere friends. In the manga, I was constantly awed & amused by how borderline romantic it came off as, despite having already watched the anime (which did not do the manga justice in many ways; and then antis claim IR was mostly anime-based, PLEASE 🙄). Kubo really wasn't playing when it came to these 2. What a freakin' troll.
Haven't watched Fruits Basket, but I can see what you mean. Grumpy & Sunshine is a fun trope, however, as you said, IH just didn't have what it takes. If Kubo had wanted to, he could have properly developed IH at some points in the manga, such as the Fullbring arc, & it wouldn't have to be anything big, as Bleach is not a romance. He could have opened the arc with those 2 already going out, like them holding hands as they head to school or something, maybe showing some flashbacks of them talking things out, comforting each other since HM to show how they got together. Instead, in those 17 months since Ichigo lost his powers & contact with Rukia, you're telling me Kubo couldn't make IH bond? Instead, Ori's still pathetically pining after him while Ichigo is still thinking of, longing for, Rukia! How am I supposed to believe IH was meant to be endgame?!
Orihime had more chemistry with other people than the man she ended up with 💀. I personally ship her with 2 other men (Ishida & Ulquiorra). She was different with them. One selflessly cared for her, had her at the forefront of his mind in her own rescue arc (unlike Ichigo), while the other challenged her, found her fascinating & wanted to learn more... Not to mention they both protected her from Ichigo a couple times in the HM arc.
She really did have potential to be a great character but it all kept going down the drain, never achieved her dreams nor goals. She kept regressing as the story went on, especially when it came to Ichigo. She was never able to encourage him nor fully support him & was usually a complete damsel in his presence (he even seemed annoyed by her during the Ywach fight, which mind u, she was only there cuz there was no one else left & Ichigo had no choice?). She was more interesting whenever she wasn't around him. All her best moments were when she wasn't thinking about him. Saving Tatsuki? Bonding with Ishida in SS, standing in front of him to protect him in the Fullbring arc? Bonding with Ulquiorra (the only good thing she did the whole HM arc)? She could've done more in HM but didn't. In TYBW, she didn't do anything special, couldn't even encourage Ichigo & was treated like a ragdoll by Ywach. This is how Kubo wanted us to remember her. She was mostly reduced to fanservice by the end (and she's still not as popular as Matsumoto or Yoruichi in that department 💀). I sometimes think he didn't like her all that much with how he treated her character...
While watching the anime, I seriously had been hoping she'd get over Ichigo in the SS arc when she wistfully said Rukia was a very special person to him who changed his world (oh, boy, was I in for disappointment). Right off the bat, there was nothing interesting/exciting about her interactions with Ichigo (I was shipping her with Ishida by this point). He was just so blasé with her, I almost felt bad for her & it only kept getting worse. I then hoped she'd finally get over him after the traumatic experience at the dome in HM, but her ongoing silly crush made my eyes roll & lose hope in it. LIKE GIRL, HE'S HUNG UP ON ANOTHER GIRL, & U SHOULD'VE STOPPED PUTTING HIM ON A PEDESTAL BY NOW; HE'S NO PRINCE CHARMING & ESPECIALLY NOT FOR U WHEN HE BARELY GAVE U A SECOND THOUGHT IN UR OWN RESCUE ARC & ALMOST GOT U KILLED LIKE 3 TIMES & U HAD TO GET SAVED BY ULQUIORRA & ISHIDA, LIKE-
Orihime doesn't have anything in common with Masaki other than maybe their appearance (which imo, Masaki looks more like short-haired Matsumoto anyway?). Besides the cheerful part, their personalities are very different. Masaki was more like Rukia: brave, strong, selfless, teasing & annoying Isshin/Ichigo, etc... IR has actual dynamic parallels with IsshiMasa in the narrative... Kubo just copied IR moments, especially considering he wrote as he went... So, don't be fooled by those morons who go by appearance alone & even those weird lines in one of the novels (Oedipus complex anyone?) instead of the legitimate parallels between IR & IM shown in the manga, such as these:
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What was going thru Kubo's head if he supposedly "intended" for IH to happen? Ichigo & Ori had more chemistry with other characters than with each other. Kubo went about this all wrong. Bleach not being a romance is no excuse for shoddily pairing up characters in the end. In a few scenes scattered throughout the manga, he could've implied them. Every time they interacted, their relationship should've progressed somehow. And he actually did this with IchiRuki. (In regards to Naruto, for example, Kishimoto at least admitted he didn't put enough effort into his ships by saying romance was not his forte & he's not good at writing female characters, but at least most of the ships made sense & esp NaruHina had actual good moments scattered throughout the manga...).
Sigh, I've said this before, but why can't more battle shounens be like Fairy Tail when it comes to developing the ships throughout the story? There'd be less drama. Even Gintama did a better job at developing the main ships, lol, that if they became canon, hardly anyone would've been surprised (they were somewhat implied if u squint, tho 🤪).
There are theories Kubo wanted to spite Shounen Jump for their treatment over the years so he ended things this way (and maybe to spite the fans too, since his manga sales had been on the decline for years). Ever heard of the "choosing unhappiness" theories? Basically, remember that Ywach said he'd come back at Ichigo's happiest moment? Well, he didn't come back at Ichigo's wedding with Ori, not even at the birth of his son. He came back when Ichigo reunited with RUKIA after 10 years.
So what could this be telling us? That Ichigo chose to be unhappy by not getting with the one person who made him the happiest. Rukia gave him that push by choosing unhappiness first (since she knew Ichigo couldn't make the first attempt to) & married Renji, who in turn, also gave Ichigo that push to go for Ori. IR chose unhappiness to defeat Ywach. Could this actually be what Urahara meant when he said he'd leave everything to "Kurosaki-san & Kuchiki-san" after his defeat in TYBW?! (we deserved the IR tag-team we never got in the final fight, screw Kubo)
One could also say his friends chose unhappiness to help too? Ishida becoming a doctor he'd never expressed interest in & seeming isolated from the friend group (maybe not agreeing with the farce they're all in), Chad becoming a boxer instead of using his fists to protect, Ori marrying a man who doesn't love her & she knows never will, Renji marrying a woman who doesn't love him & never will (and whom I think he doesn't love either? My view on that here)... Isshin is nowhere in sight, could it be he also doesn't wanna be a part of this farce in which his own son chose to marry a woman he doesn't love?
Still, everything about this ending is so wrong, makes no sense, a bunch of retcons too. Heck, remember the rebuilding of Sokyoku Hill in SS? Made Ichigo destroying it meaningless 🙄.
Anyway, I didn't mean for this post to be too long. There's so much to rant about lol. There's also so much to make fun of 👀. As I said in this post, IH was never popular & never will be. Kubo himself can't bring himself to give them content & his affiliates (like Shounen Jump, Studio Pierrot, etc.) can't be bothered either, as IH doesn't sell. Canon for almost 10 years & still no official couple/family arts nor merch 😂. If they end up getting thrown a bone in the future, the fact it took them that long would still be laughable.
In the end, it's best to ignore canon, its fans, & engage with what you like. It also doesn't hurt to sometimes make fun of Bleach's failures~ Kubo has made it so easy, can you blame us? 🤷‍♀️
Also, glad u like HitsuKarin as well 🤭. Would you believe it's my #1 Bleach OTP? I had brainrot for it a few years ago, like I literally scoured almost every bit of content that I could find, & while it's died down, I just know that if Kubo &/or his affiliates were to feed us HK content now, I'd eat it up like a starving dog-
Sorry for the late reply, anon! 😓 Been having brainrot for a different fandom, if u can guess
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tevanbuckley · 4 months
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Hi! Heading into season 8 with buck and tommy, do you think it’s about time they cement a relationship for buck as a long term or endgame potential? My impression is that Tim doesn’t like to have certain things set and stone to leave potential for whatever it is he wants to explore but going into the 8thseason, with no idea on how much longer the show will go on for before being cancelled or before a main(s) decide to leave, I would say it’s time to commit to a relationship for buck and they’ve built a good foundation with him and tommy.
also because I can’t imagine another season of the same, relationship -> breakup -> single -> relationship and so on. Buck’s love life being secure in the sense that he’s no longer searching for love also gives potential for newer, fresher storylines to be explored. I just don’t know if a part of Tim is holding out hope that buddie will get greenlit at some point so he’ll continue this single/relationship/breakup trajectory with buck and eddie until that can happen or if he’s ready to move on and let them both find happiness. But if it is the former, to me that would really hurt the characters development and growth and would make even canon buddie feel just bland in a way because they just did it because “they could” now.
my desire is that Tim commits to this relationship and continues to develop it in a way that by 8b affirms them as endgame, I think it would be a mistake not to and let the development fizzle out.
the paradox of tv is that “this couple is for all intents and purposes endgame” and “anything could happen so there is no real endgame” have to awkwardly co-exist. bc nobody would balk at the idea of calling madney or bathena ‘endgame’ yet irl considerations could interfere. or what if tracie gets offered a series regular gig somewhere down the line?
But, this isn’t grey’s, once they have something that works they seem to want stick with it. Even when they had to write JLH out for her maternity leave they did it in a way that made it pretty easy for madney to reconcile.
I think when tim says he “doesn’t have a plan” what he really means is he doesn’t want to write himself into a corner (imo this is what happened in s6 with the couch metaphor but that’s a whole other post). despite being chaotic, writing as they go, does reduce the risk of random loose ends they can’t tie up because a sl got killed half way through cooking.
Having buck in a LTR gives them space to explore new things with buck (bisexuality or not) so now that they’ve found something that does work, that’s had positive audience and critical reception, I think they’d be insane to throw that away.
Also, idk how much I buy into the idea that tim’s secretly a buddie shipper and the only reason he’s not doing it is bc tptb said no. I think he agrees it’s a plausible interpretation of buck and eddie’s relationship, that doesn’t mean it was intentional, that he has any interest in doing it, or that he thinks it would work well as a story within the confines of a network procedural.
I’ve seen others question the longevity the show has at this point but idk, the only character I see stagnating a bit is unfortunately eddie (but I’ll hold off until s8 for a final judgement). And on a practical level, abc has just poured a shit ton of money and marketing into the show, so assuming the ratings don’t tank in s8 I’m optimistic we’ll get a s9. Yes it’s expensive to make, but more than it needs to be tbh. Like there were cheaper ways to have that cruise ship sink, they did not need to write a prohibitively expensive hijacking into it.
really the tldr; is that we don’t know what the future holds but I think there’s every reason to be optimistic the shows heading in a positive direction.
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saras-almanac · 2 months
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This ask-and-answer was screenshot and somehow ended up on my for you page and I had to clip out the bottom of the answer because I feel worked up about it—probably just being tired and unable to sleep. For context this was part of an ask about what storylines someone didn’t like and also why they think people who just started watching don’t deserve to have opinions.
Something really ironic about this post and how “learning who Buck truly is would no longer allow you the ability to mold him entirely out of your Tommy headcanons” coming from a group that has largely molded both Buck and Eddie completely based on a fanon ship… Very much ship and let ship but the audacity of saying this is insane because if the extreme buddie shippers actually watched the show as well, they’d understand how and why Buck’s relationship with Tommy is so different from all his previous relationships, why it hits differently for Buck and the audience, and exactly why it does feel like it has the potential to be endgame. And literally even if you ignored the entire rest of the series and just watched season 7, it’s still very clear that was the intention?
Also the idea that somehow Tevan shippers have shown up and entirely created this idea that Buck can’t speak for himself and is a damsel in distress as if that’s not a huge part of the buddie scene? People infantilizing Buck is a huge problem but to act like it’s only one side is wild behavior, especially with how in this very answer they say that people who didn’t watch the earlier seasons don’t know why he hates associating with Evan and how it’s disrespectful that Tommy calls him Evan… which if the final few sentences are true and Buck can speak for himself, then wouldn’t we all be in agreement that Tommy continuing to call him Evan was clearly how Buck introduced himself and has never told Tommy to call him anything different? Also, the reason he goes by Buck is literally because there were three Evan's in his fire fighter training? It truly isn’t that deep. And the scene everyone always brings up is how he told his parents to call him Buck… was literally him extending an olive branch to them and saying he’d like for them to get to know him and who he is now?
Sorry have a lot of thoughts tonight and feeling a bit annoyed at the slight uptick in bs extreme buddie stuff on my dash.
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