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wannab-urs · 6 months

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The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol 25

Hi Friends!!

It has been... a week. I didn't get a whole lot of reading done. But I did absolutely adore every single thing I read this week. I think, if I can count, I read 12 new fics this week. Also tried out yet another new format: Author summaries (or my quick one if there wasn't one) included with the rec.

As always you can find all of my previous fic recs here. Feel free to tag me in your fics and I'll add them to my TBR (please understand that my TBR is long as hell and it might take a while for me to get to it)

Fic recs below the (baby) Pedro!

Me and My Husband a Din series by @beskarandblasters

Summary: Din Djarin is doing what any typical Mandalorian would be doing after reclaiming Mandalore, finding a riduur and settling down. He’s still a member of the Guild on Nevarro, taking bounties here and there to support his new family. But when he meets you while you’re working the front desk at an inn on Naboo, he finds himself hooked, feeling like he’s found something new and exciting in his now mundane life. How long can he keep up appearances with his riduur? And how long can he keep his little secret with you?

This is the first married!Din series I’ve ever seen (not saying it doesn’t exist, but I haven’t seen it), so this is for my infidelity loving Din Girlies. I love how awkward and just plain bad at flirting Din is in this. And you’ll hear this a lot from me in my reblogs but POOR MAY!! I’m so excited for the rest of this series.

Oh, Honey a Joel series by @lincolndjarin

Summary: you’ve been given a gift. a fresh start in a brand new place, the sleepy little town of Honey, WV. a distant aunt has passed away and left you a little plot of land and her camper, the stars must be aligning for you because the local mortician is looking for an assistant and you’re desperate for the work experience. your new employer even offers to set you up with her brother-in-law! things are looking up, you’ve got a brand new home, a new town, a hot date, (and thanks to a series of bear attacks that started immediately after your arrival) you have more than enough work to keep you busy!

Oh look Gin is reading another monsterfucking fic…. Shocker. But anywayyyy, I love the buildup in this. It’s got such a good suspenseful plot. And I love that reader goes a lil off the rails and everyone is fuckin gaslighting her aghhhhhh. Oh also baby Ellie is in this and that is adorable. The lore and the worldbuilding in this are to die for, I feel like I’m reading a mystery novel.

A Heart For Eating a Joel series by @motherofagony

Summary: a vicious raider attack robs you of human connection and lights a fire of destruction in your life in jackson. joel's fixated on you, and your lives tangle. revenge becomes a needful thing.

I love Joel’s characterization in this so much. He’s a grumpy bastard, but he’s got that wonderful protective caregiver thing going on. If you’re a fan of some mild love as consumption, injured men (and taking care of them (joel)), christ side wounds, and gorgeous storytelling this is the one.

Go Ahead, I dare ya a Javi P two shot by @chronically-ghosted

Summary: 1. No sex. 2. No touching yourself. 3. No orgasms. 4. No murdering your annoying DEA partner. A Javier Peña-shaped riff on that iconic Star Wars fic.

The TENSION!!!! The BUILDUP!!!! This fic drove me crazy dude. It’s so will they won’t they the whole fucking time right up until they do. Javi is perfectly written and reader is a perfect match for his bullshit.

Wet Work a Frankie one shot by @loversandantiheroes

Summary: Frankie accidentally discovers how to make you squirt

I???? It’s a fic where Frankie makes you squirt three times like what else do I even have to say? It’s on your kitchen table! And you call him a good boy! This fic is devastatingly hot.

Frankie Breathplay Drabble a Frankie drabble by @ozarkthedog

Summary: Frankie chokes you while you ride him

Got tagged in this lovely little drabble and ummmm oh my god? Breathplay is a little bit of an understatement for what this is. It borders on dark!frankie (in my personal opinion), which I adore. He’s choking you out while you ride him. Like that’s what’s happening. Asphyxiation but make it sexy.

Real Gods Require Blood a Joel one shot by @proxima-writes

Summary: You think you’re as good as dead when a band of raiders find you. In what you think are your final moments, an angel appears. His name is Joel Miller, and he is here to deliver you from evil.

CULT JOEL! CULT JOEL!!! I love how fucking scary Joel is in this. It’s like if the stuff that happened to canon joel got all mixed up with some religious trauma and made him go a little crazy. I loved this so much. It was quietly terrifying, beautifully written. I love the ending so much too… not gonna spoil it but AHHHH

The Locksmith a The Thief series by @oonajaeadira

Summary: A Thief you’ve known for years and have conflicting feelings for brings you a gift. The gift is a not only a puzzle in itself, but part of a larger mystery, one only you can crack.

I’m like 3 or 4 chapters into this series and I love it so much. The Thief with a locksmith reader is just such a good idea and I love how he ropes her into situations. He’s such a smooth talker ugh. The opera chapter? Pls. I gotta go finish this series now actually AH.

The Haunting of Dieter Bravo a Dieter one shot by @idolatrybarbie

Summary: "ghosts aren't real, except when they are."

As a paranormal horror slut, it really felt like this fic was written for me… (f’me, if you will, Bea). Dieter being Dieter and reader being done with his shit and then they get HAUNTED. I love it. The suspense is so good. I was actually a lil freaked out.

Everyone at this party's a vampire a Dieter one shot by @idolatrybarbie

Summary: "you look so pretty like this."

This is funny because Dieter is an idiot, but reader is so hot??? Anyway sexy vampire lady lures Dieter’s dumbass into getting murked and it’s wonderful.

Intimidation Tactics a Dave/Marcus P series by @whataperfectwasteoftime

Summary: You and your partner, Marcus Pike, are investigating a case that brings you far too close to something much more dangerous than your average art thief.

I haven’t quite finished this yet (actually just got to the big action scene), but I am so in love with this fic. I already adore the way Penny writes Marcus, but then we get her Dave too. And Dave has all these elements of movie Dave – badass, sexy, a little scary – but we also get to see him be sweet and protective and playful and I love it so much. And then also I think everyone knows I’m a big ol slut for a MMF fic and the dynamic between Marcus and Dave is so fucking good. Little baby enemies to lovers plotline and GOD their chemistry is off the charts.

Just Friends a Javi P two shot by @joelsgreys

Summary: You’re planning to have sex for the first time and you’re nervous—Javi offers to show you a thing or two, but just as friends of course.

I really love the way Vee writes Javi, man. He’s arrogant, annoying, rude, snarky… but also protective, sweet, and very ummmm giving. The banter is fuckin unmatched. And the mutual pining? PLEASE. I’m obsessed.

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Apologies to anyone whose series I normally keep up with... I've been a lil scatterbrained.

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Happy Reading!

#fic recs #the spreadsheet digest #fanfiction recommendations #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro fics #pedro pascal character fanfiction #din djarin fics #frankie morales fics #javier pena fics #javi p fics #joel miller fics #dave york fics #marcus pike fics #dieter bravo fics #the thief fics

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cerealandchoccymilk · 11 months

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Trigun Bookclub: Trigun Vol.1, Chapter #03

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More Trigun annotations! I'm doing a deep-read of the Japanese original print (reread) and Overhaul 1.0 (first read) side-by-side, and writing down everything I notice from small details, version differences, translation differences, etc. (and being so so gay about the characters. of course)

As always, here are the non-analysis panels of my dear babygirl (+ memes)...

And the rest is under the cut. i am living in ur brain now <3

[link for if the images aren’t in horizontal rows]

Starting off with the chapter cover of our handsome boy, this is the first time we see him with his glasses! I've seen someone on Twitter make a guide on Vash's different glasses designs over the manga (sadly it either cost money or was only distributed at a con and I don't have it...), so I'll try to pay attention to that during this readthrough.

As I've mentioned in the previous chapter, his antennae used to stand straight up, but they're bent now! They pop back up once in a while but from here on, the default is bent.

I love how gently he sets the girl down, and also the way everyone waits in awkward silence (and confusion) for Vash to move the rubble.

I think this part works excellently as-is, but notes on the nuances of what Nebraska originally said (this was ridiculously hard and the translation is very rough):

①「絶対どこかで不都合を並べた奴を消して来てるのさ」 ②「なぜなら」 ③「現におまえは消される側にまわってねえ……！！」 ↓ ① There has to have been a time when you "eliminated" ("erased"/killed) someone that got in your way (/someone unfortunate enough to [be there]...etc). ② Because... ③ In reality, you haven't taken on the role ("side") of being eliminated...!!

This part's very hard... He's talking about something similar to offense/defense. In this case, it's that because Vash has been avoiding conflict/being in direct danger entirely, Nebraska is saying that Vash must have killed, directly or indirectly, someone who got in the way of Vash's fleeing. I think.

I'm not sure why, but the way this was phrased stuck out to me.

Also, Gofsef's fist had an extra knuckle for one panel.

A translation error - it should be something like "He shot every bullet into the same precise spot... And shifted its trajectory!?"

Vash says "JACKPOT!" in English here, in the Japanese version. also hes soooo handsomeeeeee look at him omgggg kicking my legs back n forth blushing giggling i need to be tranquilized.

Nebraska's straight-up being crushed into pieces here. goddamn.

Not sure if it was removed in one of the reprints or in Overhaul's cleanup process, but in my Japanese copy, there was a "thump" onomatopoea of the guy backing into a wall.

Milly and Meryl are the best comedy duo in the world... They're perfect... The tiny speech bubble actually says something like "They're goofing all over the place..." The word ボケ (boke) is the funny man in a manzai comedy duo (as opposed to the straight man), and/or the jokes that the person in that role makes.

YIPPEE!! (In Japanese, it's one continuous exclamation ↑ like so. Also, there are tiny music notes around the handwritten text in the wahoo speech bubble.)

Vash runs out of breath after celebrating (cleaned up in Overhaul). God he's so silly...

A small error - I would phrase Meryl's line as "[Now, now,] Don't get too ahead of yourself."

I love how in Japanese, Meryl calls Vash "a very dangerous person with chronic troublemaker disease (慢性トラブル症)." I'm saying this from now on.

She also sarcastically says that she's grateful of the stars' alignment that they were able to meet, while gorilla gripping Vash's hand.

Also, I never noticed how fucked up Nebraska's body was!? Maybe the memories just got rewritten by Stampede. but goddamn. gun for legs...giant mechanical hands...

Vash making a Kirby Ꙩ.Ꙩ face my beloved. just a little guy!! with some badass girls!!! The last line is 「…はい？」 which is like what??/huh??/alright?? etc. はい is a very versatile word ☝ lol

That's it for Chapter #03! As always, the Japanese annotations will be in the reblogs. I'll remember to write the post about Meryl's speech patterns sometime soon.

#getting faster at making these posts 👀#trigunbookclub #trigun annotation #trigun #trigun manga

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chirpsythismorning · 1 year

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Your last post is amazing and I want to share with you that I had a similar journey when it comes to shipping byler.

I first watched the show when season 2 had just come out in 2017, and I was a hardcore milkvan shipper (I was 13 and I didn't know any better and lacked critical thinking skills lmao). While watching season 3 for the first time I noticed Will being gay (I gasped at the rain fight scene), but just like you I assumed milkvan would be endgame. After watching the infamous last milkvan kiss in the last episode, I was left with a weird feeling about it for the next week but I was never able to put my finger on what exactly had felt so wrong in that scene.

Like you, I also have never shipped ships where I didn't notice that there was clear buildup towards endgame (I even watched outer banks for the first time earlier this year and a lot of the fandom swears there has been jiara buildup from the first season, but I know that's not true and the only scene I can identify as true buildup is in the last episode of season 2). However, two years ago I began studying film and how it works, first in highschool and last year in college. I learned a lot about visual storytelling and I also gained an incredible amount of media literacy. Exactly a year ago, a month before vol 1 came out, I was bored and decided to rewatch the whole 3 seasons.

With my older age now and my better understanding of cinematography and narrative, I stopped liking milkvan in the first season because of the born sexy yesterday trope, but I also began to notice how Mike was surrounded by queer coding, both narratively and by the framing of his scenes with Will (the hand hold close up hello). Then I got to the end of season 3, watched that kiss again... and I noticed Mike's eyes were full open and the closet (Wills closet!) door was perfectly dividing Mike and El as if there was a wall between them. That's how, years after, I realized why that scene had felt so wrong to me the first time I watched it. I saw that boy was gay.

However, I was still skeptical precisely because I never fell for queer coding. But I went onto to Tumblr and I decided to read byler theories. I went in with an open mind and I realized that it made perfect sense and it was set up way too perfectly, so it couldn't be a coincidence, either it was queer waiting or true.

I went into vol 1 so excited, I noticed Mike's queer coding on episode 1 alone was SO heavy (I went 🤨 with his bedroom posters and one way sign, the way he looked at Eddie, the people he wanted to ask to be subs in Hellfire...). Then when he dropped the famous "were friends, were friends!" that's when I knew they were going there. And they I saw that he couldn't say I love you to El? That was the moment I smiled widely, and ever since that moment, I've known byler is endgame and I've never had a single doubt ever again. Not even in the aftermath of volume 2. I knew Mike's speech being based on the painting attributed to El when it's actually Wills mimicked the plot of many teenage early 2000s movies (yes I was the girl who wrote you that love letter not her, I'm the one who actually loves you like that... And then boom they always end together). Then, El wasn't speaking to him, and I saw the last shot with the couples standing together. I knew that it was intentional for them to be positioned that way, and at this point I knew it wasn't queerbaiting

YES!

It's so cool to hear other bylers experiences with being introduced to all the evidence and just hearing about similar experiences in general!

I feel like a lot of bylers are just sort of lumped in with this naive stereotype of someone who always falls for queer-bait? Like we kind of just get lumped into it when the circumstances for Byler are completely different than the queer-bait ships that came way before.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being a frequent queer-baitee. There literally isn't. Especially bc queer-baiting is referring to instances when a queer non-canon pairing is supported by the fans and the creators sort of humor it while knowing full well it won't happen?

Obviously times are changing at like lightening speed.

For example Stranger Things came out in 2016 and tbh 2016 is a completely different era of representation that 2023. 2016 was like the end of the queer-baiting era almost, give or take a few years. As we got closer to the 2020's, we started to see more queer rep that I feel like wasn't very overtly obviously queer-bait, but often queer characters at the forefront as the main or being more than just another example of the 'bury your gays' trope.

Also I took film classes in high school and I'm now majoring in film studies! So that was also something that no doubt had a massive impact on my perspective of things changing throughout that time from s1 to s4's release as well!

Even despite that I am a little bit slow about catching onto things, and so like it doesn't even matter that I have extra terminology under my belt or something. For example, I have a sister who hates movies, but when I do manage to convince her to watch a movie or show that I think she'll like, she'll notice stuff I didn't notice upon watching for the first time, while I on the other hand didn't notice that detail until like my 3rd rewatch. And it seriously pisses me off so much!!!!! She doesn't even appreciate her gift!

I remember watching s4 with her, and literally having no knowledge of anything outside of half paying attention while watching, she was like, Mike's pocket looks like an arrow... And I just looked at her completely silent and had to look away like seriously fuck you I had to go online and hear hundreds of bylers obsessing over it to think about it that way. But that's also just us as a fandom seeing stuff simultaneously and figuring it out together. Maybe I would've figured out the arrow pocket myself if I had actually not been exposed to the flurry of theories while s4 was promoted and released.

Still, it just goes to show that while yes extra knowledge about film is extremely helpful, like very helpful obviously, someone without any experience can be capable of picking up on things you missed regardless. And I do love that because it's just a reminder that no matter peoples bias' we can work together and figure shit out.

Also why I sometimes still enjoy lurking reddit bc they can be smart, and even a homophobes POV can come in handy bc I feel like they are avoiding the gay subtext at all costs so they're able to focus on things that we might overlook?

I do notice that a lot of people treat bylers like they are pervs and need to stop shipping boys together bc it's just not going to happen and we shouldn't be crying queer-bait, or this or that?

But like, first of all, it's half-canon my friend. One of the characters is, in canon, in love with the other. And there's still one more season left. And the other character has no idea that the other character is in love with them...

That doesn't happen bro. It just doesn't.

And not only that but, we were obviously milkvans at one point... I personally skipped entire episodes for those bitches...

And yet, even despite that, I also noticed something off between them just like 90% of the ga did before even looking up theories or picking up on byler fully.

This isn't a case of a bunch of people shipping two boys for shits and giggles (and even if it was, who fucking cares).

What's happening on Stranger Things is not something that happens, ever. You don't make the main couple become this pairing that the audience is indifferent to in the 3rd and 4th season, practically repeating the same storyline of them being incompatible, only to make their love for each other fail at saving the day... and with unresolved feelings between the main guy and his best friend being unaddressed... It's not a thing.

If more fans realized that this isn't even about shipping and it's just about literally paying attention beyond seeing what you want to see, then they'd understand where we're coming from. I shipped Milkvan but it's clear to me that the story is trying to convey they are not right for each other. I'm not going to hold onto a romantic relationship between two characters who met when they were like 12 and were sort of pressured into being romantic instantly, just bc love at first sight or something? That's stupid. If it was built up more satisfying, and if Will wasn't there being in love with Mike and with Mike clearly holding similar feelings then it wouldn't be what it clearly is. A fucking story that is clearly heading in the direction of a straight-bait/endgame main queer couple.

#byler #queer-baiting is sooo complex #the history behind it is also soooo complex #bc back in the day gay people were so vilified that ANY representation was a fucking godsend #even being teased and mocked was like well we're getting something?#it was at least something #that's the shitty part #but over time #dead gay character after dead gay character #it got exhausting #it wasn't even unique anymore #it wasn't something anymore #it was just the same recycled tropes reused by coward showrunners #who instead of telling the audience it wouldn't happen #they would joke about it very subtly in the show #like so subtely barely even there #but never actually have the characters talk about it #while also joking about it all the time in press #it was always like a big laugh fest while also humoring it even though... they knew it wouldn't happen #so byler is so interesting bc despite will being in love with mike #they refuse to go beyond discussing the other side of it #if they wanted to avoid queerbait they would have had mike be obviously aware of will's feelings rn and end the confusion #instead they tell fans that mike is still clueless #and then they're like next question #WHY do that if you see that everyone is starting to hate your main ship and support them?#why not be like sorry not happening?#probably because it would be awkward to backtrack from that statement when it does happen *gunshots*

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alena-reblobs · 10 months

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Trigun Bookclub Trimax Vol4 Part 2

Vol01: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Vol02: Part 1 | Part 2

Trimax: Vol01 Part 1 Vol01 Part 2 | Vol02 Part 1 Vol02 Part 2 |

Vol 03 Part 1 | Vol03 Part2 | Vol04 Part1 | Vol04 Part2

And the other half for Vol4!

Is this..some insect growing out of Meryl? It looked like that at first to me but it’s probably just a bug she squished with her hand (still yucky. and poor worm)

Aha! More of the bible references...well, it’s Knives with the 12 followers, but Vash has his own followers, too.

Seems like this is a talk they had earlier. It’s the first time the speech bubbles look like this (I think?), and since think bubbles look normally, I’m guessing this is to show it’s a conversation from earlier.

Zazie just kicking him back is so funny, and then Vash landing on top of Wolfwood...so many dorky moments :D And look! Even the eyes of the sandworm are looking funnily ar Vash!

Saved these pages because I like how the setting looks a bit different to what we’re used! All towns looked kinda similiar in style until now, but this one stands out a bit (is supposed to, storywise).

For whatever reason you’re posing so cool like this, I’ll take it, Wolfwood. Also, your yaoi shoulders are showing.

“We’re being dragged along this road and I’ll cover it all in blood” is such a cool sentence. Wolfwood really is like a fierce wolf. He’s doing anything to protect his pack, his family and what he must, and has accepted that is it is role to do so even if it means to kill and spill blood. I love you, silly little guy!

Also a very strong arc for Milly. Maaaan I can’t wait for her to appear in Stampede.

I finally understood where all that water came from! There was a water container that was damaged in this attack.

As a consequence we’re left with these really cool panels of Wolfwood being soaking wet. And, I love how the water turns the bottom suddenly into a light source!

I like my favs being tortured but still...poor woowoo

ooh ok this here: Did Wolfwood actually let out a scream? Are these soundeffects where he throws back his head sounds of a scream? Because if not, I might actually lean to another explanation of what Vash is hearing now: there’s this telepathy thing Vash has been associated with, and I’ve read from another person that, with a scene later in the manga, it would actually make sense to think that Vash could have the ability to hear thoughts. He can transmit thoughts and feelings with his sisters and his brother too, though they are all plants, so that’s more understandable. It could be a wide stretch and it’s definitely not something that is explicitly sayed throughout the series, but the way he is clutching his ear (making it seem more like the sound he is hearing is coming from inside his head) and how in the panel above we have only the wail of a baby but no shout of Wolfwood himself (though he might have screamed 2 pages earlier), I like to think he hears Wolfwood’s scream in his head. It’s just a neat image and headcanon.

She’s proven to be determined and she is def strong, but these battles of hatred and bloodlust (like said on the following page) are just not her world. You’re too kind a sould for this, Milly!

Hell yeah one of the most epic Wolfwood’s panels ever (there are a lot but this one ranges in the top).

And the following 2 pages are so neat! Wolfwood’s body is completely reacting on autopilot.

Autopilot because here he’s still not really conscious! It’s just shortly after that he actually regains consciousness. Also that panel of him lying there? Damn.

And another cool information that I forgot! Cool that Zazie can do that! So they can do that with Vash and Knives as well...

A thing I didn’t really understand in my first read: He’s searching for the punisher because he is blinded and can’t use the eyes for the moment! If you don’t understand this this is a bit confusing to read....

Took me my third reread to understand that this is Vash’s shadow lying on the cables here in the bottom panel. Also loving these city view panels and all the details (from this page but also every page before). Vash caught in a web!

He..he does! But he won’t because of his own promise. But yeah, Vash also feels anger, and maybe also fury, and maybe hatred and everything as well, but he doesn’t let himself act on it.

Concluding this volume with this beautiful view of Wolfwood being into thoughts. He looks so soft here, vulnerable too...as he is being part of a fate that he never wanted but can not escape.

#trigun #trigunbookclub

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hawkinsschoolcounselor · 2 years

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If Mike doesn’t reciprocate Will’s feelings, then I really don’t understand what happened to Mike between s2 and s3. Like, I get that he was interested in his girlfriend and all that but he seems almost like a different person to me. I loved Mike from the first moment and he’ll always, always be my favourite and I see so much of myself in him but if his behavior is reduced to being worried about his gf and only caring about her then I’ll have to reconsider. After s2 we knew Mike and El were together but I never, ever thought Mike would change so much so that every other trait of his personality would be completely overshadowed (if not in relation to his gf). I never thought he’d forget about his friends and ignore them. Now, in vol. 1, the general audience thinks they’re heading towards a big “i love you” moment to El: and okay, I get that it might have been him struggling to express his feelings, but what about the rest? Mike is not only struggling about that. There’s more to his character. Are we ever going to see it again? Even one of his most prominent traits this season (his leadership) has resurfaced now that he has to find El because she’s in danger. It’s all about his girlfriend. What about him?

There was something in Beyond Stranger Things post season 2 (I think) where they were talking about Mike's behavior and mindset. It bothered me then, and it still bothers me now. The Duffers tries to explain Mike's behavior as being him all depressed and broken down over El's death. They said that taking care of Will brought him back into the light, or something along those lines. The suggestion there was that Mike's worry over Will had less to do with Mike caring about him and more to do with Mike feeling better about himself by taking care of him. It was this idea that Mike only did it because he failed to save El.

While that explanation does set up Mike ignoring Will post-season 2, it flies in the face of not only Mike's season 2 behavior, but also his season 1 behavior. They can try to write off Mike taking care of Will as him just needing to take care of someone, but it doesn't change the fact that Mike was incredibly intimate with Will, right down to how emotional he got while relaying the day they met. I don't know about you guys, but I don't exactly have that vivid of a memory from when I was 5. That was an important memory to Mike.

It also doesn't explain why Mike was so Will-focused in season 1. When faced with the realization that El was lying (she wasn't, but he thought she was) about Will being alive, he was furious. He broke down, leaving her behind as he went home to seek comfort. He lovingly looked through Will's drawings in mourning, being agitated by El's presence. This doesn't sound like someone who valued this girl over his best friend.

Mike's change in behavior doesn't make sense if there's not more there than we're meant to realize. I don't really trust anything the Duffers say at this point, but that moment in Beyond Stranger Things was almost insulting. The suggestion that Mike had a stronger emotional bond with a girl he knew for a week than the boy he's known for 8 years is laughable. Mike hasn't just paid more attention to El than Will. He flat out ignores Will when El is around. That makes no sense with the boy we met in season 1, or the one we saw take care of Will in season 2.

I can totally buy him feeling terrible for failing to protect El. I can even buy him feeling guilty over it because he might blame himself for putting her in that situation. I cannot, however, believe he'd cast Will aside for her as if he never mattered. Unfortunately, they've made it very clear at this point that, for whatever reason, Will is shoved into the background whenever El is around. Mike and Will finally had some heart to hearts this season, but only after El left. I worry about what might happen when they find her.

#stranger things 4 #byler

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spaceyaceface · 2 years

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Shining Like the Sun (Steve Harrington x Reader)

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!Reader

Warnings/Cliches: Friends to lovers, idiots in love, (mutual?) pining, def a fix-it fic, everyone is fine what are you talking about, very minor spoilers for vol 1

Summary: A week after realizing he's in love with his best friend, Steve is going crazy trying to figure out what to do next. (Part 2 to He Fell In Love, not necessary for this part, but it gives a bit more context if you want to read it here)

A/N: I honestly really liked how this turned out! If anyone has a request, feel free to send it my way! I also have a series called History that I'm working on, so check that out if you like this! :)

WC: 1.7k

TAGLIST OPEN

REQUESTS OPEN

It had been one week since Steve had made the realization.

It had struck him like lightning in a thunderstorm, and the heat of it still burned every time he saw her.

She came into Family Video a couple times during that week. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, eyes tracing over her lips, her checks, the hair tucked behind her ear—habits he’d made ages ago without realizing it.

Nothing had changed, but everything was different. There was a pain somewhere in his chest now—it was different than Nancy. That had been an ache wishing something was still his. An ache that faded until it disappeared. This was a throbbing pain of wanting something he might never have. It grew every time he saw Y/N—and it would grow until it consumed him.

It felt like it was about to as she stood across the counter, pushing a movie toward him.

His eyebrows rose as he looked down at the title. “Better Off Dead? Again?”

She folded her arms. “Yes again. Eddie moved D and D to tonight, around his band stuff, so the dweebs aren’t going to be there. It’s just me, you, and Robin. And Robin has a thing for Monique, so I can win her over.”

Robin sidled up to Steve. “I’m won over.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “What if I don’t agree.”

“Two against one. You don't have to.”

Steve groaned, as if he was against watching it. He wasn’t, though. It was Y/N’s favorite, and at some point in time, that became more than enough for him to love it, too.

“Fine. Come by at seven, I’ll have it set up by then.”

Y/N grinned as he checked out the movie, handing it back to her. “Wouldn’t miss it.” She skipped out of the store, extra pep in her step as Steve watched after her.

Robin smirked a bit. “Monique isn’t the only reason that I like Better Off Dead. I really like how Lane mans up enough by the end to get over his ex and realize he has it bad for the new girl.”

He glared at her. “Is that supposed to imply something?”

“No. Unless it means something to you. Then maybe.”

He buried his face in his hands. He hadn’t told Robin anything, but she had him all figured out. He knew he’d been acting off this last week, and that it would only be a matter of time before she called him out.

She had taken his action as his surrender. “I could find an excuse to ditch tonight.”

“Robin.”

“Be sick, have a date, break my leg, I don’t care.”

“Robin—“

“She knows how clumsy I am, a fake injury wouldn’t be suspicious. I mean, I probably will get injured in the end somehow, so—“

“Robin!”

She finally shut up, looking at him. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to gather his thoughts. Because for one week, he had finally thought about it. About her. About how he wanted to hold her hand, feel the electricity he felt bouncing between the both of them. How he wanted to brush her hair behind her ear and kiss her for everything he was worth. How great she would be with six little nuggets, sitting shotgun in an RV.

About how empty everything would be if he ruined it all.

He took a deep breath. “Look, Robin. The last time I… I felt this way about someone, I screwed it up. Big time. I can’t do that to Y/N. I won’t get over it. Not her.”

Robin looked at him, something akin to pity in her eyes. “You won’t screw it up.”

“What if I do?”

She let out a sigh. “Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, she wants the same thing?”

“Should I?” Truth is, he hadn’t dared to let himself entertain the idea.

Robin shrugged. “Monique sure liked Lane, didn’t she?”

He shook his head. “I’m done talking about this. You’re coming tonight.”

“Fine. But I reserve the right to leave if I sense the need to.”

He didn’t have the energy to argue with her.

——————

Steve’s leg bounced up and down as he waited. Robin had done most of the heavy lifting tonight—she gathered the snacks and blankets into the living room and was now sitting on the other sofa, arms folded.

“I can feel the anxiety from here.”

“Shut up.”

“You sure you want me to stay? I’ve still got time to book it out the back.”

“Robin—“ A knock at the door interrupted him. He shot to his feet, pointing a stern finger at his friend. “Stay.”

“I’m not a dog, Harrington.”

“Stay!”

She threw her hands up in surrender as Steve walked to the front door. He opened it and nearly went breathless.

Y/N had changed at some point before coming. Her normal T-shirt had been replaced with a collared blouse, open a couple of buttons and tucked into her favorite pair of black jeans. Her hair had been done, too, tamer than normal.

His stomach flipped as she smiled up at him. “Hey, Steve.”

“H-hey. Come on in.”

Did he really just stutter?

She took off her shoes as Steve shut the door behind her. He led her to the living room and was relieved to see Robin still sitting there.

“Hey, Y/N!”

“Hey Robs! Glad you made it; I missed you last week.”

Robin put a fairly convincing grimace on her face. “You’ll be sad to hear I’m not here long tonight. Vickie wanted to hang out again.”

Steve glared daggers at her. Robin chose not to notice.

Y/N laughed. “Can’t be too mad. You have to make your move soon, or you’re going to miss your chance!”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be the only one.” Robin finally looked at Steve, the expression on his face mutinous. He cleared it as Y/N glanced over at him. Were her cheeks a bit red?

Steve pointed at the movie in her hand. “Better get started if she can’t be here long.”

“Right!” She got the movie started, sitting next to Steve on the couch. For a moment, he struggled to know what to do with himself. Put his arm around her? Would she feel the difference like he did? He couldn’t stay stiff like he was, it would be obvious something was wrong. In the end, his arm went behind her, resting on the cushions just inches away from her shoulders. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice his internal battle.

Robin passed them some snacks as the opening credits rolled, but he didn’t eat anything. His head was spinning. He could feel Y/N’s warmth beside him, though they didn’t touch. He wanted to pull her closer, into his side and press his lips onto her temple. He wanted to—

Robin stood up abruptly. “It’s almost 7:30, I better go,” she said, fighting the smile from her lips.

Y/N grinned at her. “Have fun!”

“Oh believe me, I will.”

And suddenly, it was the two of them.

The same quiet continued as both of them let the movie play. He wasn’t watching, really. He would’ve noticed that Y/N wasn’t either if he wasn’t so lost in his head.

The white nose of the movie stopped suddenly, shaking Steve out of his trance. The remote was in Y/N’s hand and she was looking up at him.

“Steve,” she said, voice full of concern. “You’ve been acting off. Are you ok?”

He pressed his lips together in an attempt and a comforting smile. “I’m fine.”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, I know you better than that. I held off until Robin left because I didn’t know if you wanted to talk around her, but all week you’ve been… distant.” She glanced over at his arm, still carefully positioned where they wouldn’t touch. “Ever since I dropped you off last week. I’ve… I’ve been worried about you, Steve.”

He could have laughed. All week, he’d been trying to play it all cool, pretend he wasn’t losing his mind when he saw her, and she managed to see right through him—and she was doing the most Y/N thing he could think of. Worrying about him.

“What happened in the car?” she asked softly. “I know something happened. You looked… scared.”

He finally met her eyes. It was like she could see right through him.

“You’re right. I was scared. Still am,” he replied. His chest shuddered as he drew in a breath. “I’m terrified, Y/N. And it has nothing to do with a stupid evil dimension.”

Her brows furrowed, but he continued, hand running through his hair. “That night I finally opened my eyes, and there you were. Sitting right in front of me, shining, like, brighter than the damn sun.” A humorless laugh escaped his lips. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about it. You, and the way you bite your lips when you’re thinking. You do it a lot, and it’s always driven me crazy and now I finally know why. And you do this thing with the kids, they adore you, and maybe I should be jealous but I’m not because it’s you. And you’re gorgeous, way out of my league. I almost lost it tonight when you showed up. But I’m destined to mess it up, because that’s what I do best but I don’t want to lose you, and what I’m really trying to say is I love you.”

He swore she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. Her eyes were wide and shining, and he couldn’t help as the words tumbled out again.

“I love you, Y/N.”

There was only a brief moment before she was crashing into his chest, face buried in his neck and arms wrapped around him. His own arms tightened around her waist like his survival depended on it.

“I didn’t think—I didn’t dare hope—“ she drew in a breath. “I love you, too.”

He felt the words against his skin more then he heard them. He laughed, a hand tracing it’s way to her cheek. He guided her face closer to his, resting their foreheads together.

“Well thank God for that,” he said softly. “But I’m still terrified.”

She grinned. “Too scared to kiss me?”

He laughed, feeling her breath on his lips. “I think I can get over it.”

Their lips met, and he swore he could fly.

-----------

TAGLIST:

@multi-obsessed-fanfic-writer @mess-in-side

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #stranger things x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington fanfic #ace writes #friends to lovers #mutual pining #love confession #first kiss #love confessions #light angst #angst with a happy ending #steve harrington request

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marrow-minded · 1 year

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(this became a long rant, sorry)

Summer Rose is a character I don't really care about, but at the same time have criticism about.

She doesn't feel like a part of the story, but rather she feels *just there*. She feels like an after thought.

I don't mind if the dead character doesn't appear much in the story through flashbacks, because it sets in that the character is gone and because of that we the watchers and the characters in the story don't get the chance to get to know them.

And through characters talking about the dead character, you see how the death affected others and through the characters relationship with the dead character, you get to care about the dead character.

But with Summer Rose it's not the case. She rarely gets brought up by people who know her. Outside of Volume 9, there isn't any other flashback involving her where she speaks, shows her personality or is showing a dynamic between her and other character.

Sorry for sounding cold and unemotional, but why should I care when Ruby almost breaks down over Salem mentioning Summer?

I don't remember Summer getting brought up by Ruby or the writers showing us how much she misses her or wishes she had known Summer.

Maybe it's just me, but the writers didn't put much work into Summer's & Ruby's relationship and expect you to care about it, because the story says Summer was a good mom and her kids loved her.

I don't remember if that's actually a thing in the show, so if it's not feel free to skip this one, but apparently Ruby also idolizes and looks up to Summer?

Since when? Ruby looking up to Qrow is more believable given her weapon, her clothing style resembling Qrow and their dynamic in general.

But the story needs Ruby to be sad about her, so she'll be sad.

Summer & Taiyang? He brings up Raven's name more than he has screentime with Ruby. Could his be due to his grief over her disappearance?

Yes, but the story never explores that or gets brought up by Yang, Ruby or Qrow (except of that 1 time with Yang and Blake in Vol 2, I believe?)

Ozpin & Summer? Nope

Yang and Qrow are probably the main reason why I care about her (yes I know I said I don't care about Summer).

Through Yang I get to see how Summer was a mom from Yang's POV. I get to see that she loved Yang even if she wasn't her biological daughter. I get to see how much Yang loves her.

And through Yang I also get interested in Taiyang's & Summer's relationship. I want to know how they fell in love. I want to know if Summer had feeling for him before. I want to know what Summer thinks about Raven. How did Summer felt about the whole situation?

Through Qrow, I know she was person he cared about and had close relationship with her (like with others on the team). He carries around the old teams photo and you're left to wonder if Qrow's drinking problems also has to do with Summer's disapperance.

He tells Ruby her mother was a brat, but "hey, i love brats" which again gives you an idea what they're dynamic might have been or what type of person Summer was in the past. It makes you wonder if his relationship with Summer might be a reason why he's relationship with Ruby is more highlighted than his and Yang's.

I'm left with questions, but barely any answers.

If you took a sip everytime Summer gets brought up, you'll die of dehydration before you'll get to Salem mentioning Summer.

Again, why should I care about Summer as a character when the story doesn't give much reason? And doesn't do much?

Do the RWBY writers even know what they'r doing with her character? Do they have plan? Or are they coming up with things as they go?

When they put that flashback in Volume 9, did they do it because they were planning to focus on Summer or did they put it there with not much thinking only so that RWBY fans would get excited and get Volume 10 greenlighted?

I haven't read any Summer Rose centric fanfics, but in how many of them the writers had to come up with Summer's personality or her dynamics with her teammates, because RWBY writers have given them barely anything?

Summer Rose could have been something.

i mean genuinely i dont even have anything to add lol you literally hit every nail on the head with pinpoint precision

its like in v9 crwby wanted to invoke the same sort of dramatic reveal that rose quartz from steven universe had? like oh my god the dead mom actually had something deep and mysterious to her and thats why ruby is so stressed and distraught and wow isnt this awesome dont you want v10 to see what raven and summer were doing?!

and its like. yall didnt earn that. yall didnt put the time in to establish how summers presence and subsequent disappearance and Death actually affected the people in this story. yang is the only one who actually says anything of note about summer as a person and thats "shes supermom. baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters" and then crwby relied on the fans to give that meaning and weight. but theres no EFFORT put into summer

i couldnt give less of a shit about summer especially when the dynamic between ruby and QROW is more interesting-- im a dad!qrow truther tho like not even as a joke i genuinely choose to watch the show like qrow is ruby biological father bc that actually makes his choices have a little bit more logic and depth imo-- and now theyre trying to take away that establishment of "qrow is someone ruby looked up to and then as she grows older her feelings kinda get shattered and now theyre being mended slowly again" and are trying to speedrun that with summer

summer was revealed to be a liar mere moments before she was restablished as supermom to ruby so im just sitting there like. well summer might as well be a liar and an idiot like raven, its not like she had a personality before hand!

#thanks for the ask!#rwby summer rose #summer rose crit

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neon-dynasty · 1 year

Text

Gathering Friends

I collect Planeswalker cards. Ever since I opened Sarkhan Vol in a Shards of Alara draft, I've been in love with the card type. It's like calling in a favor from a friend, except instead of getting a ride to the airport, you get dragons.

Look at that card! It may not seem special now, but imagine seeing something like this for the first time. The curved art border, the transparent rules box, the character literally popping out of the frame. It was unlike anything ever seen in the game before, at least outside of joke sets. The introduction of Planeswalkers in Lorwyn was probably the biggest impact on Magic: The Gathering in the franchise's history.

The rules for my collection started off simple: 1) Every printing of every Planeswalker card 2) If there's a premium and a non-premium version of the card, only the non-premium version counts

Then they got a little more complicated as new ways of getting Planeswalker cards came about: 3) Prerelease promos that are identical in every way to their main set counterparts don't count (this would go on to exclude promo pack cards with the foil symbol stamped on the image, as well as reprints with the little symbol on the bottom left of the card) 4) Cards given out as prizes don't count 4b) Heroes of the Realm cards DEFINITELY don't count 5) Lottery cards don't count (1/30 Collector Booster, serialized, other assorted nonsense)

Then came the big one: 6) Special foil treatments do count, so long as they have different collector numbers

That last rule was tough to decide on, because it walked back the lottery stipulation for the foil etched cards in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty. However, the textured foil cards in Double Masters 2022 were different enough from their main set counterparts that it felt right. It's also a very expensive category. As it stands, I can't afford to collect all of those, but we'll see what the future brings.

I'm currently pretty far behind with the collection, missing around 91 out of the 687 currently available Planeswalker cards (excluding 18 cards that land outside of the rules, of which I do own 7). It's mostly a bunch of inexpensive cards, less than ten dollars each, so it's doable. I'm thinking of buying everything worth less than five bucks in one go, and then completing the rest set by set. The last (and only) time I had a complete collection was during Amonkhet, so I'm in no rush.

It's definitely a first world problem, but damn if they don't print FAR too many cards these days. I love collecting these things, but because I don't let it get in the way of my real life, the backlog builds up. It's especially annoying because there are three or more different versions of each Planeswalker card in each set nowadays. I rarely feel the thrill of opening one in a pack anymore, because it's only one of a dozen or more mythic rare cards I need from the set. Phyrexia: All Will Be One is certainly an outlier, but I added thirty-five rows to my spreadsheet in anticipation of the set's release.

One interesting thing about the way the game is now, rotating out of Standard doesn't affect the price of cards very much after a few months. Prices stabilize much more quickly than they used to, and they don't drop as drastically anymore. I no longer feel like I should wait until rotation to clear the backlog a bit.

As a final note, I recently discovered the existence of this card:

It's a prize for Japanese store tournaments. It doesn't count toward the collection (though I do have the other three alternate art promos in this series), but I want it very badly. I've been trying to figure out how to scrounge up a couple hundred bucks to get this card, and feeling ridiculous because there's no excuse for spending that much money on a Magic card, especially one I'll never play.

I enjoy collecting these things, even during times when I'm not actively playing the game with friends. It maintains my connection to the hobby, and gives me a reason to keep up with the story and the game mechanics. On the flip side, sometimes I feel trapped by what can seem like a monumental endeavor. I often wish I could divert the attention I spend on this elsewhere.

In the end, though, Planeswalkers are the reason I still play one of my favorite games in the world. If I hadn't started this collection, I would certainly have moved on from Magic years ago. For something that brings me so much joy, I'm glad I've been able to stick with it for all this time.

#mtg #magic the gathering #planeswalkers

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caatws · 11 months

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I can't speak for the merchandising but when it comes to gotg rides Mission Breakout is set just after vol 2 so there would be no need to change anything about it because of vol 3. Not that I think they would change the ride anyway. The newer ride is Cosmic Rewind and it's supposed to be taking place during or around vol 1. Gamora is of course included. This ride came out last year and I don't know when or how it was decided but I have been wondering if the whole rewind to vol 1 theme was picked so Gamora could be included.

I have mostly loved Gunn's work when it comes to gotg. I think he's typically thoughtful and nuanced when dealing with the abuse and trauma plots. However I don't think he had the ability to deal with Thanos killing Gamora. Gamora needed way more attention and her death should have been one of the most serious issues gotg ever had. I don't know what the perfect solution would have been but part of me wishes they would have given Gamora a solo movie or show handled by someone more willing to do the work needed to give Gamora's murder closure and Gamora an arc that was about finding a way to give back to her rather than take away. The mcu wanting to deal with hard and complicated issues is great. Being unprepared to see them through to the end or research what those situations are really like, isn't so great and honestly can send out a bad message. Vol 3 treats everything Thanos did with nonchalance. Gunn also uses the time and space since Endgame mostly in a negative way for Gamora. Vol 3 has Rocket and Nebula as much better friends and the entire basis for this is Endgame. At the same time it only lightly touches on Gamora and Nebula's relationship even though Endgame showed that was the most important thing for both of them and the entire catalyst for Gamora having confidence that her arrival to the future might be okay and they could win against Thanos. He ignores that 5 years working and being friends with other people could pose an issue for Rocket and Nebula when the guardians came back from the snap. Especially Nebula who hadn't been on the team before. It's like none of that time mattered at all. Then with Gamora he treats her time after Endgame as if it's created a permanent wall where she can't connect with these characters or be part of the guardians. And now here we are with Gamora being excluded and her value as a character being questioned which is the exact opposite of what you should want for a film about abuse survivors.

you're so right on all fronts here! i think gunn is extremely talented and everything else has been generally handled well and beautifully; for me personally it mostly only starts to all unravel when i consider the gamora situation, but looking past that, i think most of the characters got pretty solid arcs/moments/etc across the 3 films, especially considering the chaotic context of trying to fit into the greater mcu.

i'm glad rocket got the attention and care he did in this film, esp knowing how much it meant to gunn, but like i mentioned yesterday, i think it would've made more sense to put this particular story between vol 2 and iw, since the effects of iw/eg are hardly even explored in the film beyond peter grieving, the ravager gamora storyline, nebula's presence, and just other random details.

and i'm not just making up reasons to sound like a hater here lol like i've LITERALLY been saying since 2021 when mcu content resumed post-covid that, in general, one of my biggest gripes with post-eg mcu is the lack of rly going into the effects of 1) the 5-year time skip, and 2) the snap itself on most of the characters/stories, and unfortunately vol 3 ended up falling into the majority of films/shows that didn't rly deal with it much.

and my issue isn't necessarily gunn not wanting to deal with all that on top of the rocket story he wanted to do, but just like...we didn't have to make it a post-eg story then lol

in my ideal world we'd get like a vol 4 that is post-eg where it's just the gotg grieving gamora and searching for the new one, or perhaps even rectifying the whole original issue by bringing original gamora back or merging her with 2014!gamora etc. but either way, i think gamora's circumstances in her life and death warranted her getting a story just as much centered around her and driven by how much the other characters love her just as much as rocket did.

but yeah like you said anon, i just don't think gunn - or markus, mcfeely, or the russos bros for that matter - were equipped to handle this kind of storyline. and that isn't a bad thing! that isn't even a criticism of their work. it's just a literal fact that not all storytellers are equipped to handle every kind of story. and i don't think it should be A Big Deal to simply say that a white male storyteller may not be the best choice to tell the story of the consequences of a woc abuse survivor getting murdered by her abuser like lol. (bc when white male storytellers did tell that story, it was to show how the abuser actually Loved her and how there are parts of thanos we can still sympathize with UWU)

this is not even a radical opinion. this is quite literally the whole point of movements like #ownvoices and giving bipoc/queer/etc creatives jobs in directing and/or writing films/shows that center their identities.

like it literally is not that deep to suggest that local middle-aged white man james gunn (who's already made it clear that rocket was His Guy from the beginning, so we already know which character he'd prefer to focus on) was maybe not The Best Choice to write a story abt a woc surviving and escaping her abuser only to end up murdered by him in the end. he had his chance to show he was equipped to tell that story and he didn't, the end, case closed. it's as simple as that, and i don't wanna hear any dissenting opinions from white ppl, honestly!

#i'm so sick of ppl in the fandom acting like ppl are 'turning' on writers/directors who've made good projects in the past #like this attitude creates 0 space for ppl to share their valid criticisms esp when it's as simple as saying hey i don't think a white male #pov was best for this maybe! like BROOO #i'm just anticipating there's gonna be this same defensive sentiment with gunn after the dickriding i saw happening for the russos lmao #like bro just bc i thought catws was good didn't mean the russos could do no wrong after that help???#anyway this got off topic #ask #the gamora situation

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witchcraftingboop · 11 months

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Would you please recommend mangas?

I'm not gonna lie to you, baby, my tastes are trash. You can call me the garbage man because bish I'm swimming in that shit, scooping it all up and dragging it back to my lil apt-- or maybe the Grinch... oh well!

Anywhoville, here are the mangas I've read physical copies of since this all started back on April 13th:

Fangs by Billy B-something - BL - I like their take on modern vampires. Could do without the crazy dude randomly (coincidentally) escaping from jail

Kaiju Girl Caramelize by someone - Straight, Romcom (wtvr that is in manga genres), takes place in a high school - hilarious and I love it

SpyxFamily also by someone - Idk what genre this is honestly but it's funny and good and I love it

Sleepy Princess In The Demon Castle - I have all 20 volumes because it is just a cute lil fun lil read

So I'm A Spider, So What - Okay, does the mc grind like crazy to level up? Yes but it's also hilarious and a lovely lil isekai about how a high schooler is reborn as a weak bb spider and becomes super op and challenges gods and demon lords ... 10/10, have every volume out rn and love it

Heaven Official's Blessing (light novels) - BL, Danmei - Listen. I love these lil fucks and I love how these are written -> Currently on book 2/5 in my lil shelf, six comes out in Sept I think

Given - BL - It's an okay series. I read it all (that's out), and it is amusing while reading, but ultimately probably won't read again

Fruits Basket - grew up on it, love it

Chobits - unfortunately grew up on it (why do I not remember how sexual this shit was like jfc did that throw me for a Loop lmao)

Savior's Book Cafe Story In Another World - Isekai (of a 30yo, not a teen for once), romance -- I adore this lil series. It's a cozy lil hug in a book

Uzumaki by Junji Ito - Horror - classic, love his art style and story telling, I don't find horror manga or anime scary though so I read it more like comedy tbh

I Want To Eat Your Pancreas - Tragedy(?), Romance(?), set in high school - I went into this expecting and knowing nothing and I enjoyed it a lot

A list of BL I read and enjoyed: I Didn't Mean to Fall in Love, There Are Things I Can't Tell You(💜), Sotus vol 1, Killing Stalking (??? is it BL idk,, it's B), Midnight Rain, The Flower That Seems To Truly Dance, Loved Circus, The Snake Who Loved A Sparrow (look out for anatomy oddities), Sasaki & Miyano, Secret XXX, Therapy Game

The Witch & The Beast

A Silent Voice

Fire Force, omnibus 1 (dunno about later ones cause this is the only series I didn't just buy complete)

My next reads are gonna be the series I just bought, so Demon Slayer, Ouran Host Club (again, childhood fave), Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Re, & Choujin X.

After that, the next batch'll likely be: Bofuri, Arifureta, & Overlord (all isekai - or in Bofuri's case video game life). Which I can recommend watching in the anime forms as well.

But yeah those are pretty much all the series I like that I can name off the top of my hear rn. There are definitely quite a bunch I'm forgetting, but I cannot be bothered because this lil answer has already gone on for a long time and been interrupted 4+ times by my Boss' after hours inquiries into his own goddamn schedule I'm going to beat this man with a sandal

But yeah that's it, anon, pillage through my wares as you please!

#boop's asks #manga reccs #bl and romance are my comfort reads obviously #I go through phases of reading just one primary genre at a time #rn we're shifting gear to more sienen stuff I think

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piduai · 2 years

Text

finally sat my ass down and read vol 31 of gk properly

1. i know that i personally was fed like a pig about to be sent for slaughter but i'm greedy so i'm still a bit annoyed there was nothing new for the epic saga of tsurumi and ogata. like i'm feeling antagonized here. is it my own fault for having unrealistic expectations? yes. will it stop me from complaining? no.

2. the line about becoming bait is gone, now he's saying just 'sugimoto and co are coming here'. i thought it was weird af when the chapter came out so i am not displeased

3. reading these chapters reminded me of the convos around each of them i either took part in or saw glimpses of and reaffirms my strong conviction that if you sent a handful of pebbles to first grade they'd put the vast majority of gk readers to shame in terms of intelligence. anyway i remember particularly how much weird fucking discourse that page of sugimoto looking at asirpa after she shot ogata brought. funnily sometimes the volume versions give a little bit more insight into the most controversial things that went down in the eng speaking part of the fandom, so i imagine japanese readers could have had some difficulty with that too. there was an added page in 309 of sugimoto thinking "her alone i can't take with me. her alone i can't put on a vip seat on the train to hell"

and then two additional ones in 310 after ogata yeets himself off the train

in which he's like "at the end of the day, i couldn't treat her like my partner, not truly, not from the bottom of my heart... not until i saw that she's resolved to follow me to hell". don't get me wrong if you're a stubborn dumbass with less emotional depth god granted a rusty kettle no matter how pre-chewed and soft the food you're being spoon-fed is you'll still be fucking stupid i guess. and not GET IT. but the story tried, it tried

4. the close up page of ogata blowing his brains out has been wiped, now it's a distant focus and shiraishi, asirpa and sugimoto are shown looking at him in shock. very disappointed, it was my favorite page in the chapter

5. the whole seemingly random exposition in 309 of tsurumi's plans he just tells us because he wants to is not random at all, it was strategically placed there as a set-up for the omake. lmfao. so that has always been planned as the true ending i guess. except in the volume he tells all of this to a corpse because why not

6. 306-308 were gk's greatest flop era, genuinely the worst 3 chapters in the entire manga. i was mad as shit when i read them as they were coming out and i was mad as hell reading them now. absolutely disgusting. and also 0 improvement on them too, tho i guess since they're unsalvageable it would have been a waste of effort. but i am tired of those two. i am tired of everything related to them so i'll just pretend they don't exist

7. in the mag version sugimoto only punches ogata once, but in the vol he goes oraora mode on his ass. lmfao

8. the way the tsurussy has been kept shadowed for half a chapter before he lost his bones (which he kept in his HEART POCKET) and THAT page... chef's kiss

9. also not pertinent to the volume alone but i love how sugimoto beat ogata's ass but tsurumi gave him a good fight <3 close combat competent king

10.

i love her

#overall good volume... is what i want to say but it's not what i believe. but there's more good than bad. so.

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flintsdragon · 1 year

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2023 media diary! week 1: January 1st - 7th

Read

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK by Elissa Sussman (up to page 170)

the thing about this is that it's really fun! the journalist/ celebrity dynamic is a treacherous one to walk down because these stories tend to feel like fanfic , but i think what sets sussman apart is that she has a keen understanding of what we find compelling about leading men and why we form parasocial relationships with them, etc.

also gabe parker has been hard to fancast in my head because in the ten years earlier section of the book he has matthew mcconaughey in how to lose a guy in ten days vibes and then 10 years later he has clooney in oceans 11 vibes. the only modern star that i think has either of those energies is austin butler, and i think it would be fun if austin butler goes from (most likely) getting an oscar nomination to starring in a cutesy rom com.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND Vol. 1

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE

WEST COAST AVENGERS: BEST COAST

Watched

movies

first watch: koyaanisqatsi, after hours, M3GAN

i need more time to think about all of these. they are very good!

rewatched: bridget jones's diary, chicago, titanic, avengers: endgame

my biggest film bro quality is that i rewatched titanic and chicago for my eternal loves john c. reilly, who should've won an oscar for his cellophane and bill paxton who should've won an oscar for looking so hot with highlights and that little hoop earring.

shows

hawkeye

i started this back in 2021 and just wasnt feeling it cause it made me wish we could have a more faithful adaptation of the matt fraction hawkeye series. anyway, as mentioned earlier in this post i've been reading the thomspon/carelli west coast avengers run and really enjoying it and that was enough to get me to finish the show. its sweet and funny and the steinfeld/pugh dynamic is the most exciting part of marvel's future.

something i will say is that i have a small, external understanding of american sign language and deaf culture because i took ASL as my language in high school and i was part of the american sign language club that went on field trips around town to do be interpreters at school performances/ graduations. i was absolutely thrilled that they successfully brought Echo into the fold and she is so beloved. but something about how her scenes were filmed rubbed me the wrong way. when characters spoke in sign language, they frequently cut away from the actors who were signing in the middle of a sentence. they cut to flashbacks, and different characters, which happens all the time in film and television because it tends to make a conversation between two people more engaging. but it bothered me in these scenes, and my least charitable reading of these moments is that they were trying to make a show with a deaf character that doesnt alienate people who dont understand sign language.

all that being said, i enjoyed it. of the marvel disney plus shows, wandavision is my number one, and then loki and hawkeye are probably tied at second, and then everything else blends together.

#elissa sussman #amazing spider-man: beyond #zeb wells #kelly thompson #m3gan #bridget jones #chicago 2002 #titanic #endgame #hawkeye

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regarding-stories · 1 year

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The Ever-Changing Story (Part 2b): Retcon Asunas destroying each other, a reboot could save them!

Over the course of writing the previous article and after I've come to the following conclusion: Sword Art Online Progressive (SAOP) destroys the continuity of Sword Art Online (SAO). I've talked about this at length, including in that discussion the Hopeful Chant bonus side story that retcons the Yuuna and Nautilus/Seiji into the Aincrad "timeline."

In my mind, this makes the combination of both series into a meta time travel conundrum, worthy of a better Doctor Who episode or Stein's Gate. By transposing Asuna back in time, the paradoxa involved unravel Asuna's character and future. Her core is threatened, her actions change meaning while outwardly looking the same, and none of the retcons have patched this up so far. The Asuna of Hopeful Chant is a wave of change expanding from Progressive into the mainline canon, subverting it more and more into a continuation of Progressive, and this "Asunami" has already rolled over the Sachi story and changed her role in the mind of a good part of the audience, but it hasn't reached the events of the original books yet. As I said, in order to finish that process, Kawahara essentially "owes us" a rewrite of how Asuna decides to pursue Kirito, if not the whole story of SAO Vol. 1 - Aincrad outright.

The inverse is also becoming more apparent: The SAO main series will destroy the core of SAO Progressive if both are forced into the same timeline. It just hasn't happened yet. But the dynamics unleashed by Kawahara have been set in motion, and he will have to resolve them one way or the other. (I'm not implying a binary choice here, though there are two major options that occur.)

Doom from above

There are two ways in which these stories are written:

Top-down: Kawahara takes the overall story outline that he has decided on and places a story in it. This requires reconciling the details with the general outline, so the story is driven by prioritizing the outline over the characters. This style often creates gaps in character arcs, plot holes or, more accurately, "character arc holes." These come into existence because the character marches from plot point to point and is fit into a mold. Plot takes priority over character if both clash.

Bottom-up: In this case, the author places the characters in a situation and lets them act from the established drives, motivations, goals, and behaviors. Ideally, the characters take on their own life and drive the story. This style creates a seamless continuity, but you may not end up where you "want to be." In order to arrive at a certain point you have to seed that endpoint into the characters to begin with.

Kirito in a hall of mirrors

I've been going on how Progressive, for all its greatness, breaks Sword Art Online. Now I will try to demonstrate how SAO (main series) will make Progressive worse.

If both of them should fit into the same continuity, the basic dynamic of Progressive can't persist. Asuna and Kirito need to be ripped apart so that they can come together again.

Please note that this has never been made necessary by the original intent behind Progressive. It was meant to be the story of beating Aincrad, floor by floor. But there is an immediate problem with that - that is how Kawahara writes and how Kirito is written.

Kirito works best when he has a foil. Kirito presents a different self to different characters.

He's a big protective brother to Silica/Keiko when her immaturity traps her into overextending herself, allowing her to not be killed by the consequences of her own choices.

To Sachi he's someone who makes her fear bearable through kindness.

With Liz/Rika he has a game of escalation going. Just look at how he drives her towards committing to making her best sword ever for him. He side-steps her and her thrust basically carries her past him.

To Asuna he becomes the force that invites her into life, love, and becoming herself instead of being defined by duty.

To Sinon/Shino he is the one who can understand her trauma best, faulting himself over the same or a similar thing - the act of having killed in a life-and-death situation. A fellow soul. Somebody who can see her.

To Alice he becomes such an outright example of standing up for his own principles so that she can successfully develop her own in spite of the spell she is under.

People make fun of Sword Art Online's unwanted harem surrounding Kirito. But each of these girls has a good reason to love Kirito and want to be friends with him. Each of them - maybe not Silica (sorry, girl) - could just as validly become a full romantic partner with him were it not for Asuna. It's unclear whether Shino wanted to or how she truly feels about Kyouji, but Kirito and her are definitely more than "just friends." War of the Underworld confirms this. And I left Suguha out because she is actually hard to understand. But she doesn't have to make that much sense - maybe that makes her the most realistic teenage girl of them all.

(By the way, Klein is part of this harem, too. He wears his heart on his sleeve and would follow Kirito anywhere, cry over him and admires him endlessly. Total bromance.)

What I want to express is that Kirito needs another person next to him to be his co-protagonist so that we know who Kirito is! That's why the main series timeline for Kirito is:

Kirito & Klein (SAO 1)

Kirito & Coper (SAO 22)

Kirito & Sachi (SAO 2)

Kirito & Silica (SAO 2)

Kirito & Liz (SAO 2)

Kirito & Asuna (SAO 1, SAO 8, SAO 22)

Kirito & Leafa (SAO 3-4)

Kirito & Sinon (SAO 5-6)

Kirito & Eugeo (SAO 9-14)

Kirito & Alice (SAO 13-18?)

No idea about Moon Cradle.

Kirito & everyone (SAO 21, SAO 23 onward)

Each story featuring Kirito almost only shows him "on screen" while he has a foil of some form. This is even true of the villains - including for example Morte or Kuradeel. We are told about what Kirito does off screen (level, hunt monsters, delve into dungeons) but it isn't shown for long if no other person is present - because it would be boring, uninteresting, and provide none of the exchanges between Kirito and others that "define" his character. If Kirito sneaks off at night to do his own thing, he will inevitably run into another character, be it a player killer or an NPC.

The other people entering his life break or heal his heart, or force him to find out what he believes in and act on it. In some cases like with Coper these characters exist to bend Kirito's arc away from displaying some qualities too early. But Kirito is largely a passive character, at least when he meets a person, unless circumstances are already dire. He is being pulled in by (main series) Asuna because she wants to. He follows along in Sinon's wake because it's at first convenient. He plays this game of escalation with Liz probably because he likes it and also likes to tease her into completely overcommitting herself. Kirito often ends up spending major time with a person he just encountered. And he has inertia. He will carry feelings forward until somebody helps him release them.

That's because he's a free electron suddenly being caught by somebody else's nucleus. He fills other characters' needs. And they become the story and fills his needs in turn, at least the nice ones.

Shino is desperate for a friend, assuming ideally that would be a girl like her.

Asuna needs joy in her life.

Klein needs a tutorial because who reads the damn manual, anyway?

Eugeo needs a swift kick in his ass to do anything. (Okay okay, he needs an understanding and encouraging sensei that keeps him going against his deep conditioning.)

Liz needs the very human contact her personality tends to isolate her from.

Silica needs a protector and friend in need so she can learn her lesson about consequences without dying first.

Sachi needs somebody who can make her feel safe.

Suguha needs the connection back she had with him as a child and that she misses sorely. (And a boyfriend that impresses her. Confusion ensues.)

Alice needs somebody who can help her start becoming her own person, free of the manipulation she's under. (This is different from Eugeo in that nobody needs to kick Alice's ass to get into action. She needs somebody who makes her change the course of action she's already on. Eugeo is inertia. Alice is initially inertia in motion. Both need an outside force.)

All the good dialogue, all the emotions, all the caring and suffering and healing only works if there is a counter-foil for it, and in Kawahara's case this is always one other person Kirito gets entangled with.

How "fixing the future" spells D-O-O-M for Progressive

As Progressive unfolded, it created rifts that Hopeful Chant was the band-aid for. And stories written in the mainline tend to announce events that haven't happened yet in Progressive as if to say "But they have to!"

This kind of arc fixing takes the form of inferences:

If Asuna and Kirito are to resume their original arc in SAO, then they first need to be split apart. Asuna joining the Knights of Blood after the (expanded) disaster of Floor 25 is established in The Day Before (SAO 22). The story was written for a release of the anime, therefore it fixes some facts in place after Aria of the Starless Night (SAOP 1) had already been shoved into canon. Else we can't have Sachi at all or Asuna going after Kirito.

If Asuna and Kirito are meant to split apart, this likely needs some additional leverage. There's some foreshadowing, I forgot where, that some tragic events will happen towards the end of the Elf War quest, either on floor 8 or 9. Possibly also altering Asuna's attitude towards NPCs - as if the stupid 56th floor duel between Kirito and Asuna (at her instigation) needed to be preserved in canon...

If Asuna and Kirito still run into each other, then they need to be forcefully kept apart. Cue the Hopeful Chant side story which introduces Asuna's sense of guilt why she can't act on her feelings for Kirito and go after him.

And this isn't exclusive to Asuna and Kirito: If the Aincrad Liberation Squad (ALS) is meant to turn into the ultimately corrupted Aincrad Liberation Force (ALF)/the Army, then also Kibaou's arc has to be heavily disrupted. But the Kibaou of Progressive cares. So we get this story about his heartbroken, grieving cries for his dead guildmates. This seems to change his arc in the story, but not his character arc. He is a forthright, direct, honorable, fair person, who prioritizes things like beating the game and helping the masses of trapped players through leading by example. In the story, Kibaou's ALS guild is most heavily targeted to be manipulated by Laughing Coffin (SAOP 3 and 4, especially). So Kawahara seems to indeed plot their downfall in some way. BUT. He also shows Kibaou as the honorable guy whose hand is forced. Because he reimagined him as a good guy. By SAOP 8 he's better than he has ever been. While you can force him out of the frontline by killing his closest friends - you can break a person - it's still entirely unclear how a person defined by the traits he displays becomes somebody who willingly does a Player Kill by Monster (MPK) to gain/preserve power. These are entirely different characters so far that only share a name. Just like Asuna's shifted character arc negates future Asuna's inner workings, Kibaou's characterization clashes to an extreme degree. And a few throw-away lines in a side story do not fix this.

The thing is - this whole thing isn't convincing in the first place. If you split Asuna and Kirito apart you somehow need to do it hard enough that they stay apart for almost 50 floors until they are almost as strangers to each other. Then we still need an as-of-yet unwritten event or process that reverses this trajectory for Asuna, and that one hasn't even been revealed yet.

But this creates a host of problems for Progressive. Kawahara has been busy hacking the arc of Sword Art Online to fit Progressive in, but this hems in the story he can write for Progressive for the sake of a story that does not connect. Neither Asuna, Kirito, nor Kibaou do connect with their future selves. And they never really will. But Progressive is shoe-horned in by "events" defined in SAO main series - without any of them having been written. They create a pseudo-continuity.

When the iceberg is supposed to be good for the Titanic

Kawahara has essentially put story icebergs into the waters that Progressive will sail through. While it's ultimately my metaphor, I use it to show the folly of this: You need to sink the character arcs of Progressive to preserve the pseudo-continuity with the main series.

Yes, a character arc means a character changes. So Kawahara could invoke a series of events that lead Asuna to decide she needs to prioritize beating the game over being with Kirito. And he could introduce a series of events that disrupt Kibaou's will to beat the game. But this creates two different kinds of problems.

As I mentioned, if Asuna prioritizes beating the game over being with Kirito, she needs something that will explain to us how this ultimately reverses again. While Hopeful Chant reminds us what her heart really wants, it also tells us why she doesn't pursue it. And even if another side story provides it, it will not fix the continuity problems of "Oh, I don't know you" and "Oh, I have sudden feelings for you" and "Oh, this moment in time started to fix my problems." The Asuna of Progressive has already absorbed basically all of the original main series Asuna's inner arc into her. I'm reading SAOP 5 at the moment, and it is heavily implied in the opening scene that Asuna thinks Kirito will confess his love for her, and she's not ready for that. She's overwhelmed. But she's not saying that she doesn't want that. She is basically saying that something needs to happen first - and that something is likely some resolving of inner conflicts that she so far refused to tackle. But she knows. She increasingly morphs into her final stage. This is floor six. This is an Asuna that probably wondered already what kissing Kirito would be like and then panics at scenarios that have happened in her mind already. (But not in Kirito's oblivious mind. We can always count on Kirito being oblivious.) This matches with the fact that after SAOP 4 there's a rapid decrease of seeing things from Asuna's point of view. Because it would become too revealing to keep this convincingly up.

Kibaou's problem is different. His plot arc would be disrupted but that does nothing to establish a route from A to B, A being that the ALS is an upright force for beating the game, and B is having the ALF as a minor side story villain. By the end of the game, the logout happening a bit more than a week after events he's involved in, Kibaou and his gang are shunned, having been removed from the original MMO Today (now: "the Army") guild. Kirito and Asuna essentially fixed a problem that only would have mattered if the game would have persisted longer. But in doing so, they again established facts that create problems in Kibaou's arc. But only because Kawahara decided to reuse him - and then give him a more likable personality. If this is meant to produce an ultimate Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader moment then I'm not convinced it will work.

The problem with both these events is that they are destined to end Progressive for good. There are two dynamics that they disrupt.

The main dynamics of Progressive

One is the emotional one of the Asuna/Kirito interplay. It's the juicy, heartwarming, funny core that makes the story adorable, and that's also the reason Kawahara included Asuna in the first place. He must have understood what he was doing on some level, because even in SAOP 1 he stated he couldn't imagine another woman/girl at Kirito's side. If it was not Asuna, then the girl would become emotionally so important, it would shove Asuna off her throne at the center of Kirito's heart. And if he killed that girl - and it would have to be a girl - that would topple Sachi's impact. He had "no choice" but to make it Asuna if he wanted to preserve the presence of Asuna. Consider Sinon - the thing keeping Kirito and Shino apart is partially his preexisting deep commitment to Asuna. But had that not existed, the whole story could also start there. Progressive is, like Phantom Bullet, a strong story of companionship. And the act of suffering together, of discovering deep commonalities, of relying on each other for their lives - that creates love. This love could be expressed in different ways, but the story could start in Phantom Bullet and still be convincing. This must have made it clear to Kawahara that if he didn't chose Asuna as Kirito's companion, that Progressive would disrupt SAO even more. Whoever would be by Kirito's side would become a major point character. (Not that there are any good choices here. Retcontinuity has a massive problem here because the gaps in SAO are so massive to begin with.)

The other dynamic is the interplay of the guilds and their designated protagonists. This is the second dynamic - and it tends to contribute a lot to the plot side, mostly. Kawahara also uses it to establish Kirito as the solo "beater," but this became quickly secondary, and the grudging acceptance becomes very apparent throughout Progressive all the time. Kirito is not called "beater." Everybody calls him "Blackie" - showing a mix of acceptance and annoyed distance. You can't owe a person your life that many times and not change your mind about them. So even this attempt at painting Kirito's role in the game is changing. Kirito is not a solo beater. He's ultimately a respected person that becomes the linchpin of holding the frontrunners together. He just doesn't realize this.

The other two dynamics shaping SAO Progressive are the increasing role of high-functioning AI and the attempts by the precursor of Laughing Coffin to disrupt any progress. Together these four dynamics form the core of the series and generate stories and draw the reader in. You could say the story is woven from these threads and sprinkled with a sense of wonder at the fantastc surroundings. And one thread can provide opportunities for another.

But the main thread the others weave around is the thread of Asuna and Kirito growing close to each other. It doesn't drive the story often but defines the emotional attachment of the reader to the story. All the other threads provide drama and action and move the plot. But the dance of Asuna and Kirito, as they orbit each other, sells Progressive to us. Sever this thread and Progressive collapses. By focusing so much of the series on this thread it also depends on it. If Kawahara realizes "the master plan" to shove "canon" into Progressive as he continues writing it, this will end Progressive. And in that sense Sword Art Online altogether. Because at this rate it is likely that Progressive will outlive the main series which concludes after Unital Ring.

Just make it an official reboot already

Everything inside Progressive makes it a de-facto but unadmitted reboot. Had Kawahara presented it as such from the beginning, not much would have changed. It never lived up to the idea of telling the story of beating Aincrad within its existing continuity. And the reason is clear - in order to create his typical foil for Kirito and create reader interest and emotional attachment, Kawahara had to do something about companionship. And that did him in very quickly, but to my personal delight it crafted the best possible story.

Consider Kizmel. Not for her impact on the story, but the conundrum she poses for Kirito and Asuna. She is such a high-functioning AI, she's nigh-indistinguishable from a player. She comes alive and leaves her predefined mold, becomes a character with her own history (that can't have actually occurred, unless SAO deep-generated its story instead of it being planted as level design), and changes course. The quest, however, largely takes place as it should.

Consider this as a (completely meta) metaphor for the whole of Progressive as we have experienced it so far. Then Kizmel becomes the protagonists who take on a life of their own, quickly develop their own dynamic, and rush forward their character arcs. And the quest becomes the relationship between the main plot that binds Kirito and Asuna and their own independent agency. Kirito and Asuna's "future" is as fake as Kizmel's past - depending on how you see it. They can not become these persons anymore, falling in love for the first time, just as Kizmel can become anymore the NPC that dies at the beginning of the quest. Kizmel surviving at the beginning of Elf War diverges the quest from the official template and the beta. Asuna being matched up with Kirito on floor 1 diverges from the SAO 1 and its plot outline. This could even make SAO 1 stand in as "the beta" and Progressive becomes the "real story" of beating Aincrad. Just as there are changes from the beta (that cause the characters lots of excitement and problems), the changes from SAO are what makes Progressive good.

It also shows the massive potential that was wasted by not rewriting SAO as a continuous series to begin with. The original story in SAO 1, for all its weaknesses, created a sort of hagiography - if only in the minds of parts of the fanbase - that the Progressive characters are now forced to evolve into.

I say: Don't do it. Continue the story as it is best for this story. Allow it to be a reboot. Let these characters tell their own story - a story that could be better than the original. In many ways it already is. There's no need to run it into an iceberg for the sake of another story. I believe Kawahara has grown as a writer. Progressive is great like The Isolator is. The characters are better than they have ever been. They deserve their own story for good. All it takes is removing the chains that bind them to the original SAO 1, chains already weak and rusty.

I believe you could tell the story of all floors of Aincrad and still allow SAO 3 - Fairy Dance and all subsequent stories to happen.

#sword art online progressive #sword art online #sao #retcontinuity #retcon #reboot #asunami #asuna #kirito #kibaou #pseudo-continuity

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