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rayereil · 1 year

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Uryu’s time to shine! I’d forgotten that his chapters also include Chad and Orihime getting their powers, so this will be split into four parts. Here’s part one for today: Uryu’s introduction!

I remember reading these Uryu chapters a thousand times over. Uryu is one of my favorite characters (both when I first read Bleach and now).

The humor of early Bleach is unmatched. I miss it in later chapters, honestly.

There’s a lot of humor between Ichigo and his friend group. I just picked this scene but there’s a lot in this arc! It’s also nicely juxtaposed with deep insight about Ichigo before we hop into Keigo’s humor. Also, the comedy of Ichigo and Chad ranking in the top 50 was perfect too.

Into the meat here…

Uryu’s introduction is excellent. We see him briefly in the Don Kanoji stuff, then his lurking presence is noted a few times before he finally reveals himself. It’s a great way to build suspense. Uryu comes across as a real threat and we get some nice world building on top of it. I’ll touch on that a bit later… overall, he gets style points for his introduction! Also, I’m a big fan of this Quincy cross design. The star is fine (though it always reminds me of a starfish), but you can’t beat how badass this version of the Quincy Cross is.

TatsuHime! And Orihime being excellent in general. I enjoy that she’s super smart (another reason to love IshiHime, but I digress). I wish Kubo put it to more use. Now, academic intelligence is different than, say, tactical or battle intelligence, but it’s specifically noted she’s smart… and she doesn’t have to be smart or a tactical genius to be important, I just wish Kubo highlighted her intelligence more. We see she’s somewhat emotionally intelligent, but that doesn’t make you top 3 in school tests scores. I don’t recall Orihime using her keen intellect for… anything, actually. Maybe it’ll happen in Soul Society, then I can be pleasantly wrong.

Since I’m cynical, I’d say Kubo added this only to build on the ‘big boob girl is kind of ditzy but surprisingly smart’ cliche. It’s why there’s no narrative payoff for this scene. She’s just smart but also has big boobs (Tatsuki even implies this).

Orihime is still the best though, so it’s whatever.

Moving on!

Uryu sewing! I love him. Also Orihime being crafty! IshiHime begins. I’ll wax poetic about this when we get there, but eventual IshiHime would’ve been my het-romance preference. It’d require good character growth for both Uryu and Orihime… Ah well.

Notably, Ichihime is showing up a bit here. Orihime is once again not speaking her true feelings and Ichigo is once again not noticing her feelings or concerns. If this actually improves on both fronts, the ship will have more sway with me. For now, Ichigo is completely oblivious and dismissive - though this makes a level of sense. They still aren’t good friends here. To him, Orihime is a nice friend of Tatsuki’s. He’s not going to share his thoughts with her. Meanwhile, Orihime would really like a connection with him, but is clumsy and awkward about how to achieve that. Other than losing a loved one, they don’t have much in common; and don’t have any similar interests or goals. He won’t talk to her and she can’t make him talk. One-sided love done perfectly, honestly.

Now the world building!

There’s some level of discourse out in the fandom about Kubo’s foreshadowing ability. For example, ‘Kubo knew about TYBW events (the history of the Quincy’s and Zangetsu) from the very start!’.

Ill keep this somewhat short. He didn’t.

He didn’t plan all 600+ chapters of his story from the start, and plot holes are everywhere. That doesn’t make him a bad writer (there are plenty of other things that make him a bad writer). Over 600 weekly chapters for a series that grows in complexity… of course there’ll be plot holes, plot devices, ret-con, and contradictions!

Here’s some proof (and for fun, I’ll point out more as they pop up).

The world building here is excellent. The Quincey were around, then 200 years ago they were exterminated (by Soul Society). A first hint Soul Society may not be “heaven” as previously described (though Soul Society has yet to be implicated). Uryu’s rage at Shinigami (especially after we learn about his grandfather in later chapters) makes perfect sense. Uryu’s reaction to Ichigo also makes sense. We also learn over the SS arc that Quincy are rare since they’ve been exterminated. Mayuri has some specifics he discusses in his fight against Uryu.

There’s absolutely zero indication that the Quincy are alive and kicking, that Ichigo is part Quincy (his spiritual energy is red for goodness sakes), or that 1000 years ago there was a big war and only 200 years ago did Soul Society decide to finish the job. Sure, once could say Kisuke is lying, or Ichigo’s spiritual energy is red because it’s related Rukia’s or because his Quincy powers aren’t awakened yet… but twisting ourselves into knots to “prove” Kubo planned this when the more obvious answer is right there?

I believe he had plans for the Quincy. He didn’t just introduce a rival “species” to Shinigami for fun. But there’s no way he knew the specifics. Later on, once he figured out the details, he ret-conned what he could, left plot holes for the rest, and viola! TYBW. No problem with that. That’s just showbiz.

Anyways… I prefer this level of world building and wish he would’ve fleshed out the 200 year old extermination instead of making everything so much grander in TYBW. Kubo’s strategy for Ret-con is mostly to add scaffolding instead of furnish the interior. Not my preference, but here we are…

Back to Uryu!

The hollow bait never comes back, but it’s an interesting concept! It was probably used by Quincy to attract hollows and keep them from killing communities… wonder what would happen if you used it in Huecho Mundo. Also, I imagine the bait is just spiritual energy (did he talk about its composition and I just ignored it?), but it’s be pretty funny if it was like catnip for cats. I digress…

I like that, up until now, we’ve only seen cool, composed Uryu. Now we see Uryu with righteous indignation! We see him being emotional and confrontational. I also love the recklessly protective characters, who actively try to protect everyone even when it puts those same people at risk. The ones who burden themselves with protecting others for their brand of Justice. It’s *chefs kiss* Such a contradiction in their characterization! Such complexities!

Also, IchiIshi begins. They were my first fave gay ship, and I still love them together. They grow together through the series and have excellent banter.

And for quick reference: No, I don’t believe Ichigo and Uryu are related. Yeah, Kubo had some throwaway lines in EBTR about Masaki being cousins with Ryuken, but this comes across as a front for the Ishida family. They bring her into the house, say she’s their cousin to avoid scandal, and eventually the plan would be Masaki and Ryuken get married. I actually happened upon some interesting information about foster care/orphans/unwanted children in Japan (while reading about one of my favorite video games). Like many places, there seems to be a stigma against orphaned/unwanted kids. It can even impact that person’s ability to get a job or housing. So Masaki being orphaned would’ve been a huge “stain” on the Ishida family. Ryuken could never be allowed to marry someone “like that”. So bringing her into the family, pretending she was a relative instead of a stranger, makes sense. I believe some level of cousin-marriage is allowed in Japan (like most places), so Ryuken marrying his “cousin” isn’t scandalous, but him marrying an orphan would’ve been. So, by bringing Masaki in, the Ishida’s get to keep one of the last pure-blooded Quincy close by to ensure her safety, and they avoid scandal. Masaki wasn’t brought into the family out of compassion (we can see that by how she’s treated). It was all political. Masaki is well aware of that too (Ryuken even mentions it).

Anyways…

There are great emotional stakes here. Uryu is purposefully doing this to prove a point. He’s being a reckless teenager with trauma and a grudge, and Ichigo ends up helping him through it. Yes, we’ll see Ichigo be super strong because he’s the MC and the shounen plot demands it, but the emotional storytelling here? Excellent.

I’m also excited to see Chad and Orihime gain their powers… we’re moving towards Soul Society! Full speed ahead!

Alright! Part two: Chad is next!

#Raye reads #bleach #uryuu ishida #ichigo kurosaki #rukia kuchiki #kisuke urahara

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avatar-state-kate · 3 years

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Can’t believe people were heralding Big Bang Theory as the sitcom for nerds when Futurama was right there

#like has jokes about nerd culture wrapped within high sci-fi concepts and classic homages #with characters defined outside of being nerds #and one of the few good will they won’t they het romances #like seriously Freela is in the same league as Jim and Pam #only thing Jim and Pam have over them is actually being married for most of the show #but fry and Leela have literally gone to the ends of the earth for eachother so...#evens out #futurama #big bang theory

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shijiujun · 3 years

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WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: THE GAYEST SHOW EVER - WORD OF HONOR | 山河令

Hi guys, so I know this has gotten some traction but I don’t think enough people are watching this because this is the gayest serious historical china drama ever to breathe in public without censorship slapping it in the face, so y’all get to enjoy full on with me - it’s really rare because they’re not even like stuffing a het. romance, they WENT IN FULL ON KNOWING THAT THIS WOULD BE GAY AF OKAY THEY ARE REALLY FOLLOWING THE BOOK

In fact, they made the show even gayer than the book, I don’t even know what to say. It’s naturally comedic without being absolutely cringey and adheres to the original novel really well so far (with added tinge of gayness). Gong Jun smiles a bit too much but it’s still really enjoyable to watch, and Zhang Zhehan carried the first episode on his own pretty well. Main leads honestly have huge chemistry on screen at the very least, and if you can get past Zhang Zhehan’s sadass hobo look as disguised Zhou Zishu for like I think at least... 10 eps maybe, you will enjoy this a lot. The set looks a bit cheap and the filming doesn’t look as sophisticated or crisp as some of the ones you’ve seen before definitely, but I don’t think this impacts the content much.

SO here goes friends, at this point you should just go and watch it to understand why this is the show being called “HOW THE FUCK DID THIS EVER GET TO AIR” because there is no way anyone made it through Episode 3 going like NO HOMO because it was SO HOMO

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Background/Novel:

Okay so this is based on Priest’s danmei/BL novel called Tian Ya Ke / Faraway Wanderers, which was what it was originally called for the show until they changed the name like last month out of nowhere to Word of Honor / Shan He Ling. It’s relatively shorter and less complex as most of Priest’s other novels are, which makes it a really, really good read.

You can check out the carrd here but basically Zhou Zishu is an the leader of an assassins’ guild/sect of sorts, and he’s basically about to die soon in another few years (less than three). His background is a bit complex so I won’t get into it, but he disguises himself as a beggar/hobo of sorts and just starts to hobo around literally, drinking alcohol day in and out as he awaits death. He meets Wen Kexing, who is the leader of a demonic cult/sect and he’s looking for a particular item that was stolen from him - an item that would supposedly help others to gain immense power immediately, so a lot of supposed righteous sects are fighting over the item right now, but that’s not the point.

The point is, this entire story is about infatuated Wen Kexing, who literally falls in love with Zhou Zishu at first sight and he meets him while ZZS is in his beggar disguise. WKX can tell from ZZS’s bone structure and outline of his back that he’s a handsome man, and insists that he’s wearing a disguise. The disguise that ZZS uses is special, because the mask feels real so WKX can’t tell why it such a man with excellent bone and facial features would look so ugly. Insists basically that ZZS is handsome and then follows him from then on, while serving out his own agenda and dealing with the righteous sect people.

ZZS on the other hand has to deal with his impending death, and also still is put to work because of WKX’s involvement and a larger scheme happening behind the scenes. Along the way ZZS falls back in love with WKX subtly hahahaha (anything is subtle compared to WKX’s grand gestures dammit)

*A continuation to Qi Ye / Seventh Lord but not necessary to read that first if you wanna start with Tian Ya Ke - the characters from Qi Ye turn up but no need to know their backstory basically.

Where to Watch:

Eng subs available on Youku official channel (1-2 episode everyday exlcuding weekends)

On Youku officially with access to advanced episodes (no subs)

Schedule: One episode every day starting 1 March 2021 onwards (unlocked one ep every Sat, and will reach the milestone of one ep every Sun by end first week of March)

What You Are Missing Out On in the Live Action:

Immense gay, basically. Gosh I don’t even know how to put this, but Wen Kexing is such an infatuated, lovely man. You basically get him waxing poetic 24/7 about meeting ZZS and that it’s fate that they meet (WKX literally follows him around), literally that’s the entire damn show. A lot of frickin innuendo as well?!!!

1. WKX praising ZZS’s handsome look while ZZS is in his ugly disguise - At this point, ZZS’ face hasn’t been actually revealed (there’s way more, WKX goes like “you’re so handsome” at that face like a few times every episode)

2. Get someone who looks at you like WKX looks at frickin ZZS

3. ZZS deadpanning and rolling his eyes whenever WKX turns up ‘coincidentally’

4. Found family where WKX and ZZS co-parent two kids (Son & two dads, and daughter below) - SEE HOW HAPPY ZISHU IS?!!! AND HOW HANDSOME HE IS WITHOUT THAT HOBO LOOK? It’s a miracle WKX saw through his disguise

5. Innuendo - Cut-sleeve (WKX REALLY CUT OFF ZZS’ SLEEVE HOW DID THIS GET PAST CENSORSHIP)

6. ZZS calling WKX ‘Lao Wen’ and WKX calling ZZS ‘Ah Xu’ like over and over again

7. WKX acting cute (hiding behind his future husband and a fan while delirious from poison)

8. WKX deadly and gorgeous and when he holding a fan

9. MANY HANDS MANY TOUCH

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Of course a disclaimer - all jokes and astonishment aside at what we’ve gotten so far, this is definitely not going to be an outright BL ending because honestly that will never happen with a China production, so don’t expect this to be like confirmed BL, but the shots hint at it very well a lot of hand touching, even hugs etc. and this is all we can ask for XD This is even more in your face than MRIAD which is saying a lot

#tian ya ke #word of honor #shan he ling #faraway wanderers #山河令 #天涯客 #zhou zishu #wen kexing #gong jun #zhang zhehan #wenzhou #why you should watch #fucking watch this guys fucking watch it i weep

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phantomato · 2 years

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I take issue with the concept of “out of character” (OOC).

It comes up frequently in meta spaces, in discussing tropes or ship dynamics or reviewing fics, and every time I see it, I want to scream a little bit. Mind, that’s a me problem, not a fandom problem. But this is my space, and I am screaming.

See, the issue I have is that OOC is nearly always used synonymously with disliking a fic/ship/etc. “Character A was OOC in that fic” means “I didn’t like that fic.” “Ship A/B is OOC” means “I don’t like ship A/B.” And disliking a thing is fine—my tumblr is a testament to the idea that I dislike many things—but what gets me is that by reframing a personal dislike as an objective truth, one can more easily condemn the fans who like the things that are ‘OOC’. There’s a veneer of respectability to it, even.

My tastes are better than your tastes because my ship is in-character (IC). My set of traits for A are IC. My favorite fic is IC.

It’s the same argument used to condemn alternate universes or original characters or readerfic—“Well, I read fanfic to see more of the canon characters and canon world, so why would I touch that stuff?” Except now the argument can encompass characters who exist in the canon, too, because someone writing A or A/B or whatever not to your tastes is interpreting canon incorrectly. Character A would never.

My problem with this is that interpretations of canon are inherently subjective. What I see as the core set of character traits for A aren’t likely the same as what you see, nor the same as what the hundreds, thousands, millions of other consumers of the canon see. There will be more and less common interpretations, fandom will coalesce around a few different definitions of a given character, but everyone has some line from the canon, some scene they can cite that gives them the impression that character A has a given trait. If we’re all basing our understanding of these characters in our subjective read of canon, how can anything actually be OOC?

I’ve got this theory that the label OOC gets used primarily for two reasons: bad writing and a mismatch of expectations.

Lots of fanfic is written poorly. That’s something to be celebrated, others have written about this topic, I won’t rehash it here except to reiterate its truth. And a hallmark of poorly-written fanfic, aside from the spelling and grammar errors and the like, is when a fic fails to live up to its ambitions. You’ve seen it before: an epic adventure plot that resolves too quickly and easily, a romance that drags for 50k words longer than it needs, the fic that balloons to hundreds of thousands of words without a clear plan, etc. Plenty of authors start with the core ideas that would make a successful story (A/B, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity with a slow-burn romance), and then blow it because their pacing or dialogue or plot or whatever just isn’t good. It’s a bummer.

It’s also not OOC, in my mind.

I can see the blueprints underneath the story that align with canon characterizations. Often, it’s a matter of looking at the summary or tags or first chapter, where it’s clear that A and B both fit some widely-accepted standard for their characters. Things go off the rails from there because the fic doesn’t show us the emotional growth, or it wallows too long in their inner lives, or or or. But a poorly-written fic is no more proof of OOCness than stick-figure fan-art is proof that the artist drew the wrong body type for a character.

So, onto the next: expectations.

I mentioned earlier that fandoms tend to coalesce around a few different interpretations of a character. Protagonist A is written a certain way in het fics, a slightly different way in slash fics, and maybe there are some subtypes out there for when A is paired with someone on the same side versus someone on the opposite side of the main conflict, or when A is the older versus the younger character in the relationship. In gen land, A’s traits might center more around their trauma in gritty-realistic fics and more around their badass heroism in power-wank fics. And the more popular the character, the more likely there are to be a lot of subtypes with their own particular fanbases.

It’s usually also the case that fans of A are not fans of every single version of A. Maybe a fan is happy with all of the slash characterizations but not the gen or het, maybe someone is primarily here for the power-wank and will read any type of ship as long as it does the power-wank tropes, maybe someone really identifies with part of A’s backstory and that must show up in a fic for them to enjoy it. And what I see is that, when fans peer out across their boundary/preference walls and are confronted with other styles of writing the same character, they react negatively. OOC is one of the major categories of this negative reaction.

Which all makes sense in the way that their A, with a given subset of A’s canon traits and particular emphasis on a subset of A’s canon scenes, probably wouldn’t be a good fit for ship A/B or whatever it is that throws the reader off. But those A/B shippers aren’t writing that version of A—comb through discords or tumblr posts or Twitter threads about A/B and you’ll find plenty of citations of canon text or canon ideas that are used to justify why A/B is a fantastic ship, why it’s the best match for these characters and why it’s such a perfect distillation of who they are. The disconnect isn’t that A/B is OOC for A, it’s that people who read A in a different way expect that all stories featuring A must be written in the way they most like, the way that they personally interpreted the original canon. And that’s just not true!

Our subjective interpretations influence what we enjoy, what we’re primed to even consider possible. And, hey, proof of that is that plenty of the poorly-written fic I discussed above is perfectly popular with readers and interpreted as IC because the readers, like the author, understand the intent and can follow along from the same starting point, even if the journey is a bit rocky. Are there probable edge-cases where OOC truly is the most accurate label for a given fic? Sure. Are they nearly as common as a fic being poorly-written or the reader and author having mismatched expectations? I don’t think so.

So I’ve excised OOC (and IC) from my fandom vocabulary. I would rather say what I mean: I don’t like reading a given character that way. It results in far less needless debate over the ground truth of canon, and far more interaction with people who connect with the same things I do.

#fandom meta #ooc #out of character #navel gazing

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emptymasks · 3 years

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Loki Series: Please listen to queer voices

I had this whole post written out and them Tumblr deleted it. And here’s my regular preface: I am in no way speaking on behalf of all genderfluid or bi/pan people, just on behalf of myself and other genderfluid people who I know feel this same way. I know that there will be some genderfluid people who aren’t as bothered.

So, my opinion as a genderfluid person on episode 4 of Loki:

the TVA had already been assuming Sylvie’s gender calling her ‘he’ before the reveal when they could have been using ‘they’ so I am surprised Mobius decided to be fluidphobic and called Sylvie Loki’s “female self”. Loki is genderfluid, a variant of his being female doesn’t make them different.

the almost-kiss between Loki and Sylvie. I don’t care if you ship Slyki/Sylkie, I really don’t, I don’t care if you ship selfcest, ship it all you want. The problem is the with amount of Sylki shippers who are being fluidphobic and/or biphohibc, and with the fact it is now canon. I hope anyone shipping it can understand how fluidphobic the canon implications are.

Stop calling Sylvie ‘female Loki’ or ‘Lady Loki’, stop calling Sylkie het/straight, stop calling Lokius gay/mlm/mslash, stop erasing Loki’s (and possibly also Sylvie’s (genderfluidity), stop...

I had more written out last time but Tumble ate it and I’m shaking. Don’t tell me to get over it and that it doesn’t matter it’s just a show, I have already been subjected to so much abuse and harassment from people in the Loki fandom who are being fluidphobic and transphobic and biphobic and panphobic, but especially fluidphobic because the show can’t do good genderfluid rep and people are misunderstanding things, thinking Loki is only a different gender when he shape-shifts, because you have to shape-shift to be genderfluid meaning there are no real genderfluid people in real life because you can’t shape-shift, genderfluidity can only exist in fiction.

Some people have put their thoughts out better than I can, I’m shaking and on the verge of tears if you’ve seen my other posts these last few weeks you know there are parts of this fandom that are bigoted, but there’s also a chunk of the LGBT+ fans who are fluidphobic and biphobic:

Don’t tell me it’s okay to make selfcest canon or imply that it is, while denying on-screen representation of dialogue confirmed that Loki is genderfluid. The “sex: fluid” on a piece of paper doesn’t count. The genderfluid rep is more important than Loki getting a love interest of any kind. I’d rather us have proper genderfluid rep than Lokius be canon.

And before anyone says ‘Well in episode 5/6 it might be shown that he doesn’t have romantic feelings for her and it’s just that he’s never known love before so he’s confusing romantic love for platonic’,

Here’s an interview published today on Marvel . com with the words of Michael Waldron, the writer of the Loki Series:

Maybe he’s lying, or implying romance when there won’t be one and Loki will realise that he only has platonic feelings for her... I don’t know, but I need everyone, no matter what you ship or don’t ship, to read and understand this:

Maybe the implication was that it was meant to be a hug. Maybe interpreting it as a romantic scene is the wrong interpretation. But don’t you dare tell me it’s crazy to interpret it that way, they clearly at the very least wanted it to be ambiguous whether it was platonic or romantic and even if it was misdirection, it’s still very harmful to see.

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mermaidsirennikita · 3 years

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Do you have a list of other historical romance series you would recommend that are a little more recent?

Yep yep yep

I go more by author than by book, and I won’t pretend to be an expert--there are authors I haven’t read but have been recommended. I’ve been told that Elizabeth Hoyt is really good, Lisa Kleypas is a legend, and I really want to get my hands on some Sophie Jordans but I can’t attest to the quality of the books themselves. My friends and plenty of critics do!

I have read all of Sarah MacLean’s adult romances, and those are some of my favorites. Her Rules of Scoundrels series is especially good--A Rogue by Any Other Name was one of my favorite books this year. She explores tons of tropes. Her books are very sexy, and I find that the sex tends to be much more creative than what I’ve found in the Bridgerton novels. (One of her most famous scenes in “One Good Earl Needs A Lover” is just called... the chair scene.). The couples are as of now all straight and white, but tbh she’s also a white woman and is married to a man, so there’s the argument of whether or not she should play in other fields there. She does include people of color and more recently LGBT+ characters in supporting roles, and she’s definitely more interested in exploring different issues of CLASS. For example, the Rules of Scoundrels series has heroes that all work. Most of them work in a casino. Her Bareknuckle Bastards trilogy focuses on Covent Garden; it’s less about dukes (though there is a duke, lol) than it is about working class people, which is really nice. Not all of her heroines are virgins. Most of them aren’t super skinny. It’s nice.

(Sarah MacLean also runs a podcast about romance novels with her friend, a romance critic who’s known as Jen Reads Romance on Twitter. They delve into a lot of different topics and offer recommendations within basically every subgenre.)

Evie Dunmore’s A League of Extraordinary Women series is set in the Victorian era, and focuses on heroines that are suffragettes. The protagonist of the first book isn’t a virgin and is a bluestocking, which is great. The hero of her second novel is bisexual, which I also appreciated. There are issues with those books that need to be explored, but overall I enjoyed them.

Tessa Dare is known for some really funny romcoms that are super tropey and swoony, but also quite sexy and spirited.

I’ve only read one Diana Quincy book--Her Night with the Duke. But it was super different and I reeeeally liked it. The heroine was mixed race, for one thing, and that wasn’t just left behind or ignored. She also was a widow, and actually slept with the hero within the first few chapters. Not for love, just for physical pleasure. They fell in love AFTER. I love the way that sex is handled in this book. It’s also got quite a hook, lol--I was engrossed.

Scarlett Peckham is known for exploring very sexually bold heroines; she has one book called The Rakess, about a female rake. The Lord I Left features a heroine who is an apprentice to a “whipping governess”--basically, she’s a dominatrix in training. Her hero is a virgin minister. It’s really different. Love a virginal hero.

E.E. Ottoman is a trans romance novelist, and he specializes in historical romances that focus on trans and otherwise LGBT+ characters. The Doctor’s Discretion is probably one of his more famous romances, and it’s set in nineteenth century New York. It features LGBT+ characters and an interracial romance; seeing people act as if this shit doesn’t exist in historical romance is.... gross and wrong.

Courtney Milan is a major figure in the romance community right now. She writes historical romances, and more recently has been focusing on characters that aren’t white. The Duke Who Didn’t, for example, is about Asian characters. Jeannie Lin is another one to look at if you’d like to read about Asian characters in historical romances, though I haven’t read hers--her books focus on the Tang Dynasty.

Beverly Jenkins is a legend who’s been working for decades but has also published more recent books. She focuses on historical romances between black characters, and is known for her impeccable historical research. They’re great.

Olivia Waite writes both het and lesbian historical romances. The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows is particularly good if you’d like some historical wlw content.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Kate Quinn’s Mistress of Rome series if you’d like something that’s borderline historical romance, with just a tiny bit more edge in the historical category (mainly because they can get a bit dark and are kind of part of an epic family saga). It’s set in Ancient Rome and focuses on a Jewish girl who falls in love with a gladiator, their journey to get back to each other after being separated, and another very good generational romance following theirs. I wish there were MORE recent historical romances that weren’t Regency, so this is what I settle for as of now.

Basically, romance is expanding and there are tons of other authors I didn’t even think of. I recommend you search “Romancelandia” on Twitter for more info.

#bridgerton #romance novels #tagging w bridgerton bc i've been seeing some.... not great...#ideas about historical romance novels and their supposed limitations in the tag #Anonymous

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veeranger · 4 years

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So you want to watch Precure!

Version 1.3

(Google Docs Vers & Changelog)

Maybe you follow people who like it, maybe you just love magical girls and never got into Precure, but there are over a dozen seasons and you don’t know how to jump in. Never fear, this masterpost is here to give you a rundown of Precure, and hopefully by the end you’ll have an idea of where you want to start.

What Is Precure?

Precure (short for Pretty Cure) is a Toei Animation franchise started in 2004 and has been on the air nonstop since then. It’s a magical girl franchise, y’know like sailor moon or ojamajo doremi or other such shows. The main demographic is children so you don’t have to worry about any weird “fanservice” or panty shots or anything nasty like that, it’s very G rated.

What Are The Shows About?

In a general sense, Precure is about a team of 2-6 middle school age magical girls fighting bad guys and giant monsters and saving the world on a weekly basis with pretty outfits and big flashy finishers and the power of love and friendship. Each season follows a pretty standard formula (toku fans should be pretty familiar with it for the most part), and each season is around 48-50 episodes long.

In keeping with this toku-esque formula, most seasons will feature mid season additions to the cast, in the form of new precure heroes. For the sake of not spoiling these shows, these mid season cures will not be mentioned in our plot overviews unless they appear extremely early or something like that. Just know that almost every season will feature an additional cure joining the team later in the show.

Additionally, every season has at least one movie, these days there’s usually two per season. Usually you’ll find the movies are a standalone self-contained romp, and a crossover movie with the preceding seasons, with a focus on the most recent 2-3 teams. These movies might as well exist in a continuity of their own, and have absolutely no bearing on the plot whatsoever, save for one except which I’ll mention when we get to that season.

Why Should I Watch Precure?

Because it’s good. It’s a really stellar franchise with a ton of content and genuinely engaging characters and stories. Also this isn’t your mom’s magical girl show, these girls throw punches, and kicks, and big lasers. Precure is pretty well known for being extremely hands on with its combat compared to other magical girl shows, though don’t expect the same kind of fights you’d find in kamen rider or anything. Also a main draw for a lot of people is the amount of gay subtext in, frankly, every season. While there’s only one season with an explicitly confirmed gay relationship between two cures, every season has varying levels of subtext between cures, it’s pretty cool. We won’t discuss the subtext in every season overview but trust us, it’s in there.

What Show Should I Start With?

It doesn’t actually matter which season you watch, every season is a new setting and with new characters and set in a new world (except for two sequel seasons i’ll explain later), so you’re free to watch whatever you want in any order! We’re going to spend the rest of this post talking about each season to give you, the beloved reader, a glimpse at what each season has to uniquely offer. Don’t worry, there’s no spoilers down there.

Futari Wa Precure (We Are Pretty Cure) & Futari Wa Precure Max Heart

The original precure show that aired in 2004, and even received an english dub. Misumi Nagisa is a star lacrosse player living a normal life until one day a shooting star she wishes on turns out to be a fairy that careens right into her room, or rather, smacks her right in the face. The fairy, named Mepple, explains he comes from the Garden of Light, another world that’s been taken over by the evil Dark King and his Dark Zone in order to capture the Prism Stones, a number of heart shaped crystals that, if collected, could give Dark King the power to destroy not only the Garden of Light but also the Garden of Rainbows, Earth itself. Meanwhile, Yukishiro Honoka finds a box in her grandmother’s shed containing an item just like the one that smacked Nagisa in the face, and inside is the fairy Mipple, who explains the situation to Honoka. The two fairies, seeking to be reunited, drag Nagisa and Honoka along and the four of them end up meeting up, but are attacked by an emissary of the Dark Zone. Mepple and Mipple grant the confused duo the power to transform into the warriors of legend, Precure. As Cure Black and Cure White, Nagisa and Honoka manage to fight off their attacker and protect their new fairy partners. The girls are then more or less dragged into the battle against the Dark Zone, as the only hope for both Gardens, they fulfill their duty as legendary warriors despite their hesitations and desires to go back to being normal teenagers.

Futari Wa doesn’t exactly have any major themes to speak of, it’s just your standard magical girl vs evil bad guys kind of thing, forgive it for being the first season. What it does have to offer is the relationship between Nagisa and Honoka, as well as the action in fight scenes. The girls don’t start the season as best friends, in fact they barely even know each other’s names when they’re first flung together. It takes a few episodes and a major fight between the girls for them to really start opening up to each other, but soon enough they become inseparable and support each other in everything they do. It’s clear, especially near the end, that the girls cling to each other for support and strength in the face of the increasingly overwhelming odds they face as the Dark Zone gains strength. It’s very compelling to see their relationship deepen in the early season and see how deep their bonds truly go near the end.

Futari Wa received a sequel show, Futari Wa Precure Max Heart, picking up the story where it left off in the first season’s finale. Honoka and Nagisa are still the main characters, and they’re still fighting the Dark Zone, but this time they’re joined by a mysterious girl named Hikari, who can transform into Shiny Luminous, not a precure but precure-ish. This time the girls are trying to recover the heart and soul of the Queen of the Garden of Light, before the Dark Zone can recover and destroy the queen in her weakened state. Also their precure costumes have changed slightly.

The first season (that is to say, not max heart) is currently one of the few seasons available with official english subtitles on the streaming platform Crunchyroll

Futari Wa Precure Splash Star

Hyuuga Saki (Cure Bloom), a tomboy who loves playing softball, and Mishou Mai (Cure Egret), a quiet transfer student and aspiring artist, meet each other by chance one day under the Sky Tree, where they discover two creatures from the Land of Fountains named Flappy and Choppy. The two girls transform into the legendary Precure and are tasked with restoring Princess Filia and the Seven Holy Fountains, which were sapped of their power by the evil forces of Dark Fall.

Splash Star's main theme is the appreciation of nature. The main focus is on the girls rediscovering their relationships with their town and the nature and people in it. You get to meet a whole cast of characters in their community, who have a lot of heart and charm behind their writing and the show does a good job of getting you genuinely invested in their stories.

Unfortunately the romance in Splash Star isn’t much better than Futari Wa's (sorry to any Fujimura/Kazuya fans), but the main girls themselves are so engaging that it's easy to ignore. The villains are pretty goofy, but entertaining if you can accept that the show doesn’t take itself very seriously. There are two villains in the latter half of the season that really stand out, though. Without spoiling too much, I can promise you their character arcs will tear at your heartstrings in the best way.

If you've watched Futari wa Precure, Splash Star will probably feel familiar. Although it's the first "reboot" series in the franchise with completely new characters, Toei overall played it safe and Saki and Mai in many ways still feel like "Nagisa and Honoka 2.0". Splash Star is different in enough other ways to make the show stand on its own merits, but if you watch it immediately after Futari wa you might find yourself feeling some deja vu. Personally, I think it's interesting to see what Splash Star builds on and explores when compared to Futari wa, since it has many of the same themes and character archetypes but they play out quite differently.

Yes! Precure 5 & Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!

Nozomi is a cheerful, carefree girl, but she doesn’t have a dream. One day she meets a hot guy and finds a mysterious item called the Dream Collet, capable of granting any wish once all the fairies known as Pinkies are gathered inside it, in the school library. She discovers that the hot guy is actually a tanuki from Palmier Kingdom named Coco, and that the Kingdom has been destroyed by the Nightmare. Coco’s dream is to restore his kingdom using the Dream Collet, and Nozomi decides to make it hers as well.

She’s joined by her jock friend Rin, Urara, an aspiring actress, Komachi, a writer, and the rich student council president Karen. Together they form Yes Sentai Fiveranger Yes Precure 5 and work together to prevent Nightmare from obtaining the Dream Collet before they can gather all the Pinkies. They also save Coco’s “”””””friend””””””” and fellow hot guy squirrel, Nuts, and he joins them as the second mascot/handsome love interest.

The theme of Yes is dreams and heterosexual furry romance. It pulls off the dreams part very nicely. The het furry romance is bad, mostly because Coco is Nozomi’s teacher at school and also her love interest. However, Coco and Nuts are fairly gay and if you look past the romance part they have very good dadly relationships with the rest of the team.

Yespre, like Futari Wa, received a sequel show, Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!. After the defeat of Nightmare some time ago, a new faction called Eternal rises up and starts stealing treasures from various dimensions. When Eternal targets the Rose Pact belonging to the Cure Rose Garden, the precure are called back into action to fight against Eternal, with new cure outfits, a new fairy named Syrup, and a new cure-like teammate named Milky Rose.

Fresh Precure!

Fresh is sort of the defining series for modern Precure, introducing a lot of plot and thematic elements to the franchise that would be used repeatedly later on.

A concert Momozono Love attends is attacked by a monster called a Nakewameke. When Love stands up to it, she is nearly killed, but is saved when she is chosen by a mysterious power to become Cure Peach. She is joined by Inori and Miki as Cure Pine and Cure Berry, and, together with the talking ferret from the Kingdom of Sweets, Tarte, they have to prevent Labyrinth, a grey world led by Mobius, from taking over the Parallel Worlds and transforming them into identical, machine-like dictatorships, and also figure out the secret behind the Magic Baby, Chiffon, that Tarte is entrusted with.

Fresh’s themes are happiness and nature/technology and donuts. The donuts are important. Labyrinth operates by gathering misery; the Nakewameke are created from it and their function is to create more of it and fill the Sorrow Gauge. All the girls (and the mascot) have love interests and their familial relationships are explored a lot to bring out the general stakes and emphasise what they’re fighting for.

While Fresh is very strong in characters, plot, and thematics, its lack of budget is very apparent. It looks terrible. Fortunately, it isn’t that difficult to get used to the bad animation once you get into the show, although the lack of means tends to show up at inopportune moments, like new powerups.

Heartcatch Precure!

Featuring character designs and art direction from Ojamajo Doremi’s character designer Umakoshi Yoshihiko, and written by Ojamajo Doremi and Onegai My Melody writer Yamada Takashi, Heartcatch should look and feel familiar to fans of either franchise, especially Doremi.

After having a reoccurring dream about someone called Cure Moonlight being defeated trying to defend the “Great Heart Tree”, the shy and reserved Hanasaki Tsubomi moves in with her grandmother and ends up inheriting the will of Cure Moonlight and becomes the newest precure, Cure Blossom. Finding out her grandmother used to be the legendary Cure Flower, Tsubomi vows to protect the world as a precure and learn to change herself for the better. She’s joined by her new friend and the first person she saved as a precure, Kurumi Erika, a loud girl with a big heart who means well, but doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. Erika becomes Cure Marine and the two become Heartcatch Precure, the newest precure in the long legacy of those who have stood up to the evil Dune, a mysterious invader who destroys planets and turns them into lifeless deserts. Heartcatch Precure fights against Dune’s minions: the mask wearing Professor Sabaku, his Desert Apostles, and the mysterious Dark Precure. Along the way they meet the former Cure Moonlight, now stripped of her power, and try to help her cope with her defeat.

Heartcatch Precure’s main theme is flowers and flower language. Everyone has a “heart flower” that the Desert Apostles take and use to create their monsters every week. As an interesting result of this, the monster of the week will be the main character in the plot of the week and often their big monster form will vent about their issues which will usually lead to a resolution when the precure return them to their regular bodies. Heartcatch also has a very nice backstory and lore to it. Unlike most iterations of precure, the Heartcatch girls are not the first precure to exist in their world, there are dozens maybe hundreds of precure that came before them, fighting against Dune and his forces for hundreds of years. It adds a lot to the narrative in small ways, especially later on in the season. Also the fight scenes are extremely excellent, especially when Moonlight is involved.

Suite Precure♪

The musical paradise of Major Land falls under siege by the forces of Minor Land, led by King Mephisto. His goal is to steal the living notes of the “Melody of Happiness” and remake them into the “Melody of Sorrow”, throwing the world into a permanent depressive state. As a last resort, Queen Aphrodite scatters the notes into the human world and tasks Hummy, the cat-like fairy, and the Fairy Tones, to find the notes before the forces of Minor Lands can capture them. In the human world, Hummy meets Hojo Hibiki and Minamino Kanade, two girls who were best friends as children, but drifted apart as teenagers because of their tendency to bicker with each other. The two find themselves thrown together again by fate and transform into Cure Melody and Cure Rhythm to protect the things they hold dear. Not long after, the two rekindle their relationship and become closer than before, despite their bickering. Soon the girls run into the mysterious Cure Muse, a girl who appears to be a precure like them, but hides her face with a mask and refuses to join in their fight, claiming to be neither friend nor enemy. Melody and Rhythm battle against Minor Land and the giant Negatones they create from the notes they gather, as well as Siren, another cat-like fairy who used to be Hummy’s best friend before turning to evil and joining Minor Land.

Suite Precure’s main theme is music, and it is a very encompassing theme. Hibiki and Kanade bond over their piano practice, the town they live in celebrates music frequently and is aesthetically music themed, and their powers take the form of musical instruments. Harmony is also a large theme for the two girls. Their precure power increases as they harmonize with each other, and the early season is very much about them learning to harmonize with each other. Suite also features several extremely well done mystery arcs, about the identity of Cure Muse, and various other things that I can’t very well talk about without risking spoiling things myself. If you manage to go into Suite not knowing anything consider yourself extremely lucky and be super sure not to get spoiled. The show staff went to great lengths to hide certain things, including leaking fake cure designs, and creating a second version of the second dance ending to further mask the identity of Cure Muse until her true reveal.

Also something to note, usually precure movies have nothing to do with the plot of the show itself and can be watched whenever but the Suite movie is best enjoyed right after the arc revealing Cure Muse’s identity is concluded, it has a nice resolution to plot elements in that arc and sets the stage for the last few arcs of the show, so be sure to watch it then.

Smile Precure!

Written by Kamen Rider Kabuto head writer Yonemura Shoji, Smile Precure is the second season to feature a 5 girl team after Yes! Precure 5 Gogo!. Running late to her first day of school, resident happy-go-lucky klutz Hoshizora Miyuki runs face first into a small creature called Candy, a fairy from a place called Märchenland. The two are attacked by an anthropomorphic wolf named Wolfrun, and Miyuki transforms into Cure Happy to fight against Wolfrun and the big clown faced monster he summons called an Akanbe. After Candy explains that the legends say there are five precure, Miyuki recruits four new friends: the hot blooded Akane (Cure Sunny), shy artist Yayoi (Cure Peace), responsible older sister Nao (Cure March), and refined student council vice-president Reika (Cure Beauty). The five of them become Smile Precure and fight against Wolfrun and his allies in the Bad End Kingdom, who attempt to revive the slumbering Pierrot by trying to put the world in a “Bad End”.

Smile Precure’s main theme is fairy tales, in a general sense. The Bad End trio are based off of the big bad wolf (Wolfrun), the oni from Momotaro (Akaoni), and the witch from Snow White (Majorina), and Miyuki herself is utterly captivated by fairy tales. The secondary theme is happiness, and the happy go lucky tone of the series often turns on its head during serious arcs to deliver extremely powerful emotional moments. Smile Precure is light on plot, and most episodes are an ultra happy experience, but the show knows how to get serious when it needs to and Smile is exceedingly competent at pulling off drama when the time comes. Smile knows how to get you invested in its characters and use that to pull on your heartstrings during the big moments. The last 10 episodes of the show are the absolute pinnacle of the show’s emotional drama, and each cure gets her own episode for closure before the finale sets in and emotionally destroys you. Also you get to play rock paper scissors with Cure Peace during her roll call so that’s always fun.

Doki Doki! Precure

Doki opens with Trump Kingdom’s destruction by the Selfishness as Cure Sword looks on, helpless. Switching to our world and brighter topics, we meet Aida Mana, Student Council President of Oogai Middle School, whose dream is to become the Prime Minister of Japan. Whenever Mana sees someone in trouble, she’ll help them out, so when a monster attacks the city, Mana does the obvious and tries to stop it. And when, chosen by the fairy Charuru (Charles? Cheryle? Cherry?) to become a Precure and defend the world, she meets Cure Sword, she has to befriend her and help her restore Trump Kingdom and find her happiness.

Mana (Cure Heart) is joined by Rikka (Cure Diamond), her studious companion and supporter, and also the immeasurably powerful and rich (in that order) Alice (Cure Rosetta). Together they have to unravel the mystery of the man who gave them their transformation items, the missing princess of Trump Kingdom, the strange, evil girl called Regina, and Ai, the chaotic neutral baby who hatches out of an egg.

Dokipre’s theme is love and selflessness. It also has Deep Lore, a lot of which is established in extra-series material. The show does try to explore concepts like past cures and manages a very nice repeating pattern effect with the plot, in terms of past and future happenings. There’s a lot of foreshadowing. Compared to most Precure seasons it’s very plot-heavy and even the filler usually ends up being plot-relevant.

Happiness Charge Precure!

The 10th anniversary of Precure! The Phantom Empire is spreading across the world, and Precure are rising up all over the globe to fight them off. In Japan there are two active cures, Cure Fortune, strong and capable, and Cure Princess, scared and unsure of herself. As Cure Princess, Shirayuki Hime, struggles desperately to do her duty as precure, Cure Fortune refuses to work with her for reasons Hime doesn’t fully understand. Realizing her only hope is to find a partner to work with, Hime bumps into Aino Megumi, a super friendly girl who has a tendency to drop everything and help others any time she sees someone in need. Megumi becomes Cure Lovely, and bolstering Hime’s confidence, the two of them become Happiness Charge Precure, tasked with protecting Japan from Queen Mirage and her Phantom Empire. The two are joined by Cure Honey, and eventually Cure Fortune, and the four of them receive support from Blue, the God of Planet Earth. As the girls continue to fight and defend Japan, they are assaulted by Phantom, the ruthless Precure Hunter who has defeated and trapped countless Precure in his Precure Graveyard, and the Oresky Trio, the Phantom Empire generals who oversee the invasion of Japan.

Happiness Charge Precure’s themes are romance and happiness. There are several arcs dedicated to the budding romances of the cures, and the backstory of the show is heavily tied to romance. Happiness might as well be Megumi’s middle name, she makes it her business to spread happiness to as many people as she can, and takes every chance she can to help others. Happiness Charge is also the first season to have form changes for the precure, each cure has a small selection of forms they can change to for different big attacks, and this concept would later be expanded and used as a core concept in Maho Girls Precure. Like Heartcatch before it, Happiness Charge exists in a world where multiple precure exist, but unlike Heartcatch all those precure exist at the same time in the present day. Other precure teams make cameos every so often and the concept creates a great world in which the whole planet is being protected by teenage girls with superpowers, creating a wonderful sense of scale that really makes the big victories of Happiness Charge Precure feel even bigger.

Go! Princess Precure

The first precure series to take place at a boarding school! Years ago, a young girl named Haruno Haruka meets a very royal looking person named Kanata who gives her a Dress-Up Key, a big key shaped like a dress. A teenager now, Haruka starts attending Noble Academy, a prestigious boarding school, all the while holding tight to her dream of becoming a true princess, in a quasi-literal sense. Not long after starting the school year, Haruka meets Pafu and Aroma, two fairies from the Hope Kingdom desperate to revive the legendary precure to fight back against Dyspear and her minions who steal dreams to create their giant Zetsuborgs. Realizing what her Dress-Up Key is meant for, Haruka uses it and the Princess Perfume to become Cure Flora. Together with student council president Kaido Minami (Cure Mermaid), and Amanogawa Kirara (Cure Twinkle) a fashion model with huge aspirations, they become the new Princess Precure, tasked with learning to become true princesses along with protecting the Dress-Up Keys from Dyspear’s forces.

Go! Princess Precure’s main themes are princesses (duh) and dreams. Dreams are a driving force behind all of the cures, and most of the plot of the week characters. Dyspear steals dreams to make monsters, and the precure fight to return those dreams. Characters follow their dreams with conviction, pride, and full commitment. This is also where the princess theme intersects, since it’s Haruka’s dream to become a true princess. One should note that princess is used sort of liberally in this series, it’s not that Haruka wants to somehow become someone of noble birth or have political power, she just wants to be strong, kind, and beautiful, the traits of a true princess in Princess Precure’s own terms. Also she wants to wear pretty dresses and such but who can blame her really.

Mahou Tsukai Precure! (Maho Girls Precure!)

Quite literally putting the magic in magical girls for the first time in the franchise, Mahou Tsukai Precure was the first season to have its cures be actual magicians. Izumi Riko lives in the magical world, a world where magic is real and she attends a magical academy to hone her craft. She leaves the magical world to travel to the “non-magic” world, to search for a legendary item called the Linkle Stone Emerald. In the non-magic world she ends up catching the attention of another girl, Asahina Mirai, who sees her using magic. After trying to show off some magic and messing it up, Riko is attacked by Batty, a servant of the dark wizard Dokurokushe, who is seeking the Linkle Stone Emerald as well. As fate would have it, both Mirai and Riko carry stones that turn out to be the Linkle Stones Diamond, and the two of them use them to become Cure Miracle and Cure Magical, the legendary Mahou Tsukai Precure. Additionally, the power of the Linkle Stones grants life to Mirai’s lifelong companion, a teddy bear named Mofurun. Having discovered the world of magic and become a precure, Mirai is invited to spend time in the magical world learning magic alongside Riko, before the two, joined by Mofurun and a baby fairy named Ha, return to the non-magical world to search for the Emerald and protect it from Dokurokushe and his minions.

Mahou Tsukai Precure’s main themes are bonds and separation. It’s strengths lie in how it shows the relationship between Mirai and Riko. The show takes its time building their relationship in the first dozen or so episodes of their adventures in the magic world, highlighting their similarities and differences as they grow closer and learn to live with each other and fight as precure together. Well before the halfway mark it’s clear how strong their bond is and how deeply they care for each other, and the lengths they would go to for one another. Mahou Tsukai is an emotional ride in so many ways, every emotional moment hits its mark and the more you get attached to the characters the more the show will hit harder and harder with its moments, both sad and happy. Even side characters get satisfying and emotional conclusions to their storylines outside of the episodes they’re introduced in, it’s all wonderfully crafted.

KiraKira☆Precure A La Mode

Another return to the five cure format, Kirapre is also the second season to feature a sixth team member after Yes! Precure 5 Gogo!, as well as the second season to feature high school age precure after Heartcatch Precure. Usami Ichika is in her second year of middle school and loves sweets, especially making sweets. One day a hungry fairy named Pekorin finds her way into Ichika’s kitchen, and after being fed teaches Ichika about Kirakiraru, an energy source that exists in all sweets, and something that can be stolen and used for evil, leaving the sweets gray and tasteless. Utilizing the power of kirakraru in the shortcake she baked for her mother, Ichika becomes Cure Whip, one of the legendary patissiers, Precure. One by one other precure appear, the smart but shy Arisugawa Himari (Cure Custard), the rock band headliner Tategami Aoi (Cure Gelato), the fickle catlike Kotozume Yukari (Cure Macaron), and the responsible and helpful Kenjou Akira (Cure Chocolat). The five of them fight against the evils of Noir and those he has influenced: Julio, the mysterious masked boy who runs “experiments'' using kirakiraru, and Bibury, a mean spirited girl who uses her talking doll to steal kirakiraru and create monsters.

Kirapre’s main motifs are sweets and animals, and it has a pretty general togetherness and happiness theme going on, the standard precure stuff, mostly viewed through the lense of sweets and sweets-making. All the precure work as patissiers for one reason or another and it’s the main way the team bonds early on. The team, as well as the people of their small town, love sweets as a part of their culture and sweets maintain an important role as the emotional tie that binds most things together in the story. Overall Kirapre is a wonderful show with a great cast on both sides of the conflict, and a lot of care has been put into the show to make sure characters have their moments to interact with each other as well as have their own stories , even on a team of six every precure gets more than enough time to shine on her own. Kirapre is at it’s best when it takes two girls and puts them together for an episode, letting each unique dynamic play out in a fun and satisfying way. Kirapre is also noteworthy for the almost inarguably canonical relationship between two of the cures. It's not exactly explicit and it does leave something to be desired, since this is a Toei children's show, but there’s not really any other way to read the evolution of their relationship or their duet song, so I’m more than satisfied calling it canon.

This season is currently one of the few seasons available with official english subtitles on the streaming platform Crunchyroll

HUGtto! Precure

Precure’s 15th anniversary! This season is in many ways a celebration of all things Precure, bringing together a lot of familiar elements from past shows into one. Hugtto! is another five cure season whose main themes are destiny and future. Nono Hana (Cure Yell) is a thirteen-year-old girl whose dream is to be a "cool and stylish woman," although she worries that others see her as childish. One day, a hamster named Harryham Harry and a magical baby named Hugtan fall out of the sky into Hana's house. They're being chased from the future by an evil organization called Criasu Corporation, who are trying to use Hugtan's power to freeze time forever. Hana makes friends with two of her classmates: the responsible class representative Yakushiji Saaya (Cure Ange) and the reclusive ex-figure skater Kagayaki Homare (Cure Etoile), and together they fight Criasu while taking care of Hugtan and figuring out the many mysteries surrounding her. Expect some light sc-fi elements and an emphasis on modern technology/social media.

Hugtto! explores its themes primarily through the lenses of childcare and the workplace, giving us a look at how each girl comes to terms with the transition from childhood to adulthood. This season does a good job of letting each member of the team shine; you spend several episodes with each girl (or duo of girls) and there's a real sense of a complete character arc for all of them. The romance aspect is, unfortunately, pretty bad: there’s a return of hetero furry romance between Harry and Homare, and Hana’s love interest exhibits some really creepy behavior towards her. There’s uncomfortable age gaps in both of these relationships too so it’s a just a bit…. Yikes. Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to ignore like past seasons, but a warning for it nonetheless.

Something that makes this season stand out is its LGBT subtext; there's a TON of it even compared to the normal amount that Precure is known for. Without giving away too much, two of the cures this season are heavily coded as lesbians (though not with each other per se), and there's a subplot concerning a side character who is pretty explicitly (well, as explicit as Toei dares to be) a gender non-conforming man/nonbinary person in love with another man, and it's all very wholesome and presented in a positive light. Again, this is Toei, so don't expect anything too radical, but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with how Hugpre handles it.

Finally I'll just say that while Hugpre is a fantastic season on its own, I would personally recommend waiting to watch it after you've seen some other seasons (notably Futari wa). It's not required, but since Hugpre is an anniversary season, there are a few episodes (especially near the end) that will really hit different if you have an emotional connection to the franchise already. Ultimately though this is a fairly minor part of the show, so watching this season first won’t ruin it or anything like that, it’s just something to keep in mind.

Star☆Twinkle Precure

Precure… in space! Our protagonist, Hoshina Hikaru (Cure Star) loves space and cryptids, to the point of drawing her own constellations. One of her constellations is an adorable alien puffball, who warps into Hikaru’s room almost immediately after she draws it. The puffball quickly befriends Hikaru, who names her Fuwa. They are later joined by Prunce, the team dad friend/alien mascot, and Lala (Cure Milky), a humanoid alien who is an adult in her own culture. After our initial duo gets off to a bit of a rocky start, they are joined by the student council president, Kaguya Madoka (Cure Selene) and a biracial upperclassman who is considered to be the “sun” of the school, Amamiya Elena (Cure Soleil). Together, they explore the universe and befriend all sorts of aliens, while also defending them from the Notraiders, who want to rid the universe of all imagination. On top of that, the universe is dying and the cures need to find the 12 astrologically themed Star Pens to save it and the 12 Star Princesses. This series is notable for attempting to break the “monster of the week” format, instead making it a “fight of the week”.

The major themes of Star Twinkle are space, imagination, and maturity. The cures have to explore the universe to find the Star Pens, and in doing so, visit a bunch of different planets. About half the series is spent on Earth, but the world still feels developed! Honestly speaking, the theme of imagination is forgotten pretty quickly and I’d refer to it more as free will. The theme of maturity is where Star Twinkle really shines. All of the cures have had to grow up too fast in some way, and the series is partially about just allowing them to goof off. Lala is considered an adult on her planet, and this plot point is treated realistically. Well, as realistically as it can be. This is one series I’d recommend avoiding spoilers like the plague for, because part of the fun is in how the plot twists are pulled off. Also Star Twinkle is notable for featuring the first ever dark skinned precure, as Elena is half-hispanic.

Healin’ Good Precure

The currently airing Precure season, as of this writing. The Byogens seek to revive their king by inflicting viruses on Earth, the Healing Garden sends three medical interns to combat them. These interns, fairies named Rabirin, Pegitan, and Nyatoran, along with a baby fairy princess named Latte, journey to Earth to find partners to become Precure. They end up meeting Hanadera Nodoka, a kindhearted girl who was hospitalized for most of her young childhood. After Nodoka risks her life to protect Latte, Rabirin chooses her to become Cure Grace. Joined by older sister type Sawaizumi Chiyu (Cure Fontaine) and the outgoing Hiramitsu Hinata (Cure Sparkle), they form Healin’ Good Precure, and defend their friends and the Earth from the Byogen’s newest wave of attacks.

This season is currently one of the few seasons available with official english subtitles on the streaming platform Crunchyroll.

Where To Watch Precure Online

Unfortunately for us, Precure isn’t really a thing in the west. There was a dub of Futari Wa back in the early 2000’s and Smile and Doki both got “adapted” into Glitter Force over on netflix (I don’t really recommend checking those out), but really Precure just doesn’t exist over here.

However, as mentioned above, there are currently three seasons avalible for streaming on crunchyroll. The original Futari Wa Precure, Kira Kira Precure A La Mode, and the current season, Healin’ Good Precure.

Beyond these isolated examples of official releases, you can really only watch precure online on streaming sites or through torrents. You can find precure pretty much on any major anime streaming site, kissanime, gogoanime, the works. You can also try your luck torrenting the seasons, i’ve found that pretty much every season has a working torrent you can find on sites like nyaa.si or the like. For more recent seasons you should have little difficulty getting torrents, and last time i checked every season was on one of the aforementioned streaming sites. What I’m saying really is there’s no single place to find precure, but it’s not impossible to find for sure.

Thanks for reading this post, I hope you decide to check out precure and I really hope you end up loving it.Thanks to my wonderful friend @meltorights for writing the sections on Yespre, Fresh, and Dokipre, to @wonderlilane for writing the sections on Splash Star and Huggto, and @cure-cosmo for writing the segment on Starpre.

If you have questions feel free to drop me an ask I’d be happy to help. I will literally go out of my way to help you if it means getting someone new into precure so please do not hesitate by any means.

#Apple Post #precure #pretty cure #magical girl #anime #toei animation

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dgcatanisiri · 3 years

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I won’t say this is my last word on the subject of Legendary Edition bullshit, because... Well, I know myself enough to be able to say that I NEVER have a last word, I’ll always want to rant again later on. But let’s just make this a sort of master post of the issues overall.

So... Is it fair to hold a game that is a good roughly fifteen years old to the standards of the present? Not inherently. So if the games were being produced in any sort of unedited format, that it was a strict translation, 1:1 ratio, of the original to the remaster... Honestly, I’d still be bitter as all get out, for reasons I’ll expound on in a minute. But it could at least SEEM justified. I could consider it the kind of thing that would be expected - if KOTOR got a remaster today, I would not expect that Carth and Bastila would be made into bi love interests, or Juhani would have her romance patched up so that it has the same level of detail and attention as the het romances. If Jade Empire were remastered, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sky or Silk Fox’s same sex romances adapted so that the straight romances had to be closed out first. That is the kind of thing that, on a functional, practical level, I could understand. Doing a translation from old hardware, the old engine, I get the PRACTICAL reasoning for not making things better. I still object to this on the moral level, to say nothing of the representational one. But PRACTICALLY, I see why - y’know, there’s only so much financial resources going in, and changing things like romances, even if justified, means doing new writing and getting the voice cast back in, which has complications the longer since a game’s original release - actors retire or even die, the passage of time changes voices (like listen to the difference of the exact same lines by James Earl Jones between both versions of the Lion King). Even without those complications, that means paying them, which, in the production of video games, for everything that goes in, something else must go out. So that is the practical argument.

BUT!

But.

But, the thing is, even apart from everything else that I’ll get in to shortly, is that there have been a lot of claims from BioWare about inclusion. There have also been A LOT. of homophobic bullshit from BioWare and Mass Effect. And yes, I’m calling it like I see it.

Because we had the game that followed Jade Empire, with a M/M romance option, be Mass Effect, with NO M/M romance option (but FemShep and Liara could bang - the writing obviously favored the MaleShep portrayal, given that there was no marketing use of FemShep until ME3, and we had ME2 give priority to having loyalty conflicts between MALE Shepard’s romances, but not Female Shepard’s, and we even had BioWare hem and haw about how “well, the asari are monogender, so they’re not TECHNICALLY women, so it’s not REALLY lesbians...”). Because the official claim is that they just “didn’t think about it” in time to have these options included in Mass Effect 1. Because we’ve had writers now come out that Jacob Taylor was originally written as a gay man, but in the game itself was a straight man. Because there are plenty of women who throw themselves at Male Shepard, and Shepard is animated with having Significant Looks™ with these women, but not a single man who expresses any interest in him, until ME3 finally offers SOMETHING, which came to just Kaidan and Cortez.

Because we had one of BioWare’s heads, one of BioWare’s founders, say in an interview right around the release of Mass Effect 2 say “Shepard is too predefined a character to be gay.”

That is what I mean by homophobic bullshit.

And I haven’t even started on Mass Effect Andromeda.

And I’m gonna start on Mass Effect Andromeda now.

So after ME3, after Kaidan and Cortez were actually romances, we honestly gave them a lot of faith - they got the message, we said. They understood that they couldn’t just cut out M/M romance in the game, we said. They didn’t need to have the constant observation that demanded they provide good representation, we said.

And then they cut Jaal’s bisexuality, leaving him straight on release, without even a chance to flirt and be turned down, the bisexual male character who did remain not only was planet bound, he also is a character who a solid argument can be made that he falls into the trope of the Depraved Bisexual, a trope that over in Dragon Age, Patrick Weekes specifically said that they wanted to avoid and so didn’t make a character bisexual because of that. And the gay man is not only almost totally disconnected from the game (aside from one point in the plot, he can be avoided entirely and is not included in almost any other group setting among the Tempest crew), he is also an accessory in his own plot line, which was also heavily criticized for being intensely homophobic. And of these, the only thing BioWare deigned to change was Jaal’s bisexuality. (Which, personal note, I’m uncomfortable with personally, because as it’s implemented, it just feels kind of afterthought-y. Much like Kaidan’s in ME3, being unchanged from a new FemShep romance, despite the active inability to romance him in ME1.)

So it is not just a matter of “you have the ability, you’re changing other things, you should do this.” I mean, that is absolutely there - the mods exist for the original game, to the point of being able to even get the romance scene to fire right without Shepard’s gender magically changing once the clothes come off. (I have a vague memory of, at some point, probably around the “too predefined” comment, that being another excuse, that there was difficulty with having the models play nice with one another in that scene.)

But this is about addressing a pattern of behavior on the part of BioWare, that they have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the bare minimum that their own statements on matters of representation and inclusion claim they aspire to. That if the fans are not actively holding their feet to the fire, they are GOING to take their fans for granted - “you don’t get better quality content elsewhere, we’re your only choice!” But “only” choice is not a “good” choice. It’s not a choice with quality.

So if we don’t make a big damn deal about this now, when they have a chance - when they have a CHOICE - to make things better, to provide better representation, to correct the mistakes of the past... What will we get in the future? How will they backtrack on this in the future? How will they exclude us in the game they just announced a few months back? How will they continue to tell us that they don’t want gay people in this setting?

Look, I don’t use these words lightly. But that is, whether it’s a conscious attitude at all or not, what they are telling us. By not including us, by making us optionally involved, by making us disposable within our own stories, by cutting out our content, they are saying that they do not envision a world, a future, that includes queer men.

And anyone who does not speak up, does not condemn this, does not demand that they DO. BETTER... That is tacit approval and agreement. Because you’re saying that things as they are now - the removal and undermining of our content, of our EXISTENCE in these games - are perfectly fine and acceptable.

And yeah, I’m sure that reading that has probably made some people mad, believe I’m being unfair by saying that, because it’s going to push away allies. Thing is, and this is one of the things that always comes up in anything even tangentially activism related... THIS ISN’T ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF THE ALLIES. This is about listening to the people who are being hurt and saying “you don’t deserve to be hurt this way, things need to change.”

BioWare needs to change its approach. And, as we have seen, it does not come just because of a handful of angry queers, demanding to be represented in their games. It comes because of the community at large calling them out and saying “this isn’t right. What you have done is not right, and we are calling on you to fix it. To do better.”

Don’t just stand there and shrug this off. Because evidence tells us that if they aren’t called out on this now, the next game will not be better. And we will be in this exact same place, having this exact same argument, all over again, in a few years when the next Mass Effect game comes out. When the queer men are given the shortest end of the stick again, and people who are right now saying “what do you expect from a remaster?” will either suddenly turn around and go “I don’t know why BioWare would do something so homophobic” or, worse, “well, it’s something, I don’t see why you’re upset.”

We’re upset because we keep having this argument. And we are going to keep having this argument until people are willing to actually DEMAND that things be better. This is the chance to make things better now.

At this point, a post-release patch that includes a Male Shepard/Kaidan romance in ME1 that is tracked through to the following games is a bare minimum fix, a change done to make it clear that BioWare understands their mistakes in the past and want to make things BETTER.

It may not be easy, but genuinely fixing problems never is. But it’s work that needs to be done.

#dg rants #bioware critical #mass effect #mass effect critical #dg gets pissed #another angry queer rant

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pointnumbersixteen · 3 years

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A Head Cannon Biography and Character Analysis and of the Captain, Part 6: the Havers Question That I Still Don’t Answer Very Well, But I Tried My Best and That’s What Counts

That gets us finally to the analysis of the relationship between the Captain and Havers, as shown in Reddy Weddy.

From the first scene in the episode we get a lot: Cap is obviously in love with Havers, that’s half the point of the episode. Cap is also so incredibly unsubtle with his attractions that Havers can’t have missed it. There’s probably no one in the Captain’s command who missed it, honestly. But what Havers might be thinking or feeling about this is almost more interesting than what the Captain, who is more or less an emotional open book, is thinking, because it’s impossible to tell for sure what Havers’ intentions are.

You can tell Havers is nervous to tell the Captain that he’s leaving. He probably doesn’t think Cap’s going to take it well, and considering how well Cap’s been shown taking things not going his way (not well at all, that is), he’s probably right to be a little nervous about it.

Notably, military courtesy dictates that Havers should have informed his commander that he wanted to put in for a transfer BEFORE doing so. The fact that he doesn’t do so, and in fact waits so long after the fact- not telling the Captain about it until he can piggy back it onto the distraction of the Fall of France, when Cap’s in a relatively upbeat mood due to the possibility of getting to join the fight- that the transfer request is nearly approved, says that he knew or at least suspected that Cap would object and perhaps try to stop him and didn’t want to give him the opportunity to do so.

I think the whole “get in the fight” thing he gives as an excuse for requesting the transfer is a lie. He looks like he feels guilty saying it, and there’s nothing about the way he presents himself that says he’s the sort that’s longing to go out and kill some Germans. I read him as having a sort of gentle, sweet, good humored and conciliatory personality. Not a single word or action he gives in the episode says he’s the kind of guy who joined out of some sort of thirst for adventure or blood lust or whatever. I think he’s saying the lie that he most thinks the Captain would believe, as the Captain clearly desperately wants to be in the fight himself. He also looks like he feels bad when he leaves at the end of the scene, probably because the Captain looks so obviously sad.

The big question is what exactly is going on underneath their relationship dynamic? The Captain’s feelings for Havers are impossible to miss, but does Havers feel them back? I don’t have a conclusive answer to that question, but two possibilities strike me.

Both of those possibilities have one thing in common, though: whether Havers had feelings for the Captain or not, he did not want the Captain to admit his own feelings to him. I think in the second scene, in Cap’s office, it was the Captain’s intention to admit his feelings to Havers. And after years of repression and knowing the potential consequences for his actions, the fact that he was at least giving it serious consideration says a lot about just how much the Captain liked Havers.

But... when Havers comes in, he tells the Captain he’s leaving that night (and given how quick that was, it occurs to me that it’s possible Havers didn’t tell the Captain about his transfer request until he’d received the answer on it, possibly at the same time the Fall of France message came, but only told the Captain he’d put in the request in the first scene, and waited until that afternoon to say it was approved, to try to give him a bit of time to get used to the idea and lessen the blow a little- or alternatively, to let him think he still had time to stop Havers when he didn’t). And then when the Captain tries to make the conversation the least bit personal, with the ‘I’ll miss you, Havers,’ Havers’ smile wanes and Cap walks it back, correcting it to a ‘we’ll miss you’ with a safe het-masc sports reference for added camouflage. He tries again to broach the topic as Havers is going out the door, ‘I say, Havers,’ but Havers, who usually has nothing but gentle smiles for the Captain, looks entirely unreceptive, and Cap blinks, gives himself the tinniest little sad headshake, and then walks that back, too, saying that it’s a shame they won’t be able to finish the operation together. Only then, once it’s clear that the Captain isn’t going to say anything that would have been deemed inappropriate for the time does he get that smile. (And Havers did have a really nice smile.) (And also, Ben Willbond and Peter Sandys-Clarke do an excellent job in these two scenes saying things with their little facial expressions that their characters for various reasons aren’t able to.)

It’s also notable Havers starts with ‘I’m afraid I’m leaving you, sir,’ and I don’t think it was an accidentally awkward bit of speech, I think he meant it and that he meant it as a hint to the Captain that he couldn’t continue on like that, with the open infatuation and dependence on him.

But: were the Captain’s feelings returned by Havers or not?

Option 1: I think unlike most of Cap’s command, Havers actually did like and respect him. Havers seems like a kind man, the sort that would view Cap’s oddities as harmless eccentricities rather than causes for derision, and he was patient and gentle with Cap’s probably much-battered ego, and maybe Cap misinterpreted that rarity as his feelings possibly being returned.

If he didn’t return Cap’s feelings… in this case, I think Havers would actually be leaving to protect the Captain, with the knowledge that the longer he stayed, the more likely it would be that Cap would get to the point where he was too unsubtle to ignore, and liable to be reported by one of their subordinates that clearly weren’t thrilled by the Captain’s command in order to get rid of him, in which case there would be an investigation, and if he let it go long enough that the Captain admitted his feelings to Havers and Havers was asked about it during the investigation, he’d be stuck between the rock and the hard place. Denying it would be lying to a superior officer and given the Captain’s lack of subtlety, place suspicion on Havers possibly returning the Captain’s interests, and telling the truth would end up with the Captain chucked out of the army in disgrace and possibly placed in jail. Leaving the Captain was ultimately for the Captain’s own good.

I think this last part can be backed up with the fact that, after all, if Havers didn’t like or want to protect Cap, he could have let that scenario play out, stick around until it became so obvious that someone else reported the Captain or he’d report the Captain himself, and if it got to the feelings confession state, he could have happily told command that the Captain had propositioned him and then been rid of him, and probably get a much more competent CO in exchange, maybe even a promotion to that position himself.

Option 2: for those in favor of thwarted gay romance, rather than unrequited gay crushes, it’s also entirely possible that Havers was gay and did like the Captain back, but considered the battle front a safer option than actually letting Cap confess his feelings and having a relationship with him. Again, the penalty for that if they were caught- and they likely would have been caught, as Cap is the least subtle person in existence about his crushes- would be being chucked out of the military, followed by two years hard labor and/or chemical castration. This in turn would quite probably lead to social death and economic ruin, as ‘spent two years in prison turning big rocks into little rocks as punishment for homosexual acts’ isn’t the sort of thing to put on your CV and expect to be hired in a difficult post-war economy. At least not in the 1940s.

And he couldn’t just let Cap confess his feelings and then tell him he liked him back but that there couldn’t be a relationship between them, because one, that would probably crush Cap, and two, I can’t see Cap letting it go at that. He’s never been shown to easily give up on what he wants- carrying on with Operation-Get-Rid-of-Allison long after the others gave up interest in it, for instance- and if he let his feelings about Havers out of the box, I think he’d have trouble putting them back in- and it’s likely his attempts to convince Havers they could make it work would just make everything more obvious and worse.

The second option actually makes me sadder, because it would have put the potential for happiness almost but not quite within Cap’s reach.

Either way, whether he returned them or not, I think Havers ultimately left in order to protect the Captain (and at least to a certain extent himself) from the societal consequences of his own feelings.

As for the mysterious ‘William’ envelope: were they actually the plans or were they a love letter? I’ve read some debate whether William was Havers’ first name or William really was the name of their project, but why not both? (It’s even entirely possible that Cap named the project after Havers in yet another incredibly unsubtle gesture of his affection, as a few people have mentioned.) I think that the envelope really was the plans, though. It was a pretty full envelope. I think if Cap had worked up the nerve to write a love letter, it would have been more likely to be a love note, after decades of repressing his feelings, and from the bulk of that envelope, that would have to have been more of a love novella.

I think it was the plans, but Cap was looking at it so hard and pondering it so hard, because Havers’ first name on an envelope gave him the idea that even if Havers was leaving, he didn’t necessarily have to lose him, if he confessed his feelings and Havers responded positively, they could at least maintain a correspondence and then when the war was done there would be other options for them having a real relationship. My guess- just head cannon at the moment- is that was his intention. But again, when he tried to go for it with the ‘I’ll miss you’ and it wasn’t well received, he got cold feet.

When Cap tosses the envelope in with the bomb and buries it looking somewhat regretful, the regret is at not having confessed his feelings, and not being able to have that correspondence accordingly.

I personally head cannon Havers dies in North Africa and Cap strongly regrets not trying to force him to stay or ever telling him how he feels because of, but that’s mostly just my imagination being cruel. He could have lived through it and just never contacted the Captain again. I like the death bit for two reasons, though. Havers being alive at the end of the war might have given the Captain a little hope for the future, for one (and if you haven’t guessed yet, guys, this isn’t going to end well). A big reason though is because the actor who plays Havers, Peter Sandys-Clarke, is the grandson of Lieutenant Willward Sandys-Clarke, who died fighting on the North African front in WWII. LT Sandys-Clarke was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action, which is the highest decoration for military valor you can be awarded in the UK. I’m just going to quote his citation wholesale, as it’s so impressive:

“During an attack on Guiriat el Atach, in Tunisia, on 23rd April, 1943, Lieutenant Sandys-Clarke's company gained their objective, but were counter-attacked and almost wiped out, he alone surviving of the officers. Although wounded, he gathered together a composite platoon and attacked the position again. The platoon was held up by heavy fire from a machine-gun post, which Lieutenant Sandys-Clarke tackled single-handed and knocked out. After personally dealing in the same way with two more machine-guns posts, he led his platoon to the objective. While they were consolidating there, they came under fire from two sniper posts; without hesitation he again advanced single-handed, and was killed within a few feet of the enemy. His quick grasp of the situation and his brilliant leadership undoubtedly restored the situation, while his outstanding bravery and tenacious devotion to duty were beyond praise.”

I think of it as a bit of homage to the actor’s grandfather, having Havers dying gallantly. It couldn’t have happened in quite the same way, of course, because LT Sandys-Clarke was infantry and Havers was artillery, but I like to think he did something heroic before his exit.

As a final note from Reddy Weddy: on the subject of burying the bomb, it really is a shame Havers didn’t stick around to help Cap dispose of it, because Havers seemed to have better sense than the Captain and probably would have done something saner than just burying it in the backyard, where anyone could have saw him doing it from a window and dug it up later, or accidentally set it off doing something else later, not knowing it was there. Cap didn’t seem to notify anyone that he had buried a secret bomb prototype in that spot, either, as the military likely would have removed it before returning the house to the Buttons if he had.

The only worse options I can think of for bomb disposal are just chucking it out with the rubbish or locking it in a closet like his sexuality (my poor boy). if he still needed it, he should have either had it locked up in a vault only he knew the combination to, or sent it on to one of those secure military warehouses that existed in droves in those days and if he didn’t need it anymore, he should have burned the plans and then taken it out to an empty field away from the house and done a controlled demolition on it. Or if it was a situation somewhere in between, he could have kept the plans in a vault and destroyed the prototype. But my son, my poor semi-incompetent son, he just buries everything in the back yard.

Stay tuned for the final part, our downer ending, encompassing both the end of the war and the end of Cap’s life, when I get around to finishing writing it. I’ve passed the 10,000 word mark for the entire analysis, though, so that’s something.

#the captain #bbc's ghosts #bbc ghosts #havers #has a really nice smile #also did you know that peter sandys-clarke's grandpa was an actual war hero because he was #i think cap should have confessed his feelings #but that wasn't going to end well #let's be honest though none of this was ever going to end well #i also think cap probably shouldn't have been allowed to dispose of explosives by himself #because that wasn't going to end well either #mildly edited to get rid of a few bits i misheard

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naw-naw-honeyimgood · 3 years

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ChengQing (lmao never realized that was their fucking ship name)

so pros of (Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing):

one of the few possible het ships available to mdzs fans like there are all of five named female characters and this is the only one not in an established het pairing. and like sure ive seen yanli w/ someone else a couple times but you CANT put her with JIANG CHENG and i cant say ive ever seen mianmian in a serious relationship in fics with anyone besides either her canon hubby or a chick (usually yanli, wen qing herself, or even sometimes both lmao).

it’s basically written itself in cql!! he has a very obv and clear crush on her, even gives her a comb and offers to help her! she seems interested but the way the storyline went it was simply not meant to be :’(

you get to pair off jiang cheng!! ngl once u finish mdzs its kinda sad for everyone not wangxian (in their generation/above) cuz theyre the only one that get a happy ending. Everyone else is forever alone / depressed / bitter or a combination thereof. so it’s nice to see jiang cheng getting a happy ending!

he... gets... kids...? like ngl as a childless person that is happy to stay that way thats not exactly a pro in my eyes but you might look at his relationship w/ jin ling and say “he’s a great father! he deserves to be a father!” which okay good news! wen qing can bear children!

Now. Cons.

for one thing the fact that you have a lack of options doesnt exactly mean every possible het pairing can have good chemistry even if you change circumstances enough. there comes to a point where certain pairings can only be really viable if one or both of them are ooc.

lets be honest im willing to bet that AT LEAST 80% of the reason cql introduced this ship was because they were not allowed to make the wangxian pair explicitly Together (and i dont even mean anything specifically sexual), and they needed SOME SORT of romance to feature in the story. xuanli doesnt count because theyre an established background ship, the jiang parents dont count as romance, we aint talkin about the villain relationships, and lbr, mianmian already had a lot more signif in cql than mdzs. so it makes sense that they took the arguably most important male chara besides wangxian and made him have a crush on the most important female character that wasnt his SISTER.

what im trying to say is that cql pulled that pairing out of a hat. if you look at canon at ALL i highly doubt there would ever have been feelings, just as there never were. we dont quite know the age dif but we know that wen qing was the older sister and wen ning might have been a bit younger? than the boys? cannot quite remember but we dont know if she was only a year or two older or if it was like. mingjue and huaisang. we dont know! and i canNOT see jiang cheng going for an older chick. also their personalities would clash So Much. she has older sis vibes and not the gentle kind like yanli. she snaps at wen ning’s mumbling and stuff a good couple times- you think she’d tolerate jiang cheng’s emotional immaturity? hah.

this also kinda segues into my main point of: as depressing as it is that jiang cheng is forever alone unless you pair him off... he would honestly put whoever you pair him off with through hell. he’s not nice. so many jiang cheng stans like to argue that he’s a traumatized kid that was raised to channel his emotions through anger (and raises bitterness under his skin like an ugly puppy) but inside he has a heart of gold, and they’re... not exactly wrong! i mean- literally every younger chara is traumatized in some way. but... that doesn’t really... excuse the shit he’s pulled? as much as jiang cheng stans like to forget: jin guangyao was RIGHT when he said that jiang cheng’s insecurities got wei ying killed. his CLOSEST ALLY.

tying back to wen qing we have their actual CANON interactions (or lack thereof). wen qing didn’t exactly protect wei ying and jiang cheng out of the goodness of her heart when lotus pier fell: she was protecting wen ning (her BROTHER) from the repercussions of his own actions by saving wei ying (and Jiang Cheng ig idk he was just there bUT YOUNG MASTER WEI-)

not QUITE sure why she agreed to doing the golden core transfer (maybe scientific curiousity? i mean she had an unproven medical theory and here was a volunteer) but it def wasnt For Jiang Cheng.

and then the next time she saw him? do you guys remember the next time she saw him? it’ was when jiang cheng came up to the burial mounds to kill wen ning’s corpse and tell wei ying to turn over the wens.

KEEP IN MIND that jiang cheng KNOWS wen ning and qing SAVED HIS FUCKING ASS after lotus pier (not How but he KNOWS THIS) and yet he still tells wei ying to hand them over.

he makes wei ying choose between what amounts to the cultivation world and his morals.

that does not a good healthy relationship make. also again their personalities would clash like so bad. i love wen qing way more but you have to admit her personality is super similar to madame yu’s. and we already agreed that jiang cheng was traumatized as a kid. im not saying fengmian didnt have a hand in it but you gotta admit a good amount was madam yu and her insecurites and accusations she piled on her son. and you wanna pair him up romantically with someone who won’t take his shit and smile? will call him out? HAH.

im not saying this because i think jiang cheng should be with a softer personalitied (guy) like lan xichen or wen ning or huaisang because god knows those pairings have their own issues. im just saying that in canon-verse all i can ship whole-heartedly is jiang cheng / therapy, but since there is not therapy in canon-verse, or even if there WAS then there’s no way he’d admit to needing it, then yeah he can stay single for all his bitter life. better that than making jiang parent relationship 2.0 like fuck.

(this of course means that in modern aus where he DOES get therapy i am Open)

also real quick but jiang cheng was NOT a good parent to jin ling and i will not take constructive criticism like sure he was better than the jiang parents and the lan parents but that is SUCH a low fuckin bar and it’s a fact that in chapter 9 jin ling literally thinks “if I can’t slice off her head with this blow, I will die here- death it is then!!” (taken gratefully from the exiled rebels scanlation) and that is NOT a healthy-minded child.

the only healthy minded children is like. jingyi. and probably sizhui. although i am not here for the way the lan sect raise children but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

also i want you to look me in the eye and tell me that wen qing could and would do anything besides throw down with someone that so much as looked at her brother wrong

because jiang cheng apparently decided to lay the blame for jin zixuan’s death at wen ning’s feet (which is incredibly ironic considering he blames wei ying for yanli’s death??? like i feel like he could stand to use his brain cells a bit more??) and repeatedly tried to kill him.

#anyway this has been my ted talk #i dunno im just getting kinda tired of a certain writer and their idealized world but eh #it happens a lot too and damn cql certainly made wen qing more waif-ey #i didnt and do not want to get into the implied xianqing either do not start #im just saying that jiang cheng has a lot of flaws that people like to ignore a lot #this is true for many other charas too tbf #jiang cheng #not the angel you like to think he is #wen qing #not exactly the forgiving type #like i said tho they do work well together in modern aus with therapy available #and also tbf this isnt exactly my only issue with this author's fic(s) either lmao but hey #jiang cheng the prat #always ranks p high in my grievances #esp considering its a post-canon fix-it type so jiang cheng still did All That #also in any case this author seems determined to pair off like everyone into mostly het ships #mdzs #this is not for jiang cheng stans lmao #sorry ive been awake for like mayn hours and just got some difficul news and had Thoughts

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lordmomohismomoness · 4 years

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Here are my top Zutara fanfiction recs.

The biggest factor in my ranking and why I recommend them is because I had a hard time putting them down. Other than that, they are pretty all over the place in terms of content and setting.

His Majesty Prefers Blue by Shamelessliar

Rated M 212K+ words Completed 2012

A year after the war's end, the gaang returns to the Fire Nation for a week of diplomatic meetings. There, they hear rumors about a vigilante who wears a blue mask and Katara finds herself digging deeper into his identity and motives. Blue/Zutara Lemons

Trigger warnings: rape, torture (1 scene)

This is my absolute favorite fic. It has a little bit of everything: romance, humor, drama, suspense. There is an actual plot too! It is also one of few fics which show Zuko and Katara being a great team.

When The Mask Comes Off by Jamie Hasaku

Rated K 73K+ words Completed 2006

After freeing her and her friends from capture, Zuko has no choice but to care for a gravely injured Katara, who was left behind by accident. The trick? Keeping his face hidden so she doesn’t hurt herself even more by trying to fight him. Zutara Blutara

This is not your average capture fic. Katara is still pretty badass. The scene where she finds out who is behind the mask made my heart melt. Hanae is one of my favorite OCs ever! It does have a sequel which has been abandoned, but that doesn't change the fact that this story is wonderful by itself.

The Dragon and the Siren (AO3) The Dragon and the Siren (ff.net) by CultofStrawberry

Rated M/T 147K+ words Completed 2012

Zutara, Hades x Persephone inspired. In a land of gods and spirits, Katara is the daughter of the Sea, and Zuko is the powerful and reclusive God of the Fire Realms. Zuko has been pining for her for too long... so he finally takes action.

Being a huge fan of Greek mythology and A:TLA, I did not think I would enjoy this fic. I was pleasantly surprised as the author combined the two seamlessly. The worldbuilding is amazing and the tale is not an exact replica of the myth. The AO3 link contains smut, but is incomplete. The fanfiction link has the completed story.

Subterfuge by Smylealong

Rated M 113K+ words WIP last updated Oct 2020

Thirty years ago, the Fire Nation attacked, throwing the world off balance. Katara entered the Fire Nation war camp at Ba Sing Se as a healer, prepared to do whatever it takes to play her part in stopping the war. Getting kidnapped with the Fire Prince and falling in love with him were not parts of the plan. AU. Zutara.

Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault, Incest, Graphic Depiction of Violence

This fic is VERY dark. However, the writing is amazing which more than makes up for it.

Dancing in the Dark by DamageCtrl

Rated T 61K+ words Complete 2006

Post-Season 2 AU: While in Ba Sing Se, Katara and Toph hear a rumor about two tea servers in the lower tiers of Ba Sing Se and sneak away go to investigate only to have their suspicions confirmed. On her personal time, Katara tries to teach herself to dance and fails so badly, a masked man takes pity on her to try to help.

In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE the Blue Spirit. This fic is full of fluff, and awkward Zuko is my favorite Zuko. It does start slow, but once you get into it, it is a pretty cute story. Zuko is the one with multiple suitors for once.

Twist Me to the Left by Grapefruittwostep

Rated T 91K+ words Complete 2017

So here Zuko is, with no family, no band, and no more record contract. Just another punker with a guitar who thinks he's got what it takes. Then he meets Avatar, the band breaking all the rules. They've got everything going for them, the rising star, and they're everything Zuko isn't. But maybe, just maybe, they want a new guitarist. As long as the pretty keyboardist with the blue eyes doesn't murder Zuko first.

Warnings: References to Drugs

This is a college age AU with an angsty emo/punk Zuko. A fluffy enemies to lovers trope, but fun nonetheless.

Don't Stand So Close To Me by Cinemascope08

Rated M 76K+ words Abandoned 2013

Katara and the Gaang are in full swing at Ba Sing Se University when interactions with a new professor start affecting Katara's life in increasingly complicated ways. Rated M for scenes of a graphic nature.

Trigger Warning: Torture, Murder, BDSM, Incest

Another really dark fic, but it takes a bit to get there. Once it does, you are hooked by the suspense. It is abandoned, but still a good read.

So let us melt and make no noise by LittleLostStar

Rated M 69K+ words WIP last updated Jan 2021

When a mission to the South Pole goes awry, Prince Zuko awakens in the home of a healer named Katara and finds his heart is damaged and his bending has vanished. His quest to find the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe is his destiny-- the one chance to regain his honour and return home. But as time passes and Zuko's heart heals, it becomes clear that Katara is protecting an ancient secret of her own, and that both of their destinies are entwined in ways never before thought possible.

We get to see Zuko at the mercy of Katara here. And this fic has an actual plot to it, which is an easy way to get into my good graces. There is a lot of mystery and suspense. It has slow updates, but the author has commented that she intends to complete it.

Butterflies and Hurricanes by Rerbirth of the Phoenix

Rated T 103K+ words Complete 2012

"You may find yourself capturing hearts that you are forbidden to keep." She is a servant. He is a Prince. Together they are about to go against everything that keeps the world at peace. Zutara

This one took me a bit to get into, as I was bothered by the ages at the start. Fortunately, it takes place over several years so we see the relationship develop. No spoilers, but wow the ending really got me.

The Penance Series by delectate

Rated M 39K+ words Complete 2010

The road to forgiveness is long and arduous...just ask Zuko. Season 3 Zutara, following the episodes past 312. Rated M for Mature.

Warnings: BDSM

Zuko is taken prisoner at the western air temple. As it turns out, Zuko is a masochist and Katara lets her freak flag fly. I like this one because it does such a different take on the characters, and it actually makes sense that Zuko would be a masochist since he has such a messed up family.

Lotus Lake by Rebirth of the Phoenix

Rated T 65K+ words Complete 2006

Zutara AU. An orphaned Katara and her brother find themselves at boarding school. Katara's first thoughts are that her life will now be filled with boredom. How wrong she was!

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse

This is a bonus rec. While not super high on my list, it is still an enjoyable story. Plus, I really like the boarding school premise since I love shows like Rebelde and Het Huis Anubis. I would have liked to see more drama with Jet though. Still a good one if you are looking for fluff.

I added some more to my top recs!

Indigo Summer by Serendipitea

Rated T 21K words Complete 2020

Zuko takes up a life guarding job the summer before going off to university. What he doesn't expect is to be completely distracted by the surfer girl with bright blue eyes.

This one is just so darn cute

And expectations she won't meet by Gxldentrio

Rated T 8K words Completed 2020

Katara’s organic chemistry TA is an asshole ----- or is he?

A texting/social media fic that I reread all the time because it is just that GOOD! I love the way the author uses all the character's interactions to tell a cohesive story.

(if my wishes came true) it would have been you by TheDecension

Rated T 34K words WIP Last updated Mar 2021

Katara overshares on the internet. Zuko makes it a point to only lurk. Good thing there's nothing tying their online adventures to their real lives — right?

Or, Katara and Zuko have something of a history, and when they reconnect after months of silence, there could be more going on behind the scenes than they realize.

If you haven't heard of this one, you should! It is though social media posts and text, and it is just wonderful!

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