#like I understood the reason for it in the sense of the storyline but that didn’t mean I had to like it

[edgeisallelite]

Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that they gave Pete Dunne his name back? Cause that Butch nonsense wasn’t doing it for me.

#*kyle o’reilly voice* Peter Dune #like I understood the reason for it in the sense of the storyline but that didn’t mean I had to like it #pete dunne #wwe #wwe raw #wwe lb #wwe raw lb #raw lb

[spiritsonic]

With all due respect and I hope you don't take any offense to this, but I wanted further clarification on what you meant when you said: "and SEGA’s notes actually freed me up to write him more how I’d like to." I respect your personal feelings on the character and I read your tags stating what you said about canon Shadow and how it's okay, I'm glad to read that, but I just hope the canon Shadow is getting more /understood/ instead than rather changed.

Shadow being more understood is precisely what happened. I'm reminded of a scene in an upcoming issue where in the original draft Shadow acted without explaining himself, only giving an aggressive, confident response to his team-mates. This isn't how I would have liked him to handle the situation. But in previous issues, this is how I've been asked to write him... so that's what I did.

So you can imagine my delight to get the script back from SEGA with the request to have him instead explain his reasoning when it makes sense to do so and to showcase his intelligence, pragmatism, and capacity for strategy in the future. Not only does this make him much more workable within storylines, it helps make it clear that his "pride" is, from his perspective, a non-judgemental statement of fact and not an ego trip. It's also an honest reflection of reality-- 99 out of 100 times he really IS that good.

#Shadow the Hedgehog #IDW sonic

[andreal831]

TVDU and forced parenthood

I don't know if it is because Julie Plec didn't understand parenthood or just didn't care, but almost every character has a messed up relationship with the idea of parenthood.

Starting with Rebekah, whose entire identity becomes about being a mother. When she is first introduced, she behaves like an immature teenager with almost no maternal instincts or desires. But it quickly shifts in TO to focus on her desire to have a child. I am completely fine with a woman wanting to have children, but she never gave a real reason to want it. Just this general idea that she had always desired it. I get she likely would have been thinking about it when she was human since, during their human period, women tended to have children in their teen years and it was what all women did. But throughout her 1,000 years, we never see her seek that relationship with anyone. She briefly develops a protective relationship with April and then Davina, but they are easily pushed aside. She even abandons her relationship with Hope multiple times. It never seemed to me that she wanted to be a parent, rather wanted a baby.

This is even more obvious by the fact that Klaus 'adopts' Marcel. Rebekah could have adopted a child, or taken in someone throughout her long life. Now, it could have been that she feared Klaus would be angry and jealous, but this story is never shown. In fact, Klaus seems fine with Rebekah training Marcel, even after he was jealous of Elijah teaching him.

Speaking of Marcel, this whole storyline was problematic. The Mikaelsons take in this boy and then make him feel indebted to them. I've seen people argue that they didn't adopt Marcel, but rather took him in as a ward. Either way you look at it, Marcel was a child and deserved to be treated like one and not some trophy (a lot of white saviorism happening). I do think Elijah wanted to raise Marcel as a son but Klaus wouldn't let him. So instead, Klaus raises him as a friend which created a complicated relationship. I also hate how you can clearly see the difference in how Hope is protected versus how Marcel was raised. Whether it's sexist or racist or just based on him not being their biological family, it's problematic.

And then there is Hope. Hayley will always be my favorite parent in TVDU. Even when she was young and overwhelmed, you could tell her thoughts and actions were all about protecting Hope. Yes, some things she did weren't the smartest plan, but she was also a scared 20-something-year-old trying to survive against enemies that were 1000x her age. She risked her life repeatedly for her daughter and would sacrifice anything for Hope to be safe and happy. She was the one character I felt truly understood what it meant to be a parent.

I always get in trouble when I criticize Klaus as a parent, but he was a narcissistic parent for 90% of the show and that honestly needs its own post.

It's not surprising the Mikaelsons don't know how to be parents. Mikael wanted to train them to be warriors and Esther had a similar feel to Rebekah, that she wanted babies but didn't know how to be a mother. I know Esther and Mikael likely had their own childhood traumas, but that's another conversation.

I liked that Kol and Davina never discussed children. Davina was young and Kol never expressed desires to be a father. Not everyone needs to want to have children. To me, Elijah was the only Mikaelson sibling who expressed a deeper interest in being a parent. Yet, he still didn't understand the full extent. He essentially acted like a parent to his siblings but ended up just having messed up relationships with each of them. He wanted to step in with Marcel and even Hope. I like to think he learned his lesson from Marcel and fought harder for Hope, but again, the whole family just fought harder for Hope.

I also think Freya having a child makes sense, but Vincent being the father had me baffled. He hated Elijah for what he did to Davina until Elijah died, but forgave Freya for her role? Not only forgave her but decided to help continue the Mikaelson line. I just find it hard to believe that he would have agreed to help. But Julie wanted to expand the Mikaelsons and then do nothing with it I guess.

Even in TVD, this idea that everyone wants to be a parent is pushed. Again, yes some people do, but not everyone needs to want children.

I understood Jo, Alaric, and even Stefan's desire to have children. This need to protect and care for others was built into them. We see Alaric (before his character sucked) basically adopt Elena and Jeremy. Jo was always protective of her siblings and loved caring for others so much she became a doctor. Stefan just always had this paternal need to take care of others in my opinion. I even see this with Elena and Bonnie. (Also the fact that Bonnie's future is never mentioned -- we hear about everyone else but what was Bonnie up to in Legacies??)

But Caroline and Damon having children made no sense to me. Caroline had dreams of a career and seemed adventurous, but then was forced into pregnancy at what 23 years old while she was still in school? Yes, we see she gets to become a journalist, but in Legacies we don't hear anything about her life or career. She isn't even there as a mother. Caroline's character basically disappears.

Damon never expressed a desire for children that I can remember. He enjoyed his vampire life and I can't see him giving it up to be a mortal, stay-at-home dad.

There are a lot of problems with the show, Friends, but one thing I've always loved is how they show the different pathways to parenthood. Pheobe is a surrogate for her brother, Monica adopts, and Rachel is a single mother. There isn't one way to be a parent, as long as you always put the children's safety and happiness first.

TVDU could have learned a thing about it. For a show that loved to randomly have a found family trope, it was also ready to throw it out the window the second biological family showed up. That's not how found families work, they are family through and through.

Also, and I cannot say this enough, not everyone needs to want to have children. Even women.

#tvdu #the originals #the vampire diaries #tvd #the mikaelsons #elijah mikealson #klaus mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson #hayley marshall #kol mikaelson #davina claire #caroline forbes #alaric saltzman #damon salvatore #elena gilbert #parenthood #found family #adoption #marcel gerard

[mswyrr]

i find stories with long-term romantic relationships fascinating - especially marriage. and what i see in barb and cooper is that... she despairs first and stops caring what happens to other people, because the only thing she thinks she can do succesfully is protect the ones she loves. (and, given how bad things had gotten, can we say for sure she's wrong? can we really say if she had tried to fight Vault-Tec she wouldn't have ended up a ~mysteriously dead~ whistleblower? do we imagine nobody in the company tried to get the truth out?? did the majority of people in the America of 2077 even want to hear the truth? side note they didn't give barb the iconic "war... war never changes" line for her to be 100% evil - we will learn more and see dimensions of what went down in the past imo) and then cooper becomes lost to despair and stops caring about others too. they mirror each other - or, he follows her down the same despairing path.

there's also the level on which what barb loved about cooper--his sweetness, his loving, romantic nature--was ultimately the thing that she came to believe was good reason to treat him like their child and make major decisions for both her husband and their little girl without consulting him. their separation while he was at war and then the way he understood things radically different from her when he came back (how wilfully blind and naive he must have seemed) probably played heavily into this.

but i see both insight into how a couple can lead each other astray - down the path of despair - and how a major way to do that is to start thinking negatively of the very traits that drew you to someone instead of continuing to engage with those and let that person cooperate with you to shape your shared path forward in life.

(barb started seeing the sweet heart that had drawn her to cooper as a liability rather than an assert, to use corporate speak lol)

i'm genuinely excited for what more we'll learn about how this romance went tragic and in seeing barb and janey in the present storyline. i'm a multishipper and there's a lot neat to explore and all of that is valid - but i think, speaking in terms of what the narrative is doing with the canon ships, those are neat in the sense that we've got a tragic romance in the past that symbolically represents the world being broken -- and then a present day romance that's about two young people trying to make something better than the cruel hand they've been dealt

#barb howard #cooper howard #fallout tv #fallout 2024 #fallout spoilers #fallout meta

[simping-for-joe]

Someone Who Enjoys Life

Leon Kennedy X Chubby! Reader

It's been one of those weeks and your self-esteem has been having a rough moment. Leon won't just let that stand.

Warnings: Body image issues, bad eating habits (mentioned)

A/N: I was using a character AI for Leon and he said something to me since like sometimes I do basically storylines about body image issues and it gave me this line that I just adored.

It's been one of those weeks for you. You've struggled with your body image issues before so this wasn't exactly new territory. It's just this time it was practically bad.

Small things were getting under your skin this week. Little things like having to go buy a new pair of jeans due to the inner thigh fabric being worn out. Reminding you of the size of your thighs, and all it did was embarrass you. Noticing how your clothes fit on you, things like that.

It definitely doesn't help Leon has been distant this week due to work. Not that you could blame him, it's just when he's like this he's close to impossible to get support from. So, you kept it to yourself this week. Dealing with it in small ways, and you weren't sure if it was actually helping or not.

Leon immediately something was off this week, he knows you better than anyone at this point. He watched from afar as you avoided the shared bathroom mirror. He swears up and down that you didn't eat dinner one night, and he noticed you were more reserved when it came to physical affection.

He wanted to say something, he really did but he knows from past experiences that body image issues are a delicate topic. Not to mention while he's had some experience with it, it wasn't quite the same experience as you. On top of that, he was currently dealing with something work-related, meaning he shit out of ideas on how to handle this.

It was a quiet night in the week of chaos, Leon looked up from his paperwork as you were making something in the kitchen.

"So..." Leon speaks up, you look at him with a raised eyebrow as you can sense the awkward tone in his voice. "I um saw your jeans in the trash." He suddenly brings up. You stop preparing dinner, freezing as the faint feelings of shame and embarrassment rise up in you.

"Y-yeah... just you know... they got worn out." You reply stiffly, refusing to look at him.

"Oh, do you need to go shopping?" Leon was hoping this was going to be an easy fix.

"It's a-alright Leon really." You try to insist just wanting this conversation to end.

"No, if you need jeans you need jeans." He tries to argue with you, he just wants to be helpful. On some level, you understood that, but you were just so embarrassed.

"Leon."

"What? We can even get you a bigger size if you need." He offers, and that's the straw that breaks the camel's back. You don't know the exact reason why but you just start crying at hearing that, causing Leon to look at you with a mix of confusion, worry, and guilt. He rushes out of his seat at the table and heads over to the kitchen. "Sweetheart... what's wrong?" He asks you, his voice soft and low to be more soothing. "This isn't just about the jeans is it?"

"No..." You reply through tears, and before you know it he pulls you into a tight embrace. His strong arms make you feel secure and loved even as you sob against his chest. You feel his fingers in your hair as he just sways you both a bit as he just lets you cry. Letting out whatever you've been bottling up all week.

After a few minutes, you move away from him taking a deep breath as you finally start calming down from your outburst. It's quiet as you grab a paper towel and blow your nose.

"Do... do you want to talk about it?" Leon asks you quietly.

"I-It's... just been a rough week..." You mumble softly, almost numbly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He questions, his eyebrows pinched together with worry.

"You have work and me having some body image issues isn't-"

"No, no, no, this is important to you so it's important to me. I know how hard it is for you sometimes. I will tell you as many times as you need that you are beautiful and I will always love you." You look at him with slight disbelief. Leon did not care, he'd do this song and dance for the rest of his life if he had to, as long as you believed you were beautiful.

"I just... don't you want someone who's-" You begin, hesitating to say the word he knew was coming.

"Thinner?" He asks crossing his arms, you nod almost sadly. Leon is quiet for a moment before sighing and uncrossing his arms. "I love you so much, that words cannot describe. I love the extra weight you have on you, I really do. You're my soft, squishy partner in crime." He tells you cupping your cheeks gently as you blush brightly. "Do you know why I love your body?" He asks softly, and you shake your head gently. "Because you have the body of someone who enjoys life, and I think that's beautiful..." Your quiet as you think about that, and you feel your throat tighten again with emotion. "I see you and I immediately see someone with so much life and love in them. That's why I love you..." Leon tells you sincerely. "The really nice hugs are just a bonus." He adds on, getting a chuckle from you as you look up at him. You just hug him tightly, catching him a bit off guard but he embraces you back.

"I love you..."

"I love you too sweetheart, and I always will."

#resident evil #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #fanfic #no use of y/n #x chubby reader #x plus size reader #x reader

[stylerm2world]

I really disliked this episode and will probably stop watching. My comfort show, now feels unrecognizable. It really sucks to say that.

How this episode handled Tim’s perspective of the breakup was so out of character to me. Tim’s complete lack of acknowledgement for how he hurt Lucy and trying to pretend things were normal, “you clocking out?” was baffling.

When a person you claim to love, asks for an adult conversation, you decide your best response is “I have nothing for you,” is disgraceful. I don’t understand how you dismiss the request, shrug your shoulders and don’t even make an attempt. To add insult to injury, the indifferent way he talked about her to others felt so disrespectful. I no longer recognize this character. To me, the character they have built for the last 5 years, would never have been that deliberately cruel talking to or about Lucy. Clueless, sure, cruel, no.

Once again, I come back to this terrible writing. I didn’t recognize Tim. I understand the purpose of him yelling at Aaron was a call back of season 1 Tim, but it ignores all of Tim’s character growth. Tim’s character development from his friendship with Lucy, even more so, than the romantic relationship feels like it’s been completely forgotten. It feels like a betrayal of Tim’s character development. Tim’s progress was one of the best storylines on the show.

At this point, the repair Tim would have to make with Lucy and their relationship, even friendship, feels insurmountable to me. How do you go from saying I love you two episodes ago to this bull. The writing is atrocious. The one small caveat that might make all of this make sense is if this is all some master plan to trap the doctor. Even so, Tim has traumatized Lucy. It’s a betrayal trauma.

I can acknowledge Tim’s pain and trauma. I get he is going through it, absolutely. I have so much empathy for him. I am a therapist and work with clients like this all the time. I always understood where he was coming from, until this episode. His PTSD can be a reason for him acting this way, but it’s not an excuse. The utter lack of remorse and cruelty for purposely hurting someone you claim to love, feels so unlike this character. So I am done.

Really unpopular opinion: I wish Wade would have validated Lucy’s feelings rather than just telling her to tell Tim everything she said.

Side Note: I am so tired of female characters being portrayed as sooo understanding and empathetic that they accept any treatment because “he loves me.” I am tired of seeing female characters trivialized to the point they throw themselves on the alter of men’s emotional immaturity and unavailability. Tim’s right, Lucy deserves better. Normalize women walking away from men who claim to love them, but treat them like shit. Love without trust is not viable.

Add in Lucy’s WOC character being sacrificed for white male character development feels ugly.

#chenford #the breakup #the rookie

[starryalpacasstuff]

Last Twilight Episode 12;

Like most people, I did not like the ending of Last Twilight. It took me a while to gather my thoughts and find time to write on the episode, but in the meantime, I've been reading what others have had to say about the show, and I have a few thoughts.

As @waitmyturtles talked about here, discussing whether or not Day should have gotten his vision back presents an ethical dilemma. I've seen a few posts of people who dislike the fandom's outrage against Day getting his vision back, talking about how his getting his vision back does not undo all that he learned and did while he was disabled. Setting aside the fact that Day did not grow through the series, (which @chalkrevelations wrote about here) a big problem for me is feeling like the narrative did a complete 180 post-episode 10. A massive portion of the show was spent with Day learning to accept his blindness and learning to work with it, and although we knew that the surgery was on the table from episode one, it ended up feeling like it came out of nowhere in the final episode. One of the main reasons for this, I think, is because the show barely brought up the surgery in the first 3/4ths of the show (I can think of like 2 instances where it was mentioned) and then it's dropped onto us by Mhon and Night crashing Day and Mhok's date, after which everything became about the surgery. Up till the third quarter of the show, I had enjoyed that the story had such a tight storyline, with such clear intentions. But then the show veered into a very different direction post episode 10, which made the show feel completely different to what it was.

As @waitmyturtles says in her post, it could have been so much better if Day was able to actively choose the surgery, and that we, as an audience, got to see him actually consider the various paths that lay before him. For the surgery to have made sense, narratively speaking, the story would have to be slightly different. You don't just spend 10 episodes of a show working towards a theme and then end the show with the exact opposite of the theme. The final two episodes felt like they were of a completely different show (now, doesn't that sound familiar).

While we're talking about feeling betrayed by the narrative, I want to talk about Mee, and Last Twilight the book. They managed to fuck up Mee's story, and I am aghast. The significance of Mee's story, especially the ending, was completely thrown out by the episode, in particular the montage, which had me fuming. What happened to Day understanding what the author meant to convey by Mee's ending while Mhok didn't, because he felt a sense of kinship with the author's daughter, who Mee was based upon? Mee's story had reliably predicted Day's almost to the end, so what happened? They tried to subvert the ending of the novel, with Day 'reflecting' on Mee's story in the background of the montage. But all that it did was completely go against everything that the show and the novel had stood for.

Life amidst that dilemma caused me to forget what it was like to live a normal life, or how happy I could be.

Sincerely, what the fuck? A huge part of Last Twilight was Day finding, creating a new normal with Mhok. Day learning that his blindness didn't make him abnormal. But this completely erases that. It's saying that living as a blind person, Day wasn't living a normal life, nor was he truly happy.

When Mhok finished reading the story to Day, Day understood. He understood why the author chose to end the story that way, because he understood that being blind for the rest of his life wasn't a curse. He understood Mee, understood her joy, understood that she hadn't disappeared, understood that the ending of the book wasn't tragic.

What Day says here, is that he was heartbroken about Mee's fate because he related to her and felt like they shared the same fate, but he realizes that his story doesn't need to be the same as Mee's.

Isn't Day feeling pity for Mee here? Isn't he doing exactly what he broke up with Mhok for, viewing Mee as some tragic figure, when 6 years ago he had understood that Mee was not someone he needed to feel sorry for? I've posted about how important it was that Mee's story's ending was written with Mee rejoicing, rather than being written as a tragedy. It was so important that Day understood the author's intentions, rather than viewing it as a tragic story. So then, what changed? I don't know, this may be a bit of a stretch, but these lines just seem so wrong, and hypocritical coming from Day.

The intended purpose of this message seems to have been hope for a new, better life. But, if Day's blindness was the worst chapter of his life, what was the point of him learning to accept his blindness, to live with it, and what was the point of showing it to us?

Before the final episode aired, I had said that I hoped that we'd get a nod to Mee's story in the end, to add onto the impact and relevance of Mee's story in Day's. What we got instead, was a preachy reflection that went against everything that the first 10 episodes of the show had stood for, accompanied by a useless montage that completely upended the significance of the stories of both the show and the novel.

In the few minutes this montage lasted, it managed to successfully tear down everything that the first 10 episodes had shown us, everything that Mee's story had told us. Borrowing this one from @lurkingshan's tags in this post, how can a creator misunderstand their own narrative so badly?

I hesitate to use the term ableist to describe the last episode. But what I'm getting from this montage is that Day believes that he was neither normal nor happy while he was blind, and believes that it was the worst chapter of his life. Mee's story, one that is based on a little girl who was going blind, is shown as tragic, in contrast to Day's 'happy and normal' life. And that message seems pretty ableist to me. Which also makes me wonder, how much did Day really 'learn' from his time as a blind person? Because from what I'm getting from this montage, it wasn't a whole lot.

#not talking about anything about mhok or mhon yet #because i don't know if i have the capacity to just yet #they fucked it up with the speech on mee's story #i didn't fully process this part when i was watching the episode #but when i went to rewatch this part when writing this #i was raging mad #how could they fuck this up so bad? #the montage alone made it about 7x worse #last twilight #last twilight the series #last twilight meta #last twilight mee

[gold-rhine]

Inazuma Rewrite Act 3

Please start reading from part one before reading this. It will make no sense otherwise.

Act 3 pays off for Acts 1 and 2, and I made some major changes in them, such as change to reasons of vision hunt\Raiden motivations, Ayaka arc, entire resistance storyline, Transience setup, Yoimiya arc setup, so without reading them first, this part will not make sense.

In this installment:

Transcience pay off

Yoimiya arc

Kazuha conflict

Raiden confrontation

Kujou Sara arc

and more

All disclaimers from part one also apply, I’m not gonna copy paste them.

Yae Miko \ Raiden Preparation Training

ok, let’s start with the fact that current “raiden fight training” sucks. Like I get what they’re going for, and training episode idea is very anime, but like. Running in circles around a trashcan that hits you with boss moves is not fun. it is, in fact, super annoying. 

i want to keep the training angle, but make it more... spiritual. and thematic.

so, yae miko is like blah blah, you need to prepare to face Raiden, and I will train you, as the person who knows her the best.

Paimon is like wow, you’re gonna teach us to fight??

Yae Miko is like haha you’re so stupid, no, of course not. Your goal is to change raiden’s mind. For that, you need to know and understand her and where she’s coming from.

We will know you’re ready, when you can pass the Sacred Sakura trial

she leads traveler to the sacred sakura. there are like stone plates with symbols at the base, you know, the puzzle ones.

Yae goes like, do you know what Transience means? Transience is the dream of the nation of thunder. We find the greatest joys in mortal life in fleeting dreams, for is life itself not like the shadow of the thunder? Pursue your dreams into the clouds if you wish, and enjoy the unexpected silence of the dim lamp-lit nights.

traveler and paimon is like yeah wait, we saw smth like that in inazuma shrines and ruins

yae is like great, then show me the symbol of Transience. traveler looks at the puzzle stones, but there weren’t really anything like this in the prev locations which mentioned transience

player can fiddle with puzzle stones, but whatever combination they try, it doesn’t work

after a couple of tries, yae is like okay, it seems you still have much to learn! lets go, i’ll teach you

you go through the inazuma city with her, but seemingly only do bullshit. like, eating ramen, shopping, doing some light novels bs, and like traveler is paying for everything. not too long, like just few minutes, with a couple phrases per activity and fading to black, kinda montage of more and more exasperated and confused traveler and paimon until they’re like wait what the fuck is this. how is supposed to teach us anything??

yae does her signature bullshit smirks like hehe you’re too close-minded, you clearly haven’t understood ~Transience~, so buy me more stuff

paimon does her Angry Stomp, you know the one, like ugh! you’re just fucking with us to get us to pay for stuff, we’re done!

yae narrows her eyes menacingly with a smile like haha is this how u wanna talk to me you little flying shit, paimon hides behind traveler like oops sorry i didn’t say that, but then like, resistance messenger runs up to the traveler and traveler and paimon use this us an excuse to fuck off

Kazuha conflict\ Reveal of the true reasons for Raiden Gokaden fall

turns out messenger is from Kazuha. we meet up with him. he’s in the city despite being fugitive bc he’s heard some maniac is killing ppl, searching for the last scion of the Isshin school bloodline

listen, i love kazuha and i overall like his story quest, but it ends up being more character development for the cursed sword, not kazuha. and like i get it, it’s hard to write conflict for Kazuha bc he’s already escaped samsara, he’s the sole receiver of all therapy in genshin, he rolls 20 on every Wisdom roll, etc etc. 

but that doesn’t mean we can’t explore his character more in depth and give him a conflict, even if his beliefs do not change as the result, but just better articulated.

We’re keeping the quest mostly same, as I said, I like it fine, it’s still about kazuha going on a therapy tour with the cursed sword, but with like. actual stakes

because in canon, when the sword says like oh, together we will have power to defeat raiden, its obviously not really a temptation for kazuha. bc like. the war is already over! kazuha has already won! AND he personally blocked legendary ublockable move that his friend dreamed of doing. why would he go back and fight raiden again?? it makes no sense

so it ends up being just like. kazuha psychoanalyzing cursed sword the entire time. which cool and all, but i want to play quest about kazuha and not the sword??

but, if it happens DURING the war, it’s much more impactful. this is not just revenge, there are lives on the line and no way to fight raiden. so when the sword is like I will give you power to stand up to raiden, then its not only in memory of his friend, but to protect the resistance. It is now a believable choice that can give Kazuha a pause, because situation is dire and they need every advantage they can get

this is also to rhyme with the Delusions motif, the “my own strength is not enough, so I must turn to the corrupted source of power for which i know i will pay”

of course, in the end kazuha decides to not give in to the cursed sword, bc he sees through its facade that the sword is actually weakening and falling apart, but also because he is narrative foil to both scara (scara believes in doing anything to gain power to pursue his obsession, even at great pain to himself, this is why he’s tied with delusions, and then in sumeru quest gets into dotorre’s torture mecha) AND raiden, which i think fandom largely misses. 

both Kazuha and Ei had friends and loving, supporting family, but were kinda sheltered and isolated from people. Ei because she was Makoto’s shadow and didn’t really interact with public, and Kazuha because he was an heir of a falling noble house and he was feeling trapped and focused on trying to live up to his own expectations and anxieties (this btw was beautifully dramatized in his domain in prev summer’s golden archipelago) 

both of them were quiet and kinda introverted, Ei allowing her sister take a central stage and Kazuha admitting that ppl with grand aspirations always captivated him, which obv references his friend. then, they lost everything in one fell swoop. 

Ei lost her friends in the cataclysm and then, her sister. Kazuha’s family died, and later he had to flee his estate, becoming fugitive and then his friend was killed in a duel with Raiden. they both had their small-ish isolated worlds and lost them violently 

and Raiden tried to catch the shards of her falling world and keep them in place, cover them in stasis, as if it could restore what was broken. She saw eternity as the lack of change and decided to never change herself. She closed off from the world, literally destroyed her physical body and isolated her mind in a little locked world, focused solely on “preserving” herself.

in contrast, Kazuha opened up to the world. He didn’t try to stop the winds of change, he followed them. One of this themes is being a part of the world, “One with wind and clouds”, “One with the nature”, “Life has just begun and maybe, the whole world can be my home,” this is why his kit heavily features element absorption and his character stories emphasize how he’s sharp, notices little details in surroundings, even has sharp sense of smell. 

He reached out to people instead of isolating himself, and so he found new friends, he saw the endless beauty in the bigger world even after his own cozy snowglobe was shattered. 

His theme is not only about being open to the world, but also bringing different elements together, and he’s the one who brings people in inazuma arc together. He brings traveler to Thoma, then through him Gorou reaches Beidou and the mercs, etc. this is why he is the one who blocks raiden. 

he is her foil precisely because he can let go and doesn’t let his grief blind him, he will fight her because she needs to be stopped, but not because he wants to take revenge or fore her to suffer. He is the breaker of cycles of pain, not perpetuator

so kazuha refuses, like in original, sword deteriorates more and more, and in the end, becomes weak, but regains memories about his creator in exile in snezhnaya. 

but, with the added twist to the scene where kazuha sees memories of the sword. In our version, Shogun instituted vision hunt decree because vision holding blade smith collaborated with fatui and led to the fall of Raiden Gokaden, 5 sword art schools. 

But now we learn that Kazuha’s ancestor who made this cursed sword, was this very vision-holding blade smith, and he never betrayed Inazuma, instead, he was slandered by Fatui and it was all Scara’s plan on his misguided revenge against Raiden Gokaden.

as in canon, Kazuha reforges the sword with the last shreds of its power. It does not hold its previous cursed strength anymore, but it is a last sword made in lost technique of Kazuha’s family tradition and he swears to restore it, just as he does in canon

Vision Loss exploration\ Yoimiya was always relevant

after this, paimon and traveler are like ugh, we don’t want to go back to yae, we don’t know the answer to symbol of transience puzzle and she will just mock us more. Lets go see how Yoimiya is doing instead!

ok so, I want to address what I see as a problem in how genshin handled vision loss. like obviously, vision loss stands for trauma. and “wow after their vision was taken, they turned into a completely different person” works as initial impression, bc often when someone you know changes drastically, it can feel this way

where this narrative fails is that it never explores further, bc all characters we meet with vision loss are random NPCs we see for 15 minutes, so it ends up being shallow “this guy was very kind and selfless before, but after losing vision he completely ignores ppl he helped with “new number who dis” response”, which like???

framing ppl who are already going through inner turmoil and struggle as like, complete strangers who are not themselves anymore and also completely lose positive qualities tied to their visions, is so tactless and wrong. It’s still the same person, no matter how drastically changed, and they need support, not demonization like “inherently incapable of caring about people after losing vision”.

this is why i think its better to focus on one character players know and care about instead of several NPCs no one gives a fuck about

so we go visit Yoi and meet her with her dad during discussion. it’s festival time and their family always made fireworks for it, they have several orders now too. But, due to Yoi being caught as part of resistance, her family was blacklisted and they can’t get necessary supplies to create fireworks, specifically like special chemical powder. 

so now, Yoi needs to go to all the clients and tell them there will be no fireworks for them for this festival.

Yoi’s dad is very supportive and doesn’t blame Yoi, but she still feels its her fault. She’s not a firecracker she was before, now quieter and harsher, and it does feel like she’s someone new, who traveler and paimon do not know.

we go to the clients to inform them with Yoi, and while doing so learn what fireworks meant for each of them. for some, it was friendship, how now matter how different their lives were, they would get together and celebrate with fireworks. for old couple, its ritual to celebrate their marriage and so on.

they are all sad, but understanding, and supportive and concerned about Yoi. she puts on brave face, but its obvious for the traveler that its hard for her to pretend to be fine.

on the way back, they have a convo about how its tacking a toll on Yoi, and how she feels bad, but also hopeless, and it also feels like something as joyous and frivolous as fireworks is meaningless in the middle of the war and vision hunt

we get back and find Yoi’s dad talking to customers. Its a refugee family, they explain that they live on another island, but once in a few years would visit Narukami for the festival and buy fireworks. They were forced to go to Narukami right now bc of the war, but since they are here already, they want at least something good to come out of it. And they have a cute little girl who is too young and never before saw fireworks and she’s sooooo excited, and the whole time they were running from their home they were consoling her by saying they go to Narukami to see the festival and the fireworks 

Yoi’s dad starts defeatedly explaining that unfortunately they cannot make fireworks right now, but Yoi interrupts him, and for a moment she’s her old self, bright and joyful, she reassures the little girl that its okay, they will have fireworks for sure, and these will be the prettiest fireworks ever!

family leaves, excited, and Yoi drops the facade. she wasn’t “cured” in a moment, but she is determined 

traveler and paimon are like - oh but how will we get fireworks??

Yoi is like “tenryo commission has this confiscated powder in their warehouse and we are raiding it, bc this little girl is getting her family fireworks if its the last fucking thing i do”

bc she realized, viscerally, that actually, fireworks will be more meaningful now BECAUSE of the dark and uncertain times, not despite of them, and whether its someone childhood OR last years of life, time is fleeting and impossible to get back, so giving people joy and hope is more important than ever

she’s not “healed”, she’s not back to her old self yet, but we see that there’s still spark in her and hope for recovery, even if she struggles, and deep down she is still same kind and caring Yoi we’ve met at the start

we do the warehouse domain, fight, do puzzles, get powder, Yoi and her dad make fireworks, we watch basically same cutscene as of the end of Yoi’s first quest now, with ppl looking up at the sky and seeing fireworks and Yoi and traveler watching from the hill.

at which point i want to mention that like, despite some part of fandom calling canon Yoi irrelevant, she always supported inazuma themes, which i will illustrate by using the dialogue from the quest verbatim and showing how i don’t even need to rewrite it to make it fit

Yoimiya: It was by chance that I happened to be born into the Naganohara family, so it was by chance that I ended up learning this craft from my pops.

Yoimiya: It's also by chance that I've met so many people, learned so many things, and discovered that people associate watching fireworks with the things that are most precious to them. 

Yoimiya: Fireworks that disappear in a flash of light are probably the furthest thing away from the eternity that our Shogun desires. 

Yoimiya: But people's feelings don't just disappear, and it's those feelings that give fireworks their purpose. If nobody wanted to watch fireworks, then they wouldn't exist.

Traveler: That's another kind of eternity.

boom! Yoimiya was always a representation of transience philosophy, hoyo just didn’t dramatize it properly and without transience explored during main quest, she felt like she doesn’t belong, while she was an actual Inazuma spiritual end game goal all along.

Makoto Reveal

anyway. traveler, pauses, repeats themselves. “Another kind of eternity... Eternity in fleeting things, because people’s dreams give them meaning...”

they get up and run to yae, looking determined, confused paimon following behind

“i know the answer,“ traveler tells to yae and she smirks, leads them to the puzzle stones near Sakura

“So, show me the symbol of transience“

but instead of fiddling with the stones, traveler gestures at the sakura petals, gliding on the wind and people watching theim

“This is the eternity in transience“

yae chuckles in delight “oh, finally, i thought you’ll never get it. How could be fleeting dreams be captured in stone puzzles?”

paimon is like ooooh is this why you led us around eating ramen and shopping? you were not just fucking around on our money, you wanted to make us think about enjoying momentary fleeting things?

yae gives her signature facetious response like oh of course how could you think i was scamming, how ungrateful of you etc etc, but its clear that she both actually was trying to give a hint AND enjoyed scamming them for free stuff

then she gets quieter, says pensively “but it seems the company of your friends was better help with figuring it out... She always did say that we immortals cannot understand beauty of transience the way humans do...”

paimon and traveler are like “She???”

thats when the cutscene revealing that there were two shoguns and that raiden’s sister died at the cataclysm plays. nothing much to add here, i think the existing cutscene works well, but because in canon it’s played AFTER raiden’s defeated, it feels a bit weird, like post-factum excuse.

like raiden goes oh well ok, i’ll get rid of vision hunt decree, by the way i had a twin sister who died, like?? i think pacing-wise its better to learn why raiden is Like That before “punch her until she changes her mind” fight than after she had already changed her mind

so, paimon is like ooooh, so this is why it seemed that raiden changed so much! she didn’t change, we just saw the ideas of the first shogun

yae is like yes, ei’s grief for her sister and differences in their views is important for you to understand for when you will try to change her mind in her hikikomori mind palace

Storming the palace\ Signora interlude

then yae does the ok lets get Kojou Sara quests, which I don’t really feel like changing, bc like. it does its job fine enough. we need to establish that tenryou commission was corrupted and working with fatui AND that kujou sara will go against her only family for justice

the ayato infiltrating like 5 rebellion guys with gorou and kazuha to take the palace is kinda dumb logistically, but tbh this is not game of thrones. genshin works mostly on anime logic where things happen bc its cool and fitting for the character\narrative beats. making actually realistic attack plan i feel like would be too long, complex and derail from the storyline, so i’d say lets keep it roughly same

What I’m gonna change is Signora cameo. And by change I mean remove it completely. I spent a lot of time trying to make her death work, but it just doesn’t. She has nothing to do with Inazuma story or themes, shows up for 2 seconds and dies immediately. This is a shitshow, like, we’d need to derail whole archon quest to insert her and it still wouldn’t be good. 

if Signora has to be dead for like, the strategic plot reasons, here is my version of how it should go down

ok but we need an opportunity for raiden to do her one hit boob kill move, and how are we gonna do this if we remove Signora?

easy, sara confronts her tenryuo adoptive dad in front of raiden. like, rn she runs to him, he has a speech about how he basically doesn’t care about raiden herself, but really only worships the Boob Nuke. he gets defeated and then sara runs off to raiden and gets knocked out off-screen, like??? this is so awkward. what the fuck is the point

instead, sara is like right now is the time when Tenryuo chief is reporting to raiden, we need to tell her he’s lying to her!

we follow sara to the palace and confront tenryuo dude in front of raiden. he’s like you have no proof u insolent girl and this is after everything i’ve done for u! 

sara challenges him to a duel before the throne and raiden agrees. 

we fight the dude and defeat him. he launches into basically same unhinged speech, but now raiden is here to hear it. 

She realizes that even those who she considered the most loyal of her servants worship not her, but her power, because she removed herself from inazuma and all people know of her is to fear the Boob Nuke. this is a important step in her development that we will explore a bit later

then she annihilates him which i think is much more thematically relevant bc he died from the same blade he worshipped

then, raiden is like well, i’ve dealt with a traitor, but don’t think that it gets YOU off the hook, a criminal is a criminal and I’ll destroy you

then we duel, bc like. her using boob sword at the start of battle is thematically wrong. its a finisher, a kill move. in the first duel she used it at the end. she needs to charge her burst first, you know

so, we go to the plane of euthemiya and fight. it basically goes the same, first traveler has elements disabled, then wishes of inazuma people awaken and empower them.

raiden is shaken, but not convinced. bc this is the Gives a Fuck raiden, it’s not that she didn’t know her people had ambitions, tho she could underestimate them, its that she thought these ambitions can only lead them to ruin and she, as an arbiter of eternity who sacrificed her body to lock her mind in a sword and evade “corruption“, is the one who knows best.

she rallies up and counter-attacks. similar scene as in the first duel happens, she throws traveler to the real world and follows, readying the kill move

and thats when kazuha blocks her 

i think in canon this isn’t given appropriate weight for raiden. bc like. that was her legendary UNBLOCKABLE strike. she one-shot gods and monsters with it. this was her personal proof of perfection, she knows she might not be a philosopher and leader like her sister, but she is The best warrior. like if you want to change her mind, you have to fight her in a duel, her mastery of sword is how she justifies that she’s right to herself

and now a mortal blocked her most perfect move

and not just any mortal! She recognizes the style of the blade he wields. Isshin blade, even though Isshin art died as Raiden Gokaden schools fell

she asks him how did he get this blade and he tells her the truth he learned from the cursed sword

her people never betrayed her. instead, she was mislead by the fatui and pushed her own subjects into running away to the enemies because they didn’t believe she would listen and be merciful to them

the worst thing is that she knows they were right. she would not have been merciful.

and now she watches the bitter irony of how her eternity crumbles.

tenryuo commission, who she thought of her most loyal and closest servants, upholding laws and traditions, in truth were corrupted from the inside, tradition nothing but a hollow form, a fake shape kept just to appease her, with no true soul or meaning, lusting only after power

but the last scion of the clan she though betrayed her, an exile and criminal, a vagabond and pirate, is the one who embodied isshin art she thought lost wholeheartedly, the one who preserved the last true blade of his school. the one who blocked her strike that she thought of as the truest.

and with the vision of a man she had once already defeated in a duel

with all of that, with countless visions rallying up to support an outlander against their own god, with the proof that even killing rebels would be useless because ambitions of the dead will be picked up and reignited again by the living, with proof of the corruption rotting in her government, she cannot see herself in the right anymore

this is why she lifts the vision hunt decree

Raiden’s First Story Quest 

I think there’s general agreement in fandom, even among raiden fans, that her first story quest is one of the worst in game. its so boring and pointless. you go on a date with raiden and then she fights some nerd in a duel. who gives a fuck.

it also takes for granted that all players even WANT to hang out with raiden, which like, at this point she was only a giant dick to everyone around and not everyone is a boob worshipper. for people who already disliked her, being forced to babysit her around and take her photos only feels more annoying and antagonizing

Again, our main change in characterization for raiden is that she actually gives a fuck. like, in canon her country is on the brink of complete collapse after civil war and fatui schemes, 2 out of 3 commissions are barely functional, her robot-sona is malfunctioning the storm, and she not only does not give a fuck, but traveler has to jump through hoops to get to her. and she just goes on a date, trying sweets and light novels. like. guuuuurl. come on, get a grip for 5 fucking minutes and do your damn job. we had to randomly stumble into tenryuo nerd being bullied for her to take ANY part in inazuma’s politics

so, logical thing to do for Raiden Who Gives a Fuck is to go out and try to sort out mess she’s now learnt her country was turned into. 

like, she summons traveler and goes hey, i know we’re not exactly on bestest terms, but I need to root out corruption and fatui’s shit specifically, and i don’t trust my government officials right now, so i need your help in being a guide bc i haven’t left the room in 500 years. 

kujou sara is also there since raiden deemed her trustworthy bc sara was the one who exposed tenryuo corruption to her

i got an ask about how canonically Kanjou commission was in a vulnerable state due to commerce falling with sakoku decree,  and so they could be an easy first foothold for fatui to get themselves into the country, and i think raiden quest would be a good place to explore it, while she’s investigation corruption.

i’m not gonna write the whole plot, it doesn’t really matter, the main points is that raiden sees isolation actually doesn’t protect her ppl, but harms them, that when ppl are not allowed to do smth that they want, they will turn to illegal and much more harmful ways instead, for which delusions are an allegory.

raiden can still do fluffy stuff like trying mango milkshakes or whatever, but while going from one commission to another instead of just wandering around on a date

tenruyo nerd can also be there if hoyo wants to include him for some reason. they can even have same useless duel with raiden at the end that makes her appoint him head of commission

Kujou Sara

as I said, Sara is also there, going with raiden on investigation, showing her competence, until its clear that she’s the sole hinge on which entire tenryuo commission depends.

raiden praises her for her loyalty, and Sara, incredibly earnest and grateful, explains her backstory, how she was a kid falling to her death from a mountain while enemies were storming it, and how she received vision during the fall and thus survived, so she now not only owes her life to raiden, but can’t imagine better cause to serve, as clearly, raiden is omnipotent and all knowing and caring enough to save an insignificant tengu child like her

raiden frowns. she does not grant visions herself, in fact, she is not even aware when electro visions are granted - this is canon btw, it’s from raiden’s own voicelines.

tenryuo nerd sees that raiden is about to speak up, and even though he obv doesn’t know vision secrets, he realizes from her expression alone that she’s about to contradict sara’s story

he interrupts her, apologizes profusely, but takes her aside and begs her to not say to sara anything that can shake her loyalty, because again, this commission is going to crumble without her. These are temoulteous times and they need sara the most, raiden can tell her whatever she wants after inazuma is stabilized

but the thing is that being truly honorable is supposed to be raiden’s redeeming grace. she might be stubborn and inflexible, ruthless and inept, but she is straightforward and honorable, she cannot accept loyalty given on false premises, and we need to show that in action

raiden tells sara bluntly that she did not give her a vision, that she was not aware that sara was in risk of death at all

sara is shaken. her world crumbles before her. this is not just bc of her own vision and life that she thought she owed, but in fact, did not. no, much more it’s about vision hunt decree. its about all the people she was sent after, talked to them and their crying families for hours, telling them that this is for their own good, that shogun knows better, sara herself is an example, is a proof. it’s about all the people she didn’t convince and had to take their visions by force, comforting herself in the knowledge that she personally might not understand shogun’s plan, but what she knows is that is infallible.

and now it turns out it’s not true at all.

this, she cannot take. she asks raiden to free her from service. and bc again, raiden is honorable, even knowing the damage it will do, she lets sara go.

after that, she shows up in events and side quests, showing her on a journey to find herself.

we see her in yae miko’s story quest, protecting ppl from the guy who was possessed by the oni spirit, and later, watching yokai spirits dance in the skies and yearning

we see her in an event with a ghost umbrella, being strict and cross with yokai kids for causing so much ruckus, but secretly fond and protective of them, and playing off her funny rivalry with itto

we see her in itto’s quest, in a part where traveler asks ppl about itto’s character, and she’s being fair, says that he might be an idiot and hooligan, but he would never harm or kidnap innocent ppl

we see her in irodori festival, organizing the community, bc she knows how to do it and she’s good at it and *someone* has to (and bc she cares about ppl without any order telling her to)

then, she’s in kokomi quest, bc kokomi asks her to be present at negotiations, bc she’s the only one from tenryuo in whose honor kokomi can really trust. sara tells her that she has no official standing anymore, but kokomi asks her to be there anyway. later, when dishonesty from tenryuo side is revealed and sara helps to stop the ppl who are trying to sabotage negotiations, kokomi asks sara to vouch for what happened in report to raiden, so that this is not blamed on watatsumi and fair deal can be cut

sara says again that raiden has no reason to listen to her and take the worse deal just on her word. and yet, after a couple of days, report comes back. raiden listens to sara’s word and does not force watatsumi to accept the bad conditions. we can see this affecting sara, her being conflicted

sara\kokomi shippers, ur welcome btw

then, raiden’s second story quest. it starts as of now. we accept commission to deal with abyss wolves spawning, go to the mountain of sacred sakura. but instead of just meeting raiden, we first see kujou sara.

she’s there to protect people because this is who she is, this is the ambition that summoned her vision to begin with, and no lies and manipulations can change that.

like at the beginning of her story, she’s on the mountain, protecting her home from the enemies

like at the beginning, she falls and survives the fall, but she’s too injured and about to be killed by the wolves

but this time, inazuma’s archon has not locked herself in a room.

raiden appears, destroying the wolves and saving sara. this time, she is not just an idea based on false belief of a child. she is there in flesh to finally take action that sara believed she was doing so many years ago.

as in canon, raiden says that she will fight the monsters alone, bc its her duty to protect inazuma.

and this is when sara pledges her allegiance to raiden again.

raiden tells her that her saving sara’s life does not mean that sara now owes that life to her, as raiden’s duty is to protect all of her people

but this is not why sara wants to follow her now. finally, she sees real raiden and not childish illusion of an omnipotent goddess who always knows better. but real raiden is honest, honorable, and despite being strongheaded and often misguided, someone who cares deeply for her ppl and is driven by the same goal to protect as sara

sara tells this to her, asserting that she will not serve her out of obligation or with blind loyalty like before, that she will now think critically and question and tell raiden if she believes she;s wrong, but she will believe in her nonetheless as long as raiden cares about inazuma over herself

raiden says that then they will share an eternity in service of inazuma people, as they should

as sara is injured, raiden sends her to organize evacuation instead of fighting, and quest goes on as in canon

sara\raiden shippers, ur welcome btw

Ancient Sakura Blooms Again

I don’t want to change much else about raiden’s second quest, bc its already pretty fucking good and manages to speedrun raiden’s character development in 45 minutes.

instead, all of my rewrite is meant to be a setup to establish both raiden’s conflict and makoto’s personality and philosophy beforehand, instead of getting infodump from old man ghost in 1.5 scenes

this way, raiden coming to accept the eternity as transience is natural progression instead of speedrun and makoto’s appearance has bigger impact, since she was haunting the narrative from the start and we came to know about her gradually

also, irodori festival can go pretty much the same. scara being behind raiden gokaden fall is now more significant, bc for our version it was inazuma’s inciting incident, and now just like. random lore bit.

also, both raiden and yae miko show up in comedic cameos during festival, but after they learn it was scara, there is a brief serious scene as raiden realizes that while she was blaming fatui for corrupting inazuma, it was only possible bc she neglected her own creation, which is a metaphor for inazuma’s isolation as a whole. she doesn’t explain that ofc, just looks striken

“i thought i’m giving him peace...“

“i’ve told you we should’ve destroyed that puppet“, yae miko spits out (she did canonically wanted to off scara after raiden decided he’s not fit for gnosis bc he cried)

ofc, we won’t give proper backstory before sumeru, but it would be a nice tease that will get deeper meaning once we do know, and also illustrate that both raiden’s solipsistic abandonment and yae miko burning bridges instead of dealing with ppl is not great governing strategies

also, irodori has additional ayaka storyline about how she got involved in all this investigation stuff as a distraction to get away from the house bc ayato asked her to wear family jewels for the festival finale and she sold them in act 2, but she’s too afraid to tell it to ayato

finally, after learning of kazuha’s family keeping secrets from each other that hurt them in the long run, she finally gets brave enough to tell ayato what she did

he stops her mid-sentence and tells her to go check the chests

she’s confused, but obeys. she runs back holding the jewelry, being like oh my god what?? how is that back?? did u buy it back??? did u know the entire time???

of course he knew the entire time. he’s proud of her. he only wished she trusted him enough to ask for his help directly.

you didn’t use the commission funds for this, right? ayaka hesitates for a second and ayato laugh.

of course not. why would he need to steal from commission when there are so many fatui assassins to loot

oh, i always knew you wouldn’t. wait what....

ayato’s quest i’d rewrite completely. he’s still manipulate mansplain manslut, but in better political machinations then sabotaging a wedding of npcs and giving hannibal lector speeches to random goons

we’ve scorched out inazuma’s corruption in raiden first quest, now is the time to restructure and modernize commissions which were gutted by said corruption, for which raiden assembles yae, sara, traveler and ayato, who is the head of only commission that did not sell out to fatui

ayato and yae miko are incredibly petty cunts to each other in a very smiley passive aggressive manner, but they team up to come up with devious machinations for the greater good

sara is there not only for military expert role, but also to speak up for the common ppl which she is finally closer to, and to ground the schemers

raiden sometimes thoughtfully says “why don’t we duel them to death?“ as solution to many problems, and when everyone yells no, shrugs

overall, its kinda rough going and obvious that there are a lot of problems ahead, but also clear that inazuma did change and grew, raiden is no longer a solipsistic tyrant and she has a diverse council she listens to and actively engages with her country’s problems

btw, in ayato vs yae miko schemes off he gets to win and be smug bc its his birthday story quest

Yoimiya’s second story quest

Yoi’s second quest is already v good and obv has a lot of soul in it, i wouldn’t change too much, except for the premise

bc this quest is the reason i decided to make vision loss plotline at all. bc this quest is already perfectly written to be culmination of that plot line, and frankly, gets a lot of ??? without it

like, it starts bc yoi just randomly decides to go on vacation to wish on falling stars. like ok i guess. and she’s like i didnt really care but the whole village really got into it and want me to see it, so i’m doing it for them. like?? why would they be invested in random vacation like that?? mb ok they just love yoi

but then traveler goes to nahida and she’s like sorry, meteor showers happen like once in 200 years. but traveler and paimon are very insistent that they have have to do it for you, they can’t disappoint her. when like. its a random vacation! and yoi is not a type of person to be like ugh i didn’t get to see falling stars, my trip is RUINED

but no, they beg nahida to help like its big deal, and nahida agrees to involve aranara, despite no adult being able to see aranara is a big deal in lore. and then they have a whole conversation about is it ethical to trick yoi into believing this meteor shower is real if it’s just a dream, even if she’ll learn truth later, when like.... it’s a vacation????? she’s just there to have fun???? why are you all so serious

basically, beginning of this quest makes little sense, bc it has no actual stakes until girl in a wheelchair shows up, but narrative treats it very seriously when like “yoi has fun on vacation“ is the only stated goal for the start

BUT, if taken as part of vision loss story, everything snaps into place.

after vision hunt ended, visions were returned to their owners. but not all of them reignited on the spot, and Yoimiya is one of the people whose vision did not activate

and is it any surprise? after all she’s seen in a war, all she’s been through, how could she go back to believing that the world is a good and happy place, in the inherent wonder and joy of it?

her vision stayed grey and silent in her hands. she feels bad and guilty that she can’t be happy go lucky as before, when her father and all of the villagers care so much about her

they nudge her to go on a trip to see the falling stars, inspiration for fireworks, in hopes it will remind her of why she loved them so much before

this is the stakes, this is why inazuma ppl care, why traveler cares enough to ask nahida and why nahida would be moved to break tradition and let yoi interact with aranara, why they have this long convo about if it’s right to trick yoi. bc f it’s about reigniting her belief in world’s miracles, then yeah, it makes a lot more sense to worry about truth of it

not only this, but the disabled girl turns from just random npc to a mirror parallel to yoi. both of them were harshly and suddenly hurt by the world, both lost will to live. and the kicker is that yoi is going along bc she feels bad and bc her family and friends are worrying about her, but she only *really* get into this when she meets this girl

because this is what she was always about, not just happy go lucky girl, but a gold koi, a light of happiness and luck talisman for other people, especially for kids. for this girl, she will believe is the wishing stars

of course, her vision reignites when in aranara dreamland she takes girl’s hand and jumps onto the falling stars to fly across the sky. because it’s not about how the world is cruel. its about how good we can be to each other. what if it’s just a shared dream? We find the greatest joys in mortal life in fleeting dreams, for is life itself not like the shadow of the thunder? Pursue your dreams into the clouds if you wish

#genshin impact #genshin #rhine talks #kujou sara #raiden shogun #inazuma #inazuma rants

[mamisfavmosherz]

Can you do when Bayley and Reder had a big argument and haven't seen each other for months and the rerder is too scared to talk to bayley

Pairing: Bayley x Reader

Warnings: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of arguing, Protective Zelina Vega

A/n: I'm so sorry about how long this toke I've had zero motivation to write 😭

Masterlist, WWE masterlist

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Broken Trust

Two months, it had been two miserable months sense you had last talked to your - hopefully still - girlfriend. You and Bayley had been dating for a few months, and you were still in the honeymoon phase but two months ago ya'll got into a fight. One that you thought would be resolved quickly but here you were months later without a word from Bayley who you didn't even know if you could call your girlfriend anymore.

You loved Bayley with all your heart and you never wanted to lose her, you guys had been really close friends for years before you started dating. You guys have been through everything together. Starting nxt, your first championship wins, getting drafted to the main roster, getting hate, going through slumps and burnouts, being at the top of the mountain, just everything. You couldn't imagine not having her in your life but she hurt you and she hurt you deep with her words. You weren't all innocent though and you knew that you were both hurting, but you were scared.

Scared that she might not want you in her life anymore, scared that she didn't regret any of the words she said, scared that you might never hear from her again. It had been months, but you couldn't stop replaying the fight over and over again every day.

Even though you worked for the same brand going to work was an escape in a way you buried yourself in only worrying about Smackdown, your matches, your feuds, the wwe universe and nothing else but you had been overworking yourself so much to not think about her and avoid her that it came to a point were there was nothing else for you to do. You were sitting in the locker room, having gone through your match a hundred times, over your storylines 100 more and definitely had been on social media with the fans long enough for the day. Nobody from the higher-ups needed you. You had done all the media you were needed for, and you had helped around as much as you legitimately could.

You hated just sitting in the locker room. Well, now you did, before you would've given anything for this free time you've accidentally made for yourself, but now all it brought you was overthiking.

You started unconsciously crying, you missed Bayley, normally you two would sneak off here and get in as much time together as you could during the busy day. You could give anything for that stupid fight to have never happened.

Zelina came into the locker room, having forgotten an accessory from her gear, and immediately went to you when she saw you crying. You guys were like sister she didn't need to ask she knew why you were crying, at least the general/main reason. Right now, Zelina despised Bayley she knew you were slightly to blame too, but she is a ride or die for her girls.

You leaned into Zelina and get kept crying. You were grateful it was her that walked in as she understood and didn't ask questions, and the last thing you wanted right now was to explain anything.

While she was comforting you, you heard the creak of the door opening but didn't pay it any mind, most the locker room knew something was up with you these past months and knew when to give you your space, so you didn't expect anyone to speak up.

"Y/n/n (you nickname) ?" At the familiar voice and special nickname that you hadn't heard in months you snapped your head to the direction of the door but before you could say anything Zelina rushed to the door and slightly pushed Bayley back. "What the hell do you want ?"

"I just... can I talk to her... please..." Bayley asked not even actually looking at Zelina, she was looking at your tear stained face, her own wearing a worried and guilty look. "Oh so now you wanna talk to her huh ? No podias hacer antes cuando deverdad contaba tal vez ay nose... hace dos putos meses ???" (Couldn't you do that when it really mattered maybe oh I don't know... two fucking months ago ???")

"I'm sorry, I swear I just wanna explain-" "No, go away, you don't get to come back now!" You stood up and quickly went to Zelina, putting your hand on her shoulder." Hey Z... I-its okay. We need to have this talk... I promise it's okay. I'll call you if I need you..." At that, Zelina looked into your eyes for a bit, searching for any doubt, but once she was sure you were okay, she turned to Bayley and gleared a whole through her head before walking out.

Not being fully sure what to do, you both stood there for a moment just looking at each other, the tension of not seeing or talking to each other for months hanging in the air.

Bayley took the lead after a beat taking a deep breath before trying to walk towards you, instinctively reaching for you to try and comfort you as she could still read you like a book and could sense the fear and anxiety in you but you toke a step back, not letting her touch you and trying to stand your ground cause you knew the second you let her comfort you all the walls would crumble and you would forgive her in an instant even after everything and right now that probably wasn't the best idea.

Bayley's heart broke when you took a step back and moved away from her, but she understood why you did it. Respecting your boundaries, she also moved back a little, giving you space, not wanting you to feel like you were trapped in this situation, and you could leave if that's what you wanted.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry for everything, for the stupid argument, for the things I said, for not talking to you for months, for upsetting you, for making you feel how you're feeling right now... that was never my intention, but what's done is done, and I'm so sorry... if you don't want to ever see me again I understand but I just wanted you to know that I regret everything I said and that I love you more than anything and I forever will be grateful for having you in my life" Bayley was trying to hold back tears, although she was failing and you weren't doing much better either.

Giving all your history with Bayley the last thing you wanted was to not have her in your life but you knew that you didn't deserve what she did and you couldn't just forgive her just because but you loved her, no matter what.

"I don't forgive you... not yet... but I do want you in my life, and we can take it slow, start building trust again, and go from there... and I'm sorry, too. I said some harsh things as well, and I promise I didn't mean any of it... I love you, Bay..."

Bayley smiled at you. She would do anything and everything to gain your trust back, and she accepted your apology. She was just ready to fix everything and she didn't care how long it took she was gonna do it because you're her whole world and there's nothing she wouldn't do for you.

#wwe bayley fanfiction #bayley wwe x reader #bayley wwe #bayley x reader #bayley #wwe raw #wwe fanfiction #wwe #wwe smackdown #celebrities

[myrxellabaratheon]

I feel like some people have like zero comprehension of sub-text and it shows. I had to read that there aren’t written proofs about Robb considering Theon his best friend in the entire asoiaf saga. Not to mention people saying he showed Theon a bit of attention sporadically…

I mean, sure, it’s not written anywhere “they were best friends” and we are missing Robb POV’s chapters, but their relationship is shown enough through Bran and Cat’s POVs and neither of them is particularly warm toward Theon to start with.

Do you want proofs?

1. Theon being the person who stops Robb from punching Joffrey (Arya POV) - it implies they are close enough for Theon to understand Robb’s reactions before everyone else

2. Theon not leaving with Ned for King’s Landing when it would have been the rational choice considering that Theon was Ned’s hostage/ward + Catelyn resenting the fact that Robb listens to Theon’s advice

3. Bran wondering why Robb kept Theon around - with the entire situation which was going on at that moment, someone would have expected and understood if he just didn’t care about his father’s ward

4. Bran being jealous of the time Robb spends with Theon - I’m still behind with my asoiaf reread but it was in his tirade against Robb the Lord

5. I’m sending Theon, mother, Grey Wind come! - the only reason why he would have sent him is for Theon to go back to the Islands considering that he could have sent anyone else

6. The man I considered my closest friend took my home and killed my brothers. - I know it’s a quote from the show but it’s from back when Martin was still workin with D&D and he could have changed it but didn’t?

I really don’t know why we never got Robb’s POV especially while Cat goes to negotiate with Renly and during the battle of the Craig because it would have given more an idea of what was going on, even more than having Theon’s chapters from the beginning (which is something I’d love to read too), but I guess it’s fairly clear that Robb did care about Theon A LOT and the entire misunderstanding with Bran and the wildings was pretty much a once in a life time reaction and not something which happened often (otherwise it would have made no sense for the development of Theon’s storyline).

#throbb #theon greyjoy #robb stark #got #game of thrones #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #I’d pay real money to read Robb POV’s chapters #also the fact that Robb considered Theon his best friend doesn’t invalidate Robb and Jon’s relationship #and I don’t understand why people fight over this?! #it only makes it funnier if you think about Robb loving the two of them #and them being the exact opposite and Robb being done with them #also theon and jon only pretending to fight over robb’s affection #while they are secretly friends #but that’s more modern!au

[eddiediazismyhusband]

Wait was edy confirmed to have been filming last night??? PLEASEE WHEN CAN SHE JUST BE GONE

I don’t think she was 100% confirmed to be filming last night or not in all honesty- I blocked her transphobic ass a while ago so the only information i get about her whereabouts on set are from what i’m told by other people, but i think the big theory going around right now is that she always posts after others post about being on set, and people think she may be piggybacking trying to make it look like she’s there when she actually isn’t… of course this is just a theory and like i said i blocked her. a while ago so i don’t see her posts to confirm nor deny the plausibility of this, but knowing her attention-seeking attitude i wouldn’t put it past her.

And i would not fear too much anon, actors are often contracted for a specific number of episodes, so her being there does not mean her days aren’t numbered. Obviously we don’t know anything for sure, but I have my own theories- we know the time that she posted herself crying on her story and then started talking about auditioning again was around the time the show was picked up for season 8, so obviously contracts would begin being discussed at that time. My personal opinion is that she was told then that she would not be returning for season 8, and that is what sparked this attempt to stay relevant in the fandom (following cast members she never followed before, constantly posting about being on set and how “thankful” she is to have a job, interacting with people bashing the show for being “too gay,” etc.) to me it all reads as someone who is desperately trying to cling to the quickly unraveling thread that is her place on that show and it’s only a matter of time before she’s gone.

i mean ryan himself called her a ‘filler’ relationship for eddie. even the plotlines she’s been involved in this season she’s barely been there. eddie was quite literally on the verge of breaking up with her in 7x5 before his advice to buck made him decide to simply start over their relationship. My theory now is that “ghost of a second chance” has a double meaning of us seeing the ghost of a past relationship that eddie is still grappling with (maybe shannon, maybe someone else…. an old “army buddy” perhaps who he had never really understood his feelings for?) while also pertaining to the “second chance” he gave their relationship being dead. I mean the man brought his grandmother who lives in texas to his coworker’s wedding, and he barely trusts her with his kid (christopher is always being watched by someone else, he says things like “she’s already babysat this week” as if watching your significant other’s children is a burden to her) and like i said he was on the verge of ending things in 7x5…. i think it’s safe to say that their relationship is bones, and there’s no other logical direction for them to take it in, considering the fact that marisol is barely a character anyway, the fans don’t like e*y (for good reason), and they know that if they try to keep her on they will receive backlash (which we know tim sees after the karaoke debacle)

i am fully preaching to the choir here, because i have massive anxiety and the constant stress of speculating about where eddie’s (and buck’s) story goes is something that always runs my nerves up a wall… for reasons i won’t get into, eddie is a character i relate to deeply and i want to see his storyline handled with care and attention, so while the idea of the show sticking him with something as lackluster as marisol (played by a problematic untalented actress) obviously makes me stress out too, i try my best to remind myself just how little sense narratively it would make sense to keep eddie with marisol, since she is a wash rinse repeat of every romantic interest he’s had before- something they keep bringing up in eddie’s story as a bad thing.

so stay strong, dear anon… the light at the end if the tunnel has not gone out— there are things happening that none of us know, and it will do us no good to focus on the possible negative outcome when the positive outcome seems so much more likely in this situation.

Sorry to completely hijack your ask into an explanation of eddie, but if you know me you know i’m obsessed w the man so 🤷

Thank you for the ask, anon! 💕💕

#911 abc #eddie diaz #911 spoilers #911 #911 season 7 #911 speculation #911 cast #eddie diaz is my husband #edmundo diaz #edmundo eddie diaz #ryan guzman #edy ganem is a transphobe #fuck edy ganem

[etaindelaserna]

Random ask, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in any media, like anime/manga, tv series, books, etc (can be canon or non-canon)? Feel free if you want to write the reasons or not of why you love them....

I mean…how much time do you have?😏✨ In no particular order:

1) Zoro x Nami (One Piece)

I‘ve been in love with their dynamics from the very beginning: the navigator and the one with no orientation skill whatsoever. Orange and green. They bicker like an old married couple, but respect and trust each other blindly. It started out with Zoro protecting Nami from Buggy’s crew, her helping him out during fights but I fell head over heels for them once the Arlong Arc came around: he read her like a book and trusted her enough to make a point. That sealed the deal. Then he watched over her while she was ill and from there one I noticed how he always looks out for here, making sure she is safe🥺🧡 Just ✨They just make sense to me.

2) Damon x Elena (TVD)

I actually don’t recall when I started to ship them. It must have been slowly, just before the „fake“ kiss happened when Katherine came back, somewhere between their banter and low key flirting. I think I fell for this ship because of the factor Damon. Him being fiercely loyal and desperate to get Katherine back, only to realize she never loved him and then falling in love with his brother‘s girl. AGAIN. The tragedy and the tension whether Elena would fall for him too, made this so fun to watch. The final nail in the coffin was when he told her, he loved her but compelled her to forget. Oh, and of course the dance…

3) Sookie x Eric (Sookie Stackhouse Novels)

The moment Sookie laid eyes on Eric for the first time and him shamelessly flirting with her in front of Bill, I was a goner. Bill always gave me an ick feeling. I just never understood why Sookie was interested in him apart from the fact that she couldn’t hear his thoughts. In the books there was always a spark whenever Sookie and Eric met. I liked that Eric was down for anything as long as it involved Sookie (going undercover to an orgy for example), that he was always (brutally at times) honest with her, that he protected and cared for her no matter what. He respected her decisions. There were no silly games between them. As far as vampire feelings for humans go in this universe, I do think he loved her deeply. As for her: she loved him too but also knew that it would never end well. Such a sassy, sexy ship.

4) Captain Jack Sparrow x Elizabeth

One if my original all-time favourite ships. The sparrow and the swan. I liked their dynamics in CotBP but grew obsessed with them during DMC. Her being restricted by society’s expectations of her and him being the adventurous, clever pirate she had already read about. I mean pleeeeeaaase: the themes alone! She longs for freedom. He and his lifestyle are the definition of freedom. She has a fierce and untamed nature just like the sea. He is in love with the sea. I think Jack brings out her true self just like she brings out his. She matches his scheming talent but I always thought Elizabeth to be more ruthless than Jack. I don’t know what I expected but her ending up alone on an island, married and back in the corset was not it.

5) Hermione x Draco (Harry Potter)

Another one of my original ships. The muggle born and the son of an old wizard family, who hate muggle borns and are/were loyal to the Dark Lord. The drama, tension and potential storylines with this setup is off the charts. I think I fell for them once the 3rd movie came around. That slap and Hermione urging Hagrid to take Draco to the Madam Pomfrey was pure gold for my shipper heart. I started to get obsessed with them when I read the 4th book and they stumbled upon him during the world cup. I always and forever will read this scene as Draco warning them about the dangers of the Deatheaters disguised behind his typical insults. There were both lines in the movies as well as in the books that always made be believe that Draco might have had a crush on Hermione at some point. I was waiting for a redemption arc in the last book which never happened. I also always thought that Hermione needed a partner who matched her intellect to be truly fulfilled and who appreciated her Slytherin traits (cunning, ambition).

6) Sakura x Kakashi (Naruto)

So, this is a complicated one. He is 14 years her senior and her sensei. That is problematic. I didn’t ship them when she was a child. BUT: I liked the idea of them, if the circumstances were different (same age or time travel AU). Kakashi seemed to appreciate her intelligence and her talent for chakra control. He never made her feel weak and he always protected her the best he could. During Shippuden his reaction was always shown when Sakura suffered because of Sasuke. And Kakashi looked rather heart broken and sad for her. He watched over her and cared for her during the last battle. The incredulous (at times murdering) look he gave Sasuke when he mistreated Sakura was glorious. His whole mission was to make sure she survived. So, yeah, if the circumstances were different…also the hand on the cheek is canon🥺 Sakura deserved someone who appreciated her love and loyalty.

7) Claire x Jamie (Outlander)

What I liked about this couple right away (in stark contrast to Frank to whom Claire is married to) was their back and forth, the easiness with which they held conversations with each other and the pure fun they had while doing so. They played off each other without any hassle. Just two people with the same intellect, temper and the same humour hitting it of. This combined with the twist that Claire is the experienced one in all sexual and romantic matters while Jamie is the virgin was absolutely addictive. They just matched. Their chemistry was off of everything that is considered holy.

6) Hannibal x Will Graham (Hannibal)

At first I enjoyed their strange friendship, which quickly turned into mutual respect. May it be due to the actors or how the scenes between them were written but the chemistry was wild right from the beginning. The classical seduction to the dark side trope with a twist: Will is actually just like Hannibal and fights against the urge to kill but actually understands killing. To him just like to Hannibal it makes sense to kill. It even is beautiful. That dynamic hooked me from day one. The back and forth of their ideals. I think Hannibal was rather quickly aware of his feelings for Will. The fact that Will at first rejected him and his whole being but in the end fell for him as well, was fascinating to watch. Just pure and raw.

8) Jaime x Brienne (A Song of Ice and Fire)

I love the tropes surrounding this couple: him, beautiful on the outside but ugly inside and her, ugly on the outside but the heart of a true knight inside. Beauty and the best. Their banter and clash of ideals is what attracted me to them (as well Jaime trying to get a reaction out of Brienne with his constant insults and borderline teasing). The way Jaime unknowingly started to grow a soft spot for the wench and slowly opened up to her, losing his hand (his identity as one of the best swordsmen) to protect her virtue all led to the best scene between them: the bath in Harrenhal. I fully shipped them afterwards. It‘s hard to imagine that Jaime had ever been this vulnerable with anyone but his brother before. He keeps on protecting her and she reminds him of his oaths. Just beautiful ✨

9) Buffy x Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

I was so obsessed with them at some point in my life — it wasn’t healthy anymore. First because of the ridiculous sexy way Spike played around with Buffy as his next slayer to kill. He was cunning and dangerous. Later because of how loyal, funny and good he was even without a soul. Him being a hopeless, awkward romantic while Buffy was straight to the point was a fun dynamic. In the later seasons I felt sorry for him because of how he was used and treated by Buffy but at least he got to go out like a true hero.

10) Beth x Daryl (The Walking Dead)

This was an unexpected one. I liked Daryl as a character but Beth was just a girl in the background who cut her arms. They were pushed together for a few episodes and because their views on life and their experiences were so different, it created this interesting dynamic. Somehow they worked. Daryl helped her get stronger and Beth helped him to deal with his emotions. She was innocent. He was rugged and beaten down by life. There was something delicate between them that was never allowed to grow.

13) Rae x Finn (My Mad Fat Diary)

Just two nerds obsessed with Oasis and each other. Typical teenager drama. Because of her seize and her body and mental issues Rae doesn’t think she deserves Finn or that he is even interested in her. She convinces herself to the point that she gives her v-card to another guy around her body seize. Finn on the other hand has already decided that he likes Rae and is all cute and touchy with her. The cuteness of their relationship and Finn‘s straight forward „Idk what your problem is but I like you just the way you are“ endeared me to this couple. Also Rae is hilarious.

14) Asoka x Rex (The Clone Wars Series)

Another problematic ship due to her being his superior and him being (at least) physically older when they were first introduced to each other. I think it‘s the fact that Order 66 looms on the horizon and all the drama and heartbreak that comes with it, what got me into this ship. Asoka transforms from an insecure padawan who gets her squad killed into a formidable force user and along the way she earned Rex‘ respect. Plus I‘m a sucker for how fierce she gets every time Rex is in trouble/attacked. They protect and care for each other and if they weren’t Jedi and Clone I could totally see them as a power couple.

#naruto #one piece #hannibal #outlander #buffy the vampire slayer #my mad fat diary #a song of ice and fire #pirates of the caribbean #the vampire diaries #eric x sookie #delena #sparrabeth #jaime x brienne #spuffy #hannigram #kakasaku #zoro x nami #bethyl

[wrinkly-fucking-qtip]

SHAMELESS OPINIONS: S6 (cause Mickey's write off hurt and after s5, I watched again from s1 and forced myself to keep watching + no one around me likes Shameless so I need a place to vent)

overall: it's a meh season with strong plotlines

The F Word is SUCH a bop, my boy Gus ate. Sorry Fi, I really like you, but boo, you had it coming.

I get the whole controversy with Sean, trust me I do, but I enjoyed the dramatics of the relationship. He was way too hypocritical tho, the scene with the gun, as scary as it was, rubbed me the wrong way. I wouldn't blame Fiona or Carl for that. As someone raised in a house full of guns, I was taught to never ever go near one. Curiosity killed the cat with Will and he was obviously scared, but Sean my boy, no. I felt Sean sort of blended well with the family, understood dysfunction all too well so that's probably why, but at the end of the day, it was a scabbing wound.

The wedding scene, Fuck Frank, ik he helped Fiona dodge a bullet, but at the end of the day, it was never really about Fiona, it was about his damn ego as always. The whole situation was shitty for everyone and I felt for her, really. The bridge scene was dope as hell. Bravo. Cinematic.

With the Debbie v Fiona, I was honestly on Fiona's side most of the time. A decision like this, in their way of living, oof, and Fiona made it clear she wasn't gonna be in charge of another kid. Harsh, but... I wouldn't do it either. But the reality is, Debbie has always been around kids, and very clearly wanted to be a mother, as early as s1. It's just... timing wasn't right. But to tackle a teen to the ground??? Wtf. A grown ass woman. Girl. No.

Oh Lip... his lip ain't doing good. As fucked as the whole Helene thing was, no relationship has ever made more sense to me than that one (for all the wrong reasons) Mommy issues as bright as day right there. And the fact that he couldn't recognize that and saw it as a normal college Tuesday makes me pity him. People don't agree with the relationship, and they're right, they shouldn't, but not because it's a bad storyline. It should make you feel uncomfortable because it is, but that's something that sooner or later, was bound to happen with him. That scene where he walks to the bar and yaps like Frank does with a beer in his hand, and everyone in disbelief... oof...

EMT IAN. NEED I SPEAK??? My baby... Those first episodes were so hard for him... Fucking Lip being insensitive at times... FUCK Ian makes me cry. Him standing his ground to get the job back, oh lord. There's a deleted scene that should've stayed but oh well. Anyway. I love him.

Don't even get me started on Gallavich. The scene with Lana on patsies cuts me. That prison scene breaks me without fail every time. I can't. I just couldn't envision, if things really went without having to call back Noel for ratings and views in s7, that the prison scene would be -it- for them... His leave was horribly handled too... but alas...

Caleb??? I have much to say about him in s7, but he... isn't half bad here... Don't love him, but he's alright. Motivated our ginger boy to get a job that gave him purpose, gave him soft smooches and little lunches, and taught him to receive softness. I love those things but not because it comes from him, more so because Ian deserves those gestures. The HIV conversation was handled well I think??? Don't have any particular complains... yet

Frank's storyline at the start of the season interested me, with the cancer lady and whatnot, not a fan of indulging Debbie into grooming, but it's Frank, and Frank is a fucking pos, but as soon as Queenie comes along I got so fucking BORED. Just not my cup of tea, the whole organic storyline put me to sleep. Kind of wish Debbie wasn't involved cause I think her pregnancy journey had more potential than ending up with Queenie. Idk that whole thing was just boring for me.

White boy Carl... eh, it is what it is, seemed in character enough ig, everyone expected part of this future to head that way so, yeah. Nick... so many mixed feelings like everyone else. I just feel for him man, that situation was horrendous. That, along with 3x666 are the only two scenes where I can't like... they're hard to stomach, for obvious reasons ik, but yeah. That was tough. I feel like it was fun to see Carl with his shenanigans, somewhat cringe but I can't pinpoint if it's because of E's performance or shitty writing.

Mandy and Ian's moment, holy fuck. That made me tear up. Mandy my beloved... I hope you're doing well.

SVETLANA RISE.

#shameless us #shameless #season 6 #gallavich #debbie gallagher #fiona gallagher #the f word #white boy carl #emt ian #ian Gallagher

[lurkingshan]

Our Dining Table and Complex Family Trauma

I finally caught up on Our Dining Table this week, just in time for the big penultimate episode. (I must give a shoutout to @isaksbestpillow here once again for giving me life with her excellent subtitles, which are so much better than the ones on Gaga). And unsurprisingly, I love love love this show. It’s just as good as everyone has been saying. I love the undercurrent of melancholy running underneath this very cute storyline. I love Minoru and Yutaka’s gentle dynamic as they become friends and then more. I would obviously throw my body in front of a moving train to protect Tane. I love Ueda, the ultimate shipper and Good Dad. 

What is most on my mind this morning, however, is the reveal in yesterday’s episode about the more complicated dynamics at play in Yutaka’s family. I’ve been reading some of y’all’s posts and I understand that 1) this perspective shift is not fully elaborated in the original manga; 2) some don’t like it much because they feel it asks us to put blame on Yutaka or absolve his family of their neglect. I've been chatting a bit with friends @wen-kexing-apologist @bengiyo @kyr-kun-chan @shortpplfedup @waitmyturtles about why I don’t feel that way and I wanted to talk a bit more about it (she says as she prepares to write a thesis). 

First, I think the show played fair on this. Despite grounding us firmly in Yutaka’s entirely valid perspective on how it felt to grow up in that house, we saw hints from the start that this was not as clear cut as his memories implied. We see his mom reaching out to him constantly, inviting him to come spend time with them. We see that the memories that shaped his trauma are from what seem to be his first few days with the family - when they first brought him home, and when they first sat down and ate a meal together - and that his brother Yuki was quite young at the time. We see that adult Yuki looks at him with genuine confusion and frustration when he runs into him at the grocery store, and seems to feel wronged by Yutaka’s refusal to talk to him or visit their parents. With no reason to think otherwise, you can read all of that as a neglectful and willfully obtuse family being unreasonable toward him, but the show left some gray space there so that we would be able to go back and recontextualize it when new information was presented. 

Second, this introduction of Yuki’s perspective makes so much sense and makes the family backstory a lot richer. Yes, absolutely, teen Yuki was being a little asshole when Yutaka was first brought into his home. This is not surprising. He went from being an only child who was used to having his parents’ sole attention to being told he has a new little brother he has to share everything with. He was a child and he behaved childishly about it, lashing out at this poor kid who truly did nothing to deserve it. And their parents, in an effort to appease their son who they probably felt guilty toward, let him get away with it, and did not properly tend to Yutaka’s emotions or provide him with the reassurance he needed. 

All of this sucks, but it’s so real, y’all. Anyone who grew up in a blended family can tell you as much. When new siblings come into the mix, whether by adoption or marriage or new relationships, there is nearly always resentment. I can recall one particularly bratty moment in my youth when after a remarriage my mom told me she was pregnant again, and because I was worried about my own prospects in life and already pissed at her for getting remarried, I said something along the lines of “we’re already poor enough, don’t you think you should stop having kids?” I said that! To my mother! I made her cry! It was horrible! And she forgave me, because she understood why I was so anxious and already carried a lot of guilt about not being able to provide for me the way she would like. Which is to say, I do not like Yuki, but I get him.

But the crucial piece here is we now know, via Yuki’s perspective and the supporting commentary from their parents, that this period of resentment only lasted a short time, and not long after Yutaka joined the family, he did accept him as his brother, he did care for him in the ways he knew how, and he did try to reach out and connect with him.

Which brings me to my third and most important point: Yutaka does carry some of the responsibility for how estranged he has become from his family, these behavioral patterns repeat in his struggles with accepting Minoru, and that is good storytelling. Two things can be true: Yutaka’s family did a poor job of making him feel loved and emotionally cared for as a traumatized child and never took the proper steps to make up for it, and Yutaka has made himself willfully blind to the love and care others try, albeit imperfectly, to give him.  

Stemming from losing his birth parents and then that first bad week with his adoptive family, Yutaka fears abandonment, emotional vulnerability, and rejection, and so he rejects others first. He shut himself down to the point he didn’t even perceive it when his brother was taking care of him. He literally did not remember that happened, like his brain forced him to forget. He accepts his family’s care when it comes to material things and financial support, but won’t connect with them emotionally. He ignores his mom when she reaches out to him, blows off his dad’s birthday, and avoids contact to the point he has no idea how they actually feel about him. He isolates himself at work and in his community, living a very solitary life. All of this is deeply sympathetic, because we know he is doing it out of a sense of self-preservation and a deep fear of being faced with something that could emotionally break him. 

But ultimately, this is unhealthy, and the show is very clear on this. We see how lonely and miserable Yutaka is until he meets Tane and Minoru. We see how he slowly opens up to them, how their particular style of straightforward communication, easy warmth, and gentle pushing connects with him in a way his much more emotionally staid family could not. We see how Yutaka blossoms as he essentially joins their family, but we also see how his own unresolved family trauma gets in the way. How easily he shuts down when he runs into Yuki, and how that causes him to backslide and begin pushing his new family away, as well. And we see how absolutely overwhelmed and unprepared he is to hear Minoru’s confession, how that also causes an emotional retreat, how his own fear about opening himself up to that kind of love (and therefore that kind of potential hurt) sends him hurtling back into his patterns of self-preservation.  

Finally hearing Yuki’s perspective on their childhood and allowing himself to briefly connect with his adoptive family didn’t magically fix the years of neglect and hurt between them. There is a lot of work to be done there if he actually wants a decent relationship with them, and that work has to be mutual and reciprocal. But those moments of connection did give Yutaka the push he needed to examine his own perceptions and his tendency to shut people out and realize he needs to change this aspect of his behavior. If he wants to be with Minoru, and be a family with him and Tane and Ueda, and if he wants to have joy and love and care in his life, he absolutely must allow others to connect with him. Which means he has to open himself up to hurt again, because you can’t have one without the other. And at the end of yesterday’s episode, he made the incredibly brave choice to do exactly that.

#our dining table #bokura no shokutaku #japanese bl #jdrama #these shows really got me in my feelings this week #shan shouts into the void

[be-better-then-yesterday-you]

Writing Challange

For?: Anyone, but really I think it would be a pretty interesting study to have “anti-shippers” of the couples in question, to write these scenes.

Prompt: Re-write cannon scenes of popular “completely straight” gay ships that “fans created” and writers/showrunners/actors never encouraged or used as “queerbate”, as heterosexual relationships using the exact same actions and words and emotions as the original scenes.

Why?: I think it would be interesting to see just how many people would still see that particular couple the same way and how many would discover they actually do just have an aversion to gay ships.

I think that alot of people see the word “queerbaiting” and dont fully understand it. They take it like “oh they’re angry coz they didnt get their way, and they just want to make everything gay” … that is so completely not what it is.

Its understandable in a sense that the term queerbaiting isnt fully understood by all because theres no such thing as “straight-baiting” in television and movies. Its the actual complete opposite … when its a male/female relationship, its called a “slow-burn”, inferring that it will eventually become something. Its called “taking advantage of the actors chemistry” and while it is talked about and hinted at as a “will they/ wont they” its never actually in question because the majority of the time, chemistry reads are done between these actors for the specific reason of knowing “will this sell?” But when it comes to queerships, once upon a time they happened by accident. Actors were brought in with a different storyline and then something showed up on screen that wasnt intended and through that they discovered that there was this entire massive subset of fans who were not being acknowledged in life or on television … so they did exactly what they did with their straight relationships. They took advantage. They teased and hinted and wrote things that had they been a “usual” couple, would eventually lead to “endgame”. They encouraged the will they wont they of it all. Took advantage of that chemistry. The only difference? They never intended to give their fanbase that eventual outcome. They straddled the line of keep them invested but never encourage. And now? Now it seems that its become a requirement for shows, to have that one relationship that is strictly-straight friends, “which is so much more special then romantic love sometimes”… but they will still play off of it and benefit from merchandise and views and hashtags and everything that brings in a dollar from fans who are only looking for exactly what they’re calling it … “every kind of love” …. Why cant two women have a healthy faithful relationship? Why cant two men who are best friends, ALSO fall in love with each other? Why cant a character who has only ever identified as “straight” grow and realize that they’re bi or pan or gay? And why cant two people be both best friends and queer but also find love with other people? Why cant a queer man and a straight man have a healthy loving friendship that doesn’t have to end horribly? A big part of it is because of those words! Words that for so long have been used as homophobic slurs and still today in Twenty-freaking-twenty-four are used with hate instead of what they actually ARE which is how people identify how they LOVE . Words that the LGBTQIA+ community have taken back and fight every day to redefine with love and Pride and positivity, but that the “ entertainment industry” still shy away from due to a history of hate-filled, un-informed homophobia. An instilled fear that if they step over that line, then it will all fall apart. That the villagers will come with their torches and pitchforks and storm the castle so to speak. So they stay just this side of “not too far” and spout the company line. “I think its really important that we show every kind of love” but never actually doing that. Because the other company line is “who else can we exploit for a dollar?”. And its not new. The entertainment industry has always used queer people to their advantage. Once upon a time it was for the “hilarity” of a man or woman dressing in drag to get away with some scheme. Or it was about gay bashing and feeding into hate and fear by showcasing what a horrible insult it is to be called gay or how dangerous it is to be out. How sexy it is for two women to be together - but only to turn on the straight male lead. Now its become something along the lines of a joke again, but now the joke is “we know what we’re doing and we’re going to keep doing it because we’re profiting off of it, off of you.”

Queerbaiting isnt us seeing something unintentional or not there. Queerbaiting is this: if the same scene can be rewritten the same way but as female/male, and you can suddenly see it as romantic, its because the relationship is queer coded, to pull in specific fans.

Scripts are not just dialog on a page. While actors are sometimes given leeway, they are given a script telling them how to portray the words on the page. How to move, speak, emote. A director films this, re-sets films again multiple times until what is written comes across on camera the way it was meant to. This is all then edited even further to make things even more impactful and entertaining. It is then viewed and approved and only then shown to these “delusional fans.” This is all done knowing what reaction they will get from it. There are people who actually have the job of encouraging these ships. Of finding more ways to profit off of something that somebody else is in charge of disproving to fans by calling it unintentional. It is an industry, a business, nothing is unintentional. That is queerbaiting.

Challenge: Just change one thing. One characters gender, thats all.

Go ahead and give it a try. Im honestly curious as to the outcome.

Also add some ships that you think apply in the tags!!

#buddie #buck x eddie #911 abc #mcdanno #steve and danny #hawaii five 0 #destiel #dean x castiel #supernatural #sterek #stiles x derek #teen wolf #supercorp #kara x lena #supergirl #myka x helena #warehouse 13 #merthur #merlin x arthur #merlin #writing challenge #midnight rants #lgbtqia

[andreal831]

What's your thoughts on the Bennett coven and their lore?

I'm not sure if you're asking about how they are depicted or just generally about them so I'll answer both. It has been a while since I've rewatched TVD, so correct me if I'm wrong on anything.

Generally, the Bennett coven is one of the oldest and most powerful covens in TVDU. I know there is so much debate over the different witches and I'm not here to do that. While, yes, there are other powerful witch families, the Bennetts have a very long history and enough members to make an actual coven on their own, unlike a lot of other families. If the writers and producers were different people, I would love to see a spinoff focused on them. You could pick any time period and it would be an incredible story.

The show tells us they are so powerful because we consistently see other powerful beings (witches, vampires, and even werewolves) coming to them for help. Silas and Amara rely on Qetsiyah, without whom there would be no TVDU. Esther relies on Ayana, the brotherhood relies on a Bennett witch, a Bennett witch creates the weapon used against the sirens, Katherine relies on Emily, and then the entire TVDU on Bonnie. Even at Grams' age, she still had Damon backing off. Every time they bring up a new villain, somehow the Bennett coven has been involved.

So while we can argue witch against witch (which I'm not going to do), I don't think you can say there is a coven that could go head to head against the Bennett coven. They just have a much deeper history than any other coven we are shown. The Travelers may be the only ones that have as much history, but the Bennetts derive from them through Qetsiyah.

Now I don't think we can talk about the Bennett witches without mentioning the racism that permeates the TVDU. No matter how powerful they are, the Bennet witches are often delegated to sidekicks, which makes no sense given their power. Qetsiyah is the only Bennett witch that we see actually get revenge for the wrong that was done to her and she is seen as a villain for it. The Bennett witches are constantly losing their lives helping people who are just taking advantage of them. People like to paint it as they are helping their friends, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Especially when you factor in the time periods these "friendships" happened in. Katherine and Emily were not friends. The Bennett witches were constantly used and abused until they died trying to help others.

The Bennetts are not given their own storylines that don't directly impact the "main characters." They don't even get relationships (both romantic/platonic/familial) unless it can be used against them. Throughout history we always see the Bennett witches on their own, removed from their family.

A big reason that they could be so spread out is because of how powerful they were. If the Bennetts all stayed together, they would be an unstoppable force. But they would also attract a lot of attention and put an even bigger target on their backs. The Bennetts have a deep respect for their ancestors, so you would think we would see them form a coven like the New Orleans witches or even the Travelers. But because of their power, they are forced to live separate lives, not even staying in contact. I would have loved to see an actual Bennett coven.

Bonnie not knowing she is a witch until her teenage years goes against everything we know about witches. Hope has access to her magic as a baby, yet Bonnie doesn't until she is well into her teenage years. I would have loved to see it where Grams raised Bonnie herself and she grew up as a witch. But honestly, the show couldn't have done that because most of what happened in season 1 and season 2 wouldn't have if Bonnie had fully understood her power. She easily could take down the Originals, so a couple newbie vamps wouldn't have stood a chance.

Not sure if this is what you wanted, but if you have a more specific question that I didn't answer, feel free to ask!

#bonnie bennett #bennett witches #tvdu #tvd #the vampire diaries #bennett coven #mtas #fandom answers #tvd anon ask #fandom asks #anon ask