#lone star timeline discourse

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

I had kind of an epiphany about why the Lone Star timeline is so terrible…at least in part. I’ve come to the conclusion that they seem to be trying to have two separate timelines going at the same time.

We have the in-universe timeline, which would be bad enough, as it is itself incredibly inconsistent and provides us with such gems as "the entirety of season 4 happens within 8 weeks." But to make matters worse, they're also trying to have the episodes occur roughly around the same date that they're airing in real life. And they add in references to the real-world airing date without any regard as to how this fits in with the in-universe timeline.

Season 4 provides some really good examples of this. In 4x05, Asha says that the mobile home rescue from 4x02 that led to Marjan getting in trouble happened on January 9, which would mean 4x02 was happening in January, the same month the episode aired. In 4x18, when Owen walks in on TK with a bunch of papers stressing about postponing the wedding, Owen jokes, "tax season was last month." In the US, tax season is in April, so this was a clear indication that 4x18 was supposed to be happening in May, which, of course, was the same month the episode aired. If you go by this, then the season took place over about 4 months, just as it did while airing. But these references to the real-world airing dates of the episode are included side-by-side with references to the supposed fact that the entire season is happening within the span of 8 weeks. For some reason that I can't even begin to comprehend, they are trying to have two separate and distinct timelines going at once.

This whole idea really hit me while I was re-watching season 2. Early in that season, they make some comments about the state of the pandemic that would make the most sense placing the episode in early 2021--which, of course, is when season 2 began airing. For example, Marjan says in 2x01 that it's been a year since there's been a decent military funeral, which was the state of things in the real world in early 2021. HOWEVER, the pandemic hadn’t happened yet at the end of season 1, so it must have started sometime between seasons 1 and 2. For Marjan's comment to make sense, a year would have had to pass between the seasons. Judging by the show's in-universe timeline, there's just no way. From things Gwyn and Owen say in the same episode about how long Gwyn has been in Austin, it seems more likely that the time between seasons was about 4 months. Clearly, they wanted to have season 2 be happening around the same time it was airing without any regard to the fact that it just wouldn't work with the in-universe timeline.

There is no way to reconcile these separate timelines. Of course, even if you take out all references to the real-world airing date and go by the in-universe timeline alone, you still can't reconcile it (8 WEEKS 🤯). But this whole two timelines thing makes it far worse!

#911 lone star #lone star timeline discourse #I’ll tag my timeline discourse because I know some people get annoyed when I talk about this #alas I will never stop #the timeline is so terrible that it fascinates me #i'm just trying to understand how they can be so bad at this #if i could ask tim minear anything it would be to explain himself! #is this on purpose? #is he just really bad at timelines? #is he messing with us??

[morganaspendragonss]

Hi. Hope you are well. First of all, I love your blog and thank you for sharing your wonderful fics with us!❤️

Now, I know I’m really late to this party but I just watched all of LS episodes and can’t believe how quickly I got hooked up but damn…! Season 4 really did a number on this fandom, especially with how they handled 90% of Tarlos’ plotlines. Seems they love treating their audience as complete idiots, despite completely justified wtf reactions to some of their ideas. Then again, I feel like this fandom is hardly any better at times, judging by some of the discourses I came across… But maybe I’ve just been unlucky? You seem like a lovely person, after all.

How do you feel about season 4 and LS in general now? I might be wrong but it seems to me like you weren’t last season’s biggest fan?

hi lovely! thank you for the message, i don't get to chat with people enough anymore! 💚

so, i have drifted from lone star a lot recently and at the moment i'm not sure if i'm going to watch the next series. i've also had some not so great experiences in the fandom - though i have to heavily stress that the good far outweigh the bad. i have met some truly lovely people here who i have a lot of love for and certain incidents don't spoil that. but i digress.

i can't deny that lone star has had a huge impact on my life and it definitely still has a place in my heart. season four... if i were to rank all the seasons, it would come third. there were some great moments - marjan's episode, the wedding (ofc), the tarlos huntington's convo... - and then there were some not so great moments. i wasn't its biggest fan but i don't think i'm one of its biggest detractors either.

my main complaint was the marriage plotline (carlos and iris, not tarlos). i know they said they'd been planning it since season 1, but even if that was true, so many things have happened in the show since then that it just didn't make sense. i'm also in the camp of this is carlos lying to tk by omission. it for sure left a sour taste in my mouth, and the worst part about it for me is that it didn't even matter anyway. it was all just to cause a little drama between tarlos before it was written off

(i know lone star likes to fudge timelines but come on. there's no way all the events of season 4 happened within eight weeks.)

i also disagreed with gabriel's death. again, it just felt like they decided to put another obstacle before the wedding and went for the most extreme end of the scale. i am aware the same sort of thing could be argued for gwyn's death - i personally don't lean that way, but i totally get it if you do.

tl;dr: no, i'm not a huge fan of last season but it does have some good moments

how do you feel about season 4?

#holly answers things #anonymous #911 lone star #fandom discourse #<< just in case

[departed-pronouns]

Scrolling through my timeline now is letting me look and see a wide arrange of thoughts and reactions. But something I notice from almost everyone right now that has something to say about 911 and it's lackluster last season and season final. Is that they never expected Buck and Eddie to get together. I don't just mean the people who say they never saw the romance, that's a given, but they are saying it as if it was a forgone conclusion and they're saying that it's because we shouldn't expect to see characters presented as queer.

And then on the other side there are people who really wanted it and believed it was possible. There are people who wanted it but kept their expectations low because there's always a chance that your ship wont sail. There were people that just wanted canon confirmed Bi buck or canon confirmed queer Eddie in any form the show gave.

But in their posts on tumblr, on twitter, reddit or discord. They always have to add after saying they saw the possibility of it, but that they wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen. After 911's last episode people who posted about Buddie were saying they were disappointed but they weren't surprised. There are people posting that they expected to be disappointed and people posting that you should have seen it coming and just accept that it was never going to happen.

And honestly, why not? Tell me why. Things have to change some time for the better. Why not see that change now? Why not be disappointed about this? When really by now we should be to a point where one fan pairing that's queer doesn't go canon should be just as meh as if a fan hetero couple does. Why just accept it's never going to happen.

I mean maybe I wont get to see something like this in my life time. But I'd like to think one day we could do something as simple as watch tv and see people on it being all different shades of queer. See two guys who were only written as straight suddenly show queerness because like, in real life that's something that happens, people realize things late in life. People present a certain image and when you get to know them more you find out hidden depth. Characters aren't even real and this annoying rule that fiction has to be held in this chock hold because people in real life are homophobic/transphobic/just terrible in general and can't seem to handle, well, differences.

Maybe that day when I can log online and say two fictional characters would be cute together and not end up in some online discourse over it will also be the same day me or any other person that's different won't have to live in fear in real life. Can be unique but not considered 'other' and 'wrong' Because yes for a lot of people this may just be 'oh no the pretty people I want to see together on tv didn't get together'. But to some it's another way of pointing out how what a lot of us are is wrong and gross. And to people like me it's another reminder that I don't live in a world where what I am is normal enough to just be on tv. To just be out there and not given a second thought.

In this specific fandom, for this show, lots of people point out there's already Hen and Karen, and there had been David and Michael. As if that fills some quota the queers have that doesn't apply to straight couples. We didn't see anyone saying Buck or Eddie shouldn't have girl friends because there were already too many straight couples on the show. Hell, with this fandom I've had someone tell me if I want to see a gay couple, go watch a completely different show. Cause Lone star has Carlos and TK. It's like a backwards slide, enough queerness on this, move along to something else.

Frankly I think seeing people say 'I know this could never happen' is more depressing than the ship not sailing. And I wish when I or other people brought up our disappointment about this sort of stuff. It wasn't boiled down to us being silly about ship. Right now one of the very real ways I can fight against prejudice is by finding and supporting queer media and trying to support the general medium embracing and celebrating and representing queer people in real ways.

Sure it might not be on the same level as when I protest legislation that is being passed that strips away peoples rights. Which is still happening because we can't change people's misinformed views on real life issues, and we can't do that if we can't even get past token rep in shows.

#911 #fandom #this fandom #other fandoms #any show or movie or book or game #SPN #teen wolf #it's depressing that I could think of three shows I like that all fall under the umbrella of this issue #god damn it I'm gay and I'm tired #and not the cute kind of tired that I can't get to sleep at a decent time #I'm tired of so many fights on so many fronts and I'm so angry that one of the things I have to deal with involves a show I like #and what really gets me is that someone will look at this and scoff at and mock that I have this view on a tv show. #As if media isn't a powerful tool that's used to shape the cultural zeitgeist

[doublel27]

I know the LS timeline is a very complicated matter but maybe you have some ideas of how much time has passed since the show started and especially since the end of S2.

We know that TK was 1 year sober in 2x08 so that would mean a year has passed between the beginning of 1x01 and 2x08. Then in the end of S2 Charles dies, and recently with the twins birthday party we have Tommy saying it is their first birthday without their dad. So Charles death is less than a year ago at that point.

How much time do you think passes between the end of S2 and the beginning of S3?

Now in 3x15 we have Charlie walking already. She must be walking pretty early since there's never been a birthday party or even the mention of a birthday so it's safe to assume she's not one year old yet. Which may put her at around 10-11 months old i suppose, which would be the amount of time that has passed since 3x04 when she was born. But that just seems completely incorrect if Charles has also been dead for less than a year according to the fact that its the twins first birthday without him.

Any ideas of what the timeline SHOULD be like if it wasn't so jumbled? Lol

You know, Nonny, I have been saving your ask for awhile, because I really wanted to do this ask justice, with like thought, and care, and a long meta, and then on Monday, Tommy sits in front of Charles's grave and the date of his passing is April 27, 2021 and she tells him it's been a YEAR.

And I...nonny...I know they went from like May to January in the first minutes of 3x01, so I take that to be the general timespan between Owen punching Billy and where we wake up... maybe a week tops from the opening scene of 3x01.

BUT THIS MONDAY NIGHT NONSENSE...you mean to tell me it's only been FOUR MONTHS since the ICE STORM.

No, nope sorry. No I don't buy it.

Charlie Ryder is holding her head up, has teeth and is walking. WALKING. That takes 10 months to a year to start first steps...and that's on the early side.

Beyond that, the idea that TK went from falling into the ice to his mom dying to having Sadie attack him in a span of four months...I...HOW DOES HE FUNCTION AS A HUMAN BEING? HOW... HES A GODDAMN MIRACLE

If we were being sensable people it's been a year since the ice storm... and it's January again. But the episode is titled Spring Cleaning...so...

Time doesn't actually exist in Lone Star verse. It's like being the Doctor, okay, or living in Schitt's Creek where it's always summer unless it's Christmas. Some show runners and writers rooms cannot math and it really fucking shows.

The timeline is whatever y'all want it to be. I will never read a fic in this fandom (or Schitt's Creek, or Doctor Who) and think "that timeline doesn't make sense" because I promise you every fic writer in this fandom as put more thought into the timeline than the writers room ever has. Which is not me shitting on the writer's room, it's just acknowledging that not everybody carefully marks out time like we obsessive people do.

#911 lone star #911 lone star spoilers #timeline discourse #your guess is as good as mine #anon ask #anon reply #doublel27 talks #schitt's creek #we did the same thing there #do your best and everyone knows you were working with a warped product to begin with

[hmslusitania]

Hey, you don’t need to answer this if you’re not up for more discourse, but i just wanted to complain a bit about how this Ana-storyline is now probably getting even more non-sensical. Because it very much seems like we are going to skip right ahead to Eddie being back at work, right? And i know, timelines on tv are…weird, to say the least, especially when it comes to medical leaves etc. But Eddie’s physical recovery must have at least taken a few weeks. Now, assuming that we are going to see Ana again, that means he kept her around for that long, with her probably helping him through all of it, and now he’s going to break it off pretty much out of the blue?

Hey Anon!

I...would not be too worried about the timeline. Season 4 retconned when May's graduation party was because of covid, so instead of taking place in May/June it took place in March (apparently) and when 4x01 started, it gave us a full title card saying it was September (despite the episode airing in January). So we know 4x01 and 4x02 took place in September 2020, and after that, we don't really have a timeline. There's a timeskip somewhere in Season 4, but I don't actually think it was during the mid-season break because they were doing vaccine doses in 4x08 and as we're all painfully aware, the vaccine wasn't developed until the beginning of 2021. Somewhere in between 4x02 and 4x08, we skipped a few months. My personal suggestion would be between 4x02 and 4x03, since I don't remember getting any indication that Lone Star was taking place at any other time than the present as it was airing so the timelines (in this version) would've aligned at the crossover.

Of course, I would take any and all timeline aspects with the utmost salt because basically anything you do to it to try and make it make sense results in Maddie being pregnant for like 13 months. Which is suboptimal.

As for Ana's return, I want to emphasise that this is not officially confirmed anywhere, to my knowledge. It's put together through analysis of Instagram stories, which is methodologically sound as far as a research analysis method, but also not infallible.

We did also get a bit of a filming schedule yesterday that someone dug up on Twitter, and so it looks like what they were filming yesterday with all the entire circus is actually part of 5x02 in the depths of the blackout, rather than part of the first episode, Panic. It makes me wonder/hope that perhaps if we do get Ana back, and we do have that opening extraneous episode, perhaps it will include flashbacks and that's the reason for her presence, and we will get to see A) some Eddie recovery stuff and B) the breakup we all so crave. As far as anyone knows (last I checked, but I haven't caught up with the dash yet this morning) Albert has not been spotted anywhere in turnouts, and that could be because Timothy wasn't kidding when he suggested that perhaps Albert would be at a different station, or it's because 5x02 takes place before that closing scene and we're going to backtrack a bit. Which, of course, would only muddle the timeline just a bit more, but whatever.

Or, it could be that they have been together the entire time, and we're going to get indications that Eddie just hasn't found a time to break up with her yet because how do you break up with someone you don't love when they've been helping you through a recovery? It would be the return of the reason Tatiana broke up with Chimney in 1x03 except at a reverse: Ana did stay and we would get to see the fallout of that particular relationship choice. In my ideal, here, we'd have Eddie constantly checking his phone during the blackout and Buck ask, "Chris?" because of course that's who Eddie's checking in on, and Eddie would reply,

E: Yeah, I'm just worried.

B: Why? Isn't he with Abuela/Pepa/Carla?

E: No, he's with Ana.

B: And you're...not okay with that?

[long, long, telling silence]

E: ...that's not good is it.

B: Not if you want the relationship to work out.

Basically, Anon, my advice here is to not count your chickens before they've hatched and to not start diagnosing them with relationship perils/nonsensically continued relationships until after they've hatched. I would not worry about it yet.

#the ghost ship answers questions #anti ana #911 spoilers #9-1-1 season 5 speculation #blackout speculation #behind the scenes

[mydearjonah]

jenni’s TMA fic recs

for Elena @wellbustmybuffers but also anyone who wants it. 

i have spent a lot of time reading fanfiction, and i have read (at this point) almost everything that has piqued my interest in the tma ao3 tag from it’s inception to roughly july 18th, 2020. this is an absolutely non-exhaustive list of my all-time favorites. i tried to pick the things that stuck in my mind the best. it is also heavily skewed, naturally, by my own personal preferences.

to see all that i have bookmarked (as well as my own work), go here. i stand by all of these fics & only bookmark if i was really impressed with something. 

i marked the ones that i rec the absolute STRONGEST with a star.

jonmartin

☆ A Measure Outside of the Lines by Rend_Herring; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202806  

imo i consider this to be THE scottish safehouse period fic. scottish safe-house period is a great sub-genre of jonmartin fic that i highly rec to you, elena, especially if you’re just coming off of 159, and this is my favorite and the one that i feel captures their personalities and dynamic the best. highly, highly recommend; one of my top three favorites in the whole fandom. 

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22230022/chapters/53078617 

“Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.” 

extremely well-written jonmartin timetravel shenanigans pining. really, really good jonmartin content. i would describe the genre as “time travel fix-it au romantic comedy.”

take sides in divided cells by bibliocratic; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22456720 

“Martin's father comes back into his life.“ 

post-series 5 jonmartin happily ever after set-up that allows the author to delve deeply into martin’s psyche. fanfiction at it’s finest. 

Dethroned by inkedinserendipity; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22342663 

post-series take. warning for major character death. this is peak well-written yet sad & indulgent angst-y jonmartin. 

Be Your Raincoat by free_smarcher; https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479480

“It's a rainy night at the tail end of 2013, and Arctic Monkeys' latest record is everywhere - including at the pub where a young Martin Blackwood is hung up on his coworker from the Institute.” 

pre-series oneshot that i adore for three reasons. 1) the jonmartin pining is absolutely excellent, in-character, gorgeous, 2) the author has a very sharp grasp on martin blackwood specifically that i think is rare in the fandom and 3) the author PERFECTLY captured the late 2013 Arctic Monkeys perpetual AM album zeitgeist in a way that makes me specifically feel SUPER nostalgic. 

The Watford Gap by chewsdaychillin; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24886216

“a Martin and his relationship w the og three study w class/accent discourse, pet names, slang, and tenderness. jonmartin north/south power couple“

pre-series oneshot jonmartin pining that i cannot recommend enough. author has an extremely good grasp on s1 characterization as well as british sociocultural realities. this fic makes me very emotional for a lot of reasons. 

jonmartin but with heavy monster!jon (and written before s5 aired so speculative as to the endgame plot--still rec tho if you like monster!jon)

☆ ceylon, assam, and darjeeling by Sciosa; https://archiveofourown.org/works/20577347/chapters/48849719 

“People do not bring Jonathon Sims tea. Martin Blackwood, newly-minted archival assistant, has apparently not received this memo.”

i absolutely cannot express how much i adore this fic. it’s a three-parter that follows the jm relationship as it develops through the lens of martin making jon tea. the final part is the real whammy. i have read this fic repeatedly and cried each time.

Fall into the night with you by ZaliaChimera; https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851157 

“It's the end of the world, and Martin has one more thing to do before it is the end of him too. There is a calm wrapped thickly around the Institute, the eye of the storm, and Martin climbs.“

for me, this is the absolute peak monster!jon/martin. i will not lie, you gotta heed the warnings on this fic. but the end of this fic haunts me. 

lonely eyes

a note: i LOVE lonely eyes but a lot of it is really smutty or slice of life. i tried to choose the fics that i thought captured both characters the best and were smart & intentional about the dynamic. elena, if u ever go down the lonely eyes road & are interested in other recs, please let me know!

☆ Luck Be A Lady Tonight by prodigy; https://archiveofourown.org/works/20257240 

“In 2014, Elias Bouchard takes a rare trip outside of his comfort zone. Peter Lukas wastes a bunch of money. You'd be surprised how many things can go wrong for two beings of cosmic power.”

this is a black comedy casino episode lonely eyes take that is one of my favorite pieces of work in this fandom and also, honestly, one of my favorite pieces of fiction straight up that i have ever read. prodigy has an extremely sharp grasp on both peter and elias (but especially peter), and they breathe life into the world of mag in a way that is absolutely unparalleled, even at times by the original series imo. 

walled up in your kingdom with radio wires by Ronabird; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24465679 

so i’m not gonna lie i’ve never read His Dark Materials but this is a daemon au that i just can’t get enough of. it’s a short lonely eyes piece; the basic gist of it is that peter has lost a bet and now jonah gets to meet his daemon. this fic has everything that i want and rarely get in lonely eyes works: statements on both peter and jonah’s characters, and their dynamic sharply written. again, the last lines of this piece have stayed with me as well. 

jonelias (i’m sorry...)

note: none of these are terribly explicit but instead largely it is about their dynamic. 

a fish hook, an open eye by marrowbones; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22351618 

“Jon and Martin take a surreal holiday after escaping the Lonely. Everything would be fine if only Jon's strange dreams of Jonah Magnus would stop.”

this is a jonmartin fic in equal turn. set during the scottish safehouse period. essentially, jon is trying to reconcile that fact that elias is jonah while also being visited by him in his dreams. this is one of the first jonelias fics written after the “elias is jonah magnus” reveal, and i think it is still one of the absolute best. the author does a phenomenal job capturing this looming, atmospheric sense of dread. they also totally nail jonah magnus and the jonelias dynamic. 

thieves in the temple by havisham; https://archiveofourown.org/works/23287711 

“Elias wins and takes Jon out on the town.“

very short; shares a lot of the same dna as a fish hook, an open eye. essentially a dream-state meeting between the two of them during early s5. “a perfect fic.”

Eye to Eye by Dribbledscribbles; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24194554 

“In which Jonah Magnus attempts a post-apocalyptic pep talk.“

a s5 pep talk from jonah, who the author absolutely NAILS, to jon. this is not a fic with a happy ending so be warned. but it is a very satisfying read and the ending is... not quite a twist, but a really well done, dark reveal. 

heterochromia by screechfox; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21186011 

“After Jon drags Martin out of the Lonely, Jon and Elias trade an eye for an eye. Quite literally.“

post-ep 159. this is basically a jonmartinelias fic, honestly. i am adding this here because i love it SO MUCH but also it is so intensely up my particular alley. hurt/comfort/angst. also GORE AND BODY HORROR. but it wraps up to be weirdly sweet. i cry every time ngl i’ve read this fic a lot. it’s because i’m a monsterfucker i’m sorry. 

a love that tastes like spring by sugarboat; https://archiveofourown.org/works/20189953 

this is a comically well-written jonelias hanahaki fanfic. that’s it. that’s the plot. it’s amazing. it’s basically a shojo oneshot except with in-character jon and elias. this is one of the first fics i read in this fandom that totally blew me away. 

stand-alones/gen/other

☆ The Timeline of the Theseus by Applea; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24018289/chapters/57784525 

“Jon tries to force the Spiral to send him back, but the Sprial's corridors never twist things quite the way you want them to. Back in 1996, Elias has no idea why or how the Eye made such a powerful Avatar out of an 8 year old, especially when said 8 year old doesn't actually know he has any powers at all. Clearly such a child cannot be left outside the Institute's care.”

i absolutely cannot say enough about this fic. this is one of the few works of fiction i’ve read in my life that i was so obsessed with i genuinely ruined my sleep schedule to finish. this fic is absolutely HILARIOUS. essentially, jon is an extremely powerful 8 year old w/ no knowledge of who he is who is being raised by jonah, who is completely out of his depth. also has a nice touch of gertrudeagnes & the author really nails their dynamic/the tragedy of their relationship...

☆ Scarred Ground by DictionaryWrites; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21791737/chapters/51999124 

this is a really interesting work of fiction just generally. it features a non-linear narrative, plays with a lot of unreality, and has a great deal of time wonkiness. i actually can’t explain the plot without giving it away, which i resolutely do not want to do because piecing together what is going on is a huge part of the fun. martin is the primary character, but everyone is featured. jonmartin and lonely eyes are the two ships. one of my favorite works in the fandom.

the last lines/final reveal absolutely tore me apart. i cried like a baby. 

patterns by fadewords; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22015792 

“Jon is ill and can't stop Knowing things. Daisy helps.“

long and worth it. very well-written. the author is very talented and essentially uses the world/set up of mag and the beholding to play. set during s4. everyone is extremely in character. 

out in the drowning deep by Wildehack; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21473506 

“Basira holds it together.”

basira-centric s5 speculative fic. it has since been jossed but that’s no matter. this is one of the best basira fics in the fandom imo, and honestly the only one that i’ve read that i feel really nails her character and her relationship with daisy specifically. in general as well, this is a really fun speculative take on the apocalypse written before s5 aired. 

Chasm-e-Baddoor by kashinoha; https://archiveofourown.org/works/23917396/chapters/57510853 

“Wherein Jonah Magnus gets acquainted with defeat at the hands of his associates. Repeatedly.”

lonely eyes a little but overall gen. essentially just a very well-written 3 piece suite about instances over the course of jonah magnus’ long life when he gets absolutely schooled by people within it. the gertrude piece is my favorite, to the point where i consider it canon. 

And All Should Cry, Beware! Beware! by OldSwinburne; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24623179/

“When the Eye decides to select a new Avatar, it chooses Martin Blackwood, the Poet, rather than Jonathan Sims, the Archivist.“

very unique & well-written monster!martin that haunts me. 

avatar groupchat by gayprophets; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21599185/chapters/51501598 

fun gen popular chatfic. one of the only chatfics i’ve ever read where everyone is in character. a must-read in the fandom. lots of laughs to be had. i like that they bully elias. 

this is really just the surface!! there’s A LOT that’s still on my to-read list, and also obviously a lot of new and probably phenomenal work has been published since july 18th that i have to catch up on. i hope that you enjoy!!! i love fanfiction and there’s a lot of really unique and fun stuff in this fandom

#me #/ #my stuff #jonelias #jonmartin #lonely eyes #ships tagged for my own blog's purposes

[onwardintolight]

Have you had a chance to read Last Shot yet? If so what did you think?

Yes I have! I finished it the day before yesterday, and I really enjoyed it, despite a few qualms.

I especially liked Han’s emotional journey as he comes to terms with being a parent. I’m dumbfounded at how a lot of people (*cough* Reylos) have used this book to argue that Han was a terrible parent and even to insinuate that he abandoned Ben, when clearly that’s anything but the case in the book. (It’s also not the case in any canon book or source material. Le sigh.) I think a lot of people have already addressed this though, and I’ll reblog some good stuff about that later, so that’s all I’ll say on this ridiculous assertion for now. 

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Han grow as he wrestles with his fear and insecurity, learns how to simultaneously be a dad and follow his passion, and starts to really find his place during this new time after the war. I’m sure I’ll struggle similarly if/when I become a mom someday; I can’t imagine how daunting it would be for Han, having never had a family of his own. I thought his struggles were really sympathetically and beautifully portrayed. 

It’s made abundantly clear that his love for Leia and his son knows no bounds — in fact, that’s exactly why he’s struggling so much in the first place. He wants to be what they need and is afraid that maybe he isn’t; maybe he’s not equipped to be the “perfect” dad, whatever that is. And he finds out that, no, he may not know everything there is to know about parenting, but that’s okay —he’s trying and learning, along with Leia, and he loves them deeply, and that’s what matters. Moreover, his passion for flying isn’t something that he has to give up in order to be a husband and dad. Both can exist at the same time. He can be true to himself and a family man.

I did find it irritating, however, that they show Han as struggling with all this, but Leia seems to automatically know everything there is to know about motherhood (@inelegantprose​ has said some good things about this). This to me reeks of sexism. Yes, Leia had a family growing up, but she had no Organa siblings and I can’t imagine she was ever surrounded by very many babies, lol. The birth of a child would raise a whole lot of fears and insecurities for her, as much or even more so than Han — particularly when taking into account the knowledge of who her real father was. 

The book says that Ben’s arrival “seemed to light up the whole world when he’d first arrived: this simple impossible sliver of hope amid so much death and destruction.” I like that idea, and I could imagine they both felt that, profoundly. All the same, I think it’s likely that while Ben was dearly loved and celebrated, he wasn’t planned, and if Leia had had the opportunity, she would not have chosen to get pregnant (at least not yet), fresh off the revelation of her bloodline. (Although I also think it’s entirely possible she was just pushing that information away during this time, denying it and not dealing with it because it was too hard to accept.) 

Anyway, I wish the book had showed some of Leia’s parenthood struggles, too, and not set her up to be such a natural supermom. However, I’ll concede these points: 1) This book is entirely centered on Han and Lando and their inner journeys, not Leia’s. 2) Leia admittedly has had a WHOLE lot of practice at looking poised and put together, no matter what’s she’s going through (something the book even mentions). 3) While I believe the author could have done a better job and portrayed it in a less sexist way, there’s still a lot of room to guess at what’s really going on in Leia’s mind. 4) At least this is less fodder for Kylo stans, I guess? Consequently, I’m not as upset as I might be otherwise.

My opinions of the characterizations in this book varied greatly. Most often, I felt like there was a remarkable sensitivity to the characters’ emotional worlds that rang true. And that, to me, is what matters most. Still, there were bits of dialogue and action that just didn’t feel right to me, and, like in some of the comics, the characters at times seemed rather like extreme caricatures of themselves. For instance, Han’s tendency to run things by the seat of his pants doesn’t mean he’s always spontaneous or unprepared. He came off as rather clueless at times, which I think does him a great disservice. He also came off  as overly gruff and terrible at communicating, which I think he is to an extent, but not nearly as much as this book makes him out to be. Also, just because Leia calls people names in ANH and ESB when she’s really upset doesn’t mean she calls everyone names all the time (as a sidenote, I found some of the names she called people in this book a little odd. Calling Han “you old lug” or “old man”?…I’m just not feeling it).

That being said, overall, I felt like Han and Leia’s interactions in this book were an absolute delight. There are several scenes and exchanges that I will treasure. I don’t want to spoil them, so I won’t go into too much detail here. I also appreciated that, while Leia’s motherhood struggles were not acknowledged, her trauma very much was. There were a few little hints and snapshots into that from both conversations and Han’s reflections that I thought were extremely well done (and left me with a whole ton of feelings).

Similar to how I felt about the characterizations, I’m kind of back and forth on the plot itself. Overall I enjoyed it, but there were three storylines going on in three separate timelines, and the fact that they were all mixed around throughout the book, while involving some of the same main characters, made it a little confusing for me. I felt like there were some leaps of logic, too, that were perplexing. However, this entire impression could be due to the fact that my brain was rather foggy the night I read most of it. Who knows, a second read-through might make it all fall into place! Moral of the story: don’t binge-read this book when you’re half-asleep. ;) 

I really loved the exploration of droid rights, and what that actually means, although I felt like there could have been a lot more said on the subject.

I’m thrilled we got a Latinx POC author for Star Wars. I’m sure there’s a lot I’m missing (do I have any Latinx followers who can tell me more?), but I appreciated the representation and perspective. Also certain little details, like the fact that there was an Alderaanian character who clearly speaks with a Spanish accent (putting an e- before a word starting with st-, for example) — more evidence for a Hispanic Alderaan! 

Speaking of representation, off the top of my head, I can think of a non-binary person, a gay person, and many people of color, including main characters (and not just Lando). On a much lesser note, I also appreciated the fact that a lot of aliens were represented too!

I loved Lando’s journey in regards to his relationship with Kaasha; exploring what it means to be his scoundrelly self and yet be committed to one person.

I really loved the look into Han and Lando’s pasts with the storylines set ten years before. There’s one element in particular that got me from the outset, which I’ll write briefly about under the cut so as not to spoil anyone.

All this continues to give me great hopes for the Solo movie, and that they’ll approach these characters with sensitivity and complexity (as well as fun).

TL;DR: This book was probably a 7 out of 10 for me — I enjoyed it quite a bit, though it doesn’t come near to replacing some of the other new canon SW books for me (of which Bloodline still tops the list). I had mixed feelings about certain things but overall I’m happy about this addition to canon! I strongly encourage you, if you have any interest at all in new canon, to ignore the ridiculous Kylo-apologist discourse and give this book a shot!

(warning: spoilers under the cut!)

The part I was talking about that really got to me was when we first meet Han 10 years prior. As the scene opens, we find Han nursing a hangover and a broken heart over a girl (he never says her name). While he eventually gets over it, we are given a poignant window into Han’s big heart and sensitive soul underneath the rough exterior. He can’t help but love people. He can’t help but be absolutely devastated at their loss. He’s lonely and constantly striving for human connection (we see this later in how he relates to Sana and develops a rather silly, sudden rebound crush on her). He tends to go all in, despite himself and the risk, and consequently, he ends up getting hurt a lot. THIS MAKES ME FEEL A LOT OF THINGS. Gaaaah I love Han Solo, okay? It hurts to see him hurting, but it also makes my heart so happy to know that someday, he’ll find the belonging he so desperately seeks.

#Last Shot #Star Wars: Last Shot #Daniel Jose Older #Han Solo #Lando Calrissian #Leia Organa #SW books #SW meta #Star Wars #book review #thanks for the ask #I probably wouldn't have had the motivation to write all this unless you asked but I'm glad now that I did #I hope that it's helpful #thoughts

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

@ladytessa74 got me thinking about the timeline again...never a good idea! 😂

What I particularly don't understand about the timeline is WHY? No one forced them to put specific numbers on things. WHY say the wedding is happening in 8 weeks and then make absolutely no effort to make that make sense for the rest of the season??

My theory is that when they wrote the first few episodes, they put the 8 week thing in because it worked for what they wanted to do in that first arc. They wanted the urgency of only 8 weeks until the wedding. Carlos wanted to make TK happy by giving him a wedding at his dream venue BUT oh no! He was still married to Iris! The 8 week deadline gave him just barely enough time to get divorced from Iris, made even more urgent when Iris went missing before she could sign the divorce papers! That was the sole purpose of the 8 weeks. I don't think they really thought it through further than that.

Even with all the wedding mentions for the rest of the season, having to quickly plan a wedding in 8 weeks was never a real issue after that first arc. It didn't change anything or drive the plot forward once those first few episodes were over. After the purpose of creating urgency in that first arc had been served, the fact that they had to put a whole big wedding together in just 8 weeks didn't matter anymore.

Of course, this still doesn't really explain why the writers don't care to maintain basic continuity on their own show. I wonder if it has to do with how quickly the whole thing is produced? A lot goes into making this show and a lot of it is happening at once. They're writing and filming episodes and doing post-production on episodes about to air all at the same time. Still seems like they should be able to maintain basic continuity, but it doesn't really seem like an ideal system. Who sets it up this way? It must be the network. I kind of doubt the creatives involved would actually choose to do it this way if they had any kind of a choice. Is the real villain here capitalism???

Anyway, maybe this is a silver lining to the ungodly long hiatus before season 5. It might give the writers time to more thoroughly think through the entire season before they start filming perhaps? Probably not...but I can dream.

#you know what they should have done? #after 4x04 and carlos' experience being held captive #they should have decided to postpone the wedding and not go through with the 8 week deadline at the dream venue #they could have had carlos struggling dealing with the aftermath of what happened to him #tk could have said something like #'all I care about is that you're ok...we don't have to get married at my dream venue...I just want to be married to you' #and they could have like caressed each other's faces or something #and then kissed #and we all would have swooned over the scene and made/reblogged gifs of it for weeks on end #and then they could have found some other venue at a later date #and they honestly could have done everything else the same and it wouldn't have mattered #except i wouldn't be plagued by the ridiculous 8 week deadline!! #lone star timeline discourse

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

Lone Star Season 4 Thoughts: I love Season 4...mostly

With the prospect of season 5 filming beginning so soon, I've been thinking a lot about season 4 lately. I felt like rambling out some of my thoughts on here.

First, perhaps an unpopular opinion (?) but I love season 4. Sure, it has its flaws, but to me, the good far outweighs the bad. For one thing, I personally don't mind Gabriel's death. It's not what I would have chosen myself if I were writing the finale, and I think it could have benefited from a 3-5 episode arc rather than being squeezed into two already very busy episodes, but I appreciate a lot of what came with it and the potential it provides for season 5. Rafa's acting in the finale was incredible and the aftermath of Gabriel dying resulted in one of my top 10 Tarlos scenes of all time (the scene of them deciding to postpone the wedding at the beginning of 4x18) and one of my top 10 non-Tarlos scenes of all time (the Owen and Carlos scene). Season 4 also gave us the incredible soulmates scene, Lou II, lots of other excellent Tarlos scenes/episodes (4x02, 4x04, 4x08, 4x12, 4x16-18), some new love interests I really liked (Asha, Joe, and Trevor...NOT Kendra), a true showcase of Rafa's talent as an actor along with (finally!) the screen time he deserves, a Marjan storyline that wasn't perfect but had a lot of good stuff to enjoy, and a mention of the Tarlos wedding in every single episode. I enjoyed watching every episode (with the possible exception of 4x03...but even there I can find things to enjoy).

As far as the whole Iris/secret marriage storyline goes, yeah, it's not great. But I can still find a lot to appreciate within it. I love Iris, I love her friendship with Carlos (Rafa and Lyndsy sold me on their friendship with a single hospital scene in 4x03!), and I think it added fascinating elements to Carlos' backstory...like the fact that he was so lost and upset after his family's reaction to his coming out that he married a woman to try to be the man he believed they wanted and needed him to be. For the parts I don't like as much and that--let's face it, don't make much sense--I'm able to look past them or make up head canons to explain them away. (And the talented fic writers of this fandom have done a great service to help that process along...there are many great ones, but particular shout out to Where All This Love Comes From @carlos-in-glasses, which managed to make better sense of Carlos' backstory than I ever imagined possible...if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do so ASAP). I certainly don't blame anyone who can't do this...that storyline was a mess, I can't deny that! But for me, there's enough to appreciate that it doesn't mess with my enjoyment of the season.

Aside from the secret marriage thing, I think the worst storyline of the season was the Owen/FBI storyline. The sad thing is that this one could have been ok had it been executed better. The biggest issues here were (1) too much Owen off on his own time, which is never good--Owen is at his best when he's in storylines with the other main characters--and (2) they completely failed to stick the landing. BADLY. If you're going to do a white supremacist storyline, you need to commit! Instead, they tried to throw in so many twists that they ended up trying to make us feel sympathy for and see the white supremacist gang members as victims. Yeah, not going to work for me when, in a previous episode, you told us they were literal Nazis! But ultimately I don't really care all that much about a solo Owen storyline to begin with, so it didn't affect my enjoyment of the season as a whole.

All of that said, the thing that irritated me the most about season 4 was the 8 week deadline for the wedding. The ridiculous Lone Star timeline has always been a bit of a thorn in my side, but it really got out of hand in season 4. What bothers me most is the fact that the whole 8 weeks thing is both so completely ridiculous and so completely unnecessary! It is clearly there only to slightly raise the stakes for the first few episodes of the season. It's "Oh no, they have to get married in 8 weeks, which means Carlos has to hurry up and get divorced from Iris to make the deadline, only now Iris has gone missing and she hasn't signed the divorce papers yet so they won't be able to get married!" The exact same thing could have been accomplished with an even slightly more realistic deadline--say 4 months. A 4 month deadline would have still been an incredibly short amount of time to plan a wedding and it would have still required urgency in the divorce process. And yeah, 4 months would have still been a bit unbelievable, but it would have been the ordinary tv show timeline kind of unbelievable, and it would have fit far better with the other markers of time in season 4, like the fact that it's explicitly stated that it's January in the beginning of the season and May at the end.

To make matters worse, the urgency for Iris to sign the papers--once again, the whole reason for the 8 week deadline-- isn't really even addressed after 4x02 because once Iris goes missing, her safety is the main concern. Then, once they wrap that storyline up, it is literally never mentioned again. I spent the entire season waiting for it to become an issue, but it never does. The writers essentially forget about it and spend the entire rest of the season providing dates and stating that amounts of time have passed that add up to way more than 8 weeks. It's just so RIDICULOUS and it means NOTHING!

Ok, whew, got that out. Probably no one is still reading at this point, but if you are, thank you for reading my essay and I love you 💜

#911 lone star #mild complaining #also #lone star timeline discourse #one of my favorite topics!

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

Anne 😂😂😂

#i think this is the most egregious timeline moment from season 1#the time 'since the accident' is apparently 4 months#yet there was an explicit 6 month time jump on screen in the pilot between the accident and owen and tk coming to texas#and tk says in this same episode that it's been 116 days (so almost 4 months) since the failed proposal/his relapse#which means it's really been TEN MONTHS 'since the accident'#WHY did they have grace say it had been FOUR???#911 lone star#911 lone star rewatch 2024

Sometimes it's good to remember that Lone Star's egregious timeline ridiculousness did not start with season 4!

As with all extreme timeline discrepancies, I come back to the question of WHY? Are they doing this on purpose? Do they just not care? This one makes me think that the writers simply forgot about that "6 months later" they put on screen in the pilot because, as I mentioned in the tags, TK says IN THE VERY SAME EPISODE how it's been about 4 months since his failed proposal/relapse. So they took the time to calculate how long it's been since the pilot but then forgot about the whole "6 months later" part that was literally spelled out on screen.

Even the 4 months since TK's failed proposal/relapse...I don't think there's anything actually contradicting it...but in 116 days, TK and Owen packed up their life in New York, said their goodbyes, drove to Texas, found a place to live in Austin, completely remodeled the old 126 firehouse, went through lots of applications, held interviews, hired all the new firefighters and started actually working for at least a few weeks. That's a very busy 116 days.

#911 lone star #timeline discourse #911 lone star rewatch 2024