It isn’t a man... It’s Bernie. 

Reverse unpopular opinion on Moffat Who?

Oh, gosh. I've been undergoing an internal Moffat Who renaissance lately--I haven't watched any, but it's been coming to mind so often, and it's really driving home just how formative those stories were to me--so I'm not sure I'll be able to arrange my thoughts coherently, but I'll try for a few bullet points.

There is so much writing skill on display in his episodes. The plots are so tight--set-up and payoff on a detailed level that you rarely see in television. The word-smithing is wonderful--he has a gift for a turn of phrase that sticks in your head, can make something poetic or pithy or just plain hilarious. The way he can grapple with big ideas and themes and still make a small, concrete story with characters you care about is just wonderful.

The style! His stuff has such a specific voice to it--certain rhythms to the dialogue, certain themes he returns to, certain things he thinks are funny. It's most obvious in the RTD era--when you hit a Moffat episode, everyone suddenly talks twice as fast. Some people might see such a distinctive style as a detriment, but in an entertainment landscape where everything can get sanded down into bland homogeny, it's refreshing to see work that is so personal and specific.

I love how his era understand that Doctor Who is a fairy tale. The fantastical entering into the ordinary. But the fantastical isn't there to save us from the boring drudgery of everyday life, but to make us appreciate just how wonderful the world--especially ordinary life--can be.

That fairy tale focus also makes his era the most explicitly Catholic of any era of Who. It understands a sacramental worldview where the ordinary and the extraordinary intertwine.

I've got major problems with how he can handle romance and sexual stuff, but when it comes to marriage, there is no one in the entertainment industry who does it better. The wedding isn't the end of the adventure, but the beginning of it. Fidelity is a grand adventure; love can get you through anything. It is beautiful.

He understands that the Doctor is a legendary heroic figure, something out of myth whose actions have saved the universe countless times--but he's also an idiot who makes colossal mistakes and wears stupid clothes. Neither side of that characterization undercuts the other one. It neither deifies nor deconstructs the Doctor.

I love how so many stories in his era build off of ideas from earlier eras. Sort of like a second draft or a remake. Digging deep into concepts that were only shallowly glanced at before. It's the fandom instinct toward meta applied to episodes that actually got on-screen.

As a showrunner, I like how he gives other writers a bit more leeway to write the episodes with their style. And I loved the arcs in Series 5 and 6 especially--a significant thread that weaves through multiple episodes, but also doesn't take away from the standalone nature of the individual stories.

He gave the Doctor a family! The Eleven-Amy-Rory-River family is about as good as it gets for companion groups, to my mind. Rory especially is one of the greatest characters in the show--showing the heroism of the ordinary, faithful man and how that can be even better than the showy heroism of the Doctor. And River is the rare companion that I can actually ship with the Doctor, because her life is as strange and time-twisted as his is.

I love that his era focuses on time travel as more than a way to get to the setting of the episode. We get to dive deep into time travel mechanics, twisting back and forth across time in a single episode, delving into time loops and cause-and-effect and out-of-order relationships, and the very human effects all this timey-wimey nonsense can have on people.

It's funny! There is so much humor while never devolving into parody. So quick-witted and clever.

It's a show run by the best kind of fan--one who likes diving in to all those nerdy details, but understands at the end of the day that it's just a show and we can have fun with it. One of my favorite Moffat moments comes in the commentary track for the Series 5 Weeping Angels two-parter. There's a point where he's just riffing mercilessly on how silly the Weeping Angels when you think about it. They can't move when they're seen--makes them kind of weak, doesn't it? Like, he imagines a group of them running into trouble: "Why didn't you invade that planet?" "Oh, sorry, we couldn't. There was an insect." This is one of his greatest creations, basically the only New Who monster (as opposed to friendly alien) deemed worthy of repeat appearances, yet instead of being arrogant over it, he's willing to poke fun at it like any other element of the show. It's just so fun.

Even if the rest of his era had been garbage, I would have loved this era for The Day of the Doctor alone. What a triumph of an anniversary special. Beautifully, intricately plotted along several timelines. Set-up and payoff in layers upon layers. Plot resolutions hidden in jokes. A way to bring back Rose that wasn't just inane fan-service but was central to the entire story. Bringing in all the Doctors in a way that didn't clutter up the episode. But best of all, it healed the wound that the Time War had wrought upon the show. The Time War had served its purpose in restarting New Who and giving new depths to the character; the episode didn't erase that. But it challenged the idea that the Doctor had to end Gallifrey for the greater good. For such an idealistic show, it had always been odd for it to argue that the ends justified the means. This episode, at last, destroyed that argument. The Doctor doesn't have to justify the way he ended the war because it can't be justified! It was horrible! So he shouldn't do it! He can be clever and kind and find a better way to save everyone! It's so wonderfully Tolkien-esque and means so, so much to me.

about the joongdok content: you definitely didn't come late the orv (ad joongdok specifically) fans are VERY alive on tumblr. i see a lot of new joongdok content personally, are you sure you're checking the recent posts in the tag and not just the top posts? top posts are what it shows by default so those don't change much

since you've probably already checked that though, my suggestions are:

check the dokhyuk and dokhyeok tags as well

honestly a lot of people on here are more actively creating yoohankim content than specifically joongdok (which isn't to say there's More yhk shippers, just that activity to person ratio is higher). if you're not opposed to your joongdok expanding into a polycule, highly recommend checking out the yoohankim tag

check out individual character tags, sometimes people forget to tag the ship

follow orv-focused blogs, joongdok is a popular ship and will definitely come across your dash more that way (this will also help you find those few artists that churn out joongdok content but don't tag at all, or tag sporadically)

Oh, I thought I came late because when I checked A03, most of the many comments, kudos, views fics were from 2022 or even 2020. I'm not getting much response on my fics.

I didn't know it automatically shows the top posts, no wonder the posts didn't change. I changed it and there's a bit more content now.

I've checked those tags, a bit more content.

I don't understand yoohankim, (but then I don't really understand polyamory relationships, no offence) I both like and dislike Han Sooyoung as a character. Sometimes I think she's a bit too rude and self-entitled. But I like her independence as a female character, how she faked her death and just left Dokja to do her own stuff. But then I liked the scene where she died so Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk could talk to each other. But then I haven't read the epilogue fully (I plan to read the entire novel from the beginning, just haven't found the time), so I don't know. I was spoiled that she was the writer of TWOS from the manhwa, so I expected to see it develop over time in the novel with the knowledge helping kdj and he gets to interact with the author of the story he loves, but it was kind of thrown in at the end out of nowhere. It seemed a bit Mary-Sueish to me, but that's just my opinion. Someone also said her POV was like a main heroine of some romance novel and that she said 'idiot' too many times. So I don't really like her being added to the joongdok ship.

But then I haven't read the novel properly so who knows. I don't think I'd like Han Sooyoung being added even if I did though. Female character wise, I think I prefer someone like Yoo Sangah, she seemed like a typical beauty at first, but she really evolved into her own character. She's both polite and strict, blunt and gentle and kind of mysterious.

I think I wanted Yoo Sangah to be the main female lead (even though I was a bit iffy about her at the beginning). Without romance of course. And she really seemed to be, she grew from a hesitant female character to a badass female character after Kim Dokja was gone and Kim Dokja relied on her to handle things when he was gone, even with Yoo Joonghyuk. But then she had to leave to reincarnate but it showed her independence. So Han Sooyoung to me kind of came out of nowhere.

I like all the female characters in Omniscient Reader though, and that includes Han Sooyoung as a whole. I just prefer someone like Yoo Sangah I guess, who had quite a lot of development in her personality without Dokja's help than Han Sooyoung. Han Sooyoung seems a bit too angry everytime for me. The other angry character is Yoo Joonghyuk, but he's a regressor who suffered a lot, he actually has something to be angry about.

Searching individual character tags will have other ships though so I generally don't do that. Actually I don't even know why I tag individual characters, it's a habit of tumblr I guess.

Imagine my surprise hearing a familiar voice on this week's podcast!!!! Congratulations to you!! How did you get that call?!?

Hi Teach!!

Yay, thank you!

Okay, so here's the story --

Three-ish weeks ago, I get a somewhat random message from one of the Scarves and Coffee moderators if I'd be interesting talking to the producer of the podcast. I was kind of -- huh?? The Mod in question, who is a lovely person, doesn't follow me, nor do I know them, so I kind of thought it was a joke at first.

But being curious, I said okay - and she sent the producer my email. The producer replied almost immediately. And, ngl, I was in shock, because I didn't expect to get a reply at all. (Honestly, I think with the strike dragging out as log as it did, they were beginning to get desperate for content. And, idk, maybe Kevin's interest in fanfiction pushed them onto doing it? I have no idea.)

Anyway - we traded a few emails, and then the producer asked if she could call. Ngl, I googled her just to make sure this wasn't a prank. Sure enough - she seemed legit, so I gave her my phone call.

The producer of the show was actually really nice. She was/is a Glee fan, (and probably more in the know than Kevin and Jenna on somethings from what I could tell by our convo.) She asked some basics - like what was my relationship with the show, how/when did I start writing fanfic, those kinds of things.

Interestingly, and in case you're wondering why this happened, I mentioned to her that I wanted to remain somewhat anonymous. Something she didn't know (and obviously K and J didn't either) is that there are legal issues concerning fanfic. Thirty years ago, Anne Rice sued every single fanfic writer she could find. Now, I know things are better, and copyright stuff has changed, but I'm not a lawyer, and I didn't want to take that chance - so I asked if we could only use my name, and I did not give her my social media handles.

The other reason for that, though? I still am one of those people who like to keep their real life and fandom life a little separate. I know all of you guys know a great deal about me, but I'm not ready for Kevin and Jenna's 55 million followers to descend down on me. Nor do I really want them (or other people in my personal life) to know about what's on this blog/or my fanfiction. Also, maybe feeling a little guilty, I have been somewhat critical of the podcast (though I've always tried to maintain resect for K and J) and I really didn't want the producer digging into that, either.

She was super nice about everything though, and we worked it out that no one would see my face, nor would my last name or social media stuff be shared.

Also, interestingly, within that convo -- I learned that Kevin and Jenna still don't feel like people really like them all that much, and were really moved when people sent in voicemails about the podcast. I was also asked not to ask questions about the show -- because they don't remember anything, but I could ask other questions, because they love answering them.

I did have a few questions - but I never had them answered. The interview went by so quickly, and they moved from question to question so quickly that I never got to ask.

She also mentioned they had just finished The First Time podcast. Not really helping myself, I let her know Kurt was my favorite character, and that TFT was one of my favorites. And I said I had hoped they liked it. The producer paused a bit before replying -- stating that they had warmed to the episode as they talked (kind of like Born This Way) but I would like the episode. (Sure, Jan...)

Another thing she said was that the woman who had just aired, the one who stopped watching during season 3, had a lot of negative attention because she didn't watch the show after season 3. She was really grateful that I had watched the whole series and was still active in fandom. Plus, she loved that I run a bookstore.

Anyway - she basically asked if I was available in two days to record (!!!). Luckily I could (and even if I couldn't - I am the boss and could rearrange). I'm guessing not many other people could do the middle of the day on Wednesdays, so I was chosen.

They already had the other two guests ready to go -- and no, I don't know either of them. It's interesting that they even wanted a third person. And this whole thing is really a lot of really dumb luck.

So, two days later, after a lot of thinking, and one zoom meeting with @snarkyhag to make sure my computer worked properly, I was on the call with Kevin and Jenna. Crazy, right??

Honestly - I really was just at the right place at the right time, grateful that someone reached out to me, and that the producer was really desperate for guests, because I don't think the opportunity would have ever come otherwise.

I'll talk a little more about the actual interview in another ask.

Glad you liked it, Teach! <3

I'm glad you didn't listen to your teachers then because you explain things in detail, in a pleasant way that makes me want to keep reading. So I'll be here to read your essays anytime, you point things out about the show that I've never considered before and as a result I've noted a lot of new things within a whole new perspective so I'm really thankful for that. 

Btw are you thinking about writing more in depth about the buddifer scene in 7x1? And lastly I was wondering about a previous anon you replied saying you reached the conclusion about buddie going in the canon direction after watching "Eddie begins" can I ask what made you reach that conclusion back then? I'm just curious.

Thank you so much for replying to my previous ask, and for the follow. You're really nice ❤️

LOLOL I'm not sure how much of it was I didn't listen and how much of it was I just don't have the skills agjsdjkg but I try!!

I love reading other people's meta as much as I like writing my own for the same reasons you mentioned. It's part of why I like fandom so much (most of the time) because sometimes it really takes someone else thinking of it a different way to open up way more about a story.

I may write more about the buddifer scene later. I'm currently getting ready to go on a week long trip so I'll actually be missing episode 2. I think once I come back I'll write a meta for episode 2 and maybe go back to the buddifer scene in episode 1 too.

So I heard about buddie prior to starting the show and I knew at the time of starting it that they weren't canon yet. I've been in the same boat as lot of other older fandom people and seen many many queer ships never go canon, but I'm not afraid to still dive into shows like that anyway. I wanted to see how exactly the show handled it and make my own decisions. I started watching the show (and loved it even aside from buddie) and when I watched season 2, whereas I could see why other people shipped them from the get-go, I personally thought most of the most prominent ship moments felt very fan-servicey and not meant to be taken seriously. And this was proven right by how Tim talked about it at the time. I still felt there was plausible deniability about them together as a pairing, even through the amazing tsunami arc. Long story-short, until Eddie Begins I still thought that Eddie and Buck could just be close friends, and I didn't necessarily get entirely on board with the ship or think they were heading towards building a romance for them. That changed with Eddie Begins.

I watched Eddie Begins live on TV (I still had cable then lol) and it was literally one of those moments of TV that just...changes everything. In particular, the moment where Eddie gets trapped underground and Buck loses his mind, screaming his name, illogically digging for him in the mud with just his hands and no tools, unable to think or hear anything even as Bobby has to physically haul Buck back, the two of them toppling to the ground because Buck can't hold his body weight up and then he just tips his head back onto Bobby's chest and just starts sobbing, face up in the rain.

That moment. That was the moment I went oh. Buck is in love with this man, whether he knows it or not. And then Eddie's near-death montage, where Buck is featured so prominently in his reasonings for fighting to come home to his family. And of course, Buck looking just absolutely dead inside when everyone so obviously thought Eddie wasn't going to make it.

This episode is what got me absolutely fully onboard with the ship, and signaled to me that the writers were actually taking steps to deepen their relationship in a serious (and romantic coded) way. The rest of season 3, and then with that context, the whole of season 3 was just so vastly different from the tone buddie took in season 2. It no longer felt like something done for shits and giggles. It felt like they were setting the foundation for a relationship that might take a long time to get there but would eventually end up romantic. Eddie Begins is such an important and pivotal episode because not only does it then recontextualize all of early season 3, but then later on, when we get the season 4 finale, and find out that Eddie made his decision about Buck being Chrisotopher's legal guardian right after Eddie Begins? That then recontextualizes all of season 3b and the entirety of season 4.

To me, all of the decisions stemming from Eddie Begins said that the writers were very serious about deepening Eddie and Buck's relationship to a degree that neither of them share with any other characters and would be extremely hard to replicate with any other character unless they, too, had years of screen time to develop. To me, I didn't see a point in shifting their relationship with each other like this so deeply unless the plan was to provide an extremely solid foundation so that if the powers that be (TPTB) actually allowed it, they could get Buck and Eddie together romantically in the future.

Tim admitted in the past that (paraphrasing) all of the conversations we, as fans, have online about the future of buddie, are the same conversations they have in the writer's room. So I do believe that this slow build they've been on over the years was for a purpose, even if we wouldn't see the payoff until many many years down the line.

Some of the decisions made in seasons 5 and 6 also seemed to me like they were trying to buy time. TPTB and by extension, Kristen obviously were not down with getting them together, and yet it still felt like some of the prominent buddie writers in the writers room were still doing their best to keep deepening their relationship and drawing it out with no actual definitive answer, so that they didn't have to fully close the door on buddie, just in case. Hence why a lot of viewers feel like they were yanking our chain back and forth.

And now, look where we are, at ABC, and it really seems to me like they finally have the blessing of TPTB, with a showrunner that knows how to get from point A to point B to point C, and they can finally stop dragging out the decision of where to take their relationship.

That's not to say they won't still take a little while to get together, but I do feel at this point that a definitive decision on romantic buddie or not has been made. And based on episode 1, I'm feeling really positive about it.

I don't know how to say this, but I think Korekiyo sliced open my brain in some capacity. I became a fan of him through his execution before I even knew that Danganronpa was a MYSTERY game, and then just everything about his character -- the murder. the fact that he was a murderer before the killing game. the self-soothing gestures. the mask -- and then the more OFF-PUTTING ELEMENTS of the character like the sister angle or bondage aspect or the military uniform just cleaved my brain in the fact that you can really just. rod serling a character in a work that was not made for it. just go "man, wouldn't it be fucked up if there was a guy like that" and they DID. And it's not like Danganronpa has never done mini stories or implied arcs for the murderers of the given chapter or handled sensitive topics poorly, but Korekiyo just tips the scales in such a way that I find RIVETING. It's actually gotten me more interested in more disturbing media and movies to just try and figure out how to do it myself. I kinda just want to take Korekiyo and jam him into a different work and try to DO something with him, grant closure or something, but I can't even imagine how I'd start, if that's even my plan. It's all so much in ways I can't even begin to comprehend and I have no idea if any of this sounds coherent, but I guess that's my general take on things and your Korekiyo analysis is just so. so good to me. so good for me. bless.

that first sentence hit me as such a jumpscare i was like hE DID WHAT TO YOUR BRAIN????

that being said fantastic ask, let me answer properly under the read more 💕

i think just generally speaking, the executions are one of the strongest visual aspects of dr. like sure they are usually quite silly and over-the-top, which is very brand conscious of the games, but i always found the disconnect between the situation and the (lack of) expression of the character so. eerie is not the word, but something like that. a strange disconnect between the world these characters claim to be from and the situation they are forced to exist in. very fun.

and kiyo's execution is definitely one of the stronger ones imo, both visually and conceptually! it takes near full use of his themes and motifs as a character and it's just. brutal, unusually so. not an execution as much as torture stacked up till he's dead, and even after that. which i think, makes reasonably good sense when you consider his victim count compared to any of the others.

it also carries a great symbolic reading looking in from the "kiyo Was abused by his sister" angle, because near all of its elements - being tied up, being slowly boiled alive - can be interpreted in a symbolic relation to an abusive relationship. i also find it interesting that kiyo's execution continues post-mortem because he is deep enough in his delusions for death itself not to bring him despair. he is used to pain. he is used to death. monokuma needs to use his sister's explicit rejection of him to break his spirit, something he has spent his life convincing himself, working to ensure could never happen. like the writers really said fuck this guy in particular.

i hadn't touched upon much of the bondage/milita inspirations of his character - it kind of baffled me for a long time as an odd aesthetic choice to make tbh -, but i feel like i understand the line of thinking, at least? even if i'm not a fan. korekiyo's character takes a Lot of inspiration from both japanese folklore (the kuchisake-onna and futakuchi-onna inspo) and just the edo period in general, of which the roots of kinbaku are originated from. from there we make the leap of bdsm and bdsm fashion culture (gimp mask and the frequently echoed miliata motif), and you kind of get from point a to point b, even if it makes very little sense outside of a character specific angle. i do NOT think kodaka my man put this much thought into anything at all concerning this game but that's what my brain's for ig.

yeah though, even compared to edginess level of any previous addition of the series, korekiyo's just a Handful. it's not like we hadn't had a murderer part of a killing game before with a long track list (genocide jack), or a murderer with a quote-unquote split personality (genocide jack...TWO) or a victim of explicit csa (kotoko) or a crazy guy that's just a touch too fruity (nagito) but with kiyo it's just. all of it and it's SO much. and it's all handled and framed so BADLY. like kiyo's just such an insane character, not referring to his mental health, more like, the concept of him. he's norman bates from psycho and he's billy from black christmas and he's pinhead from hellraiser and the narrative is completely unable to handle half of his over-the-top baggage. he's the perpetrator and he's the victim in a way the narrative refuses to elaborate on, and while he doesn't exactly deserve better, you feel like he deserves at least a fighting chance in a competent narrative. iunno. i also don't make sense here, but feel free to dm me anon if you wanna talk about kiyo not making sense. i'm free all the time.

thank you for liking my analysis!!! he is the worm in my brain i have no say in the matter right now, but i love to know that people actually read them and go hm :'] i've been busy with work/a dhmis drawing i been sitting on but have like some...post game kiyo shoochi sketches where they're friends and niche internet micro celebrities.

I just wanted to say the Duffers said the endgame couples will be obvious. I don't think anyone needs to worry. When Byler happens it will happen in a way people CAN'T deny it (even though they will still try). Same with open endings. They said no cliffhangers and open endings are pretty similar to cliffhangers despite not being the same. They said no new characters either. I doubt they bring back a random old character to be Will's love interest. It's obvious what route they are going down. And I agree, it would have been nice for Will to have had a boyfriend for experience since Mike had a girlfriend, or other crushes (maybe he has and we just didn't know) instead of Mike being his one and only who he unexpectedly falls in love with at a young age and wants to spend whole life with, because it gives off "I feel like my life started that day I found you in the woods... and I knew right then and there that I loved you" vibes BUT the key here is that Wills feelings developed over time, the duffers just provided hints for where they were going with that part of the story since the beginning (as they do with many other things in the show). Not to mention Will was there before El and Mike and Will knew each other for years, unlike Milkvan. So it wasn't love at first sight. I don't see anyone saying things like this about Lumax. Believe it or not, sometimes couples that start dating at young ages last. Is it common? No. Milkvan is a good example of puppy love and conforming to societal norms. They convinced themselves it was love at first sight even though we all know that's not 100% the truth (*cough* MIKE). Just as there are parallels, there are also non-parallels. Like Both Lumax and Milkvan started dating when they were young (in Caleb's words "Lumax isn't like Milkvan. Their love is real"), and both broke up and get back together later on. The difference? Lumax took time to grow and mature as people before getting back together, which positively impacted their relationship and they grew closer. Milkvan gets back together after 3 months cuz they are so used to being together, still have a lot of personal things going on and growing to do, which impacts their relationship negatively and they grow apart. So although there are similarities, there are also differences. Like... Lumax: Endgame. Millkvan: Bones. I really don't think we need to worry about Will getting heartbroken either. Guys... I can't stress this enough, the evidence is there. BYLER IS NOT LIKE THESE OTHER QUEER-BATE SHIPS. There's nothing else we as fans can do except hope. Will deserves a happy ending and he is the MAIN character (THE main character of S5) and although the Duffers love torturing Will, they know this fact too. The story has been written. Worrying about it won't change anything. There will be heartbreaking moments in S5, yes, but it will all come full circle like the Duffers promised. And the ending has been described as beautiful so many times. It will be handled. It's their job. The duffers are good writers so it will be figured out. The dots WILL connect in the end. It's ok to feel negative feelings but it's better to try and be positive, especially since we have quite the wait lol. Everything will be ok and if I'm wrong... then the Duffers need to find a new job or else I will shove a squeaker in their lunch and when they eat that lunch and swallow it every time they talk and breathe they will sound like a dog toy.

LMAOOO the endddd

no but seriously you’re right and no one should be doubting byler at this point. guys, come on!!!! byler is so obviously endgame there is no other explanation for this. i genuinely believe that the duffers know what they’re doing and that will byers will finally get the happy ending he deserves. i feel all this will lead to our success and milkvan’s downfall. i think we should definitely have hope, especially since hoping would make this waiting till season 5 just a bit more manageable! so yeah, anon you’re definitely right. lumax is definitely much more real than milkvan and overall just a better ship. this is why lumax and byler have so many parallels! they’re both endgame ships that are very real.

THE LAST RONIN - Written by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Tom Waltz, Illustrated by Kevin Eastman, Esau & Isaak Escorza, Ben Bishop, and Luis Antonio Delgado

Holy guacamole on French toast, Batman. This comic had me feeling so many things. All of those things resulted in tears. I was crying through most of this comic, and I'm crying now as I type this analysis. This will be more spoilery than others, only because I talk about the identity of the Last Ronin. The story doesn't hide this information for too long, but it's only fair to warn you.

This story begins following a no-longer-teenage, mutant ninja turtle in an attempt at revenge on the grandson of Oroku Saki. New York has been changed by the oppression of Oroku Hiroto, and this may be the old turle's last chance at revenge. He is followed by the voices of his brothers, offering advice and criticism, nothing unusual for their dynamic. The turtle failed his mission and, as a result, attempted seppuku. The reader learns the truth. Michelangelo has lost his brothers and father. He is saved by Casey Marie Jones and her mother, April O'Neil, who lost a father and a husband.

In the particular trope of the "post-apocalyptic future of a world full of characters we know and love," the tone is usually somber. This story could allow a writer to explore a character's darkest moments and who they are when there's no hope. Unfortunately, this trope is rarely used to its fullest potential. Instead, we get some grimdark tragedy intent on ruining childhoods through nostalgic manipulation. I feared this as I began reading this comic. As expected, I did have to experience these characters' deaths, but it wasn't gratuitous or needlessly dramatic. Each character death was meaningful and respectful. Better than that, none of their deaths were useless. They died in battle, defending each other and their convictions.

There is a future podcast episode exploring why April and Mikey were the survivors because it deserves more discussion. The most important takeaway for brevity is that they have the most hope and the least attachment to honor duty or vendetta. The voices that follow Mikey around are his guilt, personified as his brothers, who died failing to settle the score. And he lived.

If I were to offer any criticism, the relationship between Mikey and Casey Marie feels rushed. By the time Mikey goes after Hiroto on his own terms, we're meant to believe that the two have become close, and Mikey has become a father figure and Sensie for her. Either I missed it, or the comic is missing some information about the time spent together, so their closeness felt sudden. Casey Marie, as well as Oroku Hiroto, feel like weaker characters, but that can't be helped since many of the other characters are already well-known. This isn't their story anyway.

If we are to believe this is a definitive end to the turtle's story, then it's a grand ending. I won't spoil the climax or the denouement because both were too satisfying and vindicating to sum up so easily. It feels all the more meaningful that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had their hands on this project. The character designs were recognizable but unique, and every page was beautiful. What really made me giddyy was turning a page to see the style suddenly change into the original comic's art style when Mikey or April were talking about their past. It was thrilling to see that old style incorporated into this particular story in such a significant way.

TRIGGER WARNINGS (with potential spoilers) -

1) Blood and Violence - There is not over-the-top violence, but there is realistic blood and injury.

2) Death and Mourning - If it bears repeating, the reader is subjected to many familiar characters dying. Though the deaths aren't disgusting, they are well-depicted. It might be an emotional read for sensitive TMNT fans and people who don't handle death well.

Let's Talk About: Minx and the need for more episodes per season.

Before we begin, I want to say: I need a third season of this show. A longer one that the second season's eight-episode order. Hollywood needs a reminder that filler episodes didn't mean nothing happens in the show. Filler episodes were necessary because, while the main plot is spinning wheels, we're getting character growth and relationship developments. And that was one of the things missing in this season of Minx.

Now, I don't remember the reason I started watching Minx. The trailer was intriguing enough that I decided to give it a try. I quickly fell in love with the iridescent Idara Victor, Jessica Lowe, and Oscar Montoya--and even though I don't remember a lot of the nitty gritty of what happened in Season 1, I remember rooting for the three--and Lennon Parham's Shelly, by the end of it and wanting to know what happens next.

The cast of this show is spectacular. The writing though... The writing was serviceable. It's not until this second season that I'm coming out as a fan of the show writers.

While the first season was mostly a hero journey for main character Joyce Prigger (the outstanding Ophelia Lovibond), the second season had a more nuanced arc in how it tackles success. Yes: success. Instead of throwing another wrench into the world of Minx, the writers decided to zag and let the characters be celebrated. And in that celebration, they were able to uncover a bigger issue: the politics of gender equality.

In season two, the show adds a new character: Constance is a billionaire who supports the arts, feminism, and is pushing the characters into reaching the zenith of their dreams. The only one who is a little put-down by Constance's handling of business is Don (Jake Johnson) because he's used to being the top dog. But even he can't argue that she has helped him achieve success he only dreamed of before.

With the characters thriving and getting the good life, Constance begins to introduce compromise in to their world. She begins to sow a divide by giving the characters what they want--while essentially taking away the most important thing they got in the first season: each other.

The show asks each character what it takes for them to bend their values. What are they willing to compromise to continue the good life they're currently enjoying?

Now, I do understand why some people would think this second season was more superficial than the first. In letting the characters succeed, it does feel like nothing bigger is happening for the most part. Because the trials they're facing aren't do-or-die. The characters aren't always in danger of losing everything.

But, if we're going to be honest: isn't that how we lose everything in real life? Bit by bit. Day by day. Life is good until suddenly it's not. And that's the magic of Minx's sophomore season.

The writers plotted the downfall well. If we go through the season again, we will see where the writers are foreshadowing the sacrifice each character will have to make. And it is amazing work.

Unfortunately, because the show only had eight episodes to work with--all the focus on delivering a satisfying story took out something that made the first season magical: the way each character progressed from episode to episode.

Season 2 gave everyone better storylines. Unfortunately, because there's a distinct lack of screen time to share, those storylines didn't get room to breathe. Most of them had to progress in between scenes and off-camera:

Idara Victor's Tina had a powerful arc of realizing her place in the world, of needing to choose herself--and yet, most of her processing happened in scenes that were already servicing Don's A-plot or B-plot, or while the main arc is place-setting, or while Shelly is having a moment for her character arc.

But at least her storyline gets to inch along from episode to episode. Oscar Montoya's Richie, while having a poignant endpoint for his character arc, didn't really have a clear path from point a to point b. He gets pulled into being every kind of supporting player before finally getting his moment to shine.

And then there's Jessica Lowe's Bambi. Her storyline is edged from episode two to episode six--and is only allowed release...in the final moments of episode seven. And while she does get somewhere in the finale, it also feels like it's just a lot more edging.

So, yeah: the plots and the character arcs are better and more powerful... they just suffered a lot from the lack of time. I'm not saying the show needs to expand from being a half-hour dramedy... but maybe having more episodes to let the plots and the characters breathe would do the show good.

Because goodness knows: this show is amazing. But it'll have a hard time firing all its bullets if we subtract cylinders from the barrel of its gun.

QOTS Rewatch: Season 4, Episodes 1-7

As you can see… I didn’t do individual episode recaps for this season, largely because there are only a handful of gifsets for each episode and writing a whole-ass meta every day or two is too much, even for me 😂 However, there is a lot of ground to cover. What I’ve realized anew on this rewatch is that, wow, this season has so much plot. Like I almost wonder whether Peter backed out after the bulk of the season had already been sketched out and so they had to fill in his absence with a bunch of random extra characters and story lines that wouldn’t disrupt the main arc of the season…? I mean, who knows. That’s pure speculation. But it really feels like there are some stories that you could just cut right out on the dotted line and leave the rest of the story intact, lol. In any case, while this season definitely feels a lot more rushed and a bit sloppier (hello, major timeline issues 😒) there are still things to appreciate and characters and plot elements I really do find strong. More of My Thoughts™️ behind the cut.

First I just want to address the elephant in the room which is the absence of James and how the writers dealt with it. Like pretty much everyone else I wish it had been handled better. I watched this season live and after the first episode, the silence around his absence felt too noticeable. For the most part I still enjoyed the season--maybe because Teresa's my main girl, so I still got my eye candy all season--but I definitely was like... okay so they're just going to basically act like James no longer exists? On this rewatch, though, I'm finding more and more of her missing him obvious in her acting choices. My sense is that when the season was written, they didn't really know if Peter would return for season 5 so they were just trying to put a pause on the whole story line in any explicit way. But also, I guess it really feels in-character to me that, six months in and James still a total ghost, Teresa decide to just box him up and put him in the far corner of the attic. She decides to get the message and move on already. Which means never mentioning him again.

I mean: could there have been some kind of conversation between like Teresa and King George where she opened up a little? Sure, though I kind of imagine that would've happened off-screen in the gap between the end of season 3 and beginning of season 4. Would it have been a stronger season if they'd figured out how to weave it in? I'm not sure, though it would've been gratifying as a James and Jeresa fan to have him acknowledged. I think part of what made it frustrating was just the waiting each episode and being like ok what is happening?? Do they really think they can just leave that relationship dangling and we'll forget about it? I guess my point is: it was definitely a bummer that Peter decided not to do the season, and James and his relationship with Teresa left a big gap in the show, especially because it was in her relationship with him that we saw a lot of her humanity. But, her character would've needed to go on this darker journey this season anyway. And with the writers having no idea what Peter was going to do, I genuinely have had a hard time figuring out where I would've handled specifically the James relationship differently.

HOWEVER. I do think there are things they could've done differently, even without James, to improve the continuity of this season with the earlier ones. Rewriting canon to have Teresa present at Tony's birth is a HUGE "no" to me and that's the number one thing I would change. Second, with all the antagonists from the first three seasons having been bested by the end of season 3 (Epifanio, Cortez, Camila being the ones with multi-season arcs), it would have been wise to carry over more of the story elements from those seasons so that it didn't feel quite so much like literally everything was starting over. I've said before: Castel needed to become a main character. Devon could've been written in on some level (though without knowing what was going to happen with Peter/James, I can kinda understand steering clear of that). Keep Taza around even for minor plot developments. SOMETHING. And while I understand the expense of filming in multiple locations with multiple sets, I think that having some episodes take place back in Phoenix or even Mexico would have provided a helpful bridge. (There are a few Boaz scenes that do take place in Mexico but they're few and far between.) Any of these things would've helped this season feel less like a brand new show that's totally written all the prior characters out of existence.

AAAAAaaaaanyway, so much for the big picture what-I-think-the-writers-could've-done issues. Now I'll try to just stick to the show we actually have, lol. I'm not going to do an episode-by-episode breakdown here. Instead, I'm going to talk about each of the key story lines in turn and what its significance is in terms of Teresa's character journey.

El Gordo

When the season begins, Teresa is just about to open her bar and it seems she's taken the last six months to set up her routes into New Orleans. I THINK she's still just selling on the dark web at this point (well, and presumably in the local market in Phoenix too?) because she has no interest in selling her product in New Orleans. Instead, she wants to use New Orleans, and its port access, as her distribution hub. So where does El Gordo come in? Well, she wants to expand her business so that she can buy the waterfront property and go legit, and he sells product from his hub in Miami up the east coast. So if she can convince him to sell her product, she'll have a huge new market at the snap of her fingers.

The other thing that's in it for her is that right now, El Gordo is buying from independent farmers in Colombia. And those are cutting into Castel's market dominance. Castel showed up at the beginning of the first episode, worried that Teresa was buying from other suppliers behind her back. If Teresa can get El Gordo to buy from her, then she can prove to Castel that she's got nothing to worry about.

El Gordo is a great character in my opinion. What I like about this story line is that it connects to Castel, which means it connects back to earlier seasons, and also he's believable somehow. He's delightfully eccentric and scary but without feeling contrived. Business-wise, wanting to work with him makes sense, especially because of his relationships up the east coast (which pay off in 4x05 when he connects her to Oksana). He serves a clear plot purpose but doesn't feel like he only exists for plot. I like the unpredictable energy between him and Teresa. Basically, so far so good with respect to new characters and stories.

Javier and Boaz

Javier this season to me feels a little forced and I wish there was more Boaz somehow to play off him because it's kind of hard to understand his character without feeling like his back story is clear. He's Boaz's younger cousin, which explains some of his tension between wanting to follow Teresa's way but also having a hard time setting clear limits with Boaz (and still getting into trouble with him too). But then there's also Emilia, who we first meet in 4x06, and whose role doesn't feel totally natural to Javier's characterization in my opinion. It's also a little unclear to me exactly how Javier and Boaz play into Teresa's bigger story this season. Are we meant to understand how Javier is less reliable than James and so Teresa is more alone? Are we meant to see, via Boaz and Emilia, how his loyalties are never 100% solid? Obviously his major arc is that he gets into this trouble with Boaz at the beginning, killing the Judge's nephew which of course will come back to haunt Teresa in a major way later (and by this point in the rewatch, 4x07, Rene's death is only just surfacing). But something about this whole story feels a bit hasty and contrived to me and so this is one that doesn't totally work in my opinion.

The Judge

Speaking of the Judge, he's another big player this season. He steps into the gap created by the demise of Camila and Cortez last season and he's definitely a slimy opponent. I said in a gifset reblog that I do appreciate the way the show tries to show a more politicized antagonist than it has in the past. But, we get TOO much Judge side story in my opinion. All the stuff with his son feels like screentime that could've been spent on Teresa in more character-developing ways. Or.... on Castel or Boaz or Taza... (I'll never shut up about how those characters should've been used more this season.)

The Judge's role with respect to Teresa and her character arc, though, is to show how no matter how much she tries to play nice, she can't avoid getting caught up in the drama of people far more evil than she is. By the end of 4x07, they still have a tentative peace, but it's at the cost of $3 million/month in hush money, and he's fanned the flames between her and Dumas, too. Way more trouble than he's worth and I wish she'd just take care of him.

Marcel Dumas

I've already ranted in my gifset reblogs about Marcel. So, let me clarify here that he is one of my favorite new characters this season and I love the spark he and Teresa have on-screen. Alimi Ballard is fire. I am also glad the show didn't kill him off (the writers have said they'd planned to until they saw the chemistry between Alimi and Alice) and glad that--especially given the setting in NOLA--we get a major Black character. However.... he really makes it hard for me not to bear a permanent grudge in this first half of the season. By the end of 4x07, he and Teresa have finally struck a truce, but, as I explained in my tags on this gifset, I really don't think Teresa was the only one who owed an apology and in fact so much about Marcel and how he treated her early on really set me off.

His role with respect to her character development though is great. It really highlights how, even when she's cornered time and time again into doing things in a way she doesn't want to, she still tries to hold herself to higher standards. At the same time, the costs of her business are adding up, and she has to harden, become colder. In her relationship with Marcel, we see her transformation unfold and she definitely has a more queenpin-like energy, even when finally making peace with him.

Pote, Kelly Anne, and Tony

Alright I'll just say it: I don't really care for this side plot. I think its role is to try to be the place where Teresa's softer side can show up (especially with Tony) and where that growing divide between the life she wants and the life she has is highlighted. Without James, there needs to be some other place to show this. My problems here are (1) this story ends up making Pote's role as her bodyguard a lot murkier and I've realized on this rewatch that really... he doesn't do anything for her. He doesn't help her or save her or anything! The role of his character as someone willing to take a bullet for her really is kind of neutered. Instead, he's agonizing over how to show up for Tony. I'm guessing the idea here is to humanize Pote, complete his redemption arc, make us root for him, too, in advance of the final season. But in my opinion it ends up actually separating him too much from Teresa. Especially because unfortunately the actor that plays Tony really doesn't sell him for me. I don't find him believable. I also just... CANNOT forgive the timeline issues with Tony being almost 16 years old and Teresa was at his birth.

I know that I do like Kelly Anne's story in the latter half of the season, and as I've said, Teresa with pretty much any female character is great, so I'll have more to say about her later. And in general, the role of her family vs. her business will become a lot sharper in the back half of the season, too. It's just, in this first half, it feels like it drags.

King George and Birdie

I'll keep this short and sweet; Birdie was essentially just a plot device for the war with Marcel but I did think her scenes with Teresa were generally sweet and I loved the moment she shared with King George, not least because, as I think I said in a gifset reblog, George is one of the few threads connecting this season to previous seasons, and I love that his grief about Bilal and the trauma from s3 is still so palable, and Birdie helps him with that. Sorry, that was an extremely long sentence, I'll never do that again. Anyway, I said early on that I was meh about Birdie, but I changed my mind. She was a great character and I wish the writers had done more with her than just plot service.

Eddie

ALRIGHT Y'ALL. Want my Eddie take-down?

Look.

Eddie serves a very clear plot purpose. He's there to show Teresa that it's no use: she is no longer the person she used to be; nor can she pretend she's "normal"; nor can she pretend to care about someone she doesn't give two fucks about. He's an obvious rebound. For six months she held out hope that James would reappear, but she finally had to bury that hope six feet under and her job is stressful, I can't blame her for wanting some action. It's not like she meets a lot of eligible guys in her line of work.... so Eddie might've genuinely been what her options were. And I even didn't mind their first kiss: it was cute, huddled up at the piano like that. It felt kinda tentative on her part, like she was clearly a bit nervous (like the OPPOSITE of how she was with James--she was so steady and sure with him 😭 brb gotta watch 3x05) and a bit girlish, more like how she was with Guero in all her flashbacks, but it didn't seem unwanted, and it was slow and sweet and he wasn't pushy or annoying.

But the good stuff pretty much ends there lmao. First of all the man cannot spit out a full sentence without some godawful cliche to save his life. Literally everything he says makes me roll my eyes all the way back into my head. He's got this whole "I'm so profound" attitude that is just suuuuuuuch a man thing and it is so unattractive. He asks her limited questions and never with any sincerity, though to be sure she always kind of nervously brushes them away. She's not looking for him to be a safe place for her to bare her soul or anything, so I can't blame him solely, but it's painful to watch him treat her like an empty vessel that he can just pour himself into. Ew, sorry, I didn't intend for that to sound so euphemistically sexual, but it really does seem like he thinks of her as this blank slate that he just gets to write on or something. Like she has no past before him. He's just not curious.

On this rewatch I feel so sure that the writers did this intentionally. I know that back when the season was airing, Dailyn was on Twitter trying to drum up excitement for Eddie, but I just am going to ignore that and think maybe she was trying to just support the actor who, god help him, was probably doing his best with the trash lines he was given, but I really can't believe that the writers didn't know they were making him this cringe.

My belief--and my evidence is that the writers this season in general are not all that subtle (other examples abound though I'm blanking off the top of my head)--is that the whole point was to show she just couldn't get into him, the whole point was for him to just be a dumb cringey rebound so that no one would actually ship them accidentally and mess with Jeresa lol. YES I KNOW that's my shipper lens, but like this season's show runners wrote entire episodes of seasons 2 and 3, including some of the best Jeresa ones, and they KNEW what gold they had. The Eddie story sets Teresa up for feeling like romance is completely incompatible with this business but also sets her/us up for the OMG YES FINALLY when James finally comes back.

Because listen. Let's take episode 4x04 as an example. The episode opens with her waking up in his bed naked after having presumably hooked up the night before. She startles awake and then kinda looks around uncomfortably. She kiiiinda smiles? But it looks more like a grimace? And looks away and buries her head in the pillow a little. Call me crazy but girl looks kinda disappointed to me. She was blowing off steam but... wrong person kinda vibes. Anyway, she gets up while he's still sleeping and starts getting dressed like she's about to bounce before he wakes up. Then he wakes up and needles her until she agrees to go to brunch with him. She cleeeearly seems uncomfortable but she's like alright. I'll give this a go. Meanwhile he calls her distillery a "tequila factory" -- even after she corrects him. WINCE. Yes, she winces too, I swear to god she does.

Then at brunch he's all "I'm starting to like you" to which she responds with a forced smile and an "I'm starting to like your city." BURNNNN.

I MEAN. This is intentional, guys. Call me crazy but I think we're meant to find him awful. Maybe not THIS awful? Like I readily admit that my intense shipping of Jeresa makes my hatred of him a bit extra. But c'mon. The guy is a total tool. The same writers who were responsible for James's character development in season 3 cannot possibly have actually believed that Eddie was an interesting person or a serious love interest for Teresa.

Nope. He was not. He was so out of touch with her that when he brought her with him to Nashville, it was alllll about him, all about showing off how hot and deep he was, and he couldn't even be bothered to pry at all into Teresa's cover story about how she "slipped in the bathroom" at his show. Noooo, he could only manage to be offended that she'd missed his special song for her, and then think that her breaking up with him was because he'd confessed to her that he'd accidentally killed his friend. GOD EDDIE GET A LIFE.

When I watched this season live, I remember being just extremely puzzled by Eddie. I wasn't even perturbed by her moving on because she so clearly hadn't actually moved on, Eddie was so clearly a glorified sex toy (which, you go girl). I was just like wow Teresa you can do so much better than that. But she wasn't even trying to do better, and that's kind of the point. I feel like the whole point was that her heart wasn't actually in it. I can't even muster up being offended by the plot line, even though Eddie is so detestable, because it's just so obviously a placeholder for her. A very final nail in the coffin of whatever idea she had that she could go back to the person she'd been with Guero. A piece of candy on the arm of a smarmy guy who only cared about his own romancing. So in some ways, the Eddie story to me actually parts the seas for James to be the only possible real deal for her. It just... takes way too long for him to come back. (PETER, I'M LOOKING AT YOU.)

Just had to end this with a James gif. Sorry Eddie. James I hope you are off pining somewhere extra hard because your girl is going through a helluva lot of bullshit and a helluva lot of heartache and thinks she basically has no shot at love ever again 😭

Thanks for reading this far, see y'all again in like, a week (😂😂😂 sorry this is going so fast, there just are only like 3 gifsets per episode this season lmao) for the rest of the season breakdown.

Okay so stranger things volume 2 kinda made sense to me while watching it but then I read the most colourful reviews and I'm here to talk about it. I'm mostly gonna talk about the things that I've seen being talked about that frustrate me. Here it goes.(It gets kiiinda long and kinda messy but hopefully it's somewhat understandable)

Will

The whole gay anguish Will has been put through this season honestly HURTS to watch. I don't care if they're using the gay character and stuff but ANY character being put through this kind of psychological pain AFTER already getting traumatized is just. Not it? I enjoyed the angst I'll admit but still they're not living his character up to its potential. Will was the main subject, like the main GOAL in the beginning right. Boi got fucked up in the first season but no you have to keep the connection going someway in season 2 so make him suffer more. FINE. Season two was still okay because there was potential for recovery and it could've been redeemed in season 3 but nope. It did not. What the hell even was season 3 for Will specifically? Season 3 feels like a fever dream not gonna lie but anyway the last two seasons have done NOTHING for Will.

Byler

Season 4 would've been PERFECT for the recovery process to start through Byler and I'm not just saying this because the show needs more positive LGBTQ representation but because it would make 100% sense for the characters and the plot to progress better. Also I feel like a lot of people are just shipping characters for absolutely no reason this season in the name of representation. Like I get shipping my guys but don't say its for the rep if it doesn't make sense. But yeah anyway Will's character has reached a potentially irredeemable point for me. Hopefully it'll SOMEHOW make sense in season 5.

Mileven

Okay so um. I'm a casual viewer I don't really care about the show after a few hours of finishing it BUT this relationship was enough to distress me for two years. I stopped shipping these two after season three tbh and then I come into season four and hEAR MIKE SAYING THAT HIS LIFE FELT LIKE IT STARTED WHEN HE MET ELEVEN WHAT THE HELL. Season 3 was kinda wierd for a few characters, there was such inconsistency with the character writing. Like there are bad characters and then there's bad writing. Mike was a great friend right from season one and suddenly he's a douche who can't see how much his best friend is suffering and literally crying beside him? Does not make sense. This whole relationship or the whole love triangle has been disgusting to see. It just does not make sense. I'm all for characters turning stupid or changing through circumstances but can someone please explain to me how Mike's downfall came to be. He's nothing but a love interest now? Just following around El with Will following him, is that it? Mike's entire focus shifted to eleven this season. Maybe it was because of everyone else was safe and close to him? The story is being made in a way as if Mike has always thought of El as number one priority but he didn't. I don't know it just doesn't feel right.

Characters in general

I don't know know how anyone else interprets the characters and the show in such detail but I feel like they(the writers) are literally reducing the characters to some tropes so that they show this big huge fight between the worlds. The writers are doing a horrible job handling the characters. ESPECIALLY relationships. This show and the fandom are the messiest in ships. I feel like I'm saying controversial stuff right now but eh. For the fans, I'm sorry but steddie being shipped was just a huge ass blow to my face. I could still predict ronance coming but steddie? Hell nah. Where'd people even dig that up from. A little eye contact? we do not need to ship a canonically(or presumed) gay character from every same sex interaction we see. Ronance kinda felt like it'd be cool but they felt more like buddies to me so. I respect the ships but I just haven't seen the content or posts that could convinced that they could have any canon potential. I like my ships a little more canon inspired. So yeah. For the show itself, they've fucked me up by butchering a lot of things this season and relationships is one main point as we've established already. Since I've already typed a paragraph about mileven let's go with something small for Nancy and Steve. No. It just fucks with all the character development Steve's had the past three seasons and just does not make sense. It makes sense that Nancy and Jonathan might not be able to work it out because of the distance and stuff but really? You're gonna make Nancy, the smart confident Nancy, go back to her ex she walked away from? That's just. Mmm mm.

Anyway yeah this was it. Don't think anyone's gonna read this but feels good to type it out. Also if anyone does read this I'm sorry if it has any stuff that doesn't make sense I've completely COMPLETELY forgotten season 3. If anyone doesnt agree or has a different perspective on these things please DM me I'd love to understand better.

I've never finished an entire fanfic. While I'm embarrassed to say it I've probably only finished 8 to 12 books for fun in my life.

Could you give me one work on A03 I should read if I promise to devote most of an afternoon to understanding it?

I really enjoyed "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman.

I read "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder as a teenager. It had a lasting and profound effect on me.

I also finished "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse.

Once, I found an audio book I love. I listened to all 18 hours probably 4 or 5 times while driving across the country. It is called "From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History" by Ken Hammond.

I think I want a story that explains the truth about finding love and doesn't just tell people what they want to hear, the way most rom-coms seem to do.

I don't really know what I want though. I'm hoping you will help me.

I've heard so much bad advice from romantic stories. They usually hurt now and I usually stop reading when stories get romantic.

I would like to give it another try someday.

I'm not sure that I can give you one fanfic you should read.

You and I are different people, with different life experiences, different relationships to media, and different tastes. A fic I find moving and worthwhile may strike you as trite and obnoxious. Conversely, one that might end up speaking to you, I might've dismissed out of hand for one reason or another.

What I can do, though, is tell you there is absolutely no shame in not being a big reader, give you some advice that may make it easier to find fic you will enjoy, and offer a few recomendations of fics that I think are particularly good.

So, advice

To begin with: If you want to better your chances of finishing reading something, filter your Ao3 searches with a maximum word count. Under about 15000 words is usually easy to read in a sitting or two, even for my burnt out dyslexic self. If listening works better for you than reading, look into podfics. That's right, people make audiobooks of fanfic, for free! If you'd rather avoid romantic stories, filter your searches to only show you results categorized as G - Gen. Genfic, as it's lovingly called, is fic that is not going to be focused on romantic or sexual relationships, and instead is usually about friendships, familial dynamics, or character studies. (Unless it's been mis-sorted, in which case it's a different problem.)

Relatedly, you may want to look for relationship tags that use an & rather than a /, such as [Alice & Bob}, which will give you stories about Alice and Bob as a platonic relationship, instead of [Alice/Bob], which would give you Alice and Bob as a romantic couple.

Now, it is true that keeping to the world of genfic will cut you off from a huge swath of the fic that's out there on Ao3, so you may end up wanting to wade into other categories of fic.

I'm also very much not a fan of how a lot of media--especially romcoms--depict romantic relationships. In particular, they way they tend to treat things that should be big red flags like they're cute, and the way often completely gloss over the kind of working-through-shit-is-hard-and-necessary that's the reality of all interpersonal relationships. One of the things that I like about fanfic is that it's often easier to find fic that handles those sorts of things well. Certainly doesn't mean they all do, but I find the odds are better. Some fandoms and some ships are overall better about that than others, depending in large part on the demographics of fanfic writers attracted to that fandom ad those characters, and on the existing character dynamics from the source material. For instance, the Clint/Coulson ship in the Marvel fandom has a base of writers that's largely made up of fully adult and older adult women, and the source text being drawn from for those characters already has elements in it of balancing professional duty with personal life and dealing with loss and healing, so you get quite a lot of fic that's interested in really digging into the emotional complexities and difficulties of starting, maintaining, and/or patching up a relationship as an adult.

A very good writer for that ship, if you'd like to check it out, is Ao3 user cakeisnotpie.

Relatedly, fic for older and more mature media that's more likely to have an older writer base, or have a backlog of fic from when when fandom was less online and was less accessible to high schoolers is also more likely to be more nuanced and mature. The Firefly fandom leans that way, as does some Star Trek (though the Trek fandom is so big it's a very mixed bag). The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is an excellent book with a lot of good thoughtful fic, if you're into that flavor of sci-fi.

The discomfort of the gap between media romance and real life can also be eased by seeking out stories about relationships that are unlike relationships you're ever going to be in. It's well documented that a big part of why many women, regardless of orientation, gravitate towards m/m romances is the freedom from self-comparison afforded by not having a woman in the relationship. A similar dynamic can exist for anyone. That can also be part of the draw for highly fantastical stories with improbable premises or fantasy/sci fi settings very different from our own daily reality. The distance gives us room to play.

In conjunction with that, it helps to be mindful of your own mindset when looking at stories. If what you're reading is just trying to weave a fantasy, don't look to it for advice. If it's exploring puppy love, don't ask it for maturity. Sometimes we have to meet a story where it is, and if that's a place we don't want to go, we have to recognize that's just a matter of our preference, not necessarily something the story is doing wrong, frustrating as it may be.

Think of characters that speak to you, that interest you, that you'd like to explore more about and look for fic about them. Exclude tags liberally as you recognize what you don't want to read--that's usually easier to figure out than what you do. Try not to get discouraged if you feel like you're throwing out a lot more than you're finding interesting. Despite how some people talk about it, this is not a competition won by volume read. It's more like prospecting for gold.

Now for recommendations

Fair warning that most of the fic I engage with, as writer or reader, have at least an element of m/m romance to them. If you really don't wanna touch that, there's not much I can give you.

Feel free to check out any of the following, or not, depending on if they sound interesting, if you're familiar with the fandom, or if you just like the title.

Thing's I've written that may work for you:

Momento Ipsum - fandom: The Old Guard. Approx 19,000 words. Set more or less modern day, more or less in the reality of the movie. A couple romantic relationships are present, but the focus is much more on individuals' self of self and how they relate to their own pasts.

Snacks and Midnight Blues - fandom: The Old Guard. Approx 3,000 words. Nice and short, just a late night conversation between friends, with some grappling with mortality or lack thereof. Some couply cuteness when one character's husband walks in near the end.

The First Annual Family Of Promise Roadtrip - fandom: The Witcher. Approx 17,000 words. Set in a modern day AU, it's a road trip to the beach. The core of the story is the relationship an adult friendgroup all develop with one member's teenaged goddaughter. Very much a familial/intergenerational-friendship thing. That said, there is a central thread involving intimate partnership where one person is aromantic.

Dinner Buffet, and a Fanta - fandom: Venom (Marvel). Approx 1,500 words. A waitress recounts the very weird shift she had one day when a guy with an alien symbiote got seated in her section. It's just fun.

Things other people have written:

More Man than You - fandom: Captain America. Approx 36,000 words. This is probably the best fanfic I've ever read, in my wholly subjective opinion. It's an incredibly well researched and nuanced exploration of what life would have been like for Steve Rogers as a queer man in the 1930s and 40s, including while at war, and how he would have related to his sexuality, the people and society around him, and the queer subculture of the time. There is sex and romance, all of which is in service of the character study and sociological exploration. It certainly doesn't sugar coat the difficulties of interpersonal relationships.

That's really all I have for you. I hope you find this helpful. For guidance navigating Ao3's function's I recommend @ao3commentoftheday's #howtoao3 tag. You can also reference my Fanfic Author's Guide to Metatext for some help with how people use tags, though--as the title suggests--the guide is more aimed at writers.

Best of luck, and may you find stories that speak to you!

Gin what do you think about freema's exit?

i was speechless and I'm sorry to say that no one makes a good impression (including freema, i'm sorry)

if the writers knew that she wanted to leave they could try to change her story in season 4 to give her a fair exit (by the way it's not an impossible thing considering they said they said fuentes had to leave in 4x09 and then they changed idea)

if freema has decided to leave NA at the end of the season, i'm sorry to say that she looks like a person abandoning the sinking ship (of course I know that she doesn't owe anyone anything and that it's about her career, but that doesn't mean a person can't be sad about it).

In conclusion: situation handled very badly by everyone.

anon 2:

I definitely saw Freema’s exit coming(the stans were intense but right, i fear lmao)because Helen’s screentime and storylines were trash and she was pretty much reduced to a love interest but I’m really going to miss her. Freema is so talented and I love Sharpe despite how much they tried to reduce her character. I keep wondering how they’ll save face going forward because her exit message to the fans was sweet but the producers were saying she wasn’t leaving up until two days ago lol so I can’t help but wonder if this blindsided them a bit. Anyway, I’m guessing they’ll do another time jump because that’s what NA tends to do after each season but I’m not really into that because idk how it’ll affect Leyren? Feels like they’ll skip steps again and have them magically back together…

I had doubts already about freema's status for s5 when wilder got promoted to main character. 2 seasons without a single promotion and they suddenly decide to bump someone up who was literally introduced as helen's replacement at NA? yeah. I'm annoyed and disappointed at how they wasted helen's character in s4 given that now there's little chance of us seeing her story continue to play out outside from second hand information from the other characters. I don't know when the writers were informed that she'd be leaving the show and maybe it was when part of the season was written already. But you can't help but think about all the ways s4 could've been a decent send off for helen's character with the premise they set up in 4x01.a premise that was built on her arc in s3 with mina too. If they had let her go to London on her own and get to do all the things she set out to, run the hospital and make it better, work on her relationship with her mother, unpack her history that sent her running from her home country. Really explore those things instead of constantly splitting her time with Max's story and him being a wrench in her plans. So that by 4x22 we could've left with helen's character settled into her new journey in London and new beginnings. Her character deserved that much after the seasons of "wait for it" to dive into her backstory.

as for a time skip, i don’t think it’ll be anything major, maybe 6 months or less. there wasn’t a time skip really for s3 to s4 and the only reason they had one for s2 to s3 was. well, pandemic stuff. 5x01 will definitely set the tone for how the rest of the season will play out. 

As for freema personally, I don't blame her for leaving the show. I know it feels like abandoning ship, especially this close to the end. But the reality is that New Amsterdam is ending and freema has an opportunity to lead a show that has a future. Given that the shows are in two different countries and that we are still in a pandemic, it likely wasn't feasible to do both even if she cut back episodes on NA. This is her career and she has to do what's best to keep it thriving. We can't fault her for that. i didn’t realize that any of the producers were saying she’d still be on s5 but i haven’t been following them closely during the break. maybe they were still working out the details and holding out hope to get her for a couple concrete episodes? though I'm sure the writers and schulner will work with her to fit in a scene or two to wrap up the series with. They'll just keep it hush for the surprise element.

I'll say it once again if DC focused more on Dick and Barbara’s friendship I would start reading the new Nightwing, if the story followed an interesting plotline I would read the new Nightwing, if King truly did listen to the fans/the fans concerns and started treating this series with some forethought and respect I would pick up the series, but all of what I said isn't happening and at this point, I'm not interested in DC’s takes on what they think should happen next in his run because they don't know themselves

They’re so many wonderful plotlines that have just been dropped for no reason, the writing is just to cater to the fans, I'm over Dickbabs as a couple already, the relationship between them isn't appealing to me because as always this ties to the Ric Grayson arc in which everyone I mean everyone from Bruce down to his siblings just shown that they don't care about him truly and this is thanks to the writing of that issue too. Ric Grayson would be a fantastic arc if it was handled correctly, we should see or should have seen IN PANEL Bruce coming to visit his son, Alfred visiting his grandson, Jason stopping by to see how his brother is doing, Tim stopping by just to stop by, Damian possibly stopping by but I sincerely doubt it because it hurts to know that di-Gra-RIC won't remember him won't remember them, Barbara coming down to check up on Ric just to chat about what's happening in Bludhaven, etc. Long story short we deserve to see a story in which Ric’s autonomy and decisions matter truly and are respected instead of just having to imagine that Bruce was watching Ric from the shadows because the writer tweeted that tidbit of information, it isn't fair to see Bruce get treated with the utmost respect and still see him get treated as if he's still human but he's just forgetting some things over Ric getting harassed by his family because Ric NEEDS to remember his past while with Bruce they were tiptoeing around him and yet still giving Bruce the space and respect that frankly, anyone deserves in that situation. I am at the point that if I don't see it in the panel then it didn't happen point-blank, I'm tired of writers just going to Twitter to add in more tidbits of information into the story, that isn't how you write a story and it's lazy storytelling if it wasn't already added/thought to be added to the story to begin with, then they tie it towards the second book/ whatever by going to Twitter of all places, that's like if I sent in my google doc for school but then I forgot to add something to my work so I just tell my teacher or whomever that I meant to close my third paragraph in my essay and begin talking about my new topic in the fourth paragraph, like that would not work and I would have got my assignment back to me with the appropriate marks.

I think if we were to fix the issues from Ric’s run then Nightwings new run would be smoother and more interesting because right now I'm not interested in the adventures of Dick Grayson and his girlfriend Barbara Gordon! The most interesting thing to come out of this run for me personally would be his dog, Haley. We have yet to see Dick be on his own since Grayson and it's driving me up a wall that DC doesn't just allow him to be by himself in HIS OWN RUN! AS IF HE IS NOT A LEGACY MEMBER HIMSELF

If we were to quote-unquote tie him down to someone then I prefer either Bea or Kori because I enjoy their relationship, and it had a lot more room to flourish if the writers took the time to properly write it out instead of having Barbara rudely dismiss Bea and then proceed to never pick up her character again or again end their relationship because Dick and Barbara slept with each other even though both parties knew that Dick was with someone else and was even on his way to get married to that someone else too. If they need drama then do some hurt/comfort instead of now having these two characters be canonical cheaters and yes both Barbara and Dick are cheaters because of the above-mentioned incident which could have been avoided if they just talked to each other like the adults they are instead of some weirdo who just thought that this would spice things up like... You just single-handedly ruined this story by having these two sleep with each other because you thought that this would drive sales? The sales were already secured when they brought Dick and Kori together as a couple, Dick and Bea had again in my opinion, more chemistry than say...Dick and Shawn, and sorry to any Dick/Shawn shippers, but when they pulled the pregnancy scare they lost me as a fan because whew I think my heart dropped so far into my shoes it wasn't even funny. Seeing as this is Dick’s solo run after Grayson and after Ric, I was excited about his run but as of right now I will most definitely pass on this story and I haven't even brought up his new sister and the heartless villain (whom I'm pretty sure has yet to come up yet and what even happened to Zucco or am I just forgetting things?) I don't know I'm just tired of the inconsistency of this run and the previous runs and again this is just my opinion but whatever.

What do you think about Bakugou's redemtion arc, if I'm honest I dislike it not because I don't want Bakugou changes but because Horikoshi didn't do a good job. I don't say Horikoshi is a bad writer but when it comes to Bakugou, he just another fan and leaves this ruins the plot. During all the manga we see that actions have consequences if a character makes a mistake later that mistake comes to bit his or her ass. For example, we have Shoto and Inasa, Shoto gave him a bad impression and later that costs him his license, Izuku called Shoto a kind person but Natsuo heard that, the plot is always punished the characters for their mistakes but with Bakugou this never happend, Bakugou is everything that a heroe shouldn't be but people still praise him, he is violent and mistreat his classmates but he is still popular. So, I can't see how his arc is well written when his actions are ignore or dismiss. Besides, at this point I wonder what is Bakugou's role in the manga, what is his rol? Like a character he doesn't have nothing for himself, he doesn't have a villian and his motives for being a heroe are generic.

I know Horikoshi says that Bakugou's going to have a big moment but at this point I don't care for his character because he doesn't add nothing to the plot.

Hi, anon. I made analysis about Bakugou's redemption before (in here, here and here or other posts.) and since then, my thoughts about him still didnt change.

Its obvious that Bakugou gain more self awareness and act more sensitive compared to beginning but thats it.

I dislike the way author handled his character arc. 'Bakugou do mean things but he is not actually bad guy, yknow. He is amazing!'. This is not well written redemption arc, this is not good character development. This is not 'his wrong actions are adressed' sitution. This is what we call 'justifying someone's wrong actions'. And thats what happens during the whole story.

And someone actually facing their wrong actions doesnt mean 'sometimes being calm and self aware', thats what every abuser/bully do. They dont always jerk to you. They will have good days, calm days, they will be in good mood and be even nice to you and you are supposed to feel gratefull about it? Sounds like Bakudeku relationship.

Someone actually facing their wrong actions means never repeat the same awfull behavour. Actually spendin a lot of time to think about it, about how he treat other people, all those moments. Of course, change is hard and there will be times where you can easiely repeat same mistakes, ok but where is the guilty? Because i dont think he has much.

And one of the most important with redemption arcs. Actually facing consequences of your actions. This is not someone necessarely dying or getting hurted. This is just 'ah i did this, thats why this happenned' moment and again, this never happens with Bakugou. Him getting hurt in war or being kidnapped has nothing to do with bullying. Those things are still consequences of his actions but it has nothing to do with bullying.

What could've happenned? It would be so cool to see Bakugou was defeated by villain who used to be one os the people whom bakugou hurted and eventually, Bakugou realized that he should save that person cause he is also responsible for him becoming villain. But again, it doesnt happen.

Almost all Bakugou-Deku's 'lets face moments' are all about Bakugou, his feelings, his thoughts. Deku just listens, endure and try to help him. Even when Deku talks, Bakugou doesnt properly listen to him at all. And Deku's constantly reacing out to him, victimizing Bakugou, justify his actions, trying to 'fix' him, it sounds like a typical toxic relationship. Not some kind of redemption arc.

I mentioned before in my many analysis (for example; in here, here and here.) that i am completely okay with empathy, change or/and forgiveness. As long as person actually make effort for it, actually desire to change, they definitely deserve it. Its okay their victims forgive them and of course they can move on life. I definitely dont desire to anyone suffer forever, people deserve to move on but i am also tired of waiting Bakugou's getting that point.

Bakugou's whole character arc isnt really about changing and being better, its mostly about justifying his abusive/wrong actions since day one. And i am sick of pretending its not. This is what narrative/author do and i really dont know how many people think its not. Look if things ever change, i am ready to change my opinion but i heard that story will end soon so again, i dont have much hope about it. All author did seems like he is trying to make us like/accept Bakugou and forcing his redemption arc on us while there is not a sign of good redemption arc at all. And this is so tiring and i am sick of it.

Thats what i think about it.

Quick Thoughts on "So This is Christmas" from Hawkeye

There's been a stigma that the MCU's Disney+ shows tend to have bad endings. It all starts well enough, but the story doesn't tend to stick the landing most of the time due to poor pacing, bad CGI, and lackluster twists. And Hawkeye had so much going against it. It felt like a series trying to shove in too many storylines and characters for one season that there's no way it could have tied it all together for the finale.

So, by the end...it didn't.

Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty to love about this finale.

First and foremost, Kate Bishop. She has finally won me over as this skilled yet rookie superhero that works best when interacting with others. Primarily Clint and Yelena, more so Yelena. The two of them just have this perfect chemistry together as Yelena treats Kate as a close friend while trying to fight her. It makes me hope that we can see them again in the future, whatever that may be because they really work well together. The same goes for Clint and Kate, who have this decent mentor/student relationship that's as entertaining as well as heartwarming. While Kate can be a bit of a mixed bag while on her own, I still think she's a fantastic character when put alongside a partner. Or, better yet, a team.

But we all know who you're excited to see. Vincent D'nofrio is BACK as Kingpin! And he's...not as terrifying as he was in Daredevil. In fairness, Daredevil and Hawkeye are two very different shows with distinct tones and writing. It would only take a Christmas miracle for Kingpin to live up to his character from that show when being in this one. He still has some great moments of proving why he's in control of everything, and his fight with Kate, while not as brutal as it could have been, is still pretty epic...but gosh dangit, they do something to him that is assuredly going to piss off SO MANY people!

And Marvel, I'm warning...that better be a red herring. Echo's TV series better start off with THAT SCENE (you know the one), only reveal that it wasn't what we thought it was. I mean it! I will defend any other decisions made in this franchise, but I will be damned if I defend this one!

This brings me to complaints.

Now, as cool as it was to have Kingpin back, with what the writers did with him, he might as well have been some generic crime boss (it would certainly piss fans off less). In the end, he was just a twist that dozens of fans saw coming, but with very little payoff. And it makes me wonder why he wasn't around since the beginning? Why play the mystery when you could have him showing up, getting pissed off by Kate and Clint ruining his plans? No one would have minded.

Speaking of characters who should've been around since the beginning, let's talk about Yelena. Her showing up halfway through the season gives little room for her arc to feel fleshed out. In fact, the more I think about it, she shouldn't even be in this season. Her whole story should have been saved for another season, series, or even movie. Because with the way the writers handled her arc, it's...fine, but it could have been better. Which sums up the finale as a whole. Hell, it sums up the series as a whole.

It's all fine, but it could have been better. I feel like Marvel should have held this one show off for at least one more year, just to look over the script and overarching story and see any adjustments to be made. I still had fun with Hawkeye, but not as much as I should have.