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wondernus · 7 months

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˗ˋˏ Briefly Orange ˎˊ˗ | PREVIEW

SUMMARY: Fragmentary source of healing and like an oasis away from the city, for his group of friends, Boo Seungkwan’s family farm is a regular vacation destination away from the city. Yet Seungkwan wishes for anything but a future filled with mountains of oranges, his dream of living in the city still ineffaceable in his head. When he receives a request from a friend he fell out of touch with asking if they could stay on his farm for the Summer, Seungkwan finally finds himself in an opportunistic place in which his dream can finally become a reality. Why? Because you’re cursed to have everything you love disappear.

Sweltering heat and an eventful Summer, magic touches lives in ways that we can never imagine. But in this transition between seasons, we find ourselves asking: When loss is as transient as the lives we live, what does it mean to love with every fiber of our being?

PAIRING: bsk x reader

FIC GENRE: angst, romance, slice of life, magical realism

FIC TAGS: food/drinks, time jump, summer fic, exes to lovers, friends to lovers, slow burn, cooking processes (including mentions of knives), character gets physically hurt

PREVIEW WC: 3.1k

FIC WC: 30k

MESSAGE FROM NU: this is merely a preview for the longest fic i've written so far. i've been working on this for months now so i'm so incredibly excited to share the preview with you all this product of so much love and care for seungkwan <3 there are 23 chapters in total, and here are some excerpts from the first few chapters. if you would like to be tagged in the final fic a few days from now, please let me know! - nu ♡

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It starts with the peel. Hold the orange in both hands and press your thumbs against the hollow bottom where there’s an open dip between the peel and the fleshy meat of the orange. Press into the peel with the tips of your fingernails, hard, penetrating the peel and creating a perfect opening to peel the fruit. Then, start peeling the bright and smooth outer shell away until you’re left with that orange and fleshy ball of juice. When you halve the fruit between your fingers, it sizzles and cracks crisply as you rip it apart — sometimes the juice escapes the membrane in a transparent drop of liquid, collecting on your finger, and rolling down your hand toward your arm. Sweet or sour, the rest comes after.

The large rolling suitcase leaves behind two long indents in the dry dirt path as it drags along the road. Each pull and tug towards a new temporary familiar coats the once black and glossy wheels in a matte tan color disrupted by speckled imprints of tiny gravel in every new layer of dirt rolled onto the wheels. Once in a while, the wheels break through a pair of footprints that belong to the person pulling the suitcase like the long lines used to omit phrases from a written sentence. Still, the traces along the dirt path are never straight, nor are they as continuous as one would like them to be. As an arborist would study the rings of a tree to determine periods of sickness and health, anybody could see how the lines left by the suitcase indicate periods of pause in transit, a person struggling along the road, and moments of pure and undisrupted conversation.

Under the warm morning sunlight, Boo Seungkwan has a new kind of warmth lingering by his side — someone so familiar yet so new, neither déjà vu nor jamais vu but nostalgia in person. He hasn’t seen you in years, yet he can’t find himself to say he expected the person to step out of the taxi to be someone drastically different. But you’ve changed since he last saw you, albeit it’s a more mature version of you who walks alongside him toward his family farm.

Seungkwan knows everything about you, for instance, as long as he asked you about family, close friends, past relationships, the summary of the last chapter you read: you would always answer, bluntly of course. In the past, he would often find himself wondering about whether or not you never made the effort to ask him any questions about himself because you were simply not interested or if you were afraid of your inevitable. He knows the amount of hair that collects on your drain every time you shampoo your hair. He knows you never order the same drink from a coffee shop twice. He knows the answer to every single question he has ever asked you to the point where he’s afraid that one day he would run out of questions to ask you. So when he received a message from you asking if you could work at his farm for the Summer in exchange for room and board, he knew both your lives are about to undergo a new form of change and momentum. Change or no change, he agreed to your request if and only if you would be willing to fulfill his additional term: you must help him get rid of his oranges.

What presents itself as the Summer getaway is a 3-acre piece of land that hosts a small orange grove behind the cream-colored family farmhouse and guest house-turned-seasonal café that Seungkwan is left in charge of for the Summer while his family vacations in the Maldives. Even sitting in the car with the windows down and turning onto the street in which the property sits wafts of honeyed and tangy citrus can energize those on a long journey away from the city. Beside the dirt road that leads towards the farmhouse are large patches of clover in place of grass and the beautiful array of flowers and bushes that are planted between dirt and clover. What is most magnificent, Seungkwan points out while walking up to the farmhouse where you would be staying for the rest of the Summer, is not the fact that his grandparents built this place from the ground up or the thousands of oranges they produce each year, but the fact that he drew the long end of the stick for you so you have the first floor study to yourself instead of having to share a room with the rest of his friends.

When his introductory gist is returned with silence, Seungkwan finds himself too embarrassed to see whether or not you’ve reacted in response. But if he took the time to look, he would’ve seen you looking around your surroundings in awe, wondering about how much of the landscape could change just by being thirty minutes away from the city.

“Let’s see,” Seungkwan mumbles while opens the front door and leads you to the interior of the house in an attempt to free himself from his embarrassment. “The study is the first door on the left down the left hallway. It’s a sofa bed, and I already set it up for you. Laundry room is one door down. I’m in my grandparents’ bedroom down the right hallway. There’s also a bathroom and a guest room on our side. Everybody else should be upstairs…if you think it’s awkward to have pictures of my family stare at you while you sleep, I won’t be offended if you turn them around.” He scratches his hair, still trying to figure out whether or not he conjured an air of awkwardness between the two of you.

He hovers behind you as you quietly make your way to your room, looking at you crane your head to look around the foreign farmhouse interior from the living room to the wooden beams that support the ceiling. It’s quiet between the two of you, as if you’ve both run out of topics to discuss after the brief moment the two of you trekked from taxi to house. He doesn’t know why he hesitates when you reach for the doorknob as if he were imagining you to be some interior design critic for a magazine. But his breath hitches for a second when you open the door and step into the modest office. Distracting himself from nothing, he looks at anything but you and settles for the tiny streaks of dirt your suitcase wheels brought indoors. And he wipes away the dirt with his foot, making a mental note to mop when he has time.

“Seungkwan?” Your voice calls for his attention not too long after you entered the office.

Seungkwan steps into the open doorframe, careful to not cross the threshold of the room in order to give you some privacy. He notices you’re sitting on the edge of the sofa bed, your suitcase temporarily tucked against the wall and underneath the light switch. There are pictures of his family on the shelves, most of them with him in large puffer jackets holding large oranges in his tiny hands. What is more is that he notices your hand which clutched the blanket in which you are sitting on loosen with his presence and leave a mountainous crease in its absence.

“Thank you,” you tell him.

The response sounds like a squeak which Seungkwan finds both amusing and reassuring. The fact is there is an air of awkwardness present, not from his creation but from the years the two of you spent apart, that causes you to squeak. Gratitude phrased simply, yet your simplicity is more than enough to let him know you’re feeling the same way he feels.

Truthfully, Seungkwan is still trying to fathom and process the fact that you are here with him. It hits him in this moment that maybe the you who sits in comfortable silence while staring out the window isn’t exactly the same you he once knew like the back of his hand. Finally taking time to look at his friend closely, Seungkwan still recognizes you in the same way that we recognize ourselves as ourselves even when all of our cells have exchanged themselves for new cells. He recognizes the way your hands clutch into balls with your thumbs placed between your pointer and middle finger when you fidget. He recognizes the backpack you brought as the same one you used in college. But he fails to recognize and understand why or how you have become the person to reach out to him for any reason. Why is it that he was chosen to be one of your protagonists in your journey in finding the meaning to your life? How is it that a nobody who dreams of a life unattached to the farm could possibly offer something of such value to someone who constantly lives life in fear of loss?

Truth is, there is always something about being next to you that always makes Boo Seungkwan want to cry. Pity doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling that wells and burns in his chest. Is it rage? Sadness? Regret? Empathetic and sympathetic as he is, he is prone to wearing his emotions before he can even realize what he is feeling. Being next to you causes his chest to concave and collapse in on itself, but he knows better than to feel bad for you. Or maybe he thinks it’s so fucked that you’re in a position in which you’re so desensitized to loss that you can’t even recognize in any moment that you lost what you loved. Always by your side, or at least until a few years ago, Seungkwan was there to reintroduce you to the things and concepts you’ve once loved because he cared and notices. Now, a savior isn’t who he’s trying to be nor was that role ever his intention. Maybe a constant without caution is what he strives to be in your life even if his own selfishness causes him to believe that in case you ever allow yourself to fall in love with him he would be able to disappear and thus never take on the responsibilities of a third-generation farm owner.

Yet a curse regarding loss upon a regular human being in love shouldn’t be the wake-up call that shows the world that loss is a daily occurrence. Loss is as banal and unremarkable as its spelling. And Seungkwan knows this. He’s lost torn snack foil wrapper corners from his pockets. He’s lost time during transit. He’s lost those who he once loved dearly. So why is someone else’s loss so much more important to him when he knows that love is involved?

And why is it that he chooses to show everybody unconditional love and care even when he knows transactional relationships would statistically yield more return?

Seungkwan isn’t a bad person. There isn’t a single bad bone in his body. He’s known you long enough to not tiptoe around you because, despite your curse, you’re just a regular person. And you would prefer it if other people treated you as a regular person. But why is it that he feels the way he feels whenever he’s alone with you?

Orange peel sliced away to form a hexagonal-shaped fruit, lean the fruit on its long side against the cutting board to slice thin hexagons. If what you hold in your hand is too dull, then you risk losing more than what there is to the recipe. Dullness slices the fruit just as sharpness does, but you risk bruising the delicate meat and creating soft pockets of mush while the juice escapes and drips onto the cutting board. There are times when it’s better to do things quickly and all at once or you will risk losing the beauty in your creation. Simple orange slices in a refreshing salad, sometimes it’s better to not try too hard. You did your best. And that’s enough for me.

Dropping the ATV off near the entrance to the orchard, Seungkwan jingles and twirls the keys in his left hand while directing to his seasonal workers where the crates should be stored for the night shipment to local grocers. Without noticing how hard he twirls the keys around his pointer finger, the small chain of keys flies off his finger and onto the ground a few feet ahead of him. It lands on a soft patch of dirt, light colored dust covering surfaces that gleamed with a metallic sheen just a few seconds ago. Someone picks up the pair of keys before Seungkwan has the change to chance to react and lightly tosses the keys back to its owner.

Yoon Jeonghan, with his jet-black hair he spent months growing out that finally touches his shoulders, takes long strides towards his friend while reaching into his pant pocket for his phone, a long stream of complaints already trailing out of his mouth.

“I looked everywhere for you,” Jeonghan complains to Seungkwan while Seungkwan finds himself rolling his eyes. “Why didn’t you pick up your phone? We’ve been calling and texting you, but you wouldn’t reply.”

“I left it somewhere. Can’t remember where I put it,” Seungkwan sighs while wiping the dust off his keys with the hem of his shirt. “When did you arrive?”

“Like half an hour ago.” Jeonghan adjusts his light blue baseball cap to better shield his eyes from the Sun. He clicks open his lock-screen to double-check the text he received from his driver. “Seokmin’s napping in our room. He’ll come out later.”

“Oh no, was the drive bad? When did you guys leave?”

“Nah, the drive wasn’t bad. He’s just hungover,” he replies nonchalantly while shoving his phone back into his pocket. The dark-haired man quickly looks around the familiar farm and rocks on the heels of his feet. “Busy, huh?” He observes.

“Yeah,” Seungkwan agrees. There is a glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes when he cocks his head toward the ATV he parked not so long ago. “But the new investments help.”

“Bro I can’t imagine how cool your grandparents must look while riding the ATVs.”

“5 miles an hour.” Seungkwan gestures the number five with his hand and drops it after. “Speed demons.”

It’s clear to Seungkwan that Jeonghan, who had spent a remarkable amount of time on this farm over the past few years, isn’t looking around to people-watch or check out the new additions to the farm. He’s been around long enough that Seungkwan’s grandparents consider him as one of their grandsons. No, Seungkwan knows that while Jeonghan is trying to play it off as if he’s simply checking out and reminisce in his surroundings, what he is looking for is not an it, rather, a who.

When Yoon Jeonghan, who is usually not the type of person to be silent or stay still for long periods of time, freezes in his spot like a deer in the headlights, Seungkwan knows better than to follow his friend’s line of vision to see who exactly it was who caught his eye. Instead, Seungkwan looks toward the blue canopy near the entrance and notices that two people are missing from their posts.

Out of nowhere, Seungkwan feels someone from behind him throw their entire weight onto his shoulders. The force of the sudden weight on top of Seungkwan knocks Seungkwan’s sunhat from his head forward and onto the ground and causes him to lose his balance, but he grabs onto the unwavering Jeonghan’s shoulder to steady himself.

“Seungkwan,” Yunling sings in a sing-song voice. Her bleached blonde hair falls and covers half of Seungkwan’s face as she reaches her arm over his shoulder to wave a familiar object in front of him. “You forgot your phone.”

“Get off me. It’s hot,” Seungkwan groans while bending his knees so she can safely hop off his back. She hands him his phone to which he thanks her for. In the meantime, another person picks the sunhat from the floor and tucks a thick booklet underneath their aim pit to brush the dust off the hat before handing it back to its owner. And Seungkwan finds himself, yet again, thanking another person for handing him an item he dropped.

Seungkwan sees you bring the accounting booklet to the front of your chest while Yunling leans her elbow on your shoulder. It looks like you’re about to say something to him, but someone interrupts your question.

“Yn.” Jeonghan manages to push through his state of shock, yet your name rolls off the tip of his tongue as if he spent his entire life dedicated to saying the name.

It feels familiar because it was.

Gladly handing his daughter over to his friend, Choi Seungcheol mumbles a quiet note of gratitude before he sits up straight and rolls his shoulder backwards to stretch his back. He leans forward in his seat and comfortably rests his elbows on his knees before grabbing the untouched fork next to his salmon salad. And Seungkwan watches him dig his fork into the roasted salmon and take a hearty bite to enjoy the marinated citrus flavor of the salmon by itself before raking the metal prongs through the meat to shred it to pieces just as Seungkwan’s grandparents had taught Seungcheol to do so before they went on vacation.

June is when Seungkwan’s friends all arrived at the farm for a Summer away from the city; January is when Seungcheol arrived at the farm, two people’s lives packed up in a couple of suitcases and cardboard boxes for time away from the city to heal and escape. The café, originally a guesthouse, returned to serve its original purpose by housing Seungcheol and his daughter for a little over half a year, and Seungkwan knows very well that he doesn’t have the heart to tell his friend that he should’ve moved out months ago. So he sits in the once sought-after spot in the café with a sleeping baby in his arms, watching the newly single father scarf down his salad like it’s his last meal. Looking at the infant, her dark-colored eyebrows and the pout that resembles her father’s all too well, stress stores itself in the pit of his stomach, finding company with the sympathetic grief he shared with the heartbroken Seungcheol who once couldn’t so much bring himself to pick up the pen to sign his divorce papers.

Falling in love is easy, but falling out of love and learning how to become whole again is a process that can shatter one’s soul and make one doubt whether or not love in any shape and form is an achievable future feat. A lifetime is not long enough to contain and overcome love’s defeat for some. And for those devastated by love, the process of falling in love would never be the same as it once was.

#svthub #seventeen imagines #svt imagines #seungkwan imagines #seventeen fluff #svt x reader #seventeen x reader #seventeen scenarios #seungkwan x reader #seungkwan x yn #seungkwan fluff #seungkwan angst #seventeen angst

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fategoflatass · 3 months

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First Impressions on Winter 2024

Welcome back to the section where I offer to you, dear readers, my opinions on the series I'm watching this season. Opinions that no one asked for, right to your doorstep—and for free!

Be aware that these are based on the first three to four episodes and thus my opinions might change in the future.

If you wish to read my opinions on last season's anime, click here.

Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu 2nd Season

Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆☆

Watching the fourth episode as I write this! Despite its first season starting with the wrong foot, it's proven to many just how heartwarming and relatable it can be. This is one of those few series where I feel like the characters could be real teenagers. Yes, they can be cringey and immature and unbereable at times, but that's just what adolescence is about. Their romances are awkward and they constantly give one step foward and two back, but isn't it sweet to witness two inexperienced teens dealing with their first not-official-yet-not-unofficial relationship?

BUCCHIGIRI?!

Action, Supernatural // ☆☆☆½

I began watching this one only because of its creator—the same person behind SK8, a series I absolutely loved from the get go. Sadly, I can't say the same about her newest anime. I don't know if it's the plot itself or the characters that don't fully convince me just yet, but there's something that keeps me from fully enjoying it. Not like it's bad, but I feel like it could ceirtainly be better. We're only on episode three though, so there's still room for improvement!

Dungeon Meshi

Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy // ☆☆☆¾

The comedy show of the season! The moment I saw certain mutual posting nonstop about it, I knew I had to give it a watch—and damn, I was right! Is such an entertaining show and its characters and their dynamics are straight up hilarious! Their constant misadventures that always end up with seemingly impossible and/or disgusting dishes are some of the biggest highlights from this season in my opinion. And from what I've seen, it might take a rather... dramatic? Dark? A turn, and I can't wait for it to happen!

Gekai Elise

Comedy, Fantasy, Romance // ☆☆☆

From this one, I wasn't expecting much. Is a rather chill isekai with a protagonist who's super nice and dedicated with two guys going after her. Wouldn't say that once you've seen one you've seen all, but it's true they all tend to follow the same path. If you wish to watch something more chill yet not quite enough to become a comfort show, then it might be for you.

HIGH CARD season 2

Action, Fantasy // ☆☆☆¼

Yes, I'm watching the second season. No, not much has changed or happened for that matter. I guess there's some conflict going on, although it has yet to fully develop. They've also introduced this character that says random spanish words—and no, he's not even a Latino nor Spanish. It also feels less entertaining than the first one? The difference's not that noticeable, though.

Hime-sama, "Goumon" no Jikan desu

Comedy, Fantasy // ☆☆☆¼

To be honest, I gave it a chance thinking that it would be similar to «Maou-jou de Oyasumi» and honestly? I think they are quite similar, specially in the way both of them bored me in their first halves. There are cute moments and some small laughs, but nothing more than that. I'll give it a chance and keep on watching.

Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san

Comedy, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆½

The season's comfort show alongside «Yubisaki to Renren»! Every episode evokes in me those fuzzy feelings that I need to go through the eternal hell that are argentinian summers (no less than 30ºC/86ºF every day). There's also not much that I can say about it since it doesn't have a plot per se, but I can tell you two things: first, the protagonist is one of the most relatable characters this season. And second, his dynamic with his "sworn enemy" warms my heart in such a way.

Majo to Yajuu

Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy // ☆☆☆

Of all the shows I've watched this season, this one had the worst first episode. It felt messy, long, and it overexplained basic concepts or obvious matter. Now, things got better. Not much better—it keeps on repeating itself and there are time where it doesn't make much sense—, but enough for it to be, at least, bearable. Hope I don't end up dropping it.

Metallic Rouge

Action, Mecha, Sci-Fi // ☆☆☆

Can you call something a letdown if you weren't even hyped from the start? I don't know, this one is just boring. I keep on watching with the excuse of giving it just one more chance, but with every new episode it just keeps on losing my interest. The characters are not that big of a deal and the conflicts between humans and... androids? It doesn't seem to bring anything new to the table. Anyway.

Ore daka Level Up na Ken

Action, Adventure, Fantasy // ☆☆¾

Solo Leveling, the show everyone was waiting for. The anime so many people were dying to watch. The hype almost made it feel like it was the second coming of Christ, only to be the entire opposite. It's just another power fantasy where real life and RPG dynamics coexist. A protagonist who's weak ends up being part of a oh-so-weird sort of program where he can level up, with is supposed to be impossible. Then he goes from being this awkward weakling to a powerful badass, yada yada yada—you know how it goes. I'll let you know if its future episodes change my mind.

Yubisaki to Renren

Romance, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆¾

Goddamn, I was so hyped up for this one! I've been reading the manga for some time, and finally seeing it animated is such a bliss! All my problems fade away in the presence of these two cinammon rolls who are so in love with each other. The secondary characters have their depth as well which is something to be grateful for, and the art! Man, I was in such need of a good full-on romance show and it's finally here!

Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern

Action, Mecha // ☆☆☆¼

Mother's Basement convinced me to give it a try, and I kinda don't regret it? Sure, it can be cringey at times but it's also a parody on mecha shows which can be, in some way or another, kinda cringey themselves so the cringe kinda negates? And it's not even bad, only that it focuses more on ridiculous scenarious and references to otaku culture. The protagonists are... pretty good pals, yeah.

#yubisaki to renren #dungeon meshi #boku no kokoro no yabai yatsu #solo leveling #kyuujitsu no warumono san #metallic rouge #majo to yajuu #hime sama goumon no jikan desu #bucchigiri?!#gekai elise #high card #yuuki bakuhatsu bang bravern #first impressions #winter 2024

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sligheach-sidhe · 2 years

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I finally got around to trying out the Romance club app and I definitely wasn't disappointed (I'll admit, these apps and IFs are my guilty pleasures; though so is generally escaping into the written word but I digress)

From what I've read my top 2 stories (because picking a third is quite difficult) are:

Sins of London - Not only cannot I not find fault in the outfits nor character creation which so many of these apps fall down on, the story is intriguing (who doesn't like a bit of supernatural, romance and mystery?)and the MC is badass (I'm not ashamed to admit it took me a while to make some of the important decisions like Sepulchral Whisper or Crimson Shadow or accepting Glashtyn's offer). It also, in my opinion, has one of my favourite romance tropes, enemies → friends → lovers (as you can probably guess romancing Gray). Though I've heard so much about Glashtyn its ultimately Gray's character developement that has me sticking with him (a second playthrough will probably have me making the opposite choices - possibly).

On Thin Ice - I was humming and hawing on this one, mainly because of how much shit the MC had to endure and how she was first portrayed/written but as the story has progressed I've seen her developement and I'm pleasently pleased with it. She's a strong, independant character making the best with what she's given (though you are making the choices to be fair). I like how you get three different paths to chose from Light, Darkness or Balanced (I'm currently doing my best to remain balanced). My current LI for this is Hodge and I enjoy how he despite his shady dealings (I mean it theorised he’s mafia but has this been proven? Eh, not complaining) he has this fierce loyalty to those he loves. What can I say the, “I’ll kill everyone who dares to touch you,” line sealed it, I mean he’s a bastard to most but teddy bear to family and loved ones. Plus, slow burn romances are my jam (those with a friends to lovers trope or enemies to lover.)

Special mentions:

Hell and High Water - For me, its the character creation, I like how we can actually pick a body type, it offers what many IFs offer when it comes to character creation (though I know that there are limitations visually). I haven't formed much of an oppinion yet, except Baku is cute and I want one (yes I spend the diamonds for any pets that are offered).

Heart of Trespia - I like the story line plain and simple. I've also learned I'm a little vindictive and will do everything possible to destroy the MC's uncle - not just bring him to justice. I want vengence.

Heaven's Secret - Now this one of the one's where I wasn't particaully a fan of the character design nor the MC's personality at first, that being said I found the story engaging and read all the way through. I enjoyed the little twists but there were moments that I found myself desperately wanting a skip button. Once again, another story where you chose a path - Angel or Demon - though I made an attempt to stay balanced. In the end I was an Angel who romanced Lucifier, I find in these particaular stories being the opposite of the LI opens more dialogue paths/choices and it adds that little bit extra (like rivalmancing Anders in DA2). It was also a slow burn romance which are delightful and who knew he could be a sweetheart (won’t lie I enjoyed the soft moments as well as the teasing ones), "Just remember, if I'm against everyone, it doesn't mean that I'm against you. I'm not against you. I'll never be. Do you understand?"

Chasing You - I'm a sucker for a good murder mystery that is all. I spent each season trying to determine to decide whodunnit. Ended up romancing Alexander and was more logical, what can I say, an LI uses a pet name and I'm in, also it had some pretty good lines: "My crazy kitten with lion-sized ambitions." I'm tempted to replay and romance Ellia.

Path of the Valkyrie - This is more for my love of Norse mythology, I would have thought I'd prefer Rage of the Titans but I just couldn't engage and found myself skipping through most of the story (though I'm still reading it, mainly for Murphy and Aiden and hoping for the possibility to kick Zeus' ass). I'm also hoping for a chance to kick Odins ass too. Though it’s currently on hiatus for a while, I’m looking forward to its return.

Theodora - Strong MC who is a reporter. I'm curious to learn just how she gained immortality; in fact if I'm honest, what I've read so far has produced a lot of questions and I want answers the main being to her immortality but also do you get one LI (that you can choose int he first season) or are there multiples due to her immortality.

Please note these are just some of my opinions and thoughts, I haven't read all the books nor have I mentioned all the ones I've read.

Ones I've read but not mentioned: Shadows of Saintfour (I like the romances - each are different though some I would have prefered to have been expanded on for example Aaron or Cherry, even Derek and Michael simply by having more scenes with them) Seduced by the Rhythm (I actually enjoyed this and I found I prefered Brandon's route - I'm starting to realise I seem to gravitate towards a certain type, not sure if thats good or bad.) Sails in the Fog (First book I read - it was okay) Queen in 30 Days (Prefered the bodyguard over the Prince) My Hollywood Story (Meh) Wave Partol (Had potential just not for me which sucks because I was happy to play as an agent, I just struggled to enjoy it) Love from Outer Space (Alright, would like it to be continued. So wouldn't suggest if you hate leaving things unfinished at least for the time being) Dracula A Love Story (I wanted so much to enjoy this but I just couldn't. Determined to finsih it though.) Sophie's Ten Wishes (So, so. I'm almost finished it, so it was okay just not one I'd go back and replay) Gladiator Chronicles (No major opinion of yet, read first two chapers, interesting. Probably continue when a diamond free weekend comes up)

Considering reading next:

The One Arcanum The Flower of Tiamat's Fire Kali Call of Darkness

#Romance Club #rcbookclub #romance club game #sins of london #on thin ice #rc sins of london #rc on thin ice

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speaking-from-the-abyss · 4 years

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Hey uh, in all seriousness, can we talk about the implications of the most recent Pokémon ship? (bear with me this is a LONG post)

I'm talking about this two:

Ok so, to put in context:

A few weeks ago the most recent Pokémon season started -called only Pokémon (2019) but we all know is Pokémon Sword and Shield-. And since episode 2 internet has exploded with people shipping Ash with the new co-protagonist, Go. I've seen this specially on Twitter, but also here in Tumblr and there's no doubt in other sites the ship is also present.

Now, I'm not a super big fan of Pokémon, but I've been around quite enough time to know that two or so seasons ago there was this girl called Serena who was supposed to be the "real" couple for Ash, like, the "cannonical partner" or something, because she was the first girl co-protagonist who actually had a crush on him and they kissed and whatnot.

Because of this a lot of people have been wondering why we never see nor hear anything about her and her relationship with Ash again (I didn't watch Sun and Moon so maybe I'm wrong). And now we have Go, and their interactions have been good enough to make people ship them so hard and so fast that it surprised even me - literally after episode 2 came out.

But not only that. At least from what I know, Go is a non binary kid (they were described as agender) so even if the translation subtitles uses the pronouns he/his with them, that's inaccurate, because they're not a boy (I could be wrong because I've seen people and websites calling them both agender and male, but for the sake of this post I'll refer to them as NB. Does anyone has the canon facts?). And that gives the opportunity for the ship to actually become canon without the assumption that's a gay ship because tecnically one of them is not a boy. It sounds as a stretch, but... y'know, it could totally happen.

Let's be honest: we all se the chemistry between the two. And we all know, deep down inside our hearts, that the series is probably not gonna go in romantic direction with them. They're most likely to develop a friends/rivals relationship with admiration for each other, because romance has never been a genre/topic we associate with Pokémon. But for just a second, for just a tiiiny little second, let's believe the confirmation of the ship as canon totally happens in the future. Can you imagine it? That'd be amazing.

First off, because we're talking about the confirmation that the protagonist of a series as iconic as Pokémon is LGBTQA (we can later discuss if this would make Ash bi or pan or gay or whatever). We have to remember that, despite the large demography in ages of people who watch Pokémon, it's still a show mostly directed towards kids. With this, we're giving kids someone in an anime who they can identify with, which is super important for the whole process of realization, understanding and acceptance they could be going trhough. But this doesn't aply only for kids, because this process is not something everyone experiences during childhood: the teens, the young adults and even the adults could find a situation they can feel close to. And it's beign represented not in an underground series that nobody knows about, but in fricking Pokémon. And they're not characters who are extras and don't even appear that much: they're the fricking protagonists.

Of fricking Pokémon. Pokémon. We're talking about a 20+ years long series, with tons of fans all around the globe and an impressive influence in pop culture. I dunno about other people, but at least for me it would mean so much to know that the protagonist of this incredible huge franchise, good ol' Ash, was a LGBTQA character.

But of course, ONLY IF they develop this topic in a sensible and serious way that's natural instead of forcing it just to go with the trend.

Second, because if they really wanna go down that path, they can address really important things, like the slowly realization of the both about liking the other as more as a friend. And this is important because we have to remember that both Ash and Go are still kids, so this whole process is new to them: to discover love, to have a person you like, to experiment all the insecurities, fears and distress it can cause, as well as all the joy and happiness. Love by itself it's pretty complex, specially the first one because you have no idea what to do or what you're even feeling, but if we add to the mix the fact that you're falling for someone you're not supposed to by the terms of society, then things are even more complicated.

But you know what? All of this is extremely normal. Thinking "why am I feeling like this?" is normal. Thinking "why do I feel like this if he's a boy?" is normal. Just asking "Why?" and not knowing what to do is extremely normal. And they're kids, so it's even more normal for them to not know what to do next or how to manage those emotions. For people that are discovering their sexuality it's also really normal to ask these questions. Realization is never easy or pleasant, and it requires a lot of time, but it's crucial for acceptance. So if they actually go in a romantic way with those two, it'd be awesome if they talk about these kinds of things in a sensitive way.

And third, because we're talking about representation here. Ash could be gay or bi or pan (again, we'll discuss that later, depending on the development of the series) but Go is -for what I know- non binary. We have a non binary child as a co-protagonist in fricking heckin' Pokémon.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but i believe this is the first time in the history of the Pokémon anime this happens. Heck, even in the history of the whole franchise. And I'm just. So happy for that. I'm cis, but I have heard and read a bunch about NB people, and we can all agree is one of the identities that has less representation than almost any other, just because is so hard for us as a society to understand that not everyone has to be a boy or a girl. They don't have to "pick a side" and stay there forever. I guess it resonates with me since i'm bi, so beign told that "it's just a phase" or "sooner or later you're gonna pick one" really pisses me.

But anyways, back to the point, which is I'm so happy to see more representation of NB people. Good job guys, let's keep it up.

Now, we have to understand that, right now, the ship it's really not a big deal. Sure we have fun and we ship them and we all see how well they relationship would go, but because this is Pokémon, it's really unlikely to happen. But if it does happen, if, against everything, we get to live in a timeline where Ash and Go end up as a couple in canon, well oh boy oh boy,

hell's gonna break loose.

In all ways posibles. There would be people who love it and people who hate it, and the controversy would be extremely high, with people defending and other damning this development. And there'd be also the ones who would just enjoy the chaos with popcorn like me. But, honestly, it's a risky move for the franchise: it could go extremely well or extremely bad. I guess it will all depend in what kind of story they want to tell this time because, as far as I know, we're not having the usual "Ash enters the league and tries to win it" thing.

Only time will tell.

#thank you for coming to my TED talk #and for reading this essay #pokemon #pokeani #pokemon anime #pokemon 2019 #pokemons swsh #pokemon sword and shield #Ash #Go #lgbtqa #lgbtq #lgbt #firstfriendshipping #gou x ash #ash x gou

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ngame989 · 5 years

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SVTFOE 4A Prediction/Analysis Master Post

So we just had the first two episodes come out, and overall I enjoyed them. There’s been a lot of mixed reactions to the details, from myself included, so let’s dive in a bit. Apologies for when this becomes a giant wall of text in the back half, I'm not digging through promos for images.

Butterfly Follies

In the first episode, 98% of it is focused on Star feeling like shit because Moon is missing and nothing she does to try and find her works, and other people keep telling her she is screwing it up. Yeah, many of us thought this theme of “Star screwing up” would extend a bit more concretely to stuff with Marco and Tom, and it was present but only a tiny bit as a reminder. Her interaction with Tom was basically just a reminder that the situation from after Booth Buddies hadn’t budged - Star still was barely paying attention to him, Tom was still not really a companion to her at all, it just isn’t working, but they haven’t talked about it yet.

Tomstar has always had the candy coating of a romantic relationship (nicknames, handholding, occasional smooching, gossip and drama, etc) with virtually nothing underneath. We see this over and over - Demoncism has a genuine emotional connection between them in that moment, but once their relationship starts up again, it takes until Is Another Mystery for even a hint of true, genuine support between them, and it still doesn’t extend to either of them considering the other as a life companion at all. Most of it is going through the motions for both of them. When everyone’s lives were on the line, Tom stepped up, but this doesn’t immediately make him Marco 2 - the issues that existed before, the lack of commitment and drive between them (still candy-coated by nicknames and whatnot) is as present as ever, and arguably more so, now that Star has the events of the end of S3 dwelling somewhere in the recesses of her mind. Plus we get a moment of Tom checking in with Marco about Star’s comment, showing once again that Marco is the one Tom actually turns to for genuine support.

Contrast that with Starco in these episodes. Yes, it’s not magically perfect, there’s still lots of stuff to resolve and many people (myself included) have felt that it was a bit “off” (more on that soon). But there’s still a genuine sense of progression, where Marco is comfortable being close with Star again, being emotional support, even if he doesn’t always know how to help.

As predicted, Eclipsa’s style of ruling has mostly been “make disliking monsters entirely illegal because that’s Equality™” and it’s not working out so well for true social change. I expect this to be a major plot point moving forward.

Honestly, I dunno what all to make of the details of Glossy’s lines here. Considering the situation with Toffee was pretty explicitly Glossaryck’s intentional method of teaching Star how to do things her own way, this definitely isn’t literal. Maybe he’s playing 4D chess, and Star questioning whether Glossaryck was misleading her is all part of how he leads her. There’s a... nonzero chance, I suppose, that there is some more direct connection here and trying to fix past mistakes (since time travel is brought up very shortly) but I’d be incredibly shocked and largely appalled if that’s where things actually head.

(Skipping around on photos a bit here to just get the point across)

So let’s talk about this for a moment, shall we? I’ve seen a lot of talk about this photo and how it’s really sketchy that Star apparently knew it was from the future the whole time, given its past importance in Starcrushed. Granted, we don’t know exactly how it’s going to pay off yet, but I’ll take a strong educated guess - it’s basically a gag because the writers thought it would be fun. A relevant gag and kind of an asspull, yes, but still just a gag. Yes, the photo is now factually from the future and will be relevant again in that capacity, but I’m entirely convinced that the point of it wasn’t to intentionally retcon something about Starcrushed or anything like that - a meaningful photo of Star and Marco was used in Season 2 to generically remind her of their “good times” and their relationship as a whole, and that same photo was used here as a promise of happiness to come, and the primary purpose of the photo in each case is how it was written for that case.

I know it’s not a satisfying explanation, but it is entirely consistent with this show to have details occur that are largely arbitrary and inconsistent, and there’s a consistency to that inconsistency. Adult Marco is another example, Janna implying Kelly maybe had feelings for Marco in Stump Day is another, any time Star yeeted a high school student into some pit of horrors is another. All of these are situations where, if you examine them thoroughly as a whole and consider all the possible implications, they get kind of sketchy really fast. Yes, it is frustrating at times, but I think you just have to roll with it - Marco has memories of a 30 year old when the boarders want to make a cool reference before Marco does a bunch of fancy weapon tricks, but it never affects his normal existence unless it’s needed for a joke/reference. Janna says something that implies complicated romance drama incoming when the boarders want girly banter to accompany dudes fighting, but it doesn’t go anywhere beyond that. Star has a body count on Earth but she’s not a wanted criminal, probably. The consistency here is that if the show kind of glosses over some sort of possible implication and plays it off for a gag, then that’s what you should take it as.

Again, I don’t know exactly how this will pay itself off, but I have an incredibly strong suspicion that the answer to “what were the boarders thinking when they did this??? It screws up a core moment in Starcrushed!!!” is that they weren’t thinking about that. COULD they actually do something more in-depth with the time travel aspect? I guess, but “throwing organic core moments of character/relationship growth under the bus for the sake of wacky over-the-top plot” sounds like the opposite of this show. I’ll cover more about how I think this might actually work later.

A lot of people said Star and Marco felt like acquaintances this episode, and not best friends. I understand where they’re coming from - there weren’t all kinds of hugs and affection flying around, their talks were awkward. But this honestly makes a lot of sense for where we’re at now. We’re completely over the hump where they they're hesitant to even think of themselves as best buddies, where they’re struggling with their feelings just to spend time with the other. Marco is back to making all attempts to be her close friend and companion and support, Star is comfortable around him... but, there’s still some lingering “OK we moved forward from here, what now?” We saw in Divide that a simple hug between them brought out strong feelings for both of them. I think a lot of the awkwardness remaining could be attributed to the strong sour mood of the situation overall, but part of it could also be a subconscious “OK, Marco confessing his feelings made things better, and we’re OK being close, but...” lingering, waiting to be addressed. And given pancake and cereal clips, it will be soon.

Escape from the Pie Folk

I have less to say about this episode, it was fairly straightforward, honestly. It was 22 minutes of adventure and fights while trying to find and steal away Moon - lot of really fun and well-executed humor, it definitely was a strong showing for pretty much all the parts of the show besides “focus on the relationship growth of Star and Marco”.

More Marco trying to be constantly supportive, but still maybe having a bit of lingering tension in the how.

And sweet family moments.

Overall, a very isolated situation, honestly. The actions and interactions of the characters were put in a very specific, very focused situation where “finding Moon” overrode anything else, and didn’t allow for much other special elements to shine through. I liked the episodes, but some part of me was disappointed that most developments besides Moon were put on pause for the premiere. Still, resolving this in its entirety straight away sets up for some pretty strong coverage of the rest...

INTERMISSION

Let’s take a moment to talk about compartmentalization and the rules of TV pacing. I love Star vs the Forces of Evil, and I’m sure many of you do, even if its infuriating and painful at times. A lot of times. But I definitely think the show is special and does things differently than many others, to an extent. And that extent is key - I like to think of it as content vs structure. Content-wise, it is rather different from what you might expect (especially with character/relationship development). Characters come first, always, and there isn’t a sense of outside drama pushing characters around like ragdolls, changing their relationships and emotions in ways that they aren’t already naturally primed to at that moment. Romance isn’t handled as a drama-fest love triangle, with Star and Jackie or Tom and Marco directly vying for the affection of their love interest, nor do those love triangles ever damage the development of the main dynamic, Starco. Basically every shift in Star and Marco’s relationship, the ebbs and flows of it, can be entirely explained by just the two of them. Yes, seeing the other be romantic with someone else was a partial catalyst to individual moments of growth, but by and large Star and Marco themselves have been their own biggest obstacles, their own insecurities and missteps guiding the path of Starco 1000x more than Jarco or Tomstar or plot.

However, this doesn’t mean the show is magically free of the confines of episodic story pacing, and that’s where people often find faults in it. Many, including myself, went into the premiere thinking/hoping that it would include some relationship payoff, or skip some steps and just have Tom and Star break it off right away. And while anyone is free to disagree with the general concept of the premiere being entirely focused on Moon and plot setup, it’s completely logical for the show to take its development in concrete, compartmentalized chunks. An episode dedicating itself to a theme, to a concrete piece of plot, is likely going to focus on that. And this can be nuanced - I don’t think it was wrong of people to think that Follies could have had a theme of “Star confronted with her screwups” in a broader way that included multiple aspects of that, but it doubled down on Moon and it’s totally understandable that she didn’t take time during her hunt to figure out her feelings, etc. Still, it included reminders of the current situation, and we’ll see those pay off very soon. It’s not so reasonable to expect the show to bend over backwards to steamroll through Starco development right away, but it’s also unreasonable to expect no chunks of development at all, or for them to stop randomly.

More specifically, the way the episodic structure handles these chunks is to follow up underlying buildup with inevitable realizations. It’s very, very rare for an episode that confronts a character with a specific question (e.g. “How do I feel about my Earth life” - Marco in Sophomore Slump, or “How do I feel about Marco” - Star in Starcrushed) to actually have the emotional development required to understand it occur within that episode. Star isn’t confronted with her crush on Marco until it’s developed enough to be ready to burst out. Marco isn’t confronted with his priorities in life until he’s experience enough of a bold, adventurous life with Star that his heart has already decided, and in both cases it’s a matter of a climactic wake-up call to what’s already there. On that note, onto predictions.

Moon Remembers

Well, I dunno much specific to say about this. Seems like this will be the episode dedicated to trying to get Moon her memory back - we have scenes from the promos of them riding warnicorns and Eclipsa playing guitar with her, maybe just trying to jog it. Could lead to some type of plot revelation (”I remember something big I saw in the Realm of Magic!” etc) but who knows. Seems likely that it’s entirely plot/Moon-focused, maybe with some more tie-ins to magic lore.

Swim Suit

This is a big one. So from the synopsis, we know that this is when Star and Marco attempt to have their beach day (which we now know is a celebration of things being “back to normal”, with Moon being back) but get interrupted by Eclipsa. I don’t know specifics of it, but in general, I think this is going to be the episode where Star truly settles in to an understanding of how she feels.

Quick tangent about the photo and how I think it’ll be used: in Follies, it was primarily encouragement for finding her mom. It’s still definitely interesting, and intentional, that the particular reminder of future happiness is a time with Marco, but it wasn’t relevant immediately - I think it will be used that way moving forward. Basically like this - “I kept this photo as encouragement to think positively and know I’d find my Mom. We found Mom, so now I can be happy like in the photo. It feels really good being happy with Marco like I am in the photo. Huh, I wonder why it is that my ideal of happiness is having fun with Marco...” Clearly the underlying feelings are already there, this is just bringing them to the forefront, actually giving Star a chance to reflect on how her heart feels after recent weeks/months and big events. As for specifics, I think they won’t actually take the photo here. They’ll try to have a beach day, get interrupted, and throughout the course of Eclipsa shenanigans, the episodic plot will tie in towards thinking about her feelings, with the end result being a “well, we didn’t achieve Beach Happiness™, but it was still nice.” We already know that an Earth beach is in episode 16, so maybe the photo comes full circle then (and at that point, they’re completely together already, and the photo is spontaneous). Or maybe I’m wrong, but who knows, this is a level of specificity I can’t predict with any confidence.

Also note here that, provided animation studio order stays consistent as expected, the cereal/pancake/babysitting Meteora scenes aren’t actually from Swim Suit, so who knows where those end up.

Overall, my general expectations for this episode are to set the stage for Starco developments, to start the ball rolling on payoff from last season and to start characters recognizing those changes and truly moving forward. Of course Tomstar is likely not going away officially until Lake House Fever, so I don’t exactly expect Star and Marco to talk about their feelings in depth here, but it’ll still be an important episode for Starco regardless.

Ransomgram

Alright, let’s just make something clear here. Yes, we already know Star is going to be fawning over adult Marco’s hot bod here, and very likely before breaking up with Tom. I know a lot of people are gonna find that sketchy, and I don’t entirely disagree, but adult Marco (and Star thirsting after hot dudes in general) has always been a gag never treated with any real serious weight. Both Jarco and Tomstar overall, but especially Tomstar, never really ever are treated with any true weight in the story. Like, yes, it’s acknowledged that Marco and Star kissing while she’s dating Tom are bad, but none of the moments of Marco abandoning Jackie to be with Star, or Star ignoring Tom to be with Marco, or Tom being a really unhelpful/unsupportive boyfriend, are ever treated with any real gravity. In the real world, perhaps these would be frowned upon much more even in weaker relationships, but in the show, “Star and Tom are dating” is taken as a given in the background, and none of the actions that characters take are really ever truly treated seriously as hurtful. So yes, on some level it’s weird and questionable that Star will be drooling over Marco (again) while STILL not talking to Tom, but Compartmentalization™ and the general lack of concern for treating the possible implications of situations like this seriously add up to explain it. Feel however you want about it, but this is how I expect it to work, because it’s how it’s worked in the past.

MHC is gonna come back here, and there might be a connection to the monster side of the plot, figuring out where the old guard fits in with the new regime and how politics are moving forward. Also, as far as Starco goes, I think this will be a sort of emotional payoff to Swim Suit. Not that anything tangible will result within the episode, but showing the differences in how Star acts around Marco when she’s actually admitting to herself that she loves him. Just like how Marco Jr., for instance, showed a very clear and different Starco interaction than 3A episodes, as a result of the concrete development moments in Deep Dive. Or how their interactions in Divide were very clearly the result of changes in Booth Buddies. So on and so forth.

All of this, then, leads into...

Lake House Fever

So this is where Tomstar finally rots. We have all-but-confirmation from animation studios, hints in the title, and background/SFX “leaks” that this is where the Tom and Star clips in the promos are from. So how exactly might this work? I can’t even say for sure, but I think it’s going to follow the usual trend of Tomstar episodes and basically be a vehicle for Tom development. Let’s face it, Star basically got nothing out of Tomstar besides a general passive armor against having to contemplate heartbreak/feelings since Tom filled the checkbox of “romance” in her life. She initially at least did truly fulfill the role of “normal teenage girlfriend” by spending time with him, dates, etc, but that started to wane after Lava Lake Beach and kept doing so more and more, and it’s now basically at the point of Tomstar being a couple in name only, with 0 effort between either of them put into actually... being anything.

Let’s compare to Sophomore Slump for a minute, shall we? So in that episode, we had Marco who had undergone a ton of previous developments in how much he cared about adventure and a greater purpose in life and Star, and his heart had already basically made up its mind (Scent of a Hoodie’s ending and wearing the cape in Rest in Pudding, as clear signs of this). Sophomore Slump was the direct reality check, the final piece of the puzzle slotting into place, at least with regards to specifically “where he’d rather be” (even if the why still needed a bit more). So we could say, in effect, that Marco had fully developed everything underneath to answer the question of what mattered more to him, the old safe kid Marco’s ideal Earth life, or the new Marco’s life, and the breakup was simply everything that was already there clicking into place - he moves to Mewni immediately afterwards.

So how does this fit into Lake House Fever? I think the positioning of the episode is going to revolve around Star’s “growth” from it to work like Marco’s. In the Jarco case, the breakup wasn’t about Starco specifically, but Marco’s overall goals and focuses in life (Star was a part of that too, of course). It’s fairly clear that the Tomstar breakup will be different - the tension in their relationship is FAR more directly related to Starco itself (and also a much greater overall dysfunction within Tomstar compared to Jarco). It’s not a case of “this is a perfectly working relationship but it’ll eventually have issues, so let’s end it before we both become miserable”, it’s “this relationship isn’t working at all right now, for multiple reasons, among which are that Star prioritizes/loves someone else, but also general incompatibilities between them for committed companionship”.

I think on Star’s end of things, we’re going to enter the episode with her knowing, very close to the surface if not on the surface already, that she has feelings for Marco and they need to talk, but will just have the one last hesitation holding her back. Not a “I genuinely don’t know who I like/whether I want to keep going longterm with Tom”, but a “this overall situation needs resolved and I just don’t know exactly how to handle it”. From the very limited info we have from the title/promo (no synopsis yet), it seems like Star might be helping Tom with something - he kind of looked ill in the promos. Regardless, I still sort of predict a semi-arbitrary episodic plot leads them to meet up in the episode. Give em a reason to interact that isn’t directly related to awkward and complex feelings, and let the handling of those naturally evolve from there.

So as for Tom, I think the bulk of the change in this episode will be on his end. I think he’s going to sort of have an attitude not too dissimilar to Star - knowing they should talk at some point, but not really knowing how. I think the bulk of the episode’s plot, whatever it may be, will lead up towards Tom getting the wakeup call that it 100% won’t work and that he needs to pull the trigger on it. It would give Tom a really solid moment to follow up on some of his initial moments in Season 3, would give him some critical agency when he honestly hasn’t had much of it for a while (Starco developments just kind of happen around him, although of course his general lack of presence in Star’s life contributes to this as well - Star’s a fairly absentee girlfriend, but Tom’s no angel either). Getting over that initial hump of awkwardness would still accomplish things for both of them, but Tom being the one to first make the leap of faith into starting the uncomfortable conversation would fit best imo.

As for afterwards, much like how I said Jarco was the final puzzle piece for Marco decisively figuring out his priorities, I think this will be the same for Star’s feelings. She’ll be aware, nearly-consciously, that she has feelings for Marco ahead of time, but will just be stuck on inaction, not being confident enough to take a bold step forward on her own. So I think the breakup for Star’s feelings will do what the breakup did for Marco’s sense of accomplishment - the final domino will not only help her realize that she has feelings for Marco, but prime her to actually act on them.

Now if this breakup occurred earlier, I’d say it could have a major impact on Star’s own growth and understanding, and it still could, but I don’t think it’ll be so likely. There are certainly situations where the breakup would serve as a shakeup for her to consider her feelings, which would then take some more time afterwards to solidify, but I can’t help but assume that’s what the purpose of multiple Starco episodes beforehand is. The situation is too much of a powderkeg for Star to have any downtime with either of them that doesn’t start turning the gears in her brain. Anyway, that’s all for this.

Eps 5-7

Yada Yada Berries/Down by the River

The Ponyhead Show!/Surviving the Spiderbites

Out of Business/Kelly’s World

These, I have no clue on specifics, to be honest. There’s an RDK Ludo episode coming up, so that would be part of episode 5 most likely. Second half of that seems like a River episode contender, but who knows. The first half of episode 6 is some type of variety show involving Eclipsa in part - this may be part of the plot of Eclipsa trying to find her place as Queen. Spiderbites is a possible contender for the babysitting Meteora clip, the first half of episode 7 is Quest Buy with the Ocrams, and Kelly’s World is something with Marco and Kelly. We’ll circle back to these, but let’s look at broader strokes first.

Curse of the Blood Moon

I’m entirely confident that by the end of this episode (at the latest) Starco will be 100% canon, ready to move forward into Season 4 as a couple, romantic uncertainties behind them. It’s the only possible next “big” step in their development, one that was set up very directly in Booth Buddies with the idea that things were different now and they could no longer ignore their friendship meaning more than friendship. I’m sure it will be tied in to Starco relationship progress, but as I’ve said many times before, it’s entirely out of the realm of how this show handles development as a whole to actually prioritize plot over characters and obstruct character development with plot. The “Curse”, whatever it may be, could very well be activated by Starco itself, but it’s entirely out of line with everything the show has ever done with characterization to actually claim plot is “forcing” feelings, capisce?

Now how could this be accomplished? Well, given the pacing of the show in general, concrete chunks of development along the way seem most likely. And Star and Marco acknowledging the stronger nature of their relationship and stepping over the edge towards mutual romance, to me, seems like a different piece of the puzzle than something so strong as becoming 100% canon forever. After all, Bonbon for Jarco still had a Naysaya before it, a setup with clear and direct Jarco moments nudging it over the edge of romantic before going the whole way. Similarly, Tomstar had Demoncism before they officially confirmed they were a couple a few episodes later.

Curse is definitely going to be a big episode, but I don’t see it being very likely that we entire the episode with the entire prospect of Star and Marco talking about their feelings still completely looming over them. Another major reason I have to believe this, which is in some ways related to the above point, is that the show doesn’t overly fetishize romance. It’s all-too-common in media, especially family-friendly/kid media with romance, to warp the whole concept and make the “confession + big kiss + happily ever after” one monolithic moment at the very end, as the pinnacle of romance, often going so far as to delay natural developments and put roadblocks of misunderstanding in the way to keep the pair apart until both could have this moment. SVTFOE, on the other hand, historically hasn’t done this. It has always, thus far, recognized the ebbs and flows and slower progression of natural relationships, with steps in between “I guess we might like each other” to “yup we’re 100% dating”. So I can’t guarantee anything about the specific pacing along the way, but I’d wager that Starco has already crossed the threshold into mutual romance before Curse begins.

I have genuinely no idea what the plot will be here overall. We have a shot from the promo which is a newly animated version of the Blood Moon Waltz... flashback? Recreating the event? Time travel? I hope not the last one, but I have no clue.

So circling back around, we have the cereal, pancake, and babysitting Meteora scenes which (as far as I can tell, assuming animation studio order holds) are unaccounted for. There’s... I suppose a nonzero chance for a huge curveball, with some of them being Lake House Fever? Star wears the new S4 outfit in cereal/pancake as well as then, and they’re all Sugarcube. Another option I’d been considering was for Surviving the Spiderbites to be their attempt to spend time together, either resulting in feelingstalk or being the result of feelingstalk and tiptoeing into romance, with the cereal/pancake scenes being about trying to have a good “date” but getting interrupted... which is now the plot of Swim Suit, so I don’t know. Quest Buy has always, historically, involved heavy Starco importance, so perhaps that episode is a leadin to Curse on that front. Note that either everyone actually thinking Kelly’s World (and their baking scene in Ponyhead Show) is actually implying more love triangles is wrong, or the writers officially gave up and we can all go home.

As a note, I’m of course not really making any bold claims of confidence in the minutiae of these predictions: there’s so many options for curveballs that I can’t say anything for sure! But I think, in a general sense, the path of Starco buildup towards and through Curse is a sure thing, one way or another, because there’s basically nothing else meaningful that could happen!

Hope you enjoyed the read, and stay tuned for any new updates we get on future episodes.

#svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe spoilers #starco #tomstar

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