One of my favourite shots in the show will forever be this one
The one where Will turns to look at Mike in the shed scene
Because instantly there is a sense that this monologue is different. That it’s more intimate. That it says more. The way he turns into the shot and it’s this huge close up of his face and he’s illuminated by the light. Everything about it just feels so special and it just tells you that this monologue is different. And I love it so much.
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Another thing I'll never get over about the mermaid scene is that Stede doesn't "save" Ed. He doesn't untie him or pull him up out of the water. They just float together.
And there's a really beautiful message in that, because it would have been so easy for this to come across as "you need someone to save you." A lazier show would have had something that ended up reading like "iif you're where Ed is, where you're suicidal and convinced no one is waiting for you, you need someone to come grab you by the scruff of your neck and haul you to safety." But no! OFMD avoids that entirely! Instead, it's something so much more poignant - other people cannot save you. You will still have to save yourself.
But Stede's presence there isn't useless! Ed is still underwater, yes, but Stede helps him find safety and comfort in the experience. Ed already did not want to die; we see that when he has to be dragged off the cliff by a rock tied around his waist and in how he tries to untie himself. Ed already took the first step out of his suicidal spiral - when push came to shove, he didn't want to die. He still has to put in the work to recover. The difference is that Stede will be there beside him, and that will make his job a lot easier to manage.
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She Who Became the Sun illustrations by Przemysław "Trust" Truściński
Okay I did some digging around and managed to find an ebook version of the illustrated Polish edition (Ta, która stała się słońcem) of She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan!! I got my copy from swiatksiazki.pl with the help of automatic translation.
Here are the illustrations I thought would be the most interesting to show here.
Chapters 1–4, Zhu at the monastery
Chapter 7, Ouyang
Chapter 10 - Ouyang and Esen
Chapter 16 - Zhu and Ma’s wedding
Chapter 19 - Zhu and Ma figuring out the business of rain and clouds
Had to censor this one OTL
Chapter 22 - Esen and Ouyang
Chapter 23, Zhu at the end of the book
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TWEWY Joshneku City of Angels AU lets gooooooooo
when you just gotta admit "who am I kidding Im never coming back to this even though I reaaally want to asdfgh I'll just post what I have"
[Wall of text of lore below~]
TW// Suicidal ideation
Angels wander the city of Shibiya to lead spirits to the afterlife. They cannot be seen, unless they want to be and have no personal want of emotions or free will. They cannot feel the way humans do. Physically or emotionally.
Angel Joshua arrives to lead away suicidal teen, Neku. But he wavers and Neku decides against his decision. Joshua becomes intrigued by Neku when the teenager goes out of their way to save the life of another, when Neku was so ready to give up on their own. It's a spark of fascination for Joshua that quickly fades, as time goes on and the depressed-teen-turned-hero-friend fades to memory.
Years later and Joshua is doing the rounds in a local hospital when he spies a familiar face. Neku, now in scrubs, doing his medical residency. During a young patient's last moments, Neku refuses to let the child die and his eyes meet with Joshua's. Neku doesn't see the angel of course, but a familiar spark lights up in Josh. He begins to follow Neku's daily comings and goings in the hospital, then outside of the hospital. Despite careful (but entertained) warning from his angelic colleges, Joshua makes himself known to Neku, and only Neku.
Apprehensive and disbelieving at first, Neku eventually begins to believe this angel and they become closer (or as close as one can get to a being with little comprehension about Emotions). Neku decided on a medical career since the day he helped save a (now) friend's life. He wanted to help people but realized that the job was a lot harder on one's emotional and mental well-being. Unfortunately, you lose as many lives as you save in his profession.
In talks with Joshua, Neku remembers another thing he loved to do: sing. He never had time to indulge more in this hobby, thanks to his studies but after Joshua mentions how he's got a nice voice, he begins to experiment with the idea of writing music.
We also see the two try to make sense of Joshua's sudden interest in human free will, and thanks to a friend(?) of Joshua's, they locate someone interesting: a fallen Angel. He explains that when an Angel falls from Grace and obtain free will, they become human and receive all the pros and cons that come with it. However, it's not an easy thing for an Angel to do; physically and morally. Also fun fact: fallen angels can see other angels, all the time.
Regardless, Neku starts catching feelings for Joshua and the Angel finds himself mentally struggling to make sense of human attraction. It's like an itch he can never reach, much less scratch. Frustrated and unable to get through Joshua's hard shell (or understand his motives), Neku leaves Shibuya without resolution with Josh.
Joshua is an Angel assigned to Shibuya, and thus unable to leave to look for Neku. The time apart does something to him, and he feels what he believes is loneliness. Or heartache? Whatever it is, the thought of never seeing Neku again is horrifying. He does the unthinkable and Falls. When he wakes up, everything hurts. Hurts. He bleeds, his stomach turns from hunger, his eyes ache and tears stream down his face. But he's...happy. He feels exuberant joy. Joshua travels across the boundaries of his world, exits Shibuya and follows Neku's trail.
Neku answers the door to a rain-soaked, ripped clothing, feet bleeding, wide grin now-human, Joshua. He has little time to process the scene before him, before Joshua word vomits all these new sensations he's been having and confesses his feelings for Neku. How else can Neku respond but with a kiss (now that they can physically touch each other) and they spend the night together.
Neku later explains that he needed some alone time to think, so he cashed in a favor. He left to take a break, but then took the opportunity to make lemonade, so to speak. Neku used a friend's recording studio outside the city to write a song and record it. Upon hearing it, Joshua was brought to tears. It was beautifully melancholic, but hopeful. It suited Neku.
A few days on and the couple is relishing this time together... but disaster inevitably arrives. Neku leaves on a bike to retrieve some groceries, leaving Joshua behind with a "Be right back."
Only minutes later does Joshua feel anxiety grip him and he knows something bad has happened. He runs the road that Neku took, finding the young man in the street, having been in a traffic accident. Neku mumbles something about a beautiful light, then dies in Joshua's arms.
The days both drag on and fly by as Joshua tries to now live as a human without the person he wanted to be human with. Despite it all, Neku had met good people and they help Joshua through his turmoil. Eventually, Joshua decides to release Neku's song to the world and it grips anyone who hears it. His life is lost, but his voice will live on and fill his (and others) world with music.
Congrats on making it this far please enjoy this [your favorite donut]
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