#i used to root for him but the writers have made him so unlikable this season

[magicaldragons]

the writers know how they're portraying ryu shi-oh

i love grey characters, if not only for the psycho-analyzing potential. love them. so having a character like ryu shi-oh, especially with his tragic past, makes him very intriguing already.

at the same time, i did defend nam-soon & hee-sik to my friends for the entirety of the first three episodes, and i still try to give them a chance when they're on screen. it's a very comfortable ship, for sure.

but the writers MUST know what they are doing everytime they show us how badly ryu shi-oh wants to be free from his situation. especially seeing as to how he's started actively trying to break away from the mafia – notably, after he's begun to think he has a chance at friendship/love

darker, twisted relationships are present throughout several places in media and widely accepted and loved by those interested in the genre, and what shi-oh feels for nam-soon is a prime example that ticks off many additional tropes.

if they wanted the audience to root for nam-soon & hee-sik, there were SO many opportunities the writers had to really enhance their relationship, especially when hee-sik was at the funeral & nam-soon's brother was in the hospital – all we got was a phone call, which is realistically understandable, but artistically, it was a solid chance to have them support each other through hard times.

▪︎ in fact, the only times we've got them together in one room it's either been:

contribution to the main drug plotline

one of them is asleep

jokes about how they'll have to have a child quickly (personally, i don't really like how there's so much emphasis on this, especially when they depict it like it's a romantic thing)

hee-sik jealous of si-oh's closeness with nam-soon

that one scene where hee-sik loved nam-soon's cooking, unlike the rest of his team, which was also edited and directed like a cute joke, rather than something sentimental – they weren't in the same room for this one, lmao, but still:

i would've really been pulled in if there had been more lead up to a confession — from a technical standpoint, they have no key moments that made me root for them, other than "he's a good person", which isn't very compelling to me, personally

the writers are definitely aware of how they are portraying things and dividing up the screen time, and i do think they're going to have to villainize ryu shi-oh irretrievably for the current majority to switch over and consider nam-soon x hee-sik to be the best possible ship, but right now that's not true.

they might redeem ryu shi-oh, which will satisfy most of us, but it will still leave nam-soon x hee-sik a bit unconvincing unless they set up a very significant plot line with hee-sik which can convince us of their chemistry, and that will be pretty tough if they give shi-oh positive growth & character development.

#a very technical post #the writers know what they're doing to us #if they hurt si-oh you'll find me screaming into the void #strong girl nam soon #ryu shi oh #byeon woo seok #gang namsoon #lee yoo mi #kdrama

[andreal831]

Do you consider Elijah to be redeemable?

It depends what you mean by redeemable.

If we are talking in terms of TVDU standards, sure. If we are talking in terms of normal standards for redemption, probably not.

In TVDU, there's this expression everyone likes to use, "they aren't evil, just broken." I hate this expression. Very few people in life or in fiction are straight evil because it is not very compelling. Villains with tragic backstories give complexity to the story. If you look at the vast majority of villains in any fiction, they will have origin stories that make them behave the way they do. But this doesn't excuse their evil acts. Which is why I hate the expression. Sure, they weren't born that way and we can blame whatever events made them that way, but until the character/writers take accountability, redemption is not possible.

A redemption arc needs a fleshed out character with a lot of dimension. Aka a good backstory with complex plots throughout with internal/external conflicts, accountability, and change of behavior. The Mikaelsons are set up decently for redemption arcs since the more dramatic/terrible their origin story is, the more likely people will root for them. That's why we see so many characters who honestly haven't done nearly as many bad things as the main characters get less chances from the audience for redemption. There needs to be something to make the audience sympathize with why they are behaving that way. It's also why we often see villains with tragic childhoods, because what tugs on the heartstrings more than seeing a broken child who can't protect themselves so they learn to be evil so they will never be hurt again.

Elijah has a good backstory, at least if you are paying attention to him. Some of his backstory gets lost in Klaus since the show focuses so hard on him. But Elijah canonically grew up in an abusive household. He was pretty neglected and given a lot of responsibility at a young age. He was also growing up in a very different time and likely didn't learn proper ways to cope with life/emotions. His brother dies and then his father kills him. He's then forced to turn into a vampire and loses the woman he loves and the future he hoped for. This is all just the first 1% of his life. Throughout his life, he is dealing with his siblings, his vampirism, losing people, being betrayed by the people he loves, etc. This all creates a pretty sympathetic villain. Especially when you look at his motivations.

Elijah's motivations change a bit throughout the shows. In TVD, he really comes across as a family man. He is ready to kill Klaus for what he did to their siblings and is constantly trying to reunite with all of them (including Finn and Kol). Now when we go over to TO, his motivation seems to revolve around Klaus and Hope with Rebekah not far behind. His motivations help with his redemption, even if his limited focus in TO is annoying. Killing for the thrill of it is harder to redeem than killing for the protection of family. While it doesn't make it okay, most people can understand the reasoning. I've said it before, I don't defend Elijah for all of his actions, but at the same time, I can't say most people wouldn't do anything to protect their families.

Unlike a lot of the Mikaelsons, Elijah does seem to take some accountability for his actions. He knows what he is. He's not proud of it and feels deep guilt for his actions. The issue we get into with Elijah is we don't see a lot of positive change of behavior. He has a moral code, one that was much stricter in TVD, and continues to get blurred the more his is pushed into a corner. I often blame the writers for switching out his personality traits with Klaus in order to build Klaus' redemption because we do see Klaus become more family focused and less blood thirsty in season 3/4 while Elijah seems to go off the rails, killing anything he perceives to be a threat (like a certain paranoid hybrid we know). The writers do this because, again, Elijah is the more redeemable of the two. Klaus's motivations have always held him back for that. It's hard to redeem a character who kills for fun and takes joy in abusing their family members. But a family man who acts to protect their family, even if it's by doing terrible things, is much easier to work in a redemption arch.

Since TO is focused on the Mikaelsons, I think they all could have had redemptions. Again redemption in the context of TVDU. Practically everyone but Elijah gets a redemption/chance at a happy ending. Although, I tend to disagree that Klaus actually had one. Elijah's positive motivation and fatal flaws were intertwined. His attachment to his family made him do terrible things. I've written a story, The Last Sacrifice, which I think gives Elijah a type of redemption that is possible for his character. Yes, it does involve him sacrificing himself for his family. I think this is the only true redemption for him since he was so willing to sacrifice others for his family, it needed to come full circle. He could improve his character and his behaviors in a lot of ways, but it's not truly a redemption since he isn't learning from his past behaviors. Again, his fatal flaw is harming people for his family to stay together, so for him, to make the ultimate sacrifice for his family to stay together, even without him, would be a sort of redemption.

The reason I say no for normal standards is because the Mikaelsons, each and every one of them, have all just done too many bad things. They could sacrifice themselves for the world but it still wouldn't really change anything. It wouldn't fix the harm they've caused in the world or their underlying questionable motivations. Now, I know redemption arcs don't need to solve all the past problems, but the Mikaelsons are inherently morally grey at best. It's hard to keep them in character while also truly redeeming them. I love them, but they are not good people.

Thanks for the ask!

#elijah mikaelson is morally grey at best #love him but he needs some serious therapy #tvdu #the originals #the vampire diaries #elijah mikaelson #tvd #the mikaelsons #anon ask #fandom asks #redemption arcs #fandom #tvd ask #fandom answers #tvd anon ask

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Yesterday I saw a post that basically said that Avatar wasn’t a feminist show that has a bias towards Zuko and that no female villains get redeemed(?!?) 

And said that the show oversexualises Azula which like WHAT

This is not a Cuties situation the camera never accentuates cleavage or anything, if you just saw Azula showing more skin in the beach episode (because she’s at the fucking beach) and then immediately thought about sex that sounds like a you problem.

People really gotta learn what words mean - and that no show from nearly TWENTY YEARS AGO is gonna present social issues the same way modern series would. Avatar has two whole episodes in which the whole lesson is "Sexism is bad, don't mistreat women", and a ton of the female characters are absolutely badass and incredibly well-written. One or two questionable moments is not enough to make claim it is misogynistic.

A female villain not getting redeemed while a male character does is only sexist if her gender is presented as the reason why she can't be redeemed, or if they did all the same things but her actions are presented as worse - and while the ATLA fandom is often guilty of that last one (not always because of sexism, but also because of ableism), that doesn't mean the writting of the SHOW was sexist.

I say this as someone who loves Azula's character and wants a redemption arc for her: the show's ending is a tragic, but logical one. Not everyone changes. Not everyone wants to change, or even gets the chance to. It's sad, but it makes sense and there's nothing offensive about the finale (unlike the way Azula was treated in the comics, but once again the root of the problem there was "the mentally ill are inherently evil/beyond help so anything and everything done to them is justifiable").

"The show oversexualizes her" That one is bit more complex - but not THAT much.

Avatar is a show with lots of fanservice (see Zuko taking off his shirt causing birds to fly and fangirls to appear behind him squeeling), but all of it is stuff that was ALWAYS presented in a way that was 100% appropriate for children. More importantly, the show never tried to use the fanservice to compensate for poor writting or to make Azula an evil seductress (a trope that is not inherently sexist, but can become so if the writer isn't careful with it). Making Azula gorgeous in a scene, or letting Grey Delisle have some fun like the did during the confrontation Zuko and Azula had in The Awakening, is not the same as them reducing Azula from character to sex-object.

Once again, the fandom is far more guilty of the "Attractive means sexual and sex is evil" mentality than the show ever was. I lost count of how many people "theorize" that Azula is a "slut" who slept her way to the top and has even raped people (usually Zuko and Suki) even though the show made it clear she can't flirt to save her life, is so respected/feared because she's a great fighter/manipulator, and has literally never forced herself onto her brother and was obviously lying when implying she had done something Suki because THE SHOW ITSELF told us everything she was telling the Gaang on that scene was just an attempt to buy her father more time until the eclipse was over.

Some of the fans treat her as the typical "evil femme fatale that you can tell is evil because she sleeps around", but the show itself never did that.

Also a lot of what I sometimes see fans claim is "sexualization" is just mundane stuff. I lost count of how many times people were losing their shit because "WHY IS A FOURTEEN YEAR GIRL ALWAYS WEARING MAKE UP?"

Maybe because said fourteen year old is a perfectionist that can't even stand to have one hair out of place, so obviously she'd want her face looking perfect too? Or maybe she wants to look older not to "seduce" anyone but because she'd rather not risk not being taken seriously for being so young? And, crazy thought but bear with me here, maybe, just maybe... Azula likes make-up. Revolutionary concept, I know.

And it's not like the show ever got weird about it like the comics (seriously, girl is hallucinating in a straight-jacket and her hair is all messed up, but SOMEHOW she put on lipstic/the doctors did it for her????). She had a clean face when she was sleeping and when she was at the royal spa getting her hair done, and even at Chan's party her make-up is exactly the same she wears during the day. The "weirdest" place she wore it at was at the beach, and again considering it's Azula, who always wants to look perfect, I can see it.

Seriously guys, there's a difference between "TikTok is constantly telling women, teen girls and children they need to buy 37 different products that they gotta put on before anyone can *gasp* see their face" and "This cartoon had one of the characters constantly wearing make-up because that's a thing teenagers do sometimes + it helps the character be more memorable"

#azula is no femme fatale

[666yourmomdotcom]

Two Words, “I know”- N. Sully

Summary: Reader says something they instantly regret during a fight, will pining and apologies be enough to make Neteyam forgive them?

Pairing: Neteyam x Human to Navi reader

Warnings: Couple’s quarrel, angsty Neteyam, angsty reader, somewhat yelling, cursing, pining, angst for days, fluff at the end!

A/n: This idea came to me because I feel like there’s often so many writers on this app that make it out to seem like the reader can never make a mistake or if they do its always somehow not their fault. I want to humanize reader a little bit more, so this is what came out.

P.S: I totally made-up sugar root, the inspo was sugar cane but I didn’t want to say sugar cane so I did that instead lol

***

You had been forcibly moved to pandora by your two parents, both of whom were scientist who’d dedicated their lives to picking up their lives to study Pandora and the life on it. Unlike most so called “sky people” your parents were beloved by the Natives, especially Jake and Neytiri.

After getting themselves Navi bodies, as a tenth birthday present, they made one for you too. Five years after that, at fifteen you had your soul permanently transferred into it do to complications with your health.

Now though, you live happy and healthy in your new home planet, with your best friend and Boyfriend, Neteyam, and all the others. Your life was the image of perfection, but it didn’t feel like it. You loved your life, you really did, but that didn’t stop parts of you from missing earth, missing the family and friends you left behind, the life you left behind. You often spent hours at a time wondering what it’d be like if you still lived there. Would you go to a boarding school like you’d always wanted as a kid? Would you be studying for your dream college for your dream career?

You pinched the bridge of your nose as you settled down in the crook of a tree and attempted to massage the Migraine away. Your ears twitched instinctively as you hear branches creaking and the padding of feet. Of course, you thought bitterly, not even two seconds alone and someone had already found you. All you really wanted right now was a moment alone. “Y/n” Neteyam’s voice prick your ears as he pears around the tree, smiling down at you. “Hey” “you hiding from someone?” you snort, and bite your tongue, refraining from saying “I was trying to” and instead “Just the world I guess” his smile faulters a bit, and you can tell it wasn’t the answer he necessarily expected. “Does that include me? Cause I’ll leave you alone, if you need” but as you looked up into his sweet yellow eyes you didn’t have the heart to send him away. You smile and shake your head. “Never” you extend a hand to him and guide him to sit next to you. He wraps his arm around your waist and uses the other to take your hand in his. “So” he sighs “Why are we hiding from the world” you sigh as well, picking at the skin of your thighs “I had a fight with my parents” he raises his eyebrows “About?” “Just…stuff” he waits patiently for you to continue “It’s just like, sometimes I can’t help but be angry at them. I had so many plans on earth, family, friends! And they just took it all way from me without even giving me any option. They just ripped me away from my life and across the cosmos to pandora so they could advance their careers.  But what about me? What about my life? What about my dreams?” your voice rises with emotion and Neteyam’s ears flick down a small frown crossing his face. “You have friends and family here, and dreams…Right?” you look to him “Of course. But that doesn’t mean—” “it doesn’t mean they have less value does it” you nod silently. “Do you… do you regret coming here?” “there’s nothing for me to regret, I had no say, it wasn’t my choice to be here” he slightly draws away from you, but you don’t notice, too caught up in your own thoughts. “Do you not want to be here?” maybe you were so worked up already you didn’t realize what you were saying. “If it were up to me, I would still be home” the word Home slapped Neteyam in the face. As he fully pulled away “I thought this was home” he says quietly and your head snaps to look at him. “It is Neteyam but” you trailed off “but what?” “But I just wonder what my life would be like there, I wasn’t meant to live here. I was born on earth, meant to live on earth. To have friends and a boyfriend and go to a shitty high school and get my first apartment and everything.” Neteyam stood up suddenly. “What?” “I’m so sorry you didn’t get your dream human life with friends and a human boyfriend y/n, really that must’ve been really hard for you.” He said coldly, and dread squeezed your heart and lungs “Wait Neteyam—that’s not” “Save it” and with that he hurried away, ignoring your calls for him.

***

Neteyam wasn’t talking to you, and it broke your heart. You never meant what you said three nights ago, it was a mistake, are you sad about the life you’re missing out on, on earth? Definitely, but it occurred to you that you were spending so much time dwelling on what you couldn’t have rather than everything you have here. There is a reason people say, “The grass is always greener on the other side”. Your heart clenched every time you saw Neteyam and watched as he went out of his way to avoid you or act like he didn’t see you at all. You never meant to make him feel this way, and you couldn’t forgive yourself. But hopefully you could get him to forgive you. Since that night you’d been trying to figure out how to make it right. You had written an apology and a list of reasons you loved your life here. You left these two letters on his bed, but after another two days he still hadn’t acknowledged you.

***

“Dude that’s enough” lo’ak suddenly burst out, as he caught his brother pulling two letters out from the pages of a book for the umpteenth time in these past few days. Neteyam jumped “what?!” “Whatever you did to piss y/n off just go apologize I’m sick of wa—” “I didn’t fuck up” Neteyam said harshly “she told me she wished she could’ve stayed on earth so she could have human friends and her human family and a human boyfriend. Because apparently, I was just what she downgraded to since she couldn’t have some weird, greasy, short, tan stupid” he began to pace angrily, alarming his younger brother “Dude, dude calm down” Lo’ak said, standing up “Don’t tell me to calm down!” he yelled “okay, okay I’m sorry” he said backing off with his hands raised. Neteyam sighed “No I shouldn’t have yelled, I—I’m sorry” Neteyam hung his head and his brother searched him, trying to find some answer “I know she said that. And its fucked up, but I also know—hey look at me” he lifted his older brothers chin with two fingers “I know that y/n loves you more than she loves anything else in her life” Neteyam shook his head “Dude listen to me. You don’t hear her talking to Kiri about you” he put on a high pitch voice, failing to imitate you “Neteyam is so amazing, your brother is the most handsome man in the whole world, listen to this stupid date we went to isn’t that so romantic?” Neteyam snorted “She’s crazy about you man” Lo’ak said in a softer tone. “Go talk to her, figure this out, because if you guys don’t make it I have absolutely no faith in love itself”

***

After confessing to your mother everything that happened between you and Neteyam, she was holding you and letting you cry against her shoulder. “I really messed up mommy” you say, your voice wobbling horribly. She sighed and gently pushed you away to meet her eyes “Do you know how many times your father has fucked up?” you laugh, despite yourself “And do you know how many times I forgave him? People, they can be stupid, and they’re certainly not as emotionally adapt as Na’vi. And I wont lie, you made a mistake, a big one. But Neteyam loves you sweetheart, and you love him. Love like that doesn’t go away after one stupid comment, one mistake.” You nod “So now” she began wiping your tears “you go, and you apologize, and you apologize, and you apologize, and you do all the grand gestures, and everything you can to make this right. Until he forgives you” you nod again “go now my love, go to him” you stand up and walk out of your tent.

***

You approached the Sully’s tent full of apprehension and anxiety, you didn’t want to be here, but you understood why you had to be. Being a great hater of conflict the idea of willing walking towards a person who at the moment, probably hated you, made your heartbeat like a drum in your chest.

Neytiri emerged from their tent with her bow slung over her shoulder and a quiver of arrows strapped across her back. She smiled sadly at you, and you wonder if Neteyam told her what you said or not. “He’s alone, I’m going hunting and won’t be back for a while”. You bowed your head in respect and a silent thankyou and walked forward.

Neteyam’s back was facing you as you entered, letting the flap fall silently behind you as you shuffled your feet anxiously. You cleared your throat, clutching several pieces of sugar root in your hand. He turns around, and the moment his eyes land on you, his jaw sets and his gaze hardens. Though he agrees with what his brother said to him days prior, the sight of you is still painful and frustrating though he does miss you.

“Yeah?” his tone is cold, but you try not to let it discourage you.

“Uhm…I was wondering if we could talk?” he narrows his eyes for a moment but then gestures towards Lo’ak’s cot which sits across from his. “I wanted to say—well first here this is for you” you hand him the sugar root which he takes gingerly, not acknowledging it. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry, and before you say anything, I know that’s lame but its how I feel. Neteyam I am so sorry. I-I want to make this better I want to make this right. And if you don’t take me back, I understand because if you said something like that to me, I’d be so angry and so hurt. But I want to know—even if I can’t fix it all the way. How I could at least make things better…”

He studies you for a couple of seconds before breaking the silence. “I want to know…how I can be sure you didn’t mean what you said that night” This. You had prepared for this, how much you didn’t mean what you said had been on your mind 24/7 since you said it.

You can’t help but laugh. “Have you seen me Neteyam? I can barely function without you. These past days I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I can’t do anything because I feel so guilty. I found my person, you who is so, so sweet and patient with me, and you actually listen to what I say even if it’s stupid, and I—I realized that those thoughts I had about what I wanted on earth, I was picturing you there with me. And its okay if you don’t believe me or if you don’t believe that! But all I know is when I would imagine it, somehow you were there, with me. And maybe because I was only daydreaming it didn’t occur to me that if I was on earth now, right now you wouldn’t be there. Your family wouldn’t be there, all my friends, there would be no ikrans or floating mountains, no nothing. Nothing I love about my life now, could travel with me to earth.” You took a deep breath and look up, Neteyam is already looking at you.

“When I talked to my dad once, he told me there was many things about being human he didn’t miss. But he also told me, that it hurt him that he’d never see his family or friends again, and how much he wishes we could meet them, that everyone could know he turned out okay. That was…the only time I ever saw my dad cry.” You look at him confused, unsure to the point he’s trying to make. “I’m sorry”

You shake your head with a sad smile. “I’m not. I love my family, I do. But as long as I don’t forget them they are not truly lost. You are my family now, I need to stop focusing on what I lost when I left earth, but what I got when I came here.”

Neteyam sits up slightly and extends a hand, making a ‘come here’ motion with his fingers. When you stand and walk to him, he grabs your waist gently and pulls you down to sit on his lap. You wrap your arms around his neck, and he wraps his around your waist, you both rest your heads on the others shoulder. Your heart is beating fast now, not because of anxiety but because you are so happy and relieved to be with him again, with both of you happy. You place a few gentle kisses onto his smooth and soft skin, kissing the little bioluminescent dots specifically. Taking great care to smell him as you do so, you didn’t know the smell of a person could be so comforting until you met Neteyam.

After a while of just holding each other, you pull away so you can look in his eyes. “I love you, and I’m sorry” he pulls you down once more to kiss you, and when the two of you break away, he only says two words

“I know”

#Neteyam Sully x reader #NeteyamImagine #neteyamxyou #neteyamxy/n #neteyamxreader #Neteyamoneshot #neteyamsully

[acourtofthought]

Do you think Elain would actually try to get back to her human self somehow? I saw a lot of people think that she’d be in cahoots with Koschei because she wants to be turned back. I think the “I don’t want a mate/male” quote and Feyre thinking she wants a human man thing is in ACOFAS, so since then things have changed. She seems more accepting of the fact that she is fae, she just hasn’t accepted Lucien yet. These ideas mostly come from the evil Elain theories which I really don’t like anyway 🙄 but if Elain and Lucien are connected to Koschei I hope her trying to go back to humanity isn’t her main plot line. I hope she’d be over that by now

Elain did say "I don't want a mate / male" but then turned around and developed a crush or flirtation with a male shortly after which suggests progress.

SJM isn't the kind of writer to wave a magic wand and make these characters traumas disappear so Elain saying she didn't want any of the above after the war, after losing her father, after Graysen's rejection, etc. are not surprising.

She was thrust out of a world she loved and into one where she was turned into a being she grew up fearing, suddenly finding herself kicking beats and stabbing kings in battle. I think it's normal that she was trying to distance herself from extremely fae things like mating bonds and relationships with non humans when she really hadn't had times to come to terms with the fact that she is now fae and living in a place that is so unlike what she was used to.

However it's been over a year since the war. Nearly two years since she was turned. Elain may not be ready to fully embrace being fae (as Nesta wasn't ready until the end of her book) but that doesn't necessarily mean she wants to go back to a life where she knows people turned their backs on her.

Also, I can't recall a single SJM main character hero / heroine who has tried to work with the bad guy for selfish reasons and not ended up looking like the villain.

(spoilers for TOG to follow)

In the ACOTAR series we have Rhys looking like the bad guy because he was working for Amarantha. But....he ended up the hero because he was actually protecting his entire court and trying to find a way to free Prythian.

In TOG, we had Dorian seeming to work with Maeve. But in the end, he had only been playing her, finding how her powers worked so he could use them against her.

The above are two scenarios where a main character looked like they were working for the big bad only for us to discover they were using their intelligence to turn the tides in their favor.

But.........

In ACOMAF, we have Tamlin playing double agent to Hybern. Even though he was gathering information that did benefit them in the war, his main reason for allying with Hybern was to get Feyre back.

As a result, SJM made his character one that now "sucks" (her words from an actual interview with Eva Cheng).

Tamlin may get some sort of redemption but my guess is he's never getting his own book. With his journey, the author has told us that when a character tries to play double agent for selfish reasons it's not going to leave them looking like the hero, even if they were also trying to gather information on the side.

So Elain trying to ally with Koschei to be turned human again? HOW does that end up with her as a heroine?

First, it means she's willing to put others at risk for her own selfish desires, that is not FMC energy. Elain has had visions of Koschei, she knows he's kidnapped other females. Who would ever root for her knowing that she was willing to work with someone like him after that?

Also, Elain seeking him out then needing rescuing....isn't that just proving that she shouldn't have tried handling anything dangerous like Az believed? That she was a "little girl" trying to play in a "grown mans" world and failing? That Nesta was right telling her not to get involved with the Trove?

The only way the Elain / Koschei theory would work for SJMs kind of writing is if everyone thought Elain was working with Koschei for her own reasons but it's revealed she never wanted to be human after all. That she set out to prove she could best him with her intelligence and came out victorious (as Dorian did with Maeve or Rhys with Amarantha).

I am with you, there are so many more things that SJM could do with Elain's character than having her regress back to 2 years ago. We've already witnessed her at her lowest where she struggled with becoming fae and losing her life in the human lands. She's not 100% and I don't think she's thriving like she could be elsewhere but she has now made a few friends, keeps busy around Velaris helping others, developed her first "crush" on a fae male and now has a nephew to love. SJM would have wasted multiple books of Elain working through the worst of it and coming out on the other side to turn around and have her willing to put others at risk to become human again.

#elain archeron #elucien #pro elain archeron

[beevean]

This image! God this image! Mrs. Kojima really cooked here. I love and adore prelude to revenge so much! This scene and what happens subsequently there after could have no dialogue and it would still be perfectly understood with how well the emotions are conveyed in her illustrations.

Also Isaac looks phenomenal. Have I mentioned that I love prelude to revenge? What are some of your favorites?

BRO

you come to me and you give me the chance to gush about Prelude to Revenge, the best thing that came out of the Castlevania franchise?????

(i'm going to get assassinated for that lol)

i, ugh. i. i love how Kojima here handled the Hector/Isaac fight! It's from Isaac's POV, not Hector's - we're seeing the events from the POV of the antagonist. We already root for Hector and his will to run away from Dracula's insanity by this point. We are made to at least try to sympathize with the other guy, who so far proudly declared to be a weapon for destruction.

Hector uses a underhanded tactic to win: he slashes Isaac's thighs. He also breaks part of his armor, symbolically being the reason of Isaac's sanity slipping. He's about to deliver the coup de grâce...

"I still… can’t follow you? Have I lost…?"

(Hector's eye! Icy cold! Beautiful!)

... but instead, he humiliates his former friend further: he breaks his sword, and he forces him to live, while he himself crawls away to die far away. Hector refuses to share that moment of weakness with Isaac.

"Is this the arrogance... of the winner?!"

(actually, 優れる means "to surpass, to outstrip, to excel". Hector didn't just win: he's the one who always excels over Isaac. the resentment here <3)

And what's Isaac to do? He, too, limps back home, knowing full well what is going to await him: a disappointed Lord. A Lord who always favored Hector, because he's better than Isaac. And he proved him right. And it eats at him inside.

"You don’t answer even if I call... Ha... Did he even cut off my power?

Take a look at this pathetic sight, my Lord, my broken sword used as a cane My body is the proof of Your expectations for him Please ridicule me, scold me Next time I will do whatever it takes."

PtR doesn't go into detail about Isaac's inferiority complex, unlike the MF manga - but the way it conveys it it's just. argh. this man.

And then he reaches the castle... or what is left of it.

This is a masterpiece of a page. You can almost hear the howling wind. If this was an anime, it would have no music at all. Isaac is drawn at his most detailed and his most handsome as his face is washed in horror. You don't need anything to get hit with the realization that Isaac didn't just lost a fight, he lost his entire life: he has no home that would allow him to live, no Lord to serve, no friend to fight with, and even his magic has been cut out. He has nothing left, through no direct fault of his own.

Isaac wasn't there to protect his Lord. Because of Hector.

"I won't let you say that your rebellion has nothing to do with this! Had you cut off my head as well, I would not have seen this... Hector...!"

And as the real heroes of the story stand in the dawn to admire their hard-earned victory against evil, a broken man vows revenge for being forced to live on.

And man, will he take his revenge.

this is fucking peak man i can't stop eating my own hands it's so good it's so GOOD

I feel bad for Isaac! This simping asshole who will go then to kill an innocent woman and torment his former friend with! This piece of shit who wanted to happily exterminate mankind is genuinely pitiable in these circumstances! But the story doesn't hold your hand to make you feel sorry for him - it respects your intelligence enough to understand the facts and draw your own conclusions

Kojima is not only an artist out of this world, but an excellent writer.

urgh but it would take me too long to talk about my favorite scenes from this short manga! I made a lot of posts about it! It's so packed with scenes, beautiful quotes, poignant character moments, symbolism...

Ah, it sure deserved to be adapted :')

(also yes Isaac can be very good-looking when he wants to. He has honestly one of my favorite designs in the series precisely because his face has unique features. highly underrated <3)

#castlevania #akumajou dracula #curse of darkness #prelude to revenge #isaac laforeze #hector castlevania #please come to me to allow me to gush because it makes me so happy #thank you!

[scatteredpiecesofme]

On August and Sara

I know that a part of the fandom disliked the Sargust storyline and among the various reasons mentioned, one made me think. Some were disappointed because August was given this sort of "redemption arc", some others complained about his arc being contradictory, as if the writers couldn’t decide what to do, whether to “redeem” him or not.

I think this wasn’t the point at all. I don't believe Sara and August love story was meant to be an actual redemption arc, for either of them (if anything, because as such it badly failed). This was just Young Royals doing what Young Royals does best. Namely, showing us once again that human beings are very much complex and nuanced when it comes to their feelings, decisions and actions.

It was easy to accept the not-all-black-and-white pov with Wilhelm and Simon because we love them, sympathize with them, we even identify with them. Doing the same with August and Sara is much harder. But even assholes can have a soft side. It's real. It's human. And it doesn't erase their wrongs.

I think what comes across as disturbing in August+Sara's story is that both of them have made terrible and selfish choices, both of them have betrayed their friends and family, and yet they get to enjoy some blissful moments of love, tenderness, and care. Moments of real happiness. And they do it exactly when Wilhelm and Simon are apart, heartbroken and dealing with a lot of issues. Somehow it feels unfair.

Love is often perceived as something that people deserve or don't deserve according to their behaviour or moral standing. Some sort of reward that we get if we are good enough. Then, how can an asshole who has done such shitty things be loved? Or how can a selfish, untrustworthy person be able to love anybody? These are the unspoken questions.

The thing is, love is not a prize. Love is just something that happens. Often in the most unexpected ways. It's unfair. It’s random. Uncontrollable. Messy. Sara puts it into words beautifully: "You can't control your feelings. Even if you have feelings for the wrong person, it can feel so damn right". And love is not a redeeming force either. The bare fact of being in love or being loved doesn't make a person better, nor it can be expected to.

Any redemption tropes left aside, their storyline shed light on some sides of the characters that we hadn't seen yet, adding layers and depth to both and making them even more interesting (to me Sara and August were already very interesting characters in S1). It challenged the viewers to question their perspective and to deal with mixed feelings (oh, wait he's the villain, I hate him... how comes that for a split second I found him so tender and I was rooting for them??). It gave us some sweet, fluffy moments in a season which was at risk to have none, together with some very realistic intimacy representation. It provided a good amount of drama for the final climax and it set things up for potential plotlines in s3 (lots of potential shit, depending on where the authors want to go). And despite Sargust being the most random, weird and unlikely couple ever, it felt believable to me. On top of everything, Malte and Frida showed great chemistry and their acting was truly amazing.

Sooo... I might be the only one here, but I really enjoyed Sara+August storyline in S2.

#sargust #young royals #young royals s2 #young royals analysis #august of årnäs #sara eriksson #malte gårdinger #frida argento

[adancingdragon]

Ok but - I came to the Dreamer trilogy for Ronan because he was my fave in TRC but I definitely fell for all three Lynch brothers, Hennessy & Jordan, and maybe even Carmen and Liliana during the course of these three books. Maggie Stiefvater, the writer that you are!

None of the characters is wholly good and/or easy; one might think Matthew is because he is always good-humoured and happy but then he is faced with an identity crisis and a rebellious phase and grows so much through it! And Adam seems to be perfect at first, having made it to Harvard and all, but he struggles and he hides himself, and only person he’s truly open with, and then he is more open and honest with himself at the end, after going through the potential loss of that person, and realising there is more to him than just being this ideal student who’s made it.

And we’ve probably all started out hating Declan a little after the events of TRC but with every page, he gets more nuanced, we learn about his past, his parents (and how he’s their only ‘real’ son, whatever that means), and he becomes someone you don’t only feel for but begin to understand and wish a happy future. - which he finds, unexpectedly, in a dream. Jordan starts off as one of many copies and struggles to find her way to her own life, always craving it, always asking herself why she’s got only half the memories she should, and how she could lead a ‘normal’ life, could she commit?

Hennessy seems almost unlikable at the start but then she does grow on you - because of how she cares for her girls, her unlikely friendship with Ronan, what we learn about her past and her upbringing. But she also disappoints us with betrayal and looking only after herself - she’s complicated! - and then she does save the day aka Adam and you notice how integral she’s become.

And Ronan. The words used to describe him at the start of Call Down the Hawk make him seem almost cruel, not at all like what you’d expect your protagonist to be like. But we follow him as he struggles and grows and challenges himself - from trying to fit in, to creating a mentor he’s always craved, to scaring away the people he loves most, to realising he’s rooted in both worlds and choosing one, to realising he’s Greywaren, to committing to an eternity with the person he calls his second self. What a journey.

This has been a wild ride. Thank you, Ms Stiefvater.

#and I’m sure I could go on and on and on but this for now #the dreamer trilogy #maggie stiefvater #ronan lynch #adam parrish #Greywaren #tdt #tdt Spoilers #Spoilers #thoughts #declan lynch #matthew lynch #jordan hennessy #my heart

[burntjuulpod]

Netflix's Wednesday review with spoilers!!

okay, so I stayed up and watched the Wednesday show when it first premiered at 3 this morning and it is so fucking good!! I needed a quick nap but now I'm back and just wanted to share some thoughts on the show and some things online.

you were NOT queerbaited!! wenclair was a "crack ship" made when the first trailers came out way before any of the WednesGay event and there was nothing queer promised in this show, tho we did get some with side characters and there could be more later on if we get more seasons

I keep seeing people criticizing when Wednesday tells Morticia that she will never fall in love and be a housewife as an ideal the writers are pushing as being a homemaker is something terrible. I have seen so many of these but the whole root of Wednesday's issues with these things is she doesn't want to be seen as weak and most importantly she doesn't want to be like her parents! she said this to hurt her mother and separate herself from her

now on to the actual plot points. while watching I was very upset with the way they were taking the little love triangle they had going on was happening but after the twist it makes sense. Tyler was so insistent because he needed to be closer to her and it makes sense for him to be pushy and more willing to follow all of her crazy theories and help her

on the other hand it also makes sense for Xavier for starters her already knew Wednesday and had initially saved her from his roommate and his crazy ramblings so he already had a proverbial foot in the door even before the monster was discovered. secondly, he hated Tyler and at some points, you could definitely tell that he more so wanted Tyler gone than he wanted to woo Wednesday per say

when we got the tour of the social clicks trailer I was scared for a hot minute with Bianca that Wednesday would try to take her down and I'm glad that wasn't the case. I didn't like Bianca at first but that was the point! and I never really hated her just not thrilled when she showed up in the first couple of eps but as we saw her Character develop by the end I loved her and understood why she did the things that she would do

I loved when enid left and Wednesday had to confront the fact that they were friends and she actually liked her. that was good for Wednesday, unlike when the boys were telling her she was sending mixed signals she wasn't sending shit so she never really had to change with them but with Enid? she wanted to change and fix that relationship

finally, I'll talk about the hug, it was the climatic and dramatic moment of the whole show regarding character relations. enid kissing ajax, boring as hell. Wednesday kissing Tyler boom plot twist and they are done for. the music, enid only asking where Wednesday is, the run, ENID FUCKING PICKED HER UP IN THAT HUG!!!!, the shove off then going back in with a death grip are you kidding me???

with Tyler out of the way, I definitely could see Xavier backing off from Wednesday. Enid and Ajax just started dating for like maybe a month and now they are going home until the next semester we could def come back next season just with her saying it was puppy love and it fizzled out once they went home. boom perfect opening for wenclair especially now with Wednesday being a tad bit more open to investigating with other people. we saw a lot of solo Wednesday investigations using each person for a small part of the puzzle but now trusting at least Eugene and Enid I could see them being a scooby doo type group the next time we see them

#wednesday spoilers #wednesday addams #wednesday netflix #wednesday #enid sinclair #wenclair #bianca barclay #xavier thorpe #tyler galpin #eugene otinger

[breadandblankets]

talking with andy, so now im thinking about Bruce lmao, mostly the fact that you have to fanonize characters to a certain extent to basically define what Kind of character youre serving, there are too many differences between canons that it can be Really hard to pin down who youre even talking about.

Im sure my Bruce is irrevocably colored by my love of UTRH, Batgirl(s), and Metal, and that i usually prefer my bruce as part of the batfam and not as part of the wider DC universe

At his core, Bruce is a messy messy character, and thats what makes him so fun tbh, hes got this high stubbornness that bulldozes the line right into ego, where he is convinced that he is right and doesn't need to tell anyone else things, so many stories play out because Bruce is on a Mission and doesn't tell anyone else the important details leading to someone else stumbling into his Mission and things going fubar

he tries to logic and reason his way out of every situation, leading to him not taking people's feeling into account, but then when he gets overly emotional (usually when hes out of his depth and overwhelmed) he lashes out in anger and ends up hurting people (sometimes literally, re baterang)

but i think that after jason's death bruce had a very hard time being a father figure and not a commanding officer and Tim does not make that Any Easier (not that i blame Tim for Bruce's fuck ups, hell no, but Tim does Not want to be parented in Any situation). I think about how long it took Cass to get adopted vs Jason and go ://// I think that difference alone makes it clear just how Bruce was doing after Death in the Family.

even after jason's back he's still mourning his son, and there are some great fics that have talked about that, mourning is not something you can really stop even if the person in question comes back i don't think, the trauma is still there no matter what

In a more meta sense, DC writers doing grimdark made him honestly genuinely unlikable, if you hate grimdark bruce i do Not blame you, making Batman all "grounded" and "gritty" just makes me root for the rogue to put me out of my friggen misery already

I think on some level a lot (if not most) of us are projecting our issues and lack thereof with our fathers onto Bruce, either he reminds you of your father (affectionate) or (derogatory). I know im definitely projecting mine!

That's kinda why i write him as a messy fuck up that does his best and fucks up anyway but ultimately tries to get better. I let his kids forgive him for his mistakes, and he forgives them for theirs, cause thats what i want to see

#i guess here is where i have to ask #what do you want to see? #who is your bruce? #do you agree with me here? #or nah #is he perfect? No i wouldn't like him if he was! #is he good? no! is he human and trying his best? yes! #bread does this post really exist just to try and bait a conversation cause you like discussions? #yes yes it does #but also i thought i had some halfway decent points in the dms and i wanted them to be public lmao #batfam #bruce wayne #batman

[fairydares]

fuck it, new fic. let's do this.

(there's a 'keep reading' line so don't worry, this isn't too long.)

Title: Chasing Tails (AO3 Link) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Rating: E (Explicit) because I'm almost positive there will be eventual smut. I'll be clearer about this as I actually decide what I'm going to write lol. Overarching Warning for Graphic Depictions of Violence.

Categories: 2nd gen fic; adventure, humor, romance, fluff, and angst in approximately that order. i guess.

Pairings: Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza, Miraxus+Fried (don't know what that ship's called sorry), Chendy, Sting/Yukino, Baccana-- next gen has pairings, too, but I don't want to reveal those yet.

Tags/TW's: The first chapter contains UFC/MMA-esque violence as well as some implied street violence. There may be more TW's I need to add later, but I honestly haven't written the whole story or decided everything, so that's all I can give you for now. I'll do my best to tag appropriately as I go.

Summary: It’s been almost 12 years since 17-year-old Layla O'Neil was found living alone on the streets and put in foster care, and she likes to think she’s done a pretty good job of forgetting the past. She doesn’t remember her birth family, the name “Nashi [*1] Dragneel,” or where she heard the absurd stories she told the police who found her. Stories about Wizard Guilds, flying cats, and–most cringey of all–her self-proclaimed status as a “Fire Dragon Slayer.”

But the past becomes pretty impossible to ignore when it confronts her in the form of some middle-aged, pink-haired stalker who won’t stop calling her the ridiculous name she’d nearly forgotten, and trying to convince her to come back to “Fairy Tale.”

Oh, and claiming to be her dad.

Like Layla doesn’t have enough problems! The last thing she needs is some delusional freak following around. Especially one who’s starting to make her want to take his hand…

Yep, this is a Second Gen (and therefore post-canon) fic. The idea took root and just would not let go. I’ll warn you ahead of time that the premise is somewhat dark. That said, I’m the kind of writer who likes (and tries to write) stories with sad beginnings, hopeful middles, and triumphant ends. I don't want to give too much away, but you shouldn't expect major character deaths or anything like that, though their may be some forms of lightly implied abuse.

Feel free to reblog, make your own additions with commentary, whatever. I'm quite lax with stuff like that. Hope this was comprehensive enough, and that you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Dragon-Slaying Aliens

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That’s correct…a world that exists independently from the one we know. And, unfortunately, a world that’s begun losing its Magic…unlike here, in Edolas, Magic is a finite resource. Without limits on its use, it will one day disappear forever.” -from Episode 78, “Edolas”, (English dub, ~00:09), Carla’s line [*1]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------To say this mission had gone sideways was a big-ass understatement, and even Natsu had to admit it. 

It had started well enough. A relatively small mission. Not even S-Class! Puny wannabe Dark Guilds like the one Shirotsume needed dealt with–what was it called? Bony Jewel or something? Anyways, they were a dime a dozen, these days. Hell, Natsu was pretty sure he and Happy took out, like, a billion of them in the past seven years by pure accident. So how the hell was he supposed to know that this time, he’d get blasted to another world–one even Team Natsu hadn’t wound up in? 

And he was positive they’d never been here. He may have had a bad memory (something he’d begrudgingly been forced to actively acknowledge as he grew into a man) but he was sure he’d have remembered somewhere that made him feel this bad. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use his Magic. If it had just been that, this might have been fun. Hell, a lot of the worlds Team Natsu had visited–even Edolas–had been fun.

This one sucked. 

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought he’d been transported to the future–one where FACE had been activated and all the Magic had been dissipated. Because it had felt, truly, like all the Magic was being sucked out of him. When he’d woken up on the forest floor, he’d felt as if he was dying. His lungs had burned with each breath (and not in the good way). His limbs had felt like lead when he tried to rise. 

He’d quickly realized that couldn’t be the case, though. Even if the Dragons hadn’t destroyed FACE, if all the Magic had been sucked from Earthland he’d have Magical Deficiency Syndrome. He’d either be down or in forced into his END form. 

He’d wandered around the small forest he’d woken up in alone, trying to focus through the stink and noise he was only capable of perceiving through what felt like about a hundred layers of thick blanket, and calling for his best friend as long as he could. It hadn’t been long before he gave up and left; Happy had never shouted back (something he considered fortunate, at this point; hopefully Happy was back in Earthland) his stomach was trying to eat itself, it was dark–and, worst of all–he still couldn’t use his Magic. At all.

Actually, scratch that: the absolute worst part was when a glance at his (as usual) bare shoulder showed him that his guild mark had vanished. It was just gone. So was his scarf, and so was his Mini Communication Lacrima. Obviously, his guild mark and scarf were bigger deals personally, but the Mini Comm was a bigger loss in immediate, practical terms. After That Day, seven years ago, Laxus–now Fairy Tail’s Master–had started putting Navigation Enchantments on everyone’s Comms so that anyone who went missing could be traced. There was a 3D map of Earthland and Edolas visually tracking everyone’s movements in the Master’s Office. It could even find them in Edolas. 

Now, Natsu’s was nowhere to be found. No one would be able to find him, wherever he was, and any hopes of contacting them were obviously dead in the water, too. 

He was gonna have to find his own way back, somehow. He only prayed his scarf was somehow back in Earthland, and that Happy had grabbed it for him. 

As he hobbled down the weird, too-neat walkway he’d found, he had to believe that whatever was preventing him from using his Magic was what kept him from sensing anything beyond the general–the stink, the sound, the pain, the hunger. Normally, with his better-than-normal resilience and enhanced strength, his pain would have mostly taken care of itself by now. Usually, making himself move helped. Now, it seemed to be making things worse. 

After finding the pathway, he’d kept shouting for his little buddy a whole bunch of times, but all he’d gotten were several loud verbal confrontations and one physical one. He’d expected to beat the massive brute towering next to the smaller woman beside him–and he had. But it hadn’t been as easy as he’d expected. His movements had been slower than normal. His limbs had felt like lead. His strength had been lesser. Every time he tried to call up his Magic, a wave of dizziness and lethargy had overcome him. It was like he’d feel the rushing up inside of him only to sputter to coldness at the last second; he hadn’t seen so much as a spark since he’d woken up. 

In the end, it was only experience and determination which had allowed him to level the much larger man, and hard-earned wisdom which had seen him running from the screeching woman and the gun-wielding, uniform-wearing soldiers her screeching had drawn. Yet the punch he’d taken to the nose had made it bleed and the kick to the thigh had made him limp. 

It wasn’t just that his Dragon senses had vanished, making him woozy, making it difficult to stand and excruciating to move. His strength was gone as well. Not even sealstone would have weakened him this much.

He’d wandered, now, for what felt like several hours. The number of Magical Vehicles around were astounding–astounding, and nauseating; just looking at them made Natsu want to vomit. The one good part of having an empty stomach was that he had nothing to give up. He meandered in a stupor, through unbelievably thick crowds, dodging Magic Vehicles and their honking, and glaring down anyone who yelled at him for not understanding something, occasionally barking back to scare them off.

He’d never been so disoriented, and the worst part was that deep down, he knew that there was no one to blame but himself. 

Lucy and Happy had asked him, point-blank, if the Quest he’d chosen had anything to do with his search for their long-lost daughter and kitten. 

It had. Of course it had. 

However, Natsu had denied it. Because if he hadn’t, he and Happy wouldn’t have been able to leave right then. Lucy would have forced him to bring someone else along; she was busy taking care of their son, Luke; the Perve-sicle was already out on his own mission/search for Juvia, and Erza was away, which meant he’d have had to ask someone outside Team Natsu. 

No thanks, he’d decided, covering up the fine print on the mission request with his fingers before holding it up to Lucy’s nose. 

Now, as he snarled at yet another person yelling at him for being in the way, Natsu was starting to consider the possibility that he just maybe should’ve been more upfront, and even that he should–perhaps–have waited for the stripper to get back before taking on Bony Jewel or whatever alone.

But how the hell was he supposed to have known it would end up like this?! It had been going fine–in fact, it had been going great! A couple opponents had offered a real challenge before their Master had shown up. Natsu had been laying down brick in that fight, too. Yet when the guy had been on his last legs, he’d whipped some creepy, sparkly rainbow skull from nowhere (now that he thought about it…that might have been what the Guild was named for!) and shot one last attack. One so big, Natsu had been unable to dodge–though, of course, he’d made to both block and finish the fight with an enormously powerful Fire Dragon Wing Attack. 

Based on his current predicament–he had to assume it hadn’t worked. Even though the skull had shattered in the heat of his flames at the last second, the blast had still hit him. His one consolation was that he was pretty sure his little buddy had heeded his final warning to get back. So he was almost definitely still back in Earthland.  

It had taken Natsu several pathetic attempts to stand. Getting here felt like a blur. Now, he had no idea what he was doing. What he should do. Their money had been in Happy’s knapsack, and without his precious nose, finding food was basically impossible anway. 

Man…Lucy’s gonna kill me, he grumbled internally, grunting at another group who shouted at him for bumping into him. 

Okay, yeah, maybe he should’ve been honest. Maybe he should’ve waited. But how could he do that when the lead was so good? When there was even the smallest chance he might finally find Nashi [*]? 

At the thought, his footsteps halted temporarily. He ducked his head, bangs shadowing his eyes. He balled his fists at his sides. The thought of the missing daughter he’d never stopped searching for never got easier to bear. 

It was the worst thing that could happen to a parent, to lose their child. Something he wouldn’t have wished on Fairy Tail’s most vicious, evil enemy. He and Lucy understood that too intimately. Still, he didn’t let himself get bogged down, not when it might hold him back, not when it might keep him from finding her. Seven years, she’d been gone. Her, Wendy–so many of their nakama and allies. Time had neither hindered nor halted his search for any of his missing comrades, but especially his little girl. She’d be twelve, now. He’d gotten better with birthdays and anniversaries when he married Lucy. He’d woken up and started crying on April 14th this year, the same as his wife. 

Still, even on that day, he’d spoken of her. When he was with Luke, Lucy, and Happy, he talked about it. He talked about how he’d find her and Harley–Happy and Carla’s kitten–how they’d be a family again. He spoke of the future to give it power, just like Igneel had taught him. Just like he’d taught his own kids. Wherever Nashi was, he was sure she must be doing the same; speaking of how she’d find them again, the same as he strove to find her. 

But he couldn’t continue his search (covert or not) until he got home. So getting home was definitely at the top of the to-do list. Right after eating. 

He kept walking.

Wherever he’d wound up was seedy, dark, yet strewn with lights that made paths across his newly-sucky eyes when he looked at them directly. Gross and smelly, too. The people he’d just bumped into started shouting back at him, something about bumping into someone’s girlfriend, and he huffed irritably. Normally, he’d never back down from a challenge like this, but believe it or not, he was too lost, confused, hungry, and tired to deal with another fight–not when the injuries he’d sustained from the previous one were still hurting this much. 

It was humiliating. He’d always been the type of person who refused to back down from a fight, no matter how outmatched he was. These days, a lot of fights were honestly pretty boring for him. Erza would always be scary, and Gray was admittedly pretty strong (if not badass enough to stand up to him, or so he would always insist). He could proudly admit to having achieved (at least) Gildarts-level strength without the clumsiness to make him dangerous. 

Now, he was balking out of fights with people who weren’t even using Magic. 

There was something viscerally terrifying about how much his injuries were troubling him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t limp without worsening whatever injury that asshole had doled out on his knee. His nose felt bigger than his head. 

He stumbled on, brooding. 

The guy whose girlfriend he’d bumped into got louder, closer. Obviously, the freak wasn’t gonna let it go. Cursing, he started hobbling more quickly, turning the next corner. To his relief and curiosity, bright lights, loud voices, and a huge crowd–littered with food stands he might be able to beg food from–appeared. He made his way into the thick of it, ignoring the shouts behind him, and ducked and wove between people. It took him several seconds to realize he was still trying to find food by his nose, which barely even freaking worked. Frustrated, he turned his attention to the source of the light, which seemed to focus down on whatever sat in the middle of the crowd. 

Curiosity shoving past the numbness and hunger, Natsu pushed his way towards it. 

“Ow!” 

“Hey!” 

“Watch it, freak!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Natsu grumbled. “Watch your damn selves!”

He still felt like shit, but the crowd was oddly invigorating. As he crashed through the thickest (front) lines of the crowd, more lights came on while the darkness behind him fell deeper. Natsu winced, blinking. It took him a few moments to register what he’d stumbled upon: a roundish sort of stage, elevated a few feet off the ground and bordered by some kind of chain-link cage thing. Two corners were open to be entered, but fended off  by some big dudes in black suits, holding back the crowd. 

“WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” boomed a voice that came from everywhere and nowhere at once, making Natsu flinch again and the crowd start chattering loudly. 

Match? Natsu wondered despite his disorientation and exhaustion, thinking of the Grand Magic Games. He shoved aside every stranger who tried to take his place at the front of the audience, looking around with wide, curious eyes, shoving his gnawing stomach to the backburner.

“FIGHT FANS! ARE YOU REAAAADDDDYYYYY??!!! ” 

Fight? Natsu thought, perking up, conveniently forgetting his injuries in a burst of excitement. Several people started chattering at the crack of the loud voice that was everywhere and nowhere, making Natsu look around even more fervently. 

“BECAUSE THIS LONG-WAITED MATCH-UP IS… ABOUT…TO…BEGINNNN!!!”

The cheering got louder, the shoving got more aggressive, and Natsu got more aggressive right along with it. He’d be damned if he was going to miss a good fight. Besides. He needed to see what the Magic here was like. He was being smart. So ha! How about that, Lucy?!

“INTRODUCING: OUR FIRST FIGHTER!” the voice shouted while Natsu continued to elbow and shove, anticipation rising. Music rang out, a dude’s loud, snarly voice backed up by a bunch of deep bangs and booms which had Natsu trying to decide if what he was listening to was awesome or fucking awful–nope, definitely fucking awful. For the first time, he was glad he couldn’t hear properly since he got here. 

A light flashed at one corner, drawing his eye. “UNLIKE HIS OPPONENT, THIS FIGHTER IS WELL-ESTABLISHED IN THE SEMI-UNDERGROUND OCTAGON! HAD HIS PERFORMANCES BEEN FORMALLY JUDGED WHILE THE UNDERGROUND WAS STILL ACTIVE, HE WOULD LIKELY HAVE LONG-BEEN PERMANENTLY DISQUALIFIED! YET, IN SPITE OF A CONTROVERSIAL CAREER, HE HAS REMAINED A STAPLE OF THE SEMI-OCTAGON FIGHTING WORLD FOR TWO YEARS!”

“Er, feels kinda harsh?” Natsu muttered to himself, sweating slightly. Though he didn’t really get what “controversial career” meant. 

“WHILE THIS IS NOT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE, DUE TO HIS HISTORY, MANY WILL NO DOUBT VIEW HIM AS REIGNING CHAMP AND DEFENDER! INNNNTTRRROOODUUUCCCINNNG… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON!” 

A door Natsu hadn’t even seen was slammed open as if it had been kicked, and an enormous man–even bigger than the one that had managed to tag Natsu just a little bit ago, a man built like that potato head guy from Lamia Scale, and actually bearing a similar-shaped bald head–appeared, yanking off headphones and chucking them over his massive shoulder one of the lackeys who’d followed him out. The much shorter guy jumped, barely catching them and fumbling a lot once he had. “Mad Cow” or whatever grinned maniacally as he stormed for the ring, dark eyes wild.

The response from the crowd was mixed but mostly positive, Natsu quickly noticed as he glanced around. His eyes skated quickly over the group next to him (which was booing, unlike most of the crowd) then returned his focus to the stage-circle thing. He could see well enough, he was glad to note, even if his vision was nowhere near as sharp as it was back on Earthland. Big Guy took his place at the corner of the ring and immediately started pacing, lifting tree-like arms and roaring as he did so. Meanwhile his lackey scurried for the bit of protected corner behind him, trying to shout for his attention and getting nowhere as he continued to pace. 

Natsu quickly decided he didn’t like the looks of this guy, intro aside. He was the type of asshole Natsu lived to knock down a peg, and despite his injuries and exhaustion, Natsu found himself appraising the big bastard, hands twitching. Sure, he wasn’t in the best shape, but since when had he been one to turn down the chance to kick some ass? It was more a reflex than anything. For about the billionth time since he’d landed here, he tried conjuring up some fire only to curse internally as all he got for his efforts was a wave of dizziness and a wash of helplessness. 

“NOW FOR OUR CONTENDER,” the voice boomed. “SHE’D ONLY BARELY ENTERED THE UNDERGROUND BEFORE IT BECAME THE SEMI-UNDER, BUT WAS ALREADY MAKING WAVES! THIS FIGHTER HAS SPARKED INTENSE DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER WOMEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT MEN–IN ANY OCTAGON!” More mixed din. Natsu frowned in confusion. Was it for the other fighters’ safety or something? Because someone should ban Erza from contributing to the guild hall violence. Oh, yes. That was a great idea. He’d have to bring the idea up to Gray when he got home. 

“BUT IT’S DIFFICULT TO ARGUE WITH HER HANDY VICTORIES!” the voice boomed. “THANKS TO HER NEARLY-UNBROKEN STREAK OF INSANE WINS, SHE HAS BEEN NICKNAMED THE THE ‘PHOENIX’, ‘UNDERDOG’, ‘TENMEN’...AND HER PREFERRED NICKNAME…” 

A new song started, and this one was undeniably cool, in Natsu’s opinion. Something hard, fast, and catchy, punctuated by an angry-sounding woman singing something about “not giving a damn” about something or other. The door at the opposite end of the ring swung open. A girl came swaggering out, and Natsu froze.

“THE DRAGONESS, LAYLAAAAA O'NEEEILLLLL!!!!”  

It wasn’t his daughter. It couldn’t be. Her name wasn’t Layla. Her name was Nashi. His Nashi would be twelve, and this girl was in her late teens–maybe even her early twenties. The fact that her fighting nickname was “The Dragoness” was a nasty coincidence, but that’s all it was. This couldn’t be Earthland’s Nashi.

But it was this world’s Nashi. Of that, there was no doubt. And Natsu couldn’t make himself take his eyes off her, couldn’t even make himself blink as he stared, ignoring the cheering and booing all around him. 

A couple strands of unruly pink hair at her bangs had broken free of their tight braids, as adorable and predictably unpredictable as his little girl’s. They clung to her forehead, bouncing as she strutted towards the monster still pacing, practically frothing at the mouth, and Natsu vaguely registered the sound of several peoples’ alarmed murmuring. If he hadn’t been so distracted, he’d have understood; she was about half the guy’s size and about -50% as insane-looking.

Not scared, though. 

And…she looked like Lucy. She looked so much like Lucy that it hurt. He could still remember times when he’d call his little girl’s name, she’d turn around, and he’d gasp–because it really was like an adorable, wild little pink-haired Lucy turning to look up at him, her whole face lighting up like he was the greatest thing in Earthland. The memory choked him up, a feeling he’d gotten used to over the past seven years. He swallowed hard.

But that wasn’t Lucy’s smile. Natsu felt like he had seen that smile somewhere but he wasn’t particularly interested in thinking about it all that deeply, because what mattered was that it was her smile, his little girl’s, big and toothy and unmistakable–a little lopsided, the corners of her lips characteristically curling. 

It hit his chest like a shot from Zeref, making him briefly clutch at his waistcoat’s dirtied fabric. 

Natsu knew, firsthand, just how similar other worlds’ versions of his loved ones could be to his. Hell, Edolas Lucy had chopped off her hair to make it a little easier to distinguish herself from Earthland Lucy. 

That didn’t make it hurt any less to suddenly see another world’s Nashi– Layla, this one was called. That was Nashi’s middle name. It made sense, when you thought about it. Names were one thing that seemed to sometimes differ slightly between worlds, as he’d learned on the 100-Year-Quest [*3]. Her canines were sorta sharp, maybe, but they weren’t Dragon Slayer sharp, like his and daughter’s. Besides. Edo Nashi and Fireball’s canines were a tiny bit sharper than normal, too. 

It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t be. Looking at her still felt like being punched in the chest by Erza. Yet he couldn’t stop watching as the music, cheers, and boos faded, she stripped off her sweats (to much catcalling and whistling) to reveal a black sports bra/shorts getup sort of like “Mad Bull’s” shorts, revealing a body packed with much more muscle than any of Fairy Tail’s women would’ve allowed themselves to accumulate. She looked pretty badass, he decided. 

The voice that was everywhere and nowhere boomed on:

“NOT ONLY A CHANCE AT THE UPCOMING TITLE ON THE LINE, BUT–POTENTIALLY–THE FUTURE OF MIXED SEMI-UNDERS. TWO CHALLENGERS, SQUARING OFF FOR A CHANCE AT THE SEMI-FINALS. THIS IS A GIGANTIC CULTURAL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS SPORT… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON VS. THE ‘DRAGONESS’ LAYLA O'NEIL!” 

“‘Dragoness’ is fucking right!” Mad Cow or whatever roared while he hugged one arm across his chest, grinning ferally at his much smaller opponent. “Here hoping some man will look at you, fugly?!” 

Several people in the audience laughed. Even the announcer chuckled. Meanwhile, Natsu’s blood boiled. On some level, he knew he needed to separate himself from this. From this fight, from this “Nashi.” Especially when he was this powerless to do anything about any of it. But it was impossible to listen to someone say that to another version of his daughter and not have every protective instinct in his body flare, especially when the spectators apparently thought it was fucking hilarious.

However, her grin didn’t even flicker. “Like you’re one to talk!” she cackled. “You look like Popeye fucked Bigfoot!”

Natsu didn’t flinch at the language like many people in the audience seemed to. In fact, he found the disapproving murmurs confusing. The other guy hadn’t exactly been polite, but he hadn’t gotten the same reaction. Still, a solid number of people were laughing their asses off, including the group next to him which had booed Mad Cow. 

He also had no clue what the hell she’d just said even meant, but the way Mad Cow’s smile dropped off his face, a handful of people started howling with laughter, and the commentator’s chuckles cut off abruptly was enough to make Natsu grin. 

Some random guy in some sort of black, collared uniform entered the arena, signaling to the loud, annoying commentator. Unlike her opponent, no one had followed This Nashi into the arena; she was all alone. So she ran back to her own bit of protected yet empty corner and threw her clothes and a water bottle over the chainlink fence, then ran back towards the middle of the arena. There, she  hopped up and down, shaking out her arms. Stretched them above her head. 

“OUCH!” The commentator finally seemed to recover, though he sounded somewhat vexed. “WELL, ONE THING’S FOR SURE, THE CHALLENGER CAN TALK GAME…WHETHER SHE CAN LIVE UP TO IT IS ANOTHER QUESTION.” 

“God, I fucking hate when Hansis commentates,” the guy next to Natsu muttered, his friends snorting in agreement. Then he glanced at Natsu–only to double take. “Oi, are you related to the Dragoness or something?!” he asked, eyes on his hair. 

“Uhhh…” Natsu chuckled nervously, feeling himself start to sweat. He may have been what Erza would (and frequently did ) call an “impulsive idiot”, but he had no clue how to explain that he was the father of her other self. “Something like that.”

“Whoa, seriously?!” The guy’s friend leaned around him to look at Natsu with wide, shining eyes, then continued, “I won’t ask anymore, ‘cause obviously you’re trying to protect your identities or something, but that’s so cool! We’re huge fans!” 

“Hmm…” Natsu said, scanning their apparel–t-shirts and hats emblazoned with her face and silhouette–and what looked like homemade signs of her name, written in fiery letters. “I can see that…what is this, exactly?” He asked this while looking around at the lights, spectators, an unfamiliar kind of money being exchanged and counted between several people.

Natsu tilted his head, blinking. “No?” he said. 

“The semi-underground tournament?” the only girl in the group said, eyes almost as wide as her friend’s. When Natsu only continued to look confused, she said, “What, do you live under a rock?! You’ve at least heard of MMA, right? Mixed Martial Arts?” 

He perked up at this. “Like a fight?! Hell, yeah! How do I get in on this?!” He grinned, cracking his knuckles, his earlier scuffles and empty stomach completely forgotten. 

“YOU DON’T!” the entire group shouted, eyes bugging. 

The dude who’d first started talking to him huffed, sweating slightly. “The ‘semi-underground’ octagon used to just be called ‘the underground fights,’” he explained loudly, Natsu still having to lean in to catch what he said with his new, bad ears over the increasingly excited din. “It was illegal, but, like, illegal in the ‘everyone knows but won’t squeal’ way, you know?” 

Natsu nodded, fully getting this. After all, how many times had soldiers arrested him only for Queen Hisui to let him off with a finger-wag. Of course, his luck on that front had run out seven years ago…

“The feds finally cracked down on it,” the guy continued, “but didn’t prosecute any of the fighters. Now, it’s called the ‘Semi-Underground’...it’s got no weight-classes (which is why the Dragoness can fight big dudes like Mad Bull). All genders are free to compete and fight each other. It’s a bit more for entertainment than pure fighting prowess– that was different, before,” the guy added with a wistful tone. “But still! You can’t just go waltzing into the octagon, you know? Back in the basement where this used to happen, you could’ve gotten away with that, but now you’ve gotta work for it, you know? Seriously, do you live under a rock or something?” 

Irritated, Natsu opened his mouth, but his response was cut off when a loud voice–not as loud as the announcer, but still–redrew all their attention to the ring. “Alright, fighters,” the black-collar guy said into a microphone which was smaller and not as loud as the commentator’s, quieting the audience. “We’ve been over the rules. Protect yourself at all times. Follow my instructions. We’re going to have a clean fight, you hear me?” He glared at Mad Bull, but This Nashi was the only one who dipped her chin in recognition. Natsu’s eyes narrowed along with hers when her opponent refused to acknowledge the guy’s words. “Now, touch gloves at this time, and come out ready to do this!” 

Both fighters instantly danced away from each other. Black collar guy scowled. Both the commentator and the audience made sounds like “ OOOOOOOH!” 

“NO TOUCH!” came the commentator’s gleeful voice, “I REPEAT, NEITHER FIGHTER TOUCHED GLOVES, AND SO FAR, NEITHER ARE REALLY MOVING FOR EACH OTHER–” 

“SAY YOU’RE PRAYERS, BITCH!” Mad Cow roared. “YOU’RE DEAD MEAT!” 

“BRING IT!” This Nashi roared back, and Mad Cow lunged, swinging in immediately with a big, dramatic overhand hook that would have knocked her out immediately if she hadn’t skated out of its way. It took about three similar exchanges for Natsu to sag in disappointment. 

“Oi!” he shouted, utterly let down, “Where the hell’s the magic?!” 

“Geez!” the guy next to him laughed. “The fight’s only just started: give them a minute to warm up! Then we’ll get to see the cool stuff.”

“What, they’re not allowed to use it at first or something?” Natsu asked, still staring as This Nashi fended off huge, devastating blows raining down from above and leapt back from the powerful kicks, eyes narrowed and expression tight. 

“...Er, what?” the guy asked. 

“Magic–duh!” Natsu huffed, flickering wide eyes between the guy and This Nashi, who was now darting backwards around the round-ish ring, still fending Mad Cow off, weaving and ducking with a speed few could hope to match. “You know?! Fire, Ice, Celestial Magic…?

The guy stared at him for a second along with his companions, all of whom were also sweating. It was then that Natsu knew: 

Something more was going on here. Something he didn’t understand. This place…wherever he was, it was like Edolas. Not now, but back when he, Lucy, and the others had gone there. Magic didn’t just not exist, here; was some kind of… taboo on it.

“Oh, sorry,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Trying to keep his voice as quiet as he could over the crowd, he continued, “I didn’t mean to say something that would get you in trouble...” 

The group’s only response was to sidle away from him surreptitiously, glancing at him and sharing looks with wide eyes. Natsu was thrown for a loop once more. Ooo- kay, talk about overly-suspicious. Were there guards listening in on their conversation or something? As discreetly as possible, with his hand still at the back of his head, he looked around, eyes narrowed. 

Yet…he saw nothing to warrant their suspicion. An unruly crowd…and an astonishing lack of guards. At the Grand Magic Games, there’d always been a ton of guards. Way more than he wanted to be there, honestly. Did this have something to do with the whole “underground” thing? 

He looked at the group again, then realized something important: it was him they were looking at nervously. Nervously, and like…he was crazy or something. 

It had taken time, but the years had made Natsu wiser–cooler–about situations like this. Even as his stomach sank with the realization that getting home was going to be a much harder task than he’d initially realized, he acknowledged that he’d need to be careful about mentioning Magic here. Dropping his hand, he forced a small smile at them then turned his attention back to the arena, where Mad Cow continued to chase This Nashi around the edge of the arena. Meanwhile, his mind continued to reel, loud to himself and no one else. 

“–IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SHE’S CAUGHT IN A CLINCH, HERE, AND THEN OUR NIGHT WILL BE OVER!” the commentator was blaring. It was sort of surprising, how easily he’d been able to tune out when Natsu’s ears were registering so little. “I HATE TO SAY IT–” (Based on the glee in his tone, Natsu doubted that.) “–BUT HOWEVER MUCH OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FIGHTER SHE IS, SHE’S STILL A FEMALE FIGHTER. HER OPPONENT HAS WELL OVER A HUNDRED POUNDS ON HER [*4]. AND, AGAIN, I HATE TO SAY THIS–BUT THERE ARE JUST PHYSICAL BARRIERS NO CHICK FIGHTER WILL EVER BE ABLE TO OVERCOME! RIGHT NOW, THIS IS A DOG FIGHT, AND NOT ONE SHE CAN KEEP SCRAPPING IN! SHE’S NOT GOING TO COME OUT AS THE ‘UNDERDOG,’ THIS TIME–”

“Man, she’s getting her ass beat!” someone from the group broke the awkward silence as This Nashi was swept aside by a blow that caught the guard at her ear. 

“Maybe she’ll make a comeback!” another guy said, tremulous but hopeful, as a log-like shin crashed into her stomach. 

“She definitely will!” the guy who’d first spoken to Natsu said, though there was a distant note of doubt in his voice as she barely reeled from an arrow-fast straight right. 

Despite the awkwardness of their last interaction, Natsu couldn’t help appreciating these people, who were so devoted to this world’s Nashi. He decided to end their night more positively. “Is that what you think?” he asked in a somewhat bored tone, eyes on the girl still gliding backwards, dancing away from the hits and kicks or else blocking them. He felt, rather than saw, the group’s eyes jumping to him, some of them quickly leaping away only to dart back. 

“What do you mean?” the first guy ventured when he said nothing else, edging a little closer once more.

Natsu crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyes thinning as Big Boy brought down a hailstorm of fists on This Nashi’s head. His eyes tracked the way a particularly big hit caught her forearm–but only barely, seeing as she’d slid out of the enormous range even as she blocked. Just like he’d thought…

His stomach churned uncomfortably. It was eerie and cruel, how much her movements and the memories aligned–

“OUCH! That hurt, Daddy!” After the exclamation, Nashi began grumbling, vigorously rubbing her forearm where his fist had just him. 

“Woops!” Natsu chuckled sheepishly, “My bad!” 

Despite the fact that she was still rubbing the arm he’d tapped with a light hit, the little girl who barely came up above his knees scowled. 

It was midday, now. In their front lawn; his and Happy’s house, now much larger with the rooms he’d added for Lucy and their kids. 

“But–” He grew serious. “–you think your enemies will take it easy on you, Nashi? You think they’ll give you a break because you say ‘ouch’?” 

She dropped her arms to her sides and scowled–pouted, really. She was so cute, he couldn’t have kept his lips from quirking into a grin if he tried. Strutting forward, he planted a hand on top of her head, rubbing the unruly locks. He only grinned wider when she turned her scowl/pout up to him. “Sorry, kiddo, but they won’t!” 

Lucy would have lost her mind, if she saw the interaction. Natsu could just hear her now: “NATSU, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?! SHE’S FIVE! BE CAREFUL, WOULD YOU? BLAH BLAH BLURGH BLAH– !” 

He never really got Lucy, when she acted like that. Nashi was a Dragon Slayer, like him. She could take much more than a normal human, but would never learn that she could if he didn’t show her! Not to mention that Igneel had been way tougher on him, when he was five. Besides, he didn’t want his kid to be some weakling! What father did want that? 

Not any good ones, that was for sure. Especially not when their kids had Nashi’s determination and drive. 

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he apologized again, still rubbing her head affectionately. “But you’ve got to understand…if I hurt you, it’s because I know your enemies will hurt you the same way…I don’t want it to surprise you. I want you to be able to fight back, still. You do still want to be a big-time Dragon Slayer, don’t you?” 

She stared up at him dubiously, but the smile caught on quick. She’d never been able to resist smiling back at him. 

“...Yeah,” she admitted finally, feigning reluctance. 

He lifted his hand off her head, cupping it around his ear and leaning down towards her. “What was that?!” he shouted. “I couldn’t hear you…what was it you want?!” 

“I–pfft–I WANT–” Her small smile turned to a grin–the big, corner-curled grin only his daughter ever could or would achieve. The one that always melted his heart. 

“I WANNA BE A DRAGON SLAYER!” she managed to roar through her grin. “NO–I MEAN, I WANNA BE THE STRONGEST DRAGON SLAYER EVER!” 

“HELL YEAH, YOU DO!” he roared back, the pride managing to make his chest burst even as he squared up again, preparing for more training. An adrenaline only teaching one’s prodigy could spark electrocuted his system. “IF THAT’S REALLY TRUE, THEN COME ON, NASHI! YOU’VE GOT MORE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU DO!” 

“OH YEAH? WELL I DO! I GOT WAY MORE IN ME!” She dropped into the stance he’d taught her, grinning for everything she was worth. The sun illuminated her smile. 

He somehow managed to grin even more widely. “Right, then listen up!” he commanded. “When Dragon Slayers fight, they got one big advantage: they can take a whole bunch of hits–then still get up. So that’s exactly what you’re gonna do.” 

“...Huh?!” The little girl’s eyes bulged out of her head. “You’re sayin’ I’m gonna let myself get hit?!” 

“Well, not too hard,” he elaborated. “And not too much…you’re just gonna play defense for a while, see?” He moved for her, throwing a fist much more slowly than he normally would have. Automatically, she wove away, eyes wide on his face. His right fist was followed by his left, then a kick–all too sluggish to be real. She easily moved around and blocked all of them. “This way,” he continued, throwing another kick. “You can learn the guy you’re fighting, how step, how they breathe…” 

“How they step…how they breathe…” she repeated to herself in a murmur, eyes flickering all over his body as he continued to pantomime a real fight. Natsu couldn’t help but grin. Nashi was a distractible kid, but when it came to fighting, she was always on the ball.

Natsu didn’t mind one bit when Lucy blamed him for that. 

“...how they fight,” he finished. 

“...how they fight!” she whispered. 

He started speeding up his movements. Let her orient before he lit up his fists. She mirrored him, flames igniting her much smaller fists. Their dance became even faster “That’s it, Nashi!” he praised as she leapt back from a kick, only letting it clip her shoulder. “Get into the flow of it! Read my movements! Remember, breathe, and–” 

“She’s reading him,” he murmured, voice softer than he’d meant it to be. “Fending him off and waiting for the right moment; his hits are only clipping her.” His hunger was catching up with him again, as was his pain. He ached. He wanted to sleep. And…

…It hurt. It hurt too much. Knowing it wasn’t his Nashi…that just made it hurt more. Each hit, each block, each flash of those brown eyes…they felt like shards of glass piercing his heart.

I can’t stay here, he realized. 

“What was that?” the girl in the group asked, venturing closer to him. 

His heart was heavy, sinking as he watched the girl. Embarrassment washed over him as he realized that had been a stupid thing to say in the first place. This wasn’t his Nashi. She wasn’t using what he’d taught her because he hadn’t been the one to train her. Hell, she probably wasn’t even gauging her opponents’ movements; she was probably fighting for her life, here. 

She would lose. 

“Nothin’,” he replied thickly, dropping his arms even as he watched the girl roll away from a rather impressive and extremely long-ranged crescent kick, not even the man’s big toe catching her at all. “I was wrong…enjoy the rest of the fight, guys.” He used the ensuing beat of silence to stare–for just one more second–at the girl. This world’s version of his girl. 

Without thinking, he went to heft up his backpack, only to sigh in quiet defeat–the exhale almost visible even in the warm air–as he remembered it wasn’t there; he was just a weakling in this world. That’s why his back (and whole body) felt so heavy. 

“Oh, you’re leaving?” the first guy who’d spoken to him said as he turned away, pushing back through the crowd. His tone was an odd mixture of relieved and disappointed. Natsu said nothing, merely waving. 

Overhead, the booming voice–which he’d tuned out during the competition–continued to sound off. “–AN ADMITTEDLY UNBELIEVABLE DODGE, BY ,” it said, clearly shocked, as Natsu pushed past a woman who was obviously excited to be moving closer to the arena. “BUT THE NEXT FLURRY OF BLOWS LANDS, ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS SHE’S BLOCKED MOST OF THEM–” 

“YOU’RE DONE, BITCH!” roared Mad Cow, so loud that he managed to drown out the commentator–who went silent, anyway. This made Natsu pause, his brows knitting with fury. 

It doesn’t matter, he reminded himself. She’s not your daughter. He refused to look back, forced himself to take another step, then another. She’s just some fighter from another world who’s, apparently, out of her league. She’s not–

A loud slam, like a body falling on a mat. “SHE’S DOWN! I REPEAT, ’S DOWN!” 

Natsu smirked. “See, dumbass?” he murmured to himself. 

“IT’S ALL OVER, FOLKS! SHE’S–” 

All of a sudden, a fleshy CRACK rang through the air, followed by an enormous chorus of gasps and cries of surprise from the crowd. A deafening silence ensued. 

“... HOLY– UNBELIEVABLE!” the commentator managed. “A KICK FROM THE GROUND–AND O’NEIL'S BACK ON HER FEET! THEY’VE GAINED GROUND FROM EACH OTHER, AND MAD BULL–MAD BULL IS NOW TRYING TO RECOVER!”  

Despite himself, Natsu slowed even as he urged himself to keep walking. Even as he continued to force himself not to turn back. Looking back is only a distraction. It’s not Nashi. That is not Nashi. It’s not–

“Man, I really hate guys like you, you know that?” 

The seething voice was what made him stop, closing his eyes. There was just…something about it. A growl. A fire. Something that punched right back into his memories:

“Remember, breathe, and keep your eyes on my chest! That way, you can see my whole body at the corners of your eyes!” A combo, one which he pumped more speed and power to than before–throwing her off on purpose. 

“Oof!” she grunted as she landed on her butt. 

“There, when you fall– that’s when you make your comeback! Now that you’ve watched your opponent, and tricked him into thinking you’re down– now is when you get back up and blow them away! That’s how a Dragon Slayer fights! That’s how a Fairy Tail Wizard fights!” She stared up at him with huge eyes, shining with admiration, and flushed cheeks. 

He grinned. 

“So?! Get up! Always get back up, Nashi! I’m not asking the impossible of you–you can do this! I know you can!” 

“I–I will!” she scrambled to her feet, fists blazing with gold heat as she lunged for him. “I’ll always get back up! No matter what, I’ll–” 

His chest seized. He clenched his jaw, knowing he needed to make himself keep walking, but unable to do it. Even as people churned around him, trying to push past him, he found himself shoving them off, refusing to move from exactly where he was. One foot planted in front of the other. Half-hovering. Eyes still closed. 

Whatever just happened had quieted the crowd, an anticipatory sort of silence that made him clench his fists, eyes still closed. 

And then, Natsu’s world flipped upside down: 

“You didn’t even bother to study my previous fights, did you?” Her growl carried across the hushed crowd. “Tch, typical…if you had, you’d know: You’d know I always get back up!” 

His eyes flew open. 

He whirled back around and watched, wide-eyed and world rocking, as the pink haired girl rose. Rolled her shoulders against her ears, one at a time. The grin was gone, a heavy, intimidating scowl having taken its place as she recovered, getting her feet back underneath herself, her stance back in place. Her nose was wrinkled in fury. Her eyes burned. 

Natsu’s lips parted on a gasp as he stared. 

Mad Cow scoffed, hunched and rubbing his chin with a hand like a mitt. Natsu guessed that This Nashi must’ve caught him there–probably with a kick, given the size difference. That must have been what made the crowd react with shock. They were recovering now, though, getting louder.

“And why the fuck would I bother to do that?!” Mad Cow shouted, dropping his hand. “I don’t need to! Every guy you’ve faced could’ve beaten you easily if they’d quit acting like even more of a little bitch than you! You shouldn’t fucking be here anyway…fucking birds, knowing dudes will take it easy on you so you can take advantage of it and collect the reward…well I’M NOT ONE OF THEM!” He roared the last part. The bitter fury in his voice was a kind Natsu was familiar with. 

“Studying what you can find of your opponent’s fighting style–that’s basic! And you wanna sit here and bitch about how I don’t deserve to be here, you lumpy-headed fuck?! ” 

“The FUCK you just call me?!” McCow snarled back. 

“YOU HEARD ME, SHITWIT!” 

“THAT’S IT!” the man shouted. “I’ve had it! I was gonna take it easy on you, but–” 

“THAT’S MY LINE!” 

It seemed that was both their limit. 

They flew at each other. But now, everything was different, and Natsu doubted that anyone without a trained eye and fighting experience like him could recognize it. 

Apparently, the commentator was one such person: “THIS IS–THIS IS INCREDIBLE!” the voice boomed, full of disbelief, as the girl caught the fist rocketing towards her face with a hard elbow, making Mad Cow let out a roar of pain. She kicked away an arm flying towards her head, and launched a sidekick at his now-uncovered stomach–one that landed hard. She built on the damage, bearing down on him as he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own heels. A right roundhouse followed by a left to his head. Despite the fact he was obviously disorientated, he caught the first one– blocked it and tried, unsuccessfully to catch her foot–but not the second, which cracked into his ear and made him stagger, her chasing him and hammering him with surprisingly powerful blows. Each one of her hits accumulated speed and strength.

The commentator picked up again, saying something or other about “striking machines”, but Natsu didn’t hear. His eyes were wide, now, and glued to the girl cracking her shin into her opponent’s nose, teeth bared. The expression on her face…the fire in her eyes…the speed of her hits…her fighting style…it was like he’d begun watching the fight currently happening through one eye and a stream of memories through the other, his breath going still in his lungs–

“–No matter what, I’ll always get back up!” screamed the little girl, running forward and hammering him with fiery strikes, kicks, and even elbows. They’d only just started elbow work. Natsu staggered back with each good combo she landed. He put in the effort to make it look convincing, pride swelling within his chest. 

“That’s it! Build on it! Faster…harder! C’mon!”  

This Nashi slipped underneath and into one of Mad Cow’s big overhand hooks, the corrected trajectory of his fist barely skidding over her shoulder as her right fist tore up, slamming into his chin. Even as his eyes rolled and he staggered backwards, her expression was so mutinous it was almost funny. 

But as good as the uppercut was, it turned out to be a set-up: 

“LOOK AT THIS COMBO…CROSS, HOOK–WHOA! AN ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING LEG KICK! CLASSIC MUAY THAI-INSPIRED COMBO FROM TURNING–” 

“FUCKING BITCH–!” Mad Cow roared, but his opponent cut him off with a voice like thunder. 

“I’M THE BADDEST BITCH YOU’VE EVER MET!” 

“I’LL ALWAYS GET BACK UP! I WILL! I’M GONNA BE A GREAT DRAGON SLAYER, JUST LIKE YOU! NO–I’LL EVEN BEAT YOU, ONE DAY!” Nashi took a deep breath, and Natsu grinned, allowing the pause in the fight, because he knew what was coming. The catchphrase both like his and not. Inspired by him, but all her own. 

Her fists blazed brighter than ever. The sun illuminated her grin.“JUST WATCH ME, DADDY! DON’T EVEN BLINK! BECAUSE I’VE–” 

“–GOT A FIRE IN ME THAT YOU’LL NEVER PUT OUT!”

Mad Cow’s eyes were wild with fear as he desperately swung for another, big lead cross–one which spelled his downfall. The Dragoness leapt off her left leg–her back leg. Her right shin cracked into his already dipping head. 

He fell forward and bounced off the mat, limp as a ragdoll, while the audience screamed all around him. 

Even as the giant fell still, she made for his prone form, fist raised, but didn’t fight at all when the black-collared man appeared seemingly from nowhere, grabbed her around the waist, and practically threw her away. Instead, This Nashi– The Nashi skipped backwards, smirking, and raised a wrapped fist. 

And that was the realization which thundered through Natsu, now gaping up at the victorious, pink-haired fighter stalking towards the edge of the cage: not This Nashi. The Nashi. 

After seven, grief-filled years, Natsu Dragneel was absolutely sure he had just found his daughter.

*1. Yes, there will be quotes from the original series (the anime dub, sub, or the manga depending on whichever version I like best) at the beginning of each chapter. HOWEVER. The quotes are not spoilers and are often only tangentially related to my plotline. The one for this chapter, for instance, is specifically about Edolas, but is not actually true of the world where Natsu has landed.

*2. Yes, I know the canon Edolas Nalu child is “Nasha.” I decided on “Nashi”, instead, for reasons which will be explained later.

*3. Sorry in advance, but I pretty much kept what little I remembered/liked from 100YQ and ditched everything I didn’t. Same with the original story, but way more with 100YQ. Idk what it is but even though I’ve read the whole thing, 100YQ has this unique quality where a lot of what happens slips straight out of my mind as soon as I’ve read it. In one eye, out the other. So you’ll just have to roll with me, sorry.

*4. Real-life inspiration for Layla (/Nashi) comes mostly from Ronda Rousey, whose biography I read and happen to have on hand, along with Kaoklai Kaennorsing (especially his fighting style). Those are the two main ones. If you’ve read My Fight, Your Fight, you’ll understand how Layla (/Nashi’s) personality is inspired by her–especially as you go on. I highly recommend looking up the Thai kickboxer/Muay Thai fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing. He has been called the Giant-Slayer because he did, in fact, defeat opponents who had over 100 pounds on him. Watching his fights is just an incredible experience. Other inspirations include Rose Namajunas, Connor McGregor, and some others. There are also several fictional inspirations including and outside Fairy Tail which I won’t bore you with (some of them I’m sure fellow anime fans will be able to guess lol).

#nalu #fairy tail #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nashi dragneel #nasha dragneel #gruvia #gajevy #jerza #fan fiction #fanfiction #2nd gen #post-canon #if this is wonky i'll fix it tomorrow. too tired now. #nalu fic

[fudokaze]

i used to not ship rina (embarassing, i know), so this is my essay on how season three has completely shifted my idea of them, and why i think that the wait until season three may be worth it if they play their cards right — which it seems like they are so far.

let’s start with season one. i feel like most of ricky and gina’s relationship was something you could brush off as something that the viewer could only think of as a plot device to make nini jealous, but that ultimately you knew or felt would never go anywhere. i would say they were meant to be only that at first and then, maybe, the writers changed their minds for season two when they saw fans liked the ship, but i can’t. no, because we know that scene with ricky and gina talking after the show, the “i wouldn’t give up on us” talk, was filmed when season one was filmed. do i think the writers were rooting for rina to be endgame all along? meh, not really, but they definitely had plans for them, that’s for sure.

why didn’t i ship rina at the time? simple, ricky and nini were cute back then. i genuinely liked them. sue me. the rini confession scene at the end of season one is still fucking amazing in my opinion, and there is no denying ricky loved nini, while i believe he only liked gina. i don’t think he necessarily even thought he liked her, i think he thought it was all very much platonic because, come on, he was so focused on nini that entire season. gina, though? she loved him. so it was somewhat unrequited, i guess, although i do not think ricky didn’t have feelings at all.

onto season two, ricky and nini are a fucking mess. they are not good for each other, for as much as i love them both, with ricky hating change and nini’s entire life changing so much in such a small period of time, as well as their individual struggles clashing, the long distance mess, and lily’s bafoonery in the middle. we could smell the breakup coming from miles away. that scene was really sad, honestly, but it was something i knew had to happen. right person, wrong time trope, if i may. on the other hand, portwell was thriving, and i honestly saw that coming from season one. i really didn’t think rini would break up back then, though, so the lingering question of “who will ricky end up with?” stayed around, and was somewhat answered by lily, though i wasn’t super happy about it. nonetheless, god knows i love season two portwell so much.

by the end of the series, gina is with ej, while nini and ricky have broken up. nini is on her little lesbian self discovery journey, good for her, and i could see her not being with anyone, especially considering olivia rodrigo has become increasingly more busy which has significantly affected how much screentime she has gotten in the series (and things point very much to my baby nini salrobs to eventually be erased fully, sadly, but good for liv honestly). but then what about ricky?

clearly the lily stuff was a misdirect, because onto season three, she barely appeared. and thank god. portwell are still thriving, then ricky shows up. and though i didn’t ship them up until then, things quickly shifted. yes, because the build up is what makes rina, rina. be honest, would you love the ship as much if they had become canon after season one? if you think the answer is yes, did you love rini in season one and ended up not liking them as much afterwards? did the same happen in season two with portwell? yes? that’s what i thought. and honestly, there is no shame in that, because that happened to me too.

i think what is so good about rina is that, unlike all the other hsmtmts ships, it’s taking its sweet fuckin’ time. and honestly? i will eat it the fuck up. it’s cool, it’s realistic, and it’s engaging. it’s cooler because i didn’t expect it to go anywhere at first, because they just looked like yet another plot device to create drama between the main ship, and then here we are, with ricky being canonly jealous over gina and ej in the last episode. rina is made of small hints even now that it’s (hopefully) on its way to become canon, it’s made of moments that come around the main story, it isn’t the main focus like rini was, and it’s beautiful. you don’t feel forced to ship it nor like it when watching it, it comes naturally with time, whether earlier on or later on, because the puzzle pieces come together and you don’t even realize how much you like them together until one moment it kind of just hits you.

nothing feels exaggerated or forced, things just naturally fall into place with them. honestly, i doubt the writers did it on purpose, because if so then why not do the same with the other ships, but kudos to them nonetheless because i can’t help but love this pair. i just hope they don’t do me wrong somehow in the rest of the show.

#rina #ricky bowen #gina porter #hsmtmts

[lansplaining]

I'm sorry to vent in your ask box, but every day I grow to hate the malewife/girlboss concept so much. Not because I hate the idea of a soft male character and a more forceful female one, but because it keeps on getting used to box almost every single Godamn m/f ship out there into the same mould.

excuse me while I settle into my Fandom Old rocking chair...

Back In The Day, I followed a bunch of livejournal communities that were dedicated to making fun of Mary Sue characters in fanfic. Most of the time they were OCs, but occasionally it would be a minor or only-named female character that the writer had transformed into something the community deemed ridiculous. this was Not Very Nice and I guess fairly sexist (though I maintain that the fact that these characters were almost exclusively female was not actually the root of the hatred, but nevermind).

so I'm very intrigued by how the tables seem to have turned. obnoxiously overpowered and self-insert-y OCs are not in fashion anymore, at least not in the fandoms I'm in (I wouldn't be surprised to learn there's loads of Steven Universe OCs out there, for example), but I feel like a similar root impulse is at work: i want there to be a female character I can play with, and I want her to have as much cool stuff as the existing/main characters have, so she can be their equal.

i think this feeds into the girlboss/malewife dynamic in two ways: one, needing the female character to be powerful/badass/as cool as the boys, like i just said. now the trend isn't violet eyes and powers unlike anyone else's, but having the only braincell and baby hold my flower. but also, because it's fandom and we love queer shit, needing female characters to be as cool as the boys by having a het relationship (if they're in one, which let's be real, they usually are) that can be framed as queer or GNC in some way. she pegs him! now it's not vanilla and straight, it's Cool!

the thing that was annoying about the Mary Sues that had nothing to do with their gender was the way they warped the world around them. they broke the existing rules of the universe by having powers that didn't make sense or were exceptions to rules that shouldn't have had exceptions, and of course they warped the other characters by becoming the center of attention and always having everyone else be obsessed with them, whether it made sense or not. this is what I find annoying about the malewife/girlboss as well. as you say, it warps everything it touches, turning both male and female characters into whatever is required to fit the tropes. if that's what people enjoy, then i'm very happy for them, but i'm with you in finding it extremely annoying-- as you say, more in its ubiquity than in the facts of the trope itself. but I also find it very interesting how fandom taste as a whole has shifted towards wanting to embrace and appreciate female characters more, even if it's often undertaken in a way i think doesn't actually demonstrate that much appreciation for who the characters as written actually are.

#ask answered

[technoturian]

I just watched three seasons of HBO’s Barry and I can’t help but feel like it’s the mirror image of Netflix’s You; similar in idea but also the complete opposite in execution.

You starts off pretty blatantly telling the audience that Joe’s the bad guy. Joe is explicitly a villain protagonist. Joe is not meant to be rooted for. Joe is not a reliable narrator and here are all of the ways he is trying to manipulate you into relating to him spelled out for you, by him, in his own words.

And then somewhere after the first season... something happened. The writers seemed to fall in love with their creature. Joe keeps getting into these situations that don’t just blur the line or make him into a more nuanced person but straight up muddy the message and narrative of the show. You begins by telling us that Joe is a selfish, obsessed, amoral person who will do anything, anything to get what he wants. But more and more the narrative tries to ‘aww gosh’ him into being some kind of unlucky underdog and at times they even go so far as to make him out like some kind of unlikely hero. It no longer felt (at least, to me) like his narration was the only unreliable one here, instead it seemed like we were supposed to root for him, just a little. I began You wanting to watch Joe burn himself to the ground, as it seemed the show wanted me to want that. I wanted to revel in his downfall. I stopped watching You because more and more it seemed like we were supposed to be happy when he scraped by yet again, and that wasn’t the show I signed up for.

Now Barry is a whole different animal. Yeah, he’s a killer! Yeah, he hurts people! But it’s funny! It’s a funny show! And look at how earnest he is. He feels bad about it, you guys. And look at how manipulative and abusive the authority figure in his life is. He’s being gaslit and browbeaten into doing these things and he just needs someone to put him on the straight and narrow. He keeps trying to get out but they pull him back in. You want him to turn it all around. When he is triggered by his past memories and experiences pain and vulnerability and when people like Fuches (or even his fellow actors) prey on his trauma you feel bad for him. You want him to earn forgiveness and redemption, even as he does awful things.

Then the show takes a turn... A planned turn.

I honestly don’t know how I feel yet about season three. I don’t know if I feel lied to, exactly. It’s more like Barry didn’t spoon feed me what I was supposed to feel about all of it the way You did. I chose the interpretation that made me root for Barry, and then it became clear that he wasn’t going to get better, he was going to get worse and that made me feel gut-wrenchingly disappointed. When I thought about it, I realized that Barry is a lot like Joe in terms of internal monologue. A lot of excuses for what he does. A lot of desire to be a “good person” and imagining this great life he could have where he leaves it all behind, but not a lot of effort in making actual changes or amends for his actions. His effort goes into minimizing his own culpability and into achieving what he desires most. Barry wants to be good but he doesn’t want to make sacrifices. He fights against every sacrifice he’s forced to make with anger and frustration and fear. And when he’s kicked down and desperate, he will revert to his worst impulses.

And yet I didn’t relate Barry at all to the idea of a villain protagonist in the beginning. I genuinely liked him. But why did I trust Barry? Is it because the actor just made him more likable? More relatable? Is it because he has really good excuses in his backstory and they show you how those things traumatized him? Because his people-pleasing personality masqueraded so conveniently as actual care and respect?

And the conclusion I came to was that I was supposed to feel that way. I wasn’t supposed to like Joe so I felt manipulated when the show attempted to finagle some sort of investment in him from me. But I was supposed to like Barry, I was supposed to be disgusted by him, I was supposed to feel conflicted, I was supposed to make up my own mind.

You presented me with a monster and then kept trying to tease how human he is underneath it all. Barry presented me with a deeply human character and forced me to reckon with his monstrous actions.

#HBO Barry #Barry HBO

[all-pacas]

Okay as someone rewatching HIMYM I do genuinely wanna hear your hottakes

ohhh dude let’s hang out and be best friends. i’m literally sitting on a 6k essay about himym’s problems, which are not particularly ground breaking insights but basically come down to “the show forgot ted was the main character.”

and to be clear that isn’t something the show states, and it’s not even something that is bad per se (although i love ted). it’s more like barney took over the show as the breakout character, and then they started to make him into the romantic lead quite literally (because they couldn’t continue to have ted be that lead), and then of course they aired the finale they’d written 6 years previously and it was a hot mess.

the show made a lot of mistakes, both large and small. it consistently forgot to show women’s pov (ahaha robin the designated love interest rip). it has some truly awful transphobic/homophobic/fatphobic jokes, has some very poorly aged pickup artist humor and sexism, although i think a lot of the other humor holds up. knowing how the show was “meant to end,” i think they made a huge mistake in not only obviously making barney and robin the main romance of the show — in one way or another, their relationship was a major plot for over half the series, made even more striking when you contrast it to ted/robin. i actually think ted/robin was also a mistake, or at least something they shouldn’t have had happen so *soon* — if they want us to root for that pair, and they clearly did, they really shouldn’t have told us the mother was ted’s soulmate, imply he’d dump robin for her in a second, *and* show ted and robin as incompatible and take away their will they-won’t they in season two of nine.

my current new obsession comes from seeing a random interview about “how i met your father,” a show i have zero desire to watch. apparently nph showed up. and after his cameo there was a little interview where one of the show’s lead writers said something like “i mean, he was the lead of himym so,” which is so true but WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE and i’m just fascinated by all the meta ways himym shot itself in the foot at every turn for years.

i can also just rant about more specific things. and i really do love himym!! i do!! i also just want to talk about how good and how funny it can be, how well it portrays found family and how fantastic all the characters and all the actor’s chemistry is. i guess on himym, unlike some other sitcoms, the actors were encouraged to laugh or react to one another’s lines, you know? and it just adds such an air of “these people might give one another shit but they all clearly love one another and love hanging out…” it’s just! all it needed was a boring ending where very little happened! and maybe then i wouldn’t feel vaguely embarrassed to still like it and want to spend my days picking it apart! anyway i love himym

#himym #i’m not kidding my essay is 6k right now #and needs revising but i think it’s really good #oh i forgot to provide any actual hot takes #ok here’s one i love ted and fandom treats him like shit and i can and will defend him #while also believing that the finale was bad and the writing for him was often bad #hot take number two i don’t really care too much about ships #except for where the show kept telling us to ship one thing or another and then kept doubling back on itself

[hadeantaiga]

Liveblogging Midsommar

Summary: I didn't mind it and parts were good but it should've leaned harder into being weird, and making all the dudes unlikable was cowardly and the movie would've been far more impactful and horrifying if we'd actually liked the victims.

I can always tell when my aromanticism is making me not "get" a movie because like. I've started Midsommar and I've heard "oh her boyfriend is abusive, he deserves what he gets" but all I can see at is two people who just clearly weren't meant for each other?

The Swedish friend Pelle seems like a good guy, but I'm gonna guess in the plot of this movie he's doing that on purpose. Josh seems like an actually good guy. Mark is a dick though.

I'll say, comparing this to Wicker Man: This movie is trying too hard to be creepy and weird. They're just driving. The ominous music isn't needed. Tonally, all of the bright happiness of Wicker Man worked much better to give the movie a sense of "off-ness".

Christian really seems like he's just trying to be a good friend to Dani even though he's struggling with the relationship. Mark is definitely a jerk though. He's the kind of character you want to see die in a normal horror movie.

I do like the use of the midnight sun as an element of disconnecting the characters from reality and placing them in an unfamiliar world, that's a very good touch.

Alright cool good the movie has gotten weirder, excellent. This is what I'm here for.

Come on movie give me some silence to appreciate this gorgeous building. Constant dialogue is tiring.

Oh, so "this is my flame, no higher" was literal huh.

This is a joke, but as a grad student, stealing someone's thesis is totally justification to be killed by a cult. Being a lame duck boyfriend? Whatever. Stealing a thesis? Now you have gone too far!

That said, Christian... You are becoming more and more unlikeable. Josh is the only likeable - dangit Josh I was just saying you were likeable, and now you're sneaking around. And now you're dead, of course.

Do I get why the writers chose to make Christian more and more unlikeable as the movie goes along? Yes. They wanted the audience to be rooting for his demise.

Every death so far has been "justified" - Mark was terrible to begin with, and peeing on the tree and being killed for it is a "justified" death in the context of the movie, both from an audience perspective and the internal perspective of the cultists. I don't think the writers needed to make him a jerk, though - that just makes us root for his death in the first place, so there's very little punch when he disappears. You've been almost eagerly waiting for it to happen.

Josh on the other hand spends most of his time on screen being fairly likable, if bland and boring. He made a single mistake and was killed for it. As far as the cultists are concerned, his death is justified due to his mistake, but we as outside observers might feel it's a little unfair. I think his death could have more impact if he were more interesting as a character. But also, we already know Mark is dead too even though we haven't seen his body. Josh dying so soon as well just feels shallow.

And then there's Christian... Christian's personality has sort of shifted a lot. In the beginning of the movie and even up till the attestupa, he's still trying to be a good friend for Dani. But after that, his personality seems to shift more and more. If it's supposed to be a trauma response, it's not very clear. Overall, he just comes across as more and more of a jerk, but without any actual logic behind why he's suddenly a jerk.

I think the movie would've been stronger and more horrifying if it had not made any of them men jerks - if they had been warm, likeable people. If these cultists were just brutally murdering their guests for "little mistakes", or even perhaps for accidental infractions the characters could never have predicted, that would be terrifying.

It almost feels like making the men horrible people is being done to soften the blow for the audience, so they don't feel bad when the characters die.

That's weak writing, in my opinion. It's a horror movie, I want to feel horrified.

The flowers breathing is weird and I like it. I like what this movie is doing with lighting.

Ok, I have to admit I laughed at the old guy clapping his hands in Christian's face. Poor guy is very drugged and confused at this point. I would've liked it better if I actually felt sorry for him, but the writing is designed so you don't. I want to actually be upset that a nice guy is being torn from his girlfriend; I wish the wedge the villagers drove between them had been entirely artificial

I don't get why we saw the village prophet during the sex scene. Group screaming is very therapeutic though. The hen house scene is creepy but I'm not sure what purpose it serves. Seems like gore for the sake of gore. Ah and now she chooses. I mean, we don't see it on screen, but come on.

I'd heard the ending was "vague" but it seems pretty damn clear to me?? Very creepy, her final smile, too.

#midsommar