#ask bleh

Ahh, it means a lot to know that you enjoyed my work! I really enjoyed writing Rayllum immensely and I loved to see that a lot of people liked it as much as I did (if not more, apparently 😅). The reason for why I dropped off TDP is kinda... strange to explain. My second oldest sister and I were big fans of the show, and as you can obviously tell from my blog, I was excited about it for a time!

But when Season 4 of The Dragon Prince was announced I was really excited about it! But at the time, my sister and I had others shows we were watching. I was also busy writing for The Most Undoing Thing at the time and didn't want to be too sidetracked with other fandoms. And then, as time went on, it kinda got away from us but we were shocked to hear that Season 5 was announced later in 2023 summer.

Now I know Season 2 and 3 had a similar time gap, for us, we were kinda worried about hearing such an immediate follow up when it felt like Season 4 just came out. Apprehensively, I looked at some reviews and such. I won't say that I haven't been influenced by what I heard, but I also know that there was good reviews and legitimate excitement too! I already read a small amount of the comic materials and books that came out in the break between Season 3 and 4, so I knew a lot of the changes to come.

And the time skip.

So, seeing a bit of a divide, my sister and I slowly just thought, "Well, we'll get around to it." But evidently, it just became something we kind of lost interest in. Season 3 was good, but there were some pacing things we weren't a fan of. For me, I enjoyed the heart of the story and the characters throughout. In the end, I was also aware of the rushed aspects of the narrative too at times.

All in all, I started to have less attachment to really wanting to watch or enjoy the media I was into, and just started focusing on MBTMS itself. Because I still liked Rayllum, and people still liked what I wrote. Though, it became an issue for me, because now I was essentially writing for a fandom I was losing interest in, which meant motivation was hard to muster.

I just felt like I was obligating myself to writing something I wasn't invested in, which made me worry that it would reflect in my writing. And the last thing I wanted, was to write something and put it out when I wasn't even happy with it. With that aside, time just kept moving on and suddenly there's 6 Seasons of this series, and I felt like it was just a lot.

The pacing of TDP has always been... strange. I understand that it's been separated into sagas as well. For MBTMS, I genuinely do wish to finish it someday. But the issue with most of MBTMS, is that it's largely set in an AU stories. And AU or not, I do my best to emulate the canon characters in their personalities and behaviours. So it's hard to do that when you haven't looked at canon material for so long nor if you're just not all too keen on getting back into it.

TL;DR: After putting it off for awhile, it got away from me and my interest slowly waned based on the overall pacing and output of the show. From the reviews and responses, I just felt less inclined to get back into it which affected my motivation to writing for MBTMS. I don't think I'll return to MBTMS, but I wish to someday.

Thanks for the ask, Anon. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm glad and pleased to know you enjoyed my stories for the time you shared with them.

Until next ask,

Alador Blight was such a good highlight to this episode. Fan theory can spout off as much as they want about abusive elements, manipulation, arranged marriage, Alador/Darius, etc. A lot of those notions hit on the money, some are just speculation. In the end, I appreciate the journey. I wanna talk about his characterization and portrayal. I'd like to preface with that this is just me talking, no fact or fiction, just interpretation from a nerd.

In Escaping Expulsion, he stops Odalia because he recognizes Amity's growth. Her power and strength, and he notes that that type of drive is what the Emperor's Coven looks for. Because he thinks that's what she wants, and he sees the silver lining for both their sakes.

He looks back on his childhood with fondness, but also has a sense of pride/embarrassment at how openly in awe Amity is of his past. She states that she wants to be like him, and how she finds excitement in that. He downplays it for her sake because he wants better for her (or at the very least, in the way Odalia does). Thinking for as fun as it was, that's not what Amity---the Amity he knew as a child---would've wanted.

But the important takeaway in the end is that he's out of touch. He's realizing he doesn't know a thing about his kids. He feels confused. Like he wasn't sure how or when it all changed. His youngest daughter has a girlfriend, she's complaining about her hair colour and not wanting to join a coven anymore. But mainly? She's complaining that he doesn't know anything.

But he admits something he observed. Something he knows. For everything he doesn't know, for all that he's out of the loop in, he breaches a topic he knows for certain and it happens to be the very thing Amity can be glad about.

But when he goes for a hug and she responds with a boundary, he's disappointed. He respects it, but is disappointed and surprised. He's out of touch with his kids and the closest display of physical affection him---a father---is allowed to breach, is a handshake. And she says it's a start. Him confronting his wife, her mother, is a step closer to redemption in his daughter's eyes.

Stress, confusion, and doubt wracking his brain, he vents. He confesses to be overworked. That he's built off a life's work toward project like this, the very thing his family strived toward, but he still feels torn (heh bc the bag). His pride and joy was achieved, right? Yet he feels like nothing makes sense, nothing is right anymore.

But then when he hears King never met his dad, he realizes his substitution for his kids. Have they really met him? Has he really met them? In how long? How long have they spent "never really meeting" their dad despite his proximity? His absence created a rift between his true greatest creations and---

---he feels regret. So he declares a change. That he's gonna do something.

He confronts Odalia, he challenges her at every notion and every opportunity. (side note, it's cute that Amity gets her red angry face from her dad). And even stands against what Odalia thinks is best for the Blights, and resolutely destroy's his life's work. Without hesitation, he destroys his entire factory. Within seconds.

They're finished. Their "marriage", their "work relationship", their "co-parenting"---in every sense it's done. He stood up to her, even admitting how terrifying it was, for the sake of his daughters and son. He's done with being distracted. Done with being forced to be distracted. A new chapter, if you will. (Also this shot is so freaking cool).

Here, it's minor, but him openly stating something like this, it's just a neat way of showing he's paying attention. Setting aside what he knows is at stake and all the dangers, it's a way of showing he's valuing what his daughter sees important. It's not just that he can stop all the Abomatons at the head. But that he knows they're after "Hunter". He knows Amity's intentions, and all her friends' intentions, and states it. He's proclaiming a boundary, "You're going to do this. And I am aware of it. And I'm coming with you."

Knowing that in Reaching Out, the mere action of confronting Odalia outright or simply on her own stances is something Amity appreciates. So Alador makes a point to confront "Luz" outright and disregards whatever Odalia said (even though this is Hunter). As if to breach another boundary for Amity, that though he's been slow on catching up, he's willing to let Amity feel more comfortable and safe in her home. The sentiment is what matters here.

This is such a good telling of a father working out of---for the simplest of terms---a toxic relationship for the sake of his family. He recognizes his faults, the faults that led him to where he was, and the priorities of his kids. In the end, he's willing to throw it all down in one instant for their sake. Even if it's terrifying for him. Even if he doesn't know or understand everything. Even if he dedicated countless hours to build everything that brought them where they were today.

He does it for Amity, Edric, and Emira.

And that's all that matters.

Tl;DR, I really enjoyed this Book! Grace's growth from a manipulator matched with Simon's trust issues were a clever pairing, especially in the regard that they are codependent enablers (Grace more than Simon at first). Hazel's presence was an excellent match for Grace and Simon's "companion" but Tuba leaving an imprint the way she did despite not being there for the majority only shows how good her character was.

The themes overall were done really well, as the show demonstrated a nice portrayal of how conflicting people can exist and what one can do to better themselves, or help others.

Good season, good characters.

Aside from what Leal tells Viney, that's all for now!

Until next ask,

Weeeeelll, there are more so moments I’m excited for rather than actual episodes. But there are a couple I’m excited about.

Chapter 22: Accepting Average (Escaping Expulsion) is kinda something I’m looking forward to. But the big ones are Chapter 25: What Lealtad Found Tonight (Through the Looking Glass Ruins), Chapter 26: Hunting Palismen, Chapter 33: It’s All About Exposure (Any Sport in a Storm), Chapter 34: Hands, Touching Hands (Reaching Out), and Chapter 38: Grief Remedy (Labyrinth Runners).

These are the ones I have the most scenes written out for already.

Until next ask,

Ooh, a fair question, Anon!

Well, having the story update in a bi-weekly basis offers two things: at minimum, two chaps a month and a flexible schedule. Having at least two chaps a month is at least giving you guys some content while also giving me time to make edits if need be.

Though there hasn’t been a case of this for season 1B of Loyalty & Light, it was still a nice incentive to have as I also had time between weeks to respond to comments, asks, and DMs regarding the last chap released. Having a week gap in-between chapters is also a nice break for myself to just do other things and step away from fanfiction. While I still check in and reply to every comment, a week gap gives me a nice separation from thinking about my fanfics.

But also, at the time, I was simultaneously releasing The Most Undoing Thing. TMUT rotated with L&L every week, and that gap also allowed for my followers—because of my mixed followers of fandoms—to have a semi cohesive blog to catch up on. One week would be about TMUT and the other would be about L&L. I also still plan to release other fics and oneshots, so the gap allows for me to insert things without disturbing the attention from L&L.

It’s just something of a personal preference of mine too, as a multi-fandom blog trying to be somewhat orderly.

Until next ask,

Ooooh, good question!

So, I talked about this a bit in this ask, and while I haven’t gotten there yet in terms of my actual writing I can confidently say I don’t have any regrets.

You are right though, if I hadn’t made them Out already there would’ve been plenty to play with in terms of drama and emotion when going over both their own arcs of sexuality throughout this fic. But, just because they’re Out doesn’t mean that they’re done growing. I won’t spoiling anything for Leal, but for Luz, her being Out or confident in her bisexuality doesn’t change the fact that she’s still had to hide it or be private about it publicly. Much like the show, it still doesn’t change that she hasn’t had a girlfriend before either.

That’s a still important to Luz’s journey. But for Leal, her being Out serves a great deal of value for the Nocedas. She encouraged Luz to come out and it led to them being stronger as a family, but it also opened themselves up to more vulnerabilities. If you recall in chapter 1, Luz still holds insecurities about their mother’s view on her sexuality it seems. At least, enough to explode about it in the heat of the moment.

Lealtad is proud to be Ace, but she doesn’t advertise it because she just doesn’t like people, so she thinks it’s no one’s business. But the Isles presents new opportunities for her too, so who knows where that can lead too!

But no, I definitely don’t regret having them Noceda sisters already Out in L&L. After all, as I’ve said before, if Leal was as good as a big sister as she’s made out to be, Luz would definitely feel comfortable enough to at least tell Leal. And that would thus snowball toward telling Camila, because Leal thinks as a family they should trust each other.

Until next ask,

Not everything is related to Manny guys.😅 Sometimes people just have their own quirks. Leal hates carnivals for the very reasons she says in chapter 15. They’re overly crowded, expensive, tacky, etc. It’s just not her kinda scene is all.

Until next ask,