#(AND THEY STILL DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SCREENTIMES)

[tevanbuckley]

I really hope that Tim will give Buck and Tommy the attention they´ve been not really getting since 7x5. 8x5 gave them screentime but we haven´t really delved into their relationship other that hitting certain "milestones" like getting together, breaking up and now the rebounding. It´s like Tim waives to the audience every once in a while to not forget about them, dips in an out as you said, but does not really invest time because he gets distracted by other storylines or there is not enough run time in an episode. Buck and Tommy NEED to talk and we have to see it. I guess there still won´t be time for that in S8 but hopefully we can get to that in S9

ehh, i'll be honest, i wouldn't hold your breath for a big extended reconciliation convo. imo, everything from 8x05 until now has painted a pretty clear picture of the ups and downs of their relationship, even if it's been shown rather than told.

I also don't think the slow (by 911 standards) pace this has played out at is tim forgetting or getting distracted either. assuming we are going to see them fully reconcile by the end of the season, it sort of makes sense for them to keep that in their back pocket so they have a hopeful note to end things on after bobby's funeral.

[youre-where-i-wanna-go]

I think a lot of 9-1-1 stans don't know Angela very well and get very confused by things she's been saying (and some probably just project onto her to feed their "he's still alive" theories, which I understand) and I wanna see if I can clear some of it up. So here it goes.

Also @ OP: I've been seeing A LOT of posts like these so I just picked yours to respond to by chance and am going to cover things that have nothing to do with you. I am so sorry in advance for the amount I'm about to say 😭

First of all, I, of course, also don't know Angela personally but I have been watching 9-1-1 since January 2018 and actively stanned Angela (aka followed her career, read her interviews, watched everything she's in) since January 2021 so when I see some of the takes people have about her it's a bit puzzling sometimes.

But here's what I'm pretty confident about: Angela is not the type of actress to leave a show just because another actor did. Even if that actor was her husband. What Angela appears to care most about in all her projects is how her character is written. That means that if she feels Tim gives her enough to work with in the episodes and seasons to come, she is likely to stick around no matter how much she hates that Peter is leaving.

She said in the Variety post-8x15 interview that "It's going to be alright. Well, we're going to be alright, we'll see how the audience feels."

You have to remember this episode was shot over a month ago, in which she has already had time to process this loss. She is likely still even shooting with Peter. It's not the first time she's had to deal with a character death. If you recall Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she had to not only deal with Chadwick's, and thus her character's son's loss, but also that of her own character. She had similar conversations with director Ryan Coogler about not wanting to kill off Queen Ramonda as she now did with Tim about not wanting Bobby to die. She said in the end she trusted the director/writer to know what he was doing and let him do his thing.

She has also often mentioned in interviews how she interferes very little with 9-1-1 writers too as an EP because her job is to act and not to write.

A while ago, when people were fantasizing about her leaving the show so that their own faves could get more screentime and there was even an article written by TV Fanatic that she should quit, I wrote a Twitter thread about why she won't and is committed to the show.

Even though Peter is leaving, I think most of the thread still rings true and I'll summarize the main points here:

1. The show was created for and around her by Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear. She knows that and has been appreciative of it because it is hard to find good roles for women her age, especially Black women. In a recent interview for Zero Day she also implied that it may look like she gets offered a lot of roles but that that's not actually the case.

2. The show provides her a steady paycheck and films close to home. And this is probably the main reason she is unlikely to quit. At the end of the day her main concern is going to be employment. 9-1-1 is a show that she makes good money on and gets to be a main character in and (in my opinion used to) have complex storylines. She often says how her three main things to look out for when choosing work is that it challenges her, she works consistently and gets paid fairly. These boxes are all ticked by 9-1-1 and there's no certainty she will find work exactly like that again given how little the industry seems to respect her.

3. Tim knows she's the main reason the show is successful. Personally I think by taking away her husband he has damaged this success by alienating viewers who tuned in for their relationship. But still he knows that if she left, the show would probably die so I do think he's willing to give her stuff to work with as much as he can, which I think is what Angela is most looking for in this role.

She also, of course, recorded that video thanking the fans for the Season 9 renewal, where she seemed really excited, which apparently has also puzzled and even offended fans. Some of you may have seen Debra's (who plays Sue) comment about why she thinks it's offensive to hope the show gets canceled, which boiled down to "You're wishing for the whole cast and crew to lose their jobs."

I think all of them, including Angela, are happy about every renewal because it means job security. [It would be nice if her excitement also meant Bobby may still be alive after all but I don't think her excitement is misplaced in any case.]

Some people have also called her a liar for apparently "contradicting" herself in her interviews about how she found out about the character death. *Big sigh*

Her answers from all three interviews combined can be confusing, I'll admit that much. But they do not contradict each other, especially with how vague they are. It's clear she learned about a character death both in the script and that she had a phone call with Tim about it. It's not clear which of the drafts of the script had Bobby's death in it since apparently early drafts had Ravi die. She did not go into that much detail, especially not enough for anyone to be saying she's lying.

Theorize all you want but have some respect for Angela while you do, please. These interviews aren't any different from other interviews she's given about the show and if you read all her interviews and not just tidbits here and there, you would probably realize that. The fandom has a track record of invoking Angela's name and status in weird ways so I encourage everyone to be mindful and respectful when you talk about her, especially if you don't really know her outside of 9-1-1 because she's very different from Athena.

TLDR: So in conclusion, I would be very surprised if Peter leaving caused her to leave as well. Her not being able to imagine Athena's future right now does not automatically translate to her not being open to it. I'm open to her proving me wrong but given all this context I think keeping her bag secured is more important to her than proving a point by leaving a show that was created for her. Also continue theorizing about Bobby still being alive but please just respect Angela while doing so.

The only purpose of this response from me is to provide context for people who didn't know some of these things and address some general things that have bothered me in the fandom overall. So again, only parts of it are directed at OP, too.

I don't really go here but if P. Krause is leaving, wouldn't A. Bassett leave as well? It's true that she mentioned she wouldn't stick around if Athena doesn't have Bobby around? And it'd be an L for the next season if they lost 2 big household names, ngl. 😬

What I'm saying is... killin' Bobby permanently? And leading to Athena eventually bein' written out bc of that? Would be a careless decision on T. Minear's part, fr.

Well, according to her latest Instagram post she is sticking around, which doesn't make sense. She has stated in past interviews that Athena without Bobby doesn't make sense.

And yeah, it would be a very bad business decision by ABC and Tim to throw away two important actors and characters like that. Angela is a real proper movie star. A lot of people watch 911 for her and her alone.

And all of that ☝️ is exactly why I don't believe the man is dead. 🤷‍♀️

[kunikiiida-kuuun]

Head in hands I just finished watching season 2 of saiki k and I am utterly devastated. I need like 10 more seasons man 😭😭😭😭

[fiepige]

Uurrrrgghhh the urge to make Hobie music videos is so strong but he doesn't have enough screen time to actually provide enough material for the videos 🥲😭😭

[ecoustsaintmein]

Spatort Liveblogging (spoilers below cut for the whole episode):

Pia and her windbreaker. Pia and not sleeping. Please look after yourself Pia!!! Pia fainting again!!!!

Wtf is Adam sleeping out there by the pool. What is he doing by the pool. Why is he brooding by the pool.

Leo going 'oh god not money again' like he is so done.

I love it when Esther speaks French.

Pia with wet hair. Leo staring at her lmao. More croissants. (Croissants. Baguettes. Ca va). Hahaha Pia.

Adam and PIa being besties. (And by besties - enabling whatever pills she is using)

Anyways I love that Pia is getting a lot of attention.

Adam being traumatised by the stain of his father's crimes. Also mum implying that he is like his father. And then. If he loves something he'll come back. Alas. Who is it that he truly loves tho??

Pia and Adam, food besties. The sibs energy is off the charts! (like they're cute and all but i hope this doesn't turn romantic?)

And then Esther's the one who found them sleeping in the office.

The way that he talks to Pia more than he talks to Leo, even if they're not talking to each other. Still speaks volumes. ALSO: fortune cookies comeback!!!!

Leo in white t-shirt and gun holster my beloved.

Esther implying Leo and Adam should live in a WG and Leo shutting the idea down. What is this.

Noemie is pretty cool. There is not one straight bone between her and Esther. AGHHHHHH CASUAL QUEERNESS ON MY TELLY.

Also I love seeing Esther and Leo get along.

Unhinged Adam has returned. Leo giving him the Paddington stare without even saying anything lmao.

Leo phoning Adam to check in.

Sigh. Esther is so done with Adam and Leo. Like. If I were her I would request a transfer. Stat. Because yep I won't want to deal with that kind of shite in the workplace either. (And they wonder why people hate cops?)

Leo's conviction when he said 'wir' and Esther's absolute disgust. (Point #15 did not age well). However she is still so professional and I love that for her.

Leo and the wee girl + carrying her in his arms - kind of cute!!!! Also is he just flexing now he doesn't have to carry her she could actually walk/run with him you know.

Leo = designated kid whisperer of the team. (see also: DKdE)

Adam + getting triggered by a sports bag. Game recognises game etc.

Esther and Leo hugging!!! Esther saying that she'll go crazy if she doesn't find Pia!!!!!

Chekhov's fainting (i.e you can't show a fainting without the fainting then actually moves the plot)

Toxic parent-child relationship haunting the narrative I see.

Pia. You should have hid in the bushes. Or not ran straight.

Ok I'm going to say this - this case would NOT have gotten out of control if it weren't these disaster cops investigating it like irl they would have all been suspended the way this whole thing is going.

OK BUT WHAT IS THE OTHER CASE PIA IS LOOKING AT (+ the concern in Esther's voice when she looked through the files on Pia's table)

This Moritz should just idk rot in hell somewhere already his face is so punchable. For once I will allow the boys doing more unhinged things that won't be held up in the court of law.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. WAS THAT ENDING!!!!???????????????

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

once again in my rickard and mortyanne era. if you couldn't tell

[sunflowerdigs]

Writers generally write plots in order to take a character from point a to point b. For instance, for Buck's bisexual discovery episode, rather than thinking "I'm going to have Buck meet this hot pilot and see what happens", Tim probably thought "I want Buck to come out as bisexual. How do I believably do that?"

People keep saying that if 911 is going to move forward, it needs to start bringing on new blood and integrating it into the cast. Well, this season, Ravi has been spotlighted multiple times. But in order to bring on someone new, someone else has to leave or fall back a bit. Technically, Tim could move one of the younger characters to another shift, but I doubt any of the younger actors want their screentime cut. However, Peter has stated that he's not into doing all the stunts anymore (and he looked super miserable shivering under a towel shooting the cruise line story) and that he might want to spend less time shooting generally. After all, he's getting a nice, fat producer cut now. He could probably shoot part-time and still make the kind of money he wants, and that would free up some budget for another character.

Additionally, unlike all of the other characters, Bobby has options that would keep him within the world of the firefam and would give 911 the opportunity to explore new parts of the first responder world. He is senior enough to run or be nominated for a senior position in LAFD, one that operates more behind the scenes, structuring budgets, communicating with news outlets, creating trainings, etc. That's a whole new world for the show. It keeps Bobby in the mix enough that we could occassionally see him show up at the firehouse for dinner, but creates a much less demanding shooting schedule for Peter.

But Bobby would never go for that. He would have to retire and then get bored. So, the question becomes "How do we take Bobby from gung-ho fire captain to someone who voluntarily gives up his post?" After all, s7 ended with him finding new energy for the job. A near-death experience like the one with the car pile-up wouldn't cut it. Because Bobby has faced those multiple times over the course of the series and hasn't considered giving up. It just wouldn't be believable to the audience and wouldn't be dramatic enough to cause the kind of shake-up that Tim wants to do. So, what would be?

Well. What if Bobby and everyone Bobby loves had to think he was dead for multiple days? What if the audience had to think that? What if viewers and the firefam had to watch Athena and her children (including Clifford) grieve him? If Bobby came back after something like that, absolutely, both the audience and the firefam would buy his wanting to finally retire. Especially if you throw a dream house into the mix? And Bobby suddenly desperately wanting to live as he's dying? Folks may end up messaging Tim on Facebook demanding that Bobby retire RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

So. That's just some food for thought as to why Tim might do a death and resurrection. Additionally, whenever any character has a drawn out near-death experience it gives the writers permission to make big character shifts very quickly as characters process their grief. Characters are allowed to look at their lives, realize tomorrow is not promised, and choose things they may not have before the death. Those changes are even more believable if the audience has to mourn the character who almost dies with the characters experiencing a shift. So. You know. If, say, the show was going to have a character, I don't know, recontextualize his relationship with his best male friend and realize that choosing him would be choosing joy? Or if another character who had never stood up for a leadership position before were to suddenly want to do that? A major death that the audience felt alongside those characters might ease those transitions.

Think about it.

[tinylilacbun]

n o h i t t i n g ⋆. 𐙚 ˚

Rafe is outside on the balcony, trying to get some work done while Sofia is inside with you in the living room and watching some tv peacefully as he assumes.

He tilts his head a little when he hears voices, more specifically you, getting louder and waits for a moment to see if Sofia can handle the situation on her own, only stepping in if he thinks it's necessary.

It seems like it is one of those times as he keeps hearing you complain or whine and he sighs, turning off his laptop he gets up from his seat to go inside.

"Sweetie, you had enough screentime for today-" Sofia says a bit more sternly than she usually does, not expecting you to suddenly slap her hand when she tries to get the remote from your hands.

Your eyes widen in realization but before you could say something you jump in your spot on the sofa when Rafe's voice startles you.

"Hey! What the hell was that?" He asks as he strides over to you, yanking the remote out of your grip and glaring down at you. "Huh?"

You shrink in on yourself, lowering your head in shame, toying with your hands nervously but Rafe was having none of it, grabbing your chin to make you face him again.

"We do not hit anyone in this house, you understand me? Never." He says, not phased by the tears that are already welling up in your eyes.

"Rafe, it's fine-" Sofia tries to calm him down, but he won't back down on this, not this time.

He knows Sofia is too soft and keen on stuff like this but he draws the line at the kind of disrespect like you hitting or swearing at one of them.

"No, it's not." He states, momentarily turning his gaze to Sofia before back down at you, still gripping your chin. "Time out. Now."

The second he lets go, you scramble off the couch and towards the empty corner, sitting down and facing the wall with your knees pulled up to your chest, sniffling quietly.

"15 minutes you'll sit there and think about what you just did and I better don't see you moving an inch." He warns and you nod timidly.

"Yes daddy..." You whimper, resting your cheek on your knee.

It feels like an eternity, sitting there alone with your thoughts. You didn't mean to hit Sofia, you really didn't. It was just a moment of stubbornness and frustration of not getting more screentime and now you hurt your mama.

The guilt is deep and you keep crying quietly to yourself, wiping at your nose and cheeks repeatedly. You have started drawing shapes on your other knee until Rafe finally tells you that the time is over, turning your head to see him and Sofia sitting on the couch.

You slowly get off the ground, still sniffling and hiccuping as you make your way over to stand in front of them, your eyes fixated on your socked-clad feet. "I- m'sorry..."

"What are you sorry for?" Rafe presses, crossing his arms over his chest, expecting you to apologize to Sofia properly.

"M'sorry f-for hittin' mama. Won' do it 'gain." You mumble, sniffing one time.

"I forgive you, baby." Sofia smiles warmly, her hand massaging the nape of Rafe's tense neck and squeezing one time for him to say something, silently telling him to be gentle with you now.

After a moment he uncrosses his arms, patting his thigh and you instantly get comfortable on his lap at his permission, nuzzling your face in the crook of his neck.

"Good job for taking your punishment, proud of you..." He says, kissing your forehead and a small smile forms on his face when he watches you take Sofia's hand that you slapped earlier and press a gentle kiss on the back of it.

Taglist

For everything:

@my-river-lilly @pauntedblacknails @fanfictioniseverything @buckymydarlingangel @hallecarey1 @daybreakwinter @loveshineslikethesky @vase-of-lilies @white-wolf1940 @simpingbutch @mischiefsemimanaged @alina02 @teddybearsgrr @doozywoozy @angelbabydoll28 @glxwingrxse @lilymurphy03 @veryvaughnny @lokigirlszendaya @youngstarfishdinosaur @little--baby--bear @minideathgoddess @rach2602 @gh0stgurl @flourishandblotts-inc @lovelyy-moonlight @yoruse

@mythixmagic @iris-xoxo-juhu @mylettterstoyou @sunf1ower16 @sweetstars-posts @rafecameronsloverrrrr @rafenroostersgirl

For Rafe:

@chiaraanatra @chimindity @erikasurfer

[bandydear]

now that i've had a sleep and a think about my core problem with the series, it boils down to two things: it's a fake ensemble, and there aren't enough episodes.

these two issues exacerbate each other.

Dexter, a Showtime original, had 12 episodes during its run. Yellowjackets has 9-10 and just the additional 2-3 episodes would really help with allowing moments in the series to breathe. ideally, it would be a 22 episode series. that would give so much more time to breathe, explore mysteries, and have characters ACTUALLY TALK TO EACH OTHER

just in season 3 we had: - only misty mourning natalie and very little legal or emotional fallout from that - lottie's death also having very little legal or emotional fallout - VAN SITTING DOWN WITH SIMONE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION FINALLY AND THEN NOT HAVING ONE - a four month timeskip in the teen timeline now yellowjackets is technically an ensemble, but it's starring Shauna. back in season one, it actually felt like an ensemble, because we were seeing Taissa's homelife and the fallout of her actions affecting them. we had Misty, and Nat's home lives. they don't have spouses, reputations, or children to care for so they're more "free" to operate as they did in the wilderness. Natalie as the hunter, Misty as the wild card. having four mains--two deeply seated in society, and two living on the fringes of it is fun and dynamic tension. adding Lottie and Van in season two still played on those. Lottie has created a new society all on her own to live in, and Van has decided to trap herself in time, creating a safe time cave to protect herself from integrating into society again. neither of them are paying taxes. if the thesis statement of the show is: THEY CAN NEVER GO BACK then this is a good way to show how each of them avoid doing that. Tai and Shauna's lives exploding because THEY CAN NEVER GO BACK makes thematic sense.

but, it doesn't feel earned. important conversations that should be long scenes are turned into throwaway lines or brief phone calls. as the show races on, it becomes PLOT, PLOT, PLOT, with no moment for characters to stop and react and talk about what's happened.

we don't see Van and Tai discuss Coach having caught them at school, and then talking about what it would be like to be a couple out in the world (triggering Taissa's fears which pay off with her not wanting to go back later). in season two, after a whole season of disagreeing! Lottie and Nat seem to have finally align, only for that alliance to shatter with one line? "This can't be fixed with therapy, Nat!" with no further follow up from ether before Nat's death. no arguing? why did Van look at Lottie as god made flesh only for them to have zero private adult conversations?

these are great characters! we care about these characters! we want to see more of them actually fucking talking to each other, but the velocity of characters needing to get from point a-z mows down any moments for introspection--EXCEPT SHAUNA'S STORYLINE. we have long discussions between Melissa and Shauna--interactions that TAKE TWO WHOLE EPISODES and that's why it doesn't feel fair or earned. Tai gets like 30 minutes of screentime, Van even less, and Shauna's whole family gets monologue time? it's not an ensemble! it's the Shauna Show, but for the folks who've gotten attached to everyone else, it doesn't feel fair or earned. I don't give a fuck about Jiff.

anyway, no fixing it now

[vi0lentquiche]

Bryan Fuller on The D-Con Chamber podcast

Some actual revelations here, I gotta say!

We went to a lot of actors and they all said no, and Mads said he wanted to do it. And I was like, here's a person who wants to do it, who is amazing, and they're like, he's sort of weird? He just seems very Euro-weird, shouldn't he be sexier? And I'm like, he's sexy as fuck! There's nary a sexier!

The casting process is so degrading for everybody, but I reached out to Mads and said, "Would you audition? I hate to ask you this, but I just can't get them there." And he said of course, came in and auditioned, was amazing, and they went, nah, he's sort of creepy. ??HE'S EATING PEOPLE. And finally the last person had said no and I called Jen Salke who was running it and said, "Jen, I have to write this, I have to craft this show and believe in it. I believe in him, that he can do this, I see him in the role, it's hard for me to see anybody else." And she said, "I trust you, I trust your vision, let's do it." So that was her response. Her boss's response was, "Well, you got what you wanted, you're on your own." And they halved our marketing budget. It was a little spiteful.

Jen was amazing, she kept us on the air although we didn't have great ratings, but Jen, who is now running Amazon, thought the show was great. They were paying nothing for it, the licensing fee was the smallest that they had. And the show was very cheap, our budget was 2.25 million in the first season (we turned everything dark so you couldn't see how cheap everything looked), second season was 2.5, third season was 3.2, so it was a very economic show, and our scripts were like 33 pages long. Because all that atmosphere, and also Gillian Anderson made the most fantastic unnerving choice to speak very deliberately, so you could give Gillian a page of dialogue and it was 6 minutes of screentime, and you don't want to cut away, because she grabs you and doesn't let go.

So it was economic for lots of reasons. But Jen said, "I'll keep you on the air, it doesn't cost us anything, do whatever you want. Do the show that you want to do." And NBC didn't give us a ton of notes! The Standards and Practices was one of the best relationships that I had. Joanna was our S&P executive, and I would say, "Hey, Joanna ☺️, we have to have a guy cut off his face and feed it to dogs ☺️ howwww do we do that?" and she'd say, "Just make the blood black and turn down the lights." The only thing she didn't know how we could do was, Eddie Izzard had hooked someone's intestines up to a ceiling fan while they were still alive, so when somebody came into the room and turned on the lights the ceiling would disembowel them. And she said, "I just don't know how you're gonna do this!" and production said, "We can't afford it, you get one shot and if you don't get it there's no way for us to do a reset." So she was willing to let us try the ceiling fan disembowelment, she was the coolest lady. My assistant at the time made a book of all the S&P emails, like "When you're doing this please keep in mind that the blood needs to be black," because the redder the blood the less likely that you can put it on TV. So if you darken the blood, even if it's a dark burgundy, you can get away with it. The food that looks like blood is fine, because you're gonna eat it and it looks like meat, and Jose Andres is helping you out.

Hannibal was creatively a great experience because the stakes were so low that Jen was like, "How great for me to be able to tell you to do whatever you want!" We should have been cancelled after the first season, because our ratings were so low. I think we had 3 million, and that was at a time when 3 million wasn't enough. No, we started with 5 or 6 and it got down to 3 by the end of the run. But it was great that she gave us the opportunity, and was a great executive who supported the show when her bosses didn't because we didn't cast who they wanted.

Pushing Daisies was actually more of a struggle creatively with the network, they would say it was too weird and to make it more mainstream. And they were probably right, we would probably have had more numbers, but it wouldn’t be my show. I really don't mean to be difficult with a lot of executives, but when I resist those notes it's becase I don't know how to do them, like my brain doesn't compute. I've gotten better the older I've gotten. I've also gotten more like, it's perhaps not a hill to die on? Whereas before I'd go, noo, the art must speak for itself! It's that singular understanding for something, where it comes out and you accept it for how it is. And it's probably a little bit about being raised in a Catholic environment where you're told how to be, it’s the rebellion, and it's the intrinsic queerness of choosing something that's different, or relating to something that's different and that being a guiding principle more than an edict.

[mylordshesacactus]

I don't think I'll ever be over the way that the thesis statement of OWK is represented, more than anything else, even more than Reva's plotline honestly, in Haja.

Like.

Genuinely? The one "twist" I wasn't emotionally prepared for was that Haja was legit, and he really was trying to help, and there really was a massive grassroots shadow-network underground railroad evacuating Jedi survivors and Force-sensitive kids across the galaxy, and he really was part of it.

Because the thing with his whole setup--the magnet tricks, the motion-controlled windows, the cold-reading, the crowd-working kid identifying obvious offworld marks, the "audience plant" stormtrooper playing along over the comm? Yeah, they're cheap tricks, but it's a SOPHISTICATED setup.

This guy is a straight-up conman. He really is every bit the sleazy grifter he appears to be.

That matters. That's important. Haja is not an angel. He's a mid-level fake psychic, callously cashing in on the Jedi's legacy to do, like, bullshit fortune-telling. It's--it's the way you can see this guy's whole backstory in a few minutes of screentime. Because we DO see him identify a Force-sensitive kid....and the escape he offers them is genuine.

So: Haja. And the story we can see in him at a glance.

He's a scam artist! He's dressing in knockoff porn-vid robes, waving his hands, and babbling half-remembered vague tropes before murmuring generic platitudes and sending rubes on their way. The Jedi are dead, right? It's not like they're around to be offended. He's not even really lying, right? He gets people what they want! The Jedi stuff just lets him upcharge! He's just skimming a little, a man's gotta make a living.

And then, one day, someone came to him who'd used all their hope just getting there. Someone with a Force-sensitive child, and the Empire on their heels, stumbled terrified into his little den of cheap tricks, because they'd heard a whisper of a rumor that there was still a Jedi alive on Daiyu.

And in that moment, Haja learned that he was a better person than he'd ever realized.

They must have staked everything on reaching him, and then they found him, and what they found was...Haja. Just some guy in a cheap costume. Just some guy, and not a particularly great one. How much is the bounty on a Force-sensitive youngling? Enough to retire on. Enough to set you up for life. And Haja is just some guy, who had just been slapped in the face with the reality of what he was capable of doing in the next five minutes.

There are moments when you learn who you really are, and sometimes you surprise yourself.

After all that time "acting like a Jedi," when given the opportunity--he chose to act like a Jedi.

Ultimately, the thesis statement of OWK is: There is a galaxy full of Hajas. And that's hope enough to keep going for.

[onaperduamedee]

I won't be engaging with the Wheel of Time show anymore. 

I needed to put in writing my feelings regarding the Wheel of Time episode 308 before going damnatio memoriae on this show.

The Wheel of Time just brutally killed Siuan Sanche, a black gay character who does not die at that point in the books, to provide gay angst for her white partner, who isn't her current lover in the books, before her arc actually starts.

Others have explained far better than me why this is profoundly tone-deaf, especially at the end of a season that started with the death of a black gay character for the sake of another white man's pain and continued with the deaths of other black characters. Repeating why this sucks won't change the mind of those who don't see the pattern: there will always be an intra- or extradiegetic explanation to justify the writers' choice. 

Beside the brutality and resonance of her death, this indicates changes in future plotlines that I also cannot follow: it affects Egwene's arc a great deal, it will have an impact on Nynaeve's arc and it completely rewrites what makes Moiraine's character so compelling to me. By saying that Siuan's arc post-coup isn't that interesting they tell us that a story centered on a character who lost everything but still found ways to fight for the light is not worth telling. 

What I hear is that Rand's arc, Egwene's, Mat's and certainly Moiraine's will be profoundly different from what they could have been. At this point and with the evidence they've shown I don't trust them anymore to deal seriously with the question of mental health for these characters.

That decision signals that the themes and characters that were dear to me have been declared not worthy of screentime. 

For that only I would have lost interest in the show, which isn't the end of the world as there are plenty of shows that don't hold my interest. The real stinger for me is that Rafe Judkins went on queer media like podcasts and magazines to profess his love for the relationship and still made that decision.

These characters weren't together during the main storyline which means the writers purposely made them the love of each other's life in order for Siuan's death (also not in the books there) to hurt more. It was planned from the start. 

This feels unnecessarily cruel and in complete contradiction with the kind of storytelling that I enjoy and stand for. I liked Wheel of Time because it was the Wheel of Time and not GoT. To an extent I feel like a fool for falling into the trap set by promotion: the show had never any intention of delivering the content they themselves were promoting. 

I remember a time when we had one glimpse of a kiss as the trailer for s2 came out and the Siuaraine fandom was so beautifully creative and hopeful. At the time, we were still thinking that we wouldn't get any Siuan and Moiraine this season. We didn't think they were important enough, as a couple, as individuals since Siuan's presence was not a guarantee. And we got that glimpse of happiness. The days, weeks following were some of the most joyful moments I experienced in fandom. I will always cherish the theorizing, the art, the gifs produced in that timeframe. 

It was also a time when some parts of the fandom were also goading us that they weren't main characters and we should enjoy them before they got killed. These fans had been doing that for a long time. 

But the show had our backs, right? They told us, right?

It seems we were right to think as we did after s1 that Siuan's story was never worthy of being told: Rafe confirmed that from the start the character was not meant to live. 

Now, if you only see Siuan as an extension of Moiraine then of course perhaps cutting her off here is logical. But if you see Siuan as she is in the books, the woman who lost everything and survived out of spite alone, the mentor to Egwene who was the perfect mirror to the Moiraine and Rand mentorship, the deft politician stripped of status who artfully manœuvred the Hall when she was less than dirt to them, the strongest woman that Egwene has met, then what the show did to Siuan's character is purely assassination before her story even started.  And that's not even touching on how much they changed her character to fit her into this tragic dead lesbian love story.

It was never about the relationship. It was about telling Siuan's story, of which Moiraine was only a small part. Now we will never get Siuan's story about resilience and surviving out of sheer spite. We might get a tearful reunion in another life at the end of the story, after Moiraine also died, because the most exquisite a lesbian can be to a storyteller is dead. 

I often find that insurmountable an obstacle. Others don't even notice it. 

At the end of the day, yes, the heart of the cutting is only a question of prioritizing certain characters over others for writing space. For fans the red line in such a cutting was Loial's death, for others it was Agelmar. 

Adaptational choices. 

But they carry weight; they tip down the scales one way or the other, and the result is not something I'm comfortable supporting or merely enjoying anymore. 

So I won't be engaging with the show: I won't talk about it on socials, promote it and share content about it. I've found that it's the healthiest way to break up from a show that jumped the shark for me.

Siuan and her arc post-coup were incredibly important to me, and the manner in which that story was rejected broke something irreparably in my trust in the show. I won't enjoy it anymore like I used to.

If we chatted together on bsky, discord or Tumblr about the show, I'll be more than happy to continue there, but I cannot in good conscience show open support for the choices the show is making.

I will miss and cherish this community forever because they are a creative and extraordinary bunch, but then such is the life of fandom, especially of queer media. 

I don't wish the show any cancellation. I still believe the cast and crew are doing something special and I hope they can continue to delight those for whom the magic still makes sparks, but that will be without me. 

It isn't the show for me anymore. I don't plan on trashing the show on social media (the fury is reserved to dms and blogging) and in return I ask this one thing of the fandom: not to mock or belittle the reactions like mine or others'. If it annoys or angers you, mute or block the fans and curate your own space. 

The universe is fictional, the feelings of being used and betrayed are very real.

[madlori]

Ok my fam, I think we all need a lil Come to Jesus moment. So let's talk about it.

"I'm disappointed Tommy wasn't in 8x02 and 8x03." That's ok! We'd all like to see him, and see our boys together. Going by precedent, we can probably expect to see him in 6-8 episodes this season (it could be more - Taylor had 13 episodes in season 5 - but we shouldn't count on it) and we've already burned one. I'd prefer not to have half of them during the opening disaster when SO MUCH ELSE is going on. I'd rather him appear in episodes when he's got a storyline with Buck, or even on his own, and especially at the midseason break or the end of the season when Relationship Events are more likely to happen.

"But the 217 engine!" I know. But as we sometimes like to say to other fans - we kind of baited ourselves with that. It was suggestive, sure. But the fact that production has MADE a 217 engine is also suggestive that we may see it again later, and they just put it in the hangar scene because they already had it and they had to fill up that hangar with as many vehicles as possible.

"An airplane disaster without using the pilot??" As others have pointed out, Tommy's not a jet pilot. And don't let anybody make you think you were nuts for thinking it was possible. It was definitely a reasonable theory, with supporting evidence, that he might be involved, but in the end, the big opening disaster is always going to be about our mains. As it should be. And honestly? It was great.

"But the whole point of bringing him back was to integrate him with the 118 more!" I'm sure that's still a goal they have, but it's probably easier said than done. Not just from a writing standpoint, but a contractual one, in that there's a limit to how often they can use him, so they have to pick and choose where.

"It's like they don't care about this relationship as much as we do." You're right. NOBODY will care about it as much as we do. They care about the main characters, about the show's actual premise (i.e. first responders encountering wild situations, secondarily the characters' personal lives). There is no universe in which ANY relationship in the show will be prioritized as much as we, the fandom, would like it to be. That's just life in the big city. But they do care, oh boy, they do. Enough to use BT scenes in off-season promo. Enough to write Tommy into a scene in the opening episode where, frankly, he didn't NEED to be. Also, consider this - to shoot that scene, Lou was probably on set a grand total of one day, MAYBE two. And they made sure to include him in the jokey "bee pickup lines" reel. You know what other relationship we haven't seen much? Buddie. They have not appeared together outside of work (and honestly, barely AT work either) except in the birthday party scene, and hey, did you notice that they do not interact at ALL in that scene? Buck spends that entire scene interacting only with Tommy. And that's a friendship featuring two mains that we know they value. That's not indicative of anything except the sheer scarcity of screentime.

"They should be promoting the queer relationship!" Should they? They've never really done that before, with the several pre-existing queer relationships. I have always sort of appreciated that they have not hung a neon sign on Buck and Tommy saying LOOK AT OUR NEW QUEER PAIRING. It's never gotten the Very Special Episode treatment - Buck never had gay panic, or much coming-out drama - and I like that. I like treating it no differently than other romantic pairings on the show. And they did actually promote it quite a bit when it happened. Now it would just feel kinda performative to me.

"Will he be in [whatever episode]?" Imma gently suggest we not do this every week. He'll be there or he won't. There'll be some we know he's in (I think 8x06 is a lock), some we won't know and will be pleasantly surprised, or unpleasantly surprised. I'd say odds for 8x04 are...20%, rising to at least 50% with 8x05 and 100% for 8x06.

And if you ever feel sad about it - go look at a still of Buck from any episode so far this season, and say to yourself, "This man is having heaps of amazing sex with his hot pilot boyfriend on the regular. Canonically."

I know a lot of us have encountered some pretty irritating gloating from people who hate this relationship (in a frankly weirdly obsessive way) about him being not there. Just remember - that's all they have to gloat about. The only "victory" they can claim is the absence of a character? Lame. And it's not even a victory, it's just the cost of doing business when your ship involves a recurring character. Sit back and enjoy your canon relationship between two men who've actually kissed on screen and ignore it. We can be generous about it.

So let's not talk ourselves off the deep end, shall we? I'd like to keep being a reasonable fandom.

[pineconepie]

How would Vincent(or any other ocs you'd like) react to a reader who's nervous around/scared of him? Maybe they refuse to speak or hide from them?

Octavian would be positively heartbroken. He'd try coaxing you out of your hiding spot with promises of anything you want (other than freedom).

He'd sit in the same room he knows you're in and if tempting you with foods or items don't work, he'll just calmly speak to you feel safe enough to talk to him. He'd be very patient.

"It's okay, sweetheart... I know you're scared, but its just Papa! I love you so very much, it hurts to know you think I'd hurt you. But that's okay... I'll wait for you to come around. We have an eternity, after all."

.

Vincent would find it cute at first. "Aww, are you getting shy, pumpkin? Only babies are shy. Its okay, I'd never harm a hair on your precious head!"

If it continues on for longer than expected, he'd grow more frustrated. You'd lose privileges (screentime, dessert, toys), and he'd be almost pleading you to tell him what to do to prove he just wants to be your dad, that he'd never dream of hurting you.

"How long are you gonna continue this?! I've done so much for you, and you're still scared of me?! Ungrateful little-- oh no. Nonono, baby, don't cry, I didn't mean it, shh... please let me hold you. Dad's sorry."

.

Indigo is confused. Look around you, do you really think he'd ever hurt you?? :( maybe its a human thing, maybe he's not being clear enough with his intentions. He blames himself for that. Maybe he needs to use actions rather than words to get the message through.

So he doubles down on his treatment of you. He'll swaddle you tightly like an actual baby, make sure all food he gives you is turned into mush to resemble baby food, and he'll refrain from using big words to you, but rather noises from his own species that are mostly just coos and clicks.

"Shhhh... no more of this hiding, little one. You've lived a life of such stress and constant fear... no more... I'll make sure of that."

.

Magnus is mildly annoyed, but not shocked. After all, humans are such anxious creatures sometimes, even if he doesn't know much about them. He doesn't like you acting fearful of him regardless, and each time he catches you hiding, he wordlessly drags you back to the nest and flies off again.

He's similar to Indigo in the sense he will double down on his treatment, only to get the message across further. He'll make sure you're constantly by his side whenever he isn't out, carrying you around, reminding you that he is your father and protector. Hurting you would be just silly, wouldn't it?

"I'd kill all the creatures in the world if it meant you were safe, and you want to act scared of me? If I wanted to hurt you, would I have gone through all this effort to keep you warm, protected, and fed? I'm hurt by your logic."

[beholdthemem]

Rae is such an unexpected gift for side-character-enjoyers. Like, the way I think most of us are used to it working is the side character having a few plot relevant lines every once in a while before being relegated back to set dressing. You take what you get at face value- character design, personality, anything that could be even vaguely construed as an outside interest- and work backwards to figure out a plausible backstory. Reasons why they're like this. Who are they outside of the main characters. And then with Rae, they just. Give us that, in canon.

There's no reverse engineering necessary. We get a little feel for what she's like as a hero/person, and over time the show drops just enough detail to explain exactly why she's like that.

Good enough at what she does to have qualified for Guardian-hood, but not quite as good as our center stage characters? She's been a solo superhero since childhood (years of practice without anyone else to rely on for back up) but for a small town in a rural area (never had to deal with threats/villains at a global scale).

Not seen socializing with the other team members when they're hanging out/having semi plot related discussions? Her powers manifested early, and as soon as they did, her parents made sure her hero career was her whole life- she's in her early 20s, and this is the first time she's actually had something approaching a friend group. She never got to practice casual social stuff with peers.

More serious than most of her same-age coworkers, even about small things? She's used to being the one responsible for everything. She does not get to make mistakes. Small scale threats are still threats, and she's grown up with the mentality that 'Nobody is going to take care of this if I don't, and if I don't get it right the first time, people are going to get hurt.'

Like, she doesn't get as much screentime as our protagonists do (naturally) but when she does show up, she feels like an actual person. It's nice.

[thenationofzaun]

"If only Season 2 had more episodes/if only the show had more seasons it would be better"

No girl, more episodes and seasons would have just been filled with more bullshit. If you were only saying this about S2 Act 1, I'd get it. But after all 9 episodes have dropped y'all are still saying this as if "rushed pacing" was the end all be all issue of this season?

Having more episodes wouldn't have fixed their garbage politics and horrible messaging baked into the show's very foundation. It wouldn't have fixed the glaring plot holes opened up by the idiotic flashbacks. Nor the juvenile Disney Junior "resolution" of conflicts (because the writers genuinely don't think Piltover's oppression of Zaun is that big a deal). Nor the terrible characterizations of most characters (how can more episodes fix Vi for instance, when it didn't even register to the writers that prison would have traumatized her?) It wouldn't have fixed the plot devolving into MCU avengers-assemble-to-defeat-the-zombie-horde drivel either. That was always the slop they were heading towards.

I think so many people have way more faith in the writing team than I do. They truly think that the only issue with Season 2 is that the writers were screwed over by Riot and not given enough screentime. That if they did have the time necessary, they could have fixed the show with their wonderful writing. But from what I see in season 2's limited screentime, it's the writing itself that completely lacks any maturity or intelligence.

Give the season 12 episodes, and you'd have ended up with 12 episodes of the same old nonsense, just with more meandering in between. Give the show 50 episodes instead of 18, same result.