#I hope it didn't get cancelled for doing what the network wanted or anything

[missmieux]

guys what if adult swim just picked Moral Orel back up like nothing happened and gave us the last two seasons

[yepthatsacowalright]

"Reality Takes A Holiday" as the finale for Eerie Indiana is so important to me and I'll tell you why.

First off, I'm pretty sure it was the first time I ever saw what a set looked like, what a script looked like, and how many people work behind the scenes to make a show. It got me curious to learn more, which then sort of altered the whole trajectory of my life, so that's a weird and fascinating to think about. Specifically, I really liked the fact that studio lots had golf carts, and one of my longest standing childhood dreams was to drive one. I didn't even need to be doing anything important. I just yearned to be, for a brief moment in time, a golf cart person on an LA back lot.

Then, years ago when I moved to LA and got my first ever production assistant job, I GOT TO DRIVE THE CART AROUND THE STUDIO! It was everything I hoped it would be, and easily the best part of that job. And that job, by the way, was at CBS Radford Studios. Which I remember even at the time thinking, 'Hehe Radford, like Mr. Radford.' Not realizing THAT'S WHERE THE CHARACTER GOT HIS NAME. Eerie Indiana FILMED AT RADFORD STUDIOS. I was living my golf cart fantasy at the EXACT SAME PLACE that I had seen and dreamed of golf carting, which is such a strange fact that I wish I'd known when I was working there because what are the fucking odds? But, to bring it back to the actual storyline of the episode (spoilers ahead btw), I love that there's the line, "'If he's not back by the final shot, the network's gonna cancel all of us!" Because Marshall writes himself out of the reality where Eerie Indiana is a TV show. So he isn't back by the final shot. And the network does cancel all of them. I love the implication that the town being a fictional place watched by an audience was just another part of Eerie's weirdness. That the brief time it was on the air was a blip of realities connecting and Marshall fixed it by choosing to go back. He and Simon continue their investigations, we just don't get to follow along anymore. It is the most satisfying ending to a short lived series I've ever seen, and I think that's why it's stuck with me for decades. It feels like an honest way to end something that no one working on it wanted to end. Were it up to them, they would rewrite the ending and go back, too.

[http-drabbles]

soulmate, soulmate where are you? 2

1.3k words of absolute crushing angst, it's 7am and i woke up to write. shall i be evil and let this be the final part? mayhaps.

warnings: s/h and making jungkook sad (:W)

fuck fuck fuck.

skimming every question and typing out my answer feels a lot like betrayal. name, age, country of residence, when my soulmate mark appeared, contact details, translator needed, agreeing to a declaration that if my soulmate mark was found to be fraudulent i could face a fine or jail time. i tick the box by his name, attach a photo of my mark and send the form off. the confirmation email is too cheery it makes my jaw ache at how i grind my teeth.

i don't want to talk about the circumstances that lead me to fill out that form, to apply for a loan that covers travel cost and a hotel for this. the woman who helped me fill out the form was again all too cheery, wishing me a good luck and all i could do was smile so fucking limply back at her while noticing lipstick smudged against her teeth.

a month passes and i'm gleeful, maybe it's a network error and my form never submitted. i'm free and can tell the loan company to cancel my plan, i don't go on social media to see what jungkook is up to and in those weeks the nightmare is over and i embrace my loneliness.

the email arrives at 16:21. heathrow to seoul, a contact at hybe will meet me at the airport. id needed. date of when i'm expected to actually meet jungkook, with a disclaimer that it may change due to fluctuating schedule. the tiger lily tingles, and i almost see the petals opening ready to accept him.

"don't get your hopes up, i can always email them back to get out of this."

i don't. of course i don't because i'm standing in a Costa in London Fucking Heathrow next to the hybe contact who is analysing their croissants like it's the key to end all misery. i wished i could look at croissants with that much intensity.

she asked once to see my soulmate mark, gave it a one second glance over and then typed something down in her phone, i wondered how many people she's flown with to Korea. more than ten i would bet. i don't ask, i'm not conversational but when we're waiting in the queue holding out boarding passes i blurt to her.

"i haven't flown before. i've got a fear of it i think."

she passes me a sleeping tablet and i bump her number from ten to a solid fifteen.

korea is pretty, face practically smushed against the taxi window i take in every single detail i can. there's an over-abundance of signs, low hanging wires and roads so tiny it's a miracle a car can pass through them. i don't take photos, i rely on my brain to remember and then forget.

hybe is anything but pretty, more like a grey lump of concrete and glass. i sign two more documents and the translator informs me that in two days time i will be meeting jungkook, but not officially meeting. more like my arm will be stuck through a gap and our soulmate marks will touch, i will have to wear a mitt because some people had become a little too excited and scratchy. my mark is thoroughly inspected this time, deemed official and not a tattoo i'm driven over to my hotel.

i don't unpack, staring at the forms in my hand which are a mix of korean and english i almost laugh. traitor. stupid traitor.

over the next two days i come to two big conclusions, one kimchi is too sour but the rice cakes should be considered a universal delicacy and two, is it too late to back out?

is it too late to back out? i'm in the taxi, i consider clawing the windows for escape but i decide that digging my fingers into my belly helps ease my nerves. can i back out? hybe is cold, the ac is too strong and there's other girls in the room i'm lead into. shy smiles as i plop myself in the back. we are called alphabetically. is it possible to back out? there's four of us left now, i didn't bother counting us as a whole. i can't stop digging my nails into my stomach.

i can't back out. my name is called and somehow my body removes the hand from my belly and i walk myself over to the room. there's a row of grey screen partitions that divide the room, a small slither in the middle presumably where my arm will go. it hits me jungkook is on the other side and i bite my bottom lip hard to avoid laughing. tugging my sleeve up a staff member puts the mitt on securely, another verbal warning to not do anything harmful to the artist.

artist and not his name.

i sit down on the chair, staring into that small space to catch a sight of him but there's nothing. i don't mind a fine, or jail time. i hope it's not real. deliberately slowly i raise my arm, putting it through the gap with my tiger lily facing upwards. the air shifts around my arm and i feel him. warm as his tiger lily presses against mine.

at first nothing, and i almost let out the loudest sigh of relief and then it is everything. in the mitt my fingers jerk, i pull away like i've been electrocuted clutching my arm but it's energy, pure energy. thrum. drum. drum.

he's tearing the partitions apart and i stagger back, nearly falling over the chair to get away from him. frantic korean, something more reassuring from a staff member and then he pokes his head through. beaming smile, he's so happy to see me and i guess i'm somewhere between absolutely mortified and in complete shock. his sleeve is rolled up and i notice his tiger lily has fully blossomed, a quick glance down at mine and i realise mine is the same.

he speaks again, approaching me like he wants to hug me but seeing that i'm backing away like a rabid animal he slows, contains himself and glances at the translator and back at me.

"hello. i'm jungkook. it's nice to meet you finally." oh god. too much. he's too kind and his cologne has infiltrated my nostrils and i'm so glad the mitt is still on because i'd be clawing at my nose to stop smelling it.

"s-sorry.. can't." i give the staff member who brought me in here the universal look of, 'get-me-the-fuck-out-of-here-now.' i am ignored.

"sorry?" he tilts his head in pure confusion, he looks worried. i hate him for it. "don't be sorry. it's okay. i'm happy."

i glance around the room and notice i'm being recorded, i don't know what sets me off more. he's too close, the camera, him, why is he so close? he touches my shoulder to comfort me and i jerk away, i can't stop looking at the camera and the other staff members who are beaming at us.

"i'm sorry," my eyes lock with his, "i don't want you." he doesn't understand and i glance at the translator.

she looks sad and very softly tells him what i've said, he doesn't seem to believe her because he presses his fingers against the tiger lily and shakes his head.

"us. this is us." he's struggling to speak himself and i can see him remembering. he's really looking at my arm now, clearer. the burns, the cuts. all the times i've tried to prune that cancerous flower from my arm. almost physically wounded he takes a step back.

"i'm sorry, i don't want this." the translator repeats my words and all he does is nod.

he nods and i leave.

[theliterarywolf]

So as a fan of indie animation, I've been so happy to watch the Lackadaisy backer kit raise a little over 2 MILLION DOLLARS to fund more work. That's awesome and I really enjoyed the pilot (and the comic) so I think they'll do good work

HOWEVER I noticed some weird drama getting stirred up on Twitter that seems to have gotten a bit tangled and frankly is really disappointing

So one of the Lackadaisy crew members I guess had been under a microscope for liking TERF-y rhetoric on Twitter and that was a whole thing. One of the leaders of the project is trans and they said they really think it was a misunderstanding/whatever. Of course people are still upset about it but I'm not sure how much the original person addressed it. I think that crew member was just retweeting a bunch of people that were defending her as not transphobic, not sure if she said anything particular in her defense

BUT THEN that same crew member also was weirdly catty towards Vivzie because when she tweeted about the Spindlehorse crew pooling towards a 5k backer tier for Lackadaisy, I guess Viv didn't include a direct link (although it was very clear what project it was).

Also I don't know how real these discord screenshots are but apparently that same Lackadaisy crew member was convinced Viv was only supporting the project to "get her claws in the credits."

AND THEN for whatever reason the Lackadaisy project rejected Viv/Spindlehorse's funding which Viv seemed confused about. One of the leaders of the Lackadaisy project gave this vague reason that Spindlehorse has done enough for indie animation but it's all really weird and feels rather unprofessional

I would hope they're not so blind to their friendship with their troublesome crew member that they'll stir up this weird unnecessary drama with Spindlehorse. Some Spindlehorse crew members said they felt really hurt by this behavior. It's not like Lackadaisy and Spindlehorse are fighting over a single spot on a network or something. . . they aren't rivals?? Idk

Like it's just so weird to me that yes, jesus, Viv is not perfect but so many people just seem to have it OUT for her I'm just genuinely confused

I'm going to go ahead and tag @topazdragoon since they were sending some asks about this as well but I was waiting to see if the situation would iron itself out.

The situation did not iron itself out.

But I'm just going to summarize my thoughts and observations on this whole situation with the following sentiment:

People who have the socioeconomic maturity of 13 year-olds should not be allowed to work in professional settings.

Because there should never have been this immature 'rivalry' between Hellaverse and Lackadaisy. The people working on the latter should have realize that 'hey, IanJQ was put under a microscope and nearly got cancelled for having a loli pic in his Twitter likes and he was a mainstream showrunner. How the fuck do you think people aren't going to look at your shite?'

When you apply for a job, especially in the creative sector, your sole responsibility from that point onward is presenting the project you're on in the best, SHINIEST fucking light like your breath depends on it.

'Starting incessant beef with creators I don't like' should be nowhere near that job-description.

And the fact that the latter team has had nothing but documented instances of someone on staff trying to start drama, someone on staff trying to start drama, someone on staff trying to start drama just shows that, despite dropping a technically sound pilot, I don't trust you guys with shit!

And the biggest signifier of this was the botching of Spindlehorse's donation to the Lackadaisy Kickstarter. 'Oh, I spoke to Viv about why we returned the donation in private', 'Oh, the BackerKit had a bad glitch', 'Oh, Viv only donated so she could have producer credit in another show!', 'Oh, we don't want the negative press from Hellaverse lingering around our show'.

Stop. Acting. Like. The Independent Animation Sector. Is Your Chance. To Relive. Your Middle School Drama Days.

If the situation was handled amicably in private, Viv wouldn't have posted the update about the donation being returned (even if the post she made was amicable). If the BackerKit had a bad glitch, you needed to fix it and remedy any understandings before it all burst into the spotlight. The donation was under Spindlehorse. Not just Viv, but multiple people from that team wanted to support another Indie project.

And, well, congratulations! Now you don't just have negative sentiments from the Hellaverse side of things, now you have to deal with the fact that, despite the Kickstarter being successful, when some people think of your bootlegger cat show, all they're going to think about are TERF-y middle schoolers.

[popculturebuffet]

Top 20 Animated Episodes of 2022 Part 1: 20-11

Happy new year all you happy people! It's that time of the year again for my top 20 episodes of the year list!

For those new, which is likely a lot of you as these things tend to blow up, every year I take 5 episodes max from every show I watched, as given both this blog's busy schedule and my habit of putting things off I don't get to everything i'd like to (Personal apologizes to Dead End Paranormal Park, The Cuphead Show, Transformers Earthspark, Mike Judge's Beavis and Butthead apart from one episode, and Primal), and pick the best. As for why not just do a top 10 , or as I tend to do 12, there's a few simple reasons.

1) Since this blog started with just single episode reviews of shows and it continues to be the blogs backbone, it honors what I do, and is a nice way to really single out the episodes that really hit the high points for a season.

2) Even when i'm hitting a LOT of shows in a year, I still don't usually reach 20, and even if I did it wouldn't feel like enough to make a proper list and 5 seems too few.

3) It's something few other people do , especially for animation, so it stands out more while still allowing me to reflect on the year in animation

Now that's settled, before we get to the list under the cut let's talk about 2022.. but first just let me.. mentally prepare myself

Okay now ii'm mildly prepared 2022..

On the one hand we got a lot of good content. In addition to those fine, critically raved about shows I mentiond I didn't get to I got to PLENTY of good animation this year: While Owl House got screwed over last year, it started going down swinging with it's best run of episodes followed by a special that's just shy of breaking 5 million views on youtube and made disney realize they fucked up real good. So with a new regime hopefully it won't bow forever next year. Amphibia did bow out with an utterly heartstopping finale, The Great North has reached it's peak, while they sadly bowed out Tuca and Bertie and Close Enough still had great seasons to close out on as they left us wanting more, and we got two utterly record smashing debuts; Smiling Friends which is still a sensation even now and is easily one of the best adult comedies in recent times, which is not the easy feat it once was, and Legend of Vox Machina not only continued Amazon Prime's hot streak, but proved to be a hilarious yet deeply integlent and compelling fantasy.. that still had a song about tugging a gnome's motherfucking beads, a goliath nakedly diving into acid, and one or four heroes going through a tragic arc that included an accidental pact with a vengeance demon complaning that his love intrest just yah'd him like a horse while running away from demons. There was a lot of fantastic stuff. And that's not even getting into the films I haven't got to or the one I have with PUss in Boots.

Behind the scenes though?

Yeah, let's start with the appitizers first; Disney continued it's slow march towards death, putting Turning Red on Disney+… depsite the fact that unlike the previous two straight to D+ orders, which were undrestandable.. they simply coudl've delayed it by a few weeks or delayed lightyear.. which in contrast bombed HORRIBLY in theaters. It also came out Disney gladly funded various florida senate members who ended up passing the contriversal don't say gay bill, which is beyond standard disney fuckups into a level of vile. Thankfully Old New Boss bob iger stepped in at the end of the year, so their might be hope.

Netflix also seems in flux: on the one hand they still put out lots of critcally aclaimed animation.. and on the other they keep canceling things, not knowing what their doing, so their fine.

Ironically though what caused me the most stress this year to the point I spiraled into depression in anxiety wondering if anything I did mattered.. was Warner Bros Discovery. After champinoing Cartoon Network and HBO MAx as a safe haven for animatoin, a great place, and generally great.. the celeing cave in, the floor gave out and what was left got set on fire, covered in spiders and some sort of hobgoblin who hates animation , diversity and sometimes it feels me specifically took hold.

That hobgoblin.. was Dave Zaslav, head of discovery, new head of warner brothers and absolute human nightmare. In the span of just a few months he canned two full movies, Batgirl and Scoob 2 and made it so they can never be finished or released, and that… just something so disrepectful to it's crew, moneywasting and pr headachey that it still lingers to this day (Mostly batgirl but even not carring about Scoob 2 what the fuck).. was him JUST GETTING STARTED. Over several months he took a fucking chainsaw to hbo max, cutting content left and right and leaving many shows that were either streaming only like Close Enough or hadn't got a dvd release like Victor and Valentino, Mao Mao and FAR TOO DAMN MANY to list, effectively homeless, the most galling to me being completely digitally delisting final space, TAKING AWAY PEOPLE'S ALRAEDY BOUGHT DIGITAL COPIES, and generally destroying the franchise… to make 5 bucks. I know he likely got more than that but come the fuck on. It is not an exageration nor slandar to say David Zaslav cares less about the company functioning.. and more about making money to the point he's just.. liscneding shows they had the rights to to other streamers. Which is good as at least htey wont be cast into the void, but it's galling to have someone so greedy even something as simple and to some actors VITAL as residuals makes him wince. He has done exactly ONE THING right in making James Gunn head of the DCEU and I still don't trust him not to step in and fuck tha tup for James, the viewing public and good taste because his track record is if it costs money

I wasn't REMOTELY joking about that anxiety attack. When someone disrespects your medium THIS BADLY , it makes you quefstion everything your doing. I came around realizing I can keep these things alive and keep him acountable, but it still hasn't been easy constantly wondering what he's going to do next to fuck things up, to fuck up possible retrospectivges or just generally make animation worse. He has been a waking nightamre and has single handeledly made the year harder. It was hard enough with Elon Musk's takeover of twitter (Which i'm on more now, you can find me HERE), republican garbage still rising up and making LBGTQ+ peoples lives hell, JK ROwling somehow getting even worse and way too many gutpunch celebrity deaths… but this year will be SO MUCH EASIER if Zaslav finally goes down. Please… WB get rid of him before he eats you from the inside. And you reading please.. dont' harass him. It won't help. You can call for his resignation, but please do so respectfully. We do not want to be ignorant yowling jackasses. Just be good people.

So this year was highs, lows and not so creamy middles.. but what shows rose to the top? What shows were the best? Or at least almost the best but not quite? Find out bellow as I count down The first 10, Numbers 20-11, of my top 20 animated episodes of 2022!:

20. X-Mas with the Skanks Adventure (The Great North)

"It isn't a Lone Moose White Elephant without someone running off into the night to cast something in the lake"

The Great North is as show I liked a lot last year and that has only improved with age, to the point I really wish more people talked about this wonderfully charming, bonkers little show. It has great characters, even greater voice acting and some of the most hilariously weird plots i've seen in a sitcom while still being grounded in the characters themselves. And season 3 is the show hitting it's stride, as while season 2 was pretty good (and we'll see an episode form that later) Season 3 has been the show's consitently best season, with such plots as the tobins minus beef getting addicted to an outback stakehouse style restraunt Beef dosen't want them to go to, a disaster drill that's dinosaur themed, beef inviting all his love intrests to a dance and all of them being fine with it once the misunderstanding is cleared up, the town deciding to have a man who carves wives for sailors cave a really , really handsome man to win a local yachting compettion, having to cart the local millionare to an island while the kids all go overboard on being rich for a change, and the tobins all turning on each other over beef's obession with the movie Enough Said. It's all great stuff, though what ultimately won was a premise smaller in scope but no less dumb, and just in time for christmas.

While the show's last Christmas episode was great, X-Mas takes it to a new level with a very simple, realistic but still hilarous idea: It's the annual Lone Moose White Elephant, which while bringing in tons of the towns great character from the easily impresssed Santiago Carpachio, the aptly titled Drama John, deadpan death lover and my adopted daughter Bethany, and the calm soft spoken Mayor Peepers, it also opens old wounds: As the Tobin kids tell Honeybee, several christmases ago the kids got one of those singing anamatronic dealies, you know your singing fish, bears, etc, the kind that annoy the heck out of parents if overused and the kind i'm sure most children have had at a least one point. I had a singing fish and thus deeply related to the episode of Big City Greens where Cricket bonded with his while trying to resolve his repeated attempted murders.

Skanky is no exception, a very weird x-mas tree that sings a christmas version of Mambo #5, shakes it's various balls that are supposed to be sex oragans mut make no sense as such and delighting the kids.. and slowly driving beef mad to the point he finally got rid of it last year. And given the Tobins turns had all passed, they coudln't get him back and due to a recall coudln't find one online. Granted i've never seen that stop someone from selling something online but still point is they were skankless.

Part of what makes this so funny is that normally the Tobins aren't at each other's throats: their one of the most loving supportive families you can see. As Honeybee evne points out this episode Beef would normally give his kids the shirt off his back "I've seen you do it multiple times when Wolf forgot to get dressed. " So seeing him both so throughly against something that makes the kids happy, while seeing them all so against their dad is a nice contrast, and is also nicely petty. I do love the close knit family we have here but sometimes i'ts fun to see the stupdiest things turn them against one another while still being plausable.

You can probably see where this is going as Londra, their boat neighbor friend and happily married lesbian, has returned Skanky from whence he came, as he's started to haunt her and with her partner gone, she had a chance. This leads to a bloodthristy game of chess as the Tobins try to out manuver beef, as well as various townsfolk who want Skanky, not helped by Honeybee understandably switching sides as Skanky is awful. Hilarous but I woudln't want him in my house. We also get a neat subplot about Moon and a pregnant reindeer that bonds him with his new friend and love intrest introduced this season so dat's nice. But the main draw is this hilariously stupid conflict. And while it does get a nice emotinal tie, Beef also ties Skanky to the fact he was all he could afford and ashame of him, it never looses the core with beef being ready to cast it into a lake at one point, and being quitely infurated as the kids get a twerking snowman as a replacement. This episode scraped onto the list barely beeting out vampire keanu reeves but it's townwide fun and the sheer werid specificity of this feud while still somehow being relatable got me.

19. Charlie Dies and Dosen't Come Back (Smiling Friends)

"Grandma what are you doing here?" "Oh I cursed and said DAMN in 1958 when your grandpa was shot by that ROTTEN burgalar!" "… well that seems unresonable I don't think you should be in hell for that."

Smiling Friends had one heck of a pilot last year, a hilariously dark tale of two colorful cartoon characters trying convince a man not to kill himself.. while said man has a gun casually pointed at his head the whole time. It shoudl not have worked as well as it did, but man it did helped by the bizzare quest of Alan to get his cheese back from some rodents.. and also find out why some guy is living in his wall but cheese first.

It's no shock then that when Adult Swim dropped the first season all at once early last year, it blew the internet in half, became a huge sensation and is easily one of the best comedies in Adult Swim's storied history. It can be weird as hell but unlike some adult sitcoms dosen't just throw weird shit at you, but uses it to craft jokes, to create contrast in general just to be great. And this episode is a great showcase as to why while also being a shocking bit of character development in a show that mostly sticks to just living episode by episode.

In this one, yet ANOTHER christmas episode (likely because the show was originally scheduled for late 2021), the smiling friends head out to get a tree and Charlie's lack of enthusastim for getting his job or damn near everything finally grates on Pim, who meekly but firmly approaches it. Charlie, being kind of an ass, explodes on him over this, makes a scene.. and then dies for his hubris.

He arrives in hell with his hellish bed, hellish tv and jeremy his helish source of entertainment, aka one of the best running gags in human history.

Just.. the animation there as the wind goes out of him… beautiful. Getting help from his grandma whose in hell for, as detailed in the quote, not the fairest reasons, and watching her deepthroat a lollypop whiel laughing manically, Charlie journey's through hell and finds Satan. This gag.. is fine. Like Satan being mad over a doordash is hilaroius, I won't lie but him just being an introverted gamer on his computer is thek ind of gag tha'ts just been done neough. You can do more with the devil being funny, just look at the Cuphead show this year or Futurama in the past. That said him deciding to just.. not help charlie after he makes him smile and jeremy getting his revenge helps.. as does the literally deus ex machina that saves him GOD VOICED BY GILBERT GODFREY, which is not only just.. brilliant casting but took on a LOT of extra meaning after his untimely passing not long after. He got to go out of his long, distinguished voice acting career playing god. You coudln't ask for a better sendoff.. nor a better ending as Charlie ends up on earth a bit less cynical and a lot less naked. He probably won't change, this isn't that kind of show.. but what this show is is deeply hilarious, creative and weird and i'm happy to get at least one more season of it.

18. Grandma Smugglers (Craig of the Creek)

"Your dad is an utter smokeshow and I say that with the utmost respect" One of my greatest regrets on this list was not putting Capture the Flag on here last year. It's why I took off the regulation that I had to watch every or almost every episode of a show to qualify. The special was a grand finale to the shows longest arc that also tapped into it's continuity so deeply it made me want to see what the nods I didn't recognize were about and got me to catch up.

That was well worth it as Season 4 may be Craig of the Creek's best yet. With the kingdom disolved, there's now more to explore, omar is now around full time and the show continues to be a nice comforting bit of greatness to dig into every few months when Cartoon Network releases a batch of episodes.

This episode in paticular takes advantage of things now that the other side is free by focusing on Raj, one half of the honesuckle rangers aka the show just casually having a gay couple that starts out as bumbling antagonists subserviant to a cruel dictator then quickly has them become some of our heroes most steadfast alllies.. who were weirdly absent from the final battle but hey the capture the flag game had a LOT of moving parts.

This time we see Raj's home life and it's honestly nice. He has a loving dad who JP can't help but comment is a total smokeshow (with all respect). Which..

He's also voiced by Danny Pudi who i'm delighted to see post-ducktales and I was happy to find out has a major role in earthspark.

Raj also has a grandma, a kind woman who moved here when there was no one to take care of her in her native india, and whose son is overprotective of her. He clearly loves her and the warmth between them just.. melts my heart and reminds me of my own grandmas. What's unique though is tackling the immigrant experince, growing older and generally a lot of things you don't see in a kids cartoon but Craig of the Creek does it's best to be represenative as hell, often showing off unique part sof the various kids cultures.

The core of this episode is also heartwarming as Raj wants to sneak his grandma out, hence the title.. but to see a waterfall in the creek that's similar to one she grew up with. It's a simple goal with Kelsey, JP and Mortimor filling in for her.. and failing badly turning it into a race to get there.. and allowing Raj's father to see that maybe he needs to ease up on his mom, still take good care of her, but let her enjoy her life. It's a simple, sweet story, the kind Craig of the Creek really excels at and in a list full of hard choices, this one was well… simple

.

17. The Core and the King (Amphibia)

"Don't you think it's time to say goodbye to those childhood friends of yours, son?"

Amphibia Season 3b.. was a mixed bag. On the one hand it was necessary to set up the finale, helped further Sasha's character growth and the post apocalyptic amphibi was kinda neat… but mostly it just felt like the series spinning it's wheels and ocasionally doing something to help set up the final conflict.. then making all of this near pointless by having the gathered army just.. give up in the third to last episode. As you can probably tell as much as I love the show.. it's one of it's weaker periods. So there weren't a ton of episodes from this that made the list but the two (technically four, and just with that you can probably guess which one made it to the next part of the list), that made it are some of the series best.

Core and the King gives us Andrias' hinted at backstory, why he talks about friends so much that even not knowing it.. both Anne and Marcy figured something was up seperatley in Marcy's Journal.

What could've been a simple tale of Andrias being evil and his friends having to turn on him.. we see it wasn't that simple. Turns out while Andrias people were indeed conquerers it was widely accepted. That was a shock to me, if not a suprising one: if you grow up your whole life thinking ransacking entire worlds, leaving them lifeless and hollow and keeping some of the surivviors just to study and make new advancments to conquer the next place is fine just fine, it'd be hard to question until something pushes it. Both Steven Universe and She Ra have detailed the deprogramming that'd take.

Andrias was indeed happy and had two friends, Leif and Barrel. Yes the same guy what made that neat hammer grime uses. Also Leif is very clearly a plantar, to the point Anne also called that along with us, and the finale confirms it. Not the most vital takeaway here but they were not subtle.

Things are fine though Andrias' abusive dad Aldrich, played phenominally by William Houston who apparnetly played a similar character in dark souls, encourages him to drop his friends. As it turns out being absorbed into the core was a tradition.

Things take their turn, and thankfully save the world from early ruin, when Leif holds the calamity box.. and gets a vision of the world ending. When she can't swaw Aldrich because fuck if he cares he'll just find another world to ravage and start over, she's forced to take drastic measures. And this is what makes the betrayal suprisingly layered and what makes this work so much for me: while we know Leif did the right thing, she still had to steal from her best friend, plunged the kingdom into darkness, and forced Barrel to make the hard decision to let her go. She did the hard thing.. but it didn't come without consequences, lost her everything and everyone she knew, forced her into hiding, and ruined her life for a while. She did recover eventually.. but as we saw in the finale it took a LONG time for that to happen. It's a soul crushing decission as no one wins and we knew no one would… we just didn't know it'd be this sad or not nearly as straightfoward. Sure Andrias is doing the wrong thing.. but he's a kid abused into beliving this is all okay, with no real choice to pivot from what his dad once who then had said dad and every other horrible ancestor he has scremaing in his head for the rest of his life. While it dosen't make what Andrais did REMOTELY okay, it makes him far more sympathetic than I thought possible, someone who really had no chice but ot become the monster he did and how simply not backing his friend up, for the understandable reason of not seeing her dreams, screwed him up badly. It's a truly harrowing well built episode that nicely sets up the finale.. I really wish there were more like it leading up to it but i'll take what I got.

16. Say It Again, Ham, Adventure (The Great North)

"I didn't want Drama. I guess I just kept coming out because I wanted one single perfect moment"

So back to the GREATTTTT NORRTTTTH and like the above episode, i've covered this one. See back in June Kev pitched me "Queer as a Fox".. which I sometimes put as gay as a fox because my brain is very tired. Point is it was a look at Fox's animated queer content over the years… with Simpsons mostly getting it right, Family Guy having either gay sterotypes or a transphobic diatribe that will likely be the worst thing i've reviewed for the rest of my career, and American Dad just being sorta

But for the finale I picked out the Great North, both to give us an even four and because it was the first one of these Fox Sitcoms to just come out, pun intended, and have a queer character in the main cast from day one and not have them be a sterotype or it be their whole personality. It's just there. Hence Ham, a loveable odd ball with a flair for baking whose always a moment behind everyone else and who comes out in the first episode.. for what's clearly the 80th time. While the crew could've just left the joke at that… they later decided in the back half of season 2 to explore this; Why HAD Ham come out so much?

So while watching a movie with his monotone but loving and kind if also frequently slow on the uptake boyfriend Crispin, about a racecar driver having to come out as gay, and also in a way that nicely lampoons various queer media that's just about screaming

Over and over. Ham assumes this kind of coming out isn't usual and while Crispin's wasn't that bad and his parents, while taking a second accepted they did light fireworks and have to pay massive damages over said fireworks. It then , while also giving us LOTS Of Fun ham coming outs (From using it as a suggestion during one of Judy's improv gigs, to Mayor Peepers annual silly wig party which has Ham in a sailor moon wig, to white water rafting), reframes it as Ham wanting more from his coming out. His family was simply kind, loving and supportive and while he liked that for such an important moment in his life.. he wanted a tad of gravitas.

And being a nice, supportive loving family (Even if Beef was going through some stuff in the pilot he still told him "And we love you just the way you are dammit!"), the Tobins gladly agree to help Moon stage a second more dramatic coming out by having come out to Beef's Cousin Danica. Danica.. is the worst in the most hilarious way possible, having not heard from the tobins since she Moon was a baby and she wrote on the back of his birth announcment "Please stop". She also has an entirley beige house and upon meeting her for this plan, which Beef while going along with is ready to pull his son out of if she's too hurt, tells Judy she looks like a floozy (Something Judy finds entertaingly insulting. )

Things quickly esclate though as it turns out Danica was hiding some thefts and holds the tobins hostage, minus Wolf and Honeybee who are trying to do a true crime podcast, and soon have to contend with Danica's basement, trying to escape, and the fact danica only has tvoed episodes of fraiser with commentary on them.

We also get two hilarious Chief's, Chief's Edna and Elba (one voiced by the wonderful kat dennigs) who are delightful as they are enept, and barely manage to actually pull off arresting her. Ham also has the revelation he dosen't need a dramatic coming out and it's a good thing his family is like this.. not everyone GETS to have a safe, sedate coming out and it's nice of the show to acknowledge that not every coming out has to be dramatic or traumatic for the person doing so and it'd be a nicer world if we had more soft acceptance like the tobins give. but also gets to have one safely with his family acting it out. It's a truly sweet moment with a very nice hug at the end. Overall an excellent episode

15. Clouds on the Horizon/ King's Tide (The Owl House)

"Watcha Playin?"

I originally had just kings tide but I realized these two.. are basically a two parter, similar to the end of the previous season. While the final quarter of season 2 is just one long narrative roller coaster it's these that bring it to it's end.. and prepare us to board the NEXT ONE for season 3, and overlap, even if both have diffrnet goals.

Our first half sets up Eda and the CATS plan to sabotage the day of unity, while Luz's , while first just seeming to be a sidequest to rescue her sweetie with her nerdy best friends who used to alwasy be beside her but had thigns to adress elsewhere but are now back beside her.. ends up being important.

On a character level after a season of putting up with Odalia's shit, her entire family rebels against her: THe twins actively try to help Amity sabotage her, and Alador is revealed to be badly domestically abused, working because Odalia threatned the kids otherwise, and stands up to his soon to be ex wife. We get the aawesome battle sequence you'd expect from that, as well as Kiki slipping further.. and slipping that the emperoror has a spy in the CATS and thus knows about the plan, leading to luz ducking away. It's an intense, fun episode with one big heartwarming moment, the second most cathartic divorce of 2022, and a hell of a cliffhanger.. to be resovled righ tnow.

I combined the epis because raelly they flow right into one another, being one big climax to the season and EVERYTHING it's built up, the first half finishing Amity's subplot, and tying in Kiki's slow fall.. and the next one containing every damn thing else paying off.

The first horrifying thing is that despite our heroes best efforts and another neat fight scene… Belos WINS. At least for a few minutes: Even as the rest of our heroes airship their way to be big damn heroes, Luz deals with Belos personally as with his genocide already on autopilot, and Terra and the other collabeerators thinking their getting paradise much like odalia finishign the job for him only to realize he lied and they'll die, he tosses the Collector into the bottom of his super villian lair and prepares to go off ot earth dellusional that it'll all be great.

The episode has a nice air of hopelessness as Luz DEAPERATELY tries to stave things off by sigil stamping belos, a clever big of using his own racisim and ego against him by playing up his need for a guide.. then has to fight a blob monster. It's an episode where, much like for most of the season.. our heroes are loosing. Their doing their best and without sigils aside from hunter (Who being basically human can fight it off easier I guess), and we get a great fight.. and a truly sad moment when Belos gaslights hunter again, but it's ultimately a loosing one: our heroes are good and we get to see just how far they've come across the series and season, with Luz using a truly awesome looking pheonix-esque x made of fire to kick thigns off.. but ti also shows how outmatched they always were: they keep growing, evolving getting better as people and as witches.. but their up against someone whose been getting worse as a person but even better as a witch for a century and who even without his magic has freakys hapeshifting powers and hulk strength.

The desperation makes King's decision to free the collector.. make sense: there was no other option: his mom was dying (even if rahne manages to cut eda's arm off before she completely dies), his friends and sister were dying.. this was his only option. And it shows that just because i'ts not belos.. dosen't mean the Collector isn't any more dangeorus showing that he's still a child in mind and body.. and using that to be twilight zone level's of terrifying.

The simple image of a child in wha'ts basically pajamas, holding belos attack with one finger and simply asking "whatcha playin".. is as aweosme.. as it is terrifying. This is a being who just had our heroes all but beat and has been behind everything.. and he gets swatted away with just two fingers like it was NOTHING and makes the collector approaching our heroes right after that much more terrifying.. as is their escape with our heroes BARELY regrouping ot earth.. and king once again making a massive sacrifice. While the collector stopped the spell.. the isles are at his mercy and our heroes are even more lost than before… with the very foe they just lost.. not as gone as they think. It's a tense thrill ride of a two parter that somehow manages to fliip the table again just in time for it to all come crashing down and I coudln't wait ot see how it goes.. and still can't wait to see how it all ends… still wish we had ore episodes what the fuck disney. But what we got.. holy shit will it stay with me for years to come.

14. Enchanted Forest (Smiling Friends)

"Which hand of the Witch hand will it be? Gahahahahaha!" "This is the most obnoxious thing i've seen in my life. "

Look sometimes the things that make it on these lists are terrifying showdowns with abusive genocidal assholes or god children. And sometimes i'ts an optimist and a lazy pesimist wondering through a fantasy forest that just happens to be in their town for some reason while acompanied by a rotoscopped hobit who wants them to deliver an IED to his Stalking Victim. Sometimes I just want goblins and refrences to my childhood. I'm a simple man. Okay that's a lie i'm a man who has about 80 intrests that fight for my head, an obession with keith david and who constantly refrences a comic strip more people need to hear of

But I do love this episode which takes a simple stock plot, Charlie dosen't want to do something (Something being quest in the fantasy forest their in), Pim wants to, Charlie ends up being better at it… and somehow weaves in comic gold like the hand witch (and her excellent chopping skills), goblins (one of my faviorite things and I do like how this paticular goblin shows up a decent amount. ) , and of course Mip, a direct rotoscoped parody of the Bakshi versions of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Do I love seeing this refrenced in modern day? Absolutely. Do I love that Mip has weird sexual tension with charlie, dosen't raelly break character and turns out to be an elaborate homage to Bjork's stalker?… yes and no respectively. Mip is really what makes the episode, though having charlie save some aliens and the suddenly grim ending dosne't hurt either. Not the most complex episode.. but sometimes an episode just needs to be funny and the fact they went to the trouble of rotoscoping a character just to get the refrence right shows Smiling Friend's craft: the animatoin is simple but can speed up in complexity, change styles or what have you just ot sell the joke or moment better. That and goblins. Always goblins.

13. Fate's Journey (The Legend of Vox Machina

"Faster Percy Yah Yah!" "I'm going as fast as I can, this carriage isn't built for speed and did you just Yah me?!"

Legend of Vox Machina was one of the nicest suprises i've ever had in animation. I had no real idea the adaptation of Critical Roll's first campagin was coming, and was only vaugely aware critical roll existed because Your Turn To Roll showed up in my spotify recomendations (And it slaps). So finding out that in the wake of invincible Amazonw as rolling out ANOTHER animated adult action show that looked like if James Gunn did a fantasy show.. I was intrigued. And after the first three episodes, as Amazon releases the show in batches of three, I was HOOKED. While it took me far too long to get to actually watching Critical Roll itself I fell in love with this show and while only having heard of two of it's voice actors before this (Ashley Johnson and Sam Rigel, Tulip/Lake and Donetello respectively), I became a huge fan of all of them after. Vox Machina takes a dungeon and dragons campaign and condensed it into 12 joyous episodes that still have the spirit of chaos of a campaign, while also telling a deeply compelling story of revenge, friendship, and scanlan's crotch. The series deftly ballances the tragic vengeful story of Percy as he edges closer to literallya nd figuratevely selling his soul for revenge with great character moments for all involved, and PLENTY of hyjinks from team bard Scalan pulling a distractoin by singing a song on tugging on his motherfucking beads while wearing a sparkly codpiece (One DIRECTLY MODELED on one of VA Sam Rigel's own costumes)

A planning scene where brusier Grog's plan is kill everyone including the guy their rescuing while Scalans is "Down a bunch of mystery poitions and hope I live, and Scalan's attempt to translate a book they got from their enemies devolvling into him and Vax giving each other two handed middle fingers. And of course the majestic game of ball tag, which starts at the breakfast table and escalates to Vax elbowing Grog in front of an offical for a 3 pointer. The series is a nice ballance of hilarious , heartfelt and generally horrifying, and it is awesome.

And while it's a bit of a thrill ride, having to pack over 50 hours of campagin into 10 episodes (the first two based on a pre-stream adventure that ends up being VITAL to the plot Season 2 adaps), it dosen't mean our team dosen't take time to stop and breathe and it's why Fate's Journey has stuck with me so much.

After a disasterous first encounger with the Briarwoods, the vampire and necromancer power coupled that slaughtered Percy's family and took over his hometown of whitestone and succesfuly enthraled the soverign of the land, our heroes are on the run out of town, minus their Cleric Pike (Whose reaffring her connection to her patron the everlight) and on the way to Whitestone to settle things. As a result we get a lot of nice character moments. Scanlan , despite normally being the extra horny extra hammy comic relief, tries to translate a book they stole from them, Grog, who sees pike as a sister, is morose over her being gone and convides in Vax and Vex, Vax's sister, tries to get Percy to open up and stop having a resting bitchface. We see both who our heroes are for a second, and see them truly bonding as more than just the only people who will loosely put up with one another.

We also get one of the seasons funniest scenes as during a relaxing campfire, the party recounts their weirdest kills: We get some badass ones with Vex casually killing Hotis which toally won't come back to bite him, Grog ripping a monsters jaw in half.. and some hilarious ones as Keyleth pushes an ogre into lava.. and then pushes him down while telling him to go to sleep panicked because he's not dead yet while everyone else looks on and horror and of course Scalan's.. is having a sex partner turn into a monster.. and still finishing.

That.. image aside, we also get a thrilling chase with Scalan getting kidnapped and sucking on a monster tentacle because of course, Grog being certain he wont survivie but heartwarmingly sad about it, and of course the greatst and funniest bit of ship tease in human history as Vex yahs percy as a horse and he undrestndably dosen't take it well. It's a relaxed episode that turns thrilling and leaves our heroes without any of their weapons.

The ending is also masterful.. in the most horrifying way possible. Earlier we see the briarwoods meet with some pesants seemingly doing some pr for their evil overlordship.. and at the end we find out WHY they, including a CHILD were invited…. as we see their bodies all hung on the sun tree in center of town dressed as Vox Machina. It's truly chilling, horrifying and I did not see it coming but man does it cut the bone even thinking of it now. I.. really don't have anything to follow that, fantastic episode.. next?

12. Any Sport In A Storm (The Owl House)

"Then there won't be any delay in branding you with Coven sigils and taking you away from your friends and family forever! Hooray!"

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME HUNTLOWWWWWW?

Yeah look I haven't hidden I ship this. I"m not a subtle person. It's why this guy is one of my spirit animals

So it's not a huge shock this one got on here, but it didn't just because a ship I started shipping before this went from "Maybe canon" to

In the span of one episode. This episode is a great character piece and thankfully spotlights both halfs of Huntlow well. After Willow spent most of season 2a gone, likely because Tati Gabrille is far busier than I could've possibly imagined, she gets one heck of a spotlight here that moves both her and Hunter's arcs forward, moves them together, and gives us a subplot with some Lumity that's.. fine. It's a nice little riff on fan theorizing and the azura thing, and it's ncie to see the two get a moment together that dosen't come with a lot of crap attached first. Just the two hanging out and being dorks.

But their not the dorks we're here for, nor why this episode is on this list. No it's the green and the gold for this one as Willow brings up a hithero unknown intrest in flyer derby.. basically a broom flying sport where you try to steal flags and beat the crap out of each other. You know for kids, and is forming her own team. At the same time in order to get the respect of an adult who hates him for something that isn't his fault because Hunter's life is a constant stream of abuse, brainwashing and doing sick flips, Hunter inflitrates the school.. and it goes how you'd expect

So when Hunter finds Willow, he finds a powerful prospect for the coven.. and someone who has the confidence, freedom and affablility he lacks, while she just.. straight up kidnaps her future boyfriend because she needs him for the team and while getting better at socializing still hasn't grapsed kidnapping isn't okay. Unless it is on the boiling isles but given Amity's reaction to being kidnapped and spit out by a giant owl, i'm wagering it isn't.

Either way we get adorable chemistry, a new power team/couple in viney and skara, and puddles the griffin.

We also get Hunter.. not understanding he was horribly abused and nearly consinging his friends to a horrible fate, standing up for them finally earning said adults respect… which like.. Darius man you really need to apologize for a.. .lot of things, and some good hunter blushing. All in all a good day for all. Horay!

11. Hellspital (Close Enough)

"It's a known fact doctors have killed more people than Genghis Khan and Chaka Kahn combined!"

Sadly this is Close Enoughs final time on this list as it was one of MANY casulaties of "David Zaslav wanted 8 more dollars", though it's for now thankfully avaliable to buy on youtube if nothing else. Why JG Quintel wasn't absolutely devistated I don't know, but it went out on a high with season 3 being fairly good. It also, while keeping a mixed ballance, fixed the one issue I had with season 2: there wasn't enough Alex. And Even then I got they simply needed to spread things out more evenly, so I wans't mad but boy oh boy did my boy get a great season, ending with getting Bridgette back but involving having his soul stolen by George RR MArtin, dating an alien tentacle monster instructor and of course going to hell.

The road to hell is paved with Childhood Trauma as Alex , after a golf course injury and on an all chili diet because of course he is, refuses to see a doctor after his dad went to the hosptial and got a terrible diagoniss when alex was a teen. Our heroes do everything in their power to not let his dumb ass die, but he ends up running away and bonking his head, but not before tons of jokes including him being tricked into their trap of a viking timelord marathoon (the season does manage his sudden obession with vikings that cropped up in season 2 after one joke about him writing a viking novel ins eason 1 work a LOT better without dominating his character this go round), despite having alerts for such an event, and nothing about it making sense only figuring out midway. Which is still good fo rhim

After hitting his head he end sup in a HELLSPITAL…. which is nightmarish as you'd expect, and well done at that, but gets heartwarming when Alex's dad decesnds from heaven, played by Henry Motherfucking Winkler who thanks to being in the upcoming season of Vox Machina has a VERY good chance of making this list two years in a row, and we get Alex having some heartwarming father son bonding with axes.. as well as the reveal his dad was sick a long time but simply didn't want to know he was.. and by the time he did it was too late. It teaches alex a hard lesson: that ignoring a medical problem because of bad news.. won't make it go away and the people who love you need you. it does so with time axes, demons and jabs at our awful healthcare system, but also with love. And gas which is what alex has. Chilli and all that

[erinthesails]

While I recognize logically that these are very different things with different stakes, I can't help thinking that this feels so much like when my undergrad college closed down. Like. My school was a historically women's college, which meant by the time I arrived that all trans and nonbinary people as well as cis women were allowed in. It was the first women's college in the United States to officially allow trans women. It was a 70% queer institution, and a place that has plenty of issues like all academic institutions, but was also a place where I know PERSONALLY that a lot of young queer people found community and institutional support for the first time.

Two years after I graduated, they announced they were closing. There was outcry and heartbreak and anger and more anger and confusion. Where had the money gone? How could this happen without public conversation, and without any indication of why this decision was made and to what end? People fought to raise money, raise awareness, do something, anything to keep the school open. Reached out to the board to see what could be done. Nothing worked. The board was intent on closing, didn't want to consider other options (or couldn't or wouldn't, whatever) and so, after over 100 years of existence, and after 40 years of being a little queer haven, this school closed.

It had sponsors, donors, students, professors who loved it. But it wasn't making enough money for the board, and so, despite everything we tried, it closed. Some big east coast school, known for frats and football, bought the campus and sends students there for semesters out of state. But it's not the same place it once was. And it never will be again, in all likelihood.

The cancelling of ofmd is different from All That, obviously!! But there's such a devaluing of queer spaces, queer stories, queer people right now that I can't help but see the similarities. I wish I had a better way to pull this connection together, to make it feel more okay, but it honestly doesn't feel okay, and I'm really fucking angry, still, about both of these things coming to an end.

But I will mention what other people have brought up here, which is that even with the show over, we still have these incredible communities and connections we've built around it. I was angry and upset when my undergrad closed, but in the wake of it was the realization that I had people to be angry with, who saw and felt and experienced how special that place was. I met incredible people there I still consider to be some of my closest friends! And likewise, ofmd has introduced me to some of the coolest fucking people I know!

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm pissed the fuck off but grateful for all of you and for what this show has meant to us. I'm still hoping we get picked up by another network! I'm not giving up hope on that yet! But even if we don't, or even if we get picked up by. I don't know, Spike TV, and the show becomes something it was never meant to be, like my old school did, I'm glad for what weve had and for what we'll continue to make together. And redoubling my commitment to support queer creators and stories and people at all fucking costs!!!!

[lovecolibri]

I love Buddie and remain hopeful about it all. But realistically I know the best we’re likely to get is an ambiguous open ending for them with both of them technically single. Maybe if we’re lucky, some sort of textual confirmation that they’re each the most important adult in the other’s life, but in the cop-out way where it’s “up to the audience’s interpretation.”

Season 6 has just wasted a lot of time, especially now that we know that they were teetering on the edge of cancellation and likely knew that for a while now. I understand hedging to some extent in hopes of not getting cancelled or being able to shop it out to other networks. But if you know the end is coming why waste so much time? Certain storylines are oddly truncated, and others are irritatingly drawn out for no discernible reason, and tbh there is very little irrefutable evidence for Buddie happening soon or ever. They’re splitting the difference by using symbols and details that the casual viewer is never going to notice or care about to keep a part of the fandom engaged.

I don’t expect them to directly contradict it either, the fan backlash would be annoying and while Buddie fans probably don’t make up anything close to an majority of the audience, they clearly need to be concerned about alienating any portion given the falling ratings and the (likely temporary) stay of execution.

So yeah despite initially getting caught up in the “this is going to be our year” hype, S6- despite its good moments- has actually done a lot to convince me that the studio and production team don’t actually want to commit either way. So yeah, hope lives on as always, but heavily tempered by a dose of harsh realism.

Oh guuuuurl (gn) I should have gotten to this before the finale because 😬😬😬 We didn't even get the grace of an open or even mildly ambiguous ending! They said "we been knew since before October and this is still exactly what we wanted to happen with everyone doing a whole lot of nothing and also, fuck Buddie as of the last 2 minutes of the show forever, these men are in love with *checks smudged writing on hand* Marisa and Natasha who you don't need to know anything about except that they are WOMEN."

Like DAMN ABC has some damage control to do, not even just with regards to Buddie but NO ONE was happy with that finale because a lot of them got tired of Buck by midseason and nothing in 6b helped that, so losing out on firefam stuff to wrap up his 75 plotlines didn't go over well, and the pacing was all over the place, no consequences for anyone after nearly dying and being seriously injured, and a complete reversal of any character growth for Buck or Eddie by throwing them with characters no one knows or cares about or, in Natalia's case, wanted to see any more of because their interactions were SO CRINGE every single time. It's season 4 all over again. Let's hope the network change can bring about some other positive changes because even outside the Buddie of it all, I need more for everyone else, I need better pacing, I need better emergencies, and I need the show to use it's time wisely.

[spaceorphan18]

Idk what any other Klainer thinks, but we know RM and if he’s doing a reboot then he’s going to throw shit at Klaine.

Especially if one (Darren) agrees to do it. I’m hoping that Darren cared enough about Blaine and Klaine not to agree to do any reboot if Chris is not involved as well. I’d be so disappointed if he signed up to a divorced Klaine plot or worse.

And I can’t see other such as Jenna or Kevin being happy with Klaine and Rachel being leads again, because they will want a reboot for their screen time, not others.

You guys - honestly, I get the fear, I do -- this is what it was like when the show was on. But I really don't think we need to catastrophize when things are just being kicked around as ideas. <3 <3

There are a lot of things that go into making TV shows -- would a network or streaming service even want it? Is it still owned by Fox (I believe yes) are they even interested in a reboot? They tried to cancel it and buried it on Friday nights back in the day. I'm not sure its worth the money it is to make it.

Does Ryan even seem that interested? Honestly - he seemed indifferent. He wants to preserve the legacy of it, but didn't seem bursting with eagerness at revamping it. And what does rebooting mean to Ryan? Or the people he'd get to work with him? Would be a Kevin and Jenna vehicle? Or something else entirely? Who knows -- and even if it was all based on the five minutes of coming up with silly ideas on the podcast, by the time it hit development, who knows what would be created.

I can say - what it won't be is the adventures of Kurt, Blaine, or Klaine. I'm sorry - I really don't see either Chris or Darren being interested in anything more than a cameo part -- they're further down the road in their careers, and just don't need it.

Besides, to revitalize the spirit of the show, they'd bring it back to a high school. I can see them trying to use a new cast -- and maybe Tina becomes a teacher? I don't particularly love that idea, but it's more probable than a lot of the other ideas kicked around.

(Would Lea come back? Idk - she seems to be distancing herself from the show now, especially with all the drama that's been around her lately. She and RM are still tight though.)

I'll also remind you guys - while RM and Co liked to dick around with the couples, but the point was always to bring them back together again. And he does know how special Klaine (and the other ships) were special to people. I don't think he'd ultimately try to undo anything.

But also - two last things -- First, until we get something that says -- Glee Reboot first season Starring Darren Criss (with no Chris attached) and that's all very, very unlikely, I'm really not worried about it. Secondly - if the show does get picked up for a season (in the likely event that anyone wants to do it) and it totally fucks up Klaine -- it doesn't matter. It really, really doesn't.

As someone who has read comics for years, and who has seen characters destroyed a hundred times over -- it ultimately shouldn't diminish the good stories we do have. Glee is it's own, closed book. And anything supplemental shouldn't change or tarnish that.

[thetiredstuff]

Oh shit are shows usually picked up quickly?

hi anon!! idk hahaha i have no clue how this business works. idk like last time i remember cancellations happening that made noooo sense were of lucifer, which got picked up by netflix & brooklyn 99, which got picked up by nbc. 911 got cancelled but it got picked up by abc before the news was even made public. and while i don't remember it well i believe b99 got picked up like a couple of days after fox canceled it (yeah just looked it up. b99 news got out may 10 and got picke dup by nbc may 11). lucifer took a bit longer i believe (just looked it up. it got canceled may 10 and apparently only got picked up by netflix june 15 so took more than a month?) those are the only two shows i remember getting canceled by one network and then getting picked up by another (or a streaming service) but b99 was incrediblyyyyyyy popular and already had 5 seasons. and lucifer was also really popular and had multiple seasons under its belt as well.

edit: okay so @sunglassesmish just reminded me manifest got canceled by nbc in june and then got picked up by netflix in august (lol why did i forget this? i literally watch this show??) it took about a month and a half for it to get picked up so seems like between now and about 2 months is the time frame we should be getting an answer butttt manifest also had multiple seasons already.

the winchesters only has 1 season. i mean it seemed to be doing really well on hbo max internationally and domestically so i would hope that hbo max would pick it up but i would have liked to already gotten that news by now.

on the other hand. both windy and kung fu were canceled and both the news articles about these shows state that WB had looked at other homes for these shows but didn't find any. the winchesters on the other hand by the looks of it is being heavily shopped around behind the scenes given that they started the hashtag campaign and also a lot of news outlets are writing about this hashtag campaign and cancelation. news outlets love writing about whatever but it makes me wonder how much of them are writing about it because they got a press release from WB and or CM which would be another indicator of shopping it around.

but they tried shopping windy and kung fu around as well before the news of the cancellation broke yet no biters. so i'm guessing this hashtag campaign is more so because there is a potential interested partner to pick up the winchesters, which i would guess is hbo (i wouldn't know where else they'd possibly go) and this campaign is like the final push to them to show that there is ample interest. or the deal is basically as good as done and this is just like added campaigning for their newly-required product which will then boost the products' numbers once a new season airs.

idk but i don't like this limbo and even looking at b99 and lucifer or other shows that got canceled and then saved by another network or streaming service, this is occuring during a writer strike. that throws a massive wrench in any plans for scripted television. (i am on the side of the writers tho!! fuck the studios whoarding money and not willing to pay that 3% extra and fuck them wanting to use AI scripts and fuck their day-rate writer idea). but when the writer strike in 2008 happened, it saw an uptick in reality tv because you don't need writers for that or for those who say reality tv is scripted, you don't need as many writers for that. it's why the cw is going for their fuck boy and fuck girl island show. it's cheap. so i don't know. this stuck in limbo shit while a writer's strike is happening and with studios being assholes makes me nervous because i love spnwin but moreover, spnwin is part 1 of what i'm sure is jensen's plan to expand the spn universe. but if spnwin gets canceled after 1 season and doesn't get picked up, it's gonna be a lot harder to make an spn universe.

but again i am saying this when i know nothing about anything

[mrs-bartowski]

I went on an impromptu sc/Kara rant (sorry @captainmarvel-danvers 🤣😘) that I now feel like I want to just go ahead and post because I had a LOT of thoughts after these last 2 eps. So, here it is (and yes I did just straight up copy and paste because I'm lazy...don't judge me):

They're truly setting us up for either the greatest joy or greatest disappointment of our lives and I both love and hate it 🙃😭 someone called it Schrodinger's Ship the other day and I almost died 🤣🤣🤣

I genuinely can't imagine they'd ever go through with it either but if they're not it's to the point where I have absolutely NO clue where they even could take it instead ya know?? Another post I saw was basically like "if supercorp isn't endgame, what has Kara been doing for the last 2 seasons" and I was like...shit, I mean, yeah.

She literally has had no major arcs outside Lena since the reveal other than her 5 minutes in the PZ that arguably took her character BACKWARDS considering the fact that she just...didn't think to mention the fact that her father lied to her and was complacent in the destruction of their home planet?? Same way she did when they found Argo and Alura?? 🙄

It's honestly just tiring at this point like their entire lives have revolved almost 100% around each other for the last 2 1/2 - 3 years and you're telling me your big, groundbreaking takeaway is "look how strong female friendships can be 😀😀"?

It's bullshit and they know it, but even still I don't see them ever having the balls to admit it because even if they DO become canon, that doesn't change the fact that they told us for years they never would while continuing to bait us...placating us in the last 2 episodes of the last season when we KNOW if you hadn't gotten canceled you never would have done it means jack shit to me tbh, I'll still hate them just as much and honestly maybe even a little more for all the bullshit they put us through for whatever little scraps they're bound to give us one way or another.

I can't even trust that we'll get anything other than a Korrasami ending if by some miracle it becomes canon at all, and that would make me want to burn the whole fuckin network to the ground with everyone responsible inside (not trapped...they could have a chance to escape...but I'd hope they didn't).

The only other thing I could imagine is if their big thing for her is what a lot of people have been speculating and she DOES reveal her identity, and if so they have truly and utterly failed as writers. It's one thing to rewrite an ending for the shock factor because you think it's a bad thing that people can track where your story is going and see the logical resolution. That's fuckin dumb, but at least there's some way to make it make sense because you're writing it after the main storytelling process.

This is literally the opposite tho. It's like they forgot to actually write a story for Kara outside of Lena because they thought they'd have time, so now they're scrambling to put her through something that makes it all make sense but you can't...do that retrospectively if you never planned for it??

Not that they care, consistency and continuity have never even been on their priorities list, but it literally makes no sense whatsoever for Kara to reveal her identity based on the story they've given us so far because they LITERALLY KILLED EVERYONE SHE LOVES IN THE ONE REALITY WHERE SHE DID REVEAL IT.

You're telling me that "every morning I wake up and I imagine this moment" speech she gave Winn suddenly just goes out the window because she's going through the 7 Allstone trials??

How does her own personal emotional and mental journey have ANYTHING to do with the threat of revealing her identity, because it seems to me that no matter what she's thinking or feeling, she will always know that threats like Lockwood exist and it will ALWAYS be too much of a risk for her.

And if it isn't...she's not Kara anymore. I mean, they've butchered her as it is, but her whole Thing is supposed to be hope and - while the easy way out is to make the moral of the story "trust in the good in people and have hope that goodness will keep you safe" or whatever the fuck - I'm not sure how you can rely on hope (or courage, humanity, dreams, truth, love, or destiny) to...stop the bad people that still exist in the world from killing the people you love???

Like there is absolutely no fuckin way you could ever convince me that Kara Zor-El - who watched the mistakes of her family literally destroy her entire home planet and almost everyone on it (not that the way they've written her would make you think she's at all bothered by that anymore) AND saw a reality where she revealed her identity and EVERYONE SHE LOVES DIED - would ever make the CHOICE to reveal her identity...just because.

She literally said it's her greatest fear for the people she loves to get hurt because of her being supergirl. That fear doesn't just magically go away, and it's not something that personal growth could ever remove because it's a fear and distrust of evils that you KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT EXIST and have SEEN your loved ones lose their lives to.

Even with LENA'S LIFE on the line, she hesitated. She never would have hesitated if any part of her would ever have considered revealing her identity unless she had absolutely no other option. And to throw all of that out the window because you were so busy baiting us that you forgot to actually give your lead any substantial character development??? It's not just lazy, it's a complete and utter failure as storytellers.

You LITERALLY had one job. And not once in five years have you done it right. So, I'm just gonna try to enjoy the moments we get and imagine all the fix-it fics and fanvids we'll get once this shit show is finally over 🙃

TLDR: If supercorp doesn't become canon, Kara doesn't have a reasonably planned out ending, because all of her growth in the last 2 years has revolved entirely around Lena; furthermore, if Kara's main arc turns out to be revealing her identity, the writers will have failed in every sense of the word, because not one iota of her on-screen experiences or development has suggested that she'd ever reveal her identity unless given no other option, and no amount of internal growth could ever remove the external threat that keeps her from doing so.

[femslashspuffy]

okay so i saw your rant about lesbian media and i hope it's okay to kind of add onto that? if not that's totally fine, just disregard this!!

but i TOTALLY get it. lesbian media is so sparse and any time there's any newer shows/movies/etc, it NEVER gets the attention that mlm stuff does and it's resulted in so many things getting cancelled or disregarded by companies and networks.

for instance first kill was just a silly little vampire show but for lesbians!! and i really liked it and hoped and prayed against all odds that netflix wouldn't cancel it but they did anyway. and i'm not solely blaming consumers or anything because as a society there is definitely a bias and wlw content is almost always ignored or more harshly critiqued in comparison to mlm content. like netflix pretty much refused to acknowledge that first kill even existed, other than maybe one singular instagram post - compare that to the many posts about heartstopper, there's a noticeable pattern. it's just so upsetting and disheartening and even if that wasn't a problem in itself i don't really have any friends who regularly engage in wlw media or ships like i do and it's kind of lonely, you know? like even though i have friends in the community i'm mainly the one going on about lesbians and wlw things, so i just wanted to kinda say that i totally get it :/

Yes thank you! First kill was part of what I was thinking about with that post. I watched it and it's not my favorite thing but I like it for being lesbian media and it got so much criticism it's crazy.

Like not to pit two bad bitches against each other but I feel like it was a lot like heartstopper and I didn't really like heartstopper but a lot of my friends watched it and enjoyed it and then I tried to talk to one of my lesbian friends about recent lesbian shows and she doesn't watch lesbian media.

And I can get it sometimes but if you're not gonna give league of their own a chance because it's about lesbians but a few months ago you were fawning over our flag means death it just feels sad

And then I find all of these good and bad lesbian movies and no one seems to care as much as I do. My best friend will watch them with me but he's a bi guy so he's not doing it in the same way as me and then the lesbians I do know also aren't watching it

[fucktheroyals]

Not me remembering that Eric Kripke put destiel parallels in Timeless too (as well as the boys) and then finding out Sera Gamble used parts of Destiels s6/7 storyline for her otp IN HER SHOW.

Something fucking stinks. If y'all wanna tell me they all don't ship it I think you're gonna have to tell them that but also

I CANT FUCKING TELL IF THEY DIDNT PLAN OUT THE ENTIRE THING (just because they planned it doesn't mean the writing is gonna be good) WHAT ARE WE IN FOR. THERE'S TWO FUCKING EPISODES LEFT.

I absolutely refuse to think they planned anything from s8 on during s4 however if they were fucking planning to do it (make destiel canon) the entire time i might just die. IF THE SHOW WERE CANCELLED AT ANY POINT WOULD THEY JUST HAVE GONE FOR IT. WERE THEY REALLY LYING TO US THE ENTIRE FUCKING TIME WERE THEY REALLY FIRING MISHA FOR GOOD IN S7 OR IS WAS IT SOMETHING ELSE TO THROW US OFF THE MARK. WHAT IN GOOD BLOODY HELL. AND DONT TELL ME CARVER AND DABB DONT SHIP IT LOOK AT DABB'S PILOT AND MOST OF HIS CAS EPISODES CARVER LITERALLY WROTE IMPORTANT S4/5 EPISODES IM GOING TO EXPLODE.

and don't come in here like "well they could have done it earlier, they're cowards" nope u don't know what ur talking about network television is the hardest shit to get rep on depending on the time and the company and a whole bunch of other shit. Every single show has to fight for rep. Dean and Cas having the characters they do it would be hard to get anywhere let alone under all the circumstances they're under. If Speight said he was surprised we got JUST that scene because of network TV not wanting to take risks but we all suspect that we really are going to get Deancas..... the lengths they knew they would have had to go.... and that was 10 years ago when it was a lot, lot worse. If you watch She-ra (the Netflix cartoon) you'll know they got THE GOOD lesbian rep on there and what did it take? Making sure their love was integral to the story. So I repeat.

WHAT ARE WE IN FOR WHAT ARE WE IN FOR WHAT ARE WE IN FOR WHAT ARE WE IN FOR

I dont wanna get my hopes up and I'm kinda not because this is all speculation and I'm thinking I'm crazy. Cas confessing didn't stop making us clowns I will clown till the last moment possible.

my true speculation is they were purposely just writing romance until season 8 or during it when they would've put a plan together. 😤 well find out im wrong probably but gotta put my giant clownry somewhere just in case.

[dirhwangdaseul-archived]

I have more thoughts on The Shipper actually and for the love of me I hope it's the last time this shithole of depravity occupies my brain anyway...

I don't think it was a damn accident at all that this show came out as it did, I don't really think anything about it even raised flags with the fucks in charge of the slate of shows of GMMTV.

The thing that is fucking me up is that all of the show is backed and presented without any criticism or nuance, "it's just fiction" is what the show screams to me.

It is, it's just fiction, but there's not that many people that would actually brush off the show without absorbing something about it, and the thing is: this damn show, as most BL shows are, is marketed towards kids/teenagers, this damn show always had that market as their target; and the themes of the show for this demographic were incest/body swap/pedophilia.

One of the "disgusting secrets" of a teenager, Kim, is that he's having an affair with his 39 year old teacher, a fucking child is fulfilling the fantasies of a fucking pedophile and nobody batted an eye. Khet, Kim's brother started having thoughts about his brother in a sexual way because the soul of his crush was trapped there, not one person batted an eye. Repeatedly the show had the Angel of Death, a fucking millennium old being, sexualising and making lewd comments about the teen boys of the show, at every single opportunity presented.

The body swap repeatedly was used for the teenage girl, Pan, inside Kim to further her own agenda (her fucking ship and thus the manipulation of Way, Kim's best friend) without regards to other people, this was criticized, and it had consequences, but for the most part they had to with who loves who and not actual care for the surroundings of Kim's actual life. And in the end it didn't matter because GMMTV really saw on the script, two brothers kissing and gave it the go, as well as reading that the Kim was gonna die anyway, so fuck the homosexuals too as the cherry on top, a bisexual boy is left behind, and Kim in question was nothing but a tool.

Incest, pedophilia, and homophobia at every damn turn and with no criticism and I know this show isn't actually LGBT, I know BL shows aren't actually LGBT because in the end they cater to teenage girls who only care about the ships they can get out of these shows and the people they can fetishize for it and GMMTV banks on it with no goddamn problem or care. But the fact that this shit made it past them because they just wanted money, the fact that everything about the show has not been criticized or even warned about, it's trash, it's low sick brainrot.

I hope whoever wrote this shit burns.

I fucking hope they burn because in the end regardless of it being LGBT, the damn show is equated with boys in love, because of the fact that it has gone without criticism, I have seen more people accepting that the show was fun and cute and had some "lessons" while they ignore the glaring problems of the show that make for most of its damn foundation, incest, pedophilia, homophobia.

two blood brothers kissed

the angel of death, a whole adult, sexuality harassed teen boys

a teen boy was having a sexual fetish relationship with a teacher two decades older than him

a teen boy died without ever exploring his sexuality

a teen boy that just realised his feelings for another boy, and now he has to deal with the dead of that fucking boy instead of celebrating his love

I'm just going in circles but what can I do when people are excusing this shit, when people for weeks excused this shit, like fuck it, fuck the fandom, the reality is that this garbage is produced because people don't tell these networks exactly where the things are wrong, it's not about canceling anyone since you sick fucks probably think that this post is about that:

It's about demanding better from companies banking on gay couples to at least give the minimum of a fuck and stop equating being gay with INCEST, PEDOPHILIA, AND HOMOPHOBIC TROPES.

Everytime we don't actively denounce this shit we're being compliant and accomplices to that kind of behavior and its acceptance and you might be thinking, "well that's not me", and you know what? Fine, that is true, but what about other people around you, you think it's a few of them? You really think it's just one or two people brushing off the three biggest issues I found on the show? I would not be making this dumb useless post if that was the case, the reality is that is not one or two, it's thousands and much more, and it's not entirely The Shipper's fault. The reality is that this is the culmination of the BL fandom standing behind rape tropes, adults going out with teen boys that are basically just discovering themselves, this is about consent really and the loose definition of it this fandom has that has allowed precisely for the writers being heard by these networks and thus that's the kind of work that gets published, produced, and monetized.

Idk why at this point I'm writing this other than to get it out, I just wish people actually gave a fuck because we can't expect better content if this is the kind of thing that is accepted without criticism just because a network gave it production and talent, it has got to stop, these failures affect the perceptions of gay people and specially on teenagers who are just looking for taboos and connection to fulfill them. Like fuck this show shouldn't have been accepted the minute any of the things I've listed happened but no every damn week they either were brushed off or given treatment of something desirable and sexy and hot, and fuck it's enough, no one in the BL fandom is free of this sin because this is precisely the kind of epitome of bullshit that could be expected the more the BL fandom allows for abusive tropes to happen, these networks will really see gay and think taboo, don't forget they're companies, as long as it makes money and the audience permits it, they will use worse and worse tropes to sell their bullshit.

Mark my words, and don't let them equate gay with immorality and lack of consent, enough is enough.

PS: @GMMTV

[benjaycaptain]

awesome! i've figured out what i'm going to do for your gift. excited to start working on it!

i like to see a lonnie with layers. she likes dressing girly, she's very caring and considerate, but she believes she should be able to do everything the boys can do. not that she wants to be an army general or anything, but she likes to prove that she can do things lmao

yesss i loved how they had her be curious and unafraid of the villain kids. and when she became their friend, she was loyal to them and didn't want her friends to be sent back to the isle.

oh good. after i sent that message, i was worried i was a little too harsh about mal/evie. i don't hate them. i've just gotten pretty tired of the ship and there's so many better evie ships out there imo lmao. yeah, i have gotten a little tired of that other ship too. i don't mind it as much if i see it in a fic, but i don't go out seeking fics where they are the focus.

ooh i hope you get the chance to sketch on christmas break! i don't really get a break for christmas, but i am taking a couple of days off work, which will be nice.

i just got the devastating news the jatp has officially been cancelled. so fandom's ideas for s2 are the only ideas we'll be getting. 😭 i'm definitely going to have to find a good s2 fic to heal my wounded heart. you have the best taste in jatp characters. those are my faves too. i go back and forth on luke because sometimes i just love his energy, other times i just don't care as much. and fandom has ruined reggie for me (and the most popular ship involving him). i'm just gonna stay in my corner enjoying willie/alex lmao

i can't believe we've just got one more week til christmas. i am totally not prepared lmao. what's your favorite christmas-themed tv episode or special (of a show that isn’t christmas-centric)?

- gifter anon

oh yeah definitely like layers to characters. i just meant i didn't like the abrupt shit that d2 did for her, you know? i liked her just fine as is in d1, and i wouldn't have minded a legally blonde type of thing with the swords like a "what, like it's hard?" as she showed her skill, but for her to go full on she-warrior type of mode was a little disappointing

but still! i do like lonnie xD she will remain a fun character to play with, and she should probably be used more than she is [i say as if i read fic lmao]

oh no trust, you are completely safe with speaking "unpopular" opinions or whatever with me, mostly because i am the king of that apparently always lol a lot of people find it funny that i wrote and am still writing my trash fic the way i am because i am so very much indifferent to the two main "gay ships" of the fandom as well as carlos, the fandom darling, as a character. but like. it's fine, as i am capable of keeping characters in character lol

well, i say christmas break, but really i only have four days off, but! i will be teleworking from my aunt's house until the 7th, so i'm treating that as a whole break away from my home lol but i'm still hoping to maybe start sketching again

and you've just now given me the news that it's officially cancelled. i wish i could say i'm surprised, but i never trusted netflix after they cancelled dark crystal age of resistance. they simply just don't care how well a show does with either gaining fanbase or awards. so i knew what i was getting into the moment i decided to watch jatp

maybe another network will pick it up, maybe it's just over for good. either way, i still love what we got

and i know!! i still need to make cards lmao AND OH GOSH i think my favorite christmas themed episode has to be comfort and joy from justice league!! i love it sooo much especially j'onn and clark my boys!! got damn i am such a dc girl at heart, and everyone even dc themselves can pry the dcau from my cold dead fingers

oh, also, the episode from hey! arnold as well. i remember crying lmao

i'm excited to see what you have in store, nonnie!

[masslessobtrusion]

This was the last conversation I had with Lauren before she passed away...

It’s unedited besides some names and cities. Lauren It hurts me and stresses me out and triggers me to know you're high right now and I just celebrated my 90 days completely sober from everything yesterday and I want to cry and because of that i can't talk to you for my sake and well-being because this is the first time in my life I have put myself first and I feel great except I'm stressed out now. It's nice to have a sober support group to help, but still ?? Lauren I can't talk to you because I cry and it threatens this great thing I have right now and want to hold on to Ryan I've actually been clean. I'd rather have you as a friend than be high. Lauren That's fucking awesome!! But I need time still and I'm learning patience too Ryan No one talks to me, everyone cancels their plans on me, just because I told them about it. I really need a friend. Lauren It's hard to see you and very confusing and uncomfortable I can't talk to you. Ryan what if I flew you to ****on august 26th. no access to anything and the maywether/McGregor fight is on. the pool is heated, it feels awesome I'll do anything to have you as a friend. Going to home was a nice change in my routine. rollcall is banned forever, markets went down. There's no getting anything. Lauren All I can say is if you want people in your life, open yourself to the idea of AA and get yourself a sponsor and find a way to see what the program is all about past the God stuff. Because what it's really all about is a bunch of fucked up people who have lost everybody and everything getting together and making friends and supporting each other. You will find friends and support through AA. Lauren That's all I have to say. Bye. Ryan Hey, please don't do this. I'm totally good. So many people cut me out of their life. I stopped benzos and kratom is down to one small spoon in the morning. i'm lifting weights. I'm feeling good about uber. Lauren Join AA. Ryan ok Lauren not that you join. Just go. Every day. Ryan if that's what you want me to do to be friends with you. I'll do it. Lauren You will find people. Ryan I don't really want people like that. Just my old friends who don't use. Lauren That's what it will take. AA. Just keep going. Ryan I'm glad it's helping you. It is, right? Lauren More than anything. I have legit friends now and most of all I have support for anything that's bothering me Ryan I figured this would happen. But was hoping that you could not cut me out your life. I won't do anything to hurt you or your sobriety. I promise. Keep me at a distance for a while. But please don't cut me out. Lauren I stay away from guys like they suggest because of 13th stepping Ryan I saw your new fetlife. ?? Lauren AA has changed my life. And no, I don't believe in God. Ryan But I'm glad you're not getting 13th stepped. Lauren I have to until you're completely sober and have a sober support network through either smart recovery, na, or aa Ryan Could you be my support if I need it? I don't care about drugs. I just want a friend to bullshit with. Lauren I can't because men stick with men and women with women for distraction purposes Ryan and you've been my best friend for a long time now. I don't care if you have a boyfriend or you're getting tied up and stuff. Lauren Do AA. You'll meet people and see them everyday at meetings. Its nice Ryan I like you so much. It would be devastating. I'll do it. I have a pinball tournament tonight and am possibly meeting up with arielle, her boyfriend, and ashley. But feel like they'll flake. But I'm still playing pinball. I'll go to a meeting ASAP. I promise. I mean it. Lauren It would seriously be the best thing you ever do. You'll thank me, I promise. But you have to keep going even if you think it's a crock of shit at first. People start off going in pissed off all the time until they start to realize it helps. Ryan I'll probably do NA though. The way you're talking feels like you've be indoctrinated into something that excludes people. I'm glad that you're safe and being healthy though. but i want your friendship. It's pretty much the most meaningful thing to me. and to lose that. I would have nothing. I've been hanging on, waiting for you all of this time. I want to be a positive influence for you Lauren I wouldn't say that. I would say check out both. I've found the people in AA are better but na is more relatable People in na tell more war stories so it might be a better place to start off because you'll have stuff to talk about. Thing is though more people go to meetings high than in aa Ryan I met a new girl too. Nothing serious. But it's a confidence boost. And you're still #1 to me. Lauren All I can tell you is that If you keep going every day you will meet people you can relate to and who will be there for you Ryan actually, I probably won't see her for a long time, because she's moving. okay, I love you though and want you to be my best friend. What's the word? Standard? Just, no matter what. Always be available to me. This attitude that you have is good. You're in control and you set the rules. I'm okay with that. I don't want to be abandoned again. It's the shittiest feeling. and I don't want you to say it's selfish. Lauren I'm available if you get sober because once you're sober, in order to stay sober it's a good idea to avoid people who are using or drinking. It makes sense... Ryan Because you're the only person that really knows me and one of the very few humans that will talk to me. Lauren sober Ryan would be like the Ryan I first met biking... trail running... Ryan I didn't do anything bad. I won't in the future either. Lauren POSITIVE. http://www.*****.org/meetings Meetings | ***** Area of Narcotics Anonymous The 8888Area is part of the *** Region of NA with meetings in ***, Brighton, Longmont, and Louisville, Nederland, and Westminster. ********.org Ryan guhhhh, my cardio sucks, but I've been lifting dumb bells and push ups and I gained some weight. I'm like 155-160 Lauren it sucked when you first started doing it years ago but you got past it and felt great! I remember. You were so confident! it's such a relief to hear you're on the right path Ryan shoulder pain still controls me. Lauren really. Ryan yes. Would you want to go to STL with me next month, get an airbnb? or I could fly out there? Lauren Here. Go to the Longmont one at 7pm tonight while it's still fresh from talking to me http://www.*******.org/meetings/wednsday Ryan and you can see me being healthy and sober. I have plans tonight. Pinball and possibly friends. But definitely pinball. Lauren I'm going to be at the halfway house next month. I'm staying with my uncle until a space is available it's a tournament? Ryan yeah Lauren then go tomorrow http://www.*******.org/meetings/thursday Ryan and i wanted to see if arielle and her bf wanted to get happy hour sushi before. Lauren seriously, ignore everything "god" and just meet people Ryan and ashley said she would hang out and smoke weed with me from a guy she knows that grows and she bought a bunch. but everyone flakes out. Even Robin did for camp dick, planned it 2 weeks ahead. Then he tells me his friend is having a going away party that weekend a few days before. Lauren well I hope everything works out Ryan I'll go tomorrow. Lauren let me know how it goes otherwise don't message me because it'll just make me sad ?? Ryan cool well, not the sad part but yeah, i'll do anything to keep our friendship going. Lauren you're going to meet people. that's what I think is going to be the best and when they ask if anyone's there for the first time... introduce yourself as Ryan and say it's your first na meeting ever Ryan okay thanks for the tips, anything else? Lauren people will come find you and introduce themselves. it's cool how friendly people there are. because they remember what it was like yeah... hang around awkwardly afterwards or bum a cigarette from someone and talk to them if no one comes to you lol Ryan If I do well and meet your expectations, can we hang out? people don't even talk to me at pinball. i hate it. sooooo many times, i start talking to someone and they just start talking to someone else Lauren maybe once you have some clean/sober time under your belt Ryan 15 days so far Lauren that's what's so cool! addicts love to talk to other addicts because they're blacksheep too no alcohol? Ryan i drank at my parents less than they did Lauren dude I found not drinking at all has helped with my mood SO much. just saying for me. Ryan I don't really drink alcohol though. Lauren i know you're going to meet people who are a lot like you I think you'll be surprised Ryan that's a possibility, but really. I'd rather just not have anything drug related in my life. Lauren "hey I'm Ryan. I'm an addict. It's my first time at any kind of meeting like this" Ryan I'm going to check it out though. Lauren thanks Ryan You'll be safe in St. Louis. Lauren it's going to be a while Ryan and we could watch the fights Lauren one step at a time. Ryan well, should I sell my vouchers then? Lauren yeah Ryan :( Lauren or find someone else because i can't go Ryan that was a little dramatic of an emoji Lauren oh lol Ryan but i just wanted a sad face Lauren got it Ryan so, how is fetlife? Lauren I have to go but I'll let you know I just chat with people and still haven't met up with anyone Ryan it kind of worries me. Lauren the tail pic is from my friend Richie who we webcammed with the one time (first kiss/high school friend) it was casual. Ryan doesn't seem like a sober living thing to do. But I suppose it's your rules. Lauren yeah, I'm more looking for a girl Ryan nice want to see the girl I've been hanging out with? Lauren no dude! Ryan ok Lauren hah ouch. talking to you hurts me enough Ryan oh Lauren but anyway I have to go Ryan I didn't mean to do that. I got the feeling that you didn't care. Ok, so, can I still talk to you and stuff. I'm so lonely. Lauren I just can't help but want to help you feel like you used to and find friends shit i'm so fucking up you really can't ?? Ryan I don't want rehab friends. I want hobby friends. Lauren it's part of my treatment plan and stuff that's not even AA related Ryan cool, I like hearing that you have a plan. Lauren yeah. i'm just doing what they tell me because i don't ever want to go back to drinking like i was a couple months ago or shooting dope obviously my decisions don't exactly work so i'm letting them make decisions for me... weird as that sounds. but it's working well so far ?? Ryan then don't talk about it until you're good at it. awesome I just hope you don't get taken advantage of mentally or physically. Lauren nah, i'm still ultimately in control of my life Ryan you're my #1 human. I don't want to lose you. I'll go tomorrow. Let you know about it. Lauren anyway, i can't talk to you for a while. but do the na/aa thing to make sure you stay sober (the counting days part is kind of cool too) and then we'll talk in a couple of months. but go everyday as something to do and a way to socialize and get out of that apartment Ryan a couple of months? why? I would never do that to someone. Lauren because i'm still fresh and easily stressed and because i want to make sure you're committed to this sobreity thing Ryan who is asking for help and it's me Lauren i'm letting you know it's what I feel is best for me it's a couple of months. it's not a couple years. Ryan okay, but I'll support you too. Lauren you can randomly message me with how many days you have Ryan I feel like, just empty. i knew this would happen. Lauren if I don't respond don't think I don't care... know that I'm seriously smiling Ryan my intuition, you know it's legit. Lauren you've got this . Ryan we're no different than the hundreds of stories I've read Lauren now go out and meet people! *hug* Ryan I'm willing to support and help you with whatever you want. Lauren bye Ryan You're giving me a "god bless" like southern women do when they really mean something else. it's not necessary. fuck now I have absolutely zero people who I thought care about me. I've reached out to so many people. This isn't helping anything. If it were, I would tell you. You're super hot too. I don't think you realize how much of a difference that makes. Why not make me go to a reddit meetup or something, maybe I could network instead of focusing on drugs with current and former addicts. I've always disliked other users. You know this. Just bringing up counter arguments. annnnd Ashley just flaked out, didn't see that coming. Arielle flaking out should happen in about an hour. I may go camping by myself, just not ask anyone to go, because they just flake out 9/10 times. Dude, I have no one to talk to. and I want to talk to you. I'm going to go crazy talking to myself, without you responding. Can we set up a schedule to talk? Ryan I'm telling you that this hurts me. It does. I hate being abandoned, not invited and flaked out on more than anything. I feel kind of used too. I was there for you all of this time. All of the phone calls. And then I'm abandoned when I'm doing what I consider good. Those people are going to tell you to tell me to fuck off. That's what makes me think about cults and seperation. It's black and white. And I'm not black and white. so, i'm begging you, whatever is in your head. Just treat me like you used to. Please, I'm desperate as can be. So, can we set a scheduled time, so there isn't random ghostings. annnnnd Arielle just cancelled. Lauren And this is why I fucked up in talking to you. Now I feel guilty and stresses out. Learn patience. Good. Bye. Ryan What did I do? I'm asking for help and friendship. I'm being nice as can be. Am I not? Tell me what I'm doing wrong, so I can learn from mistakes. and im blocked wtf, you really just unfriended me? Lauren? please I would never do this to you. You don't feel like it's wrong at all? i'm just going to cry and remember that everyone treats me like shit. I'm some worthless piece of shit. So I deserve to be treated like one. I would never ever treat you or anyone like this. Lauren I blocked you then realized there was a take a break option then unblocked to do that but realized,you can still message me and now I have to wait 48 hours to block you So please let me take a break! Ryan Don't block me Lauren For my Fucking sobriety This is why they tell me not to talk to you! Ryan why, even think about it. I want you to be sober. I'm being supportive. Lauren I'm stressed as fuck now You're NOT! Ryan Yeah, they do that to everyone. It's like a cult. Like I said earlier. I've read hundreds of stories. But you can make exceptions. If you have a friend in need of help. Lauren You're making me feel guilty and stresses and cry because you're not letting me go for a while Ryan I'm not asking for much. I said I would go to an NA meeting tomorrow. Lauren Just PLEASE stop messaging me For me. Ahhhhhhh! PLEASE. Ryan I just want you to respond or have a certain timeframe of when you can respond to me. Otherwise I get upset. Lauren I. don't. Know. Ryan because I have NO ONE to talk to. absolutely no one. Lauren When you're 90 days clean and sober from everything, ok? Use meetings to help Now please Let me go This is killing me Ryan It doesn't have to be so black and white. I'm on your side and you're treating me like an enemy. I've always been on your side. I want to help you. Lauren Because you're being an enemy to my sobriety and my well being and it's selfish. Ryan I didn't do anything. I sent you pictures of a dog and told you77777 that I'm sober. I was being happy and stuff Lauren Leave me alone!!!!!! Don't talk to me. Ryan ok9 Get some sober time and then talk to me. But don't talk to me now. Thank you Ryan I'm fine and the most sober I've been in a long time. it's not a competition. but i will look elsewhere for friendship, or just cut myself or something. This sucks either way. I'm not going to be your enemy. Because I'm not and never will be. I just lost my best friend of 3-4 years. The closest friend I've ever had.

[booasaur]

It'll be kind of devastating if Two doesn't remember anything from her Rebecca period when Shaw has such a small survival window. Like, if she ultimately gets all her memories back and series end how cruel would it be that she remembers she was face-to-face with Shaw one last time(s) and didn't hesitate to walk away. Hoping they do flesh out this storyline a bit more. I'm also very interested to see how Rebecca transitioning into Portia.

I hope it wasn’t too awful, what changed her. Like, I’m sure something pretty awful is lurking behind Alternate Portia’s attitude, so I don’t want to see a whole lot of cruelty and trauma.

Oh, I didn’t even think about that first part till you said it. That would be very tragic and angsty, aw. They deserve better than that! But I don’t really know...sometimes something so major happens that you can pull back and see it more for the decisions writers/showrunners/producers/networks are making behind the scenes than the characters’ story, if that makes sense? In this case, to bring in this major f/f storyline, I don’t really know if simply having it exist in the past is enough and going forward they don’t give it enough thought or care so that the possibility you mention could even happen? 

The showrunner mentioned there’s still a lot open but like, you know, that doesn’t ensure anything, and the show could get cancelled, and we know from history that it doesn’t even have to be deliberate, when it comes to f/f stories, the treatment is so different and can be so lacking. I think...I hope, at least, that we will definitely get some more Shaw and Rebecca interaction, but Two remembering would be such a major shift in the show, I don’t know if they’d go there anytime soon, if ever.