#Take it as silly or as serious as you want S2

[kelptea73]

Welcome back gamers today were going to be counting down the top ten best shades of grey so let's just jump right into it

At number 8 we have slate, the somber grey of the stone. She's up on roofs god bless and she's taking the raiinn. Slight blue tones but with the rain, folks slate grey

At number VII we have Spanish grey. En honor a que es gris español, voy a escribir esta parte en español. Desafortunadamente, no sé nada en español, así que confío estúpidamente en el traductor de Google. ¡Soy un idiota! ¡¡Yay!! Gris español para todos

At number 10 we have, *sighs* we have charcoal. Now I know what you're thinking, "that's not a grey, that's like, black or whatever", and yes! I agree! Precisely what I was thinking my good fellow. Alas, upon my research of searching 'names of greys' online, they assured me charcoal was a grey. So I shall air my grievances with everythinh to do with charcoal, right her right now, for your inconvenience. Put simply, it's entire existence is centered around its death. Of course, it was still spectacular. A spectacle to be sure, ablaze with passion and vervent worship of the energy it's giving to whatever cause. That is in the burning of wood, but here we have it's body not blessed with the returnal of ashes. Here we have a disgraced corpse. You it up and then drag it across a page. It scratches horrible as it tries to cling to any further life it can provide. It rasps horrible across the surface as it tries to give one last chance of legacy. It's horrible. It feels horrible it sounds horrible and whatever you can achieve with the humble pencil you can achieve with charcoal. "But," you interject, "it was first. Artists of time forever used this ancient technique to envoke their feelings and experiences. This enough should surely be enough to make you grace it with the amicable tone one would give politely to a respected figure who, despite your grievances, is a beloved member of the community." You're probably right, as you are with most things. Alas, the sheer abrasiveness of it is enough for me to loathe it. Charcoal grey folks. The embodiment of human power, the domestication of fire.

At number nine, we have gainsboro. Quite frankly, I don't want to say I hate any colour. Hating a colour is a fruitless endeavour, as the image of colours coming together to show something else is much greater than the sum of their parts. Let us play specific situations for stupid little arguments though, a game everyone is familiar. Paint. Imagine painting a room with gainsboro grey. Why would you do that to yourself like it's lifeless on its own. "Ohh but I live the minimalist nature of it, cleanliness is next to godliness and everything." I can understand the appeal of living in a hotel but that's your own home like, you're not going to have someone else changing your sheets for you but you're still going to have to suffer the same poor decor and cuck chair in the corner. Anyway. Gainsboro grey, kinda lame on its own.

Number 6\6 let's see here, getting to the more epic ones. This may be cheating but going to put amorphous grey here. It's more so a texture from what I can find but it's neat. It's like a ps1 texture spread out into a rug it's lovely. Give it up for amorphous grey she exists in multitudes

5 number, first of its name, cadet grey. Such a wonderful colour, a wistful coll toned grey. If I was painting a room a single colour I would much happily rather it to be enshrouded in cadets grey instead of the tyranny of gainsboro. Better than it in every single way, it's like mornings in winter, still full and dreary but with something to reflect upon.

Number 4, trout grey. I was wondering why I was spelling it wrong for ages typing this, there's a u. Not troat. Anyway. Troat grey, what is there to say other than it's epic. It's even hot a fish in the name that's the pinnacle, the summit, the holy peak of radical names. Troat grey reminds me of a classy trout showing you his studio apartment that he just got done up. He gestures to the record he's playing, the classic by Takao Uematsu, straight ahead. He tells you, "Yknow good chum, my cousin is on the front of that. Haha small world out there." "Your cousin's a salmon?" "yeah, it's a long story but he's a good man at the end of the day." "?" "?" see? A lot said, but nothing was spoken. He's a man of means and layers, such an intriguing figure.

Number 3, ash grey. Ash grey is famous and bewildering, she's enchanted us with her looks for eons. The embers twinkling in her hair as she reminds us what comes at the end of the day. Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust. Unlike charcoal, she's the result of something finished. No half measures. So silky and smooth. About the journey, not the destination. She will always be there for you once it's done. She's so famous in fact, that they made a whole series about her. She features much in the hit series dark souls, among many others I'm sure. A celebrity, yet she's so huble about it. A queen forsooth.

Number 2, anchor grey. You stare into the depths. That's anchor grey. Stalwart and strong. That's anchor grey. Conjuring up images of the pure weight and majesty that could hold a ship in place. That's anchor. The essence of all metal, and the standard it should all strive to uphold, anchor metal. Ever seen an anchor beached ashore? It's massive and unimaginably heavy. Should a something within a room be painted with such a grey, it would command attention. It ensures reliability. That's anchor.

And finally, number 1, we have Payne's grey. The grey that inspired this list in the first place, Payne's grey has taken hold of my imagination since I first encountered it in a watercolour paint set. "Payne's grey is a dark blue-grey colour used in painting. Originally a mixture of iron blue (Prussian blue), yellow ochre and crimson lake, Payne's grey now is often a mixture of blue (ultramarine, phthalocyanine, or indigo) and black, or of ultramarine and burnt Sienna. The colour is named after William Payne, who painted watercolours in the late 18th century, who most likely developed the colour while trying to produce a mixer that was less intense than black. Payne's grey was deemed an obsolete term in the early 19th century, but is still used by artists today." quoth the Wikipedia. Such beauty and versatility. It's beautiful AND useful, no one could ever hope to have the best of both worlds as does Payne's grey does. Function and fashion! Splendid colour

[variousqueerthings]

okay I watched good omens s2 yesterday with my partner, and I was genuinely very surprised -- I think if you've grown up through superwholock/merlin/the 100/teen wolf type shows where (with the exception periodically of doctor who) you kind of had to make up the good show that something could have been in your head, that colours a lot of your viewing, and to be honest I thought season 1 of good omens was a fine little piece, honoured the book while modernising it somewhat, it was a nice, fun, low stakes time, with a couple of things I might have wanted a tad different but nothing overall awful.

so I was seeing all this meta and gifsets and discussion, while I was waiting to give s2 a watch with my partner and thought "ah, people have made up the good show in their heads again" not that I assumed s2 was going to be a bad show, but that people were taking extra deep plunges into possibilities, the way fandom does, and that was fine. I knew there was a big ol kiss, I had a sense of some kind of argument at the end, and that it was setting up a s3

I also knew that mainstream reviews were calling it (politely) self-indulgent and dependent on whether or not you enjoy david tennant and michael sheen having a good time for just under 6 hours

all in all, expectations of a somewhat mainstream show without too much to think about, a nice, fun low stakes time, moving on...

(EDIT: AND THEN I WROTE A LOT OF WORDS SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT MY REACTION WAS QUITE DIFFERENT)

as it turns out it seems these things that were being written on tumblr were discussing the actual text of the show and not things you could extrapolate if you squinted and tilted your head a little to the left as I'm so used to doing, so in fact there is much to think about!

and my first thought was "this is like when you read early discworld books that ask a question like a joke, only to find that over time the answer to that question becomes very serious (and also can be funny at times of course)." how terry pratchett would pick and pick at tropes and notions and social ideas and go "oh now hold on, this seems strange..." starting way back when he thought it was odd that women warriors always seemed to be dressed in metal bikinis and then realising he hadn't done a good enough job of subverting the trope, simply by depicting it and calling it a bit silly

why do goblins always get treated as the villains? what's with this divine succession of kings business? where are the female dwarfs? who do we treat as disposable?

good omens season one went: "haha what if heaven and hell were intensely incapable, bureaucratic, corrupt, and uncaring of the work they did, and we took an angel and a demon and had them actually care? wouldn't that be... a bit silly?" (and it was)

good omens season two went: "what are the consequences for caring when the people who have power over you are incapable, bureaucratic, corrupt, and uncaring? what are the forces that supersede systems built on fear, ignorance, and violent conformity? can people change and break out of/challenge/break down these structures by caring?"

and this was set up with a neat little sleight of hand (to reference aziraphale's switch-and-bait in the episode with the nazi zombies), because the majority of season 2 does feel a bit indulgent: hey, remember those two wacky angel-and-demon characters? watch some more wacky things they did through the ages, watch them take a sojourn through 1827 Edinburgh and do a magic show during the Blitz, and... stop the death of Job's and Sitis' children (actually maybe that whole segment ought to have been what they call "A Clue")

see them try to figure out a kooky mystery, all the while setting up a cute little same-gender romance on their street. watch as everything points towards a happy ending that's all about the two of them realising what they've been to one another all these thousands and thousands (and thousands and thousands) of years- but hold on. lest we forget - and the show has made this point over and over - there are powerful people who control them, who hurt them, and who plan on hurting others, throughout the whole season, and as it turns out they know what they've been to one another for far far longer, and know how to pull their strings...

season 2 then, has to show us these things, not because they're indulgent (well, maybe occasionally, but the apology dance is still important), but because in order to make the ending a tragedy, we first need to understand, properly, the impact that they have had on each other. we need to understand that Aziraphale relied heavily on Crowley to be his moral compass and leaned on black-and-white thinking in order to deal with things, because if it's all grey then where does he fit and what has it all meant and heaven has to be the good guys, even as Job's and Sitis' children are ordered to be killed, it's all he ever had...

and Crowley was always an anchor, needed to trust that Aziraphale was different, needed to bend to every whim that Aziraphale has, because otherwise what's his worth in all this? After having been already deemed worthless by the heaven that Aziraphale needs to believe in?

and that, simplistically described, is the narrative that we're seeing in s2, and alongside that the ways that the changes they have upon each other are noticed, and monitored, and placed under suspicion, and finally... broken up, not by the clumsy, brute force that's been attempted over and over again, but by a promise to return into a violent, controlling system and to "make it better from within"

and all of this is wrapped up in two queer relationships + a third queered-within-the-text relationship that creates the inverse of how it ends for Aziraphale and Crowley (so far). queer love -- whatever shape that has -- is explicitly the shape of non-conformity within this narrative, including within the symbolism of angel-and-demon love of Gabriel and Beelzebub, which in the context of the systems created is considered queer (and one can argue till the cats come home about casting cis actors, about angel-and-demon notions of gender/romance/sexuality, but the "queerness" comes from building something non-conforming to the systems they exist in), and enforced by the explicitly our-world-definition-of queer romance that Nina and Maggie have going on (which, while less high stakes, still contains the background controlling relationship that Nina initially is in)

all of this to say, that I disagree that s2 meanders, or that plotlines happen for the sake of showcasing Aziraphale and Crowley without purpose, or that characters get sidelined (I'd say it sets up a whole host of interesting characters to further get into actually), or that it's strictly mainstream easy-access narrative that's just an excuse for the main creators and actors to get back together.

the love is the point, and this show takes its time to show the love (and the unequal boundary-setting, and the fact that one of them has an undiscussed tragic backstory, and the desperation to belong again, and the fear instilled by oppressive systems, and and and), so that we understand why those last 15 minutes happen the way that they do

it's sleight of hand, and like all good magic, you don't notice until it's happened

[yarrystyleeza]

Happy birthday tomorrow Yuna! Hope you'll have an amazing day ❤️❤️

As for a request... When I saw you would write for Daryl, I knew I had to send you something. Season 1 and 2 Daryl lives rent free in my mind, so can I please request:

"when they tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear while you talk" and "brushing against each other, even if there is enough room"

Thank you in advance and again, Happy birthday 😁❤️🎉

Awww thank you my love, sorry for answering this late, hope you didn't mind it, it was stupid of me! 😅💖💖💖

I was stuck with the plot of the request for the last two months until last night, I literally wrote this in less than 10 hours lol 🤣🤣🤣 hope you enjoy it, though, and sorry for keeping you hanging! 💖💖💖 You're so welcome and thank you for dropping this request and for the birthday wishes! 🥰🥰🥰

Little Things (D.D)

Requested by @munsonownsmyass

Pairing and dynamic: Daryl Dixon x female! reader, idiots in love

Prompt: fluff, s1!s2!Daryl, tucking hair behind ear, brushing against each other even if there's enough room + petnames for the cherry on top!

Word count: 1.4k!

Writer's note: I loved writing this one so much! As you lily, season one and two Daryl is my favorite Daryl era (beside S8). Not 100% proofread but I hope you really enjoy it, have a great day! <3

"Hurt y'self, little thin'?" He teased, watching you lying on the forest bed after your foot faltered and slipped you into the bottom of the hill. Your brows knitted, you rolled your eyes, he chuckled at the face you made, "alright, I'm comin'."

He slides down, smoothly, and a little bit pompously—with a smirk on his face. You can't lie—he made you smile though you desperately wanted to punch him right in the face.

He offered his hand to you and you accepted his help. At first, he let you wrap your arm around his neck as he walked you towards the hill exit—but as it turns out, you sprained your ankle so bad it was impossible for you to take another step. He scooped you in his arms and carried you back to the quarry.

And that's how you met Daryl.

You can't admit he wasn't a pain in the ass most of the time—if not always, getting on your nerves and driving you up the wall, it was so constant you started thinking he was doing it on purpose.

It kinda was. Daryl had serious troubles with conveying his emotions, and that idiot had a sickening crush on you ever since he saw you at the camp with the girls. He wanted your attention and he only got it when he drove you mad, so he tooled it in his advantage.

You were his favorite. You're the only one he talks to—other than his brother, Merle—and you, too, are the only one who wants to talk to him.

You too had a crush on him. His silly fights and bickering became more amusing to you—sometimes you couldn't even contain the smile drawn across your face when he's mad about something so stupid and could be fixed in complete silence, and when you gave him your smug face—it always drove him insane. You learnt he's quick-tempered, but these ones were visibly made up just to get a chance to be with you.

Daryl reminded you of those little boys in the playground when they used to ruin the girls' sand castles or pull their braids and ribbons just to get their attention. Ever since you came up to this conclusion—life has never been easier!

But things changed a little bit after the attack on the quarry. Daryl turned from only being a hot-headed idiot to be completely protective of you, but that doesn't mean he stopped getting angry—God forbid he does! But he got more reasonable and collected—around you, at least.

As soon as you got to the CDC, he grew closer to you, more friendly, more worried, more caring. He barely slept the night you spent there, checking on you every thirty minutes to make sure you don't need anything—despite you being a wall apart. It was adorable, and it stirred something in you.

Same night at dinner, right before you went to bed, he sat beside you as you dined, he made sure your plate was full and that you'd eaten well because 'it's been a while since you got a decent meal', he says.

And in the middle of the chaos the following morning—he solely cared for you, and not a thing was going to stop him from smashing Dr. Jenner's head that morning if it wasn't for you calming him down.

The two of you escaped in his pickup truck. But despite the horror you had just fled, you couldn't stop stealing glances at each other, Daryl was focused on driving but you spotted him staring at you with soft eyes a couple of times. Both of you blushed, multiple times—vividly, but you couldn't stop. Something was so amusing and sweet about the way he was looking at you, and you were so tempting to him he couldn't stop staring at you even if he wanted to.

Now, staying at Hershel's farmhouse, Daryl turned out to be that sweet lovey dovey guy who'd absolutely melt under your touch—in complete opposite to the face he's been showing to everyone.

As you went out to search for Sophia, Daryl offered to accompany you. He kept brushing arms with you, pumping into your side, and gently holding your biceps to guide you as you walked. He kept putting himself between you and any threat, not letting you shed a drop of sweat—you were almost a passenger princess, but on foot.

But it was very obvious the night he got shot—your heart dropped when it happened, and when you learned it was your Daryl and not some misinformation. You couldn't watch as they took the bullet out, you couldn't watch him screaming in agony—yet you heard him from behind the door. It tore your heart into pieces.

The night fell as you sat on the chair next to his bed, your head dripping every couple minutes as you drifted in and out of sleep. Your head was heavy as a rock sinking in the ocean—yet you kept fighting Mr. Sandman back, shaking your head and rubbing your eyes and patting your face.

"Go to bed, pet," he softly demanded, "ye're tired from sittin' here all day," he extended an arm, gently placing it on your thigh and squeezing it chastely, "ya need some rest."

You shook your head, "I'm fine, Daryl," you shrugged, "it's not like it's the first time I stay up late."

Both of you stay silent, staring at each other with soft eyes. "Climb up in 'ere," Daryl says, his voice was tinted with plead "at least you won't have to keep droppin' yer head like a sippy chicken."

"No, Daryl," you shook your head in utter refusal, desperately trying to show him how awake you are despite craving a warm bed, "you need your own space. What if I accidentally hit your wound--"

"Come on, pet, you know you won't..." he softly smiles, shaking his head. You sigh and climb into the bed with him and he shares his blanket with you. He turns to face you, the moonlight is perfectly casted upon your faces, his blue eyes sparkled and reflected you like a looking glass. He grazes your cheek, tucking your stray hair back behind your ear and his fingertips linger on the skin of your neck.

"Get some sleep, love," he caresses your hair, "I won't need nothin' when ye're right next to me."

You woke up tangled up in his chest, it was warm and peaceful. You never wanted to slip out of his arms—if it wasn't for Hershel coming over to check on him and the men accompanying him.

Daryl got better as the days gone by. You started to see him in the kitchen fetching some biscuits or chips, he'd pump into you on his way out, brushing arms with you and glancing at you with his blueies and a smile. And if he's in the right mood, he'd take you off guard and peck your cheek, and you'd turn red and try to bite your smile. He caught it had quite the right effect on you, and he's been doing it ever since.

"Let it down, pumpkin," Daryl flirts as he snatches the scrunchie out of your hand as you tried to tie your hair, "love it when it's coverin' yer pretty face, gives me a reason to keep tuckin' it back."

"But we're going on a mission," you protest, "it would be dangerous for both of us!"

Daryl takes a run around the golden field and you chase him—but he overpowers you and you stop running, panting and clutching your chest as he giggles. He mischievously walks back closer to you, so you try to take it back, but he's taller than you, stretching his hand up with your scrunchie and shaking it to tease you. "Ya ain't tiein' it today, darlin'."

"Give it back!" you giggle as you jump to reach for your scrunchie, but he keeps stretching his arm above his head.

"Ye look so cute like that, pumpkin," he pulls a smug face as you lean forward against him, your chests compacting and you're an inch away from kissing.

"You could've told me you wanted to kiss me," you tease, not minding that he lowered his hand back down. He tucks your stray bangs behind your ear, ending up doing what he wanted to do all along.

"But it's more fun to watch ya tiptoe and lean on to me like that," he rounds you with his big arms, pulling you deeper into his chest with a Bastard smirk on his face, "it makes you even prettier, pet. These little things you do."

Likes and reblogs are appreciated, thank you for coming to my birthday sleepover celebration! 💞💞💞

[justkeeptrekkin]

I think Aziraphale was planning to make a move at the party.

so I went into good omens s2 actively looking up spoilers because I couldn’t cope with watching it and not knowing what the end of the season would have in store. 

I therefore found it REALLY interesting seeing how Aziraphale behaves at the start of his party, considering I knew how he responded to Crowley. 

One instance we see this is how furtive and coquettish he is when he tells Crowley to ‘wait and see’ (seen below). Like there’s a surprise for Crowley, as well. It’s actively flirtatious.

This is the face of a man who is *bashful*. This is a teenager before a school dance. He is excited about Nina and Maggie and nervous and he is living variously through them, of course. I also, genuinely, think he was planning something to do with Crowley. Like, this is the face of a man who has thought to himself, ‘I’m going to show Crowley how I feel about him, and he doesn’t even know it!!!” 

more under the cut:

Then of course we have the DANCE SCENE. This is an explicitly romantic affair that Aziraphale has orchestrated. It’s clear that both Aziraphale and Crowley are projecting massively onto Maggie and Nina, consciously or not. He’s designed this evening to be a meet-cute/match-making event, and Crowley knows this. So yeah, it’s really transparent what Aziraphale’s doing when he asks Crowley to dance.

Thing is, I don’t think he’s being oblivious here. I don’t even think he’s planning on just taking a risk. I think this is Aziraphale making a move. This is Aziraphale being wholly himself, happy, silly, playful, vulnerable, and openly affectionate with Crowley. 

That’s why when Crowley’s trying to warn him that something’s wrong, he ignores it-- it’s scuppering his plans to sweep Crowley off his feet! This evening is meant to be perfect!

Let’s look at the dance invitation moment:

^ The serious look in his eyes here. Like he’s steeling himself to just make that leap of faith and be brave. Knowing that Crowley will probably think he’s taking the piss.

^ the innocent vulnerability of this moment. Tell me this isn’t a much younger Aziraphale asking his crush to dance with him at prom. He’s been planning this and he so desperately wants it to be like how he’s imagined it, but he’s also terrified. Look at how nervous he is! He’s being so brave. You know he’s thinking ‘It’s finally happening! I’m doing it!’

^ a very blurry image of Aziraphale’s nervous little giggle as he takes Crowley’s hand and drags him over for a dance. He’s absolutely buzzing of the anticipation and nervous energy and the butterflies! He’s so happy and so YOUNG here and it is so so pure. god the little laugh he makes as well-- like he knows it’s forbidden, that it’s cheeky and silly, that he’s living his lil Jane Austen dream here. 

Ok, so then we have the moment with Beelzebub and Gabriel. We all have foamed at the mouth at how he looks at Crowley here when he realises that they can run off to Alpha Centauri, too. And that it’s possible for them. When he instinctively grabs Crowley’s arm... good lord. 

It’s like Aziraphale’s dream has come true here. He is seeing validation of what he has started to plan. He’s seeing that this isn’t just a pipe dream that he’s indulging in. He can be happy with Crowley! 

Then of course, Metatron comes along and offers what he thinks -- in his abuse-victim mind-- is the perfect alternative. By going to heaven and bringing Crowley with him, he’s pleasing everyone! (Right?) ((I will discuss this in another post...)

I mean, this is literally all just conjecture, obviously. I am wearing my silly little tin foil hat. but when you pair all of this with the fact that he literally gazes with heart eyes at Crowley for the whole season, is pretty flirty, lets Crowley come to his rescue... we are seeing an Aziraphale here who is acutely aware of his crush on Crowley.

[twig-tea]

Room Pitch (spoiler-free)

I finished this short Japanese series this weekend thanks to Siiri's incredible subs (thank you so much @isaksbestpillow) and I wanted to write something about it. It's really hard to write about Room without spoiling anything, but I'll do my best!

This is a 5-episode comedy suspense drama about four men checking into a hotel and the way their stories evolve and intertwine over the three days and two nights they all stay there. They all arrive separately as strangers, and as the stay continues, they find themselves interacting and learning about connections and causing one another trouble and helping one another.

The four men who check in are a novelist struggling to finish his draft, a closeted actor with his lover, a guy who is staging a kidnapping, and a salaryman struggling with the stress of his work. There are additional characters as well, including a man who calls the novelist by chance and turns out to be on the edge of suicide, a paparazzi who is connected to more than one of the guests, and more.

The story mostly takes place in the hotel rooms and property, and in that way feels somewhat like a stage play. The pacing is pretty fast, as the stories pick up and intertwine quickly. Nothing in this story is as it seems at first, and as the truths come out, the characters have to reconcile either their own self-image after learning how they've been lied to, or dealing with how others look at them after their truths are exposed.

This show isn't doing anything earth-shattering, but it was a very fun and quick watch. It was in turns silly, shocking, touching, and overall was just a great ride, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to watch it. If you like mysteries and writing where it's satisfying when things come together (and unravel), and don't mind the show getting both serious and very silly sometimes at the same time, you'll like this one!

Also a fun bit, if you watch JBL you'll recognize a lot of this cast (Takegawa from the Ossan's Love series is here (who is also the ex of the vegetable stand owner in Naked Dining), the brother from Jack O'Frost is here, as is Seto Toshiki lead of The End of the World with You and Senpai, this Can't Be Love!, as is one of the side characters in Zettai BL s2, the guy Amane was having causal sex with in If It's With You, and even one of the side actors from Takumi-kun 3, 4, and 5).

Check out Siiri's blog @isaksbestpillow for her initial rec and subs!

[kineticallyanywhere]

Is the new dndads season good? I kinda fell off on the second one with the kids since it felt kinda railroady and bogged down.

I ended up writing a lot. tldr I am having a Great time. if you're worried about railroads know that the track was not exactly loose on this season's plot but boy did the players manage to shatter it in like 2 episodes (and Will's ability to keep the party together)

s2 definitely had a LOT going on (emotions run way higher I think mostly because the characters are teens and the stakes are the end of the world) but I don't think it's any more railroaded than s1. frankly these guys operate best with a clear set of instructions to follow and/or mcguffins to collect and then proceed to not follow those instructions but win anyway. which is (sort of??? lol) what's going on in s3

I'm liking season 3 a lot! life has made it harder for me to just sit and draw fanart for it, but Francis might be my favorite. (tied with Trudy) Anthony is super fun as a player. There's a kind of player balance that the daddies have (between silly and serious, sincere and irreverent) that makes them work as a group, and Anthony fits into Will's spot without being Will, if that makes sense? Like he's definitely a different flavor of player and Francis is no Henry/Normal/Hildy/etc, but he plays the heavy emotional hits with Beth, the I'll-die-before-I-break-character with Matt, and the This-is-a-game-and-I-intend-to-Win with Freddie. But instead of Will's hopepunk sincerity he brings a flavor of "no, I'm straight up gonna do a thing that's Wrong" that even Freddie didn't hit with Glenn. And then Will as DM, like Anthony, is more than willing to throw in real-life mechanics that somehow work on a podcast, as well as brutal, horrific, curve balls that make me question life.

s3 is also big on mystery! every s3 PC even has a Twist built in, and you find them all out within about... 5 episodes? but since this season is meant to be shorter honestly that's plenty of time for them to be uncovered and then pulled on for all their worth. Beth's twist for Trudy is a hecking profound take on the human condition (naturally), Anthony's plot for Francis is a sandbox one could sink their teeth into for days that is honestly a bold hecking swing (especially if you're a usamerican living in Now), Freddie's twist for Tony is--

...we don't have time to talk about Tony but take every Glenn antic, crank it up to a hundred, and then literally mad libs his backstory. Nothing I say could prepare you for this man.

and then I have Feelings about Matt's character Kelsey, since she's a teacher and I'm a teacher but I don't know if they're the feelings anyone would expect and I don't wanna write any takes of even moderate temperature I'm literally just here to have a good time but I WILL say she fascinates me and I want to watch a documentary about her interviewing her coworkers and students

[another-lost-mc]

I want the demons in OM to be scary, dark, and creepy. I feel like the game just decided to make conventionally attractive male human with some dark personality and slapped on the demon race. I kinda liked the beginning of the game where they were kinda mean. Ik as the game progress them and mc are getting closer, but it's still nice to see that they're still demons with power that subtly shows it even without using their sins.

Anyways sorry for my long rant lol

That's totally valid! The tone of OG definitely shifted after S1/S2 and it's gotten even further away from that initial vibe in Nightbringer, with a few exceptions. I was really upset when they announced a completely new game but I thought the premise had dark, angsty potential these characters could thrive with. Outside of a few instances sprinkled throughout the first twenty lessons, we didn't really get that.

If you take away the sinister demon backstory and you neuter the romance, all that's left of this game is a bunch of handsome clowns sharing one brain cell in a glorified frat house. I don't mind if the characters are silly during events (which aren't really canon and are usually meant to be fun, fluffy ideas) but it bugs me when the main story lacks a certain maturity or nuance. That could be my own personal preference peeking through - my favourite characters are the ones that are self-sufficient and more serious/mature.

Fortunately, that's where fandom shines - poor characterization can be fixed with the power of fanfiction! Those fond memories of the demon brothers threatening MC and the uncertainty and fear of the Devildom, the constant reminders of how sketchy Solomon is, Barbatos's slower-than-slowburn romance, Belphie's special hug in Lesson 16 - special moments in the OG game that shaped who these characters are to me.

That's also why I create OCs the way I do: I'm not shy about giving them violent, sketchy backstories or questionable morality because in that world, that's who they are. They're not humans and they don't need to follow the same morals or principles that humans do. That's half the fun!

[electric-friend]

listen i know the whole “ed did nothing wrong”/“killing and maiming his his coping mechanism uwu” thing is a super silly joke lol and even i found it funny but it’s kinda just pissing me off.

i just hate that they never really properly resolved ed resorting to violence when he’s upset and that he never really takes accountability for his actions onscreen. and when the side of the fandom that takes no issue at all with the way seeason two was presented makes jokes that show they’re like aware of the vibes they just don’t care bc they hold characters they don’t like and characters they do like to entirely different standards. it’s just annoying lol.

like listen. yeah. ed’s my special little babygirl princess haha i love him. but like. i feel like it’s also ignoring the fact that the violence is actually bad for ed’s mental health and we know this and it’s canonically established.

the same people who make “ed did nothing wrong” jokes literally call people who do the same to izzy bad people. not all of them but like the people aligned with that Side of the fandom.

like first of all we know that canonically though ed’s capable of violence it’s not good for him. that’s a huge part of his character, that he doesn’t want to be Blackbeard. so the jokes ur making leave your favourite character unhappy anyway? and if you’re going to talk like that about ed then why is it a CRIME to do the same about izzy?

i think i’m just kinda annoyed bc people act like if you’re critical of the way the writing failed to give ed a great redemption arc it’s because you’re a racist idiot blind with love for izzy, but in fact, you can remove izzy from the equation entirely and it still sucks because it sucks for ed’s character that his arc was so confusing and we left him in such an uncertain place as a character.

listen, i don’t exactly advertise this bc i feel like people won’t understand, but i’ve been through a lot of trauma, and at times in my life when that’s been a lot fresher for me, i’ve had really serious issues with anger and aggression and lashing out. i think that’s why i connected with izzy and i think it’s why i connected with ed so strongly but also found it so hard to watch the first couple episodes of the second season.

and coming from that place, with that perspective, when i talk about ed being abusive towards izzy and the narrative not being resolved, i am NOT hating on ed and cancelling ed and saying ed is an evil person. what i’m saying is that ofmd s2 took on a really, really complex and serious and intense subject matter, and then the writing failed to carry the weight of that. i love ed, and i feel like his character was let down by us not seeing him clearly express that he’s holding himself accountable for his actions on-screen, or even seeing him healing in relation to his violent impulses that come from his trauma. his killing spree in the finale was really odd in terms of his overall arc and is honestly what threw it all off the most for me. like it’s obvious that scenes regarding ed’s apologies and forgiveness from the crew are supposed to have happened and we maybe just didn’t see all of it, because the season was rushed due to the screen time. but a lot of it is also just poor decisions in the writing and the way ed’s storyline is laid out in the final cut.

to me, saying that ed’s arc was beautiful and perfect and it’s wrong to criticise it or to acknowledge the severity of his mistakes and actions isn’t a form of loving ed. it’s a way of saying you’d rather ed actually not take steps towards healing, just because you want to pretend he didn’t do anything wrong in the first place so you can feel like the better person in the conversation. to me, the people who say ed did no wrong are expressing that they actually don’t love ed.

i mean it’s not that deep, it’s all fictional, but i wish people would look beyond their predisposition to condemning criticism of something they like, and see that there’s a lot of heart, and a lot of really personal experience and real-world context behind the arguments people are making, and that other opinions about the writing in s2 are worth listening to even if they make you uncomfortable at first.

[malaierba]

well since i know that osomatsu-san sold underwear and sex toys as merch i am curious wtf is it even about because all i see are those kinda silly guys. like huh

Oh Osomatsu-san IS silly! It's the modern take on a manga that originally ran in the 60s, Osomatsu-kun. It follows the story of the Matsuno Sextuplets + other inhabitants of a place named Akatsuka (mainly two guys named Chibita and Iyami, who were the real stars in most adaptations except the most recent one)

There's been three anime adaptations of Osomatsu, two of Osomatsu-kun (focusing on the sextuplets as children) and one of Osomatsu-san (focusing on the Sextuplets as 20-something NEETs who are freeloading off their parents lol)

If I had to pitch Osomatsu-san... Imagine the annoying kids at school that were little terrors and everyone was sure they'd end up washed up adults because they were just that rowdy? Fast forward in the future: congratulations you were right 👍

The anime was first released to commemorate the death of Fujio Akatsuka. Many of Fujio's works permeated the pop culture imaginary of Japan, it'd take sooo long to go over his legacy but he's a swell guy who is remembered because several of his character's -isms were references often by real life celebrities, who also had an iconic if slightly off-putting sense of humour (went from silly to silly with dark undertones quickly. After all, with Akatsuka-sensei the protagonists were Chibita (orphan, homeless) and Iyami (conman, often homeless))

Ososan as a modern homage has a lot of range: There's stupid meta humour where it's almost like the sextuplets are aware that their cartoons, then there's stupid in-universe skits that are usually very funny, then there're a few skits that are a bit dark/vulnerable and are often very heartfelt.

So yeah! Parody series, but the characters are modernised and became so memorable that it was an honest to god cultural phenomenon in 2016-2018. Osomatsu-san was EVERYWHERE, there were three mobile games, a PS Vita one and merch was being pumped out at such an absurd speed that we ended up with the things that were being given a pass. There's also a printed manga, a couple of light novels, several live action and several drama CDs.

The fans were such a force to be reckoned with that even the anime pocked fun at them in S2 (the skit was mostly ribbing fangirls which went down poorly since they were the ones that made it a phenomenon in the first place? But I digress)

(not me in the bottom left corner. look away)

If you can, watch this compilation as a little taste test.

The series can be about as serious as you want it to be. A lot of things are done simply because they're funny, but when you look at the way the sextuplets change from season to season, from episode to episode, you can see overall cohesive development in all of them.

There's also just the fact that they were finally given distinctive personalities, and that fact is played to get people looking at them very attentively, trying to find all the instances where they're all the same, only some of them the same, when they each subvert the expectations of their given character archetype, etc.

Like, a big meta-theme is that the sextuplets grew up only knowing how to be one part of a whole made of six pieces, so used to being both treated as unique AND singled out over being sextuplets that they only really knew how to socialise with each other within the group mentality of their little gang. Then at one point they noticed they were socially stunted, so they tried to pull away and become individuals.

And it's that dynamic that's at the core of everything in Osomatsu-san: we are brothers, we are all part of a whole and our own separate individuals, as dissimilar as we (try to) look we're essentially the same in many basic aspects of our core personalities, etc. Sometimes they clash because they're SO similar, sometimes they do because they're SO different. They're the siblings of all time really.

[anulithots]

Hi, can I ask your top 3 favorite characters from Link Click? And why you love them? Also your top 5 favorite moments from the series?

As shiguang shipper, what do you think are Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang's greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Thanks if you want to answer.....

(Last one, are you surprised with that plot twist in s2? Can it enter your top 5 fav plot twist ever from any media?)

TOP THREE FAVORITES!

Cheng Xiaoshi - craves a childhood he lost (so real), empathetic and one of the empathetic characters that is done soooo well with all of the dives paralleling his character and exploring it, canonically likes cooking and makes sure LU Guang and him don’t survive on ramen noodles alone (+ Lu Guang’s bio things says he likes gourmet food sooooooooooo)

The silly and the way he stays hopeful and doesn’t accept finalities because of what happened to his parents and how he trusts and relies on others.

How he tries his best to fix the past and can adapt to the situation, predict how people will act, and is hyper-observant, but he doesn’t act on this ability because of how much he trusts Lu Guang and he cares about Qiao LIng so much and immediately cares about every case he hears about because of his empathy.

(Headcannon that he doesn’t watch the news after the earthquake, hence why he didn’t know about Emma despite it being all over the news)

Lu Guang - mystery boi. Cares about Cheng Xiaoshi sooo much and the way he relies on the future, on rules and on control and will freak out whenever the future becomes uncertain, a rule breaks, or things fall out of his control.

The way he’s shy about being in public but will not hesitate to yell at a police officer if it concerns CXS. How he reads all keeps himself learned and tells others (CXS) to do the same like it will fix all their problems (keep him less immature). The way that he has the trust of both CXS and Qiao LIng because of the way he acts. The way that one might look at him and think ‘oh the serious levelheaded one’ but NOPE. He lightly teases CXS constantly (whereas CXS is overdramatic about his teasing) and again, goes feral at times, as you do.

The fact that he creates rules and tries so hard to keep everting under control and no one the wiser but this is time. This is reality. He’s fraying at the seams.

Qiao LIng - will not hesitate to beat up her brother or lawyer for her brother if the situation calls for it. An incident she had no control over (Doudou’s kidnapping) stuck with her and caused so much turmoil that she went to university somewhere else and tried to escape her lack of decisions, regretting it the entire time (so real).

Compared to the rest of the trio, she’s the levelheaded one, and she has the most real takes on the weirdness of shiguang (’I thought you two were doing some ritual with the photos!’) and the way she’s the one who talked to, comforted, and connected with Wu Xia, Doudou’s father, CXS(multiple times), and Li Tianshi.

Her friendship with Xu Shanshan (’calling her beautiful all the time’) along with Xu Shanshan saying that she has to take care of Qiao Ling… QIao LIng is more like her brother than she admits. Also her (and Lu Guang’s… and CXS’s obsession with Boba tea alkfkajsdf)

the trioooooo

… just five… moments... sigh okay okay /pos

When CXS got angry at Qian Jin but was restrained, then Qiao LIng SLAPPED HIM AND IT WAS WONDEROUS (should’ve beat him up tbh but alas the paperwork)

The little moments in episode two. Especially where Cheng Xiaoshi says ‘just because you see no hope doesn’t mean there is none’ and Lu Guang SMILES

CHENG XIAOSHI’S SPEACH TO EMMA WITH KEEP IN MIND PLAYING THEN THE TITLE CARD SAYS ‘when there is light, once can photograph’ AND IT’S A MASTERPEICE I”VE SEEN IT A MILLION TIMES AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH

In season two where Qiao Ling connects to Li Tianxi via telling a story about her younger self and CXS, who she calls her LITTLE BROTHER AAAAAAAAAAAA

SIgh okay okay so like… all of episodes six, seven, and ten where Lu Guang is overprotective of CXS OKAY BUT IN PATICULAR - where Lu Guang notices that CXS is getting anxious about Xu Shanshan’s disappearance and tells Qiao Ling to keep him safe. Just how the calm and collected Lu Guang gets angry and frustrated when things don’t go according to plan and it puts CXS or those he cares about in danger. It shows a lot about his character

(Then of course there’s episode 5 where it’s just done in a masterful way with the earthquake scene and s2ep1 where CXS flashbacks to all the moments with Lu Guang and…)

Shiguang shipping + strengths and weaknesses

I have some thoughts I need to write down about their dynamic so that first if you don’t mind! (I’ll probably somewhat answer it here but aklfaklsdjf analysisssss)

(Also QPR shiguang is peak ahem ahem thank you /pos )

Okay so CXS is an optimist and looks for the best, for solace to fix the past he lost, and he views that Lu Guang loses hope too easily (I think, still formulating the thoughts on this one) which causes him to act on his own in episode 9 (when he goes back in time and witnesses Emma getting strangled.)

But okay the moment at the end here where he realizes Lu Guang only did all this to protect him because he does tend to get too emotional about things and ruin the past in his longing for a perfect one (which leads Lu Guang not to tell CXS things because he thinks that CXS is an ‘unpredictable variable’ and wishes to protect him from himself.

Which is nice of him but still. CXS is competent he just trusts others more than he trusts himself), where he asks Lu Guang what he should do as he curls up in painful defeat, which parallels where he says he’s afraid of being alone and in the dark in episode 5?

It’s link click and I kajdsfklasjdflkj

So CXS then sees what Lu Guang sees, that he can’t fix the past no matter how much he tries. Which is a painful thing, but to be honest, it’s something he needed… or not… it’s a nuanced growth that isn’t good nor bad (and CXS’s view on this will probably change when he finds out that Lu Guang went back in tiem to save him ).

BEcause CXS accepts now that while he cannot change the past, the future will surely change because of what he does, then he accepts that he cannot change Li Tianxi’s past. Okay so trusts and weaknesses with Shiguang is that they do trust each other and care for each other’s well-being… but the care for each other’s wellbeing causes them to not trust the other as much…. okay that made no sense here we go

SO CXS completely and totally trusts Lu Guang (at first trusting that he knows best - he said this in ep 3 I think - while also fighting with himself with his desire to fix the past, constantly questioning Lu Guang if things will really turn out okay, and in turn, reassuring himself that he doesn’t need to be swept up by his emotions.) which lessens after episode 5 - which was a risk on Lu Guang’s part and he did not want CXS to find out about the earthquake but alas - which then returns back to a different sort of trust (The ‘I understand now that you tried to protect me from myself because no matter what I try I cannot fix the past, so now I’ll hope for the future like you told me’)

Whereas the reason Lu Guang likes CXS is for his naivety, his innocent hope that everything will be okay, and for that reason Lu Guang attempts to keep CXS’s own faults from hurting him, along with the reality of the past and its hardships.

(Hence all of the ‘and remember that you cannot change the past and you’ll have to face the results of this’). THEN it’s BECAUSE of this overprotectiveness that drives CXS to think that Lu Guang gave up too easily (see episode 10 where Xu Shanshan is kidnapped. Lu Guang told QIao ling to keep CXS’s phone away from him and keep him at the shop to calm down)

OKAY so that’s all I got for now in this brain dump. LIsten to BishaJAWS. Thank you for the ask!

[katsaturnwhatever]

On Fandom and Fantasy

I just wanted to get a few things off my chest as we head full sail into the finale.

Many of the criticisms I’ve read of S2 (other than the pacing, which I agree with, but I accept that as Max’s budgeting fuckup) basically boil down to “too dark/violent”, “too angsty”, “too silly”, or being disappointed that romantic pairings (Ed/Stede and Jim/Olu, mostly) worked out differently than they’d hoped. And I get it. We were all so hopelessly in love with S1 that we’d come up with a lot of very specific ideas about how it should resolve. We needed it to resolve. It was a painful time, not knowing if we would get a second season, and then not knowing if it would live up to our expectations. I know I’m not the only one who cried. I wrote half a dozen analysis pieces, I made fanart, I read lots of fix-it fics. This show changed me in ways I’m still struggling to define.

I just want to remind folks that this is very much the same show. Too dark and violent? Like, have we forgotten that Stede got stabbed twice in S1? Too angsty? Do you remember Ed sobbing by the window, believing that his one chance to find happiness was gone forever? Too silly? It’s always been a ridiculous, over-the-top theatrical production. Remember the fuckery? The jam room? The incest twins from the party? Or whippies?

As for the romantic resolution, well, all I can say is that it’s a show about how relationships can be messy, but you talk it through and maybe look at it from a different angle to create something that works, because the love is there even if the circumstances are all wrong. Maybe life just begins again.

As for Jim/Olu, I get why the tealoranges diehards are upset that they’re involved with other people now, but this is, after all, a show about love in its many forms. The love between them is absolutely still there, and in many ways it’s deepened as they came to understand what it means to be each other’s “anchor”. And in Jim’s case, it meant supporting Olu -enthusiastically- in pursuing love elsewhere. I agree that their whole situation deserved more screen time, but the bones of it are there. It’s not fundamentally all that different from what happens with Stede and Mary at the end of S1. They wish each other nothing but happiness and support. They respect each other’s journeys. They love each other. Full stop.

I’ve seen people disappointed that Ed and Stede’s first time was tainted by sorrow and regret. People wanted it to be perfect, like it was in their favorite fics. But Ed and Stede have all the emotional maturity of two young people who’ve never had a serious romantic relationship before. You remember being young, right? Making stupid mistakes? Sleeping with someone under less-than-optimal circumstances? Misinterpreting things said? Worrying that you’re not good enough? Dreaming that someday all these wishes and desires will align, even as reality storms in to tear it all apart again? These are all very real things that happen. The show itself may be a fantasy, but it’s based on very realistic emotional scenarios that I haven’t seen depicted elsewhere with such honesty and insight. It wouldn’t be the same show if they just kissed and made up, and ran off to open an inn together. Leave that for the fanfiction.

If it hurts, it’s because it’s supposed to hurt. Love hurts. But it’s worth it. And I have faith that the people making this show absolutely know how emotionally invested we are, but it’s gonna take 3 seasons to get to that happy ending. We’re not there yet. We have many miles yet to sail. But the joy is in the journey, and the love we find along the way.

[ccacoo]

Am I the only one who is really feeling "meh" about season 2?

I hope this doesn't come across as ungrateful and by no means do I want to take away from anyone's enjoyment of the show. But with everyone celebrating the hell out of s2 I just feel like I'm going insane and I would love to hear from some other people for whom it didn't really land?

I think overall it just feels messily written to me, like the writers didn't have enough time to really develop a clear vision. I'm going to list some points that really stuck out to me and I'd be interested to hear whether it was like that for anyone else. If you love season 2, simply move on, be happy, this post is for the reluctant haters.

no cohesive story arch: This was done very well in s1. s1 is about Stede and Ed, two very different people who each have what the other lacks and wants, teaching each other how to be that. I'd argue it's also about Ed and Izzy drifting apart and the conflict that arises from that, and the conflict (and humour!) that arises from Stede consistently being at odds with his environment (his prior life, the crew). Season 2 has no clear arch like this. It's all over the place.

squandering characters' potential: Izzy. I know people are going batshit for Izzy singing and exploring his queer side, and I don't *hate* it, but as everything else, it feels too rushed to me to be satisfying. This was the guy who roped Ed back into his Blackbeard persona, who said "I serve Blackbeard, not some nampy-pampy in a silk dressing gown pining for his boyfriend." We are shown nothing in between this and him crying in front of the crew because Ed is just too toxic. For me, this transformation would have needed at least 1 season of buildup and could have been intensely funny, especially if Stede and Izzy had to spent a serious amount of time working together. Contrast is what makes the fun. Who else is there? Buttons! Holy hell! The stories they could have spun from that character, the mystery, the suspense. And then they just turned him into a bird and he flew away??? And then there's Lucius, who's so incredibly pale compared to s1. I thought a PTSD Lucius was an interesting development, but his "recovery" was also way too rushed to feel satisfying. In s1 we had side characters get entire stories of their own, like Jim's whole revenge plot. We met Jim's Nana, we got a developing romance between Jim and Olu, we had Jim and Jackie dance around each other continuously. Give me that with other characters! Give us some background on Lucius' past as a pickpocket. Where did he learn to read and write? Is there someone from his past that he has a bone to pick with? Is there someone he would like to reunite or make amends with? I feel like this should have been his season as a side character, the way s1 was Jim's. Instead, background characters firmly stay in the background. The Swede gets parked (or narratively killed off) at Jackie's. Buttons flies off. Frenchie, Roach, Wee John remain sidelined and stagnant. Jim and Olu are incomprehensible to me. Are they still a couple? Are they not? Who can tell.

The humour: This is also what irks me. If contrast makes the fun, why make everything and everyone sort of the same now? Stede is now just as badass as everyone else, Izzy is now just as queer and wholesome as everyone else, everyone is throwing around weird mental health language, Roach's go-to relaxation isn't torture anymore but clay face masks. As a result, stuff just isn't as funny to me anymore.

The tone: Oh, the tone :( I don't get the tone. Instead of the light-hearted and heartfelt silliness of s1 we now have actual torture, sawed off bloody legs, a serial killer like from Hannibal, toxic lesbians who poison and stab each other, ... this is looking like it wants to become a pirate show that is traditionally a culture of abuse and my thought is: why? And also: What if it weren't like that?

No cohesive villain: In s1, the main villain's motive is established with the murder of Nigel Badminton and the tension is kept up throughout the show by having little clips detailing Chauncey's quest of revenge – season 2 fails to do this. There is no main villain, unless you count nose guy. His introduction in ep 1 is messy, rushed and sort of forced in there, opposite to the Badmintons, who are given ample time and are really being horrible to Stede (complete with back story and everything). They are interesting because they personify some of the reasons why Stede was unhappy in his previous life - people bullied him for his softness. This ties in nicely with Stede's arch of learning to stand up for himself, to accept his softness and turn it into his brand of "gentleman pirate". Compare this to the nose guy who is "like Stede" in the way of being upper class. Could be interesting, but this is all we know about him. Stede and him barely interact. Maybe they wanted to set him up as a fan turned hater like Mr. Incredible and Syndrome? In that case I would have needed Stede to really be shitty to nose guy, which he wasn't. Moreover, by the time nose guy pops up again, I'd already forgotten all about him. The tension was simply not developed.

Forgetting to set up plot points properly: Two things. Firstly, how often does it happen that something they want to bring up in the episode only gets introduced in that same episode? When Jim says Olu has been pining for Zheng for weeks I was like: Ok? This is the first time I've heard of this. Secondly, whenever they bring something up, the also resolve it in the very same episode. Guys! Why do you need to introduce this stupid torture pirate as this ridiculous uber villain if you're gonna kill him off in the same episode? If the whole point was just to get Stede famous, why not bring back Calico Jack, someone we all *already* hate, who doesn't need to physically torture anyone in order for us to feel satisfied when he gets his ass kicked?

Mixed messages: Is this a show about how traumatic experiences have consequences? As illustrated by Lucius or the fact that everyone uses mental health language now, and is getting triggered by Blackbeard? But then why does everyone go right back to partying after having been tortured? Why does Stede want to have sex after just having murdered a man? Does almost getting murdered or murdering have consequences or not?

Bonus – What I liked: Ed in the nether realm – this was done well, it was funny, it was heartfelt, it was profound. I felt like I was watching s1. Stede and Ed interactions – when they didn't just callback to scenes we've already seen in s1 (*cough* moonlight *cough*), the dynamic was entertaining, enjoyable and endearing.

Feel free to add stuff, that you thought sucked or that was done well!

I really hope they give the writers more time to write s3! Cause, at least for David, it's clear that he can be brilliant, or s1 wouldn't be as great as it is. But it is. I haven't entirely lost hope yet.

[echobx]

https://www.tumblr.com/echobx/746378100483473408/sometimes-i-go-onto-jiara-twitter-just-to-have-a?source=share idk if you saw but they posted your post on jiara twitter🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 i wonder how they found it (@koalacarrera )

okay so, this is what girlie had to say

all she said concerning canon is correct, but there was no reason to be so pissy about it.

I fully agree, they did write the boys like that, it's extremely clear in ep1. HOWEVER if we look solely at JJ, after episode 1 his "romantic" intrest is no longer mentioned or in any shape or form visible on screen or in the script past s2 (i literally read it, please bbg)

my initial issue with the post I saw on twitter, the one who made me even post anything on here, was bc the jiara stan that posted it was literally saying that JJ caring about Kie and wanting her to be okay after she nearly drowned, was only because he has romantic feelings for her. That was my issue. The problem isn't that they can't be friends or can't be romantically involved. The problem is that the writers AND these types of fans (including mademoiselle up there) seem to not understand how fucked up it is that they keep on perpetuating this stereotype. especially when it comes to a woman of color who was the only girl in a male dominated friend group for probably most of her life for all we know.

I've had more friendships with boys than girls in my life, and yes half of them the guys wanted more, but the other half was genuinely only platonically interested in me and I still feel like those friendships went way deeper than the others although none of them were truly as deep to call them my best friends. (apart from one, and he's still my best friend to this day)

finally saying "ofcourse boys and girls can just be friends but i don’t care because this is for entertainment. it’s just not that serious" is yet again proving to me that media literacy is dying. anyone with a brain will know that what we see on screen or written or listen to in music always portrays a specific viewpoint and it is always in our best interest to understand and criticize when something is not the way it should be, saying, it shows us something that needs to be changed for society to evolve.

and I'm not saying that this issue is as big of a problem for society as others, it certainly isn't, but portraying this type of relationship between girls and boys in a way that OBX does it plays into the bigger picture of why we need feminism and why we need to start teaching boys to be better men.

platonic love goes so much deeper than most romantic love, but most of you, including the girl who posted this, probably don't even know that or they can't tell the difference between platonic love and romantic love.

PS I'm never not blaming the writers. they did a bad job. this show has more plot holes than the strainer I use for my pasta. but that wasn't at all was my post was about. yet again. the reading comprehension is piss poor, my dudes.

PPS you watch the show for fun and you turn off your brain. but subconsciously you take it in. all of it. every little bit of discriminatory behavior or prejudice that lies under the surface. because you decide to not look at it. because you believe it doesn't concern you. and I do hope it never will. but I, and so many others, do not have this privilege of being able to look away completely. even if it's just a silly little boat show.

PPPS don't send her any hate or anything. I just left the tag in the screenshot bc it was already mentioned above so it didn't matter anyway.

[ripclaudia]

hiiiiiii. you have probably answered this many times but i can’t find it so if you don’t mind repeating yourself: why do you think romangerri stopped being a thing? when? was it is gerri deciding to not be into mess anymore as a ceo and roman not taking a no for an answer? why did she get so upset with him firing her in s4 when just talking about firing was a constant thing? was it that finally gerri felt the power roman had over her and finally realised she can’t play around with that? the photo to logan obviously fucked her and it’s roman’s fault. hm. i think im explaining it to myself out loud. but s3 is more interesting i thought itd be explored more. was it just about avoiding mess then?

if i have answered this it has definitely been a while so i don't mind doing it again! honestly i don't think romangerri ever stopped being a thing. even on s4 when they're cross with each other it is absolutely undeniable that they're still very much affected by each other! but if we're talking about gerri trying her most to erase the mess from their relationship, i think the danger of it caught up to her. roman's refusal to focus on the business aspect of their relationship and his inability to consider consequences combined with gerri's role as the interim ceo and the fact that if anything came out, it would be gerri who suffered – of course she tried to get the situation back under control by not engaging in the sexual aspect of their relationship.

i also think gerri never envisioned anything else for them than the business relationship. j just talked about this in an interview, but apparently gerri thought for a long time that roman was just fucking with her with the suggestions and all that. she didn't take him very seriously and i think the situation kind of crept on her, too. and ultimately she never would have considered anything serious with him, either, not in the timeline of s2/s3. what she wanted with him was the dynamic duo, her being the brains and him being the beauty, but i think roman sort of lost the focus on that especially in late s3.

of course she got upset when he fired her twice on s4? yeah, no one was really safe in waystar during logan's reign, but it's a fact that logan absolutely wouldn't have soured on gerri to that degree without the dick pic fiasco. and the second time – roman making a rash choice to fire her because of his inability to deal with logan's death and the fact she refused to lie to his face, insulting her in the worst possible way in the process? i'd be upset too. both of those times were proof of how associating with roman quite literally hurt her career.

but to return to your original question, i just really feel like the two major reasons were gerri realizing the possible consequences and the differences in what they wanted, which ultimately drove them apart. but what's fascinating is that at the point when it all falls apart, they are unable to just forget about each other. even when roman fires gerri in the beginning of connor's wedding, gerri sees right through him and it's clear that having to do it makes roman's tummy hurt exceptionally bad. and when everything goes to even more shit, gerri is visibly worried about roman (the funeral) and he literally breaks down when he sees her (board meeting). they're far from being over, baby <3

and of course we'll never know what the post-series romangerri dynamic looks like, but at least i can always comfort myself with the words of the world's leading gerri kellman expert, miss jsc herself: i don't know at what point she'd thought about it as a romantic thing. except if somebody young and wealthy and charismatic had a silly crush that they kept insisting on when they were around you, you'd have to be made of stone to not eventually respond to that. i could see them getting tipsy and making out in a bar once he's not her boss.

[nightshiftpodcast]

If it's not too cheeky to ask, is there any news about season 2? 👀

OMG not at all too cheeky, let me share the sitch!!!

It's a little delayed from what we'd hoped because I had this really silly estimate in my head of how long it'd take to write, based on a serious miscalculation of how long Season 1 took me to write (13 months, when I'd somehow estimated 5 months) and the fact I have a full time job when last year I didn't have a job :'D

And also because me and Ashe (North's actor & Angelo's writer) got married (I'm sure people are bored of hearing about this now but I will never be bored of saying it) and that was a lovely but unexpected and extremely busy few months of planning

BUT the good news is, writing is going super well, and the first couple of episodes (well, the 2.0 bonus episode and 2.1) are starting to be divided up into actor scripts ready to send out to the cast!

I don't want to rush it – the bonus episode is a definite for July, but S2 might not kick off until the end of summer. Whereas for S1, I wrote episodes kind of as we went – literally I finished writing days before the finale aired – this time I want most of the season written and recorded before we start releasing, and with a view to release an episode once a week this time instead of once a fortnight.

SO I've got to say a huge thanks to all you listeners for your patience, but also like, this second season is going to slap hard and it's worth the wait (fingers crossed at least)

If you want more night shift in the meantime, we have bonus stories and more on our patre0n, and our merch store is FINALLY back online with our digital bonus books which are pretty cheap and packed full of extra content, and there's other cool stuff there too like stickers, posters, AIU uniform jackets, you know.

And of course, you can always send us asks here and we will ramble on and give you lots of bonus stuff, we love to do it!

– Julian

[danystargaryens]

Rules: share some unpopular opinions about 5 different fandoms of your choosing tagged: by the lovely @astarkeytagging: @the-maidofmischief @usergirlfailure @witcherz @candicepatton @klinejack @burningblake @mistyquigly @reysorigins @jamescarstairs @fredweasleying @ariespedro @userbettycooper @ilslayfaust i don't think i have alot of unpopular opinions, but okay

Yellowjackets: Teen!nat & travis are the most skipable scenes, i dont care for them together, and i feel like it takes away too much storyline for nat. atleast in s1, to me it annoying in a horror show to have this relationship. + even if liked travis, he doesn’t have much personality to me besides his sibling.

From dusk till dawn: Kisa is very very undervalued or not taking serious in the fandom, like she just exists in the background, when she IS the plot. She’s a valueable member ! It’s not just the seth-kate-richie show

The originals: the only reason you would hate camille, is because she comes inbetween other blondie. also camille is also so underrated.

Sex education: maeve and otis should have happend in s2, or s3 WITHOUT the ruby storyline. it ruins both characters to me getting them together at the end. also just scummy

Riverdale: the whole show is pointless, if the ending is based on them being in their original timeline in the 1950’s. i get ras wanting that type of thing. however we’ve seen 1 timeline for 6 years. We’ve been through every silly storyline, and i dont care if that’s on purpose. It’s so poorly done. i dont even see season 7 as the real riverdale, it’s a parody. it would make more sense if this plot was in earlier seasons, or like timelines EXISTED prior to s3. I’m just so annoyed