#also it's not my fault the writers make the show so gay but i'm not complaining i'm taking it and running with it full throttle

[fantasticalleigh]

briefly mentioned punkintyre to my brother the other day while talking about ships in wrestling (bc my sister first brought up jhea and then the conversation moved to samijey and then i mentioned drew and punk) and he rolled his eyes and said 'you guys are reading too much into this stuff'

my guy you must have several vision issues if you can even casually watch one episode of raw and not fucking conclude there is something going on beyond surface level with all those characters like fucking come on.

[rise-my-angel]

I did some rewatching of scenes from House of the Dragon, and I think I've found a root problem with the writing.

And it isn't what was or was not adapted from Fire and Blood, or the plot or characters directions. There are issues there, but there is a bigger one I think that has been severely under analyzed. A massive problem with this show that has a big impact even when you don't realize, is how clunky and unnatural 90% of the dialogue is.

Something Game of Thrones did right, was take the dialogue from the books, and translate it to the screen by simplifying certain things, tightening sentences and changing wordage so that the actors had an easy time delivering the lines. It was a really good mix of the more formal speech and casual delivery. It meant lines that are good in the book, are good but different in the show because they cleaned up the dialogue so it didn't sound forced from the actors.

Everyone gets to speak in the appropriate manner for their class level, but it also is just quick and to the point. The actors all got a chance to do an amazing job, because they weren't forcing their talent through clunky and awkward to say dialogue.

House of the Dragon, is not doing this.

A significant amount of dialogue in this show takes way too long. Characters constantly use very overly formal, flowery, and fanciful language to say the simplest things even when they are alone in a room. Game of Thrones through all it's faults, knew how to cut to the chase and get the characters to just say what they are meant to say without trying so hard to sound fantasy like. But in HOTD, everyone talks like the writers are trying way too hard to make everyone sound like their from a different time when in reality it just bogs the show down and makes it boring.

A lot of good actors on this show fall flat because they have to force through awkward dialogue that normal people just don't sound like when they speak. Whenever Rhaenyra and Leanor discuss their marriage, it is so painfully unnatural. They are alone in the room, and neither of them ever just say what they mean.

When we saw this exact dynamic. As soon as Renly let the veil slip that he is struggling to go through with having sex with Margaery, she drops the act entirely and just cuts to the chase saying, "There's no need for us to play games." They are a bit more formal in the way they say things, but they still talk like real people. Rhaenyra and Leanor never had a single discussion that wasn't overly flowery as both characters talked around an issue we already understood. Laenor is gay and its putting a strain both on his personal mental health and their marriage as a whole. But neither of them ever get to the POINT without taking way too long to say the most basic of things.

Watch back to back scenes from both shows, and you will see that House of the Dragon completely fails to immerse you in it's dialogue beacuse it is trying so hard. Take the scene where Jace returns home after meeting with the Freys. Rhaenyra knows Jace is troubled about not being allowed to participate in the war, and this is the initial start of that discussion.

Rhaenyra: "You chafed at being prevented from action. Imagine my lot. I'm a dragonrider as well, with a war being fought over my ascension. And yet, I must wait here. Always prudent, sending others to fight and be felled in my name." Jace: "You are the queen. The tie that binds us. No harm can come to you." Rhaenyra: "And you are my son and I did not give you leave to go."

If I showed you that out of context, would you be able to tell me this is a mother and son disagreeing over their separate wants and choices during a war? No. It's full of words no one in Game of Thrones used in normal conversation. This is not how even highborns in this series talked to each other, this is writing dialogue in a way that is trying to sound like it is from a more medieval fantasy instead of just what real people sound like.

Neither actor delivering these lines sounds natural, neither can really portray the degree of frustration brewing between them when its being forced through this kind of bad writing.

Now take the same idea from Game of Thrones in a scene where Robb and Catelyn are in an argument over Robb's trust in Theon and Catelyns perceived frustration that Robb isn't putting priority on his sisters safety.

Robb: "Now I'm the one rebelling against the throne. Before me, it was father. You married one rebel and mothered another." Catelyn: "I mothered more than just rebels, a fact you seem to have forgotten." Robb: "If I trade the Kingslayer for two girls, my bannermen will string me up by my feet." Catelyn: "You want to leave Sansa in the Queen's hands? And Arya, I haven't heard a word about Arya. What are we fighting for if not for them?" Robb: "It's more complicated than that! You know it is."

Both use more formal language, but it's in how their sentence is structured rather then the words themselves. They're alone and they're both frustrated and they have absolutely no reason to mince words, they say exactly what they mean. By cleaning up the dialogue here to be more straight forward and simple, it allowed the actors to really shine. You truly feel Catelyns frustration stemming from her helplessness, and you feel Robbs understanding being overpowered by such a frustration that she won't understand his side. By the time Robb raises his voice and shouts at her, we don't take it as out of line because both of them have said exactly what they mean and the audience doesn't need Robb to apologize to know he didn't mean to yell and neither does Catelyn.

Not even the lowborn characters are saved from this in House of the Dragon. Theres a scene in Game of Thrones when Arya, Lommy, Hotpie, and Gendry are arguing by a stream about battle's and armour and they are all quick, talk over each other and it's very punchy and the flow is part of what makes it hilarious. Ser Davos is blunt and speaks with a very quick cadence to emphasize he was never taught to speak formally and thus feels comfortable saying exactly whats on his mind.

Most of the lowborns in House of the Dragon though, have very little differentiation from their highborn counterparts in the way their dialogue is structured. Some of the only differences is literally just, characters like Ulf have a lowborn accent, but that accent delivers the same kind of drawn out, overly formal dialogue that isn't present in Game of Thrones lowborns. It's very easy to distinguish who was raised how in the simple manner which they speak.

Highborns talk slower and more clearly and their sentences are structured a bit better, and lowborns normally talk faster with less refined accents and normally have no real issue saying whats on their mind because they are used to being surrounded by other people who don't care about being formal.

It might not be obvious, but the dialogue is a big reason why people struggle to connect to these characters far more then they did Game of Thrones. The dialogue is clunky, there is no distinction made as to why certain people talk this way or why it seems everyone around them speaks in the same manner when they have no reason to.

There's so much more to get through, to understand what these people are saying, thinking, and feeling because the dialogue works against them. The best acting is done, when the characters are silently reacting to each other because there's no fighting against bad writing to portray exactly what they need to.

Again, there are multiple comparative scenes that you could watch back to back and see this problem play out in real time. Scenes discussing similar issues or portraying similar emotions but House of the Dragon never reaches that emotional peak that connects it's audience to these characters as relatable, because we pick up on the fact that they don't talk like humans. They talk like they are performing a school play, not as if they are speaking like real people just talking to each other.

Try it yourself, the examples I used earlier. Say each set of lines out loud and deliver it with as much emotion as possible. Because I am willing to bet that the Game of Thrones dialogue will be a lot easier to say, and thus a lot easier to deliver with a real emotion.

There's no excuse. Game of Thrones took good book dialogue, and cleaned it up so it had a smooth transition into good show dialogue. House of the Dragon has the freedom to write most of it's own original dialogue since Fire and Blood is written as a historical record and not a pov narrative. There is no transition to make lines from the book that in full may sound clunky and unnatural out loud, into something clean and to the point that makes it easy for the actors to work with the dialogue instead of against it.

But House of the Dragon fails in inventing it's own dialogue, because at every turn it is trying way too hard to sound like the books instead of the show.

Trust me, you wonder why you can't connect, relate or really care about a lot of these characters? I'm willing to bet that the poor writing is doing a lot of heavy lifting for that.

If the characters don't even talk like humans, our brains are more likely to tune out, because it all sounds like actors reading a script, not characters speaking to each other realistically.

Real people talk like the characters in Game of Thrones. No one talks like the characters in House of the Dragon.

And that is a massive problem.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm having a GREAT time

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Aug 2024 Week 5

Ongoing Series - Thai

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) eps 7-8 of 12 - I do love these 2 a lot. It’s such a slow burn sweet comforting quiet little romance. It’s not complicated, it’s not stretching my thoughts or imagination, but it is easy and absorbing. I'm entertained by it without being taxed. And sometimes that’s nice. It's what Thailand does best.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 3 of 10 - Oh I’m still enjoying it. It’s only episode three and they’re basically boyfriend’s palling around shopping together and hanging out on a bicycle. What’s not to love? Also he got to meet the in-laws. Well… eventual in-laws. Also the girlfriend character. I totally forgot about her. Good times.

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 12fin - Baby faints. Bad guys caught and beat up a bit. Lots of romantic moments, come checking in with ALL the sides, and it ends.

Summary?

Classic CEO meets ingenue archetypes make for a somewhat banal and simplistic romance. This could’ve come from an 80s Harlequin, except that they’re gay. It's... old fashioned. There was nothing meta about this, there was no subversion or commentary on anything BL, queer, or beyond. It’s just a straight up (okay not straight) romance. I was not wild about these characters for this particular pair, but that’s not the pair's fault, they did a decent job with their parts and I look forward to their next show - here’s hoping it’s a bit more meaty. I preferred the side couple because they were more complex and true to BL archetypes, even if they were also a bit miss-handled. A serviceable show if somewhat lacking in its convictions, but with some beautiful sex scenes, people, and fashion. I was a particular fan of Lin‘s gender bending femme style. It’s groundbreaking to see that aesthetic on one of the leads. There were multiple times they could’ve leaned into well established plot points, paranormal elements, and character tension, and instead just glossed over them.

This should probably get a 7/10, but I’m giving it an 8 because of that one oppa line at the beginning, Tenon's tatas, and the call back to Big Dragon with that iconic musical refrain in the final episode. It was a pretty fun ride, emphasis on pretty and ride. 

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 5 of 12 - Lots of kissing this episode. And lots of different kinds of kissing from the same two actors in various different forms and characters. I really liked it. It’s nice to see that this pair can mix it up a little bit, even if it's just with their lips.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - OK the leg care massage was so boyfriend I can’t even. Who are they trying to fool? I love the way Ing always knows exactly what is going on. Thank goodness for that confession! I’m very much looking forward to the next episode.

(The socratic method, is it?)

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 9 of 12 - Still couldn’t care less about the hets. Yawn. Ah Jane’s ex shows up. (Is that Green? Hi baby!) Meanwhile, Jane gets worried and jealous. I loved Pah in this ep, and almost wish this were a show just about him. Like a grown-up Green Fictions. (Where tf did Poon COME from allasudden? He’s a killer actor. GMMTV better use him wisely.) Also, in that scene with Pat and P’Jo, they’re eating some of my favorite food. I got a little bit of linguistic negotiation with Khun Par Phi. Cuteness. And we end with some actual communication. Yay!!! It’s kind of hilarious to see OffGun in a tentative hug. I don’t think they’ve been that way for a years.

In fact, this whole episode was pretty much about communicating properly between ages and ranks within an office and social structure. I loved that. I’m liking this one more this week. It’s still not my favorite currently airing, but I think that mostly has to do with how much other good stuff is on right now.

SPEAKING OF...

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 3-4 of 12 - Uh huh, a game of one-up-man-ship is it? I think not. That boy wants to jump his cute stepbrother’s bones so bad that big brain of his is starting to melt. I'm here for it. Also, said sunshine cutie is clearly a big old cock tease. Everybody is happy about this. They sure know how to end these episodes on cliffhangers too. I don’t know how I’m gonna wait until next week.

I’m legit mad about how fucking good this is. After Unknown too?! Taiwan is spoiling us this year and THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT ALL ALONG.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 3-4 of 10 - Oh my goodness do I love this show. It makes me laugh, I adore the premise, I'm wild over the characters, and the acting is killer. I’m just really happy about this show, OK? I tend to sing and clap: Oh they so cute.

Baby got his first crush and he has no idea what to do about it. I ADORE how angry he is about it. Like... How dare I even consider falling in love with somebody? How annoying of me. It’s great. I even liked the girl in the confession and how cool and sweet they both were to each other over his rejection. Bang up job. This is fantastic BL of the newer modern style. (As contrasted to On1y)

These top two shows are neck and neck for best of the week, for entirely different reasons. But I love all my sons.

Speaking of...

Cosmetic Playlover (Japan Tues Gaga) eps 7-8 fin - Oh it’s so adorable with the drama and the little subordinate coming to their rescue, and them meeting each other’s family. "I want to become someone who is essential in your life" = peak romance.

Summation?

I loved this little show. It was a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss. It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan. Plus the kisses were good! I can’t ask for anything more, utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What a great time! 9/10

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 - The lack of communication between these 2 may actually drive me insane. But I still love them. Such a sad ep. 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 3 of 8 - Argh but also oooooo. I bet the uncut version was fantastic this week.

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 5-6 of 12 - I'm starting to like this better. I’m still not convinced, but I did enjoy watching it this week. I’m getting some chemistry off the leads. Admittedly. that’s because they both behave like 16-year-olds. Surprise MosBank cameo - looking handsome as ever, boys. (Honestly, Taiwan really wants that King of the Cameos crown.) And FINALLY our side couple. I’m looking forward to next week primarily because of them. And I don’t even have them yet!

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - OK the lap cuddle was v cute. As was the handholding. But hiking with a metal griddle? Insanity. Might be the craziest thing in a BL this year. And The Sign aired this year. Meanwhile, not a dead fish kiss! Yay! 

It's airing but...

4 Minutes (Sat Gaga) eps 1-6 of 8 - Gaga picked this one up so we can watch it there. I'm waiting until the end, it seems angsty and confusing and full of awful people being awful. But also... high heat and I'm shallow. So we shall see which devil wins (and how it ends).

In case you missed it

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. It's just taking me some time. This isn't really a bingable show, not for me anyway. It's A LOT to take all at once.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Coming SEPTEMBER 2024:

9/? The Time of Fever (Korea iQIYI) 6 eps - HoTae & DongHee are back! Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names I an WILD for this.

9/1 Live in Love (Thai Sun Gaga) 5 eps - Short series featuring and online romance turning IRL.

9/3 Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - Based on a manga, longer than usual run time. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL. Here it is!

9/6 Kidnap (Thai Friday GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - Ohm Pawat is back for Frigays it's gonna be a blast.

9/7 The Hidden Moon (Thai Sat ????) 10 eps - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger)... A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Was substantially recast.

9/9 Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) 12 eps? - Be gay YinWar, do crimes. Dehup gives us Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces in a Leverage sitch, only queerer.

9/14 Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sat ????) ?? eps - Remake of the original. I'm scared too.

9/15 Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - Assistant to a player boss who is in love with that boss decides to quit to save himself. The boss then makes a move. (A gay What's up with Secretary Kim?)

9/17 Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 10 eps - Lawyer and a con artist meet at a bar, pair up, fall in love.

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

Adventures in miss-captions

(been a while since we had one of these)

SNICKER "nail you" and a "nail you down" = completely different things. But this being Japan they might have met either or both. (Cosmetic)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Why yes, you do have the prettiest lips in the biz. No need to tease us like that. (Battle)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

I used to be part of the TOH fandom but left after the finale - I felt it was very lacking and was a huge letdown for all the reasons you said. Patting itself on the back and lore erasure. But I'd like to ask about something different.

It's no secret Dana hates Disney. But saying it everywhere, the jabs at Disney in the actual show, the attitude of fans parroting her, especially when the news of the shortening was first out - it was legitimately intense. Disney the company has done bad things. But there was a period where I felt like a bad person for even remotely enjoying Disney movies and Disney-published books. I hated myself and felt I was 'betraying' the show, because I had been told Disney was the enemy and nothing more. Disney shortening the show was not a good decision. But it also provided fans with a convenient scapegoat to put every bit of blame on when the show had the tiniest flaw. Comics of beating up Mickey Mouse, 'Disney' being treated like a swear word, praising TOH as the holy grail of animation and saying Disney hated gay people - it made me feel I was a traitor to the show and to myself. (I'm still figuring out my sexuality, but I know I'm not straight.)

Do you think the Disney blame game was too much?

The toh fandom has this incredibly binary way of thinking; the show is the greatest thing in animation and if you don't agree then you're a bigot. Lumity is the best sapphic ship ever and if you don't think so then you're lesbophobic. Shipping non canon ships is tantamount to a war crime. And of course, any criticism of the show has the convenient Disney defense. Any and all flaws of the show is because Disney is evil for not letting the show reach its full potential.

Listen, getting your show cancelled or shortened sucks. But, unfortunately, it's not unique and writers need to prepare for that because it seems to be an occupational hazard in the entertainment industry. A lot of shows get cancelled without even having a conclusion (thank you Netflix for ending the Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on a cliffhanger! even after the show won a got dang Emmy! 😤) so people should be thankful that at least the toh crew were allowed to finish the story.

I can give grace when analyzing a show's elements knowing what the writers had to deal with. But if they make decisions knowing ahead of time that they only have half a season and 3 specials left, and proceed to add more characters and plot lines that would require a longer season, then those are all fair game.

Dana knew of the Shortening around the production of Eda's Requiem, yet decided to add the Collector, because screw it! We like this little guy and want to see where it goes! They had Hunter get possessed and kill his best friend, yet barely any time is given to him to process that trauma. In the penultimate episode, Boscha, of all people, gets a mini sub plot despite not being relevant for a full season. Luz's angst arc gets 4. separate. resolutions.

None of this is Disney's fault. This all on the crew for not using their precious time wisely and tossing whatever they can to the wall to see what sticks.

So yeah, the Disney blame game is too much but it's also a blessing in disguise because now it's a convenient shield for whoever doesn't want to hear criticism about the show.

As for feeling guilty about liking Disney; listen, Disney has been foundational for literally millions of people for decades. Its presence and influence is seemingly inescapable. And the company has done some awful things in the name of corporate greed and profit.

But you should never feel guilty for liking something that brings you joy.

Remember that writers and artists are responsible for the shows you love. Many queer folks have seen themselves in Disney movies for a variety of reasons and there are many queer artists that have worked for Disney (hi Howard Ashman and Andreas Deja!)

So no, you're not a traitor for liking Disney.

The toh fandom has a very reactionary, us-vs-them attitude and it's incredibly toxic. So don't let the haters get you down!

I wish you well on your journey and hope you're in a better place.

Thank you for the ask!

[lavina-arts]

I don't know why I'm doing this, but I just wanted to give my honest review of this webtoon called "Boyfriends" because why not... (also, I think this is something that needs clarification urgently.)

First of all, I was reading this webtoon once too. But I couldn't read it until the end... maybe I read 20 chapters at most (this wasn't because I don't like webtoons, I just can't focus for a long time) And I want to say that the only thing I like about this webtoon is that the drawing style and the characters look cute, other than that, the author thinks gay and queer people are really disgusting is showing! And it's definitely not nice, I think people should absolutely be respectful to the last drop of their opinions, lifestyles, zest and so on, no matter what.

What I don't really understand is why people think that the characters are the reason why the webtoon is disgusting and make disgusting posts about them. Instead, I think we should talk about what mistakes the author made. Maybe if the author realizes these, he can correct his mistakes (if he doesn't, it's his fault). Apart from that, I think it's ridiculous that you criticize characters who are not real, but let me also say that the posts are completely justified. Considering the webtoon's drawing style, they could actually do better, but the plot in it is truly disgusting! (Also, I want to ask this specifically, why would you draw an asexual person constantly talking about sexuality!?) I'm not defending this webtoon at all, I think it's a disgusting webtoon. If there's one thing I like about this webtoon, it's the designs of the characters and the drawing style, other than that, it's not just shit because of a writer with a problem.

In my opinion, this webtoon can be considered as talents that have fallen victim to problematic writers.

I'm telling you these right now because sometimes I think about making fanart of the characters in this webtoon, but don't worry, you can be sure that they will look more normal and nice here.

Yes, I am a fan of this webtoon, but I repeat, I am not a supporter of the disgusting events in this webtoon, I just like the characters (except for their overly sexual styles...)

And here I want to say this to the author....

Take that damn sexual mentality and go to hell, otherwise one of us will have to become a murderer....

These are my own thoughts, if there is anyone who thinks differently or notices a point I missed, you can tell me in the comments, I would definitely respect it.

As I said, I don't support this webtoon, I just like the character designs, other than that, it's a really disgusting webtoon. I hope you can understand me, that's all I want to say for now. As I said, I may sometimes draw the drawings of that webtoon, but it will definitely be in a way that will make gays and queers look more welcoming and will not make anyone feel bad. I hope you understand.

[eddo-tensei]

More thoughts on Derision (Spoilers, obviously)

I think it's amusing that the default counter-argument to anyone who criticizes this episode boils down to "Well, you're just a Chloe Stan!" Which is something I had to deal with myself recently. Apparently, you can only hate this episode if you're a Chloe apologist. First off, hi, I'm Eddo. I wrote a fanfic where Chloe literally gets thrown into the dirt and suffer an allergic reaction to cacti, both times being her own fault. I feel like my Chloe Stan license should be revoked after that.

Anyways, I'm not surprised with the direction they went with Chloe in Derision. It's been stated since around Season 4 that Chloe was on a "Damnation Arc", so they've been doing everything they can to make her worse and worse. So, I'm not surprised or even angry that they continued this here. I'm annoyed, but not angry. What I AM angry about would be the other characters who got mangled in this shitshow.

Writers? Could you please stop having Chat threaten people with Cataclysm after he's shown regret doing it to people by accident TWICE?! This has happened three times now, counting what happened with Scarabella. Yes, I know he did this before with Darker Owl, but that just makes it worse because that happened right AFTER he regretted doing this to Monarch. You know, the guy who's been tormenting and attacking everyone for over a year? I guess to Chat, Damocles and Kim deserve it more for ripping away a fantasy and pulling a shitty prank respectively.

I know I complained about this a lot already, but this needs to be stressed upon. If we're going to take Cataclysm seriously, especially with what later episodes showed us, maybe DON'T have your hero threaten people with it for relatively petty reasons? "BUT IT'S FOR TRUE LOVE!!!1!!" Yeah, no. When he tried to do it on Darker Owl, Ladybug told him to cut that crap. It then happened again with Dark Humor with Ladybug telling him not to do it. It doesn't matter if it's for "true love." Both times he did this so far, Ladybug made it clear that this was a bad idea. So, maybe you guys should stop trying to encourage it. I refuse to believe that Chat believes that Monarch is more deserving to live after everything that he did than Kim after what he did. Speaking of Kim...

My friendly neighborhood dumb jock, why would the writers do this to you? When we only had the leaks to go by, I actually tried to scour for any interactions Kim had with Marinette and I can confirm that with the revelations we got in Derision, they REALLY don't make sense. Yes, Kim was a bit of a douche in the first season. Origins had him push Ivan around to the point of being the trigger for the Akuma. But he wasn't THIS much of a douchenozzle. Moreover, I have a hard time believing Marinette would be as friendly as she is with Kim throughout the series given what he did to her as revealed in this episode. Also, I know this is going to sound offensive, but...Kim was Marinette's first crush? Really? That's what you're going with? I'm not trying to insult Kim, but there was NOTHING that hinted to this. I can't help but think this was the thought process of the writers when they brought this up:

"So, we need to have Chloe do something to Marinette that would explain why Marinette struggles to be with Adrien. It has to be something big and traumatic. More importantly, it has to involve Marinette actually having a past crush that Chloe ruined and it has to be a character we're familiar with, so we can't make up an OC for it. We can't use Nino because he had a crush on her and it wouldn't make sense for her to reciprocate. We can't use Nathaniel because his crush went almost completely unnoticed by Marinette and he's also gay now. We can't use Ivan because he likes Mylene and we can't complicate that. We can't use Max because most people think he's ace and subverting that would piss a ton of people off. Oh, and we can't have it be any of the girls either because our show would get cancelled if Marinette isn't straight. So, let's just make it this guy."

"This. Fucking. Guy."

I'm having a hard time thinking of any other reason. I know some people theorized in the past that Kim and Marinette might've had a thing, but I don't think they held any water. Even now, however, I really don't think people should be happy it was canonized in this way.

I always held the belief that Chloe was responsible for Marinette's behavior, but my idea of it was that Chloe had been bullying Marinette for a long time and those years of sustained bullying took its toll on the poor baker girl that made it difficult for her to not only open her heart to people she loves, but have difficulties making friends in general until Alya came along. Yeah, Chloe doesn't look good in this case either, but it would've been more reasonable and would probably resonate with a lot more people who probably had to deal with bullies messing with them for a long time because these effects usually aren't instant. They get built on for a long time and it can really mess up their perception on things.

I think a good story would've been Marinette having to heal from that sustained trauma and while it is difficult since nobody can just quickly heal from trauma, it'd be a good journey for Marinette to be able to open up again with Alya and Adrien being just the first two pieces Marinette needs for her recovery.

But now, instead of all that, it turns out Chloe just pulled a prank that just unleashed a cavalcade of trauma on Marinette all at once that is hyper-specific to how she handles her crush that Adrien and ONLY Adrien can heal. All the while, it turns out that the prank was actually pulled by a guy who I really thought was just kinda fun and cool, but now I can't talk about him in the same way again because he's been thrown under the bus for the sake of this nonsense plot that's difficult not to call a full-on retcon. Do you know what I can call a retcon, though? Or rather who?

I am sorry to all of the people who are probably stanning Socqueline right now, but I CAN'T vibe with her. I'm not saying you're not allowed to like her either, because that would be dumb, but I DON'T like how she was presented in Derision. First off, to get this out of the way, we're no strangers to characters being introduced out of nowhere. Felix and Zoe are both characters that come to mind. The thing is you can at least explain their respective absences easily. Felix had likely been distant from Adrien for a long time with him only coming in out of obligation with Amelie. Zoe is actually even more easy to explain given that she was shoved into a boarding school by Audrey and wouldn't really be able to connect with any of the characters until she was forced to transfer. Socqueline, however, does not have that luxury and cannot be easily explained away not only with how we found her, but for the fact that there was NO hint to her existing until Season 5 and that is inexcusable given how much importance this character now has. To put it in perspective, this is how we are introduced to Socqueline in Jubilation:

Marinette: That fake Ladybug from this morning, I think it was Socqueline, a school friend from last year. Knowing her, I’m sure she means well. But I have to convince her to stop putting herself in danger like that.

That's it. She just calls her a school friend. Yes, it's clear that she's at least important enough for Marinette to remember her name, she was just called a school friend. At the very least, she did have an interesting story with her trying to be Ladybug in order to help people. Of course, she had to be talked out of it because it's causing issues with the real Ladybug, but it's a decent story and Socqueline had only made a few appearances here and there.

And then Derision.

Yes, Socqueline referred to Chloe as "that monster", so it's clear that they planned her to have something against Chloe since her first appearance. However, Derision showed us that Socqueline wasn't just a school friend. She was Marinette's closest confidant in the school years prior to the start of the series. She actively protects Marinette from bullies, particularly Chloe, and was clearly a huge inspiration for her until Chloe got her suspended from school.

First off, in case I haven't made it clear, we haven't seen Socqueline AT ALL until Season 5. Not even a hint to her existence. So given how significant she was made out to be in Derision, WHY HASN'T SHE MADE ANY APPEARANCES IN THE SERIES BEFOREHAND?! She doesn't even have the excuse of being outside of Paris like Felix and Zoe do because she's STILL there and in an arts and crafts store no less, which probably would've been a great place for Marinette to hang out in with her friends if the writers thought this through. But they didn't and Socqueline's debut comes off as severely jarring because we have this character who was really important to Marinette's life just not show up until she started cosplaying as Ladybug.

Secondly, it muddles Marinette's own backstory as well as severely hampering the significance of Alya. Now instead of being alone with nobody to help her against Chloe, which makes her friendship with Alya all the more stronger, Marinette just had this super cool friend who was always there for her until mean ol' Chloe got her kicked out of school. Doesn't that sound like something you'd see in a fanfic, specifically one that's salting Alya given how Socqueline was depicted as Marinette's BFF?

Thirdly, if Chloe was able to get Socqueline suspended so easily, then why hadn't she been able to do that with the other students? Yeah, she got close with Alya, but that didn't stick. If Chloe really had the ability to just make students disappear even if it happened once, she would NOT hesitate to try and do this again with any other student who slighted her, ESPECIALLY Marinette. But she doesn't. Once her attempt on Alya failed, she didn't try again. Hell, LILA had more attempts to get Marinette kicked out of school than Chloe did and actually got closer to doing it than Chloe would ever get, which is weird since she doesn't have the title of "Mayor's Daughter" to throw around like Chloe would. This just feels like something done to explain away why Socqueline didn't show up in the series which doesn't work because she's STILL IN PARIS and I'm pretty sure Marinette would be more than happy to meet with Socqueline given how close they were, but that never happened.

Fourthly, I'm guessing nobody felt like pointing it out because it felt too obvious, but doesn't Socqueline just come off as the writer's answer to Bridgette? You know, the older Marinette based on the anime PV that some fan writers implement into their own stories? Yeah, she's not one-to-one similar to Marinette like Bridgette is, but it definitely feels like another instance of the writers pulling stuff out of fanon just to put a canon spin on it. And like all the other instances, it's a bad spin.

Lastly, this whole incident with the prank and Socqueline's suspension took place a few months before Origins. Not even a year at the earliest. It was specifically stated that Socqueline was suspended three weeks before the end of the school year. Given how close that time gap, the way everyone behaves in Origins makes almost no sense. Marinette would be a lot more horrified of Chloe if Derision was anything to go by and Chloe would be more willing to try and cast Alya out so Marinette doesn't have any allies given that Derision showed Chloe REALLY wanting to make sure nobody helps Marinette. The only point I could even give any leeway to is Kim and even then, again, he's not that much of a douche in Origins as he was in Derision. So, really, it all just comes off as a blatant retcon specifically to try and explain the new direction the writers are taking with certain characters. And do you want to know the dumbest thing? Apparently, Socqueline was such an inspiration to Marinette that the latter changed her hair to be more like Socqueline's.

No, seriously. That's also how they explain why Marinette has different hairstyles. I know Expository Hairstyle Changes are a thing in fiction, but this is just awkward as hell given how traumatic and melodramatic the whole thing is. You don't need to say that Marinette's hairstyle came from someone who she considered a hero because nothing about Marinette indicated that her hairstyle is important. This isn't like Josuke changing his hairstyle to be based on the man who saved him as a child. It's a purely cosmetic change that's suddenly given a shit-ton of significance because now it's connected to this horribly traumatic incident. In fact, you know what this reminds me of?

Actually, the whole segment where this Linkara clip came from seems to sum up a lot of things wrong with Derision. It's not just bad because it makes some characters look bad or introduces stuff out of nowhere. It's bad because now everything in the flashback is now part of all of the characters! Every prior episode will now have to be viewed with a lens tinted by the events of this episode. Now nobody can discuss Kim without people salting on him for the prank, now nobody can talk about how important Alya's friendship with Marinette because of Socqueline's sudden boost in significance (In fact, it's very likely that Alya salters will try to use Socqueline as a replacement friend), and now nobody can speculate the intrigue of Marinette's past because EVERYTHING about her behavior is linked to this specific incident and nothing else. That's what pisses me off about this episode. That's why I share that Double D meme so frequently. I could care less about how much of a monster Chloe was depicted to be in this episode, but I am going to complain when other characters are butchered in the process. I will complain about one thing concerning her, though.

Isn't it amazing that you can tell the writers are trying DESPERATELY to squish any and all positive interpretations of Chloe, even trying to downplay parental neglect because "this character also didn't have a mom and they didn't turn out this way" even though Mylene's and Chloe's situations are still VASTLY different? You can make the argument that Audrey's absence doesn't excuse Chloe's actions. In fact, I don't think it really does either, but saying that there's only one valid response to an absent parent is EXTREMELY insensitive to people who might be going through similar situations.

Oh, and to cap this all off? This is the favorite episode of one of the main writers. Said writer possibly being considered to be the new director for Season 6 of Miraculous and onwards. I'm not gonna name which one for obvious reasons, but it's been confirmed.

I feel like this is a good indication that you need to hop off this series.

[lemonmoxy]

Ok, I know I'm a year late but MY BOY. They murdered my boy! Poirot is my favorite gay uncle, he is NOT my straight sad uncle.

So, I watched A Haunting in Venice which is an adaptation of Agatha Christie's Halloween Party by Kenneth Branagh, and I did not care for it. I did not care for it a lot. And that is why I have held you hostage here.

So disclaimer: I do not care about adaptational changes. I have the books. I have the David Scuhet's movies. Kenneth can make changes. Halloween Party is even a fine Christie story to change. It's fine but its not a masterpiece. It's just, if you're going to change things they should be lateral changes or better changes, not worse changes.

Now, for disclosure of bias. I have not liked any of these. I've found them all overwrought wastes of my time. But my partner loves Poirot, me, and doesn't mind wasting both of our times. And when he offers me fancy cheeses and movies, I say yes.

This movie was an absolute waste of my time. I did not like it. I got nothing of value out of it. It wasn't even bad coz that would have been interesting.

I do not like this Sherlock- I mean Poirot. They made him straight, they took away his OCD. They took away his heart of gold. He's just a sad mean old man, and he's not fun to watch. What does Kenneth think he's here to do? And its not just Poirot its the whole world. There's no sense of fun in these movies. In Orient Express it makes sense (although it made no sense to adapt that one first Kenneth). But Halloween Party? Guys live a fucking little.

Someone needs to explain to male directors that just because they're telling a story of cultural importance, doesn't make it epic. Agatha Christie's stories are fantastic! They're major cultural pieces of art. They are not epic though. They are fun mysteries. Kenneth, buddy, do you know what fun is? Because your movies haven't captured an iota of it.

That's maybe a slight exaggeration. There was one moment that made me smile. When Poirot said he would kill himself if the police solved the mystery before him, that was a real moment.

Poirot doesn't need war trauma guys. I don't even know how to tell you this. I fucking blame all the Sherlock adaptations for this. The detective shouldn't have that much going on, because we're here for the mystery not Poirot's damage. And if he must have damage it should be from things that we've seen and care about, not like, his dead wife. Or God forbid his dead congregation, looking at you BBC One. come on.

Making the killer the mother who couldn't stand to let her daughter grow up is predictable. It was my partner's first guess and he never gets these things right. I had guessed it was a Romeo and Juliet went wrong, which I think would have been interesting. But no, once again the faults of the child belong at the hands of the mother.

Also the whole time my partner was joking that the movie was going to decide that ghosts were real. And it did (kinda). Bizarre. I mean if you're going to that fucking go all out guys. Show me the dead girl waving to the survivors through the window. Have any fun with the idea. Please

Why was the parrot there? What was the point of it? Why is this child acting like the most world weary 11 year old? Has Kenneth met a child? Normally I'd be like "oh Lemon, it's just for fun" but Kenneth is determined we not have any, so what the hell?

Ah yes, let's put the man in the sound proof room and give the key very pointedly to one person. My partner and I were like "well whatever he knows is going to his grave" and yeah dead next scene coz duh. It was all very... I mean I know it's rude to compare a writer to Agatha Christie, but they're the ones who decided to square up. Every important clue dialogue is so obvious. Every death flag. They might as well do a pop-up on the screen. I've played Nancy Drew video games with more subtly.

They assassinated Ariadne, Christie's stand in for herself. And I feel very very negatively about this. Ah yes, kill her movies with shitty adaptations and then do a character assassination of her self insert. I mean, you can't say they're half-assing this. Tina Fey was actually good, it's not her fault almost all her lines were terribly written.

You can get the Dutch angle privilege back when you show me know how to use it properly Kenneth. Until then it's on the shelf.

If you wanted to do a horror movie hiding in a mystery story or a mystery story hiding in a horror movie, you need to commit to either idea Kenneth. Do something.

I am so so so tired of directors who keep acting like they have something important to say when they have nothing and refuse to have fun with the things that they do have.

They cannot keep getting away with this, guys. It's imperative we do something about this. Don't go see Nolan's Odyssey, I'm begging you. I'll never escape any other way.

[monstermoviedean]

i think there is a point where while the framing of dean and cas's relationship is frustrating, it's more indicative of like. the writers failing to understand dean and cas's relationship or a result of not hiring misha as a third lead for the show, so castiel comes off as extremely flaky and continues repeating his mistakes even when he says he'll do better.

basically we should all hope robbie thompson or steve yockey is the showrunner for a potential revival bc they seem to understand dean really well.

like while i Understand that these actions are consistent for castiel it also mostly feels like writers struggling to actually let him grow rather than entirely his fault?

like i've seen deancrit casgirls look at dean kicking out cas in the bunker and basically go "that's completely bullshit and out of character, i'm not gonna incorporate it into my understanding of dean as a character because that's very obviously the hand of the author preventing dean and cas from interacting while cas is a human, because it would be gay"

i kind of think that cas should be extended that same kind of grace in being like. the writers don't seem to see this as an issue and as a result even though it is one, it's hard to see a character grow when most writers dont seem to recognize it as a problem.

like steve yockey identifies it as an issue in lily sunder, when dean is mad/worried about cas the entire episode for making a call on his own (killing billie) but is still defending him from ishim. but berens doesn't seem to see it as a repeated problem in 15x09, so it's not brought up except as a snide comment from dean.

that being said i think castiel thinks of himself as disposable, so him using his love and devotion as a weapon to save dean is wonderful for him but ultimately devastating for dean, who has never viewed cas as replaceable.

like cas firmly believes that his emotions don't matter, that his feelings don't matter (his own insecurities and upbringing), so dean saying "no you do matter, of course you matter" is wonderful! but unfortunately he made the deal with the empty, and he probably realizes how bad he fucked up making that deal (it's claire and jimmy again, it's john and dean again, making a deal to save your child that dooms the people around you to grieve your loss)

it's just very very tragic, and sad. i wish supernatural was good.

sorry for rambling lmao.

it's a yes/and for me. yes, cas has to be off-screen a lot because of budgetary reasons, and the writers could have addressed that in different ways that made it seem less like cas being flaky. as for repeating his mistakes and not being able to grow, i think that's a separate issue, but a writer issue as well. there are ways to address cas repeating mistakes that don't blame dean for those mistakes.

i try to reserve my judgment of something as ooc to a few extreme situations. that's just my personal preference. i can think of a handful of actions across the show that are best-explained by ooc writing. dean telling cas he can't stay in 09x03 is not one of those. i don't like it, obviously, but i can see why dean did that and why it makes sense in his context.

i get what you're saying about extending grace to cas, and yes, writer actions are always at play here, but i try to view and interpret situations based on what is happening in the show itself. again, personal preference, and i don't always stick to that. but for me, if i only looked at everything through the lens of "writers made them do it," that wouldn't be very fun for me because yeah, writers made them do all of it and it's a work of fiction.

but extending grace to cas - i always try to extend grace to everyone. i really do. sometimes i fail! i get frustrated that i often see others extending grace to cas and intentionally withholding it from others who they don't think deserve it. it's a double standard i find aggravating.

[erikahenningsen]

Thoughts on the movie? Spoilers welcome lol

MEAN GIRLS (2024) SPOILERS BELOW

Overall I really liked it! I had very low expectations, especially considering the track list showing that a lot of songs had been cut. That actually turned out not to be true, as there were some songs in the movie that weren't on the track list (Cautionary Tale, Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise), I See Stars). I expected a lot to be changed, but it actually followed the show fairly closely with some changes (they don't go to the mall, for example). A lot of the lines from the original movie and the Broadway show were kept but there's a lot of new stuff too that really made me laugh. Damian has some good one-liners.

Generally I liked the musical numbers, although I found Angourie kind of lacking when it came to performing during songs, although that's not entirely her fault. They changed Stupid With Love to be slowed way down and just like generally low-key and lines like "I am filled with calculust" just don't hit the same when you're singing it softly with no expression on your face lol. I've never been a big fan of Stop but I do wish Jaquel had had some song of his own. He just has Cady's part in Apex Predator now. The new opening song for Cady (What Ifs) was... fine, but I've never been super in love with Wildlife or It Roars so whatever. It seems like the writers never really could settle on what they wanted for that song since it had a lot of changes for the tour as well. They did totally remove Cady's dad's existence with no explanation which was kind of funny. (My new headcanon is that he was eaten by a lion.)

Definitely cannot go without mentioning that Janis is canonically gay and takes a girl to spring fling, and even Damian has a date he dances with! Regina does also tell Cady she likes her although I think they were going for platonic (could go either way). Cady had the exact same reaction to seeing Regina for the first time as Aaron, which was very funny to me. Obviously I didn't expect them to make everyone explicitly gay so I appreciate the little things they did add. (We know the truth.) I was worried they would completely remove the storyline about Janis's sexuality since the trailer showed the burn book saying "pyro freak," but it's still there. They also made Norbury and Duvall a canon couple which was cute.

I think they did go a little too hard on the gen Z culture aspect; I found some of the language was little cringy at times and felt like a cariacture, but I'm also not a teenager, so maybe it is authentic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (any teens reading this please report back to me).

In summary I had a really good time and I have some minor gripes but the bar was really on the ground for me and I'm excited to go back! I'm bringing a coworker this week who didn't know me during MG on Broadway and has never seen or listened to this musical so that should be wild.

[charmac]

Heyo! I'd be interested to hear your theories on the macdennis writer's room situation!

IMO it's not as simple as 'Rob is pro and Glenn is anti' (and we always ignore Charlie in these conversations even though he's quite into it in the dvd commentary and pod), so your suggestion that the subtlety (lol it's really not subtle, but yeah r/iasip ig) in the writing of their relationship might be glenn's idea is quite intriguing to me, and I wonder how this all relates to the opposing views on whether Dennis is a serial killer amongst rcg. So much of the writing of Dennis comes from Charlie and also Rob, but it's definitely influenced by them observing Glenn (like the cereal story) and by Glenn's performance. And ofc we know Glenn pushes back if Dennis is written as too heartless because he maintains that he does have feelings and is quite sensitive in a way. Not sure where I'm going with this... I don't have a full theory fleshed out in my head yet, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts!

(not trying to stir anything with this ask btw: in fact, iirc there were some posts about this subject a few months ago and I didn't engage then because it pissed me off when the conversation turned into a "who supports the quuer fans more" kind of competition, as if macden is something so basic between rob and glenn, when we really have no evidence about what happens fr bts, beyond some fun speculation. just enjoy theorizing in drought times.)

Hey, thanks for the ask! To address your final point first, I don't want to talk publicly about what may or may not be the motivations of Glenn and Rob as "queer allies" or how they think this may affect their careers or whatnot. These kinds of discussions I don't believe are ever effective publicly when you don't know the truth. I'm not speculating on their motivations as people but as writers who care about the story they're telling and, more importantly, their characters.

When my message was "anti" and "pro" it was really just from the discussion that someone had to be pushing back against what I believe is Rob pushing forward (This was a black and white, who wants Macden now and who is saying no, wait. I truly do and always have believed Macden will happen. The nuanced discussion came after, in messages I'd rather not share since they are not just my personal thoughts but a conversation with another user.) I

t's not necessarily that Glenn is anti-Macdennis (and I think you understand that) and I want to clarify first off that I definitely don't think it's as simple as that, so here we go:

For Glenn pushing the subtlety, I think we agree completely that it likely links to how Glenn wants the audience to perceive his character (and how I love perceiving him): Dennis talks a big game that to the untrained eye makes him seem like this cold-blooded psychopath, but it's all a complete front you can easily see through. He gets a thrill out of these terrible things but would never act on them. It's interesting to hear of the live show "Dennis is a serial killer" talk brought up right along side all of this, because it's a perfect example of how Rob and Glenn clearly have opposing views on Dennis' character, and how that definitely plays into why they don't agree on canonising Macdennis. (As I understand, Dennis gets a thrill out of the idea of murder or harming people, but he could never act on it. Reddit (and to some lesser degree, Rob), don't get this, and think he probably does act on it and it's just not shown in canon (despite the mountains of evidence that Dennis is much too weak and feeble to ever do anything).

If you think about their current dynamic (actually, ignore 15, we'll get there), they've completely flipped from early seasons, and I don't think that's accidental or a fault of bad writing, I think it 1. is a result of Mac labelling himself as gay, finally, in S12 and 2. is a result of Glenn continuing to fight for Dennis' character staying consistent.

From point 1: Dennis was always the more effeminate, more coded to like men one, more touchy with Mac, a little obviously in love with him, until Mac outwardly expressed those feelings back. As early as M&DBU you can see how terrified Dennis is of being seen as gay, and in a relationship with Mac. For Dennis, as gay as it got, it was okay until it was labelled. Now that Mac is labelling himself as gay, now there's a hard stop for Dennis. Being with Mac is something Dennis could act on, and then be labelled as. (gay, bi, likes men, fucking Mac, boyfriend *shutters*) This is something that would happen if he didn't keep full, hard control against it.

To point 2: I think this was a bit of a divide in the writers room that Glenn couldn't control. S12 he bowed out, clearly he was feeling lost in Dennis and the writers room. When he left for S13 and 14, and you can see how Rob's want for Mac to be out, canon, very gay, in love with Dennis, comes through full-speed in these seasons, because Glenn wasn't writing (mostly). Rob wanting this directly conflicts with Glenn's writing for Dennis. Dennis is opposing Mac in every way, he has this exterior he has to put on, anti-Mac, anti-whatever they were, he's completely thrown off by Mac, hates their old dynamic.

Rob wants canon Macden, but he perceives Dennis differently than Glenn does, and likes this opposing path of the two of them, and that's obviously creating an issue. Clearly I don't know Rob's intentions, and maybe I'm talking out of my ass, but I don't think I'd be far off to say that he'd enjoy putting Macdennis through some desperation-hell (ala, Dennis gives in and gets with Mac because he's horny, uses him, DENNIS systems him, the result is Mac has always been the long-con for Dennis, which I admit, I wouldn't hate hate).

I think Glenn is against it, because there's always been something there for Dennis and there's a reason he came back, there's a reason he's always stayed around, always supported Mac. He is in love with Mac. It's not a system or a game, but a fucking fight for his life to oppose his true feelings and hide his identity, not be labelled. Dennis is stuck, and there's nothing pushing him to do anything about it. He'll get off with his systems and his kinks and he's okay.

Now we move to S15 and look, they aren't...all that opposing...during Lockdown, they...got along. And then, here goes Dennis, yelling and screaming about Mac obsessing over his own labels and identity so he can ignore his internal struggle. It's clear, he needs something to push him.

How do they go about it? Dennis jealousy arc seems like the perfect fucking beautiful compromise. Rob gets something raw, a little insane from Dennis, and Glenn gets to show that Dennis really is in fucking love with Mac.

TL;DR: Rob wants Macden now in some kind of dirty, get on with it, Dennis is using Mac kind of way. Glenn doesn't want it canon until they reach the conclusion of this arc that shows Dennis really does have big feelings (good and bad), and those feelings really kinda have a lot to do with Mac.

--

AGAIN THESE ARE JUST MY THOUGHTS AND I OFTEN WATCH THIS SHOW WHILE HIGH OR CROSS FADED SO IF YOU DISAGREE THATS TOTALLY 100% OKAY I DO NOT CARE IF YOU READ ALL THIS AND THINK IM STUPID OR WAY TOO INSANE ABOUT THIS ALL THATS TOTALLY VALID FOR YOU TO SAY! IF THERES NO JEALOUSY ARC IN s16 I AM A CLOWNNNNN!!!

[dont-mind-if-i-slytherin]

Hot take on final episode

Spolier warning!!! Last chance!

I'm not even mad about Izzy. It was sad, and I'm upset that he's died. It does make sense storytelling wise, and if I was the writer, I probably would have made the same choice, I did see it coming, but thought they might not do it because of the whole subverting gay tropes and this does seem a little 'bury the gay'... Izzy had finally accepted himself, could move on and be happy and he dies... but I get it. I understand why they did it.

However, I will say i wish they did it differently. It was a random ass bullet shot, it wasn't even aiming at him properly, it was chance, total bad luck. I guess it was for the shock factor, and how sudden things can happen during battle, and for a comedy/drama, it is still a pirate show, so people will get hurt and they will die, but I would have loved to see something more meaningful for Izzy's character development. We spent an entire season working through his trauma and acceptance journey, and it just feels a little.. anti climatic.

I would have loved for there to be a parallel from season 1, a show down with the British, Ricky shoots the gun at Stede, Ed is to far away this time, and Izzy jumps in front of him. It would bring his arc full circle, accepting Stede as family, approving of his relationship with Ed, and understanding that Stede makes Ed better, and while last season he gave him up to the British, here he is saving him, because he knows that without Stede, Ed may fall back into that dark path he was on and he wants to save Ed (and the crew) from that. It would have been a nice contrast of him helping break them up, and nearly dying from it, to dying to ensure they can be happy together.

I would have also accepted him maybe sacrificing himself for Lucius, the one he had a lot of tension with, because of his own self hatred reflected in seeing Lucius as everything he felt like he could not be, open, caring and gay without no fucks to give. Him then saving Lucius would have been a nod to him coming to terms with that in himself, that he doesn't have to be this angry hateful person, and also saving him now when last season his words and actions had a domino effect which led to lucius being pushed of the ship and a lot of trauma, so being a nice little parallel.

I wish we had more episodes, but they did amazing with what they had. There were pacing issues but that wasn't the fault of the writers, it was getting a rubbish budget and 8 half an hour episodes. I hope for a season 3, and I really really hope Con is still in it, even if he is Ed, Stede's or Lucius' ghost just making snarky comments behind them for the entire season.

Anyway, thank you for reading my Ted Talk!

[scarlet--wiccan]

Why do people not like YA v2?

Mostly, but not entirely, I think the distaste for Young Avengers (2013) comes from a misplaced sense of proprietary nostalgia for the original series/characters, and an unwillingness to meet the challenge of a somewhat dense text that eschews many superhero conventions in favor of form- and genre experimentation. I understand that's not everybody's cup of tea, and the series is far from perfect-- Gillen executes many of these ideas more successfully in other projects-- but nine times out of ten, when people don't like the book, it's because they refuse to engage with it intellectually or in good faith. I'm just going to say it-- the magic systems and intersecting character arcs both require a certain degree of rigor to comprehend, and I can tell, when people talk about the book, that they aren't meeting that challenge.

It's also dated in a lot of ways, which I understand can put people off if they're coming to it for the first time in the 2020s. At the risk of being hypocritical, because this is a bit of nostalgia on my own part, the book just makes more sense if you were actually a college kid in 2013, like I was. A lot of its aesthetic sensibilities-- and I don't just mean the art, but the tone, dialogue, and general pop culture outlook-- are just very of the era. It connected well at the time, at least with the target audience of, to be honest, tumblr kids.

And for the record-- I like McKelvie's artwork. It evolved a lot over the course of his next project, The Wicked + The Divine, but I think YA was a strong showing. I do not see the faults that other people see in it, especially not when it comes to character design. As an example, I see a lot of folks ragging on Billy's look in this series, and it always strikes me as odd because in 2013.... that's what I looked like. I had exactly that hair, I wore an earring just like that, and I walked around campus in black skinny jeans and a galaxy print backpack. Again, I understand that this is dated, but you can't tell me that's not an appropriate design for a nerdy, slightly emo, eighteen year-old millennial gay guy in 2013. I lived it, and I had the black, plastic-rimmed glasses to prove it!

There are other, more valid critiques to be made. It's not a great sequel or continuation of the original series-- it's not supposed to be, but people have a hard time accepting that, and the fact that so much of the story is really just a continuation of the Kid Loki saga can feel a little unfair. Tommy and Eli's exclusion-- the latter of which is wrapped up in editorial red tape that's never been properly explained-- had a lasting negative impact on both characters. I don't think that David and America's depictions are necessarily offensive, but they're not perfect, either, and I understand why people feel driven to call them out. But the thing about books that are over ten years old, is that you have to be able to view them, objectively, as part of a larger picture, and this is where Young Avengers fans struggle. Again, that might make me a hypocrite, considering how I talk about titles like HoM, or writers like Peter David, but that is a very different magnitute of harm and problematic context.

People are entitled to their opinions, but overall, I just find the conversation around this book to be far too subjective and reactive to engage with. I like the series! It came out at exactly the right time for me, I understand and enjoy the supernatural elements, I like the characters, and I, personally, get a lot out of Gillen's esoteric bullshit and top-down relationship with form. If you don't like it, that's fine, but I feel like everyone complains about the wrong things.

[morskisir]

i'm really curious why you dislike the comics? /genq /nm

ooooh the dreaded question. i can get really passionate about this (i care too much) so i'm going to be as brief and simple as i can. i'm aware many people enjoy the comics and that's fine. /gen you do you. like i said; i care too much

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: we have no clue how much time or dedication was given to the comics by valve; the poor writing isn't necessarily the fault of the writers and i have no personal beef with them! with that said, old man yells at cloud /ref under read more/keep reading.

the two main gripes i have with the comics are lack of planning and tone problems.

as i already said, the lack of planning- and therefore the poor writing- does not mean the comic team was incompetent (the art is quite good a lot of the time, actually), but this does mean it severely hurts the quality of the comics themselves. it's clear they aren't sure where they're taking this (as evident by whatever the fuck is going on with helen) and what the story is even supposed to mean. the tone goes hand in hand with the poor planning; the comics aren't sure whether they want to be purely comical and action-focused or a DARK comedy; having serious moments and themes in the story.

in the end, the serious moments come off as either manipulative (iykyk. i am not getting angry about this for 40 minutes again) or as if they're being made fun of (cough cough sniper).

they also struggle to really build up those moments, so sometimes it feels as if they just came out of nowhere. it's really jarring.

there's also just. not a lot of conflict between the main cast?? there isn't a lot of pressure put on pauling from the mercs via questioning her actions, etc. (we only slightly get this from spy. but like once) (i get that it's to show how much trust they have in her but, really? not a single thing?) (this could build up to like. a "grand betrayal" sort of thing but yknow. they didnt think about the build up to anything)

this is why i think making it JUST the RED team really hurts the story- they already have set dynamics and don't need to develop or sort through any conflicts they have with one another. medic only has conflict with sniper of all people. MEDIC. who went to join another team which was actively hunting his previous one.

the comics introduce conflict and new dynamics by straight up making up new characters?? as much as i love zhanna- she was primarily put into the story just to be soldier's love interest and have a fun dynamic with him.... i'm so sorry miss.

they could've done that with demo btw?? since demo and soldier are supposed to be friends?? unless actually the team differences DO matter (which the comics do not make clear at all, engie is randomly blue while the rest are red. okay. why? wouldn't you like to know.) so red soldier and red demo dont bounce off of eachother as much as blu soldier and red demo do.

i'm not formatting this at all but remember the poor planning? ahem. sniper timeline. why did you make him barely 30. i will fucking kill you he was always clearly meant to be, look, and sound like an old man. its in his concept art its in how he talks. raghghgh

they keep giving themselves problems by adding new characters cause then the main fucking mercs who people adore get no time for themselves (demo, pyro, scout, engie) they're just kinda......there. it sucks. but it's what we got, i guess. just how canon the comics are is questionable- but i don't care if they are.

it's free real estate i'm doing my own thing!!!!!!!!!!! fuck around find out!!!!! be gay do crime!!!!!!! *gets arrested by valve for tampering with copyrighted material*

anyways, after all that negativity; shoutout to the only stuff i enjoyed from the comics: pauling, heavy, the art. goob byeeeeeeee

[wenellyb]

What’s your take on the hunch that the show (now that Buck is confirmed queer) is going to kill him off because he and Bobby have their final goodbye in the s7 finale? The show’s creators said that Eddie will go into s8 feeling isolated, and we know that Peter’s contract isn’t up for the show, so Bobby’s likely not dying. Does anyone know if Oliver’s contract is up??? I really hope they don’t give us a bury your gays trope 😫

Hi Anon!!!

I don't know anything about the actors contracts and I don't know where that rumor came from but I know for sure they won’t kill off Buck. If it were Grey's anatomy I would have a different answer but the 911 franchise don't kill off their Main Characters so "easily".

And I don't even why they would kill off Buck "now that he's confirmed Queer"...?????? It doesn't make sense. I would expect 911 Lone Star to kill off Nancy, or Tk, or Carlos, or Paul.

I'm not saying it couldn't happen in the future, and for sure something dramatic is going to happen before the end of the season, but I can already tell you if they kill off a Main Character it won't be Buck ( if Oliver contract was ending, and I don't know that that the case, they would find another of making him "leave").

Eddie feeling isolated could be for different reasons, and also feeling isolated isn't the same as being isolated.

I think his recent actions show that he's in a weird place and he might isolate himself in fear of being judged. Or he might be isolated because some of his friends won't approve his behavior. There are so many storylines the writers could come up with...

So here's the wild part, I never really thought about how Eddie might feel isolated, but this is how I imagined Eddie's recent storyline going.

I don't know if Eddie will keep seeing Shannon's lookalike or not, but going on a date was already cheating and I don't know if he'll confess or not, but Marisol will eventually hear about it and probably break things off.

We don’t know what Eddie and Marisol's relationship is at exactly, but we know that Marisol and Christopher are really close, we saw it the last episode, but we also heard that Marisol often babysits Chris when Eddie goes out with friends, and once did it twice in the same week. And finally, Eddie wouldn't have moved in with Marisol if he thought Chris would have the slighest problem with it (she moved out the same day, but the 1st decision was taken seriously and having Chris in mind).

So here's my wild theory, and bear with me.... I think that when Marisol and Eddie break up and Chris finds out it's his father fault.... He contact Marisol and run away to see her, I think he'll only stay a little, like Marisol will call Eddie to tell him that he's safe and tell him it's better if he stays the night because he was pretty upset. So even if Chris goes back home, he will still be mad at his father and won't talk to him (leading to Eddie feeling isolated).

If Christopher ever learns that his father cheated on Marisol with his mother's doppelganger, things might be even worse, he might leave to go live with Marisol for a while or with Buck.

I know this isn't your ask, but I'm sure Buck is safe (from being killed off, not from other dramatic events).

And your ask made me think of my theory and whataver the writers do with Eddie and Marisol's relationship I hope they explore the impact it has on Christopher because we've already seen that they're really close and anything. I hope the writers don't suddenly forget about it.

Sorry for derailing but your ask was the perfect opportunity to talk about this.

Btw, does anybody know anything about Olivier's contract?

[itsana004]

erm… Vetrix (Tron) for the character ask? He’s my silly idk

Hiiii kanamori! I just want to start by saying IM SORRY IT TOOK ME AGES TO GET BACK TO YOU PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEE

Ohhhh Tron! He's a character I posted a few times about in my blog but I haven't really got into how I feel about him so this is a really interesting character suggestion! So here lays my truest thoughts on Byron/Tron.

•How do I feel about this character

Omg, I have a love/hate relationship with him?? There is a part of me who thinks he's one of the best villains of Zexal, he's an evil freckin gremlin and he's so funny and just wanna squeeze him to death, but then there is a part of me who wants to squish him like a bug and wants to see him being obliterated.

Do I hate him because of episode 54? Not really, I hate him like in a funny kind of way, I like to make memes of Droite flipping him off or just stepping on him but that's it really, oh but I have a visceral hate for the writers absolutely! Tron is just a silly old deadbeat dad manchild whose not in fault for writer's questionable writing when it comes to women and their pleasure in utterly humiliating them but that's that.

Also I find it interesting that he took this childlike form, has a childish behaviour while having a calculative and calm demeanor of an adult at the same time?? It really makes his character very fun and he definitely teases Faker and Kazuma about his youth while they get wrinkles every year.

ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT TRON'S VISCERAL HATE FOR HIS SECOND SON IV??? I FIND IT SO FUNNY AND THE MEMES ARE GOLD BUT LIKE OMG IV IS BETTER THAN ME CAUSE I WOULD NEVER RECOVER FROM THAT.

•All the people you ship romantically with this character

Let's start with HOW THIS MAN IS SO FVCKIGN GAY FOR FAKER??? Like he goes through the effort to make him coffee because of how stressed Faker is and Faker destroys the cup AND HE STILL REMAINS COMPOSED AND CALM, that's like... toxic level of simping right there, yes, this man is a fvcking simp and his decision as Tron to still save his life and work with the man lured him and pushed him off a cliff, betrayed him, left his sons orphan, made him go through hell, AND ALL IT TOOK TO FORGIVE HIM WAS FAKER'S SORRY ASS AND THEM FLOATING IN THE BACKGROUND JUST BEING GAY ASF, yes, at this point no matter what Faker does, this man is gonna come back to him because that's just how much he's gay for him. Like look at him how he keeps showering Faker with compliments to Kazuma while Faker is not there to listen LIKE??? And they both lost their wife, just saying, more trauma bonding and free gay to roam idk

And the revenge plan of Byron, you know what they say, the greatest hate comes from deepest love, and just when his toxic bf apologies showing remorse, he goes back back to him just like that

In conclusion, Byron is super gay for Faker, like on a toxic level gay, but I guess that makes it hot.

•My non-romantic OTP for this character

OTP would sound weird so let's just say any non-romantic relationship, I guess that would be with his sons and I guess I'm mostly influenced by the fandom memes and his hatred for his second son, they are all funny and sometimes makes me really wish for a sitcom for the Arclight family.

I also love his friendship with his old buddies Kazuma and Faker and idk maybe should all go for a gay bonding trip again

•My unpopular opinion about this character

Honestly I'm not sure about this one, I think we all agree he was the best villain in Zexal I

I think he should have appeared more in Zexal II, is that an unpopular opinion?

•One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character

Like I said before, I really want a sitcom of Arclight family and them just interacting with one another they are so funny

Also I will hate the writers forever for pretending that Droite and Tron never dueled, BRUH, LET THEM EXCHANGE ONE CONVERSATION? ONE TINY BIT? NO? FVCK. YOU. WRITERS. There was this fanfic where all the people gather to the W.D.C. party (before the Tournaments start) to the next year one and they have such a funny exchange and I FEEL ROBBED.

And I just wanted to see him brew more chaos in Zexal II while he barely appeared, I really want to know how he would play out in Zexal III.

I'm again sorry for this very long post and for taking such a long time! And thank you so much for sending an ask it makes me so happy to see them even if I'm not the best at answering them right away 💞💞

[willel]

I am going to be honest, as a queer person it also irritates me when I see the GA talk about Will, especially in the context of his sexuality and them not noticing it and saying he must like Eleven. But at the same time, I have to agree with the GA on one part, and that is the way the show wrote things in terms of Will's sexuality (and his whole character... but that's another topic), they made it so subtle that most of the audience missed Will was gay. He doesn't even come out to Jonathan, and the fact that the scene between them both was also an afterthought left a bad taste in my mouth. The van scene happens so quickly into the episode too, so it has like a couple of minutes at most and then the audience's focus is shifted to the main plot. It isn't centered or anything, it kind of seemed like they just wanted to show it and then quickly move to the 'real things' to me. That's ofc partly dependent on how the Cali plot is overall written and their lack of screentime and focus compared to other plotlines, but the scene feels very out of touch with everything else going on, and on top of that the confirmation is not that obvious either, so it feels sort of weird. Most of the audience didn't notice the scene and didn't understand it because of the writing choices imho, so I really cannot fully blame the audience for their criticism and lack of noticing things.

But the thing is, it was not that subtle at all. You didn't have to be a super analyst to see the signs.

I am someone who likes critically thinking about the media I consume, but I often completely ignore the romantic aspects of characters. Most popular media these days boil down to a straight romance with a love triangle that didn't need to exist but the writers couldn't think of any other way to make it exciting.

I also don't put a lot of thought into character sexualities because it's always either a case of super straight no question about it, straight but the writers thought it would be fun to imply they're not, or gay in an almost stereotypical way that executives wanted to cash in on.

To me, Will was none of these things. He was just... an average kid in the closet. I started to pick up on it in season 2, mostly nearing the end. Joyce was teaching him how to dance at the ball but she was the lead which is usually what a guy does. Will clearly and obviously had no interest in dancing with that girl and it wasn't because she called him zombie boy. And finally, "every smile you fake" playing when he was on screen as the Mind Flayer, who was just inside his mind, was hovering over the ball.

It was then I went, "Ah, Will isn't straight. Not sure what he is exactly, but it's not straight. And the monster probably knows it. "

How can anyone not notice those things? You have to be blind not to see the signs. I don't think the writers need to be particularly overt and blast it in peoples faces, people should be able to pick up on those clues in my opinion. Especially how awkward Will was being with that girl compared to every single one of his male friends.

And then you got season 3??? How can anyone possibly think "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" and Will's absolutely devastated reaction to it could mean anything else? You really think a teenage boy would be on the edge of tears and have an emotional breakdown in the forest just because his friend said he doesn't have a crush or a girlfriend?

I mean I know teenage boys are emotional, but it was SO obvious what was being laid down and anyone who denied that was being purposely obtuse. People were arguing about it on reddit for years leading up to season 4 even though it WAS SO OBVIOUS.

And then in season 4???? No one has any excuse anymore not to see what was going on with him. It wasn't not subtle at ALL. I think even the straightest person you ever did see knows how a coming out scene might look like even if the words "I'm gay" are never said. That was the Will and Jonathan kitchen scene in a nutshell.

Maybe the writers could've done a few things here and there to make it even more obvious for the less observant people (like the cut script of season 2 when they had Will looking at Mike across the room dancing with El, though I feel they cut that because they were probably still debating on who would Will actually be interested in, Mike or someone new)

But I will not give the audience a pass at this point for missing what is right in their face. Especially when some of that audience is actively malicious against LGBT+ anything.

I do not advocate dumbing down our media or making things so overt that it's out of place so that people who refuse to analyze their media even a teeny tiny bit won't have to think at all. If a general audience member later realizes WIll was gay and says "Oh I didn't notice!", then their first thought should be, "Dang, I really missed that? I should rewatch and actually watch the show this time."

You don't need a big brain to consume Stranger Things. It's not as deep or complicated as some shows can get. But also, people shouldn't treat Stranger Things as the summer popcorn flick where they just go into the movies, laugh and giggle, and then forget everything as soon as the movie is over. There are too many people in the GA who treat it this way, ESPECIALLY after what season 3 turned out to be.