#also I know this will sound weird but creating a romantic rival for them might make me feel there's even less chance they will split up

[mydaylight]

If it really turns out that Alfrend Merrick is meant to become Bertha's admirer you'll never hear the end of it from this blog

[favberrys]

I'm bored and in a kkg brainrot mood, so i'm just gonna rant about my opinions of kakegurui ships and i will make some headcanons:

Kirasaya

Ok i had to start with them bc they're just too iconic, i think they have one of the most interesting and complex dynamics in kkg, they really got me obsessed with them, it's probably my number one kakegurui ship and the reason i started watching the show and reading the manga. Honestly yeah their relationship has some power imbalance, since sayaka is kirari's secretary, and is probably disfunctional, but contrary to what some ppl say kirasaya is not abusive, kirari never physically or emotionally abuses sayaka throughout the story. Anyway they're a 10/10, peak lesbian yearning, if they don't kiss at least one i will jump the author. Probably one of my fav ships ever, i think they're made for each other and i can't see kirasaya with anyone else, they're just so good together and their chemistry is >>>>>>

Yumary

Ok this one is kinda an unpopular opinion bc most people like yumary, but honestly i can't get invested into it, there's something in this ship that doesn't make my heart go "fuck yeah they should be gfs". Personally i don't ship yumeko with anyone bc i can't imagine her in a relationship since her main thing is being a compulsive gambler, her existence revolves around it and she forms relationships when they're useful for her gambling games. I think yumary could be friends with benefits for some time, but after a while mary would probably break it off because i don't think she can handle a sexual/romantic relationship with yumeko and after a while it would make her go nuts. A friendship between them is already messy and complicated and honestly i don't think they are compatible that way. Yes they have chemistry and there's probably some mutual attraction but to me it's a no. Also can cishet dudes stop fetishizing this ship ? My vote is 6/10, mostly bc mary doesn't seem much physically comfortable with yumeko, idk mary just seems off with her in that sense and i prefer them as gambling partners or friends.

Meariri

I honestly love this ship, especially after reading the manga, they have such an great dynamic, i think they both care about each other, they have chemistry and i think they're compatible and that their personalities compliment each other, mary is often loud and aggressive and passionate while ririka is more closed off and quiet, they're like fire and ice and this case i think the saying "opposite attract" works with them. Mary counts on ririka and i love the fact that she is so comfortable with her physically (mary is almost always the one to initiate the contact, holding her hand, touching her head, etc) and ririka gets inspired by mary to be her own person and chase her goals. Plus they're really cute together, aesthetically i find them the most attractive couple, i'll give them a solid 9/10

Itsukaede

Lmao i don't even know if this is the correct ship name for itsuki x kaede, ok i don't hate it and i think they could work as a couple, it's not my cup of tea bc m/f ships bore me, but i like their relationship, they have the kind of old married couple dynamic that always works. 6/10.

Ryomeko

I can see it happening, i don't ship it, but i don't mind it either, i'm kinda neutral about ryota x yumeko, but i think he's one of the ppl who care about yumeko the most in that academy (with also mary ofc), the ship is boring bc ryota is bland (he's a good guy don't get me wrong and he defo doesn't deserve the hate he gets) and as i said previously i don't ship yumeko with anyone. Sorry i gotta give it 5/6 out of 10

Yumedari

Ok i love midari but just like yumeko, i don't ship her with anyone bc i see her as someone who's too much unstable for relationships, but i know that canonically she loves/likes/is attracted to yumeko so i don't hate this ship, i think it's decent, the only problem is that yumeko hates midari. Still i think that since they're the most insane mfs in that school somehow this ship could work. 6/10

Yuridari

Again midari in my eyes is kinda unshippable, but this ship is not bad at all, they would have that kind of bickering married couple dynamic like itsuki and kaede, i like it but it doesn't do much for me. 7/10

Ryomary

Jsjssjsksk i looked the name of mary x ryota's ship on wiki so if it sounds weird it's bc i don't know their ship name and i have looked at the first site google gave me. This ship is hard no, mainly bc ryota is very bland and i consider mary a lesbian (i read that she is a canon lesbian but idk if it's confirmed by the author, let's say lesbian mary is just my hc) so shipping her with men feels like a hate crime to me, mary is for the girls only, 4/10.

Tsumary

They are kind of cute together right ? I think they're adorable, tsuzura is mary's first love and i think that someone like her would make mary very happy. I still haven't finished kkg twin, so my opinion on tsuzura is incompleted and it might change, i don't hate her but i find her character a little basic/boring so even though this ship is cute it doesn't make me fall in love with them. 7/10 bc probably also tsuzura had feelings for mary and they have a healthy dynamic, you can see they love each other.

Midasaya

I enjoy this crackship, i know that they both like different people but i headcanon that they were together during middle school or that midari had at least a small crush on sayaka during that time, before kirari came to hyakkaou i like to think that they explored their sexuality together so midari was probably sayaka's first kiss, her first date, etc, so they would have history together and we also see that midari knows sayaka bc her character is described through her pov during tower of doors. I find this ship pretty funny bc sayaka is always so serious and composed and midari is a ball of chaos. 7/10

Yumesaya

This is another crackship i don't mind and find hilarious, yeah i'm a huge kirasaya stan but i'm also a multishipper and sayaka deserves all the girls in the world, so the more the merrier. I like to think this ship as one sided love in which yumeko sort of pines after sayaka and i think it would be very interesting to see kirari being jeaulous that sayaka is getting yumeko's attention. We saw jeaulous/protective sayaka in kakegurui, but i would also like to see how kirari reacts when someone tries to take sayaka away from her, it would be really interesting. Obv this would create some tension between kirasaya and also between kirari and yumeko, almost a sort of love triangle dynamic. My opinion is that yumeko is just too unstable to settle down, also they both probably would get bored/lose interest in each other after the heat of the moment. 6/10

Ririsaya

Sorry but i really can't see it happening not even if i squint, but i really enjoy the ririsaya fanfictions and i think those works are pretty great even though i don't ship them very much. It would be interesting if both twins were in love with sayaka and there was some tension/coldness between them for a while bc they liked the same girl (maybe i read too many fanfictions). My headcanon is that both sayaka and ririka had a crush on each other when they first knew each other and for sayaka it was probably pretty confusing bc she already had feelings for kirari. I see them as friends, 7/10

Yumemisaori

Again idk if this is the correct name of the ship, many said that yumemi and saori are a healthier/mentally stable version of kirasaya and i agree. the dynamics are similar bc we have the secratary that is willing to do everything for her boss and the relationship is a little more balanced, i think they would be very cute together, but sadly they had very little interactions and if i could see more of them i would probably ship them even more. I like them 7/10.

Sachiko x Mary

I didn't even find a ship name for this couple, so they must be pretty unpopular, i like both characters and their antagonistic dyanamic is very interesting, but i don't ship them much bc i think mary needs/wants someone who is completely different from sachiko, who wants to make mary her pet and mary is someone who cares very much about her freedom, her indipendence and wants to make her own choices and this completely clashes with sachiko's extremely sadistic and domineering nature. I prefer them as enemies who have some sexual tension or enemies with benefits or one night stand adventure, but nothing more. 5/6 out of 10 bc the only mary ship i really love is meariri and i also like tsuzumary a bit.

Sachiko x Mikura

This is probably one of the most unhealthy relationships in kakegurui, but i kinda like it. Their dyanmic is pretty much vertical with sachiko who has all the power and makes mikuro do everything she wants and mikura who is completely obsessed and devoted to sachiko (my opinion is that she developed a sort of stockholm syndrome towards sachiko). I think that someone like sachiko could never have genuine romantic relationships bc of her extremely sadistic nature, she sees ppl like toys to break and what she enjoys the most is seeing ppl suffer, so the only compatible person with sachiko is someone extremely masochistic like mikura. Giving them a 6/7 out of 10 bc their interactions are fun/interesting and spice things up.

Rin x Ibara and Yumeko x Kirari

Hard no to both of them, i don't ship incest, yall can do what you want but personally it's a huge no for me. When i first started watching the anime at the beginning i thought yumeko and kirari had some sort of tension and could have been enemies to lovers (lmaoo i was so naive), but then i discovered they were cousins and i saw more kirasaya interactions so i got completely turned off by this ship. 3/10 to both of these ships.

Sachiko x Sakura

Now this ship is very sexy, idk why i like it but i do, yes i don't see sachiko with anyone besides mikura, but this pairing is not bad at all, even though it's a crackship. I think they would be rivals with benefits and would argue a lot and then make out/have hot sex. 7/10 (maybe it's too high but since these are just my opinions i won't be objective)

Mary x kirari

Uhm is there really someone out there who ships them ? Yeah i thought they had some sexual tension in s1 with that tea scene, but it's a no from me, i don't like it and i don't think they're compatible in any way, i can't see kirari with anyone who isn't sayaka. 4/10

[dreaming-of-assclass]

Hi Zaina UwU may I request “It is so awkward having a crush on a [coworker/classmate].”

With Kimura/Okano being annoying tsunderes for the lols :eyes:

Please make it as crack as possible thank you love you bestie <3

omg I love this 😂 ofc bestie 💕💕

Word count: 1,589 words

“Can you just move over?” Okano growled, trying her absolute hardest to resist the urge to shove her comrade over. Hard.

Kimura glanced at her, clearly annoyed. “Um, can you just shut up?” He made no effort to scoot aside on the bench.

She gave up and threw her arms in the air. “Ugh, I don’t even know why I bother! You’re the worst.”

He stuck his tongue out. “Back atcha.”

Okano defeatedly retreated to the grass, a few meters away. She sat down besides her friends, trying and failing to fight back the heat rushing to her cheeks. “I hate him,” she said sourly.

Maehara looked up at her from his phone. “Mm-hmm.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?!”

“What?” he asked innocently.

Okano eyed him. “You said ‘mm-hmm’,” she replied, imitating his voice.

“Ah. Well, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Kurahashi shoved him gently. “Stop lying to her, Maehara-kun. Yes, you did.”

“What?” Okano’s eyes narrowed.

Maehara pursed his lips, making a hum sound before inhaling. “You and Kimura obviously like each other.”

WHAT??????????

“Wha-” She instantly kicked him in the shin, earning a choked groan from the soccer player. “GROSS! That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said! There’s no way I’d ever like that booger-looking ass gremlin.”

Kurahashi just looked at her, a patient yet conniving sweet smile on her lips. “Then...why are you blushing?”

Okano’s eyes widened in horror at her reflection off of the sunglasses that sat on the grass by them. Oh no...I AM blushing...

No, no, no, no, no, NO!

Without another word, she whirled around and dashed away, her face still heated up.

Unlike his short-tempered partner, Kimura had already accepted his feelings. He disliked them immensely, but knew there wasn’t much anything he could do. 

He’d tried focusing his attention on Kurahashi, to no avail. He’d tried avoiding Okano at every moment possible, but it was hard when they were PE partners and in the same friend group. He also sat behind her...

And now, he’d decided the best course of action was simple. Just be an annoying asshole to Okano. There’s no way he could feel attraction to her if she was yelling at him or kicking the shit out of him.

Or so he thought...

“Urghhh!” He groaned, covering his face with his arms. “Of all the girls in the world, why do I like you?!”

He knew why.

Okano was his partner, his classmate, his friend, and his rival all in one person. Their bond had been building over so much in the past year. No matter how much they bickered, they’d always have each other’s backs.

“Having relationship troubles?” A familiar voice caught his attention and Kimura quickly snapped up in surprise. A very smug Maehara stood by, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

“What the fuck-how long have you been there?!”

The soccer player casually examined his nails. “Oh, long enough to hear all your woes.”

Kimura groaned. “Dude why are you so creepy and overdramatic? You seriously stood by that tree, waiting for me to say that.”

“I’m being helpful!” Maehara whined. “Now tell me what’s wrong!”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Kimura replied quickly.

“Bullshit. Now have a seat and spill everything to me, child.”

Kimura relented and awkwardly lowered himself to the ground, sitting cross-legged near Maehara, who did the same.

“Fine...” Kimura sighed. “I don’t-I guess it’s just really...weird liking the person I like.”

Maehara hummed, stroking his chin. “And who would that be?”

He glared at him. “You already know, dude.”

“I do not.” He lied.

Kimura rolled his eyes. “It’s Okano. I like Okano, okay?”

“Ah...I see...” Maehara drawled, irking Kimura more and more by the second. “And what exactly is making this hard for you?”

“It’s just so awkward having a crush on a classmate.”

Maehara raised an eyebrow, thankfully dropping the psychologist front for a moment. “Uh, no it’s not. That’s where 95% of teenagers get their crushes, man.”

Kimura spluttered. “Okay, fair. But she’s my classmate, friend, partner, and rival all in one person. I’ve always seen Okano like a bro, but now I like her?”

“Hmm yeah that’s one predicament you’ve got, my friend,” Maehara agreed, running a hand through his hair. “But I know Okano, and the best way you can approach this is just being upfront. Tell her how you feel, be straightforward!”

Kimura eyed him suspiciously. “Will that really work? She might just kick the shit out of me...”

His friend waved him off. “Trust me.”

And so Kimura did.

“Uh, thanks for walking home with me,” Okano said awkwardly, adjusting the hold on her bag. 

You idiot, you probably sound like a weirdo! She screamed internally. But she just wanted to say something to break the silence that had been resting between them for the past five minutes.

Kimura was walking a few feet behind her, his figure lax as his hands rested behind his head in a way that reminded her strongly of Karma. Huh. Maybe chuunis really do rub off on each other, she thought wryly.

“No problem,” Kimura replied, sounding a bit distracted. “I have to stop by the convenience store on my way, anyways. And I know you usually ride your bike so you’re not used to walking alone.”

“Yeah,” she laughed lightly. “That’s true.”

Silence stretched between them once again, but to Okano’s relief, it was more comfortable this time. Some of the old familiarity in their dynamic had returned, as Kimura stuck his tongue out at her playfully when she looked back at him. 

They continued walking until they reached the bridge, surrounded by the noise of cars rushing past them. Okano looked to her left and admired the way the sunset reflected off the water, making it a lovely orange-pink hue. If she was artistic in anyway, she would’ve loved to re-create the image somehow.

“Okano,” Kimura suddenly said, catching her attention. She had to strain a bit to hear it, given the wind swirling past her from the traffic.

“What?” She replied, raising her voice slightly as she turned around to face him.

Kimura, for some reason, was standing a few meters away from her, the colors of the sky lighting up his face. “Okano, I-” Whatever he said next was drowned out by the cars.

“What?” Okano called back, furrowing her eyebrows.

“I said I-” Interrupted again, this time by a particularly large oil truck passing by.

“What? I can’t hear you!”

He opened his mouth again but she made out no words.

“What the hell are you saying?!” She shouted.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD, I SAID I LIKE YOU!” He screamed back, and she finally heard him.

Oh. So that’s what he was trying to say.

Oh. 

Oh crap.

Okano’s brain froze for a moment as it caught up to her. Then all the blood in her body quickly rushed to her brain, and her face felt like a furnace. “You...what?” she asked in disbelief.

Kimura let out a sharp breath. “I have a crush on you. Okay?”

Oh my god.

She stayed absolutely still, processing it. “Okay...”

Kimura’s eye twitched and he marched right up to her. “Hello? Are you even gonna reply? I just confessed to you, idiot.” He punctuated his words with a flick to her forehead. 

She grabbed his wrist, her reflexes acting immediately. “Back off, stupid! I heard you loud and clear,” she muttered annoyedly.

“So? What’s your answer?” His voice turned slightly whiny, sounding almost anxious. He tried to yank his hand back but Okano kept a firm grip on it.

“My answer...” she started lowly, eyeing him. “Is that I like you too.”

A few seconds passed as Kimura froze, his eyes wide.

“Hello? Are you gonna reply? I just admitted my feelings for you, idiot,” Okano imitated his voice as she repeated his words.

He seemed to snap back to reality as his eyes met hers. “Are you being for real? Like this isn’t a joke?”

Okano scoffed, finally releasing his hand. “No, dumbass. It’s not a joke. I like you,” she said slowly.

“Oh...” He averted his gaze, running a hand through his hair sheepishly. “Cool.”

She rolled her eyes, punching his arm lightly. “Cool? Man, you’re so bad at this romance stuff. Who confesses in the middle of a busy highway section?”

“Okay WOW. To be fair, I thought the sunset and water made it romantic enough.”

Okano laughed. “How was I even supposed to hear you properly?”

“You eventually did!” He retorted and joined her so both of them were laughing together. 

As it died down, Okano leaned against the railing, smiling at the sunset that was burning away into embers as night was soon to approach. “Man...we’re probably gonna be one weird ass couple.”

He joined her, dropping his bag to the ground lightly. “Speak for yourself, weirdo.”

She chuckled. “Korosensei is gonna lose his shit.”

“Maehara too,” Kimura agreed. “Hmm though, he wasn’t a half-bad wingman, I guess.”

Okano turned to him in disbelief. “You took Maehara’s love advice? He of all people really told you to confess on a busy loud bridge?” she snorted.

“Ah no...I took creative liberties on that one,” Kimura admitted, his face slightly pink.

Okano laughed and looked up. “It’s getting dark. We should get back now.”

“Yeah...” Kimura glanced at the time on his phone before picking up his bag again. “Wanna hold hands?” He asked sarcastically with a grin.

“Hold my hand and I’ll throw you over this bridge.”

[btsandvmin]

Shipping vs Believing

I felt like talking about this, because in general a lot of people I come across seem to think that they are the same thing. And maybe the purpose of the word is changing, but the original use of “shipping” was actually to show you liked something, changed something into being or wanted something to be romantic or sexual between characters or people. Basically it’s about liking something that might not be romantic or sexual yet, or something that never has been or never will be romantic/sexual or in the case of making fanart or fanfiction sometimes expanding on something that is romantic/sexual with fiction because you want more than what you get.

95z is love. We know this. But, what kind of love is up for interpretation.

Shipping was originally mostly about fiction, but as it has become a more widespread expression it now also applies to relationships between real people.

And again, maybe times and overuse of the word “ship” has started to change the meaning of it, but to me shipping will not be liking a bond platonically and it will not be believing something is real. When someone says “I ship Vmin platonically” they are basically missing the whole point of the word if you ask me, as it’s used to differentiate between liking a friendship or platonic bond and wanting or liking a possible romantic or sexual connection.

However, what bothers me the most is when people don’t realize that shipping isn’t real. Shipping is liking to interpret interactions or other things in a non platonic way. It can even be hoping or speculating about characters or people being together. Basically “wishing for my ship to become canon” aka. turn real.

But if you already believe a ship is real, that is no longer shipping. At least not to me, because that was never the meaning of that word.

I have been a shipper for a long time, before ao3 and tumblr when I read and wrote fanfictions on livejournal or discussed pairings in random threads or blogs. And since the beginning you used shipping to show you liked a certain dynamic in a non platonic way. Same with ship names, which has also become so mainstream to use now that it’s lost it’s original purpose. Ship names like Vmin or RoMione (Ron x Hermione) etc. were to show it was liking two or more people together in a romantic or sexual way. If it’s in fiction it can also be to explore or expand on a canon pairing because you want more material.

In fact ship names and the word shipping had the point of separating reality from fantasy so you knew if someone said Vmin in stead of Jimin and Taehyung you meant it as a romantic or sexual thing and not just them together. Now people use ship names because its easier, and sadly that makes it a bit confusing with what people mean when they say “I love Vmin”.

I have shipped a lot of ships, both fictional and real people. And I know that most shippers behave and act the same when they reach a certain popularity and get support from each other. They help each other get convinced that their ship is real or will become canon.  They also start to downgrade or downplay interactions between rival ships and sometimes goes as far as trying to dehumanize or delegitimize shippers of other ships. For example saying “most of their shippers are young/don’t know how it’s like to be in a relationship/don’t understand their personalities” etc. and essentially simply try to show why their camp knows best and why others just don’t see the truth. “I never used to ship but XXX just felt different” is another common one to justify why it’s not just shipping, the vibe is simply different. But, that is still just your own feeling and interpretation, and many others feel the same about other ships. 

Lumping all shippers together as the same and generalizing also creates a us vs. them kind of mindset. Then with time and size of the community and more “evidence” the echo chamber effect makes everyone harden their belief in combination with confirmation bias until you have a whole community convinced they have the only real truth and everyone else simply doesn’t understand.

It’s honestly the same psychology you can find in religion and even in people who believe in conspiracy theories like that the earth is flat. Same type of behavior even though the subjects and situations can vary. I have studied warfare and war psychology at university and it’s a bit scary how ship wars are so similar to actual wars when it comes to the reasoning and psychology behind it. Because in the end it’s the same type of mindset and how the brain works to convince us something is the way we want it to be, for various reasons, while making the other side the enemy in a way.

I have seen shipwars in basically every fandom I have been in that has gotten big enough and that has “rivals”, like with One Direction or One Piece or The Hunger Games for example. Or even in ones I wasn’t in like the “team Jacob vs team Edward” in Twilight. There is a good reason for why I am very careful to say or try to convince someone a ship is real, when we don’t know. The only way to avoid ship wars is to stay open minded and not get defensive or aggressive, which will only further a generalization of your whole shipping community. “Vmin shippers are crazy/delulu/toxic/aggressive” etc. are situations I want to avoid, but that I know is likely to happen simply as the Vmin fandom grows in size.

We have similar moments that we got years ago that no one reacted to much, but with the growth of the community has become “proof”. People get more and more convinced as they get more and more things that confirm what they already want to believe. At the same time they also more and more ignore things that goes against their own beliefs and become less prone to accept alternative realities to the one they have created.

People believe in very different ships, and people are equally convinced they are the ones who are right. Which speaks for itself as it’s not possible for everyone to be right. But it is also possible for everyone to be wrong. When this involves real people it also becomes much more complex and difficult to analyze. Because things aren’t happening all planned out as in a story. Not everything is a hint for a ship being real, and it’s very difficult to try and understand a person or a relationship from afar when every person and relationship works very differently and there could be many different forces and reasons behind what we see. Especially when we don’t get to see everything and when there are good reasons to now show everything openly, as in the case of a possible LGBT+ couple.

In short I think people should realize that liking a dynamic, shipping something and believing in something are three different things.

For me I ship Vmin 100%, I love reading fics and putting possible romantic or sexual twists on their relationship for fun. I know this is fiction, and simply something I enjoy on a personal level based on my preference. I know I like many similar ships as well. I ship a lot of things in general, for different reasons. I can’t ship them with anyone else. 

When it comes to liking real Jimin and Taehyung and their relationship I do that as well, I know the border between my shipping fantasies and what they say and do. This is why I say that I will love Vmin no matter their bond, because I don’t need the ship to become real for me to love Jimin and Taehyung’s bond. It’s still a beautiful relationship even if it is 100% platonic. But, as a shipper I still dream and fantasize and enjoy them as more than friends. But if they are together with someone else for real, I can accept that. I don’t own Jimin and Tae and I don’t get a say in how they live their lives just because I like something else than what they want.

And when it comes to supporting and believing a relationship is real, that’s when in my opinion and shipper stops being a shipper. The exception for me here is if the relationship actually becomes or proves to be real and you keep enjoying it through built fantasies to explore a real couple or a canon pairing. But generally, shipping equals imagining something, while believing is obviously beyond that.

Believing a ship to be real or to become canon can be very toxic, both in regards to creating friction between different shippers who believes and KNOWS they are right, which makes people who think differently wrong and in a way “the enemy” or a threat. Investing so deeply into a relationship can be very dangerous emotionally as well. For example, how people burned their books after a series is over when their ship didn’t end up together. This is a light version, as there are much worse things people have done for their ship or when things haven’t gone the way they thought. And that’s in fiction where it’s usually easier and more straightforward. If you feel bad watching another ship interact or dislike another member for getting in between your ship, then it shows you are involved to the point of feeling threatened by another dynamic. In a way it’s a second hand jealousy. Imagine that feeling if your ship isn’t real, or if a rival ship is real. It might lead you to even hate the people you used to love, or feel betrayed, even though it was originally just a fantasy in your head that you got too invested in.

I obviously write analysis, which definitely goes beyond just shipping, but that’s why it’s extra important for me to try and remember that it’s all just speculation. I do think Vmin act weird and have things worth discussing, and I think it’s interesting, so I write analysis. Having a discussion is not a bad thing, as long as it remains a discussion in which where you can accept being wrong and change your mind. Vmin is weird, and I think there might be something there, but I also know it can be me reading them incorrectly.

Everything except what we hear or see directly from the boys is speculation.

I might sound like a hypocrite as a analysis writer, but I have been in a lot of fandoms and have fallen in this trap myself before (not with a real ship, but the feeling is similar for fictional ships as well). I know how important it is to stay grounded and how easy it is to be swept away by plausible narratives or “proof” for a ship. But all ships have it, and all shippers act the same after getting popular enough or having enough weird moments to piece together. Vmin are getting to this point, and when I write about this it’s simply to be aware and try to avoid this trap.

It’s ok to believe a relationship is romantic or sexual (though I personally recommend not crossing the line into being convinced), and it can bring a lot of joy, but just know that there is always a possibility that you are wrong. Because when people ship basically everything they can see, and we don’t even see everything, it’s simply impossible for every “believer” to be correct.

That’s why I will keep speaking about speculation and not proof. Me being certain about Vmin being real or talking about their interactions with confidence like I know exactly what they mean won’t help anyone, not myself and not you who read what I say.

I know this might sound a bit much, and that I might come off as a know it all or even a hypocrite. But honestly, if you only read and reblog one of my posts I hope it might be this one. Because I truly think it’s important to be aware of what we and other people in this fandom are doing.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this rant... And I hope you might understand me a little bit better because of it. Thank you! <3

[go-events]

GO Rom Com Spotlight: @musegnome​

The most excellent @musegnome​ has claimed The Wedding Singer to adapt for Good Omens in the Good Omens Rom Com Event.

For reference, here’s a little background about the source material!

About The Wedding Singer: Set in 1985, Adam Sandler plays a nice guy with a broken heart who's stuck in one of the most romantic jobs in the world, a wedding singer. He loses all hope when he is abandoned at the altar by his fiancé. He meets a young woman named Julia (Drew Barrymore), who enlists his help to plan her wedding. He falls in love with her and must win her over before she gets married.

We spent some time chatting about how the adaptation is coming so far, as well as future plans for it! Now, get to know @musegnome​ a little better!

* * *

goromcom: You know how if you open a Tumblr chat with someone you haven't chatted to before, Tumblr tells you two things they post about? I wanted to tell you that yours reports that you post "about #goromcom and #good omens." Aww! goromcom 4eva!

musegnome: #goromcom 4eva indeed! I actually have a weird online social media anxiety, because I worry that can't read people like I can in person. I've been an accountless Tumblr lurker for years - and finally created Tumblr and Discord accounts when I signed on to the Rom Com event! Everyone has been lovely. Please come say Hi on my new Tumblr!

goromcom: And we’re happy to have you! You chose to adapt The Wedding Singer as your rom com. Has this movie been a favorite of yours, or is there some other reason you chose it?

musegnome: I was a teenager when this movie came out and I've loved it forever (though not of course without an eye toward its more problematic qualities). I also feel like Robbie and Julia map very well to Crowley and Aziraphale respectively, and a lot of the other characters connect wonderfully too (Glenn's attitude toward Julia was reminiscent of Gabriel's attitude toward Aziraphale; Robbie's brother-in-law's nipple-twisting comments were a great way to link to Shadwell, etc.) Because of the aforementioned online social anxiety I was hesitant to jump in to the event, but when I realized I had a list of almost all the GO characters connected to Wedding Singer ones, and a multi-chapter story line outlined, I took the plunge! I'm really excited to mix up a favorite nostalgic movie with my current GO obsession.

goromcom: What's your favorite moment of The Wedding Singer, and are you looking forward to presenting it in your adaptation? Any loose plans for that scene that you can share?

musegnome: Less a favorite moment and more some favorite scenes/lines. The scene where Robbie is talking to the woman who jilted him at the altar, Linda, and as she's telling him about all the reasons she doesn't want to marry him, he says "You know, that information might have been a little more useful to me yesterday." I quote this line all the time, and that scene is definitely making it into this fic! Along with the whole wedding cake/dress shopping montage, capped by the bit where Robbie and Julia listen to the rival wedding singer John Lovitz (to be replaced by Hastur and Ligur ...with Ligur singing "I Will Survive"). That's actually the next scene up for me to write, and just writing this description has me antsy to get started!

goromcom: Oh, some Ligur irony there! It sounds like you may plan to stick closer to the story beats of the original movie rather than making bigger changes?

musegnome: Pretty closely. The major events and scenes will be the same as the Wedding Singer (but stuffed with GO tropes like a turducken), and there's a few original scenes I'm adding to firm up the Wedding Singer/GO bridges. I'm still working on the ending - in the movie, Glenn and Julia get on a plane to go get married in Las Vegas, and Robbie gets on the same plane and stops them. But I have Gabriel as Glenn, and since the angel/demon characters are still angels and demons in this fic, I can NOT imagine Gabriel tolerating plane travel at all, or viewing Las Vegas with anything other than horrified fascination. I have a tentative plan that will be a major change from the Wedding Singer ending, but would tie into the Nazi church scene in GO. We'll see how it plays out though; characters can veer off in unexpected directions!

goromcom: What's an interesting decision you've made in your planning so far--a notable casting decision, a changing of venue, or some other plan you have to paint Good Omens all over your rom com?

musegnome: I thought about doing the fic as a full human AU, but I had a lot of touches I wanted to include that involved angelic/demonic abilities. So I have the Wedding Singer town of Richfield (which is of course Tadfield in the fic) as a kind of neutral space where the angels/demons come to tinker and thwart each other in the happy parts/miserable parts of weddings and wedding planning. Also, The Wedding Singer was almost as much a tribute to the 1980s as it was a romcom; I'm not doing a specific 80s focus, although I've tried to keep music and technology mentions such that the fic could vaguely be set in the 80s. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of the characters have similar roles and personalities, and map really well - Robbie and Julia as Crowley and Aziraphale, their respective BFFs Holly and Sammy as Anathema and Newt, Glenn as Gabriel, Rosie (the lady Robbie is teaching to sing) as Madam Tracy... so it's been fun to draw those lines.

goromcom: I am blatantly stealing this last question from The Good Place: The Podcast, but here goes: Tell me something "good". It can be something big or small. It can be a charity you think is doing good work, or you can talk about how great your pet is.

musegnome: Not to belabor a point, or to gush too much, but everyone on the GO RomCom server has been a delight. I've really loved getting to interact with everyone - couldn't be a nicer group (or a more welcoming fandom) for a socially anxious gnome to dip online toes into! And I haven't written for fun in a very, VERY long time, and it's been a real confidence booster to see how easily the writing has been flowing so far. (Hope I haven't just jinxed myself....) I'm so thrilled about this whole experience. Also, I have a very cute tiny dog who likes to keep me company while writing.

goromcom: Adorable! 

Stay tuned for the GO adaptation of The Wedding Singer, coming soon!

[henrik-von-schneeplestein]

Ok so clearly I’m late - this was supposed to be Schneeplebro Day 2, for the ‘first kiss’ prompt.’ It is also about their first date, but I’ll still try to do something for Day 3 even though clearly I’m behind lol. -- Chase sighed, squinting at himself in the mirror. He messed with his hair a little bit, trying desperately to remember Henrik’s exact words. The one thing he definitely hadn’t said was ‘do you want to go out on a date with me,’ because that would have been too easy. He had said… what was it? ‘Do you want to go to dinner with me?’ No, it was more casual than that. Henrik had just said something like, ‘do you want to hang out this weekend?’ and Chase had said, ‘what, like grab a drink or something?’ and Henrik had said, ‘sure, or maybe dinner.’ That was all. Probably. And ‘hanging out’ was fairly definitively not a date.

But on the other hand… did Henrik even say ‘hang out?’ It didn’t seem like a very Henrik phrase. But it also seemed like something Chase had definitely heard him say before. “Do you vant to hang out zis veekend?” he said aloud in an attempt at Henrik’s accent, then made a face in the mirror because he sounded not at all German and in fact very much like The Count from Sesame Street. Still, it seemed sort of unnatural. And the reason he was so jittery in the first place is because he walked away from it thinking it was a date. He and Henrik did lots of things together and had made plans plenty of times but this was the first time he got the impression that it was a date, so it probably was. He suddenly realized that the outfit he was wearing was absolutely unacceptable, left the bathroom, changed into a nicer shirt, and returned to agonize over his reflection again. It was… alright. Definitely dressier than usual, but that wasn’t weird, because it was a date, right? He bit his lip and picked up the mascara on the counter. He wasn’t really a makeup guy but sometimes… just to look a little better on camera… and because it made his eyes look nice, or so he’d been told. So why not? He was wearing his most… flattering pants, and a shirt meant to create the illusion that he was a classy, well-put-together adult; might as well put that same effort into his face. He unscrewed the cap…

And then screwed it right back on. This was way too much. Henrik would see right through it and think he was pathetic - or worse, know that he was hopelessly awkward and way too eager. He was making it weird, especially since he wasn’t entirely sure what this was. He had to consider the possibility that this was an entirely platonic scenario and Henrik had no romantic feelings toward him whatsoever and if he realized that Chase had made it out to be a date he’d be creeped out and it would ruin their friendship. He had to consider the possibility that this wasn’t quite a date, that this was just supposed to be them scoping out the situation in a sort-of-but-not-really romantic setting. He had to consider the possibility that if this was a date that it could go terribly. Or worse, that it could go alright and they could go out for a little while and then totally fall apart, breaking Chase’s heart permanently once and for all and leaving him to grow old and die totally alone, staring longingly out the window at passing lovers as he wasted away to nothingness. He had to consider the possibility that Henrik was conspiring to start a rival channel to Bro Average and this whole thing was an elaborate prank video. He supposed he also had to consider that this was a date and it could go just fine and be the beginning of a happy, healthy relationship, but he didn’t want to be unrealistic.

His phone dinged - a text from Henrik. ‘I’m outside - sorry I’m a little early. I can hang out in my car for a few minutes if you’re busy.’

Chase went to the door to let him in, but his heart was sinking. It was right there, in Henrik’s own words. He could ‘hang out’ in his car. And if he said that, he could’ve asked him to ‘hang out’ tonight. The night was a disaster; in fact, Chase’s whole life was ruined. He had obviously misinterpreted the situation, and the second Henrik saw this ridiculous, over-the-top shirt he was going to know immediately what was going on and demand to know why Chase was so inappropriately obsessed with him, and it would be so embarrassing that Chase would have to move to a new city - or, just to be safe, a new country, and he’d probably have to change his name, which would mean YouTube was over. He’d have to dye his hair and start over as a busboy in some little diner no one’s ever heard of and tell people his kids were his niece and nephew whose real father died in a tragic accident. 

He swung the door open for Henrik, ready to accept his doom. “Hey…” he said, trying to think of anything he could say that would explain how completely ridiculous he looked in this shirt that had buttons on it of all things, as if they were about to get married or something, and just as he was considering that the least awkward route possible at this point was to slam the door in Henrik’s face, go to bed, and try to convince himself that this was all a vivid nightmare, Henrik smiled at him.

“Hello. You look nice.” And then he put a hand under Chase’s chin to tilt his head up, leaned down, and kissed him on the lips. A brief, one-second peck that managed to make the runaway train of thought that had been zigzagging around Chase’s brain all night crash completely. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” he said, still stunned, and Henrik wrapping an arm around his shoulders as they walked through the door didn’t help. But he was telling the truth - he was, finally, ready to go.

[theprettysetterclub]

hi! could i Please get a haikyuu matchup? i’m a 5’3 slavic girl!! i’m open-minded, talkative and rebellious. i love to joke around but my sense of humor can sometimes be interpreted as being rude (but it’s never my intention!) i always talk before i think, i’m stubborn and i often use sarcasm. when i meet someone new i’m always really nice and polite. i need to create a bond with someone to be fully myslef and i sometimes can 'judge a book by it's cover' (i’m working on this!!) (1/2)💌

(2/2) 💌 i can be really affectionate when i’m close with someone. when like something i can’t shut up about it, i’m really energetic and kinda chaotic. i love art, i enjoy painting but i’m not really good at it. i also like reading (my fav book is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt) and watching movies!! i’m interested in literature and criminology! i loveee calligraphy. i’m often daydreaming (i’m a big romantic!!). i’m always trying to be optimistic, i’m an ambivert!
thank you so much ❤️

is it weird of me to say that i love the self-reflection in this? also, you sound a bit like me if i was actually cool klfdjlkj 

ANYWAY, i match you with… 

azumane asahi! 

✧ if there’s one thing i love, it’s a contrast of personalities in a relationship. when it was going through your shortlist, i was really stuck between him and someone else (you’ll see later), but the more i thought about you and asahi,,, the more fond i got hhh

✧ honestly, it might take you two a while to get close. he’ll likely be a bit intimidated by your rebellious nature, and his anxiety leads to him constantly misinterpreting your jokes. there’s also the potential you might judge him a little on his appearance (and let’s be honest, having someone be a trembling mess in front of you isn’t a good look). but once you two start to bond over some stroke of luck, you’ll both realise what fools you are because my goodness you two are great for each other 

✧ you both need a bit of time to get really comfortable being yourselves, and i think that adds something deeply meaningful to your relationship. you two would have a bit of a slow-burn, where you’d be very close friends before romance was even on the table. but, that just makes this all more wholesome

✧ your talkative, energetic and chaotic personality balances out his quite well! he’s more low-key, and he has a tendency to overthink. i think that you would build on each other’s weaknesses in a lot of ways; he helps you think a bit more before you speak (which, bless), and you’ll be able to help him relax and ‘let loose’ every now and then. you’d have a natural talent for making him laugh; and there’s few sights better than asahi laughing 

✧ he really appreciates the fact that you’re always trying to be optimistic, because he struggles with erring on the side of negativity (hhh remember suga karate chopping his stomach sadkljd) but seeing you trying to look on the bright side might help him challenge that line of thinking more often! 

✧ aaah i can easily see the two of you making art together! he grows up to be an apparel designer, so this sort of thing is right up his alley. he also tends to find making art with you relaxing, on top of it being a good opportunity to bond. he has a particular fondness for your paintings, even if you think you aren’t any good at them, and he likes to hang some of them around his room (and his office, when he finally gets one)

✧ he’s a big softie, so he loves that you’re affectionate. and honestly, he finds it kind of affirming? if you’re hugging him or kissing him, that means that you definitely want to be with him; and since he can get a bit stuck in his head, a lil kiss to the nose really helps bring him back down to earth. 

✧ but, it means that you’ve got a little (big) koala whenever you’re trying to go about your business. whether you’re watching a movie or reading a book, he’s going to have his arms wrapped around your waist and his face nuzzled into your neck. he can’t help it, he’s fond. sometimes, he’ll just gaze at you while you’re daydreaming like “wow,,, i can’t believe she’s dating me,,,”

✧ you guys are just so cute,,, i could keep rambling but i’m going to reign it in but you two would be the most delightful couple and there’s nothing anyone can say to change my mind. 

other matches!

✧ oikawa tooru: okay but i love the concept of you two being able to let your walls down around each other and be truly yourselves,,, he’s the other person i was stuck between, so he’s a strong contender. you’d absolutely start as rivals lkjdsklj you both can come off as a bit rude because of your senses of humour (although, he might mean it where you don’t). but, i think you’re too similar to not end up getting along, you know? you’re both super affectionate with each other (and oikawa absolutely uses pda as a way to show you off), and you’d be the most talkative couple. no really, you’d never shut up. and you’d have the wildest conversations because he likes to engage your open mind! he also likes pester you into writing his name in fancy calligraphy, just because he thinks it’ll look cool dklsdfj

✧ kuroo tetsurou: i think he’d like your sense of humour because he’s a massive tease, as well as your open-mindedness! like oikawa, i think he’d be fond of how talkative you are, and you two would always have the most interesting conversations? he’d be very understanding of the fact that you need to be quite close with someone to open up to them, and he’d treat those boundaries with respect. but, once you were comfortable with each other, you’d be the most chaotic couple skldj throw bokuto into the mix and you’re a little disaster trio,,, also, the two of you have so many shitty movie marathons. you’ll end up with a near comprehensive knowledge of every bad movie ever made and i think that’s beautiful. 

[randomkposts]

The crack twilight shipping conversation

E :-"I took care of those girls who spread rumors about you"

"What girls?"

"Not important "

I have back flashes of this kid and I'm like yo she scares me.

K : Jane is terrifying. Just not in the same way to Bella as she is to others.

"We are going to Yellowknife, so you can see the northern lights at this time of year! They are glorious! This guy has agreed to fly us."

"Jane, I don't- wait, why is he shaking"

"Juicebox is also excited to see the northern lights"

Shaking man: "Absolutely ecstatic"

"I made sure that all the warm clothing fits your size! It's even real fur! "

Crack twilight ships

K - E, Crack AU, where Jane is the one who imprints on Bella, going after James for crime, and Bella has to deal with the insane situation of "I think I was kidnapped by a child, and the child is trying to woo me."

Except Jane's Idea of wooing is terrifying and surreal, and has some pretty bizarre stuff to try to impress her.

"Jane-"

"But let's double check!"

E -OMG

K :-”Jane, why do you always give people such strange nicknames? Quickmunch, O delicious, lunchmeat, mosquito bait, and now juicebox?

Except for Jaccob, who you just called stinky

Why do you call him that?

-Because he just is

He doesn't smell any worse than any other athletic teenage boy. You haven't even seen him since he got sick.

Hey, does she have a nickname for Bella, you think?

E -Jacobs sweating furiously at all these vampires

K -It's because he's a wolfy shapeshifter, but for story purposes, Jane has no Idea, just that she hates Bella's childhood friend.

Alec, who is back in Voltera, but Jane talks on the phone too, assumes she's being possessive of who Bella spends time with, and views him as a rival.

He tells her that.

E - The fact he face times this stuff. Supportive bro vampire.

K - Don't kill the rival Jane. Bella will be crying, and you don't want to spend time with her mourning. Maybe take her on a trip, and get some personal time

E -She does, but also scares ppl to give them cool shite.

K -I had a crack thought once, where I thought what's the randomest most out there mates I can give vampires. , where Jane's mate was a random old man that she met in the food chamber, was like ,"wait don't kill him!" It became quite a debate.

Alec's, on the other hand, was a toddler he met on a job, where a lady had been vampired, and had bad control.  The kid wasn't even related to the target, just on a walk in a bad place and time. He can't get the face out of his head.

Neither of them are decided on who has it worse.

But Bella being shippable with almost any vampire in the series has way more potential for comedy.

Still, question, does Bella ever come to return the affection?

Edward is hundreds of years older than her, but looks roughly around her age. Staying beautiful, and around his age was something Bella found important to her in their relationship.

Jane, for all she is also centuries older than Bella, can not easily be mistaken for a young adult. Admittedly it could be claimed, possibly by dwarfism, but given that  physical appearance is important to Bella, and plays a part in her affections to other people, how would that play into any potential relationship with Jane?

K - God, weird how what starts as crack, leads me to wonder about real questions.

If that random old man is in fact Jane's soulmate in the crack mate's verse, should she take her mate in the form she finds him, or eat him and hope he reincarnates. Is there only one possible match, or are there potential matches walking around that finalize when conditions are met? Is the old man, at his age, fit to be a mate to a centuries old vampire of a young body? What if he's amnesic. How would that translate to vampirism?

Should Alec keep tabs on the toddler who could be his mate, or let them go and hope for another chance encounter?

E -Probably yes, even though you are aware she is older than you, she is mature maybe *I debate on that due to they stay in that state forever* but you can't get over the fact that is a child's body

K -If Alec chose to keep tabs, when would be the time to reintroduce himself? And how?

E - I say let them go, cause this is a bit too close with the Renesmee and Jacob kind of thing

Hmmm I say reincarnation is kinder?

K-Is reincarnation even real, or a hope?

How would you find them?

E -They have vampires, werewolves and shit, but does reincarnation really draw the line?

First off how did they even know they were mates?

K -It is, though I can't see Alec child napping the toddler, and raising them himself

Some voice in their head screams "Mine!"

Edwards was just weird, because he thought his voice meant " my meal"

E -Bwhahaha

Oh God Eddy

K -The Cullens are unusual in that they turn people in life threatening situations.

Still,Carslie and Esmae certinally had some affection between them, before she commited suicide.

Why did Rosaline get Emmet turned again?

Beyond the bear wound, I mean?

She doesn't seem the type to go out of her way to do something like that for just anyone.

Maybe it was blurred by the blood, and the need for control, but something about him called out to her, I think.

"Rosalie confessed to Bella that she saved Emmett from dying because of his innocent look, dimples, and curly hair that reminded her of her best friend Vera's child, Henry, and that ever since the day she saw the baby she always wanted a child of her own just like him."

Somehow, I doubt she looked much at the appearance of someone covered in blood. She is trying to resist killing after afromented bear mauling.

That sounds like a post rescue justification.

E - True. Always wondered about that.

K - Anyway, I think he might just send Gianna, or something to guard the kid for a bit, if he decided to keep tabs. Gianna is just glad to be temporarily spared, and hopes that job success may mean Alec turns her into a vampire, or at the least, doesn't kill her.

E -Shot, i would make sure that kid have the best life ever if that means he doesn't kill me

K - But anyways, to a vampire who is not rescuing a human from a dangerous situation, or abstaining in general, sometimes they get a sense of "Mine!" About humans they see.

Jane, as a member of Voltri, where mates are occasionally found like this, has heard, and does not question, and in fact jumps on the opportunity.

Her human smells delicious, and is resistant to her gift, and absolutely perfect. Now, how to not kill her, while making Jane the center of her world.

That kid has aunt Gianna, who is not really an aunt, but is... A family friend now, and full intent to make the kid happy.

Gianna is a dead secretary as of Breaking Dawn, I think, But Alec has a need for the human, so he can borrow her.

She's well aware of her morality, at this point.

Also, get rid of that James guy, who found Bella while she was hiking in the woods, in this verse.

E - Yeah lets get rid of him!

Honestly the image of a grown asa man getting his ass handed to him by some 12 year old cracks me up.

K -While Bella might find inclination to view Jane romantically, possibly, sexual orientation may be an issue for her.

In cannon, Bella had the higher sex drive then Edward, and would have prefered that to marriage, indicating she may have a higher sex drive then romantic inclination.

Book Bella didn't show much interest in women, and I don't know what way she swings in this AU, but either way, that Jane has the body of a child would probably complicate things in that aspect.

Would Bella be exploring cross orientation here, or having a crisis for her finding a sex drive for someone who's body is closer to a childs then an adults?

Both would be complex issues.

-It does!First she takes him out with mental fire, then she fights and tears him up, in hopes of impressing her would (will) be  mate!

E -Crisis at the sex drive, cause again kids body, and I'd be hella creeped out. And orientation since I haven't seen her show much interest in woman so that's a lot of issues for her to start on

"And here we see the alpha female show her dominance by obliterating the high male in order to impress her mate"

K - Its kind of weird to even talk about it, yes.

But it would come up in this context

Bella herself, would probably be creeped out

Jane, might be less so, due to being centuries older than her, and living in a different time with different marriage standards

E - Bella is like "oh honey no, that's. ..no"

K -Jane was born in England around 800 A.D, the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon woman and a Frankish soldier.

She was 12-13 when transformed.

Let's bump it up to 13, because while both are far too young for being burned at the stake, 13 is slightly more

----

Was reading this

----

"Contrary to Victorian beliefs that pale, delicate women were the most attractive, Brown says that actually, muscles are key. It's the earliest known example of #fitspiration:

"All women would be healthier and none the less beautiful if they possessed firm muscles and strong limbs; this scarcely any one could controvert."

Even if she wants to consign herself to a life of singledom: "And if a girl never intends to marry she should be none the less mindful of her health."

Brown explains that women are often less inclined to discuss sensitive maladies than their male counterparts. But that's wrong.

"Young women should learn that to neglect disease is to create more," he stresses.

"Secondly, they should appreciate the fact that, though they may get very little sympathy from either the other sex or their own, there is no execuse for not taking their complaint boldly and sensibly to that quarter made for them, namely, their doctor."

---

And this guy sounds kind of radical for the time, and possibly today even, for some, but why does that last line still feel relevant to today's attitude of women's health.

[allimariexf]

Do u think we'll get a real Olicity sex scene later in the season? You are my most favorite blog and I love your insight when it comes to Olicity.

Whaaaa omg I love you!!! *big hugs to you!!*

As for a real Olicity sex scene - I thinkhope we will? That’s a word, right?

Some people in the fandom are like 150% confident we will, but I’m definitely not there. Mostly because I hate disappointment so I try not to have too high hopes. But it does give me confidence that other people are so confident. ( @dmichellewrites is one such person, for example). 

Judging by the Olicity intimacy we’ve been given in season 7 so far, I’d say we have maybe 80% chance:

The 7x01 prison visitation scene doesn’t give us enough to go on. On the one hand, there’s “I love yous” on both sides, and the hands...oh, the hands. But there was also anxiety and lingering anger and a million other negative emotions, not to mention a literal wall, between them, so. But all in all I’d say that scene was more intimate than it strictly had to be, so I guess that makes me hopeful.

The 7x07 reunion scene scores TOP INTIMACY MARKS from me. Honestly that reunion scene was PERFECT. By far the most honest, intimate thing we’ve seen from them this season so far, in my opinion. Which gives me hope!! Because the ending of 7x07 was a perfect example of deliberate, conscious storytelling. Every movement, every moment, every touch beautifully conveyed a wide range of distinct emotions, always mingled with clear love and intimacy. If Beth and her writers and crew can put forth the effort to give us something so perfect - even with no words and lasting only a few seconds - then I believe they are capable of giving us a sex scene that rivals 3x20. (Because I do think it was exactly that same attention to storytelling through expression and touch and emotions that made 3x20 so amazing. Well, that and the fact that it was such an important moment in Oliver and Felicity’s relationship, of course.)

The 7x08 love scene, however, was not nearly as perfect. But again, I don’t know if I want to judge too harshly.

on the one hand, the weird camera angles were not great. Like, even as late as 5x20 and 6x04 (sigh!) we got close-up shots of their faces, their mouths, their lips while they were kissing. Which, when I type it out, sounds pervy lolol but NO! There’s important storytelling in how they touch each other and in the way their mouths come together - in fact 7x07 is a great example of that. In contrast, the 7x08 kiss was filmed from far away and behind and it unnecessarily cut from bad angle to bad angle, and in my opinion it was just not well done. 

and of course aside from being filmed badly, the kiss was much too short.

and the worst part of all, obviously, was the fact that they cut the whole thing off after like NO TIME, and showed us basically nothing in the mirror. Honestly that whole thing was the opposite of 7x07 - it was telling, not showing. It hardly made me feel anything. (I get a lot more emotion from watching gifs, because they create the illusion of time and lingering. The fault was definitely filming and editing, not Stephen and Emily’s acting).

on the other hand, I get that they are trying to show that Oliver and Felicity are struggling to find their footing with each other, and maybe the way they chose to do that is by not letting us see much intimacy between them. (But if that’s the case, I find it rather lazy. The mirror scene conveyed their struggle much more clearly, in my opinion. The way Oliver wanted to touch her, but pulled away. The way Felicity closed her eyes when he touched her, and watched their reflection in the mirror, but didn’t turn to him. The way that she brought up William almost as a buffer. Am I reading too much into this? Maybe. lol)

so yeah I guess the 7x08 love scene gives me less hope, because it seemed more like season 6′s old tricks: quick kisses! kisses during transitions only! just the suggestion of intimacy, don’t let the audience feel it! 

All that being said, the overall focus on Oliver and Felicity’s relationship - both their parallel/converging storylines in 7x01 - 7x07, and the fact that they’re actually arguing delving into their issues for the first time in a long time (ahem: actual issues rooted in character development, not just manufactured drama), proves to me that Beth and her team are committed to seeing this Olicity arc through. We’re clearly in the middle of it now, but we have all the reasons in the world to believe that Beth will keep her focus on telling this story until its conclusion. And we know we’re going to like the conclusion, because aside from all the external evidence (Stephen Amell’s quote, for example), there would have been no point for this focus on Olicity - both Oliver and Felicity, remember, not just one to prop up the other - unless they are going to get back on the same page in the end. I believe that 100%. 

I think I just convinced myself to be 90% confident that we’ll get a real sex scene. I guess my one remaining hesitation is that Beth still might be trying to “please all the fans,” and less time spent on romantic/relationshippy things might be one way she chooses to do that. (STUPID, IF YOU ASK ME). The camera angles and weird editing and physical intimacy couched in transitions suggest that. But then again isn’t Beth the one who said she would have liked an entire episode dedicated to the Olicity wedding? 🤔

In conclusion, this got very long! And I still have no idea! 😂 But thank you for asking and making me think about this! 😘

[thebachelordiaries]

‘Battle of the Beauty Queens:’ The Bachelor Ep. 3 Recap

Colton’s journey to find love has officially taken a back seat to the drama between Miss Alabama and Miss North Carolina.

Grab a seat and get comfortable, because I have nothing but time to discuss this Beauty Queen rivalry.

So here’s the sitch: Hannah B. and Caelynn were roommates at Miss USA. From what Hannah said, Caelynn made the already stressful experience harder for her. However, Caelynn claims Hannah B., who placed outside the top 15, is just jealous she was named first-runner up. 

So what’s the truth? I’ll get to that in a bit.

Yo-Ho-Ho And A Group Date Rose

In case you didn’t watch the episode and didn’t get the extremely clever reference in the above headline, the first date this episode was a live action role play (LARP) Pirate edition group date. It kind of reminded me of Medieval Times.

Don’t forget to warm up. Or in Colton’s case, practically lose your virginity stretching out a very flexible NBA dancer:

Production was able to choose two girls who were the “best” pirates, who then got to compete against one another to rescue Colton. Cougar Tracey, who most likely has weak bones, and Caelynn, who jumped off the beam instead of fighting her much stronger rival Hannah B., was also chosen. Sounds like a setup but ok. 

Caelynn obviously beat cougar Tracey and went on to rescue Colton, who was tied up on a high pillar. They awkwardly kissed. Demi threw a turkey leg onto the stage.

Colton was very into his performance. Dare I say, it was kinda hot?

During the cocktail hour portion of the date, Katie and Colton bonded over how much they both like food, which is like, so weird. Who knew that one day, in this world filled with 8 billion people, they would find another person who likes food! They are so lucky to have found each other. They truly are kindred spirits.

On the count of three, name your favorite food. One, two, three:

Hannah B., egged on by never-been-kissed girl (it’s the quiet ones you need to worry about), decided to tell Colton about her former friendship with Caelynn. 

She goes on to explain that rooming with Caelynn during Miss USA was “one of the most high stress environments” she’s even been in.

Hannah insists that her and Caelynn— two straight, white beauty queens from the south— are completely different people and Colton could not possibly like them both.

‘If [Caelynn] is what you want, then you don’t want me,” Hannah B. says.

Colton, who can only make decisions within his bubble of protection or else he explodes, does not like this ultimatum. Spoiler alert: He does not jump the fence this episode.

Colton talks to Caelynn about what Hannah B. said, and she starts crying. She emphasizes she “handles competition” differently than Hannah does and says she “gets quiet,” when stressed. I don’t know about you but that seems like code for “I’m a giant bitch.”

Caelynn then starts crying and basically implies she isn’t ready to leave because she hasn’t had a 1-on-1 yet to tell her story.

Seems genuine.

Caelynn got the group date rose because Colton is attracted to girls who cry to get what they want.

Cougar Leader Elyse’s 1-on-1 Date

Hot take: Elyse is not into Colton whatsoever. She’s just getting a good edit and will go far because she has Bachelorette potential.

Colton and Elyse took a helicopter to San Diego and arrived at an empty amusement park that they would enjoy all to themselves. 

Just kidding. They were joined by 18 children they had to babysit for the rest of the day. How romantic.

The worst part was Elyse and Colton had to act like they enjoyed spending the day with a bunch of annoying kids. Elyse deserved better.

We learn why Elyse got this 1-on-1 during the dinner portion of the date. Elyse’s sister was diagnosed with cancer while she was pregnant. She decided not to seek treatment and gave birth to her baby. Later, (the timing is unclear) she passed away from her illness. Elyse’s sister was a nurse, and her co-workers created a charity in her name called Sarah’s Closet. 

I truly don’t know how Elyse got through telling that story without shedding a single tear.

Colton gave Elyse the date rose, obviously. She’s the America’s Sweetheart of the season. 

The Other Group Date

Despite Terry Crews and his wife hosting this group date, I remember very few details about it.

Terry Crews’ biceps are overdeveloped. There, I said it.

Nicole can’t do a pull up. 

Catherine is like a black belt in karate or something.

Onyeka won the competition.

Colton sent home Caitlyn the Canadian because she couldn’t say one interesting about herself if her life depended on it. “I like going out with my friends” is not a personality trait.

I have no recollection of who got the group date rose.

Pool Party

I don’t know about you, but replacing a rose ceremony with a pool party is always a great idea, mostly because something always goes wrong. every. singe. time.

This pool party was ruined— or to some, made better— by the Beauty Queen drama. Hannah B. continued to insist that Colton needed to choose between the two. Meanwhile, Caelynn is making sure everything plays out in her favor by crying and using her Miss First Runner Up charm. Sadly, I think Caelynn, who may be in the wrong in real life, is getting the favorable edit on the show. In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m Team Hannah B.

“There’s a beautiful monster inside of me,” —Hannah B

Once again, when presented a choice that isn’t within his control, Colton freaked out. He hid in the production room, forcing Chris Harrison to wake up from his nap to find out what’s going on, and didn’t talk to any of the other women at the pool party, instilling fear of the unknown within them all for the Rose Ceremony later that night.

Rose Ceremony

I regret to announce that my Aussie fav Bri went home. But it’s fine. We’ll be fine. She’s obviously going to be on Bachelor In Paradise. I hope she’s sassy as hell at the Women Tell All. Until then, I’ll just continue to follow her on Instagram.

Night one villain Catherine was also sent home. So, who will be our villain? Do we even have one? I guess it’s Demi.

Up Next: Singapore

Typically the first two travel locations are domestic, then the girls go to a nearby international location. But not this year. ABC apparently got a new budget and they’re ready to spend it faster than Lamar Odom in a Las Vegas whore house.

I think it’s great there’s cool dates, a lot of celebrity guests and more international travel than previous years, but at what cost? Why are we trying to mimic Juan Pablo’s season? We all know how that turned out.

What’s worse than a budget heavy season with Juan Pablo? The season that followed: Chris Soules. And nobody in their right might wants a repeat of his season. Firstly, the guy literally killed someone. Secondly, the show spent six weeks touring the Dust Bowl of the United States, which is an LA content creator’s worst nightmare.

But I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

[taz-writes]

What's Violet like (I LIVE for gorgeous and deadly fairies)? Are she and Lavender really close? What powers does she possess exactly??? What's her arc throughout the series?? Also, in terms of character rankings, who is your second main character, Aelia or Violet?? Sorry for the bombard of questions, I just really love Violet! (also, I'm pretty sure you've answered this before but I can't find it anymore, what's her sexuality??)

thank you for the questions!!! I love Violet so much, I consider her one of my best characters just because of how many layers she’s grown for herself. Her story is really close to my heart. 

Shortest answer first, I don’t think either Aelia or Violet is more important? They serve different roles in the story by nature, and they both have their places. Which one is the secondary “main” character depends a lot on which part of the story you’re looking at. In book 1, Vi’s actually more of an antagonist than a hero. She’s mean. Aelia’s a tertiary lead, because she can’t physically contribute to the plot, she has to do everything through long-distance communications. Violet is the secondary protagonist in book 2, where she does the bulk of her character growth. Aelia’s the secondary protagonist in book 3, which is all about her arc. In book 4, they’re about equal, but Aelia’s more relevant to Sayara’s plot. 

As for what Violet’s like, well. She’s a born and bred tsundere. She cares a lot about her family and friends, she’s very defensive of them, but if you try to get close to her emotionally then she will viciously defend herself as well. She also refuses to admit when she cares about people most of the time.... she desperately wants a white knight romance where she’ll get swept off her feet and whisked off into the sunset, but at this rate, she’s too cranky for that to ever happen. She’s a very private person, to the point where even the people she cares most about don’t always know what’s going on inside her head. She masks all her ‘softer’ personality traits under a sharp pointy facade of responsibility and protection, she considers it her duty to be the heiress and be the protector of the family so that nobody else she loves has to. 

Violet and Lavender are very close. Vi tries to pull her tsundere act on Lavender constantly, but Lavender never buys it, and they know each other well enough that she never will. They share a psychic link, so they feel each other’s emotions and sometimes also each other’s physical pain. They definitely know when the other one is hurt. Despite this, after certain events in book 1, Violet shuts herself down and locks Lavender out of her thoughts for a while. She’s really depressed, and she’s one of those people who self-isolates a lot by instinct, so Lavender doesn’t know as much of what’s going on as she used to. 

-Vi’s a psychic! She specializes in the darker ‘attack’ side of mental magic. She can twist someone else’s mind and cause excruciating pain, she can read minds, she can keep herself from being read. She teleports very well even in book 1, she also has impressive telekinesis. Violet can do mind control. This is intimidating. The rules for mind control in Feilan are pretty strict--you must have eye contact to attempt control, the ball is always in the defender’s court and you must navigate their mind in order to dominate it, if eye contact breaks then the link is weakened and it’s easy to lose control, etc--but Vi knows how to use it. Plus, she’s theoretically capable of mirages and misleading literal Illusion magic, but she hasn’t trained this area of magic as thoroughly and doesn’t use it often. 

Violet’s primary magical element is Darkness, despite her favorite abilities being Illusion-based, so she can access some Dark magic too. This manifests as a cloud of shadow that won’t be easily pierced by Light magic or other means, or as a move I’ve nicknamed ‘air shatter’ which literally creates a controlled black hole and destroys everything near it. These are mostly book 3 abilities, which develop after her ninth or tenth evolution. 

Later on in the series, she also develops psychic foresight, which is exactly what it sounds like. She has the limited ability to (involuntarily) see bits and pieces of the future as defined by various decisions. These flashes are not binding truth, but they can act as guides, suggestions, or warnings. 

Upon her final evolutions, Violet develops into an animaris, which is a specific type of primary-Dark secondary-Illusion psychic with some cool unique abilities! She’ll be able to manipulate sound as well as vision, and use a form of mind control that’s more like puppeteering where she doesn’t need eye contact. The puppeteering magic is super scary, and very OP, and won’t manifest in time to be relevant to canon. It’s worth pointing out, though! I think it’s neat. 

-Violet’s canon arc is about cracking her shell and defrosting her bad attitude. She’s a secondary antagonist slash rival archetype for Sayara in book 1, but her overall series role is the lancer. Her serious attitude and dark outlook on life contrast Sayara’s optimism and brightness, and where Sayara wants to be responsible but doesn’t know how, Violet knows exactly how and never asked for this. They learn a lot from each other. 

See, Violet’s depressed, but Violet has worked herself into a mental state where she’s firmly convinced that she has no other option. She actively resists trying to get better and learning to cope with her PTSD because she believes it’s a waste of time, and she’s made herself into a martyr figure inside her head. She’s actually really toxic to be around in the long term, her adamant refusal to solve her own problems is ripping her family apart. She insists that she does everything to protect her sisters, and she really genuinely means that, but she also subconsciously expects them to fix her when she’s broken and deal with her mental issues without ever questioning them. She’s built up an image of what her family is in her head, and that’s what she sticks with, even as they grow and change and defy what Violet’s preconceptions of them are. She puts a lot of weight on Aelia in particular, because she has a single-minded obsession with Elli’s wellbeing, and she perceives Aelia’s desire for independence as some kind of slight against her. In her mind, when Aelia says “I need breathing room,” it actually means “I hate you and I don’t want your help and I’m going to let myself get killed out of spite.” When Aelia says “you should go see a therapist,” Violet hears “you’re weak and pathetic and can’t fulfill your job and responsibilities to our family.”  It’s bad. 

Over the series, Vi learns to calm down a little and trust that her family can handle themselves. The hair-trigger temper and instinctual distrust of literally everyone is the first thing to go--she has to accept that sometimes she doesn’t have access to the bigger picture, and she needs to wait for evidence before lashing out. She has to develop enough to accept Sayara’s apology in book 2 after Sayara says some fucked up shit, she has to develop enough to learn that not everyone is out to get her. Moving forward in the series, she’s still dealing with the anger issues, but she also starts learning to actually manage her mental health. Her depression/anxiety/PTSD/etc is screwing over her whole family, and that’s a serious problem, and that’s what she has to solve in the latter half of the series. By the end of book 4 she does give in and go see a fucking therapist for her problems. Everyone is very proud of her.

-Sadly, Vi is the token het in the cast, but I do have a funny story about how that happened. What with the psychic link between Violet and Lavender, it wasn’t easy! 

So the twins have this empathetic link, and they feel each other’s emotions, and the closer they are physically the stronger that bond is. As little kids, they spent a LOT of time together, and when they started having dumb little puppy crushes they couldn’t tell whose feelings were whose. The twins knew one of them liked boys and the other liked girls, so at first they assumed they were both straight b/c this was back when everyone thought Vi was a boy. But then they started wondering, because they weren’t really sure, Violet in particular was super insecure. There was some awkward 10-year-old flirting, everyone felt weird about everything, nobody knew what was going on. The twins were always inseparable. And then Vi came out, and things got even MORE confusing, because they started pretending they were identical, and it worked so well that no one could tell the two apart--even some of their love interests. And then they went on a summer trip overseas together and got involved in an Actual Preteen Love Dodecahedron... 

They didn’t actually figure out whose orientation was whose until they turned 15 and Lavender went on a study trip to a medical school in the south, so suddenly they were far enough apart to tell the difference. Lavender’s the gay one, Violet’s the straight one, it’s simple enough but it took them years and years to find out. Pro tips for parents: when your psychic kids start having soap opera level romantic drama, maybe get them to spend time by themselves for a bit? It might solve some things!

[sheikah]

Jonerys in 7.07 and Beyond :)

Okay so I have gotten a steady flow of asks both positive and worried after the finale so I thought I would just post one, big analysis of Jonerys in the finale for anyone interested in my take on things!

First of all I just want to establish that I loved this episode and it is my favorite of the season. There was much more to love than Jonerys here, but they are what I will focus on for this particular post, and I think this episode solidified their love in a major and lasting way. This is giant so I used a cut. 

Dany’s arrival on Drogon was epic. I love that she made such a dramatic entrance and it was a true showing of her power to Cersei--showing without telling. Dany didn’t need to list her titles or raise her voice to Cersei. Her forces (the legion of those loyal to her and her two dragons) speak for themselves. I also really loved Jon standing up and looking out from under the tent covering to see Dany arrive. He loves her so much :’)

Moving on from that, the Dragonpit scene goes a long way to showing us what Jon and Dany can/might be like as co-rulers. I have seen the argument that Dany would eclipse Jon, make him submit to her, etc, but this episode should lay that argument to rest once and for all.

I talked in this ask about why I think Jon and Dany can and will operate as equals, and even after seeing this episode I stand by my argument. I think Jon is still a king. 

Dany referred to him as the King in the North when talking to Cersei and when Cersei and Tyrion were discussing Tyrion’s apparent plans for an alliance between Jon and Dany, Tyrion said, “Not like this.” I don’t think he wanted them to fall in love or for them to necessarily be equals because it can and will complicate Dany’s designs on the throne; because as I’m sure Tyrion is aware, the Northerners will not like it. 

But even beyond that, Jon has still never bent the knee and taken up a submissive posture. He merely swore loyalty to Dany as his queen, but that doens’t mean he isn’t a king. 

Also in this scene, we saw Jon taking charge and handling the demonstration of the wight. Dany sat by as a passive observer. She hardly had lines in this scene and let Jon and Tyrion do the talking. I think this signifies her trust in them both. Even when Jon swore to her, she chastised him for it. She admires him and welcomes his loyalty but she is not interested in having him as her subordinate or having him endanger himself or the North on her behalf. She wants Jon as her equal. 

Even after Sansa received a letter in which Jon apparently claimed to have bent the knee to Dany, Littlefinger still saw that as an alliance of equals and asserted that Jon is still the King in the North after this has taken place. So I think it is safe to say that they will be equals moving forward.

The moment of Jon swearing to Dany is significant to me, too. It shows the depth of Jon’s commitment and his honesty. Jon is a man who keeps his word and that was reiterated again here. I think we should take this as a sign that even if things get tense in season 8 and that the North is resistant to this match, we should know that Jon will never break his oath to Dany. 

My favorite scene of the episode was Jon and Dany’s private talk in the Dragonpit. Here we saw more honesty and vulnerability from both. Dany shows rare humility and admits that without her dragons, she’s just a woman. Without dragons, Targaryens are only people. Like everyone else. 

Jon, meanwhile, took this opportunity to continue to be absolutely adorable and perfect and tell her that she’s still extraordinary to him--”You’re not like everyone else.” Also in this moment, Jon assures Dany that her family’s line  has not ended, not while she still lives. 

To me, this is the single most important moment in the Jonerys relationship so far. Because the implication here is obvious--Dany has already asserted that she can’t have children. She repeats it again. But Jon doesn’t accept it. Not only does he want to comfort Dany in the notion that the words of a witch aren’t necessarily true, but he wants to be the person to prove this wrong. That might sound like a leap, but bear with me. 

Jon clearly doesn’t believe that Dany is really infertile. Her explanation isn’t really a solid one. Add to this that Jon is someone who would never, ever want to father a bastard. Period. His bastard status is something that has haunted him for his entire life. So for him to later in the episode have sex with Dany is HUGE. 

He not only believes Dany is perfectly capable of having a child, but he mentions it to her in an encouraging way. Jon wants children with Dany. Jon wants a future with Dany. This is . . . more than I ever expected or hoped for haha and I love it SO much. 

So back to what I was saying earlier about him keeping his oaths. I have seen a lot of people in the tag worried about the future of their relationship for a variety of reasons. 

1. D&D’s “Inside the Episode” comments in which they said the revelation “could” tear Jon and Dany apart and “she’s his aunt.” 

To that I say, this is Stark Bowl 2.0. They tried to get us to believe that Sansa would betray Jon to take over as Queen in the North because making us think that created dramatic tension and drama not only throughout the off season but this season as well. I personally never believed it would happen but the GA did, and the writers thrive on that. They don’t want anyone to think it’s neat and tidy. 

2. Kit’s and Emilia’s weird interview comments about Jonerys. 

Again, this isn’t serious. They are trolling us as they are trained to do. As they have done for  years, most notably with everyone swearing up and down that Jon was truly and permanently dead post-season 5. They don’t want us to think that everything is peachy because that’s not GoT. 

Furthermore, even though we know that in the universe of GoT, incest is not an issue for an aunt and nephew, Emilia is acting squicked out about it probably to protect her image and keep people from thinking that she is accepting of incest in real life. I suspect she is also acting squicked out to lay to rest the rumors that she and Kit enjoyed their romantic filming a little too much last season and that they were sleeping together in Spain. Her acting like it grosses her out covers her ass in this regard.

Tldr: I don’t believe the actors when they are teasing Jonerys breaking up. And you shouldn’t either :)

3. The montage scene and what it represents. 

I was worried about the montage scene, but now that I’ve seen it, I feel 100% confident in Jonerys. It was incredibly romantic. It featured a loving and romantic parallel in the form of Rhaegar and Lyanna (putting aside how problematic that relationship is) and everything from the music to the editing and shots themselves showed this as a positive, intimate, and loving relationship. 

Jon and Dany didn’t have gratuitous, smutty HBO sex. They made love with each other. They looked each other in the eye for extended periods, kissed a LOT, and just generally were tender and sweet. 

And the montage added to the weight of the scene. Bran saying “he loved her” and “she loved him” AS it showed Jon and Dany is HUGE. It’s showing us that they are actually in love. This isn’t just comfort sex. This isn’t a fling. This is the real thing. 

And even the later parts of the montage, when Bran discussed Lyanna, were important to me. This just shows us the odds that Jon had to overcome, how close he came to dying, how long and crazy his and Dany’s journeys have both been, just for them to end up where they are--together at last and in love. 

Jon being the heir does not spell trouble for their future. Jon has mentioned on more than one occasion that he is not interested in being a king. I don’t think that will magically change the moment that he finds out that he is a Targaryen. 

Furthermore, Jon has brought out a softer, kinder, and altogether different side of Dany. Her sights have moved from the throne to the betterment of the people. It’s as she said to Jorah when she swore she would sail North with Jon instead of riding Drogon--she’s not going to conquer the North, she’s going to save it. 

Dany is a changed women after losing Viserion and loving Jon. I can’t see her hurting a man she loves just because his birthright rivals hers. If anything, she will be thrilled to find that the man she loves is one of her family, that she’s not “a Targaryen alone in the world” after all.

And the moment we find out this information is huge. We learn that Jon is the heir as we see Jon and Dany making love in a moment that heavily hints at them conceiving a child together. To me, all this means is that Jon is now someone of even higher stature and a more valuable alliance to Dany than before. It does NOT hint at “Targ Bowl.” I do NOT think that Jon and Dany would ever fight over the throne. 

That being said, Jon will probably freak out. I do see a bit of conflict in their future in season 8 about this, but not for long. To me, Jon will be more shaken about his own identity than he will about he and Dany’s relation to one another. As I’ve said, aunt/nephew or uncle/niece marriages were not scandalous or frowned upon and even Starks did this. It isn’t the issue many are making it out to be. 

Instead, I think that Jon will be momentarily shocked and upset to find that he is not Ned Stark’s son after all. Instead, he is the son of a man he has never seen or probably really thought about. He is still half a Stark, but in this universe, for some reason the father’s half counts the most. 

So Jon will grapple with the news but possibly also be a bit happy that he is not a bastard and that it was never true that he had a mother Ned was ashamed of. It was never true that he had a mother who didn’t want him. He was just in danger and needed to be hidden--just like Dany. 

Taking this further, Jon’s pep talk to Theon foreshadows Jon’s own acceptance of his identity down the line. It’s just like Jon said to Theon--he doesn’t need to choose. Theon is both a Greyjoy and a Stark and Ned’s teachings and love will always be a part of him. Similarly, Jon is both a Targaryen and Stark, and Ned’s guidance and love will always be a part of him, too. This little speech wasn’t thrown in by accident. Jon and Theon were never particularly good friends. This is a parallel for Jon’s own coming identity crisis and I think the way he advised Theon can tell us how Jon will handle the news himself. 

And his love for Dany and the likely promise of their child together will calm him down and remind him of what’s important. 

4. Sad Tyrion

The last thing I have seen people freaking out about is Tyrion’s strange, sad look as he watched Jon enter Dany’s cabin. Many have taken it to be jealousy but I don’t see it that way. Not even a little bit. 

I think that Tyrion is realizing now that Jon and Dany are deeply attracted to each other and that they have a connection that can and will put them both in danger. Jon risked his life in a way by swearing to Dany in front of everyone. It almost reminds me of the famous story of Rhaegar crowning Lyanna Queen of Love and Beauty at the joust in a snub of Elia in front of everyone. This is different though, because Jon’s action is symbolic of unity and an alliance, not divisiveness or adultery. 

Still, Tyrion knows what falling in love can do. He’s had disastrous relationships and he’s seen what can happen to the realm when people let desire cloud their judgment. I think he knows that already Jon and Dany’s relationship is making them reckless. Dany riding off to save Jon was reckless even though we wanted it to happen. Jon swearing to Dany was reckless even though I think it was the right thing to do.

So Tyrion’s sadness wasn’t about desire for Dany, but worry for her future and Jon’s and how their relationship will continue to complicate the war. Even Peter Dinklage said in BTS commentary that Tyrion knows that love can be a disaster for people. That’s why he’s upset.

Okay so now that I’ve talked about the objections/worries I’ve seen, I want to talk about positive stuff haha :)

I already said how much I love the scene in the dragonpit of Jon and Dany discussing her fertility. But I also really love the scene back at Dragonstone when Jorah is trying to talk Dany out of traveling to Winterfell by land and sea because of the danger it presents. 

Jon talks her out of riding Drogon and his reasoning is solid--if Dany wants to win over the North, it needs to be clear that their alliance is real and lasting. Jon wants the Northerners to see them together. I think this is pretty on-the-nose foreshadowing of a marriage down the line. Jon wishes for he and Dany to be a united front who travel and appear together. That’s everything!

I also love how Dany agreed with him and went on to say that she needs to be seen at Jon’s side and not on Drogon’s back because she isn’t there to conquer. I am hoping this will finally silence the people claiming that Dany wants to take the North by force. That is obviously not the case.

But from a shipping standpoint, this scene was so lovely to me because it was also Jon and Dany doing a very poor job of hiding the fact that they don’t want to separate. Jon wanted Dany to sail with him to White Harbor and ride with him to Winterfell because he simply wants to be with her. He’s in love with her. So obviously he wants her nearby!

And of course all of this led up to the scene we’ve been waiting years for hahaha--epic boatsex.

I have seen a lot of complaints about it but it really lived up to and even exceeded my expectations. My only problem is that I wish we had gotten a scene of their first kiss, but this is okay. If we had gotten that, given how short it was, we probably wouldn’t have gotten actual sex, too.

And it was good sex you guys. The moments of them looking into each other’s eyes actually killed me. Jon just looked grateful to have her, like she was the single most amazing and beautiful thing he has ever seen in his life. He was literally shaking in that moment. And even Dany, who tries so hard to put up her stoic exterior, looked almost in tears with emotion when he was looking at her like that. I think her feelings for Jon and the depth of them came as a surprise to her and now that it’s here she’s just going with it. 

But as sweet as it was, as far as it went to establish their love, it was damn hot too and yall know it. That lick or whatever the hell it was is amazing and I will see it when my life flashes before my eyes before I die hahaha. 

Jon wanted her bad and when he finally got her he totally went for it. I’ve never seen Jon like that and damn are we blessed to have gotten it. He got his woman. And the whole “love comes in at the eyes” couldn’t have been clearer.

So I think this was an amazing way to end the season and look forward to the final one. They’ve established this ship in a lovely way and I don’t think they’re going anywhere. Jonerys is here to stay. 

If anything, next season will see some of the Northern lords cautious and wary about Dany, and Jon defending her as he already did in the dragonpit. This will only drive them closer together, as will the BABY I am almost certain they will have. 

The Jonerys ship is still sailing guys. And I couldn’t be happier :)

[sayonaramidnight]

"Big Ol’ Honkin’ OC Question List-- Long Post Ahead!" - for Yuki: A 5, 6, 8, 15, 17, 18, 23; B 9, 10, 14, C 1, 5; D 2; E 1; F 2; G 6; H 7; L 2, 3; for Soll: A 5, 6, 17, 19, 24; B 9, 13; D 3; E 6; F 2; G 2 ,4; L 3; for Noodles: A 13, 16, 17, 21; B 8, 9; F 9, 11; H 4, 7, 8. Enojy :D (also, apprently, I have a soft spot for that annoying little... I mean, Yuki)

Do you know how I missed them? Do you? I bet you do :D

Yuki

A5. Are they good at handling change in their life?

…Relatively? Most of the time she just goes with the flow, waiting to see what happens next. It wasn’t always like this - after her parents’ death she might have fallen apart if her surrogate aunt hadn’t been there for her (or maybe not - we’ll never know for sure), but she has hardened since then. And, well, getting involved with the Platinum Chip turned out to be THE change, the one she really looked forward to.

A6. Does your OC tend to assume their interpretation of events and reality is correct, or do they question it? I.e., “I’m sure that’s what you said” versus “It’s possible I misheard you.”

She always believes her interpretation of reality is right. And the most interesting.

A8. Is your OC a martyr?

No, hell no. She won’t sacrifice herself, she will play to win and probably outplay you.

A15. Is your character observant?

Depends. She does notice things, but often misinterprets them, especially when it comes to her friends. She pays attention to her surroundings though, and usually can see through someone’s bluffing.

A17. What’s one of your OC’s proudest moments of themselves?

When she got out of Vault 34 alive. When she got out of the Securitron Vault and made Caesar believe it has been destroyed. Every time she wins a card game.

A18. Do they get jealous easily? Do they feel bad if they do?

Not really and not really. It can be motivating at times, though.

A23. Does your OC place much importance on their appearance? Do they feel confident in it?

Yup. She knows how to move gracefully, how to smile and flutter the eyelashes, how to dress up. Both for her own  pleasure and to sway other people.

B9. What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM…

DeFiNiTeLy RaNdOm. Also, bad puns. And “subtle” mockery.

B10. Does your OC find any “bad” or “mean” humor funny? Do they wish they didn’t?

Yes, she does. And dirty, too. Her incorrigible aunt Amy taught her to appreciate it.

B14. Do they have people they are genuinely honest with about themselves?

Amy, when they meet (which doesn’t happen often these days). Cynthia - to some extent, especially when both of them get drunk. And Yes Man, because he’s enthusiastic about everything she says.

C1. Does your OC have a moral code? If not, how do they base their actions? If so, where does it come from, and how seriously do they take it?

Work for those who can pay (yes, satisfaction can be good payment too). Trick the assholes. And the boring people. Help the Followers and make Mum proud. Barter every time. Gamble for everything. Don’t hurt the innocent on purpose. Be true to yourself.

C5. Do your OC’s morals and rules of common decency go out the window when it comes to those they don’t like, or when it’s inconvenient? Aka, are their morals situational?

Will there be gambling?… But seriously, her morals and rules are flexible enough not to get broken. Much.

D2. Do they believe in an afterlife?

Yes and she’s pretty sure she’ll go to hell if she dies.

E1. Would you say that your OC is intelligent? In what ways? Would your OC agree?

Her mind is really sharp in a scientific-verbal-practical way and she’s a quick learner. She also knows when it’s good not to show it. And she’s really confident about her interpersonal skills. For good reasons. Sometimes.

F2. What’s their ideal home look like? Where is it?

Oh, you know exactly where it is. The very place Cyn doesn’t want to visit.

G6. Do they have any favorite childhood memories?

Mum’s her fairy tales and dad’s funny stories from the road (mostly about the people he met). Time spent with Amy and her son Chase in their awesome car. Vast Wastelands and long dreamy nights.

H7. What do they look for in partners? (Emotionally, mentally, physically..)

This is quite hard to tell, for she usually falls in love with a moment rather than a man. Every moment is different and you never know what she will find interesting this time.

L2. What do you consider the biggest themes in your character, if any?

Change. Luck and fate. Travel. Searching for a place to belong.

L3. Did you create the character to be like yourself, did they end up being like yourself, or are they very different from you?

At first glance, she may seem like me? Maybe? You know, a ball of fluff? But in fact, she’s rather different than me and that’s why I find her so fun to play.

Sollanthi

A5. Are they good at handling change in their life?

She accepts change peacefully, in the Jedi way.

A6. Does your OC tend to assume their interpretation of events and reality is correct, or do they question it? I.e., “I’m sure that’s what you said” versus “It’s possible I misheard you.”

She questions it and tries to learn of other people’s points of view.

A17. What’s one of your OC’s proudest moments of themselves?

The day she became a Jedi. That was even better than saving the galaxy.

A19. What instantly irritates them or puts them in a bad mood?

More like “who”… Ezalb, her so-called rival who was Yuon’s padawan before her. She senses something ambiguous and unsettling underneath his calm façade - maybe it’s his tendency to mock a defeated opponent or his obsessive thoughts? She’s hesitant about whether she should help him or expose him. And that’s what irritates her the most.

A24. What are some of your OC’s biggest personal obstacles? This could be emotional, physical, social… Are they aware of it? Are they trying to overcome it?

Vanity and pettiness? Those aren’t very Jedi-like traits after all… But while she tries her best to fight the latter, she can’t really help the former.

B9. What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM…

Harmless pranks! And the fact that she doesn’t look like a prankster helps a lot. Also, inside jokes with friends and family.

B13. Do they have a large or small group of friends?

She’s friendly and charming enough to gather a large circle of friends around her. And a smaller group of close, fire-forged friends - her crew, master Yuon… hells, even Ezalb. And Junior, of course.

D3. How comfortable are they with the idea of death?

She’s a Jedi, so she believes in becoming one with the Force and finds that belief comforting.

E6. Do they enjoy learning? Do they actively seek out sources of self-education?

Ooh boy, she is… quite… geeky… More like frighteningly geeky, when given a chance. She believes everything could be useful at a right moment and simply enjoys learning new things.

F2. What’s their ideal home look like? Where is it?

She’s never given it much thought, but she knows for sure it must be a sunny place with lots of plants. And clothes shops.

G2. Who makes up your OC’s family, at least the more important members to them?

Her beloved cousin Shanandi and auntie master Yuon, and little sis padawan Nadia. And you can say her crew is like a bunch of weird relatives. She does her best to keep in touch with her parents and the rest of the family on Mirial, too.

G4. What kind of childhood did your OC have?

Definitely a pleasant one. She spent half of it with her loving family and another half in the Jedi temple where she wasn’t alone and learnt a lot.

L3. Did you create the character to be like yourself, did they end up being like yourself, or are they very different from you?

I created her so I could dress her up - while I don’t look good in dresses, she totally does.

Chalinda

A13. Does your OC have any phobias? If so, where did they come from?

She dislikes loud explosions. It’s an old war thing.

A16. Does your OC have to go through their own trials to learn a lesson, or do they listen and learn from observation and lecture? I.e., does your OC listen when someone tries to tell them the importance of budgeting, or do they have to go experience what happens if you don’t budget first?

She learns best through trials and experience. I mean, she has learnt more as a young and frightened paramedic during the war than she could ever learn at the medical school. And her first years of smuggling, holy shit, what a sweet summer child she was back then. That was long ago, though. Perhaps she needs some new experience in her life.

A17. What’s one of your OC’s proudest moments of themselves?

Every time she gets Nico out of trouble and not the other way round.

A21. Do they make excuses often?

Oh gods, yes. For herself, mostly. For others, not as often.

B8. Is your OC considered funny? Do they believe they’re funny?

She believes she’s the funniest person in the Republic. She considers visiting the Empire and becoming the funniest one there, too. But in fact… she is the funniest when she doesn’t try too hard and let things happen accidentally.

B9. What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM…

She likes situational jokes. And funny songs.

F9. Are they homebodies and enjoy being home?

She’s very outgoing. Home is mostly for sleeping.

F11. What are some of their favorite things to do for recreation? How did they get into it? What part of it do they like the most?

Dancing (because she was born to it!). Playing with Polly (because she loves her). Watching silly romance holovids (because she’s romantic at heart). Adventuring!

H4. Does your OC believe in love in first sight?

Nope. Infatuation - yes. Lust - yes. But love takes some time.

H7. What do they look for in partners? (Emotionally, mentally, physically..)

Someone to laugh, drink and have adventures with. Basically someone like Mhyra, but in a romantic way.

H8.What’s your OC’s idea of a perfect date?

Gourmet food, nice music, lots of dancing, fireworks.

[then-lets-talk-about-me]

Yuri's Agape, or How Yuri on Ice is the Story of How Yuri Plisetsky Resolves the Crisis He Himself Created (part three)

Parts one and two here!

I was originally going to try to fit this into two parts, but episodes 10 through 12 deserve their own fenced off part of the telling no matter what angle you're taking on the series. And then this part ended up being as long as parts one and two combined.

Cut for length and images and spoilers through the finale:

For most sports anime, episode 10 would be considered a filler episode. There's no skating in it; the characters spend most of it hanging around taking selfies. But Yuri on Ice is not most sports anime. Episode 10 is where Things Got Weird.

It's in episode 10 where we learn, in a very fridge-horror way, that in telling the story almost exclusively from Yuuri's perspective we have been borderline lied to about probably everything to an unknowable degree all along. But it also gives us another headache: of all the characters in this series, why are we suddenly trusting VICTOR to be a faithful and impartial observer? Episode 10 not only switches perspective to Victor, it keeps the perspective a lot tighter than the other episodes tend to. Victor provides a lot more running commentary on the action -- especially over Yuri's story line, for which Victor is not present -- than Yuuri has tended to previously. Victor narrating his own breakfast would probably sound insane, so having him handle this much crucial plot development is probably not a lot better than Yuuri.

Yuri's adventure in Barcelona is so bonkers I almost want to accuse Victor of making it up, but that wouldn't be particularly useful. And of course, if Victor isn't making it up, that means Yuri eventually told him all this later and Victor is now telling us, which is a reading that I think there is evidence of. Just keep in mind that there are a lot of reasons to question Victor's version of events here. Let's start with Otabek.

The story is definitely pulling a fast one with Otabek Altin. Of the six people who make it into the Grand Prix Final, five are people the series has spent some time with: Yuuri and Yuri, Victor's rival/buddy Chris, Yuuri's rival/best friend Phichit, and JJ. You'll notice four of these five form narrative parallels. Well, JJ has a parallel in the sixth finalist.

JJ has been viewing Yuri as a rival since they first competed in Canada, but Yuri completely rejects him as such. JJ is a monster that Yuri wants to destroy. JJ, frankly, is too much for Yuri to handle at this point. And it's through JJ in a glancing encounter that the audience -- and Yuri -- is introduced to Otabek.

Victor treats us to a quick montage of podium shots at competitions Yuuri hasn't been in, thus explaining why the audience hasn't met this guy until now. He won silver and gold in his qualifying events for the GPF; additionally, he shared the podium with Victor at least once in the previous season. He has a brief appearance in the first episode.

You can tell I cheated and capped this from 10 because Victor's name is spelled correctly.

In short, this is a serious potential opponent who has been competing in this bracket for Kazakhstan -- which is as local to Russia as anything can be, if that makes any difference -- for at least a year. There is no reason for Yuri to not know who Otabek is; Otabek should be on his Potential Monster Threat list with JJ. And yet! Yuri does not know who Otabek is to such a degree that it's used as foreshadowing for the reveal about Yuuri's blackout of the GPF banquet last year!

Victor jumps around in his narration a lot, so I’m going to briefly run down Yuri's story line in this episode. Yuri has a terrifying fanclub who call themselves Yuri's Angels that Yuuri, at least according to Victor, for some reason follows on Instagram.

This fanclub is hunting Yuri down as he wanders Barcelona by himself, because Yuri suddenly has no goddamn responsible adults around. He is literally hiding in an alley and trying to figure out how to escape a pack of stalkers. Suddenly, a handsome stranger on a motorcycle presumably rented for this very purpose rides up from nowhere and rescues and/or kidnaps Yuri!

Why, it's Otabek!

Victor

Victor no

This is not cool or romantic, you are implying child endangerment and you should all be arrested. Like I said, take Victor with a grain of salt. He always brings plenty. ohhh burn

Otabek has taken Yuri to this lovely sunset to reveal that they actually met one another at a camp Yakov runs for potential child competitors five years ago. Yuri does not remember this at all, nor should he, really, but man oh man, Otabek remembers him.

Yuri Plisetsky, he says, at the age of ten, had the EYES OF A SOLDIER. Yuri expresses subdued surprise at this. Otabek is struck by Yuri's strength. Yuri has been called strong before -- Yuri knows he's strong -- but comparing him to a soldier is an entirely new context for that strength. JJ essentially called him a girl in the previous episode; he is apparently referred to as a fairy by the media. Yuri demands to know why Otabek brought him to this romantic sunset to begin with. They are competitors! RIVALS!

Otabek asks Yuri if they can be friends, too.

This is what Yuri has been clawing his way toward with Yuuri all season, but because Yuuri's personal motto is "go passive-aggressive or go crawl under a rock and die," Yuri's had no way to establish a foothold with him. Not that Yuri's made it easy for him, either, screaming at him in restrooms and threatening him in elevators and whatnot, but Yuri is a kid who desperately needs someone to reach out and not flinch. Everyone else in his life has been struggling against this; Otabek manages to do it in like ten minutes.

Otabek is also five years younger than Yuuri, so if Yuri is going to look for immediate support among his peers, Otabek is probably a more appropriate choice. Yuri and Otabek's relationship is never worded as particularly romantic, but the visuals in episode 10 frame it that way strongly. Again, consider the source.

On the other hand, this version of events makes perfect sense if it's Victor's best man speech at the wedding (including the "now back to where me and Yuuri were shopping" segues).

Yuri's plotline falls in with Victor's at this point as Yuuri and Victor are pressured into hijacking Yuri and Otebek's date, and they end up just inviting everyone (I don't know whether or not they invited JJ -- he finds them, but Barcelona seems like a small place in this episode). They all go out for dinner and end up in one of the narrative climaxes of the series.

There is so much going on in this scene that's easy to miss what's going on with Yuri, making his argument with Victor the next day feel like a tonal hairpin turn. It is a hard turn, but it doesn't come out of nowhere. Yuri starts the dinner scene in Barcelona angry and just gets angrier as it continues.

He's angry that Victor and Yuuri crashed his good time with his new friend, he's angry they bring everyone else -- Yuri can only handle recontextualizing one person at a time -- he's angry last year's GPF banquet comes up at all (though he's probably not that angry that Yuuri doesn't remember it), and he has to be at least somewhat alarmed that Victor starts showing Otabek pictures of Yuuri pole dancing. Like what kind of a date is this.

Then Chris and Phichit tag-team to sort of misunderstand Victor and Yuuri's rings and start loudly congratulating them on their marriage. Yuri acts like this might actually have been a total left field reveal for him, though he had to know there was something going on considering the circumstances under which he left Victor in Japan. And the fact all these year-old pictures are still on Victor’s phone.

But then Victor doubles down. Presumably out of some sort of revenge for letting Yuuri get away with the most vaguely worded round-about proposal to have ever been accepted, he announces that he actually intends to marry Yuuri after Yuuri wins the Grand Prix gold medal.

This is part of a montage of everyone making 'oh you did not' faces, but Yuri's the only one who looks genuinely pissed off.

As Yuuri's coach, Victor's expected to say he's confident that Yuuri will win in interviews and such, but this is a private party among friendly competitors who have not been engaging in trash talk. Considering the company and his own position among them, it would be... diplomatic for Victor to take more of a may-the-best-man-win approach to the GPF, while being friendly about his confidence in his own skater. He's throwing a gauntlet instead; he's so confident in Yuuri that he's casually staking his own future and personal life on it. And it isn't a joke! Victor never takes this challenge back.

Yuri is Victor's former rinkmate; he's credited as Yuri's choreographer every time Yuri performs Agape. To an already seething teenager, this implied lack of confidence in him is going to come across as a slap in the face. It was only a matter of time before Victor and Yuri had a full-on confrontation, but Victor's too focused on motivating Yuuri to realize to he's just invited the one that occurs the next morning.

I don't believe this is a traditional greeting in Spain.

For all of Victor's agency in the story, he is not typically a confrontational person. He is more likely to just say something cutting and walk away. And while Yuri is confrontational to a significant fault, he's being about as unfocused in this scene regarding the source of his anger as he was with Yuuri in the restroom in the first episode. This argument gets interpreted a lot of different ways because neither of them are really arguing. Yuri is spitting venom -- about Victor, about Victor's career, about Victor's age, about Yuuri. Victor answers with physical intimidation that borders on sexual. Asking "did you want to compete against me?" is tantamount to asking, are you jealous? Do you wish you were the one who meant as much to me as I mean to you?

This has an equally difficult bookend near the very end, but Yuri lashing out at Yuuri in the very beginning is probably a better point of comparison. Yuri behaves like this when his expectations of other people betray him. He walked away from Yuuri when Yuuri acted cowed. Victor isn't going to be cowed by Yuri. Yuri is a child, he is behaving horribly, and Victor isn't impressed. Yuri's body language suggests he's backing down before he manages to goad Victor to the point of grabbing him; it’s is a small triumph in itself, because it's so incredibly out of character for Victor to crack like this. Once Yuri's won that much ground, he can keep talking, and Victor is frozen and fake-smiling until Yuri tells him to let go. And then it's over.

Victor is wearing Yuuri's coat, and when Yuri walks away it's revealed he's wearing the tee shirt he bought in Hasetsu. Before he leaves, Yuri says the beach here reminds him of Japan, and Victor agrees. This clash isn't about Yuuri, but it's steeped in the influence he's had on both of them. Victor's narration suggests here that he believes Yuri has learned something about life and love from Yuuri, which is an odd observation for him to have in the moment. Like his being able to tell the story about Otabek, it makes more sense if his thoughts in this episode are something retrospective. In any case, they end here. The audience is closed off from Victor by other people's impressions of him again for the rest of the story.

Everyone is feeling pretty rough going into the competition. Yuri's JJ problem has not away -- in fact, JJ and his insane jump program is now everyone's problem -- and Yuri doesn't appear to have let off as much steam at Victor as he needed to. He shoots Yuuri a particularly ugly glare during the short program warm up.

Yuuri scores solidly but lower for this round than he usually does, and he spends the rest of the day second guessing Victor's reactions to the other routines and making horrible decisions on other people's behalf without telling them. He isn't quite the hurdle today that Yuri was expecting him to be, but it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway.

For the Agape program, Yuri reveals that since the competition in Moscow, he has somehow ascended to godhood. The narrative explanation comes not from Yuri himself but from his ballet coach, who explains in an interview voice-over that Yuri has realized that the concept of agape isn't something that can be restricted to a single person; it includes everyone in his life. There's a quick set of cuts to his some of his teammates, his coaches, his grandfather, Yuuri, Victor, Yuuko, and Otabek. This is a remarkable revelation for him to have had off-screen and have spelled out by someone else.

Yuri himself gives no narration because he says his mind goes blank here as he's performing. When Victor was first trying to make Yuri understand the program, he expressed confusion over Yuri not knowing what he was supposed to think about to invoke a sense of unconditional love; why would he need to think about anything?

Yuri breaks Victor's world record for the short program score. Yuuri perfected Eros by coming into his own sexuality, and Yuri has finally perfected Agape by realizing how many people in his life love him. Ironically many of those same people are ones he intends to destroy here.

Having done all the damage he can today, Yuri actually seeks out and sits with Yuuri and Victor in the stands to watch the rest of the short programs.

He does it like a jerk and possibly just to flaunt the fact that he's cheering on Otabek, but that is a pretty harmless thing to be a jerk about. Yuuri and Victor are sitting with a couple of other people, but they're clearly the ones he's chosen to huddle with. JJ may have had a point about Yuri only being comfortable supporting his competition when he's safely in the lead, but there isn't anything inherently bad about that, either. Openly gloating about Otabek scoring higher than Yuuri isn't great, but he has no idea what Yuuri is planning. Nobody does! Making an effort to be on friendly terms with Yuuri turns out to be unfortunately eventful for everyone. The day ends with Yuri in first place and Yuuri in fourth.

Yuuri doesn't come to the warm-up the next day, so Yuri doesn't see him or Victor until the free skate. A lot happens in the meantime that he doesn't know about. This is where everything becomes debatable, as Yuuri, Victor, and Yuri's unspoken motivations all crash into each other headlong.

Yuuri's free skate routine, Yuri on Ice, is ostensibly a commentary on his career as a competitive skater, but it's also been recognized as a meta-commentary on the plot of the show. Both are largely the same story anyway, but over the course of the series he's never performed it perfectly, and it’s continued to evolve along his relationship with Victor. He's decided that this Grand Prix Final is the last time he's going to perform it, so it's no shock that here in the last episode he finally nails it. He nails it so completely that he breaks Victor's record for the free skate score. Yuri said that Victor Nikiforov is dead, but he didn't know the knife was going to have two hands on it.

Earlier in the episode, watching JJ's routine, Yuuri comments to himself that there is nothing as compelling as a tale that never ends. And while he's skating, he tells us that he doesn't want his story to end either. But it has to, because he's convinced himself that making Victor stay on as his coach is killing Victor in spirit, and Victor's real place is back on the ice himself. So Yuuri, and Yuri on Ice, and YURI!!! on Ice, will end here.

During the brief time the audience got to see Victor's perspective, however, we learned the opposite was true: Victor was being crushed by the weight of living up to his own reputation. He was having to reinvent himself in the absence of anything or anyone to inspire him so often that there was no real Victor there anymore. But through a crazy chain of events that began with Yuri attacking Yuuri in a restroom in Sochi last year, Victor managed to break out of the endless loop of competitive seasons and reinvent himself for himself. He's found new life in being someone else's strength.

With his decision to retire, Yuuri has condemned Victor to the previous status quo, joining the rest of the chorus of characters we've met begging and ordering Victor to go back. Victor can probably reclaim both the records that Yuri and Yuuri have broken in Barcelona, but there won't be any meaning in it. Yuuri believes he’s doing this for Victor’s own good, but he won't listen to or change his mind for him.

This is the Victor that steps out and demands that Yakov and Yuri listen to him before Yuri goes out for his free skate routine. It can't wait. It has to be now. He tells them he's coming back to Russia.

For all Yuri's anger and resentment the last time he and Victor spoke privately, Yuri doesn't look happy that Victor has finally given in to his demands from eight months ago. Victor was talking about marriage two days ago. Something has obviously happened with Yuuri, and that's the first thing he asks: what does this mean for Yuuri? Is he retiring?

Victor says what Yuuri does now is a decision Yuuri plans to make when the Grand Prix Final is over. There's obviously something he's not saying, and he doesn't say it. Yuri gets this:

Victor instead whispers to him to not to forget why he came here. This is intercut with Otabek’s free skate, which is set to a rock opera version of the second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony 9. It’s not the more obvious Ode to Joy segment, but you don’t use the Ninth Symphony accidentally in an OST consisting entirely of original music otherwise.

This is a plea for the future. Yuuri has rejected it and denied it to Victor -- this is most likely the end in some sense for both of them -- but the future is all Yuri has. This is his first Grand Prix Final as a senior competitor. He wants to be the new Victor Nikiforov. But for all of Victor's accomplishments, for all the trouble he's caused, for all the pain he's specifically put Yuri through this year, this is all Victor has to show for it. No matter what happens now, Yuri has his own future. He only has to step toward it.

Victor cannot plead on behalf of the future to Yuuri. But it's possible that Yuri can.

Yuri on Ice isn't the last program of the Grand Prix Final; Yuri's free skate is. Yuri is going to have the last word.

Yuri does not produce the performance that he does for Yuuri's sake. That is specifically the idea that Victor is urging him to reject. This story has been about love from the start, but it's also repeatedly shown that you can't save other people from themselves. You can help them, you can support them, and you can love them. You can reach out and not flinch. But in the end, they have to make the decision to not reject the future on their own. Yuri's dream from the start was to win the gold medal here in his first year, making history in men's single skating, and that's the dream he's going to chase down right to the bitter end.

And while he does so, he puts a footnote on the meta-narrative. He tells us, the audience, what his feelings actually were all along. He never hated Yuuri. He has admired him passionately, from his most flawed to his very best. He's prepared to face the future without him, but he doesn't want to. Yuri wants Yuuri to come with him.

But in the end, the only person who can make that decision is Yuuri.

Yuri wins the gold medal with a final score that beats Yuuri's by .12 points. He's won. But which of them ended up with the gold isn't what makes up Yuuri's mind to ask Victor to stay. Through the power that sports anime tends to give you, Yuri gets through to Yuuri with his determination to claw forward. You can never just go back to the way things were before; you can only stop where you are or go forward.

We call everything on the ice love, and love wins. But sometimes love will want to murder you with an ice skate.

[horror-movie-blog]

Top Ten Best THMBs of 2018

Original Publishing Date: December 15th, 2018

Well, it's that time of year again, when I look back at all the horror movies I watched over the year and decide which were the best and which were the worst. As a reminder to those who haven't had their New Year hymens broken yet, this isn't a list of movies that came out this year, but those I watched as part of my Thursday/Friday Horror Movie Blog. But before I get into the grit and dirty, there's something I need to announce. I've been giving this some thought, and since there were weeks this year where I skipped THMBs due to my lack of investment and enjoyment, I decided that I'm going to end the Horror Movie Blog... So I can expand it to any movie I want to watch. That's right, not just horror movies. Adventure. Syfy. Romantic Comedy. Goose Punk. Whatever I feel like that week, that's what I'm going to watch. Of coarse, there will still be horror, and I'm going to favor horror over any other genre because it's my favorite, but I realize this is my only opportunity ever week to watch stuff due to my busy schedule. And since there's so many movies I've been meaning to watch, I felt like this is a great way of finally knocking them off my list. So look forward to those in the next year. With that said, let's just jump into it. Here are my favorite films I watched during THMB this year. 10. Repulsion When I first saw this movie, I gave it a glowing review and labeled it as a new favorite. But it's been months since that viewing, and looking back, I might have over thought the movie. Don't get me wrong, I still admire it, and think it deserves the recognition it gets, but I realize so much stuff in the movie was just there to be pretentious art house film stuff. I have a feeling if I watched this again I'll notice all the unnecessary additions to it that doesn't really need to be in it. However, I understand those pretentious, weird moments are what gives the movie it's atmosphere and tone, so getting rid of them would render the film. Still, if there was ever a film that I would label pretentious, it would be this. I still liked it, but it wasn't the master piece that I claimed it to be, so I gave it the lowest spot on the list.   9. Trick r Treat My enjoyment of this film comes down to atmosphere. I wanted something to get me into the Halloween mood and this film did just that. Despite not finding the individual plots to be predictable and pointless at times, I was invested and did find them interesting. I still love how they all take place on the same night in the same town, a trait that I wish more anthology series took advantage of. If you were a fan of Krampus, you'll be a fan of this. 8. Kuroneko The latest movie to show up on my list, Kuroneko was more like a dark fairy tale than a horror film, but still managed to creep me out. It kept my attention throughout the film, and there were times where I had no idea what was coming up next in the plot, subverting my expectations. And the ending was fantastic too, leaving it up to the audience to interrupt its meaning and what happened. Add on top of that memorable visuals and a compelling story, and you got yourself an underrated classic. 7. Red Dragon Many people say that Red Dragon is superior to Silence of the Lambs, and after watching the film, I agree. The dynamic between the main character and Hannibal Lector was spot on, the B-plot of the Tooth Fairy was heart breaking and terrifying, and it was all paced together perfectly... Okay, the ending was a but tacked on, but that's a nitpick compared to the rest of the film. It's weird how this movie doesn't get half the recognition Silence of the Lambs get. I mean, Philip Seymour Hoffman gets set on fire and rolled down a hill in a wheelchair. What happened in Silence again? Oh right, a bunch of fat lady get skinned. Yeah, case close. 6. A Quiet Place I feel bad watching so many good horror films this year, cause many of them could have easily made it to the #1 spot if I watched a bunch of shit. But I didn't, cause believe it or not, I'd like to enjoy my Friday nights, so many great films get low rankings this year. But make no mistake, A Quiet Place is still a fantastic horror film. The simple act of making noise has life or death consequences in this universe, creating a show don't tell movie where you're always on the end of your seat. But of coarse, the thing that splits people is the ending, where it kind of feels like a cheap out. I mean... It has to end on something, I guess, but still, it makes you scratch your head and question the rules of this universe. Still, that doesn't undermine the rest of the film. Fantastic film. 5. Cube Six people trapped in cube, which is made up of thousands of other cubes. They need to work together in order to get out, but that proves to be more difficult than it seems. My enjoyment of the film comes from its simple idea but great execution, how the characters solve the ultimate puzzle of the film, and the nerve racking suspense when you realize that not everyone's buddy-buddy with each other. There's a common theme I see in these list selections, that the ending didn't really land the plane right. I heard people complain about this movie's ending too, but... I don't know, I kind of like it. Again, the ending doesn't ruin the movie. Please check it out if you like SyFY-horror. 4. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? On this list we have aliens, cannibals, vampire-cat-spirits and goblin in a halloween mask. Yet what's scarier than all of them? An old lady. A very disturbed old lady, who's only victim is her crippled sister. And that's good enough for me. The amount of agony this poor women goes through due to her cunt of a sister is horrible. Yet they never truly villainfy Baby Jane, as we see clearly she's just a poor old woman trying to reclaim what little fame she has left, her only stardom in the world. I might sound like a broken record again, but the "twist" at the end didn't really add much to the rest of the film. Yet I think even the film knows this, for it's not lingered that long. I don't know, maybe it serves a purpose, but to me, it didn't really add anything, nor changed anything. Still, a great movie. 3. Hausu I really wanted to place Hausu as #1, it was so memorable and enjoyable that I felt like it deserved the spot. But there's two more who do, so it's three. That being said, I love Hausu. The amount of creativity that shines in this movie, how it experiments with what can be scary and what can be funny, and somehow successfully makes an effective horror-comedy is just mind boggling. And that's a perfect word to describe this film, mind-boggling. If this isn't the best horror film I saw this year, it's defiantly the best horror-comedy. More people need to see this film. I heard the director wanted to make a Jaws like movie, but for Japan. Well, if what he meant was a movie that rivaled Jaws in creative film making, then yes, I think it did. 2. Hereditary When you really think about it, Hereditary's plot is fairly simple; someone dies and they try to contact the spirit. Yet how the execute this plot is what earned this #2 spot. The framing of the camera, the pacing of the plot, the disturbing imagery, all wrapped together with suspense, wondering what will happen next. And you're going to hate me for saying this, but... The ending is the weakest part. Yeah-yeah, I know. Cop out. But did feel a little weird when you spent the whole movie guessing what was going to happen, only to get a solid answer at the end which makes you go... Really? That's what this film was building up to? But who cares about the destination, it was journey there that made Hereditary the second best horror film of the year. But what's the best, you might ask? Well keep reading, dummy. 1. The VVitch But... I can't understand what the characters are saying! Fuck you. But... Nothing happens! Fuck you. But... It's set in old people times! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. This is one of the best horror films I have ever seen. If you call yourself a horror movie fan and you hated this film... That is your opinion and I respect you. Also fuck you. This is one of the few films that I can call disturbing. It takes a corny horror movie monster, a witch, and reminds us why people were afraid of these things. Not only that, but the attention to detail. From the costumes, to the sets, to the effects. My God... Everything just stands out in my head. And there's so many memorable scenes. God, seeing the negative reception this movie got just makes my blood boil. How can you be bored by this? Just... How? How small is your attention span if this is considered "long"? Whatever, go watch American Horror Story or something if you can't wait ten minutes for something spooky to happen. This movie is great, and I reward it the #1 horror film of the year. Okay... I went off the rails on that last one. Again, this is just my opinion, my tastes, my experience. If you like/hate any of these films, that's perfectly fine and I'm sure you have a valid reason why. Just as long as you gave the movie a chance, that's all I expect of people. With that said, it was fun walking down the horror road with all of you, but it's time to embark on new territories. And I'll see you then.