#also i still haven't seen season five do not come after me

[maxmemer]

Pardon the lack of content I'm stressed

[macaiv]

Source: Sky Sports F1 Pre-Qualifying Show Las Vegas GP 2024

Esteban: Yeah it's definitely been awesome to just being able to have such a result after difficult season. Yeah it's been fantastic and also coming back here last year we had almost a podium, finished fourth. It was a very good race so there's a good momentum at the moment going on and obviously a big fight with the other teams until the end of the year. So it just brings more spice and more interesting things for us until the end of the year.

Transcript:

Rachel: So Esteban we're back in Vegas, it probably feels like a long time since Brazil but those memories must still be pretty good.

Rachel: What did it mean to the factory and to everyone who works in the team to have both of you up there because as you say it's been a really difficult year. Everyone's had to keep their heads down and keep working hard and try and get something out of this season.

Esteban: Yeah I mean there was a huge buzz inside the factory. It meant the whole world for the team. Everyone, everybody was working so hard you know to try and get a good car this year. Unfortunately we don't have the the car that we expected but it's a good reward for everyone and a very very nice one you for me and Pierre for sure to to be on the podium together. It's a special story for us and yeah definitely a moment that we will forever remember.

Rachel: Last three races with Alpine. How are you feeling? Is it weird?

Esteban: Yeah it's going to be emotional for sure especially the the last race but I've spent five years with this team. It's been a hell of a ride some good times some times a little bit more difficult but five years in formula one terms is a long time.

Rachel: You're making me feel really bad man.

Esteban: You've been here for a long time Rachel. But yeah no it's been nice obviously to get that last good results. I hope that we can get some good ones as well for for the rest of the year but it will be more tricky to be realistic to be honest. It won't rain for for the last three but yeah as I said it will be emotional but I'm looking forward to finish the story on the high.

Rachel: I mean this place is quite distracting, isn't it? This actual I mean the city itself have you been out what have you been doing and and I mean look at all this this is crazy.

Esteban: Yeah this is crazy and you know the sunset, the scenery and how it is you know the whole week. It's a standout race I would say compared to the rest of the year. It's a race that we've got really good surprises from last year. I think you know we were expecting something to be very different to actually how it is but it's a really good racing circuit. It can feel like it's warm because I'm wearing very thin jackets but I'm actually freezing for it.

Rachel: But I'm really warm that's the thing I'm really warm right now but I've got about 10 layers back in the office ready for it.

Esteban: Yes exactly just before you take them off and when we do the interview but no it's actually freezing so that brings opportunities because you know the tires the way they work you know it's not usual it's quite extreme so it should be interesting.

Rachel: All right, go well this weekend. Enjoy your last three races with Alpine. Thanks for talking to us.

Esteban: No problem. Thank you.

Bonus Part:

Simon: Well, it was a nice way, isn't it, to end his Alpine career. Great scenes up there. They're not always been the best of friends. We know that. Great rivals himself and Pierre Gasly. But I mean, what an enormous moment for the team, Jenson.

Jenson: Yeah, that was massive. That came from ninth in the championship to seventh. Right. Yeah, sixth. So they jumped three teams. That's massive. But this is a nice way to see out their championship. Well, they they're time together as teammates, as we know, they haven't seen eye to eye always. But to hug it out and stand on a podium together, it's pretty awesome.

Simon: Such similar careers that they've had as well.

Danica: I mean, it's a small world. You never know when you might run into each other or the or a team again or the team personnel within. So I think it's a really good thing to sort of be on this being this in this in this feeling at this point in the season as this comes to an end for Alpine with him. And, you know, he still has a chance to make some really great impression in their these last few races. Here last year, him and Pierre had a great race against each other. So, yeah, it's good to see good to see smiles.

Simon: Is he destined, though, do you think to be one of these drivers that last a long time in the sport, but perhaps doesn't get to one of the top drives, Esteban?

Martin: I think there's more potential in Esteban than he's showed. He fascinates me actually, because he is the nicest person you'd ever want to meet. And then when the helmet goes on, a little switch just behind you here that we've all got goes down and he turns into, with all due respect, a bit of a monster on the racetrack. And I think that energy is wasted in a way. I think there's more potential in him than he's delivered so far. But there's still time.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#23: “The Miraculous Ladybug Movie May Give You What You Want, but My Show Gives You What You Actually Need! You Don’t Work in Television, so You Wouldn’t Understand.”

I've been running this blog for almost three years at this point, and I've seen Astruc talk trash about various things while claiming his show is better, like Winx Club, Paw Patrol, Pokemon, and Pixar as a whole. I never thought I'd see Astruc act like his show was better than a movie based on his show though.

For those who don't know (and you'd be forgiven, seeing how Astruc has barely talked about it on his Twitter), there was recently a movie that hit theaters based on Miraculous Ladybug called Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie. Supposedly, it's meant to be a retelling of how Marinette and Adrien met as civilians and as heroes. While I haven't seen it, it seems to be getting good reception, with some saying it's better than the show it's based on.

Of course, Astruc had something to say about this.

Okay, I sort of get what he's trying to say here. It's hard to compare the experience of watching an hour and a half long movie and a TV show with five seasons under its belt, but at the same time, the way Astruc phrased it still made it seem like he was trying to say the show was the better option because it “gives you what you need”. Nobody was expecting the Love Square to be resolved in a few episodes. Most people at least wanted more stories about the two to be told that don't involve constant padding. Astruc also acts like the Love Square is the only draw for the series instead of, oh, I don't know, the superhero action? You're really telling me they couldn't have tried focusing more on that after resolving the Love Square? I'm just saying, if The Office can continue after Jim and Pam got together, you can at least try to actually write other stories after the Love Square becomes canon.

One user in particular had some things to say in response to Astruc's claims, and you can guess how well Astruc took that.

Again, nobody is saying that working in television is all sunshine and rainbows, Astruc, but just because someone isn't familiar with dealing with network constraints and test audiences, it doesn't mean that they're unable to provide any meaningful criticism.

Also, Astruc is once again using a psychology term, in this case, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, to act like he's smarter than the critics. This man took psychology as an elective in college, didn't he?

But then again, this is coming from someone who doesn't think constructive criticism is a real thing.

Funny how he once again acts like anything that isn't positive feedback of his show is delusional, isn't it?

Eventually, this devolved into Astruc posting a little tangent about how fandoms have only gotten more toxic, which would have been a decent point... it if didn't come after all the things he said about fans not being able to criticize his show.

Again, there's nothing wrong with what he's trying to say here, but it feels less like a critique of how fans have become more toxic with the advent of the internet, and more like he's complaining about how mean people have been to him lately.

And, of course, this led to the usual fare of people calling out Astruc for his close mindedness, and Astruc once again saying how people aren't allowed to criticize his show in any way that isn't blind praise.

And here's the thing. We're still not done yet. This little tangent only warranted more comments about how Astruc handles criticism, only this time, it's also about calling out the people who think they can do a better job handling the show.

First, do you mind giving us an example of what kind of constraints you have to deal with, Astruc? We all know that TV executives suck, but I think we'd have more of a reason to understand your struggles if you actually explained some things that needed to be changed because of executive meddling.

Second, nobody wants a beach episode, Astruc, especially after that one issue of the comic you're choosing to ignore. We just want a more consistent story that doesn't rely on endlessly padding out the Love Square.

And finally, did you just say you have to be French if you want to rewrite Miraculous Ladybug? What does being French have to do with any of this? I remember seeing a little tweet a few years ago suggesting you would be a good choice to write a Superman story, but last time I checked, you aren't American.

Let's review in case you got lost. Someone tweeted that they thought the Miraculous Ladybug movie did a better job at the story it set out to tell than the Miraculous Ladybug TV show, Astruc tried to explain how his show is still good in its own way while justifying how long it's been going on for, he ranted and raved at fans for daring to criticize his team's writing before going on a tangent about how the internet has made people more hostile over the years, and when people still weren't happy with him, he claimed that you could only criticize or rewrite the show if you're an experienced French TV writer like him.

So just keep that in mind, fanfic writers. Unless you're French and have experience writing for television, you don't have a chance in hell to successfully write your own version of Miraculous Ladybug.

[twwings]

so I spent the last few months just marathoning The Magnus Archives??? I was curious and I have a long-ish commute that I need to fill with audio, so I went for it. I was somewhat spoiled by fanart I saw randomly over the years but not entirely spoiled, and I quite enjoyed it. Some thoughts (both positive and negative thoughts below) because I wanted to write them down as I chew over the show. Also my ramblings might be pleasurable to folks who are big fans and enjoy hearing about people listening to their thing for the first time?

Spoilers for all of TMA, but as I haven't listened to The Magnus Protocol yet (I'm sure I will) no spoilers for that.

thoughts in no particular order:

didn't know that my trypophobia could be activated aurally! thanks, season one. it's good to learn about yourself

because I had seen lots of fanarts around, I knew that Jon/Martin would eventually be a canon thing, so I just spent the early episodes making fun of Jon whenever he was mean about Martin. Jon would be like "ugh, Martin, amirite?" and I'd yell at the car speakers like "lol you're gonna MARRY that guy"

sometimes I found the show a little boring or too expositiony (like the episode where Leitner shows up) and it made me think a lot about the conditions of production, like, having fans who were super into the show and red stringing it up clearly made them want to explain things sometimes in a way not necessary to the story - or, at least, it didn't feel necessary to me as a casual listener who was coming in after the fact and not part of the fandom. maybe it felt necessary for other folks, or to the cast and crew at the time.

relatedly, oh god, I did not keep up with all the plotlines and stuff. like it took me a WHILE to realize that the show was not just gonna be standalone/anthology stuff and would have an overarching plot so I did not pay attention early on to repeated names or plots. and because I was listening on my commute I was like "welp, can't google it, gonna let it go" and I did. I'm here to tell you that the magnus archives is still enjoyable even if you don't care that much about what's going on

when I did really start to care was the end of season four/season five. absolutely love that they went there with the end of season four (I thought it'd just be a buffy-style "now we fight a BIGGER big bad at the end of this season" escalation forever, but no, they unleashed hell on earth, baller move, A+, loved it

so I was spoiled that Martin (and Jon? I wasn't sure) died at some point, though I didn't really know where or how. I also saw someone post something like "oh TMA, great show, too bad it ends after five minutes into episode 160" so from that I kind of extrapolated that Martin died in episode 160? so my experience of listening to that one was REALLY on tenterhooks because the first five minutes was Martin going for a nice walk! and then Jon getting taken over by the statement! so while listening to the middle bit of 160 I was convinced that when Martin came back from his walk Jon was gonna kill him (while possessed, obviously) as part of the ritual thing. so really the following 40 episodes of Martin being alive were pretty sweet to me. Every episode after that when Martin was alive I was like, score, bonus, love it, I'm glad Jon didn't stab him three seconds after they got into a relationship

kept listening for a physical description of Jon to match all the fanart and never got one? I guess the fanon of what Jon looks like is just super consistent for some reason?

hated Tim, I can't disguise it, I hated Tim and I was glad when he died and I was glad he didn't come back, sorry Tim fans, live your truth and I will live mine

wish there weren't so many cops on this show, tho the show did seem to recognize that a little in S5 and try to do some things about it

I'm just a huge sucker for every genre experiment in S5. omg I loved it. Terminus gets a coroner's report, The Unknowing gets slam poetry, The Flesh gets a gardening manual?????? mwah. it made me excited for the format of the statements again when they'd gotten stale. so many smart and interesting genre experiments in S5! and I, like Jon, don't even like poetry (just write some prose! I've never identified with a character more), so you know I'm impressed when I'm exclaiming about some poem

seriously! the genre experiments!!! so good

"queer couple navigate their new relationship and also The Hellscapes" = amazing, ty, also ty for doing it twice

somehow I managed not to notice the line about Jon being asexual at first and then I saw some tumblr post about it and I was like, wait what? my brain had gone pretty far down into some non-asexual fanfiction stories before I got that bit of canon and had to record-scratch freeze-frame. anyway I am pleased by the ace rep and hope to go read some non-sexual D/s for them in the future, please tell me if you know some good stuff

please also tell me if you know about fanfictions where Martin consensually feeds Jon his own memories and it's weird and intense

saw a cute fluffy domestic fanart where Jon was blind (ie had blinded himself to escape the eye) and I laughed and laughed that this is a fandom in which the happy fluffy AUs are the ones where the characters have violently blinded themselves. not to say I'm not gonna read the fluffy AUs where they've violently blinded themselves, I am, I'm sure they're lovely, it's just funny

don't think I wasn't thinking about Crowley and Aziraphale in the episode where Jon is like "what if we ran away together" in season four. When Jon is like "What if we ran away together, you and me, we could do it, what if we did" and he absolutely knows that Martin is not gonna say yes and maybe he doesn't want Martin to say yes but he wants to ask him anyway, he wants to try it anyway, because the fantasy of escape, together, is overpowering. anyway don't think I didn't think about Crowley

also laughed and laughed at the like four episodes at the end where Jon is like "maybe I should . . . . . . . . . . . become the Torment Nexus? From the classic scifi novel, Don't Become the Torment Nexus?" and first Martin and then everyone else is like "Jon, don't become the Torment Nexus" and it's really clear that you should not become the Torment Nexus but then later Jon says fuck it and becomes the Torment Nexus

I say it's really clear but the idea that you should strand and isolate and burn out the powers is not a bad one. I did like that the second to last episode was just a debate on morality with no clear resolution. that's a lovely way to send off your characters. tho it didn't matter a lot to the end plot? but still.

Jon "I think I'll just become the Torment Nexus" Simms, istg

THE TORMENT NEXUS

Sue Simms' voice is incredibly hot, Gertrude Robinson is absolutely deadass smokin, love how the Legend of Gertrude just built up over the seasons until by the end she was this like powerful callous avenging angel, no notes, might build a shrine in the woods with pictures of Gertrude in little jars

Gerry and Jurgen were both madly in love with her and she didn't notice or care because she was too busy kicking ass, no notes AT ALL

I really like the bit at the beginning of S5 where Jon is depression-listening to old archives tapes, like it's really effective to do the birthday party flashback just there when the world's just been apocalypsed, but I can't stop thinking about how Jon is listening to that tape and, in retrospect, being like "did Elias/Jonah use his all-powerful knowledge and vision to find out that there was cake in the office?" idk it really feels like Elias's motives in that flashback are like "eat cake" and no one else realizes that he's used his monstrous evil eye power to locate cake. anyway I imagine that Jon had all of these thoughts during his depression

Basira made me laugh ALL THE TIME, the voice acting was so good and she was so over everyone's shit. but at the same time there's this real softness to her at the end of S5 after she's killed Daisy, like she's still tough and grounded in her own perspective but suddenly more compassionate or sympathetic. she has such a good journey over the show

were Basira and Daisy a thing? I could not tell. maybe I should not ask. maybe I am not meant to know. maybe even asking shows how little I know, because their intense and murderous bond exceeds traditional relationship categories

I had a really nice time!!!

I will need to read fanfictions

I will need to watch animatics

I will need to seek out fanarts

the end

[chevvsgotanumbrellatattoo]

I haven't even seen the full season, but from Tumblr alone (yall are troopers), I am devastated. Even my shitty fic from 2020 made more sense than this shit (before you ask, no I will not sharing /gen /nm. My writing pre-4-years-of-creative-writing-classes was AWFUL)

Also, the true ending was revealed to me last night in a dream:

Viktor owns and runs his bar. Sissy is alive and well. The two of them and Harlan (kid aged, like S2) live on a farm and go to the record store every Saturday. Mr. Pickles comes along each time. Harlan has no powers.

Ben was never in jail bc crypto currency can't exist when the best phone tech is a rotary phone??? Anyway, he goes to art school, hones his craft, and makes up with the family by inviting them to his first art show. He visits Klaus on Mondays for lunch.

Five works at the CIA. He truly loves solving big puzzles, he learned that from the Commission. After work, he comes home to human!Delores and helps her cook supper. They talk about science and how Five's boss keeps telling him to pick up a new hobby for stress relief. Delores smiles over her glass of wine and suggests picking his guitar back up.

Klaus lives in a 2 bedroom apartment with Dave. His OCD and anxiety is still rampant, but with Dave's support, he gets on meds (which Dave holds onto and administers for him since pills make him nervous) and gets a handle on it. He and Dave have movie nights every Friday and talk about tarot. Dave makes the best menudo Klaus has ever had.

Allison lives happily with Claire and Ray. She learns to manage her guilt and anger, apologizing at length to the family and vowing to herself to be a better person. Claire needs a better role model than the person she'd been. Ray and Allison take Claire for picnics with the at least one of the Uncles once a month. Claire looks forward to it every time.

Diego and Lila are happy. They have their 3 little nuggets and love them to pieces. Diego learns that his father-in-law has a friend at the archery range in the next town over. He drives over with him one day and decides to pick up knives again. It takes a long time to make peace with the fact that his aim will never be marigold-perfect, but Diego is entirely happy with his progress.

Lila is ELATED to have her parents. She talks to them daily and plays Twister with little Grace and the twins while her Mom and Dad take turns spinning the Twister wheel. She goes to the gym to scratch the itch of adventure she sometimes finds herself needing and talks to Diego when something is bothering her. Diego does the same. They call it 'Thick-Headed Therapy Thursdays' and they get ice cream afterwards.

Luther lives in a lovely house with Sloane. He studies space and cooking at the local college and helps Sloane kickstart her fashion designs (based off when she made her KILLER wedding dress in like,, no time at all). They have a small dog named Moon-Moon McGee. Sloane keeps her moon-rock wedding ring safe in a small box in her nightstand.

Grace works at a daycare and is the favorite of kids and grownups alike. She visits Diego and Lila on Sundays and makes little Grace and her siblings pancakes and chocolate milk for breakfast (Lila and Diego partake in this as well).

Pogo works at the library. He prides himself on neat bookshelves and loves when people ask him for help. He calls everyone "Master," "Miss," or even "Mx." and asks politely for preference and pronouns before doing so.

None of them have their powers.

Reginald Hargreeves still has a heart attack and kaputs. Abigail never bothers the Brellies.

The family all make it to little Grace's birthday party. The piñata breaks when she hits it. The cake is gone within an hour. Little Grace and Harlan are damn near inseparable. She makes Mr. Pickles hats for the holidays, much to Harlan's delight.

Case in point, they're all so happy and love each other! They each go to therapy and work out their own issues and don't take it out on each other!! The kids love all their aunts and uncles!! Everyone wins!! (Except Reggie bc FUCK YOU).

[supernatural-bias]

rant about Gabriel to me I need to understand him

im going to format this like you've never seen the show, just in case you haven't, so if you have just bare with me

gabriel is a bit of an enigma. for the first two and a half episodes he shows up in, he's not even known as gabriel. he's on screen as 'the trickster' and is masquerading as one. (tricksters in spn canon are powerful demigod creatures of myth that can alter reality how they want, normally using their powers to play deadly pranks on malicious humans in ironic ways. i.e mauling someone who tests products on animals via a sewer alligator)

the reason he's doing this as a self proclaimed "witness protection" method is because he's in hiding, pretending to be a trickster to hide from his family; which is heaven since he's the archangel gabriel. surprise surprise. this is revealed in the episode 'changing channels', (season four) which is i believe the best ranked episode on the entire show by the audience and one of my favorites. 'mystery spot' (season three) is another one he stars in (as rhe trickster, not gabriel. we still dont know that), and i think it's the second highest ranked. and 'tall tales' (season two) is the first one he shows up in which is also very highly ranked.

gabriel has a habit of faking his death a lot to escape responsibility, which he does in the episode 'hammer of the gods' (season five [?] i think) after being "stabbed" by lucifer so he doesn't have to really stick around and watch his family (lucifer and michael) fight. but we don't know that it was a fake out for nearly eight seasons. (there is an instance where he shows up again in season nine but that was a fake out and not the real him). in 'hammer of the gods' we also find out that gabriel really had gone all in with his so called witness protection while pretending to be a trickster; so much so that most of the mythological world/pretty much anyone but cas sam and dean knows him as the actual god of tricksters, loki, and not by his true name. later on when he comes back in season thirteen we find out that's because the real loki offered to share the same face with gabriel back when he first came to earth wayyyyyyy long ago to help him out. and when we meet loki later when gabriels trying to kill him for selling him off to one of the princes of hell asmodeus (i'll get into that) it's basically just the actor richard speight jr playing two roles at once. if that makes any sense. one of my favorite episodes, although i think that's just because i hadn't really seen gabriel in months and was over excited. i'll have to see if the hype holds up on my rewatch

but okay, for some backstory on the whole being sold thing, after gabriel faked his death in 'hammer of the gods', he ran off to some island to get in contact with loki and his kids (think fenrir. spn uses real mythological names and bloodlines as side plots sometimes) to go dark again. loki pretends to entertain the idea and let's gabriel play poker with hookers for a few days (gabe has also stared in a porno before and enjoys eating candy even though angels never get hungry. he's fun that way) before betraying him and basically selling him off as a slave to a prince of hell, who locks him away for hundered (thousands maybe?) of years, constantly draining his archangel grace just enough to not leave gabe powerless, but also enough to torture him horribly. it's awful, and all explained in the episode 'unfinished buisness' (season thirteen) which is all about him enacting revenge on loki and the tricksters kids. but the takeaway is that the first time we see gabe after season five, he's a completely different person. almost like a scared animal. if the animal has had its mouth sewn shut by a demon, that is.

anyways, sam and dean and cas help revert him back to his usual self, and he runs away from his problems for a few episodes, before finally confronting them and dying for real this time at the hands of an alertnate world version of his brother michael a few episodes later. the later seasons writing was so fucked up in my opinion, and the way gabriel died was done so wrong, but i think that's because im biased. frowns

my explination of him does no justice. he's a smug, silly, tricky, multi layered, funny son of a bitch that has fuck ass smile where his eyes crinkled at the corner and i. oughhh. i love him. urgh. yeah

[pandorasfruit]

Umbrella Academy season 4:

I finished the entire season a few nights ago, so lets talk about some things;

I haven't checked in with the fandom in any way, but from most of the tiktoks i've seen, not many like this season. Completely understandable, makes sense, especially after seeing that weird (a lot of people used the word:) predatory relationship which went down between Five and Lila. I definitely did not see it coming, and though I don't find it predatory myself, as they are both consenting adults, since Five is in the body of an (i think) 20-something year old, but has the mind of an (if i remember right) 60/70 year old(?). I think how it happened can also be an excuse; they were trapped together for (what felt like to them) 7 years. Not to mention that Five had probably been lonely for some time now, and though Lila claimed that her marriage satisfied her, I really don't think it did.

This all however, is totally not an excuse for their behavior. Lila was married with three kids, and Five was the brother of her husband. They were in-laws, which does add to the weird pile.

The only thing I really enjoyed about their "hang", was their travels through all the different timelines. And now we have another academy (The Phoenix Academy), that's just a fun thought. I would have loved to see an episode where they explored the different timelines with different academies.

In other news: I love Luther.

I'm sorry, but I just do. I think the way he desperately tries to keep everything together when it comes to their family is commendable. In previous season, I always hated how he excused Reggie's behavior, but now that he's left that behind and focuses solely on his siblings instead is adorable. Both and he and Allison have given up on the whole incestuous relationship they had, and now they don't even mention it nor acknowledge it. Though normally I would say that that's not a healthy way to deal, I think it's actually better to just leave it all be.

Yes, I know he's kind of pathetic. Yes, I know he is also somewhat selfish. No, I do not care. He's trying very hard to be cool older brother Luther and cool uncle Luther. I think his whole descent into sex work should have been talked about in a better way, but somehow he always brought it up as a thing he enjoys doing? I'm not going to go into prolematic things that the writers have been doing, but this is definitely one of them. There's nothing consensual about sex work, and it should never be shown as something that one might enjoy doing.

This is one of the first actual seasons, however, where we get to witness Diego doing his thing! (I know we've seen him do some other tricks, but they never been this detailed.) I was so shocked to see him do his little spin in the air to redirect the bullets during the second episode, but I was disappointed to see that Lila did NOT care.

Talking about Lila and Diego, did anybody else catch that one part in the first episode about how they basically had the twins accidentally? Diego explains to Luther that though he loves Lila and his kids, he feels exhausted and not at all satisfied. Then he explaines that they had the twins through Lila telling him that since she was breastfeeding, she couldn't get pregnant. It's unclear now if they were both mistaken, but just the way he was talking about it, it felt like to me that he felt betrayed by Lila. I'm pretty sure that Lila was aware that she could still get pregnant, she just knew that she wouldn't be able to convince Diego, so instead she did this.

Viktor is as cool as ever. He's always been very cool, but thinking back to all other old (pre-transition) Elliot Page roles, its so noticiable how uncomfortable he was in his body, and getting to see him now, playing a male character, whos not only accepted by his siblings but Reggie too?! Amazing. And him bonding with Reggie? Delicious, I ate that right up. Reggie calling him "boy" (and other masculine nicknames)? Love, love, love.

This is one point for the writers and Netflix, this is exactly how Hollywood should handle an actor coming out, and I hope that this will be an example for future media that will feature transgender actors in the middle of transitioning.

Klaus is our little weirdo who DESERVES a break. He needs it. Please.

We get to see him clean this season, but I did not expect him to behave like this while off drugs. Honestly, I'm not sure I expected anything. I guess I kind of just thought he'd do drugs anyway? Or that he'd get clean but still behave somewhat the same way.

Poor Klaus was also a character subjected to sex work this season, it just made a bit more sense this time. He definitely did not enjoy it, that was something they made very obvious, but they still couldn't do it just right. It was awful watching him have to make a choice between getting money to pay off his debt and leave or a sole condom for "dealing" with costumers. They didn't make it obvious how many clients he really had, but through dialog, you could kind of guess that he had way more than the one girl whose money he tried stealing.

I loved seeing his relationship with Allison this season. And I loved his relationship with Claire even more. I felt the scene where he went home to rob Allison's place so he could get money to buy drugs was realistic, but since I've never had any experiences with addiction of that kind, I won't speak on it.

The villains of the season were kind of nothing if I'm being honest. I loved their sense of style, but other than that they were basic, text-book style villains, who were mostly around to just help the story along. They weren't too memorable, but neither was Reggie's wife? Partner? I'm not sure who she was, or if she counts as a villain or not? I didn't really understand her role, but I did like how she treated the siblings the first time they met.

Then there is Ben and Jennifer.

I feel like we never really made Ben an official part of the siblings, even though he is supposed to be. His relationship with Jennifer was very cute, but once again, it was not too memorable, even though it was supposed to be the main story of the entire season. I find it weird how it all looks unplanned while also being completely planned? Like, you'd assume that ever since season 1, this has always been the story of Ben's death, and yet it still feels like it just wasn't? It feels like they were putting this whole thing together blindly, and then someone thought of the right thing and that was what made it all make sense.

And I don't like how things with Jennifer went unexplained! What does that fucking squid have to do with anything???

But anyway, other than all that, this season was a very basic example of a Netflix series. It was entertaining but not deep. It was a good watch, but I don't think I could ever do a re-watch. I think it was overall, just nice.

[herefortarlos]

My main issue with the lack of promo is that I just don't get why they're doing it? Or rather not doing it. Like why is there NOTHING? Yes the show is probably cancelled (I am still in denial) we get it but it's still running on your channel? And also not just any show but one of the most successful ones. And the rationale part of me understands why they do more for the surf show. It has no fanbase yet and never will have bc it fucking sucks and hopefully will be cancelled after this first season so it needs a bit more support right? But there was literally one day where they did FIVE posts about the surf show within 24 hours??? And I was like this is insanely excessive?? So I understand from a marketing perspective that there needs to be done more for that show but fully dropping Lone Star and tbf any other fox show as well just doesn't make any sense. The official Lone Star account has a thick layer of dust covering it at this point and what happened to that one social media manager whose name I unfortunately forgot but who seemed to have been obsessed with Lone Star and who did the Tarlos games with Ronen and Rafael for example? Like she was seen on set a couple of times while they were filming but nothing Lone Star related was ever posted. Was she fired or already appointed another job when the cancellation was official and all the promo material left with her?? I just don't get it. What brings me great joy though is that even though the Lone Star posts are rare they ALWAYS outnumber any other post by the thousands when it comes to likes and comments and I hope it's a slap in the face of whoever is responsible for the social media accounts.

Your guess is as good as mine, anon! FOX and DramaClub really are acting like Lone Star barely exists anymore and it drives me up a wall, seeing the lack of effort they put into things from their awful graphic design to posting previous season episode clips and screenshots, instead of anything actually new for Season 5. And I knowwwww, I see it too, them posting thing after thing for that damn surf show and we're lucky if there is one Lone Star related thing among all of that on their stories at all! I genuinely think part of it is they want their surf show to get higher ratings than LS so they can be like, "see, we made the right choice", but I love how even with their lack of LS promotion, as of last week LS outperformed their shitty surf show! Imagine what Lone Star's rating could have been with a little more promotion 🙃 And I only know so much about what happens BTS and with crew, but I wouldn't be surprised if that social media woman, who I still adore because she has given us so much fun BTS, had to find some other work or was put on to promote another show, because as we have seen, it seems that once Lone Star finished shooting it was no longer cared about after that. And we know there's still something they did with Ronen holding that yes or no sign, that we still haven't gotten the video for, but here's hoping we might get that in the next weeks or so 🤞. Hahaha, and yes, I absolutely feel the same way about the amount of activity on their surf show posts vs the amount of activity that their Lone Star posts get!! I mean, I remember when another Instagram account, thewrap, were the ones that posted Carlos' introduction as a Texas Ranger, and tagged the FOX and 911LS accounts, it has almost 170K watches but for some reason, that account does not have their likes on, but I can only imagine the number of likes that post has! Just goes to show what the fans and even some of the casual viewers want to see more of!

Hope you're having a good weekend/start to your Monday anon, depending on where you are in the world!!

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Babes this playlist SLAPS can I ask for commentary I want to match them all to their people and vibes and moments but I’m only S3 so I’m not sure yet!!

LET'S GOOOO OK honestly so many of these are just generally Pack Songs but some are more specific!!!

1 - No Surrender. Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend! We made a promise! This is one of the most teen wolf songs of all time to ME it's about loyalty and dedication and remembrance!!!

2 - Are You Satisfied. A Lydia song, also perhaps a Stiles song. But also about the bite, the question of is it a gift or does it just drive away the people you care about?

3 - Let The Rain. ALLISON SONG ALLISON SONG if I owned this city I'd make it behave! If I were fearless I'd speak my truth! I wish I were brave!!!! I just!!!!!

4 - Start of Time. This song is from when spoilers but I think you've seen it already where Lydia first kisses Stiles to calm him down and the way the music bursts into the scene out of nowhere? Changed my life as a musical moment!!! Had to be there just for that!!!!

5 - We Are Young. I still love this song so much I mean! If you feel like falling down I'll carry you home tonight! It's about how they are just kids!how the show never loses that there is a lightness to that! But also especially in like season 5 there are moments when the group fails and then regroups and how they're not perfect but they'll rebuild again and again!

6 - mirrorball. Another Lydia song perhaps but mainly a Kira (BELOVED GIRL) song. There's a tenderness to the fear of it, this intimacy in the anxiety which is very her to me! Also I'm still a believer and I don't know why is applicable to so many characters.

7 - I Wanna Dance With Somebody. This is purely here for the Vibes tbh but the vibes feel right somehow???

8 - Like Real People Do. THE monster romance anthem! We should just kiss like real people do the idea that you're not a real person anymore but you can still love!!! You get it!!!!

9 - Shade of Yellow. Scott and Stiles song need I say more but ALSO Scott and Isaac song 💖💖

10 - Venus Fly Trap. I got the beauty got the brains, got the power, hold the reins, I should be motherfucking crazy! Lydia song of all time that's my GIRL

11 - Till Forever Falls Apart. Song about California let's goooo. This is a pack song - there is always the anxiety of losing each other! But the love was worth it!!!

12 - One Foot in Front of the Other. A 3b Scott song primarily though also applicable to Stiles. Things just take longer to heal these days but I'm coming for you! The idea of I'll be back soon I'll be there for you soon it's taking a minute but I'll be there!

13 - marjorie. There is a thing with Allison in season five I will not spoiler but yeah, but also this is about Stiles' mom.

14 - The Boys of Summer. What is a teen wolf playlist without a Stiles and Lydia song. My love for you will still live on after the boys of summer have gone. The thing about them is that Stiles starts with a kinda creepy crush but he inherently is not capable of being romantically creepy for long so it turns into something real and lasting unexpectedly and you're a little shaken by it you really are!

15 - Renegade. Remember Braeden? Slay woman saves Isaac gets scratched and apparently killed by the alpha pack? She comes back baby and spoilers this is about her and Derek also she is the love of my life.

16 - Strangler Fig. Song for the Argents. Gerard you will always be my biggest opp Allison you did so good getting out.

17 - Villains. You haven't met Theo yet, frankly season 5a (and 6b) are the weakest bits and he turns up in 5a but yeahhh this is for him, not my favourite man but worth sticking around for his arc and also 5b is so much better than 5a truly.

18 - Rose-coloured Boy. LYDIA AND SCOTT SONG I think Lydia is constantly taken aback by Scott I think she has quite a cynical worldview and then Scott breaks it constantly and she's left surprised. I want you to stop insisting that I'm not a lost cause!!! But he keeps insisting and that saves her perhaps!!!

19 - Neck of the Woods. YOU GET IT I'm finding the ghosts are just kids in pain most dear lyric of all time.

20 - long story short. Ok so the actual verses not exactly the vibe generally but long story short I survived! That's it baby! Also "I dropped my sword, threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door and now we live in peace but if someone comes for us this time I'm ready" inexplicably a Derek verse to me! The way he goes from fighting for power to fighting to protect! I'm so proud of that man.

21 - Home. Home IS wherever I'm with you!!! That's it!!! Man oh man you're my best friend I'll scream it to the nothingness! You defeat the void and the darkness with your FRIENDS!!!!

Love how many of these my description was Vibes but you GET IT I'm so glad you like the playlist.

[astraea802]

Merlin "Rewatch" w/ Mom -- 5x10

("Rewatch" here meaning "Mostly first time watch, but with the knowledge of what happens.)

First of all: WHAT THE HECK WAS UP WITH THAT HORRIFIC FACE DISFIGUREMENT THING AT THE END?? I've never seen ANYONE discuss how messed up that is, and they SHOULD. I know this aired in the same time slot as Doctor Who, but Mom and I were NOT prepared.

Second of all: Uggghhhh

We're coming into the final three episodes.

Mom doesn't want to know what's coming, but knows it won't end well. She suspects Arthur's going to die (but we all know it's the execution that's the real kicker).

I will say, I was surprised Season 5 has actually had a lot of nice moments I never knew. It's a little moodier than I'd like, and Merlin as a character makes me sad, but there's still some nice comedy and character moments. Like Arthur saving that woman from being burned at the stake, that was so good! (Maybe it's easier for me to appreciate certain scenes knowing what's going to happen? I'm not as tense?)

(It also helps I sat out The Disir and The Dark Tower since I was walking the dog. I don't know I could have bore either without spoiling the finale out of pure frustration)

Mom's been just absorbing it all. She's had a lot of questions, like:

Mom: Why did Aithusa join Morgana? Me: We don't know. They never told us. 😒

Mom: (after The Dark Tower) How did Gwen turn evil? Me: Magic. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Mom: Oh, for gods sake! 🤦‍♀️

Mom: When do they find out about that bracelet Morgana gave Gwen to make her love Lancelot? Me: They don't. 😤 Mom: ...Are you kidding??

The deaths have been a little tougher this season, especially Elyan's. She liked the Dolma, but rolled her eyes a bit at Merlin trying to "act like a woman" instead of just getting on with curing Gwen. And she was NOT happy with Uther's ghost (who was??) or Gaius telling on Merlin and endangering Finna.

But god... watching Merlin's struggles, I just keep thinking, what was the point of it all?

There's so much back and forth the whole season, the whole series really, about destiny and duty and following your heart, and I just... what's the moral here? Follow destiny and get screwed? Follow your heart and still get screwed? It's good to know prophecies and Merlin just didn't know how to handle it? It's bad to know prophecies because you cause them to happen? If that was the case, why did Finna die to pass that last prophecy on? Also, you deserve to die, even when you haven't done anything wrong, because a prophecy says you will? You have choice? You never had one? Some will say the point is "the friends we made along the way", or there doesn't need to be a moral, but there's just no consistency, except whatever keeps the drama going.

It doesn't help that, except for the Camlann prophecy, we never actually hear any of the other prophecies everyone talks about. So we never know for sure if the problem was a misinterpretation of the prophecies in terms of what the Golden Age looked like, or if Merlin failed because of his choices, or if he was ALWAYS going to fail no matter what he did, or if he even failed at all! Because the dragon tells him he didn't in the end, but it doesn't make much sense.

Did the writers even know? They have admitted in interviews they were working nonstop on the show for five years, at grueling pace, so I forgive them for being fuzzy, but it seems like the show's moral code and prophecy lore really depended on who was writing the episode that week.

What I've always loved about Harry Potter is that while prophecies exist, the power of choice is emphasized. Prophecies can be, and often are, misinterpreted. Not every prophecy in the Department of Mysteries was ever fulfilled, so destiny is not the be-all end-all. It's made very clear that it's whether you act on prophecies or not that matters. The characters' beliefs and convictions still matter. It's consistent, it's clean, and it leaves the characters' agency.

In Merlin... you can interpret it a million different ways and still be wrong. And maybe part of the issue is that while Harry agrees to be the Chosen One since he already wanted Voldemort dead, Merlin's heart and destiny are so often divided. And that's what makes it so darn frustrating. And why I believe they gave Merlin too much of a burden for one person. No "almost" about it.

(We'll see if I revisit this after the finale)

[seventeenlovesthree]

If you were chosen to continue the Digimon Adventure 2020 story, what headcanon theories or ideas would do you have for the series going forward?

What you want the Digidestineds next great adventure to be? How would you want them to grow and develop as characters? And how would their relations evolve? Especially how do you imagine Tai's relation with Sora and Izzy would develop? (I love the three of them soooooo much in the 2020 series!)

If it were to take place right after the end of Digimon 2020?

Oh, if only I HAD that power...! I had already outlined a few aspects here before, but for completion's sake, I can elaborate again, because there are several possible scenarios I would like to see:

1.) Give me a slice-of-life-anime with the 8 being somewhere between 12 and 17 and have them go through some Tamers/Ghost Game-esque adventures in the real world. I had written a love letter for how much I adore episode 31 of OG Adventure structurally the other day and I would really love a series with the same vibe. Since the first season of the reboot was more plot-driven, this second season would primarily focus on their personal stories/backgrounds/family lives with Digimon-related shenanigans affecting technology and their everyday lives in the process. Giving every single character time and space to bloom. We would also learn more about the Crests and how each kid was chosen in the first place - I don't NEED reincarnation theory to be confirmed, but I would really like some more breadcrumbs into a satisfying explanation as for WHY THEY were chosen specifically in "this timeline" and how exactly the Crests came to be.

2.) I also had an idea based on a dream I once had, additionally furthered by the last episode or rather the "epilogue" that was presented there: I had outlined the idea here as well, but basically, it'd be about dividing the cast into primary and secondary squad (to allow more focus on singular characters in a shorter number of episodes) and have the former actually go gate-hopping and exploring the different worlds out there. It's a more self-indulgent idea, as it mainly focuses on the dynamics between Taichi, Koushirou, Sora and Mimi, but I couldn't keep the others away completely either. So I haven't fully utilized the idea yet...

3.) An interesting idea that was brought to my attention recently was the idea of making a season revolve around Taichi disappearing due to the gate-hopping. Since the first season basically revolved around typical Shounen protagonist Taichi Yagami, the second season would be about the others gate-hopping as well to find him. I haven't thought this one through yet either though...

In terms of general character development and relationship dynamics, I would be happy to actually see more about their individual selves, their flaws and worries and how they get along - or don't. It's really difficult to put a finger on how exactly that would look like, because I absolutely cannot blame the creators of the reboot for being "careful" on how to depict the characters beyond some general tropes. We've known these guys for TWENTY FIVE years and Tri already tried to tackle some things that were different, while still resorting to predictable outcomes without much depth we had already seen several times over - without intending to change the status quo too much. I obviously don't want to see perfect happy endings for everyone, but things were missing in the reboot so far that made the original characters so charming - and the reboot HAD the chance to elaborate on different outcomes here.

We already saw Jyou going for a more leadership-esque route, which his OG self actively didn't choose. So how would that affect his relationship with Taichi, who naturally got the leadership role again? How about Sora having a semi-peaceful relationship with her mother this time, so she can actually be experimental AND also choose to be a vital part of the group? What about Mimi coming from a rich family that provides technological gadgets - how would her knowledge on that influence the way she communicates with Koushirou? Would she try to be competitive for example? Show me more insecurities, show me how they'd actually challenge their Crest meanings? Show me a Hikari who rebels against her brother, show me a Takeru who takes charge, show me Koushirou being honest about his back story to the others (LET US KNOW IF HE IS EVEN ADOPTED IN THIS TIMELINE OR NOT), show me Yamato being vulnerable or try to be more humorous and failing at that! Show me Taichi having flaws! Again, I don't NEED him to be depressed AGAIN, but he has to have something he is insecure or unsure about.

As for Taikoura's relationship, once again, there are several ideas I could see, all shipping aside. One of them is the very self-indulgent "Team Light are actually connected mentally now and can sense and feel when the others are in danger" soulmate scenario that may affect how they interact with each other...

... In more general terms, I do need them all to spend more time together. If you take the ideas 1 I outlined above, they would go through their daily lives together, visiting the same school, etc. So of course Taichi and Sora would focus more on their passion for football as they promised in season 1 and, as mentioned above, Sora might still feel weird about "growing into herself", but she would be more comfortable about experimenting. Combining her tomboy-ness with a more feminine side and exploring that further (and in an ideal scenario deepening her relationship with Mimi in the process, because the reboot did NOT focus on that yet AT ALL). And I want Taichi to be supportive of her in this!

Taichi also made a promise to Koushirou that they would explore the other worlds together - which may also apply to idea 2 I outlined, because I need them to have an OWG-esque partners-in-crime relationship in which they go on cyber adventures together. And in both idea 1 and 2, they would have to balance their daily lives and responsibilities with that. Meaning, this would be a great opportunity to actually see Taichi and Sora learn about Koushirou's home life - he might still try to hide it from them, but I'd want a huge chunk of the story to focus on them trying to get something out of him (gently of course!), having him explore his own identity in the process as well. Showing him that the bond he developed with these two (and the others too) does not just exist because he is "useful" to them, but because he really means something to them.

I obviously also want Koura to bond more with each other - not only over their shared affections for Taichi and because they want to figure out if he is actually hiding something behind that unshattered mask of positivity... Maybe in this timeline, I can finally get them to become canonical fashion buddies, who knows?

Edit: A very important aspect I forgot is that I want and need new Jogress and branch evolutions between the different characters! BE EXPERIMENTAL, TOEI, IT'S GOOD FOR MERCH AND SHIPPING.

[remidyal]

Favorite D20 Villains

Just for some positivity on this, and because it's been a minute since I did a tier or ranking list, have my ten favorite Dimension 20 villains! I'm not going to include anyone from Junior Year since it's still running, and I'm going to go ahead and mention that I'm not including Ragh or Aelwyn who could both easily make this list otherwise because they've spent as much or more time on the Intrepid Hero's side as they did villains.

Obviously, there are potential spoilers in this list, so proceed at your own risk! I'm putting a read more link here just to save people who haven't seen a lot of seasons.

10. Galfast Hamhead, Escape from the Bloodkeep.

Okay I know this one is cheating because the party are the villains and Galfast is, like, the one actually good figure on the opposing side, but I'm still counting her. Just an absolute tour de force in the parts of the series she appears in, and gets away even though she technically loses to the party.

9. Natalia Cicero Connie Lee Carter Bajar, A Starstruck Odessey

She's not the most threatening villain in ASO, but there are really three fronts where villains can work for me: They can be hammy and fun, they can be actually threatening and scary, and they can be someone I desperately would love to see get taken down. Natalia scores all her points in the first and last of these categories; she's not scary, but her entire concept is just so stupid that it makes me laugh every time.

Bonus points for being the target of what I think is the best joke in ASO - high praise - the "My fiancee doesn't really do art" - "I agree" by Ally.

8. Robert Moses, The Unsleeping City.

I believe the only actual person to ever be a main villain in Dimension 20. Genuinely a monster of American history; I was familiar with him prior to watching The Unsleeping City but I would wager that I was in a fairly slim minority. There's some problems with the presentation here and the details of it - I am guessing they would have just made him a powerful vampire if this season was more recent, for one - but I can't say I wouldn't want Robert Moses' plan thwarted. Probably the closest we'll ever come to actually having a campaign fight Ronald Reagan directly.

7. The Stepmother, Never After

Never After for me has a structural problem in that there are too many ideas stuffed into too short a season, and so quite a lot of it feels extremely half-baked. The Stepmother isn't immune to this, but she's also an actual imposing figure for much of the series that feels like a true threat to the party even after they prove that a TPK isn't enough to stop them. The scene where Ylfa looks before they head to the Lines Between is maybe the best Never After has to offer, for me.

6. Madame Loathing, Mentopolis

Honestly, this feels like a more full version of the Stepmother in many ways even though there are only six episode. This is probably because she's not competing with like five other factions in her villainy. The moment where she turns is great, and there's something very satisfying about landing a twist where the villain was someone so obvious that they were dismissed by many as too obviously evil to actually be the main evil.

5. The First Stoats, Burrow's End

Here I'm referring to the four that remained at Last Bast; I think the series in some ways peaked with fighting them, though certainly there were some highlights still to come. I don't think Aabria necessarily meant for this fight to go down at the time and place that it did, but genuinely creepy designs with a creamy layer of fascism on top.

4. Tony Simos, Unsleeping City 2

Remember those three categories? Tony here scores real, real big in the "I wanna see him die" category. He's not the worst person on this list (that's honestly probably Robert Moses), but he's the one I most wanted to see get crushed, and ultimately was in an extremely satisfying way. TUC2's villain duo was overall incredible - we'll revisit that in a moment - but I cheered more when Tony dropped than any other villain D20's ever had.

It is what it could be, asshole.

3. Calroy Cruller, A Crown of Candy

Do you know what I've always hated about you, Amethar?

There's a lot of people who would have this guy at the top of their lists, and I really don't blame them; the main thing holding him back for me is that he really doesn't do very much after that crowning monologue until he goes out like a chump at the end of the steamroll that is ACoC's last battle. (Those of you calling JY's last fight easy should rewatch that one). It is, admittedly, the most satisfying of any of the villain deaths of that finale, especially with Liam's baffling last second resurrection of broccoli pope and captain carrot. Scores very well on all three fronts, and honestly if Amethar had actually died there or if he'd just been front and center at the end then he'd maybe be number two for me.

2. Null, Unsleeping City 2

A dip into real eldritch horror, and does it better than Never After in part because it stands out more against the backdrop of New York. Null scores great on the threatening front; a monstrosity of apathy and depression and lack of connection is a hell of a villain. The world where Pete doesn't roll that crazy banishment check and vanishes partway through the season would have maybe robbed us of some of the insight into this, so I'm glad we got the one that we did.

Kalina, Fantasy High Sophomore Year

This was never going to be anyone else. Kalina's getting points on all three fronts, but conceptually is just an incredible concept for a villain, feels like a real threat throughout the season until the moment they dispel her, and you can feel the amount the players both want to take her down and are in fact worried about her throughout the season. Because of her nature she's able to show up repeatedly without a fight without that not really making sense, which is kind of hard to pull off - most of the villains on this list aren't met much after their villainy is revealed. We'll see if she's back at the end of Junior Year and what kind of state Cass ends up in, but either way we'll always have spring break.

[hellparkri]

Rain and Ice

five days before what happened to Wendy... Two young men were resting in the room of one of them; The taller of the two, and also the one who lived in that house, was called Tolkien Black, while the one who was no more than a simple guest was called Clyde Donovan.

Both guys just chatted about their lives without much else, they literally had the whole day off because the winter was particularly hard that year, the temperatures were quite low, even by the standards of their town: South Park Which was quite known for its strong climate in the coldest seasons of the year (and they lived in Colorado),  so classes were suspended that day, because of this, Tolkien had invited his best friend: Clyde Donovan to his house. And, what at first sounded like an incredible day for the duo, quickly turned into an absolute disaster... It turns out that the weather was even stronger than anticipated, it seemed as if the entire town was being shaken by an avalanche of snow and rain every minute, it was very dangerous to leave the house, even for something as simple as going to the store to buy groceries it seemed like life or death with so much hail that fell hard from the sky. It was just eleven o'clock in the morning and it seemed as if the sun had already set, and to add salt to the already painful wound, the signal was very unstable due to the weather, so the only entertainment that both boys had was to play board games... and.... little else...

-mhm... hey, Tolkien..." Clyde said with a lot of tiredness and boredom in his voice - Wouldn't it be great if we had a party? - he added, while yawning and closing his eyes at the same time.

-... Clyde... What the are you saying? Haven't you seen the weather? My God, it looks like we live in Siberia and you're thinking about going to the disco!

"No, Tolkien, we both know the weather isn't very pretty, but I doubt it's very difficult to drive and pick up Craig, Kenny, and the others!" - Clyde said as he raised his hands in excitement.

"Oh my God," sighed Tolkien. "Clyde, I don't want to sound too much of a motherfucker, but don't you remember the hell it was to drive two miserable blocks to pick you up?" I almost ran over someone for God's sake! Tolkien exclaimed in a mixture of mild irritation and strangeness.

Clyde wasn't the best at remembering events, but even he felt like a fool to forget what had happened no more than two hours ago. But he composed his animated and excited tone and leaned on Tolkien's shoulder to answer:

- Oh come on, Tolkien! Believe me, it will be much better to remember this day as "the day we almost ran over a person" than to remember it as "the day we sat in bed all day doing nothing but reminding my best friend that he almost ran over a person", Trust me,  Just invite a few friends over to the house, take them home, tell them not to damage the house, and play whatever it takes around the house! I don't know about you, but to me this sounds like a seamless plan! - said the youngest boy in the school.

Tolkien began to think about the idea his best friend had proposed, so he sat down, stretched his legs and prepared to say his verdict... only for Clyde to sit on Tolkien's lap with a hyperactive look and say:

-And if you still have any doubts or objections, if you decide to help your super best friend; YOUR **SUPER BEST FRIEND** will give you the best tips to make girls fall in love! -

After a few awkward seconds of silence, Tolkien sighed and said to Clyde, "Dude, honestly..." he sighed slightly, trying not to sound offensive. Y-I'll just say that you're not the first person I'd ask for help with girls-...

Clyde shrugged his shoulders and was a little embarrassed at what he had said; But Tolkien stopped laughing and patted Clyde on the back.

"Oh Clyde, what shall I do with you?" Dude, look, if you promise to pay for anything that happens to us or the car, I'll gladly take you wherever you want. - Tolkien proceeded to take some air while wiping away a tear- Just tell Craig and the rest that, if they want to go to our, "party"-

-Of course! - Clyde drew a smile on his face that denoted "security"... or at least what Clyde thought would make him seem more confident than he did...

"Well, let's not waste any more time!" - Tolkien got up from the floor where he was lying and extended his hand to his best friend - let's go, Clyde! -

Both boys went straight to the garage and took Tolkien's car; Tolkien had the reputation of being the richest boy in the whole town, and his car was a testament to it: With shiny tires and armed with a gleaming white chassis with reflections only comparable to those found in lakes. It truly was a masterpiece in the eyes of any car lover. Tolkien and Clyde got into the car and opened the garage door, Tolkien started the car and said to Clyde:

"Well, where are we going, boss?" - Tolkien asked in a mocking and carefree tone, worried more about the rain than about the consequences that the party they had planned could bring him if his parents discovered it.

"Uhh, well, Craig just told me he doesn't see why not go to the party, I guess we can start with him." -

-Understood! - Tolkien said while caressing the steering wheel of his car; that car was almost therapeutic to drive, he hit the accelerator and started driving straight to Craig's house. And to his surprise, snow and rain didn't seem to be quite hard obstacles for him, or for his car, it was as if Tolkien was born to drive, he loved to do it, he even considered participating in races or something like that. He was truly very happy in his car, and he was sure that if any idiot dared to damage it... well, let's just say that the person responsible wouldn't do very well after Tolkien found out. The drive took no more than five minutes, the town was small, and driving from one corner of town to another was like a walk in the park. But he couldn't feel any confusion that Craig wanted to go to a party with them. That jet didn't usually socialize much with people other than Clyde, his best friend: Jimmy Ballmer, and him. And even so, the times when he decided to go with them to events such as parties or meetings were very rare. he stopped doing it since... that day...

"Well, Clyde, we're there. I'll wait for you here, you just go and pick up Craig. - Tolkien tried to change the subject to forget about that dark day. He parked near his friend's house and opened the car lock.

"YIPEEEEE!" exclaimed Clyde with emotion, and the second Tolkien opened the car doors he saw Clyde shoot straight for his friend's house.

But sadly for Clyde, he didn't notice that the floor was extremely wet and ended up crashing his face into the wet concrete. But that didn't matter! Well, I'd finally get a chance to talk to Craig!

-Craig! We are your friends! Please come down so we can pick you up! - Clyde shouted before knocking on the door with a little force- And please hurry, the weather is fucking bad and I don't want to catch a cold, I'll have it later...! -

Without the boy being able to finish his sentence, Craig opened the door and without saying a word let him in to cover himself from the water. Clyde looked at his friend for a few seconds: He had very large dark circles, it looked like he hadn't slept in at least two days, while his hair was a complete mess, disheveled and you could tell he hadn't cut it in months. Clyde had already noticed these details in Craig, but it also hurt him to see his best friend in such a state, it just seemed as if he never wanted to do anything.

-Well? - Craig asked and then lay down in his armchair and gave a small sigh of tiredness - Why did you come? -

"Well, me and Tolkien were wondering if you wanted to go with us to a little party," said Clyde, a little worried about Craig's unkempt appearance. "We figured you'd want to come, so we drove through **all** this rain just to pick you up! - Clyde raised his hands in joy, trying to infect his best friend with it. But Craig just leaned back more on his couch and put his feet on the table, and after a yawn, the two began to argue for a couple of minutes, until Craig finally answered:

"Look Clyde, I appreciate that you drove through a damn deluge just to invite me, but I don't feel like it." Craig's short speech was interrupted by another boy entering the house; It was: Tolkien, and he was completely soaked in water and with a face that denoted extreme irritation:

-Let's see, could you explain to me why they are taking so long? Not to be a party water, but I'm just telling you that the longer we're here, the less time we'll have to go crazy at the party," Tolkien said as he wiped his completely wet hair with his hands.

"Excuse me, Tolkien. He raised his hand and moved it from side to side to greet him. "I'm really sorry for sounding like a killjoy, but I don't see the point of having a party in the middle of this weather. I mean, we couldn't go out to buy potatoes or soda or anything like that, besides, the signal is horrible, not to mention that the power goes out all the time! -

"But didn't you say you would?" - Tolkien asked somewhat surprised.

-What!? - Craig said before getting up from the couch in surprise - Dude, we both know that I don't like parties, much less one in the middle of a hurricane with snow! I would never accept that," Craig shouted in his typical irony and pessimism that had been normal in his attitude for a couple of years now. And while Craig gave his typical sarcastic smile with which he confronted Tolkien; They both turned in unison to look at Clyde, who upon hearing what Craig had said was trying to hide from their sight.

-Clyde... It was you, right? - Tolkien asked while looking at him with some embarrassment. This wasn't Clyde's attitude, well, he had always been one of the least intelligent in school, but he would never tell a lie! Or at least not one that was with selfish or manipulative intentions. So he relaxed and said:

"Clyde, why did you make me go with Craig if he didn't want to?" - Tolkien asked. But Clyde just shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head as he shook it from left to right.

-I am sorry... I just can't stand to see Craig like this anymore...~- Both boys watched as Clyde's eyes began to fill with tears... Clyde's intentions were always noble and selfless, that's when Craig felt some remorse: He saw on his friend's face how that transparent liquid fell to the ground little by little... Craig always tried to look like a boy who didn't cry, in fact, he hadn't done it in public for two long years... But when he saw his comrade Clyde like this... He couldn't help but shed a small tear as well.

-oh... look, Clyde, I'm just not in the mood to go to a party, let alone today. - Craig proceeded to point to the window, both watched as the wind pulled the surrounding bushes and trees, until it seemed that that terrifying mixture of hail, wind and rain were going to fly away Tolkien's car.

"B-but you never want to~" Clyde continued to look at Craig with eyes as big as a newborn's. Craig couldn't help but feel a mixture of pity and sympathy for Clyde. He put himself in his shoes for a moment and thought about everything Clyde had to go through: That boy had lost his mother at a very young age, the only people who were willing to help him were: Jimmy, Tolkien and Craig. He thought what Clyde must have felt when they had given him that place to comfort himself and feel better; Craig had already suffered a traumatic experience in the past... And Clyde was always there to smile at him, the same way Craig did all those years ago... The jet felt selfish, he thought about everything Clyde had to feel when he refused to do so many things with him... and finally succumbed to the sad look of his friend. Craig walked up to Clyde and bent down to hug and comfort him.

-E-it's okay, just don't cry. Please, Clyde," Craig wiped his friend's tears as he tried to relax him a bit. After that, he patted his cheeks—come on, rise champion! - After completely wiping his friend of tears, Craig stood up and extended his open hand to Clyde.

"Gr-thank you Craig~" Craig got up with Craig's help and gave him a smile from ear to ear that contrasted with his watery eyes and his face with still dry tears from his previous crying.

-No problem! - Craig couldn't help but be infected by Clyde's smile and also showed a happy face for having solved all this.

"Well, I'm glad you changed your mind Craig, I won't lie to you, I was also starting to miss you joining us to do anything" Tolkien hugged both boys on the shoulder and said to them both: - Well! All that's left is to go for Jimmy. But Clyde, please tell him ahead this time," Tolkien said as he shook Clyde's hair affectionately.

"Hehe, I guess you're right," Craig said. "V-I'm going to get a little ready and I'll come back to you, I promise it won't take that long" Craig went upstairs and closed the door to his room, the jet closed his eyes and sighed trying to let go of all the stress that overwhelmed him. He was happy to have a good time with his friends, but since that day when his partner left this world he could not help but feel extremely anxious.

[rottenbrainstuff]

IWTV s2 ep4 - a lot of thoughts before the plot comes sweeping in

(I am delighted to report that my daughter watching the show finished the end of season 2 and was extremely emotionally compromised by it, and I can now send her all the Rockstar Lestat and devil’s minion memes I've been saving up.)

This is the obligatory plotty setup before the really cool shit hits the fan (ep 5 withYoung Daniel which I have been itching to watch for weeks and weeks) but this is still a good ep, it's all good eps, this show is so good.

Did I ever talk about how cool I think the vampire plays are? Like, unironically, I think the way they use animation and projection is really fucking cool. I want to research and see if this was based on anything that was actually a thing in avant garde theatre. If it was, that's really neat and I'm a bit grumpy that we didn't look at it in the film/animation class I took, and if it wasn't, then wow that's a really cool and smart thing they made up for this show? I know Claudia is not having a good time, but I love her play, it's so fucked up and weird.

Madeline. Ok you assholes. Before I watched the show, I'd seen a little bit of discourse about her in the tags, and the way you guys were talking, I thought she was going to be a nazi sympathizer that was helping out the nazis while they were in Paris or something, honest to god. Imagine my surprise to learn that the whole deal is, she slept with one single german soldier one single time. And it appears that's it, that's all. (if there's more later on, I take back this entire paragraph and apologize) THIS is where the discourse comes from? You know what, I don't like you guys. I don't like you as a person. I don't like how you boil the complicated issues that happen in life down to binary "good/bad" categories. You seem to understand that gender and sexuality can be a spectrum but you don't seem to be able to apply that understanding to a single other thing. (why is that?) Life and people are complicated and messy and if you require everything to be categorized into good and bad because you can't deal with that uncomfortable unclear area in between, let me give you this warning right the fuck now, kiddo: you are going to be deeply, deeply unhappy older adults, either lying to yourself constantly in order to fit your worldview into your narrow binary, or else wondering why, after cutting out everything "bad", you have nothing and no one left. Also, I think this story in general is not for you (and I don't want it to be either). This is a story where all the bad people are compelling and all the protagonists do awful things and everything is complicated and sad and a thorough exploration of the borders of humanity, and crossing that border. If you want something with clear and comfortable morality, go watch cartoons (although it seems people even have a hard time with that these days) and leave this beautiful story and its complex characters alone.

Anyways I love Madeline, I love how the war and her life experiences have made her blunt and unflinching, how her and Claudia flirt by insulting each other, it's so weirdly charming and honest. If you haven't read the book or seen the old movie, Madeline is a very different character, really barely a character at all. Instead of a kindred spirit / lover, Madeline connects with Claudia because she has lost a daughter and thinks she can replace that with Claudia, and Claudia recognizes (being five fucking years old in the books) that she needs someone to help her out, if Louis is going to leave her for Armand, and this woman will probably always be loyal to her and never leave her behind. It's definitely an interesting idea, this vampire mom and daughter, and the mom is actually the fledgling and the daughter is actually the older one, and it's kind of sad as well, Claudia seeking out a mother figure she has been missing... but Madeline is not an interesting character, barely a footnote, and I actually remember very little about her at all. So this is great and I love her a lot.

This show is doing such a good job of taking things from the books and changing them, reinterpreting them, and updating them. I continue to really dislike Bruce and Antoinette. Compared to the other characters, they feel so, so flat and pointless. I wish they had taken this first draft story and pretended that this was the book, and they looked at these two characters and thought ok what spin can we put on it to make it more interesting?

So, Armand is a terrible character, dangerous and manipulative, but damn he's so sad too, they all are. He's so.... pathetic. He's very old and very powerful and very good at what he does, sure, but he's also this hauntingly sad lonely boy who has never had anyone want him for anything besides his body, he loves so intensely and obsessively and can't understand why no one loves him back the same way. He's so strong and powerful, can control people so easily, and he takes Louis to this museum to show him this painting and he flays himself wide open to show to Louis, pleading for him to understand, so vulnerable and simple. This 500 year old eldritch horror that's just... this is my sad backstory, please love me? Armand was always my favourite character from the books, and this show does SUCH a good job with him, and Assad is absolutely amazing, absolutely perfect.

So this is the ep where Lestat eats the photo. So. I had seen clips of this, a lot. It was one of the things that made me go "what the fuck is even happening in this show, I need to watch this". Even so, I was unprepared for the context of how the clip exists in the ep, which is.... there IS no context. There's... just... I... I dunno, I thought it would... I thought... there would be something happening, I thought there would be some explanation, but like lmao... Louis... he doesn't even REACT, it's just...

You know, you're having a conversation with the comfort hallucination of your ex soulmate, as one does, and you know, you're talking about your photographs, and you know, he just, eats one. He eats it. Munches right on it. Louis doesn't even SAY anything or acknowledge this is happening! Yeah he's eating a photo, he just does that sometimes. No biggie. Lmao. Somehow that makes it even funnier????? Aw man. Laughed so hard.

It's interesting how important this comfort hallucination has become to Louis, it really is like a companion, so much so that he feels he has to formally break up with it. (the physical effect of the dissolving in the rain... dunno if that quite worked for me, but I liked the idea behind the scene and as always they succeeded in cutting my heart out) Makes me sad. Poor lonely Louis. Poor lonely everyone.

I know that Santiago is only being nice to Claudia to trick her into revealing more information, but man. I want to imagine an alternate universe where circumstances are different and they end up being wicked snarky besties. There's just something about their interactions that I love, some kind of camaraderie, some kind of common wavelength. If Santiago wasn't jealous and trying to plot Louis' downfall, I feel like he and Claudia could have got on. Dunno. Maybe I'm wrong. I do love Santiago though, like I love all the characters. I love how he's visibly the oldest but apparently the youngest in vampire terms, (an interesting flip of Claudia's situation?) I love the fucked-up situation with his sire dead / in torpor and the corpse / ashes / whatever kept in the basement, I love how we don't get it explicitly explained how he feels about this, obviously he feels a great big pile of SOMETHING about it but we are left to decide what exaclty that is, I love his nasty bitter jealousy towards Louis for taking Armand's attention and Claudia for taking the audience's attention. Chef's kiss, just like everything in this show.

Anyways. Perfection as always, and now I have ep 5 to watch, yay!

[rion-writes]

Ohhh magnar?? For wip game

This fic is the one I am the most upset I haven't completed yet.

Fall 2014 where we still through Winds of Winter would come out within the decade. My best friend 5eva and I took a roadtrip through the Pacific Northwest and hashed out the entire plot points for this story. I bounced all my ideas off them and worked down to the nitty gritty about making everything canon compliant.

Things that happened in my life that pretty much wrecked me from any sort of fun fandom experience for 4-5 years made any staggered updates on this fic nil to poor. I also found that due to both source materials I could only work on this during fall/winter lmfao.

By the weirdest sort of coincidence that same BFF 5 eva finally picked up rewatching GOT and the terrible, awful, no good, very bad fanfic seasons and conclusion. We're talking about it again.

and it's fall/winter.

-

Magnar is a Hannibal fanfiction set in ASOIAF. By set I mean pretty much every event that is happening in canon is happening in the background of this story, without actually seeing any of the 'main' ASOIAF characters. Most little folk and knights don't after all, but a few tertiary and secondary characters get a line or two to move the plots along.

Ser Jack Crawford, under the banner of King Stannis Baratheon, is sent to Skagos with his men including Bravosi sellsword Beverly Katz and houndsman Will Graham. Besides establishing King Stannis' presence on the island and the North itself they're escorting Maester Price and his Acolyte Zeller to work for the 'civilized' North at the request of the Citadel.

Namely, the portion of the island controlled by the Vergers and gifted to them for their service to the Targaryen throne. They claim to have roots in Old Valeria.

What concerns Ser Jack Crawford more than the legitimacy of the Vergers is the whispers going around the taverns and trading stalls-

That the Ripper of the Narrow Sea had made berth from Skagos.

-

Magnar (9437 words) by Rionarch Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Hannibal (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Alana Bloom/Margot Verger Characters: Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter, Abigail Hobbs, Jack Crawford, Beverly Katz, Alana Bloom, Margot Verger, Baratheons (ASoIaF) Additional Tags: War of the Five Kings, Wargs & Warging (A Song of Ice and Fire), Greenseers & Greensight (A Song of Ice and Fire), Cannibalism Summary: As King Stannis Baratheon makes his play to protect the realm and solidify Northern support at the Wall, he sends his landed knight Ser Jack Crawford to treat with the lest vestiges of a Valyrian House, the Vergers, on Skagos. Magnar Hannibal Lector has other ideas he'd rather entertain.

I have a few chapters already up. Have a snippet of the next one.

-

“Oh, do beg my pardon. I didn’t mean to startle any of you. I simply thought that if a caravan as well armed as yourselves was going to the castle it might be just the right time to go myself.” Flame red hair and sharp cheek bones might have done something to hide her if the verdant purple shawl hadn’t been the mainstay of the whorehouses in King’s Landing.  Lady Margot scoffed but Beverly wasn’t as sure. 

“I’ve seen you outside of Muskrat Holdfast. What’s your business with the Magnar?” Ser Jack cut her off and looked less amused by the minute.

“What does a whore have to do with the following of King Baratheon’s men?” Her smile was more stoic. 

“Well I’d certainly done enough in his late Majesty’s Baratheon service. I’m just a woman who looks out for other little deers and their interests. If you must know there’s a certain someone at the castle who I have to look after.”

[preseriesdean]

happy wincest wednesday<33!! do you have a headcanon for why they haven't spoken in 2 years according to the pilot or do you accept that as a continuity error and assume they haven't spoken in 4?

happy wincest thwednesday!! 💞 i do think it’s a continuity error (isn’t there also this thing where according to john’s journal, which isn’t really canon, sam actually left for stanford at 19, not 18? let’s disregard the journal though and say sam left for stanford in ‘01) but i’m running with it.

there are so many possibilities here: of course there’s the drunk 1am phone call somewhere in the middle. but WHAT IF they actually just ran into each other by chance - at least seemingly? not in palo alto, but on a trip sam took. he’ll walk down the street, maybe even in san francisco or somewhere far away, and see the impala parked right there and he’ll go, okay, this could be anyone’s car. theirs wasn’t one of a kind. except the plates match, so it’s definitely dean’s. sam’s friends will gush over the car and sam is sort of stuck, until he sees dean round the corner with a to-go coffee cup and bags under his eyes and his hair longer than sam has ever seen it and there’s this split second of both of them just staring before dean slaps on a grin and gets all smug about some other guy making heart-eyes at the impala. and it takes sam a little while longer to get his brain back online where he recognizes dean’s tough-guy act for exactly what it is but also doesn't know what to say at all

they’d go to a bar and try to catch up but neither of them is telling the whole truth about how they’re doing and they both know they’re lying but neither is willing to call the other one out on it, because they’re not allowed to do that anymore after so long, and maybe they play some darts and try to savor that little unexpected sense of normalcy, of being brothers without this baggage looming over them, and the elephant in the room takes away all the oxygen from around them and there’s this unspeakable tension that’s somehow part anger part longing part something-else until they part ways again because dean’s case is dealt with and sam has exams soon.

and sam is left wondering if it actually was a coincidence because of course mr. dean “i thought you’d tell me to get lost or get dead” winchester wouldn’t admit to following him, right? his face was startled enough when they saw each other, but sam hasn’t seen dean in two years and he’s horrified to realize that he might be out of practice when it comes to reading his brother’s expressions, something he’d always been stellar at, so that’s also a whole issue that breaks sam’s heart a little bit. and he should feel outraged at the possibility of dean following him instead of just calling him and asking how he’s doing but he can’t quite make himself actually feel that rage because it’s dean and there’s always been this part of him that secretly liked how dean loved him in that obsessive, entitled way, because it's what he knows best and it makes him feel safe. so he accepts it.

then it’s another two years of radio silence because dean saw that sam was happy with his friends and fitting in with them, and sam assumes that dean’s still angry at him for leaving, and they’re still young and stupid and trying not to act on how obsessed they both are with each other, so they go right back to not talking. 🙂

this, i think, also works with how dean appears in the pilot and throughout the first season: cocky at first but then earnest and honest, too, communicating more clearly what it is that he wants and needs, “i can’t do this alone / i don’t want to” (only five minutes in and he’s already letting himself be vulnerable. i love him so much) because that first time two years ago didn’t work out so well, did it? so this time he tries to do it right, because the stakes are higher and because he needs sam.

(obligatory fic rec: i’ll take my chance on a beautiful stranger by fleshflutter)