#also there were some good parts but... overall s3 sucked

[eugeniedanglars]

#very well said!#i think it's because the question of this season isn't actionable in the way it was for S1 and S2#S3E1 poses the question: why is ted still in london?#it's a soul-searcher rather than a goal#and soul-searching is good! it brings on character development!#but if it isn't grounded in some sort of actionable goal it leads to the aimlessness we're seeing in S3#if we had rebecca clinging harder to defeating rupert coupled with a rivalry with nate THAT would have provided more narrative tension#because rebecca's desperation to win at any cost would put her in conflict with ted's belief winning shouldn't be everything#but also force him to think 'well am i wrong? should my purpose be to win?'#it would also have been a fascinating reversal for rebecca#S1 she's trying to bring down the club by any means and it fails#but what if she had tried to have the club win by any means in S3 and THAT puts them on the brink of destruction?#they flirted with that storyline when they brought zava in but then it fizzled too quickly#i've really been liking this season (probably more than most) but there is a distinct lack of overall narrative tension#and i think it's because too many characters are being relegated to isolated plotlines (via @nancywheeeler)

i think the biggest problem of season 3 (of which there are Several) is the shift away from football being the crux of the story, which has undoubtedly resulted in the aimless, overstuffed, unfocused narrative we've been seeing for the last eight episodes. season one was as excellent as it was because whether richmond won or lost a match actually mattered; if they lost too many matches, they'd be relegated, and relegation was always treated as a distinct, tangible threat. there were stakes. and while season two had its issues with pacing and unnecessary subplots, no one would call it aimless. the characters had a goal (pun intended): to get promoted back to the premier league. if they lost too many matches, they would stay in the championship league. we as the audience were invested in whether or not richmond won or lost, and the narrative was all the stronger and more coherent for it.

season one asked us, can afc richmond avoid relegation? and we were invested in the answer. season two asked us, can afc richmond be promoted? and we were invested in the answer. now we're eight episodes into season three, and the overarching goal of the season, the question it is asking its audience to remain invested in, is...what? what are we building towards? is afc richmond's goal to win the whole damn thing? to beat west ham? to beat man city? to do just enough to avoid relegation again?

and because we can't answer this question, the narrative has suffered greatly. how are we supposed to believe beard when he says man city is the team's white whale if we haven't even seen them play each other yet this season? if ted's total football epiphany was so life-changing for richmond, why did we speed past all the matches this episode where the team won using that strategy? if this is all leading to a final nate-ted west ham-richmond match, why haven't we spent any time with nate at west ham? why haven't we gotten to see him grow and develop as a coach? at one point, the team was doing so badly that higgins suggested firing ted, who has been visibly struggling on and off the pitch - and the narrative did not give that suggestion the weight it might have had in season one or two. we spent an entire episode watching rupert, rebecca, and chelsea fight over zava - and then two episodes later he was gone, and we haven't so much as mentioned him since. just last season, sam was being heralded as the star of afc richmond, highly sought after by other club owners - but we haven't gotten to see any of his alleged brilliance on the pitch this season at all. i have to kick a little ball around, which those same people love me for, sam said in 3.07, that is, until i fuck up or miss a penalty, or i decide to fight back - a speech that was excellently delivered by toheeb, but loses some of its weight because we haven't actually gotten to see any negative reaction to sam missing a penalty or fucking up or deciding to fight back (not even in season 2 after the dubai air boycott).

(all this to say: i do enjoy the show. i love the characters, i've been enjoying the episodes as individual units, and i'll continue to tune in week after week. but for a show that once boasted football was life, it's sure been suffering since it decided to stop focusing on that.)

[moistvonlipwig]

BtVS for the favorite things ask game?

ok!!!

my favorite female character: Cordelia of course.....though if we're counting her more as an AtS character then it'd be poor beleaguered Anya, who has too much sense by far for the rest of the Scoobies to handle.

my favorite male character: Spoike my horrible little man who is faking his accent and cheats at kitten poker <3 he sucks sooo bad (affectionate) (also objectively true since he is a vampire)

my favorite book/season/etc: This one's tricky -- I think S5 probably takes it in the end, although I think the overall arc of S2 is very impressive and the highs are higher. But I prefer big sister Buffy to only child Buffy and the later seasons cast line-up to the early seasons cast line-up, and S2 has a lot of bad episodes, whereas S5's worst episodes are just kind of whatever. S3 is also very strong overall, but it doesn't emotionally grab me the way S2 and S5 do.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show): This one's even trickier! I think "Becoming" (especially its second part) is definitely in the running for its amazing character work for Buffy and the whole cast. "Lovers Walk" gets points for the sheer amount of fun it packs into its runtime. "Who Are You?" is another contender, largely due to SMG's absolute tour-de-force performance as Faith. "Restless" would be a contender if it weren't for the horrifically racist treatment of the First Slayer that infects the entire episode, which knocks it soundly off its otherwise well-earned pedestal. "The Gift" is very, very good as well. (I'm not as big on "The Body" as everyone else -- it's good, I just don't think it's one of the show's top episodes.) And I think "Dead Things" is probably the most challenging episode the show ever put forth, which I appreciate deeply. (I enjoy the songs in OMWF a lot, but as an episode I don't think it's super cohesive, so while it's up there for me, I don't think I can say it's the show's best.)

my favorite cast member: I honestly don't really tend to get super invested in actors, so, idk? I guess I'd say that, while she's nowhere near the show's strongest actor -- in fact I would argue she's one of those actors who is extremely good at playing one specific part and basically can't play anything else -- I nonetheless have a lot of respect for Eliza Dushku as a person, what with how she's spoken up about the sexual abuse, harassment, and mistreatment she's faced within the industry, and how she threw her full support behind the people speaking up about Joss Whedon despite having a positive experience with him herself.

my favorite ship: Most of my favorite Buffyverse ships are AtS ships, but my favorite BtVS ship is ultimately probably Buffy/Spike, despite, um, everything -- I think they have a lot of really fun interactions and I buy their friendship in early S6 and S7, and I appreciate that the show made some attempt (YMMV how successful it was) to deconstruct and problematize the enemies-to-lovers trope. That said, my ideal endgame for them is that they end up as friends, not lovers. And the way some people talk about that ship on here is......well. It's something innit. In terms of other ships I like: despite what I'm about to say about Giles below, I do like his interactions with Anya a lot and I feel like there were some romantic implications in "Grave" that weirdly never got picked up again in S7. I think a Giles/Anya romance would be a lot better than S7 trying to resurrect the shuffling corpse of Xander/Anya. ...Although, I'm also a "Willow should've killed Giles in Grave" truther, so, I'll also propose a Willow/Anya romance, because they had good chemistry in "Selfless" and it'd be funny.

a character I’d die defending: It used to be Dawn and Cordelia, but honestly the fandom has cooled off a lot when it comes to hating those characters, so, uh, I definitely still defend them ardently when needed, but they don't need it as much these days as they used to. Buffy still gets some very weird things said about her which I think she should be defended from, although I also think there's pockets of fandom that act like she has never done a single thing wrong in her life ever, which is a point of view I also don't subscribe to. Faith I think is in a weird position where she has done some legitimately awful things, which some of her more hardcore fans gloss over, but some people are strangely hellbent on making up things she didn't do to get mad at her for, which I can't abide. People are also deeply weird about Joyce, as you know, but, like, I'm not a Joyce Fan or anything, I don't even think she's a particularly amazing mother, I just think people seem entirely incapable of seeing things from her point of view and weirdly insistent that her relationship with Buffy was worse than it was. So, IDK. Most of the women, I guess. Except Willow. Sorry Willow, I'm sure some people are weird about you too, but the narrative is too nicies to you already.

a character I just can’t sympathize with: Yeah, it's Giles. He's the character who has gone down the most in my estimation over time, particularly as I've gotten older. S1 Giles is arguably sympathetic, with his fate somewhat paralleled to Buffy's, but as the show goes on, the character and worldbuilding develop to a point where it becomes pretty irrefutable that this is a guy who profits off of Buffy's suffering and could stop doing that at any time, who abandons her when she needs him most, and who then has the gall to act like he should have any say in the decisions she makes about her life afterwards. Additionally, the way he seems totally indifferent to Xander's home life and clear desire for a non-abusive father figure/masculine role model, and even more egregiously (given that it is literally his job to 'watch' her) the way he seems totally indifferent to Faith's lack of a home or family or any kind of support, is profoundly foul to me, and yet another thing that's made worse by the retcon that Giles is well-off and gets paid to do this. (The Faith stuff is even worse when you remember that Giles, too, has accidentally killed people, yet he makes no effort to try to reach out to her. Angel's attempt to reach out may have been bad, but at least it was an attempt.) I've read a lot of meta on here about how Giles was deeply affected by Jenny's death and how that made him feel like he had somehow doomed her by loving her, or even when Jenny isn't brought into it a lot of people will say that Giles thinks he is an awful person who makes people's lives worse and that's why he holds himself at such a distance, and like, that's a fine interpretation, but I don't actually see any evidence that that's true? To me that's in the realm of "Xander hates vampires because of Jesse" -- it's something that could psychologically make sense for a real person, and you could write about in a fanfic and have it be quite interesting, but I struggle to see any real basis for that idea in canon. And of course I should add that I think Giles should probably suck, for the show to work; if he's a good father figure the story doesn't really happen. But he sucks in such deeply baffling and unsympathetic ways to me that I just really don't like him anymore at this point, aside from the occasional Buffy-Giles emotional beat or snarky one-liner that makes me smile.

a character I grew to love: This one definitely goes to Buffy -- I think pre-Dawn Buffy is a well-done but ultimately fairly typical Campbell-style comic hero, whose character is largely elevated by SMG's iconic performance and by BtVS's strategy of using monster-of-the-week episodes to mirror Buffy's internal journey. I like her fine in the early seasons, but it's only really in S5 that she starts to grab my emotional attention, and it's in S6 that I truly love her -- S6 is a mess, but I think Buffy's arc in that season is utterly compelling and beautiful, and it gives me so much more affection and appreciation for her character. As for S7...well, let's just not speak of that, shall we.

my anti otp: With apologies as always to my Bangel followers & mutuals, I find Buffy/Angel to be not entirely uninteresting to think about (especially in S2, which is when I think the writers had the strongest sense of what they wanted to say with that relationship), but they are profoundly tedious to watch. Melodrama that is played straight is rarely appealing to me, and I can't for the life of me imagine them in an actual adult relationship -- what would they talk about? As Buffy herself admits, they were never actually friends, and so many of their conversations on the show just revolve around how they shouldn't and/or can't be together but they want to anyway. I also think, as the shows go on, they develop different values and their lives go in such different directions that I don't think they would work as a couple in the future, either. Both of them are better off, IMO, moving on and living separate lives.

[nanakibh]

We gotta do everything ourselves...

Earthspark S3 Spoilers Below

Man, idk what other people are feeling, but I'm just going to pretend that there's only one season of Earthspark from now on. I foolishly thought that things could improve after S2. It really feels like the people who are working on ES now have no interest in anything that ES actually was. Maybe it's also corporate meddling. Whatever it is, I hate it.

I guess I'm glad they brought back the Chaos Terrans because it was pretty messed up for them to kill them off. But I don't think they were ever good characters and I would not have missed them.

The Fairmaestro sucks. He just sucks, dude. I can give his first episode a pass because it introduced Isabel and Cosmos, but this second episode was pure filler. Had nothing to do with the overarching plot. They only had seven episodes for S3 and they chose to completely squander some of them. Infuriating.

Speaking of Cosmos, he was just kind of there. I fail to see why they introduced him and then brought him back if they weren't really going to do anything interesting with him.

I think their treatment of Schloder is extremely fucked up. In S2, they brought him back just to use him for a laugh in the shitty Fairmaestro episode, and now they only brought him back for a couple silly scenes again. I'm going to turn into the Joker. He was one of the best human characters on the show. Genuinely one of my favorite characters overall. The way they've ignored him and turned him into a joke AFTER HE WATCHED HIS SISTER DIE is just disrespectful. It's bad writing.

The whole plot with Isabel was.......... It was something. The way she totally evaporated as a character after the reveal sure sucks. I expected there to be some hint that she really did like Robby even if she was just pretending to be human, but nah. Nah, forget about it.

There were a lot of little moments like that where I thought they were going somewhere interesting with something, but then it went nowhere. For instance, I thought that the Terrans might have been messing up the drive-in theater experience for Robby and Isabel on purpose because they were secretly jealous of Robby spending time with someone other than family. But nope! They're all just THAT incompetent now!

Dude, I'm so tired of them making Jawbreaker look like an out-and-out idiot. I'm so tired of them making the others be mean to him for no reason. It feels like the writers actually just... don't like him? Or at least they don't understand him.

My biggest problem is with the treatment of the Decepticons. They literally just... shipped them off to space? Are they just gone now? I honestly want this show to get cancelled at this point, but I'll also be mad if the show officially ends with the Decepticons just leaving.

Remember in S1 when Dot said that there are no bad Decepticons? Remember that great episode with Tarantulas? Remember Hashtag's heartfelt moments with Starscream? ...And now she's literally stabbing him in the back?? I refuse to believe that she would do that. I think there is a very valuable lesson to be made about how maybe it's not worth giving a person another chance after they've betrayed your trust multiple times, but I don't think that's something the writers were thinking about here. It feels like S1 wanted to redeem Starscream. S2/3 does not. The S1 writers wouldn't have given up on him the way the S2 writers have.

It feels like they were totally stumped about what to do with Starscream in this season, so they kept him locked inside the Titan. That's crazy. lmao I wrote a fic where Soundwave suggests that they should look for Skyfire, someone who actually stands a chance of redeeming him. It was just a small part of a much larger megasound fic, but if I can come up with something like that off the top of my head, I don't know why these writers struggled so much. I'm sure that Starscream fans out there have come up with much better plots for him in the ES universe. (I'm going to assume that they were told that they had to keep the Decepticons as villains. Which you can do! While still making them sympathetic like they were in S1! You can do that!)

This is the part of this rant where I feel the need to say that if you liked S1 of ES, you should write whatever kinds of fics you want and ignore S2/3 at your leisure. If you think something sucks, you don't have to acknowledge it. We can fix it ourselves. I truly believe that popular fanon can overwhelm this shitshow. If enough people say "Actually, Starscream WAS redeemed", that can be our reality.

Soundwave is barely a character at this point, which sucks because he's my favorite character. It seems pretty obvious to me that his feelings of betrayal in S1 came from the fact that he was always so loyal to Megatron. The S2/3 writers seem totally uninterested in examining that at all. We got no meaningful interactions between them. Nothing.

S1 Breakdown and S3 Breakdown are different characters. They actually had the audacity to walk back his S1 character development. And for what? He could have joined the Autobots in this season, but nah.

We simply did not need the Quintessons, but if they had to be there, the Decepticons should have been helping the Autobots fight them. Like, I'm pretty sure a natural trajectory from S1 would have included the Autobots rehabilitating the Decepticons and then fighting a common enemy together to further build trust. That feels like the spirit of S1 to me.

I feel like the status of Cybertron's condition is something that should have been completely left a mystery. If they had to reveal anything about it, they should have saved it until the very end where everyone (including the now-reformed Decepticons!) decide that they're going to stay on Earth even if returning to Cybertron is possible.

Idk how to end this. I'm sure that I'll just keep thinking of more things that bothered me.

Edit: Already thought of more. Jesus Christ... I like Prowl. I don't think this was a terrible rendition of him. But I don't think he added anything meaningful to the show. Again, I'm going to assume that they were told that they had to add a new Autobot for the sake of making toys or something. But why are you going to add a character if they don't add anything to the overarching plot? He literally existed just to give us a ship that would be used to get rid of the Decepticons so the writers wouldn't have to worry about what they would do with them during the Quintesson battle. Especially infuriating when you consider what I said about how they should've been helping the Autobots fight them. Like, we saw this in S1... We know that the Decepticons WOULD help in a fight... That wouldn't be out of character for them... God, this shit is so ass.

[stevie-petey]

hello m i hope you are well. i'm finally reading chap 6 and 7 so that i'm ready whenever you release the final chapter of season 3 and once again, so, so good! i didn't realise how much has happened in such a short time!! here are my thought of chapter 6 before i read chapter 7 so you can get the chapter by chapter update.

Firstly, i wanted to compliment you on how scary you make the whole ordeal. obvs st is a sci fi horror show with elements of comedy, but i felt like s3's biggest flaws was not making the stakes feel as high as they were in certain moments. ofc you can't be held at an emotional tension all the time and there are down to be some low tension moments where it's appropriate to do some comedy, but overall, i felt like the scoop troop's dire situation was not always communicated well to the viewer outside of visual flare due to the actor's being instructed to keep things light and easy in their delivery. this was not the case with your chapter. i was very much feeling dread and horror at the thought of leaving steve and robin behind in the mega torture room together. you've always been quite good at making bug her own character and her own sort of adventure that doesn't depend entirely on steve, but do think that choosing to keep her separated from steve during the russian torture was a very mature writing choice.

immediately, right off the bat, this quote was so good at establishing the tone for this chapter, "it diminishes every sacrifice that has been made, it taunts the blood that has been spilled." reading bug be miserable over all the ways she hypothetically did or did not fail the group is so much more terrible when we keep in mind how much all of their efforts have been undermined, and it surprised me that the show itself was no interested in these fascinating questions. also this part, "All you ever do is try, you will die trying, you just can’t let it be in vain", omgggg bug is soooo "this is me trying" coded (affectionate).

ALSO OMG!!!! THE KISSS!!!!!!!! THIS IS BIG FOR BUG X STEVE TRUTHERS!!!! VAL MY SISTER IN ARMS WHERE ARE YOUUUUU!!!!! BUT OMG M THAT WAS SO GOOD!!!! I was soooo stressed out and everything was going a mile a minute and steve kissed her!!!! he finally did it!!!!! i absolutely love we-are-so-desparate-and-we-might-not-see-each-other-again-so-i-have-to-because-i-cant-die-knowing-i-never-did-it!!!!!! "It isn’t death that terrifies Steve, it’s the idea that he almost died without knowing how you tasted." SHUT UP!!!!!! IF HES NOT LIKE THIS, I DONT WANT HIM!!!!!! I was clutching my heart sweating like a victorian maiden feinting at hearing her lover dying on the sea!!!!! "Urgently, viciously, you scream the only thing you can think of that encompasses all the love and terror within you, “Come home to me!" TITLE DROP AFTER THE FIRST KISS!!!!! STUG ENDGAME !!!!!!! LUCAS SINCLAIR YOU *WISH* YOU HAD ACCESS TO THE FIREWORKS EXPLODING IN MY BRAIN RIGHT TF NOW!!!!!!! A smile spreads across your face when you think about him. The words spill from your mouth without any effort. “I do love Steve.” SHES SMILING WHEN SHE REALISES SHE LOVES STEVE AND DUSTIN KNOWS SHE LOVES STEVE AND SHES SMILING EEN THOUGH EVERYTHING SUCKS BECAUSE JUST THE THOUGHT OF THE OTHER IS ENOUGH TO BRING A SPARK OF JOY LIGHT AN EMBER OF HOPE IN THEIR CHESTS !!!!! YAYYYY!!!!! “Tried promising you I’d come home, angel.” Steve is sprawled on your lap. His eyes are cloudy, he isn’t quite here with you." COME HOME TITLE DROP PART 2!!!!!! WE KEEP WINNING STUG GANG!!!!! SEASON 4 GUILT TRIPS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TORMENT THAT LEAD TO ARGUMENTS IDC IDC IDK IDK THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!!!!!

Now I would like to take a moment and discuss bug's excellent additions to the generation of action heroes. "And you’ve always evened out your debts to him." Killer line. Great end for a close up shot of her face while a light flickers in the back and the shot cuts to black before we reset in another scene. A tribute to all the action stars of the 80s, truly a brilliant work my you M.

final note, using the chemical SMART WORK!!! I remember thinking during the episode "wow what conveniently weapon-like substance is this that our heroes have stumbled upon and i know dustin and erica used them as well as dustin and erica and bug, i'll be real, i would started throwing them in the russian guards' faces idc idc!!!!

overall, excellent work as i'm sure you know and looking forward to reading chapter 7!!!!

Ps. "She lets out her own content sigh, and you play with her hair as well. They’re still with you. Still whole and alive." challengers core if u think about it. polycule anon kinda spit game on that one.

HI BABY I MISSED YOU !!!

i really appreciate that u like how spooky i make the chapters. i never really understand the weight of the situations theyre in every season until i write them. season 3 especially has scenes they dumb down to make room for more comedy, and while its silly, sometimes i forget that a literal TEN YEAR OLD GIRL is trapped in a russian lair with very aggressive and armed men who want to kill her. like wtf stranger things ???

as for leaving steve, it simply had to happen. i wanted to do something different since most rewrites have them taken together (which is always juicy and i eat it up every time), i just couldnt do it for this rewrite. bug wouldnt leave dustin and erica behind like that. someone had to stay with the kids, protect them, and bug was perfect for that role !!! plus, it made for a GREAT first kiss scene so it was a win all around (your comments had me DYING LMAO). however, i dread the day i rewrite season 4 because i'll have to figure out how to separate steve, bug, dustin or if i even CAN because the teens and kids pair off differently. bug is the sister, the girlfriend, it will be a challenge :(

my sister and i always joke every time we rewatch the show that we would be so. done with living in hawkins. i think the show forgets its own time canon, because wdym every. single. year. thise kids are thrown inti danger ??? every time they think "hey, we won" MORE SHIT HAPPENS ??? i wanted to really emphasize that defeat, the feeling of doing everything right and it still not being enough. you always see exactly what i want the readers to see, its like you look into my mind <3333 you always know the themes im sprinkling in :')

AND YES !!! TITLE DROP !!! took us three seasons, but we made it!!! now, for the actual scene i have in the come home masterlist, that will be in season 4 when steve can finalllly promise bug he'll come home to her <333 and the ilu scene <333 bug loves steve so much and its so natural to her and i wanna cry thinking about them ugh.

THE DEBTS LINE ,,,, i felt so cool writing that thank u for feeding into my nerdiness and seeing the vision ,,, in my head i have a compilation of badass bug scenes that would routinely get edited and the scene with her preparing to save steve and robin is 100% in there. also for the chemicals sometimes the writers leave me no room to question how a plan gets made so im like ,,,, fine i will do it myself u cowards.

finally for the challengers bit i truly didnt intent for the fic to become so challengers coded but ,,,, whew. it is. and i love it dearly.

n i love u so dearly i saw ur reblog tags for chapter 7 and i am shivering waiting for the analysis i KNOW ur cookin up and u always pick apart my fic in ways i adore so so so much <333

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

man

this may just be the 14 year old me who watched the show with rose filtered glasses on

but I am very bummed the show turned out this way

I mean I haven’t watched it since then but there were so many elements I loved

I really loved the world, even if it had plot holes lol (I did not see them at the time tho)

there are still a lot of characters I really like (catra is not one of them tho 💀 like even while I was watching the show and was sort of in the c//a community I didn’t like her…….. she was so unlikable the entire time, but I assumed it was just me bc everyone else seemed to love her…..)

horde prime couldve been the coolest final boss villain

scifi and fantasy is my favourite combination ever

idk

it’s just such a bummer

it could’ve been so cool :(

they should’ve let ME reboot it isntead!!!!!!!!!!!!!/j

dude i totally get what you mean. i watched it when i was like 18? and i'm still bummed about how they screwed up the series. i think it had a lot of potential, especially around s3-4 when the plot really started to pick up the pace. there were still things wrong with the show at that point too, but i feel like it was salvagable.

i even liked catra as a character. she was a terrible person but she was interesting and i was curious to see how they handle her arc. if i didnt know that c//a was going to be canon going into the show, i would have 100% thought they were setting catra up for a corruption arc. and yeah, a lot of the other characters were really likeable. it just sucks that the show writers thought that c//a was the most important part of the series and it didn't matter if the other character arcs were butchered, so long as this ship becomes canon.

like you said, fantasy + sci-fi is a really good combo! if you want a GOOD show that combines these two genres, i highly recommend infinity train! i know i've mentioned it here before but i'll keep recommending it until it gets the appreciation it deserves (and hopefully gets renewed!) infinity train has amazing characters as well as worldbuilding, although the creators never got to finish the worldbuilding due to the show being cancelled. it also touched on very real and serious topics, and does a much better job of handling these issues. one of the antagonists in the series is much like catra but while he is specifically written to be sympathetic, he does not get redeemed and forgiven the way catra does. overall, just watch the show if you haven't already! it has 4 seasons with different characters in each season, and there are some heavily implied queer characters as well (though they couldn't confirm it because, again, restrictions).

[spacedlexi]

ive been intrigued by modern au of certain twdg characters, like we know some of their back stories (lee being a prof or javi a baseball player) but like actually picturing/designing them is interesting, idk if you've ever thought of it past clem, louis and violet [unfortunately im unskilled so just sharing my ideas!]

i dont think about modern aus all that often since ive always been more of a fan of in-universe explorations. the only time i Really think about modern au stuff is when im playing them in the sims lmao (i keep my traumatized faves safe there)

i dont think their designs would be all that different? the only reason i see clem vs modern clem as variations of the same person is because we knew what she was like as a kid and we saw how beat down by the world she became after 8 years on the road. but without the trauma of that i feel she would be able to retain a lot of that optimism and kindness she had as a child that she became hardened to as she got older (that kindness is still there deep down but shes become hardened by the things shes been through and shes had to become tough to survive). and even with her parents still dying, getting to have lee permanently as a supportive guardian lets her still retain that general attitude for the most part, she just becomes more of a realist. but she never gets as low emotionally as she was in like S3. she also has less responsibility since she doesnt have to care for aj alone either. she actually gets to be a sister. shes much more lighthearted overall while still taking things seriously

but for characters like lee or javi (or any of the adults), we've seen them outside of the apocalypse. and their outlooks didnt change all that dramatically because of it. at least not in ways that would influence their personal styles. just take the layer of zombie grime off them give them a bath and clean clothes theyre good to go

when i think of modern aus i imagine most of the adults to be the same, just more relaxed as they dont have to deal with fighting to survive day after day. its really the younger characters that i feel would have the possibility of being different. in-universe their lives were shaped by the apocalypse. but without the apocalypse who would they be? and how do you still keep those characters feeling like Themselves when you remove such a big part of why they are the way they are?

especially when it comes to the ericson kids who, when i imagine modern aus, were not sent off to boarding school by their families either. thats another huge change to something so so foundational to their characters. how were those situations handled? did those events even happen? in louis' case i personally keep his relationship with his father tense and strict, but i make his mother more supportive of him and his goals, and so while he still has to fight for what he wants there was never a time where he felt he needed to teach his dad a lesson, because at least he has his mom. in violets case things dont change all that much, her dad still sucks her mom still works 3 jobs and her grandma still offs herself in front of her, only difference is they have no financial ability to send violet off, and so she just has to Deal with it. but even these changes dont have all that much effect on their personal styles compared to their canon selves. louis just gets to keep wearing his expensive designer shit, and violet has had the same wardrobe for 5+ years and it shows in its wear and tear

when i think about how characters would dress its heavily reliant on their personalities, outlooks, and circumstances. how do i show these things based on looks alone? but thats why i dont imagine most of them looking all that different. theyve just been reverted. lee is still a fun but reasonable (for the most part) history professor who wants to start a family, and javi is still a happy go lucky uncle dealing with being kicked out of his dream career while trying to be more present for his family. their styles remain largely unchanged

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S3 E12 - Past Tense 2

Another rough one but for the right reasons.

I knew this one would be more character driven stuff, given that the first part was heavy on the set up, but I am happy where everything took us.

I'm gonna start with BC. I wanted to punch that dude in the face most of the time he was on screen but the episode did such a good job from taking him to brutal Ghost to a dude willing to do what was right. He didn't really have much left for him and I didn't expect him to live, so it wasn't a surprise to see that he died. I wasn't sad really, and I didn't think of his character as a waste IRL, but pretending I was in this timeline and in this actual episode, it did feel like a waste in a "maybe he could have turned over a new leaf" kinda way.

Vin was the other one that I was super surprised and happy about to watch his character grow. There have been times when I've had to forcefully sit down with a relative and point to all the things wrong with the world and how it hurts me specifically (disability, queer topics, being broke, etc) and to slowly chip away at their stubbornness so they can actually see whats ACTUALLY wrong with the world. He felt like that. It was hard to sit through his scenes at first, and they're supposed to be, but I'm very glad he was the character at the end fighting for those in the Sanctuary Zone.

Webbs death actually made me sad. He was a damn good man just trying to do what was best for his family, for all those trapped inside those fucked up zones. He didn't deserve death. I get why, from a story stand point why they did what they did but still, it was sad.

I wanted to laugh every time that Webb and Sisko were dealing with the government, but one of those cold bitter laughs. The way the government was going to hand out pebbles in a way to try to appease folks without actually listening to any of the problems. I was happy to hear later when she was on the phone with the governor that other uprisings were happening in other Zones.

I think the scene that got me the most was when the people from the Zone were telling their stories. Simple stories about who they were. Little two minute things of what they did, why they were sent there to begin with, and maybe of the family they had. Real people telling real stories. Something the public couldn't hide from. It made Jadzia's whole deal with the rich folks in the previous episode kinda worth it.

Also, side note, the whole "aliens want to suck our brains out" scene was supposed to be funny, I think, and it some ways I can see how others might see that, but I can't. Mental illnesses getting ignored because no one wants to care about healthcare sucks. I do think it was sweet that he saw Jadzia as a "good one" though instead of fighting them.

Kira and Miles popping in and out of times, though, was funny. Kira being awkward in each of them and Miles just trying his best to not to make it worse. It was the breath of air between heavy moments.

I once again thought they ended the episode a bit too soon, Bashir and Sisko went through some hardcore shit, it felt like they rushed through dealing with it, but overall it was a great episode.

This is the year of the Bell Riots and they apparently start a week after my birthday this year... with a literal Nazi running for office, I'm wondering if the episode might be onto something.

8.5/10 - would be a 9 but I am a little unsatisfied with the ending

[lovecanbesostrange]

On a pure emotional level that Star Trek Picard ending was absolutely fulfilling to me. Once again highlighting to me how as much as I want a good story, I can forgive horsecrap as long as the emotions are true. Character beats sucking me in.

I don’t particularly enjoy either Discovery or Picard. Which is mostly due to the terrible decision of telling season long story arc. Simply not my kind of Trek. It makes one of the things I enjoy most nearly impossible - watching a random ep for fun. With Picard I think this finale (Vox & The Last Generation) work as a sorta movie, so that’s nice. Although of course the problem with S3 is that ep 1-8 tell one story with a great villain, and then the rug is pulled and oops we get the movie that goes down a different path. What a waste of the Dominion... ugh... And it’s so obvious how many storybeats happen just to have an excuse to get all the characters into specific places...

Honestly though, nevermind, who cares, the EMOTIONS! Shaw dying was somewhat of a given, like a 70-30 thing. To give him a quick bowtie to his character arc. Shelby’s death was stupid and unnecessary. Ro... hmmm... we all know Michelle Forbes would not have wanted to return for longer, her death at least brought closure and was the most interesting legacy sacrifice for sure. If they had killed off any of the seven TNG people though... look, I was invested when they said goodbye on that bridge. They played every beat of “this is the last time all of us are in a room together”. Somehow weirdly I especially feared for Will’s life most. Funny, because the Imzadi connection is what saved them. HA! Thank you, Deanna Troi, from the bottom of my heart. For a moment I was baffled how everybody had a thing to do and she was mostly sitting there and yeah, she gets to find the boys to bring them home safe and sound. I’ll take that! (And holy fucking shitballs, Beverly shooting the weapons... what did this woman do the past 20 years?????)

I did watch Best of Both Worlds last week waiting for the finale and it’s still interesting how we only get the aftermath of Wolf 359. How Locutus is only there for such a short time and how deeply this trauma haunts Picard. (So much the Borg were part of all three seasons...)

I needed a happy ending on this so bad and I got it. Although I find it offensive they didn’t even acknowledge how many people died. HALLO??????? Also nice to get it out of the system via beaming and all, but we have so many young officers with this deep rooted assimilation trauma now. WOW! (Looooooooooooved that hug between Seven and Sidney, Seven gets it.)

I am so ready for the supposed Star Trek: Legacy show, I already adore the crew of the...... Enterpise G.............. the Titan was a mighty ship, but guess the rebranding is a very high honor. And we do need that show to find out what Seven’s catchphrase is gonna be. :3 :3 :3 Baby’s first captain’s speech was so great, Janeway would be proud. (Janeway, for all those namedrops I expected to see her face for at least five seconds. But hey, Tuvok is alive!!)

For me the use of humor was great. A few quips to ease the tension. Thank you. Worf’s “I was worried we might actually survive”, Deanna’s “why am I sensing enjoyment” etc etc. That’s what makes the heartwarming moments better as well, like Worf totally blowing Rafi’s cover (ending her spy career forever) and thus helping her reunite with her family. I need the whole range of human emotions. (Also clearly Data needs a new cat.)

The story... overall......... there is a lot to criticize. But this season was the TNG reunion first and foremost (also setting up a new crew, finally finding a better rhythm). And this hour delivered as that. I believe in the friendship of these people, even when some were gone for 20 years and the contact between others was sporadic at best. Let them drink and play poker.

[lunar-years]

the thing about the t*db*cca tantrums is if they had gotten together in the end... it actually would. have been bad writing. like they spent three seasons making it very extremely clear how much their relationship was Not About That and just reversing that in the last episode would have been... extremely nonsensical. and like... why would you WANT your ship to be treated like an afterthought?

they heard romcommunism and ignored the subversion part

hm I don't necessarily agree that t*db*cca getting together would've automatically been bad writing/an afterthought. I was very much in the "this could go either way" and "i don't care either way" camps (and honestly watching the finale, the multiple "fake outs" were sort of annoying even as a non-shipper, lol). However, I definitely agree that the point of either one of their stories/purpose of their arcs was never getting together with the other (which t*db*ccas clearly don't agree with). The story is So Not About That and the significance of their bond/relationship wouldn't have changed for me if they had taken it into romance territory, only the shape of it.

The problem for me is more in the specific language some shippers use to claim that not putting them together was "bad writing." You can think that's where it was going and be pissed off that it didn't and call that bad writing, but claiming it as genuinely *problematic* writing in a "this is a terrible way to portray a powerful successful cool woman how dare she not be with my Favorite Male Character. What a crime against feminism!1!" manner (which yes, i literally have seen multiple say about both Rebecca and Keeley 🤦‍♀️) is straight up goofy & nonsensical. We shouldn't be basing whether or not woman is written "well" on her end relationship status. IMO, it would be just as ridiculous to claim it was a powerful feminist slay for Keeley to be single at the end. Like, I don't think those two things alone are directly correlated?? Rather, good portrayals of women boil down to whether or not they are written complexly and with the same level of care and nuance as their male counterparts. The status of Rebecca and Keeley's love lives has incredibly little to do with it (and for what it's worth, even with allll the problems I had with Keeley's plotline specifically, I think she is overall a wonderful female character and representation. Her s3 storyline sucked but she didn't suck, you know? She's not a flat one-note stereotypical lifeless female character at all, she's multi-faceted and complicated and so much more than her bad storyline. therefore, I think the writing for her was bad but not "anti-feminist")

Also, you are definitely right about people hearing romcommunism and ignoring the subversion. Even (imo) the show's most blatant rom-com reference/parallel (Roy returning to Richmond in Rainbow) is about love that's not romantic love. anyway... Ted Lasso is a Love Story but it is not a Romance Story...To Me.

[glitch-h]

Me for the entirety of stranger things s3: man I really like Robin. I feel drawn to her. I like her a lot. Dare I say... I’m in love with her. She’s really cute and badass. Damn I really love her

Robin: I’m a lesbian

Me:

[tuiyla]

Ahh literally everything you're saying is just like parts of the bigger reason s3 sucks so bad. They start off the season with Will like "This year everyone's dreams will come true!" and then like Santana gets outed, Mercedes and Tina are constantly struggling to have their voices heard, Quinn is forced to confront her Beth trauma then gets in a car wreck, Kurt gets passed over for literally every big thing he wanted this season, also literally laughed out of an audition for being Too Gay, Blaine is butting heads with Sam and Finn cause they're both acting dumb lol, also Klaine relationship troubles. Swear to god I think Mike is the only one with a conflict that feels like it gets satisfyingly resolved this whole season rip

And then at the end of the season everyone is like "wow what a great year thank you mr schuester for doing everything for us <3" when he literally never cared about anyone but Finn aslfkjsklfsl and then the whole dick sucking ego stroking parade of everyone to Finn, and Kurt to all the guys and it's just like ??? hello? what? where? when? did i miss some episodes??? What is going on

I literally feel like Kathy Bates in Misery when I talk about season 3.

and all the kids cheered - but I didn't cheer, I stood right up and started shouting, "This isn't what happened last week - have you all got amnesia?! THEY JUST CHEATED US - THIS WASN'T FAIR!"

Omg you so hit the nail on the head with that quote, wow. I have to fess up and say that I liked season 3 when I first watched and looked back on the seasons because I trauma-blocked IKAG and many other awful parts and was blinded by the graduation glamour and the soundtrack. Upon rewatch, it's incredibly infuriating and embodies a lot of what was wrong with this show. And it's made worse by everyone always saying s3 was the good old days and then the show declined in quality, which is just not true.

All the things you listed, yes. And I'm gonna repeat some of them here but just cause it's worth stressing just how bad some of this is. Will, teacher of the year, didn't do shit for most students this year and actively made some of their lives worse. He yelled at Quinn and threw Santana to the wolves, scolded both Tina and Mercedes when they asked for an ounce of the respect they deserved. His treatment of Mercedes!! Oh. My god. He should go to jail for booty camp. All the while we had to endure the ups and downs of his sex life and while he, like the whole show, was so far up Finn's ass it was hard to see anything else. Quinn was put through a revolving trauma door and not one adult really cared. All three main women of colour were demonized for wanting a taste of the spotlight and the one canon lesbian given the most offensive "coming out" (i.e. outing) known to tv. Brittany was mute for most of the season and when they do give her something it's the fucking sex tape. Sam had such big flop moments and Blaine was only pulled out for songs and Klaine conflict. Kurt's dreams were shattered despite him doing his best and nailing the audition. Oh and yeah let's have him thank the boys for,,,, whatever reason? Insulting. No one cared about the newbies because the show didn't either. Yeah, Mike's storyline was more or less done well but it was so brief and the only standalone story arc he ever got. Finchel had to be prom king and queen for some godforsaken reason. I mean let's not get into how season 3 Finn is somehow even worse than he usually is because jfc it just never stops with him. I guess Puck's storyline was the most decent? But they also had him fuck the adoptive mother of his bio child also his teacher also his ex's mom so, like. Most of Rachel's stuff was also fine but the Finchel things were intolerable and elevating her by putting others down is not it.

And it's not just the shafted characters and bad storylines and the overall bad execution of even the ones that had potential. It's this tonal inconsistency, this insistence that the sun is shining out of Finn's ass, that Finchel are meant to be and are more important than anyone else on this show, the trainwreck of season 3A especially, the issue episodes. The fact that the show swears it cares about all these kids when it's so quick to discard them and do their stories a disservice. It's not a triumphant last lap of the OGs but a tragedy for most and a wank fest for a select few.

[darling-i-read-it]

Bouquet

Michael Kelso x reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: michaels reputation

Author’s Note: steven supremacy but kelso could be kinda cute too lmao. I hope you like it love!

Requested: by anon, I'm the anon who requested Kelso x reader. I thought of something like, set in the beginning of s6 after Kelso helps Jackie and Hyde get together the reader being the cool girl in school (around Jackie's age) and she's really smart and has a bubbly/nice personality. She starts hanging out with the group (maybe because of Jackie? Idk she could be her friend first) and despite his reputation, she's friendly to him. He really likes her and hanging around her motivates him to review his attitude. She has feelings for him but does NOT want to fall for him because of all the things the group says about him. He's aware of this, and does everything in his power to prove her he's different.

Endings up to you 🥰

You don't even have to use everything in the prompt, I just really like the idea of him trying to be a better person, and I would like to read about the whole 'Michael wants a girl but the group is blocking him out of worry for their friend so he has to show he's a better person'.

And he's also not my favorite but I think he's super sweet in s3 and s4 and with the right amount of character development could be a thoughtful boyfriend

Thank you so much love ❤❤

Summary: the request

Genre: fluff

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director

(not my gif)

Jackie ran up to you before school even ended. She had just gotten this new outfit she was wearing (at lunch because who actually went to school anyway) and wanted to show you. You walked out of your class holding your books tight to your chest, surprised to see a small girl rushing toward you.

“Look at these boots!” she said and squealed a bit. She showed them off to you and you nodded, giving her a flashy smile.

“They look great Jackie!” you said because they really did. You were pretty sure Jackie could pull off anything she wanted to. You started walking to her car together and she flashed the keys, as she often did. They dangled from her fingers.

“I’m going to Formans, you wanna come?” she asked.

“And hang out with your whole group? I don’t know if that’s a great idea Jackie, you all seem pretty close,” you told her honestly. You had seen everyone around school and they seemed nice enough but they were always together. Through Jackie you had found out that they pretty much exclusively dated each other too. You just never thought you would fit in with them.

“They’ll love you! They’ll love you regardless because I love you and I have good taste,” she said, starting her car. You pursed your lips and thought about it for a second. You didn’t wanna be stuck there. You supposed your house wasn’t that far away from Eric’s, you could probably walk if you really needed to. Plus maybe they will like you.

“Okay I guess.”

“Wonderful! Some things you should know,” she started, in her gossipy voice, “don’t mind what Fez says Donna and me just ignore it. If Michael tries to flirt with you, ignore him.”

“I have Michael in my english class, he seems nice,” you said. You knew his reputation and what he had done to Jackie but she was mostly over it.

“Don’t even think about it. I’m not going to let him have his grabby hands all over you. I escaped that and now I’m with Steven thank God,” she muttered. You nodded.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

=====

When you arrived, Jackie introduced you to everyone there. Overall everyone seemed to like you or they were indifferent to your presence.

Donna told you the second you arrived that if Kelso tried to flirt with you you should ignore him. He wasn’t there the day you went because he had been in detention but you ran into him the next day at school. He sat next to you in english class.

“You’re Y/N right?” he said. You raised an eyebrow. You had assigned seating and you knew he wasn’t assigned to sit next to you. Class hadn’t started yet though so you supposed he had time.

“Yeah,” you said carefully. A dumb smile went over his face and he moved his hair to the side.

“I’m Michael Kelso. I heard you met my friends,” he said.

“Yeah I did,” you said. “They were really nice.” He nodded, that smile still there on his face. You gazed at him for a second, into his eyes. They looked almost completely blank. They reminded you of puppy eyes.

“Yeah they are nice aren’t they.” He looked up at the teacher who was about to get the class started.

“No offense Michael but they all told me I shouldn’t talk to you,” you said, adding a little laugh to try and ease up your words. He nodded.

“I figured. Don’t listen to them though.”

“I want us to be friends.” You put your hand up and he shook it, very happily. “But just know I’ve been warned.” He nodded aggressively .

“Noted!” The teacher pointed at Michael.

“Kelso! Back to your seat.”

=====

“I don’t know why you told her not to talk to me,” Michael said as he sat on the couch arm. He crossed his arms. Donna and Eric were sitting on the couch beside him, Fez on the chair to his left and Hyde and Jackie on the chair to his right. You were sitting on the other couch arm.

“We didn’t say that,” Donna corrected.

“All we said was that if you tried to flirt with her, we would collectively put an end to it,” Eric finished.

“Yeah Kelso man, you can’t flirt with everyone who walks through those doors,” Hyde concurred. Fez smiled.

“Not like me,” Fez said.

“Yeah well that’s just part of your personality,” Donna said, laughing a little bit. Michael opened his mouth in amazement.

“It’s part of my personality too!” he yelled.

“Just face it Michael. You’ve messed with too many,” Jackie said, head held high. You laughed a little bit. Michael turned to you.

“I will get you to like me. Even if I have to be good to do it.” You shrugged.

“Michael-” you started but he cut you off.

“No. I will.” He said. You shook your head a bit and leaned back. Donna looked up at you.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said honestly and you believed her. You had to admit, you had a lot of fun with these people. Guess that was why they were so close all the time.

===

Michael kept his promise that he would get you to like him. He spent the whole week doing small things for you here and there, trying to make sure that you noticed him. Sure, after he gave you the flowers and you thanked him he bragged about how good of a guy he was, but he was really trying.

Michael barged into Eric's basement and almost fell over doing it. He was pleased to see that only Eric was home, watching TV and flipping through a magazine. He looked up at Michael, uninterested and then back at his magazine.

“I think I’m in love,” he whispered. Eric scoffed.

“Didn’t you say that about Jackie?” he asked.

“Maybe.” There was a pause where Michael tried to retain the information but he came up empty. “I don’t know. But I mean it this time.” He sat down aggressively on the chair to the left of Eric. Eric finally closed his magazine and looked up.

“You barely know her.”

“I know her plenty!” he exclaimed. “We have english together and she’s so smart. She’s so nice to me!” He said that last part with a whisper scream. “And she hasn’t given in yet. She’s got stubbornness.”

“Got stubbornness?”

“You know what I mean!” Michael shook his head and Eric saw his expression grow serious which was very very rare in the case of Michael Kelso. “I feel excited when I see her and when she smiles at me it makes my stomach feel…” He put his hands up and waved them aggressively in demonstration. Eric leaned back in his chair.

“Well dang. Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Me neither!” “Do you think she likes you?”

“Not now that you’ve all told her I suck!” Michael shook his head, defeated. “So stupid.” Eric laughed a bit.

“You can’t blame us. If you want her, go and get her.”

===

Michael held a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He had used the last of his money for the week buying them and still wasn’t all that sure if you would like them. He didn’t expect the nerves that came with trying to ask you out. Usually if someone rejected him (which was rare, he liked to point out) he could move on quickly. He didn’t want you to reject him.

He walked into english class and you were already there, sitting at your desk, flipping through the assigned book. He took a deep breath and took the strides over to sit beside you. You looked up at him and gave him a small polite smile.

He took one more breath and then brought the bouquet out from behind his back. Your eyes went wide at the size of it.

“Would you pretty please go on a date with me?” he asked. You took the flowers from him and for a moment was stunned that he had actually asked. The flowers were truly beautiful.

You met his eyes.

“Yes Kelso I will go on a date with you.” He fist bumped the air aggressively and you laughed a bit, trying to ignore that he was making a big scene. He turned to you with a big smile.

“You won’t regret it.”

“You better not make me.”

“Kelso!” The teacher called, pointing his pen at Michael. “Get back to your seat!” they hissed. You laughed a little bit as he shook his head.

“I’m very comfortable right here,” he pointed out.

“Kelso.”

“Alright alright.” He turned to you as he got up. “I’ll see you at Forman’s basement tonight. You nodded.

“Yeah.”

“They’re never gonna believe it.”

“Jackies gonna scream,” you said. He shrugged.

“Let her scream. I think I won this one.”

[lesbianwithchainsaws]

Since series three of Mythic Quest is over what are your predictions on series four? Also what overall thoughts on series three of Mythic Quest because I still feel in the mix about this series.

First I want to say, thank you for asking! My answer ended up kinda long and rambly so I'll put it under keep reading in case anyone isn't interested. But I'm really happy to be able to discuss this!

I'm not sure I have any predictions, but I do really hope they follow up more on Zack's plan from season 2 in season 4. They completely dropped it, even though he was outright trying to manipulate employees and hurt the company. It's weird they didn't bring that up at all in s3. I also hope we get more character development for Dana, Rachel and Jo (I mentioned a while back that I'd love a Rachel backstory episode and I am sticking to that). I'm not a huge fan of Brad, Jo and Dana being split from the MQ office, but I hope that's at least done better than the splitting of characters in s3. I just hope s4 gives decent stories to the other characters again. They did it so well in s2, but fucked it in s3.

Also they better fucking bring back that bit of someone running to Brad for help and Brad already knowing what they want, and saying their words to them at the same time (did that make sense?) It's small, but I missed it in s3. It was a fun bit.

My ideal version of MQ season 4 would have more Rachel and Dana because to me the show is about them (it's not, I'm just constantly starved for good lesbian representation and want more of them being cringey lesbians). On a serious note, I just hope the other characters have more to do. Also more Carol would be great!

As far as s3 goes, I was quite disappointed with it. It had some great moments and I will say the Christmas episode and Sarian were life changing, but the rest was meh at best. It felt like the only characters that had something to do were mainly Poppy and David, and a bit of Ian. And the rest were just there?

The Rachel and Brad dynamic was rushed as all hell, which sucks bc I really like their dynamic, but come on it would not take Rachel one speech to suddenly be a greedy capitalist. Even with the whole idea of "she talked herself into it" it doesn't work imo. There should've been more manipulation on Brad's part for it to work, and it should've taken longer than an episode. (Also multiple people have brought this up already, but it makes no sense that Rachel dropped her goal of writing. I'd get it if she dropped out of Berkley for one reason or another, but her outright abandoning her interest in writing was weird)

Dana felt like she was barely there for a lot of the season imo, which sucks bc she's a cool character! And they barely did anything with her until like the last few episodes.

I hate that all of s3 was building up this movie deal, only for it to get cancelled at the end? Like what the fuck was that! Movies get cancelled often, sure, but for that to just not go anywhere at all was bullshit in my opinion. David standing up for himself was iconic, but the movie just being cancelled like that wasn't a good choice.

Also why was Brad the janitor for only like 2 seconds? Why did he hint towards having a plan, but had nothing? Brad as a janitor could've been so interesting since he was the head of monetization a year before, and now he has to try to get that back somehow. But they dropped that too.

Of course, a lot of people also wanted the Brad Breakdown Episode. I didn't know Danny Pudi had teased anything like it so I never expected it, but it is weird to name your episode To Catch a Mouse, stick Brad and Jo right in there, and nothing? At all? Did the writers forget about the animal sorting episode and Brad being labeled a mouse? Did they forget that Jo directly fucked with him for being a mouse? (Also side note: am I stupid or does it not make sense that Brad had the janitor costume on again in that episode if he's not the janitor anymore?)

The fact that CW didn't get a mention outside of the first episode was also disappointing. People theorised that CW's speech was gonna have an impact on some of the other characters, and I wish it would've. At the very least there should've been a scene where they're talking about CW because he was their friend after all.

I feel like I'm rambling a bunch now and I'm sorry. Simply put, I just hope s4 is better.

[shayneysides]

The writers in tua really added in a rising sun flag in s3 and the “ open up your kimono” line klaus said towards Ben was super weird considering bens korean, not to mention the fandom treats Lila like shit especially after s2 dropped the double standards were horrible. What are your thoughts on how Asian characters are treated by the writers in tua?

Oh my god I've been waiting for someone to ask me this for ages. Right off the bat I am gonna just say I can't really speak on how the fandom treated Lila when she was first introduced because I wasn't in the fandom then (I was there for s1 and s3 when they came out, but not s2). I can however speak about the other characters! 

Ben throughout s1 and s2 honestly doesn't have much character at all, in my opinion- I guess he's snarky, and kind of mean, and? is sad about being dead, I guess? But he mostly acts as Klaus's conscience in s1 and honestly just a thorn in his side in s2. His only moment of true plot importance is when he speaks to Viktor and is able to calm him down, effectively stopping the apocalypse- it's an amazing scene that really utilizes Ben as a character. Which is why it sucks that he literally dies right after it, and doesn't get any other scenes like that! I understand that he's dead, and there's only so much you can do with him, but it's still a little disappointing that he has next to no character development and just serves to forward the development of a white character.

Sparrow Ben is a whole other thing- thank god he at least has some depth to his character this time! I think they did a good job making him an asshole without making him completely unlikeable, and I really loved his whole arc of just wanting to be part of the family. I think his overall writing is pretty good, even though there are some weird moments- the "open up your kimono" line is entirely unnecessary and they very well could've just said robes or something like that. The moment where Ben and Diego are arguing and they start arguing in Korean and Spanish respectively- I guess it's funny, but it also strikes me as a little off given that neither of these characters really show any connection to their cultures before this season, and having the moment with that connection be when they're angry and arguing is a questionable decision. Overall, though, I don't have any real issues with how Sparrow Ben is written. 

The scene where Ben is born and we see his parents does bug me a little bit- compared to the other birth scene (Viktor's in s1) where the mother at least get to speak, I wish they had given us any sort of character past giggling schoolgirl. I would love to just once see a depiction of a young Korean woman that isn't just cute and innocent and, well, a giggling schoolgirl. Even compared to the snippets of the other mothers that we see, the rest of them are teachers, businesswomen, or at the very least grown adults, and I just wish Ben's mother could've gotten that.

As for Lila, race feels very removed from her character in general, which can be both a strength and a weakness in the writing. It eliminates weird, uncomfortable moments like what happened with Ben, but it can also remove some depth from her character. I dislike that they really didn't address the racism an Asian woman in the 1960s would face, but I'm also glad s2 didn't just become racism trauma porn. I also dislike that you could argue that she fits the "mysterious, sneaky, fierce mistress of the East" type of stereotype with her "seducing" Diego and then double crossing the Hargreeves, but I also think her character has a lot of depth outside of that argument and she has real motives for everything she does, so I'm not too pressed about it. And I don't mind how she's written in s3, either- I think the whole Stanley plotline is weird and unnecessary, but not really in a way connected to race, it's kind of just poorly written and very poorly casted. Overall, I think the writers have done a pretty good job with Lila, but if anyone disagrees, I'd genuinely like to hear your thoughts on it (especially since I'm East Asian, not South Asian, and I'm not able to understand as much of the nuance with her character as I am with Ben).

This one isn't exactly a character, but I still want to talk about it- Hotel Oblivion. First off, I didn't even see the rising sun flag when first watching, but I can only assume that's where it appears, and I hate that a lot! That flag represent imperialism, and unless you are specifically referencing that imperialism and the flag has a real reason to be there, you should not use it. I feel like that's common sense at this point, but I guess not. Second, what was up with Hotel Oblivion in general? Why was it Japan-themed? I mean, I know why, it's Orientalism, but you could at least give it a reason in the plot. I really, really hate that the spooky alternate dimension alien mysterious version of an American place is themed around Japan. Like we get it! Hotel Oblivion is a strange, scary place, and making it Japan-themed is either implying that the East is also strange and scary, or worse, that the East is what makes a place strange and scary. 

And then there's how the fandom treats Asian characters, and I know that's not really what you were originally asking, but I feel the need to talk about it. The way the fandom treated Ben throughout s1 and s2 is fucking infuriating. Like I said earlier, even with his lack of depth, Ben's character traits were generally snarky, sarcastic, and kind of sad. So naturally, the fandom treated him like a small child! Asian men, specifically East Asian men, are constantly infantalized, and that's exactly what happened. Everyone treated Ben as this little uwu baby boy cinnamon roll and why? Genuinely when does he act all sweet and innocent, like how fans were treating him? I guess in the bank robbery scene, when he was literally a child! Gee, I wonder why people focused exclusively on that scene, rather than when he punched Klaus in the face, or any of the other scenes where Ben was an asshole- or at the very least, not a literal child. And now that s3 has come out, and Sparrow Ben is extremely explicitly rude and mean, people are finally treating him like the adult he is, and I think it says a lot about how the fandom saw him that it took his whole character becoming a total dick for them to stop woobifying him. And again, I can't really say anything about how the fandom treated Lila post-s2, because I wasn't in the fandom then, but if anyone reading this does have thoughts on it, please feel free to add them here! I haven't really seen much mistreatment of Lila post-s3, but I don't doubt at all that it existed when she was introduced. The most I've seen has been about the Stanley plotline, but that's mostly been (rightfully) making fun of the writers. 

All in all, I think the writers haven't been super explicitly racist with anything except for the whole Hotel Oblivion thing, but they have made some poor choices in their writing. The fandom has definitely been racist, but I'm hoping it's starting to improve, as I've seen more people discussing the actual nuances of Ben's character post-s3. I think some people might read this and be like "But Klaus would say that to any character! But the fandom has woobified other characters too!" to which I say, you cannot treat characters of color the same way you treat white characters. That's it. You cannot treat characters of color the same way you treat white characters. What is a silly little comment from Klaus when directed towards a white character is a weirdly racially charged comment when directed towards an Asian character. You need to be careful when writing and discussing characters of color, because there are going to be different implications to their actions and actions directed towards them. Please, please stop ignoring fans of color when we tell you that your treatment of certain characters is racist, even when it's unintentional. 

Thanks for sending this, anon, I had a lot to say!

[septiembrre]

I'm a little late but I just saw your post from a year ago about latinx rep in good girls and its sad reflecting back on it and how the show could've done better. Rio was just another stereotype, I hate how he was ambitiously latino and there was just no connection to his culture. Was he first, 2nd, or 3rd Gen? If he was 1st Gen it didn't make sense to have the family speak English. One thing that always annoyed me is how OOC he was at times and how the writers purposely made him out to be like some brown aggressive misogynistic man. They didn't bother making him complex. In a way I'm glad the show got canceled. As a Mexican woman the way Rio was written was racist.

Wah, I’ve been sitting on answering your ask. I wanted to tease your ask apart and respond to it sentence by sentence. But... my brain kept rechazandolo, so now I have feelings dump instead.

Since Good Girls ended, I have been parsing through how I feel about S4 and GG overall — sometimes more positively, sometimes more negatively. Then, I flip to reminding myself it’s not that serious (it's just tv! this is supposed to be my leisure activity!). Then, I waffle back to reflecting.

So, no textual analysis just feels and whining under the cut. I know folks are still mourning the end of the show and I don't want to yuck anyone's yum. Tagging with #ggnegativity.

My short answer is that Good Girls is my beloved, sometimes joyful, sometimes hurtful, complicated little show. Even now that we’re no longer getting new episodes I’m wary of sifting through the information we have about Rio because it’s a mess and it seems like a lot of his character was poorly thought out (ahem, all those dumb messages from Bill Krebs confirming multiple instances of lack of intentionality or care!).

I say this because I was tempted to start responding to you by riffing off of your comment with, “y'know, now that you say that, I think he’s third or fourth gen…”, pero who cares? And the point was never specifically about what gen he is, or even more specifically about... lol, I was going to say it doesn't matter what nationality he was, they just needed to pick one. Ugh, but the wording of that is too glib. The lack of intentionality behind these details feels sanitized to me, it feels very white gaze, it feels lazy.

However, I could have forgiven a lot of this weak character construction if his baseline, plot-related characterization on-screen was more consistent. But, Rio was often used as a plot device in a way that often fell flat for me, a weekly recurring bogeyman whether his antagonism made sense or not. On one hand, I feel for the creative team, because I think they were in a hard place, trying to avoid romanticizing Rio, and trying to seemingly backtrack the sexualization of him in Season 2, but... Idk, it's complicated.

Retrospectively, it’s sitting with me how much Good Girls is rooted in whiteness. While it's something I discerned before (lol, most obviously with 2x13 and in S3 with Lucy's disposability), you know how some shows get to their third or fourth season and finally start investing in their marginalized characters? It’s a crappy thing to hold out hope for, they're crumbs! But, I was. And we did get some Rio worldbuilding. But, ultimately, it felt weak to me -- under-conceptualized or under-worked.

For example, I liked Nick as a Bigger Bad who drove Rio and Beth together. I also thought that Nick's non-existent moral code was a lovely foil to Rio's, and that this contrast humanized Rio in a way that he needed. It also cast a new light on Rio's behavior of the earlier seasons, outside of Beth's perception in a way that I thought was healthy and needed. Great, meaty stuff! However, Nick and Rio's relationship came across as shallow to me. There really did not seem to be a lived-in quality to their scenes. The show really struggled with that element overall -- even with the three lead protagonists (their decades-long history with each other and interactions between their families being largely absent). I wonder why they made that choice.

It's strange because on the flip side we got a hefty amount of contextualization for MLM guy Vance and Annie's bf Kevin... Even that cop who Mick killed! All white men, too.

Me da pena.

Or maybe the thing that bothers me is that those scenes between Nick and Rio didn't center Rio's perspective effectively? Despite the one-on-one scenes being outside of Beth's framing (Rio being a secondary character typically tethered to Beth's story arc), there still was a lot of distance between Rio and the viewer? Like I think of Vance in his kitchen with his wife and child, and the way we as viewers were brought into that to empathize with him, and I think of the distance of Nick+Rio boxing scene or the scenes at the bar. Argh! It's hard to pinpoint without the textual analysis I feel too grumpy to do. It was such a narrative choice to keep Rio aloof and I side-eye it.

Anyway --

Overall, the writing room/show creators/decision-makers didn't seem to consider Latine/x/a/o viewers throughout the crafting of Good Girls and that sucks. It really feels like I'm being told to conform to the white gaze in watching the show, and after 2x13 that makes me feel prickly and defensive. A part of me yearns to do a rewatch to map Rio’s character (and inconsistencies) but I still yield joy from Good Girls — it’s been my main comfort story during the pandemic. I also rendered joy from Season 4 specifically — some of those scenes between the leads at the end were phenom!!

I am leaning into what's bringing me joy right now, so I feel hesitant to stew in critique, even while I also feel some sort of need to make sense of the hurtful racializations. I have a compulsion to write them all down on the same post or list -- somewhere where I can see them all at once and understand. But, at the moment, it’s not a use of my time and energy that feels good. Opting into fics and writing is bringing me a lot of joy during hard times.

I have to close with one final whine, that I am SO fatigued with television options right now. I find myself desperately wishing for more TV out there whose priority audience isn't only white folks. Good Girls isn't alone in its treatment of Latinx characters, or alone in mishandling characters of color or gay characters, or prioritization of empathy for white het male characters, but certainly, creating something more thoughtful shouldn't be so hard.

[gallavichthings]

I’m a bit late this week, but I have the pleasure of sharing the lovely conversation I had with @annansmith​ (here’s her AO3). She’s somewhat new to the fandom, but her stories get a lot of love. Some of them are My Whiskey Smells of Oranges, Moonlight Sonata and Just My Type of Thug.

GT: First of all, how can we call you and what are your pronouns?

A: Please call me Anna. Her/She.

GT: You use your real name as a username? That's unusual.

A: Anna is not actually my real name. It's part of it though. In fact all parts of my username are derived from my actual name. but it's still obscure enough that hopefully none of my real life acquaintances will ever notice should they stumble over my fics. Though if they were browsing through the gallavich tag, they'd be secretly people after my own heart. So wouldn't that be lovely?

GT: Alright, nice to meet you, Anna! Please tell us a bit about yourself.

A: What can I tell you about myself? I'm turning 29 soon-ish and not quite ready for my last year in my twenties. Though I've heard the 30s is where it's all about now, so I'm also looking forward to it. I'm from Germany, born in Berlin, but living close to Frankfurt for many years now. I work in the video game industry and have been stuck in home office throughout the past year like many others. I gotta say though, I'm a fairly patient person and I was able to take a lot of positives from this quarantine experience, specifically I got back into writing which is probably the reason why I'm still sane. Other than that, maybe to paint a better picture for you, I'm half Filipina, so I got a bit of an exotic look. I like making people laugh. And I hate exercising. There, some of the random bits that describe me.

GT: That's all very interesting, actually! Thank you for sharing. Do you have any real life friends who are fans of Gallavich or Shameless too?

A: I got into Shameless actually because of my best friend! She's been watching Shameless for a couple of years I think and last year after lockdown started I decided to binge Shameless and like always I overtook her and am further ahead than she is now. She likes gallavich, but she is definitely not obsessed like me. So I have to rein in my enthusiasm when I talk to her about it as to not sound like a crazy person to the normals out there.

GT: Hahaha, I totally understand that! What attracted you to Gallavich? What do you think it's the best thing about the ship ?

A: After being first introduced to Ian and the fact that he's gay, I kept telling myself "keep chill, you're not gonna obsess over yet another gay couple!". So in the beginning when the idea of that couple started being portrayed, I was trying not to get sucked in. Actually I really loved the overall Shameless show, so I wanted to watch it "normally" and not concentrate so much on Ian/Mickey. That resolution came crumbling down by the end of s3 I believe when we saw the hard-ass thug sniff and cry after Ian said good-bye to him. I think what I love the most about this couple is that their love is so pure and so beautiful in its essence that when you see it in juxtaposition to their gritty environment, to the truly ugly and awful that is being constantly thrown at them, it just pulls on your heartstrings. Their love couldn't be stamped out, even at times when they both tried to let go, because their love was just purely good at its core and so real that nothing could snuff it out. Also I love how rough and tough kinda guys they are, but are so soft for each other. I've truly lost my heart to this ship.

GT: The things they had to overcome, it's really an amazing love story when you think about it. It's impossible not to root for them when you see that they really care for each other, despite all the odds.

Why another gay couple though? What are your other gay ships?

A: I had just come from the Teen Wolf fandom. They weren't canon but I shipped Sterek. I wrote a couple Suits fanfic too (also another non-canon couple). I watched Shadowhunters and on there was a gay ship as well. And well my favorite show is Sense8 which is basically a multi-ship gay lovefest. I don't exclusively ship gay couples, but it's evidently a trend.

GT: Did you write fics for all these fandoms or just Suits?

A: Suits and Teen Wolf.

GT: And what made you want to write for Shameless too?

A: I started writing after s10 and I guess I felt the need to fill in some blanks for me. After the break-up, the years apart, and the border good-bye, I felt like so many things were left unresolved. S10 immediately started off as them bickering and Ian wanting a break. I needed to get a little bit more from Ian in terms of how he felt about Mickey being back in his life, how he envisioned his future, how it included Mickey, how serious it was, etc. What about the reason for their break-up? Are they just not talking about it? Does it not matter anymore? We knew how Mickey felt. He had thrown himself back into prison for a failed relationship, had given up his freedom for Ian. I needed a bit more insight into how Ian felt about all of this. Throughout s10 we didn't get much in my opinion and even with the promise ring debacle, his concerns were just slightly thrown out there and never really worked through. It wasn't enough for me and I guess that's how the desire to write something to fill in the blanks arose. Starting from my first bigger fic, I really enjoyed engaging with the fandom. I was usually always the silently lurking fan type. Maybe checking out what was going on in the fandom, but staying under the radar mostly, not talking to anybody. I really came out of my shell here in this fandom! It's a really lovely size with great people!

GT: Awn, that's so nice. You've made some friends in the fandom, haven't you?

A: I made one very good and special friend. I am positive a lifetime friend! And beyond that I have been talking to others here and there, commenting on posts, leaving more fic comments, that kind of fandom engagement. Which is about a hundred percent more than I did before.

GT: That is the best thing about fandoms, in my opinion. I'm glad you had this experience.

What's the best thing about writing Ian and Mickey?

A: Writing in character is important to me, whether I hit that mark or not I leave up to my readers, and I love how much range we're given with these characters. Over the many years we've seen how they react and behave in various different situations. We know what they like and what they dislike, canon contradictions aside. We have a lot of history we can draw from. I especially love how we can go from absolutely deep rooted internalized homophobia to incredible love declarations. Because it's happened! It's not unrealistic at all. We can write them so soft at times and be incredibly self-sacrificing without making them seem OOC. I think that is what I love most about them. In my recent behemoth of a fic My Whiskey Smells of Oranges they meet in a canon divergent beginning set in a soulmate universe and in this slow-burn they have all these moments pinging from trauma and hurt to absolute love and comfort, equally as intense. And I enjoyed having these incredibly tender and loving moments, those big love confessions after the many hardships they had to face together without it, hopefully, feeling out of character.

Also, I prefer writing established relationship mixed in with a healthy dose of comedy and those two have a chaotic energy to them, I absolutely love it.

GT: Is that the kind of fics you write the most, established relationship?

A: Yes, definitely! I love domestic bliss, writing in all these sweet little romantic moments. But still keeping their rough edges. Showcasing their chemistry and why they work so well as a couple... It's my favorite. And if I can make the reader also laugh at the same time, it's the best!

GT: Is that your favorite to read as well?

A: Hmm good question. Tentatively, I would say yes. I prefer reading canon compliant stories for gallavich and since they are together for most of their history, it's established relationship by default. I haven't come across that many comedy fics I think. But for sure there are a lot of soft ones out there. I don't mind reading a getting together or back together fic though. As long as the pacing and the characterization is right.

GT: Which fics do you avoid then?

A: I feel like a lot. This is not a statement on the offer this fandom has. It is about what I am not in the mood for reading. As I said I prefer canon compliant which excludes a whole bunch of fics that live in the AU realm. I have a few AUs I'm up for, such as organized crime and soulmates, but mostly I can't get behind a too strongly divergent background story for them. Especially when the motivation behind writing a certain AU is more about writing that trope than it is writing about Ian and Mickey in that trope. That's where characterization comes into play again. It is definitely a challenge to combine these. A challenge which I myself also struggle with when writing AU. The fics that I cannot get into whatsoever are with Svetlana and Yevgeny. The way the canon storyline was handled just hits a nerve with me that makes me unable to read those fics.

GT: Fair enough.

What are some challenges of writing them?

A: I'd say one of my personal biggest weaknesses is diving into characters' introspective emotional states. Or at least writing extensively about it. I do it enough where it is necessary and where pacing demands it, but there are so many wonderful fics out there who give you a beautiful introspective in-depth look into how the boys are feeling from the very first word to the last word and I admire that, maybe especially so because I can only do short bursts throughout the story.

GT: I am the exact same, so I totally understand what you're talking about.

What are your other favorite characters from the show? Do you include them in your fics?

A: I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling with this!

Fiona and Carl hands down I'd say. Most of my fics are post s9 and, therefore, are lacking Fiona, so when I was able to write Fiona in for the first time I got so giddy! I loved early seasons Fiona. She was my favorite character back then. And Carl is just a really funny character to write. In recent seasons he's become a favorite of mine. I also like writing the dynamic between Ian/Mickey and Liam/Franny. I'm not ready yet for Ian and Mickey to have kids, but taking care of the youngest I really enjoy writing in!

GT: Do you have your own OCs?

A: Yes. In My Whiskey Smells of Oranges I have created, in my eyes, a delightful school principal for my story. He's sort of functioned as the secret guardian fairytale grandmother to Mickey and if I had it in me, I would have loved to add a little oneshot of his POV to my story. I'm also working on a mafia AU, I say that but it's on ice for the time being, and that one is written from an outside POV. That OC is having a bit of a culture shock witnessing Ian and Mickey's unique dynamic. I love how we get to showcase the crazy that comes with the Gallaghers through outside POV.

GT: How do you come up with your OCs then? Do you base them on real people?

A: From a physical appearance standpoint, yes. I often tend to picture an actor I know from another show for my OCs. But they are never based on people I know. Actually, there doesn't go much forethought into my OCs now that I think about it. They usually fit to what I need them to be in my story. Now that you ask I feel like I should put more thought into it? Haha, well, maybe next time.

GT: Hahah, sorry, didn't mean to make you second guess yourself.

Tell me about your writing process then.

A: No worries, I love talking about writing with others! Which leads me to your next question. My so called writing process is a bit of a mess. My muse is very moody, an entitled little thing really... So first I would have an idea I like and can't shake. Then I would daydream a fair amount about it. Once there are a few scenes in my head I really like, I would write something resembling an outline down. Which looks worse than Swiss cheese. Sometimes it would say: family dinner - Ian out of job ---> Freddie blue paint ---> slow dance under moonlight ---> smut ---> bank robbery??

Somehow that equals my preparation and after providing a fair amount of offerings to my muse, setting mood fitting music in the background, and staring at a blank document for hours, I painstakingly try to write down my first few sentences which I always hate. After days of mini existential life crises and self-pity have passed, I dust myself off and keep on writing. At a certain point I will have gotten into it and it's a bit easier to keep at it. I usually fill out these poorly outlined scenes in the moment when I write them. I write other scenes in so I land where I want to end up. It works for some reason. I get really into these spontaneous ideas that make my story come to life. But I do wish I could just outline my story to its last detail. It's just I don't think I would ever start writing, if I had to come up with every scene immediately. When I write and let spontaneous ideas take me through the story, let characters show me how they would deal with a certain plotline, it usually worked really well for me. I guess every writer is different and you just gotta go with what works for you!

I have to write everything down first though, since I don't have everything planned out which is why I need to go back at times to rewrite something. I also lay out bread crumbs throughout the story and I want to make sure it's coherent at the end. So I am not usually a posting chapter by chapter author. I actually like giving my readers the full experience at once. I like to read about their impressions after they've read everything, when it all came together to paint that one big picture for them.

GT: Lol this made me laugh

Where do you usually find inspiration for your fics?

A: Usually from canon. I thought about this before and I noticed nowadays we are so used to binge watching a show that the individual episodes don't sit with me anymore. Having to wait week by week for the last Shameless season really gave me the opportunity to ruminate about the characters' motivation and reasoning. Trying to fill in blanks. Imagining ways to fix certain plotlines. It was really great and I even wrote two oneshots between the episodes. I'm going to really miss that. Especially having to sit with an episode together with the fandom, wondering how the heck to interpret what happened. I'm less inclined to pick something up from past episodes when the moment has already passed. Other than that I really enjoy my talks with @livinginsunnyhell​. We have probably already written entire theses on gallavich and I really cherish those long winded discussions. She's definitely another inspiration to my writing.

GT: Awn, I'm sure she'll enjoy knowing that.

What did you think of the finale?

A: I actually liked it. I wasn't a fan of the pacing, that one gallavich furniture scene, Debbie's weirdo gf, and that floating chair bit, but all in all I liked the open-endedness of it. I love that we have always accompanied this show, these characters over the years as a slice of life type of story. We got to witness their lives through a certain period of time. But they had their moments before the pilot and they will have their crazy rest of their lives after the finale. I like how they will simply continue how we've always accompanied them. Also I'm a terrible emotional mess after I've stuck with a very long story and got attached to the characters. So for me that really made it easier to let go. It's not over, they continue on. And we get to write fanfic about it!

GT: Exactly! It's our world now. 😁

What do you headcanon for Ian and Mickey after the finale?

A: First of all, they'll never break up. They'll get Bazooka the dog and live on the West Side for a bit. They will make a decent amount of money with their business until these knuckleheads realize they can't keep driving around a stolen ambulance modified to hold a bunch of heavy weaponry in it. Maybe a close call will make them look for an alternative job. Still working for themselves and together, but legal now. They might move back to the South Side, buy a little house, and years down the road they will start taking care of a kid that kinda fell in their lap. But in five years earliest! I want them to live solely for each other for now. I think they are not ready yet to be parents. For now let them focus on each other, get their irresponsible craziness out of their systems (to a degree), and cement their relationship even more. I want them to bask in their love for each other and their married life a bit more, before they split their attention between that and kids. In between a lot of crazy shit will happen par for the course, but they are solid and they will conquer everything!

GT: Sounds lovely.

What's your favorite Shameless season?

A: Since I like established relationship and the domestic bliss that comes with it, I'm gonna go with s11. Ian has come into the role as husband so beautifully. I adored him! We got a lot of sweet moments. Of course I don't like everything about the season, but when did I ever with Shameless? But a very close second is s4. I got so hooked on gallavich back then. It was such a great season! Judging from an overall perspective though, I loved the first three seasons of Shameless. I loved how it was all about that family unity in the beginning. How these six siblings tried to make ends meet together with Fiona at the helm. It warmed my heart and I wish we had kept a little more to that theme in later seasons.

GT: Yes, I think they lost that unity along the way. I have the feeling they were so worried about owing up to their name and having shameless plots that were more and more bizarre that they didn't realize that was not what people enjoyed more about their show.

A: Yes, I wondered about that. Did people watch the show for the bizarre stories or for the characters and their family bond? The latter came first to me.

GT: What about a favorite episode?

A: Favorite episode, that is so hard! Gallavich had so many great moments. I'm going with 11x06. I loved Mickey working through some of his past demons there. I loved how Ian was by his side and knew exactly how to be there for him. I absolutely loved loved that talk on the couch.

Seeing them finally happy and there for each other is heart-warming.

GT: If you could go back and change one thing in canon, what would it be?

A: The moment in 5x12 where Ian simply strolls back into the house while the guy he loved gets chased down the street and shot at. Not gonna lie, dark times, dark dark times...

GT: Agreed. Out of your own fics, which one are you the proudest of?

A: It's between Moonlight Sonata and My Whiskey Smells of Oranges. Moonlight Sonata is a post s10 fic very much in line with my usual writing style. It's a fic in which Ian figures out for himself what it means to be a husband. It has a lot of light-hearted, sweet moments and many funny bits in it. There are a couple dashes of angst, but mostly it's a tender fic. The feedback has been great and it's just a sweet fic I think very fondly of.

Whiskey couldn't be more different. It's a friends to lovers slow burn with a heavy amount of hurt/comfort. Writing it was far out of my comfort zone. It's 169k and the longest thing I ever wrote. I never thought I'd be able to write such a monster. The journey I sent those boys on though, it was so heartbreaking and heartwarming. I wanted to showcase that no matter how these two met, they were always meant for each other. Unlike canon they start off as friends and study partners, but they gradually build that same deeply tied connection with each other and while as teenagers they don't have much to give, they give everything to each other. Having been able to explore that kind of wholesome, devoted love between them, has just been very special to me. That fic helped me embrace the parts I tended to think I was weak at and it made me a better writer for sure.

GT: You mentioned the feedback had been great. What kind of comments are you favorite to get?

A: I love the ones that seem to come from an emotional state in the moment it was written. When someone tells you they are so emotional right now, having laughed and cried along with your story, those are really precious. And I really cherish those who comment on things you didn't think the readers would necessarily pick up on, on parts of your story that you might have agonized over for a long time and they validate your efforts by noticing.

GT: What are some of your favorite fics and/or writers in the fandom?

A: I feel like I am repeating myself about this, I already shared my favorite fic recs in the past a couple of times, but I can't help still liking those the best. I absolutely adore @captainjowl​'s fics! Wish she would write more (hint hint). My canon compliant heart goes to @livinginsunnyhell​ (ao3: ProstheticLoVe). I really loved You make me feel human by Dragona. Also a fan of ColdReign and IanRightsOnly!

GT: Hahah, I'll pass the message along lol. 

Ok, finally, tell us about your next fic projects. Do you have anything planned?

A: I just started writing on a Moonlight Sonata sequel which will continue where MS left off, only this time it's going to be about Mickey trying to figure out what kind of husband he wants and needs to be for Ian, including all the series typical shenanigans and love confessions. I am also tackling a season 12 fic which is more gen than gallavich focused. If I can get my muse behind it, it will be in the Shameless typical twelve episode format. I hope I will finish the mafia AU fic soon and lastly I am working on a PWP series, because I feel like we have way too little smut in our fandom!

GT: I love that you're writing a S12 Gen fic!

That's all, thank you so much for participating. A final message?

A: Thank you for having me! It's lovely that you're doing this and I hope we can keep the fandom engaged with fun activities such as this even after the show has come to an end now. I want to encourage all the artists, writers, bloggers, and all the fans to keep the gallavich content coming and circulating! I know first hand it's not always easy to put your art out there, so I really hope we can be as supportive and positive toward all the content creators out there! We do this for free and for everyone to enjoy! We know our works might not be perfect, we know it might not be to everyone's taste, but it's a ton of fun expressing ourselves and sharing it with you! So let's stay kind and encouraging and remember there is always a real human being behind a gif set, a meta, or a 10k fic.

GT: You said it all. Thank you again ❤️