#although i dont think that actually surprised me it was just a good scene | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

auspicious-manner · 1 year ago

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Hi! I was wondering if you could write about Billy dunne, there isn't a lot about him. Him and the reader have known each other since they were kids but dont really interact much and Billy is so crazy about her but the reader hasn't ever considered romantic feelings for Billy. He wants to impress her and win her over bad. Basically follows what happens in canon except there is no cheating drama, its just drama between Billy and reader. I don't know how clear this is but thanks i appreciate it!

what's with my djats stories being so long?

sorry this took so long to get out, i started to lose motivation for it after i realized the idea in my head would make this WAY longer than it needed to be. sorry if the end is a little rushed 😭

female reader x billy dunne

warnings: drug use

It Was Always You

•

pittsburgh didn’t have much to offer anyone looking to explore the music scene. there were no big opportunities, and limited ways to get noticed. the six, formerly known as the dunne brothers, needed to move out of pittsburgh to somewhere they could make it. somewhere like california.

and you were the reason they got there.

you lived in the same neighborhood as billy and graham and went to school together, and you were the same age as graham. you and graham were friends, not great ones, but friends nonetheless. despite you being a friend of his brother, billy couldn’t help but keep a watchful eye over you.

even since you were in middle school, billy had some kind of adoration and fascination with you, and you barely knew of his existence. if you were taking a walk through the neighborhood, billy was at his window watching. you always knew it wasn’t in a creepy way, it felt different than that. you couldn’t tell what it was that made him watch you, but you felt flattered more than anything.

when you caught word of graham wanting to start a band with eddie, warren, chuck, and billy, you knew you wanted in. even though music was not your specialty, you could do other things.

during one of the band’s first rehearsals in billy and graham’s garage, you walked over to scope out the band. billy noticed you first, and his eyes widened a bit. graham noticed you shortly after.

“oh, hey Y/N.” graham started.

you smiled and waved. “hey graham,” you said, looking around at the rest of the boys. “and warren, eddie, chuck, and…” you said while giggling, trailing off when you got to billy. he looked at you like he was waiting for something important. “billy, right?”

you thought you saw him sigh of relief, but he covered it well. he smiled at you and reached out his hand. you took it, and noticed he held on for a few extra moments. “yeah, i’m billy dunne, graham’s brother. it’s good to meet you, Y/N.” after he released your hand, you noticed he never broke eye contact.

“what brings you here?” warren asked, taking a sip from his water.

“i actually had a question for you guys,” you said, suddenly getting nervous.

“let’s hear it,” billy told you.

you took a small breath. “i was, uh-i was wondering if you would consider letting me be apart of the band. i’m not musical in any way, so i don’t expect to be in the band, but i’d love to be apart of it some other way.”

the band stared at you, not in a threatening way, but like they were considering it. they couldn’t decide what to make of you.

“what, you want to be our groupie or roadie or somethin’?” eddie asked.

“actually, i was thinking manager.”

the group made surprised expressions. billy stepped forward to you. “why should we let you be our manager?”

“well, for one, i’m very organized. i can keep everything on track and on schedule with the band. i’m also very persuasive, and i could get you guys a lot of gigs for good money. and although i can’t play music, i know a lot about it. i’m also good at photography, and can get some good shots of you guys.”

the band once again considered you. you felt small under their glares, but the harshness was broken by billy’s smile. “you got the time for us?”

you smirked. “always.”

billy bit his lip. “welcome aboard.”

you smiled wide. you couldn’t believe they actually took a blind chance on you. you half expected them to turn you down.

“wait, aren’t we going to talk about this?” eddie asked.

billy annoyedly turned to eddie. “you guys put me in charge, so i call the shots, and i say she’s in." he paused, turning to warren. "warren, count us in,” billy said as warren began counting. billy sent you a wink as they played, and you noticed eddie rolling his eyes.

you grew closer with everyone in the band. graham quickly became your go to guy, and you became best friends. warren was like your annoying brother that you constantly got fed up with but loved regardless. eddie acted like he didn’t like you as the band’s manager, but you were always the first one to call if he needed help with anything. you never really grew close with chuck, but you tolerated him and he tolerated you. your relationship with chuck didn’t matter much, since he left the band early.

billy, however, felt different. you could tell something was off about him. you rarely talked, but it always seemed like billy had something to say to you that he never let out. it always felt like he was hesitating around you, and he wanted to make sure you were watching him during your performances. it was clear to everyone in the band that you had some sort of hold on him.

over the next few years in pittsburgh, you lined up gigs at proms, weddings, and graduation parties for the band. you adored what you did. you got the thrill of watching your friends perform and the crowd cheering without the stress of playing. also, you felt like you were good at what you did. you always knew how to be timely, organized, and respectful, all qualities which made you fit to be their manager. you also used your photography skills to take up close photos and videos of the band performing and practicing, which you would later use to advertise for the band.

after chuck broke the news to the band that he would be leaving, he went back into his house, leaving your disheveled band down a member.

you could tell billy was thinking hard. with his brown furrowed, eyes pointed to the ground, the rest of the band waited for his direction. then, out of nowhere, he grabbed your wrist and took you out of earshot from the boys.

“billy, what’s this about?” you said, keeping your voice low. you knew there was a reason billy pulled you and no one else aside.

“i need your help. i don’t know what to do,” he said, avoiding eye contact.

“why’d you need my help? i mean, you have graham, you own brother. i’m sure he’d know-”

billy looked up into your eyes sharply, and you immediately stopped talking. “i trust your opinion more than anyone else’s, Y/N.”

you nodded. you glanced at the band, who was clearly trying not to watch the sight unfolding in front of them. when you looked at them, they turned away quickly.

“eddie’s gonna hate us, but i think he should switch to bass,” you suggested.

billy slightly smiled. “you think?”

you nodded. “yeah, you just need to stay focused on being a great leader for this band. i wouldn’t want you straining trying to figure out bass while also trying to be a kick ass front man.”

billy blushed and bit his lip to suppress a smile, then patted your shoulder. “you’re too nice to me.”

you both walked back to the band, who was anxiously awaiting the solution to their problem. when billy broke the news, eddie scoffed, bluntly saying, “no, absolutely not."

“which one of you came up with that idea?” eddie continued. it seemed like one wrong move could completely set him off.

billy stepped up. “it was me. i-”

the band was only beginning. you couldn’t let their relationships already fall apart before the band even gets big. you knew billy was trying to take the blame for you, but it wasn’t necessary.

“it was me.”

his eyes softened at you. he seemed almost offended that you gave up his role as rhythm guitarist, but since it was you, he knew he couldn’t blow up at you. you were too beloved by the band.

eddie rolled his eyes. “for how long?”

you and billy looked at each other smiling. “we owe you one, eddie.”

not long after eddie switched to bass, you were opening for the winters. as you watched the winters perform on stage, you noticed graham eyeing the blonde keyboardist singing harmonies.

you nudged his side. “make a move.”

graham looked down at you before looking back at her. “i-what do i say?”

you shrugged. “i don’t know, compliment her music or something,” you paused. “make small talk. she’s cute, graham, you can do this.”

you smiled at him before walking away to talk to eddie. however, you felt a pair of eyes burning into your side, and without looking, you could tell billy was the culprit.

after the winters’ set, you caught the keyboardist shortly after she got off stage. you introduced yourself as the manager of the dunne brothers.

karen smiled at you, introducing herself before walking away. before she could, you decided to help graham out a bit.

“graham dunne, the guitarist of our band, really liked your sound.”

she turned around to look at you. “yeah, we’re good at what we do.”

you amusedly grinned. “he didn’t just like the band’s sound, he liked yours. you should go talk to him,” you said before winking and walking away.

not long later, as you were helping the band set up, graham came up behind you. “Y/N, we talked.”

you looked over your shoulder and saw him grinning from ear to ear. you couldn’t help but laugh to yourself, and you turned around. “earlier, i may have… told karen that you liked what she did on stage. i don’t want to take all the credit for your interaction with her, but,” you said, pausing slightly. “i definitely contributed.”

graham’s jaw fell slightly, and he began laughing. before you knew it, he picked you up in his arms and gave you a big hug. you giggled and wrapped your arms around his neck as graham thanked you, and your eyes drifted outwards where you saw billy’s eyes staying locked on your hug with his brother.

after their set, you billy caught up to you backstage. “hey, Y/N,” he started. you could tell he sounded a bit nervous.

you turned around to meet him. “billy, what’s up?”

he looked around to make sure the rest of the band wasn’t near. “so, you and graham?” billy asked. he sounded apprehensive, and almost stern. he looked everywhere but at you.

you squinted. “what do you mean?”

billy shook his head. “i saw that hug earlier. and not just that, y-you’ve been with him a lot. which, i don’t really mind, i just want to know. i don’t want the band to be ruined by this.”

you stared back at him, and all you could do was start laughing. he looked at you, a bit dumbfounded. “what’s so funny?”

“you, billy. you’re funny,” you said, walking closer to him. you watched as his cheeks grew red. “there’s nothing going on between graham and i, seriously. he’s like a brother to me, i wouldn’t dream of looking at him romantically. besides, he has another lady in mind.”

billy looked down at you, wanting to believe you. “okay, i get it,” he said with a slight smile.

you lightly placed a hand on his chest. “i wouldn’t dream of ruining this band,” you said before walking away. you couldn’t see the giddy smile creep onto billy’s face.

from that point on, billy’s mood around you seemed to lighten. he always had a way of making you notice him. you began to get the vibe that this was all on purpose, that he wanted you to compliment him or give him attention. you wondered if he ever looked at you romantically. sometimes, billy’s odd behavior around you could only be excused if he was interested in you. you couldn’t decide if you were interested in him, but you didn’t want to be involved with a member of the band. things could get too messy.

after meeting rod after the night opening for the winters, the band made the decision to move out to california.

you loved the band, and would do anything for them. but, moving out to los angeles on a whim was risky. you knew they could go the distance, but you were being expected to leave your entire life behind to start a new one. besides, with the new move, they needed you to be an even more present manager than you already were. sure, you could handle managing an up and coming band from pittsburgh. but you felt less than qualified for the job of a big time manager of a growing rock and roll band on the infamous los angeles music scene. someone else could do better and take them farther, and they deserved it.

one day, shortly before they left, you expressed your thoughts to the band. you sat on the floor in billy and graham’s garage as the band stood by their instruments.

“guys, i don’t know if i’m coming with you to california just yet,” you said quietly, looking down at your hands. you could feel the glares of the boys burning into your body.

“what?” graham asked.

you stayed quiet, and heard shuffling footsteps come closer to you. a tear fell from your eye, and you tried your best to hide it. “i-i have to leave my life, my family. which, i can do it, but what’s the point?” you looked up to find the band hovering over you, concerned. “i don’t know the ins and outs of music there like i do here. i’m afraid i won’t be able to take you guys all the way.”

billy stepped closed, and bent down to meet you gaze. you noticed that he still seemed to tower over you, despite him meeting you on the ground.

“Y/N, don’t think for one second that we don’t need you,” billy said. “you’re the only one we can see doing this for us.”

graham bent down next to billy. “you’re like our sister, and you’ve done so much to help us grow. you can keep doing this. we all know you can.”

staying standing, warren nodded at you. “we can’t do this without you. don’t quit on us now.”

even eddie agreed. “you make us better, Y/N.”

billy took your hand in his as another tear escaped your eye. “what do you say?”

you couldn’t leave these guys. even if you were the reason they failed in the future, at least you failed with them. they were your family.

you smiled to yourself. “okay, you’ve convinced me.”

billy smiled, and with the hand that still held onto your fingers, he pulled you into his arms, wrapping you in a hug. you were taken aback by this change of character, as he very rarely showed affection like this to anyone. you hugged back, leaning your head on his shoulder.

before you knew it, warren wrapped his arms around the side of you, then graham joined the party. finally, eddie did too. for a few moments, you all stayed in that position, with you in the middle of the group hug. that was when you knew this was where you were meant to be.

a few days later, your belongings were packed and loaded as you climbed into the back of the warm, cozy van while the rain poured outside.

“look who it is!” warren exclaimed as you sat down. eddie stood outside packing the luggage onto the top of the van.

billy smiled widely at you. “i’m glad you’re coming.”

you blushed at his sincerity against your will. “me too.”

the road to california was long, but the building excitement in that van was infectious. everyone knew something big was coming.

upon arriving in los angeles, the band contacted rod reyes and built their first connection in the music world. with rod’s help, he gave you the number to contact filthy mcnasty’s on the strip and gave you another piece of information; karen’s phone number.

“graham, i have a surprise for you,” you said excitedly, dragging out the “you”.

“what?” he asked, confused.

you smiled. “i got karen’s number.”

not long later, you moved into a shabby house with the band in laurel canyon, and recruited karen sirko to be the new keyboardist for the dunne brothers. along with the new edition came a new venue to play in on the strip.

there, you saw billy really begin to fall in love with his music and performing. the way he interacted with the audience, and with you, was electrifying. you found yourself getting flustered if he sang to you while onstage, and you questioned why you felt so strongly. you didn’t have feelings for him, at least you thought. the butterflies in your stomach as he looked at you while singing on stage were trying to tell you something different.

one day, after billy came home with the legendary teddy price’s business card, you had sealed a deal to play for him, and the energy was beyond exciting. they played for him as you watched, and you kept getting those butterflies in your stomach as billy performed. they were getting harder and harder to ignore.

after teddy named the audition a success, the pure joy in the van afterwards was infectious. as the band drove away, you and the band were giddily laughing and hugging like children. billy was the first one you hugged.

you wrapped your arms around his neck first, and you could feel him get caught off guard for a moment, but he soon reciprocated. your heart felt like it was going to pop out of your chest.

“i’m so proud of you!” you said to billy as he squeezed you tighter. you pulled away from each other, faces red and smiling. your arms lingered on each other, not fully pulling away.

“we couldn’t have done it without you, Y/N,” billy said over the commotion.

one night, after a gig at filthy’s months later, the band finished playing and walked out onto the strip. you saw billy and teddy talking, and when you walked over to them, you heard the words you’ve been waiting to hear forever.

“if the label agrees, we’ll get you in the recording studio.”

billy stepped back, shocked. he looked at you, then back at teddy. “shut up.”

teddy shrugged. “it wasn’t all me. Y/N has been on my case about this deal for a while now. if it weren’t for her, this might not be happening.” that was true, the past few months was a pain trying to get teddy to budge on a deal.

billy looked at you. he had the widest smile you had ever seen, and in that moment, you thought you’d never seen anyone more handsome. he wrapped you in a hug, picking you up from the ground and spinning you as you giggled. you didn’t even care that he was drenched in sweat.

he put you down and tried to go hug teddy. he turned to the band, who was confused at the commotion. “guys, we’ve got an album!”

the boys jumped up, running to you and teddy, enveloping you both in a sea of hugs. teddy wasn’t as fond of hugs as you were, but you welcomed them sweat and all with open arms.

billy had always considered you vital in the band, but during the first album sessions, you were involved more than ever before in creative decisions. billy was running the show, but he trusted your opinion just as much, if not more, than teddy’s. given that billy wanted you involved in the music just as anyone else, it made your interactions much more intimate. you found yourself spending a lot of alone time with billy.

one night at the house after a long day in the studio, you and billy sat outside and drank some beers. your chairs were facing in, and it took some effort to not longingly stare at him.

“how do you like it so far? i mean, the album?” billy asked you nervously, looking down.

you smiled to yourself and bit your lip. “you’ve been wanting my approval more and more recently. what’s that about?” you asked, leaning back in your chair. “you’ve always been looking for my validation, but i never thought much about it until now.”

billy took a deep breath in. he looked like he was contemplating something, and he took a sip of his beer before looking at you again. “do i really have to say it?”

you furrowed your eyebrows slightly. prompting billy to start, he closed his eyes before talking again. “Y/N, i think i may be in love with you.”

your heart seemed to fall into your chest. you’ve had suspicions for a long time now, but you had always assumed you were looking too far into it. you thought that was just his personality. until recently, you had never even considered him romantically. it wasn’t until he really starting honing in on his craft that you saw a side of him that you could potentially like.

“billy dunne in love with me?” you asked playfully. you couldn’t believe it.

“i know you don’t feel the same, and i’ve accepted that. maybe it’s the alcohol talking, but i’ve been pining over you for as long as i can remember. i value your opinion because your ideas and thoughts are the only ones that truly matter to me.”

the heart beat in your chest sped up. you felt your face grow red and you hoped billy couldn’t see how absolutely flustered you were. you took a sip of your beer.

billy then waved his hand like he was brushing his thoughts away. “forget it, this was all stupid. i shouldn’t have said that, i’m sorry.”

your eyes softened as billy looked away, embarrassed. you scooted forward, gently placing a hand on his knee. “billy,” you started. he reluctantly turned to face you. “i want to explore where this could go.”

he smiled at you, a wide and endearing smile that made you immediately grin back. “i’ve waited a long time to hear that.”

after that night, it didn’t take long for you and billy to become inseparable. the band eventually caught on to what was going on, no one had to explain your feelings to anyone; everyone seemed to know. the often caught you making out in secret in random places in the studio.

after recording the album, it was time to go on tour. you and billy started dating after the first show on tour, and you were truly happy for the time being.

however, a lot of that initial glee faded as the tour continued, as the band was heavily using drugs and alcohol to escape the pressures of the tour. billy seemed to take it especially hard. most nights, he would do a line of coke right on stage and finish the show by washing everything down with alcohol.

“billy, don’t you think you should… slow down a little?” you asked gently once you were back in your hotel room. billy was opening another bag of coke.

he looked at you. “this is rock and roll, Y/N.”

you sighed. you were worried for him, everyone was. “you’re not yourself, billy. this isn’t the billy that i know,” you said, your tone getting harsher. when he looked away back to his bag of coke, you walked over to him.

“look at me,” you said, standing in front of him between him and the coke. he obliged, and blankly stared back at you.

it hurt you to see him like this. he was falling apart at the seams. “don’t fucking blame this on rock and roll. you’re addicted, billy. you have a problem. you better clean up your goddamn act soon or i-” you stopped, your voice cracking. tears were forming in your eyes. “or i can’t be with you any longer.”

billy blinked, almost unfazed. after a few moments, he nodded.

you looked up at him and shook your head. “clean yourself up.”

after that night, billy tried to cut back, but he always found his way back to the drugs and the alcohol. for a while, it was okay. he only did a line before a show and kept his alcohol for after the show. you still didn’t like his heavy consumption, but at least he was making an effort for you and your relationship.

then, just as it was getting better, it got worse again. he was fully addicted now, and was stumbling all over the stage. he couldn’t hold notes in the songs, and the band looked between themselves, confused.

“Y/N, what are we going to do with him? karen asked after a show, leaning into your ear as you watched billy open a bottle of vodka. you stared as tears fell down your face.

“there’s only one thing to do.”

you forced billy into your car, giving the band members hugs before you drove off.

“w-where are we going?” billy asked, dazed.

a tear drop fell on your leg as you drove, and billy’s eyebrows furrowed.

“you know where,” you whispered.

“Y/N, i’m sorry.”

“i know you are," you replied numbly.

you heard billy sniffle, like he was also crying. you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. “i can’t live without you. you’re all i ever wanted, and now i’ve thrown it all away.”

you bit your lip as you suppressed your tears. “i know.”

you pulled up to the rehabilitation center, and got out of the car with billy. you stood in front of him, close to him. he looked down at you with melancholy, and you looked up at him.

“take care of yourself, okay?”

he nodded. “i-i’m sorry, Y/N.”

you nodded as the tears fell harder. you were leaving behind one of the greatest things that has ever happened to you.

you turned away before you could hesitate and headed back to your car as you watched billy enter the front doors of the center. when he was out of sight, you broke down, releasing the sobs that were hiding in your body.

the rest of the tour was cancelled, and back at laurel canyon, the band wasn’t sure where their future stood. not having billy around had left a hole in the group, and you fell into a pit of depression not having him around. the band tried their best to cheer you up. whether it be graham offering to play games with you, or warren buying you useless knickknacks, or even just crying on karen’s shoulder, you appreciated their efforts but you couldn’t seem to get billy off your mind.

when you got the call two months later that billy was coming home, you felt excited and scared all at the same time. you were looking forward to having him back, you needed him. but confronting everything that had happened seemed too overwhelming.

graham brought him back to the house, and he got out of the car to greet the band. warren showed him his mustache he had been growing, and eddie showed billy his bass he had built. karen squeezed your hand before going up to billy and hugging him.

you stood behind the rest of them, afraid to make an appearance. billy was trying to look for you, and when warren noticed, he stepped away so you were visible to billy.

you could tell billy was feeling the same as you were. you watched as guilt flashed across his face, then nervousness, then eventually, relief.

you stepped forward at the same time, and he wrapped you in an endearing hug. it felt nice to be in his arms again.

“i’m never letting you go again,” billy said into your hair. “i’m staying clean for you.”

you pulled away so you could look at him, your arms still loosely around each other. “you get one more chance, dunne. one more slip up and whatever this is is over.”

after settling into normalcy again, you felt like you were getting to know billy all over again. you were rediscovering why you began to like him in the first place. you missed him.

not long later, you watched as graham angrily stormed out of the room with billy in it. you frowned and peered into the doorframe, finding billy with his head down.

“what’s wrong?” you asked, sitting down next to him. you placed a hand on his thigh, and he stared at it.

“i’m quitting the band, Y/N,” he said quietly.

your jaw fell slightly. “what?”

billy scooted away from you. you could tell he was emotional right now, and was pushing you away not because he didn’t want you there, but because he didn’t know what else to do.

“i love music, but i can’t keep doing this. there’s too much temptation, and i can’t go through that again. i can’t lose you again.”

you softened. billy was willing to do anything for you, but this was one act of selflessness that you couldn’t let him get away with.

“billy,” you started. “you’re the strongest person i know. i trust you. i’m not going to let you quit on this band because of me, you’re just getting started. please, at least think about staying. i won’t be able to do this without you.”

he continued looking down. he paused, and you could tell his hard exterior was crumbling around you. “i’ll think about it.”

and he did. only a few days later, he came to the band with a new song in a new direction that he was ready to get recorded. it was a beautiful song that he called honeycomb, and when he first played it for you, you had some thoughts.

“it’s good,” you said, nodding your head as you sat down on the couch next to billy.

“but…” billy asked, sensing your hesitation.

“it’s missing something.”

billy squinted, a devious smirk forming on his face. “like what exactly?”

“i don’t know, it just sounds too… hopeful, maybe?” you said.

billy looked at you with genuine confusion. “what’s wrong with having hope?”

“nothing, nothing at all, it’s just-” you paused. “no one wants to hear a song about hope. people like to hear things that are messy, and dark, and imperfect.”

billy rolled his eyes and kissed your cheek. “Y/N, you know i love your opinions, but i think you’re wrong about that one.”

you giggled. “i can guarantee teddy will tell you the same thing when you get it recorded.”

“is that a bet?”

you smiled. “hell yes it is.”

then you shook on it, and as it was, you ended up being right. in the studio, teddy told billy it was a good song, not a great one, and you and teddy had a new artist come in to sing vocals on the track named daisy jones.

billy was less than welcoming at daisy’s arrival, and they clashed over everything. billy wasn’t informed that daisy had changed his lyrics, and he stormed out of the studio, taking you with him by the wrist.

“billy, what the hell?” you said as you stumbled behind him, finally coming to a stop when you were outside.

“i can’t fucking believe this, Y/N, you and teddy are ruining my song by adding daisy. it’s not supposed to be a duet, and it’s suppose to be about hope,” billy said harshly.

“daisy adds more layers to that song whether you like it or not. she makes it better, and it gives the song a story.”

“no, she’s not. i wrote a beautiful song, and it’s being taken over.”

billy was frowning, and you stepped forward so you were right under him. at this point, you were frustrated too.

“stop being so fucking stubborn, billy. your ego is getting in the way for the success of this song. we’ll record it daisy’s way, and then we’ll record it your way, okay? we can decide which one sounds better later.”

billy paused, and looked down at you. you could see his harsh eyes soften a bit, and then he nodded his head.

you never did record it his way.

with look at us now came a rush in popularity and invitations to perform at festivals. at the diamond head festival, you saw for yourself the magic on stage that was billy and daisy together. daisy wasn’t a want, she was a need. that is, until billy made a particularly snide remark about daisy to the news following their performance.

“billy, are you crazy?” you asked when you had a private moment after the interview.

billy seemed confused. “what are you talking about?”

“billy!” you exclaimed. “you could have been a little nicer to daisy in that interview.”

billy looked at you, shocked. “i was! i couldn’t have been nicer! seriously Y/N, what’s the big-”

“the big deal is that daisy makes you better. she makes all of you better. you didn’t even give her any credit for the song.”

billy stepped closer to you. “it was my song.”

“daisy wrote the part that everyone remembers.”

billy paused. “she will ruin us.”

you shrugged. “you’ll never know until you try.”

for a while after that festival, things went back to normal, but you knew your work with daisy wasn’t done. you and billy were throwing a house party, and you invited daisy to try and work out the bad blood between the two. getting them to work together was not an easy task, but by the end of the night, they found common ground. it didn’t take long for daisy to be formally invited into the band.

you noticed daisy and billy continued to be unwilling to work together, despite all your efforts. finally, teddy sent billy and daisy away to write material together, and the pair didn't come back until the night time.

as the band recorded let me down easy, you could tell something special was building. as billy sang into the microphone, you hoped he would catch your eye so you could give him a proud smile, but his eyes stayed locked on daisy. you didn't think much of it at this point.

billy and daisy found their groove, and the two would walk into the studio after a day of writing laughing and giggling like children. you remembered when billy would do that with you. now, it seemed like a distant memory.

"karen, can i ask you something?" you asked karen once when you were the only two in the lobby of the studio.

"anything," she replied, putting out her cigarette.

"do you think something is off will billy? like, with me?" you asked sheepishly.

karen frowned. "what do you mean?"

you looked down. "he hasn't been the same since daisy has been in the picture. i rarely see him anymore, and when i do, he's not all there," you said. "and i felt so involved in the last album. i was involved in all of billy's decisions, and now it's daisy. should i be worried about..." you trailed off. "you know?"

karen looked at you, her eyes softening at your worried expression. "i know what you mean. billy's a great guy, Y/N, and i think you can trust him. if you're worried, i would talk to him sooner rather than later."

you nodded. "i'll see if it gets any worse, and if it does, i'll talk to him."

you hated that things were getting worse between the two of them. you could tell he was hiding something, and a part of you always knew that those two had some type of connection. they had to, for the sake of the music.

you tried to trust them and let him run off with daisy, knowing that they made each other better. but you knew he wasn't telling you something.

you didn't realize how far along their connection was until daisy and billy stormed out of the studio while recording more fun to miss.

you followed them out, a few paces behind them, to make sure everything was okay. as soon as you stepped out onto the pavement, you watched as daisy yelled something at billy, close to his face. then, you watched as billy pulled daisy closer, leaving a kiss on her lips.

you gasped, and the two immediately broke and turned to look at you. billy went as pale as a ghost, and you stood horrified.

"Y/N, this isn't-" billy started, walking closer to you.

you put up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. "don't."

billy paused. "daisy, can we get some privacy?" he asked sternly before daisy hurriedly made her way inside.

"can i explain?" billy asked quietly.

a tear ran down your face. "what is there to explain? i know what i just saw."

billy nodded understandingly. "i know, i know what this looks like, and i'm sorry. but truthfully, there's absolutely nothing going on between us."

you laughed. "you call that nothing?" you asked, raising your voice. "you kissed her, billy! and god knows what else you've been doing behind my back all this time. there's a reason you came out here to do this, so i wouldn't find out."

billy put his hands on your shoulders. "there's nothing of substance between us. this is all an act, we're building our connection so fans can see it and believe it onstage. that's what the fans want. please believe me, there's nothing between us. there never was, and there never will be."

you shook your head, tears streaming down your face harder. "and you expect me to believe that?" you asked quietly, walking away into the studio.

you had locked yourself in a storage closet for some privacy, and you could tell the band, minus billy and daisy, was looking for you around the studio. you sat on the floor crying, thinking about all the times billy left you to be with her.

you felt so stupid for letting this happen. you should have known something was off. you couldn't believe what billy did, but you couldn't believe that you fell for him the way you did. this should have been expected.

suddenly, you heard a faint voice from outside the door, down the hallway. "daisy, we need to talk."

footsteps. "don't tell me what i think you're going to tell me," she replied.

"we were a mistake. we never had anything, and we never will."

a pause. "you're a big fucking liar, you know that?" daisy asked him.

"Y/N is the one i love. she's the one i will choose every time."

"so that kiss just now meant nothing?" daisy asked, getting angrier. "you did that just so i'd sing like that on the album?"

"i did what i had to do," billy said, matching her tone. "this is all an act, for the music. we had to build chemistry so the fans will believe it. none of this is real." there was a pause before billy spoke again. "i refuse to lose Y/N. not again."

there was another long pause, before a loud "fuck you" and the sound of daisy's heels walking out of the studio doors.

your heart was beating fast after hearing that exchange. you wanted to trust the man that you had grown to love again.

you quietly unlocked the door, stepping out and finding billy down the hall. he looked at you and his harsh features softened when he saw your tear stained face. "hey, i've been looking all over for you," he said sweetly.

you stood in front of him, and he put his hands on the sides of your face, forcing you to look him in the eyes.

"i'm so sorry, Y/N. for all of this. temptation got the best of me, and i lost sight of what i wanted and needed. you're it for me, and you always have been. even before you knew i existed, i knew i wanted you and no one else."

you rested your forehead on his, briefly staying quiet. "never do anything like this ever again, okay asshole?"

billy smiled. "you have my word."

you kissed him, and it made you forget everything that had just happened. you could tell that he truly meant what he said to you through a single, meaningful kiss.

he made all of your worries dissipate in an instant.

#billy dunne #billy dunne x reader #graham dunne #daisy jones fanfic #daisy jones and the six #warren rojas #eddie roundtree #daisy jones and the 6 #karen sirko

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perenial · 1 year ago

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gene im so glad you said this cause I haven't seen anyone else comparing it to the book as source material for like character and tone but i am So sure that if terry was alive the season would not be like this but i fear good omens fans dont realise how big a factor the lack of terry's influence is?? or like they forget that good omens was never just neilman???

ok before i go any further: i rly don't want to detract from anyone's enjoyment of the season and everything im going to say comes from a place of love for a) the original novel (& season 1 to a certain extent bc it got me back into it lol) and b) tv as a medium so like peace and love on planet let people enjoy things etc etc

but

like u said, terry's influence on the book was enormous – what makes gomens gomens is the balance of his genuine warmth and precise understanding of humanity tempered with neilman's sardonic voice and general like.....savvy approach to storytelling? i guess u could call it? anyway what rly helps the book is that it took them years to write it, passing ideas back and forth and rewriting each other's work until their voices blended seamlessly and a well structured capital-s Story was created. when i praise the book for being self-contained i think a huge part of that comes from the circumstances in which it emerged: two authors with complementary styles writing in a v particular time period where they had both the space to play with their ideas and the constraints of the novel as a storytelling format from which to craft something extremely specific.

adaptations are a tricky business and a tv version of gomens produced literal decades after the book was always going to have some unique challenges, but i don't think that's a bad thing bc the challenges could prove to be creative opportunities to take both the established audience and those new to the story by surprise. my biggest hot take here is that i don't think translating a story into a different medium means it has to follow the original narrative exactly, bc each medium has its own ways of communicating information and these structures, rules and traditions in turn inform what that story is. what matters more than following a story beat-by-beat is capturing what that story is about at its core, what themes and messages and ideas it works through and how.

all this is to say i never expected tv gomens to be a perfect reproduction of the book and if it had it been, it probably would have been worse off for it. that being said, there are parts of the book – like u said, its tone and character – that needed to have some fidelity in order to pull it off, and for the most part s1 did that bc it was still working predominantly within the bounds of the novel & its core ideas. while i did have some issues w how neilman & amazon adapted some details and characterisations, i generally rly liked s1 – it reminded me of why i loved the book and it was just generally fun to watch.

s2 was. not that fun to watch

a few positives before i go ham w the critiques:

the hair & makeup + costumes were fantastic (although i feel like s1 was slightly better re: makeup?)

the sound design & score made some of the more awkward scenes bearable and thats no mean feat imo

david & michael gave incredible performances w what they were given – michael especially managed to salvage aziraphale enough that his complete 180 didnt feel completely tonally dissonant (more on this later)

the detail of the sets is NUTS and i genuinely want to see more of hell bc of how intricate and fun the props look

i actually like gabriel/beelzebub!! their getting together montage worked for me, although they could have spent sliiiightly more time establishing what it is they like abt each other so much + why gabriel wanted to stop armageddon 2.0 so suddenly

the opening scene, although not on par w the novel's & s1's, was visually gorgeous and thematically resonant (although neilman owes me royalties for ripping it off from this shitty fic i wrote back when raphael!crowley was all the rage lol)

now w THAT being said:

like i said yesterday, the pacing was fucking awful. flashbacks are hard to work w at the best of times and the way they were used in this season felt so needless, especially the 40s one in ep 4 that takes up like 90% of the episode. in both flashbacks + present day there were scenes that dragged for no real reason, dialogue that looped back around on itself to stretch out the runtime, and weirdly enough places where there should have been character & plot work where there just,, wasn't any?? for example, maggie & nina's night locked in the café – some parts of the dialogue in later episodes made out that they'd had some rly deep conversation abt how they feel about each other or even that they'd had an affair, but that isn't clear from those scenes in the café. i'm not saying we had to see that conversation in its entirety but that there needed to be more connective details – either in dialogue or direction – that gave that part of the story coherence.

(there were pacing issues w the editing too but i don't want to jump down the editor's throats on this one bc im more focused on writing & direction issues)

the second major problem that i mentioned in my tags yesterday is the protagonist shift, which is an issue that started in s1. aziraphale & crowley are side characters in book gomens – significant ones, yeah, but still somewhat peripheral to adam (& anathema who counts as a deuteragonist imo). this works incredibly well w who they are as characters: they're Just Some Guys who happen to be involved in this epic biblical-level bureaucratic nightmare and importantly, they don't want to be in the spotlight. the arrangement was created so that they could explore what it meant to be themselves away from the Big Narrative; literally any time they get involved in larger affairs is bc the plot is alive and caught them unionising on company time. the last fucking chapter is adam (& god) being like haha u guys are alright keep it sleezy and letting them go. like. hello. neil u let them go.

but then!! tv gomens s1 does something interesting at the end w the body swapping addition that i dont totally hate – it gives aziraphale & crowley the extra bit of character work that brings them slightly more adjacent to their book selves. see i kinda view tv a/c as the younger, less settled versions of book a/c; they're still caught up in the immediacy of being key players and haven't fully realised that earth is their home. i haven't watched s1 in a while but one scene i remember rly clearly is crowley throwing all those astronomy texts in the air and angsting abt when he was an angel; i remember it bc his anguish in that scene feels a lot newer and rawer than book crowley's feelings about falling. when tv a/c do their bodyswap, it gives them the chance to land a blow against heaven/hell in a way that solidifies their allegiance to earth in a way that more closely resembles what book a/c have been abt the entire time (still adjacent, though. not parallel).

the reason why this works is that it does one final pivot to orient aziraphale and crowley as almost-main characters in a manner that makes sense in relation to a) their book selves and b) the position the tv show has placed them in. a combination of factors made tv a/c feel a lot less mature than their book counterparts but at the end of s1 they're sort of facing the same direction the book ended in, albeit through their own flashy late 2010s means.

when s2 was announced i was.......apprehensive bc to me, that felt like a satisfactory ending. i get the impression that amazon saw how wildly successful the adaptation was and was like oh shit we could make way more money out of this and neilman, having all those undead darlings that he and terry killed in the process of whittling the book into a workable novel, jumped at the chance to resurrect all those half-realised ideas. but not only were those ideas probably discarded for a reason, they've either been laying in wait for years unworked or they're new inventions, which means they weren't molded in the way that the book had been. like i said before, book gomens underwent years of rewrites and creative collaboration, and i think that process was what made it so good; s2 didn't have that. even if some of terry's ideas made it into s2, his influence is still missing bc he and neilman weren't in dialogue the same way they were in the book (and in some ways s1 bc i know terry was involved in the process of adapting gomens to screen before his death).

i don't think it's a case of newer fans forgetting terry so much as it is the context of terry's involvement being so removed from the current circumstances that certain aspects & discourses (i.e. is the s2 finale queerbaiting (no), does binge watching change the viewership experience (yes), etc etc) about the show overshadow other discussions that would usually be taking place. and before anyone says it's a case of neilman forgetting terry, i definitely don't think it's that either bc thats. yknow. wildly disrespectful. but also there are larger systems and structures at play than one writer no matter how much beef i have w him and his decisions, bc ultimately he's just one guy (a powerful and wealthy guy, but just a guy) and there's a wider cultural shift happening rn towards rehashing old stories without understanding what made them successful in the first place, and that same culture just doesn't allow for much, if any, constructive discourse analysis

so yeah

#replies.txt #Anonymous #god this is so long and rambling i hope it makes sense lmaooo #i have further thoughts on the general fic-y feeling of the season but that wasnt rly anon's question so i'll save that for another time #good omens #good omens spoilers

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lostshots · 2 months ago

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thoughts on shadow generation

now that im done playing the story here are some of my thoughts:

the cut scenes are so good, although the detail on the model's fur/texture is a bit distracting (it's not a bad thing)

the flavour text is great! we get to see some insight on maria's and shadow's relationship on the ark, as well as the other characters relationship towards shadow

maybe it's the fact that this is my 2nd sonic game, but it's boring that all enemies have the same attack pattern: staying still until you come closer, then they shoot projectiles

hades 2 spoiled me for combat lol

it's so nice to see shadowing emoting again

i approve this game for people awful at platformers (signed by me, a person who sucks at them)

its really easy to fall off the ledge or miss homing shots at enemies/bounce pads if you arent paying attention

removing lives is handy

there were some areas i couldnt find, so i had to use a walkthrough just to get back to mephiles' area once i had all the keys

actually i fell off the path going to the black moon, so i had recollect rings and figure out how to get back up there again. not fun

i spent so long on the last phase of neo devil doom bc i kept running out of rings

sucks there's no checkpoint for that, but it is the final boss

would have been cool to see shadow introduce his friends to his family, but time paradox i guess

wish the doom morph could be activated at will so i can show maria squidow

actually rouge not commenting on his wings is a missed moment (dont think i saw mention of it in the compilations)

There are a lot of callbacks and references to past events

The anniversary manga is one of them (shadows name origin)

Shadow and Maria's relationship is a standout

some speculation:

Sad that shadow probably ended worse off emotionally at the end of it

if the timeline is intact, gerald probably died enraged at shadow too, since even his past fatherly feelings didnt stop him from writing over shadow's mind

there's no way they wouldnt expand on maria's little sister since they added her in

they probably dont know about ivo/eggman since there's no mention of him in the journals, and maria doesnt mention cousins

so eggman might have been born after the ark tragedy

which makes it funnier that shadow will be older than eggman, and his adoptive uncle

someone else mentioned it, but it's surprising that they deconfirmed the mural theory, since gerald respected the land too much to explore it or see the master emerald shrine

maria mentioned being surprised that he popped out as a hedgehog, and gerald's journal just calls him a sturdy biped. which means the species was not planned

so shadow really is a black arms in the shape of a hedgehog

there goes the theory that there's a hedgehog donor out there

would have been funny if it was a male hedgehog that donated some samples

then shadow gets 3 dads yay

actually would gerald go far enough to use maria's DNA to create shadow? for the gene compatibility if he managed to remove some of the markers for NIDs?

the manga showed blood transfusion, and that would only work if he had a suitable blood type

apparently it is possible for animal blood to be used in transfusion, just not worth it bc of antibodies?

someone who knows about biology correct me, i just did a quick google search

that would make shadow a black arms/human/hedgehog hybrid (if hedgehog dna was even used)

overall, very fun, and the main story can be completed in 6 hours.

now let's see if i can finish all the achievements after beating sonic gens...

#sonic x shadow generations spoilers #sonic x shadow generations #shadow generations #shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #maria robotnik #gerald robotnik #ark siblings #black doom #sonic x shadow generations theories #lost thoughts

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ebisul · 5 months ago

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TCW Rewatch: Season 3 Episodes 5-8

More Satine episodes. I don’t even disagree with her like goals and motivations I just personally dont like her personality and methodology.

Tbf i also really dont like the portrayal of Mandalore in general in this series. These notes i think explain my issues with this portrayal fairly well tho.

Episode 5: Corruption

* More Satine episodes oh boy…

* Satine wins neutrality for Mandalore but this brands her an outsider from the Republic and makes it difficult to aid the mandalorians

* Padme goes to Mandalore for a diplomatic visit hoping to alleviate tension as Mandalore is consumed with greed

* In the masses of the Mandalorian people is spotted one (1) person of color in the swathes of blonde or red haired, white people

* Arguing about trade routes and smuggling supplies

* Discussions of war, neutrality, and corruption between padme and satine, padme says she sometimes wishes she could follow mandalore in becoming a neutral planet, she also says she works to overcome the corruption of the republic and that she believes it is possible to do so

* Children are getting poisoned

* She says the terrorist attacks have only been targeted at her and her administration as if they didnt plant a bomb in a populated area and harm innocents if im remembering correctly

* The sterility of Mandalore irks me, I know it’s probably meant to be this like “ooh look how clean and peaceful” but it just looks offputting this is supposed to be a school for children and it looks like a stereotypical mental institution. Theres no color, the children where drab grey uniforms, its so strange

* And again there are only blonde white children in that entire cafeteria

* It took children getting poisoned to admit to corruption? Not the multiple traitors youve had to deal with?

* Greed kills

* Padmes such a badass i love her

* Ah… That Scene… this is another example of what i dislike about Satine bc shes being totally unreasonable her, she wants to destroy evidence for her own investigation, and when someone says “but you’re destroying evidence thats not a good idea” she threatens to arrest him for something he didnt do, effectively framing him for what? Having the audacity to point out the flawed logic?

* Also coming back to the “we sent all of our warriors to the moon” thing, what about your literal police force?

* She understands that her government is corrupt but what is she really doing to root out the corruption?

* Almec says he will investigate

* It is a good idea to take this to the Jedi directly as opposed to taking it to the Republic bc they would just send the Jedi anyway and the Republic will just turn them away for their neutrality

Episode 6: The Academy

* Love that it recognizes that Mandalore is deeply corrupt, instead of doubling down on the whole idyllic peace bullshit facade they have

* Also did they ever actually come to a conclusion on the trade issues? I dont think so but like thats hella important

* Im saying this now but i do not subscribe to the Korkie is a Kenobi theory and actively dislike it for so many reasons

* Ahsoka explains corruption very well, i especially like the “its every citizens duty to challenge their leaders” although Satine probably would disagree all things considered

* Shes accidentally radicalizing the students its great

* Who are these goat guys? They keep showing up

* Ofc the police are corrupt, theyre police

* He totally couldve lost his leg there

* What a surprise… the prime minister is the traitor…

* So was Satine aware of Almec? I assume she was already investigating

* Ok that’s torture

* And coercion but i dont think thats a war crime

Episode 7: Assassin

* Aurra Sing is DEAD??? Since when???

* Do you think someone should explain to her that learning more on the field than at the temple is not a jedi thing? This is another example of Ahsoka being trained as a soldier and commander rather than a jedi padawan

* Is she worried about Anakin? If so thats sweet

* Oh shes traumatized

* “Troubled” Yoda its called trauma

* Or its just a nightmare

* Baby you are a Padawan, a Student, you are meant to study and learn. You arent a soldier

* So Aurra Sing is alive supposedly and targeting Padme

* Bail and Padme are meant to lead a conference on Alderaan concerning refugees from the war. It is nice to see some of the senators genuinely care for the people.

* Padme and Ahsoka have a cute relationship very older sister, or rather older sister in law

* They really dont seem to be teaching visions very well at Jedi school even though it doesn’t seem to be liek that uncommon

* All these bitches got visions why are you not teaching them about said visions? The children are glimpsing the horrors, Yoda!!

* An almost successful assassination attempt

* I do love when padmes allowed to be badass, i totally get why Anakin would be in love with her even if theyre both so toxic

* Oh wait its ziro?? I wasn’t expecting that i swear i watched this show before

* Whats the deal with ziro??

* Wait is it bc of the hostage situation at the end of season 1? I dont remember how that ended

Episode 8: Evil Plans

* Is this the cad bane torturing droids episode?

* I just love to see Todo and Bane

* R2 is such a diva i love it

* I know coruscant is meant to be like epitome of corruption in the GFFA but goddamn is it ugly hidden behind the pretty lights

* Does that make sense or is it just the ADHD brain talking

* Bane knows R2 by name? Ok ig

* I actually still havent picked up on what Bane is looking for

* In my defense my brain fog makes my ADHD worse and i dont wanna rewatch the episode

* Why does Jabba need the Senate floor plans?

* Does this episode take place pre- season 1 episode 22? I still have no idea if Ziro was recaptured or not

* Wait why does R2 even have the senate floor plans?

War Crime Counter:

Separatists: 13

Republic: 7

No new war crimes this time only because idk if i should count them considering the guilty parties arent on the board

#sw #star wars #tcw #the clone wars #my rewatch of tcw #do i even tag it anti satine? its very minor #anti satine kryze #i guess

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accidentallyycreated · 3 months ago

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ok, so i finished reading wottg today and…..well ngl it wasnt pathetic,it’s a good read imo, obv i have my complaints but uh still.

the trio was gold like always and well i m actually satisfied that percy got mad at grover and not just brushed offthe whole thing.percabeth was great too although i really wanted more scenes of them(but well any amount of percabeth moments in a book sound less to me cause i m a sucker for them).annabeth was ah-maz-ing.i loved her scene w the twin nymphs(and also that small moment of percy getting jealous was <3)

i felt like it was little stretched and repetitive tbh.also percy’s humour is getting WAY TOO much self deprecating.like i wasnt going two paragraphs into reading and the guy started degrading himself to another level.someone tell the guy that he’s great cause he’s really running low on confidence.he can’t even take one compliment without getting CHOKED UP! Idk why rick did this shit but it was fucked up.and that scene of annabeth getting surprised that Percy’s smart.i mean just WHY RICK!?i dont know why is rick always attempting at humour w percy’s so called dumbness but it’s just not funny anymore.if anything she should hve been proud of him(and she is, atleast in my headcanon) like that one scene in cotg where percy was hugging gary and he said annabeth else were shining cause she was proud of him.

percabeth should have been given more intimate scenes yk? Like pillow talks and cuddles and more hugs and kisses.but well that’s not a big complain

overall i think it was an enjoyable read.i laughed and smiled at percy’s dad jokes(iykyk).it was cute to see the trio together and get domestic.maybe i m not content w the book but it’s good.

#i ll post some more later #wottg #wottg spoilers #percabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percy jackson and the olympians #percy x annabeth #grover underwood #celestial trio #wrath of the triple goddess

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thegeminisage · 6 months ago

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star trek update time and what the hell. last night we watched ds9's "for the cause" and voy's "tuvix."

for the cause (ds9):

this one was fun bc the entire time i kept going no way is her ass smuggling for the maquis. its that cop guy setting her up. and then both turned out to be true LMAO

i am sooooo sad this happened to him. i hope they arent writing her out bc i like her so much. jake likes her! they bonded over baseball!!!

when sisko was like holding jake's hand and talking about how important their relationship was no matter what AAAAUGHGHG GOD

i just really genuinely thot she was innocent. i kept being like man dont accuse her. look at the woman you have. if you blow it you will never forgive yourself and then she willingly comes back to go to JAIL

b plot of garak was not too bad although it's always sad when we get him w/o bashir. for once i was convinced the actress for ziyal was different AND I WAS RIGHT! who's faceblind NOW (it's still me). deeply funny also whatever he had going on with quark when he was tailoring his pants

tuvix (voy):

WHAT. ON EARTH. WAS THIS

ok prior to this i had read on reddit that everyone hated janeway for killing tuvix. and i thought once i started that i had gotten the name wrong, that they hated her for killing tuVOK. then when i saw the title i thought they might be clones. imagine my surprise when tuvok wasn't even cloned or anything but he just straight up FUSES WITH NEELIX

they did a good job with tuvix. he was likable (until the end), he had mannerisms of both characters, it was really great. like, the ethical debate would not have worked if tuvix was just horrible and unsettling

GOD. AND THEY ACTUALLY DID ACT, IS THE THING. like janeway confessing to kes how she struggles with grief and hopelessness, kes coming to janeway's office in tears, THIS WAS ACTED. you REALLY genuinely felt their pain it was great character stuff for them both. janeway was lost without tuvok to ask for guidance and kes was lost without neelix AND tuvok like GOD

personally i think the deciding factor was tuvix's decision to involve kes - it was unfair to come to her for help, and especially sad when they'd worked so well within her boundaries before

the other thing is of course that neelix and tuvok arent alive inside this guy as he argues, theyre essentially TRAPPED inside this guy. two lives > one life, unfortunately for him

the end scene was still fucked up though. like REALLY fucked up. i love that the doctor wouldn't even participate. like it was That fucked up. and did we get any resolution after? something from janeway about why she did this? reassurances from tuvok and neelix? NOPE. episode just ends and you have to think about tuvix's accusatory stare forever. jesus fucking christ

TONIGHT: ds9's "to the death" and voy's "resolutions"

#personal #star trek blogging #ds9 lb #voy lb

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cookiecomics · 7 months ago

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(warning from future me: this is very long, soz)

heyy!! i'm about to start another reread of atott but although im trying to get better at this, im bad at leaving comments (i get too invested in the action & dont mark down my thoughts... so when i get to the comment part i don't remember all or anything i wanted to talk abt + i'm ruminating on what just happened. that's true for the updates i've been following and doubly so for binge-reading sessions) so i just wanted to say some things directly to you, right now, before i forget - i adore the colosseum to this day. i was invested from moment one and the way you described everything was so impactful. to this day i also remember the way ren was panicked & aiming to return home despite his concussion, it felt very visceral and real. also the entirety heresy ring, akechi finding out he was in the fraud ring (this cracked me up iirc. that boy read you akechi), the toy grandma wanted to give ren & akechi managed to get to him (and ren/arsene crying bc of it....), the river, the hanged man game.... gods, you captivated me so much even within those first chapters.

another moment that is very present in my memory is the whole section where ren is in shido's palace, hiding from akechi w/o knowing it's him, finding out he was the "birdman" and then the aftermath, akechi's high fever, the way ren did his best to take care of him, how he told him he'd do the hit on the principal for him. it was all so good!! like i found ur fics from the accomplice tag iirc so i wasn't surprised when it happened, but it was all so exciting still! my memory sucks so i can't even paraphrase what ren told akechi before leaving to do it, but i do remember how akechi was still convinced (and kinda hoped) ren wouldn't actually get involved & he'd just end up dead. then ren came back, with new glasses to boot! lol

ohh also that moment where ren crossdressed and akechi was definitely attracted but ofc he can't Say It so he just critiques his makeup capabilities instead....... i was like. of course. of couse you would.

and i found atott shortly after finding out i'm arospec despite being very interested in making fictional characters kiss & romantic scenes in general, so it was very interesting to read akechi believe he was aromantic & have to deal with Actually Having Romantic Feelings Fuck This lmaoooo tho tbf i'd actually react similarly if i found out i was demisexual instead of completely ace like i think i am, so i also identified with it in that sense, since i've know about that part of my identity much longer than being arospec lol

ah. this is very long but i have more i want to say... so im gonna keep talking lol. ren realizing he was cluster-b helped me realize & come to terms with my low empathy. i remember when first reading akechi suggest ren get himself checked for sociopathy i was a bit skeptical bc i worried it'd be just edgy stuff, but i'd been trusting your writing & decisions so i decided to be optimistic & i rlly liked how you handled it, and, again, it helped me come to terms with the parts of me that also wouldn't be seen favourably by some of these ppl who insist they're mental health advocates lol

also, i rlly like akesumi so when sumi realized he was munin i was giddy. her own smile about it made me happy too.... oh this makes me remember the scene of futaba finding out ren is her online friend too gods such good scenes!!!! and finding the palace keywords. which made me remember the bad ending chapter in maruki's reality which i only managed to read on my 3rd read of the fic & then was immediately invested into too.....

anyway, what i want to say is, thank you so much for writing atott. it is almost constantly running through the like, background of my thoughts, and the story has been very important & dear to me. i hope you know it is genuinely engraved within me at this point. i love it so much. ♡

GOSH what a beautiful thing to come back to ;3; thank you so so much for your kind words and for trusting me as well dsfkjhsdfjk as someone who is cluster b AND on the a-spec merrygoround, I'm glad my handling of the topics have been great for you ;3; thank you for telling me all that you love about the fic ;3; hoping to get an update soon for Goro's birthday <3

Again, any and all love for Ren's palace makes me giddy since it is by far the aspect of the fic that took the longest to plan ;3; and there's no such thing as "too long" comments or asks for me by the way please know this is very sweet to read, i hope you have a great day! and look forward to people having a hashtagbadtime next chapter sdkjfhjkf

#atott

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quodekash · 1 year ago

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im already about to cry and the episode hasn't even started yet, so that's a nice sign that'll probably foreshadow how tonight is gonna go

PLS I LOVE HER SO MUCH

SHE ACTUALLY LISTENS AND TALKS TO KANGHAN

SHE IS MY GODDESS

MY QUEEN

MY MILF

9GO3U4ERHDSGN9P8IO4EURBDGN980OEUVDS

I KNEW SHE WAS CAPTAINING THE SHIP BUT HOLY FRICK NUGGETS

GUEOJRKBGNUOERJDFBGEUOR

IM SOBBING SO HARD RN

lmao nice joke

based on this scene being right at the start here, this episode is definitely gonna be the one where he properly realises his feelings for sailom (if he hasn't realised them already, which I dont think he has. he hasn't accepted it, at least)

AND BASED ON THAT LOGIC, generally the way these writers and directors etc base these ones, they fully lean into the fell first / fell harder dynamic, and almost immediately after the second person realises, they kiss

SO im very much hoping for a kiss at the end of this episode (but it also might not be til next episode)

WE'RE WHAT, ONE MINUTE INTO THE EPISODE?? AND WE'RE ALREADY GETTING TO THE INTIMATE STARES????

OH BOY IM SCARED FOR THE REST OF THE EPISODE

I THINK MY GAY LITTLE HEART MIGHT ACTUALLY EXPLODE

oh yup, oh yup, we've got the heartbeat sound in the background. kang's feelings are coming to lightttt (PLEASE LET THEM KISS TODAY)

AAA

IM SO EXCITED FOR WHATS GONNA HAPPEN BC OF THIS

my theory that they're gonna run away during school hours is still going strong

NOOOOO THE SCENE WAS SO NICE AND HAPPY AND FLUFFY WHY ARE YOU HERE TO RUIN IT YOU BASTARD???

yup okay so that theory is definitely right

(the theory that saifah's gonna like steal from kang's house, and his dad is gonna get shot in the process. not my own theory, it's from @ respectthepetty and it's such a good theory, I love it so much)

OML THIS IS SO FUNNY

I CANT WAIT FOR MORE BATHROOM SHENANIGANS, THIS IS GONNA BE WONDERFUL

awh is he lonely?

he needs a hug

from kang

all through the night

it'll be insane if they do tho, its literally night one, there's no way

I TAKE IT BACK, APPARENTLY IM WRONG????

OKAY NVM APPARENTLY I WASNT WRONG

im half convinced kang is gonna walk in or smth tho

YALL IM SCREAMING, HE FULL-ASS JUST HEEHEED

THEY ARE FRIENDS

AAAA THE LYRICS

I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH

THEYRE SO PLAYFUL WITH EACH OTHER

WHAT THE HELL

what I wouldn't give to be that driver rn

THE ARM OVER THE SHOULDER???????

THEYRE LITERALLY SO IN LOVE?????????

OMG

PIMFAH

MY WIFE

I rly wish that screenshot was better but the wifi is being stupid for no reason (which isn't surprising since this is Australia and we have the shittest wifi there is)

anyway IM SO SURE JUNE IS GONNA SHOW UP TODAY

GIVE👏US👏LESBIANS👏

DID I NOT SAY IT?

I WAS RIGHT YALL

AAAAAAAAAAA

LITERALLY IMMEDIATE

AS SOON AS THE OTHER MAJOR FEMALE CHARACTER WAS INTRODUCED, B O O M, LESBIANS

I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THIS

although I wasn't expecting it to be teacher/student

she is just a trainee teacher, but its still a bit ick

idk tho

I guess we'll see what they do with it

gay panic in real time

ooh yes ive been waiting for the familial need for an heir thing to crop up, yesyesyes

making me think of drarry now

OKAY SO MAYBE I WAS WRONG

MAYBE HE DOES LIKE HER

but the things I said are still true

the evidence we've gotten before just now havent really felt solid enough to argue that kang likes pimfah

but now... I guess I have to agree

pimfah knows/suspects/ships it and no one can convince me otherwise

IM WHEEZE-LAUGHING THIS IS HILARIOUS

THE MUSIC PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND?????

I CANT RN

SO THIS IS DEFINITELY A DREAM SEQUENCE, RIGHT?

I wasn't expecting imaginary scenes from this series but I deeply appreciate it

I CANT STOP LAUGHING

THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING, SAILOM

YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED

BUT ITS ALSO SUCH A MOOD

also I like kang's shoes

Y E S

I WAS HOPING FOR OPEN HOUSE VIEWJUNE

again, I wasn't expecting it to be teacher/student, but anyway

OH YOU LESBIANN

G3I4ORENHGKLS

I would do the same tho

June is so pretty

and so is view

and so is chimon

and so is Perth

(and so is satang)

(no I will not shut up about my satang and perth siblings agenda, its too good to keep to myself)

NO IM OUT OF IMAGES

on the bright side, it took a lot longer to run out today than it did last week

#quodekash disregards sleep because of dangerous romance #dangerous romance #dangerous romance series #dangerous romance the series #kanghansailom #kangsailom #sailomkang #sailomkanghan #perthchimon #chimonperth #chimon wachirawit #perth tanapon #view benyapa #june wanwimol #viewjune #juneview #pimfahnabdao #nabdaopimfah

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louisferrignojr · 6 months ago

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Hugh Eddie/chris/Buck fan To say I hated the final would be an understatement, been reading every Eddie/chris reunion fic I can find.i don’t know if u like story ideas but I can’t get these out of my head..Buck drives to Texas to bring Chris back to surprise Eddie at Xmas, Chris calls Eddie in the middle of the night because he is in the hospital and needs his dad, no one told Eddie what happened

the eddie storyline in s7 was heartbreaking. honestly. i think we saw his grief as rage in s3 but i dont think he ever truly processed the loss - and beyond that, the trauma of that relationship while shannon was still alive, because it was a fucking mess. he says in s7, they spent more time apart than together, and we saw in 'eddie begins' the struggles they faced as young parents (esp of a disabled kid) - and sidenote to the sidenote, i am so fucking peeved that we didnt get to see more of shannon because she is actually such an interesting character, and they just brought her back and killed her off so quickly? but anyway - after s3, we see eddie trying to date, and he's always hesitating "because christopher" (is that a legit reason or a bit of an excuse, because christopher loves ana, and seems to get along with marisol just fine?) and the man's gone to therapy and talked about his army days/ptsd etc, but he never really got into the issues that were present in his marriage and the scene where he's (lowkey coerced into) roleplaying with his dead wife's doppelganger brought up SO MUCH GRIEF AND PAIN in such a brief scene

and listen. s7 was PACKED. it was 10 fucking episodes. it was always going to be a little rushed, a little ~ underdeveloped. i'm really hopeful s8 is going to get into eddie's storyline. i liked what we saw in s7 because it was more of a set up for what's to come in s7. and there was actually so much eddie in s7. his "reservoir of catholic guilt" comment is always joked about, because they did that whole nun thing, and this show is a little bit of a comedy at times yeah, but like, let's get into it, actually? he talks to bobby about possibly having 'commitment issues' and if we go back to s6, his desire for the way he clicked with shannon, he's looking for that "magic" BUT BOY? YOU NEED A LOT MORE THERAPY ACTUALLY? i want to see him confront the fact that his marriage was less than perfect, that he's not over the pain shannon caused by leaving, the grief of her death.

eddie has made a lot of mistakes in s7 and it pains me to see the collateral damage he caused christopher in the process, but it was nice to see him let his son go. even though it kills him inside. eddie is such a good dad actually. the separation in the finale showed that once again. yes it's heartbreaking. but it was necessary.

ok sorry this got rambly. im in my eddie feels.

i love story ideas! and buck going to bring chris for christmas is so nice, the two of them conspiring to surprise eddie. so cute. although you lost me at the end there, why is chris at the hospital? is there a car accident during the road trip??? aaaa???

#asks #911chrisandeddie

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ghostherlig · 3 months ago

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did you play the new dlc expansion pass? How was it? Any things you liked / disliked?

oh im gonna get into it bc i have some thoughts about the dlc-

but the TLDR of it is that i enjoyed it!! it was fun to play through, we got to see more of some less-seen characters, we got to see new characters, and i really liked being able to play more story mode and get to see the goofy and fun moments i was expecting... but i wasnt very happy with some of the character and story choices, especially how kuai liang and bi han ended up being, how noob saibot came about, and how everything sort of came together into one big glob of... hollow characters.

(longer thoughts under the cut 😅)

i dont know if i want to excuse the poor writing as being rushed (although that can very likely be the case with WB, it wouldnt surprise me), but i will say that i dont think it's all the fault of the writer (yes singular, thank you WB /s)

my main issues were with the characters themselves- i love the addition of sektor and cyrax as playable characters on the roster, i love that we get noob saibot and get to see more of other timelines and have great character expansions on rain and tanya- i dont love that kuai liang gets the shaft the entire story, or that bi han has all of the problems that his character has, or that there's so much unnecessary conflict the entire story

first things first, i really liked playing through the story mode- even though i accidentally played 98% of it on hard and struggled- it was a fun little adventure! i loved getting to see sektor and cyrax, i loved getting to see all of characters interacting again, i loved that we got to see harumi, and that we got to see more from other timelines-

however, as much fun as it was, there were certain points that just felt hollow, or pointless, or so out of character that it kind of took me out of it- the main sources of that issue being bi han and kuai liang.

bi han and kuai liang, throughout the entirety of khaos reigns, are the most infuriating set of bastards i have ever had to experience in an mk game- and it's just because they were constantly making the wrong decisions.

that isnt to say that you cant write a story where every turn is a left one and nothing good ever happens, you absolutely can and there are masterpieces out there that are like that, however in this specific story, it feels like not a single fucking time do bi han or kuai liang ever make a good choice until the last fucking cut scene- AND IT'S JUST KUAI!!

bi han doesnt even get any kind of redemption arc after THIS???

THIS IS THE STUPIDEST FUCKING MOVE IN THE ENTIRE CAMPAIGN, AND HE DOESNT EVER GET TO REDEEM HIMSELF OF EVEN THIS?? IT'S THE STUPIDEST STUNT IN THE ENTIRE STORY-

and bi han isnt even one of the characters that i personally am super in love with (which may very well be bc of how he was written), but i still think that him jumping into that fucking portal for literally no reason was one of the WORST decisions i've ever seen-

there was quite literally no fucking need, there are a thousand different ways to get him into the khaos realm-

like, geras already gets taken- and the fight scene between them all couldve been improved if bi han had actually tried to help and not had his Dunce Moment of jumping head first into that portal- we couldve had an enemies to brothers story where bi han, kuai liang, cyrax, and sektor all go together to the khaos realm to get geras- and maybe after realizing he was wrong, bi han takes a hit for kuai and gets dragged off and that's how we get noob later in the story-

all that to say, things could've been different.

i think the story couldve even had a good (as in like.. happy-) ending, where kuai liang and bi han can at the very least be somewhat civil with each other, or put their feud aside and work alongside each other to protect earthrealm-

i think there was so much opportunity for bi han to get some kind of redemption arc, and i think it couldve fit into the story because liu kang wanted the best outcome for each of his champions, and bi han is a part of that!! it couldve been that bi han and kuai found a way to set aside their feud to protect earthrealm, for bi han to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong, for kuai to be forgiving and allow bi han another chance- there was so much room for character development and it just feels like it was squandered.

i love mk as a franchise because of their characters and a lot of their complexity that can be scraped from story pieces, but khaos reigns felt more like a cash grab than wanting to make a good story. the characters felt so empty, and having the story end how it did, with the tower endings afterwards stomping out any hope for any kind of redemption?

i'll say it isnt my favorite 😅 i liked the addition of new characters, i thought tid bits of the story like ww2 johnny and emperor rain and empress tanya were cool, i like that we got to see more of kenshi using his powers, i enjoyed seeing cyrax and sektor interact with each other and with others (although in my opinion sektor has a lot of problems with her character-) and i really like a lot of the kind of funky skins we got from it all... i just wish there was a way for us to keep the good and get a better story out of it... even if it still ended with noob waiting to be cured, i think it wouldve been nice for him to have someone other than sektor waiting for him...

#ghost answers #ghost's ouija board #my thoughts are kind of a mess #but i hope they're comprehensible 😅

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nocturnal-phantoms-fandoms · 8 months ago

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☕ on what your top 3 tropes are and why please! ♥️

Hello Rory!! :D

Judging solely by Hard Scientific Evidence (my ao3 bookmarks) - its Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting and Canon Divergence (if we ignore fanfic genres). Filtered to only HP fics its Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting and Canon Compliant.

Although considering two of them are regarding the canon/alternate setting and aren’t exactly tropes (and Im not sure i would say i agree with this data) - I was resorted to breaking down my two OTPs (wolfstar and stucky) into pieces ;)

So, lets see what we can find inside :D

Childhood Friends to Lovers

Or friends to lovers. Or strangers to friends to lovers. Any form of buddyslash, as it used to be called, as opposed to enemyslash. I am very much not an enemies to lovers person. Even in case of rivals to lovers ships im actually interested in them after they move into a more amicable territory.

So, friends to lovers is my fav type of ship dynamic, I believe.

Im not sure why? Maybe its got sth to do with me being maybe probably on the ace spectrum. Maybe I just think a good romance starts with friendship as opposed to bad romance that starts with rah rah-ah-ah-ah.

2. Separated by war and imprisonment and Reunited against all odds

This just screams soulmatism to me, and not in a “we are soulmates bc we fit so well together” (bc r/s dont) but in a “the chances of us finding each other again were so minuscule it must have been done consciously by the universe”. Its sometimes so crazy to me that this things happened canonically. The shack scene is absolutely crazy on its own (the forgave each other 12 years of pain in one conversation) and then Sirius and Remus go live together for like a year. The whole Winter Soldier movie is, again, bonkers, when you have shipping goggles on (and even if you dont, the romance isnt in the subtext, its in the text)

I was surprised I was into exes to lovers in modern/no magic aus, but yeah its canon for r/s so it makes sense. Something something second chances something something love conquers all something something they were meant to be something something soulmates.

3. Recovering after years of torture prison

hurt/Comfort my beloved.

This trope fits fill-in-the-blanks type of canon-compliant fics for r/s and canon-divergent fix-its fics for s/b.

In case of wolfstar this is Lie Low at Lupin’s. Absolute banger. *slaps hood* This bad boy can fit so many smaller tropes. Bed sharing. Bath sharing. Helping wash/cut hair. Comforting after a nightmare. Communicating and talking and settings things straight after years of lost time. Yeah. Cannot go wrong with this one. (and I can pretend they stay in this intimate serene bubble and nothing bad ever happens to them bc im delusional)

In case of stucky its all types of post-WS or post-CW fix-its where Bucky finally gets some fucking treatment and therapy (and actual therapy, not this piss-poor excuse for a therapist from TFATWS).

In both cases there is also an interesting switch in the dynamic that im not sure i can put into right words. Just, the one that used to stand up for the other, take care of them, was more confident and outgoing, now is the one being taken care of bc they went through hell and were on a run from the government for 2 years. And the one taking care of them is doing only slightly better, had a bit more time to adjust, but still, is quite traumatized as well.

Cinematic parallels or sth idk.

***

However, i mostly read fluff so there are many fluffy tropes i could mention but i couldn’t pick my top 3 (Sirius raising Harry and getting together with Remus. Domestic bliss. Established relationships with marriage proposals. Raising kids together. Post-full-moon sick fics (that one is technically h/c). Holidays spend with loving families. etc) I eat that shit up

send me a ☕️ and a topic and i’ll talk about how i feel about it

#sorry i kept you waiting #i just wanted to give you my best answer #btw r/s and s/b are so so similar #one day i will write a meta about it #ask game #☕️ ask game #rory tag #thanks for sending the ask :D #nyx rambles

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its--ok--to--shine · 2 years ago

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Analyzing the Roman/Gerri crumbs in episode 4 and why i’m hopeful

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 EP 3 DONT READ IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP

1. we have to remind ourselves: this episode, the funeral, occurs the next day. it’s barely been 24 hours since their conversation. and less than that since logan’s death. i was kind of surprised the funeral was the literal next day. it made sense roman & gerri didn’t have a full scene because there was so much going on that was a priority. plus both of their wounds are still fresh and everyone was around and so much was happening. writing wise it made sense why it didn’t happen

2. i think their scene will be next episode. although mattson wanted them to fly out the next day, (the conversation with the kids)i doubt they will go then. There may be some lulls while on the trip where they can fight it out lol

3. Gerri and roman making comments about greg. after roman’s first joke to greg, gerri chuckles. he then continues to make another joke and then after greg responds gerri makes a jab at greg as well. this matters because this is the first time we have seen her laugh and smile around roman in MONTHS. (besides her little thank u in ep 3) i mean they weren’t even in the same rooms the first two episodes and before that was italy and we all know how that went. there still is something there (less factual more hopeful here lol)

5. without logan looming roman seems far more confident and self assured i could see their dynamic evolving from mentor/mentee to actual partners which could also make it easier for the romance too

6. he’s lying about how it’s over with gerri. he could have said something way worse about her to his siblings when they asked if he was still pulling for her. he also would not look at kendall. roman is a pretty good liar but he never ever looks them in the eye when he lies. maybe because he is worried they will call his bluff but it happens a lot

7. although it hurt when roman brought up gerri souring on logan i noticed a few things in this. he didn’t look at her when he said it only when she responded, he was confident enough to disagree with her, and he didn’t push it about her firing being in writing (he could have) i think she will have more respect for him because he said exactly what karl did and he isn’t just going to be her little yes man anymore.

8. Kendall went behind roman’s back and said to move forward smearing dad. His first move is to go against roman’s wishes & hurt their dad. Even tho logan is gone, roman’s abuse ran deep and he always justified the abuse because deep down he desperately loved him and wanted to be loved by him. I think kendall smearing their father will make him reconsider his alliances and maybe go back to gerri. i don’t see how he could let it go because in the end roman always chose his dad over everyone.

overall i’m hopeful that we will see some of their old dynamic back and maybe it evolve into something real. either that or i riot lmao

long post but let me know your thoughts :)

#succession spoilers #roman gerri #roman and gerri #succession #gerri roman #roman roy #gerri kellman #slime puppy

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lyrepyre · 1 year ago

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""liveblogging"" the first 10mins of the newest tom scott :D

THIS IS A LONG POST (press J to skip post)

(liveblogging in the sense that its live but itll only be one post, i guess this is spoilers but its a tom scott video so not sure what i would spoil, i also know VERY LITTLE about the subject of the video so dont expect me to start making peer-reviewed opinions on the content, this is about the video not the telescope. GO WATCH THE VIDEO!!)

(when i mention tom scott or 'him' im probably talking about tom scott as a channel and not as a guy, a lot of work goes into these videos by multiple people)

starting off with the title. pretty normal for a modern tom scott although the asterisk is interesting, i cant remember the last time he's clarified in the title, normally when he makes a 'hyperbolic' claim he explains it within the first few seconds of the video (this is why people like to talk about how he always 'gets to the point'). i suppose you could say that him putting '(yet)' at the end of the explosion measure-rer video is similar but here it feels more like a "tom knows that this is pretty much wrong" instead of a "this is technically true and here's why". the thumbnail is also standard for modern tom scott, he's become more familiar with the modern youtube 'guy pointing at/admiring thing' format and here he does it again, with the subject of the video in the background as usual.

the first surprising part of the video for me is the length, HALF AN HOUR!!! every time tom makes a long video its normally one of his best (itll be alright on the night is my favourite and in my opinion the best tom scott video (yes i like it more than the video about the youtube sponsor video (the origin of the vape meme (its not actually a vape!)))). from the length alone i know that this is a video i'll enjoy and so i metaphorically grab popcorn etc

now the video actually starts! he starts with himself in protective gear which is standard for his videos (except from when he does the 'this isnt what i expected' preamble which:) he does! he clarifies the title (as usual with the pseudo-clickbait titles) and talks about how he prepared a script etc etc, for a long scott video this is surprising, these long videos take ages to make so if he throws out the script something is different. and then:

TITLECARD!!

a titlecard essentially screams that this video will be high-production and GOOD. seeing writing credits is especially nice, with recent videos we can see tom acknowledge that it isn't just him making these, with 'alright on the night' there was a long end credit and for years he's put credits at the end of his videos, but here it is at the start, with himself in the same typesize and on the same level as his editor and script assistant, with an awesome rotating drone shot around the telescope (i think i would prefer if it was a drone shot at sunset for continuity with the previous section, but obviously getting shots at any time of day he chooses would be infeasible)

sidenote to talk about the captions. tom gets a company to caption his videos for him (caption+ by js* the majority of the time but i wouldnt be surprised if for some videos he gets someone else to do it). the reason i brought up the captions is that for voice-over the captions are in italic, which gets annoying to read long sentences of (yes i know academic papers and whatnot but idrc!!), in other videos captions for sentences spoken directly from tom 'in scene' are normally prepended by a dash, and voiceover is given no formatting, or alternatively no formatting for voiceover and tom gets his own colour. this switchup isnt major but i think i would prefer if it wasnt in italic, as first reading the captions it made me wonder if there was some sort of special reason it was in italic except from simply being in voiceover, but it seems there isnt.

re: 'scientists love giving names to telescopes like that', seeing tom scott make jokes in his videos or at least add a bit of humour to them is always nice, sometimes i feel his videos have become a bit too corporate and i loved the old stuff where it felt more personal (please PLEASE a return of matt and tom's park bench), so hoping that more jokes/casual moments are in the video, maybe even a post-credits quip. however for subjects like this where these videos are likely to come up in professional/educational settings, i can see that it makes sense to actually keep things professional (think tom on computerphile/language files)

tom clarifying that the agencies had no editorial control is sort of a given with tom scott videos, but its nice for him to clarify. sometimes in the comments therell be some random who gets mad at tom getting paid to cover it and paint it in a good light or whatever so its good that he almost immediately clears it up.

the way tom scott shows road footage and explains how he found his way around the site/area (the latter pretty usual for an 'unscripted' video) reminds me heavily of cgp grey's video on the tekoi test range, although that video is more of a vlog, so i guess tom's video reminds me of a vlog? not sure if thats a good thing or not

the footage of him walking through the residence with pristine blue pools and deck chairs while the voiceover explicitly states that its not a hotel is very funny, although necessary because i can imagine someone with more money than sense seeing this footage and buying a plane ticket to this middle-of-nowhere site in the desert because they want to be 'with the stars'

speaking of!!: tom scott's pinned comment (as of day of release) is weirdly poetic, 'and the stars were beautiful' originally made me think that it was a quote from hitchhiker's or a poem, but a search showed that no, tom just knows how to paint stories in peoples minds (and thats amazing)

another sidenote to mention the camerawork! a lot of the subjects tom covers are set in places like urban europe or some business park in california or whatever (the switzerland ones seem to be an exception with tom going all out with the camerawork, see the shooting range, the village with no cars etc, why does tom like switzerland so much??) so when its set in a place that looks cool it really makes the video a lot more engaging and tbh more awesomer, i love the shot of the petrol station and the wide shots of the 'village'

the drone shot of the very large telescope is also great, with simple 1080p im surprised by the quality of the rocky surface, and with 4k it feels like a movie. tom then completely negates this with the most whiplash-inducing offcentre blurry zoom on the extremely large telescope, i understand he wanted to show the distance between the site and the telescope but i feel he couldve done better. he then (i think) reuses the rotating drone shot from the titlecard but i think its cool so i dont mind

also: tom is quite clearly filming the voiceover from either the uk or somewhere in europe or america, and it is painfully obvious that he was at home/in a hotel and went 'i need a nondescript place to shoot, this forest near me will do'. if i was good at geoguessing/osint/geocaching(?) i would find where this forest is but im not so the 'telescope voiceover forest' will forever be unknown :(

this video has chapters but im not going to pick up on them too much because its a long tom scott video, so of course therell be chapters. does make the video cooler though. what i will pick up on is the uv index sign, which i cant describe any more than it just 'fitting', theres this vibe around it that makes the quick succession of shots much better and i cant figure out why, maybe because its a clearly man-made thing among nature or because you have to pause and focus on what it is saying to read it, either way i like it.

..and theres the twist that explains the title. most tom scott videos with these sorts of titles will have a twist of some sort that isnt a complete lie but helps to "clarify" the truth, here it being that its actually multiple telescopes! (:O) these sorts of twists have become mainstays of toms content now so there really isnt much to say, other than that it was there i guess

moving on though we have the first interview (an actual mainstay of a tom scott video). again i cant say much about the content of the interview other than the fact that the interviewee is wearing an awesome hoodie, especially fitting for an astronomer. i can imagine him coming into work beaming that he gets to wear his space hoodie for his space job where he researches space. this man is GOALS. what i will say though is that the 8.2 metres wasn't converted to imperial, which is what tom normally does for measurements, so i'll be the saving grace and say that 8.2 metres = 968.50393701 barleycorn. thank me later. the interviewee's captions were in a different colour (yellow) which is standard, and makes it even funnier when the yellow switches to tom's white when he explains the mirror mistake.

tom making callbacks to previous videos is always nice, its something he's started quite recently, presumably with the channel slowing down, sort of a 'protagonist reflects on the adventures theyve had', it also appeals to people who have watched lots of tom scott (like myself >:])

something that happens when tom interviews a super-expert on a topic is when he rephrases something or observes something (here being the precision of the telescope) and the interviewee just sort of brushes it aside, with the interviewee affirming with what seems almost passive-agressive responses (here being the shortest 'yeah' ever). i get that tom phrases it like this for the viewers, or so that he can understand himself, but it must irk the expert when the guy interviewing you is surprised that optical telescopes have to be precise

tom's gopro skills have definitely improved over the years, but i think they may be too good now, as i can see toms finger trace the path between all of the points on the telescope. this is really cool but seeing toms finger in the corner of the screen with the narration makes it feel like an interactive cutscene in the last of us, i feel like i should have an option to pick whether to be nice or mean to tom.

i feel like ive mocked tom a bit too much so im going to instead compliment him on how good of an interviewer he is. the classic rephrase/observation that i mentioned earlier is a great way to ask questions that although he might know the answer to, the viewers might not and the content of the questions and the attention to detail is just great. whenever i have a question its less than 20 seconds later that tom makes an observation and the question is answered.

the pov at 8:36!!! again with the your choices matter rpg cutscene tom!! theres also another unconverted metric with 30cm and 60m but im not going to make the joke again (i think tom said in a q&a on the park bench that he may only convert imperial to metric and not vice versa? i looked for the clip and couldnt find it and also i wouldnt be able to include the barleycorn joke so whatever)

thats 10 minutes!! i was originally going to do the whole video but that might crash my browser and the video has less non-topic related things to pick up on. it also means that if you havent watched the video and for some weird reason you read this post you can watch the other 2/3 of it. if for some weirder reason you actually read me ramble about a tom scott video then good for you i guess?

#tom scott #long post

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