#and then there is so much hateful bullshit in speculations this season

[karenandhenwilson]

After last nights episode I saw immediately some takes of "Oh, Buck will need to take care of Chris now and won't have time for Tommy anymore!" and "Tommy will see how important Eddie and Chris are for Buck now and will take a step back!" and that replaced my anguish about the Mara storyline right away with anger at certain fans.

People with children date very successfully. People dating someone with children can be very willing to support their date with caring for the children even if they haven't been dating long yet.

But also: Why the hell should Eddie lose custody of Chris? I have no doubt Chris will be horribly distraught and confused about Kim. (I hate that he met her, but on the other hand, I hope they'll give Gavin the chance to shine with this story line probably in season 8 because he deserves it.) But Eddie is a good father, has always been a good father. He'll take care of Chris. Yes, most likely with the help of Buck because this season started with us seeing Buck being heavily involved in parenting Chris. But I find it kind of ridiculous to assume Chris will move in with Buck or even more so going as far as to claim that this will be a reason for Ramon and Helena to get custody of Chris.

Ryan saying in that one interview that Eddie will feel isolated can also just mean that Chris won't want to talk much to him for a while after this. He clearly isn't isolated from Buck. We got a wonderful supportive scene between Buck and Eddie this episode! But being ignored by your child, who he clearly adores so much, will cut deep. (And of course, Marisol will probably break up with him, right? At least I hope so.)

[notacyborg]

Thoughts!

I really hate Gerrard and how he is treating everyone, everyone, and this isn't anti-Eddie, but my dude, you are a boot licker to the max, like not even Hen and Chim are as bitched out as you are. I love you, man, and I'm going to put it up to you dealing with Chris. Gerrard punishing Buck for saving that girl and her mom was some bullshit. Then, telling him the grown-ups will handle the bees when he is hell competent at his job is just putting lives at risk. Got I hate that man. Oh man, Buck saving him from the circular saw! But cracking his skull on the pavement. So either the golfing is a nightmare, or golfing is a thank you and trying to win Buck over. Is the bitch going to be down for the count... Buck is going to have consequences for this; I can speculate what they might be. Gerrard will either try to pull Buck in because of it or suspend him for assaulting a superior. 2. YAY, House hunting, but how dare they put Athena through this bullshit, ohhh they are pulling a Jeffery Epstein. This could be interesting. Oh man, she's going to have to fly; I hope we have a certain flying firefighter to talk her through landing. 3. The bees are great, but man, Buck, your praise kink is showing; I need a fic now where Tommy just praises Buck in a daddy-dom way for how good he did or just comforts him after the bullshit with Gerrard. But like I really do wonder what the fallout from tackling Gerrard is going to be. I really don't think he's sustainable for network TV in the long run because of how horrible he is. I do want to know what his Connection with Ortiz is, and if he got her Hen's file. I think Ortiz is going to be the long-term problem this season. 4. I feel so bad for Eddie, the shit with Chris and his mom, and his mom not even taking the camera with her to sing happy birthday, and like the way she's talking to Eddie when Chris isn't there is fucked up given what's going on. 5. The Buck Tommy scene is everything I wanted, freak4freak and geek4geek. I can't wait to see them work through their baggge and have a few hurdles and how much they grow, I'm not getting my hopes up, but I hope they are long haul and that Hen calls them U-Hal Lesbians by ep 6. Maybe Buck Tommy End Game.

[blackbird-brewster]

CM Unpopular Opinions

Just a couple of weeks out from the new season, the new trailer just dropped, and people are getting hyped. For last season, I made a CME predictions post (which mostly came to pass, bc this show is so predictable) -- but this season, I'm going to post some unpopular opinions going into S17. Don't like, don't read.

WILL. Since we know Will won't be in this season, there have been speculations that JJ/Will will be getting a divorce, or that Will is going to die. I do NOT want Will to die. I hate that guy, I've never liked his character, but you know who I do love? JJ. She has already been through SO much, I do NOT want Hotch 2.0 in S17. I don't want Will to die, because that would be like ripping half of JJ's soul out of her chest and she deserves better. What I actually think will happen -- is just that Will is going back to being an off-screen partner like he was for most of the series.

JEMILY. I've already written my thoughts on Paget's Jemily hints on social media and why I think that's simply queerbaiting. There's no way Jemily is going to be canon, and I am HAPPY about that. I don't want Jemily to be canon!! Look at how this show treats canon relationships!! How many female romantic interests have been tortured and killed???? Why would I ever want Jemily in that crossfire? Also, as a fanfic author who has been writing Jemily for the past decade -- I don't want them to become canon, because that will squander so much creative potential. Fic authors fill in the gaps and subtext of canon, that's our job, when a relationship becomes canon it really loses it's appeal. That being said, I would love to actually see Emily and JJ interacting again. S16 really ignored their decade-long friendship altogether. Shit, I would love to just see them in the same fricking scene again.

REBECCA. All I want is for Rebecca to survive this season. As mentioned above, the way this show treats romantic interests of main characters is HORRIBLE. I'm forever furious with how the show handled Tara/Rebecca's relationship last season. I know fans hated Rebecca for getting pissed at Tara, but I still don't agree. What I do hate is how as soon as Tara's queerness served it's plot point (getting the inmate to admit he's gay too) -- the show nuked Tara's relationship altogether. I seriously love Rebecca, I think she adds a lot to the show. And since we already know Rebecca is in S17, I would LOVE to see Tara/Rebecca sit down and actually talk through their issues (like real adults!). I would LOVE for them to get the happy ending they deserve.

GARCIA'S ROMANCE. For real, I do not care about any of this love triangle bullshit with Garcia between Tyler and Luke or whatever tf is happening. I seriously hated what they did to Garcia's character in S16, it felt like they completely erased the prior 15 years from her character and replaced it with the most basic hetnormative romance plot. I don't ship Garvez (nor her and Tyler), so I don't really care about that side of things. But I would LOVE to get our Garcia back. I miss her so much.

RETURNING CHARACTER RUMORS. If one of the past cast members comes back in S17 I do not want it to be MGG. CME already focused an entire season on Rossi's man-pain (literally the only reason they killed Krystal was for him to be angry 🙃). I do NOT want another season of white-male centric plot lines (even though that's clearly what's gonna happen with Voight) If anyone actually comes back to guest, I want it to either be Matt or Derek. Alternatively, I do have a crack theory that the unsub/Gold Star is actually Elle Greenaway. A trained government assassin, she became a vigilante after leaving the BAU and she's been operating for all these years without detection. Now THAT would be a good twist.

Listen, overall, I'm not looking forward to another season of Evolution. I think they're trying way too hard to turn CM into some edgy, gritty, Norwegian-type crime drama and in doing so, they've ruined some of my favourite characters irrevocably. I don't have high hopes for S17.

[danthropologie]

I can’t tell why the vibes are rancid tbh kinda sounds like Ricbull is…possibly happening? Daniel’s comments seemed more positive than negative but everyone everywhere is screaming “oh he’s done!!! Even max said so!!!”

no i know i was literally just saying this!!! the vibes are SO fucking rancid and i don't know exactly why either. very well could just be a 'darkest before dawn' situation with everyone getting their shitty ass hot takes out before whatever announcement is to come. could be something to do with the way silly season has dragged on for sooooo long this year because it started earlier than ever. could be that, for whatever reason, tons of people have just randomly decided they hate daniel now so they'll take any opportunity to shit on him, even if it's clearly dumb and fake and stupid.

whatever the case may be, i'm fucking TIRED and i'm just prayyyyyingggggg that the announcement comes early next week so we can just be done with the speculation and the questions and the bullshit and move on cause i don't know much more of this i can take 😭

[irkimatsu]

I read an article from Screen Rant which speculated Husk possibly having a larger role in season two due to him being an ex-Overlord—something that may very well come into play as Overlords seem to be the focal point, though particularly the Vees, in these upcoming episodes. I am uncertain if Husk's past will in fact be touched on, but I imagine we will get a glimpse of the history between Alastor and Vox at least. What are your thoughts on this? 👀 Personally, I'm really excited to learn about how the acquisition of power works in Hell and all its politics lmaooo I'm a sucker for world building shit!!

- ⭐ blue-dream-boye

Oh, I absolutely want that sweet, sweet worldbuilding! I'm not entirely clear on how the whole Overlord business works - clearly they're united enough on some level to have organized meetings, though no one particularly cares if you stop attending those meetings for seven years... I'd love to see all the alliances and rivalries in the whole business, from feelings based on serious moral grounds to utter petty bullshit.

And of course I want to know where Husk falls in with all that. I'm sure he had some Overlords he was fond of, and some he couldn't fucking stand. (And I'm sure he had some opinion on Alastor, one way or another - and it can't have been entirely negative if Husk trusted him enough to bet his soul against him, unless his desperation/addiction was truly that bad by then...) Do any of the current Overlords remember him? Do they know he's now Alastor's pet? Do they even care? How many other ex-Overlords are running around in Hell, not murdered by Alastor but still stripped of their power somehow?

How is someone officially designated an Overlord? Is there a hard number of souls you have to own first? Do you have to be skilled at a certain industry? Who makes those decisions?

What was Husk like as an Overlord? Does he have any regrets? This is what I'm particularly interested in from Husk's time as an Overlord - I feel like his redemption arc, in a show where redemption arcs are the whole point, won't be nearly as satisfying if he was a kind Overlord who never hurt anyone. Hell, from what we already know, "used souls as gambling chips" already sounds pretty bad. I want to see his mistakes and regrets so I can see how he moves on from them... I think addiction and lust for power would have turned him into a particularly nasty person. He even says "it was nice having that power", so power was definitely a consideration, something that could drive him to be selfish... It's not right, but it's understandable how it happened...

I'd also like to see some comparisons with Valentino - given his current stance on consent, I'm sure he currently fucking hates Val, even if Angel wasn't in the equation. But given his gambling of souls back then, how much could he truly have against Val back then without coming off as a hypocrite…?

And yes, what in the absolute fuck happened between Alastor and Vox? I keep seeing the quote "complicated and sad" going around about their history. What happened. I'm especially looking forward to seeing what happened so I can understand better what makes Alastor tick... he hides everything so well, I need to see his history to truly understand...

Godddd S2 cannot come soon enough

[eisforeidolon]

I am not sure how long you have been in the SPN fandom (I have only been in it for 3 years) but I was wondering has the infighting about which J is actually the better one always been a thing? I sometimes see some fans really hating on them for what seems like very petty reasons and projecting all kinds of jealously, codependence, and envious behavior especially onto Jensen. I love Jared but the way some Jared fans act like Jensen has or had some creepy obsession with him makes me wonder if this is something that has always been around or manifested more after the prequel situation.

It's been around 11 years for me, being properly in the fandom. I binged the series just in time to catch the start of season 8 airing real-time, and came to tumblr when I realized fanfic was not going to scratch the itch of sharing speculation about what would happen next. So far as I'm aware, from personal observation and seeing people who've been around longer talking about the what the fandom was like? It's always been a thing to some extent, but the extent has varied a lot depending on when and what part of the fandom you're in.

The extreme Jensen stans - generally called Ackles Army (AAs) - have always been upfront and loud about hating Jared over anything and everything - almost literally to the point of insisting he's breathing wrong. They overlap a lot with hellers because of a generally shared desire to get Jared off SPN and away from Jensen, convinced he was in the way/holding Jensen back/throwing jealous tantrums to control Jensen and the show/whatthefuckever.

While some extreme Jared stans didn't bother to hide, a lot of them insisted they were totally fans of both prior to prequelgate and maybe some were - to an extent. For the most part they could blend in, because most of the time? Jensen and Jared were in pretty synchronous agreement - doing publicity together, agreeing the brother bond was the center of the show, not really doing a lot of other projects, etc. But over time, long before prequelgate, well it just always so happened that if either J got solo attention or there was some perceived difference? According to these supposed bibros, Jared was not capable of even considering making a bad decision ever, while nearly everything Jensen did alone was somehow embarrassing or suspect and supposedly reflected badly on him. They didn't necessarily want Jensen to go away, just know his place as the cheerleading subordinate. Of course now that Jensen and Jared are doing separate projects and attention for Jensen does not automatically mean attention to Jared, with the handy kickoff of prequelgate to claim extra totes legit justification over that misunderstanding they sorted out in a single phone call ... well, here we are.

By and large the AAs/hellers have always been more extreme - in terms of sheer quantity of assholes openly wishing not just failure but actual harm on Jared and sending death threats to him and other fans. But in terms of petty back and forth bullshit dragging the actors, these days they openly do a lot of the exact same nonsense: J is ugly! J is an alcoholic/druggie! J is a complete failure post-SPN! J is abusive to fave!J! J is obviously jealous of fave!J/trying to sabotage fave!J! J only did X because fave!J did Y so much better! Only fave!J was essential to the show, it was his character's story!

Both sides are constantly justifying themselves with the ol' OMG THEY STARTED IT! nonsense. Sure, the self-serving justifications differ just a little where the Jensen stans pretend to be amnesiac and blind to the really gross and reprehensible shit sent directly to Jared and basically everything the real Jensen says, while the Jared stans insist no one should object to anything they say because at least it's not wishing death on anybody (despite how much they lose their shit over even the petty nonsense when it's being directed at Jared). As if it's not obviously a constant back and forth of copycat stupid that has everything to do with each side trying to "prove" their personal superiority in being fans of The Better J by talking shit on the internet.

[spacedlexi]

I totally get your point about the kenny/Jane thing. In my opinion the best outcome is letting Kenny kill Jane (honestly Jane brought that to herself, all of them knew that if he lost someone else he would finally go ballistic and she deliberately put him on that spot to prove "a point") and then staying in Wellington, because Kenny acknowledges that he's not fit enough to care for her and AJ anymore, so he begs Clem to stay. He's aware that he's not right for the job, and he accomplished his mission, he stayed loyal to Lee and left. It also gives the opportunity to speculate whether he finally found peace after all his suffering. (Even if the original idea was him offing himself in the Virginia lake after that)

i always find myself struggling to talk about S2 because i know the writers changed direction (multiple times?) as the season was releasing??? which means character arcs and motivations were altered to fit this new direction and its like painfully obvious sometimes especially when it comes to kenny and jane and luke

i hate when writers cant commit to the bit. and that kind of happens with kenny. which is weird because even tho they decided against him literally being carvers character (which wouldve worked perfectly for a luke v kenny ending), they still try to give him that carver storyline. like.. i could see kenny easily being in carvers position at howes. just like lilly in S4 with the delta. these two characters wanted leadership and never liked any pushback from the people around them. i can also see the kenny we knew from S1 turning into a man like carver in S2 (a dude who has lost a lot and whose methods are becoming more extreme to keep people safe) and i think kenny being carver instead wouldve made carver a much deeper and more interesting antagonist. like carver is fine. he works although his beef with this 11yo is weird. but we dont buy it when bonnie tells us he used to be a cool guy. we've only ever seen carver as a murderer. but if it was kenny in this role then immediately we add a lot of baggage to this character and his relationship with clem and her new relationship with the howes group. like we know kenny and we know what hes capable of but we also understand his motivations and we do believe that deep down kenny does want whats best to keep his people safe. and clem reappearing in the life of THIS kenny wouldve been Huge as he wouldve already begun his descent and clem is the only one who can really get through to him (like they still try to do when all the adults are like "uuuh clem you go talk to the angry man theres no way he'll listen to US"). i think they were afraid of making kenny an outright antagonist though and instead tried to have their cake and eat it too which just kinda...leads to mess... commit to your characters dark spirals and downfalls i hate this wishy washy bullshit. plus having kenny as carver instead wouldve centered clem in the howes discussion more. as it stands she just kinda gets swept up in everyone elses bullshit and just has to go along with it. classic child experience tho

jane pretending that aj was dead to intentionally push kenny over the edge just to "prove" to clem that hes dangerous was SOOOOO unnecessary jane!!! like we know girl!! we know!!! and when he tries to kill her for it its like...i know you saw this coming jane so how did you expect this to end?? was she just hoping she'd win the fight? she even tells clem to stay out of whatever was about to happen (plus she does genuinely put ajs life in real danger by leaving him in that car where they were lucky to hear his cries). but i think this problem stems from them changing it out from being a luke v kenny showdown. i think that ending wouldve culminated more naturally as their beef was slowly building since they first met. disagreement in leadership styles. that silly little middle school "choose who to sit with at dinner" thing felt like foreshadowing of a luke v kenny fight that just never happened. they needed to create a reason for kenny to attack jane as jane doesnt care about leadership she cares about keeping herself safe so the whole aj thing just....feels forced. like... jane why....Why........ where did your self preservation go...its like your whole character...

so...yeah.... i have a lot of conflicting feelings about S2 and its ending. on my recent playthrough i had clem tell kenny that maybe lee Shouldnt have come to save her in S1, trying to be all "boo hoo im so sad i get everyone i love killed boo hoo" and kenny responds by saying he should SMACK her for that???? i was so shocked that i missed taking the screenshot of it. i gasped audibly... turned into a "matter of time" situation for me (even tho things seem fine enough in the S3 flashbacks hes weirdly normal again and still talking about boats). kenny is definitely a broken man hanging on by a Singular Thread by the end of S2 and jane snaps it. this is why i like leaving kenny behind at wellington. clem and aj are definitely the light of his life at this point and he wants whats best for them. leaving them at wellington is really the best thing he can do for them both and its very sad because we know he Needs them. and clem would want to hold onto whoever she has left so its hard for her too. throughout all the seasons clem and aj are seen as the light in the darkness the hope for the future yadda yadda and kenny losing that? yeah i can see why the virginia lake idea was a thing. but thats ALSO why i like the clem shoots kenny ending. this man just wants it to be over he misses his family so much he cant take this shit anymore. staying with kenny into S3 really feels like we're stretching out his character as far as possible. it kinda feels like they hit the reset button on him and hes back to talking about boats. i feel like post S2 they just didnt really know what to do with him or jane. i feel like their endings in S2 are the most narratively fulfilling for their characters and i want clem to enter S3 on her own

[mech-bull]

IWTV Predictions

Entertaining myself by speculating about how the complete series of IWTV is going to go. (Maybe less speculation, more wishful thinking of how I would do it or want it to go.) Writing it down here just to see if I get ANY of it right.

Some important caveats: I have not read the books, although I finally gave in and am slowly slogging through the first one (more because I want to read more real books again than because I want to read it specifically.) I have read some general synopses of the series. I also know enough to know that AR’s obsession with Lestat and her responses to fanfic were among the least of her issues and that the books get really, um, whackadoodle as the series progresses. I’m not-so-secretly thrilled knowing she probably would have hated some/many of the aspects of the series that I think are among the best changes they made. Death to the author, baby. Adaptations should be just that.

With a prestige genre show on a smaller network, frankly, I think we’ll be lucky to get 5, maybe 6 seasons of the main show and I’m not considering the spin-offs here at all because I doubt there will be much crossover (despite recent spoiler-y filming shots). (I probably will give Talamasca a shot. I couldn’t get through a single ep of the witch one.)

OK, so broadly: I hope they’ll keep the body swapping and tours of heaven and hell (ahem, not to mention the pedophilia and incest, frankly) out of it as much as possible. What makes this show/premise interesting is that it’s about vampires who are incredibly human. The more outlandishly supernatural it gets, the less I personally will care (and of course it’s all about me).

More specific expectations: Obviously season 3 is primarily adapting Vampire Lestat. I think it will continue to lay groundwork for the whole great conversion thing as well as specific threats to Louis and Daniel. Louis and Lestat will not get back together yet but will become more entwined as they deal with that. Armand will not appear in the present day during most of it, but to give Assad something to do he will be in flashbacks with a) Lestat and b) Young Daniel, which Old Daniel is remembering more and more of. At the end of the season, keeping the tradition of the twisty cliffhanger involving Armand revealing something, he shows up with some important piece of news related to Marius or Akasha or something like that.

In season 4 (+ maybe 5) – Lestat and Louis will be primarily involved in plots related to Queen of the Damned stuff, with the B plot being a nod especially to the DM chapter by incorporating more of The Vampire Armand (he gives Daniel his real, full story as they work through their bullshit). Sadly, I don’t think they can justify a whole season devoted solely or even primarily to TVA, as much as I would throw money at them for it, and I also think they will and should change it to Daniel as the “audience” rather than David.  

Season 5 or 6 will be a kind of a wrap-up of the overall great conversion/Akasha stuff, with a sort of Prince Lestat-adapted story. They all endure happily(?) ever after. 

[ariendiel]

How to describe Shannon's character and personality?

I would describe her as independent, determined, and as someone who exudes confidence. I always loved her and how seemingly unbothered by it all she was, while also clearly being there to win. I've never quite decided if I like her and Rahim together though, as I'm not sure if Shannon ever genuinely cared about him and his interests. It simply felt quite shallow to me. Still, she was clearly feeling vulnerable while on the show, but hid it well – she probably hates being perceived as weak (mood).

This mix of hidden vulnerability and open strength is key to her character, and I think she's one of the few people in the Villa who wouldn't bullshit anyone or themselves. Still, she definitely felt a bit too confident in herself and in Rahim picking her over Jo, but her poker face is impeccable.

To me, Shannon is someone it'd probably take a good while to truly get to know. I mean, she's just so protective of herself and her feelings, the *why* of which is of course interesting to speculate about. Has she been hurt in the past? Who knows. She could simply be cautious as I think she's someone almost too rational for her own good.

Overall though, these kind of "analyses" of characters makes it clear to me just how much worse the game has gotten over the years. I stopped playing after season 3, but I doubt any new character that Fusebox make will get anywhere close to what we had in terms of individually distinct character and personality 🤍💙

[lindszeppelin]

In the press for MOTA (and even a little for D2), Austin often references how out of it and lost he was when he was in London. He even talks in one interview about how he doesn’t remember filming some of the scenes in MOTA.

We all knew he had a tough time “coming out” of his Elvis portrayal, but these interviews I think shed a bit more light on just how scrambled up he really was.

This is the exact time frame when the situationship would have been established. And I bet to him and his camp it seemed like a pretty great idea at the time — low stress, harmless, straightforward. It seemed like it would protect him from questions about V (and it did) and allow him to spend time with someone on mutually agreed upon terms. But…

“When you’re lost, people take advantage.” (Actual dialogue from the Elvis movie.)

Now I am NOT suggesting that he isn’t responsible for his own life and choices. He’s an adult so it’s all ultimately up to him. But based on his facial expressions and body language in the past weeks (months really), it’s quite evident that he is NOT feeling the benefit of being tied to this situation. And I wonder if he had it to do all over again if he would make a different decision. Of course we will never know.

But I suspect he has utterly soured on this aspect of fame and will want nothing more to do with such an arrangement. Or at least not one like this. Apart from the initial shield from speculation about V or another relationship, he’s gotten absolutely nothing back from this. She appears to be too young and spoiled to be anything but a complete drain. In fact, except for Cannes I don’t recall ever seeing her even look excited to be supporting him. I’m not saying I know for sure but from the parts that are visible she just does NOT give off warmth. She gives off needy and self-involved. The most disappointing example of this was Lisa Marie’s funeral. I would bet money that it was not long after that (which was after the Golden Globes), that the whole mess started to feel off to him. Death has a way of cutting through the bullshit. But, of course, the fog of awards season wouldn’t be the time to process that.

It’s so very frustrating to see him stuck in this contract, but I am hoping that when he is finally cut loose, he can actually spend some time in the kind of seclusion/privacy he genuinely wants.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. But I’m also moving this week so I’m insane and haven’t even had time to watch episode 5. There’s more in my head but I just had to stop and take the time to share this much with you Linds.

💕

god MJ i love you and your messages like these, i enjoy them every single time because you provide so much beautiful nuance and depth to your comments. ugh it's so good. and like always i agree with everything you said. we be on the same wavelength like that lol.

that elvis quote you dropped too was PERFECT. like literally, Elvis himself got mixed up with people who were not good for him but he was trapped. and people come through and try to say austin isn't trapped. then what do you call a man who has had no spark in his eyes for the last year+, looking morose every time he is with her, forced to be her pap puppet while she knows he hates being papped, etc? the only time austin feels happy is when he is with his costars and his friends that he loves. but when with her it's like the soul gets sucked out of him and he's mentally somewhere else while his body just goes through the motions. robotic and predictable.

and yes him and kaia met around that time he had finished filming MOTA. this man was barely in hospital for a week before flying over to London and being thrust into a new environment, new characters, new people. these shippers are too young and inexperienced to know how a person who goes through that much stress and quick change can be in a fog for a long time. plus yes, he didn't have to answer anything Qs about vanessa since he was already dating kaia when they were first papped after a gym session.

also let's not forget that this man was put through award season, grueling and 10x more stress for his oscar campaign. all of the events he attended in 2022/2023 were for Elvis and his Oscar nomination. that's an entirely different kind of PR he would be thrust into that he never experienced before. and yes of course while he agreed to do it in the beginning when it was new and different, clearly their dynamic changed and it's never been the same.

but one day when he is able to walk away from it, we will see an entirely vibrant and new austin. i swear to god this man will be totally reborn. it gives the energy of nicole kidman pumping her fits in the air excitedly after divorcing tom cruise lol.

[onewomancitadel]

tl;dr of something I decided against posting on the topic of fanon/fandom theorising setting people up for failure (to end up hating canon as more seasons/books etc. come out) is that you've got to find your bliss. I think a lot of people set themselves up for unhappiness because they're looking for canon to be something it's not and because people have a much harder time identifying what they like rather than what they dislike. It's really not the same process of elimination.

And you know, it might sound like spurious speculation, but I really think that we end up broadcasting personal unhappiness in fandom habits. A lot of fandom is dysfunctional because partisan bullshit here is a good way to express control we might not have in our personal lives. I often wonder if the influence fandom has had on politics and vice versa is a consequence of this. It helps temporarily ameliorate that feeling of personal powerlessness, on a psychological, local level, as well as a macro one.

But to get back to the fundamental point, people are a lot better at knowing what makes them unhappy than what makes them happy. I think this is an essential truth. This probably influences fandom habits, and then those habits build communities and cultivate behaviours which in turn encourage those habits. So for a lot of the fanon which exists separately from the canon, when new material begins to get released people get inordinately upset for it not aligning with their interpretations, which themselves carry profound memetic weight due to the nature of fandom on social media; and they are still, naturally, approaching it with an attitude of elimination, criticism, how it upsets their interpretations, as opposed to how those interpretations might evolve, or indeed what the point of listening to a story be told truly is...

I know this from experience because between the gap of V8 and V9, I had a lot of time to think, and then I was like - wait - did you say the Rusted Knight? They gave them matching fairytale titles. And then the rest was otp: the rusted knight and the fall maiden.

[thephantomcasebook]

Why is that you’re convinced Spotchnik was fired? I’m not saying the evidence isn’t there but it seems debatable or at the very least inconclusive…I’ve read several different accounts with varying levels of evidence/validity and I don’t know what to think (outside of it seems impossible to know for sure-sure).

And would WB really cancel HotD so rapidly over a single fuckup when by viewership standards it has drawn massive numbers, especially when comparing to other shows on the network….? (The numbers are there and by all accounts the majority of response has been positive.) I guess I’m wondering what kinda fuckup you’re referring to that would warrant cancellation.

Your takes are interesting and certainly hold merit, I guess it just throws me that you speak with such 100% conviction and assurance that you are correct when much of this is impossible to know with certainty outside of knowledgeable speculation. Although- genuine question- were you on set and this is all secret insider information?

I fully admit to having must less knowledge in many of the subjects you espouse on when it comes to your HotD statements. And I certainly mean no disrespect. I guess I just have some confusion as to some of your meaning in the posts as well as objective fact statements vs subjective opinion statements (as in which are which).

I certainly look forward to reading more of your page, especially as you are very convincing in your thoroughness and I enjoy your posts. ❤️

Well, to be honest with you @castellomargot ...

How exactly would want me to speak?

As you say, my takes have merit, I've got my ear to the ground, and I've picked up stuff from studious observation after thirteen years of fandom. It is what I believe is true, it seems the truth.

"You have always told me it was Ernest. I have introduced you to every one as Ernest. You answer to the name of Ernest. You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life. It is perfectly absurd your saying that your name isn’t Ernest!"

I'm open to being wrong and assume I am wrong all the time. But why not speak with back straight and chest out till it is proven that I am?

No offense, but I don't understand your issue with my tact other than you find it boisterous or it illicit's a defensive reaction - which you wouldn't be the first. But I'm not gonna change who I am or why I say the things I do. I'm confident in my opinions and what the truth is. And when I'm proven wrong beyond a reasonable doubt than I'll concede.

As for Spotchnik, it's because it was reported by every insider that he was fired. He feuded with Martin over Daeron. He was an arrogant asshole and has been an arrogant asshole since he started working on Game of Thrones. He hates the fans. His political bullshit nearly torpedoed the show, especially late in the game when he pushed that "Alicent is a woman for Trump" bullshit that left Cooke twisting in the wind and was extremely unfair to her - and that's speaking as a Trump Supporter.

The dude is a prick, and has always been a prick, and so when insiders said that he fucked with the wrong people at Discovery Plus AND he was telling GRRM to go fuck himself?

Fuck Yeah, he got fired.

I think you underestimate how bad Game of Thrones Season 8 was. It is still considered the WORST Television Disaster in the history of the medium. No one has forgotten how bad that was. It is hanging over HOTD like the Sword of Damocles. People are cautiously giving it the benefit of the doubt. But the moment they fuck up people are gonna abandon it in droves.

What could they possibly do to get cancelled?

The question is what can't they do to get cancelled.

The ending of Episode 9 with Rhaenys murdering hundreds of people for "Girl Power" is exactly the kind of Season 8 shit that turned people against the franchise from the beginning. And a ton of people have come against it and hate it. Have Olivia Cooke and Emma D'arcy go around spouting anti-men shit on the red carpet and in interviews and see how much a fickle viewing audience is gonna stick around.

People don't like or respond well to that smug London bullshit that Olivia Cooke and Emma D'arcy can't seem to keep out of interviews - nor the clear apathy and disdain that D'arcy shows toward the fanbase. Look, no offense, but Twitter and - certainly - Tumblr are not a majority opinion. It is unfair what Spotchnik did to Cooke with that "Women for Trump" thing, but people came down hard on her, because, she didn't do herself any favors with her interviews before hand with all that London luxury politics nonsense.

Look, this sounds harsh, but I'm not coming down on you.

There are way too many people in the fandom that are in a social bubble, who get caught up in the mires of fandom and stan culture that don't realize that there is a world beyond it - a very real world. And yeah, we're fans of this shit and we ship things like Alicole and Helaemond hard. But out there, people are normies, and they watch this shit on the casual. And they're far less forgiving than we are.

I'm not sure what you're measure is from "What I've seen" but I talk to normal people not insulated in fandom and they're not fully on board with HOTD and they don't find Cooke and D'arcy cute. If you leave the fandom or Tumblr and Twitter you find a lot of people don't like them or what they have to say. And no one has forgotten Season 8.

Normal, everyday, people are the lifeblood of this show and it's continued success. They're people that don't live in London or hang out with a bunch of miserable artistic assholes who drink too much and think that if they say they're socialist or Non-Binary it makes them edgy and compassionate.

That is exactly the kind of culture that gets your show cancelled - ask Disney.

[pilotheather]

k. finale time

ep 11 - dark water

preface this by me saying im doing dogshit right now so idk if im going to get through this ep in one go we'll see

again. kinda wish i saw these live. i bet the reveals in this finale were crazy. and again bugh... im thinking again about current who and sigh bc we're never gonna get that again are we. sorry i whined already. it was just nice to watch stuff with ppl even if youre, like, alone. now its just straight up alone. LOL.

like i dont even know what was happening at this time. do the reddit live reeaction threads exist from back then. did they know danny was abt to die right now. like was that leaked. im certain therre was missy speculation which speaking fo im excited to see her again. missy come home

like jesus fucking christ

WHY IS MADGE FREOM BENIDORM HERE I FORGOT SHEWAS LIKE CLARAS NAN HLEP ME sorry that took me out of it

CLARA YOU'RE SO FUNNY FOR THIS

THE WAY HE DOES NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IM GOING TO KILL MYSELF. "DANNY PINK IS DEAD." HE'S LIKE UM. AND? STOP. CHRIST.

why did it make the splunch.mp4 sound when she chucked it.

i think its funny. i still lowkey hate clara for season 7 and a lot of the... very irritating qualities written into her. but i am also kind of obsessed sometimes. i wish companions could be wretched cunts like this more often.

i keep thinking about how much i'd kill myself bass boosted if i did manage to actually off myself properly and there was still more. and if chris addison was the one there to tell me that.

hi missy

shes so funny shes so funny fo rhtis everything about missy is maybe the funniest fucking thing conceieved i need moffat desperately for this in retrospect this is such an insanely thing to do with the master but also shes just havbing fun

THE WAY SHE JUST JUMPS HIM LIKE CHRIST ITS SO GOOD

"My heart... Is maintained by the Doctor..." "Doctor... Who? 🤨" "... 🥺............... DOCTOR CHANG!!! 🤬"

i forgot how kinda dopey these cybermen looked

guys i miss the s10 finale

i need her so bad 👆

ep 12 - death in heaven

its funny i dont remember that much from this finale but comparatively i swear i rate it like. relatively highly as being pretty solid.

thats not saying jack shit so many of the finales are dog shit

OSGOODDDD YOUR RELENTLESS SLAYYYYY

"87. Ocd." help me.

i forget help why did you sedate him youre insane

the really dodgy fucking crowd outside saying the mos t obvious shit is making me giggle. also ilove this absolute bullshit scifi mumbo jumbo, even worse than usual, like i forgot they did it like this. like what the fuck are you talking about. the rain forming perfect metal suits around them. hang on does it have a name

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Cyber-pollen

you're lying to me (<- he would later find out they said this in the episode)

i wish they'd done something with the designs to make it look more organic and to make it look like it literally grew over the corpses. i get that that would be more expensive but it would be tight as fuck. i love it when the cybermen lean into horror more.

why did they make him the president. its so messy.

clara just yapping

also classic fucking moffat giving his special little girl the same birthdya as doctor who fuck off man.

isnt it crazy how missy and 12 are so toxic yuri

its bewildering to me how danny is somhehow the only one that did not hit that fat delete button like i guess ok fin hes one of the last few in there but help me. is there really no one else. i guess if you simulate them ALL feeling eerything they would all jsut delete in the end but still

Permission to squee!

YOU, DOCTOR, ARE A HATER.

THE THANK YOU AND THE LITTLE KISS IS SO FUNNY

IT JUST SENDS ME INTO HYSTERICS THE WAY THIS WHOLE TIME CLARA IS JUST HUGGING HER METAL BOY TOY.

SOLDIERS

WE MUST FIGHT IN THE KILL YOURSELF WAR

EVERYONE. FLY UP AND EXPLODE RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

"All of it is on you." GIRL HE DID NOTHING

BRIGADIER JUST THERE LIKE EHRM. 🧍‍♂️

danny you are such a little angel baby pookie pecan pie with sprinkles and cherries

this is so fucking rough man

imagine if this was 12 and clara goodbye. help me. that would have been so funny

[bugcatcherwill]

Sorry this took so long I was visiting family over the weekend. Anyway HOLY SHIT LORE AND DRAMA DROP EVERYTHING WE ARE BACK

I’m not gonna lie for the past few chapters of constant dialogue I’ve been kinda running out of things to talk about except “I like it” but this chapter has broken the streak and I can proudly say this is now one of my favorite chapters. It’s up there with when Rezek nuked all of Wizzrobe kind, Kobb and Ganondorf playing chess in the Malice, and when Lettie and Hoz destroyed racism.

Also I guess we now know how you’re gonna do TOTK, so from what I can assume, Ganondorf has slight control over the Calamity and can use its power for whatever the fuck he wants but it’s constantly trying to pull him back in and it eventually will which will be the cause of the Upheaval and whatever tomfuckery the Calamity wants to do with Ganondorfs body.

Also rip to Dinju she a real one

Jokes aside I love how you used the Gibdos story and connection to Riju as a way to set up the racism arc that’s inevitably coming in the future. (I hope to god you do it better than SVTFOE season 3 and 4) I mean we know the asshole Zora elders aren’t gonna forgive the monsters, and probably most of the Gerudo soldiers considering Riju doesn’t even forgive Keene and she didn’t even fight Dinju. And since the only things Hylians are good at is being racist I think we know what their decision on forgiving the monsters is gonna be.

All around an amazing chapter and a breath of fresh air from the never ending walls dialogue of the recent chapters.

(P.S. when I say constant dialogue I don’t mean that as an offense or criticism I mean that as in a way of me saying that I didn’t have much to talk about in the breakdowns)

Omg thank you as always :3

And we'll see! Definitely set up some things for ToTK but I don't wanna spoil tooooooo much about what I plan to do...

I have a plan for it, and it'll be one I honestly don't think anyone will expect, but it's always fun to see speculation on the little crumbs I'm setting up hehehehe

And oh, yeah, I haven't seen SVTFOE or heard much about it, but I'm aware of how badly a LOT of series fumble at themes of racism or discrimination. I don't wanna flame the writers too hardly because I'm fairly certain there's a lotta corporate meddling that goes behind the scenes to push this "it's not the status quo that needs to change, it's just a few bad apples so please don't think about the system being corrupt by design :D"

Rest assured, you're not getting status quo bullshit here LMAO

I've been doing my best trying not to fall into all the stereotypical pitfalls authors can do when writing about topics like that (especially when they don't research it lol).

Honestly one of my prime reasons I even started writing this fic in the first placed was because I HATED how so many fantasy series treats goblins/orcs/trolls/etc. Like even with DnD we've seen them thankfully backpedal on the idea of "evil" races like the Drow and Orc/Half-Orc....but then they still pull the "oh yeah but all goblins are still evil so don't feel bad about slaughtering them by the dozens lol".

As much as I've been loving Baldur's Gate 3, almost all of the dialogue revolving around goblins is..........yea............

Anyways sorry for my own rant I just like to talk about this stuff and I hope that makes y'all excited for where I'm taking my fic lmao

[hopeymchope]

Just wondering, did you finish the Promised Neverland?

I did! The anime, that is. I haven’t ever gone back and tried to read the manga. Honestly... given how much I was invested in Norman over the others, the idea of reading a version of the story where he’s gone for a massive chunk sort of made me lose interest.

But as for the anime? Season 2 is famously quite hated, and I accept that it’s got a number of problems. But from where I’m sitting, it’s really got just one problem that is legitimately MAJOR — the last third of season 2, episode 9. It’s a doozy of a problem, but it’s entirely localized.

(**Some spoilers for S2 of The Promised Neverland anime are contained within the remainder of this post.**)

This ONE part of ONE episode is where all the stupidest, stupidest shit happens. The blind demon who has been visiting the old temple in earlier scenes toddles up with a pen he was miraculously handed years ago by a dying human that he kept for reasons he doesn’t even fully understand, and this pen magically contains everything the characters need to win forever. It is SO stupid and SO convenient. 

If you can somehow stomach that bullshit, the rest of the season is fine. It’s got some lesser issues (the reveal of the ‘HELP’ messages scrawled all over the shelter walls goes nowhere) and some mildly disappointing turns (like the time-skip at the start of S2, episode 5) but at times, it’s legitimately really good (the back-and-forth over Norman’s plan to kill all the demons is compelling stuff). The final raid/showdown underneath Grace Field House was mostly great, although the ending montage of “and then we handled any remaining problems off-screen” was pretty shit. 

In the end, I enjoyed the series as a whole and wouldn’t tell anyone that they should just skip either season, but it’s easy to see how season 2 is a letdown compared to season 1. Of course, season 1 is such a slow burn that you could easily view season 2 as an overcorrection — instead of slowly dragging us through the stressful escape of the children, we are now in fast-forward as we rush to the end. And I totally get that maybe the production team felt like the story isn’t as intensely compelling once the kids are free and bumping into episodic dangers, so maybe that made them want to rush through the remainder, but... I think stories like the emotional/ethical debate over how to handle the demons areSO damn compelling that they prove you can do something just as great outside of the orphanage as you did inside it. And from what I hear about the manga, it contains some really powerful arcs that just weren’t adapted for whatever reason... 

For now, we can only speculate as to why season 2 is how it is. Whatever the reason for the choices, I don’t think it’s a lost cause. There’s still a lot to enjoy in S2. But man, that whole bit with the blind demon’s stupid fucking pen... that’s dragging the whole thing down something fierce.

[eisforeidolon]

There is no more Supernatural fandom, there are only fans of each actor and haters of the same, so for me the exaggerated criticism of JA is also unjustified, most don't even care about the show anymore, they're just angry because their favorite is not in the project of Jensen and use anything as an excuse referring to the hate

I agree with another anon about the often clueless criticism of Jensen, I wasn't willing to see TW but the exaggerated hatred of the people on this show is making me change my mind, I really want the show to do well

************************************

People who criticize Jensen for whatever reason are Jared's stans, neutral Supernatural fans aren't really worried about The Winchester, some liked the idea, some didn't, but no one spends all day and night talking about it and wishing ill until 5 Jensen's generation

************************************

I'm going to combine these three asks, because while they're not exactly the same, I think my answer to each is sufficiently similar it'd be pretty repetitive to answer them individually. Hope nobody minds!

While I do think the fandom has definitely gotten more fractured and fractious since the show ended, I think people are maybe looking back at how much all factions of the SPN fandom wanked themselves raw in negative speculation over any little thing while the show was airing with slightly rose-tinted glasses. Every dumb thing some showrunner or producer said, the other two attempts at spin-offs even before we saw them, as little as some random speculative article on obviousbullshit.com could stir up huge drama. Fandom is made up of heavily invested people, a lot of whom are very suspicious of change - after the last several seasons of SPN, for good reason IMO. Yes, TW is a separate show nobody has to care about, but it is taking place in the SPN universe, so expecting SPN fans not to react to it - and overreact to it, in fact - is not particularly realistic.

So while I do think a lot of it is just petty stan war bullshit, especially in cases where the specific emphasis is on how dumb/awful Jensen is? Not all of the negativity and skepticism about TW is from that. Especially right now when we have so very little of substance to base opinions on and a lot of unanswered questions. Meanwhile there's also little active news about anything else nearly as big to talk about that's as directly of interest to SPN fans as a whole.

I remain ambivalent about TW as a concept and am pretty burnt out on the outrage machine chasing its own tail at this point, but I'm actually pretty sure that even if prequelgate hadn't happened and Sam & Dean were equally present or absent from the concept? There would still be a lot of negative noise - the participants in and focus of the wankery would just be slightly different.