#and when i say he was in his 20's in s5 i mean in years. that's how many years he was on this wretched earth or wtfever

[calypsolemon]

hc'ing lloyd as old as i imagine him in canon is so funny bc in my mind he was technically a grownass man in s5 whgen he got possessed by morro, who i hc as like having died at 15-16. granted he was still pretty young and his body was aging at a slower rate but like he's still like. in his 20's in that season in my beautiful mind. bro literally got owned by a 10th grader

[barren-heart]

The Hidden Love Story of What We Do in the Shadows: How The Internet Fell in Love with Harvey Guillen’s Guillermo de la Cruz

I think it’s fair to call this show what it is: a comedy.

The actors have said it’s themselves: the show is 50% improv, 50% script. A lot of what we see is a brilliant collaboration of talent, writing, and the actors saying the funniest thing they can say about something in that moment.

According to Harvey Guillen, some scenes would last 30 minutes each if they didn’t cut it down. That improv is what makes the show what is it: the funniest show on television.

What’s interesting about this little Shit and Fart show (affectionate), is the heart of it all: Guillermo.

Originally the show was looking for an older man to play Nandor’s familiar. The character had worked for his master for 20 years, not 10 as we see in the pilot episode.

Harvey got an audition randomly. At a wine and cheese night of a friend’s, he was invited to audition for the part. It was random, but also, it was fate.

Let me explain.

Harvey Guillen auditioning for the role of Guillermo

(I actually have the full audition tape of Harvey’s if anyone’s interested.) Link below!

Harvey didn’t “fit the part” (Harvey’s words) whatsoever of this character and decided to dress himself to look older, putting on what he calls his Harry Potter glasses and parted his hair down the middle.

The Guillermo we see in the pilot was all Harvey’s idea of what that character should be and the costuming department just ran with it. It’s also fun to point out that to those who don’t know, Harvey created Guillermo’s last name even before he knew he’d play the show’s Vampire Slayer.

I mention this because I don’t think they (showrunner, producers,etc) expected Guillermo to become such a fan favorite. Which kinda explains why his character is the punching bag of season one and why it somewhat changes as seasons go by.

I mean, we don’t even see Guillermo in this season one poster (we don’t see Colin Robinson, either. But I feel like I could write an entirely other post about that character and why I think he’s genuinely the best and most consistently written character on the show. But I won’t right now).

I think they expected Guillermo to be a one-note side kick, which is fine. Many of Harvey’s previous roles were nearly background characters (think Benedict Pickwick in The Magicians).

But, Harvey’s take on the character coupled with his talent at being both comedic and dramatic really shined through. And I think that’s where you start to see that maybe they could do more with him than just being the funny guy in the background.

I also think that’s why you start to see some threading of a more serious plot when it comes to Guillermo’s storyline because of Harvey’s range.

Who would’ve known a funny bit like being a Van Helsing descent in a house full of vampires would get you compelling scenes like the familiar fight The Night Market, Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires, and the Nandor and Guillermo fight in The Portrait?

Harvey mentioned having to train for these and wanted to do his own stunts! And he does them well!

Did they imagine Guillermo being such a badass in the pilot? Probably not. But he is and people took to it. The serious fight scenes (even with bits of comedy filtered in) really stand out in their own as excellent action scenes.

Along with badass scenes, Harvey delivered compelling emotional scenes like Guillermo’s coming out (which Harvey actually cried in as well as other cast and crew, and they had to edit it to not make it too serious), the scene he left Nandor for Celeste, and many scenes in S5’s Exit Interview.

I also think they didn’t anticipate his chemistry with Kayvan Novak. It’s brought up a lot in interviews with them and everyone can tell that they genuinely are really good friends in real life, which makes acting together on screen that much better.

(Funny enough, he was supposed to do a chemistry read with Kayvan before shooting and wasn’t able to meet him until they were on set for the pilot. )

I think in some ways, even though the show wanted it to be a funny Gaston and Lefou type relationship, Kayvan and Harvey had undeniable chemistry you couldn’t deny.

And I think that began to grow with their character’s evolving relationship. From master and servant to friends to sometimes the show and network alluding to them being in a romance (Guillermo’s drunk love confession, Marwa liking what Nandor likes, the Network making videos about shipping Nandermo).

And even Paul Simms (the one who is being grilled for That’s His Boss quote), also said “Guillermo and Nandor is the greatest love story in modern television.”

So yeah, I think originally they started the show with the intention that it was supposed to be similar to the movie that shares its name. The Nandor/Guillermo drama of Shadows the TV show would be so out of place in the movie. The whole Guillermo vampire arc, if it was movie inspired, would not be as dramatic as they have made it in the show.

Looking back to the pilot, I can see that they really tried to make it as close to the source material as possible. But I think it took off in a direction that even the creators didn’t imagine it would go. Just a silly little comedy show about silly little vampires. And don’t get me wrong, it still definitely is.

But the show has evolved. And for better or worse, Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship will be one of the most compelling things about the show and I’m curious where they are going to take it now.

I guess this turned into a bit of an Harvey Guillen appreciation post and honestly, why not? Look at that adorable face.

[spicybylerpolls]

In response to that anon about how sex couldn't possibly have always been heavily tied to and the natural narrative arc the Duffers had in mind for Mike and Will -

Well, for one (and correct me if I'm wrong), if the pandemic hadn't happened, they would've filmed S4 throughout 2020 and likely wrapped post-production sometime in spring/summer of 2021 (possibly later). This means we would've got a late summer or fall of 2021 S4 rather than summer of 2022.

This also means filming for S5 would have likely started in Spring of 2022, or even later if we consider the fact that S4 actually finished in July of 2022 and production PRIOR to the WGA strike was supposed to start in Spring of 2023 (IIRC) That's nearly a year gap. Not only that but if you go onto the wikipedia page for S5, you'll see that because of the pandemic the Duffers were able to completely outline and rework S5. So if the pandemic didn't happen, they would also have to do an outline as well as actually write S5 post S4's drop in the late summer/fall of 2021 (in this magical, theoretical timeline).

Honestly, with this in mind, I wouldn't see filming for S5 commencing until mid 2022, possibly even the early fall.

So basically the theoretical timeline without COVID and the WGA strike would be:

2020: Film S4

End of 2020 - Mid/Late 2021: Post production

Late 2021: S4 Drops

Summer/Early Fall 2022: S5 Filming begins

This would put Noah's age at 17, almost 18 and Finn at 19 almost 20. And presumably the hypothetical sex scene wouldn't happen until the later episodes so by then Noah would be 18 and Finn would be a full 20 years old, and likely almost 21.

Like, say the scene happens in Episode 7. This would be the very tail end of production, as we know they pretty much film in blocks. This would be June of 2023 or around there... Noah nearly 19 and Finn 6ish months away from being able to legally drink anywhere in the world. Lol.

Also, Finn literally has a scene in WYFSTW where his character masturbates, and he was just 18 when he portrayed that. Why are people so disgusted by the idea of him portraying something extremely similar to this but as Mike?! In my opinion this proves it's not just about the actors (and seeing them grow up) because I haven't seen anyone say it was weird for including that scene in that movie ...

BUT REGARDLESS, like spicybylerpolls said - there are a ton of examples, WELL RESPECTED examples at that, of underage actors portraying a storyline involving sex. I mean, look no further than Degrassi. Almost all of the actors are cast as teens (sometimes pre-teens) and almost all of the characters have a storyline to do with sex at some point, most of them when they're underage.

This is a perfect example because the point of these storylines are to educate teens on sex (the same thing Mike and Will's storyline would be doing for many queer kids btw) and also to represent their many, many confusing feelings about sex. And yes, all of the actual sex scenes in Degrassi are implied - which, although people have explained how an explicit scene would be important for Mike and Will's storyline, ultimately it's not absolutely necessary for them. (Although I don't think an implied sex scene in the same vein as Degrassi (or even Jancy) is going to work within the darker tone of S5 but I digress...)

Anyway, there's a ton more examples beyond just Degrassi [Skins is the first that pops to mind] but no I don't think it would be weird for a 17 year old to have a make out and then *implied* sex scene when it's already been done and accepted in the past with absolutely no issue (as long as the actors are comfortable of course).

But this isn't what's happening so who cares. And we have already heard the Duffers state that, although they have had a lot of it planned out, they do write for the actors too. I can even recall them saying how when they got back on set for either S3 or S4 they realized the kids ... weren't kids anymore and they were going to have to write to that.

So yeah, I think it's totally possibly the Duffers imagined that in the end, Mike and Will would overcome their shame about their sexuality by ... having sex together, however that looked on screen, since there are a myriad of ways to do this without showing sex at all.

[pynkhues]

I get your thoughts about what retta said, but it’s just that she is fall out wrong for blaming Manny. That’s not how network tv works. They don’t just cancel a show because 1 side character won’t take a pay cut or renew his contract. That person gets replaced or written off. I grew up in the industry and Good Girls had been looming on the cancellation needle since season 2. It was supposed to get canceled after season 3, but the pandemic gave them a Hail Mary. They were down 20% in viewership from season 3 after an increased budget so of course it was going to get cancelled. That’s basic tv math. Just because the 3 main leads were willing to take a pay cut and have a shorter final season doesn’t guarantee that NBC or Netflix will agree during the negotiations. The real culprit for the show getting canceled is the poor writing, but everyone knows that if you try to blame production you get blackballed. If your show isn’t making networks money then you get the axe plain and simple.

I appreciate your opinion, and I agree on some points, but I really do disagree on others.

Look, quite frankly, I've deliberately not been wanting to wade into this conversation. I'm more out than in with the GG fandom these days, and when I do engage, I'd rather talk about things I enjoyed than get embroiled in a year(s)-old drama.

So I'll say this: I agree with you that Manny wasn't the sole reason for cancellation, but I disagree that he wasn't a core part of it.

The show had already been cancelled by NBCUniversal and it was being picked up by Netflix who's notoriously cheap and usually operates on backend deals - something I know, because I also grew up in the industry (both my parents are producers, and my sister works in costume); sure, I know it's different in Australia, but not that different.

While it shouldn't have been, pretending Manny and Christina's chemistry wasn't a huge draw for the show is silly, and to pretend the network and Netflix didn't know that is even sillier. We saw that all the time with how they played into it and utilised Manny as a core part of promo, so to pretend his departure wouldn't have changed things feels like willingly turning a blind eye.

On top of that, Netflix already had world rights to Good Girls. NBCU was the production company + US distributor, and Netflix had literally the rest of the world. I cannot emphasise this enough: this is a shit deal for producers. It used to be the case that a show made in America like, say, Friends, would balance production budgets based on territory sales. In other words, every individual country Friends sold to would pay for it, and the producers would use that to fund production of the show. Due to the increased stranglehold of 'international' aka American streamers, they're becoming their own world distributors which is great for the streamers and for capitalism, but terrible for production companies, the artists who work on them (it's why no one gets paid residuals anymore), and actually terrible for countries too as Netflix loves not paying tax, but that's a whole other issue.

Basically you no longer get paid per territory. You just sell to Netflix, who can pay you whatever the hell they want.

And like I said, Netflix pays like shit, and usually only pays after the show's been made. They very, very rarely outlay cost in advance, which means producers have to find that money elsewhere to cashflow production.

What I suspect happened was Netflix renewed on a drastically reduced budget that required cuts from the production to the cast to the writing, and were likely only paying at the back what NBCU used to pay up front. This alone was probably already making s5 precarious, and then when Manny pulled out - something that would've required the re-write of a series that had seemingly been drafted already aka sent the writers back to the writer's room resulting in more time and more writing fees, delayed production and contract extensions across the board aka cashflow problems because they have to be in production for Netflix to pay, the budget became unworkable.

In that sense, Manny alone isn't the 'reason', but he's a part of a broader problem that meant production fell through.

Yes, I agree the series was on the bubble for years - in fact, I'd argue since s1, not s2, but I disagree the reason for cancellation was bad writing. If shows got canned for bad writing, Riverdale would've ended a long, long time ago.

Production is a lot more complicated than any one actor, I agree, but to pretend Manny could be written out easily negates a much larger picture.

I think s5 was a house of cards, and Manny was an ace of hearts flicked out, and so the whole thing came tumbling down, and I still don't blame Retta for being upset about that, just like I don't blame Manny for saying no.

The fact that so many people are still big mad about aspects of this show in the tag when they didn't even work on it - - you think they'd understand her being upset about this one when she did.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[lucidpantone]

I used to think sander was v mysterious and there were many depths to his character, but now i don't think that. Sander's mystique dissolved somewhere between wtfockdown - s5. What once seemed like clues and untold secrets of Sander's life during s3, began to emerge as fanon/bad writing in the seasons that followed. It's in the callous way they address past events or just no acknowledgement of them at all, not even in passing. Sander's edgy in appearance but the mystery is there is no mystery

I think alot of people lost the luster for wtfock centric things even their fav characters after s4 and s5 but on a serious note what did we even learn about Sander in s4 and s5 to deem him not mysterious anymore?? I feel like we learned nothing more then what wtfockdown gave us. So if you found him mystery up until then nothing changed between wtfockdown and the end of s5. Aside from miniscule anecdotes like I guess Sander really does like to break into buildings to capture images because he did it again in s4 at the warehouse. He wants to go traveling which i feel like every young 20 year old wants to do after college. Robbe and him as are in love as ever but thats not surprising. So when I say mysterious here is how I quantify it. We still dont know alot of integral things about Sander. So here is a simple one is he from a single parent home? or not? does he have siblings? or is he an only child? Do his parent(s) know he is queer? He is clearly not closeted at all so when did he come out to his friends? Also who are his friends? is he a loner? or not? When did he get diagnosed?Whats he doing after college?,this is his last year right. Is he gonna get a job or go to grad school?? I assume he wont leave antwerp because of Robbe. Also these are my question going by what we saw in s5. My questions would be so different if we saw original s4 because he knew all the bsquad. I mean he could still know some of them we actually dont know because they cut all of that out. Anyways like I said to me s4 and s5 didnt expand on sander but also didnt hurt him so in a way I guess we should be pleased. I mean at least his not a racist.......because by the end I was eye-rolling all the characters.

[mikiruma]

I'M CLOSING TWITTER FOR THE NIGHT JESUS CHRIST ANYWAY I'M JUST GONNA INFODUMP UNDER THE CUT BECAUSE I'M GOING APE

HI I SPENT ALL DAY WANTING TO/STARTING TO WATCH TOTAL DRAMA SEASONS 4 AND 5 BECAUSE I WANTED TO SEE MIKE&.... AND MOOMOO DECIDED TO WATCH WITH ME BECAUSE THEY BINGED TDI SOMEWHAT RECENTLY..... AND IT TURNED INTO ME PERIODICALLY PAUSING TO TALK ABOUT OUR OWN SYSTEM AND COMPARING MIKE&'S WITH OURS SO AN 8 HOUR EVENT TURNED INTO AN ALMOST (CHECKS TIME) 12 HOUR ONE..... they went to bed a while ago so i'm finishing s5 by myself.... and it was cool because i know now they're wanting to get to know the others and ask questions and be involved(!!!!) BUT ALSO i know mike& in general is a controversial character.... but as someone who sort of relates to the internal conflict in a weird way or has this being our first time witnessing someone with DID have their alters identities respected and not being treated like a complete weirdo for being plural... i mean there's the mistreatment a la chris and scott triggering a switch intentionally to help himself in a competition.... but other than that!!! and the ending to s5 which i have not reached but spoiled myself with because i wanted to know what i was getting into before i started!!!! i'm legit falling in love with these guys and want to see them go places and it makes me appreciate the one fanwork i've seen rewriting them a bit even MORE...... also i know mal is the most stereotypical/worst rep of anything, for having a persecutor and knowing their roles i SHOULD be saying it's a little singlet bait-y and knowing they added him in the story as the main villain because they knew that's what people would have wanted to see instead of a system achieving healthy functional plurality.... but he reminds me a lot of our persecutor and how they acted back in the day, we haven't entirely patched up and they still have stumbling blocks sometimes but after getting to know them and realizing they're acting in good faith (even if the good faith is spelled out with self-sabotage), i just have a feeling maybe i need to psychoanalyze mal. ESPECIALLY because of mike (and to an extent the show) treating his headmates like EXTRAS instead as other fully fleshed people (at least in s4, though they got their moments to talk to each other and cooperate) and taking control/acting like the others were getting in his way of *his life*.... and mal being the host before but being locked away and having to force his way out and rule with an iron fist before he was given any mind.... that guy needs a hug. and everyone else (MIKE ESPECIALLY) may need to learn how to communicate better. mal just needs to feel important and get attention when he's doing things that AREN'T being mean or acting out.... also i think i just want to give mal a hug in general. not saying mike is the real villain of s5 but i AM saying when he was working with everyone to overthrow mal, they were very clear that mike being in charge, while better, was still not the best because they get pushed aside and not taken seriously.... so i think if they just went to therapy or TALKED TO EACH OTHER (I KNOW THEY CAN!!!! THEY HAVE A HEADSPACE THEY HANG OUT IN!!!!! IF MIKE WAS ONLY ABLE TO ACCESS IT BY THE COMPETITION NOW'S A GOOD TIME TO GET YOUR WORDS IN!!!!!) then it would have been a MILES better solution than. PERMANENT INTEGRATION AND CHOOSING TO CURE THEIR OWN DISORDER ALL BY THEMSELVES WITH NO HELP BY PUSHING A BUTTON IN THEIR BRAIN JUST TO GET RID OF ONE GUY THEY DIDN'T WANT TO TALK TO!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my god also i just want to mention i know svetlana was trying to be nice and encouraging saying they needed mike because he's better at some things than some of the other headmates but..... that coupling with the integration...... kind of hammers it in that everyone sees themselves as "extra" :( it makes me want to be more conscious of how i think/talk about OUR headmates because i want to try and make everyone feel welcome and valid.....

anyway sorry for the text wall i just love these guys so much but i HATE THE WRITING and i'm stalling finishing the s5 finale because i know they're going to do it and it's going to piss me off so much and i love ALL of them and want them to be ok..... it's hard for me to criticize much else because i can see us a lot in these guys and how things run.... and i'm disappointed they didn't show much else of mike& purely because i was watching the seasons just for them so everything else felt like filler.... IT WAS ENTERTAINING I JUST.... want to see more of them but WITH THE CORRECT DIAGNOSTIC NAME AND SEVERAL THERAPY TRIPS LATER LOL.....

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edit: finished!!! SO! mal admitting he was pushing people away so they didn't have the chance to hurt them first. the others saying integration wasnt getting RID of anyone, just making them a fuller singular person. GUYS I'M SOBBING.... i KNEW mal was doing the typical persecutor song and dance but with the way he even threw around his baggage like it was NOTHING. still upset at the integration since everyone was more willing to cease existing as they were altogether just so mal wouldn't be the host.... it breaks my heart.... ALSO I'M STILL OVER THE MOON ABOUT GIVING THEM A HEADSPACE AND THE LITTLE DETAILS IN THERE!!!! i legit don't know any other media featuring systems that INCLUDED that!!!!! god y'all the end of the system era was pretty disappointing but it just made me think of the guys i'm living with. i know i wasn't a perfect host and was definitely a control freak when i first discovered i was part of them, and every day i try to make that right.... so this just reminded me of those times in awareness infancy where i was like. ok but i'm the one who fronts the most so i must be the real one!!! obviously not true anymore because julian's the host now, i mean i'm still real but knowing that logic is pretty busted... hehehe.... even realizing i was only the host for a handful of years up to that point was a shock!!! but retroactively trying to work things through with everyone and getting us to a functional place despite not being able to see a therapist about it yet... this was weirdly heartwarming in a way? seeing the headmates in their natural habitat, just chilling. seeing them get into internal conflict. dissociation periods used as windows into their mind. mike starting as insisting he was the one in control and who SHOULD be in control, even willing to abandon everyone for zoey, but going to being the least willing to integrate because he would miss everyone and valued their existence.... i know they can only fit so much development in 20 min episodes of a show thats supposed to focus on multiple people (non-systems at least) so i think their story was cramped in that aspect, but if it were a more serious non-reality show focusing more on mike& in general it would have been WAY smoother. but like. i understand the shorthand and can see the allusions and whatnot. i know what they were trying to do. and i LOVE it. it's not perfect but this is the first time i watched something in a good while that felt like it encapsulated ANYTHING close to my personal experiences being in a system and being the disgruntled host, and seeing a little bit of my closest comrades in mike's headmates was just icing on the cake. :) i think the only thing i would have liked better was if instead of an integration they either agreed to work together and be more functional/rehabilitate mal, or if someone new split entirely to act as the mediator.. idk total drama is pretty stressful!! it's the right environment for it!!! and especially the inner system conflict!!! i don't know i think after all that, they needed someone to be the impartial third party to help settle conflicts and junk... just my onion though

[sparkwhorunswithwolves]

My favourite Steo scene is where Theo shamelessly admits “I came for Void Stiles!” and points out that Stiles never needed Scott anyway. (5x10, Status Asthmaticus) And Stiles doesn’t even bother to contradict him because it’s the truth

Okay, I finally got to the scene I wanted to talk about. But one of my favorite Steo scenes, at least in how it affects the overall season, is when Theo talks about his sister in Strange Frequencies.

(s5 Steo also always involves Scott in some way, so this might be longer.)

When Theo tells Scott and Stiles how he was bitten, he mirrors Scott just enough to not make him suspicious. (the evil-turned-ally alpha(s) killing the one who bit him; only switching from it to he pronouns after Scott used them) Theo reminds Scott that Scott used to take care of him when he had an asthma attack, and that Theo's hoping they're both still the same people as back then.

(This will be relevant I swear.)

Theo: You know, Stiles, I came back here for Scott... but I also came back for you. Someone like you. Someone who's willing to walk into the woods in the middle of the night to protect his friends.

-from when he confronts Stiles and Liam in the woods

So now we're finally at the actual scene.

Theo: You know who you remind me of?

Stiles: Theo, I don't care.

Theo: My sister. She was smarter than everyone too. And a pain in the ass like you. But she always looked out for me. The same way you look out for Scott.

Side note #1, Stiles is already so done because emotional manipulation here we go

Theo compares Stiles to his sister. This in itself is sad and foreshadowing, but not quite important enough on its own. But there's one, very distinct phrase that I noticed the last time I watched it. Continued:

Theo: You know, I was the one that found her body. She'd fallen into a creek, broken her leg. They told us she would've been okay if it wasn't one of the coldest nights of the year. If it wasn't for the hypothermia. And when I found her, all I could think was that I should've known. That I should've been looking out for her.

Side note #2 that someone else pointed out Stiles little nod after Theo tells him he found her, because Stiles knew.

Side note #3: Stiles is looking down, and then looks ahead before it cuts off, but it does look like Stiles is figuring out the parallels, too.

Because in 3x18, Riddled, when Stiles is missing they say this:

Lydia: What else did he say?

Scott: Something's wrong with his leg. It's bleeding.

Isaac: And he's freezing.

Aiden: Tonight's the coldest night of the year. It's going to drop into the 20s.

And since the entire season revolves around void Stiles (or the lack thereof, but that's a whole other story) I'm willing to say the word choice and cause of death were deliberate.

Theo's comparing himself to Scott, or rather, Scott to himself (both make Stiles feel guilty/paranoid; you'll heal; their origin story), while Stiles is the victim that, if Theo's and Scott's versions are to be believed, Scott won't able to save.

Except Theo continues with this:

Stiles: Why are you telling me this?

Theo: I'm telling you because even if you don't trust me and even if you don't like me, I'm still going to be looking out for you... the way I should have been looking out for her.

Note that he says the last part while we flash back to Theo standing on the bridge watching his sister die.

So when he says he's looking out for him, he isn't just talking about Scott's general dismissal, he's also saying he won't let Stiles suffer the same fate as his sister.

Which could mean both that he won't kill Stiles, or that he doesn't want the dread doctors to get to him.

Yes, I came for void Stiles is a great scene, and definitely one of the Steo ones.

But in this one it's actually about Stiles and Theo. Not necessarily about how useful-slash-dangerous void Stiles can be, but because of who Stiles is as a person, who Theo is, or at least wants to be.

What it comes down to is this: true evil only comes by corrupting something truly good, and Theo knows Stiles, and his potential.

He came for everyone but Scott and void Stiles, because he wanted the Stiles who would do everything to keep his pack safe. But Theo and the dread doctors are a threat to all of them, so he settled for void.

[sableu3]

Day 8

100 Days of 100 Prompts

Post S5 AU

Monty cracks the eligius files after 30 years but before they set the course they see a spec of green. He decides to wait. By the time he is old the green has been growing at a steady rate. He calculates it and thinks it will take another 20 years before they can all go back. He leaves instructions on how to access the files and chart a course to the eligius moon just in case he’s wrong and goes to wake up Clarke and Bellamy. There is a reason he and Harper stayed awake after all. The cryo pods are broken and can only be operated manually. 

Monty explains everything to them and then tells them that he is ready to join Harper now. He tried to wait as long as he could to give them more time asleep but he can feel his body weakening. He is an old man at 85 now. They help him to the airlock and say goodbye.

Later, after they have a day to mourn, Bellamy wants to wake the others. Clarke tells him that she isn’t sure she can get them back to sleep if he wakes them up but he tells her Raven will be able to figure it out. Clarke shakes her head, Monty had his whole life to figure it out and couldn’t. He can wake them up if he wants and she’ll just put them all to sleep later or he can go to sleep now if he wants to. He doesn’t want to leave her on her own for that long though. But she says she’d rather be alone than surrounded by people who hate her. He hesitates. 

It’ll take them a few days but they hash their shit out. Bellamy agrees to let them sleep and tries to keep Clarke company but then she ends up feeling guilty for keeping him from his family. She starts to insist he either go to sleep or wake them but he tells her it’s fine and that she is his family too. 

Time goes by. They are still in love with each other but Bellamy knows he has Echo waiting. But he’ll be twenty years older and a different person by the time she wakes. He decides that relationship is over and tells Clarke as much. Which just makes her feel more guilty and depressed so he tells her it’s fine because he’d rather be stuck here with her anyway. Which prompts a love confession? I mean, he’s had time to come to term with things, that’s why he said as much to her. Or maybe she comforts him and it takes a bit longer.

They get together. They heal. They are happy. They have a kid…maybe two. Then it’s time to wake everyone up to go to earth.

Perhaps they wake Madi early and give her a chance to grow up before she has to lead the grounders. They become a family. Earth heals.

So they wake the others but spacekru is still angry with her, confused on their relationship and angry at being left behind since Bellamy didn’t wake them. He tries to explain that he did what he thought was best for them. They’d been stuck in space for so long he didn’t think it was fair to ask another twenty years of them, nor was it fair to Clarke to be ganged up on. He puts them in their place like a group of misbehaving kids, which, to him, they are. 

Bellamy is hitting 50 soon with Clarke in her mid 40’s. Madi is just turning 22 (They waited till their kids were older and could be playmates of hers) They have a child or two as well (maybe 6-8 yo when they woke madi ten years ago) 

Clarke was a little worried about their reactions but secure enough with herself and her past actions and her family that it ultimately doesn’t matter. She wants Bellamy to be happy and will do what she can to bridge the gap for his sake but their words can’t hurt her the way they would have before. They will either listen and understand or they wont but it wont be any skin off her back. 

Echo is hurt and a little bitter but also sees it as a poetic kind of justice. They left Clarke behind for six years and she had Bellamy during that time. Now it was everyone else being left behind and Clarke got Bellamy. She gets over it and decides to move on. They’ve obviously gotten over their issues and are happy now and she knows that Clarke protects her family with everything in her and Bellamy is now apart of that again…with years of bonding and a family between them now. She knows she doesn’t have to worry about him anymore. 

Raven holds a grudge, she is bitter and angry. It will take her the longest to get over it.  

Murphy rolls with the punches as always and Emori follows his lead.

Madi leads them all back to Earth with her parents as her most trusted council and they rebuild and all live HEA 

[theexecutionerssong]

Hey Gaëlle ! Est-ce-que tu aurais des recommendations de fic Destiel ? Sans trop de smut, surtout pas beta/Omega (c'est même plus du smut à ce niveau-là...) et beaucoup de pining ? ( Je devrai être en train de réviser mes partiels d'ailleurs... 😅). Merci beaucoup ! 😌

Hellooo ! Alors tu as frappé à la bonne porte parce que je lis jamais de smut, ou alors quand c’est dans des longues fics, je passe juste ces passages là. (mais j’aime beaucoup les fic a/b/o qui ont pas de smut, parce que les sentiments sont quintuplés donc pining + angst on a whole other level). Y’a peu de fluff dans mes fics préférées, love me some angsty life and death moments, mais ça finit toujours bien. Enfin. Vérifie les tags quand même :)))) J’ai mis les liens, si y’a pas c’est qu’elles ont été supprimées mais j’ai les pdf donc hit me up.Et révise tes partiels !!!!

CANON

A turn of the earth -https://archiveofourown.org/works/5138552/chapters/11825306

Dean’s your typical half-orphaned, monster-killing 22-year-old until a trenchcoated stranger crashes into his back windshield one September night, claiming he’s an angel that knows him from the future and that he’s on the run.

Frigging fantastic.

(Or, in which Castiel gets stuck in Dean’s timeline preseries and Dean kind of hates it—until he doesn’t.)

Probably my favorite fic set in Canon. It’s set around season 11, and I love how we dive into Dean’s past pre-series and then as time goes by, we catch up with the show timeline’s. It’s incredibly well written.

525,600 Minutes - https://archiveofourown.org/works/507228/chapters/892693

A man wakes up alone on the streets of Detroit. Lost and somehow forgotten, he's dressed in blood-soaked clothing without memories and without a name.

This is his journey to find it.

It was first published in 2012 set after s5, but it was rewritten last year. I still have the old version for nostalgia’s sake but the new version is even better. It’s got some amnesia so great for pining :))))

The inexhaustible silence of houses -https://archiveofourown.org/works/560268/chapters/1000755

Almost two years after the world doesn't end, Castiel falls from grace—and loses his voice in the process. It is the impetus for confession and change; before long, he is settling into a loving relationship with Dean, the Winchesters are tired, and hunting for a place to land has taken precedence to hunting anything else. Dean and Castiel fall in love with the strange little house on the end of Swallowtail Drive, and for a little while life is as it should be—sweet, affectionate, and beginning afresh.

But more and more Castiel sees and hears things in the house that beg the question of whether or not a place itself can be alive. The walls and rooms seem to shift and grow and breathe, and one night, Dean comes home from a hunt changed in a way that Castiel cannot explain. In the months that follow, their domestic bliss takes turns for the dark and sour, and the confusion of their circumstances will ultimately test everything Castiel knows about the man he loves, and everything he believes to be true.

Listen, I cried. I cried SO MUCH. There was a lil fandom war going on for a time between which was the hardest, this one or Twist and Shout, and both destroy me completely. But this one is set in canon and closer to the characters, to me, so I’ll always recommend this one first (unless you want a happy ending, in which case, don’t read it)

Only if for a night - https://archiveofourown.org/works/826303

Castiel is captured by a djinn. Dean goes slightly crazy, and Cas discovers a thing or two about himself.

I’m a sucker for Dean/Cas in Djinn verse and this one is by far my favorite.

The Bird That Feels The Light (not slash) https://archiveofourown.org/works/210860

AU from 5.18 (or thereabouts). Castiel awakens in the middle of a smoking crater, stranded and very much human. According to the people who have discovered him, it’s six months to the day after Michael and Lucifer faced off on the field of battle outside of Detroit, and Castiel isn’t the only one to have returned. When, at his insistence, they take him to this other person, he finds a child –a little boy– and realizes that, contrary to all his expectations, he has been reunited with Dean Winchester. The world has changed in their absence, and not for the better. Sam is gone, whether dead or simply missing is uncertain. Castiel is given the name of a man in Idaho who may have answers for him. He is faced with the task of travelling cross-country with Dean, who is dependent on him now in ways he never was before, in order to discover the truth. But along the way, as he and Dean learn to know and trust each other once more, Castiel begins to realize that the answers he thought he wanted might not be the ones he needs.

It’s not slash at all since Dean is a kid but I’ve read it probably about 20 times and I still love it as the first time. There’s just something about human Castiel carrying a 4 year old Dean across the world and fighting monsters and demons and humans to survive that gets to me.

Hands, From Which All Things Are Built - https://archiveofourown.org/works/747324

Castiel travels with the angel tablet and without the Winchesters. One day, Dean gets a text from some anonymous number. (They speak in the language of need.) A post-08.17 Goodbye, Stranger story.

If you want pining, this one is definitely for you.

Last Man Standing - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8363328/1/Last-Man-Standing

This one is set just after the season 7 finale, it’s a Purgatory fic with so.much.pining I always need to hold a pillow to my chest when I read it or I go insane sdfghjkl I haven’t read it in probably 4 years but I remember absolutely loving it.

Outrun my gun - https://archiveofourown.org/works/281887/chapters/448388

"The two of you are so stubborn you've made Heaven blink." Finally convinced that Sam and Dean will never say yes and accept their destinies, Heaven and Hell come up with a new plan, one that will redraw the Apocalypse and make everything run much more smoothly. All they need is Dean Winchester's soul.

Don’t mind the MCD tag, it’s got a happy ending. Also a classic set in canon, it’s from 2011 so quite oldish but it’s incredible how the characterization is on point. Love love love it.

AU

Tramps Like Us

Dean Winchester's life is falling apart. He's lost his job, his apartment, and his brother, all in one day. He seems to break everything he touches. Frustrated and alone, he drives off into the night with no idea where he's headed. But then he meets Castiel Novak, a quiet and reclusive man with a haunted past, and suddenly he finds himself with a very specific destination in mind.

I feel like everyone has read Tramps Like Us but just in case, I’ll put it on the list. Not sure what I can say that hasn’t been said by half this website already but well… it deserves the hype.

Til The Last - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1001935/chapters/1984189

When the war came, Dean Winchester was determined that he was not going to get involved. He had more important things to worry about than some rich man’s fight. He had work on the farm and he had taking care of his family. Nothing else was worth his worry. But in August in the Year of Our Lord 1863, when the soldiers came knocking, they weren’t asking. They dragged Dean away. 

Dean and Cas have been best friends since they were kids. When Dean is drafted into the Confederate army, to what lengths will Castiel go to ensure that Dean makes it back home alive?

OH BOY. OHHHHH I could talk about that one until the day I die. It’s a complete AU but it has great parallels to canon, it’s incredibly well written, humanity in all it’s ugly truth and “I will fight for you ‘til the last, Dean Winchester” jesus christ it’s so good, so good

Out of the Deep - https://archiveofourown.org/works/548878

Stay away from the light-beds. Stay in the deep.

It is the first thing hatchlings are taught the moment their fans unfurl and they can swim without their parents to buoy them along. It is the first rule, the first law. It is the beginning of every boogey-monster bedtime story told when they settle against the cliffs to sleep.

Castiel should have listened better.

I love everything she writes but I think this one if my favorite. It’s sooooo long, and angsty as fuck but all ends well and it has some very fluffy moments. If you’re into this kinf of AU then 100% go for it.

To Raise a King - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1961403

This must be some kind of horrible joke at Castiel’s expense. Is he truly expected to protect a King? One who has been their enemy for as long as he can remember? He is much more suited to being a part of the army, or at the very least someone who helps to train the knights. That would be far more preferred than having to watch over the King. It means Castiel would get to keep fighting – and that’s the only way he knows to give meaning to his life.

An AU too, Cas is tasked to watch over Sam and Dean -there’s an 8 year age difference between Dean and Cas. I loved it because it’s set over about 15 years and Cas is asexual and I love time period AU in general :’)

Painted Angels https://archiveofourown.org/works/1085792

Author Castiel Novak has finally hit the big time, with a book based on his failed college relationship with a brilliant painter. He's put all his pain behind him, but at a book signing, he comes face to face with Dean Winchester for the first time in twelve years, and the reunion doesn't go like Cas hoped. Dean's a broken man, with a lot of scars and secrets, shoulders weighed down by his demons and self loathing. Cas sees a second chance with the man he's never stopped loving, but Dean's moved on, and is about to get married. Sam launches a "brilliant" plan to reunite his brother and his best friend, but Cas is worried it will all blow up in their faces, and he'll go through the agony of losing Dean a second time.

This one is hard to read because for the most part, it’s heartbreaking. There are happy flashbacks all along but it’s still hard when what happens in the present it’s a fucking tragedy. But I would still read it a thousand times over, and the timestamp completely make up for all the pining and the angst. It’s rare to find fics that last an entire lifetime.

[pollotitus]

Season 7 of That 70′s Show really suffers from the writers having an endgame in mind and no real way to buffer the storylines out to 20+ episodes in order to fill the season. While it is nowhere near as terrible as Season 8 (not even canon, IMO), it's really filled with manufactured drama and relies far too heavily on misunderstandings and characters speaking for other characters. I think it fails in large part because what they went into thinking would be the final year turned out not to be, so all the set up never had a payoff.

The seasons core storylines largely revolve around recidivism, particularly of the male characters. That's well and good. They are at an age, right before venturing out into the world, where regressing often happens. It's somewhat typical. You spend your childhood wanting to be an adult but when you get there, it's a bit scary and you want to keep things simple. So while storylines where the guys are back to doing juvenile things like trenching lawns and stealing toys don't necessarily excite me, I get it. Though I do think they suffer from the actors being well past the age of the characters. It's hard to say kids'll be kids'll when the guy looks 25. With this possible writing space in mind, I view things like this...

To a good extent this all seems like the plan, particularly for Eric. He spends the season drifting until being confronted with the fact that he's wasting his life. Eric, IMO, probably has the most well-done arc of the guys in S7. He starts off borderline unlikeable but starts to cleans up his act at the turn to the third act. Given his life up to that point, I think this is rather organic. At that point, he realizes... OK, I've got to do something or I am going to be stuck here forever. It's probably too much credit to say this could call back to Kitty saying as much about the bank job back in Season 5. All in all, I think it was OK. Again, I think this is because, dumbass Africa storyline aside, the writing planned all along for Eric to leave and stay gone. There was no need to alter it much outside of creating a reason him not not show up in S8. Hence, Africa.

Kelso on the other hand seems to relapse quite hard to his old habits after growing a lot in S6. The difference between his and Eric's storyline is we really aren't given a good reason for it, so we're left with the impression he never really changed, that it was all for Brooke. This doesn't reflect well on him and makes it a little tough to watch sometimes. That's not to say he doesn't have good moments, particularly with Betsy but the whole storyline with Hyde's sister... I mean, I know it wasn't a Laurie retread, but it felt like one. It felt like he went nowhere.

Hyde is probably the biggest example stymying growth to create drama. Hyde certainly did throughout the show have issues expressing emotions, so while it's not completely out of nowhere, it's never dealt with throughout the whole season and only seems to get worse. It appeared to be planned as a slow-burn arc, ultimately culminating with him getting over it in the last act. It's known that the showrunners had S7 planned to be the last, then seemingly had to throw together some dangling threads for the S8 (hacks) writers to have something to go with. So Hyde's arc ultimately fails and reeks of dashed expectations because the epic conclusion had to be dropped.

Sure, everyone *else* tells us how he feels. Leo tells us. Donna tells us. Eric tells us. Fez tells us. His sister tells us. This keeps us waiting for the big moment when he finally tells us outright outside of not objecting. More importantly we’re left waiting for him to tell Jackie, who during S7 understandably doesn't know given that he's regressed back his "I don't love people" mindset, how he feels. Without that, the story feels unsatisfying and incomplete because the writers were banking wholesale on the dramatic final moment that, thanks to a late renewal by Fox, wasn't allowed to come.

Speaking of that, the final hotel scene makes zero sense at all. I'm not even confining it to OOCness, it just makes no sense and really comes off as almost slapstick but played straight. I'll preface my comment on this by saying that I don't think we're meant to think anything had happened. They were trying to set up the appearance that something was going to happen in a poor retread of the S5 storyline. I say that because it would be OOC for Jackie for one. Furthermore, if something WERE about to happen, she wouldn't casually say come in not knowing who it was (naked!Kelso wouldn't knock at all), nor would she be fully dressed and reading a magazine if something were about to imminently happen (as an already naked Kelso would suggest). So the whole thing comes off as another 'this looks bad, but it's not what it looks like' scenario. That's pretty much how Mila plays it. Nervous but not horrified as she would be had she actually been caught. So it’s forced, transparent and dumb, highlighted by the montage of Kelso running around 3 Stooges style in the closeout.

[yououghtaknow]

18 and 20 for the meta asks? also I already commented on clip 3 but fr this clip was so good that was such a good execution of that scene and s5 has been so good and literally brightens my day thank u 💛 i hope you’re doing well

hi, thank you so much!!!!!!!! i hope you’re doing well too <3 <3

i am putting a read more because i am a rambley person, but underneath you will find talks of unused plot points, the parallels between the girl squad and the lad squad, and what taylor swift album(s) i believe each season has the vibe of.

tw for discussion of abuse, mental health problems, addiction and eating disorders

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

skam brighton has. so many aus. because it itself is an au of an original work. me and two of my great writing friends have written a great numbers of aus including but not limited to riordian-verse, glee, doctor who, rwrb, trc, a murder mystery au, and many aus based on comfort media of mine that i started on never finished (house of anubis, barbie movies, etc.). and many of them are unironically so good???? @fingersmithbysarahwaters and @nightwing642 are incredibly talented screenwriters. but also i did write a screenplay adaptations of the first two books in the raven cycle series and 2/3s of rwrb for no reason other than fun and autism.

as for skam brighton. oh boy. not many plot points have been changed, but some certain scenes/character moments were changed. for example, the scene in season 2 episode 8 where liz has a meltdown at the shopping centre and she has a heart to heart with mary was originally liz having a meltdown and running into al in the sensory room. but i wanted to hold back on revealing al as a main character until season 3. 

also in the og season 3, jake and al didn’t break up. as i was finishing the season, i was getting ideas for how i wanted the series to develop (james’s crush on al namely) so i thought it would be good for both of their developments for them not to end up together. also in season 3 i hadn’t planned for jake to move house originally, so there was a scene in the finale episode of the lad squad hanging out, but it got cut because it just didn’t make sense. 

in season 4, al and bree were a lot meaner to each other originally, because i love it when it gets busy at the brighton and the gay people get mean, but then i thought about it and decided it was out of character for both of them to be downright cruel. al and bree also had a scene in season 4 that was cut due to just not making sense. 

also, in season 5, the “inner white girl” scene originally wasn’t in the show at all, but one day i was listening to the song, and about a week before the episode came out, i wrote it. also, bree wasn’t written to be a she/they until literally the day of putting the clip out because i thought it would be cool. that’s it :)

also the way i write is that i write the full clip out in a google doc and then edit it in ao3 about an hour before i put it out, so a lot of changes happen there. just small things, like making dialogue flow better, changing certain songs because i just want to, and sometimes adding in new sequences that i just thought of.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

oh!!!! there!!!!! is!!!!! 

personally, my favourite thing to write is little symbolic moments that make me happy because i play 4d chess in my head with myself every time i write.

before i go off, i must say, so many hints and clues have been dropped for season six so far. season six has been my favourite season to write and i’m already planning a spin-off project based on it to write, and it’s gonna be starting sooner than you think.

so a piece of writing i’ve been thinking about lately is the parallels between the girl squad and the lad squad. before i begin to go off, these are the characters i think parallel each other the most.

jake - sandy james - bree nick - rori theo - esther al - liz

jake and sandy is quite an obvious parallel to draw - both are football players, both begin the series closeted and having a close relationship with bryan - but their personalities are quite similar. both of them are closer with their mother than their father, both use their relationships as a method of protection, and both are afraid of of societal rejection at the beginning of the series. they also both discovered their sexualities and mental health issues over the course of their seasons, and both of their love interests are more outgoing theatre kids. jake and sandy’s relationship is also so interesting to me - because they start as very awkward friends, and jake tries to help sandy by making bryan break up with her, but outs her in the process, and sandy doesn’t want to forgive him. she takes her time and comes to terms with it on her own and decides to forgive him because sandy’s just a sweetheart - and this also parallels the way jake takes his time to forgive his mother. also, in their friend groups, they’re both the newcomer to them, and we get the introductions to the group dynamics in their seasons, and in the later seasons, they’re both a lot more relaxed as they’re in recovery <3

james and bree are also very similar characters. both have problems with substance abuse, both have promiscuous reputations, both have both mommy and daddy issues. they are both dean girls, to put it in spn terms. they’re both very funny, and use humour to cover up their struggles. both are dealing with a lot of mental illness and, throughout the series, it becomes more and more clear. they’re also both seen as “the hot ones” of their groups, with a lot of the characters canonically having small crushes on them (liz, rori and nick with james; rori, esther and annabell with bree). they’ve also both canonically hooked up with sophie. which i just think is fun. they also played mimi and roger together, which i think shows their parallels as addicts and people (with roger struggling with recovery and depression until the end, when he begins to get help, and mimi living the high life until it all crumbles down around her). they also share a want for independence and both are very sana-esque characters (james being middle eastern and religious, bree being the cool rebel girl in season 1).

nick and rori are both the “fun friend”. they’re both comedic relief in the early seasons, but we do get in depth with them as the show goes on. in grease, they play james and bree’s love interests (which is ironic, as rori and bree get together and nick is in love with james), and in rent, they play angel and maureen, the two main comedic relief characters. both of them struggle to connect their asian identity with their british identity, and both struggle with how the world perceives them (nick with their gender presentation and rori with her eating disorder). they both struggle with toxic masculinity and toxic femininity and use humour to cover up their struggles.

theo and esther are similar in the fact that they’re the squad members we know the least about. they’re both jewish, they’re both the mum friend of their respective groups, they’re both autistic and they’re both quite nerdy. they’re the most grounded member of their respective groups and tend to take charge and help make decisions. they’re also both quite sarcastic and very firm in their opinions. 

al and liz are parallels simply because they are both nooras and vildes. they’r eboth autistic, they’re both the odd one out in their friend groups - liz being a lot more serious than the girl squad, al being a lot more in his own little world than the lad squad. they’re both very blunt and straight forward and say whatever they’re thinking.

also just some of my favourite bits of foreshadowing: nick being bitchy to liz throughout season 2 because they’re in love with james….. al talking about his sister to jake in season 3 and whenever al talks to the girl squad, bree insults him or walks away…… in season 4 episode 1, audrey mentions bree’s cousin is pregnant and then when bree finds out the results of her pregnancy test, oh no by marina plays (i’m now becoming my own self fulfilling prophecy)....... nick and all of his gender stuff throughout the series……. just all of the character stuff with grease and rent….. also just bree and rori’s whole relationship arc because it has everything. queerbaiting. subverting expectations. musical homoeroticism. a little cheating for fun. and they were best friends. honestly bree and rori season 3 is very august by taylor swift…… you weren’t mine to lose…….. 

speaking of, no one asked by here’s each season of skambr and the taylor swift albums they’re most like.

season 1 - debut/fearless

bro sandy is just such a debut/fearless era person. she’s looking for her place in this world!!!!!! she has the teardrops on my guitar energy (quite literally sandy pre-canon voice i bet he’s beautiful that boy she talks about and he has everything that i have to live without about bryan and sophie)..... the fun giggly crush songs that are deeply homoerotic….. esther season 1 voice the entirety of you belong with me. like esther really made a deeper connection with sandy in one month that bryan did in years of knowing her. sandy also is the type of person to stan love story, she just thinks it’s such a fun song and she does yell the key change every time it comes on. 

season 2 - speak now/lover

elizabeth!!!!! liz is the type of person who only liked old taylor and then got internalised misogyny and then got over it and loves taylor again. the story of us is canonically a liz/rori song…. yes i am still a liz/rori subtext warrior….. liz is very never grow up and dear john is a very her and james song in the fact that they both relate to it……. when they bonded over their trauma “don’t you think i was too young”...... also lover is a liz season 2 album because it’s about liz learning that love is the most important thing in the world….. liz voice i want to be defined by the things that i love. also the archer is just a skam brighton song because it is an isaac song. also i’m just gonna say it. i like me! it’s a good song when brendon urie isn’t in it, you all are just afraid of having fun. also though liz in season 5 is very better than revenge because, while her season is about unlearning your internalised prejudices, i believe she deserves to be misogynistic for 3 minutes 37 seconds.

season 3 - red

now this is controversial. this season is about depression, grief and anger, and these feelings are red. literally jake voice so you were never a saint and i loved in shades of wrong we learn to live with the pain mosaic broken hearts….. like treacherous….. holy ground….. the whole country pop vibe….. the bitchy songs mocking people’s perceptions of the singer…..  22 is a lad squad song…. also jake voice i remember it all too well but it’s about his father’s abuse and his mother’s neglect…… like the whole season is just jake getting to the point where he is at “begin again”. also i feel like jake would like red because he spent a lot of time watching taylor swift music videos as a youth both because he liked the music and had crushes on the guys in them, and he feels red is the perfect middle between the country and the pop and the indie and he just really likes being sad.

season 4 - reputation

bree big reputation holland!!!!!!!!! she has it all - the romantic drama, the hatred of men, the fucking homoeroticism. bree stans the reputation tour and they have made the entire holland-fletcher family watch it on their netflix (al fucking loved it because he’s a canon swiftie, audrey had a fun time, patrick was a little confused, but has the spirit). listen bree “i did something bad”. bree “look what you made me do”. bree and rori “new year’s day”. bree voice i swear i don’t love the drama, it loves me!!!!!!!!! like the reason the season has a lot of reputation songs and ends with daylight from lover is a metaphor for bree leaving their reputation era…. also reputation has she/they vibes

season 5 - 1989

1989 my best friend 1989!!!!!!! i am coming out here as a 1989 (deluxe) stan. it’s just a serotonin album for me and it is just so nick. the mocking songs about their reputation…… the genuinely deeply depressing homoerotic songs that have fun upbeat music…… the cars….. also clean is just such a nick song. he is in recovery, he is just so personal to me. also nick voice one night he wakes strange look on his face pauses then says you’re my best friend and you knew what it was he is in love!!!!!!! nick canonically in love with all of their best friends braxton!!!!! also nick feels like a 1989 stan because they just have those fun energies. nick WILL scream the spoken part of shake it off at the top of his lungs. also new romantic is just a skamverse song in general. also just. out of the woods. no reason for me to say it other than it’s one of my favourite songs of all time.

season 6 - folklore/evermore

no evermore is not out yet. yes i am claiming it for season 6. see taylor has said that these albums are all about telling stories/fairy tales and that’s what season 6 is about. i cannot wait until next friday when the main and my plans for the hiatus are revealed…….. genuinely i do not know how anyone perceives skam brighton so i don’t know who people think the next main is, but…… i can only describe the state of me writing this season as the various ambiguous disorder gifs.

[belleandkurtbastian]

General rewatch thoughts on Shameless (US) 10x03 - “Which America?” (just the prison scenes)

1

Mickey cracking his knuckles. You know what, Ian? I’m going to give this one to you. At least your fucking annoying flossing noises were productive.

“Your side of the cell” - ... which side of the cell is that supposed to be, anyway? I’m so confused by the supposed geographometry of this cell-splitting.

2

“The rumour” is that they’re trying to kick out the non-violent offenders? That counts as a rumour? Everyone under the sun knows that’s how they choose who to give parole hearings to.

“What’s your deal on the outside”... Look, while this is all reasonable advice... They’re also kind of talking like Ian and Mickey met IN PRISON, and not like Mickey WENT BACK TO PRISON for Ian. They absolutely need to have this talk, but it feels like they’re missing the point a little too.

“My sentence was supposed to be 3-5 years”... No... I WATCHED S8 and 9a... There was talk of 10-20 without a plea, 5-10 with a guilty plea, and 2 with an insanity plea. Where the fuck did 3-5 come from? Quote from 09x06 “Face It, You’re Gorgeous”: “I’m about to spend the next two years of my life in fight-or-flight mode.”

3

“You free at the moment?” - Okay, relatable. Ask a really stupid obvious question as the ice-breaker.

“Long distance, or no distance, marriage, kids, retirement?” Also relatable - turn this conversation from being about the immediate future into... everything. Just gotta escalate it all the way up there.

“You’re out there, you’re gonna be fucking other people, so will I.” Mickey is TRYING to get Ian to move on here. Mickey is trying NOT to want Ian to stay there with him... but then...

“It’d be one thing if you felt differently about leaving [...] if there was a part of you that felt maybe you owed it to me” Lemme translate this one for those of us not fluent in Mickeyese: “I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone and I’m scared that when you’re out there, you’re gonna leave me here to rot [again].”

This is such a WEIRD argument for Gallavich to be having... Because this entire story is just a back-and-forth of them both being selfless... And the realisation that they can’t BOTH be selfless all the time. Heck, this is basically the only time we see Ian being selfless towards Mickey... And I kinda dig it, because this is Ian thinking about them, in the way he used to back in S1-3.

4

Ian looking for advice... You know what? Thank God Lip didn’t answer because while he would have been RIGHT in saying that Ian shouldn’t throw his parole hearing, if Ian HADN’T tried to blow his chances, he and Mickey would never have actually had the chance to see eye-to-eye on this.

“Congrats, you’re an uncle” “I already was”... You know what, I don’t think this is on Mickey. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Ian MENTION Frannie.

5

Mickey seeking advice from Nazi friends of his DAD?! Yeah, this is in no way a fucked-up situation.

“Yeah, unfortunately” - you know, I REALLY do want to see Mickey reacting to his father’s death at some point. If we get an S11, I hope that’s a thing that happens. It will be heart-wrenching, but I don’t think that space was explored NEARLY enough with Monica, and Terry has 1000 times more fucked up feeling baked in...

“It’s about my partner, Ian” - you know, I liked him calling Ian his “lover” and “boyfriend” and “family” in S5... But “partner” is always the one that gets me the most, and I’m not sure why.

“Business or pleasure” - I don’t think Mickey has a strong distinction between the two. I mean, all his business was either with Ian, or with his family... Still, the question was obvious.

“You had the talk, right?” ... You know, Ian and Mickey are clueless gays both in prison AND out, and I love it... I also love that “the talk” is a thing. It’s so ridiculous, and given that this episode seems to have like 12 D-plots and no A-plot, that just works.

“Let her go” - Not for nothing or nothing, but Mickey could probably have used that advice before coming back from Mexico to get himself thrown in jail with his ex-boyfriend.

“He’s gonna wind up resenting you and hating you” - for the record, Mickey, this would also have happened if he’d actually made it to Mexico with you in 7x11.

6

He’s actually gonna do it. Also, for a show that’s COMPLETELY unconcerned about continuity, I am AMAZED they remembered that Ian and Mickey lost their shiv last week.

And here comes selfless!Mickey, which is just... Mickey.

“You don’t belong in here, Gallagher”. NOR DO YOU MICKEY. You got sent to jail the first time on an unprovable attempted murder charge, while the supposed victim was CHASING YOU WITH A GUN just before you were arrested... Everything after that is kinda negated by the first stint being unwarranted.

“I’ll get out soon.” You know, I completely do not doubt this, and not just because we know he does from spoilers and stuff, but because see above ^.

“I love you.” *sad smile* “I know. I love you too.” It doesn’t get fucking old. It’s been 4½ seasons since Mickey first said it... But also: I can’t help but parallel this to Svetlana and Mickey’s exchange in 4x12. S: “You love him?” M: “I don’t know. Maybe.” Because Mickey wasn’t lying then. He couldn’t really untangle his feelings, and he was so uncertain... But now he is SURE of himself and of their relationship, and he KNOWS that Ian LOVES HIM, which is possibly even bigger than the fact that he knows HE loves IAN.

7

Fucking Mickey feels guilty for pushing Ian into trying to throw his parole... and is making it up to him. MICKEY MILKOVICH’S LOVE LANGUAGE IS ACTS OF SERVICE.

[skatingthinandice]

Tagged by @midnightanddiamonds, thank you so much! This looks like fun <3

Pick 10 ships without reading the questions.

Aethelflaed/Aldhelm (The Last Kingdom)

Michael/Thomas (Man in an Orange Shirt)

Harry/Ruth (Spooks)

Alfred/Drummond (Victoria)

Florence/Siobhan (Death in Paradise)

Leofric/Uhtred (The Last Kingdom)

Doctor/Rose (Doctor Who)

Feron/Marcheaux (The Musketeers)

Molesley/Baxter (Downton Abbey)

Jocelyn/Maggie (Broadchurch)

Questions!

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

It definitely came on gradually and happened like five years ago now, but I think the moment my heart was officially sold to them was their first scene in episode 5, the moment after Leofric removes his sword from Uhtred’s neck and they laugh and hug with relief at seeing each other again.

2. Have you ever read a fanfiction about 2?

MIAOS is one of the smallest fandoms I’m in, so there isn’t much fic out there, but I have written my own! Dear Darling took me over a year to write, but I knew I had to give Michael and Thomas their happy ending!

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr?

Unfortunately not! I wrote enough fics for Alfred/Drummond in the short space of time they were together though.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break-up today, what would your reaction be?

Doomsday is the worst thing I’ve ever watched in my life, I still bawl my eyes out to this day. So yeah, I think it’s fair to say that I can’t handle Doctor/Rose splitting up.

5. Why is 1 so important?

Gahhhh OKAY WELL, without turning this into a massive emotional essay, let’s just say that Aethelflaed deserves a kind and gentle love, and after my poor darling Erik died in s2, her relationship with Aldhelm in s3 made me realise that she could have that love again. Although they aren’t together romantically at the moment (though fingers crossed for s5!), their loyalty, trust and respect is so wonderful, and their lil moments of flirting make my life.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

Although Molesley was essentially the comic relief character in earlier series’ (and in the movie, which I’m still conflicted about), the moment Baxter arrived in the show we really saw a deeper side to his character. Their relationship is built on supporting each other and is truly beautiful, even without the romantic element.

7. Out of all of the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Harry and Ruth’s entire relationship was pretty much built solely on chemistry and connection, cause lord knows they weren’t allowed to have anything else.

8. Out of all of your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond?

I’d have to say Michael/Thomas, cause their love story lasted over a decade and beyond, and I will never ever be over them.

9. How many times have you read/watched 8’s fandom?

Nearly twice lol, for some reason we abandoned our rewatch of The Musketeers mid-way through s2 last time, but we’re planning on rewatching again soon.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

I’ve shipped Doctor/Rose for the longest time, it’s been, what, fifteen years? I was about ten when I watched it, so...

11. How many times, if ever, has 2 broken up?

Michael and Thomas never really broke up in the sense that neither of them ever stopped loving each other, though they were forced to part three times (and admittedly, one of these kinda counts most as a break up).

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

Michael and Thomas were admittedly in a war and both have unbelievable and admirable reserves of strength. If they were in hiding during this apocalypse, they’d be good. In terms of fighting, Marcheaux could single-handedly take the zombies on and would do to protect Feron. I don’t really know how you’re supposed to handle a zombie apocalypse lol.

13. Did 5 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason? 

Florence and Siobhan were never canon (bc the writers are cowards) but no they would never have had to hide their relationship, their family and friends would have been so supportive!

14. Is 4 still together?

No, Alfred/Drummond are not still together, thanks to history and Daisy Goodwin.

15. Is 3 canon?

WELL, how to answer this one?! Harry and Ruth technically went for one date, then she had to leave the country for like three years and stopped Harry from confessing his love. On her return, he proposed practically out of the blue and she turned him down but they still loved each other, and THEN SHE DIED. So, they never actually said they loved each other, they were never a couple, and yet they are canon. Does that make sense?

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Leofric/Uhtred, definitely! I love battle couples so much, and these warriors are the best (also Leofric isn’t dead so it totally holds)!

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 10’s ship?

Yes, Jocelyn herself. From what we know of their backstory, she stepped away from any relationship they could have had, and only when they meet again many long years later does she finally confess that she’s loved Maggie all this time.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

Leofric/Uhtred, mainly because I once received a comment on one of my fics for them that literally just said “Uhtred isn’t gay. Sorry.”

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 1’s tumblr page?

There’s not enough there to spend hours in their tag lol, but I do check Aethelflaed and Aldhelm’s tag every day to see if my friend’s posted any new gifsets ahahaha, there’s pretty much only content from me and her in there atm!

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

I mean technically Florence/Siobhan isn’t canon, and Death in Paradise already sunk any chance of it happening, so...

Tagging: @estelanel, @maurice-and-music, @wildwildtarget, @explodingpringlescans and anyone else who wants to do it and has an hour spare lol

[daisychains111]

Shipper Challenge

Pick your top ten ships without reading the questions.

In no particular order:

Bellarke (The 100- Book & Show)

Creswell (Lunar Chronicles- Book)

Murven (The 100- Show)

Memori (The 100- Show)

Liam+Ruby (The Darkest Minds-Book & Movie)

Zammie (Gallagher Girls- Books)

Will+Tessa (Shadowhunter Chronicles- Books)

Puckbrina (Sisters Grimm- Books)

Kaider (Lunar chronicles- Books)

Vida+Chubs (The Darkest Minds- Books)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 5?

Yes, I started shipping Liam and Ruby during the scene where he gives her his extra socks. It just like so cute and awkward and I love it.

2. Have you ever read a FanFiction about 2?

About cress and Thorne? I’ve never really read any full on fanfics but I've read a couple of ficlettes.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr?

No, Even though Memori is one of my favorites, I don't really do the characters a profile pics thing. With any fandom.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

I would be sooooooo sad if Will and Tessa  broke up. They are like the perfect couple, I’m mean they get married in their books sooo yea I would probably cry

5. Why is 1 so important?

Are you kidding me. They complete eachother, he is her heart she is his head. Without Bellamy, Clarke would have lost herself long ago. Without Clarke, Bellamy would have died because he did something stupid long ago as well. And in the book they are almost a different ship but they still work well and just make me so happy plus they get engaged at the end of the book so that's awesome. But for the show we are 6 seasons in and they are the longest slow burn couple I've ever met in my life cause they just would admit they have feeling and the writers are trolls, soooo yea, they are my OTP and I love them whichever version we are talking about. (I thought about splitting up book bellarke and show bellarke but then I would bellarke on the list twice and I thought that might be confusing so instead you get this equally confusing paragraph)

6. Is 8 a funny ship or a serious ship?

FUNNY!!! Puckbrina is definitely a funny ship. Their first kiss was in front of an army of chimpanzees. They just make fun of each other and it’s so frustrating but ridiculously funny.

7. Out of all of your ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Show Bellarke FOR SURE. They just play off each other so well and their actors are married in real life.

8. Out of all of the ships, which ship has the strongest bond?

 Memori because they were always trying to save themselves until they met each other and they just don’ t care how awful/different the other may be, they just love each other anyway, their relationship is freaking beautiful

9. How many times have you read/watched 6’s fandom?

Zammie, once, but only because it a more recent read for me but I do want to read the books again soon. Plus Gallagher girls is awesome who wouldn’t want to read it again

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

 Memori. They got together in s3 of their show, then there was a 6 year time jump between s4 and s5 and then all the characters went into cryosleep for 125 years at the end of s5 and they are now engaged in s6 soooo they've been together for like 132 years due to technicalities or I would say Will and Tessa because they got together when they were 16 & 17, got married and stayed together until he dies at like 90something sooo, no strange time jumps included, soooo it’s kinda how you look at it really.

11. How many times, if ever, has 9 broken up?

None, but Kai did marry Cinders aunt while they were still dating.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

Creswell or Puckbrina? I think Creswell would make it out because he’s a captain and she’s a genius soo yea. But I think it would just be funny to see all four of these guys team up in am apocalypse situation.

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

Kind of, Will did hide the fact that he was in love with her because of his curse but after they were together everyone knew

14. Is 4 still together?

Yes! Memori is engaged now to and it makes me so happy.

15. Is 5 canon?

Liam and Ruby are so canon, and they are so adorable.

16. If all ten ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Probably Bellarke (Book and show). They would just kick a** and take names and make all the hard choices.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 10′s ship?

No, Vida and Chubs was kind of a surprise to everyone and then everyone was just happy they were happy.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

Bellarke(show) because they are soulmates and I love them, and they will be canon in the show someday but the writers are just trolls soooo or Creswell because they are precious and I am total Creswell trash

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

YEESSSS!!! Yes. Yes, yes. yes. Y-E-S, yes. Raven and Murphy are not even together yet I love them so hecking much.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all up forever, which ship would you sink?

UMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Vida and Chubs probably, they were only together at the very end of the book and there wasn't really a cute buildup. But I still love them

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep 15 Pt 2: Don’t Trust Anyone Who Wears a Floor Length Robe Over Their Casuals in Yugioh

Hey, it’s my birthday, so I’m gonna release this early because the rest of today I just have to work like an adult and that’s no fun.

In the first half of this episode we dunked the worlds smallest plane into a lake and so this second half of the episode involved the kids running as far away from their only responsible adults as they could.

Which like...took whole of less than a second for them to peace out and enter mortal danger.

...I’ve never been in a jungle in India but...I have seen the Jungle book many times...and there’s like tigers and stuff in there, right? and tons of monkeys that are hella mean? And freakin snakes? They sing jazz and scat? That’s some terrifying stuff.

Like these city kids have to learn at some point to fear the woods. But they just freakin don’t. And strangely, the most dangerous thing in these woods isn’t even a snake or something, but a human man just being as suspicious as possible lying prone on the ground.

(read more under the cut)

The card cultist happens to have a British accent, because this voice acting team freakin loves to pull out their British accents. It’s not as lowbrow as Valon, but it’s not as...well whatever Bakura is supposed to be. He’s a lot more tame than Bakura’s, but still very British.

I don’t know if this is because British English tends to be taught instead of American sounding English in many parts of India, but, most likely they just wanted to do an accent. And like...he’s an archeologist...and so the stereotype is there...but honestly, the decision of making this guy British gets weirder and weirder as this episode goes on, get ready for it. None of you are ready for what I assume is the very obvious plot twist of this freakin guy.

Catfish of the century, this freakin guy, I’m pretty sure.

Yugi immediately believes this completely out of place white British stranger in the Indian backwoods next to this inaccessible lake and immediately thinks “yes, my Grandfather crash landed in India EXACTLY where I’m standing right now, and now I must save him.”

Thankfully, Yami exists to gently and politely tell Yugi to hella stop.

Also, I like that Yugi has finally stopped wearing his school outfit out of school. But, he is instead wearing a jacket that is so close to his school outfit I honestly couldn’t tell until the end of this episode. It’s like...I think one shade more purple, it has white piping, and his undershirt has a center seam. It’s nice Yugi has 3 versions of the same black sleeveless undershirt, and this show cares enough to show that tiny factoid about Yugi’s closet.

So, because Yugi is a dumbass and Pharaoh has to just sit back and watch this happen so he can say “told you so” later, they follow this random cultist they found in the woods. Much like Hansel and Gretel, we snack on cake crumbs all the way to the witches house, which in this case, is an undiscovered monolith you would have easily seen from outer space.

HMMMMMMMMMM.

And so get ready for this:

Hey guys.

Remember how Alexander the great was buried in a pyramid?

Now because they’re name dropping Alexander, that’s actually kind of helpful, because Alexander the Great’s favorite damn horse in the entire world died while he was at war with India so he named a city after it. It’s believed to be in Punjab, which is in the Northern part of India

Which means we first of all, definitely crossed the tallest mountain range in the world to get here, and also means that we are like...in some really disputed territory of India right now, and it is crazy that these kids went here for a vacation completely unsupervised.

Another fun fact about Alexander is that when he died, it took 6 days for his body to decompose. At the time, they thought it was because he was a God (or in Yugioh’s case, Extremely Cursed) but nowadays historians think it’s because it took him 6 days to fully die. He just wasn’t dead yet. Had to give it a minute and the ancient Babylonians just got way too excited.

Anyway, Alexander super died in Babylon so I don’t know what the hell he’s doing in India. There is a fun spot in History where his body did get dragged to a couple different places, meaning we probably did lose the original Alexander and there’s a lot of people just guessing at where he ended up...but putting him clear up in India sure was a choice when one of his assumed burial sites was literally Egypt, which would be a more fitting location for a Pyramid and a more fitting location for this show.

Especially since Alexander was trying to invent a new race and culture...it seems a little strange he’d be buried in such a massive pyramid, but maybe he got a really, really good pyramid deal from the funeral home when he was like 28 and just figured he’d change it before the time he died at 32.

Which...now that I’m older than 32, how crazy is it that Alexander the Great died at freakin 32? You blink twice and you’re 32. Is history seriously trying to tell me this guy wasn’t like secretly 62? That maybe he just celebrated his 20th for like 20 years in a row as a royal mandate? I just feel like history is playing pranks on me with Alexander.

Anyway, our weird shady new archeologist guy is named Alex and so take that as you will.

I sure hope Alexander the Great was revived to wear khakis and bother children. Guy conquered the world once and was one of history’s Freakin Worst so he does deserve it, but also...it would explain why he thinks it’s normal to wear a Darth Maul robe over your business casual.

Anyway, lets enter the obvious trap pyramid.

Joey just wanted a nice time running around Northern India. He just wanted to eat some yummy chaat and look at some tourist destinations and maybe glance at a Bollywood star or two. But instead he’s gotta deal with spike floors because Yugi couldn’t say no to a cultist.

Also...one of those spikes clearly went through Tea’s feet, right? And she is absolutely fine? Just checking on Tea’s godlike strength and clearly it is still godlike.

Alex gives us a very long explanation of how he went upstairs and Grandpa went downstairs, and there was a door or something so Alex turned back around and Grandpa was gone.

All of those steps were probably plot relevant and I’ll probably forget all about it in 2 episodes.

The thing is Alex...literally thinks he evaporated. Literally thinks that. But how do you disprove it to this freakin guy who like...might have named a city after his horse once and thinks that’s a normal and acceptable thing to do?

and so Joey immediately leaps onto the haunted playing floor.

the way Yugi said this line was sort of hilarious to me so I may cap it. If I remember to do it (I’ve been a little busier lately, with things opening up, as you can tell because my update schedule is in the toilet.)

So, if Joey jumps in...everyone else has to, also.

And we say good bye to Alex and enter the new forest zone, which looks a LOT like the other forest we were just in.

Nice Protoss armor.

We get some hijinks from the local wildlife, which are all cards but real (but not real because we’re in a board game...don’t think about it) and the off brand Sheikah tablets have helpful monsters in them if you touch em.

This season may have been better off as a video game, being honest.

Joey has gone somewhere else, despite going onto the same game tile, and he’s too busy on a mountain range to really help anyone out. So he’s just gonna vibe up here for a bit.

Tea got up after this point and said along the lines of “k, what’s next?” Because mortal danger does not affect her and she fears nothing.

At a beach somewhere, Tea and Tristan spend some quality time together forming a new family with whatever these creatures are.

And Tea’s love of her winged angel comes full circle and now I will suffer this winged orb for the rest of this arc, pretty sure.

Please admire the number of belts on Tea. Her outfit is like max 00′s and I appreciate that. We’ve had a lot of questionable fashion on Yugioh, but they actually dressed Tea pretty on point this arc. Like I often feel like 00′s fashion is hard to define or describe, but it’s Tea right now. That’s it. She did it, it’s right there.

Yugi gets a new flagship card for this arc, and this time it’s Celtic Guardian. Hell why? I feel like his defining card changes every single arc, and they need to like focus and just give him one. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s still Dark Magician...and maybe the show forgot?

Anyway, if you just got here, this is a link to read the rest:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

I think I forgot that link in the last recap because yo it’s kind of been a while since I’ve updated, I feel. (well I had a graveyard post and those don’t count really) But, we’re back, we’re still going, slowly but surely.