#but one of the things the show did well was making characters likeable or at least sympathetic on some level

[isfjmel-phleg]

If I had a nickel for every Arrow-verse show that namedropped Grant Emerson/Damage but never actually depicted him, I'd have two etc.

In one series, he's listed among people who died off screen (including his father's godson and someone who in the show was restored to life by a timeline change); in the other, he's referred to but never gets to show up because dang cancelation rained on that parade.

It's probably for the best that he never got to appear in The Flash, which had a habit of getting a lot of characters spectacularly wrong and aging up anyone who was under young adulthood, but it might have been interesting to see what Star girl would have done with him, especially since the series had already handed some of his brooding and cynical JSA-era characterization (as established by Geoff Johns, who was also heavily involved in the making of this TV series) to another character--which could have freed him up to be more in line with his original portrayal.

[itslikesearcingforsomething]

elephant in the room

now if we’re being serious, what is about to happen with stranger things is incredibly important for queer people all around the world in our reality today. i’m not comparing it to legal actions but representation is extremely significant and sometimes even more than reforms, because being queer legally doesn’t equal being socially acceptable. with that, i’d like to make my point clear, stranger things has the opportunity to make a real impact on current state of society.

i don’t say anything about actors here, because it’s not what my blog is about, but i would betray my own beliefs and appear hypocritical if i won’t mention one issue, actor that plays the most important character in this context being a zionist, that makes a lot of people hard to relate and feel for will byers, wich is valid. we’re people and we feel conflicted about most things in life, especially when it comes to politics, everything is political. i know that majority of our byler fandom supports this actor, i don’t. i won’t discuss this, but read the rest, it’s not my main point.

with that being said, stranger things just ended filming. no matter what we think, writers already did the thing. honest to heart, i’m really anxious. i’m stressed out thinking how did they handle everything? how did they make a choice, what kind of? ten years of hard work and millions of viewers, the stakes are high. i feel like stranger things in s5 will do a lot of tip toeing around, slowly getting GA warmer and warmer for the big “plot” wich is byler endgame. they have a lot of work and pressure, it leaves me wondering how good they did. they have to make will byers very likeable, so everyone can empathise with him, root for him. they have to make mike’s subtle internal conflict (for byler audience it’s clear) really well written and direct at the same time. they have to make mileven break up right, without damaging characters of eleven, will and mike. it’s hard, it’s scary. i don’t think any show this big did something like that. the power that we have now in our lack of knowledge of what will be in season five is huge. let’s cherish this calm before the storm.

[twig-tea]

GL odds and ends 29 December 2024

The end of the year kicked my ass, but I wanted to get one last one of these out for 2024! The last one before this was 10 November. If you're interested in GL older than that, check out my GL rec list through Feb 2024 and my #gl recs tag for the other odds and ends posts. New series marked with an asterisk*.

Currently airing (with thoughts up to 29 Dec):

The Fragrance You inherit 5/8 (Japanese, Friday/Saturday-ish, no official distribution but fansub on @isaksbestpillow's blog [thank you Siiri!] I have been really enjoying this show and have been writing when I have time (last post was for ep4). At its core this is a gentle show about kind people who love each other doing their best, which is always my favourite thing. Subs are on pause for the moment so you have time to catch up before the finale!

Pluto ep 11/12 (Thai, Saturdays 9:30 AM ET, YouTube) This plot continues to be absolutely wild. There's a lot of discourse around Oom this week, to which I'll just say: Setting a test to see if the people you love will hurt themselves in order to make you feel better is not loving or healthy behaviour, even if your motivations are understandable and sympathetic. Namtan is doing a great job making these twins feel like different people, and she and Film are still gorgeous together. And I have no idea what's up with the messy lesbian sides, but I'm on the side of all of them need a time out! I've been pretty dialed out of this show because it's not my thing, so I'm not that invested in any of the relationships going into the finale, but it's been a wild ride and it seems to be holding together for those who enjoy the high drama of this plot.

*Petrichor ep 5/10 (Thai, Saturdays, 10:00 AM ET, iQIYI) The procedural aspects of this show are unfortunately not well executed, but Engfa and Charlotte have fantastic chemistry. I'm also really loving seeing Na and Max again even though I am very worried about getting too attached to their characters. It's always hard for me when a show is about a police officer trying to do good work in a corrupt system because the only takeaway I can accept is that that is not possible lol but I'm enjoying seeing these two on my screen every week (except this week, because we sadly did not get a new episode today).

*Mate, 6/12 (Thai, Tuesdays, WeTV (uncut version)) This one is hard to describe. It seems to be trying to do for trauma in a GL what Love in the Air and Bed Friend did in BL--show a realistic depiction of trauma in one of their characters and have them fall in love, and be taken care of and healed that way. But that also makes it extremely hard to watch. The trauma flashbacks and trauma responses is rough. The main character is not very likeable but that's kinda the point, I'm not minding that part of it so much. There are a lot of things I like about this show, so I don't want to discourage views. Just go into this one informed, and make the decision that's right for you.

*INTP 1/? (Korean, Fridays (?), YouTube) This is the latest short series from RedQ, who produced some of my favourite GL short series including More than or equal to 75 degrees C, and To the Ex who Hated Me. No info on how long it will be or if it will be weekly, so that Fridays release schedule is a total guess. The setup of this one reminded me of Semantic Error if SangWoo realized he was attracted to JaeYoung at their first group assignment meeting.

Recently Completed:

Apple My Love 6.5 50-min eps (Thai, Oct 12-Nov 16, GagaOOLala and YouTube) I ended up feeling like this one bit off a bit more than it could chew, as much fun as I had with it, it was a wobbly landing. I was ok with the ending at the end but I spent a lot of time watching the finale uncertain about how I felt about all of it. There's a 30 min "episode 5.1" that is an important bridge between episodes 5 and 6 (and also includes a 10-min fingering scene, thank you show) that I think resulted from either poor pacing or realizing they needed to set up the episode better? It was odd but something to make sure not to skip. The show does a lot of what I love about Kongthup's latest BLs: it avoids the worst drama pitfalls and calls them out in the show itself when it uses them, and it is largely about being kind to its characters who are figuring themselves out. Warning for extremely hard to watch secondhand embarrassment in the first couple of episodes lol Kris is such a cringefail lesbian I love her. With the caveats above, if you don't mind secondhand embarrassment and want a comedy GL and are willing to be a little patient with the ending, give this one a try!

The Loyal Pin 16 65-min eps (Thai, Aug 4-Dec 1, YouTube) Anin was the bravest right through to the end. I really liked a lot of this show, but I found the pacing a bit uneven and the finale a little rough. It's hard, because I actually am happy with the way the show ended--it makes perfect sense and was where I was hoping they would get to the entire show. What I didn't like was how we got there. It seemed wild that Pin and Anin didn't at least talk about this possibility before we got there; and didn't feel like we ever resolved the disparity between the two leads, though the show was aware of it the whole time which I did like. And you may have seen the shouting about the prank in the finale, it was in really poor taste. In the end, this show was beautiful, gave a platform for promoting Thai culture (food, clothing, history), and had excellent intimacy. I really enjoyed the slow burn between Anin and Pin, and I loved that every character had and used the agency they had, but that the show was realistic about what was in and outside of their control. If you want a slow-burn and high-heat romance and are willing to be a little frustrated for the sake of the drama, and/or you really like a pigtail-pulling romantic dynamic, you should watch this show.

Red Whisper 8 10-min eps (Korea, Oct 2-Nov 11, YouTube) Honestly this show never got better after what I wrote about it a month ago about how its portrayal of bisexuality and nonmonogamy was upsetting. For the record one last time: Not all bisexuals are nonmonogamous, and entering a monogamous relationship under false pretenses and then acting like your partner is being unreasonable by not wanting an open relationship is shitty behaviour. This one is sadly not recommended.

The Nipple Talk 10 30-min eps (Taiwanese, Nov 8-22, GagaOOLala) I highly recommended the first half, and so I am so sad to say that I can't say the same for the second half of the show. I was really enjoying how much the show seemed to support a mix of monogamy and nonmonogamy, but the second half of the show leaned heavily into 'everyone wants a monogamous relationship when they meet the right person', which disappointed me. The show also tried to introduce some themes that felt very dated in terms of how they handled them (e.g. HIV) and I ended up just not really liking the Pony character as a person by the end. The lesbian relationship was super messy in a way that I did not find fun too. Mama was the best part of this show, and I hope we get more characters like them in future (better) shows!

*Soul Sisters 24 12-min eps (Chinese, iQIYI) This entire show dropped this week so I binged it in one go. The basic setup is a GL version of Meet You At the Blossom, except the gender fuckery lasts for most of the series and they don't actually ever get to kiss. I loved this little show; it is a frenetic, very silly and censored comedy, so calibrate your expectations accordingly. But it walks the line in a way that is palatable (or was for me, anyway). Without giving too much away, it is an open happy ending. The caveats for this one are that there is no wasted tape, so the pacing is rollercoaster fast, and the cuts are sometimes jarring. But it's a surprisingly beautiful show for the budget, and I really appreciated all of the ways they came up with to give these women shippy moments. Also, good lord this main character is so competent, which is a major weakness of mine. I had a great time!

*Whisper Me a Love Song 12 25-min eps (Japanese anime, Apr-27 Dec, HiDive) This started airing in April but there was a delay and the last episode didn't air until yesterday. High school lesbians in a band having embarrassing confused and misunderstood feelings all over the place (with good endings including a kiss for at least one of our couples). I appreciate that this anime is not playing with the 'are they friends who joke about wanting to touch each other's boobs or are they more' line, they outright say they want to be more than friends and then kiss. The music is good too! Recommended if you are feeling like a high school dramedy with good tunes that stays pretty light and is in the 'bubble'.

Recent One-offs, Side Couples, etc.:

My Hot Butch Roommate (actually a 2-parter) aired on bilibili 1, 2) and was subtitled by @douqi7s on YouTube (1, 2) These two are very cute, and this little short does a ton with the very tiny 5 minutes of total runtime it uses. Give the original bilibili uploads a stream so they get views, even if you watch the YT subbed version!

Fufuknows put out a new lesbian short titled The Choices of Two Lesbian Couples in Love on YouTube This was a great short (11 min) film featuring the story of two couples at different stages in their relationship, and the different choices they make about their futures. I really enjoy Fufuknows as queer short filmmakers, and I appreciate that they regularly include lesbian and wlw content in their bi-weekly (as in, every other week) fictional shorts that they produce and release. This one is recommended!

Aim's Lesbian plotline in the new Love Sick 2024 remake concluded (this was not a plotline in the 2014 version and it's one of the changes I really like and that I think works really well) Spoiler: she doesn't get a romance happy ending but her story ends with acceptance from her friends about who she is, which was lovely to watch

There was a brief of-the-week lesbian couple who wanted to marry in Spare Me Your Mercy Spoiler: their story is tragic, which is par for the course in a murder mystery

I am suspecting wlw sides in See Your Love I may end up eating these words but I was getting vibes, and so I'm putting this out in the universe now in hopes I'm right lol

There is a new Korean shorts production company on YouTube called Lovememory (Their first BL ep is out and the GL, First Love, has a trailer)

Mom Ped Sawan started airing but I don't have a source so I can't give any info or links unfortunately. If anyone knows of a subtitled source for this show, please let me know!

My Ex's Wedding came out in Thai theatres waiting for an international source for this too

Korean short film What's In my Bag was uploaded to Matchbox I haven't seen it yet but the trailer is on YouTube if anyone is curious! The film is available now for a small fee on Vimeo (runtime 12 mins).

Sastra film app YouTube channel has several short Cambodian GL series that come out weekly Honestly they are not to my taste but I don't like gatekeeping GL especially from smaller markets. I check in on these time to time and if there are any that I think are great I'll give them a shout-out

Ditto above with JPC media YouTube channel for Thai GL shorts if there are any that stand out to me I'll say so; that being said I haven't had time recently so if I've missed anything good let me know!

Starting soon:

Us the series, Thai, 18 January 2025, most likely YouTube (as this is a GMMTV show) Caveat that this date is a rumour, see comments

Fragrance of the First Flower s2, Taiwanese, 18 February 2025, GagaOOLala ok this isn't that soon but I'm just so excited we're getting this second season after all!

It is so, so nice that we have this much GL to keep track of, I can't complain! This covers a whole month of content and it was a month I was very distracted from my QL consumption so while I always welcome anyone pointing out stuff I missed, I would particularly appreciate it this round.

[pedrointofolklore]

This is me trying

pairing: joel miller x f!reader

summary: joel hated you. he hated the risks you took, the danger you put yourself in, the total lack of value you had for your own life. he hated how much he worried about you. click here for part two.

warnings: detailed depictions of depression, heavily implied suicidal ideation, slight violence, angst with a sprinkle of fluff, no explicit smut but it does get very suggestive (minors do not interact), minor character death, enemies to lovers, poor communication, misunderstandings, these fools don’t know how to act, joel is an asshole but then he’s sweet, brief mention of drug use, lots of swearing, age gap (unspecified), no use of y/n, boston era/ellie era.

word count: 2.6k

a/n: hey y’all. i just wanted to thank everyone who supported my last story rosebud (here’s a link if you want to read it). this story is a lot different and a lot sadder. i got the title from my favourite pop girlie taylor alison swift.

Joel hated you. It had to be his worst kept secret.

You hadn’t done anything to him. You used to think about it constantly, desperate to know what his reason was for despising you like he did, but you eventually accepted that he didn’t need a reason. He just didn’t like you. 

Joel wasn’t particularly likeable himself. He was rude and intimidating and one of the most morally bankrupt people you’d ever met, but you didn’t hate him the way he hated you. You were Tess’s lackey—Joel tolerated you, and you supposed he wasn’t obligated to do any more than that. Although, he didn’t do it very well.

You’d existed in each other’s orbit in the QZ for a while, and finally met one night in the boarded-up old mall when you’d gotten to a stash of painkillers just before them. Joel wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot you between the eyes if Tess hadn’t been there.

Tess saw something in you—not a friend, not a life worth sparing by virtue of humanity; a business investment.

And it was a smart investment. You were young, agile and clever, incredible at slipping by unnoticed and gathering information. You knew all the best routes, the best times to take them, and you could swindle anyone out of their rations just by batting your eyelashes. You were willing to take the lead, to be the first one in and out to make sure the coast was clear.

It wasn’t the threat of death or the promise of mercy that made you join them—it was the sense of purpose it gave you.

Joel was adamantly against it. Things worked fine the way they did them, and he saw no reason to add another person into it.

“Don’t need to fix something that ain’t broken,” was how he’d put it.

You didn’t dispute that. Joel and Tess had survived for years, and they were clearly more than capable of getting the job done, but what you lacked in experience, you made up for in stealth and speed—something their aging knees struggled with.

Tess convinced Joel, which you soon found out she was very good at. You also found out that his compliance didn’t mean hiding his resentment.

He thought you were a careless, impulsive loose cannon, and he’d told you so after a particularly dicey deal with a particularly dicey FEDRA agent.

“You’re gonna get yourself killed one of these days.” He followed you into your apartment uninvited. Tess made him walk you home, and you were sure he only did it because he wanted to berate you.

“Why do you care?” you asked, tossing your keys onto the counter. They slid off and hit the floor.

“You’re with us,” Joel replied. “You'll get us killed.”

You scoffed and rolled your eyes—you knew that infuriated him. “Am I on crack or have you not doubled your profits since I showed up?”

“I think you’re dangerous,” Joel said, ignoring you. “Always sneakin’ around, goin’ places you shouldn’t, playin’ mind games with FEDRA. Your luck’s gonna run out sooner or later, and I just hope I’m not around when it does.”

Your face burned with red-hot anger as you tried to fight the stinging in your eyes and the blurring of your vision, but you were too far gone. The tears fell, and they were ceaseless. You felt pathetic, but you knew this would happen. You didn’t often cry from sadness or pain, but anger always managed to bring it out in you.

“Who the fuck are you to tell me that?” you hissed. “You’re saying you don’t sneak around? You’ve never scammed anyone? You’re a smuggler, Joel! Be fucking real with me.”

“It’s different,” he said, clenching his jaw.

“Why, because you’re older? Because you have more experience?”

“‘Cause I don’t think I’m fuckin’ special.”

If his words were the dagger, the pure contempt in his tone was what plunged it into your stomach, twisted it, and left a gaping hole for all of your despair to come pouring out of, leaving behind a puddle of melancholia for him to gaze at in all its miserable glory.

It was the only time you might have hated Joel as much as he hated you. Working with him and Tess wasn’t perfect, but it was all you had, and now he’d managed to make it all meaningless. Your help wasn’t helping.

“Fuck you, Joel,” you spat.

You should have quit then, and you thought about it. After pounding your fists into Joel’s chest and screaming at him to get the fuck out of your apartment, you sunk down onto the floor and cried. You cried until you ran out of tears and were left with a nothing but a throbbing headache. You took a pill, passed out, and woke up to you discover that you’d lost the energy to really care about any of it.

You didn’t quit. If anything, you became even more audacious, but you never confused it with courage or bravery. Bravery was perseverance in the face of terror. Joel and Tess were brave. You weren’t like them.

Joel laid off after that. He wasn’t anything close to nice, but whatever animosity he held towards you was only ever expressed as quiet seething, and you could live with that.

Any fulfilment you got out of working with Joel and Tess dissolved, but for what it was, it still worked.

Until it didn’t.

Tess was dead. The buffer between you and Joel was gone, and you had no choice but to work together and get the immune girl to Wyoming.

You wondered if there was a silver-lining in this wreckage. You thought that circumstance might force Joel to finally get along with you, and so you did the one thing you never did—you tried. You tried to help him, tried to speak to him like he was someone you actually wanted to speak to, tried to rein in some of your more annoying traits so you wouldn’t get on his nerves.

None of it worked. All you could get out of Joel seemed to be irritated mumbles and blank stares, and you couldn’t even blame him after what happened to Tess.

You never really knew if Tess actually gave a shit about you, or if she only ever cared about having an extra pair of hands around. Either way, you cared about her.

So, once again, you tried. When Joel and Ellie were sleeping—or at least pretending to—you walked down to the stream and tried to cry for her, but you couldn’t muster the tears. You even tried to get angry, mentally cuss her out for leaving you behind, but your eyes were dry.

You stared into the water, gazing at the way it sparkled in the starlight, and thought that the world didn’t deserve such a pretty sight. You couldn’t cry, but a deep sadness overtook you, weighing you down like lead.

Joel didn’t hate you.

He just hated how impulsive and reckless you were. He hated that you were smart, intuitive, and so maddeningly beautiful. He hated the risks you took, the danger you put yourself in, the total lack of value you had for your own life. He hated how much he worried about you.

There was a time he had disliked you. He used to think it was arrogance—that you truly believed you were so special that you could get away with anything. It was when he called you out on it that he realised how wrong he was.

Your reaction was frightening. You cried and screamed at him, pushed him out of your space. He didn’t know you were capable of such a strong display of emotion, but he’d struck a nerve, and those were the repercussions.

He recalled how the blows to his chest didn’t hurt, like there was no force behind them. You weren’t weak at all, you just couldn’t find the willpower to really hurt him. He wished you had hurt him. Maybe getting it out of your system would have helped. Maybe he wouldn’t have had to feel so guilty.

It became so obvious to him what was happening, and he felt like an idiot for not understanding it sooner. It wasn’t that you thought you were special, or immune to the consequences—you just didn’t care what happened to you.

Now Tess was gone, and he had this horrible feeling that he was going to lose you too.

His way of dealing with it was to push you away even more. He told himself it would make things easier when you inevitably left him.

Things came to a head one night after the three of you left Lincoln. Joel had been driving all day, and he would be doing it again the next day. He was in desperate need of sleep, but as he stared out into the eerie darkness of the woods, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible would happen if he didn’t stay awake.

He heard the rustling of a sleeping bag sometime after midnight. He thought it was you just rolling over in your sleep—something you often did—but then he heard the faint sound of dead leaves crunching under feet, and you were by his side a moment later.

“What are you doing, Joel?” you asked in a soft, sleepy voice that made his chest ache.

“Keepin’ watch,” he replied bluntly.

“But you’re driving tomorrow,” you said. “You need sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ve slept, so I can take over,” you offered.

“I just told you I’m fine.”

“I’m just trying to help—”

“I don’t need your fucking help.”

You backed off, hanging your head in shame, and he instantly felt horrible—you were being nice to him and he was still being a complete asshole.

Joel tried to tear his gaze away from you. He wanted to pretend this wasn’t happening, that he hadn’t just done that, but his eyes stayed on you. He watched the shame dissolve and replace itself with indignation. You pulled your head up and glared at him with a fire in your eyes that threatened to burn right through him.

“I get it, okay? I’m sorry.”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“I never meant for you to get stuck with me. I know it’s your worst fucking nightmare. If I could switch places with Tess—“

“Stop.” He wouldn’t hear that. He couldn’t. It would kill him. “That’s not—I’m not thinkin’ that. I’m glad you’re here, understand? I need you with me.”

You let out a bitter laugh. The sound hit his ears like a gunshot. “You just told me you didn’t. All you’ve done—all you’ve ever done—is act like I’m a fucking waste of space.”

Joel’s mouth when dry, his heart dropped to his stomach, and he thought he might vomit. It shouldn’t have shocked him like it did, but hearing you say it made him sick. He put the gun he’d been clutching down on the ground, disarming himself in more ways than one. “I don’t think that…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just—fuck—I don’t know. I don’t know anything. Are you gonna leave?”

“Leave this mission or this mortal coil?"

“Either, I guess.”

“Do you want me to leave?” Your voice was just a whisper, and it felt like you were ripping Joel’s heart out and crushing it in your hands.

Fuck no, he didn’t want you to leave, and that was what scared him the most; feeling attached to someone so detached (and yes, he was a hypocrite). He wouldn’t be able to take it if he woke up one day and you were gone.

But he couldn’t keep doing this to you. It was selfish and cowardly and it just made everything worse. He made everything worse.

“I can’t do this without you,” he told you. He hadn’t known how true it was until he said it.

“Okay.”

“I’m serious.” He felt suddenly impassioned. “You can’t…if you…just don’t. Promise me you won’t.” He couldn’t say it, couldn’t let the words out of his mouth and into the universe. You both knew what he meant.

“I promise,” you said. You sounded oddly tranquil, but Joel was destroyed, even though he knew he didn’t have the right to be—this was entirely his fault.

“Can you let me keep watch so you can get some sleep?” you asked again.

He shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Just need to know where you are.”

You stared at him, eyes wide and glossy, and for a second he thought you might start crying. Before he could think of something to do or say, your hands were on either side of his face, pulling him down into an urgent kiss.

He didn’t know what was happening, what you were thinking, or what he was thinking, but it didn’t matter, he just knew he needed to kiss you back. One of his hands found your waist while the other splayed out across your back, pulling you flush against him.

It was nowhere near sweet. It was intense and unyielding—a frantic clashing of teeth and bruising of lips. It was intoxicating, earth-shattering, but felt so right, like it was always meant to happen—or needed to happen.

Your arms wrapped around his neck, somehow bringing him impossibly closer to you. You hiked a leg up around his hip and tugged his pelvis forward. He ran a hand down from your waist, brushing it over your ass and gripping your thigh.

You rolled your hips into his, eliciting a deep, involuntary groan from him. He was painfully hard. He knew he would regret this, but he set your leg down and managed to tear his mouth away from yours. 

He missed the feeling immediately, and he didn’t have the self-control to pull away completely. His hands were still on you, pressing you against him. You looked so pretty and ruined gazing back at him; breathless and flustered with pink, swollen lips.

Fuck.

You had just kissed Joel Miller, the man you hated. 

You didn’t hate him.

You kissed the man who hated you.

He didn’t hate you.

You kissed the only person you had left. You kissed him even though it made no sense. You kissed him because you wanted to.

You started it, but then he stopped it. His eyes were dark, his face was flushed, and the bulge in his jeans was not going away. He looked like he was in pain, struggling with his own conscience.

“Sorry,” you whispered.

“Don’t be sorry.” He grinned softly and reached a hand up to tangle in your hair. It was an unexpectedly sweet gesture. “I liked it.”

Your heart melted. He was so lovely, so dear. You never imagined in your wildest dreams that Joel Miller could be like this.

“Just don’t wanna take advantage,” he said.

“You’re not. I kissed you,” you reminded him.

“I know, but you're upset, and you don’t like me much, and you’re tired. Don’t want you doing anything you don’t actually wanna do.”

You did want it, but you were also overwhelmed and exhausted, and more importantly, it would have been a majorly fucked up thing to do with a 14 year old sleeping 20 feet away.

“But if you still want it later”—he gave you another chaste kiss—“you can have it.”

You giggled, kissing him one more time. You didn’t know when you'd be able to again.

His gentle smile faded, and he looked into your eyes with devastating sincerity. “I got you now, okay?”

“I know, Joel.”

“Do you have me?” he asked.

“I’m trying.” You hoped that would be enough, because it was all you had.

“That’s all I need, sweetheart.”

a/n: so i wrote most of this when i was sick with the flu and i fully intended for it to be a one-shot, but i love this dynamic and i’m thinking of exploring it further. let me know if y’all would be interested in seeing more of these two. (edit: this a/n is now redundant bc i did in fact write the sequel).

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Was thinking today about Cherry Magic Thailand, and all respect to the writing (which deftly navigated the challenging task of adapting a full-on classic) and the rest of the cast and crew, but has any QL series' success hinged so much on a single actor going above and beyond in a performance as Cherry Magic Thailand does on Tay Tawan's portrayal of Karan???

That character could have fallen so detrimentally flat. He is perfection personified. Even after Achi discovers his so-called 'imperfections' (which are just that he sings bad and is crushing extra hard on Achi), the writing doesn't ever let Karan come off his pedestal. He remains put together, impossibly patient, and admirably righteous. His stress in life is that people don't respect his hard work because he's so beautiful! This character, in theory, should not really strike an audience as likeable. The writers could have used the one facet of his family-drama that emerges in the penultimate episode to build a deeper character in the writing, but elect not to even hint at it any earlier in the series.

So much heavy lifting is left to Tay, and the performance is a wonder to behold. Tay Tawan is certainly attractive in the way Karan is supposed to be attractive--fit, tall, handsome--but Tay's face and earnest dorky demeanor are unique in a way that seem far too rare in the influencer era. The breadth of his nose, the goofy joy in his smile, the clownish clumsiness, the nerdiness of his interests (the GMMTV actor most likely to be reposting a popular science article or rare animal sighting): Tay brings all of these elements of himself to bear on the poised idol of Karan, playing all the parts of the romantic hero while letting his own characteristics distill onto it so that the character actually contains valuable tension for the audience between his faultlessness and the slow reveal of his sincerity. That dynamic lies at the core of the show, and it's a less explored one in media, so all the more challenging to do.

But Tay understands the assignment. He goes full-in when Achi hears Karan's inner voice, squealing and talking manically fast (a real-life Tay Tawanism as well as a wonderful connection to Japanese performance styles). Once the characters begin their romance, so much effort is put in to have Karan looking at Achi, not just with love, but with the deepest gratitude. That's what most often had me crying. In fact, it often looked like Karan was on the verge of happy tears, overwhelmed by the fortune to love and be allowed to love Achi.

Being able to appreciate Karan's sincerity opens up an avenue for the audience to care about his challenges that on the surface seem so superficial. Tay is able to take this character's struggle to be taken seriously and make it as worthy and pitiable as any narrative about women in the workplace struggling with that issue, and that's not an easy feat in this day and age. Whether in Karan's affections or disappointments, Tay exhibits such humility and unabashedness in his performance throughout the series, it renders the otherwise familiar messages about the value of the small unappreciated things in the world as enchanted and life-changing.

And incredibly amongst all this, the series REQUIRES by its very title for Karan to have a sex drive, and even that desire threads through Tay's portrayal of the character as he interacts with Achi, maintaining an incredible balance between a fun and dorky excitement about sex and a potent sensuality (it's such a great sex scene when it finally comes).

Tay took a paragon and made him such a fully fleshed-out and realized character. I just can't imagine the series working without such a masterfully crafted performance. The whole cast did great work, don't get me wrong. Tay's is just one of those magical reminders about what the art of acting can achieve.

[anthurak]

You know that "Mundane super power" aspect you mentioned?

Another thing I like about crossing over RWBY characters with other settings is how easily their nature as basically coming from an apocalyptic hell-world can bleed through.

This is hard to articulate, but like.

The casual way in which towns disappear, that ruins dot the landscape, that people like Ruby & Yang grew up immersed in a culture that trended towards violence and early graves.

There's a nifty Naruto/Stargate crossover, (Its complicated) where Himawari kind of subtly disturbs the Stargate crew cos she knows exactly how best to behave in a dangerous situation, doesn't really seem bothered when enemies die and has been taught stuff like "Reading the battlefield."

I think RWBY characters would be similarly off-putting in their own way unless they were incredibly sheltered like Jaune or rich enough to have not ever encountered a Grimm until the the Beacon Test like Weiss. & even then, the lived experience, training and cultural awareness means they'd likely still come off as a little off-putting.

This also plays into how Ruby and Yang are seemingly quite... Not comfortable, but functional about the prospect of causing death or grievous bodily harm in a way most Shounen/action protags aren't.

Ruby, as far as she knew, sent Neo hurtling to her death in V3 and was at most momentarily shocked when Roman died & forgot all about it. Yang processed killing Adam in a very straightforward manner, she's not cavalier about it, but she'd made peace with it being a them or us situation right quick.

There's plenty of other examples but I think we've discussed it before.

But yeah, I just think its fun, even in series that can have similar degrees of destruction or death, their relative youth and manner with it would likely still make many locals be like (oO) & I think that's fun.

Oh yeah, this has always been a great idea for RWBY crossovers.

And one of my favorite/most interesting parts about is, as you touched on, how subtle Team RWBY’s whole vibe is and how it can potentially sneak up on others.

Like Team RWBY and really most of the show’s characters generally DON’T give off any real obvious ‘I come from a fucked-up deathworld’ vibes like being real dark, broody or even just looking anything the part. For anyone from a much more mundane setting/background, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang generally come off as a friendly, likeable, good natured bunch without really anything all that offputting.

For about… eighty to ninety percent of the time.

But then you’ve got those 10-20% moments where the dark, serious ‘fantasy war-veteran’ sides of Team RWBY slip out. Like they might not even have been trying to hide it, it just comes out when things get serious.

Like maybe there is some big disaster or some other terrible event perhaps caused by the villains that leaves the more ‘normal’ characters/heroes frozen in shock and horror, meanwhile RWBY are just immediately jumping into the fray to fight or help however they can. With perhaps one or more doing the whole ‘slap the shock’ out of the other characters with a ‘We got work to do!’. And it’s just kind of… unsettling how Team RWBY takes these events in stride.

Or to build off your point on Ruby and Yang, as well as Blake and Weiss, being ‘functionally alright’ with hurting/killing people*, there’s a LOT of juicy potential there for when Team RWBY goes up against more mundane villains.

Like just picture a situation where a villain is threatening innocents in a classic ‘you’ll have to KILL ME to stop me!’ standoff that has the heroes freezing up… only for Ruby to almost immediately just shoot said villain.

She certainly looks like she didn’t enjoy or even want to do it, but both how quickly she did it and how easily she seems to role with it afterwards are just REALLY unsettling.

And then there’s what I’d call the FLIPSIDE to all this in how Team RWBY deals with being in a world that might NOT actually be filled with monsters who are an ever-present existential threat to humanity.

Like even for someone who grew up more sheltered like Weiss that is almost certainly going to be a MASSIVE culture-shock. Not to mention that the only people with a frame of reference that Team RWBY would be able to talk to about this would likely be each other.

Even in settings that might have some kind of monsters threatening humanity such as most magical girl shows, the appearance and threat that these monsters pose are almost always a very RECENT occurrence that most people might not even know about. Generally in these settings, the ‘normal, mundane world’ IS the norm, with the dangerous and supernatural merely popping up on and off in isolated places.

It could really create this interesting contrast where Team RWBY finds the mundane world that their new friends consider ‘normal’ to be just a bit uncanny and unsettling. And even finding it a bit comforting when monsters or some other supernatural threat to fight shows up because that feels more NORMAL to them.

This is actually something I tried/am still trying to explore in my Kingdom Hearts crossover fic. Like Ruby musing on how to explain her whole huntress background to Sora, Kairi and Riku when to them, monsters are things that have existed in storybooks, while for Ruby monsters have always been REAL. Or Ruby even noting a comforting ‘return to normal’ when she starts fighting the Heartless.

I’ve even got ideas for Ruby, as well as Weiss, Blake and Yang further on, idly musing on whether the Grimm or Heartless are the worse to fight, with some of their new friends being just a BIT weirded out.

And that’s not even getting into the potential of Team RWBY interacting with various Disney movie settings. Like I’ll admit that I kinda REALLY want to have Ruby boom-headshot at least one Disney villain XD

*I will say, I’ve had a theory for a while that Ruby, even more so than her teammates, has particular ideological reasons to generally avoid killing people, specifically when we consider how Ruby specifically DOESN’T use her ‘walking grimm-blender’ style of fighting against human opponents. Personally I imagine Ruby seeing it as ‘I hunt MONSTERS, not people.’ That being said, I don’t see Ruby as having some strict ‘no-killing’ ‘one rule’, but rather that she views taking a life as a last resort.

[leoruby-draws]

I did a whole bunch of drawings for Jason's team two weeks back, so now its time to concentrate on Steph's team! Here we've got 4 new characters for her team, with a couple extra tomorrow as well. Lets go into to them, one by one.

First up is the lantern for the group, more specifically a Violet Lantern apprentice aka Miri Riam! Her reasons for coming to earth is unknown at the moment but they seem to have some connection to Carol Ferris. Carol's also a Violet Lantern and Hal's(Green Lantern) on-and-off girlfriend and occasional antagonist. Perhaps Miri was sent to become Carol's apprentice? I've got more info on whats happening there, but thats for later.

As for why Miri was chosen for the group, I knew I wanted some kind of Lantern for the team, but couldn't find a green lantern that was both in Steph's age group and have fun interactions with them. But then I thought, does it have to be a green lantern? I had a red lantern for Jason's group after all. I looked around and found Miri! I don't know her exact age but I knew she was a young adult, so I'm just gonna have her be around Steph's age group.

The Violet Lanterns Corps are very ...enthusiastic about the power of love and Miri's no exception. She wants everyone to know the joy of Love, she's honestly kinda annoying about it. I remember this one GL issue where she was destroying a city just to get Kyle and Soranik to resolve their love troubles. That pretty much became the basis for how I'm writing Miri's personality. Like I said above, I'll get more into Miri at a later time.

Next is Maxine Hunkel aka Cyclone, granddaughter of Ma Hunkel aka the golden age Red Tornado! I already posted a drawing of her a while back, I thought she'd make a fun fit for the team. She's has such high energy and so much enthusiasm I couldn't help but find her utterly endearing. I think at a later point she'll end up joining the JSA but for now she's just having fun with this team.

Btw I thought that maybe her grandmother, Ma Hunkel, could fit a similar role that the other Red Tornado did for Young Justice, helping out a young hero team. Just a way to emphasize how Steph and Tim's teams can serve as foils to each other.

Next up is the archer of the group, Mia Dearden aka Speedy II. Tho she should probably have a different name due to Roy still being Speedy atm. Maybe Speedette? Ehhh, gotta workshop that.

Anyways here's Mia and Steph meeting as civilians, with Mia showing off her bow. Mia seems to be in some sort of school uniform, perhaps Oliver is sponsoring her to go to a fancy academy? Her backstory is similar to canon, with Oliver saving her from bad people. I'm not sure if her story should be exactly the same as canon, since Mia is 10 but terrible things like that do happen in real life to young children. But I don't know if a goofy au like mine is the best place to show that. But for now lets just say Mia is currently trying to heal and become a hero like Green Arrow.

I imagine Steph and Mia get along really well, they just get each other in a lot of ways. Steph can see Mia might be hurting inside and wants to cheer her up, hopefully with all of Mia's new friends she can.

Last up is Jaime Reyes aka Blue Beetle III. Unfortunately I haven't drawn him all that much so no individual drawing for him, tho I do like him.

As for why Jaime, I remember liking him in the YJ cartoon and found him pretty likeable in the comics as well. But I've always like the spiderman hero archetype anyways, which Jaime fits really well (I mean, it was done on purpose). Static and Sideways also fit the archetype and are in the team as well. Arguably you can say add Steph to this too, probably more than Tim in my personal opinion.

Another reason I wanted to add Jaime is that he and Steph almost became teammates in canon, in a failed Young Justice project. What could have been huh. Third reason is more silly tho, if Barbara and Ted Kord start to date in this au, imagine how grossed out Steph and Jaime will be lmao.

So there's four new teammates for the team, but! I've got a couple extra for tomorrow! And later on I hope to finally post some more doodles of these characters (some of them are real old, more than a year old). Especially Miri, she turned out to be such a fun character, and I've always liked the all the lantern corps. Here's a bonus doodle of them btw (with bonus unmasked Sideways):

So many new members, well, hope you liked all that!

[overclause]

Why I hated the new AvA Episode: how you butcher your entire shows cast, their personalities, motives and likeability In one episode.

Before I start angry ranting I wanna say that I love this show regardless and I mean no harm to the creative people behind it. I think they did a fantastic job providing us a indie animation show through out the years and I wanna thank Alan for inspiring me as an artist. But seriously..... did It really have to be like this?

My opinion may change as I rewatch It a while later or with the relase of the new episodes. I'm well aware of that. So even If It changes, It'll be fun to look back at this.

Thread is long so I'm cutting it under here.

I'm gonna talk about why I don't like about this epsiode, and things that I actually liked, under different titles.

1- The killing of characters for the sake of plot

This is something that's at this point happened SO MANY TIMES through out the entierty of AvA/M It fucking dissapoints me.

The first time this happened was In The Showdown, here we had Dark (and Chosen) re-introduced to us again for the first time. Within the same 20 minute episode / season we already said goodbye to Dark. The reason why he was there and killed afterwards was to reveal Second's powers. That's literally It. The entire point of that episode and Dark's death was so we could get Orange's powers revealed.

Now I'm actually okay with The Showdown's short comings as a season because well, It's old. It was much more low budget both In terms of writing and animation. But that still made me really angry about how they killed off a character just for the shock and plot point of Second's powers. You don't have to kill off a character who Is important to the series just so we can put emphasis on another. It's just really sad for Dark (WHICH I'LL TOUCH MORE ON LATER).

The second time this happened was The King, which I'm more okay with, because there was a reason why Gold and Pink died. To set up a relationship between Purple and K.O. but even that was very rushed, since we had no clues or hints about their backstories before the two episodes where It was revealed.

And finally, coming to this episode, Mitsi. Now before I talk about her I wanna say that as much as I don't like Victim getting a love interest, I'm okay with her and that. I'm okay with Victim and her and how they were once a couple. But It just really rubs off the wrong way when you introduce us one of the only confirmed female characters of the show and make her a love interest. On top of that- you kill her off. Why? to make a reason for Victim's anger. The problem Is that Victim already had a reason to be angry at Alan. I don't think he needed a love interest to be killed just so he can start planning for revenge. You already showed how he as PTSD, (which was done In an excellent way and one of the things I really liked about the episode), you can just build on top of that Instead of having someone else killed for him. If you want us to feel pity for Victim- we already did! He was already such a complex character and a story about how abuse changes a person, but now the plot has literally just turned into ''You killed my wife so I hate you!''.

2 - Chosen, my poor boy Chosen.

TCO deserves his own section because oh my god they did him SO DIRTY.

I hate how they potrayed Chosen in this episode more than anything else. He turned from a character that I loved so much to.... what? one dimensional guy who does not care about ones he killed...? What happened to scenes in Showdown where he was clearly against Dark's ideas of destroying the internet. You know, where he LITERALLY FOUGHT HIM NOT TO. Did he do that all for no reason?

Chosen, until this episode, was always presented as a character who was misunderstood and afraid of coming to terms with whats happening around him. He excused Dark destroying the internet because he literally had no one else to go to (atleast thats how I interpreted it BUT I GUESS NOT). He was shown be hesitant when Dark was doing those things, that he actually did not agree with his ideas. I and many others believed that he was gonna be redeemed and be a part of the future episodes, but now what?

He literally killed Mitsi with no hesitation, no holdback, no regret. You took a character that was set to be redeemed and gave a reason to hate him. Sure, It was in the past, and It was in Agent's POV, but like If he is the one we are supposed to cheer for, why? I just don't get it. You made me absolutely hate a character that I loved so much and I despise that.

3- You hyped Second's powers only to make it ''just another thing''

What I mean by that is... I thought Second's powers were special to him. I really love Second, he is my favourite character in the show. In The Box they showed us that yes, Second's powers are special, no other stickfigure can do what he does- bring things to life. But now It all just feels so predictable. Because we saw where his powers are sourced from, what they do and what they mean. He turned from a character that excited me about the big reveal to... Oh. It's just that. Whenever an animator brings a stickfigure to life the green magic happens. Second is an animator. Hooray.

4- All your characters are one dimensional

I already kind of touched on this but I really need to type all this out In a simple way because It drives me crazzzy, and It's also very funny.

Victim turned from a character who was abused and then became the abuser himself to ''You killed my wife''.

Chosen turned from a character that was misunderstood, had nowhere else to go and no one else to ''I killed people because... because.. I'm mad. Yeah''.

Second was hyped to be a character with special abilities and powers to ''Oh I guess I'm connected to this Instead of being independant with my own lore''.

Dark was always just a character of ''I'm here to destroy, that's all I do.''. They could have brought him back and showed him display atleast a hint of empathy, but nope, he still Is just ''The Dark Lord''. They didn't even have to redeem him just come on show me something else he does than just destroy, all because he is edgy!

Agent... I'm sad about Agent. I thought Agent was gonna play a bigger role because they really had focused on him In the previous episodes. I thought he was gonna be there to tell his own story, to be against Victim eventually. No. He just witnessed what happened and decided to stick with Victim. Why.... why?? What's the motive there??He now Is just yet another stick figure.

Its just sad.

5- My thoughts about this series- final conclusion.

Changed. That's all I can say.

For me this show has always been about how abuse changes a person. How what your precieved as influences you and destroys you from the inside and out.

Dark, Chosen, Second and Victim are very special to me. They all come from the same story of being tortured by their creator, yet, they all end up in different situations.

Victim was abused over and over again. He found a way to stay alive, but his anger and rage was still within him. He had turned into the abuser which he had despised, doing awful things.

Chosen was used as an adblocker, a tool. When he escaped he was happy, but never free, as he was constantly being dragged down to do things he didn't want to or be chased around by people who want him dead.

Dark was created just to be a weapon. He escaped with the help of Chosen, found a way to call him his friend, but ended up falling for his internal desire to take revenge on what hurt him.

Second found a way to make ammends with his abuser. He became his friend, forgive him, and found a way to live a life happily with his friends. He didn't know about the truth behind Alan and his wrong doings because he was just... all too naive.

For me, Ava was a story about them. The four brothers who went through the same thing, but ended up being against eachother. It was meaningful to me In a matter that It was there to tell a story. Their story.

But now they are all just ''I hate you because you did this''. And I hate that. I hate how after an entire year of waiting this is how one of the biggest plot points Is revealed. It feels disrespectful to them. I hate how we are most likely never gonna see them In the same room. I hate how Dark was completly shrugged off, how Chosen turned into a villian. How Victim's motives were just cliches. How they are all just cliches!!!

When I was waiting for this episode I of course knew that what I wanted from the show wasn't gonna be it. That my theories were not gonna be true, that I knew I was gonna be let down. But I thought I would be let down In a good way. I just feel bad now because the characters I very much loved have been turned into cliches right In front of my eye. I thought my expectations were gonna be broken In the best way possible. But honestly, this was the worst It could have been.

-IN MYYY OPINION

That's right It's all my opinion. If you completly disagree, thats cool. Good for you even! I mean this in the most non passive-aggresive way possible. I'm glad some people could enjoy this episode.

That's all I'm here to say for now. Thanks for reading. Feel free to share your own opinions.

[angelflms]

Okay, so I have been thinking so much about this (I have been talking aloud to myself for like ten minutes bc I've invested myself wayyy too deep into this), but I think I know why Miguel bothers me so much despite being my favorite character.

The writers suck.

Now, I know I don't have screenwriting credibility and I'm merely just a girl and I know that perhaps they can't cram all of this shit into the show and make room for literally everyone else, BUT I think the reason why so many people don't like Miguel as a character is because he doesn't have much of a character to work with. So whenever he does something that shows character (the Mexico storyline, the Stanford storyline), no one feels bad for him. I think that maybe if he had definitive arcs for each season, while weaving it better into Robby's arcs (since they're foils and tethered to each other), he would actually be likeable. So I wanted to show you what I feel like I would do to write Miguel's post school fight arc. Feel free to tell me your opinions. (buckle up, this is a long one)

S3a

similar to what we see

but we actually get to be more into Miguel's mental response to the aftermath

I dont' think they went enough into his feelings with everything and that everything went a bit too fast (for Miguel) during the season.

perhaps they could've gone deeper into his PTSD, similar to what they did with Sam.

but instead it preventing him from going to school, it prevented him from doing karate all together.

it was clear early on that karate and Johnny slowly became all that Miguel cared about.

Johnny was sending mixed signals and Kresse's entry into CK was conflicting as their ideals were different.

Johnny made it clear that CK's mottos are a way of life, so Miguel was moving the exact way one would in karate irl.

Karate was his life. And it nearly ended it as well.

I don't believe Miguel would immediately still want to be so gung-ho about joining karate again after nearly dying from it.

Johnny would lose Miguel's trust and would fight for it back. He already lost Robby. He can't lose Miggy too.

Miguel doesn't want to be around him for now, despite feeling bad for pushing him away

S3b

When finding out he was paralyzed, it hurt to find out, but at the same time, with his conflicited feelings about karate, he would feel a bit relieved.

I like to think that when the surgery worked, everyone was happy but Miguel because now people are going to expect him to want to go back to doing karate.

Eventually he and Johnny have a heart to heart and make up, though he's still a little bit hesitant on trusting him

he does reluctantly join Eagle Fang and he tries to make an effort to train again and get past his fear

Though things still feel like what it was like at CK, which isn't something Miguel is enjoying

Plus him being the only shot they have for the All Valley is putting presure on him, mainly due to Johnny

The scene where he tries to kick but fails happens

He falls and flashbacks of the school fight happen

He gives up and says he isn't doing karate anymore

That is until the finale fight when CK comes in and fights the EF/MD kids and Kyler beats him up

he remembers why he started karate in the first place and starts fighting again

He chooses to do karate again

S4

Again similar to what we see (Johnny and Carmen, the intro to Kenny, etc)

I think he still feels weird about being back in the world of karate and latches onto Daniel more as a sensei now with the conjoint dojos situation (he's a lot softer on him knowing his situation)

Which pisses Johnny off and makes him jealous (he just misses his kid ya know?)

He tries to make an effort with Miguel but he grows more distant after hearing Daniel's side of the events during TKK

This season could heavily parallel s2 with Kiaz as they're on the opposite sides of the coin now with Robby being with CK and Miguel learning more Miyagi-Do techniques

This could also bring more tension with Lawrusso because of how they're both treating and training him and how Johnny thinks Daniel is taking Miguel away from him

(maybe a fight scene about this idk)

Perhaps Miguel starts feeling bad about pushing Johnny away as he very much still cares about him and sees him trying

Daniel does talk to Miguel about how Johnny does care about him and how he's beaten up about everything and how he wishes he could change everything

This will make the whole "I love you" "I love you, too Robby" scene a lot worse

Miguel feels lost again

The sprain he gets during the All Valley was the final straw for him as he has a panic attack and in a heap of emotions, he leaves for Mexico, not just to find his dad, but to genuinely run away from everything

Also throughout this season, I really wanted to see more of Robby being guilty for what he did during the fight but pushing it away until he sees what Kenny does to Anthony and realizing that history is already about to repeat itself

Also also we do see Miguel talk about collage but brings up that he wants to become a PT (did I take this from someone who reblogged my other rant, yes) and probably want to go Boston University (they have a PT degree program)

S5

Same as we see for the most part

I was hoping Miguel would bring up the whole "I love you" situation but he never did and I wonder why

I wish we saw bits of the car ride home from Mexico and the awkwardness between the boys (there's a good ao3 fic that does this pretty decently)

Perhaps Robby can tell that something is off with Miguel though and tries to spark conversation but the latter refuses to talk to the former because of the school fight

I think the break up should still happen

Both because with everything going on with him, the breakup would just be another stab in the chest, but also because that fucking scene was so good!! Like idk if Mary and Xolo get their flowers for that scene but I'ma need them to get their flowers for that scene

Now he's just this ball of emotions

Johnny still wants to push for the boys to be close since he's caring for both of them now (and ofc the baby) so like in the actual s5, he still tries to get them to talk

Now I would've preferred a heart to heart reconciliation (similar to samtory s6) but since the dudebros would think that's too soft and this is a fighting show, the balcony scene would be fine

Though I do think in a later scene, Kiaz should have a more emotional talk with each other

Miguel just talks about how hard it has been since the school fight and how everything keeps on changing and everything gets a lot for him

Robby tells him that he gets it and confesses how guilty he feels for being the one to put him in the hospital

And then I feel like the rest of s5 can go the way it did

i don't know. maybe this is too convoluted but I do think that the lack of characterization and constant mischaracterization of miguel diaz is due how poorly the writers went about him post s3a imo. i think they could've done something great with him in a way people felt for robby you know? they always randomly bring things up as a way to say "hey he has trauma too" but it's always at the most inopportune times and it always comes off half-assed instead. i love miguel so much because of his happy-go-lucky energy but he has so much wasted potential which is wild to say when he's the main character.

[thecoolerliauditore]

your offhand mention of Scott maybe having autism made me think about his over-editing as a metaphor for masking. no other thoughts I just think it's neat

REAL ‼️‼️

I lovee you meta analysis I loveeee you. Him being autistic would also go very well with how he views romance and relationships e.g. him calling scar grian's husband out of the blue and being Like That about himself and Jimmy (I know that's usually attributed to him being aro but I feel like it works here too).

Lots of the more off the wall stuff he says could easily be seen as him trying to be funny or perform a role (mostly the boomer i hate my wife role) and coming off as rude or horrifying instead -- I think his interactions with Pearl in the first WL episode could be seen as him trying his best to bond with her for example and the sympathy isn't sympathy-ing so he doubles down not realising she isn't enjoying it. After all he did make it very clear in SL he thought they were over their problems and Pearl was like Yeah :) so he might take that as a cue that it's okay to joke about ++ he's still sore about it and not aware of just how passive aggressive he's being.

It's kind of making me sad cus part of me now wants to say that he's comfortable enough with Pearl and that's what's resulting in so many of his more socially not ideal traits popping up when he talks to her specifically but it could also be a consequence of him just not seeing her as a person I'm not ready to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one quite yet.

(not trying to make it sound as though Pearl is in the wrong here that Scott isn't able to read the room it's still Scott's responsibility to not be an ass but "I feel bad about the thing you did but I'm not going to admit that to myself or you" and "you haven't yelled at me to stop expressing my frustrations passive aggressively" is a crazy combo)

That line he said to Cleo at the end of her WL episode 2 about how he "doesn't hold grudges" and is "just petty" is also definitely. Something.

The whole. Scott makes himself less likeable by refusing to show vulnerability and only presenting himself as "good" to me also echoes the whole. Autistic kid who gets told their behaviour is bad so they change themselves to be "good" at every opportunity but "good"comes off instead as off-putting and insincere and they end up at square one with still being unlikeable.

There's also something here about the character's ableism like I don't think it's too controversial of me to say he talks in a very ableist way about both Jimmy (incapable) and Pearl (batshit crazy). Which very much To Me ties into his constant masking.

Sorry this got away from me ummmm

[wrenswreath]

can you elaborate on your post about choices? i haven't read it but ive seen a lot of discourse so I was curious as to what your views were on it!

Just a warning but this is going to be loooonnnggg.

---

I think that Choices was very well written, specifically when it comes to the characterisation of its characters. I know it gets a lot of criticism for making James morally grey, making Lily a flawed (read: human) character, and the attitudes towards Mary's trauma, so I'll talk a bit more about those.

James' character:

In Choices, James isn't the embodiment of kindness, like the fandom tends to characterise him. He excuses a lot of bad things that Regulus did, cheats on Lily, and then tried to 'play the victim,' so to speak, when Lily found out, often prioritising trying to get her to understand as opposed to thinking about her feelings. And a lot of people don't like this - I think it's because they struggle with the fact that a likeable character, one that is often showed with little to no flaws, does something that they simply cannot morally agree with. It's hard to justify having James as a favourite character when he's suddenly not 'good enough' to still be a fav.

But in Choices, it's not about having a good, likeable character; it's about showing the (often unexplored) flawed versions of these people - challenging the concepts of a 'good' person, and a 'bad' one, because no one in this fic is strictly one of the other. And realistically, you cannot have canon-compliant Jegulus and have a righteous James, because Regulus does do bad things, and James has to excuse that for their relationship to work.

Lily's character:

When one would think 'canon-compliant Jegulus,' the Jily tends to get ignored often - it's just something that 'has to happen', but no one really wants it. But this fic doesn't ignore the Jily - it's very there, very present, and it's something that people don’t like. They barely tolerate James and Lily together, but when Lily is also her own independent character outside of James, and calls James out for his bullshit, instead of being the quiet, complacent, and 'understanding' wife people would rather she be, people get annoyed with her really easily. 

She, like every other character, is shown to be flawed and imperfect, and people aren't used to seeing that with the women characters in the marauders era. This leads to people calling it 'poor characterisation' because she is catering to her own needs, instead of making 'poor James' feel better. She's given depth, taken down from the pedestal the fandom puts women on, and people do not like the unfamiliar, so they do not like a version of Lily that they aren't used to seeing. 

Mary's trauma:

In Choices, Mary gets sexually assaulted. This isn't addressed well by the characters in the story - it's more of an 'oh no I'm sorry this happened to you. Anyway.' People often mistake this as a reflection of the writer - criticising MesserMoon for poorly handling Mary's SA, saying that Mary's trauma was overlooked, etc. And I have two things to say to that:

One being that this fic isn't told through Mary's perspective. This fic is mainly Regulus and James focused - Regulus, being part of the cover up of the SA obviously does not care about her, only his own reputation. James is a bit better, but he’s too focused on Regulus to care much about Mary. This is what we call an unreliable narrator. Because it is told from these perspectives, Mary's trauma isn't often thought about, brought up, etc., which can be upsetting, but it’s a reflection of the main characters' priorities (NOT THE AUTHOR'S!!!).

Second being this is a realistic portrayal of a black, muggleborn woman getting raped in the 70's. She does not get the justice that she deserves, but this is used as a way to highlight the problems people like Mary faced - people still face these issues today. On the flip side, the rapists were upper-class, pureblood, etc. To say that consequences should have been given is to completely deny the social structures that do exist and advantages anyone who is a man, who is white - all those positions of privilege.

Choices manages to handle issues of sexism and racism without actually being sexist and racist, but people constantly misinterpret it. Just because something is present in this fic, it does not mean it was aimed to be viewed positively by its readers.

Overall, I think Choices manages to handle issues and the complexity of people really well, acknowledging that there is no such thing as 'good' people and 'bad people.' However, a lot of its readers cannot successfully analyse the themes in the fic, often viewing it one-dimensionally as opposed to recognising the many layers and skewed perspectives it contains. The lack of media literacy in people is often what causes the discourse surrounding it, because this fic is not 'mischaracterisation' nor 'misogynistic'. It is simply complex.

[blossomthepinkbunny]

My full Stolitz rant

Like many other people I really dislike Stolitz as a ship and the newest episode proved that further. I decided to just make a full rant about everything that comes to mind, instead of making multiple posts, focused on different general aspects/themes of HB or HH like I usually do. So this will not cover the issues I have with the writing of other characters like Stella or Octavia (I briefly talked about Stella and the aspect of woobyfying Stolas in my Adam post already). This also won't cover general problems with writing relationships in HB/HH or anything that breaches out of their relationship for that matter. It will probably also be focused mostly on Stolas because Blitzø isn't in the wrong in their relationship really.

One of my problems is that I've seen some people try to defend Stolas' actions by referring to Blitzø as a sex worker to which I just have to say:

1. He isn't a sex worker, he's an assasin. He only has a transactional relationship with Stolas, for which he didn't have a choice, otherwise he would lose his job and the opportunity to provide for his workers and daughter. It's not like we see him generally have sexual relations for payment with other people, only Stolas which makes sense, because he isn't a sex worker and doesn't want to be.

2. Even if he was a sex worker/qualifies as one in the specific relationship he has with Stolas, that doesn't mean that he owes Stolas anything other than sex. It's not Blitzø's fault for not wanting to have anything to do with Stolas and he doesn't owe him kindness, understanding or love after what Stolas put him through, just like real sex workers don't owe a romantic relationship to any of their costumers.

It was genuinely kinda refreshing to see Stolas finally acknowledge what their relationship isn't good and that Blitzø needs to be away from him. And seeing him give the Asmodean crystal to Blitzø was a nice gesture. But this is immediately made irrelevant by the confusion of what Stolas' character is even supposed to be here. He goes towards being somewhat likeable by understanding that what he did was wrong and having that finally be recognized and called out in the show. Called out by Blitzø, who has many good reasons to dislike him and give Stolas that reality check. But then the show wants us to pity Stolas again by making him say that god awful cringy line and making me immediately roll my eyes again. Because them acknowledging the bad actions of the character (something the show wants to pride itself on so badly) was something I wanted to see ever since HB started to victimize that stupid owl. I was ready to see this character less negatively when the reality of his actions finally hit him, with the genuine breakdown Blitzø has because of him. But he gets woobyfied immediately so now he seems like a manipulative hypocrite once again, because the conversation they have might as well go like this:

Stolas: I want you to be free because I realized that the relationship I set up wasn't right and I don't want you to feel forced to love me. I care for you and I want to love you, but at the same time, I don't want you to have an obligation to be kind to me or have a relationship with me.

Blitzø: Is this a joke?

Stolas: No, I am giving you freedom, so you can stop feeling forced to do whatever I say.

Blitzø: So you're acknowledging that you suck and that you weren't nice to me and you're giving me the freedom to choose how I will proceed with our relationship.

Stolas: Yes, I am.

Blitzø: Well I do think you suck because of the reasons you mentioned and I'm gonna give you my perspective of the things you said and explain just how badly you hurt me, especially when you're just sending me away like this, giving the impression that you're throwing me aside, after you got everything you wanted from me.

Stolas: How can you think of me like this?! I love you so much and you just think I suck?!

What reason did Stolas ever give Blitzø to like him? Apart from the coercion even, there is no common ground they have. They never hang out just casually or talk like normal people, who would realistically be able to form a relationship. The only date they had (from what we can assume from the context clues in the show) that wasn't just a meeting for sex was in Ozzies and that went south really quickly. It honestly reminds me of Twilight, where Bella and Edward are said to be a great couple (by the movies atleast, haven't read the books) when they have never had a normal conversation or an interaction that could give them chemistry. All of the interactions Stolas and Blitzø had so far were either scenes talking about/having/having just had sex or them talking/singing about how tragic their lovestory is. The only exception to that are the scenes were they are children and that's obvious because it would be weird to have literal children talk about sex or about the tragedy of their relationship, when they've only known eachother for a day or so. But even these scenes don't make them seem greatly compatible or even interesting because they only hung out for hardly a day and then didn't interact for like 30-40 years until they meet again (for the first time since they were children) and Stolas just immediately assumes Blitzø wants to fuck him.

And what also weirded me out is when Stolas said something along the lines of: "why do you always make this about sex?". As if Stolas ever gave Blitzø a sign that he wants to have anything but sex from him. Again, Ozzies is the only example for that and after that, their relationship was not that important until now. But even then, Stolas made sexual remarks towards him in "Seeing Stars" and talked about how good he is at sex in "Western Energy". And this sexual relationship they have is something Stolas set up, when he could've also just given Blitzø the book without forcing him to have sex and get closer by genuinely being kind to him. We don't even really know what he likes about Blitzø except for how he is in bed, so why am I supposed to care about their relationship and be sad about it not working out. Because they never give us the impression that either Blitzø's or Stolas' life would be better with the other in it (this is excluding sexual context becasue Stolas made it clear that he doesn't just want a sexual relationship in this episode). The only thing they have in common is that they both have daughters they struggle with but even there is a huge difference. Blitzø desperately wants a good relationship with Loona and constantly gives her affection and compliments, to which she responds with annoyance and abuse. Stolas has a daughter so understanding and just really neglected by him, on one hand because he always prioritized Blitzø over her (something he'd probably judge Stolas for, because spending time with a daughter who actually likes him and wants to spend time with him would probably be one of his dreams).

And nothing of this is even mentioning the sexual harassment Stolas puts Blitzø through. It starts with the pilot and the first episode, where their deal starts, at a point in the story where Stolas' whole character joke was just talking about wanting to fuck Blitzø. In the first episode their deal is established, a deal Blitzø hastily agrees to, because he is literally being hunted down, something Stolas is fully aware of. In the second epsiode Stolas makes sexual remarks towards Blitzø in front of his daughter and in the rest of the episodes he is in general very touchy and diminishing, something Blitzø is never shown to be a fan of. Stolas also very blatantly either fetishes Imps or is downright abusive towards them, showing that he doesn't see them as equal and that Blitzø's assumption about Stolas thinking he's less important is probably true (which is just a great setup for a relationship I'm sure).

In the end Stolitz is a confused, manipulative, victim blaming mess of a ship which could be used to great potential, if there was ever a point were they use this dynamic to genuinely portray a toxic relationship that shouldn't happen, instead of acting like they're meant to be together despite the toxicity and as if Stolas deserves my pity when Blitzø rightfully tells him to fuck off. Sometimes people just aren't meant to be a couple because they genuinely are too different or have other issues. But they can't have the story be about Blitzø breaking away from Stolas, because then the show couldn't mainly be carried by shipping and selling cutesy merch of a couple which actually sucks.

I do not care for the stupid owl and I probably never will. I do not think Vivzepop has the writing ability to turn this whole thing around and make Stolas end up as a well-written, flawed but still sympathetic character. The more they go into victimizing him by showing all the characters that call him out as abusive, inconsiderate or heartless (Stella, Octavia, Blitzø), the more I will dislike him and miss what the show once started as.

[johanna-swann]

Analysing shows to death is my number 1 hobby of all times, so I decided to rank all of Buck and Eddie's love interests that were there for more than one quick flirt (not counting, for example, snake lady from 1x01, Veronica who was in several episodes but only on 1 actual date with Buck or Lucy who Buck was never really interested in in the first place).

For Eddie we have Shannon, Ana, Marisol and I'm also including Kim because holy shit, that really was something. For Buck we have Abby, Ali, Taylor, Natalia and Tommy.

Love interests will be judged by likeability, having their own storylines & character traits, compatibility with Eddie or Buck and how well they fit into the bigger picture of the show.

Coming in hot on the 9th place: Natalia. She was nice enough and the one thing we did know about her (her job) could've come up again in interesting ways, but then it didn't. We don't really know anything about her other than her job and she wasn't on the show very long. I think the fact that she had a different perspective on Buck temporarily dying could've been good for him. For everyone else it was a very traumatic experience and sensitive topic, but for Natalia it's business as usual. It could've been good for Buck to have someone to talk to about this without having to walk on eggshells. But I don't think Buck was really in a good place to start dating again, he had just learnt (via coma dream) that being "just Buck" could be enough and that he shouldn't live his life trying to make other people see him a certain way. And then he came in with the "Natalia sees me" line. Natalia never interacted with any of the other main characters and then they wrote her out of the show between seasons.

Conclusion: She was likeable if a bit bland, but she wasn't exactly a well rounded character, I think she would've been much better as a friend for Buck and at no point did the show even try to integrate her as more than just Buck's latest girlfriend.

Talking about likeable but bland: Number 8, Ana. I'm sorry, Ana is objectively speaking a good person, she is kind and pretty and has an impressive career. (She has a PhD I think? And is also already principal at a school despite being rather young? Good for her.) But aside from the fact that she's "nice", there's not much going here. She's mostly there to give Eddie things to spiral about. The skateboard incident for example was mostly a catalyst to get Eddie thinking about what it means to raise a son with a disability, but he then talked about this in more depth with Carla and Buck, Ana was only the messenger. On the surface they tried to give her characteristics that made her perfect for Eddie. She was great with children and already loved Christopher (and Chris liked Ana too), she had a similar background (big latino family) and she really loved her job. But it was all surface level. Who is Ana other than a picture perfect potential wife? What are her interests, what is she like when she isn't being kindness incarnate?

Conclusion: Likeable, but basically a cardboard cutout. This was a least partially intentional (Eddie does come to the "ready made family with no substance behind it" conclusion too), but still. Boring. She only fit well with Eddie on paper and like most Eddie-related things on 911, she seemed a little removed from the rest of the show and whenever she did appear or was brought up in the vicinity of other main characters, it was always about Eddie. (Is Eddie ready to date again? Is Eddie still hung up on Shannon?) It was never about Ana as her own person.

Number 7: Ali. The way we meet her makes us immediately side with her (her boss is a sexist, predatory piece of shit and she won't let that slide). We don't see her again after the earthquake for a while, but when we do we find out she's an opinionated, career oriented, confident woman who has no trouble communicating what she wants and who prioritises her own well being when necessary. She was there for Buck and supported him in the hospital, but sat him down and openly talked to him about why this relationship won't work for her once he got to go home. She was brought in/back as the polar opposite to Taylor who at the time represented the "casual hookups" option, so she wasn't just added randomly, she was also there as part of Buck's character development. She also had good chemistry with Eddie in the opening disaster (I was honestly surprised when they brought her back as Buck's love interest) and I really liked the scene at the hospital with her, Maddie and Carla.

Conclusion: She was a likeable character with enough personality to make her interesting and while she was good for Buck temporarily (I don't think either of them was necessarily looking to settle down at the time), it was exactly that - her knowing herself and what she wants - that eventually ended the relationship. She was only on the show for a few episodes and didn't make any strong connections to the other characters. In my opinion she was pretty much perfect as a minor character / temporary love interest because she was intentionally written as such, but there wasn't much potential for them to be anything more than that.

Moving on to numero 6: Kim. Likeable? Uhhhhhhrm. Well. She was certainly something, but likeable? At first maybe, but then it was mostly a lot of "wtf?" and "what is wrong with her?!" Very fascinating. Her and Eddie had one thing they connected over and one thing only: Shannon. She briefly interacted with Buck, but the whole thing had nothing to do with the rest of the 118 who had bigger fish to fry at the time.

Conclusion: Brainworms inducing character, I don't know who came up with this and why, but I want to thank them because holy shit. Not very likeable, but very interesting and not boring (which is a far bigger sin on tv), the whole thing was connected to Eddie's previously established hang-ups on the Shannon of it all, so even though it was another Eddie plot that was disconnected from the rest of the show it was at least building on his previous storylines and then developed into a bigger plot including Marisol, Chris and the Diaz parents. Kim was a freak and I thank her for her service, even though the fallout in season 8 was fumbled badly.

5th place: Marisol. Kinda mediocre as her placement on the list suggests. I'm so not sure if I should've placed her farther down on the list (maybe 7th place or so), because in many ways she's basically Ana 2.0. Nice girl / pretty Latina who is good with Chris while Eddie is (unknowingly) still hung up on Shannon. However she has little more personality of her own than Ana. I liked that we met her as a random character with no connection to the 118. We saw her having a close relationship with her brother and the diy thing was alson a cool additional piece of information whereas (in the context of these women being fictional characters) I read Ana's profession more as an extension of her "good with kids, she'd be a perfect replacement wife/mom" trait. Like, Ana was very much written as a symbol of what Eddie thinks he should want, Marisol was handled more like an actual person and gender-stereotypical traits do play a role in that for me.

[A/N: To be clear, irl your profession doesn't say anything about how much of a feminist you can be. You can be the most badass activist and also a stay at home mom, but we're talking about fiction where every trait given to a character is a choice made by the writers to project a certain image. And they wrote Ana as gentle and kind woman who works in childcare whereas Marisol is a very handy person who wears overalls the first time we see her. These first impressions were intentional.]

Back to the point - Eddie was in a good place mentally by the end of season 6, it kinda made sense for him to try dating again at that time. They took things slow and had the whole "Marisol moves in, Marisol moves out again" thing. Season 7 was very short and full, but they still carved out some time for Eddiesol(?) to have their own hurdle before Kim entered the game.

Conclusion: Marisol was likeable, a bit more interesting than Ana who was (as I said) often more a symbol than a character. Her and Eddie had some chemistry and this relationship happened more on Eddie's terms (what he wants instead of what he's told he should want) than his previous one with Ana. As per usual Marisol and the related Eddie plot were somewhat disconnected from the rest of the show once they got together, but Eddie did talk to Buck about her. There was potential here for an interesting, longer love story, maybe Eddie reassessing some of his rather conservative views on what being "the man of the house" means to him, but then Marisol's actress got caught being transphobic on social media and they wrote the Doppelgänger storyline instead so. That's that.

Observation: One thing all the characters above have in common so far is that they all had little to do on the show outside of being Eddie's or Buck's girlfriend. The 4 love interests who are left also had other important relationships or roles on the show that weren't just about Buck or Eddie. Shannon was not only Eddie's wife, she was Chrisopher's mother. Abby was a main character in season 1 and had a lot going on other than being with Buck. Tommy had a connection to Chimney, Hen, Bobby and Gerrard or rather the 118 in general before he ever met Buck. Taylor had soo much screentime and as a reporter was often involved in the calls and emergencies on the show without it being related to Buck (remember the call where this guy got buried alive and Taylor and Ransone both worked the case later?).

Back to the countdown: Number 4, Shannon. The fandom is very split on whether she deserved better or wasn't judged harshly enough, so it's hard to say whether she is "likeable" per se. She is definitely a very complex character and as someone who just got off the phone with their mum because she wanted my opinion on what to do about my disabled little brother who she doesn't think she can care for at home any longer- Well, let's say I sympathise. Shannon was barely even 20 (not even old enough to drink) when she had Christopher and Eddie fucked right off to the other side of the Atlantic and especially when you're raising a disabled child money isn't everything. They often need more help, more supervision, have more appointments, etc etc. Eddie was well aware that he was leaving Shannon on her own with all of that, her only support network being the judgemental in-laws who didn't like Shannon very much. Should she have run off into the night only leaving behind a two line farewell note? Hell no. But still, I sympathise. The point is that Shannon is a complex, flawed character who got an extensive background story and her story revolved not only around Eddie but around Christopher too. Sadly they killed her off before her and Eddie's relationship could run its course completely and we'll never know how she would've fit into the bigger picture.

Conclusion: Shannon is a complex character who you can sympathise with, who had her own goals and motivations and who was more than just Eddie's wife. She and Eddie had a long, emotional, complicated past with ups and downs, but they loved each other and Christopher very much (it's debatable if it was true love in the romantic sense of the word, but they loved each other). Still, she wasn't exactly present outside of Eddie's personal life and was killed off after being in only a handful of episodes.

[Personally I think they had a great opportunity to a) have Eddie and Shannon co-parent post-divorce like Michael and Athena did or b) still divorce them but then write a delicious slowburn about how without the pressure, without the church and their families breathing down their necks, without a surprise pregnancy and after working out the lingering resentment they feel, they eventually still find their way back to each other. Kinda like Chimney and Maddie did, but make it a slowburn instead of a speedrun.]

Entering the top 3 now. Tommy. He could've scored higher if the writers hadn't completely fumbled this plot. Season 7 and 8 were hands down the worst seasons yet and all of the characters deserved better. (Yes even Gerrard and Ortiz in the sense that they of course shouldn't have got happy endings, rainbows and sunshine, but they deserved to be written as antagonists with more agency, more substance, more depth instead of whatever the hell that was.) (Not Brad though. Fuck Brad.) A-ny-way. Tommy isn't exactly likeable when we first meet him in season 2, but the show quickly shows that he isn't a complete asshole. We later find out he's been stuck in regressive environments his entire life and internalised a lot of that bullshit before he unlearnt it again much later. But even in season 2 they showed us Chimney and Tommy making peace, Tommy and Hen finding common ground and him being (if not friends) at least friendly with Hen, Chim and Bobby by 2x16. Which already says a lot about the character's complexity. We learn a lot about Tommy's hobbies, he's involved in a high-stakes rescue mission with the 118, due to his job it's very easy to make him part of other calls and emergencies (the show never did that, but it was at least possible) and he is very well connected to the main characters other than Buck. He really liked Buck a lot, showed up for him again and again and only broke up with him because he was scared of getting hurt because he liked Buck so much. Buck on the other hand wasn't written very well these past 2 (1.5?) seasons. He had little to do except come out as bi- No wait, explore his sexuali- No wait, figure out his identity as a queer ma- No wait. Discover he is not straight. Because he didn't come out as bi (he still has no label) and he didn't explore his sexuality or identity as a queer man beyond getting into a new relationship. Yeah, we really don't know much about how exactly Buck felt about Tommy outside of the vague "I can see a future with him".

Conclusion: A criminal amount of wasted potential. Tommy started out as antagonistic, but then got a (short, partially off-screen) redemption arc which to me makes him not only very likeable, but even loveable. It makes him interesting. He could've been very good for Buck, but sadly the show underutilised him and rarely showed their progressing relationship at all. Tommy was very well connected within the 911 universe, even had the perfect job to join a call here and there. The show just didn't do anything with all of that and it's truly a shame.

2nd place, Abby. Honestly, Abby could've been first. She's likeable, just like I sympathise with Shannon because she was in a tough spot I see the same with Abby and her mother. Abby is shown as a hard working, loyal person who will put her own needs second and prioritise family, but not to the point where she comes across as a perfect saint. She snaps at Carla, is (understandably) annoyed with her mom sometimes, etc. I also honestly believe she and Buck were good for each other. She got to feel a little carefree and adventurous from time to time with someone who didn't bring his own obvious heavy baggage into the relationship. And Buck got to experience a relationship with someone who cares about him and not just whether he is a good lay, he got to care for someone who took their relationship seriously and who made him grow as a person. Abby also shared some nice scenes with Athena and Bobby, she was a main character all on her own (covering the dispatch position before Maddie took over) who had her own personal struggles and calls at work. But here's the one thing that to me disqualified her from #1 without discussion: It was obvious from the start that for her the relationship with Buck was only a fling. She cared about him, deeply, but he was an escape. She liked him, maybe loved him, but I'm not sure she was in love with him. They never really stood a chance long term. I think even if Abby hadn't run off to Europe, she would've left Buck eventually.

Conclusion: Likeable, complex character, well connected within the universe, she and Buck made a very good couple - for a short while. Not much else to say.

Which for the 1st place only leaves Taylor. Controversial pick? Maybe. I know many people actively hated her, but personally I love characters who are just a tad bit fucked up. Taylor is shown as a very "modern" woman (I don't know how else to call it, she is still very feminine after all). She is career driven, not exactly a nurturing / kind / sweet girl, treats sex as a very casual thing and has some interesting morals when it comes to protecting an individual's privacy vs being honest with the broad public. She is however very similar to Buck when it comes to their jobs. They both live and breathe for their work and are willing to sacrifice personal relationships for it too. Taylor worked all her life to one day become someone who gets to uncover truths due to the fact that she never found out the truth about her mother's murder and her father's involvement. Buck for a long time measured his worth by what he could do for others, he was "born to safe someone", he's very empathetic and has this intrinsic need to help people and he took all that and made a career of it. Buck and Taylor get up to all kinds of shenanigans together - searching for a treasure, trying to solve a hit and run, etc. As a reporter Taylor isn't a first responder, but it is natural for her to be on scene for calls and emergencies and to investigate those matters further (thus running into Athena or other cops later on), it happened quite a lot actually. On a personal level however she isn't close to any of the other main characters and I think that was their downfall eventually. She understands Buck really well (as for example shown by her take on the "maybe this isn't about you" trope) and she even understands how close Buck is to the 118 ("Your life is full of meaningful relationships.") - she understands Buck, but she isn't like Buck. She prioritises differently and never really gets involved with the 118.

Conclusion: Taylor is a very independant character with a lot of strengths, but also flaws and those flaws made her extremely unlikeable to some of the more rabid fans, but I will love and treasure her forever. I think she and Buck complemented each other really well, but maybe they'd be better as friends? They had great chemistry, they could talk to each other about their jobs and understood each other in ways I think none of the other love interests did (except maybe Eddie and Shannon). On a professional level Taylor fit into the 911 universe incredibly well, she was just never closely connected to the other characters on a personal level.

[celaenaeiln]

What's the deal with fanon Tim bc I read some comics with Tim and I've seen him in cartoons but all I see people talk about is "haha coffee addicted nerd who doesn't sleep!" and that just seems weird and wrong. Like my view of Tim has always been "he's a nice and extremely smart guy who sometimes pushes things a bit too far and maybe a bit set in his own ways/Batman's ways" but now I'm not even sure of that because I really haven't read THAT much (mostly seen him in other series) lol

No you're right!! Anon you're so right!!!

What the heck is up with fanon Tim Drake??

The thing about him not sleeping is actually true though

Detective Comics (2016) Issue #937

Batman: Contagion Issue #11

(I agree with Catwoman, Tim is so cute)

So I understand where the coffee addiction in fanon comes from but Tim's not actually addicted to coffee in the comics. I actually don't recall him mentioning coffee at all. At some point he might have but if he did, then those instances are so little in the grand scheme of things it might as well be called negligible if it's trying to be called an addiction.

But more importantly, Tim is so much more than that!! My favorite Tim Drake aspect of him is how sassy and sarcastic he is, it makes him so endearing!!

UGH NO ONE APPRECIATES HOW MUCH OF A LITTLE SHIT HE IS!!

Robin (1993) Issue #58

CMON CMON CMON LETS TALK MORE ABOUT THIS!!

Tim, you little shit, you know exactly what they say - cause you did it!!

HIS SELF-SATISFIED SMILE!!!

In all honesty I find Tim the funniest of the entire batfamily to read because he's so-he's so wholesomely quirky in a mean way. That's such as awkward way to describe it but reading his comics, you just can't get enough of them because he's just too funny!

At one point he has a massive fever and stuck underground with a bunch of weird kids and one of the girls is just like "please get better, please get some rest!" as she's wiping away his sweat and Tim has like no breath or energy at this point. But with the last remains of will power, he uses his breath to push one last question between lips.

Robin (1993) Issue #70

And as the audience waits in baited anticipation we get this-

Robin (1993) Issue #70

It's actually a very valid question and shows his detective thinking and yada yada yada but THE COMEDIC GOLD OF HIS TIMING!!

Like his situation and his question there's a massive gap that's almost incomprehensible about it all which is why it's so fantastic!!

The way he sasses batman is top 5 fav moments with him.

Azrael: Agent of the Bat Issue #91

Thanks @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 for finding it again <33

But Tim overall is just like a normal kid. He's what authors tried to do with Stephanie but failed. They were able to make him relatable to the audience because the way he acts, it's so quirky but funny. Yes, he's a boy detective genius but he likes messing with people, he likes solving crime, he likes hanging out with his big brother, he asks for relationship advice, he can get insecure, he can get upset without acting cold, he gets tired, he gets anxious, he's determined, and he's super dorky.

Robin (1993) Issue #25

Like really dorky.

But what I think really defines him is this panel

Robin (1993) Issue #48

This scene is probably what explains him best. Tim is someone who ponders a lot. He thinks constantly all the time whether it's about cases or his personal life, he just goes over the choices he makes constantly because he's just soul-searching alot.

He always means well even if he's awkward about it and he's just a diverse personality overall. The fanon interpretation of his character doesn't really do him any justice because it doesn't address how funny he is or confused or just a likeable, real person in general.

[archduchessofnowhere]

We talk about portrayals of Sisi, but I think that Franz Joseph was, if anything, even more misrepresented by the recent period dramas. How would you rank the portrayals of him you have seen/read (in historical novels)? Is there any piece of historical fiction that actually captures his character accurately?

Hello! YES I always focus on Elisabeth but he is also completely butchered in all these new series. I think I've said it before, but basically it's very hard to reconcile who FJ actually was (both as an emperor and as a person) with him being a love interest we as an audience can root for. Specially in these new adaptations in which Elisabeth is outspoken, mature and actively politically involved in the events of the empire (and not just the Compromise). Why would our Girl Boss protagonist want to be with a man who was bureaucracy made flesh, very conservative, and just kinda boring in general? It doesn't work. Thus, his personality also gets rewritten.

I don't really have a decided ranking, but off the top of my head I'd say these are my least to most favorite portrayals:

Sisi & Ich (2023): Do you hate Sisi adaptations that turn FJ into a horrible, abusive husband in order to make his wife look good? Well, this portrayal does just that. He is only very briefly in the movie but I hated every minute of it, personally I was mostly fine with the movie despite all its inaccuracies but there was one scene from this part that was a deal breaker for me. This movie should've been just two hours of Irma and Elisabeth traveling and nothing else.

Die Kaiserin (2022-): The solution of the screenwriters to the problem of "how do we make FJ likeable?" Basically turning him into his brother Maximilian lol. You see, he has liberal ideas but his evil mother doesn't let him pursue them! Oh, and he had nothing to do with those executions, that was also his mother! In fact everything bad he ever did was all his mother's fault, because he is not even governing, his mother is. By season 2 it almost seems that FJ has absolutely no idea what's going on in his own empire and needs to be explained basic thing like Italian nationalism. This series sanitizes FJ in levels that just aren't seen in any other adaptation, not even the Sissi Trilogy. You are watching the show and can't help but think "who is this guy???". The only thing he has in common with the real FJ is that he loves his wife, but the way their relationship is portrayed is so unlike the real couple that not even that makes him similar to his historical counterpart.

Sisi (2021-2024). This FJ is in the opposite end of the same spectrum as Die Kaiserin's FJ. Season 1 had the original take of not making FJ likeable, but instead they turned him in a borderline cartoonishly evil, violent and smug man. He smiles as he orders executions, he beats his aids for not reason, he openly cheats on his wife and publicly insults her in a fit of jealousy. Honestly I was baffled by this take, because even after all these bizarre changes they still went for a "Sisi and Franz's great love story!" approach for the series. Which was. A choice. They obviously wanted to make him like that so that he could go through a redemption arc thanks to his relationship with Sisi, but it was just not a well written arc, and when his personality does change in later seasons it doesn't feel like earned character grow but simply that the writers decided to tone down their original approach.

Yet I will admit I'm lowkey fond of this portrayal, I liked most of his storyline in season 2 (he spends most of the season bonding with a feral child and also definitely has a thing going on with Andrássy you can't convince me otherwise), and in season 3 I found myself agreeing with him. So yeah, utterly butchered FJ but in an entertaining way at least.

Sissi Trilogy: I'm honestly overall indifferent to this FJ; he is basically the blueprint for every posterior depiction that portrays him as a Prince Charming love interest. Yet, for all the overomantization of Elisabeth's early life, the movies don't shy away from telling us how FJ was directly responsible of the counter revolution executions. We even see how he is still hated in Hungary and Italy (at least until Sissi comes into the scene). A certain show from a certain straming service could learn that it's not necessary to completely sanitize his image and pin all his faults onto his mother to make Franz Josef into a palatable love interest.

Sisi (2009). I feel about this FJ almost the same as I feel about the Sissi Trilogy's FJ, but in this portrayal we do see more of him than just "Sisi's love interest". Also it's not always all the color of roses, he and Elisabeth disagree and fight more than once. His relationship with his brother Max is also really interesting, pity they only interact in like three scenes. Overall a solid take, if a bit romanticized and not particularly remarkable.

Kronprinz Rudolf (2006). Not a bad take but for what I remember they portrayed Taaffe as having this great influence over FJ and putting him against Rudolf. And like no the evil minister was not responsible for FJ distrusting his son He Was Like That.

Elisabeth das Musical: the only depiction on this list that I truly like, and it really proves that the only way to have a good FJ is to not make him into a love interest. He is only a supporting character and yet the musical nails the most important bits of his personality and his relationship with Elisabeth outstandingly well (loved his wife but never understood her, cheated yet still longed for her, let her go but always hoped she would comeback next to him). There's even room to also show his relationship with Rudolfl! The only thing that I don't really like is that they do portray his mother as having a lot of influence over him, but that's mostly because the musical has an outdated take on Sophie (which works pretty well in a storytelling level nonetheless!). Boote in der Nacht is the saddest song in the entire musical, and the musical is not even about FJ and Elisabeth as a couple. Just a great, nuanced and engaging take!

I know I'm missing a lot FJs but these are the ones that came to my mind right now; I don't think I've ever seen Franz Josef in a piece of media that isn't about Elisabeth or Rudolf. Thank you for your question!

[homeofhousechickens]

Alright horror game fans have you played "Midnight Scenes: A Safe Place" yet because oh my god? Oh my god??

Not only did this feel like a really good rendition of someone living with crippling agoraphobia, the freaking reveal at the end gave me chills. I KNEW it was likely going to be something like THAT but learning the truth was shocking and made so many things make sense. It's one of those things where you want to go back and play it again to pick up on the symbolism and just how much the main character is an unreliable narrator.

As someone with agoraphobia I think this game portrayed it well and with a character who doesn't seem very likeable in many aspects but they still him showed him as being sympathetic. It surprised me because many games make the main character with agoraphobia to sympathetic or act like because they went outside they are cured of their crippling fear and anxiety now. We know Phil is definitely not going to be magically cured at the end. The horror of this game is great probably the best pixel horror in my opinion.

Please go play it or watch a letsplay and tell me your thoughts!!