#did that make the scene any less fucking sad? absolutely no!!!!!

[starlooove]

The Jackie lives au in my head

[reidmotif]

Please, Please, Please

Summary: Spencer makes a promise he can't keep to Reader, and pays the price. (Requested by Anon!)

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader

Category: Angst

Content Warning: allusions to reader wearing makeup, unhappy ending

Word Count: 1k

Masterlist

"Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another / I beg you don't embarrass me, motherfucker."

I felt like despite it all, the scene was a little comical. 

Half eaten cake plates, all strewn around haphazardly around my apartment, balloons and streamers meant to commence the sunniness of the day, and yet my disposition was anything but. 

I’d asked him, a million times over and then some if he was absolutely sure he’d manage to make it. I’d never been the type to demand anything, I was fine with an answer that wasn’t in the affirmative and yet there he went, reassuring me that “I’ll come” and promising he “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Well someone must’ve given Spencer Reid the fucking world, because here we were, party over and Spencer very obviously not here.

I’d stupidly gotten excited over it too, which only added to the growing bubble of resentment I felt. I’d promised my friends that after the last dozen times he’d flaked on shared plans, he’d be here this one time. None of them believed me.

 I kept grinning, reassuring them he’d come. I kept imagining my charming boyfriend surprising them all, holding some extravagant gift in his hand and sweeping me into his arms with the other one. He’d compliment my makeup, or maybe he’d kiss me right then and there,  and I’d finally be able to introduce him to everyone. I would be able to relish in how lucky I’d gotten to have such a wonderful man in my life that I cared for so deeply. I’d share stories about the memories we’d made, and spend an incredibly special day with an incredibly special person. 

That’s what I’d imagined. Instead, my friends and other guests looked on in pity as I watched the front door, for a man who couldn’t care less to commit to any one of our plans. Guests slowly trailed out as the party came to an end, and I was left there, cleaning up the remnants of Spencer’s empty promises to me.

Fuck this.

Finally, I hear the doorbell ring. Fun. He comes half an hour later once the party’s ended. I unlock the door and see him standing there, sheepish and apologetic.  There’s a sad little bouquet in his hands, which I assume is there to assuage me from the anger I felt, but it did absolutely nothing to placate me. 

“Baby I’m so-“ Spencer starts.

“Save it. I am sick of this.” I say, my nostrils flaring as he stares at me from the doorway.

“Please. It was work. I was- it slipped my mind.” He replies, trying to reason with me. 

I felt an angry laugh bubble over me, disbelief clouding my features. “You forgot?! Are you fucking kidding me?” 

There’s a pause. “No..? No. I’m not kidding.” He mumbles. 

“So much for an eidetic memory.” I think to myself, snarking in my own head at the mess of a man infront of me.

I used to think he’d hang the damn stars in the sky for me.

“I can’t do this anymore.” I say, a firmness in my voice. 

Spencer straightens up. He swallows and nods. “Yeah, no.” He sighs, rubbing at his neck.  “Let’s table this for tomorrow. How about we go upstairs and just cuddle and forget about today? Yeah?”

He’s speaking with that infuriatingly comforting tone, attempting to step forward, to envelope me in that warmth only he could. As soon as his hand made contact with my shoulder, though, I glare at him, shooting daggers with my eyes before forcibly removing him off, much to his dismay and heartbreak.

I ignore it all.

“No.” I interrupt. “I can’t do this anymore. You. I can’t do you anymore.” I say, gesturing between us.

The moment he processes the words, the heartbreak on his face is immediate, his features falling within a nanosecond. “No. I mean- no. You don’t mean that, you’re angry but please- I love you. You know that.” 

“Do I?” I responded, eyebrows raising with a condescending edge to my tone. “When have you once shown up for me the way I show up for you? Love isn’t transactional Spencer, but Jesus. This isn’t love. This isn’t how you treat someone you love.” I say, fuming. 

“You know how my job is. You know that.” He says, voice on the verge of breaking. 

“And you knew how important this was to me!” I responded. “This hurts, Spencer! I don’t know if you get that, but it does. I feel so- so humiliated!”

“Humiliated?” He asks, softly. 

“Humiliated. Crushed. I go on like an absolute ditz for the better part of this week about how excited I was to introduce my boyfriend to everyone, and then he doesn’t show up. Wonderful.” I say, a bite in my tone. “Sad girl at her birthday party. What a fucking cliche.” 

“So, what? Is this about your ego?” He fires back, slightly defensive. “I know I fucked up, but- but this is too much. My actions do not warrant this.”

“You know what?” I fire back.  “Yeah. Maybe it is my ego. Sue me for believing that maybe, just maybe, I believe I deserve better than someone who can’t bother to commit to a promise.” I say, a bit more resigned now as my statement came to a close. I roll my eyes. “You’re not the relationship I want nor the one I deserve.”

His eyebrows raise, face further conveying the state of distress he was in. He licks his lips, sensing that this conversation is coming to a fast end and shakes his head, trying hard to save face. “Please let me make it up to you. Let me be the person you deserve. You.. You know how important you are to me.” 

His eyes are shining. Brown doe eyes glistening with tears and my heart twists at the sight, but his words only aim to wound me further.

I sigh, feeling a prick of tears for the first time this whole conversation. My feelings of anger were slowly replaced with a deeper sadness as I replied.

“No, Spencer. I really don’t.” 

I shut the door before I have to endure anymore of his crestfallen expression. 

So much for a good birthday.

so woahh. do we do a part 2 ? who knows. sorry about the unhappy ending. anyway, this if my first time doing an angst piece like this! let me know what you think lmfao. any comments, likes, reblogs, ect ect are sooo deeply appreciated <3 thank you for reading!!

[lavenderlacedquill]

Angst idea: Will and Y/N are working on an investigation together and she gets seriously hurt. Since they had a heated argument before, she tries to hide her injuries but eventually feels dizzy due to the blood loss and he gets startled and rushes to help her.

˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚ 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 ˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚

Pairing: Will Graham x Reader

Trigger Warnings!: Blood, injury, guns

This request has been sitting in my drafts for WEEKS waiting until I could properly dedicate time to it. This angst piece was so fulfilling to write and I hope it was everything you hoped it would be!

Will Graham Masterlist <3

Navigation Page <3

✧˖°

“No, absolutely not!” Will’s voice rang through Jack’s small office on desperate ears. His eyes meet yours, filled with a sad craze as he directs his attention back to you. “You cannot seriously be considering this!”

Your heart lurches in your chest, because you completely understand where he is coming from. What Jack is asking from you is no small ask. Your eyes fall to the floor as a whisper leaves your lips hurriedly, “What other choice is there, Will? He’s going to keep killing unless it’s me who goes in.”

The man’s eyes whip to Jack’s, his hair ruffled from his stressed hands running through it. Will’s calloused palms run stressily over his face, covering his eyes as he speaks through them to the Agent. “I’ll do it,” He begins, desperation laced in every word because how could this really be on the table right now? “Please, Jack. Just let me go in instead. Do you know how dangerous this is going to be?”

Jack gives out a hefty sigh. This wasn’t an easy decision to come to. Putting you in a direct line of danger was not his first choice, but it’s the only way that he knows will draw out the unsub. The threats the FBI has received over the last few weeks were alarming, each one bigger than the last. You’re the one he wants, and he won’t settle for anything less. The perfect crime. 

“I need both Graham’s on this. End of story. I’m not going to let anything happen.” His measly attempt at reassuring the frazzled man before him doesn’t make a dent, but the Agent walks out of the office without another word, making intense eye contact with you just before the door closes. 

Your eyes dart from Will to the ground, your arms wound tightly around your middle as you sway softly where your feet have planted themselves. “I don’t like this either, Will. But we have a job to do.”

You hear the soft padding of his footsteps for only a moment before his arms find their way around you, taking you into a soft and protective hold, almost like he’s shielding you from an invisible force. His stubbled cheek meets your temple as his rough whisper sounds, “Using you as a pawn is never going to sit right with me. Jack doesn’t understand just how dangerous this is. He could-”

You step out of his hold quickly, cutting his words short, “I’ll be okay,” you begin, your hands coming up to hold Will’s face. “You’ll get to me before anything happens. Then it will all be over.”

The wheels in Will’s brain begin to turn, you can see it as his eyes almost begin to tremble in their sockets while he looks over you. He leans in, closing the small gap between you two, a soft kiss burning into your forehead for only a few seconds before he moves towards the door. 

It’s go time. 

............

The back of the unmarked van that Jack and Will are cramped in grows mustier as they both breathe, Will continuing to get more and more anxious as he waits for Jack’s queue to burst onto the scene. 

Your voice sounds in the headset he has practically pasted to his ears, but all seems to go quiet for only mere seconds as the weight of this entire fucked situation hits Will. You’re in the hands of a killer. One that has murdered anyone that he could get his hands on that bears any resemblance to you. He’s got you. No vest. No gun. The FBI, Jack, handed you over willingly.

 Thank you for all of your notes. I looked forward to them everyday.

You did? Really? I was so scared you wouldn’t get them. 

I did. 

Your conversation with the unsub snaps Will out of his trance, Jack grabbing his arm as they both listen intensely to each word. He can hear you trying to keep your tone even as you speak to him, but he can hear its subtle tremble. You’re scared and it’s killing him. 

I’m sorry I had to kill the others. I didn’t want to, I swear. You’re just…perfect. Getting to you was impossible. 

Each word the unsub speaks grows sinister, his voice dropping to a whisper as he approaches you. The agents can’t see it, but he’s got you sat at his dinner table, your hands bound by a zip tie. Can’t let you get away from me now! 

Pictures of you litter the entire thing, moments you didn’t realize were a victim of watchful eyes. Moments of you coming and going from work, intimate moments you shared with Will in the safety of your own home, pictures of you changing in your bedroom. Pure terror has you paralyzed. Jack knew it was bad, so did Will. But no one could have prepared you for this. 

Beyond the table, the images cover the floor in a disgusting blanket, bloodied footprints gluing them to the linoleum below. The walls are covered in a layer of red haphazard writing, crucifixes hanging in any empty space. Every light socket is filled with a shattered bulb, the room dimming as the  evening sun begins to set. A stench of dead lingers in the air, thick and musty in each breath you force your body to take. 

WIll can hear your struggle from his headset, his eyes catching Jacks in a desperate attempt to get the go ahead to rush onto the scene. He just wants this to be over. 

Let’s take a field trip. I’ve got something to show you.

The agents hear your chair scrape against the floor, with only their imagination to guide them as a sliding door sounds through your mic. They hear you wince softly as you stumble and hit the ground. 

You silly girl! Always been so clumsy.

Will’s own breath begins to quicken as he grabs Jack's shoulder intensely. “We need to go in. Now.”

Crawford only sends him an intense glare before turning his attention back to the feed from your mic. He hasn’t gotten what he wants from the unsub yet, so interfering would only put you in more risk. 

You're dragged harshly by your arm as he pulls you up from the ground, a scrape on your side burning from air exposure, hot with running blood. The world seems to be closing in around you as he brings you to the edge of an empty swimming pool, the bottom completely covered in lit candles and splotched red splatters. He leans down, speaking directly into your ear. The disgusting heat of his breath spreads across the side of your face. 

You’re the last piece. My sacrifice to Him before I can finally ascend. 

You break at his words, everything feeling suddenly too real as you hear a gun cock just inches from your head soundtracked by his maniacal laughter. A quiet sob escapes you, sending a dagger through Will’s stomach as he hears you continue to break through your mic. He throws the headphones off, sending them clattering to the van floor as he straps on his vest, gun in hand. 

Jack tries to protest, but Will shrugs him off, opening the van door and jumping out. “It’s done!” He yells back at the agent, slamming the door behind him as he slowly treds across the street to the unsubs yard. A fence is all that blocks him from you as he approaches the backyard. 

Will listens carefully as the exchange continues between yourself and the man they’re trying to apprehend. 

It was always you, my dear! And now we can finally be His forever. 

The cold metal of the barrel meets a small patch of exposed skin on your stomach. You try to move away as best as you can, but the man only grips you harder, pressing the gun deeper into your belly. 

“Please! Please, you don’t have to do this!” You sob, any ounce of hope leaving you as the metal grows warm against your skin. He laughs behind you again, shaking your body as it only grows more intense. 

That’s where you’re wrong, silly thing. 

BANG….BANG

The gunshots sound through the air, leaving Will Breathless as he breaks through the fence. Only, who’s eyes he meets aren't the assailants, no, they’re Jack’s. His shock only takes over him for a moment before he hears a soft whimper emit from the ground, a pained cry he would recognise anywhere. 

Everything goes quiet at the sight before him. The unsub lays dead, facedown in the grass, his blood seeping into the dirt. The second gunshot, Will will deduce later, caused by Jack, who went around the other side of the house. But only a few feet away from him lays your trembling body, your hands desperately trying to hide your gushing wound. 

You almost look dead, your skin growing pale against the bright green grass, life slipping through your trembling fingers. 

Jack calls for medical as Will collapses onto the ground beside you, his own hands frantic as they try to remove yours from your stomach. “No no no no,” you call weakly beneath him, trying your best to conceal your wound from him, almost as if to undo it, “I’m ok-okay.” 

Tears trail down the raw skin of your cheeks as Will pries your hands away, peeling his own jacket hastily from his shoulders to press onto your wound, a pained cry escaping your throat at the pressure. 

“I know i know i know,” You feel Will’s palm wipe the tears from your eyes as he tries to comfort you amidst the pain, his head dipping down to rest his forehead on your own, “I’m sorry, baby. I know.”

“I-it hurts” your lips quivering at the admission. Your form begins to tremble in his hold, blood loss weighing heavily on you. Jack watches as his fellow Agent begins to break above you, his own shoulders beginning to shake. He hears the distant calls of an ambulance, rushing to the street to guide them back to you.

“Stay with me,” Will moves to pull you into his lap, holding you still from your shakes to prevent any jostling of your wound. Your head rests in the crook of his neck as his palms continue to press into your middle, warm blood covering his hands. “Please. Stay awake for me. You’re going to be okay.”

He pulls your head from his neck as he speaks, eyes searching yours for any sign, but he only finds you teetering between consciousness. Your head lulls back to its spot, a soft cry of Will’s name leaving you before he feels you go limp against him. 

“JACK!” The broken man cries, gripping your body to his, as if he could pass some of his life into you in this moment. His lips find your temple, kissing you softly, like you’re one crack away from breaking into millions of pieces. 

Somewhere in the mix, paramedics arrive, peeling your tattered body from Will’s hold, his begs of them to be careful and gentle with you are heard by every official on sight. 

They strap you onto the gurney, loading you up into the back of the ambulance before eagerly preparing for departure. You needed a hospital, and you need one now. 

The paramedic signals for Will to load himself into the back of the vehicle, knowing that he won’t respond well to having to travel separately, but before he can step inside, Jack’s hand grabs his shoulder. 

“Will, I’m-”

“Don’t.” The man shoots back, red eyes intentionally dodging Jacks before the door is closed between them. 

Will settles in on the small bench inside of the ambulance, his hand holding yours in his own. Your skin has begun to cool, your color drained as the paramedics begin working. His grip tightens over every bump in the road. 

5 minutes passed before he felt it, the softest grip your own hand returned to his. He is immediately on alert, leaning closer to your form as he watches your eyes open against the bright lights of the ambulance. 

You groan at their brightness, your voice hoarse as you try to call for Will, confusion laced within as you take in the unfamiliar surroundings. He hears the fear in your voice, immediately answering and bringing your hand to his lips. “I’m right here with you,” he whispers chokingly, his free hand coming up to rest on your cheek. 

Your head whips around to meet his gaze, relief dawning on your form at the sight of him. Will’s stomach pangs at the sight of tears welling up in your tired eyes, lip quivering as you look at him with intense fear. 

He feels your weight shift as you lean your head against his knee, his own adorned with a messy mop of curls coming down to rest on yours carefully. “Will,” you hushedly sob, his soft lips meeting your forehead in response. 

“I’ve got you, I promise” 

✧˖°

AAA THIS ANGST PIECE WAS SO DIFFERENT!! I hope you guys enjoyed <3

The gif I used is from a set made by the lovely @hughdancybabyface

My request box is currently open, lovelies! Feel free to drop a request in there (or just Hannibal chitter chatter) just please read my guidelines first :)

[itsabouttimex2]

Sooooo... How do you feel about the season 5?

In short? Mid. 6-6.5/10.

In long…?

A severely rushed season that bit off way more than it could chew. A season that had the characters pull powers from their asses more frequently than ever before. A season that had shitty “dramatic” moments for the sake of having dramatic moments. A season that lampshades issues instead of fixing them. A season with so, so much wasted potential.

It basically boils down: everything they wanted to do COULD have been good, but they just didn’t have the time.

I’ll go into some varied details below. I’d also like to make clear- I’ll be tagging all of my Season Five Posts with “Lego Monkie Kid Season 5” and “LMK Spoilers” until August 1st. Then the gloves are coming off and I’ll stop tagging them.

(I still liked the season, for what it’s worth- and you can watch it in full here! I’ve got some drafts and bots cooking as we speak!)

This was a cute send-off to Flying Bark! It was nice of them to acknowledge, in some way, everything that those dears did for the show- because Lego Monkie Kid would NOT be where it is without them.

Significantly less cute-

The absolute kick in the fucking face that constantly superimposing old footage over newer, worse footage is.

You don’t want us to be constantly reminded of the animation downgrade- that’s the literal last thing that anyone wants. Why would you constantly remind us that it used to be better?

What the fuck does this accomplish? Okay, let’s make comparisons, cause that’s the only thing that can result from pulling this shit-

This is what happens when you constantly reference the older, superior content.

PEOPLE CONSTANTLY NOTICE THAT YOUR CONTENT IS WORSE.

Also, why is it so saturated? How do you make a Lego Minifigure look like he has jaundice?

It’s just a bad look to constantly reference content you can’t live up to. I’m hoping they’ll just recreate old content instead of sloppily pasting it into the background of the show- it’ll be less jarring.

Alright, what else…

———

Uh, I fucking called it! Nuwa is not MK’s “loving though bereft mommy”! Which I had been guessing ever since the Celestial Pagoda leaked, actually-

I mean, come on. He’s literally stealing the stones away from her as she reaches to take them back.

And the Season confirmed it! Nuwa might’ve be been MK’s creator, but she certainly wasn’t his momma.

And you know how the series subtlety clues you in to how little she cares about her “son”?

Nuwa didn’t give him a name. She had hundreds, maybe thousands of years to think on it- but no. No name.

We mortals name our pets, our vehicles, our art. We love them enough to bestow monikers.

Nuwa didn’t even bother to name her own sapient mortal creation.

But when he makes a move against her, does something she doesn’t want, takes destiny into his own hands?

She calls out to him with one word- not “son”. Not “MK”.

Nuwa angrily calls him “mortal”.

Becuase that’s all he ever was to her, really. A mortal pawn. A handmade puppet.

Someone designed to fulfill a sacrifice. Even though her intentions were good, MK’s sole purpose by her hand was to shoulder the weight of the world like a good little hero.

So… a potential villain in the making?

———

Lampshading the fact that you’re doing the “macguffin hunt” again does not excuse doing the “macguffin hunt” again.

Lampshading the “apocalypse after apocalypse” plots doesn’t make them any less exhausting.

Lampshading Macaque’s lack of narrative consequences does not undo the awkward and weak redemption arc.

———

They changed Mei “no longer wielding” the Samadhi fire, I guess.

Ignore that she never displayed a hint of concern or sorrow over “losing it” because now she’s sad and worried (after backlash from the fans over her losing it) about losing it.

Like, Subodhi knows so much about the world and the universe that he’s aware of his existence in the ink scroll- but he gets Mei not having an interplanetary level threat inside her wrong?

I smell a retcon.

———

Macaque’s redemption arc is still shit. I’ve got a whole rant queued to release soon, actually- I imagine it might be the final time I comment on his arc until Season Six.

To put it short- Macaque still falls upwards into redemption. No pushback or difficulty or introspection. He’s just a magically better person without any onscreen development to make the change believable.

But they reference this at one point?

Sun Wukong points out that Macaque escapes the trial without any punishment, and is just allowed to mope in place of an actual consequence.

So maaaaaayybeeeee they’ll do something in Season Six? I’ve lost all faith that he’ll ever be an interesting character again, though.

He’s essentially just “brooding rival #80058”. Instead of being a character that calls back to Seasons 1-3, from 4 onwards he’s just a brand new dude who totally didn’t commit any atrocities with a smile on his face- and he’s a worse and more boring character for it.

———

If I haven’t misjudged the intent, I think Monkie Kid will be going back to being an episodic series for the extent of Season Six. Again, they lampshade the “apocalypse after apocalypse” thing, yeah?

And now they have a perfect formula- find someone who’s having trouble with their new power, and help them.

And we might see Bai He again???

Let’s hope for a good breather season!

———

Rest in piss Li Jing their asses did NOT cook with you sorry papa

You could’ve been interesting in the writers didn’t try to pull a “loving father” bait and switch after you got like four scenes of being a raw jackass

If they were going to deviate from the source material and make you a good dad couldn’t it have just been:

“Li Jing, you were not invited to the trial!”

“STF that monkey son of a bitch hurt my baby boy-“

“Father I’m 300-“

“Hush son, let daddy take care of this- that monkey son of a bitch hurt my baby boy when he stole the Samadhi fire map!”

Maybe next season you’ll get to be interesting, hun.

(I’m still writing for Lotusfam though)

———

Drama for the sake of drama. 0/10 scene. Could’ve just had the interruption come AFTER they held hands, but no. Gotta drag shit out for the shippers or whatever. There was no reason to prolong this reunion.

I’m really not a fan of the “just wait another season for it”, mentality. Stop stretching shit out. You had a chance to do something sweet and heartwarming, and chose not to for the sake of trying to drag a conclusion out.

Ugh.

———

Characters just pull powers out of their ass for the sake of forcing dramatic scenes.

THESE ARE DOGSHIT SCENES

THIS MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE. THIS IS DONE SOLELY FOR THE SALE OF “MUH DRAMATIC FINALE” AND IS BAD

ITS BAD WRITING TO HAVE CHARACTERS PULL NEW MAGICAL POWERS OUT OF THEIR ASSES FOR THE SAKE OF DRAMA

IF WUKONG HAD THIS POWER FROM THE START HE SHOULD’VE USED IT AGAINST HIS FUCKING LETHAL ENEMIES AND NOT SAVED IT FOR HIS PRECIOUS STUDENT

MK NEVER LEARNED TO USE THE FILLET SPELL. THE WRITERS PULLED IT OUT OF THEIR ASS TO FORCE DRAMA BY HAVING MK TORTURE HIS MENTOR LONGER THAN EVEN THEIR ACTING ENEMY LI JING DID WITH A CIRCLET THAT IS CANONICALLY TIGHTER THAN HIS FIRST

WE SEE HOW FAST HE IS WHEN HE FIGHTS THE AZURE LION

MK CAN MOVE FASTER THAN WUKONG

HE COULD’VE BEATEN HIM THERE IN AN EQUALLY CLIMATIC RACE

I FEEL NOTHING WHEN I WATCH THIS BECAUSE IT IS FORCED DRAMA FOR THE SAKE OF DRAMA

—————————————————

💚💚💚

[very-straight-blog]

This might sound funny and cringey, but I feel like I lost something I cared about and now it's just sadness and depression. Like it's a TV show, I get it, but we waited 2 years and for what? To get the two worst episodes imaginable. I'm really starting to believe that Sapochnik was responsible for everything good in s1, bcz Condal and Hess ruined this show. S1 wasn't perfect and I didn't like a lot of things in it, but it still managed to keep me invested so I hoped that in s2 everything would be improved. And yet, I'm so terribly disappointed. Alicent's characterization makes no sense anymore, like they want so badly to show her as a bad mother and a hypocrite and really - after ruining bnc with Alicole sex now it had to follow with her not being able to console her son but hoping on Criston is a must do?? What sort of degenerates write this??

Aemond is also ruined for me and I would love to erase that crappy brothel scene from my memory. What was it for? To show his mommy issues, vulnerability... Idc. The dialogue was bad and they did him dirty with the angles and the pose. And now he's apparently going to be there *again* in e3 and we'll get full frontal nudity. Idk why the actor agreed to this since they are obviously making a joke and meme material of his character. Not to mention that he straight up lied in the promos about being loyal (if the RR leaks are true and I'm almost 100% sure they are). I get that they are told what to say, but a more general answer would have been much better than a lie. In brief, one of my favourite s1 characters is also destroyed.

Then Cole. My god, I only waithig for him to look at the camera and say "do you hate me enough already hahah?" He's the writers punching bag atp.

Helaena barely exists.

Otto is Viserys' fanboy and ofc, appalled by his grandson. It's not as he just has lost a son and was forced to take the crown in the first place by him and his mother, no less.

Aegon got more screentime and I love Tom's performance, but I'm not fooled. He is still depicted as weak, politically inept and rash. And he'll still be a bully, apparently. Just to justify his brother's treason. F*ck you Condal, Hess and whoever else is responsible for this mess.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. I just don't get how anyone can seriously praise this shitshow anymore. It could have been great, but the creators are obviously not up to the task which is now painfully obvious. I wouldn't mind the greens as villains, but don't write them as a walking joke. I'm quitting the show and would like just to forget about it. This adaptation of the Dance was a huge mistake.

I feel you! By the way, I haven't participated in any fandom life, I think, for 10 years or more, but thanks to HOTD, I started this blog, I write some critical (well, kinda) reviews, and English isn't even my native language. I've been waiting for the second season for two years and now I just feel tired and empty. So far, the only thing I've liked about these two episodes is Aegon's storyline, that's all. Everything else is bad, very bad, and judging by the leaks, it'll be even worse.

Firstly, the series has a very strange pace of the narrative. We didn't get a bunch of important plot scenes, and even those that remained were shown in a hurry, but at the same time we have many scenes like "Rhaenyra stares at the dust for three minutes", unnecessary dialogues and PAUSES between lines.

Secondly, again, an insane amount of important plot details are left behind the scenes and this is absolutely wrong. Aemond's return home, the family's reaction to what he did. Aegon's reaction when he learned of his son's death. Aemond's reaction when he finds out what his actions have led to. And so on and so forth. Many of the characters' actions are shown without context. Alicent fucks with Criston - cool, but can I have some additional information? How long has this been going on, what feelings do they have for each other, how have they developed, like, anything? The same can be said about the scene in the brothel - no context.

Thirdly, it's unclear what's going on with the characters, as if the screenwriters decided to make the greens the most unpleasant people in the world. So far, I only like Aegon and Helaena. I can't even say anything about Aemond, because his only dialogue scene is built around Daemon and Luke, damn them. I just can't.

Everything annoys me except Aegon lol. So yes, I understand you.

[bonefall]

Obviously nobody should be talking poorly about any of Bumble's competitors but it's insane how people voting for Alex are going 'its a CAT'. Like, okay and? Alex Dewitt is ink on paper and we rightfully take issue with her writing to the point of making it a term, so why is it any different when a fictional cat has misogynistic writing? And these are cats with a society, laws, religion, and understanding of (herbal) medicine. They are on par with people. And, it's a YA series. Shouldn't people take the message "fat, abused women dying isn't a problem because they can't contribute ackshually, and if we acknowledge it is how can the goodboy main character stop licking his brother's kitty boots if he's a bad person :(" as a red flag in any series? Let alone one for kids? Like, did everyone outside of the fandom miss the Ashfur defense? Because I was there for it and it was pretty clear a LOT of impressionable children genuinely believed the "he only loved too much" excuse hook line and sinker, and blamed Squirrelflight for everything. There were so many fans genuinely believing that I literally remember seeing hate art and fanfics portraying Squirrelflight as a horrible person just for asking to stay friends. That alone was a testament to how harmful Warriors can be, all because of that one scene of Ashfur being spotted in StarClan.

And with that fiasco in mind, how can anyone trivialize it to Bumble being 'just a cat'? Especially when kids are reading this, and could really take the harmful message Gray Wing the """Wise""" has for them that if you have nothing to contribute to the people you desperately need help from, you are stupid for trying to ask for it. I was lucky to not take any of the really harmful portrayals relationships in Warriors to heart, but not everyone will be. People should support Alex all they want, she deserves it! But downplaying what happened to Bumble because she's a cat is harmful :(

Alex DeWitt's story is so shocking and straightforward that you're able to sum it up with a single word; "Fridging." It's become the touchstone for a wider discussion about misogyny in media because it is so evocative and so easy to explain as an example.

That IS important. That IS a legacy.

But somehow, if you try to explain how EARLY misogyny in media starts, and how pervasive it is even in "less respectable" mediums like YA xenofiction, they lose their fucking minds. People who refuse to read anything at all going, "what could possibly have happened to a cat?"

You know what, though? I'm GLAD Bumble is winning, and I'm proud of this fandom and our campaigning. I think we actually deserve to be a little smug about this after all the damn "justa cat" comments. Bumble doesn't HAVE a legacy. The book doesn't VALUE HER LIFE AT ALL! "It's so sad Clear Sky is going to have his reputation ruined for killing this useless woman. I never liked Bumble anyway, what matters about this is my poor brother :("

The runner of the Canon Misogyny Tournament mentioned in passing how they kinda take issue with the idea of quantifying misogyny based on suffering because of how it oversimplifies the insidious ways it can express in a narrative, and I've thought a lot about that a lot. They're right.

And Alex is THE posterchild of this because her death is ghoulish. We needed what happened to her as a simple, evocative term, to advance the conversation around media misogyny and get it through people's skulls. But, she has become the conclusion of a sentiment that the more gruesome the death is, the more misogynist that makes it.

but. The fridge was not the misogynistic part of what happened to Alex. THE FACT SHE WAS ONLY INVENTED TO DIE FOR THE PAIN OF A MAN IS. THAT is what the term "fridging" is supposed to point out; The absolute LACK of interest in her as a 3-dimensional character, in women as people, to the point where the writer chose to send Alex out in a gorey, disrespectful way solely as a motivator for her boyfriend. THAT is the bad part.

But instead people have latched onto the fridge half. More violent = more misogyny.

There's a lot of ways for a narrative to be misogynist, though. To downplay the lives, emotions, or contributions of women characters, and to reinforce real-world bigotry.

Warrior Cats does a LOT of this, blaming bad mothers who didn't shut up and accept their 'purpose in life' for Brokenstar's tyranny, making it a TRAGIC thing that Clear Sky is being held accountable for murdering women because his man pain makes it ok, and even blaming Squirrelflight for rejecting Ashfur's advances which caused him to go "crazy" and attempt to murder her children (until, of course, the welcomed retcon of TBC).

Bumble's death, because she is a fat woman, is treated as unavoidable. It's not a terrible thing she died, Gray Wing never really liked her anyway, what REALLY "matters" is that now no one likes her murderer.

She was stupid and selfish to even ask for help, because she is so fat and weak. To be upset at all that her only friend watched her get dragged back to her abuser. Even as she bleeds out, she gets to listen to Turtle Tail making up excuses and wishing she "could have found happiness."

All while Tom the Wifebeater, the fat man who physically assaulted two women, gets a big cutesy redemption death and honored and beloved by everyone and even gets to "lose weight and that's so good :)". Because the books value the lives of men more than the lives of women, plain and simple.

Bumble wasn't just fridged. It's worse than that. Her life doesn't even have enough value to get Clear Sky held accountable for murdering her, because beloved writer favorite Gray Wing hated her for being friends with his wife and doesn't want anyone to hate his poor, innocent big brother :(

Like you said, you can ask anyone in this fandom and they'll tell you about the impressionable kid they were, or have MET, who was badly influenced by the constant misogyny of these books. People who defend Bramblestar tooth and nail as he abuses his wife, the screeds against both Leafpool and Nightcloud for making Crowfeather sad, and the absolutely radioactive Ashfur Defenders who have thankfully died down since TBC's welcome retcons.

It doesn't just end with annoying internet comments. Those kids carry that kind of message with them. It reinforces existing biases and causes them to downplay abused women and toxic men in their real lives.

But sure, "just a cat." Cool way to downplay the 20-year-old bestselling YA fantasy series that is still ongoing but ok. 50000 Bumblesweeps upon ye.

(though i do also have to say, since I started speaking more about it today, I'm seeing more non-wc fans push back against the 'just a cat' comments. Sincerely, thanks guys. It's not every DC fan or Alex voter, just a very vocal section of sore losers willing to downplay misogyny because they're angry.)

[ceilingfan5]

Prompts to sink your teeth into 27 and Taakitz please and thank you!

“Balls to the walls, can you believe it’s been ten years since graduation?” Taako is laying upside down on Kravitz’s couch, kicking his feet in the air aimlessly. 

“Not on my balls or my walls,” Kravitz decides, snorting. He pulls the laundry out of the dryer and dumps it in a basket, frowning as static zaps him.  “It’s truly wild to think about. I don’t think I’m going to go to the reunion, if they even invite me, you know? Like, I think I was weird enough in high school that I don’t even get recruitment attempts for MLMs-”

“You just haven’t met the right one yet,” Taako chastises. “Maybe Pampered Chef is for you.”

“I think I’m more of a Tupperware bitch.” 

“I’d love to keep you in a Tupperware. I’d poke holes in the top for you and everything.” Taako flips over and rights himself, woozy and red in the face. 

“What, like a grasshopper?”

“Nah, like a cool snake I found. But just a widdle one.” 

Kravitz is oddly touched. It really adds a layer onto the thing he and Taako are absolutely, one hundred percent talking around: ten years since graduation also marks ten years since they made a marriage pact and swore a blood oath behind the Denny’s. 

A decade is long enough, yeah?

Yeah, lots of people get married by the time they’re 28. It’s normal. We don’t want to be unnormal.

I think that ship has sailed, dude. 

Forget the ship. It doesn’t have to be real. It’s just…you know, motivation. 

A kick in the ass. Yeah. 

Something to keep us looking. Because- romance is hard!

You think it’ll get less hard?

No, I don’t think it will, Taako. I don’t think it will. 

Kravitz looks at Taako. It was stupid back then. It’d be stupider to bring it up now. He’s been head over heels for an embarrassingly long time. It was a joke, mostly. A stupid teenager thing. They’re almost thirty, for fuck’s sake. 

He brings the basket over to the couch and sits beside Taako. Their sides touch, and Taako is warm. 

They’re almost thirty, and Taako’s twin is getting married. And here they are, roommates, alone, together. Kravitz doesn’t know the last time he went on a date, but the last time Taako did was about four months ago. It’s not looking good on the ‘surely some other, perfecter guy will come around and Kravitz will be able to transfer some of the love beating under the floorboards to some regular, unsuspecting dude’ front. 

“It’s just wild,” Taako sighs, clearly on the same choo-choo. “I mean, I’m happy for her, like-”

“Like between her and Barry I’ve been ready to flush myself down the toilet for-”

“So long. SO long!” 

“Physically painful,” Kravitz agrees, not least because it made him incredibly aware of his own bullshit. “Like you said, so happy for them, and I mean, obviously w- I’ll show up to the wedding with bells on-”

“You bet your sweet ass we will. But like, you think my sad jester ass is getting any jingling action?” Taako gives him a sorrowful puppy dog face, like a pathetic court fool left in a cardboard box in the rain, and Kravitz laughs so hard he worries he’s going to pass out. He imagines those jingle bells a’janglin’. But he’d better not. 

He’d really better not. 

“It’s not that I don’t…It’s- It’s not like I want to make either of them feel bad...” Kravitz starts.  

“Definitely not.” 

“But I almost want to- cause a bit of a scene?” He looks at Taako. Taako perks up, tugging down his imaginary jester hat for Serious Mode. 

“I love causing scenes,” Taako says affectionately. “You know this.”

“I know this, and I agree with you,” Kravitz replies, grinning. Warm laundry forgotten. Socks, stay unpaired. Fuck your romantic life right up the same alley as his own. “What are you thinking? I’m hearing gears turning.” 

“Industry music doot-dooting,” Taako says with a nod. “Listen.”

“Listening. You know I’m listening.” 

“It- I mean, just for fun, right, nobody gets hurt, it’s fine, everything is fine? It’s for funsies.” 

“For funsies,” Kravitz echoes. 

“It would be soooo funny if we got engaged right before Lup’s wedding.” 

“Yeah?” Kravitz hears the ocean in his ears. Maybe he got a seashell stuck in there. You know how he is, always getting seashells in places. 

“Yeah! Yeah. Just as a fun prank, and for no other reason. There’s no way this could backfire.”

“Uhuh,” Kravitz says. “It- It would be easy, even. People say we act like a couple all the time. Haha.” Hopefully Taako doesn’t notice that Kravitz said ha-ha instead of laughing. It’s probably fine. Totally regular, even. He’s? Normal. 

“Absolutely.” There’s a manic look in Taako’s eyes, and Kravitz could lose himself in them like a stupid little boat in the Bermuda Triangle. Geometry never was his strong suit, and this current is pulling him under. How many times in his life has he gotten involved with something stupid because of Taako? Not to mention all of the stupid ideas Taako’s encouraged him to follow through on. 

God, is that why he minored in trombone? 

He’s so fucked. There’s no way this is ending well. There’s no way they walk out of this unscathed. 

“It would be funny,” he admits. 

“So funny.” Taako nods enthusiastically, like this is the greatest idea he’s ever had in his life. Fuck all those other bargain bin ideas, this is their ticket to the limelight. Fake dating. 

Fake engagement, even.  

Kravitz’s hand grips the upholstery of the couch, not even a full inch away from Taako’s hand. 

“Why not?”

[feuerwizard]

do you have any unpopular opinions about caleb?

to clarify: no one in the rpc is guilty of what i am about to explain, more of the general c/ritical r/ole fandom as a whole!

i wouldn't say this is an unpopular opinion necessarily as much as i do find it a bit frustrating that the c/ritical r/ole fandom as a whole sometimes tends to overlook or ignore what a bad person early campaign caleb really was. they sort of just simplify him to sad quirky boy who likes cats and by the end, he's less sad quirky boy who likes cats.

a bit of caleb meta under the cut because i am obsessed with him.

this is not exclusive to the critical role fandom of course, but fandom, in general, can sometimes ignore a character arc starting from a less-than-ideal place if they have deemed that particular character as a favorite boy who can do no wrong. this absolutely happens in discussions surrounding caleb and his character arc because he ends up in such a positive (or positive for him) place by the end of the campaign. it's very easy to ignore the low if you can choose instead to focus on the high.

as a writer, this is something i feel very passionate about not doing. caleb is such an interesting character to me because of where he came from and the growth he overcomes throughout his character arc. is caleb as bad as trent? absolutely not, but he was still a pretty shitty person and extremely single-minded in his pursuits. even if his motivations were noble (saving his parents from himself) i think we have seen from a lot of popular media that even the best of villains start from noble pursuits. not saying caleb is a villain, not at all, but you get my point. he was clearly struggling with his worst instincts and it's his friends that caused him to start looking inwards.

don't believe me? ask liam o'brien!

i've been watching a lot of old liam interviews where he talks about early campaign caleb and this one stood out to me as the most direct example of the demons caleb was fighting with every day and how he sometimes allowed them to win. when asked why caleb chose to do the blood pact with fjord, this is what he said.

“…he saw fjord become tempted by power and in that moment, he’s very much like trent, the man who molded him, saw a split second in time where he [fjord] had hunger in his eyes and thought that it could be molded or bent for caleb’s use. and thought, I could take a risk here….and use him and pull a favor out of this.” 

this is very crappy and manipulative behavior towards a friend! liam then follows it up by expressing how guilty caleb felt over it due to his increasing care of the nein.

"caleb was disgusted with himself at that moment...i think that he was a product of his schooling in that moment. and part of him was like 'yes' but most of him went you fucking piece of filth. look at you."

was caleb, as a child, a victim of abuse grooming? absolutely. did this mold caleb into someone not super great? also yes. both things can be true and it doesn't minimize the abuse that caleb suffered. he's a product of his environment and that's what makes his growth so powerful. love saves people. he is genuinely changed by the friends in his life who chose to look past his mistakes and the man that trent molded him into and instead saw him for the person he could choose to be now. caleb is extremely kind and painstakingly earnest. he just needed the right people in his life to allow that to come out again. to allow the softness.

when caleb is talking to essek in the infamous forehead kiss scene, he is not talking just talking about the mistakes he made as a young teenager in killing his family, but he is also referring to the person he was when he met the nein. that is the fool in caleb's mind. not a manipulated child bren. he sees a lot of himself in essek because i think he sees how easily he could have become essek if not for the nein. and also why essek's redemption is so meaningful to him. if essek can do it, maybe he can too.

trauma doesn't define either of them.

i feel so passionate about this because i think caleb's character arc is genuinely one of the most powerful explorations of trauma and healing i've ever seen in a fictional property and overlooking the person he was at the beginning is a disservice to how far he comes by the end. the genuinely good person he grows into becoming.

"pain doesn’t make people. it’s love that makes people. the pain is inconsequential. it’s love that saves them."

[spicyicymeloncat]

Hey ngl I am not enjoying the discourse about Misako and Garmadon and who’s the sad puppy dog oh so owo traumatised little flower parent and who’s absolutely down right evil rot in hell forever leaking fuming bag of toxic waste parent.

…

I asked my boyfriend if I should post this and he said I should write a conclusion. And I’m thinking about this. What’s my actual opinion on them? Who’s the better parent? Who’s the worst? Has Lloyd ever a good parental figure ever?? IS THERE ANY DECENT PARENTAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THIS SHOW (jk Ed Edna and Cyrus Borg y’all are doing great).

And yknow I hate the Misako vs Garmadon bc it feels like some of you act like the only reason people hate Misako is because they just hate to see a woman on the screen. But like. No. I disagree. I mean not totally, some people do let misogyny affect their opinions on things. But like, it’s almost as bad to act like the horrendously awful writing of Misako as a character just didn’t happen. It’s horrendous BECAUSE of misogyny (and the fact that the show is not written well in a lot of places anyways).

Misako spends a whole fuckin lot of of her time in the show in the most sexist era of Ninjago, and then doesn’t really get much development after that. Her memorable moments are literally coming back after having no contact with Lloyd, flirting with Wu a lot, being Lloyd’s mother, being a researcher, flirting with Garmadon and like being his wife, getting kidnapped a few times, the letter, and uhhh being a little sassy? As I was saying this I realised I could probably list every detail we get on her in the show. It’s that little. And can we agree, I’m not saying she’s evil and should have chosen to be well written. I’m saying she’s clearly a badly written character mostly used to prop up other characters arcs, and that’s the fault of the writers. Like you can justify some of what she did but it’s not presented in that way bc the writers don’t put in the time to make her compelling.

So why the hell are we comparing “might as well replace her with a trophy for a poetry competition” Misako with characters who were less neglected by the writers. And why are we surprised when people don’t like her compared to a character who the writers put more effort into telling a more compelling redemption, a character who we get on screen for a whole season during his time as a reformed villain, a character who we see spending time with Lloyd much more than Misako. In comparison Misako spends a lot of her scenes holding hands with Wu, hanging out with Wu, like where’s the mother son bonding road trip?? We don’t get a season where Misako tags along with the protagonists and I wish we did but we do get that with Garmadon (twice) and it’s s3 and 4 and she spends those seasons with Wu (and like Wusako is not popular bc their relationship was framed as romantically inclined and she was still living and presented as married with Garmadon at the time so likeeee)

I’m not saying Misako is a worst parent, I’m saying her relationship with her son is not as fun or as enjoyable and that’s why people don’t like her as much. Not necessarily because everyone is a misogynist. But because not everyone is about to reconstruct a Misako with good writing just to enjoy her more.

Have we considered that liking Misako is a spectrum, almost because the writers gave us nothing for her and we’re all just filling the blanks. Some people are projecting hard. Some people are projecting their abandonment issues onto Lloyd. Some people are projecting the struggle of parenthood onto Misako. Some people didn’t think at all about her. Some people only like her out of spite of how annoying it is to only see Misako haters. Some people only like her because she’s one of the scarce female characters of the show and it’s fucking rough. I wish there were more people who liked women as characters tho. Like tbh it still kinda feels like we’re still stuck with the same single archetype for how we see women. Sexy badasses who snark and kiss other women. Tbh I feel like most of the fandom just projects onto characters and that’s why Ninjago discourse feels so vicious bc people are fighting for their lives that they have stitched into their image of their favourite Lego and I’m getting very off topic what was I talking about??

Uhh anyways I like Misako and I hate Misako I feel like all her haters and her stans and the show writers and the myself are wrong about her in some way. I think I’m tired of the debate of whether she’s a good mum, we should be talking about what her favourite food is and it’s probably soup she probably puts it into a flask to take on her work adventures I DONT REMEMBER WHY I STARTED WRITING OH WAIT IT WAS THE GARMISAKO PARENTLYMPICS.

Neither Garmadon and Misako are better than each other. I’m gonna blow your minds rn but write this down if you care about traumatic parent child relationships (so like if you’re gonna write an angsty Lloyd fic). But when your grow up in an abusive household, there’s a high likelihood your parents aren’t clones of each other but instead bad in different ways.

(Tw: I traumadump to you about my not great parents. Skip past the italics)

One of my parents is emotionally unstable and immature and yet more in touch with me emotionally, my other parent is neglectful and has unsatisfiable expectations of me and yet she doesn’t verbally abuse me.

One isn’t worse than the other and worrying about who is worse often ends up minimising the damage the other causes. Why does one have to be worse when it’s more accurate to describe the experience as “they’re bad in their own way”. The “who is worse” debate is definitely something people from broken households ask themselves and I think we can definitely explore Lloyd’s character in terms of that, but there’s no actual answer. You can’t put a number on trauma and I personally don’t think we should be trying to. Goodbye black and white thinking, hello to messy and complicated, as most bad parental relationships are.

I don’t think Misako and Garmadon are great or justified in what they did, and I don’t think they were terrible or that Lloyd shouldn’t have forgiven them either. I wish we got more development for both of them (Misako more tho bc the writers are bitches) and I wish people didn’t ignore either her characterisation as a loving character as well as her characterisation as a once distant one (and then hinge their opinion of Garmadon as a comparison.).

Idk. Idk what this post was I’ve just always been annoyed at other people in the Misako fight club, some people get way too one way about her, like some of y’all get mean about her I think. I opened tiktok once just to feel like the anger was warranted. Idk she’s not my favourite character and I feel like that’s not allowed bc people act like the only way you could hate her is because you’re sexist and I disagree. But I like her as a character that I can get mad at and then forgive. She’s so interesting. She’s not evil she’s complicated I like having complicated feelings about her. That’s the most compelling part of her in my opinion. I’m a Misako hater and a Misako enjoyer and I’ve thought too much about her and that has to count for something

Now. No one is allowed to read one line of this post and then act like I’m taking away freedom of speech or that I hate women or take a fraction of this and get overly angry. This is due to the fact that this is my opinion. The penalty for doing this is that I take your tumblr profile pic and photoshop it into a garbage bin and I will show it to my boyfriend and we will laugh.

There are so many different points in this post and like it feels like this could be five separate posts but oh well. Send post.

[codenamesazanka]

All Might, who’s been sort of AFO’s counterpart for most of the series - his childhood flashback/backstory is so lovingly portrayed. Smiles and laughter, a picture book, a mom - his mom who had put aside her work so she can play with her kid, likely because he ran up to her and asked and she indulged him. Toshinori was so, so adored and cherished here, it's obvious to see, even if his family later died. This loving scene is the start of a path that lead to him wanting to be a Hero.

Meanwhile, we turn 180 degree to look at AFO. and you really can’t say anything about his childhood flashbacks/backstory other than “well, no wonder he turned out fucked”. which is not a new concept for the series, where we see again and again harsh, unsupportive enivornments (esp. ones that people are not saved from) contributes to them lashing out and going villain. I think this environment would count as one of them.

Except apparently we’re 100% not supposed to see this as part of that pattern? No, AFO was already bad before all of this, when he started out as a parasitic fetus. Everything that's framed here about AFO's story pointedly tells us not to sympathize - in fact, AFO is sorta responsible for his own condition, because he killed his mom by draining her life force, because he was conceived an arrogant baby, he was born believing the world belongs to him.

(Which personally I think sorta falls flat to declare when this baby literally has absolutely nothing in the world but his mom’s corpse and a little brother. The 'incarnation of greed' works when AFO grows up and does have wealth and power and five hundred orphan-minions and then still wants more; but for a newborn experiencing extreme deprivation, it's strange to say. Again, though, that doesn't apply here, because AFO sorta did this to himself in the womb. That he is on the streets during the meta-abilities apocalyse, looks to be portrayed as something he deserves, or at the very least the direct consequences of his actions. his unborn baby actions.)

idk. seeing these two backstories side-by-side makes me sad. One kid gets love; the other gets chewed on by rats five minutes after he was born (But Don't Worry Too Much Because He Has Only Himself To Blame).

(Oh, but what about Yoichi? The twin brother who was there in the womb with his parasite twin, there with the rats and the dead mom? He turned out good. He experienced the same extreme deprivation, in addition to abuse from his older brother, but he ended up good and kind and just. So Yoichi is not only a refutation to any excuses that AFO might get due to Awful Childhood, he sorta gives AFO negative sympathy points.

But I think that only works if they both started out similar and one rose above their shit situation, and the other, say, took the easy way out by succumbing to his worst instincts, then there's something there. Here, I don't think these aspects of Yoichi's character makes AFO's portrayal any less bizarre. I don't think it can, when the twins are 'basically normal kid' and 'Parasitic Fetal Incarnation of Evil Greed'.)

[lunar-years]

everyone has different interpretations of scenes, but for real that scene with jamie and roy was just plain sexist. roy seriously said "i don't know if we're getting back together because she's a woman and you never know". like what the absolute fuck was that line? they showed up to her house condescending, completely unapologetic about their behaviour, and treated her like a trophy prize. she deserved to beat them up. jamie and roy have always been troubled characters, but they were never (not even in season one) sexist assholes. the show went out of its way multiple times to establish that even when they made mistakes it was due to personal insecurity and not misogyny.

and whenever it was something misogynistic, it was heavily criticised as such, which, in this episode, it was not. a lot of people did seriously not catch the blatant sexism of it at all and went "that's how these men act" (again, what the fuck?). jamie spent season three being respectful of roy and keeley's breakup and not making a move on her, out of consideration of roy's feelings. roy, who knows how abusive jamie's father is, probably better than any other male character on the show, physically assaulted him. despite the fact that throughout the season roy has been approaching jamie with affection, realizing that's what he needs to feel secure (complete disrespect to 2x08 too, one of the best episodes of the series). and while we're on the topic of violence, roy and jamie were never this violent with each other, even when they hated each other's guts. jamie, who gave keeley a truly heartfelt apology about the leaked video, making a point to not victim-blame or engage in literally ANY other sexist behaviour, just brings it up to upset roy in a dick-measuring contest. and one episode ago, one fucking episode ago, they were all getting along, keeley and roy were obviously trying to get back together, and jamie wasn't one bit bothered by it. they were holding hands on his bed and he saw them and smiled! regardless of whether you think the roykeeley arc was rushed (i do), jamie might have been heartbroken or sad, but he wasn't, not once, established as jealous of them. and this entire season was devoted to roy and jamie becoming friends by slowly growing comfortable around each other and actually trusting each other. every single one of those things was thrown into the trash. and yeah, sure, progress isn't linear and perfection isn't possible for people, but that WAS NOT regression. roy and jamie were never sexist dicks. those were two completely different characters.

ALSO, this scene normalizes the idea that it's perfectly forgivable to revert back to sexism whenever emotionally distressed, even if you are generally not like that in your life. it's not. in reality, you're either sexist or you're not, and doing this in one scenario will absolutely mean that you will be sexist in different scenarios too. nobody in real life will be sexist in some areas of their life and feminist in others. implying that this isn't the case shows a very poor understanding of feminist theory and ted lasso has more or less done a good job at not being sexist. i feel like this really excuses unacceptable behaviour that the show itself tells us, with rupert particularly, has very real consequences that perpetuate violence against women. to me, the light-hearted resolution of that whole scene was terrible and poorly written at best. people in the writers' room typed that scene, read through it, and did not find it weird at all. though it's not the first time in the third season, see: forgiving jamie's dad and far-right bigots (???).

and lastly, when people were asking for a love triangle resolution, they meant something fitting for the year of our lord 2023. healthy communication and conversations, mutual respect and love between the charactets, maybe even polyamory (3x11 had a great ot3 set up, too). nobody meant we wanted something from the fucking 1950s. literally the only worse way this could have played out would have been if keeley ended up with the one that caused the other more damage. legit disgraceful ending for roy and jamie as characters, and for the show as well. considering everything it has stood for so far.

(i'm sorry if this reads like i'm calling people out, i'm not, really, i'm just very mad. and also really sad, because i did not go into the ted lasso finale expecting unaddressed sexism. like that was Really Very Bad. for this show especially).

woahhh there's a lot going on here, anon. For anyone wondering, I'm assuming this is a response to this post of mine. While I don't mind discussion or being called out... this does feel like something that could've very well been your own post or an open response to mine instead of an anon note. Because if you've read my meta, you'll probably already know I'm not going to agree with you on this.

Just gonna drop a few short thoughts because I don't have energy to write a think piece when my broader thoughts are already contained in my original post:

I'm not sure where you think I was trying to excuse their words or pretending they weren't being sexist or like they weren't treating Keeley as a weapon in their own games or a prize to be won. I think there's a difference between excusing someone's actions versus trying to understand where they were coming from for the characters and where they are at now.

"while we're on the topic of violence, roy and jamie were never this violent with each other, even when they hated each other's guts" Roy & Jamie were literally beating each other up in the locker room and brawling right out there on the pitch in season 1, anon.

"Keeley and Roy were obviously trying to get back together, and Jamie wasn't one bit bothered by it." this is just not true. Roy was trying to get back together with Keeley. Keeley wasn't shown to be reciprocal (beyond sleeping with him, which is a repeated pattern of behavior for her on the show, and something she in fact did with Jamie in season one), and Roy misinterprets it, as Jamie misinterpreted it. In fact, I'd argue Roy deciding it was a good idea to try and make him and Keeley happen right there in Jamie's bedroom with Jamie crying to his mum one room over, shows he wasn't thinking about Jamie, not when it comes to Keeley. Roy wants what Roy wants and he assumed he was going to get it. And Jamie went through a whole journey of expressions when he opened that bedroom door, so I don't think it's fair to say he "wasn't one bit bothered." I think we've established at this point Roy and Jamie both love Keeley and have always been weird and jealous about it with the other.

"this scene normalizes the idea that it's perfectly forgivable to revert back to sexism whenever emotionally distressed" this scene didn't normalize anything, because the show immediately acknowledged that Jamie and Roy were both in the wrong and had Keeley rightfully kick them to the curb for it. The narrative was not that this is okay or acceptable behavior. I definitely didn't see the scene as light-hearted

"nobody in real life will be sexist in some areas of their life and feminist in others." i am a woman who considers herself very much a feminist. That doesn't mean I've never had moments of internalized misogyny or made harmful comments that buy into a patriarchal narrative, despite myself. Well-intentioned people make mistakes. We are all works in prog-mess trying to get through life as the best people we can be. Jamie and Roy, in my opinion, are fictional iterations of the same principle. I don't think this comes even close to destroying their entire characters in the way you are implying.

All the best x

[0rinthered]

I am so passionate about Orin, like no it isn't fair she doesn't ever get the chance and Durge doesn't help her or care after the fact. Ironically what Orin did saved everyone and got Durge freedom if they chose it. The fact that all you can really do is insult her or call her stupid besides the "you've been abused and used option" which is a high roll to even convince her is so sad. I don't like mocking her knowing the whole context and why she's doing what she is. It's not a choice really. It feels wrong to me. She's a victim of so much abuse and grooming from all these awful men. I mean Saravok is a creepy ass misogynist who r worded Orin's sister/mom and people mock her about that in way that's really messed up.

The only person who even seems to show a bit of empathy or at least understanding of her is Minthara when she is a big victim of her. Orin punishes people because she's punished by Bhaal, I saw people post the dev notes the tragic context they should have made clear in the game. That she would have even tried to resist Bhaal before and when she did she got killed for it. In a fucked up way Minthara is the closest thing to showing her "love" or at least care, like I know it's not love but just someone like not being horrible to her or looking down on her for existing. She even says they had similar situations and upbringings so you save her that kind of fate. She said she saw herself reflected in Orin broken too. Sad about all the content they didn't give us because I know they said they wanted more Orin/Minthara stuff but I think ti deserved more than a few lines.

Orin's father is literally a child r*pist and apparently has a line where he says he likes her the same way he does her mom? LIKE WTF? and wants her to make babies with durge? I don't know if it is confirmed if he assaulted her or not but he obviously would if he wanted. He shows a lot of hate like he didn't effect what happened if he's mad about what Orin did to Durge. Felt so horrible killing her in the scene after you tell her the truth because she's totally a slave in body then too. It broke my heart. I don't like that they didn't make her background more of the forefront and just let people see her as this crazy one unless you think about her or find tidbits. She felt like a throwaway to me when she's so tragic and she's just mocked and hated by everyone. I hate abused children/women being painted as "crazy psychos" to make fun of. She's severely mentally ill. Ketheric is not a more sympathetic character, he chose to do all he did. Gortash is given more dignity and choice than her. I think Ketheric and his performance are overrated honestly, he just got more screentime and got to be more fleshed out so they say he's better. That's why people go "orin is just an unhinged boring murderhobo" SHE AND AZULA DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER

Yeah it's pretty frustrating - a lot is implied with her but man you really have to look for it, which a lot of people don't bother to do. Orin in my opinion is the most interesting of the three.

I know the general opinion seems to sway to Ketheric, and I really like him, but I think it's pretty ah... shallow? For lack of a better word. Maybe surface level? Like it's very straight forward in my opinion, which doesn't mean it's any less than Orin or Gortash but I think it's easier to absorb if that makes sense?

Whereas with both Orin and Gortash you really need to sniff around, Orin especially. Minthara is the companion she is attached to, as Gortash is Karlach (While it seems like the only connection Ketheric has to the camp is Shadowheart, but that's through Dame Aylin and Isobel strangely enough. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. But he has an entire act to himself so...). But with Minthara, she is so so so easy to miss and thoughtlessly slaughter (ironically enough) so that's a whole bunch of Orin content absolutely nuked off of the bat.

So I suppose the bizarre pacing is to blame for Orin and Gortash kinda farting around, and Orin not being treated fairly compared to how the fandom treats durge. Again, quite "fitting" I guess. Orin doesn't get that privilege of pity and a chance at life whereas Durge gets two chances. The first being actually having a life outside of the temple, and the second being the tadpole. Why? Idk.

I don't even want a redemption for Orin. I think the choice should be there, and I think the choice should be made by her. Only her.

My ideal world would be Orin can escape, stay (what we currently have), or escape in her own little Orin way. To elaborate on that... I think Orin should be able to continue slaughtering people, but I think she should do it for herself. Not for Bhaal, not for the temple. But because SHE wants to. I do however think the ""novelty"" of that for her would vanish pretty quickly once there's no unholy purpose to it, but that's just part of the growth I guess. So she rejects Bhaal, and skitters away into the shadows. She isn't going to have a character arc in like a week and dye her hair white - despite Shadowheart and Orin's similarities - I unfortunately think it'll take a lot lot lot longer and might never happen.

Still, the main point is that she has a choice, something she has been devoid of her entire life. What she chooses to do with that is up to her and that's the beauty of it.

I could go on and on and on about it and how she should actually be given lots of choices but that would just be me rambling even more than I already am LMFAO

Anyway, Orin I love you pookie boobookeys, remember that there's more to life than pleasing someone who never seems to want to please you.

[gunkreads]

I sacked the fuck up and watched episode 1 of season 2.

Honestly? It's pretty good. I do agree with the incredibly well-considered and thorough commentary about how incredibly stupid it is to have Nynaeve train with a sword, not to mention how incongruous that scene felt within the show's canon and how pace-breaking it was, but besides that, it was honestly nice! Everyone and everything look(s) great. Acting is stellar as usual.

I definitely had an easier time forgetting to track book divergences than I did in S1, so the complete abandonment of canon was totally chill this time.

That said, there are a couple quick things:

Biggest gripe right up front, and one that is either going to sound INCREDIBLY stupid or VERY salient depending on what your priorities are when reading the books: the fights are too cool. I say this as a huge fan of wuxia, martial arts, and western action movies: I want less visually impressive fights. Jordan was the absolute reigning king of "violence is bad and stupid and scary and incredibly, incredibly uncool". It's a major part of why I like his writing--not only that I like that he sees things that way, but that it means he inverts a lot of tropes by completely disconnecting glory from violence. The show doesn't have that misgiving. The show very much says "stand here and watch this fight." To its immense credit, the show makes the fights very tense, knock-down-drag-out mud fights, leaning on the fear aspect, which is as much as I should hope for in a media landscape that really, really demands cool shit. I still want less effort to be put into making the fights elegantly choreographed and more effort into making them chaotic and scary. No, I don't know how to do that. Yes, I'm making up problems here. Yes, I'm griping "oh the show isn't made exactly the way I want it in my head." However: yes, I think that the portrayal of violence in any Wheel of Time adaptation is an incredibly important litmus test for me to know if the people adapting it have similar priorities to me.

S2E1 has several dialogue lines about how quiet Lan is, which feels very self-contradictory with how chatty he was in S1. Maybe that's still a comparison to book canon, but he was fairly open and talkative in S1, so if they're trying to course-correct that in S2, it's being done in the form of a very light retcon. Which is... fine, whatever, just a little weird.

Perrin's letter threw me off a lot, actually. I couldn't tell how much, if at all, it'd been censored by the Tower, but regardless, the prose in it felt very weird coming from such a physical character who doesn't seem to express much interest in writing or reading. He's read most of the same books as Rand (the Two Rivers' resident literature nerd), yeah, but that's book canon, so show-canon Perrin's written voice being that highfalutin--for lack of a better word--felt off.

Elyas was interesting. Fusing him and Hurin is understandable, but a little sad, if only because I like Hurin and his minor role in the story. It's fine, though. I liked Elyas' thousand-yard-stare--that was a wonderful acting decision. He felt simultaneously calm and jumpy in a very fun and interesting wild-man way.

The lantern scene would've been, in my opinion, a much better (if cliched) place to end the episode.

The one point of book divergence that did kind of catch me, though, was the fight between Lan and the Myrddraal. It felt like two things happened there: one, Myrddral got way easier to kill (mechanically and logistically, cut off their heads and they die style); and two, Lan got way worse at killing them. It's a really weird gripe, since the two functionally cancel each other out, so pay it little mind.

But yeah I had a good time.

[azsazz]

MM Feedback Shared

(for those who wanted me to share the MM feedback, here we are!)

Thank you to everyone who shared feedback with me, really great stuff in here that I've taken notes and and will work to incorporate in the future edits of MM! 💙💙

Anon Feedback 1: MM feedback here☺️ it feel rude to me to like give you feedback because who am I but i sending one in because I love you and want to read a book from you😍 My absolute favourite scenes are the ones in the gallery, it’s so fucking beautiful and a perfect turning point in the story. Another thing that I think someone already mentioned, I think there needs to be like more scene of Azriel with case and Rhys so it can like build his character more and we can connect to him even more than we did! Love you!! Thank you for giving us place for giving you feedback and not like getting mad about it ❤️

Not rude at all! Especially because I asked for feedback! YES, LOVE LOVE LOVE the gallery scene, will def be keeping that around for the book and maybe brushing it up a little. I agree, more friendship things with Rhys and Cass, got it! Thank you for the feedback!! 💙

Anon Feedback 2: Following Midnight Muse feedback First of all I just wanted to say that I loved the series with my whole heart, I probably read every chapter less than five minutes after it’s release and ATE it up every single time. The only thing that felt somewhat off to me was the pacing, especially toward the end of the series. You did such a good job of making them dislike each other that it felt like they got together a bit too quickly and worked out all their issues a little too perfectly. I feel like for the final product I would have reader and Az apologize to each other a little earlier on the grounds of doing better for their friends. Maybe even have someone from the friend group make a bigger deal of the strain this war, about what in the grand scheme of things is not a big deal, is doing to their friendship as a whole. Similar to what Rhys did with Az. After that I would have things like the ride home scene little moments of them trying their best to find a common ground. Have them, begrudgingly, realize that they actually do kind of enjoy each other’s presence. After a tentative peace is managed THEN have them go to the gallery etc etc. You could even put in some healthy arguments, two people who were constantly at each others throats for months won’t suddenly agree on everything immediately just because they like each other, if you would like i personally would’ve liked to have seen them argue and then be like “we need to step away and rehash this calmer”. Also this is a side note, I would’ve liked to have seen Az actually give reader the tattoo. I liked the choice to have it at the end but personally I was waiting for it all series and was a bit sad we didn’t get to read about it but maybe that was just me. Ik once it’s a book you’ll have more time to further flesh out things, and I truly did LOVE reading along. You’re a fantastic writer and I hope this doesn’t come across as overly critical bc that is not my intent. Looking forward to what this project will become ❤️

Good call, I will def work on the pacing. I think I felt a bit rushed and also I was like like how do I write them together when all I know is to write them disliking each other 😅 that was definitely tough for me so i will work on that! Everything you said is such great feedback, thank you so so much for sending me your thoughts! I'm excited to work on it some more and hopefully put out a great piece of work!

Anon Feedback 3: I think if you're looking to publish MM, it needs more of a plot - and I don't mean that in a bad way. I just feel like there weren't really any stakes besides the main characters getting together. You had interesting ideas, like introducing the father as a potential problem, but that didn't really go anywhrre. You could really dig into your MMC overcoming his trauma, however that looks in a published version, and the FMC overcoming her insecurity - which was kind of hinted at but never explored and when it was resolved, I felt like it didn't really...matter much. Like it wasn't relevant as much to the plot? I would encourage you to explore more, dig deeper, figure out a problem or two for them to overcome. As fanfic, I really liked it, for whatever that's worth.

I totally agree with you. I mentioned her imposter syndrome but it was definitely something backseat to their relationship. Will def be fixing that and brining in their family dynamics as well. Thanks!

Anon Feedback 4: ahh it’s my first time sending one of these i’m nervous😬😬(response to this) but OH MY GOD i ADOREDDD midnight muse, i very rarely read series when i read on here but i honestly used to refresh your blog nearly every day looking forward to new chapters your writing is honestly amazing, if you go ahead with this and release it as a book im going to end up with about 10 copies honestly😭😭🤍– it’s very very hard to think of criticisms of this series because of how much i honestly adored it, but if it had to have any id ask for maybe more detail regarding azriel’s family and what exactly happened with his dad buying the apartments, and everyone’s reactions to that. i honestly think you should ofc do what you love with it, judging by the fact you’re making it into a book and also as a reader, i feel like you can really tell that it was something you enjoyed to write and i feel like that made it even more special to read ??? id love to see that come through in the book so please don’t make any changes that you’re not going to enjoy writing🤍🤍and also the whole few parts where he takes her to the art gallery and she sees all of his drawings was just so unbelievably perfect i’d love it if you could keep that the same – overall it was an AMAZING read, if midnight muse has one fan it is me if it has none i am dead, if you turn this into a book i just know it would be so special i hope this was helpful and thank you for being an amazing author !!!🤍🤍🤍

First of all, thank you so so much for the support! It was so much fun and I was with the rest of you, anticipating the next part as if I wasn't the one writing it lol. Yeah, I thought of his dad being a more of a problem later on and it definitely shows, so I will be working on that more during the rewrite process. very excited to explore their personal lives more! This was very helpful, thank you so much for sending me feedback!! 💙

Anon Feedback 5: Hi! I loved Midnight Muse and started reading it when you first posted so my feedback might actually not be amazing for the earlier chapters but I defo agree with the father/az comment on your post and I'm sure your plan is to expand on Cassian/Lucien's personal issues but that would be welcomed as well I think!! Also - and this is a very personal note, but maybe you could make the Az/Reader storyline extend a bit (maybe utilising the father storyline to make it go up and down again) I always love reading about characters' romances after they get together properly as I'm a sucker for an established relationship fic (which is why I like to read fan fictions when books end too soon for my liking😂) Regardless - even if you made zero changes the book would be amazing because I genuinely really loved it!

For sure for az's family relationships, those will be flsuhed out and explored more. For cass and luc I was trying to allude/create anticipation for their own stories because in my ideal world it would be a four book series haha ("az," "rhys," "cass," and then "luc"), but i can definitely work on those more, give them better structure and not keep everything super secret for them! Ugh, i know, i could've written so much more for them too, so obsessed with this. thank you for the feedback, i really appreciate it!

Anon Feedback 6: With the midnight muse feedback personally I found their relationship a bit faked if that makes sense? I feel like he just asked her out and then suddenly it was like they knew eachother forever. Almost like you were rushing their relationship? At points I was like mate you don’t know eachother but other than that it was pretty good and I loved it!

Yeah, this is for sure good feedback to have. their relationship really did do a 180 in the span of a chapter, so i will work on them gradually finding middle ground and then having their feelings come across more natural! Thank you!!

Thank you so much to everyone who sent feedback!! I really appreciate you all so much!! 💙💙

[bells-of-black-sunday]

Okay S.ilent H.ill 2 remake beat—

I only died the 2nd time, because the games framerate issues rlly do be turning the final boss into a slide show sometimes and I didn't go into menus fast enough.

Anyway thoughts below—

Tl;dr: Not a bad remake, plenty of positives to point out, but there's certain design decisions that I think are really unnecessary and putting the focus on the game on combat when S.ilent H.ill as a series has always been more of a walking simulator feels not great™

Honestly I don't care that this is going to make it seem like I'm sad the sexual content is gone, because I really am. To me P.yramid H.ead is like the X.enomorph, sexuality is so important to him as a figure and monster that you cannot separate the two without it being something completely different. Sexuality in general is important to many core narrative themes and symbolism within S.ilent H.ill 2 and J.ames's guilt revolving around his wife, to remove those feels so cheap and just a move to keep T.witter from whining more than it did when the game was announced.

J.ames's objectification of his wife and treating her like an object he lost and has to retrieve is directly mirrored by how P.yramid H.ead uses and discards feminine creatures as he sees fit. Those scenes where he's fucking the mannequins and throwing them away like they mean nothing + making the lying figure give him head? Yeah, B.loober I know this might be shocking, but they're meant to make your uncomfortable. They're meant to be a direct reflection of J.ames's sexual frustration towards his dying wife, but amplified. It's why the two kill themselves when James realizes he doesn't need Maria anymore. It's why M.aria looks like younger more openly sexual version of his dead wife that he actively lusts after.

That's not even counting how they also toned down the sexual undertones in some of Maria's dialogue and made her less abusive, it makes her comment about how women are often the victims of unjust cruelty throughout history very vapid and unearned. They don't even show her getting stabbed. They imply it several times. That is part of the point of her statement is that she is a female figure who keeps dying over and over again for the simple fact that J.ames made her to get over his wife. That's not even counting it absolutely ruins the iconic imagery that is the dual P.yramid H.ead fight and M.aria getting stabbed when she gets trapped outside the elevator.

I'm really scratching my head over what was the purpose behind those design decisions? I really cannot fathom why they'd be so against showing one of the core themes of S.ilent H.ill 2.

Getting into combat though— Look. I enjoy the combat system. I really do. That being said, I fucking hate that you can't run past most enemies anymore. I hate that most of the enemies just become extremely annoying over time and make it not enjoyable to explore any tight corridors and look for collectibles. The mannequins not tripping your radio, because they lie in ambush was fun the first couple times, but going through an entire building where there's one in practically every room and often times around corners where you can't even see them until they're already attacking? Yeah I hate that.

Often times while playing this remake it felt like I was playing R.esident E.vil with how much combat I was forced to engage in. Don't get me wrong there are astutely times where you can just run past, but those are few and far between. Not even counting the absolute item bloat. I should not be leaving a boss with over 100 pistol ammo, 14 shot gun shells and 8 rifle rounds, 28 small health items and 10 large health items, but that was literally every boss. They'd load you up on everything especially in the over world where you can now break car windows to get items.

The combat is easy, I'm sure it's harder on harder difficulties, but the way they changed some of the boss mechanics were again just annoying. Why'd they make the a.bstract d.addy boss a fucking maze chase for most of it? I don't know, but it sure is annoying. Speaking of that boss that really lost any sense of subtly in it and it genuinely felt like B.loober just wanted to make a l.ayer of f.ear game again. We did not need the tvs yelling insults at you and spelling out everything about A.ngela's abuse.

That's a lot of what this game is missing from the first, subtly. It's like they don't trust their players to get it so they spell it out for you. No more obvious than how they changed the final boss dialogue. Instead of M.aria yelling at you for still getting her mixed up with M.ary and J.ames having his speech that way. No no, she has to pretend to be M.ary so she can say she can be better than her and be everything he needs then he can go on that speech which in my own opinion really robs a lot of M.aria of her character.

Gee it's almost like the entire symbolism of M.aria constantly verbally abusing J.ames is because he thinks he deserves it for what he's done and him standing up for himself helps complete his character arc. He can finally let the guilt go and accept what he did, he doesn't need her anymore. Again it's just design decisions I'm absolutely baffled by and while don't ruin the game for me, absolutely make it inferior story wise to the original for me.

All the negatives being said and before this turns into an essay, I'll shoot out the positives: The voice acting while definitely better, still captures that same stilted awkwardness of the original often dripping into uncanny especially with E.ddie and A.ngela, the combat is 10x better and feels way better, the game is absolutely beautiful, P.yramid H.ead got his ass back, the world building through objects is great, the smudges on the map from J.ames wiping away things is a really fun touch, and it's genuinely really fun to play and lose yourself in despite my gripes.

[tranquilitybasehotelcasino]

saw IV third rewatch thoughts

- this movie is entertaining but nowhere near good enough to deserve how well it’s edited. the practical scene transitions alone are award worthy and for THIS

- art blank looks like sad owen wilson

- literally criminal that the guy who played rigg was only billed FIFTH. lyriq bent you carried this film

- scalper chair girl is crazy hot

- i think i said this somewhere before but i appreciate that perez and strahm are less good cop/bad cop and more like vaguely empathetic cop/rabid hunting dog

- betsy russell is also so absolutely comically attractive she literally makes scott patterson (who is on the good side of average) look worse by comparison. the interrogation bits are crazy like get away from her you beast. also i think his eyelashes are longer than hers

- hoffman’s new york accent is CRAZY in this movie i don’t think he ever sounds quite this brooklyn again

- not to be like “jigsaw was right” in any capacity but the rapist guy in the motel room trap deserved it

- i wish jill tuck was my auntie

- can we talk about apprentice perez please mac i’ve been dying to talk about apprentice perez with you all day

- literal seven out of ten chance costas mandylor has lip fillers

- i loooove all the weird silly obvious anatomical/surgical aspects there are to some of the traps. sewing up those guys’ eyes and mouth, the spikes through the vital points with that married couple. they had dr. gordon’s ass working overtime with these

- donnie wahlberg does possibly the best job any member of the new kids on the block could have done playing a pathetic wet rat

- oh so they can have a scene with the billy puppet being small on a chair looking like he would perfectly fit in your lap but when i say “i think billy is lap-sized” everybody loses their minds. i don’t care if it’s forced perspective perez gets right up next to him and he’s literally the size of like a toddler

- speaking of perez there is no way her ass is dying from that puppet explosion. like i get that she didn’t ACTUALLY die but she was clearly in danger of it and they had strahm believing it even though there is no fucking wayyyy a couple pieces of shrapnel in her forehead could have killed her unless that weird dust was some kind of poison or something and not just plaster

- the version i watched unfortunately did cut the bit where strahm pulls a gun in the interrogation room and mimes shooting himself in the head with it

- i never caught that john got in his car accident on the WAY HOME from being diagnosed with cancer…. i kinda get it now

- the implication that john designed the glass coffin for jill makes me genuinely crazy

- i don’t even care about the reveal of hoffman as the accomplice the twist at the end where it’s revealed that it was all happening concurrently with saw III is the most insane part of this movie i remember the first time i saw it i literally stood up out of my seat going WHAT THE FUCKKKKK

- in conclusion