#i think y'all have an idea what i mean by running a storyline

[transingthoseformers]

I have a MIGHTY NEED to tell you a storyline I've been running since i picked this fic up but:

It's an "Oppy stayed Orion after the Orion arc: regardless if he got his memories back or not" scenario, naturally, as it's inspired by this fic. But. Let's say there was a character who was barely working with the autobots, perhaps because they have a soft spot for the tfp kids or they just hate the Decepticons that much, and this character had major conflict with Optimus. Like straight up heavily disliked him and getting them to work with him was like pulling bear teeth. Now, I'm suggesting said character one day was on base for some plan and was fully prepared to be salty as hell the entire time— but found Orion in his place. This character who at this point was notorious for constantly prepared to verbally and physically throw down with Optimus? Yeah they were wayyyyy more willing to work with Orion, as their beef was not with Ori. This ally goes from doing the absolute bare minimum because some of their goals aligned with the bots suddenly was giving a hundred and ten in effortful cooperation. Helping raid Decepticon mines, finding artifacts, helping repair stuff, and more. A major advantage the autobots wouldn't have had before, because they had Orion rather than Optimus.

[ebonysplendor]

The Science of Staying Awake Review 👁️

TL;DR: Sleep is often for the weak, but having, what is likely but claims not to be, a hallucination being violently in love with you is something that is not for the weak. Apparently, it's not for the living either...

Game Link: https://viscereye.itch.io/the-science-of-staying-awake

Notable Features: Gender Neutral MC, Unnamed MC (referred as "You"), Yandere LI, Choice-heavy storyline Spiciness: 0/5 -- Not exactly wholesome because violence but no option to buss it open so no spice LI Red Flags: 1.7/5 -- Physically abusive, Crosses boundaries...other than that, he be's a touch starved boi who just wants cuddles

Wanna know more? Well, let's get into it!

Before I say anything, I just want you to read this:

Let me tell you, I had no idea how accurate that description was until I played it. That is a damned accurate description, and quite frankly, the only way to describe the experience that this was.

Anyways, I had ran across it when going through my game files, and I was like "Oh yeah! This game exists!" and decided to write a review on this one. I played this game many moons ago, and frankly, I don't see many people talking about or referencing this one; I honestly feel like more people should know about it, because there is a game to be played here. I mean, how many people are actually going to run across this review, I have no idea, but shit, hopefully it'll get a few extra downloads, because as "cheesy" as it may look, this was actually a pretty damn good game!

Honestly (and respectfully) speaking, you know how you look at a game, and you're like "This is probably going to be bad, but I'm curious"? From looking at the backgrounds they used, the description itself, and how they described the game as "cheesy" and a "creepypasta fanfic", I honestly thought this was supposed to be one of those "intentionally bad but funny as hell" games for jokes, but...yeah, no. If it was meant to be that way, I didn't get that at all.

I'll explain more in the actual review portion, but I'm going to go ahead and cut to the chase. As always, I give you the disclaimer that -- and those that have been vibing with me since the start of all of this already know -- I'm going to tell you as much as possible about the game without ruining the game itself.

Just as a side note, I think I do say that verbatim every time I write a review -- between that, "so boom", and the whole "drink water, don't be dumb" thing lol. I might switch it up one day, but that's honestly how I talk in real life. Like, can you not tell that I type the way that I speak? I mean, if it was something for college or work or something, yeah, I'm going to code switch, obvi, but for stuff like this? I'm pretty much talkin' to y'all like y'all are the squad because...well, y'all are lol.

Anyways! Enough chitchat, let's get summarizing.

So, boom (lmao ya see?).

We're in class, and we're tired as fook. Like, it's not even that "Damn, this class is boring" type of tired; it's that "I deadass haven't slept in 2 days, and I'm starting to hear colors and see sounds" type of tired. That "Ayo, why does this hard ass desk feel mad comfortable all of a sudden" type of tired. That plain and simple "a bitch is TIDE not tired" type of tired. Anyways, we recognize this as a current problem, and we know that we've gotta do something about it. Expeditiously. So, we hit up the vending machine, get something to wake us up a little, and then head on home.

When I say that it took everything to get up those stairs and to our bedroom...listen.

Like, as soon as we got through the door, we dropped that backpack to the floor, and we dive -- you hear me, dive -- into that bed. Now, with the way that we were feeling, dreamland should've been immediate. To be real with you, we were probably asleep by the time we were mid-air, but like, when we landed, we landed on something, and this something -- or rather someone -- goes "Ow". Like huuuuuuuh?

Again: Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuh? Fuck you mean, "Ow?" Like who the hell is yooooooooou?!

No, like, we literally ask who he -- ...it? --- is, because clearly, he was not here when we left, let alone just chilling in our bed, but he's just super casual about it, like, "Oh! I'm Vance!". Like, oh, right, Vance; that suddenly makes this whole situation totally normal and nothing to worry about -- as if that were even slightly true.

Here's the thing though, oddly enough, it actually is kind've true. See, we're not scared of him as a...whatever he is, but something about him is just...not right; something is very clearly off. Like, when he had introduced himself, he had shook our hand, and we immediately got this mad intense feeling of dread that we couldn't describe, and something about it just kind've made us feel like we were, quite literally, spiraling into insanity.

Naturally, we pull ourselves away from him and step back -- that spiraling feeling and anxiety is instantly gone. As you've probably guessed, it didn't take us long to put together that it's not good for this "Vance" creature to be too close in proximity, let alone anywhere near us.

He kind've picks up on this, and he's adamant that he's not going to hurt us. Still, we try to explain to him that, while we're not really threatened by him, we get this weirdly intense feeling whenever he's nearby, and he essentially needs to stay a little more than an arm's length away at all times; frankly, the further away, the better. Well...

He didn't take that well, and now, we feel threatened by him.

I hadn't mentioned this before, but Vance was already pretty upset that we wouldn't really let him come near us, let alone cuddle with him, but now he's extra pissed because we're essentially rejecting him altogether, even though he's, quite literally, driving us insane.

So, now that he's like this, we've got to get the hell out of there because, now, we aren't sure if he's still on the whole "I'm not going to hurt you" energy like before. That being said, we completely bolt, and he's like "Nah, bring that ass here, boi". Panic. Big panic time.

So, we do. We run off, but it does no good, because he finds us.

Granted, he doesn't know exactly where we are, but it doesn't matter because we're completely cornered. What are we going to do?

Well, let me rephrase that I know what I'm going to do; better yet, I know what I did. Now you guys on the other hand? Lol, I'll guess you'll have to play it for yourself to see what y'all are going to do.

I had honestly forgotten how good this game was until I had replayed it to grab some screenshots and to get a refresher on what actually went down. I'm not even kidding about that. My love for the game had literally re-sparked, and I can't believe that I forgot how good it was. If you've read my past reviews, you know that I mentioned at one point that I become an absolute slut for a choice-heavy game -- this is a choice heavy game and a damned good one. Speaking of choice-heavy...

Just to get off topic very slightly, you know what was crazy? When I went to replay it, apparently, I had done something different than when I had first played though the game and lmaoooooo, do you know that I had ended up finding THREE more endings? Wanna know something even crazier? One of them was a secret ending that I didn't even realize that I had gotten to!

Now mind you (lol you know the story is about to get a lil' spicy when that's said)! I had already unlocked like...if I remember right, like, 14 endings at this point, so when I found these other endings -- again, by total accident because, at this point, damn the review! I'm legit replaying the game for me, now -- I was now sitting at a grand total of 17 endings. So, now, I'm like "Ayo, what the hell?". Like, my mind is blown, because I was so sure that I had found all of the endings and completed the game. Remember, I hadn't touched or thought about this game in literal months because I was that confident that I had finished it. So, it's like, how many endings are there if I'm still managing to find more?

Naturally, I sprint to the dev's game page to conduct research on this burning question, and I am reading everything that there is to offer, but there was nothing. No "hey, this game has x amount of endings", no walkthrough map, no nothing. Did that stop me, though? Nah, because surely someone had experienced something similar to what I just had and was also like "Damn, how many endings are there...?". Lmaooooo well, I was right. You know what the answer is?

19. There are nineteen endings in this game.

I already knew the answer, but I go back to count the amount of endings that I have; there's 17. I dig into the game files for some more hints, and I find two icons (you'll know what I mean when you play it) that I've never seen before. Oh, okay. So, it's confirmed, but let me make sure that I've got the details straight:

Are you seriously telling me that, not only had I incorrectly assumed that I had all of the endings and finished the game because I had gotten all of the achievements, but the fact that I found three other endings -- again, by accident! -- doesn't even matter because I'm still missing two more because there's NINETEEN ENDINGS total?!

Wild. Chaotic even, and you're damn right that I'm here for it all. I LOVE that there are so many endings. I love even more that I have other endings to look for because I'm totally in love with this game all over again. Even though, lol, it was the deadpan, nonchalant "19" from the dev for me. The dev said "I said what I said, and what about it?". We love to see it.

Anyways, I'm a huge advocate for this game. If you've got some time, definitely give it a try. I highly recommended, and Vance is a pretty sweet dude, if you can find that side of him, I mean. Also, just for a very light spoiler but not really, the real ending was so sweet to me. Like something about it, it just...I don't know. It was just a warm feeling that washed over me when I had read it, and I was just like "That was actually really cute?" Bittersweet, even. Like, ugh, I am honestly really pushing for more people to play this game. It was genuinely so good, and I hope that the dev comes out with more visual novels. I truly forgot how in love with this game I was until I replayed it. This has, highkey, been a great experience.

Anywho, it's time that I stop my rambling and end it here. If you'd like to give this game a go for yourself and discover all 🌟nineteen🌟 endings -- which I highly recommend that you do -- a link to the game is at the very bottom of this post as well as at the very top. Hell, I'll even put the link right here so you can get to it quicker. If you're feeling extra motivated, visit the dev's page and post a comment telling them how great of a job they did and give them that extra validation to let them know "Hey! You're pretty good at what you do! You should keep doing the thing!". I didn't see where you could donate to them, but assuming I just missed it, remember that monetary validation is always helpful as well.

That's all from me though! Drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around~!

The Science of Staying Awake

[qprstobin]

"there's no evidence that tommy and carol bullied anyone" so publicly humiliating nancy by spray painting nancy the slut wheeler on the hawk sign was just what. because steve implied that was their idea and they did it. you don't just go from never bullying anyone to doing some real diabolical shit like that so. sure steve never bullied anyone but you're reaching trying to extend that to tommy especially. don't forget how easily he got chummy with the racist the following season and joined in gleefully bullying steve

I'm not excusing the graffiti, but I don't think spray painting the slut graffiti as revenge because they (wrongly) thought Nancy cheated on Steve makes it bullying lmao. Bullying is repeated and targeted. One instance is not bullying. I also think "diabolical" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Like what they did was cruel, but diabolical? Graffiti and spreading rumors is like the most typical "get revenge on your/your friend's shitty ex" thing you could do, they just did it in public instead of like the school bathroom. Public shaming for cheating is SUCH a common trope, like do you know how often I see that "WELCOME HOME CHEATER" meme? I'm not saying that makes it right, because it doesn't! But it also doesn't make them evil?

Like I never said that Tommy and Carol are nice lol. They're asshole teenagers! That's canon! Steve calls them out on that and breaks ties with them because of it! But being a dick teenager does not make you a bully, all teenagers are dicks lol.

I also think interpreting Tommy's scenes with Billy as that is in bad faith personally. Homeboy is in like two scenes with Billy - one where Tommy is clearly trying to make Steve jealous, and the other where he is making fun of Steve for his gf once again supposedly cheating on him. The gf that Steve dumped his friends for, after she supposedly cheated on him the first time.

And yeah Billy is racist but y'all are acting like? Everyone in the show should automatically know that? How? The racist shit Billy says on screen is mainly to Max, and later in the show where he actually attacks Lucas. There's a good chance that Steve didn't even realize that Billy's attack on the kids was racially motivated until after the fact.

Considering that Billy literally doesn't interact with anyone but his coworkers and Karen in s3, and the fact that Tommy does not actually seem to like violence that much or at least seems to have a limit! Considering how he reacted to the fight in s1 (going from "hell yeah a fight to oh fuck shit is serious"), I don't think Tommy stayed friends with Billy after season 2 lmao. Like idk I did not get the impression that Billy had any friends in s3.

You're accusing me of reaching but saying stuff like "no one goes from never bullying anyone to something that diabolical" isn't? My whole point has always been that he may be a dick, but there's nothing to show him being anything other than a stereotypical class clown type douchebag lol. The Party's fucking bullies threatened them at knife point. Billy bashes a plate over Steve's head and tries to run the kids off the fucking road with his car. The Angela storyline was so extreme that it was unrealistic and is almost an universally hated part of the season. Tommy makes some mean comments, gives Barb a wet willy, and then rubs it in his ex best friend's face that someone has taken his place and that his gf is cheating on him. Like, the graffiti was bad and Nancy should've probably slapped all three of them not just Steve, but it was a petty and misguided revenge scheme, not bullying.

I think if Tommy was intended to be an actual bully the way fandom pretends he is, we would've seen more of it on screen. If Tommy and Carol were so cruel to the whole school, Robin and Eddie would've said something about it? But they don't! The Duffers are SO blatant about how they go about things, I think if they were truly meant to be bullies, they would've been way more obvious about it lmao.

Like, think what you want! If you wanna headcanon them as being an actual bullies, that's your prerogative. But it's not actually canon.

[likeshipsonthesea]

I love your recent posts about Eddie and Shannon and their relationship. I just don’t see how the show can address any of that with the way they’ve written this arc. There’s no one who can criticise Eddie’s feelings of ‘she was the love of my life, I’m broken without her’ except us the audience. There are no characters who saw their relationship as it actually was, so how can the show steer Eddie in that direction? I feel like they’re gonna leave it as she’s his Great Dead Love and that’s that

i see what you mean, and tbh i'm not sure what the show is going to do with this arc on-screen. they have a bunch of storylines to tie up in this finale episode (here's hoping we don't get any cliffhangers 🤞) and i don't know how much time they will have to devote to eddie, or even what they want to do with that time. it's possible they have a completely different perspective on this and will take it a whole other way, but i have faith that the show will tell the story they want to tell and, if the past six seasons are any indication, i will enjoy that story

all that being said, if we're talking dream arc, this is what i would want

as far as who can tell eddie "hey, you're looking at your marriage with rose-colored glasses, this is how it actually is," i've got two ideas for this. one is eddie himself, and the second is his parents, specifically helena, who has been rumored to be in the s7 finale. i'm kinda more excited about the second, so let's get the first one out of the way

eddie himself - hopefully after the clusterfuck that is explaining to his son that he's been seeing a dead ringer for his dead mom and she cosplayed as mommy to give eddie closure, eddie will talk about this in therapy, and through the skills he's learned and a frank discussion (pun intended) he will be forced to confront the reality of his marriage and start to address the trauma he has from everything with shannon

p cut and dry, my typical eddie-goes-to-therapy kinda story. we've all been here before.

now, for the good stuff 😈 (putting this under a read-more bc i have Thoughts)

helena. the diaz mother we all know and have complicated feelings over. or not-so-complicated feelings over, given the "don't drag [chris] down with you" line. i know i keep asking y'all to think of things from the white woman's perspective, but bear with me just one moment while i do this again

helena married into a large mexican family in the 80s. she had a mother in law whose cooking was renowned, a husband always away on business, and three children to bring up along with keeping her home together. given how everyone in their family seemed to treat shannon, i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume there were some heavy expectations on helena to be the wife everyone thought ramon deserved, and i'm gonna assume that meant a lot of tradition--cooking the right things, doing the holidays the right way, teaching the kids the right values, etc. etc.

i think it was hard. i think helena didn't always meet the expectations put on her. i know it was played as a joke, but during ramon's retirement party, eddie and pepa were concerned that helena was cooking a specific dish (i can't remember which one atm) until abuela assured them she was in charge of it. meaning this is probably a running joke, helena not cooking things as well as she ought to.

also, raising three kids with a physically absent husband in a town that (i'm assuming) is full of in-laws seems hard to me, too. (if this is sounding familiar, yes i'm about to make a shannon comparison just gimme another second). the stories we hear about eddie as a kid are yes, reflections of traditional masculinity and eddie falling short of that, but also reflections on his parenting--how could helena let her son try to cook? that should be her job, she should be watching him! how could she let him try to drive at 8? tsk tsk and all that

i think helena has become a part of the diaz family fully, but i don't think it was always easy, and i think when her son married a white woman who didn't fit the expectations of a diaz wife either, helena recognized that. i think helena saw herself in shannon so clearly.

and instead of breaking the cycle and offering shannon that support and empathy that shannon (and young helena) needed, helena enforced those expectations even harsher. helena did it, so shannon had to, too.

maybe it was out of protection--she wanted shannon to fit into the family the way helena had learned to. maybe it was common generational sentiment, i.e. it's the Right way or it's the way I did it so therefore you have to do it that way, too. maybe it was a means of reinforcing her own place in the family, as she was no longer the newbie, shannon was.

whatever it was, i don't think she was conscious of it, and especially after shannon left her son, helena refused to acknowledge she was anything like shannon at all.

until now.

(yes i've found my way back to the point, i usually do i promise--and yes my adhd meds are THRIVING rn)

both helena's husband and son have done a lot of emotional work in the recent years and i think it's likely she would take a queue from them (and if her daughters are anything like me, i'm sure they're trying to nudge her towards a therapist at every turn). helena very well may be in a place where she can acknowledge how the expectations she's lived under may have been stifling, and given her son's recent encounter with kim, she very well may be in a place to acknowledge how similar shannon was to her.

and that's where, dear anon, your point comes in.

because helena was there for shannon and eddie's entire marriage. ramon was working, eddie was in the war, abuela and pepa were in la, but helena was right down the street (idk if she was actually right down the street but you know what i mean). helena knew shannon as an 18-20yo woman, as a new mother, as a struggling mother. she was in the unique position of watching shannon go through a marriage alone and remembering exactly how that felt.

kim may look like shannon, but she has no idea how shannon felt during her marriage. eddie can say all the things he wants to say, but it's like talking to a gravestone. i think helena can say the things eddie needs to hear, even if he may not want to hear them.

....and now i really wanna write that conversation. fuck.

[bl00dha1l]

i put up that poll and then it didn’t help at ALL.

i’m gonna write this out so i can get my thoughts together because twilight is literally ALL about Bella & Edward, like that’s the story, so changing anything that has to do with either of them DRASTICALLY, and i mean DRASTICALLY, changes literally EVERYTHING.

so here’s what i have in my head,,,,,

If I picked Carlisle:

Where does Esme go? Does she even exist?

Am I now the mother figure for the Cullens? (naurrrrr)

Bella & Edward happening? Because. I think I'd get grey hairs.

If I picked Edward:

Definitely would do a self-insert. This is the absolute easiest way to script this DR, because nothing about the story would change, I would be Bella.

That being said, I know myself as a person and I don't believe I'd care enough about Edward to fucking lose it and go catatonic for 3 months. Though, I very thoroughly understand why this happened to Ms. Swan, so, after having trauma bonded with Edward over the whole ballet studio thing, Idk, something similar may happen to me.

Likewise, I don't know if I'd care enough about Edward to fly to Italy and run up all those hills, let alone run through a fountain in my jeans & keds. Like just die dude I'm good. There are little to no lengths I would go to for a man, and wet squishy socks is absolutely NAWT one of them.

Jacob would pmo so so bad. That phone call thing in New Moon would have me so mf TIGHTTTTTTTTT. And I wouldn't even be able to beat his ass.

All this being said girl, I clearly do not like these fools like that and Bella is much much nicer than I am. But when I shift there, I know most of these things would be different, and I'd care quite a bit more about Edward since we'd be falling in love and stuff.

That phone call still gon' have me tight asf.

If I picked Vampire Bella:

Y'all's fave

gay!!!

No but fr, this would fuck the story all the way UP. Literally wtf, how do I do this.

I considered just being a Cullen sibling and self-inserting as Edward. The storyline would still change a lot because, I don't think like Edward and would never do half the things he did...Namely deserting Bella and immediately trying to kms the second ONE GUY who don't like me made me think she was dead. Please, I'd read way farther into it than that.

Turning her is a weird thing, I don't know what my feelings would be about that. I think I'd let her turn in the ballet studio? I don't know, you don't just turn somebody, and especially in the first book and movie, I don't think Bella fully understands the permanence of it either. For us to have known each other for 3 months, only dating for a few weeks, when she first asks me to turn her, at prom?!?!?!? nuh-uh honey...pls give me a year at least.

If not scripted this way, then LITERALLY HOW. I have zero ideas on how to cross paths with a vampire Bella Swan without her being with Edward.

Anyway I know you didn't read all that, but if you did, HERE"S ANOTHER POLL!!!!!!

[getvalentined]

Y'know actually while I'm here I want to add, y'all need to get comfortable being wrong. Because I think that's the main issue here? It sucks to be wrong about something, especially something you love, and it definitely feels better to shove that feeling off onto some amorphous distant creator rather than accept that someone you like misled you as to what is and isn't canon, you missed or misunderstood something, or that your interpretation of a character or storyline that you really love isn't actually accurate at all. It probably feels better go to "Well the writing is bad so it's unclear, which makes me right because I'm improving on bad writing."

You need to be okay being wrong about things. You need to be okay with the things you "know" about a work of fiction not being accurate to that work of fiction.

So you like the fanon interpretation better than the dramatically different canon—who cares? It's not how I work, but there's nothing morally wrong with that mindset at all. So you never got a chance to watch or play or read the work in question, because you didn't have access or it wasn't accessible to you or you tried and just didn't enjoy it—I ask again, who cares?

So you missed something, or you straight up didn't understand something, or you don't have the knowledge base to grasp a key element of the story in the way the creator intended—that's...fine? That means you can come back to it later and experience it all over again, and maybe your interpretation will change, and maybe you'll decide you actually still prefer the idea you had when you misunderstood what was happening, or maybe you still won't get it. That's fine. You are allowed to feel that way. There is nothing wrong with feeling that way or behaving that way.

So you have a very personally important concept of a given aspect of that work of fiction, and that concept is entirely contradicted by what actually happened in-canon—this is literally what alternate universes are for! Ask yourself "Okay, but what if he didn't do that?" and run with it! There's nothing wrong with that!

The fact is that the way you engage with a piece of fiction has nothing to do with whether or not you are morally correct, only with whether or not you are lore compliant. And a lot of people have a huge problem with the idea of not being lore compliant, so they declare the writing is just so bad that their interpretation is objectively correct anyway.

And that is where folks need to learn to let themselves be wrong.

I'm saying this as someone who found out this year that a decades-old assumption about when a given event took place, which I helped to proliferate through my main fandom, was off by over 15 years in-universe. I'm saying this as someone who found out last month that the color palette of a specific character, of which I was the first English-speaking fan to post art online 20 years ago, was completely different from what I'd thought.

This isn't something that was contradicted between titles, mind you. This isn't something that has been talked about in official meta in a way that outright contradicts the actual source material, this isn't something that is disproven by the source material's own lore, which cannot be true based on decades of in-universe information. In cases like that, by all means dig in your heels and say "I understand the meta says both X and Z, but the actual series says Y, and it says Y repeatedly, and the only way the source material actually works is if the canon is Y, so I'm sticking with Y." That's bad writing! That's where you go "nah, not doing that."

But the vast majority of the time, that isn't what's happening. The lore is clear, or recently clarified, and it's not retconned or contradicted or even particularly vague—but it doesn't cater to the preference or understanding of a given fan or a group of fans, so they declare that the writing itself is to blame and they're actually still correct.

In my case, as in most cases, it's not the source material's fault that I misunderstood the cues I was given and reached an incorrect conclusion. It's not because the art was bad or the writing was weak, it's because I didn't have access to the sources necessary to keep me from making these incorrect assumptions and continuing to adhere to them for more than half my current life.

And I was wrong. I've been wrong before, I'll be wrong again, I'm okay with that. I think fandom as a whole would be a much more comfortable place if more people learned to be okay with that.

I mean this in the kindest, gentlest way possible, but y'all need to stop saying things are "bad writing" when the real issue is:

You never actually engaged directly with the source material, only with fandom,

You didn't understand the source material when you did engage with it, either because you didn't experience it in full or because you expect to be spoonfed every major story beat in the simplest and plainest way possible, and/or

The source material doesn't match your personal concept for a given character, plotline or event.

Just because it goes against what fandom told you doesn't make it bad writing. Just because you didn't understand it, whatever the reason, doesn't make it bad writing. Just because it doesn't match with the vision you have in your head of what something that you did not create "should" be doesn't make it bad writing.

Sometimes it is bad writing! That happens all the time! But I'm seeing the "bad writing" excuse thrown about with increasing frequency, most often by people who never actually directly engaged with the source material they're critiquing, people who didn't understand a bit of symbolism or literally misunderstood a line of dialogue, people who insist that a character behaving differently from the way they want them to behave is inherently wrong.

None of those things are bad writing.

Your interpretations are your own, but don't blame the creators of something you claim to love for your inability and/or refusal to engage with that thing in good faith. By all means, reject their reality and substitute your own—but don't assert that you did it because it's bad writing when the real issue is that you just didn't know, didn't understand, or didn't like it.

[harpersplay]

Genuine non-troll white woman here - you wrote "So I already knew that Good Girls was a white feminism phantasmagoria...But, jesus fucking christ, y'all are just showing your true colours lately. The way you talk about a MOC in relation to a white woman is disgusting." Not asking you to call out specific people or posts or start any kind of flame war but what would be a general example of what you are talking about? I follow a good chunk of people and I'm not seeing this maybe b/c I'm not following the same people, maybe out of willful blindness, maybe I'm not recognizing it - again, b/c of ignorance, etc. Just trying to understand what you mean - and not do it obviously, if I am doing it.

I apologise for taking a longish time to answer this. Honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted to get into it. Anyway, I'd first like to say that this is all my opinion. What bothers me might not bother someone else. BIPOC are not a monolith. Even subsections aren't. Not all Mexican trans men are a monolith. Neither are all Japanese lesbians. You get the idea. And that's not even including people like Ben Carson or Caitlyn Jenner—people who support and work for policies that actively harm the marginalised group of which they are a part. Secondly, I know this isn't your intention, but asking POC to tell you what is ok to do and what is not is a slippery slope to "my [blank] friend said this was ok." Finally, the fandom is quite small so it is pretty hard to give general examples. I don't know if it's more trouble to quote specific posts or not, because some will think it is about them anyway. Anything I'm going to mention I've seen on Tumblr, Instagram, Reddit and/or Twitter. But there are definitely popular Tumblr blogs that all push the same narrative. Oh, and one last thing, I haven't seen any of what I'm referring to from people I follow.

Ok, let's go. For a very long time, mainly WOC have pointed out the racial problems within the show and the extremely dismissive attitude about those problems from mainly white women. And while these same women have written thousands (even tens of thousands) or words about Beth (it's always Beth) and her struggles and the amazingness of such a complex female character (ymmv), they brush aside commentary about racism as either nitpicking, not understanding the show is about the 3 women (tell that to all the white men with fleshed-out storylines), or misogyny. The last is especially hostile because they are often talking over Black women and misogynoir is a very real fucking thing that couples the fun of being hated for being a woman with the delight of good old-fashioned racism. They espouse the idea that people having a problem with Beth are all covert & overt misogynists. But talk out the other side of their mouths that they can't possibly be racist even when they support racism in the show or ignore concerns brought up by fans of colour. And that is just the absolute height of hypocrisy. Because by the former they acknowledge that people in a marginalised group (women) can still be anti- that group (a phenomenon with which I agree). But in the latter, suddenly they don't understand that concept.

Specific to the post you are responding to, fans that purport to like Brio write about the relationship in ways that reveal how much of their enjoyment comes from Rio being inferior to Beth. It's all about what he can do for her, how he acts against his best interests for her, how he literally denies himself sexual pleasure for her. Those are all meant to show how in love he is with her. But the show never bothers to tell us why. And, no, this is not because the show is so deep. Other romantic relationships they have scenes that are explicit about the characters' feelings. But Rio, after being shot, after being betrayed, after being mocked, is just so in love with Beth....because. (MYSTERIOUS!) And the Beth stans are more than fine with this because they think everyone should be as obsessed with Beth as they are. But it's bad storytelling. And, in this particular case, it gets into very dicey racist tropes. A white women treating her Latino lover like an afterthought is not the same as a white women treating her white lover like an afterthought. It just isn't. And if some of these fans are as smart as they pretend to be, they know that. They just don't care. Much like the showrunners.

There was so much talk defending the drawn-out Boland marriage because why can't we understand how hard it is for Beth—who is, at various times, claimed to be emotionally abused by Dean or staying with him because it is safe and comfortable—and we don't appreciate how difficult it is for her (I may be one of the few divorced people talking about this show on Tumblr, so this has always made me laugh). Yet there was nothing but glee when Rio flipped on his brousin (who was written as both abusive and safe) for Beth. Where was the empathy for Rio and how hard it was for him? Especially because, unlike Beth, he didn't even have one parent? Hadn't the Beth stans used her very tragical history™️ to explain away her every shitty act? idk, not having any parents and going to jail (as a minor?) and being betrayed by your family seems pretty tragic. But I didn't see them all of a sudden excusing Rio's bad behaviour. Because, feminism or something?

What about Beth's feelings? Last season she spent trying to have him killed. This season she spent looking annoyed by him. Throughout both she talked down to him in a specific white woman way that every BIPOC has experienced, even if some of them are cool with it. There were multiple opportunites for Beth to talk about her feelings with Ruby and/or Annie, but the writers made the deliberate choice to always make it about sex (and god, the immature way they had these three grown women talk was fucking obnoxious). She spent the last 2 seasons also wanting him out of her life to the point that a majority of her actions in S4 were motivated by getting to Nevada with her husband and kids. Beth doesn't care about Rio but Rio needs to put Beth above everything because he's just so in love like he's never been before (which is blatant Marcus & Rhea erasure). And anyone who doesn't think Beth would have just as happily been sitting on that bench plotting how to "run the city" (hahahahaha!) with Nick if the situation worked out differently hasn't been paying attention.

So, what do we have? A white woman who is constantly excused (by the loudest portion of the fandom) for all her ill treatment to her Black BFF & her Black husband, her Asian coworker, her Latina "friend," and Rio (among others) because her life is hard and who is not required to even be nice to her supposed "endgame". And a MOC who is expected to accept being treated poorly by the white woman because he loves her.

And, a last thing, this attitude grossly crossed over into talk about real people when the fans—who self-righteously claimed to be above anon sources or talking about the actors—latched on to the narrative and enjoyed blaming the MOC actor for the cancellation of the show, even dragging his insignificant (in terms of influence) Black wife into it. All while conveniently ignoring that the creator/showrunner is a white woman. The star & producer is a white woman. The people making the decisions at NBCU & Netflix were white women. All white women with so much more power than the Latino actor.

Shit, did I answer your question? I know this is a lot. But I could honestly make mulitple posts on each issue I touched on here. Basically, white people ain't slick, be they content creators or fans. We see how & what y'all talk about. We see that Rio not having a last name is not a big deal to you and we know why that is. So we're fucking tired. And we're over a show that had so much potential crapping all over their POC characters to prop up a white woman. And we're repulsed by the white women in the fandom who use their tears to seem oppressed and who toss around the word misogynist because POC dare call a Karen a Karen.

[zigzagzoom94]

Hey! Do you like tabletop rpg actual-play shows that are equal parts audio drama and improv comedy? You should check out the criminally underrated DnD podcast 'Dice Funk'. It manages to combine the comfy vibe of good friends chilling out together cracking jokes with some legitimately interesting worldbuilding that examines existing DnD lore and conventions to put its own spin on them.

 Each season is a self-contained storyline with new characters so you can jump in at whichever one sounds interesting (you might get spoilered for some stuff 'cos the PCs have a tendency to make world-altering decisions that still have big repercussions, even with the substantial timeskips between seasons, but otherwise they limit any references to earlier seasons to non-essential easter eggs to keep things accessible).

 Personally I started with seasons 3 & 4 and they served as a good introduction to some recurring concepts like "the World of Forms".

 Below the Read More I'll break down each season so you can see what appeals to you:

Season 1, "Stoneroot": A noir-esque black comedy that follows a trio of varying levels of competence attempting to solve a simple missing person case that spirals wildly out of control.

 I kind of think of this as the 'Here There Be Gerblins' of the show since it's the only season with a different GM so it has a pretty different feel to the rest of the show and takes a bit longer to find its feet.

 Personal Highlight: One of the PCs rolls a 3 Intelligence, leading to a running segment where that player brings up monsters from the Monster Manual and asks the other players if they think it has a higher or lower Int than that PC.

 Season 2, "Lorelai": A more lighthearted romp in which a cast of interplanar travellers explore the world trying to figure out the cause of a catastrophic flood and put a stop to it. According to the creators this was conceived as a cross between 'Princess Bride' and 'LoZ: Wind Waker' but morphed into more of a "moist Undertale".

 Personal Highlight: The first time the GM has to portray a mysterious entity making deals with lower life forms he decides to portray them like a wheeling-and-dealing used-car salesman and it honestly made every scene they're in a delight.

 Season 3, "Ilium": The party are trapped in a strange city that people can enter but never leave, taking whatever jobs will make ends meet. Inspired by 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Twin Peaks', this series places a lot of emphasis on how the supernatural elements affect people's normal lives and uncovering the many dark secrets these characters hold.

 Personal Highlight: The GM wrote a custom "Wild Magic" table for the party sorcerer with some absolutely buckwild shit on it. I was on the edge of my seat every time it was rolled.

 Season 4, "Valentine": A cyberpunk urban fantasy with near-future technology levels in which the cast struggle to make ends meet while doing shady jobs for uncaring megacorporations. If your familiar with DnD, this season's based on 'Shadowrun'. Probably the season most explicitly about how capitalism sucks.

 Personal Highlight: One of the PCs is a wizard who uses yugioh-esque trading cards to cast their spells instead of a spellbook. I did not anticipate being so invested in their rivalry with not-Kaiba and neither did the player.

 Season 5, "Markov": If you love unlikely found families then this is the season for you! It's a space-faring sci-fi story in a galaxy reeling from war with the colonialist Mind Flayers, setting the stage for a lot of political turmoil. If you're familiar with DnD, this story's based on 'Spelljammer' and absolutely riffs off of a lot of the bizarre ideas that setting introduced.

 Personal Highlight: The Son Gun. I will not elaborate on what this means but you'll know when you get to it.

 Season 6, "Purgatory": The season opens on a group of mortals who have just been resurrected and tasked with taking up the mantle of the Furies; interplanar assassins who traverse the various afterlives dealing with whichever god-like entities threaten the balance of power between the planes. If you've played 'Planescape: Torment' or are familiar with the city of Sigil you know what to expect.

 I honestly think this might be the best individual season of 'Dice Funk'? Everyone's really firing on all cylinders.

 Personal Highlight: King Badass has my heart. Y'all can't claim to support himbos and then not be supporting my favourite dumbass bae.

Season 7, "Wormwood": After all the previous seasons deconstructed a lot of elements of classic DnD ("what's up with certain species automatically being evil?", "isn't delving into a dungeon to murder its inhabitants and steal their stuff kinda colonialistic and messed up?", "how would access to magic actually affect the way a society functions?", etc.) this seasons brings this all together by having the closest set-up to a conventional DnD adventure. The world is post-apocalyptic and draws a lot of elements from the 'Dark Sun' setting.

 Personal Highlight: Two of the PCs are a cult leader and his follower and I thought I knew exactly what direction that storyline was going...then it absolutely surprised me.

 Season 8, "Grendel": I can't comment on this one yet since it's only just started but so far it has had a very cosy, 'Animal Crossing'-like vibe with a focus on a small community, in contrast to previous seasons' much higher stakes.

[gay-jesus-probably]

I'm not saying I wound up binging Squid Game but I wound up binging Squid Game, and here's my spoiler filled thoughts on the show:

I know this is a hellish murder facility, but damn if they didn't go off on the aesthetics. Those stairs, god damn. And the giant bunk bed dorm was cool as hell! Also while the coffins made to look like presents are super fucked up, I can respect their dedication to being fucking creepy, given that the present coffins all just go right into incinerators.

not to be dramatic but i would die for jun-ho

not to be dramatic but i would die for ali

not to be dramatic but i would die for sae-byeok

not to be dramatic but i would die for ji-yeong

I love them all so much and yes I cried over them

I also fucking love Mi-Nyeo, she was a chaotic delight, and she probably had one of the most badass death scenes. Big respect.

I don't hate Sang-Woo, but I also don't really like him. Like... I kept seeing hints of him being a decent person, but it was always buried under him being a colossal douchebag. Like, he was straight up scared for Gi-Hun during the first game, and before/after the second I could see how guilty he felt about almost letting Gi-Hun die by his own inaction, but like. Still. He's just such a douche. And yes I am still fucking furious about what he did to Ali, although I can't entirely blame him for taking shitty actions to save his own life. Also why do y'all keep shipping Sang-Woo with Ali, I'd say Ali had way better chemistry with Gi-Hun.

Cycling back to the aesthetics, god fucking DAMN this show had some fantastic cinematography. Like, I kept having these weird mixed emotions because I'm watching people being horrifyingly murdered, but at the same time holy shit the camera angles and framing and all? Fucking flawless. My favourite shot was probably the first death in the dalgona game, and how the body went down the slide leaving a blood trail. That was disturbing, and absolutely perfect. The visuals in this show are incredible.

The only visuals I didn't like at all was the riot scene, but that was just because that god damn strobe light made it impossible for me to see anything, I have NO idea what went down in that scene. I know Sae-Byeok had her switchblade and then lost it, and I'm pretty sure Ali was wielding a giant bar near the end (which was awesome), but other than that, no idea. I liked the bunk beds being knocked over though, that was pretty cool.

Okay but seriously you don't understand, I love Jun-ho so much. I have no words to describe how incredible his storyline was, and how much I love him. Also I can very much relate to his constant living nightmare of not knowing what the fuck is going on and just desperately trying to blend in with the crowd and hope nobody notices. That's a big mood.

I refuse to believe Jun-Ho is dead. It's not confirmed, which means he's alive as far as I'm concerned. Yes, he got shot and went over a cliff, but we didn't literally see his corpse, and in this show if we don't see the body, they're still alive. Also if there's a second season, him and Gi-Hun are the only protagonists left alive, and Jun-Ho is the only one that's still connected to someone running the game (since old man mcmurder fuckface is dead now). And I think that's going to be relevant, since In-Ho seemed pretty upset about seemingly murdering his little brother; if Jun-Ho turns up alive, I don't think In-Ho's going to be able to take the shot again.

I want some god damn answers about In-Ho by the way, there's a lot going on there. I'm also a bit confused about the timeline for the brothers, because In-Ho being a calm and confident Front Man implies he's been doing it for awhile, but at the start he's only just gone missing, and he won the game five years ago plus has a probably well paying job there now, but he lives in a tiny one room dorm and struggles to pay rent... I feel like there was some confusion with the writers about when In-Ho went missing. Also him leaving the card sitting in his room makes sense in the context of a player being surprise kidnapped by the game, but much less sense for an employee knowingly leaving to work there. So I hope some of that gets cleared up if there's a second season.

I just realized I've talked about every major character except Gi-Hun FUCK okay yes I do like him too, even though he's sort of a deadbeat. I'm probably the only person on earth who thinks Gi-Hun made the right choice by deciding not to go visit his daughter at the end. I didn't see that as him abandoning her, I saw that as him deciding to let go of his own wish to be a part of her life. At the start of the show he didn't want her moving to America because he was scared she would forget him; at the end he decides that it's for the best if she can just forget about him. She's got two stable and loving parents, Gi-Hun would only ever be a sporadic presence in her life at best, and he's about to make a lot of powerful enemies. He knows damn well how much danger he's in by trying to stop the games. It'd be a shitty move to try and reconnect with his daughter now when he knows damn well he could be killed next week and just vanish without a trace. Not to mention possibly putting his daughter and ex-wife in danger for being associated with him. Refusing to get on that plane was the right call.

I just generally like Gi-Hun, I think he was a good protagonist. Although I did like Sae-Byeok more, I liked how Gi-Hun struggled between wanting to help others and wanting to survive. Also his actor was really good at shaking in terror, that was always great. And I like how his story was always tied in with Jun-Ho's (since I'd call Jun-Ho the secondary protagonist), despite the two of them only speaking twice (and Gi-Hun not knowing that Jun-Ho was the square talking to him after the riot). It was great, and I really hope there's a second season so that their two storylines can come back together again. Also on the subject of shipping, I'm kind of baffled nobody's really shipping Jun-Ho and Gi-Hun, the whole connected storylines thing is normally shipper catnip.

I kind of hate a large portion of the fandom, because y'all are disturbingly obsesed with writing reader-insert fanfics of you being a player having romantic tension with the masked guards (???), or just generally wanting to fuck the masked guards (????????), or drawing the masked guards being just a bunch of silly little guys enjoying their fun shenanigans (??????????). I mean, good for you if you like that stuff, but I don't think Squid Game is really the show for you if that's the kind of fandom experience you want. I'm especially baffled by the love of the guards as a whole, because while their situations do seem pretty fucked up, that doesn't really change the fact that the most development we see of any guards is that they're harvesting organs for the black market and fucking corpses. How the hell do you watch that and go "oh yeah they're just a bunch of silly little meow meows". And I fucking know it's 99% white people doing this shit, which really just adds to the uncomfortable implications here.

My biggest problem with the entire show is how the FUCK did they get the new ropes set up for tug of war??? There's no way the guards could physically reach to thread the rope through the hole in the guillotine. How did they do it??? We see them laying down the second rope after somehow getting it in place, but we never see how they got it across. THIS IS BOTHERING ME A LOT OKAY I HAVE QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERING, SQUID GAME.

also not having railings on the walkways for tug of war... actually makes sense, I mean yeah murder facility doesn't care about OSHA rules, but having the next team competing pass the winning team on their way seems like it's just asking for trouble. I was 100% expecting someone on Team Douchebag to do that classic asshole shouldercheck sideswipe and send someone over the edge. What the hell would they do then??? Reshuffle the teams??? Make the guy responsible for the fall compete twice??? Just force that team to play with only nine people??? It just seems like it'd be easier to let the winners leave before sending the second teams up, just to avoid that potential headache. Especially since that game came right after the staff had made it pretty clear that killing outside the games was totally cool. Seems like they were asking for trouble.

[acourtesanofedgewater]

Open Heart 3 Ch. 8 SPOILERS for Bryce/Raf/Jackie Stans

I know I'm one day late. Blame PB for releasing the scripts so late. Why they even did that? Idk. It's not like this chapter is good.

Oh, here we are again. Honestly guys? I'm pissed off lmao. And you will be too when you're done reading this. But enough talking, let's begin. Beware, spoilers below the cut

Let's start with Bryce

•He DOES make an appearance this chapter AND has a diamond scene. Should we celebrate? Nah. It seems the only options with characters who-are-not-Ethan in this book are not having appearances at all or having mediocre little plots when they do appear. He makes his cameo at the begging. He's in the lobby with a friend of his, who's sick and wants Bryce to operate on him but Bryce seems reluctant to do so because it's a dangerous surgery. Does it have anything to do with his failed surgery? We won't find out, because instead of his premium scene being about... idk, having a coffee while he tells us about the consequences of his mistakes (not only at work, but also mentally), it is about... visiting a Escape Room with him and his friend? Um, ok. Should I mention that Bryce's pal call MC his 'friend' twice? Yep, PB still refuses to acknowledge MC's relationship with Bryce, even though they've been together for two years and shared a tender moment when MC was about to die. When I was reading the scene, I was like "uuugh, let me guess? we get this corny funny scene and near the ending Bryce and MC find a hideout to make out". Turns out I was wrong lmao. I expect nothing and I'm still let down. They just share a little kiss I front of Bryce's friend when they are leaving the Escape Room. It is mentioned they all are gonna have dinner after this, but we don't get to see that because that would mean PB has to actually write interesting dialogue and develop Bryce and that's sacrilege.

Ok, Jackie's turn.

•She doesn't show up in this chapter. She's not even mentioned. Silly us, Jackie already had her crumbs of development last chapter, there's no need to give her more screentime this chapter lmao. Not when that screentime can be used developing Ethan.

And lastly, Raf.

•He turns up too, but it's a situation similar to Bryce's. He's rehabilitating a little boy who's sad because he will miss his birthday, so enter the bonus scene where MC has the idea of recruiting Sienna too and organizing a surprise party for the kid in the Pediatric Ward. It's actually a cute scene, and spending time with Sienna is always good, but that's the problem. The scene is about the little boy, zero Raf development or plot, and I even feel he wasn't even needed here. We know Sienna visits the PW every once in a while so they could've made her be the one who came to us with the little kid situation and everything would have turned out to be the same, except for some dialogues. Then, near the end, Raf and MC share some flirting words and a little kiss, but everything is in front of the kids, so it's over pretty quick.

And... that's it for our LIs. It sucks, but it's not the worst thing abour this chapter. I'm gonna leave some spoilers of the general plot here below so you can be as angry as me.

•MC confronts Ethan about the trial thing. You can choose to go soft on him or be outraged and point out he's a piece of shit. I recommend the second option. Anyway, if you end up agreeing with him about his decision, he says something like: "I knew you'd understand me, you care about these patients as much as I do" which, for me, given the fact he's older than MC and their boss (and being a victim of grooming myself by someone older than me and that was kinda in a position of power above me too) IS FUCKING GROOMING. If you had any doubts the lead of this book is a creep.

•Yadda yadda, we get Bryce and Raf's mediocre scenes, and back to the main plot, MC and Tobias have to diagnose a patient together. The patient is the most annoying character on this series, only below Ethan. Seriously, she's worse than that Nigel guy from Book 1 who called Bryce "Ken doll". Tobias is kinda shady with her (but... light and funny shady. He's never mean or anything) and we're supposed to be like "ugh, Tobias is the worst" but the patient is annoying so yeah, I loved Tobias' actitude.

•There were lots of Tobias moments this chapter, and he's honestly really nice. I hope we can keep him in Edenbrook. We could even kick Ethan's ass out in order to raise his salary❤.

•Ok, and now the cherry on top of a shitty chapter. Do y'all remember how we were afraid PB was gonna make Harper MC's rival? It seemed like they had dropped that plot and we were safe... but it turns out they haven't. Harper finds out our patient has cheated their way into the trial and while Tobias and MC are bonding in the DT' office, she comes in furious as hell, and starts blaming the MC and insulting them, assuming they're the one who did the trial thing. Harper' screams are so loud that Ramsey, who was in the hall, listens and comes in running. Harper explains what "MC" did and we have three options: blame Ethan, insist we're not guilty but not blame Ethan, and ignore the accusations. Either way, Harper keeps on with the accusations (she's even more enraged if you blame Ethan)

•Ethan lets her mop the floor with MC a bit more before stopping her and admitting he's the one who cheated. Harper is shocked and Ramsey HAS THE AUDACITY of angrily leave the office. He really thinks he's the one who should be outraged in this situation. He's the most childish character PB has ever created. (Props to Tobias for being the only decent character in this situation, asking Harper to calm down because she couldn't know for sure it MC was to blame in this situation).

•MC runs after him. And sure, irl I'd run after him too, but to confront him and complain about all the mess his shitty behavior has caused (or, how we say in my country, putearlo. I wanna clarify to my fellow Latinoamericans, "putear" has a different meaning in Ecuador than in the rest of Latam lmao for us is similar to "mandar a la verga" JAJSJAJAJSK). But no, MC fucking goes to see if he's alright. And cue to the most ridiculous scene in this series:

•Okay, I know we all made fun of the BDSM outfits when the assets came out, and yeah, they're cringey af, but I was curious to see how the story would develop towards these outfits. Everyone guessed they meant kinky time with out LIs. Wrong again. Ethan is so mad about... well, idk why he's so mad, he's just facing the consequences of his actions, but anyway, he needs to release that frustration and that's when we're offered the kinky outfit. Yep, the kinky scene is Ethan-exclusive. It was so fucking easy to include the other LIs in this. Bryce could be frustrated because he's not the same after his failed surgery, Jackie because she has to lead the interns and Jade keeps screwing up, and Raf... well, he should be mad because PB tried to kill him and then decided not to but kept sidelining him and can't even give him a decent storyline could be frustrated because it's exhausting to try to help the patients when they make little progress and become disappointed. PB just was lazy and didn't care.

•Don't ask me about the BDSM scene, nothing in this world will make me read a sex scene with Ethan. I kept scrolling until I was sure that abomination was over. Although I caught the word "safe word" somewhere there so... yeah.

•The next day after that heated discussion, MC enters the DT' office. Harper doesn't even offer an apology for treating MC like shit, she acts like nothing happened. MC notices there's this peace in the air and there's no whining, so they ask where's Ethan

•Turns out, Harper reported MC to their superiors when she thought it was them who messed up the trial and now Ethan had to turn himself in and is meeting with the board. Then, she blatantly admits that if she knew Ethan was the one who did it, she would have talked to him first. She says she regrets telling the board, although, as she doesn't offer MC an apology, it seems she only regrets getting Ethan in trouble, not her awful attitude. Tobias is named the new leader of the DT, and that's the only highlight in this mess of a chapter.

I have more thoughts about everything, but I'll post them tomorrow, when they can reach more people. And I'll catch up with this shitt book just so I can join the mob law tomorrow lmao. See you then.

[caffeine-and-melatonin]

✨Bad Batch E13 Spoilers✨

FYI this one is probably gonna be on the shorter side in comparison to my other episode posts, so let's take a look at my brain during E13...

- @fictional-men-ruin-lives WHEN I SAW THE TITLE OF THIS EPISODE!!! Omg I instantly thought of your post about the hive mind episodes

- Ok seriously though I know their armor protects them and all that jazz but for a group chaotic clone bros who are hiding from the government, they really do stick out like a sore thumb (like those guards(?) clocked them immediately)

-"And who are they?" Tech back at it again with the funky vocal inflections that I absolutely adore

- Ok it might just be me but my brain instantly went "Is that young Vizago?"... it was not but still

- WHY DO YOU HAVE CID'S NECKLACE? Is she dead? bro what’s going on?

- Tech, love, you can't just casually tell a child that a person they have kinda become friends with was possibly murdered

-Aye abrasive great aunt space lizard isn’t dead!

- Cid's soft spot for Omega is something I didn't know I needed

- "I believe she's threatening us." "You're quick." 💀

- Cid really said "I endorse Girlboss Omega" huh?

- TECH'S FACE WHEN CID COMPLIMENTED HIM!!!! AND WRECKER GIVING HIM A SUPPORTIVE SMILE!!!! AHHHH HE LOOKED SO PROUD OF HIMSELF I LOVE THAT DORK SO MUCH 🥺❤️

-"This is a stealth mission. You boys are good at that, right?" bitch have you met them?

- Aww Wrecker finally got a nickname from Cid...actually he got like four all in one episode (someone please talk to Echo...give him a nickname or something just please talk to the sweet boy)

- Love how Cid totally picked favorites and had Tech and Omega go with her

- Ew hive??? Please no bugs. Please.

-Wrecker'panicked whispering gives me life

- Tech lifting that whole ass trap door by himself 👀

- What is spice exactly? Is it honestly just ✨space drugs✨?

- Ew giant fairy looking bat things...lol wait why does this lowkey remind me of the whole flying keys thing in Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone??? Is that just me?

- If flashlights = torches...then what do they call actual torches with fire?

- Ruby. Love her. She is the moment.

- AHHHH PROTECTIVE BIG BROTHERS!!!

- WHEN I TELL YOU I LITERALLY MADE A FINGER GUN AT MY TV JUST BEFORE THE BOYS DID WHEN THE PYKES SAID THAT OMEGA HAD TO STAY BEHIND.....sis I need to go to sleep

- Awww Cid cares so much about Omega

- Wrecker's face after she said that she got Omega into this and she was gonna get her out is so interesting, but I can't quite place it. Facial expressions are one thing that I really like to focus on because they can say a lot about the characters.

- Wrecker and Cid are a chaotic duo and it's so funny to me

- Durand is a trust fund baby. Makes sense.

- Love how Omega can literally become friends wieveryoneone

- TECH IS BUILDING A THING! LOOK AT HIM GO! I'M SO PROUD OF HIM!

- WRECKER'S VOICE CRACK WHILE SCREAMING

- Lol why does Tech slouch so much when he runs? Like it’s adorable but also sir why? (giving me major “spencer reid running with a gun” vibes if you know what I mean) 

- "INCOMING!"...sir how did you fit a whole ass star into a two liter container thing

- Bruh I thought they were gonna straight up decapitate Durand

- Cid: "First round's on me." Boys: *aggressive sprinting*

FINAL THOUGHTS:

- "So no Crosshair or Howzer?" *throws phone. breaks skateboard* (pls someone understand my vine references)

- Bro I totally called the whole thing with the “this episode is gonna be dark” tweet. So glad 4 years of stage crew really helped me translate lighting nerd humor 

- So no one actually got infected by mind control worms.....weird (go see @fictional-men-ruin-lives post about that whole thing on Disney+)

- Ok y'all know me, I don't really like to be overly negative all the time, but I feel like this was a bit of a step back especially after the past two episodes. Like the episode was fine and all, but sis there's THREE EPISODES LEFT! Like wtf can we please stick to the central conflict/plot???

- While we are on the subject of us only having three episodes left, it's already not super great that they aren't getting into any character development with Tech or Echo (don't even get me started about Cross), but is it just me or did Echo barely talk. Like he's just kinda there and the only times he does say anything it's like a singular sentence and it only serves the purpose of trying to enforce the idea of him being "the grumpy one" (which I feel like is a waste of existing AND potential characterization from a writing standpoint)

- We better be getting another season. I'm so attached to all of them and there is so much potential for each of them as characters as well as a story as a whole. Looking back at S1 of TCW and Rebels, yeah they were a bit slow at some points, but that was because they were trying to establish a world with a decent amount of new characters. With this, we already got the baseline characterization of each of the members of TBB in S7 of TCW, but aside from Hunter and (to a lesser degree) Wrecker, we haven't seen a whole bunch of growth. Omega, who obviously wasn’t in TCW, is a pretty well rounded character who I personally find interesting and I love her dearly, so it's not a matter of "oh it's just the first season we don't have a lot of time to GROW THE PERSONALITIES OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS". Idk I just feel like there is so much potential and another season has to happen or I will go to the studio or office or wherever and write it myself. 

P.S.I'm sorry if my final thoughts section was a little more negative than the stuff I normally post, I just have a lot of things I wanna talk about and y'all just happen to be the ones who have to hear it 😐

Overall, the episode itself wasn't bad, I just think it's placement in the season doesn't really help in the whole cohesive storyline department.

[anincorrectpetunia]

addressing random questions and concerns from Eps 11 & 12

I want to go back and read Fitz’s chapter to sync up. I’m feeling hopeful for Liv and their future. Excited to see where this goes. These updates are such a treat and a respite from my day to day — thank you. I’m truly grateful.--@mm2009

Yes, definitely go back and read them together. It can only enhance the experience. I wrote them to sync up, which is why it was challenging lol.

Why did Fitz feel the need to go to her apartment after she begged him to leave her alone and let her breath? And better yet, why did she feel like Fitz was suffocating her when in reality he had not seen her but once?--@Olitzloverforever

I think you're asking this about when Fitz dropped off the gardenia plant. He purposely did the drop early in the morning because he didn't want her to think he was pushing up on her. Olivia's letter to him asking to 'breathe' came well after they actually talked at her apartment.

Olivia felt suffocated by the idea of Fitz. What he represented in her life. Because she was not ready to confront it, though she harboured it deep in her fantasy life. He's always there even when he's not there. That's why she expresses in her mind 'oh to be free of this man!'

Anyway, I think a lot of the above (from Episode 12, part I) is now moot since Part II of Olivia's chapter dropped?

P .S. I do wish I hadn’t learned that they are now married with a baby on the way, only because I love the suspense when it comes to Olitz. However, with this story, I get so much into it I sometimes I forget that they are presently together.--@Olitzloverforever

I'm glad you get into the flashbacks that you forget the relative security of the present. I think other's expressed the same sentiment after Episode 10 when Liv says 'yes' to Edison.

But to the first part of your P.S. It's not a spoiler that they are married and expecting a child. It's an intentional decision to start at a turning point in the Olitz relationship. I specifically wanted to explore how these two characters would be in a marriage, and how their pasts are always shaping their present. This particular flashback is the most extensive one you will have, but it will not be the only one that will provide context and meaning for the Olitz present.

Please allow her to put in some work if she eventually see that she does want a life with him… I know this is still part of the flashbacks but it still needs to be clear. Also, during the flashbacks, I thought Eli did not like Edison? This chapter made it seem like they at least “seems” to like each other. --@dendardendan

at the bold. lol. You and a couple of others are very insistent on an active Olivia when it comes to Olitz. Just trust ya girl like you've been trusting me. I have a plan.

As for Edison and Eli. I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that Eli did not like Edison. That's not part of the present storyline or flashback. Recall that in Episode 10's flashback Eli had the Smithsonian event invitation sent directly to Edison. Liv didn't even know they were going to that event until they got there. Also, in Episode 7 (present), Olivia mentions that Eli was disappointed to give up his Jack and Jill fantasy for Olivia and Edison.

Eli was chummy with Edison, definitely. There's something that will make Eli's thinking very explicit in the next episode.

But WTH is wrong with Liv who is clearly not in love with Edison and his assistant telling Liv she cannot go to Kennys and be seen with that man...DAFUQ...--@IAMASCANDALLOVER

Meena didn't tell Liv she could not go to Maroon. Liv had already been avoiding it because she didn't want to run into Fitz. Meena just approached Liv with the knowledge that she knew Liv had been playing fast and loose down there.

So Liv broke up with Edison because she realizes that she does not want a future with him not because they want different things in life but because she does not love him and was not willing to forgo love and settle for less after having felt what it means to be in love—at least that’s what she knows to be true but I suppose she couldn’t just come out and tell him the truth. --@olitzloverforever

No, to tell Edison the truth would be too much. Sometimes withholding things is just kindness. Plus, Olivia didn't know what she was going to do, at the time, about her feelings for Fitz. I think she really needed some space--free of obligation to both Cyrus and Edison to know herself and how love is going to fit into her life...or not.

There was a line here-I forget where-where Liv's inner voice muses on Edison and Eli being two-sides of the same coin in terms of planning out her life for her without her input. Nothing to add, I was just happy to see it.--@jilyandbambi

I think you mean this part?

or this one?

In either case, thank you.

Thinking of Fitz while living out her fantasies with Edison was wild. Poor dude thought it was all for him..LOL I hated it, but at least it showed where her mindset is. No more sex scenes with Edison. Thank you for spring us the sex scene with Fitz and Lillian, but I think it would have been the same for Fitz thinking of Liv while riding Lillian..LOL--@dendardndan

I knew that some people would feel a way about that hotel fantasy scene. Thanks for being a good sport. It was meant to be wild because Olivia is...wildin! But, I did my best to convey that she's physically with Edison, but she is experiencing what it might be like with Fitz because ultimately her emotional connection with Edison has been severed and she's playing house. She's on that season 2 Mellie: pretending is what's real.

Anyway, y'all won. I don't have plans for non-Olitz sex scenes...for now.

[meijkej]

I wasn't going to comment on the whole TikTok debate of fanfiction, but it's gotten way out of hand! If you don't like a certain trope, then don't read it! If an author's work is too sexual for you, don't read it! How hard is it to make your own decisions and read the triggers on Fanfics so that you don't offend authors who have spent their valuable time writing for other readers' enjoyment? There are certain tropes that I'm not into, so I don't read them. Simple solution!

What a lot of these brats on TikTok don't realize or care about is that the world of fanfiction was helping people with their depression and PTSD and anorexia and any other mental/physical illnesses. Fanfiction is a great escape for a lot of readers, and is much needed! Personally, it has helped me when I'm severely depressed and have no desire to talk to the real world. The authors are amazing and so human, and it really pisses me off that little brats on TikTok can just run their mouths and write nasty reviews to the amazing authors. The fics are clearly labeled as M or E... What do people think that means? Yes, there's going to be MATURE content and explicit content. If you can't handle that, you shouldn't be reading those ratings!!! This bullying has lead to some of my favorite authors, and probably some of all of yours too, to disappear from the fanfic world. My heart breaks anytime that someone writes a nasty review to an author, but it's especially worse when they are flat out bullying them. Unbelievable!!!

This world has gone to hell! We have to tip toe around everybody and everything because you don't want to offend someone. In the meantime, people are allowed to bully anyone that they want online, because "hey it's online". Bullying in person or bullying online hurts no matter what! People have ended their lives from both forms, and unfortunately this type of behavior just keeps getting worse. It all just makes me ill...

Please know that I am a dedicated Dramione reader and I value each and every one of your authors! I love how you can create alternative storylines, still have the same idea as another author, and have completely different stories! I love that you can make words out of nothing basically! Y'all are very talented and very loved by us true fanfiction readers!!! I'm sorry for the way these little entitled brats have acted towards you, but please don't let them win! I think I speak for most readers when I say that we love you, and we stand behind you 💯!!! 💜💜💜

[alexiaugustin]

pls give your honest opinions on eliola friendship / relationship 🤣

Okay so I think that most people already know that I'm not found of it at all so at the beginning I just wanna say that I do not hate it simply because I want to hate it and everything that happens on that show, but because I was thrilled and had high expectations when they first announced that they would have a brother- sister relationship this season. So everything I'm gonna say now isn't coming from a place of hate but complete and utter disappointment because that's what their storyline was. Also disclaimer; everything I'm gonna say isn't me hating the characters but me criticizing the writing and how the writing made both of them quite unsympathetic at times.

So let's begin with the first lola/eliott clip I ever really liked and that was their first meeting at the funeral. I just like how Eliott noticed that she was all alone and decided to talk to her because that's probably smth he wishes people would have done for him when he was lonely. I loved their bickering n how Eliott was the second person who made Lola genuinely smile that season and just like Maya he didn't let Lola's cold attitude throw him off. So being the naive clown I was I actually believed that they might do something good with them and that their storyline could live up to my expectations but oh hell no.

The opportunity of them getting closer n talking at the urbex party was right there and skam france just didn't use it. I actually thought that they would drop a clip after midnight as the first clip of ep3 where they would start making conversation because they were all hanging out with eachother anyway and then maybe start following eachother on instagram or smth. But no. Eliott and Lola meeting eachother at that urbex party wasn't there to develop their friendship and make them have a natural connection in the clips afterwards. Eliott being an urbex legend wasn't there to actually give his character more depth, it was just there so Eliott could lie to Lucas and Lola knowing about it so she could manipulate Eliott in ep8 but we're coming back to that plot later.

Well yeah wasted potential on that urbex party let's talk about the next party where they meet again: Daphné's birthday party. Again I know that it's a party and it's likely for people to just talk to everyone so I wouldn't say that Eliott and Lola talking there was coming out of nowhere. What did come out of nowhere tho, was their dialogue: "We're the same you and I" I'm sorry but first of all what teenager talks like that??? And second of all what exactly do you even know about eachother. Ah yeah right nothing because you never really talked to eachother before. I know that in interviews they have made up a whole background story as to why Eliott felt so cOnNeCtEd to her but none of this was ever brought up on screen so for me there's no explanation why he would say smth like that. Then the whole urbex lying to Lucas convo yada yada I pretend not to understand french and we're just gonna skip over that part of ep3 now. Next clip of the party Lola feels lonely and left out because Thierry acts like Daphné is his only daughter and for some reason Eliott looks @ Lola from across the room like that: [I'm to lazy to put a screenshot of the scene but y'all know the shot I'm talking about] and I remember the evening they dropped that clip and everyone was yelling and thinking that this look means that he's gonna fall in love with her. Yeah at best I would think that this looks like falling in love, at worst this look reminds me of Joe Goldberg. And I know that the scrip wasn't like: Eliott side eyes Lola like some penetrator from across the room but it really looked like that and it's the director's job to correct Maxence's acting because that really really wasn't it.

Next eliola clip is Lola going to Eliott's video shop. How she knew that he was working at that exact place at this exact time will forever stay a mystery. If only skam france would remember that they are a transmedia show and Eliott and Lola could have just texted after Daphné's birthday party??? But no she was just completely out of nowhere visiting him at his workplace and don't get me wrong the clip itself was good and them watching a movie together cute but I still wanna know where it suddenly came from. She didn't even seem to like him that much before so her going there when she wasn't feeling well just threw me off and I was like okayyyy whatever. It truly feels like they either deleted clips in between or forgot to upload some text messages.

Aymeric plot: I was kind of torn between liking the clip n disliking it because back when they dropped the clip I was just glad that Eliott got Lola out of there and I knew that he would bring her to his flat so she would feel safe but on the other hand I'm not a huge fan of this whole savior trope in general even tho I do get that it made sense for her to call him in that situation. But now that the season is over I don't even have to feel torn and can just say that I absolutely hate this whole storyline because they used sexual assault as a plot device so they wouldn't have to come up with some complex writing ideas to build up their friendship. So the next day skamfr acted like sexual assault isn't something traumatizing and never brought it up again it truly just existed so Eliott could play hero and Eliott and Lola could be friends. It was never brought up again not even in one single fucking conversation. How fun😑😑

I've said it before and I will say it again I will always hate that Lucas was allowed to have many friends and hang out with them whenever he wanted n be affectionate with them while Eliott's only friendship was actively written to cause problems in their relationship. I'm not even blaming Lucas' for his reactions this season because I'm sure that I would have reacted the same way if I were him but they could have just written the eliott/lola friendship in a decent way and left lucas out of it. It would have been really simple but instead they chose to make almost every Lola n Eliott interaction a problem between Lucas and Eliott and then they never even solved their relationship problems, not even off screen so that's truly a whole next level of skamfr being one hell of a stupid show.

Apart from that I really really liked the Saturday clips and they were the only clips I ever got sibling vibes from. Eliott being ready to run with Lola so she wouldn't have to face Daphné and Lola saying that she's gonna take responsibility and Eliott looking at her like a proud big brother> very cute also the way Eliott and Lola both got to speak for themselves about their mental health was one of my fave convos this season even tho- and call me a petty bitch for that- they even ruined that clip for me when Lola used everything Eliott told her in that clip against him later🙃🙃

The whole movie plot is ridiculous and I'm actually too tired to bring all of it up again so I'm just gonna say that Eliott asking a girl with zero acting experience and a crew with zero filming experience to shoot his uni project with him still has me laughing until today. No way in hell that this is something realistic to happen but #ohboy #nicetry for trying to sell that storyline. Eliott and Lola should have never kissed n they should have either changed the script to a friendship version of L&O for Lola and Eliott or let Maya take over Eliott's role when she showed up. This way it would have actually had a meaning for s6 and it would have made sense to end the season with a screening for that movie project. But what the hell was skamfr tryna tell us with that eliola kiss storyline?? The moral n the message where????

Ughhhh my favorite storyline: episode 8. Well I was gone over one weekend and this is the shit I came back home to. Let me tell you it really wasn't fun to watch these four clips in a row I literally had to pause the videos the entire time just to yell n question if I was hallucinating that shit. If their friendship wasn't written badly before then this was definitely the last straw for me. We all know what happened I'm not gonna explain it again let me just say that if I were Eliott I would have felt so damn betrayed and would have never just forgiven that shit in a week. Imagine trusting someone that much with your past and stories about your mental illness and relationship n even your relationship issues and all this person does is using everything you ever told them and even more (still wanna know how she knew abt the houseboat story) against you to manipulate you into drinking which then triggers you into a depressiv episode. Who wrote this and thought that we would still be rooting for this friendship?????

And well yeah that pretty much was it for the eliott/lola sIbLiNg storyline this season. Eliott didn't get to speak for himself about what happened and Lola only apologized for having called him and making him stay at the party but they never actually acknowledged what happened at that party and Eliott just took the blame n happy ending!!! They didn't even get one scene in the last clip together so that already shows us how the writers really didn't give a damn about their friendship this season and it solely existed to serve the mc and to get us to watch the new season n not because they actually cared and let's just say that one could really really notice that🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

[ironstrange-is-the-endgame]

Okay, so this might just be my sleep deprived brain talking but. I rewatched endgame. And like Natasha calling the Avengers a family makes no sense??? Nat. I love you. But y'all were work friends at best. Like Natty, did we watch the same movies? You know the ones where y'all blame one person for everything, where y'all hide the truth bout they're parents death and then just leave em there or the fact that y'all only come to that person when y'all need something?

Sorry, I saw this before and didn’t actually have the time also we don’t speak about Endgame in this house.

When it comes to that sentence, though, I would have agreed with you if it was everyone else, but Nat has never taken parts since the relationship between the Avengers started to crumble and always did what she thought it was best for the team. Like, even at the end of CW, she could have run with Steve and Bucky but she doesn’t and I think that Tony being in BW will explain more. Like we know she didn’t even go with the Rogues because she is in Russia at least for a while between CW and IW.

And then we also have to consider where she comes from. I doubt they’ll ever show us the entire storyline with Recluse, but basically in the Red Room she’s been manipulated into believing that they did all the things they did to her to protect her and the other girls, so it’s a huge change to get to live with SHIELD first and the Avengers later.

I’ve written hundreds of words about what I think Nat actually knows of the entire mission report: 16th December 1992 but that mostly headcanon from my part, so yeah, I guess that the avengers are what she believes a family should be (the only other example she has are the Bartons and with Clint working for Shield I doubt the situation is anywhere better) and that’s why she says that. “The Avengers weren’t my first family,” is what she says in her own movie trailer which, once again, I think we should see before speculate about, but I guess it’s not like family of the year. Nat’s around 33/32 in that movie - according to her birthday in TWS- and Yelena is even younger and it’s implied that they’ve finished the Red Room training around the age of 12/14 at best - first period - this means that they had time to fight side by side with Alexei and I don’t remember her name, Malina I think, before Nat started working for KGB. They could have been a family for what 3/4 years?! Like, she has no idea of what a family really is and how the Avengers accepted her with her past and trusted her, well it’s certainly something.

How other people treated Tony, well... we know that like 90% of this comes from someone entering a certain helicarrier with a clear idea about Tony Stark and not being able to slow down a bit and realizing who the man really is.

[katastrophycal]

Okay y'all want full targ restoration au? Imagine a story with Rhaenys lives and raised by the Sand Snakes AND instead of Aegon living/Jon joining them give me a bastard Targaryen from either Aerys or Rhaegar combine it with Gendry's botched storyline of being a nobody raised to the throne...

Imagine the idea of this child (Let's call him Jaehaeron, after Jaehaerys I and Daeron II who are considered to be some of the best Targaryen kings). Jaehaeron, grew up a street rat (maybe we'll employ some of the Young Griff storyline and have him be a member of the Golden Company or have him be a sell sword with Daario) and knows the struggle of being lower class and fighting for a way to make something of himself. He's never had a family, anyone he's ever cared about he's lost, either to disease infighting, to the law etc. He's learned that he's just one of those people who doesn't get to be in a family.

Imagine him not knowing who he is, never known family and never wanting any, but he meets Daenerys. He joins her because he believes in her and her cause. He knows what it's like to fight for yourself but he wants to learn how to fight for those who can't do it themselves, and she seems like the right person to learn from. Daenerys knows the minute she sees him. Maybe she dreamt it, maybe she could see the ghost of her brother's in him, maybe blood just calls to blood. In any case, of course she hesitates at first to let him know. She gathers evidence from spies around the world, she studies his intentions/ his mannerisms/ his very heart to make sure that he's not like Viserys. And he's not, he's the first sign of home she's had in a long time. And she becomes his first taste of it, essentially granting him saftey to love people and not get killed over it.

Imagine Rhaenys training with the Snakes, surrounded by home and family, but still feeling like something is missing. Imagine her Uncle Oberyn bringing her news of Daenerys in Meereen. At first she's guilty for wanting to know her but Oberyn reassures her that no one can have too much family, in fact Daenerys across the sea might have too little. So she sets off, with the assurance that the full weight of Dorne is behind her. Imagine her meeting Daenerys, matching title for title and after the following silence grows to be too much Daenerys launches down from her seat and Rhaenys just knows that she's gained another sister. After hearing Jaehaeron's story she just gathers him up in her arms and bawls. While he can't replace Aegon, the hole in her chest labeled brother does shrink a little.

They work flawlessly together. Jaehaeron walks Rhaenys through life in Essos, maybe sprinkles in a little bit of personal stories. Dany and Rhae pour over the Targaryen history and tentatively start making plans for Valyria. Jay pretends to be not paying attention (he is) and he and Dany agree on most things and he actually sits in on a lot of her meetings with her citizens. They all have moments of impulsivity tempered with control, but generally Jaehaeron tends to be the patient one, he tends to wait for all the information to make a final decision. Daenerys has her ideals and her determination to make it happen. Rhaenys is very action oriented but also is aware that forgiveness can sometimes go a longer way than retribution.

He and Rhae both teach Daenerys how to fight. She comes out fighting best with an Arakh, which means after they teach the basics they bring in one of Daenerys' remaining Dothraki to teach her while they learn from Grey Worm (Missandei being taught as well) but generally the stick with the tools of their trades.

Daenerys introduces them to Viserion and Rhaegal and tells them of Drogon. As they grow closer to each other, they do so towards the dragons as well. You'd think Rhaenys would be drawn to Rhaegal but Rhaenys barely remembers her father so it's actually Viserion who she bonds with. In the right light his scales remind her of the sands of Dorne, his fire of the light that filtered through the tent she shared with the snakes, his eyes of each piece of gold she earned from their battles and conquests, and while she never knew Viserys she's not gonna let something like a bad namesake keep her from her dragon. Jaehaeron just thinks that Rhaegal exists to hate him. He shows no sign of interest towards Jay, so much so that it almost gives him a complex about not being a "true" Targaryen. But Jay is persistent. He's there whenever he can be, he's always the one to bring Rhaegal his meals, eventually he's able to get close enough to stroke the neck of Rhaegal and when they look into each other's eyes Jaehaeron realizes that it's not hatred or indifference, it's loneliness that's keeping Rhaegal from bonding with him. From then on Jay is in the line up the pyramid every day, to ask Dany to release the dragons from their cells.

Imagine if when Dany leaves on Drogon Tyrion does not start running things, Jay and Rhaenys do. Rhae judging from her experience and compassion, Jaehaeron from his knowledge on the ground and instincts. They take Tyrion's advice into account but also Missandei's, Grey Worm's, even Oberyn's opinions. Imagine Rhaenys truly getting to know the people, and slowly but surely she starts to fall in love with this land. Imagine Jay training the Meereeneans(?) Because the need to and because he doesn't want to see a single one of his citizens helpless. They follow in Dany's footsteps, ruling as she would, so when the slavers siege (because of course they would) the Targ's are ready for them. When Daenerys returns with the Dothraki she's met with her sister at the head of the Sand Snakes and the soldiers of Dorne. She sees her brother riding with the Second Sons and the Golden Company (who are now convinced honor is as good as gold). The battle for Meereen was over before it began, especially after the dragons join the fray. As soon as it's over Jaehaeron and Rhaenys are ecstatic (and also demand Dany teaches them how to ride).

Imagine if it's Oberyn who brings Olenna to Dany and her cause, and Yara knows Jay from years back so she's even more confident for her cause when she sees him at Daenerys' side. During her time away they managed to comission armor for the dragons and their riders. When Daenerys sets sail for Westeros her siblings are by her side, her dragons are safe above them, her best friends are at her back, and she has some of the wisest minds advising her (including/excluding Tyrion depending on how you feel about him). They have the Dothraki, the Unsullied, a decent amount of Ironborn, the Second Sons(with or without Daario depending on yada yada....), the Golden Company, and the whole Dornish army. They stayed long enough for the new Meereen Guard to have been sufficiently and leaders put in place. The citizen's hearts are behind their Targaryens and they know if they ever even fear trouble they will fly back to assure them.

Imagine that they do take King's Landing first. The dornish get the majority of the lower town evacuated before the gold cloaks even notice. The dragons decimate the scorpions early on, with only glancing blows thanks to the armor. Even the wildfire Cersei throws out as a last resort doesn't stop them and as the trio makes their way to the throne room they have to walk past the what little is left of Cersei's forces. They decide to pardon every soldier who bends the knee, the rest are set to work rebuilding the damage of the siege. Cersei is sentenced to execution, via dragonfire where the Sept of Baelor once stood.

Imagine that the Iron Throne does melt, but only enough to shape into a bench. Just like in Meereen, however this one is long enough to seat three. No arguments, no hesitation, the Targaryens work better as a family anyway.

They rule as one. They leave a small council in charge of King's Landing and set off to the rest of Westeros. They do meet some resistance but no one is strong enough to stand against them, and honestly after meeting them and hearing their vision no one even wants to. Then there's the north.

Depending on how anti stark you are you can visualize the war for the dawn however you like. But imagine them hearing through Jon's story, taking a stealth mission to observe the white walkers themselves. Imagine that in addition to granting them access to Dragonstone they also command soldiers from each kingdom. (Jon is... commanding troops? Attempting to make an alliance that doesn't have him bending the knee) Imagine a fleet of red Priestesses, giving their fire to each soldier (not just the dothraki cause why not??), Jorah fighting with Missandei and Grey Worm, and hiding Bran at the starks head table (which reminds us of Ned and how long it's been for all of them). Imagine not housing the innocents in the crypt (cause they have common sense) and actually send them to the godswood to be protected by some of their own soldiers but also Jay overhead on Rhaegal. Imagine Rhaenys on the front lines with Viserion lighting her way (no walker proof storyline=no Viserion death win-win). Imagine Danerys cutting the wights of from behind, and when spotting the night king she goes to meet him. (However you view the show end to the NK/the prince who was promised prophecy this is gonna Dany, sorry).

Imagine Jaehaeron fighting like hell for Winterfells innocents, dancing through the fire almost as though he's a part of it. Nothing seems to touch him. Imagine Rhaenys cutting through wights like paper, grinning from ear to ear cause she's riding on the battle high and the strength of the Sand Snake around her. Imagine that when Drogon's fire doesn't work, the Night King throws a sword into Dany's child's chest. She pulls it out of his chest plate(again thank you armor) and Drogon lights it ablaze. She meets the monster for blow. Seeing her in danger both Jaehaeron and Rhaenys make their way to her. Imagine the Night King dealing her a viscous blow but getting knocked down by a spear from Rhae and kept distracted by Jay. They give Dany enough time to stab the so called king in the back (mirroring when her father was lost and their kingdom was officially lost to them; all these years later her family is remade and the kingdom is theirs again). As Jon sees them from the remains of the wights, let's pretend no r+l=j or at least he doesn't know and if he found out there's no way he gets enough support to take the throne from them or feel the need to. He decides to bend the knee, only to find that the Targaryens don't really plan on keeping the kingdoms together, as they were anyway.

Being rulers does have its share of problems, especially as they dissolve the country into something more democratic but they make it work. One of them is always in Kings Landing, even with Rhaenys' frequent trips to Dorne and Meereen, Jaehaeron's explorations of Essos and his quest to rebuild Valyria, and Daenerys' continues mission to make every land truly free. They always make time for their people and each other.

And so while Daenerys is the Mother of Dragons she is also the Hero of the People, Rhaenys is the Fierce Queen from Dorne, and Jay is declared Jaehaeron the Fortunate and he cannot find reason to disagree. They each have their titles, their armies, their stories. But they also have each other. After all, the dragon has three heads.