#i love tlou so much and they really did a good job i'm very happy

[leavemetoplaythesims]

i finished tlou on hbo btw

[hypnotisedfireflies]

Ok so your latest fic with Bill and Frank has me thinking. First off thank you I am so happy I chose this story Bill and Frank are my OG's in TLOU fandom. You did such a good job writing them.

But you got me thinking when you talked about Frank's past. His job, his partner, his Cats! Now I'm wondering if you have any kind of headcannon on Bill's past. I'd love to hear them if you do.

You do like to make my brain work, lovely! Haha, ilu for it. And I'm glad you enjoyed Love Language. It was a different pace for me.

I have a few headcanons for Bill but I haven't had the opportunity to do much with them yet. But they are:

Bill had a practical job before the outbreak. I feel like he was an electrician but understood at least one other trade, too.

He was really good at his job but he didn't promote his business well, so his customer pool was kind of thinning out and getting snapped up by competitors. He had a loyal base though, and mostly survived on word of mouth.

He was also like, a cable guy for a short period there but got the sack for being surly.

Bill didn't get along with his father, who favoured his older brother. Bill and his brother got along very well though, and his brother kind of protected him from his father's ire.

His father died when Bill was still in high school after short illness and his brother in a freak accident in the late 80s.

Bill was very close to his mother. She was sick for a long time and Bill cared for her for many years. He got into IT and started learning how to fix people's computers up so he could work from the basement to support her.

So the caregiving role Bill later inhabited was not completely foreign to him.

She taught him how to cook. It was something they used to do together and every utensil and piece of crockery in the kitchen has a story associated with it.

The room downstairs he and Frank eventually move into was his mother's in her later years.

She died in January 2003 and Bill burned a lot of his remaining bridges at that time.

She was semi-supportive of him being a prepper. She didn't really understand it but she didn't stop him either; once she died, he really threw himself into it.

Bill was very active in online prepper forums. His was semi-famous under the handle, 'rambletamble' for his practical advice and modded a couple of forums.

He never acknowledged that he was gay but his mother knew and was quietly supportive. She would tell people who asked 'when's Billy going to get married?' to look to their own business.

He really fucking hates cats. Dogs too, but mainly cats. SQ Bill tolerates them for Frank's sake.

Whew.

Thanks for asking. <3

[cheerfullycatholic]

My thoughts on The Last of Us show

Fair warning, it's a long one

I've been a huge fan of tlou since the game first came out, and ever since then Ellie has been my #1 favorite character. But being a bookworm I've learned over the years to be wary of show and movie adaptations, because they always lack what makes the book, or in this case, the game, good. I didn't have a lot of hope for the show, but I was pleasantly surprised by the first episode. And every episode after that made me more and more disappointed and uninterested, except for the last one. Normally I wouldn't go to such lengths to explain why I didn't like a show, but because the game is so close to my heart I just can't not say anything. And I wanted to preface this by saying that I don't think the show is bad per se, if there wasn't original work to compare it to it would be amazing (my sister, who knows nothing of the game, loves it), and I'm not writing this out of disrespect (mostly). But since this is the internet you'll probably take it however you want anyway. So I guess we'll start with something that I know will piss people off a lot; the casting.

There are two things I care about when it comes to who is cast to play preexisting characters, in this order; 1. If the person cast is able to play the character well, and 2. If they look like the character. You know where this is going. I don't think Pedro Pascal was a great fit for Joel. Was he good at playing him? He was, about half the time. I'm not too mad at his portrayal, but I think it's obvious by now that he's the new shiny famous actor everyone loves and everyone wants to see. Because everyone's obsessed with him, no matter what, his fans will watch whatever he's in. He can bring in a lot of money for the directors and producers. I can't help but feel he was cast just for that, and not because they couldn't find anyone better to play Joel (acting wise and look wise), and that is what bugs me the most. In the game, Joel doesn't seem so haunted by his past, or he at least hides it more. He has a deeper personality, he has lighthearted back and forth conversations with Tess, and he never treated Ellie like a monster. He also wasn't as scared as show Joel was, clickers were more of an annoyance than anything, especially at first. There was no hands shaking, eyes full of fear, "from this point on we are silent. Not quiet, silent". Game Joel acted like he spent the last twenty years dealing with infected, because he has. Show Joel didn't give off that vibe. However, show Joel dealing with the raiders was better, that's where I really saw Pedro Pascal portray him well. Overall, Pedro Pascal did a good job, I just wasn't as big a fan as I wanted to be.

A casting I actually was a huge fan of, was Sarah's. Like I said previously, I care about an actor's ability to play a character accurately much more than looking like that character. I saw some people online say they were unhappy with the casting because Nico Parker looks nothing like her, but she played her so well. I watched the first episode three times, and every time the thought that kept popping up in my head was "wow, she is Sarah, she did a fantastic job". I'm very happy with how show Sarah turned out.

Bella Ramsey's portrayal was probably the worst, in my opinion. When I first heard that she had been cast, I was excited. I watched her in Game of Thrones, she looks like Ellie and I thought she'd do well at playing her, too. In some parts she did, but not in the parts that were the most important. She was great at playing the defensive, angry, loud Ellie who's fighting raiders and protecting the people she cares about. But that's a small fraction of Ellie. While I was watching the show, I was also watching a playthrough of the game. More than not, Ellie is kind, generous, sweet, and genuine. She's more open about caring for people, more calculated, and much less sarcastic, and when she is sarcastic, it's usually lighthearted. Show Ellie was so angry and explosive. A scene where that really stuck out to me was when Ellie was trying to patch up Joel after he got wounded by the hunter at the college. Show Ellie showed her fear through anger, while game Ellie just showed her fear (which is, like I said, more genuine). And where game Ellie was genuine and open with her feelings, show Ellie seemed much more awkward with expressing her thoughts and feelings. That's where I think Bella Ramsey did the worst job. I don't know if she really knows how to play someone like Ellie. She was fantastic as Lyanna Mormont, who is very strong, mean, and tough in all the best ways. She gave off strong modern feminist "I don't take shit from anyone" vibes, but that's not really Ellie. She's not mean. She also, and this is a big part of Ellie's character, isn't disrespectful towards Joel. In the game, Ellie listened to Joel and respected his decision when he said no guns. In the show, as soon as she got the opportunity, she went behind his back and took a gun from Bill's stash. I won't analyze and tear apart every single thing that went wrong with show Ellie. I think you get my point. She was much too different from game Ellie, I rarely considered them the same person.

Anyway, more on characters later. Right now I want to talk about the differences in the episodes. And before I start, yes, I know the show was going to be different in certain ways from the game. I understand and accept that. That doesn't mean I have to like some of those changes.

In episode one there were a few differences, for instance the plane crashing instead of the car. But pretty much all of the differences I loved. I have no complaints about the first episode, but I wanted to make it known that I enjoyed it and the changes. I'm glad we got to see more Sarah, and more about how the infection started and spread. The first episode was the only time where I felt scared while watching this show.

Episode two was where things started to go downhill. With Joel and Tess's kind of awkward feeling relationship (didn't like how she low-key talked to him like he was a child when she said she wanted him to hurt Robert). That's another thing, I didn't like that we didn't get the scene where Tess killed Robert. I understand that they probably had to cut it out to save time, but she's in the game for such a short time and her "if you hadn't tried to fucking kill me" line was her best. Kinda felt like they disrespected her character by reducing her to this mean, anxious scaredy cat who, like Joel, acted like clickers were more than an annoyance like her game character did. Game Tess was awesome, and show Tess fell short. However, I preferred how she died in the show. Blowing herself up with a building full of infected was much more meaningful than just shooting two guys.

Speaking of suicide. Episode three. My least favorite episode, and the most disrespectful the writers were to the original characters. Nick Offerman was a perfect cast for Bill. But the show tore his character apart. Like Bill said in the show, he's a survivalist. I've met survivalists, they are the most arrogant group I know, and that's a compliment. They are hellbent on kicking the apocalypse in the ass and surviving until the bitter end. They don't commit suicide. Growing old in an apocalypse is the biggest accomplishment to these people. They're strong and they're not quitters. Taking away that essential part of Bill's character was the biggest mistake the show made. And they did the same to Frank. We don't know a lot about game Frank, but he sure has hell didn't give up as easily as show Frank did. In the game, Frank hated Bill and wanted to leave, but on his way out of the town, he got bit, and decided he didn't want to turn, so he hung himself. Suicide isn't cute or sweet or peaceful, ask anyone who tried to overdose, and no matter what anyone tries to tell you, suicide is sad, and a bad choice to make. I don't care that they made the whole episode a pro gay love story (didn't like it but don't care when compared to the rest), I don't care that they rewrote Frank to not hate Bill, I do care that not long after Canada decided to start killing off their unwanted citizens, this show tried to spin suicide into a peaceful out to chronic illness or an unhappy life. This episode was trash, and sent all of the wrong messages. The writers ruined an amazing character, and I will not forgive them for it. And what disappoints me the most is that Neil Druckmann worked on the show. I'm a writer, I understand wanting to change characters and storylines drastically after ten years. But I draw the line at changing already published and established stories, especially when it's so painfully obvious that it's politically motivated. I don't care what anyone says, it's wrong to take a character that people have loved for years and make them different for no good reason.

Woohoo, episode three rant over. I could say more, but I don't think I need to.

I didn't have too many complaints about the entire story with Henry, Sam, and the resistance group, which happened in episode four and five. There are many differences between the game and the show, but I didn't mind the changes. In fact, I loved the scene when all of the infected started coming out of the sinkhole and the bloater ripped off Perry's head. That was awesome. Actually, one of Bella Ramsey's best performances as Ellie was when Henry killed himself after Sam turned. Her cry of anguish felt so genuine. It was one of those few moments where I thought, "there she is, there's the Ellie I know".

Episode six was eh. I didn't like that they went straight to Jackson and never went to the dam. It felt cheap, especially when Dina's character popped in for a second. I love Dina but damn, that scene was bad. Maria's character was also disappointing. She was so on guard and untrusting of Joel and Ellie, acted more like a cop than anything. In the game she actually formed a bit of a relationship with Ellie immediately. And the thing with Tommy kind of treating Joel like a bad guy. Game Tommy took full responsibility for the stuff they did in the past, he regretted it but he didn't act afraid of it, or of his brother. In the game he was glad to see Joel, in the show it felt like Joel and Ellie were imposing. I also disliked that the entire scene of Ellie running away and Joel and Tommy going out to find her was cut out. And their fight about Joel leaving was lacking emotion because in the past episodes they didn't really build up a relationship to make it emotional. They still acted like they hardly knew each other at that point. Anyway, something I did like was the Shimmer appearance. That felt more organic than Dina's. But the whole scene at the college was lame. Watching Joel fall on top of a piece of rebar broke my freaking heart in the game and dammit! I wanted to see it again. I wanted to see more fighting in general. The college scene in the game is so intense and cool, and it was cut down to the end of the episode and a hunter stabbing him with a broken baseball bat. Again I know they were probably short on time and money and obviously couldn't add all of the scenes in the show, but this was an important scene and it felt rushed.

Episode seven was something to be desired. I didn't like how they wrote Riley's and Ellie's friendship to be so awkward. They're supposedly best friends, and the show made it seem like they weren't as close as they were in the game. And to talk a little bit more about show Ellie's character, game Ellie was upset that Riley was leaving, but she still more or less supported her right away. Show Ellie was much too explosive, yelling and storming out like she did. But other than that, the rest of it was alright.

Very much disliked episode eight. I think it was Bella Ramsey's worst episode, which was especially obvious with her first encounter with David and James. They also cut out the entire scene where Ellie and David had to kill a bunch of infected. That whole scenario led to Ellie putting down her guard slightly and I was disappointed to not see it. I didn't like how the show emphasized the group being religious. There are a few things here and there that show they are in the game, but obviously, being a cannibal pedophile should take priority when showing how a person or group of people are villains. In the show, David being a cannibal pedophile felt secondary to him being the leader of a religious cult. Then towards the end it felt like they made it too obvious that David was a pedo. I like the game because they told you exactly who he was in a subtle way. The audience isn't dumb, we don't need it written out in bold words for us. I also thought that it was a well accepted thing in the game that the entire group was okay with eating people, but I don't necessarily care that that was changed. Something good that the episode did were the scenes when Ellie was David's prisoner. She was still too angry and explosive, but the "broke your fucking finger" line was great, as was the scene when they had her on the table to be chopped up. The ending was okay, but I preferred the game version where Ellie was so distraught that Joel had to pull her off of David's body after she killed him. It was also the first time they actually seemed to have the relationship they did in the game.

The last episode felt rushed, but it was nice to see them with something that resembled their relationship in the game, although they were both still awkward and didn't seem very comfortable with each other. I loved how they made the scene where Joel killed all the fireflies look sad. The last episode was one of the best, only second to the first. I didn't care for the change with how the fireflies found them, but I don't hate it. I understand it was, again, probably a time and budget thing. They had the giraffes! That's what matters.

Really, it's not a "bad" show. Visually it was stunning the majority of the time (the fake horse was more funny than cringy). But where they differed from the game and some of their casting choices is where they went wrong, at least for me. One of the things I looked forward to most was seeing the infected. The show did such a beautiful job with them, but we hardly ever got to see them. I wanted so much to see the scene when Joel gets stuck in one of Bill's traps and has to shoot infected upside down. But they traded that for bullshit. Made me sad. I did like that they changed the reason Joel and Tess decided to agree to smuggling Ellie out of Boston. In the game they just wanted the guns Robert stole from them, while in the show Joel wanted to find Tommy. I didn't mind that change at all. I also loved Marlene. I have nothing bad or even slightly negative to say about her. She's amazing.

Overall, to me, the show in some scenes felt more like a retelling than a remake. Or like it was based off of a fanfiction that someone who played the game a few years ago wrote from memory. If not compared to the source material, it's great. But it has source material, and at times it felt like that source material was not respected. It's a shame, because it's a beautiful game with a beautiful story and beautiful characters. The people who only watch the show won't know who Joel and Ellie really are. If they make a second season, I have no plans to watch it.

[bluestar22x]

BlueStar's Year In Review

Thought I might make a blog review post of sorts this year cause it seemed fun.

It's been a very fun year for me on here. I joined tumblr for the gifs, and for fan talk, back in 2015. I mainly focused on the Dominion, 12 Monkeys, and Supernatural shows. All of which have been off air for a while now but I've continued to find fandoms to latch onto, the latest being the Pedro Pascal character fandom.

I've only had good experiences with this fandom since I joined in, starting around July 2022 after finally watching The Mandalorian. I'd seen Pedro in other shows before, but that was the first role I really noticed him in (shame on my younger self for not paying more attention to Marcus Pike before).

Finding out Pedro was going to play Joel Miller in an HBO show that same month, after having discovered/watched the TLOU games in May/June 2022 and being a newfound fan of game Joel, it kinda felt like fate. And then going through most of Pedro's major movies and shows before and during the time The Last of Us show aired solidified my want to be part of the fandom.

This year has seen a shift in my blog in major ways in large part to the Pedro Pascal characters and fandom. It's still very much for reblogging gifs of my favorite characters/shows/movies, but I've now shifted to also being a very fanfic heavy blog, where before I was only posting and reading fics on fanfiction net.

I started writing fanfic for the first time in years because of Din in 2022, but it wasn't until Pedro's version of Joel in January that I started reading fanfic again (since SPN ended) and eventually started writing for other Pedro Pascal characters.

Through reading fanfic about these characters and writing for them I've truly immersed myself in a fandom again and it's been a wonderful distraction, especially with how stressful real life has been in recent years trying to find a job I can live with, and dealing with not liking where I am in life (I thought I'd have more by this age - my own house, family, etc.).

I'm really grateful for those who have had discussions with me and who have read my fics; those who reblogged and left comments and reaction gifs that made me smile (reaction gifs are so fun). While I do write for myself first, every note has given me a serotonin boost, and it has lead to me having my first ever post with 100 notes! (And it's for one of my favorite fics I've written Sweet Summer). Notes aren't everything, but they're worth celebrating! They make me feel like I'm a part of something and not just in the background. I like contributing.

Here's the link to my Tumblr Stats

Notable Stats:

I've posted so much more this year than the rest before; it's insane

Obviously the notes have gone up since I now write

I haven't even hit 400 original posts yet since 2015! lol

Top 5 Posts:

1. July - Ch2 of my Sweet Summer Series

2. Sweet Summer Masterlist

3. Colors - My Joel Miller x blind!reader oneshot (a surprise honestly, but it goes to show how much reblogs make a difference)

4. June - Ch1 of my Sweet Summer Series

5. The Rockford Files Masterlist

It makes me sooo happy Rockford's in the top 5 cause that fic was very demanding and challenging for me. Not only did it have more plot than my typical fics (which took ages to straighten out), but it also had very LONG chapters because of the case by case nature of the fic. I find it hard to commit to long chapters like that - I have a somewhat short attention span and I'm impatient. It's only 3 chapters yet has almost enough words to be a novel! (over 40,000 words)

My Favorite Fanfics I've Written:

The Rockford Files (the finished product was worth it)

Sweet Summer Series (including New Year's Promise!)

The Journey Series

Fanfics I Wish Got More Love:

Second Chances Series (Love underrated Marcus M)

The Writing Contest Series (it's still early though)

My Masterlist

My Fanfic Plans:

I've got a lot of WIPs written out in my drafts. Right now I'm going to be focusing on Baby Fever and The Writing Contest (the latter which will have the most chapters of any fic I've written in a long time) but I have several one shots I'm itching to write between their chapters, including another Sweet Summer oneshot sequel called The Weekend which will feature Steve, Connie, and Chucho - not sure how I've avoided writing them for so long when I loved them in show. It will also be based around one of my favorite things to write besides smut. Take a guess.

After Baby Fever is completed I'll be looking to start writing another series, this time for Dieter called Unknown which will share a bit of plot and humor with that Disney movie The Game Plan (hopefully - I don't write humor much) but Dieter-fied. It'll feature less sports and more romance and angst. My two greatest loves.

Tumblr Wishes For 2024:

That I catch up on my WIP list (unlikely)

That I don't run out of ideas for fics (I just don't want as much ha)

That I make close friends in the fandom - I've talked to some lovely people fairly often, but I don't have anyone yet that I talk to regularly as I did in previous fandoms

That I have more discussions about the characters/fics/ask games I'm interested in - my ask box is open!

Anyway, that's all for now. Happy New Year everyone! :)

[coppermarigolds]

DYW Letter

Hi, Yuletide writer! Apologies for the delay in getting this letter complete. Thank you for your patience, and for whatever you write this year! (I am also perfectly happy to receive treats.) Here are a few notes on my fic preferences:

What I like: Genre-wise, pretty much anything goes–angst, romance, fluff, humor, etc. I love fics that dig into characters’ heads: what they’re thinking and feeling, what drives them, how they interact and react to the world and the people around them, and so on. I also love female characters being awesome. That doesn’t have to mean being physically kickass, either. It could be anything from a witty line of banter to a thoughtful conversation to a creative problem-solving method, just to scratch the surface. I particularly enjoy female characters being assertive and taking charge in romantic relationships. Smut is very welcome, though I typically don’t read anything more hardcore than some light bondage–please no watersports, etc.

What I’m not so into: Rape/non-con is my biggest DNW. I would prefer for character death to be avoided if possible, unless the story deals with the ramifications of a canonical character death. Also, while I’m fine with an angsty story, I tend to avoid fiction that goes full-throttle bleak and hopeless. Angst with a happy–or at least hopeful–ending is much more my jam. Finally, if writing smut, please avoid anything with a female character being dominated by a male character. (Femdom, on the other hand, is encouraged!)

Merge Mansion "What's Grandma Hiding?" Ads, Tim Rockford

Admittedly, I requested this because I love me some Pedro Pascal, especially in that tight white shirt. However, I'm also addicted to the mobile game itself, and am fully up-to-date on the story there, so feel free to include characters and/or story elements from the game as well if you want. But as far as Rockford goes, feel free to take him and his story in any direction you please! Is he a good guy who genuinely wants to solve crimes, or a shady cop who collaborates with bad guys (or somewhere in between)? Does he have a partner/kids at home? (I am, of course, fully here for single-dad-Pedro a la Mandalorian or TLOU if you choose to go in that direction.) How does his job affect his personal life, and vice versa? What's his backstory, and why/how did he get into police work? As far as the mansion-related crimes and mysteries, feel free to go in any direction you want there, as well. I love mysteries of all kinds, so you basically can't go wrong (aside from, as mentioned in my DNWs, no rapes please).

Midnight Mass, Warren Flynn, Leeza Scarborough

I found the ending of this show to be absolutely perfect, and yet I also really want to know what happens next for these two sole survivors. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be a teenager and lose not only your parents, but your entire home and community–and to be unable to talk about it with anyone, because how do you say, “the entire population of my hometown got turned into vampires and burned alive?” In a very real sense, all these two have is each other. How do they explain to the authorities what happened? Are they detained, or at least under suspicion, and how does that turn out? Are they able to stay together, or at least in contact, after the fact, or do they get shuffled off to relatives or foster care? If they do get separated, do they meet up again years down the line? Do they get together/stay together romantically? There’s so much potential to dig into here, and I’d love a story about any or all of it!

Star Wars: The Acolyte, Jecki Lon

I love Jecki and was gutted when she died in canon, so I'd love a story where that just...didn't happen, lol. You could reimagine the rest of the canon events with Jecki surviving, or take the story in a whole different direction. Or, if you prefer to remain canon-compliant, that's fine too! I'd be equally happy with a story set in her past prior to the events of the show, which we of course know very little about. I'm a big fan of mission-fics, if you wanted to write a story about her going on Jedi adventures, with or without other characters. If you want to include other characters, I'd be particularly interested in something focusing on her master/apprentice relationship with Sol, diving deeper into what he's like as a master and how Jecki responds to his methods. I'm especially curious about how he would have approached being a master to another young female Padawan after his fraught experiences with Osha, and how that would have affected Jecki, especially once Osha comes back into the picture. I also love Yord and his relationships with Jecki and Sol, so feel free to include him too if you like. As far as shipping goes, I'm totally down for Jecki/Osha--it was disappointing that they hinted at a possible attraction between them only to immediately kill Jecki off. (Platonic Jecki/Osha friendship would also be completely welcome!)

Star Wars: Outlaws, Kay Vess

I haven't actually finished this game yet, but I'm making good progress on it, so I hope to have it done by Christmas! I absolutely love Kay and would be happy with literally any story about her, past, present, or future. I love how she has so much earnestness and bravado, yet also is dealing with some very real abandonment issues, all while making things up as she goes along, forging through a very big and very messed-up galaxy. A story expanding on her relationship with her mother, whether pre or post-game, would be very welcome. I'm also totally down for mission or heist fic centering on any thorny situations she gets herself into. As far as shipping goes, I don't have any hard-and-fast preferences, but would be very open to Kay/ND-5 (I love his dry sarcasm with her) or Kay/Vail.

True Detective: Night Country, Rose Aguineau

I thoroughly enjoyed this whole season (full disclosure: I have only watched Night Country, not any of the previous TD seasons), and I found Rose particularly fascinating. I would have happily watched a whole show about just her. I'm a huge fan of stories about compelling older women, especially older women who aren't relegated solely to wife/mother roles. And Rose has clearly lived a very interesting life. How, for example, does she know exactly where to go on the ice to dispose of a body--and how to prepare the body so it doesn't resurface? Exactly how many bodies has she been involved in hiding, and why? I'd also love anything relating to her ability to see the dead. Does she ever see any of the people she's killed (or whose bodies she's dumped)? How does she relate to them, and vice versa? What was her reaction the first time she saw a dead person's spirit? If you want to go even further back to her pre-Alaska days, that would be welcome too. I know in the show she says she used to be a professor, but was that really true? And how exactly does one go from professor to ghost-whisperer-body-dumper in the middle of nowhere, Alaska?

I hope these prompts are enough to get some inspiration going, but if you have ideas different from anything I've listed here, please don't feel constrained. I'll enjoy whatever you write. Thanks again, and happy Yuletide!