#it was even worse with S2's

[fullscoreshenanigans]

@glidingisindeedfaster you get it 🤝

#remembering that anime s2 tried to reproduce this scene #and the bluray supplementary booklet said this is what gf looks like thousand years in the future #I threw a tantrum bc it means norman is dead at the end of the anime #the audacity #I don't think that's what posu meant in her version but. what if she did #sunny logic: fictional characters are technically immortal unless they canonically die #my copium was that the plants in demon world grow really fast and this is what gf looks like by 2047 #altho that doesn't change the fact that tpn 118 color spread already showed norman with a “lifespan” book. which has a last page 😔 #ofc the characters are written as regular humans who are supposed to die one day. but when the author/artist address this #brain goes *squint eyes* “how many pages is that lifespan book? is norman's book thinner than ray and emma's?” #noooo nono (via @1000sunnygo)

I do unironically adore the addition of the butterfly on the vida that hasn't bloomed at the end, similar to the addition they used to transition between Emma and Ray toward the end of S2 episode 2.

Such a profound beauty to it, and it's nice that even with the abhorrent production schedule TPN Committee had CloverWorks working under, they still managed to included little things like that. Not enough to save the entire thing, but I do appreciate it.

#my copium was that the plants in demon world grow really fast and this is what gf looks like by 2047

While there is a number of factors that go into it, even without the magical biology of demon world plant life, it wouldn't necessarily take a thousand years for that kind of growth to occur.

(Life After People S1 Episode 2)

I defaulted to it being within the span of 10-50 years so it was still in the ballpark of the human cast being alive and having lived fulfilling lives in the human world, though there is the poignancy of going with a thousand years with the parallels to the original promise.

Said this a few posts back but this spread legit made me catch my breath for the briefest of seconds seeing it for the first time. Such a powerful statement conveyed in such a simple concept: how after centuries of suffering on the grounds of Grace Field, that chapter of history closes as life blooms anew.

[mollysunder]

The Medarda arc of s2 struggled to be good, because the plot viciously smothered it. You can argue that Arcane was never about politics but you cannot say the Medardas were never explicitly a family defined by politics. So when the show shifted it's priorities from a drama steeped in political conflict where even though the setting was fantastical the stakes were grounded to a shift where magic is the end all be all threat to humanity, the Medardas are rendered largely irrelevant.

In s2 Mel's agency over her own story is both largely stripped from her and poorly communicated. Arcane has Mel abducted from the plot to be the Black Rose's captive. Even when Mel manages to free herself it's not through the traits the audience understands are her strengths, her cunning and social intelligence, it's through an innate instinct that natural to her and indecipherable to the audience.

Ambessa as a character is more or less a villain of convenience, which would be fine if she wasn't immediately following Silco's act. Once Mel is removed from the story Ambessa is largely disconnected from any emotional tension fuels conflict between the characters and previously drove the plot in s1. She's there to play the worse bad guy for Caitlyn and then give Viktor the man power for the Glorious Evolution.

It's frustrating to see the Medardas used the way they are in s2 because when they're together I can see how it could be good. When they're together Mel forces emotion out of Ambessa. In Act 1, Ambessa proved she could do circles around Piltover's court, which could actually put Mel in a tight spot.

Their final scene on paper sounds like a good idea where the true resolution to Mel and Ambessa's story was that Ambessa saw Mel's own ruthless behavior as she not only betrayed Ambessa to the Black Rose, but used her as BAIT to double cross LeBlanc. Ambessa died proud that her daughter killed her the way she did, and that's so cool and tragic, but the execution was a flop.

One, their final fight is completely unimportant to the actual Glorious Evolution, Mel's grief can't even be a highlight because it's interrupted by Viktor's mind trap. Two, their fight didn't rely on any of Mel's actual strengths, just magic and the poorly explained MacGuffin LeBlanc gave her. How did Mel even know it would do that?

It's like the writers had the bones for a great story for the Medardas, but then they're like the world's worst archeologists and fit those bones together in the worst way possible because they were convinced the bones made a stegasaurus instead of a T-rex or something.

[pensbridgrton]

"Colin should have grovelled more!" "Penelope folded too easily” I see this a lot and don’t agree I loved she got to tell him how hearing that made her feel and receive a true apology not just a bunch of excuses.

That being said the one thing I hated was him telling her she entrapped him. Ugh I know he was hurt but that just enraged me and broke my heart for her. Because he used her mother’s words to hurt him and she had been venerable telling him how long she had loved him. I know it was bad writing but it made me sad to see her just take it.

gonna be real with you anon - that line was actually one instance of GOOD writing, actually acknowledging colin's perspective and journey, and frankly, i wouldn't have minded if he had gone harder (and she in return!)

my biggest gripe of the season is that most of colin's inner revelations in part 2 - a very internal, emotional journey - were never shown to us but told to us after the fact. i wish we had more of his journals or conversations with characters that weren't cressida in the middle of a blackmail scheme (violet! or even penelope herself!) because him verbalizing that emotional journey would have worked better than just seeing him post-realization.

but i'm gonna be real, everything colin said or did in part 2 makes absolute sense TO ME (especially when you pull internal dialogue from RMB) so yeah... idgaf abou the entrapment line.

[vintagelioncourt]

not to sound dramatic but if they don't get to dance together during this party I will be taking hostages

[orangetintedglasses]

( I like to think I've mellowed out on how bad the brainrot is when I see Stamp!Vash, like. since adopting him as a muse/my son.

then I see fanart/merch/a Tiktok/just him in general and I start squeaking or sobbing )

[rykno-j]

guys.

wtf is that g/ojo nose upwards angle. im trying to keep my shit together for a major exam paper in literally 10mins but i HAD to drop this here.

istg initially i was looking at this poster thinking "ehhh?? where is he???" UNTIL I SAW HIM UPSIDE DOWN AND NOW ALL i see is g/ojo's FKING beautiful.. beautiful.. WHAHDHHFGSGH

good lord.

yeah, thats it, that's the post

[lady-shadow-and-darkness]

Getting real tired of the Vi hate in this fandom.

[roseraintears]

Something that bugs me about arcane s2 ....is that Isha seemed to just exist to die and make Jinx more miserable

Think about It...all of her scenes are her bonding with/protecting Jinx (yes she has a few with Vander but those arent many)

She is a plot deviece used by the writers to put Jinx in a better place and then in a worse one after her sacrifice

And it wasnt even necessary !

Jinx killed Silco her father figure at the end of season 1, shes already in a Bad mental state in season 2 ' s first act ! Why not let her spiral down further from there? Or give her Isha to slowly let her heal and then keep it that way!

Killing a child character off just to develop another Just doesnt seem like good writing !

[thesupernaturalhouse]

So I cant.....I can't anymore, Stolas fucking sucks

Season 2 as a whole sucks and gets rid of a lot of character depth that characters had in s1. But this post isn't about that-

I was recording clips for an edit, and you know in ep9 s2 when Stolas tells Blitz about "you couldn't be bothered to come save me"

Yeah.....Blitz TOLD him why he was unable to go and save him. He was even genuinely concerned and sent milly and moxxie in his place

You wanna know what Blitz said??

"Ah shit Stolas I can't today- I'm sorry I am literally on my way to take loona in for her very important hellvis S-H-O-T" and "it takes years to book it, it took 5 for me to get this one"

Aka, a rabies shot, which, racist will immediately kill you. You DON'T survive that once you get it and symptoms start showing up, it's a death sentence, and considering Loona is basically a sentient/anthropomorphic dog, if she catches it her survival rate is probably 0 percent

And you know what? Stolas gets it, and then in ep9, "the one who tried to kill em and you couldn't be BOTHERED to come help me"

Bitch he told you?? He sent people in his place?? He was getting his kid a really important shot?? Yiu selfish motherfu-

I hate this bird

I hate this fucking bird so much more now

This is just the finale straw for me that breaks the camels back tbh like......

Apology tour is just, Stolas and the narritive/writing basically gaslighting Blitz and its gross

I liked Stolitz and Stolas in s1, it wasnt a healthy relationship. The circumstances for both characters weren't super good, but it understood that and actually showed those flaws, It set up these characters future arcs

Season 2 is, frankly, a shit show. It has its moments, but ep1 ruined Stolas and Stolitz for me, and it just keeps on getting worse and it isn't even in a way of "Oh its rough, but they can bounce back

This is gaslighting. This is hypocrisy. This is guilt tripping. This is abuse.

Instead of building off of season 1 it is retconning it, it is destroying the continuity and timeline, it's making these characters so much worse then what they were

Instead of having Stolas face actual consequences for his actions the narritive is backtracking and going "Oh actually its not his fault" over and over again

Oh he cheated in the marriage? No worries Stella is a bitch so it's okay

Oh, he's neglecting his daughter despite them already having this arc? Oh, it's fine she just needs to cut him some slack

Oh he constantly belittled Blitz and made him uncomfortable in season 1? Actually it was all of Blitzs fault for misreading the signs of love!

He is constantly shown looking down and abusing other imps like his butler? Oh its fine, they aren't the main characters so what he does to them isn't important!!

Another thing is that Blitz tells Stolas how he feels. He points out his shitty actions. And what does Stolas do? He fucking cries like Blitz is being a big ol means for no reason

This trial is just going to further victimize him and make him seem in the right. The fact the sins might even be brought into it is also so fucking stupid.

The writing went from a 8 to a 1 with the characters. And it's only a 1 here because there are some good ideas in s2.

Their basically trying to cover up, retcon, Stolas's actions instead of having him deal with consequences and go through real development

Honestly the best ending for Stolitz would be Blitz realizing Stolas is toxic as fuck to him and just, not contacting him again. Stolas could get some real consequences in that trial and move on and become better in his own right

Butttt of course since Viv likes them so much it's gonna be dragged on for fucking seasons and then their gonna get together.

If I were to rewrite the season, I wouldn't even try to rewrite Stolitz.

[thats-ill-eagle]

HELLUVA BOSS DEVIATING FROM ITS ORIGINAL PREMISE FUNDAMENTALLY DESTROYED THE SHOW

So, it has already been discussed many times in HB critical community that HB deviated from its premise after S1 and that anyone with an once of media literacy can tell that you can't describe it in any way other than horrible writing.

Now, I'm going to ask you this for a second - imagine that you haven't seen S1, the pilot or read the premise of Helluva Boss anywhere. Imagine that you watch all (available) episodes of S2 and are asked to write a premise about it on some movie review website. How would you briefly describe what happens in S2?

Oh, you can't or are having major trouble doing it? Don't worry, you are not media illiterate, my friend. That is the case because IT'S LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHAT HELLUVA BOSS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT ANYMORE.

There are many flaws that your writing could possess - inconsistent characterization, too fast/slow pacing and so on. However, they do not automatically derail your work. It is very much possible to recognize those faults, learn from them and do better in the future.

But the premise of your work is its literal BONES. You build up the plot and characters based on it. You just can't expect your show to be good, if you tear out its basis. Of course the pacing, character development and how plot points are wrapped up in HB is horrible - how can anything function without the very thing that holds it all together?

And I MEAN that the premise of HB completely disappears, not shifts or changes. Like, seriously, what the hell is HB supposed to be about now?

Stolitz?

Their interactions indicate zero meaningful development and are tediously spaced out to the point that it's hard to care about their relationship. It is made even worse by the fact that Stolas, just like in S1, still keeps pressuring Blitzo, despite him being clearly uncomfortable.

Blitzo making amends with people he hurt?

Even ignoring S1's nonexistent buildup of this plotline (Blitzo looking at photos on his phone doesn't count, since it's literally the ONLY moment that barely suggests it), there's no buildup in S2 either, when it comes to both Barbie and Fizz. It is certainly not helped by the fact that Barbie just vanishes after Unhappy Campers and Blitzo and Fizz's beef is resolved in a single episode.

Any other plotlines of S2, like Fizz's job, Crimson, Striker, or Stolas and Stella's separation are just too small or insignificant to be considered part of the supposed premise, INCLUDING the assassination business, which arguably takes up the least amount of time of aspects of the show listed.

It's no surprise that Helluva Boss is slowly crumbling. At this point, it's just a paralysed zombie who completely forgot what it once was. And it's damn sad to watch, because the show comforted me during some dark times and, despite Viv being an awful person, I truly hoped for HB to be great.

[ist4rgirlo]

── 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 - 𝐜.𝐟 : 𝐕

Summary: Now that your life has turned upside down, are you still willing to put your siblings' feelings first? Or would you rather fight for your feelings and do what makes you happy regardless of the consequences that might result in the future?

Prev ; Next || Conrad Fisher x fem!reader || My blog

Warnings: S2 SPOILERS! swearing, yelling, fluff, accusations(?), (lmk if i missed anything!)

SEQUEL TO BEFORE EVERYTHING HAPPENED

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Y/N’s Pov

It’s like she was never here at all. We looked everywhere, every corner, every part of the house. Everything was gone, it honestly just made things worse. This is just fucked.

“Everything’s gone” Jeremiah said — going down the stairs. We looked at him, trying to sink it all in.

We heard the door open, it was Aunt Julia — she entered the kitchen with a bag in her hand. Conrad walked towards where she was before saying “What the fuck, Julia?” we all walked towards her, standing behind Conrad.

“I-I’m sorry, it must be all a shock” she paused “I spoke to your father this afternoon, and-and he and I decided to not let things drag out any longer” she explained before turning her back on us.

“I don’t give a shit what the two of you had decided on. You had no right to touch anything in this house, those were her things” Conrad said, pointing at the house — his voice filled with rage. Steven walked towards him, grabbing his arm gently, “Breathe, man” he said to Conrad.

Aunt Julia sighed, turning to Conrad — looking at him. “Everything is fine, I made sure that they took good care of everything. I’m just doing what I had to do.” she explained. Conrad walked towards her “Okay bullshit. You could’ve warn us! All you want to do is fight our mom-“ he said — raising his voice, I walked towards him — pulling him away, trying to calm him.

“Okay, enough!” Aunt Julia paused “You are not the only who is hurting here” she continued. Her tears threathening to fall down her face. She was hurting too, she wanted to move on. We also wanted to move on. “Plus, I shouldn’t be the one who you should be angry with. Your mother could’ve warned you, she just… wanted to make me be the bad guy.” Aunt Julia said before looking down — continuing what she was doing earlier.

Conrad shook his head “I am so sorry.. that she was too busy dying to make you life a little easier. You know, it sucks that our grandfather loved her more than you, but i’m not surprised” Conrad scoffed before turning around — walking outside of the house. I looked at Aunt Julia before following him.

Conrad wasn’t wrong. Conrad was someone who wouldn’t lie to you, he was always straightforward — he was just like that, because he cares even if his words might hurt you but that’s what the truth is. That’s just how life is, the truth hurts. All of it hurts.

“Connie please..” I said, walking closer to him — grabbing his hand gently. He just looked at me. “Ofcourse dad did nothing to stop her” he said before pulling his phone out with his free hand.

“Connie what can he do?” Jeremiah asked, I turned to him — still holding onto Conrad’s hand. Conrad turned, “Jere he doesn’t care about us!” Conrad yelled. I rubbed his hand, trying to calm him down — I felt his hold on my hand tightening.

We heard Skye walk out of the door — Conrad heard immediately went and pushed my hand away gently — walking towards Skye “Did you know about this?” he said “Stop” Jeremiah pushed him gently. Conrad pushed Jeremiah’s hand away “No I’m serious. Did you know about this?” Conrad pointed at Skye.

“I-I didn’t know anything” Skye defended “I swear I would have told you.” they said crossing ther arms. Conrad scoffed “Would you have? really? Because we haven’t seen each other in ten years. Would a day at boardwalk have been enough to betray your mom?” Conrad asked, his eyes squinting.

“Listen, I know we don’t know each other very well, but i-i wouldn’t have sideswiped you like this” Skye explained. “Connie, come on” Steven said — trying to stop Conrad from saying anything else. Steven looked at me, signaling me to do something. “So what do we do?” Steven asked.

Conrad just shook his head no, “I-I don’t know!” he said before walking away from Skye. Everyone looked up to Conrad, including me. He’s the oldest amongst everyone. He was the one who you would go to when you needed advice. Seeing him like this, hopeless and doesn’t know what to do, hurts me.

“W-Well we can’t just leave. The house isn’t sold yet” Jeremiah said looking at Conrad who was pacing back and forth. “Well where are we going to sleep?” Steven asked, “I think there are some sleeping bags in the garage” Belly said shrugging. Conrad shook his head “I’m not sleeping in this house” he looked at me. “We don’t have to, alright?” I said not just encouraging everyone else but Conrad specifically.

“Well hotels are usually all booked up around this time of year” Belly infromed us. “I… feel like I should go” Cameron said, we all turned to him — totally forgetting that he was there.

Taylor sighed “You know.. maybe we-we should go too” she suggested. I looked at her and nodded. I mean, nothing’s going to change if we just stayed here, infront of the house, all night. “Don’t go yet, I know a place where we can crash for the night” Jeremiah said — we all looked at him. We all walked towards Jeremiah and Conrad’s car and drove off.

───────────────────────────

We arrived at the Country Club where Jeremiah used to work at. “Huh” Steven asked “You kept that?” he said to Jeremiah who was holding a key — walking towards the car. Jeremiah shrugged “Perks of not cleaning your wallet out” he went and tried to scan his card on the scanner but it wasn’t working. “Shit” he whispered under his breathe.

“Okay there’s got to be another way, right?” Belly asked. Jeremiah turned to her, “I mean we can try the pool gate” — “Uh we could also use my mom’s key code” Cameron suggested. “Wait are you sure? your mom?” I asked, Cameron nodded “Yeah it’s fine, she’s the manager at the restaurant here.”

“Just uhm you know, don’t make a mess then we’ll be alright” Cameron said before inputing the code into the lock, turning to Steven and Jeremiah — both boys raised their hands before going inside the door.

As I was about to walk in, I noticed that Conrad wasn’t moving “Hey, come on” I said walking back to him, holding his arm. “It’ll be alright” assuring him — smiling gently. He smiled, before walking with me, thanking Cameron.

As we went inside, we all talked about going in our own ways. Cam and Skye went to go get snacks, while Taylor and Steven bickered because Steven started teasing her about sleeping on dusty sheets so that just made Taylor go with him instead of Cam and Skye. So it was just me, Jeremiah, Belly, and Conrad that was left.

“Alright, I think I know a place where we can sleep” Jeremiah said, looking at us. I nodded, “Uh you want to come?” Jeremiah asked us, I looked at Conrad — “I think, we’ll go with Cam and Skye” Conrad looked at me for approval, offering me a hand. I nodded and grabbed his hand gently.

We were on the way there before we heard Belly ask Conrad “Are you okay?” Conrad turned to her, making me turn around too. Conrad nodded and smiled gently before pulling me again to walk with him to where Cam and Skye is.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Conrad, he looked down at me. Stopping me from walking, we were now face to face. “It’s just, I shouldn’t have gone to boardwalk.” he said, looking up. “Hey it’s not your fault, Connie” I shook my head gently, reassuring him. He looked at me, his eyes filled with hope. “We’ll figure something out okay? It’s not over.” I said before pulling him in for a hug.

The fact that he hurt me is in the past now, I don't care anymore about what happened back then. I am done mourning about whatever happened back then, done crying and regretting what I did. All I want now is to be here with him, to be his best friend. The same as it used to be.

───────────────────────────

Conrad's Pov

It has been said that nothing can break the invisible thread between two people who are meant to be together. I had always thought that it wasn't true, that there wasn't such a thing as an invisible string. However, after Y/N returned, I realized that this statement was actually true all along.

I pulled away from her gently "Thank you" I said — smiling gently. She has always been there for me, ever since we were little. That’s just how it always was, me and Y/N.

“Come on? Let’s go find the rest” Y/N said pulling me — smiling. I nodded and followed her. “Hey so, how are you?” I asked her — she looked at me, confused “I.. I’m okay now” she paused, smiling “You know it was time to move on and live life I guess. I can’t really keep on regretting things that I shouldn’t be regretting and blame myself for everything knowing that It wasn’t really my fault or anyones.” she said, looking down at our hands — that were still holding each other.

I nodded “Yeah, I totally understand it. Plus we were still young back then, things were still a blur at that time. We really did things that we did regret but it’s what made us what we are right now, you know?” I looked down at her, she nodded.

I looked at our hands, hesitating about what I should say “Uhm and about the Belly thing-“ — “Hey let’s forget about that. It was the past and I am totally over it. I know that my sister and you truly loved each other, it’s just.. it wasn’t the right time and it’s okay. I don’t hate you for it.” she reassured me — cutting me off, smiling, swinging our hands.

That’s what I totally loved about Y/N. She wasn’t someone who would hold grudges, no matter how much you hurt her or did her wrong, she can never stay mad at you. She had a pure heart, the one that you’ll be scared of hurting, of breaking. She was always the one that understood people.

───────────────────────────

Y/n’s Pov

The boys were in the golf cart meanwhile we were here walking, we decided to go out of the Country Club and sleep on the hill. Cam Cameron and Conrad was inside of the cart while Jeremiah and Steven were behind it, jumping up and down. “Okay it’s not gonna work, there’s too many of us here” Conrad said.

“God y’all are a bunch of kids” I groaned, walking beside Belly, putting an arm around her shoulder. “This is so annoying” I heard Taylor said — still poking holed on her apple. “Weed is not supposed to be this difficult” Taylor complained, Skye insisted to do it so they took it and tried to do it themselves.

“So.. you and Steven” Belly said looking at Taylor, I looked at Taylor too, smiling. “There was you know, a vibe” she continued. “There wasn’t any at all” Taylor scoffed, shaking her head no, “I save all my.. vibing for Milo. Plus Steven really hurt me last year so” she shrugged. We nodded - totally agreeing with her.

After what happened with her and Steven last year, I'm pretty sure Taylor just didn't want to get hurt like that ever again, that's why as much as possible she tries to stay away from him. Which we totally understand, even though we were his sister we admit that Steven can be an asshole.

Belly sighed “I.. I think I really loved Conrad” she suddenly said “longer and truer than anyone in my whole life” she continued. I looked at her, dropping my arm from her shoulder. She looked at me, you can still see the pain in her eyes, there was still a glint in there.

She truly loved him. She did love him with all her heart, and I’m sure Conrad did too. I remember her talking about Conrad back then, she was so happy, she was glowing. They were both really happy with each other, I guess it just wasn't the right time.

Taylor nodded, looking at me. “How about you?” I just shook my head no. It would be weird if I talked about Conrad knowing that he was my sister’s ex. Belly looked at me - waiting for my answer.

“We never really knew what happened between you and Conrad” Taylor said, curiously. I just shrugged “Nothing really happened, we kind of just drifted apart because of my.. dumb decisions. But we’re okay now” I said smiling at Taylor. Belly chuckled and nodded. “Totally understand that, we were young back then, I made dumb decisions too. I'm glad that you guys made up, It feels good seeing things come back to normal again.” Belly said, patting me on the shoulder.

I nodded. “You know what, we should make a pact” Taylor suggested. “We should leave our first loves and dumb decisions in the past” I nodded looking at Belly, she looked back at me, nodding too. We all agreed, pinky promising.

We saw the boys hop out of the gold cart. "This thing is definitely dead" Jeremiah said, pointing at the cart. We just decided to go up the hill and rest there just for tonight. We all set our blankets and sleeping bags down. Skye was finally done with the apple bong, as they were smoking with it right now.

"What's happening over here?" Steven said, walking up to us, dropping snacks in front of us. "We playing truth or dare or what?" he asked, resting his hands on his waist. Belly clapped, looking up at Steven "Okay, you in?" she asked "I dare you to eat the apple bong" Belly dared Steven. Steven scoffed, grabbing the apple from Skye - taking a bite.

"How was it?" I asked, chuckling "It tastes so.." Steven said before spitting it out infront of us, the chewed up apple falling infront of us and on our knees making Taylor scream throwing an apple at him "Okay, that is gross Steve" I said before standing up, trying to clean myself.

"It's okay, we'll make him clean it up" I heard Conrad reassure Cameron. They were walking towards us with snacks in their hands "Are we playing truth or dare? you in, Conrad?" Cameron asked Conrad - sitting down.

Conrad shook his head, sitting down beside me. I pushed him gently — encouraging him to join, he still said no. Jeremiah finally arrived, sitting down beside Belly

Skye covered their eyes and started to point at people, their point finger landed on Belly, “Belly uh I dare you to kiss Jeremiah” — there was silence, we all just looked at Belly, waiting for her to do something. She just looked at Jeremiah.

Jeremiah shook his head “Yk aren’t we too old for that shit?” he chuckled, we just nodded. It was Cam’s turn. He basically just told us about regretting not spending time with his sister before she passed away.

“Does it.. does it get better?” I asked him, Conrad looked at me — placing a hand on my knee. It was evident that I was still in pain, still in regret. Cam looked at me and nodded “Yeah, It was hard at first because you know the paint start to feel more like a scab. Sometimes something random will totally set you off. Like their fave music, smells, flowers and it just makes the pain feel brand new again. But everything goes back to normal, eventually.” He explained.

It was obvious that we all needed to hear that, especially Conrad and Jeremiah. It was their mom, their mom was also like our mom. She treated us as her own children too, we were still mourning, still in pain. But as what Cameron said, It’ll go back to normal eventually.

I smiled — nodding at Cameron before leaning on Conrad. His arms automatically wrapped around me, my hands against his arms. The situation was not awkward in any way, it was not me exploiting his emotions or anyone's emotions. Conrad was my best friend before the two of them got together, him and my sister. Plus, Belly had Jeremiah's attention — so I don’t see anything wrong.

We just heard Taylor yawn which made us all laugh “I’m sorry guys, I’m just really fucking tired right now” she said groaning, putting her face in her hands. “Yeah it’s getting late you guys. We should head to bed” Jeremiah nodded, chuckling. Steven stood up to get everyone some blankets while everyone else stood up and started to set up their own beds.

Everyone else was already laying down, Cam and Skye shared a pillow, Taylor and Steven were laying beside each other, my mat my beside Conrad, Belly was beside Jeremiah. We were all just spread out. I was laying down while Conrad was sitting beside me.

“You okay?” I heard Conrad ask me — I opened my eyes and looked up to him, nodding. “Just thinking” his brows furrowed, now laying down, his head wresting on his hand. “About what?” he asked looking at me.

I turned to my side, we were now face to face “Just you know, like what If I didn’t go here. What would I be doing? i’ll probably regret it if I didn’t. Knowing that the house will be gone.” I felt his hand on my hair, tucking it behind my ear before resting his hand on my cheek.

“Well I’m glad that you went, wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” Conrad said, rubbing my cheeks. Things were happening so fast, I don’t even know if what we’re doing was right. For god’s sake, he was my sister’s ex but why did it feel so right? if it doesn’t seem right.

I nodded and smiled before placing my hand over his. Sleepiness started to consume my body, the last thing I heard from Conrad was “Goodnight, special girl” before I felt myself start to fall asleep.

───────────────────────────

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this was very long LMAOOO sorry about that you guys — i just had to fit it all in there :))

hope you guys like this chapter !! lots of love <3

[runningfrom2am]

empty threats // LTPF

summary: you get in trouble at school, and don't want to go home just yet.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 3.4k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. they're just little in this one :'), so no real warnings. besides r being a little violent and threatening, but what's new lol. non-descript mentions and implications of abuse.

a/n: hi! thought i'd post this before s2 of cold nights bc,,, i'm not ready to let this series go just yet lol. this was (kind of) requested a couple of times so i do intend to write another thing ab them before the series! maybe p2 to 'the finer things in life'? lmk

(also would y'all call me crazy if i said this was based on something i actually did in middle school? yes? okay in that case that was a joke. thanks.)

series masterlist // playlist

You were having a bad day. A bad week. Bad month. The academy had not been treating you well this year- nothing really was. But school especially was kicking your ass.

You did well, consistently. A's, A+'s, and it was only at the small cost of your sanity. You hardly slept anymore- which is part of the reason your father started allowing you to wear makeup at the beginning of the year. To hide how dark the circles under your eyes were- how pale you were getting from lack of sunlight and exercise, and the bruises that happened to be visible on warmer days where you weren't required to wear your blazer.

You hadn't slept in a week, you were sure. It was hard to tell. Days and nights blurred together; you were effectively a zombie at fourteen. Even you knew that wasn't right.

"Y/N/N." You didn't realize you were falling asleep leaning on your palm, elbow pressed uncomfortably against the surface of the desk.

"Huh?" You blink rapidly, looking over to the source of your name.

"You okay?" Coryo chuckles quietly, looking you over as he almost always did.

"Never been better." You sigh, shaking your head to refocus yourself on writing the notes on the board.

"You sure about that? I'm not exactly inclined to believe you."

"Yes." You nod, having to lean to the side to even see the board. You didn't notice when Arachne finished her notes and stood right in your line of sight to talk to Livia, who was sitting in front of you.

Yes, your teacher had allowed you to discuss upcoming assignments when you were finished copying down the paragraphs on the board, but that didn't mean Arachne should block your view.

"Arachne." You say, waving for her to move when she looks down at you.

"Have you no manners?" She asks, tilting her head at you.

"Move. Please." You really don't have the patience to argue.

"No thank you, I'm alright here." She smiles, sickly sweet, before promptly returning to her conversation.

You close your eyes, taking a deep breath in before slowly letting it out through your nose. "I'm trying to write, and your massive head is blocking the entire board. Move, now."

Coryo snickers beside you, his notes already long done as he sits back to watch.

"We're trying to have a conversation. Some of us have lives outside of school, you know." Arachne digs her grave deeper, crossing her arms as she stares down at you.

You grip your pen in your hand so tight you're afraid it might break.

"Don't." Coryo says to you, reaching out to grab your shoulder in an effort to calm you. He knew this look on you; you looked like you were about to detonate.

You ignore him, trying to look past her again, but she takes a sidestep to the left intentionally blocking your view now. Back and forth, whichever way you lean she's conveniently moving to be right in your line of sight. You try to listen to Coryo and not cause a scene, you really do, but your patience was deteriorating by the second.

"Arachne, I swear to god I will hit you so hard with this book if you don't get out of my way that you'll have worse memory loss than usual. Move."

"Y/N/N, here, let's just switch. You can see just fine from-" Your friend suggests, already standing up to move and open his seat to you.

"Oh, is that so?" The girl laughs at you. "It's not like these notes will ever matter to you. You probably don't even know what that-"

Within a second you're standing, grabbing the textbook from your desk and swinging it at her.

It hits the side of her head with a loud crack that has her stumbling back. Other students are laughing, you can hear it, but only echoes as you breathe heavily.

You smile as she clutches the side of her head, stumbling down into her empty seat. "Thank you." You nod, moving to sit back down and resume taking your notes. Suddenly, you're feeling much more awake; refreshed at being able to channel your frustration into something physical.

Coryo stares at you, almost in shock. Almost, because Arachne should have known that coming from you, there was no such thing as an empty threat.

"Miss Y/L/N!" Your teachers voice bellows as Arachne starts to cry.

God, she's such a baby.

You aren't given the chance to defend yourself before Coryo is speaking up for you. "Sorry, Sir. She's just had a tough week." You shoot him a look and you can see the panic in his eyes, wracking his mind for a way to excuse your violence in a forgivable manner. "I'll take her down to the office." He's helping you up out of your seat before grabbing your books and your bag for you.

Your teacher clearly doesn't have the energy to get into it with you today so he nods, waving for the two of you to go.

"It's just, you know, lady problems." Coryo says as you pass the teacher on his way over to Arachne, who now has Livia fanning her face with a book as if that would help.

"Just, get her out of here." Your teacher says again.

"Of course you would know- just get your insane girlfriend away from me. I can't look at her anymore." Arachne whines, still clutching the side of her head.

You grit your teeth and jam your elbow into your friends ribs at the unnecessary comment right as you exit the doorway.

"Ow!" He winces, looking back to make sure no one saw. "I helped you!"

"I am not on my period, Coriolanus." You hiss, glaring up at him as he walks beside you. "You're such a pig."

"How am I supposed to know! I just know you assaulted Arachne and that's a hard act to excuse. I tried my best."

"You're lucky I'm not. If I was I'd gut you like a fish right now." You grumble, pulling your bag from his shoulder and giving him a shove back.

"I'll count myself lucky then." He chuckles. He never took anything mean you say to him too personally or too seriously. Your threats only ever seemed to be empty when they were directed at him.

"Coryo! Y/N/N! Wait!" You turn and cross your arms as you wait for Sejanus who's speed walking down the hall to catch up.

"Oh, you're late to the party." You grin, raising an eyebrow at him.

"He sent me to escort you guys, didn't want you to sneak off before actually going to the office." He explains as the three of you continue down the hall.

You groan, rolling your eyes. "Ugh, him too?"

"Gross." Coryo mutters.

"Excuse you, that was rude!" You laugh, bumping your shoulder against his arm. You didn't notice when he started to get taller than you, it seemingly happened overnight.

"And I stand by it." He replies, shaking his head at you as you gasp in mock offense.

"I'm wounded, Coryo. Truly."

"Yeah, you guys are never beating those allegations. Sorry." Sejanus laughs.

"True, but it would be nice if he didn't act like i'm repulsive all the time."

"I do not act like you're repulsive!"

"You guys argue like an old married couple. It's cute."

You don't know what prompted you to walk here. Anxiety, maybe, after the receptionist at the office was instructed by Dean Highbottom to call your father this afternoon while you were in the office.

You stand outside the entrance to Coryo's apartment building, pacing in your academy uniform. You stop, staring at the call panel.

"Level 12 Penthouse: Snow"

You chew your lip, looking down at your watch. It was almost five, you wasted time sitting in after school detention staring at the wall. Just press it. You didn't walk all this way just to go home anyways. Press it.

The buzzer is ringing out of the speaker before you can overthink it.

"Uh, hello?" His voice is crackly on the other end, hardly even audible if you weren't panicking over who would answer.

"Coryo, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Uh, hold on. I'll come down." His voice cuts out and you wait for the buzzer that signifies the door is unlocked, but it doesn't come.

You try the handle anyway, but it remains locked. You groan, peeking in for the first time through the large glass windows that made up the entrance to the lobby.

It was a damn mess in there. Garbage bags everywhere, it looked like the floors or the walls hadn't been cleaned in years. Why on earth was there no maintenance in his building? You knew he had a driver, a chef, maids to clean his own apartment, or so he said. Would it be so hard to have the building cleaned every week?

It's a good few minutes before you see your friend open the doors to the stairs, and looking over at the elevator while he walks up to the door you see there's a maintenance sign on it. That was broken, too. Your brow furrows as he walks up to the glass door, shoving it open.

"Y/N... What are you doing here?" He asks, and you give him a once over. He's still wearing his academy uniform, just like you, but without the skirt that drapes around his legs. The buttons are partially undone and buttoned unevenly.

"I, uh..." You start, giving a slight shake of your head. "Why are you still in your uniform?"

"I haven't had the chance to change.." He lies, eyeing you quizzically. He definitely won't be telling you that his only casual clothes are noticeably too small on him, ankles showing in the only pyjama pants he owns so he had to throw this back on in a rush. Usually, he just sleeps in his boxers and only leaves the house in dress clothes. "What's going on?" He asks, changing the subject.

You take a deep, shaky breath and shake your head. "I... was just hoping you'd want to hangout." You smile, but it's not convincing enough for him.

"Oh, uh, I'm a little busy right now..." He glances back inside.

"Of course. Yes. I'm sorry." You nod, slightly disappointed.

"But, I mean, it's just homework. If you have your stuff we could work on it together." He suggests, sensing your discomfort.

"Came straight from school!" You grin, patting your bag where it hangs at your waist.

"Uh, okay..." He chuckles a bit, checking the time on his watch before reaching past you to buzz his own apartment.

You wait for a moment before another voice rings out.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Coryo, did you lock yourself out again?" His cousin sighs.

"Again?" You gasp, covering your mouth as you laugh quietly at him.

His cheeks flush. "No, I didn't. I was hoping you could bring my school bag down to me, Y/N and I are going to hers to work on homework."

Your smile fades as he volunteers your home. The reason you came was because you didn't want to go back there. Not yet.

"I'll be right down!"

You hear the click of it disconnecting and he smiles at you. "Just give her a minute."

"We can't- Uh..." How to word this without sounding weird. "My brother has friends over, I think. They're always super loud so that's why I came here..."

"Oh, okay. Well..." He looks back inside again. "We can find somewhere else to go. My grandma'am is sleeping, that's all."

You're both lying to each others faces and neither of you knew.

"Sounds good." You nod. "My brother and his friends are just like, so annoying. I wish they would just get together and like... read or something..." You laugh nervously, rubbing your arm.

"I get it." He hums and you laugh.

"As if, Coryo, you are that younger brother."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"This is exactly how my little brother fights with me so..."

"Except I don't have siblings. So that's impossible."

"Yes you do."

"No, I don't."

"You do!" You laugh. "You realize the genetic components have like... nothing to do with that, right? Tigris is effectively your sister. You live together, for christs sake. Besides, I know I'm right because of... everything." You gesture to him vaguely and he glares at you.

"That's why we get along so well." You smile sweetly at him. "I'm a big sister. I know exactly how to handle little brothers. And you're used to having a big sister around, so you tolerate me."

"Tigris is not my sister, and you are nothing like her."

You playfully roll your eyes. "I wouldn't know. But I would bet money that we have more in common than you know."

"Definitely not." He protests, shaking his head as Tigris steps out of the stairwell with his book bag in hand. She smiles and waves at you as she comes up to the door, opening it to hand it out to him.

"Thank you." He nods, and she turns to you, blocking the door from closing as she stands there.

"Y/N, how are you?" She smiles, holding her housecoat around herself. It had been a long time since you'd seen her- she left the academy before you were old enough to study in the same buildings.

"I'm well, thank you." You smile. "Yourself?"

"I'm good." She nods. "How is school treating you?"

You laugh, shrugging and reaching up to rub your eyes. "Well enough, I suppose. Gives me something to do."

She smiles, sadly, and nods. You look over at Coryo quickly. "Should we be going then?"

He nods. "Yes, we should. Thank you, Tigris."

"Of course." She grins, waving you off as you make your way back down the steps ahead of him.

Coryo throws his bag over his shoulder, rushing to follow you as he notices his mismatched buttons and quickly tries to fix it. "Where do you want to go?" He asks, and you shrug.

"Maybe the park? It's a nice day out." You offer.

He looks around. It wasn't that nice- there was a thin overcast of clouds that suggested it may start to rain, and there wasn't much time before the sun would set. "I mean, it looks like it's going to rain. Noise doesn't bother me, we could just go to your house."

You sigh, looking down at your feet as you walk in no particular direction, kicking a stone across the broken pavement. "No." You quickly dismiss it. "What about the old bomb shelter? I know how to get into the one on my block. There's an unlocked door."

Your friend wrinkles up his nose at the suggestion. "Isn't it gross and dusty and dark?"

"It's not that bad." You laugh. "Don't be a baby."

"Do you remember the bombings?" You ask, pushing aside an old curtain in the underground shelter.

"I don't think I could forget if I wished to." Coryo mutters, looking around. It was dusty, but you had found a light switch very quickly. The lights overhead flickered after years of not being used, but for some reason, power was still connected. Like they were still on standby, waiting for another flood of terrified people to swarm in during the night after years of being left untouched.

"Me neither." You hum, adjusting your bag over your shoulder. "We slept over there." You point vaguely to a far corner of the vast space of old bunk beds and tables.

"Cozy." Coryo mumbles, stepping around a crack in the ceiling where water had dripped down into a puddle on the floor.

You laugh as you place your bag down on a table, quickly removing your blazer to dust off the bench next to it so the two of you could sit. You won't get in any more trouble for dirtying your uniform than you already are for hitting your classmate.

You lay the red material down across it and use your palms to wipe the table so your friend would be more comfortable placing his stuff there. "Here, sit." You smile, patting the spot next to yourself.

"Thanks." He nods, eyes locked on the yellowing bruise that falls around your wrist. It was previously unnoticeable under the shadow of your blazer sleeve, but now with only your blue dress shirt slightly folded up, it was clear as day. To him, anyway. His eyes flick up to your face as you dig through your bag, so blissfully unaware that now he knows why you came to him instead of going home. He hadn't thought of it before.

"Well?" You turn, raising an eyebrow at him when he doesn't make an effort to move. "You scared or something? I don't bite."

He shakes himself out of his stupor of realization. Maybe one day he would say something, but that certainly wouldn't be today. "I'm pretty sure you do." He jokes, sliding into the spot next to you.

"Oh, how you think so little of me." You laugh as he starts pulling papers and books out of his bag. A small smile tugs on his lips, but he doesn't look at you. You tilt your head a little bit, watching his movements closely. He's so sophisticated for a boy who just turned fourteen.

"I was working on math before you showed up. Want to do that first?" His lips are moving suddenly, and you only notice after that he's looking at you.

"Oh, yes. Sure." You smile, quickly turning back to your own notebooks and pulling out the right one. You didn't want to work on homework, not at all, but it was better than being at home.

"What page are you on?" Coryo asks absentmindedly, flipping through his textbook to note both where he is and where you are. You didn't need his help, but he was happy to offer it.

"236. You?"

"250."

"You're fast." You giggle, shaking your head as you look at him.

"Well, I had an hour when I got home, so..."

"Right." You wonder as you stare at his blonde curls if they get poofy when he brushes it. It must. He clearly hasn't had a haircut in quite a while. You twist the ends of your own hair between your fingers. You haven't either.

Coryo's brow is furrowed in concentration as he tries to read in the mediocre lighting, copying down the equation he was working on.

"Why are you friends with me?" You ask impulsively, and his writing hand freezes for just a moment.

"Because... You're nice to me." He answers simply, resuming the question he was on.

"I'm not that nice to you." You giggle. "Everyone is nice to you, mostly."

"Yes, well, you're funny too. It seems that all our classmates have monkey brains, or something."

"So you think I'm smart?" You tease, leaning your chin on your palm.

"Aren't you?" He deflects the question back to you, not risking looking your way.

"I like to think so." You shrug. "But that's not a good reason to be friends with someone."

"Then why are you friends with me?"

You bite your lip, picking up your pencil and suddenly finding an interest in the bite marks you've left in the wood over the last week. "I don't know." You say honestly. "You're nice to me... I suppose." You laugh, seeing the irony in your response.

Coryo finally looks at you, smiling knowingly. "See?"

"Okay, fine. But I like to think we get along really well, don't you think?" You really don't want to do your homework, deciding it would be better to just talk anyway. That's why you went to him, you realize. You wanted to talk.

"Sejanus said we bicker like an old married couple." He chuckles.

"Well, yes, but he's wrong. Besides, an old couple wouldn't be married if they didn't at least get along most of the time."

He nods, tapping his pencil against his notebook. "I guess you're right." He agrees. "But we don't really fight, it's just... pretend. You know that, right?" He looks at you hopefully, trying to pick up on a sense of understanding in your eyes.

"Well, duh." You giggle nervously. "If we really fought I wouldn't be your friend. I'd hit you with a book, as we know."

He nods, but doesn't laugh at your joke. "I wouldn't hurt you on purpose. Ever." Don't look at her wrist, don't look at her wrist, don't look at-

"I know." You nod, speaking quieter now as you feel the seriousness in his tone. The smile on your face is genuine, but he can tell it's forced beyond sadness. "Maybe that's why I'm friends with you."

"That's a good reason." He says softly, matching your smile. "Trust is the most important thing."

You think he doesn't know how much that means to you, but he does. You force yourself to look away quickly, torn between the urges to both cry and kiss him. You'd never kissed anyone before, but you'd decided when other girls started having boyfriends who they only stayed with for a week that if you had to pick anyone, it would be Coryo. Something tells you he wouldn't break your heart.

"So you trust me?" You ask, blinking away tears as you pretend to focus on your schoolwork.

"Of course I do."

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[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

It's crazy how cringe Arcane S2 Viktor is. He's a Machine Herald without the "machine". It's just like calling Mordekaiser as the "Iron Revenant", and taking away the "revenant". It makes no sense at all, and destroys the whole character. It's like making Jhin with his face visible, when everything that makes Jhin himself is the anonymity of his face.

Suffice to say, I'm disappointed, and if they choose to make Arcane Viktor as the in-game one with the VGU & Rework, I'll quit playing Viktor. I don't want to play as another corrupt mage like Brand or Xerath. I want to play as a cyborg man from Zaun. Closest we have is Urgot, but even then, he's not a ranged character. Camille? Again, close range character, and from Piltover. And they're not quite the same as Viktor, who is fully set on prosthetics, and helping people, and being a scientist who builds golems.

It's like Viktor will become a completely different character, and I'll continue to prefer his current LoR version as the in-game canon since I love that version of him right now. Welp, guess the only place where we can play as his original version will be LoR. Such a shame.

The whole plotline of "Piltover-Zaun becoming one against Viktor's and Noxus' armies" makes me cringe so hard, you have no idea. Weren't we supposed to have an animation series about Piltover and Zaun? When did it become about "Noxus vs Piltover and Zaun"? But I liked Jayce. He's become Giga Chad, basically. Sure, doesn't fit his S1 character, but which character stayed loyal to their S1 versions? I didn't like S1 too because it didn't set up the base for Viktor becoming the Machine Herald at all (not into robotics, no comment on human emotions, etc.), or for Jayce to be an arrogant guy who's very hard to work with. No, instead we had their "better" versions. It makes me so angry. 😭 I'm not even starting with what kind of abomination they've turned WW into. He's supposed to talk. Not act like an animal %90 of the time and just speak one word the whole season.

Swain crows and Mel allying with LeBlanc was cool, ngl. Doesn't make a lot of sense as to why Swain doesn't move a finger to stop Ambessa and her army whatsoever, but whatever. Also what was the "subtle foreshadowing" they did on the last episode? Geez.

Ambessa fighting scene is literally what happens in every movie: the guys who are shooting all the time suddenly stop and let the main character(s) kill them. What a classic.

Betrayal wasn't expected but didn't surprise me.

Viktor model is just outright cringe. Mask looks ridiculous. Hair looks ridiculous. Cane? A whole another level of ridiculous. Voice not at all Machine Herald's. Human face still visible under Reddit Upvote button, disgusting. Halo of runes(?) behind his head, forced Biblical stuff. Has magical husk slaves like Evelynn in LoR who has the ability to fly and infect, apparently. SUS. He also has gone to the full "people shouldn't have control" mind-set, which I don't appreciate since even the Convergence Comic Viktor at the start was hating the cult, blaming them for twisting his ideology for their own sick beliefs. His third arm just looks like a horrid monster from S.O.M.A. game, but in a really bad way. Also wow, Viktor now apparently has the power to telekinesis.

Wow, apparently Caitlyn is such a powerful and lucky(!) character that she can fight while being stabbed by a dagger. Wow. Not plot-armor at all.

I appreciated how Ambessa's men literally do nothing to help their commander, which should have happened since Noxians use any and all means necessary to win. They used Singed's chemical weapons during the invasion of Ionia. Guess they forgot about their own principle: "Guile" 💀

WW can teleport now?! Wtf. Also impenetrable skin. They're really going for that "Shuriman Ascended WW", huh? Everyone can fly now, apparently.

Wow, galactic god Viktor. So cringe. Old Viktor. Viktor paradox. How worse could it have been?

Aaand, "happy" ending because why not. 💀

Jinx using herself as a bullet? Now that's a first. Was Jinx's death supposed to be sad? Sorry, I was cringing over every other thing wrong with the act that I couldn't find it in myself to feel bad.

What I didn't understand is how did Orinna came to be??? Hello??? Can we get an explanation please??? Because she's not the Orianna we know at all.

NOOO THEY'LL DESTROY NOXUS NEXT!!! NOOOOO 😭😭😭

^^^ it's over.

Orianna got injected with Viktor's and Warwick's blood I guess, so now she has 3 dads!

[armageddon-generation]

The Bear Season 3 is a bridge season that feels weird on purpose, but also has some big problems: A review/ramble

Season 3 is clearly a bridge season, and suffers from having been written & shot alongside season 4. As a result, unlike the seasons 1 & 2, it doesn’t feel like a distinctive or complete chapter of the restaurant’s life. Just half of one.

This is partly because there’s no ‘end-goal’ like in S2, or clear progression/visible improvement to the restaraunt like in S1. Season 3 is about stagnation. Most of its storylines are left unresolved- the review, Sydney’s job offer, Tiff & Frank’s wedding, Marcus being inspired by his mother’s death, Tina and the dying farmer’s market, Carmy’s conflicts with both Claire and Ritchie. All these threads will roll into Season 4, and Season 3 suffers from that.

PACING, FLASHBACKS AND TONE: FORM REFLECTING FUNCTION

HOWEVER. This being a ���bridge’, character-focused season isn’t inherently bad. Individual episodes of The Bear still tear when they want to. Episodes 1, 2, & 3 are a very strong setup for the season and establish good momentum. Episodes 6 & 8 are fantastic character pieces, and 8 in particular made me bawl. Even the finale, though bogged down by masturbatory celebrity chef cameos, was a strong episode.

The problem is all the stuff in-between. The actual day-to-day running of the restaurant feels hollow and empty now. There’s a distance between the characters and it feels like they don’t interact as a group anywhere near as much.

Part of this is absolutely deliberate. People joke about S3 'method acting' its way into bad reviews to reflect the restaraunt, but losing steam and the connections between characters is genuinely a formal reflection of the kitchen crew's moods, as the day-to-day grind of running the restaurant wears them down.

The use of flashbacks in 3x1 is excellent, but Season 3 quickly becomes way over-reliant on them (episode 9 especially, oh my god). Again, this feels like a conscious choice to reflect Carmy’s state of inertia/the fact he’s perpetually trapped in the past. It makes sense, but that doesn’t give the show a pass for being boring, and 3x9 was the first time I’ve ever felt genuinely bored by this show.  

FUCK THE FAKS & NEGLECTING POC CHARACTERS

My other problems are much more clearly the fault of the show; I do not give a flying fuck about the Faks. Neil is cute in small doses. The brothers are great as soundboards for other characters; Theo getting Sweeps to talk about his backstory in baseball, the brothers comforting Donna at the end of 3x8 Ice Chips, or the haunting argument finally forcing Carmy to talk about Claire.

But on their own? When they’re just bouncing off each-other? These guys aren't half as funny as the show seems to think they are. And their scenes drag on so long. For example, the B-plot of 3x5 Computer wastes half of an otherwise strong episode with pointless fucking around, propped up by a pointless celebrity cameo. I do not Give. A. Fuck about haunting, Mr. Cena, why the fuck are you here.

The aggravating time-wasting is made worse by The Bear continuing to neglect and underuse its POC characters. This is the second season in a row where I’ve felt Syd only got the bullet-points of an arc. She is the LEADING LADY. Ayo is now the show’s biggest breakout star. USE HER.

I really enjoyed Tina's focus episode, but unlike Forks and Honeydew last season it doesn't move the plot forward, and unlike Fishes the flashbacks don't contextualize Tina''s actions in the present because she's barely doing anything in the present, despite the show setting up her struggles in the kitchen early in the season.

Meanwhile, Ebra got crumbs again and Sweeps got a single scene, which is tragically at least better than he had last year.

Marcus’ arc this year is a fascinating microcosm for the show’s themes, but it barely gets a second to breathe because we have to cram in another five minutes of the Fak brothers arguing about that time Neil got taped into a cardboard box. It’s ridiculous. And then they showcase Nat being all protective of Marcus in an episode he’s barely in, when she barely interacts with him. It feels unearned & disingenuous, using Marcus as a prop for a Hell Yeah gotcha moment.

I liked Josh Harnett though, that casting had purpose, and both Chef Terry and Luca were used excellently.

CAMEOS

The surprise celebrity cameos this year felt distracting and indulgent in a way last year’s didn’t. In Fishes the slew of cameos were a dramatic tool meant to disorient the viewer. This year, John Cena is here to distract you from how pointless this B-plot is, and we've brought in a bunch of famous chefs to tell you direct-to-camera why cooking and the service industry are so important.

The chefs in particular are bizzare after season 1 spent most of its time telling us how evil and toxic the fine dining industry is. But now it's actually just the fault of a few bad apples, and these guys are really rad actually?

CLAIRE

Much has been said about how Claire was an underwritten archetype for Carmy to project onto. Now, I don’t much give a fuck about shipping in this show, but it’s clear Claire & Carmy’s romance didn’t connect with most people. It felt hollow. At the time, I thought this was deliberate, like the tone and flashbacks this season; Claire’s writing reflected Carmy’s perception of her as a saintlike childhood daydream who could deliver him from all the stresses of his life.

But this season, not only does the show refuse to let Claire go, it doubles down on objectifying her as a prop for Carmy’s self-loathing, trapped in his memory.

Again, this might work thematically if I knew Claire as a person, or was at all invested in their romance, but I don't and I’m not. As it stands, the multiple extended flashbacks with Claire feel like futile attempts to plug the holes in Season 2's weakest storyline, and drag their episodes down. If we’re supposed to root for Carmy to find happiness outside the kitchen, this is having the opposite effect, and it’s made worse by it all being left unresolved by the finale.

Either do something with this character or move on, because right now every time Claire appears I clock out emotionally, and that’s not her fault, it’s the way the show treats her.

CARMY THE ASSHOLE

All this contributes to an overriding problem that I again think is deliberate, but risky; Carmy isn’t likeable this season. He causes his conflicts with Ritchie and Syd, to whom he has passed down his generational trauma. Carmy's menu is the biggest thing dragging the Bear into bankruptcy. Carmy has stopped working to resolve his familial trauma like in seasons 1 & 2, just as Nat starts making headway. He functionally doesn’t exist outside the kitchen, entirely preoccupied with the past & a girl the audience doesn’t care about.

Unlike previous seasons, the few times Carmy is called out for his bad behaviour he doesn’t make much effort to listen or improve. Again, I get that this is the point. Carmy is on a low, self-destructive ebb, and hopefully when things start resolving in season 4 he’ll snap out of it. But him dragging the show down with him has consequences.

EPISODE COUNT & FINAL THOUGHTS

A lot of people are saying that S3 only had enough plot for 2-3 episodes, and while I think that’s disingenuous- The Bear has always been a character-focused, vibes-first show- I do think it should've returned to the 8-episode count of season 1. You can consolidate the same amount of ‘plot development’ into fewer episodes while maintaining the deliberate sense of inertia. Cut back on the Faks and flashbacks to give more time to the kitchen crew, and many of the complaints would disappear.

Anyway, all this to say that The Bear season 3 is not Bad like some are saying, but it is a step down from its first two seasons. It feels like it’s got lost in its own head and lost a part of itself along the way, and while a lot of that is deliberate- formally reflecting Carmy’s internal conflict- it exacerbates existing problems (underwritten POC, Claire) and creates several new ones (celeb cameos, overusing flashbacks, unresolved plotlines) previous seasons were able to sidestep.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

man i saw this and i was gonna write a whole post abt how maybe the problem for these ppl isn’t that ed wasn’t punished enough (even tho that’s what they say) maybe it’s that it’s a poorly-executed redemption arc but they don’t know how to verbalize that.

and that would actually make sense bc ed doesn’t have a redemption arc in s2. bc the show does not think ed needs redeeming. even at his worst and most harmful to the people around him the show is deeply sympathetic towards him and gives us sooooo much screentime dedicated to showing us that everything ed does he only does bc he’s hurting. which doesn’t excuse any of what he does but it does shift the narrative framing away from an actual redemption arc, where a character needs to like, learn why the things they did were bad and try to make amends. but ed never needed to learn anything, he knew his actions were unacceptable and that’s why he did them. he was trying to be the most horrific monster he could be in hopes that someone would get sick of him and kill him.

so then i went looking for an old post i wrote abt redemption arcs to talk abt why ed’s s2 arc probably reads like a poorly-written redemption arc for ppl who are expecting an actual redemption arc and. i change my mind actually. because “is this character willing to accept that their behavior is harmful, to make amends for their past behavior if at all possible, and to try and become a better person?” yeah we see ed do all of that tho.

Accept Their Behavior Is Harmful: i mean aside from the fact that ed knew this the whole time, we also see ed talking to fang about how guilty he feels for how he treated the crew. but like this isn’t zuko slowly unlearning an entire lifetime of fire nation propaganda, ed doesn’t need a season(s)-long arc abt this. He Already Knows

Make Amends For Their Past Behavior: like literally the whole thing with getting pushed off the ship!! wearing a sack and a collar at the crew’s behest!! he’s very much trying to make amends!!!!!

Try To Become A Better Person: there’s a lot i could talk abt here but just on a surface level, he’s trying to quit his job where he attacks and steals from random innocent ppl for a living. like objectively that job does not make you a good person. and also that job makes him miserable and when his mental health is in the shitter sometimes he hurts other ppl in his efforts to hurt himself so like!!! he is very much trying to not be the kind of person who forces crew members to fight to the death anymore!!!!

so yeah, thinking this was abt a “poorly-written redemption arc” was giving these ppl too much benefit of the doubt lol they just want to see ed grovel and suffer for an entire season, which was never going to happen lmao. the show thought izzy had more to apologize for than ed and that’s why ed’s apology was one sentence and izzy’s apology was a whole speech on his deathbed. the show thought izzy needed more punishment for his actions than ed did and that’s we see izzy get put through the physical ringer in the beginning of s2 and ed getting beat to death by the crew happens off-screen. ppl can argue all they want abt how ed did so much worse than izzy but at the end of the day the show disagrees with those takes and that’s why it treats these characters the way it does. die mad about it.

[jaskierx]

so there's been a lot of posting about things like ofmd not being a 'kind show' and no longer being 'the queer joy show' etc etc and. i just want to remind us of where everybody is in s1's finale vs s2's

let us begin

stede: stede ends s1 on a hopeful note (setting off to go get his man) but shortly prior to that he's kind of been through it (he nearly got executed and then two different people tried to murder him). stede ends s2 on an even more hopeful note, having got his man, ready to open an inn with him. verdict: slightly better off at the end of s2

ed: ed ends s1 in absolute despair. izzy has been a real dick to ed (depending on your interpretation, he's done something ranging from being a little tiny bit mean to ed to calling him a slur and threatening to kill him, but we're not having this discourse again) so now he's back in his blackbeard persona mere days after feeling some hope that he was finally free from piracy and ready to run away with someone who loves him for who he is. the last shot we see of s1 ed is him absolutely crying his eyes out in the bed nook. it inflicts d4 psychic damage on me whenever i look at it. anyway at the end of s2 he's been on an absolute journey, he's learned that he's loved, he's free from being blackbeard, he's stood beside the man that loves him and they're going to give everything a go. verdict: significantly better off at the end of s2

stede's crew: i mean. what is there to say. at the end of s1 they've just been marooned and social order on their little island is rapidly breaking down due to buttons and roach teaming up to try and eat the swede. at the end of s2 they're happily back at sea and the swede has spanish jackie to fight off anyone who would even consider having a nibble. verdict: significantly better off at the end of s2

honourable mention - buttons: ends s1 unsuccessfully trying to eat the swede. ends s2 having fulfilled his life's dream of becoming a bird. good job buttons. verdict: slightly better off at the end of s2

ed's crew: as above, the crew end s2 happily sailing away into the literal sunset. we finish s1 with jim presumably unconscious and izzy pointing a gun at frenchie. so not an ideal situation really. fang seems to be having a good time though and ivan gets killed off between seasons (rip king) so it averages out at a slightly better rather than a significantly better. verdict: slightly better off at the end of s2

honourable mention - frenchie: ends s1 hoisting his flag at gunpoint. ends s2 captaining the bloody ship. go frenchie. we love to see it. verdict: significantly better off at the end of s2

lucius: ends s1 soggy. ends s2 not only dry, but married. verdict: significantly better off at the end of s2

izzy: ah yes this old chestnut. so. two perspectives here. one is simply that he ends s1 alive and ends s2 dead. so. possible verdict: significantly worse off at the end of s2. alternatively, he ends s1 as his classic repressed self, smiling from ear to ear because ed cut his toe off and it sparked joy, disliked by the crew, resented by ed. he ends s2 having accepted himself and having experienced all the queer joy he would never have permitted himself in s1, having experienced more screentime and growth than any other secondary character in s2 (yes he's a secondary character no i won't argue with you about this), and dies exactly as he lived - being a pirate who can pull off a plan. he gets to have his deathbed deep and meaningful conversation with ed, which brings closure to them both. he gets buried beside ed and stede's new inn, on land where his grave will be tended, having been given a nice funeral by people who once despised him. so. possible verdict: slightly better off at the end of s2. he definitely seemed happier in s2, and died at peace rather than as a frothing little ball of anger, which is more than i could've foreseen in s1.

anyway. the eagle eyed mathematicians among you will notice that even if we take it as read that izzy is significantly worse off at the end of s2...

every single other character ends s2 in a better place than where they ended s1.

ofmd is a kind show that's full to the brim of queer joy. you guys are just sad that your fave died. and that's fine. the writers did a great job creating a story with characters that were so well written that people are genuinely grieving izzy's death.

but his death does not erase the inherent kindness and joy of the rest of the show.

anyway thanks for reading. i had fun playing with the tumblr post editor settings. by which i mean changing the text colour was unreasonably difficult and now i am stressed