#just like tptb i guess

[jemgirl86]

Well, guess who just watched Sam’s episode of What If and has mixed feelings about it?

Idk man, it’s like the creators had to be bullied into actually including Sam in any significant way, and then the first thing they do when they actually deign to give him a story is make him another sad white dude’s Emotional Support Negro.

Like… it was awesome seeing him be Cap and lead the Avengers all on his own. And I thought it was cool that Monica and Bucky seemed to be his number 2 and number 3, respectively, and I especially enjoyed the Sam/Monica interactions. Catching a glimpse of Sarah and the boat was great too…

BUT… but… this fandom, and the MCU fandom at large, already make Sam play second fiddle in everything, they already think his sole purpose is to be a “therapist” to whatever white dude he’s in the vicinity of, so, idk man, something about this plot just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I certainly didn’t hate the episode, and again, I enjoyed a few things, but the connection between Sam and Bruce, didn’t hit at all the same way as the connection between Sam and Steve. It felt more one-sided and shallow, and I know they can only fit so much into one episode, but it would’ve been nice (it would be nice) to see Sam’s friends give as good as they got in their friendships with him.

[autumnrory]

it's never too late to get into a thing but when it's after the creators have ruined it i'm like omg bestie why bother

[sl-walker]

Booster's Queer af

Something I wrote on Reddit on a thread asking 'what's your DC hot take??', because if you're gonna kick a hornet's nest, kick it with your best steel-toed boots and then smile:

Booster's queer. That man hasn't come across as straight-- ever. Like even when I started reading DC in 2003, he came across as queer to me, pretty much from his inception. Seriously. He comes across like someone closeted and decidedly not-straight who just stays in the closet initially because it was a very bad time to be anything other than heterosexual when he landed in the past and later because it's habit and expected of him. I don't think he's gay, I think he probably leans pretty pansexual or maybe even demisexual, but any which way, you'll never convince me he's not at least a little bit queer. He's had one in-universe romance that hasn't been retconned (Firehawk) in his entire time existing and one that was a joke and maybe not even real canon (Gladys). After almost four decades. His thing with Firehawk lasted, I think, like less than a year, too. I'm pretty sure you can count his on-panel kisses on one hand, but not more than two. He's never had a 'morning after' scene. The one seriously emotionally intimate relationship he has is with another guy. When he does flirt or attempt to, it comes off as being awkward and a bit desperate and a bit like a man who is kinda using it as cover. And like-- that really makes way more sense for him than anything otherwise. I'd sincerely hope by the 25th century that we'd stop giving a damn who loves or wants whomever else based on gender presentation. It also makes for a pretty compelling tale, a guy getting dropped into the middle of the AIDS epidemic learning a very quick and ugly lesson about what happens to queer folk in this time period. I dunno how hot a take this is, though, because at least some people up top agree (he's canonically hooked up with Ted in Teen Titans Go! and like-- any time Tom Taylor writes them, he all but says it aloud), but if TPTB were brave, they'd finally confirm it mainline. Like you don't even have to ship him with Ted (though that's my preference), just confirm he's queer. Here's my essay. What's my grade? LOL!

--

Since it's relevant, tho, here's a few pieces I wrote from a long email back and forth (since us old people still do that) with another very long-time fan of his a couple weeks ago:

But anyway, to me, he acts about like how a kid who got dropped into the 80s during the height of the AIDS panic and rampant homophobia and the wholesale death of gay men might, especially if he were queer himself. I'd probably try to straight-wash myself, too, in his boots. (I remember that time period, if distantly. I didn't realize I was queer myself until I was well into my 20s, despite falling in very desperate and intense love with another girl when I was 12. I do remember being in high school when a boy was murdered for being queer by being tortured and left tied to a fence to die, though. It was that kind of world back then for people like us. In some places, it still is.) Still, where Booster fails at any hetero romance (oh god does he), he's so devoted to Ted that a big part of his second solo was dedicated to him either trying to save the man or actively mourning him. It's heartbreaking and amazing and really actually quite good stuff, from a literary POV. Whether DC meant it or not, somehow they managed to write one of the greatest love stories I've ever seen in a comic across most of twenty years, no kidding, and I've read a lot across a lot of companies, even back when I was a twelve year old girl and ridiculed for it. And not just a great queer love story, it's a great love story period. A person can make a credible argument for it being a one-sided -- romantic and therefore non-platonic -- love, but it's pretty hard to argue it's not a very intense one regardless.

And

I guess what I'm trying to say is: This is another read on him. And I think also a very valid one. He's one hell of an amazing character, I wish DC had handled him half as well post-Flashpoint than they did pre-Flashpoint, and I don't think a queer reading of him detracts anything from how amazing he is. If anything, I think it makes the older stuff several shades deeper (and so, so relatable, god), and I think if they decided to write him as explicitly queer now, not too many people would actually be all that surprised. With or without Ted. I can't really identify with Alan Scott, love him though I do, even though I can acknowledge that a generation of gay men likely could quite strongly. But I can identify with Booster Gold, who grew up poor and wrecked his future in part for love of family, who clawed his way out of poverty and fell back into it, who has brilliant and shining moments of courage and heart, and moments where he lands on his face, who was tough enough to survive a lot of shit but devastatingly vulnerable to exploitation, and who looks like a fellow queer kid who might've fallen for his best friend, but was surrounded by homophobia and hate and terror and buried that part of himself because the alternative might have been getting beaten and left tied to a fence to die.

[frangipanilove]

About THAT kiss…😱

(Obviously there will be spoilers below…)

I would never dream of telling anyone how to feel about it, everyone’s reaction is completely valid. I’m personally not that faced, and here’s why: while I won’t enjoy watching Daryl kiss other people, I can’t shake the feeling that this is primarily TPTB sending a loud and clear message to certain factions of the fandom, who for years have been acting entitled and narcissistic to the point where they come across as a bit sociopathic I’m being completely honest.

I think y’all know who I’m referring to. While I assume most of them are normal people, some of the most vocal ones seem absolutely unhinged, they have done nothing but cry and complain about a show that hasn’t even aired yet, boycotting it before they’ve even watched it, and they demand TPTB cater to their particular preference of fan fiction as though it is their god given right. They’re calling the actors and writers ageist misogynistic predators, and I just feel like TPTB reached a breaking point where they weren’t going to take it anymore.

With everything we’ve seen lately, with Norman’s confirmation that Daryl believed Beth made a move on him and he 100% approved of it, with the intensive c@ryl friend-zoning campaign seen over the last few months, and with a leaked clip in which C@rol refers to Daryl as her brother, I think what we’re seeing here is just as much TPTB putting the final nail in the c@ryl coffin as it is anything to do with d@rabelle. And I’m not saying that Isabelle isn’t a character in her own right, I just think there are multiple angles from which we can interpret this.

I think the gloves are well and truly off. This is TPTB letting everyone know they won’t be rewarding bad behavior and they will not let anyone dictate where they want to go with the show. And if that means losing a few rabid shippers as viewers, so be it.

As a TD’er, this doesn’t really change anything for me. The symbolism is still there. I think there’ll be a reward for us on the other side of this, and I still love everything TWDU (maybe not EVERYTHING, but you know what I mean) so I’ll continue to watch, as the hopeless fan girl I am.

On a personal note, while I don’t love watching Daryl explore a different ship, I’m not terribly upset by it. I think it’s good for him develop close meaningful relationships, I think it’s a necessary part of his evolution, and think I’ll tolerate it just fine, like “ok, this is what we’re doing now, I guess”. It just is what it is. I’m probably not going to enjoy it, but I’m not crushed by it either. And for the most part, that’s because of all the incredible symbolism we’ve been getting lately. And that hasn’t gone anywhere.

Of course we’re all different, and that’s ok, I’m not judging anyone who feels differently about it. I hope everyone is ok and will continue to tag along in the future ❤️

[drulalovescas]

Okay, the confession was romantic. It was just poorly written. Like the rest of the show.

okay, the confession was romantic, agreed. but for me it's absolutely and utterly beautiful and very good writing. like, I'm not even exaggerating. castiel's words and his love for dean was pure and selfless and uconditional. so i gotta disagree?? unless you mean it was "safely" done in order to leave the window for a platonic interpretation open in which case yeah, i guess. Bobo could've written: I love you. I'm in love with you to leave no doubt but the thing is he really couldn't. I'm 100% convinced that that was the condition under which the confession was even allowed. Hence, Bobo tried to work around it. hence we had Cas say "the one thing I want is something I know I can't have." He wasn't allowed to give us explicit "I'm in love with you" so he gave us the second best thing. And if you mean the execution, how it was shot, the distance between dean and cas (the way they always stood on top of each other and here it felt like they're million feet apart lol), how there were some of jensen's and misha's reactions cut (which is literally confirmed by jensen himself) then yeah, that happened but that's not on the writer.

My personal opinion: the confession was done, written, shot and then edited (aka butchered in the editing)"safely enough"to not alienate homophobes. but that was the condition tptb set. and, again, it is not on the writer.

[matan4il]

911 ep 709 first watch reactions

The way this ep starts with giving us a clear shot focused on the front, solely on Buck sitting between the man he's dating and the man he's been married to for the past six years, and only on them. XD I'm here for it.

Oh, Bobby. :( Feeling unworthy of his medal, and remembering his dad, and how everything went wrong after he got it. </3

Aaaah. Man, IDK. The openly and explicitly homophobic and racist captain cartoon just feels like an easy target now. Prejudice doesn't seem like it mostly gets expressed that way anymore, and when we only teach people to reject that kind, we not only fail to teach them to recognize subtler forms, we may be misleading them to think those more nuanced ones don't count.

Love Athena trying to "save" Bobby by contacting Amir. I'm always a sucker for a couple where they both save each other.

I enjoyed the little play with "Mother Hen," and I know it's not specifically about Buddie, but it is damn funny that when she's told she's raising more kids, they're the ones the camera focuses on. lol Raising a kid together for 6 years, still a couple of morons in desperate need of parenting from their colleagues. Even when Bobby's "wordless goodbye" moment with Buck is letting him cook for the 118, Eddie's by his side and they're doing it together. I swear, 911 said, "Take note, this is what a marriage looks like" and then just kept hammering the point for 6 seasons now.

Okay, I am pretty sure that, while Bobby's acceptance of Buck's first relationship with a guy, is really lovely, "Because we haven't had to talk about it" is not an actual good criterion for discerning whether someone is good for their partner or not. People whose spouses are abusive don't talk about it, either. :/ I am NOT saying that's Buck and Tommy, because it obviously isn't, it just feels like a line thrown in there to be cutesy, but which isn't actually helpful to people, who might take it too seriously.

I AM GONNA LOL FOREVER. So, just like Buck's bi awakening was all about Eddie, now Eddie's messed up whatever he has with Kim is gonna involve Buck, too? Gotcha. Battlefield boyfriends being off-battlefield boyfriends once more.

So... Buck was going to see Tommy, in an ep where TPTB have already paid for Lou in the role, so might as well use him as much as possible, but instead a non-emergency run in with Eddie's current whatever-Kim-is makes Buck ditch Tommy, and run straight over to Eddie's to help him? Look, I'm obviously a One True Pairing kind of shipper, so Buddie are it for me, as much as I can enjoy and see the value of Buck and Tommy as a stepping stone, and nothing will make me stop shipping Buddie (especially not after the tsunami eps), but 911 is feeding me way too well with how it frames these scenes and stories, I don't think the show's trying to get me to stop.

Man, if anyone's ever had a doubt that Eddie is the world champion at denial, this kitchen scene will def cure that.

"I'm worried about you." "Yeah, I'm worried about me, too." And then Buck, the one person who can ALWAYS penetrate through Eddie's denial wall, no matter how thick it is.

Eh, IDK how much the part where they try to re-define Shannon as the love of Eddie's life works, or how much it just serves to show he's still in denial, just a different kind than before, when Buck got through to him that he can't go on like this with Kim. For one thing, in his little retelling of their dysfunctional r/s, Eddie doesn't mention that Shannon was leaving him a second time, even before she died. Literal denial and repression.

So I'm gonna choose to believe Hen and Karen will get Mara back, because I can't deal with that particular storyline otherwise.

Kim's reaction is too deranged for me. Who does something like that, even if we assume the kindest of intentions? And then Marisol and Christopher's timing... I didn't sign on to watch a soap opera, but I guess I'm getting one free of charge?

"Now you gotta save yourself." If that ain't a painful summary of what growing up means, IDK what is. the conversation with Bobby's dad in his sleep was a good, painful scene, built right, leading to him hopefully getting his closure through saving his wife from a fire, and leaving us with just the right amount of suspension for next week and the season finale, where we'll see if he can let go of his past mistakes without a doppelganger dressing up like his dead wife...

Thank you for reading! If you’re looking for more, you can find my s7 reactions tag here, and more of my Buddie meta and content in my pinned post. xoxox

[whateverisbeautiful]

Spicy question for you after seeing the one about Lori 👀: What if Andrea had lived? Do you think TPTB would have went forward with Richonne? One the one hand, Rick and Andrea hadn’t developed a relationship as of her death and we know Gimple had (subconscious?) plans for Richonne. On the other hand, those plans could have been because he knew Andrea wasn’t long for that world and a lot of development can happen in 2.5 seasons (assuming the timeline remained the same). And if I’m being honest, the absolute UPROAR that would have occurred if Richonne happened while Andrea was still alive would have been something! Rick and Michonne definitely had more chemistry from jump but I don’t think they would have had the guts to make that big of a change but *Kanye West voice* “I guess we’ll never know.”

Ooh thanks for asking. I love 'I guess we'll never know' cuz it's very true. 😌 Any alternative scenario that some out there might've wanted will always have to just be hypothetical because Richonne and their epic love story is forever the reality of this TV franchise.

And the way I see it - even if Andrea, Lori, Jessie, or any of these ladies had lived, Richonne is still inevitable. But I definitely had to write out more of my thoughts on your questions below. ⬇️😊

First; I just have to say thank goodness things played out the way they did, because if the show tried to put TV Rick and Andrea together it would have been giving dry. 🏜 That scene in season one, when Andrea asks Rick about if she can take the necklace for her sister, seems to be one of the rare times the show even really attempted to hint at a potential romance between them. And I'm glad they scrapped it quickly. Lincoln and Holden played off each other best when Rick and Andrea were more genuinely at odds imo.

You're right about how the Richonne uproar would have been even more out of hand with Andrea still alive. 😟 Even if people thought TV Rick and Andrea had no romantic chemistry or disliked TV Andrea, there'd still be people irate that they didn't put them together anyway just to be comic-accurate (or really just to ensure Rick ends up with a blonde woman of his race no matter what.)

If Andrea had lived and still had her history of being with Shane and The Governor, I personally don't think TPTB would put Rick and Andrea together, even if they didn't put Rick and Michonne together. Or at least I hope they wouldn't, because it would just be way too messy to feel rewarding if Rick and Andrea got together after all that. Like they'd really be pairing Rick with yet another woman who preferred Shane. 😕 Rick deserved more than that.

And he got so much more too. 😌🙌🏽

I could see there being a bit more fear from TPTB to pair Rick and Michonne together with Andrea still alive tho, simply because of the response from certain parts of the fandom. But I still stand by my Richonne is inevitable belief. So even if Andrea was alive, I'm choosing to think they still make Rick and Michonne a couple. Even before it was officially in the works, Richonne is what the story so clearly and organically wanted.

Plus, Andy & Danai's chemistry as Rick and Michonne is too undeniable to overlook, so it almost would be more trouble to pretend like those two characters aren't soulmates than it would be to put Rick and Michonne together romantically like they're meant to. These looks and more are just not the type of things that happen between two people who strictly stay besties forever. 👌🏽

Overall, I'm just very grateful that Richonne was in every way destined to be a reality. 🙏🏽

[realchemistry]

About Maddie's reaction to ~the incident

One of the things I think is important to point out, because I haven't seen or read anyone talking about it, is Maddie's reaction when Buck told her the truth about the basketball incident. When Buck first arrived, she was all smiles, probably happy to have Buck there. Then she asked about how Eddie was doing and Buck said he hadn't talked to him because what happened on the basketball court was not an accident.

Buck confessed that he might have meant to hurt Eddie because he was pissed, felt left out, and he guessed he was trying to get Eddie's attention (I’m not gonna go Buddie here, but he legit literally said exactly this which !!!).

Her face started to morph, the change in her whole demeanor, the horror of it all... she was really really mad. I don't think JLH got the proper credit for it. It's truly remarkable, her face spoke volumes about everything that was going through her head at the moment. You could see Maddie thinking about her past, about Doug, about how he hurt her and the terrible ways in which he justified that behavior as she was telling Buck that you do not hurt people to get their attention and not to do it again.

The episode didn't make that connection explicit (they had her babbling about Sarahs instead, more on that in the last paragraph), and I KNOW that if roles were reversed, part of the fandom would've lost their mind, since they love to portray Eddie as violent and abusive towards Buck when there's nothing in canon to back that up, quite the opposite as of this episode actually. Since Eddie was the one who got hurt, it was no big deal, it was pretty much forgotten immediately after. I thought it was a huge deal, I thought tptb didn't really address how problematic that was. I thought the only one who reflected the gravity of the situation was Jen, maybe thanks to her character's past.

BTW, I don't think it's in character for Buck to do this, I think he does know better, and he really isn't and hasn't ever been the type to resort to violence. Having said that, that's what tptb decided to do on screen, maybe as a way to show he was struggling with his identity... But that’s kinda terrible, like, he’s confused at this point about his feelings so his first instinct is to harm his friend out of jealousy? Also, we didn't get to see anything else on the matter after. It was such an odd choice, tbh, cause yes, Buck and Eddie probably talked about it for a second and then made up offscreen, but to have a character be violent towards his friend just to push a storyline forward, a storyline about bisexuality of all things, disregarding everything about said character and then not acknowledging it... Some very bad choices were made. Once again, I think tptb prioritized moving the plot forward over making sense and that's just something I truly hate with my whole heart.

Characters cannot have their choices and actions dictated by the plot or, at least, it can't feel that way to the audience. That's just bad writing through and through. Tptb did this a lot this season, and I understand that time was pressing because of the strike and all, but they need to do better. They are professionals getting paid to do a job, the least they can do is actually make it all make sense for the fans and stay away from toxic portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters (Hen cheating, anyone?).

The whole story about the Sarahs was really kinda ridiculous, honestly, I think they just had to give Jen more to do but a follow up without it would've been much better. Of course, seeing as their intention was to completely ignore the gravity of the situation, they simply couldn't mention Doug at all cause that would've required Buck and Eddie discuss this seriously instead of completely forgetting about it.

[sgiandubh]

What makes a very mature and educated woman confuse the charisma of Jamie and Claire and fall behind the illusion of Sam and Cait?

Look at this picture and many others, look at Cait's smile and the happiness in her eyes

Look at the color of Tony's lips, I don't need to continue

Below this picture are many pictures of them from many years ago

This man has been a reality since 2015, so let us accept reality even if we do not like it

Note: I would love to read everything you write aside from Outlander and S&C

Dear (b)Itchy Anon,

Ah, yes. You folks are definitely a very predictable bunch, because you simply cannot help yourself and just have to do it. Every. Single. Christmas. Eve. For reasons transparent enough to make you & your kin instantly unlikeable.

I was just thinking, the other day, believe it or not. I was thinking of the disingenuous way you - or someone like you - engaged with @cb4tb on another Christmas Eve and told myself: 'I bet the farm this year it's going to be me'. And here we are, with a rather long - and also, rather curious- comment. What am I going to do with you, Anon? Just write a rather long and ironic answer to your delirious rant, what else?

Calling me 'very mature' made me spit my Pepsi - always better in Romania than the eternal Coca-Cola - and I have to dubiously and cheaply congratulate myself, too. In about six months, you were forced to transition from 'Christ, shippers are stupid' to 'Golly, some -if not most - of them really are educated people'. An apparent paradox that never made you question your surroundings.

For instance, I do not need to wear a turban, sport a cigarette holder, rent a garish tent and call myself Miss Cleo, in order to tell with eerie precision English is not your mother tongue, either. You still do have a big problem with phrasal verbs, because you couldn't have possibly meant I 'fell behind the S&C illusion', but rather that 'I fell for that illusion'. You see, falling behind is 'failing to do something in time' or 'being late with a due payment' or 'being unable to make the same progress as one's peers'. We, shippers, naturally have this kind of superpowers. And seasoned bullshit-o-meters, too.

For your information, I haven't. I explained it at length. There is no possible way to do it if one uses common sense and street smarts only. What I did see, along with thousands of other people, mind you, had absolutely -forgive me, Father, for I am about to sin again - fucking nothing to do with Seamus and Sorcha. I mean, d'oh - is this your best argument, Anon? That sad, wilted talking point? Wow. Just wow.

Then, you totally lose control and take The Scarecrow out of the closet (yes, pun totally intended), in the hope you'll make me screech with dread & horror, I suppose. Exactly which one of the five to ten max Tait pics am I supposed to look at? The one at the marathon, where he checks her pulse? The one in Australia, when he pitifully dangles that stick on a beach? The one with the flute? The fist-in-hand one? The one at this year's IFTA, where she looks through him and he begs for a smile? I shall never know, because you do not add any picture and since I am not Miss Cleo, there's no way I could ever guess. Instead, you describe Neverland in Technicolor, lips included (so help me God, I never looked at McIdiot's lips: I take pride in being mentally sound). Indeed, there is no need to continue, Anon, lest you would insist to ridicule yourself.

This man has been a (questionably) useful prop since 2016, in order to give credence to a narrative. You all know it. You all deny it. You live in a parallel reality, currently embraced by PR. Amen. That does not give you the right to police this fandom and no, your derailed zeal will not get you any Brownie points from C.

Speaking only for myself, I will tell you one last time: I will never blindly accept a convenient compromise fiction just because TPTB and/or PR tell me so.

Note: I doubt my writing interests you. I really do, because I don't deal in fanfic. And even if I am an Oriental, know flattery never worked with me. In fact, I can't stand it.

It's Christmas. Take a break from all this pathetic hatred, Anon: if you have but a cell left of humanity in yourself, you can't possibly be proud of this message and there are far more interesting and meaningful ways to spend this special day. He came for you, too. And that is the most important thing in the world, right now.

[margareth-lv]

🦹🏻‍♀️ Dreams come true or an unexpected superpower 🦹🏻‍♀️

As this is my fourth year in the fandom, it is perhaps an abuse on my part to use the term "newbie" in the description of my blog. This is my fourth year in the fandom, so I can't help but notice (with a sense of satisfaction) the strength, and perhaps even the superpower, that we have.

What we are writing here a moment later is what we have. And it's so obviously aimed at the fandom that there's no mistaking the interpretation. After all, who else but the fandom would associate a piece of dog's back with a 'flamboyant romance'? Or a piece of a sports shoe with the possibility of an epic sex session under a palm tree? *** *** ***

It would be fair to say that this bit of news from March 2022 was targeted at the general public:

Caitríona was at that time in the dying days of the Belfast publicity frenzy (and on the eve of the Oscars, which she didn't win). So yes, this one-off thing was aimed at a wider audience than just the fandom.

But a piece of dog fur in the background of a post about Cocumber Cowboy? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Who but a propaganda-driven fandom would have guessed that it was about a fiery romance with a very minor maiden?

And let us not forget that he published Cocumber Cowboy the day after Caitríona's father's funeral.

Now we've got athletic footwear to prove rough sex on a sunny island. And as we've been complaining that Sam only gets the chance to get laid when he goes overseas, his muscular new chosen one is from Glasgow. And since we've been bored to tears repeating that a single man wouldn't build a snowman or play with LEGO bricks, his latest female conquest is a single mother. You see: When we want something, we get it. We have superpowers as a fandom.

💪🏻

You know what? It looks like he has a gun pointed at his head again.

But for him to agree to play this paranoid game one more time, what do the TPTB have against him, against them?

And you're probably right, @2truthsandalie5 , There is a possibility that Caitríona may have cut her bangs again because she is once again out of control in their life.

But of course I'm delusional. And I know nothing.

[January 19, 2024]

[whencallstheheart]

I would think it was a Kevin and Erin thing, especially since they are such close friends. BUT we got so many kisses in 11x12 and the 11x11 kiss was passionate so it sure seems like they are okay with it. Idk maybe TPTB are just trying to focus on more substance?

I second the mistletoe murders kiss!! So hot! Sara Drew brought everything she learned from greys anatomy lol!

Pascale and Kavan are bizarre to me. I respect their decision but how many seasons of WCTH and how many movies have they done? They could hold those kisses for at least 2 seconds 😅

Yeah, I don't know. I think it's more about substance. I feel like we'll get there again but there's more that the show wants to focus on right now instead of having them kiss all the time. It makes it more special when they do. We're still getting worthwhile scenes so it honestly didn't even register to me last night that they didn't kiss.

Those Grey's girls can kiss, that's for sure. They don't hold back and I appreciate that. It feels a lot more real. Like if your characters have been wanting to kiss so badly and then it's some lame closed mouth peck? Get outta here with that nonsense. So many of the movies have lousy end kisses and it's so frustrating.

Right? You can do more than a peck. It's part of acting... so I don't really respect the decision. Like sure draw the line at being nude on screen or whatever like a lot of actors choose but kissing? Come on. They can manage more in their movies though but not for WCTH I guess. Oh well.

[friedcheesemogu]

Just read your William Brandt meta and loved it!!! 

"Something I think about a lot is this: it's not entirely clear if the Serbian hit squad that "killed" Julia was an actual group of people acting independently or whether the entire thing -and therefore Ethan killing six people- was set up by Ethan and the Secretary."

I agree; I just rewatched Ghost Protocol last night and was trying to figure out which side of the argument is most convincing (I think the true Doylist answer is…TPTB didn’t think the story all the way through).

What are your arguments for both scenarios and which one do you lean more towards?

Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I honestly didn't know if anyone would be interested, so I'm super happy that people have liked it.

So my arguments for both scenarios are this:

1 - The hit squad was real. Ethan is a known danger to the international criminal underworld. The fact that he now has a wife is extra reason to try to go after one or both of them and render them helpless. Of course Ethan would never let that happen, but having to take down six people to protect Julia would have been a lot for both of them, and they decided that this situation would be both a good way to get Julia out permanently and safely, and get Ethan into Russian prison to get more info on anything and everything. As someone else I talked to about this said, "a two for one deal."

I think it makes sense, but it does beg the question "what was Ethan doing on his 'vacation' that they a) sent a security detail and b) Ethan wasn't aware of it/was still getting information from somewhere else?

2- The hit squad was faked because in their travels, it had become clear to Ethan and Julia that she was always going to be a target and a way to hurt him. The best way for him to love her was from afar, but it's not like they could just walk away from each other easily; people would have questions, the danger would still be real. The best way to make sure she stayed safe was to "get her out of the picture" completely. Knowing that they'd need a cover story, they came up with the squad, which would also give them a reason to get Ethan into Russian prison and on another job. So it's another two for one deal, but darker. So they dropped the story for agents who were already there to pick it up, and then fail to follow through on their detail.

But then that brings up - how did find people that they could just let Ethan kill? Or did he never kill anyone and they just said it? Because Will talks about finding his guys knocked out and "what was left" of Julia, but not any other bodies. We don't actually know.

I mean... probably it's a case of what you said, that TPTB didn't think Will Brandt obsessed weirdos would try to pick at every aspect of his life, etc.

What I personally believe? It depends on the day. I guess I hope the first one is true, but I find myself going back to the second option a lot. It's something in the way Ethan says "six dead serbians was a good cover story" after earlier admitting that the Secretary "wanted him" in that prison that makes me side-eye him. But I also don't want to think that about him? So it goes around and around.

Whichever it is, IMF still left Will to shoulder the blame. They still lied to him and let it destroy his confidence. And Will still protects Ethan regardless, even when he knows that. That's just the kind of person he is.

[thelovetheystole]

Randomly wondering why Emmerdale hasn't brought in any long lost Sugdens; real, adjacent (Merricks!) or retconned, in these last 10ish years or so, besides Robert. And I'm not even talking long-term, just at all!

Let's see.

When Robert arrived back, he was tacked-on to a family he was only related to by marriage-to-be, the Whites. They were wealthy, powerful and had a three generation dynamic he wasn't a part of, as Lachlan wasn't his child (we got to meet Donny later). Of course Rebecca completed the White line-up.

Making Robert a dad was super important to TPTB, but even then, Robert lost Seb to Liverpool long before Ryan Hawley gave his leaving notice.

In contrast we have the Dingles and the Dingle add-ons. Here is what I could think of right now; A secret daughter for Marlon in April, Kyle came back to live in the village, they brought in Aaron's sister Liv, then we had Faith re-cast, Mandy came back + Vinny, brand new secret sons - Ryan for Charity (and his son Oscar on top of that!) and Nate for Cain, and finally Caleb, his wife Ruby and their son Nicky.

Not to mention the people who have married and/or had kids with Dingles.

They brought in several Bartons, relatives by marriage to Moira, but blood relatives to her children; James, Ross, Pete and Finn + Emma, then a return from Holly, Matty and finally a brother for Moira; Mackenzie.

Tates: they started with Joe (and Graham who was very entangled with the whole family) followed by Kim, then Jamie, Andrea and Millie (and Millie's maternal granny), and also Caleb and his family who are both Dingle and Tate adjacent.

The Anderson family was extended with daughter Naomi, mother Claudette and father Victor, and we even got to meet the mum/ex-wife.

We got two new Sharmas in Amit and Suni, plus the return of Archie, a couple of extra King kids in Elliot and Carl + nephew Tom, Meena was Manpreet's sister, Chloe was Kerry's secret daughter and Amy's sister, and Paddy got a brand new dad in Bear. Vanessa and Tracy were made sisters and got a joint dad in Frank. Rhona's mother Mary came and stayed, and then there was Gus and a new biological baby with no cheating story!

Heck, we were even subjected to Wendy's creepy ex-husband, Russ, making the total Posner count four characters + they made one of them "father" to Harry!

Both Jack and Joe Sugden were away from the village plenty, as was Robert. They could have gotten up to all sorts. Andy had a whole other birth family, but they all disappeared. Robert has two half siblings in Sandie and Tommy (he is something of a mystery), and they are bound to have families of their own. And what about Sarah Sr, couldn't she have a relative or two out there in the world, who would be blood relatatives to Victoria and Harry? Kathy was very much a part of the Sugden family, she had at least one kid in Australia we've only ever heard of.

I don't know if the show doesn't 'dare' mess around with the Sugdens and feel they are a bit 'untouchable' or if they just plain and simple aren't at all interested in them? (Actually I can guess.) But I still think it's weird and the Dingles should never have taken over the whole village like this.

That turned into quite a long post, if anyone made it to the end of it, sorry! 🙈

My brain is pretty fried after this, let me know if I missed/left out anything important!

[mischas]

Do you think The OC aged well?

I am probably the last person to pose this question to, lol. I guess it depends on the individual and what they want out of their media. I've never been able to ignore how this show hated its female lead character and it's been apparent to me this year more than ever that it stemmed from their mistreatment of their female lead actress. I am unable to ever separate the two now, and I reckon we still only know like 5% of the shit that went down on that set 20 years ago.

I think a show that consistently tortures its female lead without recompense is sick, especially one that purports itself to be about family and friendship and love. It's extremely obvious when writers have hate boners for specific female characters. So that does not age well to me and Marissa is 95% of what I care about when it comes to this show. I'm not impressed with hardly any female rep here either. That also comes from my preferences. I think arguments could be made about Julie/Summer/TT but I respectfully don't feel like sharing my opinions about the trajectory of all that. I think Kirsten is a great example of what ~can~ be done with a character and how that potential is squandered at every opportunity.

Julie/Luke ages horrendously. It being played off as a joke in 2023 and beyond is just... so gross. And considering JS only made Luke 18 because he had to is really gross on its own but even worse when you contextualize it with the irl relationship happening on set that very season.

The DJ storyline is terrible and the show clearly knows it from the jump but keeps it going for... some reason. And speaking of, they dropped the ball on race. There are quite a number of racist jokes/lines that absolutely make me cringe. Like anti-Asian jokes. We're supposed to believe Ryan is from Chino and dated a Latina and had friends in the neighborhood and they just... barely ever touch on cultural differences. And barely ever touch on class differences. It's more showing us that rich people are just as miserable as everyone else. And sure that's entertaining and JS/SS have made careers off of it but... sigh. I don't think the messaging of either show actually works for how we're supposed to think it's working, but whatever.

What ages best is probably the Ryan/Seth dynamic but that's mostly irl chemistry imo and the classic Odd Couple trope. Not exactly rocket science to figure out why it endures in viewers' minds. For a show that can be so melodramatic, the only thing that consistently grounds us is Ryan/Seth and that's what TPTB have latched onto since everything else turned to trash *sent with invisible ink*

Basically my long answer is no it did not. But I imagine it did for others who care about other things I don't care about. The Marissa/Mischa of it all will grate on me forever. And imo they can never really be separated thanks to contexts we've gotten in the past couple of years.

[andrwgarfields]

i understand people who are upset about the continually misogny in the MCU and media in general. i also understand being upset because you feel like your wlw ship is once again being sidelined or wasn't given as much attention as you would have like, or even because it hasn't played out on-screen the way you hoped.

but they're also conveniently forgetting that joe was announced as the MALE LEAD alongside kathryn. not to mention everyone who had the slightest interest in the show knew "teen" was going to end up being wiccan. and those of us who follow the mcu know that they've been hinting at the young avengers for ages, of which wiccan is a massive part.

i don't think being disappointed about one thing means you should hate on another thing, especially when the other thing is going to figure greatly into the future of the franchise. by all means hate on marvel and tptb. i guess you can even hate on jac if you must (although lbr, she's given us far far more to love than anyone else imo).

anyway joe is a star with a bright future in the MCU, and the ire being voiced in his tag really should be directed elsewhere.

THATS EXACTLY WHAT IM SAYING! Be mad all you want but hating on ANOTHER QUEER CHARACTER AND ACTOR IS NOT IT! “why is the male given more screentime?” Like…have you not seen how they did press…joe was literally paired with kathryn all the time? and tbf we didnt even know of agatha and rio’s relationship wise until the series started and breadcrumbs were given

they made it sound like jac promised some kind of amazing love story when it was never the focus! i was similarly mad that we didnt see more of Agatha and rio’s backstory and would love to see their history on screen but shitting on joe is not it like how tf is he to blame? Just because hes a white twink lol

[frangipanilove]

I don’t really understand how Beth would’ve ended up in all these different places. Is it because of the Commonwealths? The CRM? I’m confused and hate to say so cause it should be obvious but I’m feeling lost on it. I guess I should just trust “Beth is alive” and we’ll see her again. Just frustrating how long we’ve waited for her.

Hi friend, sorry it took me so long to get to this. I’ll try to answer, even though it might not be the kind of answer you had hoped for. I’m not really sure what you mean by “all these different places”. I personally don’t have any fixed opinion on exactly where she will show up, geographically. I expect there to be lots of hints and symbolism referring to her in Daryl Dixon season 2, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I believe she will literally show up. She might, but I’m not relying on it.

If your question is about the logistics of world travel, I don’t think that should be a problem. For starters, remember this is fiction. If tptb wants something specific to happen, they can just write it. We’ve seen that technology for world travel exists in this universe. We’ve seen advanced military technology like chinook helicopters, that were able to cross the North American continent without any issues. We’ve seen Daryl cross the Atlantic on a boat, we’ll see Carol do the same with a small plane. In FTWD we once saw Strand communicate with an astronaut on the International Space Station. Also in FTWD, we once saw them rehabilitate an old aeroplane and fly it out of a nuclear waste zone. We’ve also seen them travel by using a hot air balloon (shaped as a beer bottle, no less, and I’ve written about the incredible symbolism of that elsewhere)

For what it’s worth, people were crossing oceans centuries and millennia ago, and while I don’t think Beth’s on a viking ship or a balsa raft, humans have always migrated, and I don’t think a zombie apocalypse is enough to stop that drive. People will travel if they have a reason to, in real life, and certainly in fiction.

Tptb have also dropped hints of international trade throughout the seasons, with references to coffee (which only grows under very specific conditions), exotic fruits like pineapple, and also sugar cane. While none of that guarantees the presence of an international trade network, it does indicate the existence on one. At the very least, it renders it plausible that one COULD exist.

Also, Major General Beale from TOWL mentioned the CRM has spies everywhere, and I don’t remember his exact words, but I believe he mentioned overseas territories. So I wouldn’t worry about the logistics of travel. If TPTB want Beth to show up somewhere specific, they can just write it.

But there’s one thing we have no real insight into, and that’s the business part of the equation. Remember, TWD is ultimately a business, and if Beth is to come back, it will be because someone made the business decision to bring her back. And we can’t know what goes on behind closed doors at AMC. We can’t really know why she wasn’t brought back a long time ago, and we can’t know IF she’ll be back at all. We can’t really know for sure that EK even wants to come back. We can speculate, analyze interviews, social media posts etc, but it will still only be speculation and our subjective, biased interpretation.

And that’s what we do in TD, right? We watch the show and look for ways in which the symbolism tells us Beth is coming back. There’s an extensive symbolism framework present in TWDU that would help facilitate her return, and I like to believe it’s there for a reason. But ultimately no one can know for sure.

So I’m afraid I can’t guarantee that Beth 100% for certain will be coming back. I watch the show and I offer my interpretation of the symbolism, but you’ll never hear me make any promises, because I don’t think anyone can.

I understand the frustration, but for me, I’m a fan of the entire franchise, I love the main show and the spin offs and the entire TWDU, and I’ll continue to watch my favorite show regardless of whether or not Beth comes back, and that helps. I’d love for her to return, and I do believe that’s the story the symbolism is telling us, but I enjoy the show immensely regardless.

I hope this helps, but I’m sorry if it wasn’t the answer you were hoping for. Would love to hear more of your thoughts though 🥰