#lol i think I'm gonna make that tag a constant on my page

[helios-co]

I love being happy

I love positivity and optimism

Don't let me lose that

Don't let yourself lose the devotion to seeing the good in the world and the people around you

If we start actin up we gotta remind each other that there's Christmas and sunshine and warm drinks on cold days and kind smiles from strangers and just

So much joy in the world and that it'll be alright

We can be happy, man

We can be so so happy

Just gotta stay true and all that

I know I used to say I'm a "realist" or whatever because I was sick of making plans and being disappointed but fuck that noise, I'm rebranding

Disappointment is part of the EXPERIENCE

Part of LIVING

And living is inherently GOOD

I choose optimism

I am choosing for once and for all to be optimistic about the littlest thing no matter what shitty struggles come my way

Sweet tea is good and that's good enough for me

[becausebuckley]

michelle's buddie fic recs: week 39!

yay more fics! guys i have to tell you this was an excellent reading week for me, so many brilliant fics!

two things: some of these fics aren't buddie but gen/a rare pair, but i figured i'd keep the title, since it applies to the majority of fics. i'll make sure it's clear which fics are for other ships! also, now that season 8 is airing, i've decided to keep the buddie fic rec list spoiler-free, and i'm setting up a season 8 rec list alongside it. this week's season 8 list can be found here!

this is a mix of fics with all ratings, so some include NSFW content. please take a look at both the ratings and the fic tags before reading!

if you come across something you like in this list, remember to show some love to the author by leaving kudos and a comment!

5 times buck and eddie thought they were on the same page +1 where they figured it out | WendyDarling95/@bi-buck-hi-eddie | 11.8k | E

"Ok but miscommunication trope where Eddie keeps trying to tell Buck he’s a werewolf and Buck thinks Eddie’s telling him he’s a furry. Buck would buy a fur suit absolutely" i'm genuinely not joking when i say that this fic was the highlight of my week. it's crack treated seriously in the absolute best way, i was howling (lol) while reading. brilliant <3

the book of love | colonoscopys/@colonoscopys | 8.1k | G

It was a pretty regular day. He had an eight hour shift the day before, slept in a little bit, ate dry toast and drank a black coffee before dropping Chris off at physical therapy for an hour. If he had known he was gonna die, he would have sprung for the hashbrowns in the freezer. time loop fic!! lovely lovely time loop fic!!

but you're holdin' me like water in your hands | TheGirlWithTheKite/@muddiedfoxglove | 11k | E

In which Eddie offers a helping hand when Buck's relationship starts to sour. (The Frogboiled Infideleddie Fic) frogboiled infideleddie?? yall the way i ran to this fic the second i saw it <3 so so so good

constant craving | Inell/@inell | 7.8k | E

Buck and Eddie have recently started dating, and it’s their third official date. While playing a game of pool, they make a little wager, and Buck gets to indulge a craving he’s had for years. i spent a lovely hour this morning catching up inell's recent fics and i highly recommend you do the same!! brilliant fics, both of the sweet and spicy variety <3

FREE MOUSTACHE RIDES | Killbothtwins | 5k | T

All is not well in Station 118. Gerrard is running the show, Christopher is gone, and, worst of all, Eddie has a mustache now. Somehow, it's only Buck who realizes how catastrophic this is. this is exactly the fic i needed to cheer me up earlier this week. so good, so funny!!

keep your brittle heart warm | Ink_Dancer | 8.8k | T

Buck convinces Eddie, notoriously a dog person, to adopt a cat. Buck then helps Eddie adjust to his new family member while the cat tries to meddle in their relationship. fics like this make me want to adopt a cat even more than i already do. so sweet, so cute, i love pinto bean <3

a little wisdom | Daisies_and_Briars/@cal-daisies-and-briars | 8.6k | T

Christopher comes home from Texas and needs his wisdom teeth removed, which leads to a larger discussion on hurt and comfort and needs that Eddie doesn't see coming. the diaz boys <3 i love them so much and they're so so well-written here!!

the more it hurts, the less it shows | ummrys/@ummrys | 2.4k | M

Eddie finally hears the story of Dr Wells, and Buck finally understands the depth of what happened to him. so well-written and a great look at the whole dr wells thing!!

nothin' but a little shut eye | Tizniz/@tizniz | 3.9k | G

Buck and Eddie accidentally nap together. And then keep napping together. buddie naps i love you so much <3 this is the softest cutest it's so good

put my heart inside your palms | markofalover/@markofalover| 3.1k | T

how an accidental pet name, a thoughtful dinner, and a shared shirt makes them get their shit together.. love is stored in the kitchen indeed <3 this is so so cute!

suddenly the only thing i saw was you | ipretendtobesane/@userbuddie | 8.2k | E

five times adriana diaz and may grant run into each other and the one time they show up together adriana/may?? the VISION holy shit. this is a brilliant fic and has probably my fav adriana diaz ever, it's just that good <3

[tomwambsgans]

As a certified failmarriage enjoyer like... Yeah. That's the point lmao (though I do fully believe Tom has more power and is a lot worse of a person to Shiv than you're giving him credit for -- so much of his treatment toward Shiv is rooted in misogyny in a really pervasive way) but also like. Don't you like TomGreg lmao like I mean this in such a nice and loving way dude but kettle meet pot

man i KNEW i was gonna get a response like this and i originally included a bunch of tags to be preemptively defensive about it but then decided against it. so now here i am writing an essay instead lol

well anyway. i mean he's literally married to shiv so they're both very aware that they're in a relationship, unlike tom and greg, who therefore do not have the same expectations. related to this is that shiv's mistreatment of tom comes from a very different place than tom's mistreatment of greg (like being so deeply in the closet, which is a thing that can change and i would argue IS in the process of changing), and tom makes very clear moves to make greg his equal throughout the show. and just in general it's very obvious to me that (even aside from tom being gay) tom and greg are on the same level, that they're compatible in ways tom and shiv never were, and even if it's rocky getting there, they can love each other in the way that they each need to be loved. with no bias against shiv as a person - because i DO understand WHY she is the way she is and i'm not trying to make her a villain - she simply does not and will not love tom by tom's own definition of love. for that matter, tom doesn't give shiv what she wants out of a partner either. he's way more like a pet to her. greg meanwhile is objectively more of an actual partner, all the way up to the metatext of it all. like, that whole thing about tom and greg's outfits being coordinated together by the wardrobe team? they're actually in it together.

and i'm not saying this to have an argument about which relationship is more valid to enjoy or whatever either, i just want to keep myself from being misunderstood. that was just me listing the reasons that i don't think this is a kettle and pot situation. just so we're on the same page.

but yeah, tbqh, what i'm most invested in personally is tom. because i sympathize a lot with him and relate to him. i've been in a relationship like that, i've set aside my own feelings in favor of just keeping the peace all while not even being satisfied in the relationship for reasons including that i was gay and she was a woman, and while she was absolutely aware of it too. and on that vein, what i'm invested re: tomgreg isn't simply the current dysfunctional state of the dynamic but what tom's insane actions represent about his repressed desire and shame, and furthermore how he's developing and growing to understand and accept himself and becoming self-sacrificial for greg's sake. and because there's no pre-established overt romance between tom and greg, greg's position is with the same amount of growth and development and learning about tom and learning to speak his language. rather than the growing misery and dissatisfaction that tom has with shiv.

i'll admit i genuinely do not know what you're talking about re: tom's treatment of shiv and sure, i'll concede it's possible that i've got some internalized misogyny that's making me overlook some stuff. but i really am confused about mentions of tom's misogyny re: shiv bc as far as i see it he's very much relegated to the (male)wife role between the two of them, both metatextually and just directly in-universe - like, him literally being willing to take her last name? him being the groomzilla? him doing the emotional labor between them, offering his constant support that she often doesn't even want? him shutting up the moment shiv begins to argue? supporting her entirely when the Plan they'd had totally flips and puts shiv in line to take logan's place instead of himself? just in general like... what seems like very purposeful attempts to specifically NOT be misogynistic to shiv?? the only thing that comes to mind is tom going behind shiv's back to be team kendall or team logan or whatever most benefits his vision for the business - and maybe this is my bias for tom, sure - i see the vast majority of all that as justified and as being in direct response to something awful that shiv has done first.

anyway i guess the summary of this is that i'm seeing it from tom's perspective, and from tom's perspective the idea of the failmarriage being mutual is bogus. and you're probably seeing it more from shiv's perspective, and i just personally do not vibe with that perspective so yeah, i made a post making fun it. and you don't vibe with my perspective so you sent a message to make fun of me back, so we're even. i'm really just doing my best articulation of a fairly emotional matter here. in any case the most inarguable difference between us is that you like tomshiv because they're not good for each other and i like tomgreg because i think they genuinely are good for each other.

i already know i've got to agree to disagree with quite a lot of the fandom regarding interpretations of tom greg and shiv if i don't want to lose my mind, so i'll just say right now that i can't promise i'll respond to any follow-up messages but like if you need to get it out of your system and make even again by explaining why you disagree, that's fair. if you wanna be certain that other ppl see what you've got to say tho i'd recommend just vagueing me publicly idc i'll just block the post if i happen to see it and we can both be happy

edit: yknow maybe a better tdlr would be that i guess the core of this is i just find it wild how many people are just plain entertained by something that i find so deeply viscerally sad. i think that's fair enough, right? that's really it.

[chuyin-weilai]

📌

i'm kalei → she/her - 22 - 🇳🇬

i am into a lot of things....various animanga games multimedia projects literature music OCs etc etc etc... too much to list in a single about page @_@ i've been meaning to make a listography/carrd so when I'm done i'll link that here. honestly i jump between interests a lot, I'm always fixating on something new BUT i am a huuuuuge vocaloid/vocal synth fan (hence the url), i think that's always gonna be a constant so. there's that

i don't really have a hard dni...like it's just the basics lol no racism, homophobia, transphobia/terfs, islamophobia etc. no proships or whatever either. you can follow if you're under 16 but i probably won't follow back

honestly i'm mostly here to reblog fanart, i don't talk too much on here lol but my rambling tag (?) is #klaitext

my art blog (where i post very infrequently) is @kaleiids ! you can find me on instagram and twitter under that user as well

that's it I think. here look at this

[cyberfairyblog]

Why Jillian Sucks

Hi, welcome to Odyssey Mystery Hour! I'm your host @gritsandbrits and today I'll be talking about a hot topic in the AIO fandom! Wanna know the tea? Keep on reading!

In the weeks I started getting back into the radio series, the newer episodes have started to irk me, mostly because of one of the more annoying additions: Jillian. Marshall. 😬😬😬

Even though I ship Jason with my self insert OC this not going to be about her. There's a lot of reasons why I do NOT like the idea of Jillian x Jason becoming a canon thing on the show. I hope to describe these feelings as best I can.

Who is Jillian you might ask?

Well to put it simply, Jillian is what happens when a Soccer Mom and a TikTok boyfriend mate and spawn an unholy baby and name them Rachel Berry. Out of the aspects of Nu!Odyssey I dislike, Jillian is the one thing I truly despise. Thankfully I've met fans who share the exact sentiment! 😁😒

Double-N Annoying, Double-O Nincompoop

Making her debut in 2018, Jillian is described as lively and upbeat, if a little high strung and immature; the perfect recipe for Kid Appeal! Before she moved to Odyssey she lived in different cities and worked nineteen jobs before becoming roommates with Connie and her sister Jules.

Now this is actually a fairly interesting set up: a new character struggling to find purpose only to discover it in a quaint small town. But as it turns out her going through that many jobs seems to be more than just struggling to find purpose.

When I first saw her design my thought immediately went to the smarmy classmates I went to school with.

We're introduced with this iconic line: "Hi!! I'm Jillian Marshall, double-L Jillian, double-L Marshall! It's so nice to meet you!"

With that one sentence I knew I was about to die.

The following episode has Jillian bumbling through every job interview much to Connie's duress after which she conveniently ending up working at Triple J Antiques...the same place Jason works!

A little backstory on Jason: he is the adult son of John Whittaker, one of the show's main character, and a bit of an Ensemble Darkhorse. He was introduced as a secret agent meant to bring action and intrigue into the show. He was set up as a charismatic and reckless sort of guy clashing with the calmer Jack Allen. After the Green Ring Conspiracy Saga, Jason officially retired from James Bonding and settled down to work at the Allen's antique shop.

Given his immense popularity there's understandable concern for how he is written and who he gets paired up with. So what does that have to do with Jillian.

Well, the idea of Jillian working at the same exact place as Odyssey's resident bachelor and calling him cute raises a few eyebrows.

"B-but Grits all she did was call him cute! You're reaching too far into this!"

Am I? Look I know this wouldn't be much of a big deal too but that is a subtle tactic the writers threw in to get the cogs turning for Jillison. Jason is clearly uninterested and even implied to dislike her. Jillian bemoans this but Connie reassures her that that's not the case. But hey at least she called him cute so OF COURSE she's going to end up being his love interest!

To me removing a character's core trait to justify a romance means you do NOT know how to actually write a compelling romance. It's trite, it's forced and painful to listen to.

It's also obvious she's a replacement for Bernard, given they have similar personalities and her brief stint on TV (which she also failed at lol). But whereas Bernard was actually endearing, Jillian seems more of a cliche womanchild with zero self awareness and tact. No actual depth, just a personality that is incredibly dumbed down and even insulting. Seriously they made her the dumb blond stereotype in an era where we should've moved on from that! 🤦

Did I mention she goes to church?

Yep she's gonna be one of those Christians.

Literally Loveless, Literally!

Oddly enough the narrative frames this as a rivals to lovers thing, where Jason is both the charismatic friendly guy and the super uninterested Straight Man. The constant twisting the turning makes him go OOC. See we know he's fit better as the former because that goes in line with his canon personality. But when they make him the latter he just comes off as unnecessarily mean. This is turns frames Jillian as someone we should pity: "Oh the attractive male doesn't like me because I went into his office without permission!!"

Wouldn't it make more sense for Jillian to be the one uninterested in a romance since her focus in to find a job/better purpose and romance might distract her? That would make a fun subplot...IF SHE WASN'T OBNOXIOUS!

A pattern I noticed and several fans pointed out: Jason's previous love interests were consistent in that they were strong minded women who challenged him in different ways. Their personalities bounced off creating a fun dynamic that was entertaining to see. Even though they didn't end up with him, you can still see and hear and feel their chemistry which is my goal for Jason x OC. Tasha doesn't make Jason OOC & they had a bittersweet arc, so their interactions were organic. Monica only made him OOC because she was a villain actively manipulating him. So again that worked in terms of story and led to Monica's redemption if my memory serves.

However, Jillian's dynamic is not that fun to listen to. You can feel her annoying Jason through the airwaves. She's strong but only in the sense of feeling something hard underneath your back laying on the bed and realizing that's just your earbud. She's vibrant yes but what else? She doesn't have any unique traits to contrast Jason, and any attempt at a contrast would mean making him act out of character. Adding her bumbling clumsiness and annoying voice, Jason would get tired of her very quickly. He's the type to go for people to have intelligent conversations with, not make him lose braincells. She could very well bring out the worse in him, it'll be an unhealthy relationship.

Here's a tidbit worth mentioning: the VA for Jillian actually auditioned with Jason's VA Townsend Coleman. Now that is big ass red flag right there! No hate towards the actress, just throwing that out there. There's also a facebook page dedicated to Jillison. Typical FB stupidity ramped up to eleven, or AIO fans who see something in Jillian; or at least THINk they see something worthwhile in her.

It doesn't help the writers keep insisting that these two go well together. The audience knows they do not work well as a pair but the narrative keeps insisting they are anyways. I recall an episode that had them pretend to be married while undercover and it was bad. Like REALLY humiliating to see Jason put in that position. He also told her to shut up much to my joy because she could NOT stop being irritating for five minutes. Alas the show still tries to justify Jillian being the Perfect Woman for Jason when she's anything but. And not even endearingly imperfect.

Follow Up

These tags I wrote on one of the AIO posts describes how I feel about Villain Marshall and the Jillison coupling as a whole. It just wouldn't work because Jason needs someone that can actually CHALLENGE him, have their own personality that can bounce off his (without being forced), and most importantly DOESN'T AGGRAVATE THE FANDOM!!

I have not met a single person anywhere that say they like Jillian. It's a different story apparently on the Club App - they like her for reasons I'm too cowardly to find out. But no, she sucks as a character. She makes a annoying friend, and is not a good addition to the show, much less a good love interest.

The only good thing she brought us are the nicknames we gave her 😌

That's all for now thank you for tuning into the Odyssey Mystery Hour. Next week I'll be talking a bit more about my OC Vanessa and her role in the world of Odyssey! Goodbye and make sure to lock your doors to prevent Jillian from coming in!!