#marissa morales

[mischas]

i think you’ve talked abt this on the blog before but the js decision that sethmer was the “light/fun” couple and ryissa was the “dark/angsty” couple genuinely aided in the destruction of the show. the balance was so much better in s1 - there’s a sweetness to ryissa that’s never replicated again (for obvious bts reasons ofc, but the writing didn’t help either) and the push and pull of sethmer feels rlly natural instead of how contrived it becomes in late s2 and with the college arc. having the comic book storyline happen alongside the trey storyline is laughable and is probably when the show starting jumping the shark when it comes to relationships. there was so much depth to sethmer that got wasted and of course josh & stephanie’s only storyline ideas for marissa were just ways to punish mischa.

It absolutely did. It's ridiculous and shoots them all in the foot early. The shifts in s2 were massively impacted by irl stuff though so bts dynamics and writing were going hand in hand. I reckon they were going hand in hand all the way back in s1 too and we just didn't totally know about that until recently. At least I didn't. Not as much, at least. The bts stuff also comes from JS' preference for Rachel and SS as his self-insert relationship that only grows as s1 progresses. It just does, and that we've known for a long time. I think there was some old late s1 press saying the writers were partial to SS and were never gonna make them unlikeable. And it's just like... ok then. First off, being likeable has nothing to do with emotional resonance and grounded storytelling. There's a reason Adam says their stuff should've been stretched for entire seasons to really make things impactful and tell a worthwhile story. And I think he says it in the nicest way possible, but he's basically saying they never made it meaningful enough. Or at least beyond s1 they didn't.

Seth's 127 departure is so impactful on 201 and that iconic scene at the end of 202 but then it's mentioned like... one more time in 214? Summer spends s2 mad at him but flirting with him in the same breath. And that's fun but like... give us something meatier. We later learn in 310 that Summer's mother abandoned her. Let's dig into that!! And how Seth leaving and coming back expecting a reunion was incredibly fucked up! But they just do not go there ever in a real way and it's too bad. Seth has done fuck all to deserve Summer's forgiveness/love in 214 but he gets it anyway. And his obsessing over her sex life is not cute!!!!

I'm sure I've written entire books worth of content about RM needing more lightness. Their s1 balance being what it is just makes me more sus of bts influence. Marissa's dealing with SA/death/violence/depression/substance abuse this whole time and they can never spread that wealth around to ensure everyone's got some good drama going on. It's essentially that Squidward window meme from s2 on, lol.

[gavfleetout]

Adrian Everhart?

[ikosburneraccount]

we’re the tlc caucasian bday szn now (thorne > jacin > cress > scarlet)

[zamyamf1028]

Someday you will find me

Beneath the landslide

In a champagne supernova in the sky

[s-c-kh]

[tandonshows]

This week, You Are What You Love returns. During our season break, things have shifted in the entertainment industry. The WGA strike has continued, and SAG-AFTRA has joined them on the picket line in the fight for a fair deal with the AMPTP. In this special episode, we're joined by four WGA members, Elyse Morales, George Ghanem, Kyle Lau, and Charlotte Austin Johnson. 

We talk about how each of them became working writers and members of the WGA, their personal experiences in the industry and what they're fighting for while on strike, and the moments in media that inspired them to become writers in the first place.  Listen to the episode now below, or 

find You Are What You Love on your favorite podcast app here. 

[crying-fantasies]

Power play

Masterlist

Featuring IDW1! Thundercracker, smut/fluff/tiny bit of angst, CW: power play, licking, masturbation (on the mech), talk of the war, handjob, implied blowjob.

“Do you want me here?”

No words, just the surge of electricity creeping over your arm, just enough to feel it tugging at your muscles, never to the point of it being harmful.

The cybertronian way to say “keep going” when words aren't enough or their processor is beyond forming decent thoughts.

“It is eye-catching, you know?”, a hard twist above his anterior node, if not for the stasis locks above him you could have been gone flying by that kick of his, “I always know where to touch, where to pinch”, your words are followed by a quick squeeze of a node inside his valve, he doesn't even moan, just outright glitches back to vosian, the bio lights over his spike flare as it trembles on your other hand, letting go of his internal node to get face to face to the base of his spike, looking how pretty the red lights cycle, “want me to make it good for you? Nice and sloppy before I put it inside?”

This time, you do obtain a “yes, please! I need it” as he knows how it turns you on, to have his approval for it, knowing how good your fingers feel in the discharge port of his spike, and knowing full well that you will stop till he says it with direct words, “I want you to-”

“Then get sizeable”, your face is pressed to one side of his spike, and he can feel the heat of your body going off in waves, sending shivers down his back strut and messing with his processor, “or do you want me to give my man a full body wash?”

You think he said yes, to what you aren't sure, but there's still a long way to go if you want to understand his vosian spilling during the throes of passion.

Back in the day, you could have laughed, more inclined to shrug it off and be uncomfortable with it than real joy-laced laughter. Some previous partners came up with the idea, or some tried to do it without even noticing at first. Somehow, it felt degrading.

Let go of it all. Maybe what had you more strangled from the practice was the fact that you didn't depend on them enough at the time. There was too much pressure upon you. What do you want to be? What do you think of this? Things moved too fast to catch on with them and their enthusiasm, soon leading to cold shoulders or rejection.

In the end, no one put up with you.

Then, this fragger chooses to betray his race for pitiful, strange, tiny organics that know nothing about what to do with the big scary aliens. Maybe you're being too harsh on him, no, you indeed were, as it was normal, you saw the attack, and you felt the pull of fear when you finally saw him.

You also noticed how his big red optics sparkled when someone talked to him nicely.

Not even nice in the sense of “Oh my let me get you all the energon you need for the rest of my life” but the “good morning” kind of nice, it gave you a glimpse of how fucked up the Decepticons were in their morale, his optics always had that glint of fascination when you said his designation followed by a simple greeting, people on base noticed too, Mainframe was the first to go the extra mile and give him a tablet big enough for him to use, Doc Sir made an energon dispenser and Marissa gave him a puppy.

Thundercracker beamed with so much happiness, answering the unasked question, if cybertronians could cry, they do, they cry, he had some kind of liquid on the verge of his optics and a little smile on his faceplate, someone said how gross it was and you were sure Marissa was the one to demote that person.

Turns out, the murder robot alien from deep space with sharp digits that could poke you open was a softie disguised, but that also explained why he sacrificed himself for a whole city, when Thundercracker talked to you of Vos, his hometown, in between broken words and glossy optics as he expressed vulnerability over the deep scar the image of the flying citadel left on him, falling in flames, collapsing anything and everything it once was, killing dozens in the fall and the collision, it made you reconsider what you believed of the Autobots, well, no, you weren't going to be like that dude, just settled on the fact, that simple fact, that yeah, they've being at war longer than Earth's age, but that didn't mean they liked it, it also didn't mean that all autobots were good, not all Decepticons are bad.

There was always the psychopath or the power-hungry idiot leading the rest, human history was full of them too.

It took you by surprise, he was so easy to chat with once he got the all-clear from you, do you want to know about what he is writing on his tablet? It wasn't the best you've heard of but it was indeed interesting to hear him rant about his own “Nurse Whitney” fanfiction, do you want to watch him transform? It's not a problem for him, maybe he looked a bit nervous about it but still pleased your curiosity, even doing it slowly, let you understand, or attempt, where everything went, do you want to know about Vos’ old songs? He would sing them to you even when he sounded like a bird wannabe, the similarities gave you the creeps for days as he looked expectantly at you.

Point of no return? During humanity take over-on Cybertron, the attempt, TC could have left you die by the fall when the explosion took over, but he did not, he caught you, asking desperately if you were okay as your body collided with the hard metal of his servo, “I’m fine” you assured in between the pit dragging you under, “thanks”.

You already saw him as a being, a sentimental one, full of intricate phases of himself, the sexual part of him came to light when you were watching TV together, nothing better to air at midnight than porn apparently, as if no kid would catch on it.

There was a hissing sound coming from him like a hot kettle, TC had a servo over his intake, optics big with surprise or repulsion you didn't figure out before changing the channels, it was embarrassing, it wasn't your fault, but you still felt the pain of embarrassment on your face, “just so you know, people do watch that, but not everyone does”

If anything, he tried to look composed, “Yeah, frag- I mean, your sexual intercourse, it's normal, everyone does it”.

That dragged a question that was answered for another, Thundercracker didn't want to go down in detail but it was answer enough when his optics couldn't look at you for longer times.

Things got heated pretty soon, it didn't happen that very same night, not even that exact year, the universe has a way to fuck people up, just put together two consenting individuals for enough time, remove the label and limits of simple friendship and you're good to go.

You never wanted any of that to happen, not like that at least, you never wanted to lead him so wrong, that you couldn't even talk to him now without asking yourself what was going on there, he was too worried hissing like a massive predator every time someone dared to try and talk shit of his script, what else was to be done? You knew next to nothing about cybertronians in that department of knowledge, no matter how much TC tried to translate Vosian poems to you, the translation wasn't accurate in the slightest.

Things got hard when an actor called his part bullshit and it was like seeing two giant metal roosters about to pluck the eyes out of the other.

So far, you have been the only one he hasn't tried to blow to pieces, only shouting angrily, soon to be overwhelmed with sadness. No one is looking, and you take your chance, he is awake, as expected, and red optics glance back at you from the darkness, angry, exhausted, he is on his pedes as he looks over you, menacingly, Buster has curled on her bed above his berth. “Why have you come back?”, you know this, like when you first meet him, putting up a hard exterior, something seemingly unbreakable, threatening to break you instead if you nudge at him wrong.

He is mad, of course, he is, for him, this has been nothing but stressful.

But you're also mad, because he never told you directly, you could've helped him, somehow and you let him know, shouting should be the last of your resources, but it breaks if only a tiny bit his facade, he watches over Buster, ensuring she is still sleeping as you call him names from “TC” to “Thundercracker of Vos”, before scoping you up to another room, trusting Buster to defend his private work.

“Are you crazy?!”, he is whispering, it's obvious he also wants to scream at your face, his wings are up, the universal vosian way telling you to “frag off”.

Frag, as far as you could get, was equal to fuck.

“Why don't you frag me instead?”

Too hard? Too hard, a lot harder than you intended, as a year of mutual pining finally gave in and had him under you, biting on his derma desperately, trying to shut away any sound he could do, not trusting himself to stay silent even with his vocalizer off, watching the ceiling, overcome with anxiousness and looking at his array.

Bad idea, very much a bad idea, the sensation took him over, you were expecting him to do so, waiting for his optics to center on you before dragging your whole hand over the nod on the head of his spike, it was mute, but his helm was fast to return to its previous position, both servos over his optics, “what?” you asked, gripping at it, his back arched with a silent scream, “really? No sound? How I'm supposed to know if you like it?”

TC was limp on the floor, wings trembling, plating chattering, his servos still over his faceplate, you didn't like it, “Hey”, took a moment but he peaked at you from between his digits, he looked so tense, taking two steps away from his spike you decided to let him go, “sorry, I don't know what came over me, this is…” you couldn't find the words, feeling embarrassed, you went too far, fear was soon creeping on your head, how were you to see him in the eyes from now on? “This is my fault, I'm so sorry-”

“Don't-”

It was broken, it was hard to hear, it was low, so low you believed it was your imagination, but Thundercracker was looking at you again, intake open, out of breath even when he didn't need it, “please”, his optics were shining in between pauses, like a heartbeat, a pulse, “please never stop”.

There was no necessity to feign any longer.

And it was such a relief on his part, finally telling you what he wanted for a long time, finally admitting to it.

“Keep going” he pleaded, his spike hard to the touch, your fingers traced around the whole length of it and he almost overloaded with that alone, “I don't want to think-”

“I get it”, something awoke that day, finally understanding the fire when he looked so ready to be pleased, “I'll take care of it, make you forget all about that”

.

IDW1 Thundercracker makes things to me, there's nothing better than a man (alien?) with a puppy, you know he'll treat you right.

@tf-kinktober2024

[trans-queen-administrator]

Sundancer is such a heartbreaking character. She's a genuinely nice person working to improve her life and escape her controlling mother and then she's plunged into hell with her friends and is forced to watch as her best friend is changed into a crude mockery of her former self. And then she's finally got a way out, the terrifying bug girl and her team secured her a way home, and her realization when given the opportunity to go home fucking wrecks me honestly.

She's just so fundamentally changed by her time on Bet, and she knows this. She'll never be the Marissa she was again because now she has blood on her hands, and before she goes home she needs to kill one last person. So she burns her best friend, her lifeline, maybe even her crush, even as Echidna begs and screams and promises wrath upon the world and calls her by the nickname Noelle always did. She takes a life on purpose this time, because even leaving Earth Bet demands she falls a bit more and compromises her morals one final time.

This is the part of the scene that really fucks with me though. She's fucking tearing into her costume, removing every part of the cape persona she hates so much and throwing it to the ground to melt, because she so desperately wants to detach herself from Earth Bet and cape society and her powers that aren't good for anything except destruction and hurting others. But it's not enough. She can remove every single part of her costume, try to pretend her time on Bet never happened, never use her power again, but she'll never actually be able to escape. This passage brings attention to the subtler part of her power, the self-protection that makes everything in about a 6 foot radius around herself a normal temperature (probably room temperature). The pavement cools and hardens in her wake, because even if she's not using her power she's stuck with it and it'll always have that normal temperature field active. Every single time she tries to take a bath and the water cools to be lukewarm instantly, or she goes out in the winter time and someone asks why it's warm around her, or her ice cream melts, or her meal is the same temperature as everything she'll eat for the rest of her life, she'll be reminded of her powers and what she did. The cold will never bite at her skin, she'll never feel the warmth of someone else's touch, she'll just find so many little things in her life from then on refusing to let her pretend she's normal and fine and that she didn't kill her best friend and that she's over Earth Bet. Her powers will never go away, and they'll never let her forget that even if she vows to never use her sun. I love Mars, she's forced to do horrible things for reasons entirely out of her control, and she'll never escape that. Whether she wants to be or not, she's a cape now and forever.

[whocaresstillthelouvre]

WIP Wednesday Thursday Friday

Thank you for the tags @whocaresstillthelouvre (lol I just tagged myself, that's where my brain is today.) ANYWAYS, thank you for the tags @magpiepills and @sawymredfox

I have a loose idea for 2000's house party shenanigans and meeting Frankie Morales (shout out to the camp Discord) before the cops break up the party. I'm going to take A LOT of inspo from the shenanigans @ohheypedrito and I shared from our early/late teens. Like a ton of indie kids hanging out listening to good music, getting high and getting drunk. HOW DID WE SURVIVE MARISSA?!

Three drinks in. Your limbs hang looser, your smile beams wider. You feel good. It’s been a long week, work has been awful, your roommates are somehow even more annoying, not to mention the damn parking ticket you got yesterday.... you need this night.   You can’t keep your eyes off of the tan skinned, espresso eyed man across the table, he’s here with some guys you’ve never met… all friendly, all attractive, all talkative, besides him. He nurses a red Solo cup most of the night, occasionally taking a hit of the joint he passes around with his friend, also brown eyed and cute.  “Hey!” you shout over the music, your bravery strengthened by the alcohol buzzing inside you, “can I have a hit?” His eyes meet yours when he reaches the joint out to you, your breath hitches when you notice how thick his fingers are wrapped around the cigarette.

I'm also working on my entry for @burntheedges' trope challenge. The biggest, gushiest thank you to @maggiemayhemnj for giving me this cabin idea for Joel and reader.

“Nervous flyer?” you ask. “You could say that,” he grumbles. “Never liked giving up control of my life to someone I don’t know.” “I understand that, but this happens to millions of people a day, you only hear about the bad.” “I get that,” he chuckles, quickly stopping as the plane begins to roll on the tarmac. “Still don’t have to like it.”  “Well, I fly all the time, I’m sure everything will go smoothly.”  “Here’s hoping,” he sighs, sinking deeper into the seat. 

THEN THIRD. I'm also working on the follow up to Golden Girl.

You don’t know if it was the exhaustion of your marriage ending or Dieter’s body against yours, but you haven’t slept that well in years. You gently back away and watch him rest. Fluffy, tousled hair spreads across the pillow, his parted plush lips gently percolate out snores, the lines across his face are much gentler and relaxed in his slumber. The sunlight peeking through the curtain lights a strip across his face that turns his skin golden and dark hair almost hazel. You usually don’t allow yourself to look at him, constantly fighting the pull you’ve always had towards him. That night in the dive bar, kissing his whiskey soaked lips, the deep rumble of laughter left against your lips when you pulled away. You could have had him, and yet you were too enamored by his handsome blue eyed friend who said all the things you wanted to hear a man tell you. Warren was always good at saying everything you wanted to hear, even when half of the time he was lying. You feel so idiotic.

As for tags, I'm *SO* late but I'm still going to tag, if you've posted, please tag me so I can swoon over your writing.

@mothandpidgeon, @justagalwhowrites, @yopossum, @luxurychristmaspudding, @schnarfer

[kaftan]

Some Notes on Arcs 18-20

(Long post! Here there be ramblings! Sorry)

- I forgot this was an arc 18 moment till I checked — Taylor feeling seduced (her words) by Dinah’s power, longing to hold on to her despite her mission being to free her… goosebumps. I love how the villains she hates rub off on her, worm (ha) into her.

- And then describing the act of returning her to her home as throwing away a resource… something that felt dumb to do… being proven right, in a sense, in arc 20, when it comes back to bite her… I’m reminded of some dialogue from animorphs that I’ll have to paraphrase, something about how what matters isn’t what’s right or wrong, it’s what’s expedient. Taylor isn’t all the way there yet, but feels like a matter of time.

- More on Taylor and morality: it’s fascinating to see her go through the same rough trajectory for every major battle — she starts from her baseline, being disturbed at the notion of seriously hurting or killing anyone, slowly numbs that sentiment with plenty of half-hearted strands of reasoning, eventually escalates to the point of cold-blooded violence or the enablement of such… and feels nothing. “Dissociation as an integral aspect of being” moment!

- I love Jessica Yamada. Not enough to read Ward, I have my limits. Getting a better perspective on the “all Amy’s horses and all Amy’s men couldn’t put Victoria back together again” situation was a treat. I love the horror elements in Worm. I love the horror of having the face of your trauma etched into the folds of your brain.

- Met Sveta! People on tumblr namedrop her a lot, to the point where I wondered if she’d been introduced before and I forgot. She’s a darling.

- Lily’s meltdown about Skitter… you can’t even look straight at her without feeling your skin crawl ❤️ but she sounds idealistic and naive even with cockroaches and bees crawling over her face ❤️ she starts making sense ❤️

- [Trickster voice] my beautiful gamer princess with a disorder… talk to me…

- This quote here:

“I mentioned it in passing to Miss Militia,” I said, “Better that you tell the truth and say we pushed hard for it. Blame me.”

“No,” Regent said, “Blame me.”

I shot him a look, and he shrugged. “Just wanted to get in on the fun,” he said.

says so much about Alec, lmao. It flagged in my brain because it’s the second time I’ve consciously noted it: his jokes about wanting to be included speak volumes. The truth he does not dare to know, etc etc

- Taylor “we cannot rule out human sacrifice” Hebert

- Marissa: She’s my friend. / Taylor: Was. It’s a big difference. Fast forward: Emma interlude, crossing paths at Arcadia. I love storytelling.

- Speaking of the Emma interlude: reading about Taylor’s bullying always makes me feel queasy; this was bone nausea on a deep level. What happened to Taylor is like if your worst fears about other people came true. You know, the nagging worry that you’re a burden, that a late text means I don’t want to be your friend. The worry that any reasonable person will tell you to ignore. How the fuck do you come back from living that nightmare?

Reminds me of Amy, how what happened to her is like if your worst fears about yourself came true.

- Everyone always talks about Taylor’s repressed rage but holy shit her repressed rage. What a character. What a character. I love her fantasies of violence. I love how much she basks in that meager catharsis.

- There’s something beautiful about how effortless the supervillain persona is for Taylor. (Every you is the real you, you are the mask and the wearer, etc.) Her standoff against Dragon and Defiant might be one of my favorite scenes yet. The perfectly affected nonchalance, the hanging threats toward hostages (becoming a theme), the mile-a-minute plotting, the grandiose gestures, the leveraging of fear… she’s a wonder and a terror.

- When she smiles and Clockbocker says “Fuck me, it just sunk in. It’s really her.” :-)))

- “and so that Defiant could make something resembling an apology as part of his twelve step assholes anonymous process” I fucking love you Taylor I love you forever

[mischas]

do you think ryan/marissa would ever cheat on a legit significant other with each other?

Yes. I think Marissa is more likely to based on the skewed models of love and fidelity she saw and still sees in her parents. I can see her marrying young (an elopement for sure) and not conforming to the idea of monogamy all that well because the person she's married to just doesn't make her feel all that much. They're sweet and treat her well and they have a decent life together but it's not what she envisioned. It's working long hours and being annoyed by the other in the same living space. Marissa thought loving someone and marrying them would block out every impulse. That she would want Ryan less due to a ring on her finger. Being in the same city as Ryan is dangerous because they're drawn to one another like moths to a flame. They hooked up during the holidays all through college and find it hard to break that pattern when their families are together and their s/o's aren't in town. Even during college when Ryan was dating people, one making it to the year mark, it never felt like cheating to kiss and sleep with Marissa on New Year's Eve. There are just things that don't feel wrong. And those hookups held no promises or talks of what it all meant, it was just something they did.

I think by the time Ryan is serious enough with someone to indicate that he won't make it to NYC where Marissa lives for NYE (and SS always make the trip too) he feels a strange sensation in cutting it off. The guilt and longing in it. In some ways it feels like they've been dating for ten years. Marissa says she's fine with it but is also confounded over how not fine she is. For years she's told Summer that their situation is exactly what works best for them but stopping completely almost feels like it adds more meaning to it than they've acknowledged. If it means nothing then why is stopping so hard? And why now? Post NYE Marissa starts thinking seriously about her marriage and how frayed it is. Ends up coming clean to her spouse and is shocked that they always knew. When she tells Ryan a month later that she's coming to Newport to visit Julie and Kaitlin, he hates how excited he is. She is very chill about saying it's cool that they don't meet up in private but also tells him she's getting a divorce. Just so you know. Which makes him very, very confused but also happy.

[monochromeruby]

THINGS I WANT TO SEE IN DISVENTURE CAMP: CARNIVAL OF CHAOS

This is stuff I can only pray for and hope… PLEASE… I love the cast and I only wish them the best…

1. I NEED Emily to take on a role like Chef where she clocks all the contestants. THAT WAS SO FUNNY and she’s supposed to be like the gossip girl/instigator. That wasn’t rlly explored in DCAS, so it would be a good way to incorporate her<3

2. There NEEDS to be more advantages. The idol is so overused and in DCAS it only appeared as a plot device. If the game wants to be interesting, there should be more aspects in the game. If not, then at least have the idol appear at the start and not randomly at the final 7 😭😭

3. MORE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS.

I’m so sick of every dynamic being enemies, friends, crushes, and especially LOVERS. There are SO many ways to make relationships without having them be one of those four things. It’s very rare that a relationship dynamic isn’t one that’s listed above.

Some examples of different dynamics:

Competitive Rivals

One Sided Love

One person is envious while the other is oblivious

Admiration/Idolization

Chaotic Duo/Group

One Sided Pity

Found Family (more of)

To quote my friend “Leave shipping to the fans that’s the whole fun of it.”

4. With that said, NO MORE LOVE TRIANGLES PLEASE TO GOD.

WE HAD A TRIANGLE IN SEASON 2. TWO MORE IN SEASON 3. AND A WHOLE SQUARE TOO. You can add tension in relationships without resorting to a triangle. HELL, you can add tension in FRIENDSHIPS. No more triangles. PLEASE.

5. Please don’t make the ending a moral again. “The real money was the friends—” NO. I’m watching a show where 18 people compete for MONEY. I WANT TO WATCH THEM. COMPETE.

FOR.

THE.

MONEY.

I fear that’s literally the whole appeal. This works everywhere EXCEPT DISVENTURE CAMP.

6. Adding on, please don’t repeat a Jake and Riya thing. I don’t want to watch a “good guy” and a “bad guy” fight where the hero sucks at the game they’re playing and the villain is actually playing the game. Make the villains be morally bad but not fucking evil or derailed asf.

7. Make Anastasia, Amalie, Ted, and Spencer the final 4. 😛 Also make them the villains. Make a villain final 4. Make a villain final 6 actually. MAKE A VILLAIN FINAL 6. I want to see these guys be evil and then fucking TURN on each other when they reach the end. THAT’S DRAMA. THATS WHAT I WANNA WATCH. cut throat…

8. Did I say no love triangles? I’ll say it again. No love triangles. PLEASE NO LOVE TRIANGLES.

9. I want Lynda to try the Fiore strategy but everyone sees past her bullshit. That would be so fucking funny please oh god.

10. Please don’t have the hosts have a whole plot line again. Like yeah, I want to see them interact (I love Trevor and Emily)((fix them.)) But they don’t need a whole storyline. I don’t even know what it would be abt??? I’m worried it’ll just be forced drama again. Let’s not.

11. if we HAVE to have a couple, here are my picks:

Hannah x Tristan (honestly this would be fun)

Marissa x Anastasia

Logan x My Greasy King (Spencer)

Potential for fun dynamics with these pairs. I’d prefer a decline of romantic couples but if we HAVE to these are my picks. (“Can’t bitches just be friends?”)

12. I want to see complex characters actually be complex. Especially complex female characters. Riya was done wrong I love her but c’mon 😭😭😭… Complex characters are seen to have multiple layers. For a villain, this would be doing bad things but include: doubt, regret, guilt, just any internal conflict. Please don’t have them just make a face or tear up and then just go back to them. Have their complexity actually affect their behavior.

Also: Not every character needs to be redeemed. Actually, it’s very common to have character progression. However, we should definitely have character regression as well. (Not the Jake kind that sucked ass)

I wanna see a nicer character slowly become more selfish. Kinda like Riya in season 2. That would be really interesting to watch rather a villain become nice. That’s honestly overused.

13. Please have at least everyone be a LITTLE strategic. It was so painful watching characters like Tom, Connor, Aiden, and especially fucking JAKE barely playing the game. Not every character has to be strategical, but can they at least have an ounce of thought…

14. I want to see more twists. All Stars felt bland when the only game twists were the rejoin and the random idol. I want team swaps, I want bogus eliminations, I want more game functionality. If I wanted to watch characters interact, I’d turn on Love Island. Let’s watch the GAME GET PLAYED…

15. did I mention I don’t want love triangles? did I? No love triangles.

16. And lastly… I want my beautiful, amazing, elegant, marvelous, stunning, intelligent, radiant, QUEEN. to win. 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗(we only use pink hearts for her.)

I WANT AMELIE TO WIN DISVENTURE CAMP SEASON 4.

Anyways that’s everything I want. Most are just things I don’t want but that’s okay.

Share your thoughts too cuz I wanna hear them 🫶 if I think of anything else I’ll add it here.

(side note: no love triangles.)

[freddycartr]

i just finished supernova and need someone to scream with. because holy fuck, this trilogy was fucking incredible. the characters, the complexity of the world building, the found fucking family and the relationships were beautiful. nova was so fucking badass and i love that she was actually morally grey. i have loved marissa meyers books since the lunar chronicles, and i immediately felt at home with this story and characters. i never have felt at home with a series that i haven’t read.

[impossiblesuitcase]

thoughts on cresswell age gap? i don't really see the big deal to be honest /gen😭

A 4-year age gap is nothing. A 4-year age gap when one party is underage, well then that's where the issue lies. However neither of them are manipulative and it's clear (especially in wires and nerve) that they have an equal power dynamic in their relationship. Marissa also explicitly states that there's nothing sexual happening. So is the relationship inherently doomed solely by the age gap? No. Is Cress too young to date him? At this stage, probably yes. Cress lacks a lot of life experience, so I feel that maybe she should have some independence before dating anyone, even someone her own age.

Thorne is also fairly inexperienced in being a good, moral person--something he openly admits. So he too could do with a bit of shaping up before his first proper relationship. A lot of people in the fandom are teens, so Thorne being 20 may seem old, but honey, he's a baby. And a cringey, dumb baby at that. An interesting alternative ending to Winter would be for Cress and Thorne to not start dating, but rather leave the possibility open for future, and then in Stars Above we see that they followed that through.

I still ship Cresswell, more so when they are older (because I particularly love how she gets snarky as time goes by). I understand why people are uncomfortable with it but I also see why others are fine with it. I don't get offended either way. I'm in the middle and I personally headcanon that Cress and Thorne date and eventually break up due to their mutual immaturity, then get back together when they are both older and wiser.

I'm going to have a bit of a rant here. What I don't like about discourse relating to age gaps across multiple fandoms is the strange hailing of 18 being a magical number that automatically makes you a full-grown adult in terms of maturity. Also, the blanket assertion that any relationship involving a legal minor and a legal adult is morally abhorrent and contemptible. A 19-year-old dating a 31-year-old? Obviously problematic. A 17-year-old dating an 18-year-old? Completely fine, and yet some treat it with the same severity.

I've seen people get up in arms that Cinder and Kai are dating when she's 16 and he's 18, calling it "disgusting." 16 and 18! 18-year-olds are still just teenagers with some extra legal perks. Cinder and Kai are only 1 year and 8 months apart. When Cinder was a crying, screaming baby, Kai was--you guessed it--a crying, screaming toddler. There is no power imbalance due to age difference here. Chill out 😂

The biggest age gap is Scarlet and Wolf, 18 and 23 respectively. If she were 17, the fandom would despise the ship. But because of her being 18, it's considered perfectly fine. And take a look at Levana and Evret's relationship. She is far younger than him, but we all know who the abusive party is. So when it comes to the age gaps in the series, I tend to just take my own balanced view on it rather than weighing solely on the numbers.

If I had been Marissa's editor back in the day, would I have her encouraged her to boost up Cress's age to 18 to spare her much criticism? Absolutely. But ultimately, these details and the subsequent conversations are a good thing; upcoming authors will see previous decisions and change for the better.

[bloodbuzz-ohio]

I’ve only seen the Oliver storyline once when that’s when it premiered and I wanted to put my head through the wall. I can’t watch it again.

It is the woooooorst because not only is it very, very unfair to Marissa, who genuinely believes this guy shares her mental health and substance abuse issues in good faith, but it postures Ryan forever as Always Right. It justifies Ryan's behavior in the era simply because He Was Right. And it's never discussed or rectified in the aftermath. For the rest of the show Marissa is basically always playing catch-up to his moral superiority. (A Problem.......... I ship them with the idea that this is very much addressed and dealt with in college along with the Other Stuff)

And what is the Oliver storyline saying about mental illness? What is it saying that they equate Oliver being evil and manipulative to his mental health and substance abuse issues? Is Oliver evil because of these issues? Is he evil at all or is he just really sick? I know this was 2004 but still. What is it saying about Marissa's struggles in turn? Even to this day I don't see even a tiny bit of reckoning with this storyline besides defending the ratings during it and how polarizing/enraging it was. And a massive, massive part of that is Taylor Handley's performance, but from what I've read I think the role lowkey derailed his career for a while. Most people in 2004 who saw his face were going to associate him with the infamous Oliver storyline. It's too bad the book and podcast didn't involve him at all.

[alwaysspeakshermind]

Who was the worst in The Hunger Games, snow or coin?

Why?

Thank you. @curiousnonny

Oh, man.

I have a *lot* of feelings on this particular subject (one of my favorite things about THG trilogy is that it places in the antagonist role two good examples of my most loathed types of villains: politicians kidding but not really), so thanks for the ask!

Coin:

While I personally despise her subtle, lay-low/don't-strike-until-you-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes approach, I respect her commitment to winning, and I love that she was the one who got to unseat Snow.

That being said...I can't forgive her for the win-at-all-costs mindset that led her to use some of the most morally-reprehensible tactics I can think of when it comes to fighting (torturing citizens, trying to send a possible political rival to their death, sending the family member of said possible rival to an all but certain doom simply to eliminate the rival's will to live, treating The Other Side's children as expendable, etc.). I think she represents one of the most dangerous types of villains you see (both in fiction and in real life) because she presents herself as the sane, moderate, People's Champion type of leader who stands in opposition to oppression and brutality, but the regime she presents is simply severe and restrictive in different ways she's not advertising, and she is every bit as willing to sit back and watch people die as long as they are not her people...also, she truly doesn't care who she steps on, kicks aside, or ruins in her (quiet) quest for power.

[I also have this theory that she's named Coin because she and Snow have this two-sides-to-the-same-coin duality and we're meant to understand that while she's coming at things from a different angle than Snow, she has the same hunger for power and ruthless desire to maintain stability no matter the human cost.]

Snow:

[Another quick side note: I am a huge proponent of TBOSAS. It's my favorite villain origin story (Marissa Meyer's Fairest is probably the only other book that comes close for me), and I personally think it's Suzanne's Collins' best work and everyone should read it because it shows the fine line/slippery slope between a mindset of understandable self-preservation and the sort of arrogance-driven inhumanity that leads people into committing atrocities against each other or standing back and allowing the atrocities to happen. I will literally never NOT recommend this book but, that being said, I'm not going to reference Snow's actions in this book as they occur outside the realm of THG trilogy.]

While I allow a grudging respect for his logic, strategic efficiency, and commitment to being straightforward/open with Katniss about his dislike for her, I hate Snow's cruelty with a burning passion, and his utter contempt for people he deems "lesser" makes my blood absolutely boil. Yes, pragmatism is a thing. Yes, it is difficult being a leader. Yes, leaders do sometimes face a choice between saving the lives of many at the cost of a few.

But the thing about Snow is that he is simply intent on maintaining power whatever the (human) cost and to me, that crosses a line. No, he isn't the creator of the Games, but he does hold the power to end them. Does he end them? No. Instead, he not only chooses to keep them going, but deliberately finds ways to change the rules in his own favor, thus making an already-unfair, practically hopeless situation that much more unfair and hopeless. To intimidate the districts/instill fear in all citizens outside the Capitol, he makes sure they remember that they are only allowed to exist because of the Capitol's mercy, and that if they want to be allowed to keep that existence, they will have to abide by the Capitol's terms. Sending children into the Games as a form of punishment would be barbaric enough if it were just after the districts' uprising but, as we know from the books, that's not even the case...the children who are being killed in the games are the descendants of the original rebel districts, so forcing them to pay for the supposed sins of their grandparents/possible great-grandparents is beyond evil.

Also, there's this other thing his actions ultimately engineer/shape, and that's the twisted Capitol reality. Like all smart-but-evil dictators, he doesn't just rely on the weeding out of his enemies/the intimidation of the group he has declared "lesser." He also uses the Capitol citizens and their (very natural, very human) desire for peace and prosperity to create allies for himself by reinforcing this idea of Us vs Them, by drawing a distinction between Capitol children (precious, must be protected at all costs) and District children (expendable, animalistic, Other™ ). It's not a new tactic; it's one all kinds of groups/armies/organizations/governments use to engender hate and distrust, but it's a highly effective one in a world like the Capitol, where everyday life is so shiny and fun and distracting that it's easy for people to detach themselves from the reality that they're watching 24 children murder each other every year. And the thing about that, even if the Capitol citizens don't know it (or pretend not to know it), is that Snow encouraging them to celebrate the Games and view the districts as less than human is also costing the Capitol citizens their humanity in return (aka, panem et circenses, where you shelve or hand over your morality in exchange for food/comfort/entertainment etc.). So, altogether, while Snow is not actively getting his hands dirty by killing people himself (excluding those poison deaths, possibly), he is routinely arranging the murders of innocents, recruiting and corrupting (or destroying) everyone he possibly can, and he's doing it all in the name of peace.

All of those things combined pretty much enrages me, so ultimately, my opinion boils down to this:

Both Coin and Snow are effective leaders and terrible people whose desire for power and control push them into crossing lines that should not be crossed. But out of the two, Snow is the worst.