#oh!!! and also there’s a whole bunch of other stuff in all those scenes

[dinitride-art]

The van scene… the rain fight… hmmm… Maybe the two of you aren’t so different after all.

Oh, oh dear. Wait a fucking second, I forgot that there’s two nickels here. Okay, woah. It’s all coming together.

1. About Mike and El’s relationship.

2. About D&D- Will’s campaign and the painting.

3. Minimal use of “I” from one person. Will using El as a shield for the truth/ his own feelings. Mike using rhetorical questions as a shield for his own answers.

4. “I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? That we were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” - “El could make us super rich and we’d never have to work. We could just play D&D and Nintendo for the rest of our lives.”

Basically, the van looks like a reversed version of the rain fight. It’s sunny instead of raining. They’re in the car instead of in front of it. Will’s hiding his feelings behind something/someone else instead of Mike.

Other similarities: It ends with Will crying. Will gave Mike something that was to do with D&D. Mike’s ‘oh, fuck. That was too vulnerable/too close to the truth’ face makes an appearance. (Says something, Looks away, presses lips together. Not necessarily always in that order. “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”- projecting his own feelings. I’m just some nerd that got lucky Superman landed on his doorstep”- calls El superman instead of supergirl.)

The dots. I’ve connected them.

[cheemscakecat]

Fun/Interesting details in Expiration Date

Heavy knows that Pauling is calling them, and lets Scout be the one to answer. Also, road safety because he’s not distracted driving.

Medic is so hyped about tumor bread.

Hoovy smelling the sandwich and deciding it’s safe to eat [or that it doesn’t matter at this point].

Pyro standing like that. He don’t know what’s going on, but he’ll still be polite. Also, Sniper just chillin in the back with a poker face the whole time.

Medic smiles at Soldier as they walk past. Engineer’s got that Conhager death-cheating focus at the moment.

Spy’s eyes widen angrily when he realizes it’s Scout at the door and then he smirks like; “Oh hi! Twelve hours was enough time for you to get bored of my absence, then?”, not expecting a sincere apology [maybe one orchestrated by the other teammates, but not Scout].

There was some vitriol behind that “***”, look at his nose. He does not want Scout to gloat, try to prank him again, or give a fake apology. And that’s valid, since the team dying is something Scout should have taken seriously, and the last wishes handled with respect. He crossed a line that Spy doesn’t take lightly.

Dad, I threwed up. But in all seriousness, that’s the “My family is dysfunctional, and I don’t know how to be emotionally honest with people” posture.

See my bucket scene analysis for more on these two.

He didn’t say “You’re terrible with girls” in a snide or smug tone, he said it with like actual parental concern. “Scout, no you have three days! Do you want to die rejected or die before you can enjoy being together? No. Don’t do this to yourself.”

Look at that cup, he did not need a refill. This fake smirk and disinterest is Spy’s way of checking how serious Scout is about this last wish and taking his advice. And when he goes “This never leaves this room” Spy perks up.

Medic was taking a sample of bread tumor puss [or injecting it with something].

They have a whole entire wrestling ring, how did I never notice that?

This is one of those multiple choice questions where you can choose more than one answer and have it be right. But the chicken in combination with the other options looses you points, and just taking the chicken is like the token wrong answer.

Spy sighs when he realizes Scout chose just the chicken. Like chile, I gave you multiple options and you still went with your go-to that doesn’t work!

This room has a gym floor, which implies Spy took a bunch of fancy stuff from one of his rooms just for this date training. Also shoutout to the other teammates for helping with this.

Okay, so most of these decorations came from Pyro, who Scout is terrified of. Archimedes came from Medic, who Scout also doesn’t want to make angry, and the grass cutouts are potentially part of the base camouflage. But that disco ball? That belongs to Scout, he just doesn't want anyone to know he’s real into that. [The team would not judge, but his brothers would, so.]

Man when he gets his heart broken, I hope he finds the right girl for him. He deserves better than Pauling always making excuses to turn him down instead of telling him like it is.

Foreshadowing Solly being romantical towards Zhanna. Look at this content man.

Spy holding his knife like this. There’s no reason for it to be a threat, so he’s just genuinely in the habit of doing this while listening. Or while nervous, which also makes sense.

[thankskenpenders]

Today we got some news regarding a big change for the Ian Flynn's Q&A podcast, the BumbleKast. As outlined in a blog post by Ian, starting in 2025, all Sonic-related questions submitted to the show will first need to be screened by Sega. (I have to assume this is also why Ian announced they'll no longer be doing live Q&As starting next year.)

Frankly, I can't say this is particularly surprising.

While the BumbleKast is ostensibly a podcast about Ian's work as a freelance writer for all sorts of things, and also just a place for him to shoot the shit about stuff he likes, he's still predominantly seen as The Sonic Guy. Sure, he also does a bunch of other freelance work for other series, and original comics like Drogune, and he's also the narrative mastermind for the whole Rivals of Aether franchise these days, but it's his insights into what goes on behind the scenes with Sonic that people really care about. Your average Sonic fan can't just go up to Iizuka or whoever and ask him a question about the current state of the lore, but Ian's inbox is always open.

Because of this, I've thought a lot about the BumbleKast's place in the fandom and The Discourse in recent years. Ian wants to be as open and honest as he can about his work, and I think that's admirable. To me, hearing about creators' struggles and the shit they go through just to get a story out the door tends to make me sympathize with them more. Sometimes a story just doesn't turn out as well as you'd hoped, but you're on a tight deadline and all you can do is move on to the next project. I've even softened a bit on Penders over the years as he's shared more about the absurd situations and odd creative demands made behind the scenes at Archie. Unfortunately, not everyone has that mindset.

Ian's basically always had obsessive haters who were eager to take everything he says out of context to try and stir up shit, but that used to be contained by the niche nature of the Archie comics. Most of the fandom didn't give a shit about what Ian was doing with Sonic and Sally's love life or whatever. Most of the fandom wasn't even reading those comics. But Ian's gone from being a writer for a non-canon spinoff comic, to being the initial lead writer for the first ever canon Sonic comic series, to being the new main writer for the games themselves as part of the official Sonic Lore Team. Way more Sonic fans care about his work now, and when he's so open about his work that makes him an easy scapegoat.

It feels like damn near every week on Twitter Ian's personal trolls have posted yet another BumbleKast clip out of context to rile up the fandom and make it look like he has no idea what he's talking about or like he has some kind of agenda. And, unfortunately, people often fall for this. Of course, it also goes the other way, with people more sympathetic towards Ian taking things he says about Sega and framing them as proof that Sega has no idea what they're doing with the brand. Which, well, let's be real, isn't always the most unreasonable thing to think, given Sonic's rocky history. But I'm surprised it took this long for Sega to start paying more attention to what gets said on the BumbleKast when fans use it so regularly as a source of drama.

I've also often felt that they just need to be WAY more selective about what messages they respond to on the show. Questions Ian can't actually answer due to NDAs, questions that are borderline incomprehensible, "questions" that are really just fan ideas. And the haters, oh, the haters. Ian does not need to put up with angry rants about how he should make SonAmy canon or what the fuck ever. Even if Ian's willing to put up with it, as a listener it can make the show just super unpleasant at times when someone aggressive pops up with an inflammatory question. There have been entire BumbleKast Mini episodes I had to skip because they were just obsessive critics of Ian's paying to grill him on a dozen different things and treat him like an idiot.

But at the same time, I get why the show got to be this way. It's become a part-time job for Ian with multiple new episode a week. Given how piss poor the pay tends to be for freelance writers, I can't really blame him for wanting to keep this secondary stream of income open, and to not have to refund people left and right for rejecting their questions. The man's got bills to pay. (And so does Kyle, for whom managing the BumbleKast seems to have become a full-time job.)

I dunno. The man's got the patience of a fucking saint. I would've quit the franchise if I was in his shoes, with people wishing he would die for shit like minor disagreements over Sonic's characterization or him misremembering an obscure old lore thing. While I do hope that Sega doesn't keep too tight of a leash on him moving forward, and I hope that he's still able to speak his mind about his work, part of me also hopes that having to be much more selective about Sonic questions results in less bullshit like this.

[openphrase123]

i just finished this fic! it's good!

and because it's all done i want to like... be a LITTLE self indulgent and talk under the cut about some miscellaneous things that i ran into while writing it. don't click the readmore if you're interested in the fic and haven't read it yet i'm about to spoil the Whole thing.

also there is an epilogue to this fic now - go read that before this post if you're getting to this before the update!!

so!! i haven't written fanfiction in like FIVE YEARS. it's been a while! part of that is because i was doing original stuff and part of it was i was in a creative slump. so isat kind of dug me out of that and i owe it my thanks. i've been able to do a crazy amount of original work since starting this fic, it's brought back my creative discipline. in like seven years when my video game comes out you can thank isat for that probably

i originally set out thinking this was the only fic for isat i was going to write. and then as i was writing this i fell deeper into it. i kind of got out of isat a little disappointed in how it ended?? but now that i'm here i'm like ah it's fine. just cause i would have done something different in dev's position doesn't mean it's bad. it does mean i can write a bunch of fanfiction exploring things i wish had been tackled more in the game though LOL

i said this in one of the chapter authors notes but i DID start out curtain call hating loop with every fiber of my being. (as in i liked them as a character UNTIL the act 6 reveal which i thought was lame) and then i played through the game a second time knowing the loop twist and went "oh nvm this makes sense" so a lot of the loop stuff in this fic was actually written twice. originally i was just gonna have them soulmerge with siffrin and not be present at all but then i was like. no. i do want to keep this lighthearted and that's too depressing of an end for loop. i do have a loop postcanon doc so i'll go repay them for their slapdashed involvement in curtain call someday

i'm in a weird position with curtain call in that i wrote the themes and major conflicts Directly After playing through isat the first time. before i could really marinate and analyze the characters fully. so there are a lot of scenes and points where i think i wouldn't characterize certain people like that if i were to rewrite this from scratch? however i don't disagree with what i've written either - it's just an interpretation that i don't necessarily think is my favorite anymore.

neither is any of the worldbuilding i did for any of this - it works for curtain call and i think it was nice but i don't necessarily think it's my current interpretation of what the culture and people were like? i like the wishes being permanent thing, i like the language stuff, but i'd probably go in a different direction if i went through this again

i do actually still think "the forgotten island was destroyed by a volcano" is my solid headcanon explanation of what happened to it. in my heart. i think like - with siffrin as a character especially it's very important that he's always missing something, that it's not idyllically happy for them at the end of everything. so even if he can remember more from their own past, it's - you know - there's no way to go back. only forward.

in the vein of this i probably could have killed siffrin/loop's entire childhood family but i did not. mostly because i did think it was fun for him to have to explain all of those cultural taboos they broke to survive. which, of course, was not a big deal - any good parent would rather their kid be alive than lawful - but what is isat other than a vehicle to make siffrin work through every moral compulsion and spiral they experience

i had a thought halfway through writing the fic that i was stepping on the very good and beautiful odile friendquest by making the island real and having a lot of siffrin's personality dictate how it went. but i ultimately decided on keeping siffrin very close to their country, more than odile is to vaugarde, because siffrin actually DID live on the island when he was a kid and that i think is a Different type of "longing for your country" trauma than odile's. i think they can still drink over the feelings together though

writing bonnie is very fun but very emotional for me. the bonnie&siffrin age gap (preteen to late-20s) is the exact age gap between me and my niece so every time i need to sit down and write something for them i think about her and how much she's a little baby growing up. this has nothing to do with bonnie it just makes writing bonnie really hard for me

if the entire history of my ao3 account was not an indicator, i'm a very big fan of writing romance, but i did not want it to take over curtain call at all. i also could have left out sloopis entirely and almost did, but thought "you know. with the way loop functions in this fic. i should at least let that be open ended" cause sharing a body with a version of you who is dating some other guy is gonna get messy no matter what. it's just not necessarily something i had time to or the urge to explore here. think of it as a fun spiritual nod to the fact that isafrin is technically open ended in isat (<- cop out answer)

i think i'm pretty vocal in how much i am absolutely insane for the flashback "happiest i can remember being" conversation. who let them do that. i think a lot of how i worked with mirabelle and siffrin's relationship in this fic kind of revolved around that. important to me that it ends with mira checking in on him and getting the answer she was looking for all along <3

overall i'm happy with curtain call. glad i am done with it though. there's so much that's running in with it at once. i'll probably wait a month and reread the whole thing to myself front to back before i start having fond memories of this. i mean it's always gonna be the fic my nephew was born during and i'll always remember having a panic attack in the airport right after posting chapter 7 but it's gonna be weird letting this one sail off into the ocean of the internet. however feel free to ask anything about the fic, i wrote this in a lil hurry on a bad day and probably didn't cover everything

goodbye, curtain call!! i love you!!!!! i'll miss you!!!!

[looks both ways, waiting for most people to leave]

also. if you've read this far. i hope it's not too gauche of me to link my personal project. if you've read over 100k words of this you might enjoy the game i'm developing? i've been working on it for almost a year but i just started the devlog last month. it's still in early baby stages as far as a full video game goes but if you liked this you'll like the game when it comes out (similar nickname culture, timeloop trauma, petty interpersonal drama, very stupid jokes, natural disaster angst)

also there isn't a lot on the devblog yet, i've mostly been doing programming on it, i JUST started visdev i'm sorry if it's uglyyyyy (FOR NOW)

anyway i'm trusting you with that link. i'm going to use my professional name on that project when it airs don't cross the wires pretty please just pretend that's a butch-y cis woman's game <3 guard the closet door babeyyyyy

[charlidos]

THE CHRONICLES OF THE CUNTYBAGO

I love the lore of the Fellowship, I can't get enough of it. And it's really turned into a kind of myth, hasn't it? The stories have been established, from being told again and again. Regardless if it's not the whole truth, or even not true at all. The lore has a life of its own. And it changes, depedning on who's talking, and over time.

The lore of the (inappropriately named) Cuntybago is a favourite; that famed make-up trailer bus where Orlando spent so much time with Viggo (hours and hours for years and years if you listen to Orlando) absorbing everything Viggo did.

So here's the Ultimate (very long) Cuntybago Post.

The Cuntybago is apparently where all the after-work parties happened. Most of what actually happened on it is still secret, private events not to be shared; after hours, after some wine/whisky drinking. What kind of special stuff was in the drawers? What did they really smoke? And, most intriguingly, who exactly was left onboard when everyone were ordered to get out... (Erm, V&O, perhaps?)I'm sure there are many more photos from the bus. Like a photo of Viggo & Orlando - which has yet to be seen. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall!

(A clip from the last day of the reshoots, in 2003. Because it's the time the bus has been talked about the most. Even if I'm unsure if this is the actual Cuntybago or not. Since it doesn't look green...)

Mortensen and Orlando Bloom spent much of their off-time on a green bus they named the "Cunty-Bago." Instead of the standard luxury lodging demanded by most stars on set, Viggo and co-star Orlando Bloom shared a converted bus while filming Rings. Viggo stocked the bus with a wine cellar and wallpapered the inside with candid behind-the-scenes photos. A source on the set said the bus was the site of frequent cast parties, with the motto, "Everyone is welcome, but when it's time to go, get out!" Indeed, they formed a club — The Cunty-Bago Club. [Viggo, Sean and Orlando] shared a make-up Winnebago, and through hours of beard and pointy-ear application formulated the rules of their society — most of which boil down to getting gossip and posting it on. [on what? I think the text is cut?]

There are very few quotes from Viggo. If you read his old interviews about life on set it sounds like he mostly worked 6 days a week, 14 hours a day. And in his free time, he went camping and fishing by himself and just drove around to get some me-time. That's it. It all sounds like mostly work and no play for Viggo. Cementing this image of him being ever serene, wise and a hard working method actor who never stopped being Aragorn. But then, we have the stories of this bus, which shows his wilder side...

(Viggo in ponytails, with a glass of wine and banana, in front of that mirror covered in photographs. They both took a lot of photos on set, so I guess a bunch of those photos are Orlando's.)

All Viggo's said is this:

"It was a crazy small bus." "Everything had cunt. It was 'cunt this' and 'cunt that'. We had a cuntmas tree, and we had cuntmas angels."

(Orlando on the makeup bus. )

Orlando has mostly mentioned the bus in passing, as he loves on Viggo, his great hero. And in his words, it always sounds like it was just the two of them... (when in fact it was from time to time also shared with Sean B, Bernard and Liv - but only Viggo & Orlando were there the whole time).

[Me and Viggo would] sit next to each other for a couple or hours each morning in a make-up truck. You get to know someone that way, more than by being in scenes with them. I used to sit next to him on the make-up bus, and find myself just staring at him while he was having his make-up done and drawing in his book or writing his notes. I would find myself fascinated. When I went back for re-shoots, I was on my own and he wasn't sitting there, and I suddenly was sitting in the makeup bus that we'd been driving around in for 18 months in New Zealand and got really emotional and felt that it was kind of weird to be there without him there and sort of reflected on all of the happy conversations and chats and glasses of wine and talks that we would have at the end of the day or whatever. He really had a huge impact on my life as an actor.

But he did say a few specific things too:

"Ahhh yes, the bus. It was mine, all mine. It was my precious." Bloom christened the bus the "C-word" when the makeup artist was fuming about someone and asked Bloom's advice. "You should kick him in the cunt and tell him to fuck off!" Viggo just lost it for half an hour. He kept saying, 'What did you say?' [The bus] became all about "the word. We took that word and took all of its power away. We made it the most loving word in the world. If you were a true cunt, you were the most amazing person in the world. It was a very free-spirited bus. It came about because me and Viggo kept being moved around, and we ended up on this bus one day. And the actors were fed up and we said, "This is it. This is our home and we are not moving. If they come, tell them to go away."

And finally from Orlando's IG in 2019 (obviously, to this day, a very important part of his life):

Our fondly named makeup bus, christened by Noreen my makeup artist and Viggo Mortensen, was, and remains in my heart and memory the most female and male empowered, joyful, disreputable and yet totally respectful place of work and creativity ever. Hours spent in the the makeup chair to apply ear’s and wigs and contacts." (They can't even agree who named it, Noreen never got any credit back then...)

(From the reshoots in 2003, Viggo gives Orlando some love and points out the photo message from Orlando on the mirror. But I want to know, who put up the pic of O with Brad Pitt? From this clip.)

The comments from everyone else in the cast about life on the Cuntybago are actually more enlightening. The rowdy gang reveal another side of life on set and of Viggo: as a drinking, partying prankster who loves crude language. It's definitely part of the fascination with Viggo. He's never one to talk about these things himself.

(I think they're wearing the special cuntebago t-shirts here. No idea from whence.)

Bernard Hill:

You are not supposed to know about it!" "There were five or six of us - Viggo, Orlando and Sean [Bean]. Liv came in and out [of the group]. Viggo has this special kind of crudeness that he is capable of. We were in the same make up bus [along with Bloom]. When I came back [from a break] it was called the Cuntybago. It was our private club. We had wine tasting sessions and had lots of parties. We also kept lots of food in there. Anything that was out [on the table], you could have. You could drink it, eat it, borrow it, smoke it… but don´t go looking in any drawers. That´s where we kept our 'special stuff'! [The Cuntybago bar would on occasion open very early] like 6:30am. There were days that we needed it. [I've made life-long friends with] everybody who was in the Cuntybago. Leaving the first time was such a huge wrench. Especially because of the Cuntybago, it was like our club. Fortunately we managed to get it back for Return of the king reshoots, so ROTK was the Return of the Cuntybago. We actually drove it out onto the streets for Viggo’s farewell. Viggo didn’t know we were going to do it, and when it started moving, you should have seen his face. I kept shouting, “Cunty libre! Cunty libre!” And the bus start leaving—we were breaking free. For propriety’s sake it was called the C-Bago Club, because you couldn’t put Cunty on the call sheet. Sean Bean came in, Liv was also a part of it. As soon as I get back to England I’m going to start the C-Bago web site: Orlando will do fashion and Viggo will do current affairs. I’ll probably do gossip — you know, the social calendar. Liv will do Hollywood and Sean Bean will do the art of war. It’ll be our little corner of the world.

(Bernard & Orlando Bloom getting make-up done. Here's the green bus again.)

Elijah:

Cuntybago is an amalgamation of 'Winnebago' and Viggo Mortensen´s cuss word of choice. I've gained an appreciation of the word cunt. Negative words - the best thing is to diffuse them by using and taking the meaning away. Cunt! Cunt! It's a great, great word. Very forceful. [Viggo] became utterly fascinated with it and it became the word of the film. Their Winnebago for makeup was called the Cuntybago. I was not a part of the Cuntybago unfortunately - it was the makeup room of Orlando, Viggo and Sean Bean - but it was a lovely place to visit. Cuntybago T-shirts were made up. There was a Cunty Christmas and we had a Cunty Christmas tree, all this stuff. Cate Blanchett [who plays the elf queen Galadriel] was deemed Her Cuntliness. I think we were all secretly jealous of the Cuntybago. I was anyway. I loved the atmosphere. Any place that had Viggo in the centre was always an interesting place to be… And that was where all the alcohol was. It was just spending all of that time with brits and Aussies. The word ‘Cunt’ came up quite a lot. I was fascinated by that and how it could become not so dirty. It’s one of the few swear words that still shock people." Is that why you called Cate Blanchett “Her Cuntliness? “Not my creation. She was called that by Viggo Mortensen. I put the blame on him. It was used during the making of the movie and seems a bit silly now. Wood says that his Cuntybago T-shirt is home in a drawer. "It's too big for me. I'm a small guy."

(A few photos up on the mirror in front of Viggo. I'm guessing it's Henry on the toilet (aww!), and Viggo and Orlando doing something something... Sharing a cigarette? Extinguishing a cigarette on Viggo's tongue? It looks kind of erotic. And who's the other dude?)

Billy:

"On Lord of the rings we'd go to Viggo and Orlando's trailer which was called The Cuntybago. Viggo was good for getting Irish whiskey, which was great but I keep trying to educate him on malt whisky. (To Billy it was just V&O's trailer. Like it's where they lived together...) Hobbits, an elf, a King of Men, maybe a dwarf. And quite a few times a wizard, sometimes a princess. Ha ha! That's enough to make anyone feel pissed. We had some good times on that one, some great times."

Peter Jackson:

"The actors had a spiritual connection to it. I liked the way they had photographs [Mortensen and Bloom] taken behind-the-scenes, plastered all over the walls."

(From the reshoots, I think. Beautifully blurry.)

Liv Tyler:

I can't believe he [Mortensen] talked about that. That was our private world. There was a lot of liquor on that bus. But the funniest thing about this bus is that this thing was a beast. It was so tiny; nothing worked. If they ever washed our hair it would go from scalding hot to freezing cold. There was no heat. Our makeup trailer became the center of things. It was given a really bad name that I cannot repeat. There were pranks, most of them also too dirty to tell. I love them all, all my costars. We would hang out mostly in the hair-and-makeup trailer, and after work at dinner. We would eat all the time and drink wine and laugh.  I think that a lot of that was the friendships that we made with each other and the fact that we all needed each other. It was vital that we all had each other to survive and to be able to laugh. Everybody had a really good sense of humor, thank God. We'd be constantly making jokes and decorating the trailer with ridiculous things and being rude and that was our sort of little bubble of escape in our makeup trailer.

(Photo by Liv, in the bus. You can see all the polaroids and stuff behind the unicorn elf.)

Cate Blanchett:

Viggo is the funkiest person I've ever met. I am far too polite to . . . he had this thing he called "the cunty-bago" . . . no, I guess I shouldn't go into that. So, yeah, he's incredible, very funny.

So, I can't quite figure out which bus The Cuntybago actually is: the green one Orlando is seen exiting? Or the yellow-ish one seen in the vids from the reshoots? Because they aren't the same. And in the vid from the final day, Bernard says the bus he drove on that last day was the same they'd had "for years" and which never moved before. While Orlando said they drove The Cuntybago around "for 18 months". So which bus was it? And did they drive the bus around or not? Or was it stationary? It's a mystery.

(This is the green bus - but is it the make-up trailer? Same as in the vid with Bernard.)

(Here in the reshoots, the bus is yellow-ish? And completely different. Looks more like a Winnebago than the green one really... So which one is The Cuntybago?)

ETA: it's the green striped one! Here's it's on the Cuntybago shirt:

ETA 2:

All my memories from that time is filtered through our bus, the famous C-bago. That was our haven, our social club and our home: it was our special place. We christened it the Cuntebago, but it had to be shortened to C-bago because Cuntebago couldn't go on the call sheets. It was a big make-up bus, and in one of its previous existences it obviously took people to and from places on a commercial basis, so it had the little place in the front that said where it was going, and we wanted Cuntebago on there: "Cuntebago - everywhere!" That was me, Viggo and Orlando. We were the cunts in the Cuntebago.

-Bernard Hill in Empire Magazine 2011.

That's all I have found about this infamous, mythical place, where all the magic happened, as they say. If anyone has info to add, please do! I want this post to be comprehensive!

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 5, Match 3: The Fix vs. Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla

Submitted kids:

The Fix: Conrad Schintz, and then he adopted like, an whole orphanage, named Madam Loathings home for wayward interests

Kanan and Hera: Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Zeb Orrelios, Chopper

Propaganda under the cut!

The Fix:

1. “Ok ok so. Spoilers for mentopolis: First some context that mentopolis is a show that takes place inside one guys brain, all the characters represent something in the brain, and the guy whos brain they are in, named Elias Hodge, is so so very sad.

Ok so, The Fix, the personification of hyper fixation, is like is someone who has spent most of his life working for people, where his job was to 'eliminate distractions' (He kills people, basically). Then one day he is told to eliminate a child. His name is Conrad Schintz (Or the Conscience, due to an accident that happened to the guys who's brain they are in when he was a child- Conrad stopped thing he was useful, aka Elias stopped using his conscience, so his conscience has not grown since the incident, leaving him a small child)

The Fix has never had to hurt a kid before, and he doesn't want to do that, so he instead goes into protecting Conrad. Conrad kind of hates himself though and also kind of thinks he deserves to die so that's not good.

The Fix gave this like, beautiful speech to Conrad once about how hes important, I wont give the whole thing but something along the lines of "There is a butterfly who has a tail that is there for if a bird was to grab on to the tail, it would break off and the butterfly would escape. I don't think you are the tail of the butterfly, I think you are the butterfly." (its better in the actual show). I cry. There is another speech about eagles he gives Conrad when Conrad offers himself, to basically die, but i don't remember it that well.

Other then Conrad though! So There is this orphanage, called Madama Loathings home for wayward interests. Basically its a bunch of kids that represent past interests of Elias. Its run by this women called Madam Loathing (represents Elias' self Loathing)(she is very mean to the kids). The Fix donates a lot of money to this place, and visits a lot, the kids there love him and think he is so so cool. There is this one kid named Ronnie Reptile. He loves reptiles, and The fix gives him reptile facts, its cute. In the first episode, The Fix tells Madam Loathing how any of those kids/interests could be rediscovered by Elias at any time, and madam loathing sort of taunts The Fix, sort of saying how "Oh I'm sure I can tell the kids they will call be adopted by The Fix soon, but that would be kind of cruel, wouldn't it?" Implying that that won't happen. (cause, The Fix is hyper fixation, and hyper fixation adopting an interest would be good, you know.).

Note that Conrad used to live at madam loathing's, because he was mis identified as just a simple interest and not Elias' whole sense of conscience, but Corad ran away with his best friend, a dog named Justin. He lived on the streets after that.*

So a bit later on in the series The Fix and Conrad have to go to to madam loathing's together (and another character is with them but he isnt relevant for this). When they get there Madam Loathing asks The fix if he is here to drop of Conrad here, and The immediately is like "Absolutely not, shut the fuck up." (I think that's the direct quote). I just really like that scene.

At the end, end of the series. Some plot stuff happens. The Fix met a women named Pasha N (She represents Passon), and they are in love, The fix proposes to her, its sweet, but then madam Loathing, who got some like, character growth I won't really go into here, and she says to The Fix how, she needs to go on a trip to find herself, and then she offers the entire orphanage to The Fix and Pasha, which is accepted. So in the end of the show, The Fix has basically adopted, that entire orphanage, so thats a lot of kids, along with Pasha, but she isn't in the show as much so I wont submit them as a pair. I didnt mention it before but The Fix is known for knowing a lot of facts and saying "Did you know." before saying a fact, which a lot of the time, it is a fact that is truly terrifying but thats a lot, and The narration at the end of the shows, says how The Fix and Pasha spend their lives with kids around them, constantly saying "Did you know? Did you know?" and it is very sweet. Conrad sort of had his own ending away from The Fix, but I still head cannon that The Fix adopted him too and Conrad comes to the orphanage sometimes.”

2. “listen. i don't know if this really counts as propaganda but just saying, mr. the fix thinks you're not the tail of a swallowtail butterfly. you are the butterfly.”

Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla:

“The parents ever. Healthiest family dynamics in the galaxy. Families that kill fascists together stay together. Kanan managed to keep an extremely traumatized child on the light side of the force, Hera kept a volatile Mandalorian from blowing herself up (and Chopper from murdering everyone). So good at adopting, they taught Ezra to adopt uncles with increasingly homicidal tendencies. So good at adopting, they successfully competed with the aforementioned crime uncles and kept Ezra. So good at adopting, they managed to adopt a grown ass man 10 years older than them.”

[ithinkabouttzu]

Hello! I love your writing and was wondering if you could do TP reunion headcanons? Like how they would be once you reunite after the war?

Have a nice day :)

The Pacific reunion with you after the war!

genre: Romance; fluff

warnings: Crying, sad themes, reader is called beautiful, but reader is gn!

description: The pacific boys’ meeting with you (their s/o) for the first time after the war

a/n: Thank you for this request! I hope I got it right!! Enjoy my beloved!! 💗💗

Eugene Sledge

• for him it’s a whole bunch of emotions when he sees you waiting for him at the train station

• he wants to cry, but also kinda just wants to laugh because of how happy he is to see you

•Looking at you out of the window, you look so beautiful. His chest pounds thinking at how lonely it must of been for you while he was gone

• When he finally gets off the train and makes his way to you, It’s like meeting you for the first time all over again.

• He’s nervous, because it’s been so long since he’s actually seen you, What if you don’t like him anymore? what if something happened while he was gone and you don’t see a future with him?

• All of those worries in his head immediately vanish when he succumbs to your warm embrace, it’s like time had never really passed at all.

• “I missed you, don’t ever want to leave you like that again”

Sidney Phillips:

• Wow, he can’t wait to kiss those soft lips of yours. When he sees you he’s ready to jump off the train while it’s still going because he just can’t wait any longer

• When he does get off, he’s running towards you, dropping all of his luggage as soon as he gets to you, and picking you and swinging you around with joy

• He causes quite a scene but it makes you overjoyed to know he missed you just as much. Seeing that bright smile on his face makes you almost forget how long you guys were apart.

• He’s honestly just so happy, you’re his home, someone he feels safe with, someone that’s always there for him when he needs you, he’s finally back with his person after so long

• He has so much to ask you once he’s set you down, some stuff that he couldn’t fit into letters, all he wants to do is get home and talk to you about everything and catch up fully.

• Oh, and except a million kisses from there and on the way home too

• “Oh honey, I missed you like crazy”

Robert Leckie

• Once he’s made his way home, said hello to his parents and put his luggage down, he’s immediately on his way to your place.

• He can’t wait to see you any longer, he’s not even sure what he’s gonna do when he sees you, all he can feel is excitement bubbling in his stomach

• When gets there, he stops, scared to knock, he’s nervous to see you in so long, before the door swings opens and it’s you who’s on the other side.

• Wow, you look amazing, that sweet smile on your face is everything to him, he suddenly feels self conscious under your gaze, his appearance changed with time.

• It’s silent, both of you are admiring one another like a breakable antique, afraid to touch but still in awe of each other. He can’t wait to say anything anymore, “You’re still as beautiful as before” He smiles at you, waiting for a reply.

• “You haven’t changed at bit either, i’ve missed you” You reply back, following it with a big hug, wrapping him up in your arms.

• “I almost forgot how amazing your hugs were”

Lew ‘Chuckler’ Juergens:

• He’s ecstatic to see you, a big smile is on his face and he couldn’t hide his excitement even if he wanted to.

• Similar to Sidney, he’s picking you up off the ground and spinning you around, but he’s also planting bunches of small kisses all over your face in joy. He knows exactly how to make you feel like the only person in the room.

• He doesn’t even know what to say, or what to think, other then an overwhelming amount of happiness inside of him, he’s just so happy to be with you, he feels complete again.

• When he sets you down he just looks at you in shock, you’re actually here with him, he never thought the day would come when he would get to hold you in his arms again

• “God, i’ve missed you, more than you’ll ever know”

• He’ll probably continue to kiss and hug on you for the rest of the week, not letting you out for his sight at all, with continuous confessions of his love for you.

• “I’ll spend my whole life loving you doll, I mean that.”

Merriell ‘Snafu’ Shelton:

• When gets off the train, he immediately makes his way to your home, he can’t wait any longer to see you, even if it’s later in the night.

• When he gets there and sees you he’s in shock, all he can you is hug you at the moment.

• He feels so many emotions at once, he’s lost so many people to the war, and you’re the first bit of warmth he’s felt in years, he doesn’t want to lose you, he can’t lose you.

• As he’s hugging you he snugs his face into your hair, breathing you in, he’s close to letting his tears fall but he holds them, he’s missed you so much.

• “You been gettin’ along alright without me?” He asks you, raising up from the kiss. You can tell he’s still a little nervous.

• “Barely” You whisper back softly, you can’t say anything more because his lips are connected to yours almost immediately.

• “Let me make up the lost time, dolly. Let me make it up to you. ”

John Basilone:

• Boy is he happy to see you, you’re still fine as ever to him, so good-looking it almost takes his breath away.

• He picks you up and kisses you passionately before you can even say welcome home.

• He’s just glad he’s back to you in one piece, he loves you so much and is so ready to enjoy some alone time with you. All he can do is kiss you over and over again

• “How are you, honey?” Is the first thing he says to you. His voice as smooth and deep as rich chocolate.

• “Good, and you?” “Better now that i’m here with you” He replies back with that familiar smirk on his face

• He can’t feel much more love then what he feels right now, he’s so excited and happy to be with you again, after so long he can finally say everything is back to normal.

• “I love you honey, I hope you always know that”

R.V. Burgin

• Just imagine the smile on the sweet boy’s face when he sees you for the first time in years, he’s so happy and joyous to be around you.

• He feels shy but also not really? It’s just because he hasn’t seen you since forever so it’s kinda all knew to him again, but he doesn’t make it awkward at all, he just reminds you how much he missed you.

• “You know, when it was rough at night out there, I thought of you and then I could finally get some sleep” He immediately starts telling you stories and more about the people he met

• But still he asks you how you are and if anything had changed while he was gone, “I’m glad you didn’t run off with some rich guy while I was gone” 😭

• He probably carries you bridal style in to your guys’ home together and if you guys weren’t already married then he would probably propose soon.

• In general he’s just so enlightened to see you, it just takes so much stress off of his chest.

• “I love you darling, forever and ever”

Wilbur ‘Runner’ Conley

• When he sees you waiting for him at the train stop his heart picks up so much speed and he feels like he could vomit.

• The waiting almost became unbearable for him, he’d have his luggage ready to set out to you

• When he does get to you he can’t hold back his emotions, he’s so happy all he can do it take you into a big bear hug and laugh

• “Long time no see, right, stranger?” He just looks at you with so much love in his eyes, he’s never felt better then when he’s with you

• He’s just ready for a future with you now, ready to take the next step with you and make you his partner forever

• “I missed you too much, I love you sweetheart.”

Bill ‘Hoosier’ Smith

• It’s like he falls in love with you all over again when he sees you waiting up for him.

• He turns so soft when he feels you in his arms, all he can do is hold you tightly in hopes that you won’t let go

• “I missed you a lot, I don’t ever want to feel that way again”

• He saves the tears for later when you guys are alone, but for now all he can do is kiss you over and over again.

• He’ll probably save a little gift for you to and give it to you then, like I said he really missed you.

• He’ll probably be super close to you for the rest of the day, trying to catch up and see how different it’s changed back home.

• “I love you so much, I promise i’ll never leave again”

I loved this request!! If you enjoyed, make sure to like or reblog! <333

[fumiyami]

MY OPINIONS ON DIFFERENT TOKOYAMI SHIPS!!!!

TokoTsuyu (Tokoyami x Asui)

• both animal based!!

•teamed up for that one thing of 1A against the teachers and was a good team

•saw a fanfic of these two on ao3 and it made me think of them two more!!

•I see Tsu as a lesbian mostly but none of their sexualities are confirmed (and let’s be real most of them are gonna be straight😰)

Overall: 4/10

BakuToko (Bakugou x Tokoyami)

•I saw a bunch of fics of these two and they were mostly all super good!!

•but y’all I hate bakugou’s character😓 (don’t send me death threats please and thanks!!)

•still though those fics changed my perspective on these ships

•also like super aggressive x super calm is a good trope!!

Overall: 5/10

TokoYama (Tokoyami x Aoyama)

•u guys i’m coming out as a tokoyama shipper!!! :((

•I LIVE for the trope of sun x moon

•also they have so many things in common!! like: both being insecure (I think), both having belly button quirks, both speaking in an unusual way (yuga speaking french and fumi being like gothic and stuff), and having a set aesthetic (yuga being bright and shiny while fumi’s all dark and broody)

•i’ve seen SO MANY cute fics of these two!! one of my personal favourites: Your Love Is Sunlight by Rainy_Day_Lemonade on AO3!!

•most birds are attracted to shiny things!! yuga is a very shiny thing!!

•I imagine yuga stealing fumi’s heart by first making dark shadow warming up to him!!

Overall: 10/10 (MY FAVOURITE MHA SHIP)

KuroYami (Kuroiro x Tokoyami)

•I don’t know much about this ship or kuroiro in general but he seems cool!!

•they’re both like dark-based or gothic!!

•I feel like it would take dark shadow a long time to warm up to kuroiro due to like him controlling him that one time?? I wouldn’t know I skipped past that scene :((

•also!! kuroiro canonically already has a crush and I don’t really like going against canon or anything!! (I like when my delusional mind can at least imagine my ships being possible)

•the opposite of opposites attract😥

Overall: 3/10

TokoKami (Tokoyami x Kaminari)

•i’ve seen like one fic of this and it was super good!!

•also I saw these fanmade mha tweets on tiktok by this person called Az who ships denki and fumi and it was so cute!! like: Denki: Tokoyami keeps giving me rocks what do I do??? (or something like that)

•I don’t know much about denki (or anyone other than fumikage and mina for that matter) but he seems like a good character!!

•I don’t see much of these two though :((

•another sun x moon trope?? maybe?? opposites attract?

•there’s official art of fumikage and denki sitting next to each other and stuff so :))

Overall: 4/10

TokoShoji (Tokoyami x Shoji)

•I had no idea what colour to do for Shoji so I just went blue :((

•anyways my heteromorph boys!!

•I don’t think of these two much but I keep seeing cute fanart of them on pinterest!!

•I think they’re friends in canon??!

•I feel like this would be a possibility like if any of these ships were to happen it’d be either TokoTsuyu or TokoShoji!!

•i’m so sorry but I did almost forget about Shoji entirely (I love the man I really do!! such a gentleman)

•not much to say but I like the height difference!! short x tall!!

Overall: 6/10

TokoJirou (Tokoyami x Jirou)

•this ship could also be a possibility in some far away universe!!

•they had a drama cd together about jirou being scared of ghosts while her and fumikage explored a haunted building of UA and she grabbed onto the hem of his shirt the whole time which was cool!

•they both have cool aesthetics!!

•both play guitar so they could do like duets together or something

•oh em gee I just thought of them doing a cover of that one song where it’s like “they’re only human they don’t see” or whatever!! (sorry y’all I barely know that song🤯🤯)

•I prefer either jirou x denki or jirou x momo but tokojirou is fantastic as well!!

•but I also have a slight grudge against jirou for personal reasons..(don’t kill me)

Overall: 6/10

TokoKoda (Tokoyami x Koda)

•both heteromorphs!!

•some people headcanon them as both autistic so that’s cool they can like sympathise with each other!!

•I headcanon fumikage to know sign language so if koda goes non verbal then they can communicate!!

•ALSO. animal based quirk x animal based human!!

•both of their favourite animals are probably birds and I love that

•BUT I don’t know much about koda enough and I don’t see much content of this ship :((

Overall: 3/10

I LOVE ALL SHIPS WITH TOKOYAMI REALLY (except for one..looking at you hawks x tokoyami😟😟) AS LONG AS THEYRE LEGAL AND HEALTHY!!

[cielles-random-vault]

i missed you so much sunshine! (hobie x reader)

aaaa brainrot fic go boom boom :D

inspired by the pavitr x hobie ship dynamic except it's hobie x reader :D

this is VERYYYY much full of fluff because i'm in little space and qnq gotta feed y'all /hj

so like yea :3 lil plot you had to go far from hobie for some reason as you're a very well-known journalist and he's,,,, well he's spiderman :>

lonely series part one || lonely series part two|| hobie headcanons

also hobie is a bit ooc ahhg

you sighed in relief as you unlock the door of your apartment. it was some time since you saw your boyfriend any other way than on a screen, so it was no surprise the two of you ran into each other's arms as soon as you crossed the door.

it had been some time since you went on a date because of your respective job, which both were time consuming, but it only made every encounter more unique.

"i'm home!" you sing as you enter the room. you barely had the time to close the door your boyfriend ran to hug you.

"missed ya a whole bunch sunshine, glad you're finally home" hobie said as he shoved his head into your shoulders and covered your face in soft kisses.

he stepped back a bit from the hug and cupped your face.

"you're wonderful my love" he whispers, "i missed you so much."

"i know, i know" you say with a smirk. "i missed you too."

"oh! by the way! now that you're here i have a surprise for you!" he suddenly remembered

(is this too much dialogue? i never know i js try my best to make the scene as alive as possible 😭)

he held your hand as the two of you went walking down the streets.

you couldn't help but smile as he told you random anecdotes on his daily spiderman activities: the time he got in a fight with miguel, the time miles got in a fight with pavitr because he kept saying chai tea and so on...

hobie was... different with you. when you were with him in the haedquarters (hehe you being a journalist was actually a cover for you being a spiderperson :3) he seemed rough and careless, but when he was with you he was sweet,caring - quite the opposite you knew him as.

"aaand there!" he said as you reached a small shop. "after you!"

the buzzing sounds of what seemed tattoo machines greeted you as you entered the small building.

"is this some kind of piercing shop?" you ask in disbelief.

"yup" said your boyfriend. " i remember the time you said how much you wanted a septum piercing, so as soon as i knew you'd come back to town today i took an apointment! plus the person who makes the piercings is someone you know vey well"

hobie took you to a small room with dimmed colorful lights.

"pav??? what the fuck are you doing here??" you said before hugging your best friend. "i didnt know you worked here"

"ask your boyfriend, he's the one who invited me over!" pavitr said cheerfully.

ngl i'm lazy to write the piercing scene because that'd be uninteresting so like- the following scene is you and hobie going out of the piercer

"waaaa this is so pretty :OO" you say noticing your brand new septum piercing. " so you were just planning this along when you couldn't stay on the phone?" you remark amused.

as the two of you walked back home, you noticed something strange on your boyfriend's expression. you couldn't quite put your finger on it, but he sure looked happy.

this all fank yew for reading :3 the end is a bit rushed im sorry 😭 i feel like adding stuff would be unuseful so :3

am in a v fluffy mood rn so expect more hobie hcs :3 (is fr about time i work on sharpening those nsfw writing skills but 👩🏻‍🦯)

[2030kamenriders]

Darn, I had the craziest and most vivid Toku dream last night.

So it all started with this crossover movie. Judging by the focus characters, it was some sort of Gokaiger special, but also Decade and the Kamen Riders were there. So I figured it was just one of those pre-existing Gokaiger-Decade specials

Except at one point I guess I got warped into the movie instead of just watching it. And that's where it got weird.

So (checks internet to make sure I get the name right) Patrick Stewart shows up in a Star Trek outfit, and asks me if I know who he is. (I am bad at Star Trek lore, and the only name that came to mind was Spock, but I knew he wasn't Spock because that's the guy with the pointy eyebrows. I explained this to him, and turns out he didn't mind. Anywho he's Captain Picard.)

The scene then switched to some civilians. Turns out the bad guys of the movie (we're gonna say Shocker but frankly I don't remember seeing any of their henchmen. Could've been Zangyack or Foundation X or something) were doing some changes to time/dimensions to either turn people evil or to simply have them forget who they are. Very convoluted stuff that didn't make sense.

Scene change to the Gokaigers (and I guess I was looking from their perspective?) seeing the effects on the Toei heros.

The Shinkengers were all there except for Takeru, and they were in shambles. At least one of them was trying to cope by becoming a punk rocker or something. In my head I was thinking "oh they couldn't get the actor back for this movie". But in the movie it was heavily implied that Takeru Shiba died, due to the whole bad guy plot just generally making life tougher for the Super Sentai teams.

There's then this cut to a quick heavily-CG scene of a big fight between some of the Sentai mechas and the bad guys, and the mechas are severely outnumbered. Like, the bad guys were covering the entire area the way the OOO Gatakitiba form does, but they were mech-sized.

Now here's the weird part: 2 of the mechs looked distinctly like the Kingohger and the Patoranger mechs. How are they here?! (In-universe the idea was that the bad guys were also attacking future teams that didn't exist yet, and as a viewer I was thinking "Wow, Toei planned these teams in advance?" This was before I realized this was a fake movie in my head.)

Cut back to the Gokaigers and Shinkengers. A bunch of evil henchmen show up, but then Accel and W show up too. However, Accel and W are just standing there, and I'm not sure what they were up to, but I guess the idea was that they forgot about how to be Kamen Riders (despite being in the suits. I mean like, they forgot the idea of it in their souls or something)

So Akiko is there trying to get them to remember. But then there's this other civilian trying to help Akiko, who had the vibes of being from slightly in the future? And her hair was blonde but with blue streaks in a couple of ponytails, and she had a cool jacket and giant running shoes. And she never said her name, but at one point she referred to herself as Akiko and Terui's kid, so I was thinking "Haruna?!" But they gave her really fake-looking blue contact lenses (event though she wasn't acting possessed by Urataros) so at the same time I was like "oh darn it they whitewashed her. How the heck did that happen?"

And then the scene switched back to Picard trying to negotiate with the bad guys to stop them. Unfortunately he was not succeeding.

Anyway back to the toku heroes: then Decade showed up. But I woke up before he could do anything.

In conclusion:

[veebs-hates-video-games]

1000xRESIST is the most interesting piece of media from 2024 I've seen so far in any medium and easily my favorite game from 2024 that I've played (I've played some other great stuff this year too, but most of it didn't come out this year).

I'm not even sure where to start with it. There's so much going on on so many levels. I guess that's as good a place to start as any.

Similar to one of my other favorite games I've played this year in terms of story and writing, Jack Jeanne, so much of what happens in 1000xRESIST can be read in multiple ways simultaneously. It's about the Hong Kong protests and all the good and bad and extremely messy and complicated aspects of family and a pandemic and several other things, and a lot of scenes and dialog can be interpreted as being about more than one of those things or as reinforcing or contrasting or commenting on the themes of the others.

And then similar to one of my other favorites I played this year for writing and story, Vengeful Heart, it (mostly) takes place in a future where things are mostly worse, but where there are still people with hope making the best of their situation and working against oppressive centralized power.

I'm not Chinese or Canadian, but I was the first generation born here (on one side of my family, and the other side didn't get here much earlier). My mom had a tendency to befriend every other immigrant, so one of my friends since before we even started school was a girl who was born here but whose parents were Chinese immigrants (although only one of them was specifically from Hong Kong). And actually just like in the game her mom was the strict one with the more serious job and her dad was more fun and laid back and just a regular working guy. We may not keep in touch as often these days, but it was nice seeing something familiar from my life and my friends' lives transplanted into a story like this, where even in such a different time period and setting and context it's still recognizable the way it affects the characters and story.

I was completely unsurprised to learn that a bunch of the people involved in making the game have an experimental theater background. There were plenty of moments where I was like "oh, these people are doing An Art". Everything feels so deliberate, from the pacing and framing of scenes to the way different story elements reinforce or play off each other to the use of transitions to tie things together.

I could probably keep going for a while about a whole bunch of other things like the music or the characters or looking at them as separate people vs different aspects of the self or or or. But I try to keep these mostly free of any explicit spoilers, and also my attention and focus have not been great the past few days, so my ability to keep writing is probably about at its limit for now.

Still, if anything you've ever seen or heard about it seems at all interesting or like it'd be your kind of thing it's more than worth the $20 and a dozen hours of your time. I can see this one sticking with me for a while and getting a replay after it's had some time to bounce around in my head a bit more. Just going through the prologue again after I finished it feels like the kind of thing that would really reward another playthrough with all the added context and knowing what's going on.

[foreverautumn89]

@linklonk06

I completely agree with you. You're right. I know they'll never like Jonathan. Because the real reason the anti-jonathan st fans hate Jonathan is because of how he looks. Their: ''Hes ugly'' comments every 5 seconds don't help keep it a secret either. It's not about anything else. The anti-Jonathan fans made that perfectly clear a bunch of times. They're shallow and hung up on his looks and everyones looks [another way they're like the town of Hawkins btw]

And since its about looks and Jonathan/Charlie's looks are never going to change, so then the fans are never going to change thier attitude towards him and they're going to continue to bash him and make up lies and paint him as a villain in scenes where he was a victim you know the usual…

Looking at this logically: The real reason why they hate Jonathan isn't because of anything hes done. They're just excuses for their bad behavior. Because if it was about stuff hes done wrong then why doesn't that mentality apply to all their favorite characters then? there are SO SO many characters on this show that they adore or sympathize with who have done a lot worse and intentionally done horrible things intending to hurt ppl while jonathan only did something bad ONE TIME which was an accident and he apologized for [but according to them he didn't-another lie they tell].

AND the fans had to even blow that situation out of proportion that whole scene and claim it was something completely different than what it actually was so they could make him look really bad. And they added lies on top of it that almost all the other fans took as the holy gospel too.

Oh thats another way they make it obvious what its really about// why they really hate Jonathan: So you know how when they try to explain to us why they hate Jonathan so much/why we should hate Jonathan and we're horrible ppl if we don't…

It's about how BOGUS their reasons and excuses always are.

so...they either straight up lie about something hes done OR its always some far fetched take on it that you don't understand how they reached that conclusion. Or it was it explained on the show already that it was a misunderstanding. [S1] for example.

But they ignore that and keep up with their narrative on it anyway. that Jonathan is a monster and a pervert ext ext even though they've been proved wrong already or their conclusion was so wild and far fetched and grasping at straws that you don't even know where they got that idea from.

So either they're all delusional and can't follow a straight line or possibly never even watched the show and just are getting their info on it from tumblr OR they know they're fully aware that they are full of it and lyijng and making stuff up and its really about his looks [that they also make it a point to bring up and bash every 5 seconds]. Add to that: that they excuse the other characters bad behavior if they find them attractive even when those ppl have done REALLY HORRIBLE UNFORGIVEABLE THINGS especially when compared to Jonathan, but they forgive those ppl, but Jonathan is a villain.

It's just like 1+2=3. It's just that simple.

And in the cases of some of these anti-jonathan ppl: we are talking about ppl who defend Vecna here. Now I'm all for playing devil's advocate and trying to understand a character and see their depth but this is something different. they can understand yk somehow like Vecna and sympathize but you can't with Jonathan? What does Vecna have that Jonathan doesn't? Hmm….. lets think Fans react to Vecna: 'I love him. hes so so hot I want him to Vecna me' Fans react to Jonathan: I hate him and omg he's so ugly'

Its not a big mystery what its really about. They tattle on themselves and I don't think they realize it.

So trying to argue with them about the things Jonathan has done wrong [most of which they misunderstood/or spun it to make him look like the villain/or they're just straight up lies] is pointless. It's not going to make them see reason because thats not the real reason why they ever hated Jonathan in the first place.

[o-uncle-newt]

I'm not going to reblog Neil Gaiman's thing about how S2's episodes "don't have any fat on them" but I DO have some (spoilery) reactions to that below the cut-

OK so I already did another post here where I gave my impressions of the writing- but Gaiman mentioning this actually reminded me of something that I didn't put in there at all but kind of wish I had.

Because honestly, I don't think that the episodes not having any fat on them is a good thing.

Here's the thing- Good Omens, the book and the first season of the TV show, is a bunch of set pieces that loosely come together into a plot. The TV show less so, maybe- there's more of an effort to create a narrative- but fundamentally it's a bunch of ridiculous stuff all strung together to create the Apocalypse. (Like, there's a reason why book fans were so upset when the Four Other Horsemen of the Apocalypse didn't show up in the show- they did literally nothing for the plot but they were absolutely hilarious.)

So far, in the first 2 episodes of S2, I have to agree with Gaiman that there's no fat on them. And I think that's one of the things that kind of threw me. EVERYTHING that has happened thus far has felt like it's something that's probably going to lead to something else, like it's connective tissue for the upcoming story that will presumably make more sense later- and while there's plenty of entertainment and humor and sweetness, it's all to the point. You have to be paying attention, you have to take everything seriously (even if it's something that by rights feels inherently unserious) because it could matter later.

In S1, you didn't have to think too carefully about why a telemarketer is being eaten by maggots or even why there's still a witchfinder in the 21st century (for the show) because fundamentally it doesn't REALLY matter. Something will all come together at the end and in the meantime you can just enjoy it in the spirit in which it's given, which is of course an insane one. Each scene is just fun on its own. (I think this is in some ways truer in the book than the show- there were a lot of these scenes that I don't think worked on the show- but that was more about the execution than the concept.)

The fat in S1 was the good part, really. The plot wasn't all that important- it was all the moments along the way.

The closest thing to fat (to continue to use the metaphor) in S2, so far, is the minisode. It's the only thing where it doesn't necessarily feel like you'll be tested on it later. And it's also easily the best part of those episodes! You can just watch it and take all the ridiculousness for granted because it doesn't really matter. It's there to draw out the characters, it's there to give the world more color, and it's there to entertain.

Not that S2 isn't also there to entertain- it very much is, but it doesn't really have time to. It can be silly and random in the way that the book and S1 are, but instead of those being random throwaway moments (like Newt blacking out all of Dorking in the book- which signifies that his tech-unsavviness may be relevant to the plot later but is really mostly just there to entertain because it's so out-there), they are intrinsically tied into whatever the plot will turn out to be. That's really clear, even though we don't actually know yet exactly what the plot is going to be! The leanness of the plot is immediately evident.

I think, so far, that the main negative consequence is that it makes it so much harder to suspend disbelief. When you have a ridiculous moment in a throwaway scene, that's worldbuilding- it shows that this is the kind of world where ridiculous things happen, and then when a particular ridiculous moment ends up being important to the plot, that's fine because it's part of a whole constellation of ridiculous things in this ridiculous world- they've already deconstructed our sense of disbelief. When all you're getting is plot, when something a bit crazy happens you're like "oh, hang on, that doesn't make sense, that's a bit farfetched."

I think that that's one of the things that, so far, is giving "fanfic vibes" to the first two episodes. Maggie and Nina get locked into the cafe? In their first episode?! When we know that they're going to get together?!?! That's ridiculous. In the book and to a lesser degree S1, where like five other ridiculous things would have already happened that aren't heavily signaled to be important to the plot (Gabriel doesn't count because we know he's important to the plot too), this would just be one more ridiculous thing. In S2, it feels like something we need to suspend disbelief for because we haven't really had it suspended for us yet.

Everything I write about Good Omens here is going to come down to John Finnemore in the end because I can't help myself lol, but honestly, my first thought was "well he's really into plotting, so maybe this is part of that." But- he's also done nine and a bit seasons of a sketch show. While he was writing this he was also writing a season of JFSP (the sublime S9) where there was very minimal plot but everything was propelled by character building sketches, very much in the spirit of Good Omens. He knows exactly the power of random ridiculous moments to build the world and explain its ludicrousness. When him being a writer was announced, I saw so many people say "he's definitely got a bonkers enough brain to do this" except that it turns out that, while true, his bonkers sketch-writing brain doesn't really have a lot to do here.

That, plus the fact that I'd be really surprised from everything that I've heard over the last 2ish years if Gaiman wasn't the first and final voice behind everything written for this season, leads me to the conclusion that the issue might just be that S2 may be, as a group effort, over-plotted for its length. There's little room to breathe and live in the world. There are barely any humans, and as such there's not much time to remember that the story is set in a world where humans matter, which, as I pointed out in my previous post, is something that was really important in Good Omens the book and S1. It just doesn't have any fat.

Now- I should be clear- as I said with the other post, it is way too early to tell if GO2 is good or not, because all of the stuff in E1-2 was clearly building up to other things that haven't happened yet. I actually think S2 probably will be good. The above may not be "issues" per se. But I do think that talking about the original Good Omens like the "fat" is the problem kind of misses the point of why so many people liked it- and leaves GO2 with a pretty big burden to overcome in order to convince viewers that it is a continuation of the same world and same story they loved in S1.

[gingernut1314]

Welcome back to Gingernut's After-Show Debrief

This is the show where this gingerbread girly completes another series that completely WRECKS her mental stability and she'll never recover

Before I crash out I'm gonna throw a spoiler warning up here real quick because the show I'm about to talk about is...

Arcane: Season 2 Act 3

I actually.....I just feel like....this was....😭😭

So 😭

And 😭

I am actually stunned that this show is over.

I didn't know figure out that is was ending for real for real until the last ep of Act 2 so I'm kinda new to this just distraught feeling and then...then.....

😭

I really enjoyed ep. 7 it was the cutest fucking thing to come out of this whole show. To know that there is a universe out there where they get to be happy, even if it means Vi is dead, is nice.

And Himerdinger's little song was too cute (and he's not dead. I saw someone on tiktok say he wasn't because he's a yordle and you know what I'm gonna believe it because if I don't?? its not gonna be a good time. Also I really thought he turned invisible then because I SWEAR I heard his little footsteps walk away som maybe I'll go with that)

Clogger and Milo being back!!!

SILCO WITH THE GOLD EYE EHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHE

If I were to get my hands on that man omgggggggg ✋😩 the fanservice was fantastic this season I was very well feed.

BENZO 😭 I sobbed when Ekko just attacked him in a hug like yesss he gets to have his goodbye moment and I'm happy for him

But I am UPSET for Ekko because what do you mean he's all alone sitting on the same ledge he was sitting on with Powder??? Why isn't he with friends??? WHY IS HE ALL ALONE SOMEONE GO CHECK ON HIM PLEASEEEEEE

The French song when Ekko and Powder were dancing was wonderful and I love both Stomae and POMME!!

I am upset that Sevika didn't get more screen time then she did, but I am SO happy that she 1) lives and 2) is on the council now!! She deserves it and she IS ZAUN she everything that Zuan stand for and she'd been there since day 1 and just UGHHHH I love that woman let me marry her right here right nowwwww

Piltover and Zuan teaming up to fight against a common enemy was wonderful. I loveee a good war/battle/invasion scene and that whole ep FED ME

Ambessa was badass and I hate her AND love her?? Like I have very mixed feelings on her and that's okay because that's what the writers want.

I'd let her completely annihilate me on the... battlefield....and that's all I'll say on the Ambessa topic.

Well actually that Shadow Black Rose mage was LeBlanc right?? I slowly trying to learn all the League lore and I read a bunch of people saying it was her but I really don't know enough yet to be like oh yeah. That's her.

ALSO MEL YOU BADASS BABE YES GOD YES GOD

Stunning, beautiful, let me sit on your lap as you rule over your kingdom pleaseeeeeeeeee

The creators of Arcane want to do other tv shows right for League? I know they are working on Penelope of Sparta but we've GOT to get some more for Arcane seeing different stories and stuff there are too many characters NOT to do it, Noxus and whatever Mel is gonna do with it being one of them

CaitVi being end game was wonderful. Caitlyn was looking scrumptious these last few eps and unfortunately, I've been a big Cait hater but she's....okay now....i guess....got played HARD by Maddie though like fuck that girly omgggggg Maddie was horrible even those she really didn't get us a reason to dislike her till last ep.

Talking about end games

JAYVIK

WE GOT JAYVIK!!!!!!

I LOVE that that was the victor in the PfP Jayce Wars from tiktok just stunning. 10000/10 right there. Yes, go be little space partners for all eternity love you bothhhh

MACHINE HAROLD WAS AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH SO GOODDD

I like how they changed it to be more in line with the lore for Arcane like the look of those Arcane creatures very nice very good love him would join his cult I don't need free will pffffttttt

And VIKTOR BEING THE GUY WHO SAVED JAYCE WHEN HE WAS A BABY LIKE YESSSSSSAHSGHAGHDGAHGDH they will be together forever and always I love those two

Ekko and Jinx entrance to the battle was perfect and they both were so good and--and--and--

SHES NOT DEAD

NOPE

She just got teleported to a different area in Runeterra like she's with her girlfriend Lux she's okay....😭

I will deny deny denyyyyyy that's dead like I won't even let the thought cross my mind and the ending of the show I think allows me to do so perfectly

The ending, after some thought and not just going off of my instant reaction which was to scream and cry and pull my hair out, was perfect for the show.

I honesty like how it gives you that feeling of I guess unfinished, like you know there should be more because that's what they want us to feel. The arcane world is so big and there are hunters of stories to be tole and even though I'm sad Vi and Jinx's story is done I know it's not really done, done which is in a way comforting.

This show really was beautiful.

I liked the mix between magic and reality. It really has set a high standard for any animated TV shows that I really doubt anyone will be able to replicate.

But I'm pumped for Penelope of Sparta because greek mythology AND stunning animation/storytelling??? Yes please sign me up I will eat it up.

.......now I'm just gonna...sit in my room....in silence for a good while because even though this show was stunning I'm sobbing

[tiofrean]

Oh boy... OH BOY... I was reading through comments and tags under that Flint vs. Stede post (and before that in Silver vs. Oluwande post) and OH BOY RANT INCOMING

Feel free to ignore. No, I'm prickly about this.

I LOVE how people are like "Black Sails fans are so mean why are they like that T.T ?" in the tags and comments.

LET ME TELL YOU.

So we have this show that has been marginalized and has been pushed to the side for years. A show that has excellent plot, wonderful intrigue, magnificent representation and well-written, 3D characters that are complex and relatable. You get your edgy queer men (whether you want to characterize Flint as gay or bi, doesn't change the fact that he likes dick whichever way), you get your edgy queer girls (Anne), you get your flamboyant whatever-the-fuck-Jack-Rackham-is (<3), you get sweet gays (Thomas), you get confused bisexuals (Eleanor, Silver), you get straight sweets (Miranda) and straight angery dicks (Woodes Rogers), and competent, edgy straights (Vane). Oh! A competent, master-of-the-house lesbian? Check (Max). You even have asexuals, or that is what I shall forever classify Billy as. You have a f/f sex scene in the first damn episode, ffs. You get threesomes (sexual, romantic), you get couples, you even have Silver in a brothel orgy.

But sexual representation is not ALL! You get goofy pirates (Jack Rackham), you get serious pirates (Blackbeard), you get balls of rage (Flint), you get chill, laid-back sea dogs (Gates), you get competent little weasels (Silver), you get incompetent rats (Dufrense). You also have marvelous extras and side characters (Beauclerc the marksman, Captain Fruit-Fruit, Idelle... OHMYGOD IDELLE <3333).

There's the political plot that's historically accurate, the story's plot that's Flint's big gay rage, there's the sociological context of being painted as a monster, there's the gold hunt, there are ships correctly operated by crews of more than five fucking people, there are guns, blood and realistic injuries. You get quotations and allusions to Shakespeare, Cervantes, Julius Caesar, Marcus Fucking Aurelius, a metric ton of other classical writers. You get so many tropes done right it's astonishing and too effing long to list them all here.

On top of that, there is the picturesque landscape, absolutely gorgeous ships and very accurate portrayal of how life looked back then.

We had to defend that show when it first came out, the actors had to fucking fight homophobic assholes upon the airing of season two (IMAGINE THAT), people who loved it had a hard time going around, although admittedly it's a "fandom" hard time, not a "real life" hard time. We persisted, we persevered, and now we're here, clinging to what's left of our fandom, because we are admittedly all over the place and we don't have "troops" on any one social media, which makes our numbers small in comparison to other fandoms, and makes fandom interactions very limited.

Now imagine that there aired a show... a pirate show promising a lot. And then the show turned out to be an office-type comedy with no lesbian/bi women representation (I may be wrong, but I did watch it out of curiosity, didn't see any, just guys). A show that the whole plot of is just a rendition of the Beauty and the Beast for pirate times with so many historical inaccuracies (couching your crew like a bunch of office workers? Plz. The way they speak and the concepts they talk of that weren't there? It's like they were sitting around a fire, holding hands and singing kumbaya). And don't get me wrong, there's place for those shows as well, and maybe it works for you (and great for you too!).

We tried to ignore it, really we did. We basically gave it the eyebrow-raise-huff-ignore thing that you do on the internet when you want someone to enjoy their stuff and are not interested in it yourself.

But you know what happened? Suddenly there were people on twitter tagging everyone and their dog from Black Sails with renditions of Flint/Izzy (Izzy who comes across as an extreme asshole at best and a homophobic shit at worst and you can't fault people for reading it like this). Let that sink in - our fandom babe Flint, who had his whole life ruined due to homophobia and homophobic assholes is suddenly being shipped with a guy who suspiciously fits the description a bit too much for our tastes. Wouldn't you get angry? Of course you would, we're all very protective of our babes. We are, you are, everyone is. We asked you not to do this, and while I admit that hurling curses your way might not have been the most polite way of asking you to stop, the message was clear enough. What does OFMD fandom do? They all double down. Double fucking down on fanfiction and tagging everything in BS again, pairing Flint and Izzy together, writing things way out of the realm of any possibilities because most of the writers didn't watch BS (I did read their comments on that. They weren't even sorry). If you take such character and throw him into a work of art that can and will be seen as controversial, you should at least have the decency to do your homework on the original work he comes from. Otherwise, to our eyes, you're taking the most wronged man from our beloved show, wronged due to his sexuality, and throw him together with a literal asshole just to see them fuck because they would look pretty (and that's an actual comment from one of the artists, I shit you not). Wouldn't you feel a bit angry about that? I bet you would.

What's worse, people loving Black Sails and not liking OFMD usually point out how narrow the representation is, how improbable the show is and how they're not remotely invested in the plot. It's a cheesy show for your average Sunday afternoon, don't make it into something it's not. It's not a political statement any more than Guess The Tune is.

What's more, when I've seen attempts at people pointing out the obvious flaws in plot, in logic (how many people crew that ship exactly? How is he not dead after being stabbed clean through with a sword?), all we've gotten was "Oh it's not that type of show, OBVIOUSLY", "it's just a comedy, duh" and my personal favorite "you just DON'T UNDERSTAND IT BOOMER". (I'm a late Millennial, thx). Every attempt was chucked out the window. What got me most, tho, was the high praise of OFMD IS THE FIRST SHOW TO [insert whatever queer thing it did supposedly]. No, it's not. There was even a post on twitter that debunked all those claims one by one. I get it, you're happy that you got your gay pirates, good for you. But give credit where credit's due, otherwise you're gonna piss off a lot of people. People who watched our show struggle and crawl so that your show can run today and be fine and accepted widely.

And personally, I felt disappointed watching it because of the lack of representation. Disappointed that Ed turned out to be just as rainbowy as Stede. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against rainbowy, ultra-sweet characters that are big softies. I love them. But not everyone in the lgbtq community is like that. Actually, it's the minority. There are your sweets, there are your glittery rainbows, but the majority is on the more... inconspicuous part of the scale. And there are edgy people (like myself) who don't like glitter, pink, feathers, fluff and a shitton of other things this show had in abundance. You know what made me wince while watching? When I realized that the only person who I could remotely like for the way they weren't so glittery-rainbowy-sweet was Izzy, and I hated him because he was an asshole. Even Jim got the fluffy af oranges arch. So not my (and others') cup of tea.

So yeah, our recent anger and rabidity is not based solely on one post about an insignificant poll (that you're winning only because our fandom is significantly smaller and most people are dispersed between different sites). It's all those things combined and it's the result of them.

And no, I'm not going to finish it with a "please forgive us if we seem a bit angery, we're coping". Flint wouldn't.

[ennn]

Interesting stuff: in one of the posters it shows everyone bar agatha suspended like puppets above upturned swords like Lilia's trial. Also, in the trailer shot where Lilia is surrounded you can see vines seem to be grabbing the Seven if not also Lilia, and hear someone (a woman) screaming for Agatha. Lilia also seems to have phases to her trial since the costumes change (might make sense if they have to go up the tower?), and she's shown screaming while everything around her appears distorted. Also agatha's purple scene with the leather jacket might be some homage to The Craft which could have implications for her character. No idea how to put this all into a coherent theory or how it fits with Rio going full Reaper but its exciting.

I personally wouldn't read too much into the promo posters other than using them to tell what the various trials are in terms of their settings / horror movie references. Some of them are more direct than others.

For the vines, I don't really see any vines grabbing the Salem Seven nor Lilia in the trailer. You may have mistaken this with the vines that are grabbing Agatha in the shot before (with her cut up and bloodied arm), and she's getting dragged across the grass before it.

I expect Rio and her will be having oh let's say, a rather loud disagreement in the finale. One that involves a significant amount of property damage.

Lilia's costume looks the same the whole air trial (with the swords in the ceiling), the pink one that references the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz. The other gown you might be seeing is likely that of Lilia's younger self, the one she saw in the flashback in Episode 3. I expect flashbacks of Lilia's tragic past and her backstory in that same episode (where she'll probably sacrifice herself to destroy the Salem Seven).

For Agatha's leather jacket shot I expect it to be part of a bunch of flashbacks or maybe even a montage of her draining witches across different time periods. Like those vampire TV shows y'know? Gotta show their bloody history and how evil they were to compare to how they are now! We may even get Rio showing up in these scenes, showing their long history of "work and play". Those crazy kids!