#over used tropes

[silveragelovechild]

THE ARK?

I discovered a sci-fi show that’s already in its second season and I didn’t know it existed. That’s one problem with all the independent streaming services - it hard to know about everything that’s available. The show is “The Ark” and it’s on the Syfy channel (which I no longer get) but I found it on the Peacock streaming service which I get free.

I’m not recommending it per se, at this point I’m just sharing that it exists.

As you might guess by its title, it’s about a ship from Earth ship traveling to Alpha Centauri (just like the Jupiter 2). I thought the first episode started well… a cold open where the ship suffers a disaster and one of the units containing cryo chambers is damaged and torn away. In another cryo chamber, the passengers awaken and are able to escape into the main part of the ship. The command crew and most of the senior staff are dead. The surviving crew are younger and less experienced

I thought the design of the ship looked good, and effects and editing were better than you might expect from a TV budget. So I decided to watch some more.

The bulk of the cast looks to be between 20 and 30, emphasizing the idea that they are inexperienced. I like the main character - Lt. Sharon Garnet played by Christie Burke. Garnet young but shes one of the highest ranking officers left alive. Apparently Burke played Renesmee Cullen in the Twilight movies.

There are also two other lieutenants: Lt. Lane (Reece Ritchie). He far too unlikable, argumentative and wants to be in charge. The other is Lt. Brice (Richard Fleeshman). He’s the more laid back and tries to be useful. I like the Brice but Lane should be thrown out an airlock.

And of course there the over-worked doctor who resorts to taking drugs to stay alert. (Another over used trope.)

A few years ago there was a show that was part of the Stargate franchise - Stargate Universe . It involve a bunch of random character stuck on a ship traveling between galaxies. It had a nerd who was a genius at solving things - in every episode. Well - the Ark has two of those nerds - a girl nerd (Alicia played by Stacey Read). And a boy nerd (Angus played by Ryan Adams). If they had a nerd-off competition - Alicia would win hands down because she’s nerdy and perky at the same time. Alicia and Angus take turns every other episode solving the latest disaster. Neither of them irritates me as much as the nerd from Stargate Universe but the genius nerd trope is wearing thin.

After episode 4 I started skipping or fast forwarding scenes. There were too many episodes where a part of the ship malfunctions and they need to solve it immediately. Then there’s the problem with scientific inaccuracy….

In a season 2 episode, they need more fuel and conveniently discover a star system in between Earth and Alpha Centauri. But Alpha Centauri is the nearest star to Earth! UGH! That kind of lame research has no place in a 21st Century sci-fi show!

I stopped that episode and skipped to one where they encounter a parallel version of their ship. Truthfully, it’s the best episode of the ones I’ve seen (even tho, with all my skipping around I didn’t know all the characters). But… dammit! The girl nerd immediately says she would try and untangle the quantum entanglement. Apparently nerds are how writers can solve anything, any time, any where!

[kitsunebattleboxer]

Sacrificial Virgins is such an over done trope.

All it does is feed into the patriarchy mindset.

If you want sacrificial offerings, I’m talking:

People that haven’t lost their optimism and hope for the world despite their tragic lives

People older than 20 that haven’t been traumatized and therefore fundamentally changed yet

Someone who has never physically (on purpose or not) hurt another person -subcategory to this is someone who has never murdered another person (for a more violent flair and message about our society)

Someone who only has 3 paths in the multiverses of their lives

People who have secrets they will take to the grave, and therefore are tainting our ‘pure’ world by not telling the truth

People with genetic quirks. I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT DISABLED PEOPLE. I mean like heterochromia, left handed, extra set of ribs, no wisdom teeth, etc

People that believe there is nothing after death

Hero types that will impact the lives of 100+ people

Just add a bit of strange nuance to your rituals and avoid the Sacrificial Virgins

[collinsportmaine]

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Showtime series)

I had forgotten all about Showtime’s “Let the Right On In” which was released in October 2022. It was based on the excellent 2004 vampire novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

The book was soon followed by the equally terrific Swedish movie directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring Lina Leandersson as Eli the 12 year old vampire (actually centuries old).

This was followed by the American remake “Let Me In” (2010) with Chloë Grace Moretz playing Abby, the slightly aged up vampire. It wasn’t a bad effort, it just wasn’t as visceral as the Swedish version.

Flash forward 12 years and the Showtime released its with more substantial changes. Eli/Abby is now Elenor played by Madison Taylor Baez. Both Baez and Demián Bichir who played her caretaker are both Hispanic. No problem with that. For a story reset in the US, it adds to the sense that they are outsiders from the mainstream.

But the change is more substantial than that. Elenor is no longer centuries old. She was 12 year old when she was turned into a vampire and only 10 years have passed. Bichir’s character, who in the novel and prior films is suggested to be her friend and caretaker for decades, is now her father, and he’s on “decade-long quest to find the creature that turned Eleanor and hopefully to find a cure”. (YAWN!)

They’ve also added a dying pharmaceutical mogul who is also trying to find a cure (borrowed from Del Toro’s “The Strain”). And perhaps the lamest coincidence - Elenor and her father move into the same building as the cop who is investigating the vampire murders around town. (UGH!)

I saw the first episode via a free Showtime weekend. It was boring so I didn’t continue. I guess I saved 9 hours of my life by skipping those 9 episodes.

Showtime cancelled the series after season 1. Then it pulled the episodes from its streaming service to take a tax right off

[sreppub]

joker killed batman instead of jason

[danieandflars]

Anyway love that nimona pulled the 'villain is recorded admitting to the crime' trope and then it didn't solve anything. If your villain is already in a position of power, as these villains almost always are, how is recording them going to help? Who is going to hold these people accountable? In real life people in power admit to wrongdoings, only for nothing to come of it. All the time. Nimona said the only way to solve these problems is systematic change and setting buildings on fire.

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Tropes, in and of themselves, are not bad. They exist for a reason, and have served as necessary story-building blocks since the dawn of time. A fantasy story leaning into a chosen one or hidden prince trope is not inherently a bad thing. I think a lot of people underestimate GRRM's very deep relationship with the genre and misunderstand how he engages with it in the text.

[adastra121]

You know what. I’m gonna ramble about the Touchstarved LIs favourite places to kiss (based on the polls from @cacaobean760) — the most popular results — because I have thoughts!

Leander’s is the hands, because. He likes to be the special person, the only one who can actually touch MC’s hands without being affected, kissing them on the hand is a possessive thing. But also, even without the curse, he strikes me as someone who likes to kiss people on the hand in that classic romantic, gentlemanly fashion. He’s a performer, of course he’d go for that classic romantic gesture, raising your hand to his lips and kissing the knuckles. Kissing the inside of your wrist, your pulse point, he likes the amount of trust you place in him. And apparently he’s ticklish, so. Tickling under his jaw, he laughs and then he holds your hand there, and kisses your palm.

Ais likes the forehead or anywhere on the head, because he likes your mind the most, having lived in the Groupmind for so long, I don’t think he wants you to lose it and everything that makes you you. He strikes me as someone who really likes people’s minds, judging from the way he likes to listen to Kuras ramble about alchemy, judging from the questions he asks MC in the demo. He just seems the type to be genuinely curious and interested in what’s going on in your head. Kissing you on the forehead or temple whenever you’re lost in thought in those comfortable, quiet moments with him just to bring you back like: “Where’d you fly off to just now, sparrow?” Also he’s tall, so he can reach your forehead more easily.

Vere likes the intimacy, sensuality and power behind neck kisses. He likes the warmth, how your scent is stronger there. He likes how he can hear and feel your pulse under his lips. Gently tracing his sharp teeth along your pulse point, your carotid artery. With just enough pressure to make you hyper aware of his every movement. It would just take one bite. One quick slice of his fang, a spray of red and you’d bleed out in his arms. He thinks you’d taste heavenly. It doesn’t mean that he wants to kill you, he just likes that he can, he likes the amount of power he has over you — and maybe that you trusted him enough to give that to him.

[waterghostype]

not so tall now are you

[fuctacles]

Eddie, begrudgingly: Dustin's older brother is kinda fine :/

I had a craving for best friend's older brother AU so I wrote some but it's not my forte I'm out of ideas so that might be it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Edit: jokes on me I guess [Part II] [Part III]

Eddie was about to knock on his freshman friend’s door when there was a loud commotion on the other side and the door opened by itself. A guy, probably around his age, nearly ran into him in his haste to leave the house. He startled, taking Eddie in. And then taking a double take, the way Eddie was used to people doing at the sight of him.

“Who are you?” the guy asked, scrunching his nose and not meeting Eddie’s eyes.

He felt his hackles rise, venom building in his throat and ready to spit. He wasn’t expecting this on a Saturday on his friend’s doorstep, but he guessed this was the kind of town where you just couldn’t wear your battle vest in peace anywhere. His upper lip twitched ready to form a snarl, when suddenly the guy's features softened, a spark of recognition lighting up his eyes.

“Wait. Let me guess. Eddie?”

Eddie faltered, taken aback by the sudden shift in tone. He frowned.

“Yeah?”

The guy's face warmed up with a smile, and Eddie was not ready for that kind of emotional rollercoaster this early in the morning.

“Dustin’s stories do not do you justice,” he says for some reason, eyeing him again. Eddie wants to shrivel up and hide. What the fuck was happening. “He’s waiting for you in the kitchen,” he said, stepping to the side to invite him in. “I have to go to work, so you two be good, okay?” he says before waving a cheery goodbye and closing the door, disappearing just as abruptly as he showed up in front of Eddie. The inside of the house suddenly seemed dull.

Another ray of sunshine peeked from the kitchen, toothy grin and hazelnut curls.

“So you’ve met Steve!” Dustin grinned in place of a greeting.

Eddie gawked at him.

“That,” he pointed at the closed door. The sound of a car leaving the curb tickled his ears. “Was Steve?!”

“The adopted brother Steve? The Star Wars fan Steve? The badass older brother Steve?”

“Yes, all that,” Dustin nodded enthusiastically.

“I thought he was, like, 16!” Eddie flailed and it sounded like a petulant whine even to his ears. He winced.

Dustin frowned at him like he was being stupid. Eddie didn’t like that gaze, but unfortunately at this point, he was getting used to it. His younger friend leaned on the kitchen door frame watching Eddie toe off his shoes.

“He’s 19. What gave you that impression?”

Eddie frowned at his scuffed Reeboks. He nudged them with his toe to line up, looking for an answer.

“The adopted part, I think? He’s almost an adult, who adopts that old?”

He knew he had said the wrong thing as soon as he said it. He looked up at Dustin, whose face twisted uncomfortably.

“Shit, sorry man. I didn’t mean-”

Dusting clicked his tongue impatiently, interrupting him.

“It’s fine. This is an unconventional arrangement,” he said in that way when you heard something repeatedly. “I can tell you more, but after we make that character sheet, okay?”

Eddie nodded, eager to abandon his social faux pas. The Henderson’s were an unconventional unit, and that’s what he loved about them, at least from the stories Dustin shared. The guy was a little freak, just like Eddie, so it checked out his family was just as unconventional. So was Eddie’s after all.

The parallels made him warm up inside, the familiar need to protect his younger friends flaring up.

“Deal,” he nodded, following his friend inside the kitchen, where notebooks and DnD manuals already littered the table.

A couple of hours, two coffees and an unsolved argument about the intricacies of multiclassing later, they decided to take a break and Eddie could finally feast his eyes on the family photos on display. He stood in front of the newest one standing front and centre on the mantle. Steve was smiling shyly to the camera while Claudia Henderson had her arms around his shoulders and Dustin was grinning wide from his other side, hair ruffled by the older boy's hand.

“How long he has been living here?”

Dustin’s head popped out of the kitchen where he was rummaging for snacks.

“About a year. Remember the Starcourt fire?”

“Yeah?” Eddie frowned, taken aback by the seemingly unrelated question.

“Well, he’s been there and-” the boy frowned, fully stepping into the living room and crossing his arms. “Shit, Mom says I shouldn’t be babbling it around. That it’s Steve's story to tell.”

Eddie hummed, cocking his head.

“Your mom is very smart.”

Dustin unwrapped his arms, clenching his hands together.

“I guess I could tell you I mean who are you gonna tell? You just-”

Eddie raised both his hands, stopping him.

“Dude, he interrupted with all the disapproval his drug dealing nonconformist self could muster. “She’s right and that would be breaking your brother’s trust.”

“Uh. Yeah,” Dustin gulped, looking adequately ashamed at proposing the idea. “You’re right., he nodded.

This lasted about half a second because nobody could stop Henderson from being an egocentric know-it-all and since he was wrong he was now going to overcompensate for it. Of that, Eddie could be sure.

“We can go to his workplace and you could ask him!”

Eddie raised his hands again.

“Hold your horses Henderson, we’re not harassing your brother at work.” The boy was actually pouting, the little shit. “I am not that determined to hear it. I’ll just catch him another time I visit.”

That was the wrong thing to say because he wasn’t planning on being a recurring guest initially. Or maybe it was the right thing to say since Dustin positively beamed at the implication.

Maybe it was because the kid’s presence has been a good influence on him as well.

Also, while the story of Steve’s adoption didn’t seem that interesting before, the idea of a mall fire being somehow involved raised questions that were now itching the back of Eddie’s tongue. He had to ask them at some point.

*

“There’s this guy,” Eddie starts one day during lunch break. 

“Oh-ho,” Gareth murmurs with disdain, the crumbs from his sandwich falling from his lips.

“Not like that,” Eddie glowered at him, slapping against his arm. Even though it was kinda like that. “He’s picking up Henderson after Hellfire today and if we run into him, I want you guys to be civil.”

“We’re always civil,” Jeff frowns at Eddie’s backhanded accusations.

“Yeah, especially when you guys are mooning after Mrs. Wheeler.”

The comment raised a wave of loud protests from his friends.

“I am just saying-”

“You’re just saying that guy is hot and we shouldn’t ogle him?” Gareth, the worst friend he has, raised his eyebrow.

“No, I’m just-”

“You calling dibs, Munson?” John the Traitor, the Backstabber, joined in. Johned in, if you will.

‘No!” Eddie protested, maybe a little too loud. A couple of heads turned but when they saw the ruckus was coming from the freaks table, they quickly lost interest. “He’s the worst. A hunk of jock with stupid hair but!” He rose a finger. “He’s Henderson’s family. And what do we do with family members in Hellfire?”

“Lure in.”

“Lull into a fake sense of security.”

“Cast charm person.”

“Exactly,” he smirked, pointing his finger at each of them in approval. “This case is no different.”

“It feels different,” Gareth murmured under his breath, earning himself another smack on the shoulder.

*

Eddie wrapped up the session and was giving out experience points to his players when a soft knock interrupted his counting. He frowned at the door.

“Speak ‘friend’ and enter!” he hollered to his sheep’s utter glee. He grinned at them.

Dead silence was all the response he got, so he assumed whatever normie was bugging them got discouraged. But then, Henderson was turning around in his seat, yelling at the door.

“It’s from Lord of the Rings! You know this one!”

There was a shuffle on the other side where apparently, Steve came already to pick up his brother.

“Oh! Um… Melon? Was that it?”

“You may enter!” Eddie commanded with a grin straining at his cheeks. Dustin was doing a good job educating his jock brother, apparently. 

The guy pushed the door open, taking in the table full of teenagers. He waved hesitantly.

“You guys finishing up?”

“I’m handing out points, we need just a few minutes,” Eddie waved his hand. “And it’s Mellon.”

Steve frowned.

“That’s what I said.”

“Sure you did,” Eddie cocked his head condescendingly, ignoring the eyes of Corroded Coffin members staring at him. “Now sit and wait,” he gratuitously offered, snapping his fingers and pointing at a nearby bench, like Henderson’s older brother was some kind of dog.

To his surprise, he nodded shortly and obeyed, sitting down and watching him expectantly. Eddie took it as his cue to proceed. He coughed to gather his sheep's attention and went back to his meticulous calculations.

*

“That didn’t look like Charm Person to me,” Gareth hissed as soon as the younger members of Hellfire had left.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Eddie scrunched his eyebrows, throwing him a look while he stuffed his campaign notes into his bag.

“You told us to be nice, but you ordered him around like he was one of the kids,” Jeff pointed out, arms crossing.

“I did not”

“You totally did.”

Eddie’s eyes narrowed as he straightened up.

“What is this? Mutiny? Among my own kin? Ungrateful little herd I had nurtured on my own breast-”

He was interrupted by a cacophony of grossed out noises.

“Spare us the imagery, please.”

Eddie huffed indignantly, closing his bag.

“Then quit yapping. It was a singular lapse of judgement on my part,” he said with finality, throwing his bag over his shoulder. Without looking back, he walked off, hand raised in a goodbye, “Toodles, bitches.”

And he was gone.

Gareth sighed.

“Man, I love Eddie, but sometimes…” John cut himself off, shaking his head. 

“Yeah.”

*

Eddie’s been on the fence about it for some time now. But the time was ticking and he did say more than once that ‘86 was gonna be his year, so maybe it was time to pocket his ego and make some calls.

Some very, very humiliating calls.

Sighing deeply he imagined himself going to the woods and digging up a deep hole. There he imaginary buried his pride, made a fancy map to find it later, hopefully in time for his graduation, and finally dragged himself back home and in front of his phone. Next to it, he tacked on a list of numbers of all his newest sheepies in case of emergencies. Like Hellfire scheduling.

He sighed once more, slumping dramatically before dialling the first of the numbers. As he listened to the dial tone, he squared his shoulders, decided a more confident pose was in order. He was now a man of action, taking his fate in his own hands. His pride was buried deeply in the darkest corners of the forest and only a courageous-

“Har- Henderson residence, this is Steve speaking.”

Eddie’s mind went blank, completely thrown off. Who was he calling again? What for?

“Hello?”

“Is this how you pick up the phone? Did I get the wrong house? Is this the British Queen?”

“... Eddie? Is that you?”

Busted.

“What gave me away?”

“Ah, only the dramatic nonsensical ramblings.” Steve answered, amusement in his voice. 

“Thank you, I pride myself in those.” No pride! Pride is buried deep in the putrid soil of a forgotten battlefield! “But I’m here for the superior Henderson, please and thank you.” Ah yes, the Charm Person again. Somebody could think Eddie buried his Charisma along with the pride.

“Sorry, Claudia is at work right now.”

Eddie scrunched his nose, confused, the gleeful tilt to the voice in his ear irking him. Then he remembered the mom. A staple in most households.

“Har, har, Steven. The smart one.”

“Please never call him that to his face,” the man said with a resigned sigh.

“There wouldn’t be enough space in the room for both our egos if I did.”

Steve laughed then, softly and genuinely, before calling out for his younger brother.

After a loud rattle, Dustin’s lispy voice finally reached Eddie’s trailer.

“What's up?”  

The man braced himself for what he was about to request.

“I need your help with an assignment.”

*

The door opened before he could even knock. Again.

“I thought I told you not to inflate his ego.”

“No, you told me not to call him smart. It is merely a by-product of my desperate attempts at graduating,” Eddie shrugged matter-of-factly. “Besides, I don’t respond to the likes of you.” He punctuated his words by seizing the guy up before brushing past him inside the Henderson’s house.

“The likes of- Excuse me?!”

Eddie was skipping towards Dustin’s room.

“Hey big guy I’m here for my tutoring!” he announced himself, standing in the open door to his friend’s room, who quickly beckons him inside. Steve’s heavy steps follow and soon he’s the one standing in the door frame, arms crossed, while Eddie bounces on Dustin’s bed.

“What do you mean the likes of me?” he asks, almost pouting. 

“Mainstream,” offered Dustin, shuffling through stuff on his desk.

“Jocks,” added Eddie, still bouncing with glee, hair following up and down.

“Normies.”

“Pop listeners.”

“Mom friends.”

“Conformists.”

“Okay, I get it!” Steve threw his hands in the air, stopping the list that probably wouldn’t come to an end otherwise. “You’re the cool guys, have fun having your cool stuff,” he huffed angrily, grabbing the doorknob. Before he closed the door he threw one seething glance at Dustin. “Do not. Ask me for snacks,” he hissed before slamming the door shut.

Eddie flipped back on the bed, a wide grin splitting his face.

“Man, your brother is so easy to rile up,” he chuckled gleefully.

“Right?! He’s so bitchy,” Dusting turned around towards him, signature smile in place. Eddie hollered.

“He is!”

Alas, a slap of palms interrupted his delightful trashing around.

“I believe we have some physics to cover?”

Eddie groaned. Right. He didn’t come here to bother the older Henderson. Booo.

[Steddie masterpost] [Ao3] [ko-fi]

[foreverunraveling]

Is it just me, or does Young Royals really love to scare us, lull us into a false sense of security, and then pull the rug out from underneath us (in a way that's much worse than the original threat)?

For example, you see August clocking Wille leaving the movie before Simon in episode 2.

You (if you weren't too distracted by the scene itself) might have worried that he might show up when they were having their first kiss there. But he didn't. The show consciously created that tension and then relieved it as a foreshadowing of the much worse version of that to come later.

That tension is recreated at the end of episode 4 when August is shown outside a window at Forest Ridge.

There's a brief moment of relief--he's at Alex's window, not Wille's. While you know deep down where this has to be going, you still have a kernel of hope. And then even when he does make it to Wille's room, you can't tell it's a boy (let alone Simon) for five full seconds. Hope tries to stay alive. We all know how it ends, though--that tension snaps right back into our faces when August spots Wille and Simon moments later.

This happens on a different scale with Wille and Simon's planned weekend together in episode 3. When Wilhelm tells Simon that August will be staying at Forest Ridge, that introduces a tension of "will they get their weekend together?"

That tension of "will they get their weekend together" is relieved when Wille asks if he can come to Simon's in Bjarstad, only to AGAIN snap right back into our faces when a much bigger problem surfaces--Erik dies. So, they don't get their weekend anyways.

Hell, there's even a hint of this in episode 2 when August walks in on Wilhelm looking at Simon's Instagram before rowing practice. He doesn't actually see what Wille was doing, though--so it's okay--and he ends up taking a call from Erik.

In another way, this happens with Wilhelm and Felice's relationship from season 1 to season 2. She initially kisses him in episode 3, and we worry that he might just go with it. He doesn't, though. What a relief. In the next episode, though, once he's crown prince, Wilhelm is publicly flirting with Felice (despite her relationship with August) over how "cute" she looks in a video. But our worries about this fade with the release of the video and Felice's support into season 2...

Until they actually almost hook up in the third episode, that is.

And it's definitely not limited to Simon and Wille and their relationships. It comes up with Sara and August too. When he initially kisses her in episode 4 of season 1, you might worry that maybe Sara will respond in a less-than-healthy manner, or that she'll keep what happened to herself instead of telling Felice. Sara rebuffs him, though, and tells Felice about what happened in the stables later that episode.

Tension introduced and relieved, so we move on. But then in the final episode of season 1, Sara goes to August's room to confront him about the video. And she ends up kissing him. In season 2, they end up being in AN ENTIRE SECRET RELATIONSHIP that Sara keeps from Felice. The original fear that you might have had about August twisting his way into Sara's heart was well-founded, it seems.

There are also smaller examples. Like when you see Erik driving incredibly fast in episode 1, or when you see Wilhelm riding on the scooters with Simon, Rosh, and Ayub in episode 2, some people worried there might be some kind of accident. (He was going hands-free, for fuck's sake.)

Well, in both of those instances, everything turned out okay, while Erik's actual offscreen accident in episode 3 obviously did not.

The anxiety about Marcus catching Wilhelm and Simon kissing at the Valentine's party is momentarily alleviated when it looks like him and Simon are going inside, but then Marcus turns around and sees Wille (not to mention he sees Simon eyeing Wille throughout the entire song and during the applause).

Let's not even get started on the drugs. We thought that storyline was resolved, gone, done away with after Alexander was seemingly expelled during season 1.

But then he's back in season 2, and the question of whether anyone will tell Alex that Wilhelm was the one to pin the blame on him arises. It seems a minor issue--given that Alexander wasn't actually expelled, and he seems to like Wille, we don't necessarily expect it to matter all too much. In episode 6, though, the "drug thing" is back at the top of our list of problems. We thought that this had been dealt with! That we'd gotten past it!

But it's worse than before--there's a pill bottle with Simon's father's name on it, and August has it! August has a potential witness behind him (Alex) and is threatening to tell not just the school, but the cops!

Don't worry, though, the tension is relieved when Simon tells Wille he's not going to report August to the police... for approximately six seconds until we see that Sara is reporting August instead.

Anyways, following this pattern, you can draw some really interesting potential conclusions about season 3 based on some of the big tension reliefs that have occurred over the past two seasons. Not saying that any of these will happen, but I'm preparing myself for anything:

Wilhelm has some sort of drug OD—like Simon (and some of the audience, probably) worried on the night of the Society party. This is one I'm really hoping doesn't come up.

Wilhelm actually kills August—when Wilhelm puts that gun down, it's a massive relief for most of us (also the characters present). This would just be... wild. And would explain Omar's tweets about how crazy the season is, I guess.

Sara outs Stella's crush on Fredricka, like she was threatening to do when Felice was moving out of their room at the Manor House. Istg if she does this I might lose it.

Wilhelm's mother dies. This was definitely one idea on some people's minds when Wilhelm takes that call that turns out to be about Erik in episode 3.

Wilhelm actually abdicates. This is definitely a threat made in season 2 that was later assuaged. I'm pulling for Wilhelm taking the throne only to abolish the monarchy. That might be a bit too optimistic on my part, though.

ALTERNATIVELY, August gets the throne. They teased us with this when Wilhelm almost didn't give the speech. August was literally walking up to the podium when Wille leapt up to take his place and momentarily rescued us from the notion that August was going to be ascending the throne.

Wilhelm and/or Simon and/or Sara get pulled from Hillerska. After the video, both Simon and Sara were potentially not going to return to the school. Simon was even late for the first day back, when he missed the choir performance. And Wille was almost physically removed from the school in episode 2 of season 2. Given the statement in the trailer about the school potentially shutting down... this one doesn't seem like too much of a long shot.

It's hard to say what any of this could mean for Simon/Wilhelm's relationship—I mean, in season 1, we had about six instances where we thought we'd get Simon and Wilhelm together and originally didn't (the first music room scene, the conversation after Erik's memorial, the second music room scene/drug situation, the video leak, Wilhelm LYING about the video leak).... the reasons kept getting worse and worse, until there's a release of tension when Wille says he won't deny the video—only for it to be far more crushing when he does deny it having promised otherwise. It seems like there's a new, bigger problem every time they turn around. So far, they've overcome all of the obstacles they've faced (honestly, I don't know how)... but I can't imagine that they're about to be facing an easy course based on that trailer.

Anyways, these are my meandering thoughts about some ways that we can try to guess at what we might have coming based on the show's patterns and its use of foreshadowing. Like I said, I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for some of the wild-ass shit that might go down. So these are some crazy scenarios based on a few fake-outs that we've had so far. I'm still hoping that they don't take the smallest, most hopeful bits of seasons 1 and 2 and crush them in season 3....

[silveragelovechild]

Have you heard of “Invasion” on AppleTV+? I was looking some something to watch and I decided to give it a try. So far I’ve only seen one episode… it’s intriguing but I hesitate to watch more.

As the title suggests, it’s about an alien invasion but the angle is that it focuses on the humans characters, not the aliens or special effects. It features an international cast. The first episode folllows a small town sheriff (Sam Neill), a Long Island house wife, and a Japanese astronaut. (Not all of these characters survive the first episode).

The Sam Neill portion probably hints at the aliens most (crop circles) but it emphasizes Neill and his meth troubled town more than the aliens.

The house wife portion is probably the best. Golshifteh Farahani’s character appears to have a loving family - husband and 2 kids. The alien aspect is hinted when all the kids at school get nose bleeds. She tries to reach her husband all day but he never answers. That night she has a confrontation with him. I thought her performance was terrific.

The astronaut portion is also good… subtlety hinting at a secret relationship. And it has a big surprise twist involving the aliens.

I hesitate going forward because:

The focus on the character building is slow moving. I had the urge to fast forward.

There are 2 twists that made me feel I was wasting my time getting to know some of the characters. Will that happen every week?

The series was released in 2021 and didn’t get great reviews (47% at Rotten Tomatoes). Although it’s been renewed for a second season.

It’s created/written by Simon Kinberg. He’s written 4 X-Men films, although one was good (Future/Past) the 3 others were terrible. His recent film “The 355” (which he wrote & directed) has an RT score of 24%.

As I tried to decide whether to invest more time, I learned that a major plot point (spoiler alert) involves a few human children can some how telepathically “hear” and communicate with the aliens. While other aspects of the show seemed unique, this telepathic children trope is over used and a writers cheat (Kinberg) to resolve the story. So I’ve decided to not watch more. (But Golshifteh Farahani is very good in the show and I’ll look out for her in the future.)

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

fantasy au whiteboard scribbles <3

[cuubism]

more dreamling fic tropes that hit so good every time:

dream thinking he has to repay hob somehow for saving him. hob being like bitch what the fuck. we are friends

hob encountering dream in eldritch nightmare form and instead of being afraid he just like. pets the eldritch creature on the head.

(alternatively. dream is like 'you won't like my Nightmare form.' hob's like 'jokes on you i'm into that shit')

dream just. appearing in hob's living room. or in his bedroom. or on his bed.

the absolutely feral rage of hob when he sees dream in the fishbowl.

dream yelling at desire because how dare they make him have feelings for hob???? desire just like ?????????????

Desire trying to seduce hob. Dream being like I will punt you to the other end of the earth do not test me

hob's students being deeply deeply confused by hob's cryptid goth boyfriend like what the fuck is this relationship actually?

hob and death becoming bffs. perhaps through their combined power they can get dream to practice basic self care.

hob built the new inn for dream. (i frequently forget this isn't explicitly canon).

relatedly - the new inn as a temple.

hob as dream's knight in the dreaming. the king & his loyal knight dynamic generally speaking.

hob calling dream 'my king,' 'my lord' or some variation thereof and dream just bluescreening.

hob defending dream from some innocuous threat he definitely didn't need help with. dream deeply charmed by hob coming to his defense.

on the flip side. someone saying something mean to hob and dream yeets them into outer space. ("that was a bit of an overreaction." "it was not")

Hob doesn't get nightmares anymore because the nightmares are afraid of being unmade by Dream

meowpheus. in all incarnations

Hob making Dream finally eat something ("you didn't eat for like a hundred ten years." "Ughhhhhhhh")

Hob beating the crap out of people at the Burgess manor

That moment at the new inn reunion when oh my god. Their hands. TOUCHED

Hob wrapping his coat around Dream's shoulders after rescuing him.

Pressing their hands together through the glass.

Hob's friends/coworkers etc seeing him making heart eyes at this random goth and being like ????🤔😳??🤔??😳

The Dreaming residents seeing Dream mooning over this incredibly average guy and being like !!!!😑😑🙃🙃???🤨🤨??

"So then I went to hell." "Oh ok-- hang on hell is REAL?"

Hob: oh hey cool raven. Matthew: thanks. Hob: oh it talks too hahaha *dies*

Hob making friends with all the dreaming residents. dream's feeling a little personally attacked by the way they all gang up on him now

Dream just Chillin in Hob's classroom while he teaches. Hob definitely not Sweating at all

Hob giving Dream some of his clothes. But making sure they're black

[tigergendermoved2tigergender]

I love krusie but I don't think they would do normal "couple's" stuff even if shipped romantically. Susie chomps Kris's head every day in the lunch room and huffs their apple hair all day during class and brawls them in the hallways and nobody knows they're dating until 6 months in when Toriel makes some remark about "Kris's girlfriend" and everybody loses their shit

[14dayswithyou]

I am really confused about this game. Is it like "Doki doki literature club" ? the game seems to break the fourth wall after getting bad endings and someone speaks in red text. Is it Ren and is he stuck in the game like Monica?Or is he and Redacted separate people, with him being a game character,but Redacted being some sort of entity who's stuck in the void of the game,or in it's code,and acknowledges that it's a game and someone's playing it and they speak to the player, not the game's protag?

✦゜ANSWERED: 14 Days With You is like 14 Days With You. It's not meant to be similar to DDLC in any way, and Ren isn't supposed to be like Monika or any other self-aware character.

Please don't associate 14DWY with other games just because they share similar tropes. /lh

But!! To answer your question: Ren isn't aware that Angel and the player are separate people. As of right now, he considers Angel and you as the same entity, and speaks to you as though you're part of his universe.

Ren is aware that his entire existence only comes into fruition whenever you play the game — but to him, that's considered normal — the same way getting wifi from trees and not discovering 80% of the ocean is considered normal for us. Nothing is out of place for him, and the way he interacts with his environment doesn't seem weird or out of place for him.

The Dead Ends are the only time Ren breaks the fourth wall, but it's still a massive WIP and there's not enough content for it to make much sense yet. But once more Days get released, this will be further explained!!

[earthlyruins]

seeing people mischaracterize sanji will forever boil my blood but seeing people mischaracterize LUFFY and say that he only has sanji on his crew because he can cook actually has me wanting to kill someone HOW can you be that stupid. no genuinely how