#s1 aka the sillies

[yuriline]

DBHDHSHHSJ

[mapledkanata]

"No more transforming into your alt-mode inside. Do you understand, Megatronus?"

on a semi related note, I'm slowly developing an au for Megatron bc i adore him,., i love him so much...

Below the cut are spoilers for TFP s1 ep 26 and s2 ep 1-3 (warning for my friend who hasn't seen these eps yet but may see this post..)

okay. the orion pax arc. except the defeat of unicron results in megatron losing his memories instead and he's 'reverted' back to himself prewar, aka Megatronus.

Optimus reluctantly brings him to the base.. chaos ensues

do notte ask me how optimus' own memories remains intact .. this is just for the sillies (and double the angst.,,..) though, i am also entertaining an au where they BOTH return to themselves prewar 😭 gah this arc has me in a chokehold, the narrative potential is AMAZING

[lu-is-not-ok]

Hello there! I hope this message finds you well!

My apologies if this sort of hong lu question has already been brought up before, but I wanted to confirm after doing some thinking myself about it, this could just be me looking too into things but-

Have you ever found his little poses and eye shine animations in his ID's after like a skill 3 to be a little strange? He stares DIRECTLY at the camera in them, which could just be there to show him as being silly, but I thought of it as maybe meaning more than that

I my thought process on it is that he is trying to maybe seek some sort of validation as he does those little poses? Maybe wanting to seem cooler or special in some sort, since technically looking at the camera means looking at Dante? I know in voice lines he sometimes goes "did you see that Dante? Pretty cool eh?" Or something along the lines of that, which clearly is seeking validation but I wonder if this is the same for those said poses after skill 3's?

This probably isn't well explained I'm still trying to wrap my head around it a bit, cuz this could also just be me overthinking it but it's always just been so weird to me that he specifically does these "look at the camera and wink with eyeglow"

What do you possibly think of this?

Anon, you have just opened up the opportunity for me to be able to yap about something extremely fucking specific.

Because this is something I've been thinking about somewhat recently, and let me tell you.

There is so, so much more going on with Hong Lu's IDs' animations than what you describe here. Yes, the looking at the camera and the winking can definitely be read in this way, but there's a much deeper, much more all-encompassing thematic motif going on.

You see, all but one Hong Lu ID have something in common with regards to their animations.

They all focus on the Performance of their attacks more so than any form of technical skill.

Let me explain what I mean.

The vast majority of Hong Lu IDs have animations that clearly put focus how Hong Lu is actively trying to make himself look as flashy and extra as possible. Many times it's almost as if he's not really fighting, moreso acting or even dancing.

Every ID that does the pose, look at the camera, and wink routine is part of this motif of Performance, but it's not the only way that motif presents itself.

IDs that do unnecessary weapon twirls and spins, like Yurodivy, K Corp and Base Hong Lu? Those also count. It's especially apparent considering how many IDs who also do the pose thing also twirl and spin their weapons, aka Fanghunt, Dieci, and Tingtang.

There's also the animations that make it seem like, just in general, he's not really fighting and moving more like he's doing some kind of performance. Yurodivy's acrobatic balancing act in S3 would count here, but so does the way Liu moves - the way he moves and balances around would be awful for actual combat, but would be perfect for a dance.

Hell, you could even count Hook into the above as well. While his main point of Performance is his cheeky mask slipdown and smirk in the evade, you could also argue him moving his arms around during S2 and S3 counts as unnecessary movements made just for the Performance of it all, as S1 shows he clearly has no need to move his actual arms to use his weapons.

What does this motif mean for Hong Lu? Well, it's quite simple, really.

He's an Actor, remember? A Liar.

Everything he does is to put on an Act, put on a Performance. The lies he tells, the mask he wears, hell his very identity is part of the Act. Every little part of Hong Lu, from the surface to his core, is a part of something fake, of something made up for the sake of being shown to the world around him instead of who he really is.

It also ties very neatly into the whole thing with so many of his IDs turning directly to the camera. Because the Act an Actor puts on can't exist if nobody is watching. A Performance necessitates an Audience. Of course he's so concerned with whatever attention may be on him, Hong Lu as a concept can't exist if nobody percieves him as such.

...

...If you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed that I haven't brought up the one ID that doesn't follow the pattern yet.

Can you guess which one it is?

I'm not even gonna let you actually guess because it's

FUCKING KUROKUMO HONG LU.

That's right, the ID that already breaks so many other patterns with Hong Lu IDs also happens to break this one as well. Kurokumo is the only Hong Lu that has no elements of Performance in his animations, and in fact he's potrayed to be fully focused on, you know, the actual fucking combat itself.

I swear that fucker is the bane of my existence.

[helpallthenamesaretaken]

pretty pleeeease tell me more about this and your ideas for a pjo show directed by you? 🥺💚💚

of courseee thanks for asking! most of the points were covered in OP's post but your ask has given me an opportunity to think more about it and expand it more so thanks again!!

(disclaimer: this is really long and I also wanted to say pjotv is a really good piece of cinema even though rick had no experience in film at all and if anyone doesn't agree about anything, don't be mean about it!!)

I mourned the breaking of the fourth wall in pjotv. when rick mentioned that the writing team were thinking of new ways to show percy's internal narration, I expected a LOT of fourth wall breaking. here is a few low effort doodles on how fourth wall breaking could work because I don't have coherent thoughts on describing it in words

When it comes to animation, ugh there are so much things I could say. imagine the funky expressions. Imagine the potential for it to look stunning like the animation for arcane and into the spiderverse. imagine the awards it could get for best animation.

Or i really really LOVE those little animations within live action like how the autumn leaves fly around Nick and charlie in heartstopper and it'd be really cute in pjo with,,like blue hearts from percy and grey hearts from annabeth ugh <3

I'm sure lot of people wouldn't agree but I felt there was wayy less of platonic percabeth in pjo tv s1. a lot of it was deep like all the sacrifices and all the romantic stares which everyone keeps making edits of and whatever. but there was no chance to show their proper development as friends. so in my pjotv there's mostly only platonic percabeth with the little sprinkle of hints of having a crush like how it is in the book.

There's full room for the show makers to do this in the coming seasons, but I love the idea of the characters starting out with a light palette (pale blues/greens for percy, for example) and then getting progressively darker and darker in colour (blacks/dark blues) throughout the seasons, because I love a good story told through fashion <3

No other changes to the plot except extra scenes for character development (sally/Poseidon/lil percy flashbacks), new character nuances (medusa/annabeth parallels aka the most genius thing to come out of pjotv).

speaking on the humour, I would trash seriousness and just give pjo lot of the elements of a sitcom. like you know how sometimes in between sitcoms they have little interviews where they reflect on what they're doing like

this also helps the internal narration aspect. bonus points if rick is the off screen interviewer

of course if it was animated, walker and leah could voice act, but it'd be weird for a black girl to voice a blonde white girl. but i really do love mixed canon annabeth and percy so the animated version of them would be annabeth with tinted blonde hair and well if you really like blonde percy we can have his blonde roots showing BUT ONLY IF WALKER AND LEAH ARE VOICE ACTING

THEME SONG!!! a banger with a silly montage that will send nostalgic memories rushing through your brain and make you sing along even after 10 years because ITS SUCH A CORE MEMORY

I don't know if you know the tlt musical but I would definitely make the campfire song from that as the pjotv campfire song and little good kid instrumentals here and there

also I forgot to mention you're the screenwriter because I really liked your screenplay that you posted

if you read this till the end, finley, honestly???congratulations!!

[autozer0]

The main reason I don’t post my wolftross headcannons was because most of the became cannon, that being said here’s all of my silly wolftross headcannons

(Most of these are rather from before Centross “died”or right sometime after Violet came back)

•when Fenris turned into human from wolf after Centross death(aka for the second time) got a bit more “rugged” (messier and curlier hair, longer hair, tali and ears a bit more furry and longer) (Centross and Rae were very big fans of the change)

•they were both super clingy and almost never left each others side when the first got together (mostly Centross teehee)

-and after everything calmed down after fable died and stuff and Violet wasn’t as busy anymore, Fenris was WAYY more clingy #dogthings

•Centross can carry wolf with ease

•Fenris mask is like Reki handband(from sk8, iykyk)and shows his emotions that way

*Wolf is good at a lot of things so when Centross see something he’s not good at he’s surprised and happy in a way

•Centross has struggled with eye contact ever sense beginning of s2 bc it makes him neverous and he liked to hold eye contact with people to “scare them” in s1

•Centross was touch starve like a bitch in s2 which is why one of his maiin love languages is physical touch (other being quality time)

•Every since the masquerade, they’ve been learning how to ballroom dance( after Fenris gained some of his memories it turned more into him teaching Centross)

•Fenris made Centross a playlist to listen to while he was building the grave/working on the solstice. Whenever Violet misses Fenris and cant really visit him he listens to it

•Fenris is a bit more touchy compared to other people because of his time as a wolf and when he first met Centross it caught him off guard because he wasn’t use to it(cough touch starved cough)

•Fenris just goes non-verble sometimes, especially in groups setting (this is a mix of implied and self projection shhh)

•Along with sparring together, they also worked out together

•Fenris sometimes make Centross try’s Starbarks products before gifting them to Rae (Centross’ response usually was that it was fine and told fenris to stop overthinking things and stuff)

•Fenris love language is gift giving and physical touch while Centross is acts of service and quality (which is why they always have silly little picnics that are a mix of physical touch and quality time)

•Centross let Fenris dye his hair once after the void incident, though because Centross sucked at maintaining it slowly fade out. It was a black with dark purple ends,

•Centross has a stupid amount of tattoos from mostly everyone( but mainly Fenris)

Most of these are old but I just never posted them so here you go

[marzzthehuman]

Okay so for my ii gijinkas i have a really smart thought and texi said i should tell the world because i am just that smart (/silly)

Oh also ii17-18 spoilers

So. in ii17 when everyone died and COULD NOT be revived (this is important) i think that they would have all ‘reset.’ 

Keep in mind that normal revival would not do this. As the contestants progress through the show, they change their appearance. (like clothes, hair, etc.) and since mephone is going through the show with them and seeing them as they compete he knows what their styles are and how they present themselves, so when he revives them they come back the way that they were right when they died. (with some altercations, for example if someone was injured when they are revived they wouldn't be injured) 

But, in ii17-18 when mephone could NOT revive them, mephonex/cobs did something (like some kind of hacking) so that mephone could not revive them, basically causing a ‘factory reset’ for all the contestants. This means that however they looked before they died, they did not save. Meaning that they look exactly like mephone wanted them to. Their default. (aka what they looked like at the start of the show/when they joined)

What I mean is that they would look like what mephone imagined them to be (as we see in the scene where he is drawing the contestants.) their hair, clothes, makeup, whatever would be what mephone came up with when he came up with the show. 

Obviously, it wasn't a total factory reset, because as we see all the contestants still retain character development and also the big thing, still exists. 

Let me use my taco gijinka as an example. 

At the start of the show, we see her with long sleeves (displaying she is armless) and messy hair. When she reveals her arms, she pulls her hands out from her sleeves to display that yes, she actually has arms. (long sleeves playing on the retractable arm thing). 

In season 2, we see her appear more ‘villain’ like, and more businesslike and professional. We see her wearing nicer, more businesslike clothes. Her hair is very neat, and we see her roots have grown out. She also has heavy eyeshadow (showing she is a badass villain). When she gets the bowtie, it stays on her person until we see her die in ii17/her in mephone with everyone else in ii18. 

In ii18/movie her design has changed from her s2. It is similar to her s1, but there are differences. Instead of a long sleeve shirt under her tacocat shirt, we see a tank top. Her hair is neater than we see it in s1, but still a bit messy. 

You may be asking, “but Marzz, that's not what her s1 design looks like, and you said that everyone went back to their default!” Well that's just it! Since taco put on a front at the start of the show, she changed her appearance so she would fit the character she was playing. The reason her s1 outfit stayed was because that's how mephone saw her, his most recent memory of her was her wearing that outfit. That's why it was saved. 

What mephonex/cobs did was basically a memory wipe or, as i said, factory reset. Everyone was reverted back to their true defaults. So, if, for example, salt and pepper were wearing late 2000s/early 2010s fashion at the start of the show (because that is when the show started), their fashion may have changed a bit as time went on, but when they are reset in ii18, they go back to their s1 hair and outfits. Contestants who changed their appearance to be more complicated (more accessories, more intricate hairstyles) would be reverted back to their more simple outfits from when they joined the show. 

Okay i hope that made sense lol. Just wanted to get my thoughts out there haha

[cruyuu]

Absolutely insane to me how Sukuna had 24/7 access to Yuuji and could pull him into his innate domain whenever he wanted and yet he never once tried to break his spirit and torture him into submission??? Lmao okay, not sus at alllll since we all know damn well he's not above that 💀

Hi anon!

Thank you for the sukuita ask since I have been rubbing my hands excitedly just waiting to talk about them because man. Do. I. Miss. Them. Man. Like I wish jjk was still ongoing. I wish the skit fandom was more active. I wish we are all back and swooning like we did. I miss everything ��

But anyway, back to your little rant.

Early chapters (aka S1 of jjk, or pre-Shibuya jjk) sukuita was so damn weird and yet addicting. That's what sparked my interest in them- this weird rivalry? that they had was so damn entertaining. The first time Yuuji fought Sukuna in his Domain is in my top 5 all time favorite jjk moments just because he's being extremely silly and Sukuna's being silly too (for no reason). What's crazy is that we didn't know the extent of Sukuna's power back then (even if we did get like a brief introduction it wasn't enough.) and once we got a glimpse of it— I literally had to pause reading for a while because it was so ???? You're telling me Sukuna who wrecked Shibuya for funsies and had everyone shook to the core laughed like a school girl and tried to appear as elegant and menacing as possible in front of Yuuji? He even offered him a deal? Even spoke to him a lot despite Yuuji ignoring him like all the time? Really?????

To sound more serious now, that little moment in the Domain makes Sukuna appear far less harmless and rather human-like more so than the legend that paints him as a mystical and omnipotent figure. He's mean and arrogant too but that is frankly, and I dare say it, tongue-in-cheek type of mean. It's really soft. We see the difference later on and the difference is what makes this so confusing. Anything that Sukuna calls worthless gets diced into pieces without consideration or gets totally ignored. Anyone who dares try to attack him gets killed. The contrast between how he treats others and Yuuji had always been vastly different, eyebrow raising-ly so.

Just what was so entertaining about Yuuji? The fact that he was his vessel? The fact that he tried too damn hard even if he was "bound to fail"? His overall silliness and kindness? His ability to learn and adapt rather nicely to anything that he's being taught?

It's just like you said anon. We knew Sukuna kinda fit the trademark evil guy so then why didn't he try to get Yuuji to submit or to mold him into a vessel? I'm not saying he hadn't done nothing because he had threatened him, assaulted him and mocked him but outside of Shibuya and that time he laughed at him with Mahito, Sukuna had never tried to do anything when it comes to Yuuji. Like this is your vessel, this boy is perfectly tailored and made to hold your soul and you'll just... do nothing about that? Won't even try to manipulate him, make him change his mind, play any games... nothing? Hell, even if he didn't want him as a vessel, it could've done him good to play around with someone like Yuuji. After all, the infuriating fact (to Sukuna) is that weak Yuuji is his vessel. Sukuna's mean enough to mock him but not mean enough to psychologically torture him? I don't think so.

[While we're still on the topic of the Innate Domain time, look at his exasperation (dare i say disgruntlement/disappointment too) when Yuuji doesn't thank him for healing his arm, instead focusing on the fact that he ripped out his heart. I knew from that little exchange right there that I was screwed.]

It's always fun to revisit old moments when we know what the hell happened 200+ chapters later. It's actually rather hilarious because it makes it seem like these two had a weird crush on each other that grew and because they love in different ways, they ended up crashing and burning but acknowledging the fact that they do love each other (kinda).

It'll never not be funny to me how even when Yuuji talked about himself, Sukuna still wouldn't dare share anything about himself, even dismissing him liking flowers. Then he proceeded, I shit you not, to follow him around for a long time, listen to him rant about his life, shoot arrows with him, fish with him only to say "Ok shut the hell up and end this". Like hmmmmm. Do you really want it to end? Hmmmm. After all, you keep not killing him. Hmmmm.

Thank you for indulging me anon and I hope you have a wonderful day or night. <3

[greenfiend]

i was thinking abt a conversation between mike and lucas the other day and thought of something that you may have talked abt before. it's just that i like remembered the quote and wanted to talk to u bc i love ur theories and analysis!!!

Mike Wheeler: Will could have cast protection last night... but he didn't. He cast Fireball. Over.

Lucas Sinclair: What's your point? Over.

Mike Wheeler: My point is... he could've played it safe... but he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the party. Over.

Lucas Sinclair: Meet me in ten. Over and out!

i went to rewatch the game too

MIKE: A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here. (this is def when will is taken)

An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber! (i think we may see that in flashbacks? these are probably demodogs since troglodytes are described as "cave-dwelling reptilian humanoids")

Wait a minute. Did you hear that? That... that sound? Boom... boom... Boom! (here, im not sure yet if this is abt will or abt the boys. i think it is about will bc will is indeed taken)

That didn't come from the troglodytes, no, that... That came from something else. The Demogorgon!

Will, your action!

WILL: I don't know!

LUCAS: Fireball him!

WILL: I'd have to roll a 13 or higher! (im trying to find a reason to why 13 but maybe it's just bc it's the "unlucky" number, or just a number that is higher than 1+11)

DUSTIN: Too risky. Cast a protection spell.

NOW, this to me def describes the situation the boys were in at the end of s1:

The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you. Boom!

Another stomp, boom!

He roars in anger!

WILL (EL): Fireball!

LUCAS: Where'd it go? Where is it? (i see this as el, will threw the dice and now: where did she go?)

but my main point is, I don't remember if Will ever casted fireball in "real life," i don't think so, especially instead of protection

this is like very important since it convinces lucas to go, but it hasn't happened yet right?

do you think we will see that?? and how do you think we may see it? we still do not know the end of the game, im pretty sure you mentioned how mike has to finish his game.

maybe this is a game they will play with holly? idk, im kinda lost lol

thank you in advance!!! lots of love <3

Yes yes the FIREBALL!

There's so many things to discuss here.

Will cast fireball, and caused the dice to... disappear? Just like he did shortly after.

The "fireball" absolutely is a hint at the "Little Boy" metaphor too... as in a nuclear fireball... BOOM!

As the boys search for the dice (Will), Karen reminds them that it's "fifteen after" which is a hint at 8:15gate aka the exact time "Little Boy" detonated in Hiroshima which caused the city to essentially be frozen in time (due to time pieces ceasing to function).

The dice was there the whole time though, and "it was a 7. The Demogorgon got [him]."

I do think "7" likely means seven years ago, when he was five (in 1976). As a little Marty Mcfly time traveller, did he accidentally re-visit his traumatic past in 1976?

Him needing a "13" or higher is very interesting because that's a year older than his current age in 1983.

As I mentioned before, the "Little Boy" nuclear bomb was a nuclear fission reaction which means to split. Will's mind split into two (Phineas Gage analogy), creating El. (IMO)

Will chose to cast fireball instead of protection... Mike confirms this to be a selfless act. So in my opinion, Will creating El was the selfless act. He could have chosen to "go" and protect himself, but he actually chose to "stay" this whole time.

[stellarxdeath]

I've seen a handful of posts lately saying that the writers of IWTV have butchered Claudia's character and/or wrote her poorly, things of that ilk; lamenting how dirty she was done by the skill of the writers. Now that I'm all caught up and s2 is finished* [ sob ] I... Have some choice thoughts on this perspective.

Number one being that Claudia was explicitly doomed by the narrative the moment she'd been introduced to it. Her death is referenced but not outright stated initially, moreso implied, but the writing makes no mistake in telling us that Claudia, the Child Vampiress, will die. She's not potentially out there somewhere, she's not in hiding, she is dead, and she will never be able to tell us the whole of her truth beyond her diaries.

The second issue that the "IWTV Writers bad" crowd seems to forget is that, Even with the diaries, this is ultimately Louis' story, and the gaps in perspective are inevitably filled by him and eventually Armand, but never Claudia. She was disregarded because time and time again, Louis disregarded her for Lestat, and then for Armand; She was betrayed by the coven she professed her love for with a horrible, terrible, calculated eagerness because of Louis coming in and fucking with the coven dynamic; Regardless if that dynamic was healthy or not.

What Claudia and Louis had was precious, but it was also deeply, deeply flawed. He can effectively be blamed for her death, drawn all the way back to the riots incited by his choice to kill Fenwick; Was Louis justified in doing so? Yeah, abso-fucking-lutely, but this doesn't change the fact that his choices directly damned her to die.

Third is the claim that Claudia went from lethal and independent to desperate and weak? When? No?? Again I'm loosely paraphrasing some posts I've seen and attempting to take them in good faith; Claudia, from season one, was very interested in finding other Vampires, she was hellbent on it, and unfortunately it lead her to Bruce aka "The Motherfucker."

Her attempt to take Louis with her to Europe in s1 was in service of that goal. Claudia wanted to escape Lestat, she wanted to save Louis, and she wanted to find her people. She even tried to make her own Vampires despite being a fledgling! She has always wanted community, and I'd go as far as to say she was so strong because she could only rely on herself for so goddamn long, Louis being trapped under Lestat's thumb even after Lestat came crawling back in the later half of s1.

I understand that Claudia is a fan fave and people very rightly wished for her to live - the thing I have a gripe with is that some are taking this love for her and making it more important than the story itself. Interview With The Vampire is a tale of regret, trauma and abuse, a story of how memories are monsters and to be a Vampire is to be damned to the Odyssey of recollection, and if you don't survive, your memory will always inevitably be twisted over time. A life in eternity is a life full of pain.

The fact that people are so upset over the unfairness of her life is the intended effect; You are supposed to be upset that she is doomed, the writers of IWTV did a fucking fantastic job of making you feel that way - however, blaming the writers and crying "Bad writing" over the intended reaction feels just a tad silly to me.

As another post put it: Louis loved Claudia so much, but it was never enough. Everyone in Claudia's life except for Madeline betrayed her, her vampyric rebirth was the bandaid to a shitty vampyric marriage, she was denied her own life and Armand the Ancient fucking Coven Leader did nothing to save her; so much so that she was a goddamn Sacrifice so that Louis may live instead. Disregarded. Doomed. Damned. The injustice is meant to piss you off, I beg of those who think the Writers fucked up to simply sit with that feeling. Sit with the injustice. In the end, it's all any of us can do.

it was not finished oops* more opinions on the way

[yuriline]

the way they annoy the shit out of each other but deep down still care about each other and are both so happy to be singing together… 🥺

[ladyluscinia]

I know my last experience with a season ending on a note everyone hated and unanimously tore to fucking shreds for destroying the story on every level was... atypical. Lockdown. 6 month mass hysteria at minimum. Conspiracy theories that were, like, real things we had on camera. There was a Twitter wedding. Creative fervor that broke 100k fics on AO3.

Like. I know this is not a rational point of comparison and I'm not going to expect anything in my lifetime to match it 🤣

But.

If that was the highest high of post-season fandom engagement built on a cocktail of tasting everything you ever wanted AND the absolutely lethal levels of spite and swearing to eat showrunners' hearts in the marketplace, then whatever the fuck is going on after OFMD S2 is the opposite of that.

OFMD S1 was a huge fandom explosion. One silly little streaming show that had a gay kiss and then it skyrocketed. Fic numbers were soaring, high activity fic and meta engagement lasted for at least four months, it was constantly trending and flooding the dash... Like, fucking hell, over a year and a half after the immediate finale fervor it beat Stucky in the top ships bracket?!? To the point I was willing to give it what felt like due credit toward its potential as a future juggernaut ship. Not guaranteed, of course, but the potential was there.

In that context, new content should be a blow out party. Which it kinda was pulling off as it was airing, but looking back now? Not even quite a month later?

The effect of S2 on the fandom is like... a blip. Possibly over already.

New fic numbers started dropping off the moment the finale aired and have returned to deep hiatus levels. It's dropped off trending and streaming leaderboards... I'm very curious to see the first tumblr Week in Review since the finale, though we're still waiting due to the holiday.

Like, I've even popped on to scroll a few Izzy hater blogs that I know loved the finale out of morbid curiosity what they were up to, and I'm telling you... if I hadn't just watched the new season I'd think they were still over a year into hiatus. Saw some standard bitching about the izcourse / Edward takes (aka the one thing that kept them going all hiatus), they're currently passing around posts mocking one specific long OFMD version of TJLC I'm just hearing of, the same BTS gifsets everyone else is thrilled by... But barely any new meta or discussions. There's like 2 people posting actual analysis of S2 that's getting reblogged and they aren't even names I recognize from the hiatus. Nor is it particularly interesting to read. 🤷‍♀️

In July of 2022 I could pop onto a random OFMD blog and scroll through a dozen enthusiastic Stede or BlackBonnet metas about jacket colors or that moth from 1x07 or lighthouse symbolism or whatever. Now the new stuff has the same energy as posts from June 2023. It's borderline dead. And this is what it's like when there's an active campaign to engage fandom and Renew as a Crew?

(I will say fanartists are bringing some energy and there's some lovely pieces being passed around, which I do think the Renew as a Crew campaign is helping to boost?)

Even the hundreds of people saying it was a beautiful season and they loved it so much don't seem to be finding it a very engaging or inspiring season.

It's such a turn, like, what the fuck.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Just curious but were there any other reasons besides them being 11, and Ray finding Emma's everything exhausting that caused him to be more teasing with her? (Aka him calling her and idiot, bonking her and what not in ss1)

At most I can see is that- much like Norman Ray also admired Emma. But unlike Norman, Ray who knew the truth, could only see Emma as this naive kid who he needs to protect. He might have been freaked out by her sunshiny personality lol. And maybe started to see her as dependable/ his equal after she saved him and they all escaped.

Explicitly stated reasons, no, but Emma is a very physically affectionate person, so in addition to this:

(Chapter 93)

I chalk it up to being a reciprocal thing, in a similar way to how Norman only shows his impish, calculating side to Ray at Grace Field. Each dynamic of the trio has their own rapport they've established.

(Love the little smile he gives them in "Touch off" mirroring the one he gives her in chapter 14)

Also going to cite this post by @lightningflash55 that I appreciate:

God, I love how when Emma’s a bit slower to pick up on something that Ray wants her to get he doesn’t crack jokes or get frustrated but instead calmly rephrases himself in a way she can understand?  Like he’ll tease her over silly things but when it comes to the important stuff he’s not the same, he’s really patient and gentle about it  --- #Ray is SOOOO good at gently prompting her to understand something or when trying to push her to follow her ideals #they just work so well as a team il their dynamic a lot #Ray for all the times he’s edgy and dramatic or easily gives up has EVEN MORE redeemable qualities #he’s such a good boy he truly is #and Emma’s also not dumb at all she just has a different way of thinking #so ill that he recognizes this ugh just THESE KIDS

Ray always respected and valued Emma as an equal. Even if he found her naivety frustrating for how he saw it as actively working against her chances of survival beyond the wall

(Chapter 4)

she and Norman were both there to comfort him in any way they could, even when they couldn't understand what was upsetting their friend so badly and he couldn't articulate to them what was wrong.

(Chapter 181.1)

(2020 Exhibition Interview)

Ray believes if they can just get Emma to let go of this fantasy of taking everyone with her on the escape, she and Norman can make it in the outside world. He knows how capable they both are in their different methods of approaching things, has seen how well they complement and balance each other out. Norman will keep Emma grounded in the realm of possibility and temper her hopes, while Emma will push Norman to think beyond perceived limitations and save him from completely succumbing to cynicism.

It's why he's so pissed and riddled with worry when Norman acknowledges his plan is more sound but actively chooses to follow Emma's anyway.

(S1 Episode 2)

After Grace Field and having her and Norman shift his entire world view, humbled isn't quite the right word since he was never haughty about this, but he was willing to trust Emma's methods more now that he knew hoping "for a future that is like a dream" wouldn't be another blow to his heart and that striving for an ideal was genuinely viable.

[knotwerk]

ofmd fics by me, knotwerk!

okay you got your alternate universes, your rpf, your canon era, and a podfic. browse, click, win! as always, mind the tags & notes.

alternate universes

lux 14k, E. modern au Gentlescribed pwp, trans Lucius POV. Lucius has a stellar time at the gay bathhouse TM4M night. posted 3/11/25

and prosper 4k, E. modern au established relationship Ed/Stede t4t fluffy pwp. t4t sex is neat and Ed and Stede have some before bed. posted 12/15/24

Proper Hydration 208k, E. Ed/Stede. A 7-part modern au that explores the question, "what if they met after coming home to themselves a bit first?” the first installment has an incredible podfic by @lindie-kninjaknitter! here's my Proper Hydration masterpost with links to each installment and related blog posts. fics posted 10/13/22-8/28/24

Happy Accidents 1.8k, E. Ed/Stede, modern AU. Stede wears his new remote-controlled vibrating butt plug to brunch with friends... and loses the remote. proud to be the first fic in the extended butt plug universe lmao. posted 12/24/22

The Ylp's Tale 20.6k, E. Ed/Stede, medieval AU for AUgust 2023 prompts 'restaurant,' 'medieval,' and 'cryptid.' sweet delightful collab, with delightful art! posted 8/13/23

rpf

rhys never breaks 2.7k, E. Rhys/Taika. messy, angsty Taika POV, post-"zaddy" improv moment. posted 4/21/24

character research 11.7k, E. Rhys/Taika... Ed/Stede. once again a messy Taika POV, once again inspired by a behind-the-scenes drop (the "tangy/zangy" improv, this time!). i both lol'ed and yelled nooooo a number of times while writing this one. posted 10/2/24

canon era

if stede is not mistaken 6.4k, E. Ed/Stede. post-S1E5 "you wear fine things well" scene. gorgeous podfic available by @sierrajanesims! written fic posted 10/3/23

Pinch Me 5.4k, E. Ed/Stede/Mary (actually Stede/Ed/Mary, heyooo), silly horny Ed POV in a happy post-S1 setting. an Ed Sandwich fic. posted 3/27/23

stede knows 0.6k, Teen. Ed/Stede. the S2E5 kiss, from Stede's POV. wrote this after watching these gifsets five million times. posted minutes before S2E6&7 dropped on 10/19/23

Tomorrow's Almost Here 9.2k, E. Ed/Stede. post-S1 reunion. plus tentacles. posted 9/20/22

Choose Your Own Adventure: Reunion! E. Ed/Stede. what it says on the tin - and then some! collaboration with an awesome group of writers and artists. i wrote a couple scenes, contributed to a hidden scene that is absolutely worth the price of admission, and beta'd a good chunk of this delightful fic. posted 5/20/23

Crescendo 4.4k, E. Ed/Stede. bby's first fic[tion] ever lol. post-S1 post-reunion. posted 8/10/22

podfic recorded by me

[Podfic] Ink by zemph147 aka @gaypiratebrainrot. (link to written fic here.) "a twist on Ed-is-literally-the-Kraken, where instead of having tentacles, Ed ejaculates squid ink." this fic changed my life lol. (the author's pretty great, too.) podfic posted 5/4/23

[sammysprivatecorner]

List of Fictional men I have a crush on because yes <3

#1 MEDIC - TEAM FORTRESS 2 (Lasted ever since I've known tf2 so give or take 3 years and going)

Reasons:

He's German

Tiddies

He's insane

Villain characteristics

Tall (6'1)

He's a DOCTOR that has a morbid fascination with ANATOMY

Needs sleep

Workaholic

Probably a coffee Addict

Sadist

AGE = EXPERIENCE Not exactly on character but I really love it when ppl draw Medic with a bit of chub, for example @/sNeighbrhood on Twitter has this Medic OC Emil, and he has chub and it's just cuddly idk bible accurate Medic has a bit of stuffing

#2 SAMMY LAWERNCE - BATIM (Has last since chapter 2 came out so around 8 years and still going!)

(Go check out my Sammy blog @asksamuellawrence) Reasons:

Male wife material

He a strong boi

Goofy

His VOICE AUUGHHDNJFKS

Musical man

@inkdemonapologist Human design for Sammy. (P.S. Go check out their work they do amazing stuff :0)

He's Insane <3

Villain

Tall HC (6'2)

Needs sleep

Grumpy ass man

Workaholicccc

#3 DR. SMILEY - DR. SMILEY'S FUNHOUSE (Lasted 3 years THIS GAME IS LOST MEDIA AND IT'S SAD TO ME)

Reasons:

Masked figure

His hair is so goofy

A doctor that is probably insane

Villain

ManlyBadassHero's interp. of Dr. Smiley's voice (Idk it just gives me life)

AGE = EXPERIENCE

Probably tall lmao

#4 SILCO - ARCANE (Lasted 3 years aka since the show came out and is still going quite strong)

Reasons:

Visual appeal

His VOICEEEEEE

A Villain (ARE WE SEEING A PATTERN?)

TrAuMa

His animation (I walked like Silco for a very long fucking time without even realizing it after first watching the show)

AGE. EQUALS. EXPERIENCE

SHORT KING (5'9)

#5 VIKTOR - ARCANE (Lasted since I got back into the show so about 1 year)

(I can make that exact face) Reasons:

Russian/Slavic in origin (AKA his voice)

Skinny ass dying man

Visual appeal

Queer Subtext??? (WAITAMINUTETHISISN'TMYBEDROOM-)

In need of a Divorce Arc

Will hopefully have a Villain Arc in Season 2

EVEN SHORTER KING (5'8)

#6 RUVYZVAT/RUV - FNF MIDFIGHT MASSES (2ish years by now)

Reasons:

Russian man

Tall as shit (8'11 and I think 9" standing fully)

Comfy ass looking clothing

A quiet boi

A total loner and Introvert

Protective of Sarv <3

#7 ADAM - HAZBIN HOTEL (Since the final episode of S1 came out so 5 or 4 months)

Reasons:

Visually to me he is appealing under the mask

Alex Brightman

I wanna steal his clothes

"Let himself go since Eden" WE NEED MORE CHUBBY ADAM APPRECIATION

I wanna nom his wings

His hair looks like ears in the photo and I wanna ruffle them

That thing on his chin Idk the technical term for it

Alex Brightman

Rock 'n' Roller (Introduced me to School Of Rock and Stick It To The Man)

Da Villain

#8 ORIN SCRIVELLO D.D.S - LSOH (2 years and going!)

Reasons:

A greaser

Has a fucking cool ass Motorcycle

I want to steal his Gender

I want to BE him/hj

SaDiSt

An Antagonisttt

Sick ass song (DENTIST!)

Goofy ahhh talk

Introduced me to Greasers and got me fixated on those for a while month

Silly ass death scene that made me so upset the first time I saw it

DREAM ROLE IN ACTING!

HONORABLE MENTIONS!

CONNOR - DETROIT BECOME HUMAN

RALPH - DETROIT BECOME HUMAN

GABRIEL - ULTRAKILL

DR. MASACRIK - PSYCHO CUTIES (I do NOT support the artist but I do like the show!!!)

Anyway Yah that's it, there's more but I literally haven't slept at all. Good night!! <3

[noddytheornithopod]

Time to watch Season 2 of Gretel and Hamster. Unfortunately, Disney+ doesn't have it up yet, so I'm gonna have to watch it in other ways.🏴‍☠️

Hakuna Ma Kevin

"I'm still single." Good to know, Veronica.

hey it's richard ayoade, wait didn't he defend graham linehan or some shit, is nobody safe

Fine start. By the end it was decent enough, though I do like the premise being set up that all this stuff for Kevin made him snap. Would've been nice if we got to see more of that. Villain was appropriately goofy yet creative. Highlight was probably Veronica desperately looking for love.

The Great American Telenovela

Not too much to say, pretty normal HaG fare, nice to use the telenovela setting. La Cebolla also actually using onions for combat too.

Lair Necessities

kevin u can say bullshit it's ok, maybe u need the lair for that in case the parents hear tho

Okay making the lair and stuff was neat but honestly didn't care much for the villains, it's like we just stopped to attend a less interesting plot before they could tie it back into the superhero lair thing. Hamster also makes lairs singlehandedly now I guess. :P

Tobor or Not Tobor

nordle drunk on milkshakes, lol

Alright ep. Tobor was good. Nothing too extraordinary but it was interesting to see Nordle after the S1 finale. Were those combat maneuvers Kevin told Gretel when Tobot lost it properly set up? IDK.

Evil Upheaval

"Dr Heinz" did people lose their shit over this even if this Heinz is a brain transplant guy apparently

adult ball pit

oh yeah the therapist is bailey's mum right, also huh she's voiced by debra wilson, cool

Well, status quo shift for Destructress and Fistpuncher. Was neat to see that development, but again, no too strong feelings here.

Ay, Ay, A.I.

Heh I thought that voice was familiar, the crossing lady is voiced by Carol Kane aka Nana Shapiro

Okay ep didn't seem like it was gonna be much but the whole robot crossing guard taking its job too seriously angle was pretty amusing. Pretty obvious commentary on AI and automation and stuff with the cliche "human touch is missed" stuff, but the silliness of the premise made it worth it.

Stress Brawl

was that a hamilton reference, also yeah makes sense it would be expensive as fuck

wow kevin is doing the fake date to try and make it look like he's moved on, rip, also wait pamela i thought you ran off with some other guy earlier

also funny that pamela is voiced by hiromi's va

wait is the lunch lady bolgylvanian

Okay this is the best ep so far this season. I did notice before Hiromi seemed to have a lot on her plate, being involved in a lot of school related stuff, but it's more than even I expected. The stress ball monster was a great addition, weird monster of the week but also represents Hiromi bottling up her feelings and being a people pleaser. And even if they didn't really get to say anything to each other, Kevin at least knows Hiromi's been struggling. Also accidentally fake dating someone who screwed her over in kindergarten, RIP.

I Love Luchie

dave x luchador?

Honestly not too bad! Was nice to see Luchador showing signs of reforming, or at least him being nicer out of the ring, and also the twist that the actual villain was his new partner.

The More The Meteor

So they introduced the new big bad. Cool, I guess. Neat space set pieces. Not much else to say TBH.

My Hammie Vice

did the ostrich make a chicken noise

Okay ep I guess, I did find the conflict of Hamster not being taken seriously kinda contrived tho, cuz it never really seemed to be an issue before. Like I guess he's never the one really suggesting anything, but he never really said much. Eh, whatever, shows like this always do this. Hamster's mob pal was aight I guess. The outsmarting each other at the end was also kinda amusing I guess.

Last Fred Standing

lol the calendar says it's april 2024... in the flashback... so hamster and gretel is in the 2030s... except it isn't... because it's clearly just a mistake...

why are fred's glasses purple in some shots now

OH IT WAS INTENTIONAL, THEY WERE SWAPPED OUT, FUCK

fredrick sucks, hiromi's right, fuck this shit

Ep was decent. Different side to Fred here. The things she'll do for impossible bottles (inside impossible bottles), huh? I know it was kinda the point but the rivalry was kinda dumb. Might've been better if Fred just ditched his ass (and maybe stealing her bottle anyway). The subplot with the main characters was amusing enough.

From Dust Till Dawn

little abuelita is actually... cute? rare case of this for the kids here

she's right, piranhas actually aren't bloodthirsty swarm hunters lol

hamster x dust might otp

also huh kimberly brooks voices her, hey jasper/allura/many other roles

oh so this is also in spring lol

Heh, that was nice. Abuelita episodes always seem to be hits it seems. Hidden family trauma discovered that's then resolved. Kevin does point out why her own abuelita didn't just tell her directly, but if it was a note like that, I guess this was a realisation late in life. Also weirdly works as something discovered only now because of how everyone refuses to touch them. But yeah, this was a nice story, and a surprisingly enjoyable villain (which Hamster seems surprisingly smitten by, or at least her capoeira moves).

I Think, Therefore I Slam

why is the credits text orange

fred cannot resist the cuteness of her cousin and her cousin's bestie

wait have we seen bailey without glasses

That was neat. Another appropriately silly villain, and while the message was pretty cliche and standard kids show fare, it was at least nice to see the "cool kids" were acting just as much as Gretel and Bailey were trying to.

Thanks, But No Pranks

wow not one but two different additional animation styles this ep, someone's feeling experimental

Buildingcraft????

This was neat enough. Pretty predictable, though the final act where they had to stop the prank guy was cool. Hooray for Bailey using structural knowledge to save the day, lol.

[missbelindachandrabombs]

THE LEGEND OF RUBY SUNDAY ANTI-REVIEW, AKA: I WANT TO SCREAM. CAN I SCREAM. CAN I SCREAM REAL LOUD

well that was … depressing. might go and rewatch something from s1 or s4 or s5 or s8 or s10 to remember what good doctor who feels like. or listen to some big finish.

really thought that the VHS tape would be the truman show reveal. oh well. we all thought something. silly me, expecting complex postmodernist media critique from a disneyfied children’s show. this is my cue to go back to watching things intended for adults, i guess.

i’ll delve into why sutekh is a shitty villain to revive for the new era in my next post — this one’s just for moping.

when you’re autistic, realising that your special interest media will probably never be good again is like growing apart from a childhood friend. it’s a slow, nagging sense of grief and loss, however absurd that may sound. this show saved my life in november after i’d just dropped out of uni. that’s what i’ll remember it as. not… this marvel-ised lacklustre forgettable slop.

and please, don’t you dare put false words in my mouth. you all know how big of a doctor who fan i am. despite what the bigots, racists and homophobes say, it’s not the doctor being Black or openly queer or a woman that killed earnest enjoyment of the show. the openly progressive politics are actually one of the few remaining positives about it. no — what killed it is what killed every long lasting franchise: the inevitable enshittification of all mainstream tv, brought about by unregulated capitalism, a complete disregard for artistic expression in anything but independent/diy media. anything that’s funded by corpos such as disney inevitably turns into figurative capeshit (even if it’s not literally about superheroes, you know the semantic field i’m discussing when i bring up that word). not even a formerly brilliant screenwriter like russell t davies can avoid falling into the trap of becoming complacent. “family-friendly” suddenly means “safe, dull, predictable”. as if children’s minds can’t be challenged or unsettled. as if weird and outlandish art isn’t what children remember for their entire lives, forgetting the other, trite, generic TV they were shown.

casual audiences remember Blink long after watching it as kids because it was wild and experimental on a shoestring budget. it was like nothing else on TV. same with The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. the main issue with “series 1” (14) that i’m trying to express here is that, save two or three exceptions (73 Yards + to a lesser extent Boom and D&B), it is exactly like everything else on TV.

the only way out is to write our own worlds. fund them ourselves. cardboard, clingfilm and bubblewrap. that’s how doctor who used to be when it was funded by the BBC. that’s how it survived. whatever it’s trying to be now — well, that’s none of my business.

because business is all it’s become.