#s2 cast and crew screening

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Ooooh! :) (How does one dress as a five fennec foxed in an overcoat to attend the screening? :D)

[maryhadalittlehobby]

Recap of IWTV Screening and Conversation at 92stY

(Please dont repost/reupload my pics or vids from here or IG anywhere else. Sharing/linkinh is ok. Thanks!)

I started the day with a fang gang meetup hosted by Black Girl Talks Fangs. The restaurant was cute and the food great. I'm not a big wine drinker but got a blood red Chateau in honor of the occasion. After, we headed over to the event space.

In my experience attending different events there, the actors typically come in just before the event starts or a few minutes into the screening.

In this case- it was both.

Eric strolled up super casual and had a convo with myself and a few other fans asking if we had read the books and what we were looking forward to. He gave a parting message that the season is amazing and he is not just saying that because he is part of it. I believe him. He was super personable and down to earth.

Delainey arrived next and again kind and generous with her time. She has a very chill energy. Her outfit was more casual this day but I thought chic and the face card never declines. Her makeup artist does her right! And can we talk about that sleek ass ponytail

She complimented my cosplay and said she thinks my beret might be the screen accurate one!

She asked to touch it and said mine was softer!

She also said Carol Cutshall gifted her the beret so she owns Claudia's.

I put this cosplay together in 3 weeks which is barely enough time. Thankfully I had the idea knocking around since October when we first saw this fit in the trailer that dropped at NYCC 23.

Myself and a few fans waited till about 15 minutes into the start of the screening before we gave up on waiting for Jam Reiderson.

While running to the screening I nearly literally ran into Rolin. I asked for a quick pic which he obliged.

The episode was amazing. Very much on par of season 1 so far. Can't wait to see the full thing. Delainey fit into Claudia seamlessly.

The panel itself was great as well. I have a few vids in my IWTV highlight on IG and a few others in an upcoming youtube video I will make AFTER the episode drops. There are some spoiler bits plus 92Y is dropping the full panel too after the ep airs.

Highlights include watching Jam Reiderson literally communicate telepathically- what was the fun on set story?!

Sam slapping Jacobs' lower inner thigh in front of god (Rolin) and everyone.

Working together is like putting on an old glove. An old sock?! Lol what. 'Is that dirty?'

Assad trauma dumping on main. "Armands lost...like me." "I'm intimidated by the cast" Sir please!

Assad also being spicy saying he thinks Armands memory of Lestat is pretty accurate. Drag him king😄

Delainey and Jacob gushing about how they immediately bonded and established their father/daughter/sibling vibes.

Eric calling Jam puppies and Jacob saying "I'm a grown man a parent"lol Sir you are a baby girl as evidenced by

Rolin saying that's a book and this is a show. To me that said was book lovers have the book and you always will but this is a new thing that respects the source but isn't tied down to every single detail.

Then Sam saying there are contradictions even within the series. Please lets talk about it.

And I love this new narrative everyone is spinning, even Sam, who seemed to be in the Lestat is right and Louis is lying boat last press go round. Now everyone is saying there is no right and wrong or truth and lies-the story is told by different people with different perspectives and that's all. Which yes! that's ALWAYS how I saw it! Just because Lestat became the main character and most favored doesn't mean he is infallible.

Jacob and that plushie. Who would have imagined he'd love it so much. Another fan was coming with their Lestat. I don't know if they had intentions of giving it to Sam but sadly they didn't make it.

After the panel I went back to the spot and aimed to get Jacobs signature on my Street of Immortality print which I managed.

I would have loved to get Sam's to but I also wanted to give other fans the chance to get photos and autos. I was already so lucky.

They signed for a loooong time. So long I thought our side wouldnt have a chance or only a few people would. Turns out fans were conducting mini interviews with them lol Someone needs to collect all the questions and answers.

Also they are the smallest cast you've ever seem. Pocketbsized. Everyone one of them is so unassuming.

Overall I had a super good time. The audience vibes were immaculate. The person beside me during the screening/panel was losing their shit then apologizing. But honestly I was here for it lol

Also you could 100% tell it was an audience full of the online fandom.

I ended the night checking out the Time Square ad. It was awesome to see our vamps represented. Hopefully we get a ton of new fans from all the amazing marketing this year.

[skysyzygy]

I finished our flag means death season two finally

And I was trying to articulate to a friend how the show, besides being just a really, really good show, does amazing queer representation and how a show about pirates will always contain some element of the queer experience in like being othered from society and whatnot, and I couldn’t quite figure out how to say it

But I think what Izzy says to the prince about what being a pirate is sums it up pretty well:

“It’s about belonging to something when the world has told you you’re nothin’. It’s about finding the family to kill for when yours are long dead. It’s about letting go of ego for something larger.

The crew.”

And of course this is for sure intentional and definitely been pointed out before and maybe I’m being a little dramatic about it or something but it is such a good line,

I enjoy this show so much you guys

[three--rings]

One thing I haven't seen a lot of talk about in the fandom so far is about the financials of this season.

It took us two whole months to get a confirmation of renewal from Max, and I talked at the time that I think there was probably a lot of heated negotiations going on at the time with contracts and that's why it took as long as it did.

I think we see a huge number of indications of the compromises that were made in order for S2 to be made. One obvious one that has been talked about is being making in in NZ instead of LA, to save $.

But there's also the eight episodes instead of ten. And then the cast aspect. One downside of moving overseas was having to fly out and house the cast, not just pay day wages.

We knew immediately about Guz Khan not coming back, losing Ivan as a character. At the time I was sad but I thought it had the air of a pretty harshly practical call. If you went through the main recurring cast and said okay which character will affect the fewest things, has the least character interactions of anyone? It would be Ivan. (With the only competition being The Swede IMO, but he's Stede's crew and therefore a little more central.)

And then this season started and we got first The Swede sidelined and taken out of major scenes. And then I noticed that different members of the crew were simply absent for long stretches, like Wee John isn't around for ep 5 at all. And then Buttons takes flight.

Lucius and Pete aren't at the party for most of it. Fang isn't in the torture scene. Roach and Fang aren't in the bar. Etc. SCHEDULING IS HAPPENING.

The new characters are almost entirely played by NZ local actors, which is great, but also...cheaper.

In other words there are big signs that they did everything possible to give us a giant cast of almost everyone we love from S1, and cool new characters, in the most economical way possible.

And I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful we got S2, and it looks great, and it's well written, I'm having a blast, and we get to spend more time with this awesome cast.

But I also kinda think it needs to be said that the cost-cutting shows. That it shouldn't have been only 8 episodes, the pacing is off. That we miss every time someone from the ensemble isn't on screen.

That despite what they've put on screen looking very good, there's far less costuming budget, there's less elaborate sets, and it's a little disappointing. And it's clear it's not a lack of will or talent or vision but blatantly lack of money.

Look, streaming networks want brilliant shows that people love (that will get them to subscribe) but they very don't want to pay anyone to make them. That's like, the whole moment we're having right now.

Max puts out promos about how great it is to not have unions messing shit up in NZ. Well I have friends who are union costumers in LA and guess what union costumers did amazing last season. This season, well, I guess Stede got three whole shirts, so that's cool.

So I dunno. It's just stuff I think about. I'm not trying to be negative about the show in any way. I'm extremely happy with this season; I love it more than well, possibly any show I've ever been in fandom for.

But I see you, Max. You're cheap. You weren't that cheap when you were called HBO.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

The more I think about season 2, the more grateful I am.

In a lot of ways, OFMD's writers, cast, and crew were given an almost impossible task. S1 was brilliant and took everyone by surprise by how successful it became. I am still shocked every time I rewatch by how smart and efficient the writing is, how intelligent the social commentary. S1 is a masterclass in good television.

And for s2, expectations were incredibly high. OFMD found massive word-of-mouth success in a way I've never seen with any other show, and they suddenly had a big, incredibly passionate audience - the renewal was because of massive fan support, and that must have translated to an incredible amount of pressure in the writer's room. Plus, as if that wasn't enough on its own, they're having to deal with budget cuts and Max slashing them down to only 8 episodes to tell a 10-episode story. This is an incredibly daunting task.

And yeah, I've been critical. OFMD is my favorite show, no contest, and it's easy to be critical of the things we love. We can all see that the pacing was off this season, especially in those last two episodes. Some arcs felt rushed; some side characters didn't get enough screen time to set up what they're doing this season. Jim and Olu especially suffer for that. It's inexcusable that this show's budget was slashed the way it was and I'm sad for what we could have had.

But, on the whole? Holy shit, this season was incredibly successful! Despite an incredible amount of fan pressure, the writers told the story they wanted to tell. They never lost sight of Ed and Stede's story, and were smart about allocating screen time so our leads' arcs never suffered too much for it. There's so much creative problem solving - when they realized they'd need to be smart about which side characters to keep on screen, they turned Buttons into a bird in a way that underscored season themes of transformation and change. 10/10, no notes. They even remembered their audience and left us on a satisfying note for all our characters - we get to end with Ed and Stede, happy and together, starting their new life.

They had an impossible task and they did a fucking commendable job. Character beats and humor are balanced amazingly well. Ed and Stede feel so much more fleshed out this season. Just like in s1, OFMD will never be a show where you can catch everything with one watch - there's so many little jokes, hidden gags, small details to discover with every rewatch. And every single actor is giving it their all in every scene! You can tell how much this show was a labor of love for everyone involved.

I'm proper fucking impressed. Here's hoping they get a renewal and a better budget for season 3!

[endiness]

*thinks about how joey already knew jaskier was bi/pan when he was doing press for s2*

"Lauren’s been chatting to the cast and crew and creatives over the past couple of months, and shaping these [Season 3] scripts, and kicking them all into gear, and getting everyone’s input and feedback. [...] Being part of these stories that manage to take an awful lot of what’s happening in our contemporary world and our actual world and show them through a lens of fantasy, and not just delve into dragons and sword fights and stuff, but we actually get to see bits of this world that resonate, particularly for younger people. If I’m in any way part of those kinds of storylines, which can help young people work out who they are or how they fit in a changing world, then that’s something that I’m incredibly excited to be a part of."

+ s3 interview context:

"I was actually approached by Lauren before the scripts were even written and she told me about her intentions with the character and the romance. In the show I’ve been interested in exploring other sides to him and also keen to get a bit more queer representation on the screen. So, I was very excited and a little apprehensive, if I’m honest, because I wanted to ensure that this was done sensitively and carefully; that it wasn’t, in any way, becoming stereotyped. That took an awful lot of conversations with Lauren and endless essays of emails to try and figure out exactly how to do this, how to have queer characters in a fantasy world and not reduce them to stereotypes or let them become tokenistic. I applaud Lauren for that collaborative spirit."

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/02/2024 Daily Recap

TLDR; SaveOFMDCrew Tumblr Updates; How To Help; Twitter Hashtags; Daily Lists; Reminders: Appreciation Events; Live Rewatch OFMD Party with Q+; Operation Auxiliary Wardrobe; Cast & Crew Sightings; New Watch Partys; Actually reasonable Articles; Stats; Petition Status; Morale; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika

= Save OFMD Crew Tumblr Up =

The SaveOFMDCrew Tumblr is finally up and running! Due to some weirdness with accounts they'll be under @saveofmdcrewmates as opposed to the regular name. This will have the same news as the other platforms so feel free to give them a follow.

== How To Help ==

Twitter folks: looks like @SaveOFMDCrew as well as several other people who've been leading the charge on twitter wanted to remind everyone on when to use what hashtags. Apparently there's been some cross pollination and they wanted to try and clear it up. Thank you to @havethisonelife for summarising.

Haterade Posts:

#OhBloysHeMad , #TheNumbersWereThere, #FinishOurStories Avoid: #DontStreamOnMax

When Advertising ourselves:

#SaveOFMD #AdoptOurCrew

Horny Posts:

No tags (Edit: @SaveOFMDCrew said it was ok to use #OurFlagMeansDeath on horny posts, just no other tags).

Suggestions for How to Help

Looking for ways to help? There are still daily ideas for you here: How To Help Save OFMD Task List - US How to Help Save OFMD Task List - Outside US

==Reminders!==

Cast Appreciation Events!

Tomorrow is Day of Damien! A day to shower Damien Gerard (Father Teach) with support and kindness for all he's done for our fandom! He has been hitting #SaveOFMD events pretty hard trying to support us! 

When to start: Saturday February 3rd, 6 AM CST, 7 AM ET, 4 AM PT, 12 PM GMT  Hashtags: #DayOfDamien

His Social Media Accounts:

Linktree (has his cashapp, etc) / Instagram / Twitter / Twitch / Tiktok

== Live - Rewatch Party with Q+! ==

This rewatch party is particularly important because the crew is really trying to get people hyped for the BBC launch of s2 on Feb 5. Everyone is hoping that if the s2 launch in the UK shows huge interest it'll be a huge boon for the potential for s3 with the networks.

Sunday Feb 4, 2 PM GMT / 9 AM ET / 6 AM PT

Watch Party Hashtags:

#OurFlagMeansRewatch

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

#OurFlagBBC

=Operation Auxiliary Wardrobe=

Do you do applique, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery, knitting, needle felt or any other textile-based OFMD Art? Wanna join a fun group of participants? Starting next week there will be a recruiting drive for a new fabric+thread project mid-month if people are interested! If you want to jump in now you can message @ForceMonument on twitter, otherwise other avenues will be opened sometime in the coming weeks!

=Cast & Crew Sightings =

This is from 01/26/2024 but I missed it and I feel like it needs to be shared. Dominic Burgess being a goofball badass as Jeffrey Fettering singing a 18th century version of the Friends theme song. <3 (Apologies for the quality of the video, I had to record it off my screen so people didn't have to go to Twitter). Twitter Post.

Wee John Wednesdays Mondays are back!

Mon 5th Feb, 10.30pm on Kristian Nairn's Instagram

=NEW WATCH PARTIES =

You can see a running list of current/upcoming watch parties here.

Thank you @libbyroseitm for the new Watch Party!

Uncle Season 1 watch party on i-player. Thurs 15th + Fri 16th Feb (GMT - 8 PM , ET - 3PM, PST - 12 PM)

Catered specifically for the UK crew, but we'd be thrilled for anyone else using VPN's to join in too! Here's an article on how to join via VPN

WatchParty Hashtags:

#ForTheNewUncle

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

== Articles ==

Finally! The Q+ Article is wonderful and very uplifting.

Our Flag Means Death: Why It Deserves to Find a New Harbor

The 10 best TV shows to watch this week, from Mr and Mrs Smith to One Day

Hairy Bikers Go West, Death In Paradise and Wheel of Fortune: TV highlights this week

The Uncertain Fate of “Our Flag Means Death” Season 3: A Closer Look

Every show canceled so far in 2024

Netflix adds one of ‘the best shows of 2022’ after it was dropped by HBO Max

== STATS ==

Thanks to @Seven_Sugars over on twitter for this info and analysis.

Also, as always, more fun stats from @meowzawowza on twitter from the Netherlands.

== Petition Status ==

Almost to 84K signatures friends!

== Morale ==

I know we're ending day 24 of being the Gravy Basket. It's been a lonnnnng several weeks. We haven't heard from chaos dad in around a week now, so it may seem again like things are slowing down again. As several folks have mentioned before, not every day can be ground breaking, but seeing everyone in the community getting together, having fun with watch parties, discussing ofmd meta, making new art and fanfiction, it feels like the momentum is still there. We often don't see many updates on the weekend so take this time to relax, take a break, maybe do the rewatch party if you have time on Sunday. I did want to bring up, this article on The Tourist is cool because it highlights that HBOMax has cancelled some very highly rated shows in the past and Netflix has picked up on them-- and while we didn't see anything from the 2024 Netflix announcements (as @poison-into-positivity mentioned, even if it was picked up it wouldn't be for 2024) that doesn't mean it's not still a possibility. So don't give up hope. It's going to take some time to get through to the networks, and we'll keep keeping at it.

If you are feeling down or concerned, be sure to reach out to your fellow crew, we're all here for you.

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies. You are so incredibly strong, do you know that? No matter what's going on in your life, you're still here. Every single day you get back up, and you keep going. That is incredibly powerful, and incredibly strong, and don't let anyone tell you any different. Do you think our buddy Rhys let's anyone tell him he's not the baddest ass mf on the planet? Nope.

If all you did today was get out of bed, or take a shower, or walk your dog, and nothing else, you kicked today's ass. If you wrote fanfiction, or watched a tv show, you kicked today's ass. They say that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and while I see where that phrase is coming from I like to think of it a bit differently. What doesn't kill you, gives you a glimpse of just how strong you already were. You are the reason you are kind, you are the reason you are strong, you are the reason you continue to grow. You. Outside forces can help shape you, but you have always been strong even when you have felt your weakest, it's just not always easy to see. That strength is so important, and so is your need to rest. Remember to take a break from all the stressors of your life, whether that be a shower, or a 5 minute walk, or a day or a week away from the internet, whatever works for you. Even the strongest bridge in the world can break when there's too much weight on it. That doesn't mean the bridge is any less strong, it means something extremely heavy pushed it past its limits. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, just please know, everyone out here in the crew are so incredibly proud of you, we're rooting for you, and we're so very grateful you're still here with us.

===================================

Speaking of resting....Reminder! No recap for 02/03/2024 unless someone else wants to do one! Please feel free to, obviously! I will be off drinking after taking a dip in some hotsprings and then watching OFMD with two friends who have yet to see it. So if I show up lurking and drunk-tumblr you all, I sincerely apologize, but I hope if I do that drunk Abby is at least amusing. Love yall <3

===================================

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

If you wanna see someone else other than these two in these gifs from OFMD let me know, we can switch it up a bit.

[lotto840]

HIGH INANIMATE INSANITY S2 E16 SPOILERS

Please don’t read this if you haven’t caught up yet I’m begging you.

With both of those out of the way here’s a tier list based on how likely I think the cast’s chances of dying next ep are. Explanations below!

Red:

Cobs is pretty obvious, Mephone and/or the finalists up and kill him.

3GS just has a lot of death flags to die to Cobs or X. It just doesn’t look like anything will end well for them :(

4 and Taco have been predicted to die for a while, what can I say? It’d be a way to raise the stakes for sure.

On that note I just feel like LB is gonna be both a gut punch to fans and a way of giving Baseball and the other three main Bright Lights more drama.

And the finalists just seem like one or both of them will die in the climax, but if it is just one, I’m not sure if it’d be first or second place…

Now for Orange Juice, which I think needs more explanation:

Baseball is similar to Lightbulb, but just to give Knife and SC more stress, and the lowest moment take away the closest the other contestants have as a leader, but it just seems less likely than the others.

Same w/ Mepad, good way of giving 4 and Taco more angst but he might have more direct plot instead.

The other three Bright Lights left the Hotel and are directly looking for answers, if LB doesn’t die, then at least one of them will.

Mic and Ballon are for Taco/Knife and Suitcase respectively, bc these are just two characters the writers kinda like tormenting.

Candle and Silver are the only III contestants so high bc the Inner Flame, gotta get rid of the OP chars first ofc.

A Box death would be hilarious and get played straight by everyone except Trophy. That or they use the inanimate status to reveal he’s a god and the only one 4 didn’t make bc why not.

And Pepper is just here bc the old s1 plans.

Yellow… I can’t find a color option for this one chat 💀 (get purple instead ig):

First three are all s2 contestants, which means they’ll prob have more screen time, Soap’s first bc she seems like she’ll be given more than the others. Don’t ask why Cheesy is behind Salt and Bomb it was an oversight

Salt and Bomb are potential victims but it would probably go to someone the audience is more attracted to.

It could go that the III contestants get mass axed by X to keep it to s2 but it could also go the other way and have deaths focused on 1 and 2.

Green:

Hahaha no way the 2nd fav (only to Lightbulb to give a sense of scale) is dying.

Same w/ Bot the crew loves them too much to do that, they’ll prob just react to Nickel + any other deaths next pt.

I’m gonna be honest, when I made this I could’ve sworn it was confirmed that Cherries was 12 but now I can’t find it… that was kinda the whole reason why I put them here…💀

The shimmers and Baxter aren’t dying. That’s that.

Marsh and Apple are out of sight, out of mind. And if the souls do go to PM, it wouldn’t be as bad for them.

Starfruit also isn’t dying, he’s just here for the fan service.

Paper is prob going to get a role where he tries to learn to work w/o his husband OJ. They aren’t offing him unless they do an entire cast massacre for the climax.

[deluweil]

I swore I wouldn't get involved in this season's crazy,

And I won't, but most of the ppl I follow are die hard buddie, so I see stuff.

Gotta say most of my theories from the spoilers I glimpsed are widely different from interpenetrations I saw thus far.

And if I ever wrote those it would be loooong so I'm not going to.

I think, however, with the move to ABC (Love their shows, love their ships and messages) I am hoping for a few things.

I am hoping that both of the bathena pair survive their honeymoon

I am hoping Hen and Karen continue to be happy and finally parenting another child that will not be taken from them.

I hope Madney finally ties the knot. for the love of god let these two get married and be happy together.

I hope Eddie breaks up with Marisol early in the season (I saw a bts of her- I'm pissed that the season starts with the "fake girlfriend" at all.) and comes out or becomes more obvious about his straighthood because I ain't been feeling it since early S3.

I hope Buck experiences actual growth and becomes the 29 year old adult that he's supposed to be by now.

I hope we get new blood of firefighters joining this very small for any firehouse crew, and that their drama and mischief will be young and fun.

I hope we get Ravi, A LOT of Ravi!

I hope this show finds it's sweet spot again, because the fans and tbh the cast deserves a good storytelling even if for one season,

I hope BUDDIE goes canon and that Buck adopts Christopher, but that's just wishful thinking - because 7 seasons in, I will believe it ONLY if I see it.

Regardless, of if buddie gets together, I hope people will start getting laid in this show, I mean, the only couple who's got it going on strong since S2 are Bathena. I mean, good on them, but for god's sake, no wonder Buck and Eddie are so miserable, neither of them got laid on screen since mid season 2.

Are these people hermits?

Just some random thoughts that snuck in.

Anyway, have a great premiere my friends, give me a shout if buddie does the impossible and finally get together.

[luciuscodedswedeboy]

tbh I think the writers just didn’t pay attention to the show they ended up writing and instead stayed focused on the show they thought they were writing.

Neil Gaiman has a great bit in his MasterClass about how you need to read through your story after you’ve finished your first full draft to see what the story is really about. Then you go back through in editing and punch up the bits where it’s “about” and remove or alter the bits where it’s not “about.”

So what happened in OFMD S2 isn’t something that’s strange or uncommon. There’s endless cases of episodic media where the writers lost track of their characters and their motivations and instead focused on achieving the plots or scenes they originally wanted. In some cases this feels strange, especially when the writers don’t change from iteration to iteration, but in this case it makes perfect sense.

Because the writers didn’t create these characters; the actors did.

Every actor was given the task of creating their own character and backstory during their audition. Even the established characters (Ed, Stede, and Izzy) were said to be fundamentally altered after the actors were cast because of how the actors breathed life into them. If you look at the original pilot script, almost none of the characters are recognisable as the characters who ended up on screen.

So I don’t think all of the OOC actions and dialogue and hand wavy motivations this season were truly intentional on the writers’ parts; they just weren’t paying attention to who their characters became or what their show ended up being about.

To be honest, it feels like we are a crew being led by season one Stede Bonnet, who purports to be all about kindness and care for his crew but only shows care and concern in the ways he thinks they want, based on whatever it is he would want.

This misalignment of needs and wants between the captain and his crew is the one of the core conflicts during S1, so in many, many ways it’s shame that the writers didn’t review their finished story after S1 aired to see what it was truly “about.”

[inevitably-ineffable-husbands]

A Thought on AziraCrow from an A-Spec Perspective

On the Eve of Good Omens S2, I just wanted to put my two cents in about AziraCrow, before we see the outcome of S2, because it’s pretty clear from trailers and promotions that their relationship is a plot point in the season.

I started writing a ridiculously long post a week ago spurned on from this screenshot from Pride Magazine, and my being upset by the current discourse on Twitter about AziraCrow “being canon or not”, but decided to shorten it to just this little thought, because I feel like me writing a meta-style commentary (which I do have saved if you want a more long-form thought about it after the series airs) isn’t necessary right now.

And this is all despite Gaiman AND the cast AND crew basically confirming that it is in multiple interviews, discourse from people in the community that are supposed to understand the queer experience, completely disavowing its legitimacy unless “X” happens (where “x” usually is explicit confirmation of sex happening) so therefore it’s not valid (which is really bizarre).

But I digress.

This is just a bit of a thought that I think allos are COMPLETELY skimming over:

Crowley’s and Aziraphale’s relationship, as it currently stands now prior to S2, is representative of the beginnings of a (currently) queerplatonic asexual relationship, and as an ace who so desperately just wants to see a relationship that I can see myself in on screen, and lo and behold came Good Omens. I’m part of a demographic which I and a few of my real-life friends fall into and were so happy to see on-screen when we saw GO. A demographic that is ridiculously under-represented in media that it often is mistaken as “bromance” or “just besties”.

As it stands now, in act 1, it is the part before the romantic gestures and before the “I love you”’s, and the part before the moving in and committing your life to someone else. Very gentle and romantic, slow burn kind of stuff that I, as an ace, relate to so much.  

This relationship looks like what my best friends went through for YEARS before finally tying the knot in their queerplatonic relationship because they couldn’t imagine their lives without each other anyway and they loved each other fiercely. This relationship looks like the kind of relationship that doesn’t turn me off as an asexual: to share the ridiculous amounts of love I have, and be loved in return, despite my complete disinterest in having sex. The “you go to fast for me Crowley” was SO FELT in my soul as someone who needs a lot of time to feel comfortable in any relationship I’m in (like, Aziraphale is SO me, it’s ridiculous really), and me trying to explain to people that I need a lot of time to feel comfortable in a relationship and that sex may never happen, and me knowing that I’ll probably be turned down because of it. Me not wanting to hurt someone in a world where sex is an expected endgame, so I just... tend to keep to myself. I’m just as happy with my books and my video games and doing things on my own, but I long for a life partner to love and to experience my life with. And while can’t speak for what other aces and aros may relate to about the relationship, I like to hope that they can also see themselves in AziraCrow as well. 

And please don’t get me wrong: I WANT them together-together, in any or all ways that it means: committing to each other 100%, love confessions, declarations of forever, marriage, a cottage in Sussex, and yes, even sex if that’s who they are canonically... I do want that, because I want it for myself. I want to see a relationship blossom where sex isn’t the primary outcome of it, but more of an afterthought as a way to consummate their love and to FEEL loved by each other.

I think the beauty of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship is that because they are essentially supernatural beings, we as people can put ourselves in their places, and use them as placeholders for us to project our relationships and experiences onto them and in turn feel seen. 

AziraCrow gives me hope that I will find my Other Person someday, because there is unconditional love in the world for people like me, especially as I get older and more set in my ways. I only hope I find my own Crowley to make me feel loved.

I know my opinion isn’t popular about AziraCrow, but honestly, their relationship, and the way it’s progressing means SO much to me, as an asexual, anyway. I hope it’s important to others too. <3

[sixth-light]

TGH/TDR vs WoT season 2: what's in and what's out pt 1 (characters)

WoT's in and WoT's out, that is

I thought it would be fun (for me, sorry to the rest of you) to do a little analysis of where we're actually at in terms of adapting book material and the show, now we have officially passed the adaptation of the first three books. I am looking at this, as the show/showrunner have repeatedly stated they're doing, as a whole-series adaptation question: what happens in the first three books, in terms of worldbuilding, character introductions, and plot points, which is vital for the series arc as a whole? And of that, what remains to be shown on screen and thus might end up getting cut?

This is long, so I'm going to divide it into three posts over the next day or two: Characters (who has shown up and who hasn't), Worldbuilding points (ditto), and Plot points (has it happened or not). Major book spoilers obvs as I'll be discussing which of these continue to be important throughout the series.

NB before I dive in: what doing this has shown me is that despite TDR being one of my top 3 books of the series as a whole and much-beloved more generally, it...honestly has bugger-all in terms of plot that can't be handled by the show in other ways. The structure is a straight repeat of TGH and most of the really memorable scenes are vibes and character work (Mat's duel, Perrin's blacksmithing, Egwene's Accepted test) that the show likely doesn't have time to indulge in and/or that can be used as fodder for character development on the show in different contexts (like, Perrin's blacksmithing scene is lovely and you could do a version of it whenever the show character needs to re-centre himself pretty much...right up through the end of the series.)

Anyway, on with the actual programming!

CHARACTERS

My test for listing characters here is 1) is this character a PoV character and 2) if not, do they have a genuine impact on the plot or character development of PoV characters. For example: Carlinya and Breane Taborwin appear repeatedly through the series but do nothing someone else couldn't, so there's no point in assessing the significance of them not showing up in S2 even though they first appear in TGH. Characters struck through are ones who have now been introduced or mentioned by the show.

Introduced in TEoTW but not S1 of the show

Bayle Domon Elaida Gawyn (mentioned in S2, h/t @hxans) Galad Morgase (mentioned in S2, h/t @hxans) Elyas

Immediately obvious that it's the Caemlyn crew we're waiting on, and since casting has been confirmed for at least two of them and the other two were mentioned on-screen in S2, I think there's no question Elaida, Gawyn, and Galad will be in S3. Morgase is more questionable; my money is that she either won't be in the show and/or will actually be killed by Rahvin. Hate to lose a not-really-dead mum but some characters have got to go and it will make it much harder for show viewers to accept Elayne as Queen in the late series if she's still alive actually.

Introduced/mentioned in TGH

Suroth Renna & Seta Egeanin Verin Anaiya Liandrin (S1) Alanna (S1) Siuan (S1) Leane (S1) Vandene & Adeleas (Vandene now merged with Verin) Sheriam Alviarin Hurin (merged with Elyas in the show) 'Selene' Erith Aludra Masema Uno Mazrim Taim

Of those who haven't appeared in the show, Alviarin and Anaiya are frankly questionable in terms of whether the show needs them/highly likely to be merged with other Aes Sedai the way show!Alanna and show!Verin are book!Alanna x book!Myrelle and book!Verin x book!Vandene merges. ETA: thanks to @vriah for pointing out Anaiya was mentioned by name in 2x06, although I think the rest of this point stands. There's no point introducing Erith or Aludra until the show is ready to follow through on the storylines they are crucial for, which are both late-book storylines. I don't think we'll see either of them until S4-6, although I think we WILL see them.

ETA: I forgot Egeanin first shows up here! (h/t @butterflydm) Given what they did with all the Seanchan characters I think that's a deliberate choice to not confuse the narrative with a sympathetic Seanchan character until a season where we start to ask 'can individual Seanchan be anything except antagonists'. And since we likely won't hit that until S4 at the earliest, no point casting an actress here who might not be available (c.f. Birgitte). As an example, they've already had to re-cast Egwene's mother because the S1 actress was no longer available for S3.

Introduced in TDR

Aviendha Bain & Chiad Gaul Rhuarc Juilin Sammael Be'lal Pedron Niall Jaichim Carridin Faile Noam Rahvin Liandrin's thirteen, including Joiya Byir Faolain & Theodrin Tallanvor Dyelin Berelain Darlin Sisnera Laras (h/t @undeterminedvintage)

In contrast, most of the new-in-TDR characters haven't been mentioned yet!

Rhuarc and Faile: I think you have to have Rhuarc as a male Aiel leader in S3, there's no reason for it to NOT be him, and we know Faile has been cast. Makes total sense for her to meet Perrin in S3 as they will clearly be slow-burning that romance.

Berelain: Key to a bunch of plotlines, a very fun character, but there's no point bringing her in until Perrin/Faile is a going concern (but I think crucially in the show BEFORE they are married) which won't be for a season or two. Likely to be the first example of a ruler proactively pledging to Rand.

Jaichim Carridin, Liandrin's thirteen, Noam: Necessary but also won't be brought in until they're needed, and in the case of Liandrin's crew, will just be Black Ajah sisters as needed rather than a coherent group.

Pedron Niall, Dyelin, Darlin Sisnera, Faolain & Theodrin: I think elements of all of these characters will make the show (e.g. Elayne needs a buddy noble for the Succession, the Whitecloaks have to have a commander for Valda to assassinate, Egwene needs followers within the rebels) but they could be radically different and in some cases will likely take on other roles as well, though more likely than not under these names.

Rahvin, Gaul, Juilin, Tallanvor, Laras: I don't think any of these characters will make the cut for the show or if they do they'll be significantly merged with others. We only have room for two other male Forsaken and one of them has to be Asmodean, Tallanvor only matters if you do a Morgase storyline, Juilin and Laras are fun flavour and that's mostly it, and sorry Gaul fans but really what does he do aside from create sideshow romantic drama.

Be'lal: Out for sure since there's only 8 Forsaken.

Introduced in TSR

Lanfear-as-Lanfear (for Rand) and Moghedien...both don't show up until TSR actually, so we're ahead of the game there! Also possibly with Anvaere if she takes over Colavaere's later role (sob).

One other character note - it is still fascinating to me that the show chose to use obscure or non-existent names for the Brown sisters Verin spoke with in S2, as there are 30+ named Brown sisters in the books, many of whom could easily have filled those roles. The show isn't afraid to use existing sisters and even kill them (c.f. Maigan) so...what drove that decision? I thought it might be so they could be killed in the Tower Coup but now Maigan's dead I'm not sure!

Next time: worldbuilding!

[bakedbakermom]

Nugget, the Shifting Cast of Extras, and the Unreliable Narrator

One of the biggest twists of season 2 that I completely did not see coming, is that Nugget was dead all along (a rare miss for me, as I'm usually a great plot guesser). All of the scenes with Nugget were seen through Akliah's eyes; we saw only what she saw/believed, and that was a whole, living mousey friend. The minute Taissa, an outside perspective, came to notice Nugget, we all saw the truth: that he was dead, and had always been dead, and his life with Akliah was nothing but a coping mechanism, a dream that allowed her to keep sane as death slowly closed its claws around all of them.

Akilah was not a reliable narrator of her own story. None of them are.

In this context, the constantly rotating, growing, and shrinking cast of extra JV Jackets makes much more sense. Much of the teen storyline is told through the perspectives and memories of the adult survivors, and through the journals that Shauna kept in the wilderness (more reliable having been written in the moment, but still shaped by her limited perspective as well as trauma and hunger).

It makes sense that their memories focus only on those who are important to what is happening at the time, and the others fade into the background or disappear entirely as their relevance diminishes.

They remember what one background extra wore to the Doomcoming, but forget where she was during the Jackie Snackie. They remember who stood at the gravesite by the plane, but not who drew cards during the first hunt.

Gen and Melissa only got screen time this season because one of the survivors remembers their conversations and interactions. Crystal shows up because of her friendship with Misty. Akilah has a bigger part in s2 due to the Nugget plot and her role in Shauna's labor. Mari has a bigger presence in s2 because she's increasingly annoying and antagonistic to the other survivors, as well as chief acolyte of the Cult of Lottie.

Memory is a tricky thing, and memories made during trauma and starvation are trickier still. They simply don't have the brain power right now to accurately encode memories (adult Lottie mentions this, though she neglects to say that a brain that normally consumes A THIRD of the calories you take in understandably doesn't work very well under starvation conditions).

My prediction is that background YJs will come and go based on their relevance to the events happening on screen. It's not a mistake by the show runners or poor planning or an accident; it's all by design.

Not only does this work in-universe as an explanation for backgrounders coming and going, it gives the writers flexibility to bring in edible characters without having to explain why we haven't seen them before; they've always been there, they just didn't matter until now.

(It also serves to explain why, despite being on the brink of death from starvation, the girls still look pretty normal weight. The out-of-universe explanation is that it's morally reprehensible to ask the young cast to drop to a starvation weight and maintain it for the entire run of the show [or yoyo between seasons, which is even more dangerous]. The in-universe explanation is they remember themselves looking normal, so that's what we see. Just like we saw a healthy, living Nugget. Until we didn't. I wonder if we're going to see a "true" view of them through the eyes of the rescue crew that eventually saves them. Much easier to present one good vfx shot of them looking as haggard as they would actually be rather than multiple seasons.)

[jahayla-parker]

📱SMAUs: The 2 request limit for this applies to 2 of the same character (in other words, you can send in more than 2 SMAU requests so long as it’s a max of 2 per character) this can include fictional and nonfictional characters. Please include any side characters, events/details, or other information surrounding the SMAU request. If you want it to be with a specific type of reader, please be specific. You’ll get a SMAU fic with at least two posts from the reader and 2 from the character chosen.

oooooh okay hear me out- freddy carter x singer!reader (+ sab cast). where she has a new album to announce while the sab crew is announcing s2? and it's just the cast hyping y/n up and her hyping them up <3

Reflections and Renewals : Freddy Carter x Reader (& Platonic!SaB Cast x Reader)

Descr: SMAUs of Freddy Carter’s girlfriend/wife (unspecified) singer!reader and the Shadow and Bone cast supporting each other on their latest releases!

Warnings: few curse words, minor flirting, that’s all I think!

Liked by freddycarter1, kittheyounger, jessie_mei_li and 10,358 others

yourusername: I did a thing… 🤭

My new album Reflections drops in late March! 🎵

View all 1,043 comments

freddycarter1: So proud of you, my darling virtuoso ❤️

yourusername: My #1 fan❤️❤️❤️

jessie_mei_li: @/yourusername we’ll see about that, I’ll fight for that title ❤️🤺

freddycarter1: also, “did a thing” as if you didn’t record the most profoundly brilliant piece of art yet again 🙄

yourusername: ily ❤️

benbarnes: stoked! sneak peak for your mate?

yourusername: for THE Ben Barnes? But, why of course 😉

amitasuman_: You look stunning! Another album already?! 👏🔥

yourusername:🥹

archierenaux3: y/n, for real? Is this one going to make me cry again?

yourusername: if I say yes will it prevent you from listening? 🫢

archierenaux3: @/yourusername absolutely not! Are you kidding? No force on earth could prevent that xxx❤️

Liked by yourusername, shadowandbone, Ibardugo, and 15,075 others

freddycarter1 Still waiting on that crow emoji, @apple?

Season ✌️ March 16th

View all 1,162 comments

yourusername: KANEJ!!! 😍😍😍

yourusername: honey, you look sooo good ❤️

freddycarter1: pot calling the kettle black there, my darling 😘

amitasuman_: 🪶 we definitely need a crow emoji, let’s get on with it @/apple

yourusername: I agree but while we’re at it, I also need a new phone in general cause I drowned this one with my tears over this beautiful photo of my favorite TV couple 😭

amitasuman_: @/yourusername stoppp ❤️❤️

yourusername: @/amitasuman_ can’t stop, won’t stop. You are both so talented and pretty 😍

yourusername: can’t wait to let my gifted man take over the television screen day and night as he so perfectly embodies Kazzle Dazzle once again 👀🖤

freddycarter1: you’ve lost it my dear 🤣❤️

yourusername: @/freddycarter1 for you & the rest of the S&B cast? 🤷‍♀️ I’m fine with that!

kittheyounger: let’s go! 🪶🖤

yourusername: I need more Wesper content Kit ⏱️

Liked by freddycarter1, paddygibson, lewistanofficial, and 9,320 others

yourusername: You have all been so supportive with me announcing this new album, so here’s a sneak peek into the contents 🥰

View all 1,024 comments

freddycarter1: bloody hell, you’re radiant ❤️❤️❤️

freddycarter1: PSA: for those wondering, as amazing as the song titles are, I assure you the lyrics and tracks themselves are somehow far more enthralling 😉

yourusername: Freddyyyy 🥹 you’re too much ❤️

freddycarter1: @/yourusername I’m simply verbalizing your skillset, love 🙌

paddygibson: sounds incredible already y/n/n!

calahan.skogman: wow! I’m at a loss for words… all I can say right now is… wow!

amitasuman_: so very intrigued 👀

Liked by freddycarter1, yourusername, lbardugo, and 22,479 others

shadowandbone: We all have debts to pay. Two days 'til Shadow and Bone Season 2.

View all 2,368 comments

yourusername: 😍 these next two days better pass quickly!

freddycarter1: brick by brick 🖤

yourusername: When these aforementioned debts are paid… Can I be your next investment? 🫣

freddycarter1: @/yourusername 💀 love … 😂

benbarnes: This is one ace of a promo poster 🙌

yourusername: couldn’t agree more, but so is yours!

Liked by freddycarter1, yourusername, amitasuman_, and 21,564 others

shadowandbone: You’re not ready for S2. But it’s here! ☀️

View all 2,315 comments

yourusername: Has it been even 12 hours since it dropped? No. Have I already binged all 8 episodes? Yes. 🙌 Will I wait patiently for S3? No. 🙅‍♀️ Am I in love with this cast? Yes. 💯 That’s all. ❤️

amitasuman_: … Did you truly?! 🥹

freddycarter1: @/amitasuman_ she did 😂

yourusername: @/amitasuman_ @/freddycarter1 course I did 💁‍♀️ you’re all so unbelievably and incredibly talented 🙌❤️❤️

yourusername: We finally have everyone together 😭 couldn’t have asked for a better cast for any of the Grishaverse characters 🤩 p.s. you all look PHENOMENAL ❤️

lbardugo: agreed y/n! 🖤

yourusername: @/lbardugo and a special thank you to the most wonderful person who made it all possible 🙌🖤

jessie_mei_li: ☀️🖤

yourusername: Love you trying to intimidate Nikolai! And looking stunning while doing so! 😍

jessie_mei_li: @/yourusername ilysm xxx

Liked by freddycarter1, jacktwolfe, longbrophy, and 9,324 others

yourusername: It’s here! I’m so thrilled to share these songs with you!

My latest album, Reflections, is officially available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Pandora, and wherever else you listen to music! It’s also set to hit stores this afternoon!

View all 1,408 comments

freddycarter1: just when I think I couldn’t be more proud, you prove me wrong ❤️ just like this album, you are truly exceptional, darling. xxx

yourusername: 🥹❤️

jacktwolfe: unreal! It’s staying on repeat all day ❤️

amitasuman_: girl, you killed this! 🙌

archierenaux3: already crying… you’re so talented it’s unbelievable xx

longbrophy: I officially have a new favorite album 🥰

calahan.skogman: damn, you seriously have a way with words!

Taglist: @ell0ra-br3kk3r @missdreamofendless @nikfigueiredo @b3kk3r-by-br3kk3r @alex-kazbrekkersimp @opheliaofficial07 @historynerd77 @el-de-phi @whistle1whistle

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[jaskierx]

i genuinely fear david jenkins is too much of a con o’neill fan to let izzy stay dead and a s3 will probably be a mess because of it. he’s like a mix of an annoying izzy stan and a jar guy and his choices piss off both haters and lovers. i would find it extremely funny if i wasn’t so invested in ed and stede, and also the rest of the crew (who i feel like were all given less screen time to favour izzy in this season). big sigh.

yeah it would be a disaster. people who love izzy don’t want him back for s3, they want him to have never died in s2. people who dislike izzy don’t want him back at all. people who are neutral don’t want the writers to undo his death bc that kind of bait and switch shit is not good writing

con is a good actor. and we saw that when he acted izzy’s death. he is not the only good actor in the cast. i don’t think he’s the best actor in the cast. even if he was, if you love an actor so much you can’t envisage your show without them, that means you shouldn’t kill them off in the first place lmao

i’m trying to be reasonable and hoping that if con is in s3 it’ll be a cameo and it’ll be a flashback or a ghost appearance or something. preferably a flashback bc i am already imagining the fucking discourse about his appearance as a ghost with regard to leg vs prosthetic vs no leg. no matter which way they do it they’ll be called ableist and i am too tired for that

anyway. manifesting that djenks stops trying to appease the canyon and con is too busy to do any ofmd filming ever again and an izzyless s3 for us all

[cononeillbreastingboobily]

knowing that izzy's death was the last scene they shot is so heartbreaking. sure, it was probably bc of shooting times and availability and all of that. but that's really what they left their cast and crew to finish off with? they really couldn't have moved stuff around so that it ended on a higher note for everyone on set? idk man. i know they're all professionals, but it makes me really sad for the cast and crew.

this ask was inspired by vico's newest post on insta. what they said in the video and in their caption really makes it feel like they're in the same boat we are with our thoughts on s2

Tbh I heard it before that it was the last bit they shot of the show, I don't know if it was Con that said it in an interview, or if it was Samba in one of his instagram posts... But yeah. It's a really sour note to end this beloved show on, isn't it? Especially when you think about how engaged the cast was in interacting with fans, how much of themselves, their thoughts and creativity they have lent into their characters and into the show itself. It really sucks so bad that we won't be able to see all of those people we have come to love interacting with each other on our screens again. Aside from how butchered overall s2 felt to me, that's what I feel the most grief about.