#some fandoms are lukewarm on the thing they are supposed to be fans of

[thethirdromana]

I said I was watching the start of the X-Files and the X-Files fans were politely indifferent.

I said I was watching the start of Stargate and the Stargate fans were like, sure, that's cool, let's figure out if it's the kind of show you'll like.

I said I was watching the start of Farscape and the Farscape fans were like FUCK YES FARSCAPE TIME WOOHOO LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOO!!!!!

[warningsine]

I know I've talked about this before, but I will repeat myself.

On screen chemistry isn't absolute or tangible; it's subjective.

It's in the eye of the beholder. A Rorschach test if you will.

Yes, the viewers can often read subtle signs of attraction between two characters, but whether or not it grabs them depends on their own attraction and life experiences.

Yes, studios generally know which pairings appeal to which demographics and hire people who will work hard to cultivate a romance that will result in said studios getting more money.

Yes, there are chemistry tests and intimacy coordinators as well as casting directors who look for signs of attraction.

Yes, actors are trained to open up to intimacy with complete strangers and often take their personal romantic/sexual responses and flirting into account. Sometimes they even improvise.

Yes, what is captured during filming can be cut and edited several times.

But whether or not one identifies--or "relates" as fandoms, that love turning attraction into an academic study, say--with one of the actors/characters is a significant factor.

Demographics like age, gender, orientation, race and education play their own parts, e.g., see how women viewers on here see Shiv Roy vs. how guys on Reddit see her.

But even two people from the same demographic group can have different opinions because they're not a monolith.

Other contributors? How one feels about the pairing's situation, their judgment about whether or not they're well-matched and their perception of their beauty (which is, unsurprisingly, also subjective).

Sometimes the script, direction and the story itself can have an effect, too--even when two actors don't get along off screen. Because at the end of the day, it's not about them. It's about the audience.

Some couples are considered better simply because they're more likely to engage more fans than others. Some because they're hyped and promoted more. See: how actors give PR responses and act like their characters in interviews, all flirtatious and shit.

Secondhand knowledge here since a friend is an actor:

There are on screen kisses that look convincing and hot but are in fact lukewarm (how the actors experience them). Others that feel icky regardless of how the audience perceives them, e.g., because your acting partner ate a sandwich with garlic before kissing you or because you hate their guts. Last but not least, there are others that are supposed to look contained, but are lustful.

Because of this, actors who lack proper training or boundaries can create problems on set--especially if they don't respect, listen to and engage with their partners.

And the same goes for the other individuals that are present. Imagine being naked and filming a sex scene in front of a skeleton crew of, say, 10 people. Some dgaf and can't wait to finish their jobs and go home. Others get voyeuristic. One thing is sure: sex scenes are not as sexy as viewers believe them to be.

But back to the audience.

To some extent, some viewers project their own longing, love and lust aspirations onto the on screen couple. Does their appearance/situation/behavior appeals to their tastes? You'd be surprised how one's projected fantasies can create illusions of passion or revulsion out of thin air.

After all, chemistry isn't necessarily a romantic/sexual thing. Friends and relatives can also have chemistry. You often notice it when people, e.g., siblings communicate with looks alone, because nothing needs to be said. How they subtly react to what you're saying and vice versa.

[vintage-bentley]

I distanced myself from the go fandom after being disgusted by some of the major active blogs, which ship Tennant and Sheen by spreading crazy RPF conspiracy theories that include the most vile misogynistic opinions about the RL partners of these two men. Obviously these so-called fans have always denied the accusation of misogyny, claiming that they don’t hate all women but just don’t like those two women in particular. And now no wonder the same blogs are making up conspiracy theories to defend Gaiman by claiming the victims’ allegations are suspect. They're placing all the blame on those who didn't like Tennant's recent rant and are convincing themselves that it's all a conspiracy against trans allies, completely dismissing the victims. I will ALWAYS defend women in these situations. I feel sick to my stomach the amount of misogyny that runs in the go fandom and I wish I had never been a part of it

The RPF shippers are a very interesting bunch. They’re like an extension of the type of fan who hates female characters for getting in the way of their M/M ships…but even worse because they’re applying that hatred to real women.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re the same ones who are defending Gaiman like their lives depend on it…because a huge part of Sheen/Tennant shipping is feeling some sort of resentment towards women for getting in the way of a man’s supposed happiness. How dare those women be married to men who really just want each other? How dare those women accuse a man of sexual assault and get in the way of his fame?

Completely different ballparks of course, but I agree that the hatred of women is the common denominator.

I’m still so baffled by the claims that this is some sort of anti-trans scheme. Man A works with Man B sometimes, so when Man A goes on an anti-woman rant, journalists recruit random women to accuse Man B of sexual assault??? How does that even make sense?

I’ve already made a post about how the podcast never once mentions trans topics. Never once mentions anything Neil Gaiman has said about them. If this was somehow an anti-trans scheme trying to take down a lukewarm trans ally, that would be the first thing they’d mention.

You’re right that this fandom is very misogynistic. So unfortunately I’m not surprised that they’re scrambling to find any reason to defend their Fave Male from rape allegations. I’m not surprised that they’re sharing parts of the victim’s stories but twisting it to make it seem like they’re lying. It’s so upsetting to see…but completely expected of a fandom like this.

[sergeifyodorov]

Connor for the send me a character ask 👀

FIRST IMPRESSION

Have to preface this with the fact that I was really into baseball six or seven years ago when mcdavo was winning art ross number like. One or two. This was about 2016 or 2017 and i had the thescore app and I was looking at their simple ranked stats because i was bored, and instead of staring at the baseball ones over and over again I poked around on the other sports. I was not yet a leafs fan (born and raised in toronto so like, you support the leafs, but i wasn’t what i am now) and i looked at the points rankings and there was this annoying little orange background man in first. He had a nice 100 points and nobody else had that. And I was annoyed because I didn’t like that this Edmontonian fucker was doing better than anyone else. In retrospect it is very funny that my Oilers Hate Campaign is older than my actual hockey fandom.

IMPRESSION NOW

I have a lot of thoughts about Connor. I strongly disagree with the boring-sayers. He is not boring; he’s stiff and bland on camera out of both intention and The Tism and clearly has a lot actually going on once the panopticon is looking away (oxymoron statement but u know). Obviously he’s best in the world type whatever beat but thats like. The least interesting thing abt him. Dude is SO haunted it’s like you took a good portion of the sort of hockey curse an entire team typically develops and then dropped it right on his head like some sort of cartoon piano. But he is blissfully oblivious to the genre and is tragically determined to power through. 

I think he’s kind of spineless ultimately and this is what makes him say such vanilla things and let himself get so thoroughly and obviously managed by lk1 and stuff. but also that he is very single-minded and knows what he wants and is unafraid to pursue that at the cost of neglecting everything else in his life. Which is a pretty self-destructive habit when you have curses and whatnot but again, completely unaware of that, so he’s just barreling head-on towards the void, head down skates pumping

His edges are decent but he’s a speed skater by trade far more than a figure skater… jason brown could win 5 art rosses but connor mcdavid could NEVER do riverdance!!!

Completely unrelated to my thoughts on connor at all but the endless font of ohl bodies and the churning mill of eteri girls. It’s the same it’s all the same

FAVOURITE MOMENT

don’t say mccheatgate it’s not worth it--

In all honesty. Either Connor mc lukewarm gay rights statement, the adorable little standbyme video at the draft where it’s him n mitch and dylan and none of them can really sing and they’re all so obviously terrified but trying to cheer each other up bad, or that one ad where they’ve dolled him up and made him act. And he’s like beach chair lounging in the middle of the ice and stuff

IDEA FOR STORY

i think the most ideal thing narratively to happen to davo is Catastrophe. like we all know he has this very rigid and unquestioned worldview because he has never bothered to really look outside what the nhl straighttrack/lauren kyle has planned for him it’s most compelling to just. completely upend that

mccareer changing injury is a good one but ive already seen that one said. i do have this scrap of 9734 floating around thats like. leon gets fridged and he cant live with oilerhood after that so he goes the 1 other place he can stomach himself being (torono) and then falls in deeply toxic-homoerotic-codependency love with am34. and obviously is forced to reconsider his entire worldview about the ticking clock and the impermanency of life and grief and curses and haunting because damn leo you’re supposed to be dead why do i keep seeing u everywhere etc. it is important for my NARRATIVES that mcdavid is widowed and/or divorced

UNPOPULAR OPINION

i realize this one in context to the last sentence makes it look like i hate drai. I do not hate drai drai is the best oiler and his only competition is nuge. That being said.

I had a friend (knows nothing about hockey) and she thinks that connor is hotter than draisaitl. And like. I don’t completely agree. But i mostly do agree. very shallow of me yes i know but davo is CUTE and his cringefail ghost swag is kinda HOT and the long hair/mcjesus flow was SEXY

FAV RELATIONSHIP

bobby orr is a family friend and he knows wayne gretzky quite well because of oilersness and stuff. so im going to say his relationship with All That Came Before is my favourite

2997 close second tho. Get more divorced

FAV HEADCANON

the tism is kind of verging on the nebulously canon but like. Im not going to formally diagnose a man i dont know and enjoy sexualising on the internet so it’s getting put in here

[praetorqueenreyna]

I disagree with your take on men not being able to experience SA (even if Ianthe is a stupid character and its alarming that SJM only seems to villianize her female characters committing SA) but there's something to say about a group of people coming after you for saying men don't experience SA in the most unserious way possible when that group of people also unseriously support and romanticise the SA scene with Fey/sand.

its ACOTAR, a fandom rife with horrible SA takes and depictions but they can somehow set that aside to stan the whole entire series and all of its demeaning themes and characterizations. Its also not lost on me that this went from "you're not putting wlw ships in a survey" to a whole research session on your opponent to discredit the fact that they did do the survey twice and it was for petty reasons.

Once again I wish you hadn't worded your take on men and SA like that, but hey it's your space and we do curate our online experiences. If that person knew beforehand that you posted things like that, why do the survey? If they had to search your blog after the survey argument to put a weight on your general character to take away from the original argument? Still backhanded, still not very "curating your online experience". We're all 30+ years old on a website that is very unserious and has supporters of incest of all things. I'd like to think half the things we are into or say here are unseriously said/or not said at all out in our regular everyday lives.

SO I will fully admit that that post was poorly worded. It was a casual post that was never supposed to get any traction, just something to throw my opinion into the ether. Not a serious analysis of how SJM expresses power dynamics and sexual assault. Part of why it's so confusing is that I literally got bored halfway through the tags and just stopped writing things.

Of course men can experience sexual assault from women, regardless of anybody's sexuality or attractiveness. My point was that women in power do not systemically abuse men in the way that men do women. I'm tired of lukewarm liberal feminists (such as SJM) trying to make some point about how the true victims of patriarchy are men. And that online warriors like the people throwing a fit about this do literally nothing to help sexual assault victims of ANY gender, and think that attacking some random person over a random post counts as social action.

But I totally agree with you! SJM seems perfectly happy to show over and over again these villainous powerful women who are somehow skeevy enough to offput the horniest men in world, but are conventionally attractive and don't really do much other than aggressively throw themselves at men. Which ALSO was a point of confusion: that post was not about Ianthe and Lucien. Obviously Lucien doesn't want to have sex with Ianthe bc he's gay. It was about how Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel are all written as these shallow horndogs who bang everything with tits, but are somehow genre savvy enough to know that Ianthe is a Bad Female Character and are disgusted by her. It's not cohesive, it's just a way for SJM to villainize a caricature of a person and make her male characters (who btw are WAY more sexually violent than Ianthe has ever been) seem like good characters.

But again, this kind of bad faith interpretation and virtue signalling has nothing to do with real victims of anything. Because if it did, they would have had an actual conversation with me, rather than putting words in my mouth over what I did and didn't say. Quite frankly, they're mad that I'm a Tamlin fan, and so they're trying to tear me down however they can. Like you said, first it was "well she's lesbophobic bc there are no wlw ships on the survey." Then when I made my point about how the people who complain about that do NOTHING to actually contribute wlw content to fandom, it shifts to me doing something else. If I kept up the conversation and tried to defend myself, I would be accused of some other crime.

ANYWAY this is exactly the kind of conversation I do enjoy having, so I do appreciate this ask! It is so important to cultivate your fandom experience and try not to take this stuff so seriously, especially for a series as poorly conceived as ACOTAR. Not all of my posts have been winners, but the actual content of those posts doesn't matter. Because I like Tamlin, I'm always going to be a criminal of SOME kind to these people.

I fully admit I should have just deleted the original ask because it was not sent to open a real dialogue. It's a lesson I have to keep learning over and over again, but maybe someday it'll stick!

[marzipanandminutiae]

can you tell me what crimson peak is? (book, movie, tv show) and reccomend how-or if- i should consume it.

Crimson Peak is a gothic romance movie released in 2015. It was directed by Guillermo Del Toro, and the basic plot is that, in 1901, a young American woman with a propensity for seeing ghosts marries a mysterious British aristocrat and moves to his crumbling ancestral manse in The Middle of Nowhere, England. She begins to suspect that all is not as it seems with her new husband and his devoted but mercurial sister, sees more ghosts, and struggles to unravel the house’s secrets before it’s too late.

As you can probably tell, I ADORE this movie. Falling in Fandom with it is slightly more recent, but it’s been one of my favorites ever since I saw it in theatres. It was a box office flop and got mostly lukewarm reviews, due largely to the fact that Universal marketed it as a horror movie. So when horror fans got to the theatre and found a few jumpscares sprinkled in with a whole lot of Let’s Examine Some Interpersonal Relationships...there was disappointment.

(“It’s not scary!” Yeah, it’s not supposed to be scary. Or at least, that’s not the primary goal. The studio really shot this poor movie in the foot.)

Though the plot was hit or miss for most people, everybody praised the visuals. Which are absolutely breathtaking. This movie is my gold standard for artistic period costumes, and the house (which they BUILT IN ITS ENTIRETY, WITH EVERY ASPECT FUNCTIONAL, ON A SOUNDSTAGE) is basically my dream home. I like the whole package, story and all, but everyone agrees that it’s a gorgeous movie.

That being said, we have some content warnings to go over. Namely: violence, gore, blood and blood imagery, descriptions of domestic abuse, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, and sibling incest. Sorry for the spoiler, but I know that’s a big trigger for some people. Also a dog gets killed, but the act itself is hidden behind a character’s huge billowy skirt, so you just hear brief anguished yelping.

I heartily recommend it if my description sounds appealing to you and none of the content is an issue. It’s on Netflix, if that helps. Hope that clears things up!

[yurissweettooth]

Hey! Curiosity is killing me, so I want to ask: Do you have an unpopular opinion or something like that about T&B? It's ok if you don't want to answer!

Hi!! Thanks for the ask! :D In all honesty I don't think I have too many truly unpopular opinions or at least not many that are hot takes or anything. My criticisms and whatnot of the show and characters tend to line up with other people's in most cases. But! A few lukewarm takes I have under the cut...

-I think the biggest one is that I don't particularly like the way the fandom treats Ivan like he's a soft, innocent little baby. I relate to him a lot and I find that we're quite similar both in personality, interests, and insecurities so I always found it cool to see him grow stronger and more confident. However, I feel like a lot people lump him in with the kids due to his height and shy/insecure personality. It's weird because he's friends with Keith (and also seems to be the main one supporting/helping him and not vice versa) who is far more immature, ditsy, and childlike yet because of his looks he is seen and treated as an adult by the fandom while Ivan isn't. IVAN IS AN ADULT TOO! Us short, sensitive, baby faced adults are still adults! >:( -The first OP is greatly superior, I skip the second one every time other than on the first episode it appears on. -I feel bad for Edward. I know he did some terrible things but I don't think he's a villain like I see a lot of people portray him as. He was a kid who tried to do what he thought was right and made a mistake that ruined his life and likely left him with trauma that he's handling poorly. -I'm not really that big of a fan of Taibani. Like, I DO like them and I think they're cute but I mostly only get hyped while I'm actively watching the show since they're just there, outside of that I rarely think about them or have any strong feelings (unless it's Barnaby/Kotetsu/Yuri or Apollon Trio ships). Even if Taibani became canon I would just make my own ships anyway like Bunny/Yuri and Kotetsu/Antonio because I love my rarepairs... -Ryan is kinda boring and unlikeable in canon, I only like him when he's got 5 million headcanons slapped on him or for pairings. -Jake is the sexiest character in the whole show and no I will not be taking questions (Yuri is close second but I just love crusty men with shitty tattoos who don't know how to dress). Honestly if it weren't for the fact that he died or the fact that he threw Yuri's trauma in his face in the manga he might actually have been my favorite character. -Much like everyone else I will continue to bully him relentlessly for it anyway but... I actually like how Barnaby's empty apartment looks😐 -Virgil's story is kind of stupid as is the whole main plot of the Rising. Still love him and his movie though. -Yuri should have kept his ugly reaper outfit because it was 100% superior and cooler than the regular Lunatic suit we see now. He has a clear theme and motif going here, wtf is he supposed to be in the current version?

[loopy777]

It is commonly accepted by the entire fandom that avatars one bad episode was the great divide. Was there any other episodes that you felt was bad or lukewarm?

Ohya. I got my hit list:

.

The King of Omashu - This is the best one on this list just thanks to Bumi's character, but I can't get over the """""""mystery""""""" of Bumi. Who is the intended audience for this episode? Are they supposed to know that Bumi is Aang's old friend? Because it's super-obvious, straight down to using the same 'circus music' motif for his young and old selves, and yet the show treats it as a reveal. This bothers me. A lot of early Avatar is hampered by seeming to have mixed ideas about its audience, with its ideas and setting being wasted on stories for little kids, like 'The Great Divide,' but I find this episode to be the most egregious.

The Great Divide - Honestly, I only consider this one to be lukewarm. It's dumb and exaggerated and obviously written for 5-year-olds, but I still feel like it's more mature than a lot of LoK, and the twist at the end that Aang lied is great fun. The fandom beating on this one so hard has always seemed weird to me.

The Fortuneteller - This has some really funny and good Sokka moments, but otherwise it is such a boring episode with the romantic shenanigans.

The Northern Air Temple - Lukewarm storytelling, and I've never particularly liked the message, especially the destructive and polluting way the Mechanist is changing the temple. Also, some parts of the battle are hampered by playing to little kids again, like going out of the way to show that the weapons are non-lethal like the slime bombs- and then Sokka wins the day with a massive explosion that is pretty strongly implied to have killed a hundred people. I almost feel like the creative team had an identity crisis in the middle of making this episode.

The Swamp - This episode is the closest AtLA comes to pointless filler. Yes, even compared 'The Great Divide.' If it wasn't for Zuko's two scenes, I'd advocate new fans skipping this one. The hallucinations for Sokka and Katara are the only two worthwhile moments, and honestly I kind of hate the swamp foretelling Toph's role. Prophecy is a weird thing to include in Avatar, considering how the setting seems to work, and to waste it on Toph, who is already presented as the natural choice for Aang's teacher, is just dumb. I'll give it credit for the "Everything is Connected" theme being a big part of AtLA's messaging as a whole, but the Guru does it better.

Avatar Day - I'm sorry, the only good gAang-parts of this whole episode are Aang in prison, the flashback to Kyoshi, and the unfried-dough scene. This is also representative of the humor in AtLA actually getting sillier, IMO, compared even to when it was trying to cater to little kids. You can see it especially in Sokka's detective shtick, and while I do like that he loosens up as the series goes on, I see a direct line between this episode and "Get out of the bison's mouth."

The Headband - While I appreciate the look at the Fire Nation citizenry and really like what it implies about the nature of the Fire Lord's rule, there's no denying that after such a strong run of storytelling in Book Earth, this marks a much more meandering pace and lower stakes, and seems to just be marking time until they roll out the Invasion for Sweeps Week. I still don't actually understand what the gAang was doing in these episodes. Why didn't they rejoin Hakoda? I know, in terms of storytelling, we had to see the Fire Nation, but it is never justified in-universe.

The Painted Lady - More meandering, a Sokka subplot with the schedule that would seem important but then is never mentioned again, and also lukewarm storytelling all around. And the solution for this is simple- this story should have been told after Zuko joins the gAang, when he can react and add some additional spark to the character interactions. Actually, most of early Book Fire should have been pushed back to after Zuko joins the gAang, and then they journey to the Western Air Temple together while trying to lay low and avoid Azula as a pursuer.

The Beach - This is hands-down the worst episode in all of the Avatar franchise. Even the worst of LoK is better. Gene Yang's comics are worse, though, so at least it has that going for it.

The Ember Island Players - I like what this episode is trying to do. But, honestly, while the comedy here is much better constructed than 'The Beach,' Avatar in generally isn't really good with humor most of the time, so episodes wholly devoted to it are going to fall flat for me. Also, the little Kataang subplot complicates the romantic arc without actually adding anything to it for either the characters or their dynamic (I still don't really know what Katara meant by claiming to be confused, and our ability to makes guesses does not mean the answer is anywhere in AtLA), and the arc would actually be improved by removing it.

.

10 bad apples out of 61 ain't bad, huh?

[warm-starlight]

First of, wishing you good health and hope the next shot will pass without any effects ❤️

Second, I just read on insta that Isayama said he's sorry for the disappointment he caused the fans with the last chapter?? And the poster also mentioned there were fans who bullied his editor, went after erens va and shit on the animation??

Aot really has the worst fanbase smh.... Why are so mean and ungrateful? I too was initially mad, then disappointed then lukewarm about the ending but wouldnt dare go after yams. We have to understand that he doesn't owe us. The mentality of: the fans made you famous and you got profit out of them so you must bow down and fullfill their every wish is bs and so so toxic and wrong.... We have to understand that when an artist and/or author puts something out it's their vision, their story and we can either enjoy it or not. It's a personal issue if you didn't like it, not the artist's problem.

Just because we can hide behind a keyboard doesn't mean there's not a real person at the receiving end of the words we type out and that what we say is less hurtful bc "it's just the internet you can voice your opinion". There must always be human respect, it's the basis of our societies existence and if there's no respect there's just chaos.

God, the aot fandom really is either too obsessed with a character, shitting on another and bully each other for that and oh dear lord, the ship wars....

We all need to go outside, touch some grass and just get back on earth and reality. In the end, aot is just a piece of media and just bc you didn't like stuff about it, it isn't the end of the world and doesn't give anyone any right to go after Isayama. He did nothing wrong or illegal, he just told the story how he envisioned it. Just bc you interpreted things otherwise/had theories and ships that didn't happen/your fave died doesn't give anyone excuse to bully. We have to understand that while we can entertain hcs and theories and whatnot, this is Isayama's work, his blood and sweat and in the end he gets to write what he wants. And no matter what we all think, no one knows the aot world and characters better than their creator so in the end he knows what is best.... Maybe perhaps you didn't understand it? And rereading with an open mind can help put some things in perspective? We all need to stop rushing and hating, seriously now.

Let's all just be nice, positive, sit back and open our povs, accept other opinions and approaches, be more mindful of what we say and how it'll make someone feel. Fandoms are supposed to be a fun experience for everyone as long as there's respect of others opinions (not counting ableist, homophobic and racist opinions, people with this type of thinking should revaluate and then come back). It's ok if in the end you didn't like something, it's a valid opinion. Disrespecting someone's hard work isn't though...

And let's all stop pointing fingers bc that will just keep going in an endless circle of hate. Generally let's all relax and have more respect for one another and listen instead of throwing insults to each other and the creator when he never hurt anyone except some egos ig.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate them.

[alottamoney]

Lisa anon,

I’m just gonna answer leaving out the “jumbled parts” as you called them. I hope you don’t mind.

I think "coming out" in any capacity is not possible right now or in the near future unless someone slips. Idk saying some things exclusive only to Taekook are being transferred to Jikook is assuming whatever we are seeing is all that is happening in their lives.

When I said dissociate, I had some people I know in mind. It was just a suggestion. I understand not all Taekookers think this way, and I get the reason for insecurity. I can dissociate Jikook from Taekook, that's why I don't get upset when Jikook inevitably happens, and I'm only talking about Taekookers who call themselves supporters, not casual shippers because if ship wars and meltdowns are your thing then I obviously won't and can't stop anyone. If you're convinced about Taekook, if you have looked into things beyond the surface more than a regular fan has, if you know what a promoted ship is and the characteristics of Kpop, then why compare Taekook to Jikook on a moment-to-moment basis? Why not Namkook or that tattoo artist in that case? It makes about as much sense to me. Again, I'm talking about and to supporters who think beyond shipping and actual real world events and consequences. 

As far as ships go, I agree that Jikook is not like other ships. It's a completely different monster. At this point, I don't think the way BH advertises Jikook is doing them any favors. Do you really think this hickey incident is a good look for Jimin and only affects Jungkook negatively? It's embarrassing (for everyone who didn't trend that hashtag). I don't understand BH strategies. It doesn't matter who looks uncomfortable, as long as none of them verbalize their discomfort there is no use countering anything especially when the overall narrative is against Taekook and all I'm saying is that it's not our jobs to. Let them deal with the mess they created.

Vmin seems fine. I think they interact enough. The fandom just seems to have a lukewarm reaction to them compared to the other two ships. I also don’t think anyone is thinking of vmin in terms of Taekook or Jikook, it’s a ship that stands on it’s own weirdly enough. They were even allegedly spotted together recently (that trended too) make of that what you will.

Of course they want to make Taekook a non-serious pair, why are you surprised by this? Technically no one is supposed to take ships seriously. Taekook are popular individually and together and yet BH continuously sabotages Taekook with fan disservice- the ITS talk, Jikook- yes, a lot of people dropped Taekook after this because contrary to popular belief shippers and supporters don’t survive on just “crumbs”. It also debunks the idea that BH is stringing along Taekookers by marketing Taekook as a "hidden” couple. BH doesn’t care how anyone views Taekook and it doesn’t look like they’re trying to profit off of them. The promoted ship isn’t hiding anything, although the way BH choose to promote them is increasingly worrying. Anyway, I’d rather not overthink this.

[lady-divine-writes]

Serendipity (Rated PG13)

Summary: Aziraphale’s best friend Tracy sets him up on a blind date, but the man who shows up isn’t what he expects. (4351 words)

Notes: Written for the @ineffable-valentines prompt ‘perfect date’ and inspired by a post I saw @miraworos reblog on tumblr, which happened to be the exact premise of a story I had written a long time ago for another fandom. So I brushed it off, re-sculpted it, and voila. I hope y'all like it

Read on AO3.

“So … how’re the crepes treating you? Are they everything you dreamed they’d be?”

“Oh my yes! They’re absolute Heaven!”

“They should be. This place is famous for them.”

“Good, because they’re my favorite.”

“I know. That’s why I brought you here. More wine?”

“That depends … are you trying to get me drunk?” Playful blue eyes, twinkling above cheeks darkening from baby pink to dusty rose, meet seductive liquid gold.

Lush lips split into a devilish grin. “Maybe.”

Those blue eyes dip down to those inviting lips and linger there, lost in a daydream of mouths meeting, tongues sweeping, kisses traveling, caressing pale skin … “Well, at least you’re honest about it.”

Wine pours. Glasses clink and the robust red sipped. Fingers snap, and like magic, another bottle of wine appears.

“Now,” the devilish lips ask, “where was I?”

“You heard something in your walls?”

“Oh yes. For days I’m hearing scritch-scritch-scritch, and the pattering of tiny feet on my marble floors morning and night, like little ghosts wearing tap shoes puttering about my flat.”

“Ooo! That’s spooky!”

Subtle shrug. “Don’t bother me. I like spooky. Big spooky fan me. So I look and look. but I can’t find where it’s coming from. And I mean, I look everywhere …”

Aziraphale covers his mouth and giggles, blown away by how drawn in he’s become to this story. Reuben is such a dynamic storyteller. Aziraphale feels like he’s there with him, searching his house for the mysterious scratching that’s plagued him day and night, shivers as his description of them runs its nails delightfully up his spine. For good or bad, Aziraphale is invested now, even though the events of this tale are over and resolved. Reuben pauses his story; chuckles shyly, too; while Aziraphale waits patiently to hear the rest of the saga.

“To make a long story short, I take apart the entire wall unit, and finally I find the culprit – the cutest family of white rats I have ever seen! Momma had made a nest in the insulation and had babies! Five of them! I couldn’t believe it!”

“Oh no!” The tips of a mouth turn down as those shivers make a return trip. “I don’t personally fancy rats. What did you do?”

“The only thing I could do.” Reuben takes a sip of his wine – a 2014 Bogle Petite Sirah. It sounded so scrummy when Reuben ordered it, Aziraphale couldn’t help himself. He had to have a glass, too. And Reuben was not wrong. Its dense blueberry and blackberry flavors compliment the crepes exquisitely. The alcohol doesn’t overwhelm the palette, but it’s racy enough to bring color to Aziraphale’s cheeks. “I adopted her. Named her Rogue.”

“You adopted wild rats!?”

“Turns out - not wild. After a little investigating, I found out that momma rat had belonged to a neighbor who moved out a week ago. They couldn’t bring the rat with them, or they didn’t want to, so they set her loose in the garden downstairs. She ended up getting back in somehow.” Reuben runs his index finger around the rim of his glass. “It may sound bonkers but I admire Rogue. I really do. Abandoned by the family she thought would love and take care of her, she fights and struggles to find a safe place to have her brood, which ends up being the place she was cast out from. I couldn’t just put her on the street.” He sighs, a fond but sad smile crossing his lips. “Reminds me a bit of my mum, to tell you the truth - the unforgiving life she had raising me and my sisters after our father left …”

Aziraphale gasps, that confession wrapping around his heart and giving it a solid tug. He could listen to Reuben talk all night. But he’s not just a great storyteller. He happens to be sweet, funny, attractive (God is he attractive! But, of course, Aziraphale has always been a sucker for hazel eyes like his, with flecks of gold that brighten the irises when the alcohol flows or the lighting is right). And as if that wasn’t enough, he works at one of the most successful (and philanthropic) firms in the city. But he doesn’t wear his wealth on his sleeve, doesn’t flaunt it like a selling point. His shirt is vintage, the wine he ordered costs $20 a bottle, and he came here on the tube. Personality, modesty, good looks, environmentally conscious, a stable career … Aziraphale sighs. In his opinion, Reuben is close to the perfect guy, and this blind date is going swimmingly!

Too bad it isn’t his.

“Oh Reuben …” Lorelei – Reuben’s date – blots her eyes with her napkin. She reaches across the table to touch his hand. Reuben’s eyes flick towards the touch and he smiles brighter.

Oh yeah, Aziraphale thinks, raising his glass and finishing the last of his Sirah. They’re having a fabulous night.

Aziraphale pulls out his pocket watch and checks the time. 

9:45.

He’s been sitting at the table next to theirs for over an hour, waiting for his own Reuben to appear. Aziraphale figured out thirty minutes ago that his blind date wasn’t coming. He’s gotten no texts, no calls, no apologies, no explanation why. Reuben and Lorelei might have a glowing future together, but his date for the evening is definitely a bust. The wait staff knows it, too. Every time the waitress stops by, offering to refill his water glass, it’s with a sympathetic smile. She’s long since stopped asking him if he wants to pack up what’s left of his crepes to go.

What’s left.

That’s a joke.

It’s pretty much the whole order.

He lost his appetite a long time ago.

Aziraphale reaches for his cell phone but stops with his hand on his pocket. He’s not going to be that guy. He’s not going to send another text. He’s not going to give this man an easy out, refuses to give him the benefit of the doubt and say, “Well, I guess you got caught up. Text me back and we can reschedule for another time.”

Aziraphale is done.

He just wishes he knew why.

Why doesn’t dating work out for him?

He’s not a bad guy, if he does say so himself. He’s reasonably attractive (at least, he’s always thought so). He owns his own small business, even if it doesn’t necessarily turn a profit, but money isn’t something he needs to worry about anyway. He’s doing what he loves, therefore he’s living the dream.

He’s not asking for much. He’s not looking for the perfect man, just a nice one. One who might share some of his interests like theater, food, music, wine, food, books … food. But on the whole, he wants to find a man who wants to spend time with him, get to know him, who maybe isn’t ashamed of doing cutesy, romantic things, like hold the door open for him, pull his chair out for him, offer him half his desert the way Reuben did with Lorelei.

Reuben.

Aziraphale peeks back over at the happy couple.

As Reuben stares into Lorelei’s eyes and signals for the check, Aziraphale knows that he needs to face facts and be done with this. His roommate Tracy has, yet again, succeeded in finding him a date that’s not interested in actually dating.

Where does she even find these guys?

More to the point, why hasn’t he learned to say no to her?

Unfortunately, he won’t get to gripe to her about it until Monday when she comes back from some spiritualist retreat she went on with their friend Anathema, so Aziraphale has a long, lonely weekend of reading Oscar Wilde and drinking (Irish) cocoa to look forward to until then.

Aziraphale takes one last sip of the lukewarm water in his overfilled glass and decides to ask for the check. He feels awful. He may have ordered a full meal but he’s barely touched it. Plus, even though he’s done his best to be as polite as possible, he has wasted over an hour of their time occupying a table that could have been made available to other paying customers on this busy Friday night.

He prays he has a forgettable face. On the off chance he ever comes in here again, he wouldn’t want them spitting in his food.

He looks around the dining room in search of his waitress – a lovely young red-head with freckles across the bridge of her nose and a permanent pout. He doesn’t see her, but spots a man rushing towards his table – a tall, remarkably handsome man dressed all in black and wearing designer sunglasses (indoors!); cheeks flushed as if he’s been running in the cold; a warm, inviting smile aimed his way.

“Hey there, handsome. Sorry I’m so late,” the man says, pulling out a chair, spinning it around, and straddling it across from Aziraphale in a move that makes Aziraphale’s breath catch. “I wish I could say I was stuck behind a seven car pile-up or something, but I really have no exciting excuse. Not that the M25 isn’t a bitch at this hour, but I didn’t take it so, again, no excuse.”

The man smiles at Aziraphale, waiting for him to laugh at his joke. Aziraphale looks suspiciously back, turning his head left and right, searching for an explanation.

“I … I’m sorry,” he says, addressing the man, mostly through side-eye glances. “Are you are you … looking for me?”

“Yes.” The man extends an arm across the table. “I’m your date for the evening. I’m Tracy’s friend Gabriel.”

“You?” Aziraphale raises an eyebrow. “You’re Gabriel?”

The man’s smile becomes wider in a tense sort of way. “Yes, I am.”

Aziraphale looks left and right again, obviously skeptical.

The man folds his hand on the table and sighs.

“Look, Aziraphale, I know I was supposed to be here at a quarter to nine, and I know you’ve probably called and texted a hundred times. I’m really, really sorry.” He looks down at his thumbs, fidgeting as he speaks. “I know this is going to sound lame, but I got caught up at work, and then my car ran empty. I wanted to call you, but I left my phone at the office.” The man sighs again, deeper, the air leaving his body causing him to flatten a bit. “This has been a pretty shite day, all things considered, and I was really looking forward to this date tonight. I would like the opportunity to make it up to you.” The man looks at Aziraphale from behind dark lenses, a sincere expression of regret on his face, eyes peeking over the frames pleading for a second chance.

Hazel eyes, with so many gold flecks crowding in they practically shine.

“Will you let me try?”

Aziraphale is stunned to silence. He doesn’t quite believe that Gabriel ever intended on showing up at all. But then, why is he here? Did some other plans he made fall through? Did he feel guilty about blowing Aziraphale off and turn around at the last minute? Aziraphale knows he has every right to leave - stand up, say goodbye, and go on his merry way. But Gabriel did show up – the first of three blind dates to even bother – so maybe Aziraphale should give him a chance.

He’s mulling it over when he catches sight of the man staring at him, a flirty smile on his lips that Aziraphale can’t help find alluring.

“Please?” the man mouths, the hands he’d folded on the table finding their way up to his chin to aid in his begging. “Please?”

Aziraphale rolls his eyes to pry his gaze away from the man’s mouth. “Alright. It sounds like you had a hard day. I can’t fault you for that.” The man looks relieved. His smile turns slightly impish, and Aziraphale finds himself giggling without meaning to. “Why don’t we have a nibble and get to know one another?”

Gabriel smacks his hand on the table in triumph. “Great!” he says, reclining back on the chair like a large snake relaxing in the sun. “Thank you! I promise, you won’t regret it!”

A hint of a smirk twists Aziraphale’s mouth at the corners as his waitress makes a sudden and unexpected appearance. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, my dear. You have a bit of time to make up for.”

***

“So my mate rings me up, and he’s screaming …” Gabriel gestures with his hands as he gets more into the story he’s telling, and Aziraphale watches, utterly captivated. If Aziraphale thought Reuben was a good storyteller, it’s only because he hadn’t met this man yet. “He’s straight yelling, “They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere! And it’s bloodcurdling, ya know? Like straight out of a horror movie. And I’m trying to pretend I have no idea what he’s talking about …” He pauses to catch his breath in the middle of a laugh while Aziraphale, already in tears, pictures Gabriel sitting at home, listening to his friend Ligur yelling while trying to make out like he has no idea what the man is on about. “And I’m just like, “Calm down, buddy.” But at home, I’m biting my fist trying not to blow my cover. And the next thing I know - bzzt.”

Aziraphale sobers slightly, his eyebrows shooting up. “Bzzt? What does that mean? Bzzt?”

“Bzzt as in the line goes dead. And on my end, the world might as well’ve stopped spinning because I knew what happened.”

“And what did happen?” Aziraphale asks, on the edge of his seat.

“They’d destroyed it! The rats! Those furry little buggers, they managed to knock out the phone system! And not just in my neck of the woods, but the whole of London!”

Aziraphale’s eyes go wide. “That was you!?”

Gabriel points to himself proudly. “That was me! All because …”

“All because you fed a rat!?”

“All because I fed a rat!” Gabriel guffaws so loudly, other diners turn their way to make sure he’s not choking.

“I remember that day!” Aziraphale says, but not too upset since he’s not all that fond of his cell phone. Necessary evil in his opinion. Tracy made him get it so he could field calls from potential suitors. But Tracy, who spends hours on the phone talking to her fiance, was livid!

It gives Aziraphale no small measure of satisfaction to say he now knows the man who inconvenienced her.

“I didn’t know its whole family lived in the building! Extendeds and all! I thought it was just one rat!”

“And what happened to them?”

“Exterminator, I guess,” Gabriel says with a hint of regret in his voice. “Rats are smart, though. Resilient, too. I’m hoping they got away.”

His story brings to Aziraphale’s mind Reuben’s story about the rat in his walls. He looks towards the table where he and his date were sitting, but a new couple has taken their place.

Huh, he thinks. Wonder when they left?

Aziraphale, having ordered a second glass of wine, takes a healthy sip, but the buzz he gets from the alcohol is nothing compared to the one he already has from this date with Gabriel.

“I have to say,” Aziraphale says as the laughter dies down, “I was a little wary about being set up. I mean, you hear so many stories. Best case scenario, you find your soulmate. Worst case, you wind up in the boot of someone’s car. But this is going so well!”

“Yeah. Yeah, it is,” Gabriel agrees, becoming suddenly quiet.

“I’ve never met a real live Pied Piper before!”

Gabriel laughs, but it’s not like before - not as effervescent and carefree. Aziraphale looks down at the empty plates on the table, at the stray pieces of crepes and deviled eggs they’d ended up splitting, not a single full bite left. As it turned out, they both ordered really well. Aziraphale didn’t think it was possible for two things to be so compatible.

He was wrong, pleasantly so.

“I know you had a rotten day but thank you for showing up. This was probably the most perfect blind date ever.” Aziraphale watches Gabriel, concerned that his attention seems to be slipping away.

Before he gets to comment, Gabriel beats him to it.

“Aziraphale, I have a confession to make.”

Aziraphale feels the butterflies that have been dancing in his stomach during dinner drop dead, as if hit by a sudden frost.

“Yes, Gabriel?”

“I …”

“Crowley! Hey! Fancy seeing you here, ya old bastard!”

Aziraphale’s attention pulls to the left, to a man with white hair and dark eyes heading their way. No, Aziraphale amends. He’s going to go past them, to a table on their right since neither of them are named Crowley. Aziraphale peeks at the handful of tables there, but no one seems to notice the man calling over their heads.

No one named Crowley is responding to his call.

He is sort of making a scene. Maybe this Crowley is trying to ignore him?

But the man coming their way seems completely focused on Gabriel.

Aziraphale looks to Gabriel, staring down at his plate and concentrating on it, as if praying this man, whoever he is, will pass them by.

Who could it be to him to elicit such a reaction, especially when it’s obvious he’s got the wrong man?

“Gabriel?” Aziraphale says, worried that perhaps something they ate soured his stomach. “Is there something the matter?”

Gabriel closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Aziraphale, I …”

“Crowley!” The man comes right up to their table and claps a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, hard enough to make him flinch. “How long has it been, huh? Two months? Three?”

Gabriel sighs. He turns to the man looming over him and smiles the strained smile of a man about to commit a murder. “Hastur! Buddy! What a pleasant surprise!”

“Yeah.” The man chuckles. “You look like it is.”

“I thought you were vacationing down under.”

“Well, I’m back now. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” he asks, taking no time cutting to the chase.

“Aziraphale,” Gabriel … no, Crowley … says, doing everything in his power to avoid the full intensity of Aziraphale’s confused gaze, “I’d like to introduce you to Hastur. He’s … uh … an old friend of mine from school. Hastur, this is Aziraphale. He’s my … date for the evening.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Hastur says, extending a hand. Aziraphale takes it and gives it a shake. It’s cold from the outdoors but not unpleasant. Hastur, on the whole, isn’t being impolite. He’s just oblivious.

As is Aziraphale.

“I’ve been tellin’ this asshat for years now he needs to get off his high horse and start dating again. Nice to see he finally took my advice.”

“Yeah, well, now that I have, why don’t you make yourself scarce so Aziraphale and I can continue?” Crowley grumbles, shooting Hastur several venom-filled glares.

“A’right, a’right,” he says, putting his hands up in defense, “don’t mind me. Just headin’ to the bar anyhow. Ring me up later, Crowley. We’ll go out for a few. Maybe your friend can come with us.”

“Will do.”

“You gentlemen have a nice night.” He bumps Crowley with his hip, winks at Aziraphale, then turns on his heel and heads for the bar.

The silence he leaves behind at Aziraphale and Crowley’s table is so thick, it could suffocate a wild boar.

Aziraphale clears his throat first. “So …”

Crowley follows, a bit softer. “So …”

“Tell me the truth,” Aziraphale says, too emotionally charged to keep frustration from cracking his voice.

“And if you don’t like what you hear?” Crowley looks at Aziraphale’s hands worrying his napkin, as if he’s longing to reach across the table and take one. “Are you going to leave?”

“I’m going to leave anyway. I just want to know who I’m calling the cops on when I get outside.”

“Don’t do that. I’m harmless. I promise.”

“Who are you?”

“Well … as you probably already know, my name isn’t Gabriel,” he says, finally removing his glasses and setting them aside. “It’s Crowley. Anthony Crowley. And I wasn’t your blind date. I’m not the man your friend set you up with.”

Aziraphale moves the napkin to his lap and smooths it, giving himself something other than Crowley to look at.

“To tell you the truth, I had a feeling,” he confesses. “I mean, you don’t seem like the type of man my friend would usually set me up with.”

“What kind of men does she usually set you up with?”

Aziraphale chuckles. “I don’t know. They don’t tend to show up.” Crowley growls, shakes his head in disgust. Aziraphale is flattered by his reaction. But he has to ask, “I don’t understand why? Why did you do this?”

“I stopped in for a drink and I saw you sitting at this table, waiting for your date.” Crowley grins. “I have to admit, I thought you were a looker, so I kept looking. I heard you talking to the waitress, making jokes. You sounded like a nice guy. You told her how your friend set you up, how excited you were. Then I heard you calling, saw you texting, and waiting and waiting and …"

“And you took pity on me,” Aziraphale says, embarrassment wearing a pit in his stomach.

“No, I was angry! I was angry that some dumb fuck got the chance to have a date with such a great seeming guy like you and he bailed. Opportunities like that don’t come by all the time and he threw his away. But I saw an opportunity and I took it. And no matter what you think about me now, I’m glad I did. Because you’re great. You’re really great. And I hope that you’ll forgive me and let me take you out on a real first date.”

The table becomes quiet again - Crowley watching Aziraphale, Aziraphale looking at his lap. The whole restaurant seems to have gone silent, as if everyone around them who has listened to them laugh and talk and watched them share their meal is waiting to see what Aziraphale is going to say. From somewhere off toward the kitchen door, Crowley thinks he sees a few of the waitresses peeking around a corner, watching their table a little too intensely.

“What else was a lie?” Aziraphale asks. “Everything you said over dinner, was any of that true?”

“All of it,” Crowley says. “Everything I said about living in Mayfair, owning a Bentley, taking a permanent gap year, working as a nanny for kicks, being an obnoxious trust fund baby, tormenting my friends with a rat army … here … wait …” Crowley opens his jacket and reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone. He touches the screen, swipes it a few times, then hands it to Aziraphale. “Take a look. Granted I’ve only had this since the recent iPhone hit the bricks, but I’ve got a few pictures on it that should back me up. My Bentley, my flat, a few of my plants …” Crowley ticks photos off as Aziraphale flips through them. “There should even be one or two of the rats. Ligur sent them to me before he ran screaming.” Crowley snickers in such an off-handed way, Aziraphale can’t help believing him. And speak of the devil, next photo up is of a work station covered in black rats rooting through the works and apparently sending London skidding back to the dark ages.  

Maybe Aziraphale just wants to believe him, but as far as he’s concerned, Crowley is telling the truth.

“I … I don’t know,” Aziraphale says, handing the phone back.

“What?” Crowley asks, his expression of newly kindled hope falling off his face. “What don’t you know?”

“Yes, you’re telling the truth, but …”

“But …”

“I don’t know anything about you. Not really.”

“Fair enough,” Crowley says, slipping his phone back in his pocket. “But can I ask you a question?”

“I guess.”

“What did you know about Gabriel before you showed up here to meet him?”

“Well, I …” Aziraphale sits there with his mouth open, expecting words to come out that don’t exist, because he didn’t know anything about Gabriel. Not even what he looked like. Tracy told him that she showed Gabriel a picture of him, and that Gabriel would know him when he saw him. But other than that, all he had was Tracy’s assurance that they would work well together. In reality, Gabriel could have stopped by at some point, caught Aziraphale waiting for him, didn’t like what he saw, then turned around and left, and Aziraphale would have never known.

But Crowley on the other hand - Aziraphale has been talking to Crowley all through dinner. Provided he’s telling the truth, Aziraphale knows more about him than he does his best friend, and they used to room together.

“Okay,” he concedes. “You’ve got me. Alright, Crowley. Sure. I would love to go on a real first date with you.”

Crowley reaches his hand across the table and Aziraphale takes it, suddenly recalling the look in Reuben’s eye before he signaled for the check.

Crowley has a similar look.

He raises his hand for the check.

But after not seeing her for most of their meal, their waitress walks over and puts two glass flutes down. Then she pours each man a glass of champagne from a bottle Aziraphale is certain costs more than their meal.

“Uh, waitress?” Crowley calls to the woman before she can walk away.

“Yes, sir?”

“What’s this?” he asks, perplexed by the sudden appearance of alcohol.

“It’s champagne,” she says, as if that isn’t apparent. “The house special.”

“But we didn’t order champagne” Aziraphale points out.

“I know,” she says with a wink. “It’s on the house. Enjoy it. Take all the time you need …”

[out-of-this-dimension]

Some Thoughts on Star Fox as a Series

Disclaimer: This is a post mostly focusing on the gaming aspect of Star Fox, not really the lore and characters.  I think when a lot of people in the fandom talk about the series’s future, they hone in on the story and characters but I wanted to talk more or less about the series as games, not really as a story.

I remember when the first rumors of Star Fox Grand Prix came out and I was frankly a bit bummed.  I’m very lukewarm on racing games in general, having only really enjoyed Wave Race, Mario Kart, and Diddy Kong Racing out of the few I’ve tried out.  I wanted a follow up to Zero, since I felt dissatisfied by it overall.  I felt like it was halfway done and that it failed to breathe in that bit of life into the series that was desperately needed.  A racing game for the series felt... really weird, and part of it still does, but the more I dwelled on it, the more I realized that... sure, Grand Prix wasn’t what anyone had expected but maybe it wasn’t a bad thing?

And then, funnily enough, I thought back when I was a kid and when Star Fox Adventures came out.  A lot of people were very upset.  I was not one of them because I had been immersed at a very young age to the idea that some games in certain series just play differently.  Mario was always bopping between tennis, racing, party games, 2D platforming, RPG style gameplay, and 3D adventure jams.  Donkey Kong went from throwing barrels to 2D platforming to racing and to having his own 3D adventure.  Kirby went from 2D platforming to racing and even to fighting games.  It made sense to me that Fox McCloud could do the same.  And that leads me to my main “point” of this post.

I think it’s perfectly okay for the Star Fox series to step away from the spaceship shooter genre.

Don’t get me wrong-- I know that the heart of the series we’ve seen so far has been a on-rails shooting or all-range mode shooting.  But I think sometimes we (using this loosely for certain bits of the fandom) hyper fixate on Star Fox needing to be based on vehicular combat and maybe that sort of mentality is still the result of backlash from Adventures all of those years ago.  A lot of Star Fox fans were upset because of Adventures because it didn’t stick to their expectations of what would naturally evolve after SF64.  And they were absolutely correct to be surprised and maybe a bit upset (some people took it overboard but I applaud their passion, I guess).  Star Fox Adventures was not the natural sequel to the beloved SF64.  Assault fit the bill for that, building upon on-foot fighting teased in the Versus mode of SF64 and going back to a rails/all-ranged mode series of levels rather than a more open and explorable world.

That being said, I don’t... necessarily think that Star Fox Adventures was a mistake or a bad idea.  In fact, I actually think that an adventure-style subseries would work really well for Star Fox as a franchise.  In fact, I think there’s a lot they could do with the series in terms of branching out from the typical on-rails style spaceship shooter.  Having a racing game with a story and with boss fights (like what was rumored of Grand Prix) actually sounds like the fun Diddy Kong Racing sequel everyone kinda wanted.  Sure, Adventures was put together in a very rushed fashion, but why not actually invest in adventure-style series of games for Fox McCloud?  He’s a mercenary, after all, and I doubt every mission he takes is going to be able to be done in his Arwing.  

“But Star Fox isn’t a big IP.  Why bother reinventing the series as something beyond its genre when it’s not a big IP?”

That is true.  It’s not a huge IP but it is a legacy IP, one that Miyamoto has stated he’d love to do more with.  And honestly?  I kind of wonder if branching out the genre would garner more interest in the series from potential consumers.  Not everyone is really into the spaceship shooter genre and that’s fine.  I think with some innovation, maybe branching out in the genre department a bit, and decent marketing and the Star Fox series could honestly be twice as big as it is now.  It has the potential to market to a lot of different fans-- furries, sci-fi nerds, flight sim fans, general Nintendo fans, etc.

“But Star Fox is supposed to be a spaceship shooter game!  That’s the heart of the series!”

And I get that, in the same way that stomping Goombas is Mario’s staple. Star Fox can still have those types of titles in the series.  But I’d rather see the series evolve and thrive rather than cling onto what it’s traditionally been and the fans getting a half-baked game once every half decade or so.  I think much in the way that the gaming world has changed, Star Fox as a series has dug its heels into the ground in terms of gameplay and it needs a chance to breathe and grow.  I don’t think there’s been much growth for the series from a pure gameplay standpoint since Assault and that was 3 generations ago.  I want to add that I’m talking purely based on gameplay-- I’m not commenting at all on story or on character portrayal.

Two extreme games that I think highlight what I’m trying to say are Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey.  Of course these are both huge IPs for Nintendo and they received a lot of care.  But if you look at the gameplay, what they did was take the basics and let them grow, adding a few new mechanics to those specific games within the series for variety’s sake.  Assault did it similarly, particularly with vehicle swapping.  But... really, after Assault, I feel like we saw a step back.  Command obviously was limited by its console.  Zero has virtually no excuse in my book being 2 console generations after Assault and seeing nothing more than finnicky controls and a return to SF64 form... and with no versus mode to boot (still salty about that, don’t mind me).

“But is it a Star Fox game if it doesn’t have flying/on rails combat in it?”

Yes.  The answer is yes.  Because Star Fox isn’t about flying space ships. There’s a billion games that will let you fly ships.  But them having flying ships does not make them the same thing as a Star Fox game.  Star Fox is about the charm-- the fun banter between teammates, a world full of goofy sci-fi tropes with very quotable dialogue, and fun, quirky animal friends.  

And just because a Star Fox game isn’t purely on rails flying combat doesn’t mean it can’t have a nod or two.

“Okay, but if you want them to just make different genre games for Star Fox, why not just have Nintendo make a new IP entirely?”

New IPs are always a gamble and we know through the development of various games that Nintendo puts a LOT of work into making new IPs.  If you haven’t looked at the development of Splatoon on Wii U, I really recommend it.  It really shows why we don’t get many new IPs from Nintendo-- they’re super picky and they super wanna make sure that the IP will land on its feet successfully.

Star Fox is, again, a legacy IP and people know the characters.  That’s actually pretty huge because then you’re not having to market an entirely new cast.  

Starlink was a huge indicator that people want to see the Star Fox characters again.  The game may have sold poorly overall but the Switch sales were remarkably high compared to the other consoles and I’m 99% sure it’s because of brand familiarity and the Star Fox team.  

“Okay, okay, so you want Star Fox to evolve.  But what do you want to see?”

Honestly?  Something good.  Anything good.  Nothing that’s limited by the idea of what a Star Fox game “should” be.  I am a big believer in not stifling creativity and that extends to the gaming world as well.  I don’t want to see another rebranded SF64.  I want to see something they make with an honest, passionate heart, even if it’s something as outlandish as a Star Fox dating sim or even a Star Fox crossover with POKEMON or KIRBY or PIKMIN or... or anything else that sounds absolutely wacko.  

I just want a good game made with love that respects the series and doesn’t try to confine it.

Anyways THANKS FOR READING MY TED TALK

[shark-from-the-park]

FIC: The Fitzier of It, Episode One

A Fitzier The The Thick Of It AU in several parts.

So, I finally decided to start posting this long-ass fic and see what people think. You don’t need to have seen The Thick of It to get this. It’s just sweary political satire as a thinly veiled excuse to have James crush on Francis. Dedicated to @casperthefriendlylittlefan for constant cheerleading, encouragement and brainstorming, and for encouraging me to use my place-holder title for the fic instead of some pretentious thing.

Warnings for very bad language, frequent Britishisms, and Blanky. Also, this is still a WIP. Will be posted on AO3 when complete.

@casperthefriendlylittlefan @boisinberryjamarama @what-a-terrorific-mess @coffeesugarcream @hereliesnils @itisa-profoundbond-sarandom @the-jewish-marxist @cinemaocd @jaredharrisankles @thegreenmeridian - please PM me to be tagged in future installments/untagged/to ask questions/to say hi, etc. My love to all in the Fitzier fandom.

Episode One

“Look Francis…  There’s no need to be so coy with me.  I’m just saying that when you do finally announce this Westminster’s-worst-kept-secret leadership bid, you’re going to fucking need me on side, whether you want to admit it or not! Francis, Francis, for Christ’s sake, are you even listening to me?”  James felt the irritation that was so specific to Francis Crozier crawling along his spine and scraping across the breadth of his shoulder blades as the older man turned his face away from him.  

“You know Tom, I miss the days when acquaintances would address me as ‘Minister’.” Francis addressed his chief political aide as though James was not even in the room.  

“Aye, them were the days.  Respect, n’all that.”  Grinned Tom Blanky, flanking Francis on his left side like a gangster’s hired muscle, while hulking, sullen-faced Ed Little did his strong, silent thing on his right.  

Furious, James chose to ignore the two henchmen completely.

“Fucking hell, Francis, you’re an ignorant bastard!  Are you really going to piss all over an olive branch when it’s handed to you?!  Just give me a fucking clue, alright?  You know, animal, vegetable, mineral.  Give me something to fucking work with here.  You owe me at least a brave fucking coming out story just to make up for the fucking cardigans, you -”

“’E’s talking about your cardigans again, Frank.”  Blanky stage whispered, his eyes twinkling.  

“Obsessed, I’d call it.”  Rumbled the human boulder that was Ed Little from Francis’s other side.

“James, I’m ancient and boring and serious about political reforms.  The electorate doesn’t give a flying fuck who I’m shagging or not shagging.”  Francis sniped across the desk at him, his lip curling in that disdainful way he had.

James had heard colourful swearing out of Francis on innumerable occasions.  The Irishman was legendary for his biting turns of phrase.  But there was something about hearing him say the word ‘shagging’, and twice in one sentence no less, that made James fingers fumble with his expensive stainless steel clipboard, almost dropping it.  

Tom Blanky’s shrewd and mocking eyes caught on James’ momentary discomfort at once, and the Yorkshireman smiled to himself.

James saw red.

“I give a flying fuck who you’re shagging, you Stalinist loon!”  He shouted, and knew that he’d worded that wrong when three pairs of eyebrows rose laconically in response and a cacophony of titters could be heard from the shared office outside.  

“Brave of yer to just come out with it like that.”  Opined Blanky.

James threw one of his prized Paperchase paper-clips at him and it hit him squarely in the temple.  

“Francis, you’re not thick enough to really believe that the electorate won’t care about your personal life, are you?  They already care about what you wear.  They care about how stupid you look riding a bike.  They care about your bad hair cut and where you do your weekly shop.  Of course they’ll care that you’re into men.  Or both.  Or whatever it is that you’re into.  I’m just pre-empting the conversation for when you announce and inevitably want to hire me.”

Francis sneered at him crookedly.  “Are you really so keen to jump ship from Sir-Just-Left-of-Centre, James?”

“Oh for God’s sake, Francis, who’d you think sent me?  Sir John’s imminent resignation is the second worst kept secret in Westminster.”

“So it’s his olive branch I’m pissing on, then, and not yours...”

James hated him and his stupid, ruddy face.

“Do you want to be the next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or not, you bolshy, gap-toothed wanker?”  He yelled across the desk, a fine spray flying from his mouth.  

Thomas Jopson, junior minister and probably the sweetest human being who had ever entered politics, barged through the office door.

“James, you are well out of order!”  The young man exclaimed at a volume which James had never heard him achieve before.  

This had a remarkable effect on the four men in the room.  

Francis’s eyes instantly softened in a way James hadn’t been certain he was capable of.  Ed Little let his aggressively pointing finger drop to his side and closed his open trap.  Blanky slowly lowered the chipped mug he’d been aiming at James’ head and toned down his glower a fraction.  

James looked down at his exquisitely expensive, fashionable brogues.

“It was beneath me to mention your teeth, Francis.”  He admitted.

“None taken, you Oxbridge ponce.”  Francis muttered.  “But listen, you tell Sir Sell-out that if I need his help, I’ll send the prearranged signal, which is me stepping out into a taxi lane during rush hour.”

Ed Little snorted.  

James seethed.

“Oh how easy it must be to refuse honours when you’ve never been offered any.” He hissed through his teeth, trying desperately to tamp down on his disappointment.

“Or when you have principles.”  Francis shot back.  

James sighed in bitter resignation and rubbed his temples with one hand.

“Fine.  Good luck to you and your red cabal, Francis.  You’ll need it.”

He gathered what remained of his dignity and left Francis’s office, ignoring the stares and murmurs from the assorted aides and secretaries sat at the desks outside as he made his way over to the lift.  

Huffing in frustration, he turned to deliver one last glare at the bunch of Bolshevik wankers, only to nearly jump out of his skin when he found Tom Blanky perched on the nearest hot desk, regarding him with an inscrutable look.  

James had no idea how a man with a bad leg could move so stealthily.  

Blanky brandished the paper-clip which James had just thrown at him.  It was pink and in the shape of an arrow.  One of James’ favourites.  

“I’m keepin’ this.”  The Yorkshireman said with a cryptic grin, sliding the paper-clip triumphantly onto the hem of his shirt pocket.  

James opened his mouth for a retort, but found that he had nothing, and so stepped, utterly defeated, into the now open doors of the lift.  

*****

“So, go on then. How was your parley with Red Frank and his terrors?”  Dundy asked him with a gleeful glint, as they sipped triple shot lattes in Cafe Nero the next morning.  

“Like being shot at at close range by the cast of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.” James mumbled unkindly.  

Dundy laughed delightedly at him around a mouthful of biscotti.  “Well.  What did you expect.  You haven’t exactly made an effort to be friendly with him before.  He’s not just going to roll over the first time you pat his head, is he?”

“Can we dispense with the dog metaphors, Dundy, for fucks sake?”  James was in no mood to rehash yesterday’s failure, even with his closest friend.  

Dundy, as ever, blundered on regardless.  “Look.  He’s already got advisors. Such as they are.  He’s got the grass-roots, and he’s the only candidate with a consistent political record.  He’s bound to be a bit cocky right now.  You just need to hop down off your gilded pony and come down to his level if you want to actually...”

“Wise words from the working class hero over here...”  Snorted James inelegantly.  

“Fitz, you know exactly what I’m saying...”

“Of course I know what you’re saying!  It’s not just that he’s our only chance, it’s that he’s the best chance the party’s had in a while…  I do get it.  Politics is changing and we’ve got to change with it or we’ll find ourselves completely out of the loop.  Francis does have the support.  And I suppose he’s got a certain sort of… mass appeal.  He’s got... natural authority, I mean…  But these bastards...”  James shoved at the pile of broadsheets in front of them.  “Are going to completely tear him apart.  He doesn’t see it yet, Dundy, but he needs me!  And I’m trying this time!  I actually tried!  I actually want to help the cranky Irish bastard.”

Dundy demolished the last of his biscotti and then started chewing thoughtfully on James’ croissant.  

Occasionally, James knew, his long-time colleague would deliver some glimmer of wisdom, so he waited patiently for it.  

“You know Fitz, I knew you’d drunk the red koolaid.  Seen it coming for a while now. But you have to admit, it’s more than that.  You don’t just admire the ginger twat.  You actually fancy him.”

James felt not a smidgen of guilt, after, for spraying a mouthful of lukewarm coffee over Dundy’s smug face.  

*****

“Your latest cardigan’s gone over well with millennials on twitter, Francis.” Ed Little informed them in a tone which was as bright as the big man ever accomplished.  

“Just what I always wanted, Edward.  To be a fashion icon.”  Francis gave him a wry smile.  

“I bet Fitzjames is a fan too, Frank.”  Blanky grinned from across the room. “Sadly, you’re still catching some heat in the broadsheets for our CND stance.”

“Guess I’ll just change my mind about the threat of mutually assured annihilation then...”  Francis winked at Blanky before diving back to drafting his speech.  

“We will sort of have to work with Fitzjames eventually though, won’t we?”  Ed intoned glumly, as though carrying on from a previous conversation.  

Francis met Blanky’s eye.  “Of course we will.  Our options are thin on the ground.” He sighed.  

“But we’ll definitely make the posh bugger sweat first.”  Blanky added, with relish.  

*****

Episode Two here...

[meimi-haneoka]

Thoughts on Chapter 34 of CCS Clear Card

Aaaaand here we are again, at that time of the month, ready to talk and scream (?) about another of Clear Card’s chapters! Sakura and Syaoran have sorted out their problems, no more lies and secrets between them, Sakura even had the chance to witness in front of her eyes how her wishes can instantly turn into “incidents”, and her resolute face at the end of Chapter 33 hinted that she’s not gonna succumb to her fate!

What possibly could go wrong?

CLAMP:

UNDER THE CUT!!

The calm before the storm

First of all, I have to admit it. Those talking with me on the Clow Kingdom discord server might have already heard this, but this chapter left me totally disoriented. I don’t know whether it’s due to CLAMP not planning the storyboard properly (unlikely) or because it was supposed to feel like this, as the focus is all on the cliffhanger on the final pages (after all, this is future volume 7′s last chapter), but the feeling I got is that the flow of events is a bit rushed. We have many POV in this chapter, first we’re with the kids, then Kero and Suppi, then Nakuru and Yukito, then the kids again. 32 pages might not have been enough to develop everything properly, but we had to arrive to that cliffhanger.

And some things look definitely off. Like, Tomoyo is finally made aware of the fact that Sakura is the one creating the cards. And her reaction is “Oooh.” . She’s totally....unfazed? o_o Even seeing the Clear Card that represents her, she just comments with “まあ”?! Ok, Tomoyo might not be a drama queen ok no scratch that, she totally is, but I expected a bit more of surprise from her. Instead, she gushed over the Rewind card’s cuteness and started her usual ranting about recording this and that. It’s getting a bit repetitive and stereotypical, CLAMP? Tomoyo is so much more than that. She may not be my favorite ever but I do like her and her perceptiveness. I went so far that I even imagined she already knew Syaoran was the one behind the Sakura Card’s disappearance. So much for that. I hope CLAMP will find the time to bring out a shiny moment for Tomoyo, as I understand that the pages are what they are, and they have to develop the plot for the new characters, so they inevitably have to sacrifice the screen time of other characters.

We have a brief moment of Suppi explaining everything to Kero, and here I go “eh?” again at the story: Sakura says “Kero-chan is at home, this morning a guest came over” .... Ok? Did Sakura see that it was Suppi??? DIDN’T SHE INSTANTLY GO “WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR ELUSIVE MASTER?” on him??? Ok maybe not with those terms, but....isn’t she surprised, didn’t she ask him why he was there? Again, a totally confusing part. We’ll see if that’ll get explained later on. We have a cute moment between the two small guardians, and again we have a character who acts nonchalantly about the situation, justifying it with “It’s Sakura. She’s gonna do something about it.”

DUDE

I wouldn’t want to break your world made of unicorns and tasty gourmet dishes, but this is exactly the reason why Sakura is in the situation she is, right now!!  It’s a problem she’s got in herself and she can’t do much about it, at the moment. This is what she is. A 12/13 year old girl with a scary amount of power in herself, that is growing by the minute (and we’ll see how, in this chapter). A power she can’t control. Sakura being Sakura is the source of the problem in itself.

I know, it’s supposed to show that he’s totally trusting his mistress, like he effectively says to Suppi. But he’s the 2nd character out of 3 who is acting in a  way too relaxed manner, in this chapter.

The third one is Yukito. It’s Nakuru to remark this fact, adding that it’s better that way. Sure, if everyone started feeling gloomy it would be a big mess. But even being too relaxed, in a situation like this, might lead them to overlook important things. BTW, it seems Eriol arranged paperwork to enroll Nakuru in college! That’s totally an Eriol move! XD Keeping Nakuru and Yukito together without disrupting Yukito’s normal life, great idea.

Sakura’s anxiety

But it’s when the kids arrive to the classroom, that the “fun” starts. The girls are talking about the swimming class they will have today, and Sakura is her usual cheerful self.

Then, Akiho arrives.

Sakura turns around normally, but when she sees her, anxiety start churning inside of her.

Sakura, who never ever felt anything about Akiho, not even after Kaito rewound time, feels something is wrong with her friend. The moment we’ve been waiting for 26 chapters. But there’s more, she can’t shake the feeling even during the swimming class (OFFICIAL SCHOOL SWIMSUITS, BTW!! they’re even more conservative than before and it’s alright XDD).

Of course, eh, her frown doesn’t escape observative-boyfriend-Syaoran's stare. She asks him if he can feel something from Akiho, and he says no, AND HE’S NOT LYING DAMMIT, he really can’t feel anything, but how can he explain ALL THE REST to her, with the spell placed upon him? Of course, this is Syaoran we’re talking about, so he tries to say something anyway, and finds himself not emitting a single sound. See, there’s so much to talk about in so few pages, like how we’re again presented with the fact that Akiho is similar to Sakura in the good reflexes too, AND FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER Sakura’s smile to Akiho is so forced and lukewarm that you CAN really feel something is terribly wrong. Or, how we cannot talk about the first YAMACHIHA FLIRTING SCENE EVER?? I was so happy, in a moment of such tension those two managed to give us a breather before going back to the utter mess that is about to unfold. I love those two and their relationship <3

BUT LOOK WHO’S BEING A TOTAL CREEPER WATCHING KIDS IN SWIMSUITS? Our legendary asshole Yuna D. Kaito, of course!! XD Now, I have to be sincere. This is another of those “???” scenes because, ok, they try to explain that he’s there to cause some trouble now that Sakura knows the origin of the cards, but I still didn’t get why he’s doing that. What’s the connection between the two things? He smiles warmly while taking out his staff and he’s the usual smartass we love to hate!

Shit definitely goes down again

Then, panic unfolds. We have the final proof that in this chapter, Sakura could feel things before happening TWICE: one is as soon as Akiho arrives to school, having an uneasy feeling that she never had while looking at Akiho, and now, seconds before Kaito stopped time with his magic. Actually, scratch that: they might be 3 TIMES, as she pulls out her key and Reflect Card even before the real attack comes to her. This is all fun and games, until you actually stop to realize...that Sakura’s power might have increased once again, leading her to new heights of worrisome strong magical powers. 

A whirlpool raising from the pool attacks Sakura, to which she effortlessly responds using “Reflect” and here I’m once again confused because the scene just doesn’t flow right, there’s at least a panel missing to show that the one attacking her is “the pool” and those “arrows” don’t come out of nowhere, like the rest of this attack anyway, as it felt totally random (this might be the part pertaining to Kaito, anyway).

And, as if anyone called her: hello there, “vessel-mode” Akiho! (Ah, actually “vessel” is not a thing anymore, as the term has been completely erased in the tankobon release of volume 6, the latest out. The term “vessel” has been replaced with 中, “inside”. I’ll do a post about it, later on.) Just like last time, the usual assholes are talking through her again, using her as an intercom (though, I’m not sure if these are the Squids or the Association), commenting on Sakura’s powers and then attacking her, still using Akiho, stating that they have to bind her to this book. Yes, the verb used is really “to bind, to file” and it’s relative to books etc. 

Soooooo, now what I want to know is:

IS THIS THE CLIMAX STARTING TO MOVE FOR REAL, this time around?

Is something irreparable about to happen? Will Sakura be trapped in that book?

But most importantly, will Kaito rewind time once again and make the fandom riot like they never had before??? I really want to see if CLAMP are going to put their fan’s patience on the line like that ^^””” Still, it probably feels too soon to wrap this up, considering Kaito said there aren’t enough cards not many chapters ago. She did 3 in one day, yes, but if Kaito was about to cause something before the assholes interfered, it’s probably because he wanted her to give birth to another card. And now we have to see if this will happen or not.

If you’re wondering when next chapter is going to be released, please read my post on the matter.  UPDATE: a confirmation of a break for the July issue came from Nakayoshi’s Twitter account, you can read more HERE .

Thanks to @horitsuba for the scans featured here and thank you for sticking around to the end of this rant!! Mwah mwah! XDD

[sol1056]

let’s just leave this here

so let’s see how quickly I can get through a bunch of these, just so they don’t languish for the next month... here we go. behind the cut:  why the opening never changed, why DW is deploying Josh again, a few about Iverson & Hedrick, is a reboot possible, staying in fandom vs leaving... and some others in the same vein. 

why did they keep the same opening for all of vld seasons, considering the line-up was never supposed to come back to the original from s3?

Every indication is that originally, the team would return to the original lineup. Keeping the opening was probably meant to remind audiences of that inevitability. Or you could believe LM, who said the opening cost 20K to make, and thus was too expensive to do more than once. She’d rather spend that money on a vacation. 

So I've heard that Josh Keaton is doing damage control for S8. Do you think Dreamworks sent him in because they know that he's the one guy that no one can get mad at? After what some of the fans have done to him this past year [...] I’m amazed that he's willing to stick around and try to make his fans happy for as long as he can. I can see why people say "We don't deserve him."

Josh has somehow managed that sweet spot between charming the fandom and gaining its trust. Doesn’t hurt that he’s got the chops, voice-wise, to take written dross (no, really, some of those lines are horribly clunky) and spin it into gold. More than anything else, he comes across as genuine, and that adds a certain credibility to his words. 

But... Josh doesn’t really have a choice. Playing Shiro is what catapulted Josh upwards, and the last thing he can afford to do is piss off DW by refusing to play ball. He’d only be damaging himself (and his reputation among potential employers) if he didn’t snap to attention when called. Plus, I think he really does sincerely love the character, but it’s got to be a tough spot for him right now. 

When you get down to it, the only one on VLD’s (former) staff who seems to believe Shiro belongs in the story and should be respected as part of the story... is Josh. Who else can Shiro’s fans look to, if Josh stops speaking?

So, yeah, Josh is it. And I bet he knows that, and knows it’s just part of signing up for such a major role. This is part of his job. 

So I came across a pic of Mitch Iverson from SDCC 2018 where he and Tim Hedrick weren't in the panel ... and [Iverson] was wearing a SHIRO BLACK PALADIN top ... while the EPs & Hamilton were in the panel promoting S7, Iverson supported Hedrick & his story, and Shiro.

Hedrick was actively involved in every script as the story editor, and reportedly conceived of Shiro as an astronaut returning after his capture by aliens. Iverson got his start thanks to Hedrick, thus it makes sense that Iverson would be simpatico with Hedrick’s vision of the story. 

On top of that, by SDCC Iverson already had his next gig lined up. He continued to write for VLD, so he had to be subtle... but a t-shirt was a good way to make his sentiments clear. Can’t blame the guy, seeing he probably knew what was coming and chose a quiet protest of his own.

As an American, how would you take it if someone, that is, Iverson, called himself a redneck? From what I know thats derogatory term & for people not exactly inclusive & supportive of minorities. He also retweeted an art of Allura with a quote: ‘Laters’, which I found in really poor taste...

Redneck is another slur adopted by the in-group. My guess is that if you called Iverson a redneck to his face, he’d be offended. But if you introduced yourself as a redneck, and then called him one, it’d be different. And yes, as a term, redneck has a complex history, and it changes subtly in terms of how each generation defines/uses it. 

As for retweeting things in poor taste... eh, most people don’t have any training in social media. Jokes are the hardest; it’s so easy for them to go so wrong. Until VLD, I’d bet Iverson was lucky to have a few hundred followers. How many follow him now? It takes time to find your footing in striking the right balance of humor and dignity. 

Sometimes the best course is to ignore the stumble. They’ll either learn, or they won’t. Either way, it’s their problem, not ours. 

Will Tim Hedrick be allowed to continue the voltron universe the way he planned it?  

I doubt it. He’s got a new project. If you’re now an EP finally getting your name at the top, would you really want to go back and fix someone else’s story? Sometimes it’s just better to leave it behind, and make sure the next thing you do is something you can have pride in.

...why do you keep saying the last episode Tim Hedrick wrote was The Feud? A lot of people keep repeating it, like it was his last 'fuck you' to the showrunners. But official sources all say 'The Journey Within' was his last episode.

All we can say for certain was that tJW is the last Hedrick episode broadcast. That doesn’t mean it was the last one written. 

Here’s why a lot of us peg tF as Hedrick’s last written episode: the story editor credit. Hedrick's the sole story editor on all his other episodes; tF is the only one in which both Hedrick and Hamilton share credit. The simplest explanation is this episode was edited in that window during which Hedrick had one foot out the door, and Hamilton had one foot in. iow, Hedrick put it into the queue, edited half, and moved on. Ergo, last written.

I can’t believe how they just managed to anger literally everyone no matter your favorite character or ship.

I recall a quote from early on, where LM said they had a feeling they couldn’t please everyone. The problem (which I noted at the time, and has remained true) is that the answer isn’t to just piss off everyone. 

It’s to figure out who you want your audience to be, and to write the best damn story you can for that particular audience. If you end up with a story only old-timer DotU fans love, and kids are lukewarm about, fine. If the reverse is true, fine. You can’t please everyone, especially in a reboot/remake. So you pick your battles, and write your story accordingly. 

Looking around social media, most people I'm seeing are either rightfully upset, or they're hyperfocusing on the one single scene they liked because they just don't have the energy to deal with the show's bullshit right now. How can they fuck up the last season so badly that it seems like the general reaction is disappointment and denial?

I think there’s a common cause for the fandom reactions: exhaustion. 

In American broadcast television, a 26-episode season runs from September to May, then a summertime lull, during which people digest and discuss. Binge-watching is changing this, but it seems one thing hasn’t changed: no matter how fast we watch a show, we still require processing time. 

What did we get? A half-season, two months’ break, another half-season, two months’ break, a full season, three months’ break, and a final full season. If every season had provoked a spike equal to S1/S2, we might’ve been begging DW by June to just freaking chill. Fandom had barely begun to process one season and a new one was already landing on our heads. 

On top of that, S3-S6 weren’t exactly walks in the part, post-release. In terms of controversy, S7 dwarfed them all. That made an awful lot of people (across the entire spectrum, from almost every sub-group in the fandom) disengage. Those who remained dialed back on their expectations (”as long as X happens, that’s all that matters”), or they hung in there, insistent it would turn out alright. 

So either you’re exhausted from not being able to fully disengage with the final season still in the wings, you’re exhausted from convincing yourself this one specific thing would be enough, or you’re exhausted from defending what turned out to be indefensible. 

Frankly, disappointment and denial is a fairly soft landing, compared to what might’ve been. But any way you cut it, the fandom’s worn the hell out.   

Do you think LM and JDS are gonna address this or are they just going to ignore the complaints, wash their hands and move on?

They don’t need to do anything. They don’t work for DW anymore. If someone has to address the complaints, it’d be DW or DW’s chosen spokesperson. I guess you could call that washing their hands, but the simple fact is they’re not on the payroll. They’re not responsible for VLD anymore.

do you think it's possible for dreamworks to rewrite season 8? i've never heard of a show doing that before and i'm afraid that we'll be stuck with what we got, but damn, i really hope that we will get to see the characters get the endings they deserve, if nothing else.

I’m not sure why anyone would bother. S7 was rife with problems; S3-S6 meandered back and forth. If I were to do a soft in-series reboot, I’d go back to the end of S2. That’s the clearest break, story-wise. 

But if you’re going backwards 50+ episodes to the 26th, just keep going and start over. More to the point: not a lot of creators would sign on to inherit problems not of their own making. Same reason new directors on a property will want to rework the script in some way (if not start over from scratch). 

Do you think this is truly the end of Voltron: Legendary Defender? I know that a lot of the cast and crew wanted to continue on with a sequel, and there's so many possibilities and things they can do in that universe, not to mention that Voltron is (or rather, was) a money bank...

Your guess is as good as mine, really. Hopefully we’ll get at least hints when the SACanime panel rolls around in early January.

There's a change petition for the "original s8" to be released ... [people] believe that LM and JDS are NOT the ones who ruined the last two seasons and that it was "exec meddling." Like, no, sorry, exec meddling appears to be what made it good in the beginning.

If we consider Yoo an exec by virtue of being CEO of Studio Mir, then I kinda wish he’d meddled a bit more. 

...I'm wondering if the original version exists, completed. In one post, you said DW picked Tim over L/J so surely that got animated? What do you think? Be real. I don't want to get my hopes high thinking there's some buried treasure out there to find.

Ah, no, sorry, I wasn’t speaking in the sense of VLD but in the overall corporate sense. Here’s how the scenario often plays out: manager A and employee B do not get along. The longer they clash, the greater the chance A will find an excuse to fire B. The project is literally not big enough for the both of them. 

B could resign, quit, or do a preemptive strike: go over A’s head and ask for help. If B leaves the company shortly after, it means the higher-up said: “I’ve heard A’s side, and I think A is right.” The exec might offer a good reference, or blame it on a no-fault bad fit. Doesn’t matter; the exec’s chosen A’s side. 

Now, consider what actually happened: B gets transferred off the project, and gets a major promotion -- basically up to the same level as B’s former manager. Either B has some of the most amazing dirt ever, is phenomenally good at twisting reality to seem like the wronged party... or the higher-up reviewed the situation and decided that of the two, B was the one worth keeping. 

Having decided that, the exec made an offer B couldn’t refuse, which would be to run a show that’s practically tailor-made to fit B’s dream job. That’s what I meant by losing the battle (how VLD would go) and winning the war (being the party seen as in the right, by the execs). 

The only way for A to turn things around is to have a blisteringly successful final product. It could literally kill two careers with one stone: the (former) employee, B, who spun such a good story, and the exec(s) who believed B. 

Given the numbers I’m seeing for S8... that exec did choose wisely.  

ETA (sorry forgot this part): There might be pieces, but it really depends on what version control is in use (if any). For that matter, even if there were saved copies, who’s to say those didn’t get, whoops, deleted at some point? I’d put my bet on there being nothing, now, except what we got. Sorry. 

I could understand if you never want to have anything to do with this show ever again.

Oh, jeez, I was here before VLD and I’ll be here after. Once we all get over our mutual exhaustion (and the holidays, bloody great timing, there), it’ll be time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Fandom’s got a lot to do, putting things back together in all the shapes that’ll make us happy. This is the best time to be in a fandom, if you ask me. Everything’s just getting started!

[usstatesofsong]

ESC 2019 Reviews - San Marino

Semifinal 1, #17 - Serhat, “Say Na Na Na”

Well, at least there isn’t an excessive key change.

The San Marino saga continues with its tenth participation! Out of all countries, we expected the micro-state to be the one heading off for the hills after 2018 being their umpteenth non-qualification (Bulgaria’s disinterest is disheartening.) That 1-in-360 thing was the most messed up national selection, possibly ever - as though we can’t get Slovakia back into the contest isn’t painful enough, the final of that thing was hosted in Bratislava.

Instead, we got arguably the first meme of 2016 to come back to Eurovision after plenty of rumors swirling around saying the Human Ken Doll would be performing. I wanted to literally die. Thank you, Serhat - I should have never doubted ye would returneth for another ol’ college try. I can put up with Hatari, but *not* an untalented plastic-face.

But I hear you ask, who is Serhat? ...Oh, my dear child. You are so innocent. Watch this clip and be amazed. And be thankful they sent a disco remix instead. He holds the distinction for having charted with his 2016 entry in the United States, which he makes sure to rub in at any possible interview (it was a dance remix with Martha Wash on the Dance Charts, by the way - not the original entry or the Billboard Hot 100. So it’s not even that magical.)

The Sammarinese song this year is “Say Na Na Na” - which was apparently written in only ten minutes. The quality is screaming. What’s more, the tune is another discotheque bop because Serhat is convinced he is now a dance track pop-daddy. I’m quivering in my shoes. But hey: Serhat placed 12th in 2016, and he nearly qualified with what people original considered mediocre and camp. He showed that there was *something* there. He’s by far the oldest contestant of this years’ contest at 54 years, so watching him prance around stage is kinda hilarious.

I go back and forth about whether or not I like this song, because it’s a leaf from the same branch as “I Didn’t Know”. It’s the same pseudo-pop-disco sound that now (believe it or not) is synonymous with his brand, but which sounds a bit cheap and completely dated. With lyrics like “Don’t forget my number, I’ll call you anytime - I will always tell you life is beautiful and kind” is the type of stuff they teach you for a elementary school recital.

Disregarding the lyrics, the reception to this has been lukewarm, with some saying San Marino stands a chance for qualification. I agreed at first, because despite being so camp it hurts, it’s a much-needed dance song in a semifinal devoid of silly dance pop (Finland and Czech Republic have their own brand.) You can also watch Serhat perform this live at this weekend’s pre-party in Madrid, and it wasn’t too bad.

But what I think people forget about Serhat is that he’s a Eurovision fandom gem. People in the fandom love him and his song, but he’s a distant memory to 95% of voters. If Serhat wants to succeed on Tuesday evening, it will be a bit easier since Eurovision fans have a better say in the semifinal results, but he must approach this entry differently. Otherwise, the song alone sounds so similar to 2016 that I’d expect the same fate: 12th. And 12th doesn’t get you to Saturday. For San Marino’s sake, they need another qualification to happen. But I suppose this Turkish man buys his ticket to Eurovision on behalf of San Marino anyway… @_@

It’s… okay. But it’s still missing the mark for me.

And with this we reach the end of the Semifinal 1 reviews! Tomorrow we start with three of the six pre-qualifiers before moving on to Semifinal 2.

My Rating: 5.5/10 Ranking: 30th of 41