#that's why i don't agree with people saying they can't believe season 2 was written by the same people as season 1

[thenationofzaun]

These issues with Vi's character didn't start with Season 2 btw, she's been lazily written since Acts 2 and 3 of Season 1. There have been criticisms of her character writing for years now:

I had hope things would improve in Season 2. Especially after hearing that Season 2 would explore a darker and deeper look into her character. But nope, apparently she's the same old shallow rushed character.

[apostatehamster]

Oh no! Another person's 2 cents on the OFMD finale situation!

Yes, because unfortunately my mind still hasn't settled and is in a state of disbelief over what happened, and I am trying to unravel all of this to make sense of it. Written from the perspective of a sad Izzy fan, so if you do not care to read about that or are simply tired of reading these mind pieces... well don't. And do not bother interacting.

I want to preface this by saying, I do believe Writers should be writing the story they think is right. It is impossible to please everyone so I prefer Author's sticking to their vision rather than bending to the loudest (in most cases, read: displeased) voices of the audience. However, I also think people are entitled to voice their displeasure over writing decisions in a constructive way. I don't condone hate towards authors, actors or anyone involved in the making of the show and if you feel angry enough to send hate or threats, take a walk and calm down instead of being a jerk. That being said, I watched many shows with decisions I did not agree on and few made me as angry & sad as this one, hence me trying to dismantle why.

False marketing, expectations and broken promises

Frankly I hadn't seen much advertising about the show before, most of it was fandom activity that praised the show as feelgood and comfort, with good queer representation. I got into it pretty late, so I can't tell what the show itself presented itself as, but to me it seemed like they fully embraced that image and encouraged the show to be perceived as such. It's a rom-com after all, many laughters and sappy feelings. A safe space-ship for outcasts, so to speak. We expected drama but also making-up and possibly more shenanigans. What we did not expect, was a rather prominently featured character dying as one got used to happening from other shows.

OFMD promised to be different, or at least that was my and many others' impression, and then it turned that around in the last 10 minutes of the finale. But more about that and tonal shifts later.

What baffled me most were the interviews hailing in at the start of season two. I've read articles about how season 2 was leaning into the Ed/Izzy/Stede triangle with David Jenkins saying these three "are on an arc together that’s pretty inseparable". I mean we had Izzy being called a jilted lover before, and in addition to Ed & Stede's love declaration, we also had Izzy declare he had love for Ed, and Ed as well saying He loved him, best he could. There was a lot of love, but it was complicated, and the article gave hope that this season would sort this out.

But after the finale, we got interviews that declared Izzy was a father/mentor figure to Ed, which is such a weird claim that is absolutely unfounded in the way the characters interacted with each other, as well as the fact that Izzy's death apparently was something planned from the beginning as an ending to his arc. And well, I find that death separates characters quite definitely.

I am not saying that Steddyhands was promised to us, gods no, but we were definitely given a chance at it happening, when in fact, the ending had already been written as the complete opposite.

Reception and cognitive dissonance

Every person is different and thus has different feelings and opinions. I've seen Izzy fans hating the finale obviously, I've seen Izzy fans who said they liked it. I've also seen people who weren't explicitly Izzy fans say, they did not like the finale, so really, opinions can go any way.

However what baffled me is Jenkins feeling he delivered a truly happy end. Personally, I've never watched a character die and thought "This makes me happy." I especially would never describe a character struggling through hardship, just to ultimately die as happy or beautiful. I can only imagine that the focus was on Ed and Stede, when a happy ending was mentioned, but Jenkins kept pointing out in the interviews, how Izzy was his favorite, which gave hope for a happy ending for Izzy as well. As much as I enjoy seeing my favorites go through hardships, I also prefer to keep them around by not dying. I especially do not build my favorite up to be a well fleshed out character with growth, just to reduce them back to a plot device for the main character.

I know this is all based upon the interviews, and less on the show, but when I read "And what's the most interesting thing we can do with Con[...]?" my answer definitely wouldn't have been "kill his character off". Con O'Neill does a great job at playing emotional scenes, but we already had him act his heart out in the first three episodes. A last hurrah wasn't needed.

I am also trying to put myself in David Jenkins' shoes here, because I think he truly expected the last episode to be a happy ending, and a gift, just to be proven differently. I just wonder what went wrong, how one can read the room so completely wrong.

It wasn't malicious, but the fact that it was apparently meant to be a genuine attempt at offering a happy end makes it even worse.

Tonal shifts and established in-Show laws

It's an understatement to say that the tone of season 2 was decidedly more dramatic. To the point where I questioned myself if this was still allowed to be called a comedy show. I would have described season 1 as mostly slice-of-life, little adventures between the crew and the captains. People got hanged, fingers severed, people got stabbed, but you never felt the threat of actual death hanging over anyone's head, because everything was kept humorous. (Speaking of the non-baddies here. Calico Jack got a cannon ball to the head but with plausible deniability of his death & (apparently) an interview saying he could be brought back, if needed)

Enter season 2, which starts off with murder attempts, major wounds and a suicide attempt. Nothing was played off as a joke, and for that I am grateful because that would have been in poor taste, but the tone was noticeably different and darker. But it still wasn't 'realistic' by any standard. With no real doctor on board, Izzy should have died from his wounds and comatose Edward would have wasted away in the hidden cabin. Everyone came out (fucked up but) relatively fine.

The show goes back to the humorous tone with Anne & Mary who enjoy a good backstabbing and poisoning. We had our crew surrounded by death and a curse in the next episode, but there was any fear of them coming to harm, obviously. The crew gets boarded and tortured by Ned and his crew after that, but they are able to take it out and come away unscathed (some wounds aside). Oh no! Stede challenges Zheng Yi to a duel! Which we know means no one is allowed to interfere, until one of the duelants dies. But it's fine, Zheng Yi is just playing with her food. But watch out, a Cannonball flies towards Zheng Yi's head! Ah but she is fine, she escaped. The Swede pulled a Rasputin and got immune to poison without him even noticing! Look, even Auntie survived the explosion, badly wounded but she lives. Oh no! Izzy gets shot! But it's his left side, we established no vital organs are there. Roach and Stede are already on their way to get bandage- Wait they are back with no bandages, and Izzy he-

Oh, wait. He...died?

When watching season 2 I legitimately considered Izzy dying as an end result, because I am used to my favorite characters dying, frankly. But then I dismissed that thought because OFMD has proven again and again, that people do not die. Heck, Lucius was considered dead in the season 1 finale and he came back, albeit traumatized. But he lived to tell the tale.

Season 2 finale made it a point to leave no room for doubt that Izzy did indeed die. They dug him a grave, and they panned to his grave at the end to remind you, he is definitely dead. So, why did Izzy have to die in a world where our favorites can survive about anything? "Pirates die, that's just pirate life", okay but why was he specifically singled out to be the only pirate dying? In comparison to everyone else, it feels unjust, and it feels cruel towards the fans who felt safe in the knowledge that this was the one show where none of their favorites would die. And it feels like such a betrayal of the fans’ trust, who had hoped this show would do better.

I've seen a take along the lines of "Nowadays people expect the stories to be written explicitly for them, and then they get upset when it doesn't happen" and that take pissed me off enough to write this down. This isn't a case of entitled fans asking to change the story to be exactly what they want to be, there is fanfiction for that. No, this is fans upset that their favorite character got singled out by the narrative to be the one exception to the no dying rule. And I use the narrative loosely, because there was no ramification to the death that couldn't also have been established by the character staying alive and giving advice, so the death didn't even feel purposeful. And for a show that always stresses the "Talk it through as a crew" point, they did not care much for choosing talking it through as a solution.

I also heartily disagree that Izzy's arc was over and had no more stories to tell. I mean the guy followed Edward around for decades, I would have loved to hear more about their past.

I would have especially loved to hear more about their future, as two people who learned to let go of Blackbeard and became their own people again. Where exactly did the idea of that even come from, I don't know.

Pacing and Confusing decisions in the Final episode and the build-up into nothing

(Rambling alert!) 

Personally I didn't feel any pacing issues until episode 6. While I generally liked the episode, it felt crammed with both set-up of the baddie, fun-times, then appearance of baddie (and disappearance) and return to fun-times. The episode ended and I was literally perplexed that it was over, like we basically ran through that episode. But episode 8 took the cake.

Now I am well aware they had to cut corners, and the strike didn't make it easier either, and I wish we could have seen the result without these factors. But we got what we got now, and I have to judge based upon that, but I really would know how the final cut decision came to be.

I did like the beginning with Ed chilling as a fisherman, but in hindsight I wished they had cut that part a bit shorter to give more room for the final parts. We get a lot of Ricky dicking around the pirate republic, showing Jackie reluctantly bringing them drinks. Later on she finally decides to poison him. Why she didn't do so earlier, I have no idea, unless the show is trying to tell me The Swede had to build up enough poison tolerance within one episode to withstand the poison attempt, which would be ridiculous. Why the Swede was held as an emotional hostage, I don't know either. I don't want him dead but Jackie has many other husbands, the Swede being singled out was more to hurt the viewers than for Jackie imho.

We have Zheng Yi suffering through Stede's presence. Our queen is suffering through the loss of her whole crew and her aunt, while Stede unsympathetically offers that being a failure gets easier. I expected more compassion from a guy who treasures his own crew and also enjoyed the hospitality of Zheng Yi's ship, but okay. Being a dick for the sake of comedy, I suppose. "Thing's have a way of working out. At least for me" And Zheng Yi proves Stede right by killing the soldiers, and Stede claims that went just as planned. I am not sure what happened to the Stede who successfully avoided being backstabbed in episode 5 and defended his crew in episode 6 and actually seemed competent, just to go back to an ignorant fool, but hm.

Fisherman Ed returns, thinks Stede in danger, and recovers his leathers that somehow are still in the same place, after mindlessly killing everyone in his way. Whatever happened to not wanting to be a monster and not killing and running away from that, it doesn't matter anymore. The flashback of pop-pop tells him he needs to go back to what he is good at, and I guess... this is it??? The Kraken rises from the sea again. Will there be consequences for Ed's emotional state after that? Well, no. Not really. Or not in this season anyway.

Okay Ricky invites Izzy to a drink, he's quite obviously a Izzy fanboy. For what reason he took him out of prison, I don't know. He later says "Sad, I wanted to let you live", implying he had plans for Izzy. What those plans were, we will never know, Ricky never tells us. Izzy talks about what piracy means to him. "It's not about getting what you want" and I don't know if he means pirates generally robbing ships to get treasure, or of himself being perceived as a mastermind or being a captain, because he never inclined he wanted either. So, what a weird thing for him to say. "It's about belonging to something when the world has told you, you're nothing" is a beautiful line that makes me wish we had gotten at least some backstory to Izzy. Then we're shown a picture of the crew from season 1.... with Izzy in the background, quite obviously not belonging (yet). What an odd choice to cut into. You could have used something from season 2 that showed him actually belonging

Ed finds one of Stede's love letters, it's cute, but I am not sure why we needed that to somehow reinforce that Ed loves him. We already saw him worry for Stede and literally revert to his Blackbeard persona to set out and save him. He also didn't leave because he didn't love Stede or doubted Stede's love for Ed, but because he needed to find himself first to make it work. It's not a long scene but it took a bit of the momentum of the Kraken rising from the water from me.

Ed and Stede see each other again and we have a callback to the episode one opener. Which was also the moment where I slowly realized, death was in the cards for Izzy because that dream sequence meant his death. But no, this is OFMD, it'll be fine...

We're back in the cell, and our mates are trying to escape. Auntie is there! Very much alive, despite having been on an exploding ship. Who brought her there?? When was she brought there?? How long has she been there and why did no one bother to check the cloaked figure in the corner? NEVERMIND, Auntie is here and alive I suppose. Bleeding out and we've got no supplies to treat her, but she will walk it off just fine.

Captain trio congratulate themselves on beating a bunch of soldiers. Honestly impressive, outnumbered as they were. Mh, maybe they should get back to the crew tho...?

Auntie realizing she was harsh on Zheng Yi and admitting maybe she needs a different approach. I am seeing a parallel to Izzy later admitting his approach was wrong too. Except (and excuse the bitterness) Auntie gets to continue to "mentor" Zheng Yi.

We get a weird hard cut from "I don't do soft" to the talk between Izzy and Ricky. I really thought the talk had been talked, but some more insults get thrown at Ricky, and the deus ex machina happens as all prisoners are freed from prison, the captain trio arrives and all soldiers die of poisoning. Personally this was the moment where I had to slow blink in disbelief, because everything was happening so fast.

Stede talks about how they need a plan, and how a royal hostage could prove valuable. Another hard cut "SO, that's the plan". We do not hear the plan. We just gather from the following montage that it has to do with dressing up as English soldiers. We get a montage of everyone preparing for battle and dressing up, looking cool in slow motion. And, they did look hella cool, but there was so much buildup for them dressing up for the plan...without knowing what the plan even IS.

And then the plan apparently is.... just Izzy holding Ricky hostage? And the rest waits around and sees how it plays out? And they're just trusting Ricky to go along with their plan and say what they want him to say? Why was Izzy the one who had to hold Ricky hostage? The one person with a visible wooden leg? Not sure if peg-legs are an established pirate thing in this world, but the British seem to think so, because they look down at it. Why did no one check that Ricky had no weapons on him beforehand? And most importantly, where the fuck was Stede during this suicide plan? He is the one who planned it, yet he was nowhere around the group with Ricky, nor did he fight any Soldiers. He only reappears when everyone is running away. What the hell!! Where'd he fuck off to. Again, all this epic plan build up, for the barely existing plan to go up in shambles within 5 seconds, and then they all run. At this point they could have just left Ricky at the Inn and attempted to walk to the ship safely in disguise without ever drawing attention to the soldiers, and they would have had as much chance.

Ed asks Izzy if he is okay and I raise an eyebrow, A) because we as the viewers barely saw him get hit and B) Ed hasn't cared much about Izzy after Stede returns. But okay, we're stumbling back to the ship, surprisingly no one else gets shot.

Izzy is bleeding out on the ship, Stede and Roach run off to get bandages. "Bonnet is in charge, oh great I am fucked" is a true statement, considering Stede was in charge with the plan already and got Izzy to here. Later you hear footsteps approaching offscreen, which I guess were Stede and Roach. They just appear again, with no bandages and no comment. I don't want to get into detail how much I despise Izzy's parting words, and the message they send out, but Izzy throughout this season proved he wanted to live and got ready for living again, just to end up saying he wants to go here, and it's just so utterly wrong. This scene was presented as someone who was healed and now got to die amongst his loved ones, but he was not healed. He practically still believed he deserved what he got, and he died believing Ed did not need him and thus he was unnecessary. If he truly was healed, he would fight to live, if not for himself and his new found family, then for Ed who he still loves, but no. Okay maybe I did want to go into detail, but anyway, many have said it better than me already.

The crew who bonded with Izzy over the whole season stands mutely in the background, leaving the stage to Ed, who has barely cared about Izzy all season. Out of nothing I am supposed to believe Izzy means something to him, after Ed shot him down, discarded of him, happily mentioned to Frenchie that "But most importantly, no more Izzy" like Izzy had been the bane of his existence, the guy he didn't even have the balls to approach first to apologize but instead mocked Izzy when Izzy himself finally broke their silence, I am supposed to believe that Edward suddenly realizes Izzy's worth and that he deserves to be the one grieving, not leaving any space to the crew? I don't think so.

All season I was waiting for them to make up again, patiently, full of hope, but the remaining episodes got less and less. And I held out hope for them to bond over talks and teamwork, remembering how well they worked together before it turned sour, acknowledging that they could do better if they tried, but instead we got this. This is supposed to help Edward move on as Not Blackbeard, but Izzy had already encouraged Ed to not be Blackbeard, yet Ed came back deciding on his own to don his leather outfit again. This is such a back and forth, it's frustrating. They could have accomplished growth without a death, but I've already talked about that.

Also Izzy telling Ed has family now, because the crew loves him. Ed bonded exactly with one person outside of Stede, and that was Fang, who was once Blackbeard's crew anyway. Other than that Ed only hung back and did not give a shit about what the crew was doing, but sure they love him after the non-pology. Where were the scenes to back this claim up, it was utter nonsense.

Okay, we get a burial. No one says a thing, no one's got to say a thing about their unicorn. Everyone leaves, and "That's that then". Stede talks about Izzy, like he hasn't personally bonded with Izzy over the last episodes and like he was simply a guy Ed dragged along (the way season 1 Stede would have felt). Also, no acknowledgement that Stede's plan was what got Izzy killed whatsoever, no remorse.

Aye no time to be sad, we got a wedding now! It lasts less than a minute screen time, and I am still recovering from the emotional impact of a death scene + burial, maybe give me a minute so I can feel happy for LuPete? No? okay.

Stede and Ed decide to build an Inn, nothing either of them has experience in. Also the "family" Izzy promised Ed is sailing away, so that was for nothing as well. What happened to Stede wanting to be a pirate? What happened to Ed returning to being a pirate, because it's what he's good at? What exactly made them change opinions to leave their crew behind and start this? *lame hand gesture at Izzy's grave* This?? I am usually good at looking for clues and details and figuring stuff out in between the lines, but I am left clueless as to what inspired this.

I am 100% sure there were missing scenes that could have helped soften the blow of the death at least, but like this the episode feels jarringly badly patched together. There is no visible impact to the death that would explain the necessity to the narrative (and yes, we are in a story, not real life. Plot points happen because they bring the narrative along, and it didn't here) With everything established beforehand, it felt like the death got shoehorned in, simply because someone said "I want this character to be dead at the end of the season", and then a story was somehow built around this.

And of course people are upset about this, when I watched I thought it was a joke and I was waiting for the little wink telling me it's not what it seems. The theme I gathered from this season was "belonging", and to see the guy accepting that he belonged and deserved to be loved to be left behind and denied a chance to continue with the crew where he BELONGS, because he's dead and gone, is a very stupid choice.

The season had many unexplained and unresolved things that I chose to overlook because the show was still ongoing and I had hoped they would all work out in the end, but they didn't and this sours the whole experience.

Fandom

This has less to do with me unraveling the happenings of the show, but whatever.

I joined very late, a few weeks before season 2 aired. I was however vaguely aware that Izzy was controversial to the fandom and that fans got hate mail for liking the character who "broke the main couple apart". So going into the new season as someone who utterly loved Izzy in season 1, I was skeptical lol

But it was a nice experience. Season 2 showed parts of Izzy that I had already seen but in a way that made it clear to everyone that this guy has Emotional Layers TM and is capable of more than just being the guy throwing a hissy fit. Everyone could sympathize with him, people enjoyed seeing him, and I legit loved going through the tags of the gifsets and reading all the reactions.

Generally I loved seeing the reactions after every new episode, seeing how fandom came together to talk over what happened, and over what they enjoyed. I had expected a very split fandom but it seemed season 2 was somewhat gluing it together. Izzy was finally an "accepted" character and thus it was "okay" now to love him, now that he wasn't trying to break Ed/Stede apart either. The show was feeding fans too, I felt like I feasted every episode up until the finale happened.

And /then/ the finale happened and the illusion went away.

Up to then I thought this was a season for the Izzy fans, with the opener episode showing how ridiculous the take of "Izzy has to die for Ed/Stede to be happy" was in a mocking dream episode, I thought that was David Jenkins acknowledging the hate that has been sent in the direction of Izzy & his fans, and how it's Not That Easy. And then he proved Izzy was more than that.

And then he killed Izzy off, so Ed/Stede could be happy and we've come full circle again.

Of course Izzy fans were upset, because it felt like a final fuck you after a season full of promises that it would be okay, and of course people were voicing their displeasure and sadness over it. Some people were downright grieving the character, and I can tell you I Am People. I went through the 5 stages of grief, through bargaining and anger directly after the finale, sadness the whole day after, crying over it because it felt so unjust to me. And maybe these reactions seem extreme to you, but that does not mean that people aren't feeling awful about the finale, that it truly hurt them. And you do not get to mock people for feeling in pain. What do you gain from that? If you liked the finale, fine, everyone is different, but allow the people who were shaken by it to express their emotions. Processing emotions takes time, and as a part of this I wrote a goddamn essay to make peace. The least you could do is not be a dick.

Parting thoughts are that the final episode was both a product of unfortunate cuts in screen time, and a writer who didn't expect the effect it would have on the audience.

I am not hating on David Jenkins, I loved every other episode of the season and eagerly anticipated the next one, but I am so incredibly sad that one botched finale broke my trust into the show, soured my love for the previous episodes with the knowledge of what it all built up to, and left the fandom back in shambles.

So long, and be kind to each other.

[uranometrias]

Heyyyy!! I just read your “goodbye love you flew right by” it was absolutely AMAZING!! It was so heartbreaking and wonderful!!! I am an avid hater of that Jeid scene where she confesses her “love” because to it was so lazy on the writers end and a pretty stupid secret to me because nothing can be done and it’s just so silly for her to come up w that especially when we’ve seen how much she loves Will and the boys, but your fic made it sooo yummy and angsty and romantic !!

Loved the triangle aspect of them dating and JJ being their best friend. I also loved the argument outside afterwards 💋🤌🏻 it was so incredibly well written! chefs kiss 10/10

if you are writing a part 2 for this i can NOT WAIT 😍🫶

hi… first of all thank you so much! 😭🤭 would you believe i got inspired for that fic while i was sleep deprived … i have never been a jeid shipper… when i was younger (aka a 17 year old with an unhealthy attachment to spencer reid lol) i despised them so terribly, but i think now (especially during my latest rewatch) i have grown to appreciate jeid . i don’t ship them, but i do think they made a point to have jj be an anchor for spencer in certain ways && i think in certain instances he was an anchor for jj as well.

all that to say… I do not think they should’ve made it a plot line one season shy of the end of the show… it felt very out of place… at least to me. i read this character analysis that basically said the storyline fit better for hotchniss rather than jeid && i agree, but ofc with so many of the originals being displaced by that point in the series... it sort of made sense that they'd go that route when they had no one else to turn to... but that doesn't mean it wasn't such a lazy left field sort of thing. i feel like the writers overestimated themselves & what they'd established for jj & spencer. jj definitely COULD have become attracted / grown to love spencer... but i would never say she felt that he was her "first love"... it just- agh anyways.

i also think casey's reaction validates your feelings. that secret was not all that lol. it didn't have any real pushback or point because the only people that really knew were jj & spencer... it didn't do much narratively, it didn't change their motivations... it didn't strengthen their bond or anything of the sort... it mostly just gave matthew + aj the room to be able to flirt with one another (which is fine lol) but i agree it's always been a pet peeve of mine...

i think what was most important with writing that piece was that i wanted to move away from the narrative that jj was some monster... it was a really stupid thing to say LOL, but she's not some horrible woman, because she fell for her best friend. which was why she was so clearly guilty... i don't care much for the villanization of her .

all that to say.... i honestly felt like that was a weak plot... it became so overdone (writing the jeid confession with spencer in a relationship) but i have been so excited + relieved to see all the love and people that enjoy the route that i went. this message is so incredibly sweet & i am so appreciative of you taking the time to check out my work !! i am definitely planning a part 2 , i can't wait to share it with you all.

[fdelopera]

musings on Judaism in Good Omens...

Neil has written about Crowley being one of his most Jewish characters, and i was thinking about that while watching season 2 of Good Omens, especially episode 3.

in ep 3, during the "resurrectionist" flashback, there is a discussion between Aziraphale and Crowley that exemplifies the argument between Christianity and Judaism regarding poverty.

medieval Catholicism in particular believed that the poor are potentially more holy because they have further to "climb" on the social ladder, so we shouldn't give them "handouts" (unless of course it's as a way to buy favor with the church, since Catholics believed that charitable giving could buy them a reduced sentence in purgatory). Catholicism taught that we should let the poor “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”, because that would make them more virtuous and bring them closer to God, blah blah blah (you hear the same arguments in right wing political circles).

Judaism on the other hand takes the approach of the mitzvah of tzedakah (tzedakah is charitable giving that advances social justice -- the word comes from the Hebrew word “tzedek”, which means “justice”). Jews believe that it is our our moral and ethical duty to help disenfranchised people, and that it's ethically wrong to allow people to live in poverty for our own gain. it's the "we're all in this together so we have to help each other out" approach to society.

incidentally, that also relates to why pork is treyf in Judaism. it's not because the ancient Israelites knew that uncooked pork contained trichinella and that it could be dangerous to eat if not cooked properly. no one back then understood germ theory. instead, Jews are forbidden from eating pork because pigs can eat food that people also eat (they don't chew a cud, i.e. they don't solely survive on grass and ruffage that people can't digest). so if Jews raised pigs, they would potentially be taking food away from other Jews, and so the raising and keeping of pigs had to be banned for the good of Jewish society (since it was always hanging on by a thread).

Jews wrestle with G-d. that’s the meaning of what it is to be Jewish. Jacob was given the name “Israel” when he wrestled with the Angel, meaning “he who wrestles with G-d”.

in Crowley, there is an echo of Rabbinic and Talmudic thought, in terms of being able to use "fences" to shape our interpretation of the Torah. unlike with the Christian interpretation of the Bible, the Jewish relationship to our texts is not set in stone. Rabbis get around problematic passages by writing “fences”, or exceptions to the text. in essence, a “fence” says, “this law cannot be enacted, unless a series of completely improbable things were to happen first”. this allows the text to remain as it is, while removing the parts that we don’t agree with anymore (like stoning people to death as punishment etc).

watch the Job flashback in ep. 2 with this in mind.

this is part of how Jews wrestle with G-d, and it's an expression of our free will -- our texts can be addended to in order to reflect a modern understanding. (that's also why there are queer Rabbis in most Jewish denominations. most of the Jewish movements realized in the 20th century that barring queer people from being Rabbis wasn't in the interests of anybody, and so Judaism evolved.)

but while Rabbinic Judaism focuses on free will, many Christian movements (such as Calvinism) maintain a belief in a deterministic universe. 

and that's also part of the struggle between Crowley and Aziraphale.

so Crowley is figuring out how to say, "these laws don't serve me, so i'm not going to follow them as they’re written. i’m going to come up with my own interpretations". and he's just hoping that Aziraphale will catch up.

let’s just hope we get a Season 3, so Aziraphale has a chance to get there... come on, dude .. i know you can do it...

[mollysunder]

Jinx Can Just Lie

"What is truth, but a survivor's story?" - Silco

I rewatched Arcane again and I kept thinking about if Jinx could just lie about how Silco died. She could say Cait did it, Cait who's not only an enforcer but the daughter of Piltover council member. It wouldn't be a hard sell, since Jayce, a council member killed a chembaron's (Renni) kid, literally a day before. It was an accident I know, but it happened and there were no real repercussions for anyone except for Silco. If Jinx tried to make that narrative happen it would look like another escalation in Piltover's aggression against Zaun and it leader.

But would Jinx want to lie? Does she care about how the others in Silco's gang, the Children of Zaun, will react to Silco's death? Will Jinx want to protect Silco's legacy after he's gone? There's absolutely going to be a power vacuum, and Finn wasn't the only one vying for Silco's seat. On one hand Jinx is plenty self-centered that you could argue that she doesn't care about politics or Zaun's sovereignty, but the position she has occupied within Zaun, with Silco, has always been political. Jinx knew what Silco was doing, who he was doing it with, why he did it, and helped him along the way while displaying little remorse for those in her way. Will she leave it for other people to take over? I want to say no, she must partly believe in what Silco does for her to carry out his jobs, and she's never been insulated from Piltover's brutality, she has always been up close to see it. But it's up to the writers where they want to take it.

The real obstacle to successfully lying is Sevika, who could absolutely figure Jinx's bullshit out in a minute. But is it in her best interest to get rid of Jinx? Jinx already fired the rocket, we're not sure who's dead, even if no one dies (as unlikely as that is), Piltover is coming to crack down, hard. Whatever remains of Piltover's council, the noble family members that will assume the position of their deceased relatives are going to gut the Undercity for every threat, not just Jinx, but every gang and business that could possibly tied to Shimmer and resistance. While we don't know if Sevika will actually take a leadership position to replace Silco, we do know that she believes in Zaun. The best way to avoid chaos is to have a unifying narrative that will rally her people for the big picture. When Piltover comes with its enforcers and hextech, what would you rather say, your oppressors have murdered your leader because he wouldn't agree to an unfair deal, or that a man was accidentally murdered by his daughter during a mental breakdown?

No one knows about the terms of Jayce's deal with Silco, Silco may have written his terms down but Jayce didn't, he verbally listed out what he wanted. If Jayce, assuming he survives, were to say that the terms he asked for were reasonable, why should anyone from the Undercity believe him. He was the councilor that just came down and killed a kid. The only one who knows that and has any real standing in the Undercity is Jinx.

Sevika doesn't like Jinx, and Jinx doesn't like Sevika, but plenty of people throughout history have made due with much worse, and Sevika can't take another loss. When it was just Jayce asking for Jinx to be surrendered, that would have been a monumental loss in their arms race against Piltover. Jinx is one of the few people in the show who can recreate hextech, with less than a handful of notes stolen from Jayce and Viktor's lab. Their shimmer operations have already been hit and to lose another factor that previously secured their positions, would strategically not be worth it. Season 2 is likely an all hand on deck situation, Sevika can't afford to lose more people and resources, when Piltover comes down on all of them. If they don't survive, there won't be any chance for a nation of Zaun to exist.

What about the body, it's full of Jinx's bullets? Easy, they can cremate it before anyone else can see the holes. Jinx can even turn those ashes to tattoo ink to freshen up her old ones and and add new ones.

Tldr: Almost no one wrote anything down in Arcane, so lying would probably be really easy.

[sky-kenobye]

⛵️ Five Fandoms, Five Ships ⛵

Get to know the blogger, via five different ships from five different fandoms!

Thanks for the tag @underacalicosky !!

Putting it under the cut because this is LONG, sorry.

I love them your honor. Doesn't even have to be romantic, I just want to see them being obsessed about each other. I'm also a pretty big obianidala fan, hence why I added her too. (I'm a multishipper really. I have my otp but there's a lot of ships that I enjoy)

1. Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker(/Padmé Amidala) (Star Wars)

When I first watched star wars (not that long ago, I only watched it because I wanted to see the sequels in theater lmao) I wasn't a big fan of the prequels so I mostly ignored them, but then a couple years ago I randomly rewatched them in the middle of the night and suddenly I was obsessed. I'm not even sure how I ended up on AO3 (did I go look for obikin? Did I stumble on it? Idk) but eventually I started reading Pining in Preschool, then realised that @palfriendpatine66 was on tumblr, I started interacting with more people around here, and now I'm (slowly) writing fics, and I'm having the time of my life here, so thanks Pal!

I don't think any if my past fandom brainrots reached my current level so I'm pretty sure I'm here for the long haul (at least it's not stopping anytime soon).

It's not super obvious here but I'm actually a huge Marvel fan (well, the MCU, I've never read a comic), and especially Captain America. Stucky is just, 🤌 so tasty (a lot of similarities with obikin actually imo). I'd like to talk to whoever thought "I'm with you 'til the end of the line" was a straight sentence to repeatedly say to your bro throughout an entire century though. Like?? I'm all for relationships that defy the boundaries of platonic and romantic, but still, that's kinda gay.

2. Steve Rogers/James "Bucky" Barnes(/Peggy Carter) (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

The first MCU movie I saw was actually captain america 2 (and not the first one lol) in theater, and I was instantly hooked, though since Endgame I've been less into it, since my fav is gone (and I have to agree with tumblr on that one: they're making too many movies and shows, I can't keep up 😩)

(And I'm still super salty about what they did to steve in canon, they should have killed him off instead of whatever the fuck that was, honestly)

I also added Peggy because she's great, and polyamory is so much better than love triangles or shipping wars. (I'm not polyamorous but I believe in their beliefs. I think it's because of the aromanticism)

Same as with obikin (and stucky too tbh) I don't really care how they love each other, I just care that they do. They're the most important person to each other, be it romantic, platonic, familial, idc.

3. John Watson/Sherlock Holmes (mostly BBC Sherlock, but from the RDJ movies and the books too)

I've obsessed over (non-existent) clues during the last season, and deluded myself into thinking they'd become canon, alas, it didn't happen.

I've translated a couple of fics in french for that ship, but I've never written for it (I thought about it tho), and I've read a lot. That's the fandom where I've read some of the best queerplatonic fics, and that's my favorite interpretation of the ship, especially sherlock being some flavor of aroace.

4. Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)

I love them as a queerplatonic relationship, and I genuinely think that's what they are in canon, the haters can suck it, that's not queerbaiting even if they dont become a canon couple.

Okay, I'm starting to see a patern here. Am I really that predictable? You can just copy-past what I said above.

(I'm fully on board with them being a couple though)

Hey, a straight ship! With a woman not added as a second thought!

5. Elizabeth Bennet/Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

Not quite the same vibe as the others, but I've read sooo many fics and books (straight up published fics lol), I've watched a bunch of different adaptations (even the one with zombies)... The worst part is that I think I've only read the og book once, oops.

I actually inherited that fandom from the women in my family lmao. My mom, sister and sister-in-law are all obsessed with it, so I read it to see what all the fuss was about and, yeah, I get it.

And that's it! There are other fandoms I'm into, and other ships in those fandoms, but that's pretty much it (the main one that's missing is Dinluke, the others are mostly smaller ones).

I'm not super actively in those fandoms (apart from Star Wars obviously) but i come back to them now and then. Usually I re-watch it then binge-read a bunch of fics (while my main fandom stays in the main spot in my brain) then I let it go again until it comes back (while obikin still stays in the main spot).

Also Harry Potter used to be my main obsession but JKR kinda ruined that for me so I'm not really into it anymore (hence why I didn't list it even though I have written fics for it).

Anyway that was way too long, if you've read all of this then props to you!

I'm tagging: @cottonraincoat @fem-anakin-skywalker @kingdomvel @ineffable-snowman @arobiwan (and whoever else wants to do it because I'm nosy and I want to know stuff about people)

[adickaboutspoons]

bad writing where? I don't think you know what bad writing is and I have doubts you understand the core of the characters.

Hi Nonnie! Girl, how ARE you? Because you seem to be taking it awfully personally that I am not enjoying this season as much as you are. To be perfectly clear, if you ARE, I'm DELIRIOUSLY happy for you! I wish I was too! I was SO looking forward to it! And even though I didn't care for some stuff here and there for the first half of the season, there was a LOT that I LOVED, and I was still holding out hope for the rest of the season! After the last 3 episodes, I am decidedly less optimistic. I'm glad to tell you exactly why, and At Great Length, because that's kind of just What I Do, but here's the thing... It's ok if you like a thing that other people don't. It doesn't reflect poorly on you as a person. You don't have to defend a thing that you like as though it was an extention of yourself. Also? You and I don't have to agree. There's room for interpretation. I have mine, but that doesn't make it Objective Truth. My positions are only as good as I can offer coherent, well-supported arguements to back them up. I like doing that. I think it's fun. You may still not be convinced. That's ok. I don't need you to agree with me. And, frankly, you don't even need to worry about other people agreeing with me. I am small potatoes. I have maybe two posts ever that have made it into the low thousands in terms of notes - not reblogs, but notes cumulative. Most of my original stuff don't even break triple digits. Believe me NO ONE is rushing to espouse the doctrine of spoondick llc. And that's fine. So I'm gonna go ahead and give you the benefit of the doubt that you're asking genuine questions and not just lashing out. But I'm also gonna put my answers below a cut. Because, frankly, you may not entirely agree with me, but you also may not be able to unsee some of the things I point out once I do, and I don't want to take your enjoyment of the show away from you.

So second claim first: that I don't understand the core of the characters. I mean... I have written quite a lot and at length about these characters and their motivations. I mean, each of those is a link to a different meta I've written, and it's not even close to all of them. Which reminds me - I need to update my pinned page. So while you may not agree with my interpretations, at the v. least, you can't argue that I haven't put SOME thought into the matter. With regard to bad writing, the qualifiers may vary from person to person, but to me, it mainly comes down to three interconnected things: Inconsistency, telling rather than showing, and contrivance. I feel that there have been a LOT of inconsistencies with the characters, both between seasons and just within season 2 itself. I'm an unapologetic Stede girlie and he IS the main character, so most of my big qualms are with how his character is being butchered handled.

How the are we supposed to square Stede "had multiple breakdowns over Nigel's accidental death and was so traumatized over everything with Chauncy that he walked back to Bridgetown in his bare feet" Bonnet with the man from last night who murdered Ned in cold blood, and then went on to casually set a man on fire and QUIP about it? It's one thing to butch up with a "how to pirate" montage, it's quite another to become a psychopath, completely unbothered by taking a human life.

And about butching up. While I would, and have, argued that a lot of Stede's insecurities in the first season stemmed from insufficient performance of masculinity, I would NOT say that it was because he wanted to BE more typically masc himself - but rather from the way he has been TREATED for being soft, and internalizing the distain and derision of his bullies. Rather, the whole central thesis to his approach to piracy is it's "traditionally a culture of abuse... And my thought is: why? And also, what if it weren’t like that?" He's flattered when Yi Sao clocks his energy as soft. So his mid-season pivot to needing to embrace these "traditional pirate" behaviors? Yeah - I'd say that's a pretty glaring inconsistency.

Speaking of Yi Sao, lets talk about his fight with her. Because Stede in the first season is consistently shown to be a master of improvisation and using his environment and people's underestimation of him to his advantage to overcome stronger and more skilled opponents. He sends Officer Show Daddy rowing back to the British ship with some impromptu mannequins to give the Revenge time to escape after Nigel's death. He uses distraction and supersition to get the upper hand on Izz during their first encounter. He bests Izzy again in the duel using gunpowder to the eyes when he's pinned, and then using what Ed taught him about taking a stab angling to have it happen against a mast he knew would cause Izzy's sword to break. This initially carries over to the second season with Stede using his lowly position in Towels to acclimate people to deeply inhaling the scent he adds to the towels, and later uses that to his advantage to knock out the guards and escape. So it might have been one thing if Stede was in his cups and mourning Ed's departure that led him to getting overly possessive of his remaining crew and pick a fight with Zheng as a parallel of the Art Exhibition scene from season 1, and getting his ass handed to him as a parallel to Mary's attempted murder/an expression of what a deep impact Ed leaving has made on him that his normal strategizing fails him, but instead, he's getting emotional support (from IZZY of all people) and doesn't even seem tipsy, so he's got no reason to fail so profoundly, and it's played as though Yi Sao is RIGHT about him being "a mediocre man who thinks he's exceptional" when he legit JUST bested her with fucking tea towels 4 episodes ago.

Another big inconsistency for me is Stede's attitude toward Ed, over the first half of the season especially. At the end of season 1, we have Stede irrevocably torching his life as a gentleman of leisure to the ground because Mary has helped him to realize that 1) no body's life in improve by him doggedly trying to insert himself into a life he never wanted or chose for himself, and 2) he and Ed are in love with one another, and he should got find Ed about that. Then we get Stede dragging his heels in the Republic of Pirates while he "earns enough money," but his convo with Blackbeard's wanted poster reveals that he's afraid Ed's life is better off without him. Which? Real Chauncy-coded take there (and also, really? When Stede KNOWS that Ed is weary of the pirate life, but the wanted poster and rumor mill suggest he's thrown himself into it full tilt?). I could understand being worried that Ed doesn't love him anymore because Stede broke his heart, but NOT that "his life is better." But still, Stede IS determined to get back to Ed - he's just nervous about what he'll find when he does. He won't stop talking about it to anyone and everyone. He even yeets himself overboard shouting for Ed when he hears that the Red Flag has come across the Revenge. And then he thinks that he's come too late - that Ed is dead. And he manages to forestall his grief over that long enough to effect an escape, but then goes to do his mourning in private. But wonder of wonders! Ed is still alive! Stede didn't lose him after all! Imagine the rapture within his heart! And then he lets Ed leave without so much as offering to come with, when Ed has barely recovered from 1) a coma, & 2) a suicide attempt. It just doesn't make any sense in any possible world.

I also have a big problem with Mr. "Talk it through as a crew" running away from Lucius when he finally started opening up about the traumtic things he's lived through since he got shoved overboard. I've seen some posts suggesting Stede isn't doesn't prioritize or seem to care much about his crew, but that's just demonstrably not true? His first concern on awakening from being gut-stabbed was about his crew. He apologized when he lost his temper about the fuckery (Never heard an apology, Roach? Really?) and incorperated all of their ideas into the final product. Before he bought the treasure map, he inquired and found out there were no oranges for sale in St. Augustine due to a blight. Stede let Olu crash on his couch instead of having him bunk down with the rest of the crew because they were the charter members of the "my crush just left me for their old life" club and misery loves company. Even in the new season, he set aside his grief over Ed until he made sure his crew - INCLUDING the ones he thought were the ones who MURDERED THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE - were safe. So Stede running away from Lucius in his moment of unburdening himself? And it being played for COMEDY? Is not only antithetical to the established character, but to the central thesis of change being effected by the application of loving support that (I THOUGHT) was central to the whole show.

With Ed, it's mostly better, but even he doesn't escape unscathed. I'm absolutely baffled by the suggestion in episode 5 that Ed doesn't know how to be quiet and sit with his feelings when we see him: 1) stimming quietly with his silk after the "donkey" comment until Stede invited him to open up 2) stimming quietly with his silk after the French Boat Party 3) staring broodingly out to sea after the doggy heaven convo 4) isolating himself in the tub after his kraken meltdown 5) quietly sitting and folding socks 6) pillow fort isolation pod 7) standing quiet and alone after the Izzy confrontation, and apparently not seeing anyone until that night 8) stimming with silk before giving Lucius impromptu late night swimming lessons 9) playing with his dollies 10) cry alone in his room multiple times And maybe it's just that Fang doesn't see those times, because, for the most part, Ed self-isolates when he's feeling particularly emotionally vulnerable. But the show frames it as though Fang is correct? Especially in the after-credits scene where we're listening to Ed's non-stop internal monologue as he fails to sit quietly?

There's more with other characters, but, like I said, the categories are overlapping and inform one another, so I'd like to pivot to Tell-Don't-Show. Because whooo boy is there a lot of it going on. The most glaring one to me is Izzy's whole arc. I've seen a lot of people talking about extending unearned grace and how it's for the healing of the crew, not for Izzy, and that the crew are showing that they've embraced the loving support model they experienced under Stede's tenure as captain. But that doesn't change the fact that Izzy was SUCH a dick that even human-ray-of-sunshine-OLU was rooting for Stede to stab him in the duel, and by the end of last season Izzy sold them out to the English and did such a shit job at captaining that the crew (of which Fang and Frenchie were a part) unanimously voted to throw him overboard bound hand-and-foot. SOMETHING must have happened in the interim to move the needle from "gleefully ready to murder him" to "giving him hugs and unconditional positive regard therapy". But whatever it was happened entirely off-camera. We're just being asked to go along with it. And, to me, that's just bad, lazy writing.

The rest of his arc isn't much better, and highlights more of those inconsistencies. Last season, Izzy was openly dismissive and derisive about sharing feelings - it was one of his driving motivations at taking down Ed and inducing the Krakening. And now he seems to have taken the season-1-Lucius role of being the ship's emotional intelligence? Offering coping advice to Lucius. Suggesting to Ed that he should talk his feelings through. Giving support to Stede after Ed left him (again). Where would he even have accrued that skillset? I'm not saying that it's impossible for him to have changed with the loving support of his crew and in the wake of an identity crisis when he has to figure out who he is if not Blackbeard's right-hand man. What I'm saying is that very little of the actual changes happened on camera. And THAT'S what I have a problem with.

Similarly, I have a problem with the whole Yi Sao-Olu-Jim-Archie relationship tangle. Olu didn't even seem to realize Yi Sao was flirting with him until she said as much. I think he was flattered by the attention, and not averse to the idea, but that's not the same thing as being into her in return. And then, when it's relevant to the plot, we're meant to just trust that he's been secretly pining this whole time? Compare to when Jim left - before they'd even kissed. Olu spent his time mooning over the railing, telling everyone how much he missed JIm, getting drunk, and giving away his room. Since he left Yi Sao, there's been not a single word about missing her, not a moment where he even looks slightly broody. We HAVE seen him bonding with Jim and Archie. Hunkering down against the curse on the same bed as Jim and Archie. Dancing with Jim and Archie. Do you see how this LOOKS like the show is possibly moving in a throuple direction? And then we suddenly get Olu saying out of nowhere that he misses Yi Sao, Jim playing matchmaker for them, and Olu announcing that he's going to leave the revenge to be with Yi Sao. Bye, I guess. And this level of Telling-Not-Showing and inconsistency smacks of Contrivance. And Contrivance really feels like the engine that is driving most of the season to me. It looks an awful lot like the writers had an end-goal in mind, and worked backwards to get there, and along the way did all the hand-waving they had to in order to get where they wanted. Gotta have Stede & Zheng team up against Ricky for an Epic Beach Battle that pits Pirates against The Crown, but why would she want him - especially if she thinks he's "a mediocre man who thinks he's exceptional"?

Oh, what if she loses all her ships because Ricky blew them all up with the world's most contrived bombs?

But why wasn't she on the ship?

Well she was beating Stede's ass at the time.

Why was she beating his ass?

Because he picked a fight with her because he was drunk and she was poaching his crew?

Why are some of Stede's crew willing to leave him even though they were literally ride-or-die even when he was trying to find the guy that marooned them?

Oh, Olu's been in love with Yi Sao this whole time, but, like, never fucking mentioned it, just trust us.

Why was he drunk - Stede thinks drinking 'til you puke isn't fun, remember?

Oh, he is getting plied with drinks because all the pirates love him now.

Why do all the pirates love Stede now?

Because he killed some Big Name Pirate.

Stede? "I'm having a bit of a hard time adjusting to being a mur... mur... murderer?" Stede? Are you sure?

Yeah. He's totally butch now.

....How?

He trained on how to be a pirate with Izzy.

Izzy. The guy that conspired with the British specifically to murder Stede Bonnet? Why?

Ed said he needed to work on his "mean voice" and be more dom assertive.

Why would Ed ever say that? He loves that Stede is out there doing things like no one else.

Because Stede doesn't feel like a captain.

Even though he's calling all-hands meetings and mediating crew grievences and rescuing his crew and no one is challenging his authority or even questioning whether his devotion to his boyfriend is possibly compromising his ability to do his job?

...Yes?

But why Izzy? Stede hates Izzy. Izzy hates Stede. Surely these are universal constants.

Izzy's nice now. He's been rehabilitated by the love of the crew.

...How?

Jingly keys.

[ambelle]

Kory's one of my favorite characters ever,but then I got into fandom and everyone seems to despise the writing for her. I'm confused what's wrong with her? Also adore DickKory and their baby 🥺

Hmmm well here's another essay on my favorite character of all time.

Kory is one of a kind and most people agree. I stopped trying to figure out why people are forever unhappy with her a while ago. Red Hood being lame had nothing to do with Kory's character arc in s3 and yet they'd have you believe it somehow ruined her.

Her story with Kom gave her a solution to returning to Tamaran and bigger better powers. Though of course folks won't acknowledge they were wrong about her powers being an upgrade...because they are blue. Which them being pink was suddenly a thing everyone cared about during s3 for no actual reason. Just like they don't acknowledge other characters don't get to fly either. Just like they'll drag the CGI when she does fly anyway. Because again...never satisfied.

After season 2 a lot of people said she had no storyline and I knew then it wasn't about Kory as an individual. Not how she changes and grows or her powers or any of that. It's not really about her it's about Dick. Specifically sex scenes with Dick. I know this because of the praising of season 1. What deep character arc and storyline did she have in season 1? Oh right she didn't but she was with Dick. That's just a coincidence though right. Don't get me wrong I love season 1 but it didn't do nearly as much for her as season 2 and 3 did.

I bet they can't tell you what female character on the show is better-written anon. Go on and ask them LOL. Is it Babs? Did they want her to be written like Dawn? They can say they are disappointed we didn't really see Tamaran without pretending all the white characters are getting everything. They aren't. That's a lie.

I wanted to see Tamaran and her culture but I did not need it to be exactly like the comics if we did. Anyone who read the comics knows the choice to leave out certain things like her background as a slave or her pining for Dick was for the best. It wouldn't translate well for any woman but would especially be terrible optics with Anna being black. Imagine thinking Greg is racist for not having scenes of Kory being whipped and branded or made to feel unwanted by her white love interest. It actually doesn’t add up at all but that's what they are saying.

If people are mad about a ship that's fine but Kory has arguably the best writing on the show. Like say you just wanted them to bang don't drag her legacy down.

Anyway, this is my all-time favorite version of Kory and DickKory. She is treated with such high regard and respect and I love that for her. Dick is also equally there emotionally so she's not out here insecure over him and his angst. And yes their baby girl is the absolute cutest!!!

[hoghtastic]

Hey there! I remember that some had been discussing why most of the younger cast of vikings didn't really progress with their careers. I have just recently rewatched the whole show, and now with some time passed and not as much of a hype I personally felt like often the acting of them was honestly hideous. I noticed that especially with Marco, Ida, Georgia and yes also with Alex. Some of them clearly had some very good and memorable scenes but compared to what Travis did with his character I now understand that a lot of people abandoned or didn't like the show after Ragnars death. Yes, Ivar carried the show like a lot after that but I personally thing that the fact that Ivar just looked hot had a lot of saying with that. Because when I rewatched the show, I thought that with season 5 the story was more often written poorly then not! I know that they were young and didnt have that much experience, but honestly if that is their biggest advertisement for themselves I kinda understand it's hard for them to get new big jobs.

Just my 2 cents, sorry if most disagree, hope no one feels offended. Just thought to myself its almost a bit surprising how my own view changed with a bit of distance form the fandom and hypetrain.

Thank you so much for sharing your opinion, anon! 😊 It's a really interesting perspective, and it's totally understandable that with some time and distance our views on things will change.

If I may also add my two cents, from my experience talking to friends and acquaintances who also used to watch Vikings, people abandoning the show after Ragnar's death had nothing to do with the new actors' skills. They were just really attached to Ragnar as a character and felt really disappointed that they decided to kill the main character, so much that they didn't see a point in continuing to follow the story, as the sons' story wouldn't be the same without Ragnar. So some people gave up right away, not even giving the show and the new cast a chance. It also didn't help that, at the time, only seasons 1 to 5 were available on Netflix, and most people didn't feel like subscribing to another platform (Amazon Prime, if I'm not mistaken) to see the 6th and final season. And while I agree that sometimes the writing wasn't the best, we can't really blame the actors' skills for that either, as they try to do their best with what they're given, I believe. 😅

I also absolutely agree when you said that "they were young and didn't have that much experience", but being on Vikings was already a huge achievement and they could have worked on improving their skills after that. I can only comment about Alex, whose career I've been following the closest in comparison to the others you mentioned, but I'd say that the problem wasn't his performance in Vikings. He showed a huge potential and commitment to the character, even if he wasn't perfect. The problem was what he did after. It seemed to me (based on past interviews) that he got a little picky with which roles he'd accept, considering some smaller ones as some kind of "downgrade" after Vikings. He also didn't seem to have resumed his formal studies or any other kind of education that would help him improve as an actor. And in such a competitive field of work, where good big roles are somewhat scarce, I don't think those were very clever choices. But this is just my personal opinion, of course, and maybe he preferred to prioritize his mental health back then and is happy doing some lighter work nowadays. 😊

[tadbitsketch]

Okay, so I'm very much a Lukesse shipper (took a break from writing a fic to write this lol), but I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, and I think we all should do better (myself included). There's a lot of interesting things we can build upon with Lukas' character, besides him maybe having a crush on the main character.

(accidentally wrote an essay, as per usual, do be wary)

Like his passion for writing. He started logging his portal hallway travels in a random book he found at a murder mansion, which shows off his resourcefulness, a trait that he's been told he has.

Or maybe how he always wanted to be the sort of person that Jesse became, but never really quite got there, which could serve as an incredibly interesting parallel to Aiden, if written correctly. Lukas just tried it out, did his best, and then decided that adventure wasn't something that he'd actively pursue. He would still help save the world if it needed saving, though.

There's also him being a pretty good archer. We can pull symbolism from this. Archers in fiction are usually depicted as the weaker, more brainy sort of character. So often do we just totally gloss over him being pretty smart. And the whole "weak archer" thing is sort of brought up when Romeo keeps bullying the crap out of Lukas for being "weak." Even though Lukas had literally proved himself time and time again, learning to be someone reliable. Could it have been Romeo resurfacing old doubts of his?

Or maybe there's Lukas' whole background character arc in season 2, which mainly serves as a conclusion to his original character arc of learning to not be a doormat. The dude starts a rebellion against his closest friend, who could literally kill him in an instant, which is a really awesome contrast to how he didn't stand up to Aiden at all while they considered each other friends, despite being the "leader" of the Ocelots.

What about how in Episode 3, Lukas was more scared of the Endermen than Olivia was, despite Olivia saying that she was scared of them? That's a really interesting use of the "show" going against the "tell." It not only shows how Lukas isn't really his "cool guy" persona, but it also shows us that Olivia is way more capable than she believes that she is.

Something I don't really ever see is people discussing how Lukas kind of joined Jesse's party after a long time of not interacting. How does he adjust to things?

Or what about all of the trauma this man has? In not-really-sequential order, he's been possessed, possibly been shoved off of a floating island in a murder attempt, been accused of murder, lost his entire friend group in the apocalypse, literally died, and that's just the main things from the first season. Can't he bond with others that aren't romantic interests over these?

Don't get me wrong, I love shipping. It's really fun to say "Hey, wouldn't it be interesting if these characters were in a romantic relationship?" sometimes, but we could also have more non-shipping stuff. Especially because the source material was incredibly focused on platonic love for one's friends. Why are we (in reference to fandom in general) so against people wanting to protect and care for each other for reasons other than thinking the other is hot? Friendship is this awesome thing that we have, and so often do we just throw it away.

I'm not saying that you need to just quit shipping characters and only appreciate friendships. I'm just saying that we can also emphasize platonic relationships alongside romantic ones. Let characters bond as friends while discussing the adventures they went on. Let them learn to trust each other and work as a team.

I could also add on about how characters similar to Lukas often get simplified down to "(traumatized) cinnamon roll who loves their partner and that's all there is," when there is much more to them. It's an interesting dynamic, yes, but it would be so cool to see other character traits amplified.

Lukas is a logical, genuine guy. He wants to help people, but he's not as capable as others, like Jesse. Instead of being salty about that, like Aiden, Lukas simply worked with his team, where they balanced out each other's strengths and weaknesses. He tried out adventuring, but ended up settling down and writing books about the travels of him and his friends. He used to be more of a pushover, but he became someone who won't let people he cares about be bullied, because he was once bullied too, by someone he called his friend.

And uh, that's about it. Can we see more of Lukas that isn't just him being with Jesse, please?

(i am guilty of this and i promise i will draw him on his own more, writing this has given me ideas)

Hottest hot take is that people need to stop drawing Lukas ONLY with Jesse. Lukas is his own character and, in my opinion, one of the most explored characters in mcsm. Seeing him being belittled into only being a love interest for Jesse in the fandom is so stupid.. It's like you guys are only drawing/writing him just so he can be a love interest.

I NEED to see people focus on his depth more with characters OTHER than Jesse for once.

[maxwellatoms]

Hey Max. I've got a few questions for you. 1: Why did most of the title cards simply use a cutout from the episode? 2: Most of the episodes you were credited for, you just pitched to CN? 3: Why did the first batch of Grim & Evil episodes say "written by" and then switch to "story by"? And 4: So many one-time storyboard artists. Can you explain why that was?

1. I'm not sure what you mean by "cutout", but title cards were always "important" in that you had to stare at them for fifteen seconds, yet they somehow almost never made it onto the schedule. That would leave me with only a short time to produce the artwork. So once we got deeper into the production, I'd stop making bespoke drawings for each card and pull something from that episode's model pack, and then build the title card around that. It saved me from having to make a new drawing and the painters from having to paint it. 2. I didn't take credit for a lot of stuff on B&M. Mostly because CN was determined that people only be given one credit no matter what they actually did. I assume CN believed that someone who was (say) credited for writing and storyboarding should be paid more than a person who just does one of those. And I completely agree. Except that I would've made the argument that it was a good thing and a net savings for CN. But they didn't see it that way and actively discouraged artists from straying from their poorly-defined "lanes".

3. Which basically gives you the answer for this question. I literally wrote most of the outlines for Billy & Mandy episodes, though I did encourage board artists to write their own. I felt (and still feel) that the best and purest stories came from people who were involved from beginning to end.

At its best, I liked to think of Billy & Mandy as a series of mini-indie-movies that all happen to star the same characters. Writing and storyboarding are two skills that don't always mesh, and finding people who can do both is difficult. By the third season, I felt like the artists deserved credit for their work, so I pushed for the "story by" credit for whoever had written the outline.

I have memories of this process being overly complicated. There was another step in there somewhere. Maybe you could only get "story by" credit if you both write and boarded a segment. I can't recall.

4. Because it's hard to find people who can storyboard and write. We had a dedicated "freelance slot" alongside our core group of storyboard artists. The freelance slot was helpful because you always had the hope you'd find a C.H. Greenblatt or an Alex Almaguer somewhere in the pack. But most of the time, you just got people who could do good looking boards but couldn't write a joke. Or people who could tell a joke but couldn't handle staging.

Those boards would usually need to be redone. And the only person we had on staff to do that was me. By the end of the series, I got tired of redoing stuff and was able to convince the production to remove the freelance slot and hire one more board artist.

[chicoriii]

Why I'm losing faith in Ladynoir...

...so also in the Love Square in general.

People who read my post about new episodes know that Alya's arc is annoying to me the most, as it's the biggest thing in season 4, but especially since Optigami, I see a big issue with Ladynoir's writing, which is even worse after Sentibubbler. And of course, if there's something wrong with Ladynoir, it affects the whole Love Square.

It's terrible that Ladybug doesn't trust Chat Noir enough to confess to him that she tells all the Miraculous secrets to her best friend or she gave the fox to Rena Rouge permanently.

It's terrible that since Alya knows the secrets, every time when Rena Rouge is fighting the villains, Ladybug's planning only with her, Chat is kept in the dark. He could be even treated like an intruder (see Sentibubbler).

But that's not what I meant. I hate that, but eventually I can accept it.

But I can't do the same with the fact that Marinette doesn't take into account his feelings at all. You don't need to be a genius to be aware that if you keep leaving your partner (or I would rather should say former one, as Ladybug treats him more like a sidekick at least since Optigami, Rena Rouge is her new real partner) out in the cold of all a sudden without even trying to explain it to him, that would affect him negatively. Marinette doesn't see a human being in him who has feelings like everyone. She doesn't treat him seriously. She's supposed to be in love with him secretly, but that's not believable to me anymore. She isn't even a good friend, nor a good guardian to him. It looks more similar to the way how Marinette treats Luka, and that was the reason why I was used to keep saying that Lukanette doesn't make sense as a romantic relationship to me. But she hasn't been really in love with him, so that has never been a real issue in the show's writing.

Marinette clearly favours Rena Rouge over Chat Noir and she's replacing him with her as her partner. Since Alya knows, it's like she cares only about feelings of her best friend and making favours to her (she wants to know all the guardian secrets? Of course! She wants the Miraculous permanently? No problem.), she doesn't give a shit about the cat wielder. I have a feeling that she doesn't need him anymore, because now she has Alya with whom she can talk about all superhero things. It can't be justified by the fact that Chat doesn't tell her that's something wrong. She's not Chloé who cares only about herself, she supposed to be a very empathetic character, who loves help people, she should be aware that she doesn't treat Chat fair anymore.

Something like that should have happened in S1 or at the very least in the first half of S2, not after the season 2 finale and the famous line "You and me against the world" and especially the whole season 3 in which Ladynoir developed beautifully. People sees Ladynoir as the most developed side of the Love Square. And I had agreed with it, despite I have always liked Adrienette the most. But so what? So what if the writers decided to undone their development? Marinette has seen that his feelings towards her are not a joke in Glaciator, she's seen that he hates being kept in the dark in Syren, she's seen that he's afraid of being replaced in Anansi. For heaven's sake, she's been even bothered by the fact he sacrificed himself in Lies! And now? All those words that Chat is irreplaceable or that she trusts him completely were only words? In fact, she trusts Alya and cares about her feelings much more.

It seems only Adrien respects and appreciates both sides of his loved one in real. And that's despite Marinette still have trouble with talking to him.

The Love Square can't be completed and really strong if Marinette cares only about feelings of civilian side of her crush. I still don't want to see the identity reveal yet, but previously I thought that mostly because Adrienette isn't developed enough. Ladynoir's side seemed to be more ready to it. Now I see it's not that easy. They don't seem to be even close to be ready to reveal their secrets. So it looks like it should not happen this season. In fact, Adrien appreciates Marinette much more than Ladybug appreciates Chat Noir, so in this sense Adrienette is more ready for the identity reveal than Ladynoir. It can't happen as long as Ladybug sees Chat more like a tool, doesn't consider his feelings, keeps him in the dark, leaves him out and, last but not the least, doesn't trust him.

I had no big issues with the Love Square writing in three previous seasons, I had seen it as an example of an amazing fictional relationship which develops slowly but gratifyingly. But not anymore, because Ladybug is not allowed to see Chat's normal human feelings in season 4. After three seasons of development. I get why they are doing it. For the sake of BIG DRAMA which is getting closer and closer and that would end with another Chat Noir's akumatisation or a different really bad thing. Still, it could have be written better, without undermining the faith in the Love Square. And to be fair, I'm worried about any type of melodrama in this show, I disliked the biggest dramatic moments in both Truth and Lies (they were so cheap, like taken from soap operas), not to mention Gang of Secrets, the episode I really hate, not only but mostly for that reason (and lack of subtlety).

[babygirldennis]

This shit is fake bby!!!

Here she is.. My masterpost of all the dumb, illogical bits of info contained within these s15 “leaks” that make me fairly confident they are complete bullshit. It also includes my little tinhat theories that have absolutely no evidence.

I will be putting it all under a Readmore in case you don't want to risk it or if you simply Do Not Care

First up, I'd like to point out that these call sheets repeatedly give very detailed backstories to characters that have few lines which conveniently paints a picture of each episode's plot. And I'm not an expert so correct me if I'm wrong, but after looking at other similar casting calls, they only ever include the demographic and necessary skills.

Basically who in their right mind would write up casting calls that give away so many spoilers? Seems like that could cause and issue if they were leaked lol. But anyway that's my 1st point. But onto the actual content

So the conceit of this episode as a whole is that during the pandemic, the gang "gamed the system" and received three (3!) Loans to start businesses that went bankrupt. One of these businesses is implied to be the one started by dee and charlie who end up selling to Qanon shaman. Already this is so impossible baby.

1. We've already seen the gang try to get a loan and it didn't work. They don't have good ideas. Ur telling me, they managed to finagle 3 separate loans for 3 separate business ideas from an actual bank?

2. Maybe I just have bad reading comprehension but how does one have a business that is both fictitious and bankrupt?

3. If the customer is supposed to be Qanon shaman, an actual real life guy, why are the only descriptors white and male? They say he's shirtless so are they going to paint on all of the tattoos he has? And if so, doesn't that kind of ruin the dramatic reveal when charlie "throws in" the viking helmet? Why would he do that anyways? Sus.

Moving on

Alright this episode would fucking blow for obvious reasons but im going to refrain from looking at this through my gay dennis thruther lens because im biased.

Purely from a narrative standpoint, a woman hasn't been shown to be interested in dennis in nearly 5 years during the wade boggs episode. Ever since, every single woman he approaches has been actively creeped out by him. And now I'm supposed to believe that 3 "smart, passionate woman" (In Their Twenties!!!!!!) agreed to go on a date with him? And Anna even slept with him! Just because he what? Agreed with her? I'm not buyin it.

Plus the concept of this scenario lacks any potential for comedy. When iasip gets political, they always discuss a very specific topic using hyperbolic situations and flawed metaphors. If this is supposed to be a political episode, what ultimately lukewarm point would rob be trying to make here? So far we know they're ranting about

The patriarchy

Privilege

Socialism

No more personal responsibility(?)

The... nature of power in society(??)

How on earth would an episode like get approved? This shit sounds like a Ted talk. It sounds like it was written specifically to sound like a political episode so boring and pointless it would generate outrage and mile long essay posts from Tumblr users and reddit users alike. Almost like this one lol.

On a completely unrelated note, do not try and convince me that Frank "casual cock ring wearer" Reynolds is unable to perform.

Jeez this is getting out of hand fast. Let's move on

Ok now we're starting to getting into the Ireland of it all. Let me go on a bit of a tangent here about all this.. Now I thinq there are just 3 possibilities. Either this is all a publicity stunt and there is some truth to the Ireland rumors, the entire thing could be bogus from some weirdo fan (ps, if a fan did write this I want you to know I fucking hate you. You did this to me), or it is a publicity stunt but Ireland is just more bullshit.

I am going to assume it was a publicity stunt, otherwise I just wasted my entire evening and I can't have that kind of mentality rn. Additionally, I'm Going to tinhat here for a second and say that the Ireland rumors are true, but the details are different.

I say this because if they were going to do filming in Ireland, they probably figured that that information would be impossible to hide. In essence, my completely unfounded hypothesis is that this leak was their fucked up little way of controlling the situation while simultaneously messing with us.

Ok tangent is over, returning to the casting calls. From the looks of it, dee starts a "scam" acting class and has some very devoted students (Note that Tony was also the name of the porn shop owner. Seems weird!) Presumably after the gang replaces her with a monkey as the title suggests.

Honestly, there isn't too much here that's a red flag to me... seems like a nice little dee-centric episode that is the link to the Dublin angle. Assuming I am At All right, this could be a genuine plotline for Dee. However, the monkey could be a red herring and there could be a whole different side plot with the guys. who's to say. Next one!

Ah yes this is the dennis we all know and despise.. no red flags for me here really, I'm also running out of steam because idk if it shows, but I am majorly sleep deprived atm. Anyway I'm going to the next one

Okay this is where things start getting weird again ough a migraine just hit, anyway back to my earlier point about how casting calls would never contains major spoilers bc the people who see these wont be under any kind of NDA..

These ones reveal that bonnie dies. Again, that info wouldn't be in a casting call.

But also they suggest charlie has a irish penpal named Shelley who is his biological father. First off charlie is illiterate, although as pointed out by @undeadbreeze shelley could also be communicating in symbols. However, this scenario is still unbelievable to me for a couple reasons:

1. Bonnie's last name is Kelly obviously, and we know it's her maiden name because Jack's last name is also Kelly. But Shelley's last name is... also Kelly? In the context of this big ol hoax, it feels like it was written to show that look! his last name is the same as charlie's! That's how you know that's his dad! But It would be way too big of a coincidence if charlie's dad happened to have the same last name bonnie.

And 2. There's the whole mystery of charlie's long-lost sister from 'charlie got molested' but never any mention of a brother which according to this, shelley has been pretending to be his brother for years. And we all know how much rcg loves their continuity, it seems uncharacteristically lazy to just tack this on without any prior buildup.

And finally let me talk about mac for a second and specifically the line in gus's summary "both are gay men who are attracted to the priesthood for all the wrong reasons"

Iasip has commented on pedophilia in the priesthood many times in the past which leads me to believe that they are implying that mac is a pedophile? Please let me know if I completely misread the implications of that statement, but if not, then that is completely insane and one of the biggest indictators that this is fake. Mac is awful, just like everyone in the gang but he is definitely not a pedophile.

However even if i did completely misread that, it's still proof this is fake.. For all his faults, Rob put a surprising amount of care and effort into mac's coming-out. It hasn't been perfect, but Mfhp in particular firmly established that mac's faith is integral to his identity so Its unlikely that rob would throw all of that away for a cheap shot at priests.

Ok my brain is irradiated sludge at this point, but in conclusion. I hope that 1. I'm right, at least about it being fake (Otherwise damb that'll be so humiliating for me) And 2. This eases ur fears a bit. I don't want to lose all faith in future seasons bc I love iasip and miss the gang. If you read this far youre insane but I literally love you so goddamn much because I spent so so long tapping this out on my silly little phone

Please feel free to add on or message me your thoughts and opinions I need to know I'm not the only one who uhhh went a bit insane. And finally: whoever made these is a cunt. Mwah.

[wenellyb]

Since you're asking nicely, I'll gladly answer!

The first purpose of shipping is to have fun! Some people like slow burns, other people like ennemies to lovers, friends to lovers and plenty of other storylines.

Me, I just like any romantic pairing if the story is written correctly.

I don't mind slow burns, but I wouldn't ship à pairing if I got the feeling the writers weren't planning to put them in a relationship together. I can't ship a non-canon ship for more than 2 seasons because then it stops being fun and becomes frustrating.

The reason why I like Tommy and Buck's relationship is because their story is written beautifully.

Episode 7x04: Until the very end of the episode we were led to believe Buck was being jealous about Eddie having a new friend and about not gettng Eddie's attention. But it's then revealed that it was all about Tommy, and we figure it out if we watch the episode again:

- Buck was the one who asked Tommy for a tour. Then he asked him out after the tour, but got turned out because Tommy already had plans with Eddie.

- After being turned down, I think Buck didn't dare to call/text Tommy again, so he tried to find alternative ways of seeing Tommy again.

- Buck has known about the basketball games for a long time but only wanted to join when he knew Tommy was going to be there.

- When Tommy goes to Buck's place, he explains everything: how he asked him for a tour to get to know him, how he had been trying to get his attention (and Tommy is surprised because he wasn't seeing all of Buck's shenanigans. Like us, Tommy thought it was about Eddie).

- The kiss: So Tommy (and the audience) realizes Buck likes him and kisses Buck and what a beautiful scene. If I hadn't shipped Bucktommy because of the kiss, I would have shipped it seeing Buck's reaction. The way Buck looked at Tommy like he had been waiting for this moment forever was everything.

Episode 7x05: After their "disastrous" 1st date, we were led to believe that this would be the end for Buck x Tommy. But when we see Buck after that, we see how much he likes Tommy:

- 1st with how he's praising him to Maddie

- He tells Eddie he can't stop thinking about him

- When he meets up with Tommy again he invites him to his sister's wedding, and that's a big step.

From Tommy's side, we can tell he likes Buck, because even after Buck was rambling about how he's an ally, Tommy kept flirting with Buck. It wasn't until they met Eddie that everything went south. When we see him again, Tommy says "of course" when Buck thanks him for coming, like it's the most natural thing even though their date ended awkwardly. Then he reassures Buck and tells him he didn't do anything wrong and just didn't want to pressure him. And then tells him he's interested. When he agrees to go to the wedding, he has the biggest smile we've ever seen.

The 2 of them are obviously into each other and are trying to build a relationship, and they're being portrayed by 2 actors who have a lot of chemistry. I don't need more, I want to see where their story goes.

Can I ask the same and ask why so you ship Buddie?

Before they introduced Tommy, I wasn't against the idea of Buddie, quite the opposite, I was rooting for them but I didn't ship it because I never had the feeling that they had romantic feelings for each other, or that the showrunners ever wanted to set up a love story. They were being best friends.

If anyone is interested, I've written some other posts about Buck and Tommy scenes:

Here, here and here.

listen, i’m only cross tagging because this is a genuine question for bucktommy shippers. i’m not talking shit or anything.

but like, what exactly is there to ship? why do you ship it? i mean, when it comes to shipping, im a huge fan of “they’ve been through a lot together” and “they had to go through so much to be together” that’s why im such a big fan of buddie. six seasons of nothing but build up. how could you not love that?

as for bucktommy, tommy may have had his little redemption arc but he started out as one of the most unliked and underdeveloped characters. he’s only been in six episodes total so far. all that happened was he and buck shared a kiss and they went on two dates, one of which ended badly. some may say that buck also invited tommy to maddie’s wedding but i digress. that is very fast moving, but buck hasn’t had a lot of relationships that aren’t fast moving. all we know of tommy is that he used to be in the 118, he’s currently a pilot, he used to be in the army, and he’s gay.

again, im not trying to talk bad about your ship. this is me genuinely asking what it is that everyone sees in them so if you have an answer, please comment or reblog.

[flodaya]

Hello there, here to give an honest opinion. I disagree with a few of your takes about Lou. Most people who don’t like her in honesty just find her character random and unnecessary. They feel as if she was inserted purely for drama and not story progression. BUT I don’t really think it’s the fault of Lou’s character or the people who aren’t taking to her well, it’s the writing. Yes, there are people who want the mlm Sascha ending but I believe it’s because we were kinda sold that in the beginning. We were eased into Sascha—we were excepting him. Lou was random—seemed to be tossed into the mix as an after thought and it threw everyone off the vibe. I understand what you mean by people hating on a non conventionally attractive gender non conforming person but I think it’s unfair to state that ALL people who aren’t taking to Lou’s character fits that bill. Sure, some people might not like her for that reason, however, I know alot of people who just really adore the main cast of characters and are salty the underused characters (Finn, Yara) lost the war of screen time to new characters. If people genuinely like the idea of Lou and Ismail, great. But what I find concerning is people who are shipping them just because they feel like it’s the “woke” thing to do or that it would be a bad thing to not ship a couple like them. It seems to be with your logic that if you don’t take well to them, people automatically assume you’re body shaming Lou or not finding her attractive, again that’s an unfair assumption. Personally, I don’t think Ismail and Lou have chemistry and the “chemistry” between them that’s being written is clearly forced. I have no issues with Lou’s character anymore. I did find her a bit sus in her introduction because I wasn’t sure wtf purpose she was supposed to serve but she’s fine to me now.

hi, my friend

so i gotta be honest here and say i am not lou's biggest fan either, i am having a very hard time warming up to both new characters, there were a combined 2 moments where i genuinely liked and felt emotional for these two, 1) was when sascha came to the party in episode 1 and did his little dance thing and 2) was lou in the clip on monday drawing and being all cutesy with isi

i don't think people are always malicious when they don't like lou, not in the slightest, and neither am i saying the entire fandom is like this, i know people in this fandom who love lou or who defend lou, so when i say "y'all are horrible" i am clearly only referring to people who are mean and disrespectful and there are a lot of people making very rude and distasteful comments about her, so if you're not one of them, if you don't like her because you just dont then that's totally okay, we can't all like a character, it's an opinion after all

yet i wouldn't say people ship lou and isi for woke points, maybe, just maybe, some people genuinely like those two as a couple? i don't "ship" anyone this season, i just don't want to see constant hate for lou and isi and for people to keep denying that ismail is clearly meant to seem romantically interested in lou, ship whatever you want, but it's so easy to not be a fucking dick about a character

but it is extremely questionable how the perception of lou and sascha is so contrary, on top of that i remember how this fandom treated ava the last two seasons and it's becoming increasingly annoying how fat characters are seen in the fandom as "they are getting too much screen time" while constantly asking for other skinny conventionally attractive characters to get more screen time (eg. everyone saying yara should get more background but then complain when lou gets a backstory)

i definitely agree with you though, the writing is at fault here, they clearly set up sascha as the LI, which is also why i still think he is the endgame, so they've totally set up lou to compete against a white queer boy and we all know this fandom and their obsession with those. though i don't think we can deny that if lou had also been a white boy or if the genders had been reversed the reception and general opinion would be quite different 🤷‍♀️

so, tl;dr i am not lou's biggest fan either, i could have very well done without her or sascha, i'm just here to call out the hypocrisy of big parts of this fandom

[herstarburststories]

You Have A Home

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Reader

Summary: After a call from Y/N, Sam comes back town to help -- and brings Dean with him.

Requests: N°1 heyhey, could you do a Sam x reader where they went to college togehter and later meet again and they realise their feelings for eachother...xx + N°2: can you do a college sam headcanon with medicine student reader

A/N: This was fun! The monster here is mentioned in season 6, when the boys ask Bobby for advice on how to kill it. This is my first Samgirl long imagine, with Dean being the flirty he is. I wrote this almost one year ago, so it's more crude and I'm nervous to be posting it! And my piece for @cajunquandary 's 600 challenge, my prompt was monster of the week. Dividers by @talesmaniac89!

Dean's eyes remained on the road when the bitter statement left his body, tangled with a wry chuckle, “I can't believe you are still in touch with those people.”

“Those people?” Sam arched elbows, slightly skeptical by his brother's tone, “They were my friends, Dean.”

“Sammy, all our friends? Dead. They all die. Or worse.” He glanced at him for a moment, pursing his lips together. It might not be an easy assignment, but was part of the job. Sammy had tried to run away plenty times and always came back, when would he understand? “We don't get to have friends. You should've learned that.”

“They are not our friends, they are my friends. Also, they don't know about the hunting life, they aren't in harm.” Sammy hissed once the other locked his green eyes on the road again. Dean sighed, moving one hand away and up from the steering wheel in a rendition gesture.

“Whatever you say, man. I'm just warning you, this doesn't usually end up good for them.”

Sam scoffed, Dean could get on his nerves sometimes, “We saved many people that got to have a good life.”

“Yeah, but those people didn't know us before that. I told you when you left Stanford--”

“I didn't keep contact, okay!? I just... I just still have a phone that they have the number of. No social media, no calls on birthdays.” Nervously gesticulating, he added, “I know how to keep them safe, Dean.”

“So, old friend?” The eldest Winchester asked after the few minutes of silence that followed Sam's outburst, “Female old friend?”

“Yes. (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” Dean smirked, and Sam to rolled his eyes at his behavior, “Keep it in your pants.”

He'd let out a malicious laughter before turning on the radio, the first guitar sounds of AC/DC playing in the background.

“I think you'll be the one not keeping it, Sammy.”

“Hello?” The woman in nothing but a towel who had opened the door greeted them with a question, her brown eyes glaring at the two men with clear confusion.

Dean had no shame to check her out, innerly celebrating that she was still wet from her shower. Perhaps visiting Sam's friends wasn't that big mistake. “Hey, you.”

She grimaced at Dean for two seconds before turning her attention to Sam again, sudden recognition written on her face.

“Sam? Sam Winchester?” He nodded, smiling that light-hearted boyish grin at her. Not caring about her dressings, she just threw herself at Sammy, hugging him tightly. “I missed you!” She pulled away only to hit his shoulder. Her short stature didn't match Sam's, but he'd still make a grimace at her attempt of slap. “Why didn't you call? God, your hair grew a lot. Listen, I have some scissors.”

“Tried that, didn't work.” Dean interrupted their reencounter, trying to get in the conversation. An usual lopsided grin on his face, “Dean Winchester, Sam's brother.”

“Layla, Sam's friend.” She gave him a friendly smile in return, opening space for them to pass through the door before closing it, “Come in, I need to change in clothes.”

“I wouldn't even dream of that. Seriously.”

Layla would just wiggle one of her brows at Dean's comments, not impressed by it, “Ele é sempre assim? (Is he always like this?)”

Thankfully, Sam still remembered a bit of his friend's native language. He just chuckled, managing to apologize for Dean's typical Dean behavior, “Unfortunately. Sinto muito. (I'm sorry)”

“(Y/N) is in the kitchen. I'll be right back.” Her accent was thicking stronger duo the comfortability around Sam. Excusing herself, the caramel skinned girl leaded upstairs.

“What did she say?” Dean asked, side glancing at the path Layla had just gone on, not even sure of which language she'd just spoken, much less what was said. Sammy didn't bother replying, satisfied to grin at his obvxion brother. “Dude, come on!”

“Sam!” A well-known voice filled the room as the image of (Y/N) appeared in front of them, dressing your loyal cook's avental. You didn't think twice before jumping on Sam. “I missed you, giant!”

He, like always, caught you with a light-hearted laughter, “I missed you too, cupcake.” You two spent a few moments like this, enjoying each other's warm and long lost touch, until Dean cleared his throat. You finally went back to the ground, embarrassed by having a stranger to see that level of intimacy between you and Sam, “This is Dean, my--”

“Handsome brother. Hello, cupcake.” Dean was so going to tease Sam for the rest of his life for it.

“You really live up for Sam's description.” You giggled, heading towards the kitchen “Come in, I'm baking.”

“So, you and Layla still live together?”

“Most of the time, yes. You know how she is, comes and goes. Never wanted to stay in a place for too long and got a job that supported that.” The boys followed you, Dean examining the kitchen and trying to discover what you were cooking through the smell, while Sam couldn't take his eyes on you, “Apparently, just like you.”

Even though your back was facing them as you checked the food, the bite didn't pass unnoticed, “I had to leave, (Y/N)”

“I understand that, Sam. But you never called or texted. It was like I--” You quickly corrected yourself, “We never existed for you.”

“It's not like that.” Sam sighed, how could he justify? He knew you wouldn't buy a simple excuse. You were smart, and knew him too well to swallow a 'I went on a trip with my brother and just decided that college wasn't my deal' and leave it for that.

“I'm here!” Layla declared, arriving into the room with an excited smile, it was good to have the gang back together. Although, the tangible tension almost made her go back to the shower, “Am I interrupting something?”

“A sitcom DR.” Dean answered with sarcasm, spreading his figure on the chair when you turned around with an apple pie in your hands “What about we talk about the ca-- Is this pie?”

“We heard a scream followed by a loud roar and (Y/N) stayed near the camping part because there was still a signal and I went looking for who it was. When I got there, the thing ran away. Jorge's body... No human did that. His chest was cracked open irregularly, as if it was done by an animal and his heart looked weird. Like it was squeezed and drawn on up somehow?”

“We got a Samia.” Dean stated, relaxing on his spot. Some sault, rosemary and fire would do the job just fine, “Let me guess, it left a clawn near the body or inside it?”

Layla nodded, “Right in the chest or what lasted of it.”

“Are you okay? Finding the body in that state.” A comprehensive manner englobed Sam's question, whom noticed the normality with his friend described finding a shattered body.

“Just some guts.” She shrugged, a grimace was all the reaction they'd get. Crying wouldn't help, neither being terrorized as they expected her too. “I've seen Grey's Anatomy enough not to care about it.”

“Well, I'm literally a medicine student and I am still not okay with that. Especially after you made me go and check the body.” You argued, glaring at your best friend who'd only roll her eyes in response.

“I needed a professional to say if he was dead or not!”

“You need a therapist.”

Dean got up, looking straight at Layla. Time to play the hero in shining armor, “Don't worry with that, we will take care of it.”

Frowning, you were the one to respond, “Do you work for the police now or?”

“Are implying that we investigate it by ourselves?” Your best friend added.

Dean couldn't believe his brother. How the fuck did he let them get inside without saying they didn't know about the hunting business? It was a luck shot that they didn't think much when he said Samia.

“Nope. Not you two. We will do it.” The blonde one said, pointing at them with a smirk.

“I agree, we will do it.” Layla replied, matching his taunt smile.

“Sam, I'm not letting you and your brother do it by yourself. Jorge was my professor, I knew him. Besides, we found the body.” You got on your feet and crossed your arms, waiting for a response. Sam always had a sort of hero complex, ready to help no matter what, but there was no way you'd be letting him go into danger with his brother. Getting in your dormitory to kill a cockroach back then or facing an idiot during a bar fight to protect one of your friends was something, but this? They were talking about looking for an assassin. What if something happened to him? You were the one who called. All on you. The thought of Sam getting hurt for any reason was unbearable, but because of you? You weren't willing to do that.

“You would be in danger, (Y/N). You both.” He tried to explain, internally hoping you'd accept his reasoning and let it go. Sam didn't want you to become one of the friends who knew about this life, you deserve more. He already lost one woman he loved in this city, he couldn't lose another.

You huffed in frustration, “Just like you will!” 

“It's different.” As he was terrified of, you insisted. Arms crossed still and eyes locked with his, determined to get something from him. Sam was smart enough to know that you would keep it going. Perhaps he could give you a short explanation, “Me and my brother, we are used to this. We hunt things like that.”

Layla tilted her head to the side. The way Sam talked remembered her of animal hunting, although she highly doubted that was the case, “Little more explanation?'”

“Monsters are real. Vampires, werewolves, spirits. The list goes on. Call us crazy. Roll the credits.” Sarcasm saltered every word of Dean's as he gestured up and down with a cocky smile. Everyone glared at him, a special furious look from his brother, “What? I thought they knew what we did and that's why she called.”

“Sam?” Your voice was fragile when you said his name, a demonstration that you would believe him through the fear of the truth, but that he had to say it.

Sam laid his hazel eyes on you. God, how he wished he didn't have to confirm anything, to break your vision of world so abruptly, “Dean is right. Supernatural things are real. I know it sounds--”

“Unbelievable? Problematic? Scary?”

“Yeah, all of them.” Sam offered you a humorless smile, then holding your hand the way he used to when you were nervous about an exam, “But I wouldn't lie to you, cupcake.”

The silence was broken by Layla opening a bottle of Whiskey, pouring them for the three people in the room besides herself. You rolled your eyes at your best friend, while Sam wore a tiny smile and Dean was astonished.

Noticing the eyes glued, the latina just shrugged “What? If you are gonna tell me that Dracula is real and you are a sort of Buffy's apprentice, then we will need some alcohol.”

“Why did you call?” Sammy asked, his brows knotted together, mouth slight open as he waited for your response. “You didn't know what I did. And he wasn't my professor at Stanford. Then why did you call, (Y/N)?”

You could make up a hundred excuses. Lie and say he was the one friend besides Layla that you had somehow a way to get to. Appeal to the excuse of 'I felt something weird about the death and you said I should call if I ever had a problem of any kind'. But for as much as you felt horrible for using a death as a pretext for calling him, that was partially the truth. You already had put yourself into a mess of monsters and a drained heart, it couldn't be scarier than being honest to Sam and to yourself.

At least, you hoped so. But your heart was rushing like when you saw Jorge's body. Jesus, when did love become so morbid?

You took a deep breath, oxygen barely achieving your lungs, and then started to talk.

“I wanted to call you the minute that you left, Sam. I almost did a million times.” You answered, looking down at the bottle of a sort of plant that he was putting in a dark green bag. “I thought about what you could be doing, what was so important that you couldn't send me a message. But you just didn't want to call, I guess.”

“I wanted to call, of course I did.” You scoffed at his statement, looking up to match his eyes, “(Y/N), I'm serious.”

“You didn't even come to Jess' funeral, Sam. Layla said that maybe you needed to leave to clear your mind, that was too much to deal with. But I was so worried, and sad and confused and I wanted to talk to you because you would understand, you always did. About anything. And I wanted to give you some sort of comfort, but--” You lifted your hands and shrugged your shoulder, a broken chuckle leaving your body. “But you weren't here.”

“You stopped leaving messages after two weeks. Calling was gone when it made a moth.” You sniffed. Sam's lips curved into a pure, cautelous grin. God, he was always so sweet. “The emails took two months.”

“You were never good with dates. I gave you a calendar in your freshman week.” Your teeth met your lower lip. He didn't answer, only nodding at your affirmation, omitting the fact that he still had the calendar between latin books and pieces of newspapers, “Yet, you remember all of it.”

Sam leaned forward, holding your hand with all the delicacy you would expect from a sculptor. It had been too long since he hugged you, and his touch made all your skin tickle with warmth. “I missed you too, (Y/N). I thought about you all those years.”

“So, Cupcake?”

"Let's focus on the case, Dean."

“Then you can go back and eat your cupcake?” He remarked with a grin. His brother just huffed, pointing the flashlight through the trees, “So, Layla…”

Sam rolled his eyes, like he usually did when Dean started being too Dean for his liking, “Dean. The case.”

Before he could make another teaseful comment, a roar invaded their audition. The hunters gave each other a quick glance before heading towards the direction of the noise.

Shaking the salt and rosemary mixture in his hands, Dean smirked, “That's it. Time to shine, cupcake.”

“I have to admit. Being patched up by a doctor is better than by Dean.”

A surprised, half relieved laughter came out your body as you finished another stitch on Sam's arm. That boy was unbelievable; openly talking and making jokes about his brother, who was also being patched up by your best friend in company of a bottle of whiskey, while he spoke about Layla's name being a rock song. You were working on a large wound on his shoulder-- which you were sure that was full of dirt from the forest.

Medicine student, but I'll take that complement.” You winked at him, gaining a soft grin from Sammy, “I was expecting more blo-- Why are you smiling? I'm touching a recent wound. It doesn't look dangerous, but I'm sure it is supposed to hurt. A lot.”

Sam's answer came out easily, the bare, vulnerable truth: “I'm happy you are here.”

You looked at him, his hair longer than before, but the soft simper remained on his face. You bit your lip to hold a giggle; her heart dared to hope. What he expected when he said things like this? A quiet contentment spread through his expression while he watched your reaction.

“You should have come home sooner.” 

His mouth formed a line, “I don't have a home, (Y/N). It's just Dean, me and the road now.”

“No, Sam.” Shaking your head lightly, you intertwined your fingers with his. His life was dangerous, you couldn't afford the luxury of waiting even more to share what you had finally admitted to yourself in the moment he walked through the door. It didn't seem like the easiest, simpler situation. But the only hard thing you couldn’t go through was to be away from Sam Winchester. He lingered on you for years, you were done letting him run away. It was time to hold his hand and walk together. “You should've come home sooner. To me.”

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