#the cast literally was looking forward to a season 2

[allenwalkersworld]

Disney, seriously, FUCK YOU!!! Oooh, y’all got me over here seething!

[godzillabreath]

unfortunately I do have more to say about wwdits.

I think one of the most egregious things about the development of the show over the seasons is the tonal shift. I was watching it from the beginning to convince myself I wasn’t crazy for feeling the first three seasons were better, and I felt vindicated.

It was always a dark comedy, but it wasn’t always a zany dark comedy. It had been grounded in real, everyday life. The vampires prey on a LARP group, the vampires ride a late night bus to go to a city council meeting, Nandor tries for citizenship, etc. I think once they started introducing a slew of supernatural creatures like a monster-of-the-week a la carte, the show became increasingly less focused and outlandish. There are episode I don’t like even in seasons 2 and 3 that are emblematic of this shift. The siren, the gargoyles, the troll—they just feel out of place in a story that is supposed to focus on out-of-time vampires and how they engage with the modern world. They aren’t really adding anything to the characters or the plot when they appear either. They just make a flashy CGI appearance and give some quippy line, which ultimately eats up time where our main cast that we actually care about could otherwise be on screen, doing things. And then there was a point in time where this show just did not allow itself any more sentimental moments between characters. These moments, for me, made for refreshing moments between comedic situations. It balanced the humanity in all of the main cast. But the show opted out of those moments, and it just became a back-to-back comedic situation with less and less interesting character moments to look forward to. Anyway, I just find it kind of sad that the writers completely detonated all of the characters’ inner emotional lives by the series finale. I liked to see Nadja bored in her marriage and pursuing this lustful encounter with Gregor through reincarnated generations. I liked to see Colin challenged by another energy vampire undermining his territory. I liked to see Guillermo struggling with his fractured relationship with his family, his discomfort in his own sexual identity, and his need to cling on to this group of vampires that disrespect him if only to find family and personal liberation in their company. I liked Nandor being so disconnected from modernity that he became listless and depressed and lonely and clung on to the idea that he might make himself human again. I liked the romance that the writers were building literally textually and in all of their marketing material from season 3: that Guillermo (at least) had these unrequited and very frustrating feelings for Nandor and how that affected their relationship with each other. I liked the idea of Laszlo forming these personal connections with both Sean and Colin, even if I found their conclusive arcs to be lackluster, strange, or unpalatable (baby Colin to weird co-parent Colin was a bizarre arc.) I liked the idea of Nadja wanting power and community because of the impoverished, desolate conditions she grew up under (especially the class dynamic of marrying Laszlo and how that could be at times a schism in their relationship), even if the writers did not care to expand upon this. The potential just drives me crazy. I can’t believe they opted out of tying up any of these emotional hooks. I think it might drive me crazy forever.

[batbabydamian]

The Boy Wonder #2 by Juni Ba rambling about Gotham's fearsome hunter

added Jason to this issue's collage since it was mainly from his perspective!

ramble for issue #1 here!

starting with the cover again, but now in contrast to the first:

Dick and Barbara are presented as statues in the bg for the first cover where they’re established heroes in a secure time in their lives, and Damian is obviously the highlight! For #2's cover, the autumn leaves motif returns, but this time featuring Jason!! Apparently, Damian isn’t the only one to go through a “season of change” in this series, as Jason takes his own steps forward by the end of this story 🥺 also the literal layers on Jason - his angry Red Hood helmet and the beaten down Robin head...

The issue opens with Joe the robber and his hostage "Merle"! The glasses feels like a giveaway that this is Carrie(??) narrating Damian's story, so the final issue could end with her perspective for where Damian currently is in his journey as Robin and where she plays a part.

Jason as the "hunter" of this fairytale is such a cool concept, especially upon his introduction pages!! He's surrounded by his recent "prey" with a nice contrast of their fancy jackets, pinstripe pants, and dress shoes to Jason's own tattered hoodie, pants, and sneakers.

Just like the past issue (or just Ba's work in general lol), THE BACKGROUNDS ARE SO LOVINGLY DRAWN. Makes Jason's stroll through inner Gotham so enjoyable from the bustling activity of the people, shop signs, and advertising to the quieter area of the cemetery. It's so lived in, especially feels like each citizen in the bg has a story to tell!

some bits of interest to me: is that scaly lil arm reaching for the rat supposed to be Croc LOL; just neat visual of old Joker posters leering over Jason; the name of the cemetery a nod to Kevin Conroy? and from T. Wayne - Thomas Wayne?

Despite showing how much of an intimidating and hardened exterior the Red Hood has, there's plenty of suggestion that he has soft edges! from his act of revenge for a beloved member of the community, his familiarity with the people even greeting him, and down to his chocobar...

might be my overthinking but the layers of that close up shot of the chocobar really got me 😭 it's like such a piece of innocence when seen in his scarred hand, especially when "Wayne Sweets" is visible - is it more emphasis of Jason clinging to a safer time and Bruce Wayne himself?? or is this brand just his favorite lil treat

EITHER WAY, incredibly funny to me Jason seems to hide it once Damian shows up

Seeing Ba's storyboards has me even more curious about his process with O'Halloran - like, it's a small detail but the traffic light in the foreground being red! added emphasis on the red theme this issue, or a warning for these two to Stop heading into a trap? ANYWAY DAMIAN HESITANTLY ASKING ABOUT HIS MOTHER I'M THROWING UP AWWGH

also love critically acclaimed animated film "The Cheetah King" haha! ALTHOUGH, Jason's story does line up with Simba's - a lost prince that feels like he's failed his father. Even believed to be dead for a period of time lol

Rok the demon's design is so slick!! Seems to take after a peacock with how fanciful he is, plus his tail details in his other form! A dapper demon definitely ready for the gala!

A GLIMPSE OF BA'S HEAVIER ACTION ART!! THE POUNCE!! the Robins being entirely made up of motion lines, even the details for Jason's helmet; and i'm always a sucker for those light streaks from the eyes!! THE PUNCH!! the quick panel of Jason's fist before arcing into that POW!!

and i say a glimpse, because in just the two other books i've read from Ba so far, he draws so much more action. lil Monkey Meat promo BUT LOOK!! have i mentioned how much i love his sfx lettering...that "AAAH" getting motion lines when closer to the camera...crazy...

dropping another small element from one of his books, Djeliya! just a really cool visual of casting magic!!

I love this sequence leading up to the Joker vision! The shapely flames that dwindle into the shape of TEARS!! We don't get the extent of how deeply the Joker affected Jason until this moment and the man is terrified.

First thing Damian does after getting shot is insult Jason, DAMIAN IS SO FUNNY. Also absolutely love the wiggly woggly lines of EVERYTHING in this panel.

Considering what Damian said earlier: "We both know you'd rather not have to explain your failure to father if anything happens to me that you could have prevented." As if Jason didn't already feel like a failure before this!! of course he'd turn into jiggling jelly realizing what he's done.

After 27 pages of a narrow-eyed Red Hood, including an early tease of him about to take off the helmet for his snack, this full page of Jason unmasking himself is such a heavy reveal. Adding the aching piece of dialogue?? BRUTAL

Damian responds in kind to the vulnerability with his own confession and something Jason really needed to hear after burdening himself for so long with the idea of being a failure.

After Damian leaves, the camera pulls back to show The Door in the dark of the room. Damian quite literally presents Jason a window of opportunity to face his past, and it goes so hard. Just like the buildup of frowning mask-to-face reveal, Jason's few expressions have mostly looked sad. So the shadowed eyes before the glare of determination makes this quiet moment feel extra epic!! also reminiscent of the Red Hood mask he wears!!

Beyond the door of Jason's "past life" is complete darkness. Jason has been hoping for Batman to pull him out of it (as further suggested by the newspaper clippings), but in the final page, the door is leaking light!! Jason finds his own way forward :')

The first issue introduces the Robins with specific labels, and so far the narrative either delves deeper into those claims or challenges it. Damian is unimpressed by "kind and brave" Dick and even forms some kind of rivalry. By the end, Damian��s learned how those simple traits are essential to becoming the person and hero Dick has become and gains a newfound respect for him.

#2 deviates from #1 by following “brash and rageful” Jason's perspective! Damian is under pressure from the legacies of all the Robins before him, and even if he relates to Jason the most there's still tension. This time around, while Damian does learn what lies behind the mask, he's the one to impart some knowledge to his fellow Robin.

ending ramble with a panel of the small beans

"Look Damian, everything the light touches is our kingdom."

TBH this ramble took forever to start because after reading Djeliya and Monkey Meat, i was so floored by how much MORE Ba has to offer. Everything i raved about from the first issue of The Boy Wonder...Ba's done it all in his previous work and MORE SO?? on top of writing, whimsical paneling and lettering, fun action scenes, deliberate coloring, kickass character designs and worldbuilding... the man does it all?? 😭

Monkey Meat 🐒

Djeliya: A West African Fantasy Epic ✌️

Mobilis: My Life with Captain Nemo

The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber

i may save the last two books for after The Boy Wonder ends because imagining the end of the series makes me so sad LOLL orz i may cave just because Mobilis is a pleasantly giant book...praying for DC to give the collected edition of The Boy Wonder this treatment...his pages are brimming with energy they deserve to be blown up with an oversized printing 😭

[ciaomarie]

The Bear S3 Thoughts/Feelings at 4am

Warning: So much hateration below. I'm disappointed overall. It's gorgeously shot and the acting is still top tier from the main cast, but OOF.

See below the cut

I want to say this first. Napkins, Tina's episode, was lovely. Okay, moving forward...

The first couple episodes started off so strong and then….what was this?!?I LOVED THE FIRST EPISODE SO MUCH. Episode 2 was pretty good, but soon the energy was off, it was painfully slow in some places, THE FAKS ARE NOT FUNNY, Claire "haunted" the whole season and it wasn't even her fault. Most of the "comedy" came from those Fak morons, instead of our LEADS, like Richie for example. It got so bad, I faced an existential crisis during "Ice Chips." I literally started thinking, "It's just a show. It doesn't matter." Seriously, I have real life problems and this show is not only, not an escape right now, but who cares?!?!

Anyways, Donna and Nat acted their butts off, but Ep 8 was too long when we needed more development from the others. And where was Carmy during the delivery?!!? And finally Sydcarmy, FINE, if they want to go the platonic route, after placing her at the literal center of his relationship all S2, but it felt like their soul connection was severed now. They teased us so bad at the end of Ep 1, gave us a trickle in the ep 2-3, and then...nothing, unless you count Syd's panic attack. My heart dropped when she wasn't the first to notice how messed up Carmy was at the Ever dinner. Plus, he's hasn't picked up on her inner turmoil for weeks!!!!! Aren't these two supposed to be close friends with a shared passion according to Chris, Joana, Ayo, Jeremy, and the Anti-BW/WM Brigade on Reddit? I doubt I'll be staying up until 4am to binge S4 next year.

Did Chris and Joana let the acclaim get to their heads and they fell off? Matty (Neil Fak) is a producer, but is he blackmailing them to be in 9/10 episodes?? John Cena's cameo felt like it was 4 hours.

Saddest part I have to go back to. I guess the cast really wasn't lying about Sydcarmy for S3. Basically, Syd and Carmy barely know each other anymore. I HATE IT HERE. Looking forward to other more positive takes on the season and Sydcarmy.

[rachelamberish]

Comprehensive Veilguard Review (FULL SPOILERS)

What They Got Right:

-The environments. My God, seeing some of these locations that we’ve only read about for a decade had me getting legitimately choked up just looking at them. I cried entering the Grand Necropolis. I cried at Weisshaupt. I cried at Kal Sharok. The Ossuary. The Crossroads 2 Electric Boogaloo. Just all absolutely stunning, and so lovingly crafted.

-The art direction, on top of that. They kind of go hand in hand, but genuinely, it’s great. I think the art director deserves a raise for the candlehops alone.

-The music. I love it. I know it’s not what it has been, but I think it’s fucking great. The Blight theme is far and away the best, but so many of the other tracks really fully commit to the fantasy-futurism aesthetic that has been crafted by the art direction and I think it’s so fucking cool that the music has evolved as we travel to new locations and the world of Thedas really opens up.

-Companions. I’ve spoken a little about this already. But yes, the companions are incredible. The pacing of getting to know each of them is so well executed. (It feels unfortunate that the same cannot be said about the story as a whole, really). They are each truly so memorable and I think BioWare knocking it out of the park with its companions is nothing new.

-Vocal Performances. Gareth David Lloyd should be lauded for his work as Solas. You can hear how that performance has evolved and matured over the years like a fine wine. His vicelike grasp on the nuance of that character transcends even the game’s often questionable writing. Truly incredible stuff. I also have to mention Jee Young Han for Bellara, and Bryony Corrigan and Alex Jordan for two versions of Rook. The rest of the cast is fantastic as well, those four are just so incredibly standout to me.

-This feels very specific but The Siege of Weisshaupt. That quest. Is. *chefs kiss emoji*. It’s giving game of thrones season 8 episode 4 the long night where i cant see anything but also i have existential dread!!!! Love that

-Codex entries are as well written as they ever have been, so no dip in quality of the writing there. Particularly a huge fan of the passive aggressive emails sent between Solas and the Evanuris like they were all shitty coworkers. Elgar’nan screaming “i’m the ELDEST BOY!!!” at the top of his lungs à la Kendall Roy while he and solas bicker about who was conceived of by the Fade first. Very good stuff

-Ghilan’nain is an eldritch horror lesbian witch and that is so so cool. Thank you bioware

-Maevaris Tilani

-Combat and performance. Because neither of these are story stuff, I’ll throw these together. The game performs like a fucking dream and is incredibly optimized. The combat feels amazing and I genuinely look forward to combat encounters rather than dreading them. No notes.

….The Rest, in No Particular Order:

- Morrigan forgiving her mother and the game erasing Flemeth’s nastiness was truly vomit-inducing so thanks for that one bioware

- Is Mythal good or bad bioware please answer the question and you CAN’T look at your notes

- They do get Solas mostly spot-on but Mythal is so inconceivably bad and it’s hard to divorce the two. Ironic, considering that they should be the most divorced couple that ever lived

-"Flemeth's piece of Mythal was the good version actually and was completely uncorrupted" bitch HOW?!!??!??!!?! FUCKING HOW?!?!? Literally A GAME AGO she screams at Morrigan and Lavellan about "a reckoning that will shake the heavens" promising vengeance for her betrayal because she's done nothing but stew ALONE in her anger for 2,000 years, ALSO piling on the rage and betrayals of Flemeth and (I think it's safe to presume at this point) Andraste and EVERY OTHER host she's had. If we have learned ANYTHING about spirits and "abominations" through four games it is that the spirit becomes corrupted "against its original purpose" when fused with the negative emotions of its host. What was the point of Anders, if not to foreshadow what Flemeth truly was? A spirit of justice corrupted against her purpose by living inside righteously angry women for millennia? If anything the Dagger-version of Mythal would be the uncorrupted one. Sure, she'd be lonely and pissed too but that would be the truest version to who Mythal ACTUALLY was from before. A mixed bag of grief and anger and hurt and pride. But the rage inside Flemeth's Mythal would be wild and unfettered. She would be almost unrecognizable.

-I'm moving on from Mythal now because ranting any more about her in this game is actually going to give me an aneurysm.

- Yeah this game suffers from lack of roleplay and choice carryover. It’s impossible to avoid. It was okay to suspend roleplay in a game like, say, Dragon Age 2, because Hawke as the game wrote her was such a strong personality and memorable protagonist. Rook is…. not that. Which is okay for a blank slate protagonist, but they’re also not that either. And i think they didnt commit, fully, to the idea of less roleplay. Because they *tried* to give you origin stories, but they don’t end up feeling like they truly inform the character in the way that they do in Origins, or even in Inquisition. Say what you will about Inquisition’s roleplay options, but Lavellan being Dalish DEFINES her character.

- And what do you know. Yeah. It was bad that they only let us carry over three choices. Who could have seen that one coming. It’s almost like everyone ever was like “wow. That sucks. Please reconsider.” And then they didn’t.

- And it also gets extra confusing when you realize that the three choices they said were going to matter a LOT literally don’t. At all. So that was a lie. I guess. Even Solas romancers who were being PANDERED to apparently get…like two mentions of something that feels like it should be so pervasive throughout the whole story. And one ending.

- Solavellan writing failure gets its own bullet point actually. There was so much ample opportunity for Lavellan’s presence in this story to be amplified. For the Lighthouse to contain more traces of her. In codex entries, in murals. I get that Solas probably wouldn’t talk about her to Rook much. But the fact of his yearning is downplayed when it should be overplayed. He yearns for this woman who made him think he was worth something for the first time since he took a physical body, while clouded by regret for his feelings for a long-dead woman who made him hate himself. That’s the saddest fucking story ever. Why does this game not lean into it more? I don’t know. You don’t know. None of us know.

- BioWare kind of forgot that fifty percent of the Tevinter population is slaves. What do the shadow dragons even do? There are apparently no slaves left to free!!

- BioWare kind of forgot that the Crows are very cool and yes very Italian!! 🤌🤌🤌 but also buy child slaves and turn them into soldiers by systematically weeding empathy out of them. So where was any of that.(*where is Zevran or someone who fills the role of that character. He is so desperately needed to portray the Crows with any nuance.*)

- The depiction of the Qunari/kossith, outside of Taash’s storyline (which I actually think was a very thoughtful examination of the intersection of gender and Qunari ideology), is actually the craziest most stereotypical one-note racist bullshit i’ve ever seen and i am shocked any writer allowed that to be the final product.

- You know what yes i also noticed that you couldn’t ever be mean in this game and also Rook smiles so much. She smiles when saying things she should not smile about. Idk why but that bothers me. And why are her hands always on her hips? What is she hiding

- The exposition-heavy dialogue is terrible at the start, gets way better around the first act break, then turns dangerously close back around to Avengers-style “Well, that just happened!” and it’s a mixed bag that I don’t know what to do with. I can’t blame bioware for the exposition, I’m sure that’s an EA directive of “pander to the people that want to come into the fourth installment of a series knowing nothing and not be completely lost”. But the rest…..let’s just say I can feel how many people had their hands in writing this. And I can feel it because the quality swings back and forth so wildly it gives me whiplash.

- Because of no choice carryover cameos feel like cardboard cutouts of characters. Dorian worked for me because he was doing things he would be doing anyway and it is passively mentioned that he and the Inquisitor are in close contact. Isabela is skinny like a twig now i guess (??? Hate that) and i’m happy for her whole lords of fortune thing but she is made lesser by being completely divorced from Hawke. Same for Varric, although at least he has more to do. Morrigan…………………………………………………………………anyway moving on.

- The Dalish.

- BioWare kind of forgot that Solas doesn’t hate blood magic. Doesn’t use it personally. But doesn’t hate it. Also what he does to gain a connection to Rook is LITERALLY blood magic. I don’t fucking know WHY he/the game insists that it’s not. I’m beside myself with that one.

- BioWare kind of forgot about the brewing elven uprising led by Solas that they set up at the end of Trespasser and instead now he’s a lone actor and everyone hates him. Like no. No actually some elves would have found what he was doing very cool and a great alternative to the terrible hand the world has dealt them. Perhaps all those elven Tevinter slaves you forgot to put in the game.

- BioWare kind of forgot about Briala in their rush to say “but nothing in southern thedas matters!!!”

- Cole should be in this game and the fact that he is not is actually fucking baffling.

- VERY BIG SPOILER Varric dying is fine actually and the one thing i’m literally perfectly okay with so idk why i put it down here other than it feels wrong putting this spoiler at the top lmao. But yeah that’s fine. We knew it was coming and Peepaw needed rest anyway. Good reveal, no issue there.

- Lucanis’ bugged romance ruined my life

- I made a separate post about this but Veilguard has single handedly eradicated mystery in the Dragon Age series without creating any new mystery and it’s what I’m legitimately the most sad about.

All in all, a mixed bag. I enjoyed my time with it, but it left me sad at times and not in the good way. The idea I have of Dragon Age in my head will always be more true to Dragon Age to me than this was, and I can live with that, I was just hoping for better on a lot of writing fronts.

[wing-ed-thing]

Marriage Pact (Erwin x Reader) Part I

Synopsis: To the surprise of the cadets, Commander Erwin is married to more than just his work. Their curiosity brings up fond memories of your and Erwin’s early days in the scouts.

Word Count: 5K

Tags/Warnings: Language, Mild Sexualization, Drinking Alcohol, Gender Neutral Reader, Non-Binary Hange, Fluff

Notes: My favorite part of writing for AoT is that most fics take place in this nebulous part of the timeline due to the years between the season releases (especially between 1-2). Ah, it makes it all the much simpler to be self-indulgent.

Song Pairing: Rumors are Flying - Frankie Carle 

“Commander Erwin is married?” 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” 

Mikasa delivered a swift swat to the back of Eren’s head, causing him to nearly choke on his rations. Sitting around the wooden table, the group quickly dismissed his complaints, a chorus of playful snickers and jabs drowning him out. After a long day of adrenaline-filled work, the members of the 104th readily accepted any entertainment, no matter how low-hanging.

“He wears a ring on his finger. How could you not notice?” Jean scoffed, pausing with his mug halfway to his lips. His brows furrowed in judgment as he leaned with his elbows on the table. “With your level of observational skill, I wouldn’t be surprised if you got chomped off your horse the moment you stepped outside the wall.” Eren followed suit, leaning forward and circumventing Mikasa’s presence entirely to shoot a pointed glare at Jean. Jean sipped his beverage, pretending not to notice.

“Oh, shut up,” Eren gritted through clenched teeth and an exaggerated roll of his eyes. “Why would I be looking at Commander Erwin’s hands in the first place—” Sasha nodded a few times into her bread. 

“Yeah! I always just look at his ass!” Sasha’s admission made any words die on Jean’s lips, his face contorting from self-assured condescension to acutely horrified confusion. Connie let out a bombastic cackle as the table turned their attention to Sasha. She quirked a brow as she stuffed more food into her mouth. “What? Good looking man, good looking ass….”

“That’s a married man you’re talking about, Sasha!” Connie scolded, his tone laced with a comical bite.

“If he’s even married!” She jabbed her pointer finger out in front of her, gesturing wildly to her group of friends. She shrugged, finally swallowing her mouthful of food as she stroked her chin. Sasha cast her eyes downward in thought. “We don’t know that for sure….”

“Like hell we do!” Jean sputtered, finally pulling himself together. He glanced around at the others in hopes that someone else would be on his side. “He is. He literally wears a wedding ring.” He waved his palms in circles in front of himself, growing frantic as no one appeared to back him. 

“That doesn’t mean he’s married.” Connie mirrored Sasha, the two taking greater joy in their posing than the conversation itself. Jean threw up his hands, letting his palms slap against his lap. 

“What the hell else could it mean? What else could wearing a ring on his ring finger mean?” He locked eyes with Armin, who quickly tore his gaze away. Apparently, it was a tough recruitment day for the Coalition of Reason. 

“Well… It’s just that…” Eren trailed off. Jean’s eyes shot up at him, almost daring him to side with Sasha and Connie’s comically stupid reasoning. Eren quirked the side of his lips almost indifferently. “He just doesn’t seem like the type for that kinda thing, you know?” Connie shook his head, tearing the crust off his bread as he did so. 

“I disagree; Commander Handsome is hot.”

“No, no, now you’re talking about two different things,” Reiner interjected, apparently having reached the threshold to have skin in the debate about Erwin’s marital status. His arms coiled across his chest as he sat up a bit straighter. “Someone can be hot and not be married or vice-versa. I rest my case.” He nodded to himself confidently. 

“He’s literally wearing a wedding ring!” Jean exclaimed with exasperation, accenting each of his words as he pounded his fist on the table. No one seemed to notice. 

“It would have to be someone who isn’t in the military,” Ymir told Christa. The pair were having a separate conversation near the end of the table. Reiner leaned forward to catch Ymir’s eye. She narrowed her gaze before he even spoke.

“Why d’ya think that?” 

Ymir rolled her eyes, shifting in her seat to face the rest of the table. She rested one elbow on the table and the other on her bent knee. 

“You know that the only kind of person stupid enough to marry Erwin Smith would be a civilian who doesn’t know about all the fucked up shit that goes on around here.” Ymir cocked her head, her bangs sliding across her forehead. She played with the rim of her empty cup. “Besides, can’t you see that smarmy bastard with a little homemaker to rub his shoulders when he gets home?” The lines around Reiner’s nose wrinkled as a smile broke out across his lips.

“Hey, what’s wrong with that?”

“Guys, you’re all missing what’s right in front of you.” Eren crossed his ankles under the table. He brought his fist down into the open palm of his opposite hand. “Commander Erwin is clearly married to the Survey Corps.” 

“I guess your options would be limited if you’re going into the scouts,” Armin considered aloud, eyes as haunting as usual. A few glances were shared across the table, and with the mention of senseless murder, the conversation quickly moved along.

***

Jean would almost forget the debate completely by the next day. Whether or not the Scout’s commander had a spouse or not ultimately didn’t hold much weight to Jean in the grand scheme of things. 

He rapped on the large wooden door to your office, only waiting a moment to hear your muffled permission before letting himself in. You stood by the window, still looking out the glass when Jean took his first step in. You turned to him with a smile.

“Ah, Jean! It’s good to see you. How have you been?” 

Jean’s shoulders relaxed at the sound of your voice. He hadn’t even realized how tense they had been. Between expeditions, responsibilities among the Scouts comprised mostly of administrative work and training, the administrative part being more significant than Jean expected. Being a new recruit meant he would spend his fair share of days as a gopher for clerical work. But out of all the offices he could have been sent to, the errand runners in the scouts fought over visiting your office the most. 

“Things are going as well as they can,” Jean sighed, the sides of his lips curling up into a boyish half-smile. You let out a puff of amused air, shaking your head as you motioned for him to come farther into your spacious office. You didn’t even feel like an officer most of the time, let alone a captain.

“You talk like a Scout already,” you chuckled, “Come have tea and show me what you’ve brought me.”

Jean pushed the door behind him as he entered the room, the latch bolt not quite catching in the strike, leaving the door slightly ajar. He sat in one of the chairs in front of your desk, shifting the legs across the modest carpet as you poured two cups of tea. The tea set sat on a metal cart to the left of your desk. Jean tossed the bundle of files he brought on a wooden rack, dwarfing the other papers that required your review.

You handed Jean a dainty, rose-patterned teacup on an equally delicate saucer. The intricate design complimented the similar pattern on your uniform insignia, or at least Jean had always thought so. He held the cup up to his lips and welcomed the sweet flavor. You always knew how to make a good cup of tea. A large enough salary to afford a modest sugar supply didn’t hurt either. 

“Well, I’ll be damned,” you mused, grabbing the stack that Jean had just put in your paper basket with one hand. The papers must have amounted to three inches in thickness at least. You let them fall in the space in front of you, causing an audible slap on the desk’s surface. The liquid in your teacup trembled. You locked eyes with Jean, amused. “I can only imagine what’s been going on in your neck of the woods to require this much… debriefing.” You thumbed through the file pages, unwrapping rubber bands when warranted. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Erwin was trying to get rid of me with all… this. He thinks he’s being cheeky.” 

That should have been Jean’s first clue, but his eyes and attention wandered around your office. Frankly, a new recruit remaining in the room while a superior officer reviewed documentation wasn’t common. But with recent internal shifts in the military, you often asked your errand-runners to stay due to the high volume of administrative mistakes. You found it easier to ask a soldier sitting in front of you to return with a needed but missing document rather than putting a formal request in and waiting. Jean didn’t mind the break, and you knew as much.

His attention settled on a wardrobe to his right. Above the three polished wooden drawers sat a pair of glass doors. Jean peered in, studying the display inside. On one side of the wardrobe hung a crisp Scout cloak. Its presentation made it appear like it hadn’t been used in years. The other side of the glass display was lined with three shelves. A horizontal picture frame sat on the second of the three. Jean leaned forward to get a better look.

“Captain.” You looked up at the sound of his voice. He turned to meet your gaze. “You were in the Scouts?” You hummed with a nod of your head, crossing your legs underneath your desk. Your other hand held your place within the stacks of pages. Jean stood slowly, placing his cup and saucer down as he approached the wardrobe curiously. He looked back at you. “May I?” You gave him another nod.

“I was in the Scouts from your age to maybe around four years or so ago.” You shrugged as you continued to review your generous stack of paperwork. Jean tugged open the glass doors, which gave him the slightest bit of resistance. He picked up the picture.

Sure enough, he found you among the cadets in the middle of the group. You looked younger, almost unrecognizable, but something about your face made Jean immediately know it was you. The few familiar faces almost made him chuckle. Hanji hadn’t aged a day. And right beside you stood Erwin.

Jean closed the wardrobe, returning to his chair as he studied the picture. He slouched against the back cushion.

“Not a lot of people in that drawing are here today.” You stared at the back of the frame. Something struck Jean about the quiet sorrow in your eyes. “I try to keep all of them close.”

A light knock sounded at your doorway. With the entrance already ajar, a Garrison cadet stood at the door of your office. She let out a surprised hum upon seeing your company.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Captain. You have a delivery.” You motioned for the cadet to enter with a knowing smile. The flowers in the vase she carried covered half her face, and as she set them down at the corner of your desk, they covered half of Jean’s too. “From your husband.” You thanked her, and the cadet saw herself out, closing the door behind her. 

“Sorry, Jean,” you said sheepishly, sliding the vase across your desk to reveal your guest. “I’ll get you out of here soon.” He shook his head, fingers tracing the edge of the picture frame.

“I’m fine where I am. Take your time.” 

You offered him a content nod as you continued your work. Jean continued to stare at the flowers that were just brought in. The ornate bouquet of mixed wildflowers was arranged neatly in a modest glass vase. A red ribbon wrapped neatly around the neck, tied into a crisp bow. A little cardholder jutted out from among the petals clutching a small note. 

His attention flickered to your wedding ring.

“I didn’t know you were married,” Jean said, more wondering aloud as he recalled the cadet’s last words. It wasn’t exactly true. He had seen your wedding ring the many times he came to deliver papers to you. Jean supposed he had never thought too much about your marital status, just as his friends said about Erwin the night before. Perhaps last night’s conversation sat too prevalently in his mind. 

“When you’re in this line of work, you have to live while you can.” You shut the large collection of files with a thump. You looked at Jean with a sentiment he had never seen before. “Find what makes you feel warm and never let it go until death. At least that’s what I think.” You leaned over the file with a sigh, face suddenly turning exasperated. “It looks like everything is here. Thank you for bringing the monster over.” 

“No problem,” Jean nodded. He returned the frame to your desk as he stood. He offered you a salute, and with your dismissal, he was on his way. 

You plucked the note from the bouquet as he made his way across the room, taking a second to read it. 

“Cheeky…” you smiled with a shake of your head.

Jean glanced back at you just as he closed your office door, wondering if he saw the initials “ES” on the back of your note.

***

It was the night before an expedition when you proposed it. 

Practically the entire regiment stayed up late after one of you raided a locked-off Military Police closet for booze. Even for the Scouts, morale had been lower than usual. That was probably why Erwin agreed to your little scheme in the first place. You had a way of relating to the squads in a way that was uniquely your own. And while Erwin could give the calm command of a natural leader, only you could organize a night of carefree games and stories as doom and uncertainty loomed over everyone. 

As sleeping bodies lay strewn out across the room, you met Erwin’s blue eyes with a tired sigh. You caught the semblance of a snicker as he leaned back against the stone wall. He shifted on the random cushion you and your squad collected from around headquarters. If Erwin didn’t know any better, he would have thought it was a pew cushion from a church. He shook his head, the corners of his lips causing dimples to appear on his cheeks. You glanced down at Hange, who had fallen asleep in your lap, and back to Erwin with a shrug. Their usual hair tie wrapped around your wrist as you ran your fingers through their hair. The fourth squad leader curled up on a dining table somewhere in the room.

“That was a good thing you did here,” Erwin said, sipping his drink. He had started feeling a rare buzz from the alcohol a while ago, even as carefully as he nursed his drink. Hange kept pouring him more throughout the night despite gentle declines.

“Thank you, but I mean, all I did was rob a storage closet.” You let out a gentle laugh. Erwin’s attention remained on you even as you looked off. The fireplace flicker between the two of you cast a warm glow onto your face. “Actually, you’re the one who broke the lock, so I didn’t really do anything.” You met eyes with him again. He held you in the stark, baby-blue of his irises. Intimate and wordless. Erwin cocked his head to the side in a silent challenge. You let out a snicker with a playful roll of your eyes, and he smiled behind the rim of his mug. 

“I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.” Erwin glanced out into the dark room of sleeping soldiers, each sprawled across your random, borrowed cushions with their cloaks draped over them. Empty bottles of alcohol lay strewn across the floor. 

“Did you?” you asked softly, slowly running your fingers through Hange’s hair. Erwin rolled his cup between his palms, shifting his legs to bend at the knee as he sat back. 

“Yes, I did.” He gave a single nod. He rolled his cup again before coming to hold it by the handle. “It hasn’t been easy to keep everyone’s hopes up. You’re far better at it than me, that’s for sure.” You hesitated.

“I’m glad you had a good time,” you said, downing about half of what remained in your cup. The alcohol made you feel warm and light in the head. But even so, thoughts of the next day’s expedition haunted you. You felt the same about the previous failed missions that everyone else felt, but as a Squad Leader, you pushed yourself to put on a brave face. “I’m glad I could give everyone a little peace of mind before we leave tomorrow. It’s about all I feel I can do.” Erwin frowned.

“Don’t discount yourself.”

“I’m not,” you answered too quickly. The hall's silence took up the space between the two of you. The crackle of the fire popped softly as Erwin studied you closely. He tilted his head as you bowed yours. You braided a random portion of Hange’s hair. “It’s just the truth. If anyone’s going to give them real hope, it’ll be the one making a difference out there. You’re the one the commander keeps in his back pocket.” 

“I don’t connect with the soldiers like this.” Something about his tone made you glance up. Erwin’s face grew serious, not quite angry or upset, but grave. His gaze pierced your spirit, and you hummed complacently. “You know that. I know you do.”

“If anything, all this was for me.” you sighed and shook your head. You took another sip of your drink before returning to your little, random braids. You let out another deep sigh. “They say exactly what I’m trying not to think. And what are you supposed to say?... It fucks with me. Especially when they’re kids.”

“I know.” 

You moved on to another section of Hange’s head, the movements of your fingers growing faster. 

“It’s hard not to get attached. I want them all to be okay, and I just know they won’t all be okay.”

“I know.”

As you finished your second braid, you reached for your drink. Without a second thought, you downed the rest of it. The burn of the ethanol had long gone away. 

“Have you ever thought about marriage and kids and shit?” you mused, perhaps a bit too loud. Erwin’s thick eyebrows shot up, startled but amused by your sudden outburst. Your words echoed through the room, but no one stirred. They stayed suspended in the thick atmosphere as the emotions in your chest darted across your heart. Erwin leaned forward with his elbows on his bent knee, his cup still gripped in one hand. 

“Have I ever thought about marriage and kids and shit?” He repeated, the undertone of a laugh lacing his voice. It almost sounded crass coming from him, and hearing your words over again made you suddenly self-conscious.

“I, uh, I mean—”

“Yeah, I have,” Erwin answered, much to your surprise. He also downed the rest of his beverage, placing his mug on the wooden floor. “With a woman, I knew in my cadet years.” 

Your heart flipped in your chest, caught off guard by Erwin’s sudden vulnerability. The feeling seared like a spear driven straight through you. You knew, logically, that Erwin had to have had a romantic interest in others in the past. Not that it mattered to you in the slightest. Besides, what stake did you have to your fellow Squad Leader? Surely, it was the alcohol.

“Oh,” was about all you could answer. You scrambled to find some other commentary to share that didn’t make it sound like you were too personally invested in Erwin’s romantic affairs. You continued to fidget in an attempt to avoid Erwin’s gaze. A bit of drool poured from Hange’s mouth onto your thigh. Unfortunately, you were not very convincing.

“She’s long been married to my good friend. They’re expecting a second child.” Erwin shrugged. You weren’t sure if the new information made you feel better or worse. 

“I’m sorry,” you offered, unsure what else to say. Erwin shifted on his cushion in your peripheral, his back audibly cracking as he did. The noise made you snort. 

“No need to be sorry. It’s in the past.” 

“Is it?” You observed the orange light that illuminated his strong features. His jaw locked with Erwin’s usual certainty as he nodded. Still, you knew him well enough to pick up the slightest hint of hesitation. “I mean, what happened?” you asked, the alcohol doing away with your filter. Erwin let out a deep sigh, attention somewhat wandering as he debated whether he wanted to say.

“She wanted a family.” He almost sounded resigned with a hint of indifference mixed into his tone. He shook his head as if giving in to a fight he had had many times before. You wondered whose face came to his mind. 

“And… you didn’t?” You pushed, your brow raising as you repositioned yourself. Hange’s head had become heavy, but they didn’t notice as you assumed another sitting position. “It’s not that I didn’t,” Erwin said in a tone resembling playful defensiveness. You glanced up at him briefly, curiosity pushing you to keep digging at him. Erwin stared upward in thought before another slow shake of his head. “You know very well the significance of our role here.”

“And yours is?” He met your eye, and his face scrunched into confusion— something not seen often on Erwin Smith’s face. It was small. It was the slightest crease in his brow and the soft purse of his lip as he tilted his head to the side.

“And mine is what?”

“Your role? What’s the endgame?” You snorted, finding yourself melted into the conversation. The focus wasn’t on you. Between your liquid courage and your fatigue, you let your intrigue guide you. “What’s so important that you’ve sworn off love or whatever—” You gestured dramatically with your hands.

“Okay, I never said I swore off love.” He waved you off as if to physically dismiss the thought from the conversation. Erwin leaned forward to rest his elbow on the knee of one of his crossed legs. He rested his cheek in his hand, officially invested. “You make me sound like a jaded old man.”

“Aren’t you?” Your retort was quick. Erwin’s lip curled in a mock pout. He balled up his cloak, and you shielded yourself with your arm as it hit your cheek. The fabric smelled like him. “Hey!” You laughed, catching the bundle with one hand as you gestured to Hange. Erwin held his hands up in defeat and a playfully exaggerated eye roll. 

You unfurled the cloak. It took a second to orient it correctly before draping it over your shoulders. Erwin’s cloak was slightly longer than yours. You covered Hange’s torso with it as they continued to sleep soundly. Hange could sleep through an earthquake. 

When you turned back to Erwin, he was already staring, a softness in his eyes. You took a quick look behind you, and upon seeing nothing, you turned back to him again.

“So what is it? What’s your role?” You pushed again. Erwin snickered to himself, a silent puff of air escaping his nose, allowing his head to bow as he recovered. 

“To carry out my duties,” he answered, almost unsure. He held himself like you had never seen before. Never had you seen Erwin so relaxed, raw, and playful. You shot back a similar look he had given you earlier in the night: one of skepticism and challenge. Erwin took in a deep breath. “I want to understand what humanity has never understood before. I need to witness truth for myself, I suppose.” He scrunched his forehead, part of him unsure if his words were as diplomatic as he liked.

“And you can’t do that with a family?”

“Well, you were the one who just said stuff about kids and feeling guilty. You said it fucks with you if we’re using your words.” Erwin sat back against the wall, arms crossed over his broad chest. He stretched his long legs out in front of him.

“Who said a family means children?” You mirrored him, leaning back on your palms. Hange remained curled on your lap. Erwin bobbed his head from side to side in consideration.

“You’re right on that point,” he conceded. “Ideally—” You groaned.

“All or nothing is so like you.” You rolled your eyes as you nestled deeper into Erwin’s cloak. He gaped for a second, not knowing how to respond to your casually spoken criticism. 

He sputtered. It was cute.

“I feel like I should take offense to that.” He blinked, taken aback.

“You’re depriving yourself of happiness you know you want because you think there are only two options? Please. Just date someone in the military. Another truth-seeker, if you will.” You let your head lull to the left, resting on your own shoulder as you stared out into the dark room. Two soldiers sat slumped over each other a few feet away. They sat with their cloaks draped over one another, illuminated by the fire. “You know, I heard Owens and Murray have a marriage pact. The two of them say if they get through tomorrow’s expedition alive, they’re going to go straight to the courthouse to get married.”

You almost zoned out, lost in the dim outline of the Wings of Freedom. Perhaps you were getting tired after all. With any luck, you could get at least some sleep in before the expedition.

“Was that a proposal?” You snapped back to reality. Erwin stared as you blinked a few times, lips pursed together mischievously as he held back an amused smile. His leather shoulder straps had fallen the slightest bit off his shoulders.

“What? Of course not!” A warm heat spread under your skin. “I was just telling you something I heard.”

“Well, you were the one telling me to date my comrades and form a marriage pact. I just assumed you were insinuating that you meant with you.” You stammered in disbelief, watching Erwin struggle to hold back his Cheshire grin. “That’s what it sounded like.” His brows rose on his forehead, painting his face with self-assurance akin to cockiness.

“You! In your dreams!” You searched your immediate vicinity for something to throw at him. Finding nothing, you took Hange’s hair tie off your wrist and shot it at Erwin with unmatched speed and dexterity. He dodged it, ducking off to the side as it hit the wall behind him. “You’re full of yourself!” Hange hardly stirred. “I wasn’t suggesting anything. In fact, I was thinking of asking Fletcher.” You crossed your arms with a severe pout.

“Fletcher,” Erwin repeated, the name forming in his mouth like a foreign object. Erwin shook his head in disbelief, blinking his eyes a few times as he did. He stuck out a hand towards you in a forward-slicing motion. “Who puts his ODM gear on backward half the time.”

“Which means he gets it right the other half,” you quickly retorted. Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“You could do so much better,” he groaned. He ran a hand through his neat, blond hair. 

“Fletcher is a perfectly suitable partner, thank you very much.” You glanced off into the dark room, lowering your voice. “I was thinking about it, and I… you know, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea. You have to take a chance and live a little.” Erwin rubbed his chin, still in disbelief. He yawned. 

“I still think you could do better.”

“Well, it’s like you said; it’s not like you have a lot of options when you join the Scouts,” you huffed. Sure, your companion from your cadet years wasn’t the brightest, but at least you were trying to pursue a life while you still could. “If I gamble with heartbreak and lose, I can at least know I achieved something.” Erwin scoffed.

“A gamble, huh?” He rolled his head from shoulder to shoulder, another tense crack popping from his bones. He stretched his arm to the side. Before you could say a word, he let out a concentrated breath. “Okay.” Erwin shrugged, resuming his earlier position leaning against the wall. Even as he closed his eyes, you didn’t like the smug look on his face.

“Okay… what?” You asked suspiciously. 

“I’ll throw my hat into the ring.” He shrugged again, and you nearly threw your hands up in defeat. 

“What ring?” You nearly exclaimed. 

Erwin’s eyes fluttered open. You stared into them with a frown. The fire had since grown smaller, darkening the already dim room. His irises shone brightly, even in the waning glow of the fire. You watched each other in silence and with bated breath. He leaned forward.

“I’d say, if we make it out of the next three expeditions alive, we marry each other.”

His proposition hit you like a frying pan over the head.

You gaped, your mouth opening before closing again. You stumbled over what to say, the semblance of words tripping incoherently out of your mouth until you found it in you to ask a single question,

“Why three?” Erwin actually chuckled at that one. Sheepishness and acute embarrassment burned harder in your cheeks. Considering how long you had known each other, you had no idea what made you so nervous.

“We can gamble and make it five if you’d like.” Erwin crossed one arm over his chest and held his chin with the opposite hand. An excitement, a certain mischief, continued to blaze in his expression.

“You do like a good gamble,” you noticed with hesitancy. You glanced at Owens and Murray, who still slept curled against one another. You eyed Erwin out of your peripheral. “I like three, though,” you mused. “And if you die, I marry Fletcher.” He hummed.

“I don’t think I’m going to die, though. I don’t think you will either.”

“Yeah… I don’t think so either.”

Thank you to all who liked, reblogged, followed and otherwise supported. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

Notes: I HAVE HAD SO MUCH ERWIN BRAINROT IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY THIS WAS GOING TO BE 1/5 THE SIZE OF THIS FIC PLEASE I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS MAN

Notes: this oneshot will get another part at 50 reblogs!

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

[sir-phineas-lost]

TDP Season 6

Well, I think I might be fully on-board with this show again.

Well, maybe not fully, but certainly more than I have been since season 2. The ever-present problem is the refusal to actually deal with the generational trauma and prejudice aspects of the story in a way that isn't wholly one-sided or shallow. Along with the usual amount of protagonist-centered morality.

Spoilers under the cut.

But! It has some of the best characterization of Claudia and Viren in the show so far. I especially love how they utterly subverted the preview scene that made me a little worried. I really wish there was more of Claudia here because I feel like we needed more scenes of her trying this new path before settling on her final decision for it to really land, but it still works.

Sidenote: The Rayllum-hater in me really likes "The Frozen Ship" but for all the reasons I doubt were intended. An episode that shows just how much this ship is built on fandom-expectations that the main boy and main girl are going to get together. Really obnoxious meta-jokes about how popular the ship is? Check! Reading a completely different love-story to spell out how the characters are feeling? Check! Literal stand-ins for the fandom moving them around like dolls going "Now kiss!"?? Check check check! And all the while it is juxtaposed with scenes of Claudia and Terry that are nuanced, somber, haunting and really intimate yet tasteful, all without a single word of dialogue? And you want me to care about that other garbage?!

And Soren in the final 3 episodes is at his absolute best. His anger and grief are all equally justified and he is more mature and grown-up than ever. And we got some really nice vindication for that mess of a season-3 finale. Not that I expect it to lead anywhere regarding Ezran reevaluating his decision. As awesome as it would be for him to get home to a ruined Katolis and be greeted by his people who now look exactly like the soldiers he triumphantly fought off before and get hit with the realization "huh, maybe that wasn't such a black and white conflict after all".

The final episode is all about Aaravos and it hits just about every note it needed to, without giving away every detail. But it certainly does the trick in explaining his motivation. And the reveal of what a Startouch elf actually looks like is so well done that it hits you like a truck to realize "Oh, they already gave that away long ago and we just didn't notice".

Only problem is that it is going to be even harder for me to not root against the main cast now that I know they will be working against the person who is trying to overthrow the entire unfair order of the world, which is the part of the story I am invested in.

Still. I am looking forward to seeing how this ends and while I doubt it will ever live up to the better version of this that lives in my head, or in some excellent fanfics, I hope it will be good.

[snowblossomreads]

Day 2 - Secret Watching

Pairings: Severus Snape x Fem OC (Celestine Faye)

Summary: In where Celestine is late for the staff holiday party and is surprised to find someone secretly watching.

Tag(s)/Warning(s): Lockhart Slander, Fluff

A/N: And in something a little more lighter and fluffier for the season, our beloved dungeon bat! 🥰🥰

"Oh! Celestine get your shit together!" She hissed at herself, as she set the last bits of mistletoe berries on top of the milk pudding that jiggled slightly at the addition. "You're late and you're worried about the berries being in the right spot? Priorities please," she continued, yet it didn't stop her from making sure the leaves stuck up just how she want them, and that the berries were placed perfectly in the center.

She was not going to show up with a dish anything less than perfect to this party. It was only her second one, but with being the youngest on the staff, she felt the need to continue to prove that everything she did, she did it with all her effort. 

Even with something as silly as this holiday pudding that she had found a recipe to while perusing a cookbook she had gotten down at Hogsmeade. 

Giving it a final once over, and making sure the berries were centered correctly, and that the dirigible plum sauce was sauced just right, she pulled out her wand and cast a freezing spell on it. There was no way in hell she was gonna let that thing jiggle freely on her way to the teacher's lounge. Not with the way those staircases moved around at random.

Gathering herself up, pudding and all, she hurried towards the lounge. A little pep in her step as she was looking forward to gossiping with the other professors, finding out who was with who in the student body, who they were thinking for Head Boy and Head Girl, and most importantly any more information about the petrifications going on. 

They all might seem jolly and in good cheer, but she knew good and well that everyone was concerned considering there was still no answer of how it all came about. And of course, the safety of the students. How could they ensure that when they didn't know where the danger was coming from?

Letting out a sigh, Celestine turned the corner, nearing the lounge as her thoughts continued to keep her company in the halls.

"I hope Lockhart didn't get the invite though, fucking useless git he is," she cursed to herself.

That annoying waste of a wizard, she wanted to set him on fire so much and call it an accident.

Especially with the way he embarrassed her that one time. Grabbing onto her like a lost puppy in front of all the students. Proclaiming that she just had to go on a date with him to Madam Puddifoot's. Thank god there were students all around or she was sure she would be sent to Azkaban for murdering him.

He did get his comeuppance though during the first dueling club. The way Severus has blown him across the room with a powerful expelliarmus had her giggling and clapping her hands with glee. She wished it was her doing that to Lockhart, but at least someone had the chance to set that man straight.

Oh, and she couldn't forget the way Severus had caught her eyes after that, a little pleased smirk on his thin lips that was there and gone in a flash. 

It was very swoon worthy, considering she had literally run into him right after that embarrassing moment in the courtyard and told him all about it. 

The thought made her cheeks heat up once more as she finally rounded the last corner almost there to the lounge. What she didn't expect was to see the man she was swooning about standing near the slightly cracked open door to the lounge. Staring at it, secretly watching as if he wanted to go in but was unsure about it. 

He hadn't come last year, and from what she had heard from the other professors he had never joined in. Saying he rather patrol the school for students out during curfew than be subjected to what antics his fellow professors got up to.

From the looks of it though, that wasn't all true.

"Severus?" Celestine called just loud enough for him to hear her, even though they were the only ones in the corridor.

One of the portraits did tell her to 'sush her loud American mouth', but she ignored it, he was a particularly grouchy portrait anyways.

The sound of his name had him straightening up before turning to look at the woman who approached him.

"Celestine." He answered calmly as if he hadn't been caught snooping. 

"Erm, are you coming in?" She asked, pausing in front of him, noticing his eyes wandering to the pudding that she had floating beside her before his attention returned to her. "I'm a bit late thanks to this pudding here so I hope everyone at least enjoys it."

"Your potion skills are above mediocre, so I doubt a pudding should be the least of your worries."

She grinned at the back handed compliment. 

"Well if you think so why don't you come in and have some with us? I'm sure it's enough for one more person."

A sneer appeared on his lips at her invitation and her smile faltered thinking she had maybe overstepped.

"And spend time listening to Lockhart spout more nonsense and lies? No. I rather drink Polyjuice mixed with Skelegrow than listen to him." 

"What! Don't tell me he's there to," she hissed lowly, her brows furrowed not wanting to deal with that man. "I thought we all agreed to not invite him!"

"It seems Peeves has been up to his mischief again. He must have saw the staff gathering and thought it fitting to find Lockhart and alert him," Severus responded, crossing his arms and did he just roll his eyes? "You can imagine the surprise of everyone."

"Of course, ugh Peeves," Celestine shook her head in disappointment, having looked forward to a Lockhart free gathering as she was ready to take the piss out of the man. 

Lamenting over having to probably deal with that infuriating man for a few hours, she suddenly realized that Severus must have been watching everything play out for longer than she realized. And of course she had to ask.

"Wait Severus, how long have you been standing watch?"

"Long enough." Short and to the point. Very him.

"Well then…why don't you come join us for a bit? Maybe we can make some sort of excuse to sod off early- Oh Severus!" She exclaimed quietly, clapping her hand at the sudden thought she had. Yes it was perfect!

"Yes, go on." He spoke, his words drawled out a little and his brows quirked in interest.

"We can say we are going to go hunt for fairy wings! Some species of them actually shed their wings during the winter and grow new ones! If we can collect the wings within a few hours of them shedding they can be used in not only potions but divination," she spouted with pride as the knowledge flowed out of her with ease from all her years of studying. 

He seemed to think about it, for a moment which was always a good sign when it came to him. And she waited with anticipation 

"And what do I get out of this?"

Was the thought of potion ingredients not enough for him?

"You get potion ingredients for free because we know Diagon Alley up charges for fairy wings, some pudding and my companionship, isn't that good enough?"

"And no more Lockhart?"

"Yes that too! So what do you say? Will you pleeeeease, come just for a little bit. It'll be fun, plus won't it be nice to see everyone's faces when you show up."

He did have to admit, he was curious. Had she not showed up when she did, he would have probably walked away and gone to sort his ingredients as some of them had been looking suspiciously low. But the thought of the surprise and confusion on the other's face did bring some amusement. 

And also the pudding. From the looks of it she had made a holiday blancmange, and he couldn't help but want to taste it. To see if it was anything like his childhood and it had been years since he had some.

"No more than an hour, and if Lockhart gets up to his antics about knowing how to brew anything more  complicated than a cure for boils I'm leaving immediately."

Her face brightened immediately in the dim corridor, and she had to hold herself back from cheering like she was at a Quidditch match and Ravenclaw had just caught the snitch.

"Yes! Excellent! Oh Merlin can you imagine the look on everyone's face," she cackled almost manically at the thought, not noticing the hint of amusement on Severus' face as he watched her in all her joy.

She was positively radiant.

"Let's not dawdle Celestine, the quicker we are in the quicker we can depart."

He didn't have to tell her that twice. The look on all the staff's faces was indeed very worth showing up for as they all ranged from shock and glee to fear when he stepped in with Celestine by his side. 

Fear in Lockhart's case, and that pleased Severus deep down. 

The pudding was also delightful when he got to finally try some after listening to Minerva go on about how she had given up on him ever showing up.  

It wasn't exactly the same as the one from his childhood, yet close enough that he had a hard time hiding his approval from Celestine who was surprised at his penchant for the dessert.

"I'll make another one just for you," she bubbled as he led them out of the staff lounge at exactly an hour in, using the excuse they had made up earlier to escape the group that had begun getting rowdy thanks to all the spirits being passed around. 

You think it was the Hogshead if you walked in.

He thanked her quietly, as the moved down the hall, for the offer, but also for convincing him to not just watch but join the party.

Would he do it again? Not on his own. But if she offered to accompany him, he would maybe think twice about it.

A/n: Yay yay yay!! I hope you all enjoyed this! I do so love this man, ever the contrarian bc he doesn't think no one wants him involved. BUT WRONG. Always wants him to be involved 😡😡! Anyways is happy to give him some fluff and love and hope it made you all warm inside (it's cold here!).

[kateknowsdramas]

What Sweet Home Season 1 got right:

found family banding together to survive

character journeys - both good and bad - we understood what they wanted and what they were fighting for

character deaths that meant something both for their journeys and the story

a study in what it means to be human

What Sweet Home Season 2 got wrong:

threw everything that made season 1 good out the window

barely any of the original cast is in this season

they destroyed Yi Kyung's character

Song Kang who? where? a part of the story what?

what is happening????

characters who have no introduction or backstories making for a cluttered mess of people we're supposed to be invested in

I care about Jin Young's character but just because he's a cutie and we know he's a good guy - no idea about what makes him tick or his background

character deaths of S1 cast that come out of nowhere and serve no real purpose

again...what is going on??? I think there's a plot somewhere buried in there but I couldn't tell you what it is

Eun Yu keeps running around like a crazy person to look for her brother which is...stupid honestly

I don't care about these people at. all.

episodes 6-8 got mildly better but were still an incoherent mess

So, yeah...a huge disappointment, honestly. I really enjoyed season one for everything it was. Season 2 is just ridiculously muddled and doesn't allow the audience to care at all about what's happening. By the end, I got where they were going story-wise but I just don't care about how monsters are created. At least, I think that's what the plot was? It's literally just random things going on that don't tie together or move any kind of story forward. It's just a super weird, jumbled disaster.

[ember-owlet]

do you have any agere thoughts on the new eps? I’d love to hear them <333

thank you so much for asking firelight!! i'm assuming you mean arcane but if i'm mistaken please let me know! /lh /gen

rambles under the cut ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ spoilers ahead for season 2 of arcane!!

i do have quite a bit of clips in the works to polish tonight before uploading tomorrow, so i hope it is something to look forward to!! but after everything the majority of the cast are vent regressors with different leans/dynamics,, especially vi, mel, and jinx give my girls a BREAK!!!

vi and jinx having to see their father be killed and resurrected on multiple occasions was so painful to watch,, like can we give them ONE stable paternal relationship pretty please /j

i am 100% convinced at this point that both jinx and vi are canonical regressors. i don't think i need to reiterate jinx/powder being a regressor since many people in the agere fandom have discussed it (and not mad about that in the slightest, i'm so glad to see it! if you firelights want to hear about my thoughts then feel free to send a flare! i'd be happy to share.) but seeing vi regress to her teenage self multiple times throughout the show was enough for me to slap the label on her as well.

niche agere opinion as well,, but can we appreciate heimerdinger in a cg role as well? specifically as a mentor? it was so comfy seeing him as a professor and being ekko's support line throughout the chaos. ((and guys i promise he's alright!! yordles are immortal <3))

i also have a bunch of ambessa content on the way,, can you blame me she was in her prime as the antagonist of season 2 and i loved every second of it,, like come on guys she literally called characters little one and child consistently she just IS a mama now.

and honestly,, i might be the only one but i am in dire need of regressor sevika content. like come on we have prime pickings here she has SO many baby moments,, not just a mama to me. she seems like the type to regress in private (and very unique take but i would like to think in headcanon and in a sfw context when she goes to the brothel she has a cg that she visits take care of her. she literally has the weight of zaun on her shoulders WHO'S TAKING CARE OF HER???). /lh /nm

[nqueso-emergency]

Alright Queso I’m dropping my own theory here. Feel free to delete it, I just need this all out before I self implode due to frustration.

I’m honestly so confused by the people being like “lol this is the last season!” due to pacing and Tim’s writing.

#1 ABC wouldn’t have spent the millions they did on the show for just one season. Peter and Angela were each getting over a million annually and the others were finally at the 100k per episode by contract negations during season 6. Even IF the Mouse House suddenly lost all of their brain cells and were like “yeah let’s pour an easy 20 mil [idk what the budget actually is but I’m assuming the salary alone is in the 10s of millions] into this production and just have it for one year”…. Why? Literally what good would that do for Disney/ABC? Like yeah, Disney doesn’t need to recoup losses, but still they want at least something close to being out of the red (unless 9-1-1 is sucking that much money out but I also don’t think they wouldn’t have taken it on if they were afraid of that). Also I highly doubt the actors and crew would have signed onto a year contract (circle back to previous point of “Disney wouldn’t have taken on a money sucking production”).

#2 as it’s been established, Tim writes by the seat of his pants. I think last season they had a rough game plan, then the strikes happened and it was too late to turn back when it came to drafts. By the time it came to filming, they couldn’t open, lead up to, and close the stories they wanted to tell in the 10 episodes. They didn’t know they would only have 10 episodes. They were writing what they wanted, then dealing with the timeline later. Fast forward a year and a half later, we’re left with them scrambling and everyone is now dealing with the effects of “okay here’s a resolution just trust us” (Ortiz v the Wilsons) as well as incredibly condensed stories (Gerard) so they can get to the stories they wanted to tell this season (Hot Shots, Eddie and Chris, Maddie and Chimney having another kid). Realistically, we’re NOW getting to the stories that should have been episodes 4 and 5. So yeah it’s rushed and probably will be for the better part of this season.

Regardless, my personal theory is, the writing is on the wall for Grey’s. The general public has been laughing about how Grey’s has jumped the shark 4 times over by now and everyone is kinda over it (both the show and Shonda). ABC knows this, but most importantly Disney knows this. But they can’t get rid of Grey’s until they have a show to take over for Grey’s. I think ABC got 9-1-1 to potentially take that power hour over. With how well Dr. Odyssey is doing and a potential spin off, in my very convoluted opinion, they’re looking at a way of building a new Shonda but instead it’s Ryan Murphy (even if he isn’t involved in the 9-1-1 sphere anymore the general public still knows the name Ryan Murphy).

I also am starting to question if Peter and Angela will leave (or have smaller roles) in the coming season. Between Bobby still dealing with Hot Shots, Athena hinting at retirement, and their house being built? I’m curious if they’ll pull a moment where the house is under construction, but it’s ~wherever Michael and David live~ so they get the happily ever after retirement and they’re setting up a season 9 where it’s “oh wow what will happen next!?”. Procedurals need a revolving cast and Peter and Angela have both mentioned moving on eventually. Why not now? Let them get the Disney money then leave (with guest appearances at reasonable times) opening a WHOLE LOT of potential things to t op about the 118.

Sorry for the novel. I’ve been thinking and have no one who will listen to my theories ❤️

Posting. But I'm not getting into this conversation 😅

[mofffun]

King-Ohger x Gotchard pre-Chou Eiyuu Sai talk show

Partial translation/summary

Pep talk before CEYS

Impressions of each other's series

I want to attend XX Academy!

I am King of XX!

Role reverse: What role do you want to play in the opposite series?

link to watch

1. Pep talk before CEYS (02:08 -  

The teams haven't seen each other much save for shooting the SHT intersection. Six months have already passed between then and CEYS (Sep '23 - Feb '24)

Spanner vowed to deliver a passion not shy of KO team

Host joked KO team seemed passionate because of Kaku's physique

Taisei: I saw CEYS a year ago, seems just yesterday, looked forward to the event very much

Aoto: I hope it goes smoothly without trouble.

2. Impressions of each other's series (03:45 -

Rinne: most impressed by the body swap episode, particularly Himeno-san's kabuki pose.

Erica: Sorry for doing something the real Kaguragi never did. Gotchard is a very energetic show, compared to King-Oh's more serious tone, I feel recharged watching Gotchard.

Renge: KO cast are very good friends with each other. The Gotchard cast are friends too, but the kings' bond is something only forged by having worked together closely for an entire year.

Yzy: Not only is the show energetic, but the cast is too behind the scenes. I am the youngest in KO, but the main GT cast is even younger. They are very dependable. (Kaku: sorry for sounding condescending haha /j)

3. I want to attend XX Academy! (05:38 -

Rules: What skill do you want to master? It can be realistic or imaginary.

Matsumoto Hiroya: I want to type fast on a smartphone

Host 2 (Shinomiya Akira): Rita-sama's scream

❤️Cooking

💙Driving

💛Fine art

💜Dialect

🖤Muscle training

🕸️Drawing

___

🐻 Minato: Tonkatsu

Minato: Tonkatsu. I love fried pork chop. A school for tasting, making, and if possible, raising the pigs.

Host: What type of tonkatsu do you like?

Minato: そうっすね [sounds like Sauce-ne~, filler words meaning "yeah, right~"] Thick cuts and slightly rare on the inside.

where Aoto made a pun of そうっすね "Sauce" [for dipping tonkatsu]. Aoto murmured it to Matsumoto Hiroya instead of saying it out loud, and it hit Kaku-san's laughing point to others' confusion.

Minato: um... I prefer salt for seasoning to dipping sauce 😅

❤️ Taisei: Cooking academy

Taisei: Well, I can only depend on myself for cooking, so I kinda want to improve my skills. I even bought a set of knives.

Erica: What do you want to make?

Taisei: Garlic shrimp, maybe? French food seems to be on trend right now.

[Houtarou wrote 料理 (Cooking) too but in Kanji unlike Taisei in English]

Houtaro lives with his family and cooks with his mom on dayoffs. 

Kaku/Masashi: That's just like in the show!

Host 2: Sakai-san, please visit [Houtaro's] mom.

Taisei: LIke a training camp.

Houtarou: Yes, please. Let's make Donburi together. I don't really know what "Garlic Shrimp" is but let's try it out!

[Garlic Shrimp is in Katakana/English, in Japanese it's ninniku & ebi.]

(everyone laughs)

Erica: That's just what it means literally! 😂

Houtarou: We have garlic at home, I just don't know what "shrimp" is... Is it some kind of mushroom?

Kaku: Tracks, they both have the "sh" sound.

Houtarou: "Sh" as in mush, and "rimp" sounds like little cut-up pieces?

Erica: Hint is, it's something from the sea.

Yzy: Then that can't possibly be mushrooms.

Houtarou: Some kind of seaweed? 

Erica: It moves around a bit more than that.

Houtarou: Wakame!

Host: Not even close!/j Please do some research after the show.

💙 Aoto: Automobile Command academy. 

Aoto: Yep, [just a regular] driving school. I haven't got a license yet but I love going on drives, so I could only ride shotgun because I can't drive myself. I want to pay back my drivers so far.

Erica: ah the rest of the king cast.

Aoto: (shy) What do you think?

Hiroya: You look like you ride a motorbike.

Aoto: No, I've never been on one.

Masashi (?): It suits you.

🔧Spanner: Tension Crank-up Academy

Spanner: I want everyone to catch up to my hype!

Host: but the Gotchard cast seems like they're all pretty easily hyped?

Spanner: No. (to Renge) I'm the only odd one, right? (Renge nods) Actually I should just go there and sit by myself right?

Kaku: Yeah, right!

(laughs)

Host 2: Totally wrong answer in a totally fitting tone!

Spanner: Hey, I'm compromising already!

Host 2: Ahhh this is getting out of hand XD

Kaku: "Tension Booming!" [Kibun Bunbun, boonboomger roll call]

(dead air)

Spanner: See? No one is doing tsukkomi [straight man, pointing out irrationalities for comedy].

Erica: Ah, so the reason is there's no tsukkomi character in your group. The others look like they are more comfortable playing boke [funny man]. Maybe that's why the cast seems so cheerful.

Spanner: Who's the tsukkomi in your group?

Erica: Over here. (gestures to Yuzuki and Masashi) Team West.* 

*[t/n: 1. My best guess of Ni-Shi is "Western [Japan]" based on their hometowns being further west than the others. There's a stereotype that Kansai/western people are funny, although neither 💜 or 🕸️ is from Kansai to be exact. Taisei is from Fukuoka, the same region, Kyushu, as Yuzuki, but it's been established pretty early on he can't do tsukkomi. 2. Another guess of Ni-shi is "two colours" as in more-black-than-purle Yuzuki + white Masashi? 3. Or it could be "receive"??]

Kaku: So who will it be on your team?

Spanner: I choose... our best boke, Junsei.

Houtarou: Wahhhh don't sell me out!! ToT

Taisei: Someone else for the tsukkomi position?

Spanner: There's Minato-san, but when he's tsukkomi-ing, it's always under his breath. No one can hear him. 

Minato: I'm not confident...

Spanner: When we were talking about tonkatsu just now, he kept leaning back... Sensei, can we get a tsukkomi out of you from now on?

Minato: *mutters* okay...

4. I am the king of XX! (13:56 - 

Rules: Name yourself, or someone else in the room, as king of something.

Host 2: If anyone in the Gotcard is king of something, I suppose Motojima-san... is the king of shrimps.

Houtarou: Yeah, that's right! Please allow me the honor. No, for real, somebody tell me what "shrimp" is!?

Erica: Another hint, it has a lot of legs.

Houtarou: Octopus!

Kaku: Not even close!

❤️Masculinity 

💙Masashi->White [fair skin]

💛Spontaneous trips

💜internal rhythm

🖤Muscle training

🕸️Aoto->Fried chicken (karage)

___

🕸️💙 Masashi: Aoto is the king of fried chicken.

Masashi revealed that Aoto brought fried chicken to work every morning and would generously share it. He also brought some today too. Aoto quickly took over the explanation and said Masashi is one to read between the lines, like Jeramie. Truth is, when Aoto brought the nuggets, Masashi would snoop, "Hey, what flavour did you get?" Aoto then (have to) say, "You want one?" and give him a piece. The next person would say the same thing and Aoto had to give him a piece too, that person is Taisei. And the worst of them chicken "sharers" is Yuzuki. To her complaint, Aoto mimicked her reaction when given a piece, "Ehh~~~ Really?!" 

[t/n: lmao i could totally get why Aoto would be annoyed by Yuzuki because his imitation sounds absolutely like she's pretentious about it lol. but I could totally see Hirakawa Yuzuki doing that too lmao.]

📱Sabi named Spanner as king of long legs. 

🖤 Kaku-san named himself as the king of muscle training. (Minato loves muscle training too) Kaku-san's weightlifting record is 130kg in barbell.

Rinne is king of video games and Renge plays a thief simulator game and got her into it too.

💛 Erica named herself as the king of spontaneous trips. She can go anywhere and by herself. Last year she went to Osaka and Kyoto for two days unplanned. After she finished work in Kyushu, she stopped by there before coming back to Tokyo. She loved both sightseeing and eating. She re-visited the temple from a family photo taken on a childhood trip.

💜 Yuzuki named herself as the king of internal rhythm. Because King-Oh nearly always films indoors, they can't see the sun and often wonder what time it is. At which they'd turn to Yuzuki for the answer. She estimated the current time to be 12:56, which is just 30 seconds faster. [t/n: She talked about this in tge cinematoday interview 06:13 before the series starts]

5. Reverse Offer (25:03 - 

Rules: What role do you want to play in the opposite series? It can be a real or made-up character.

❤️manly man chemy

💙evil rider 

💛mad scientist 

💜a chemy that keeps screaming non-stop 

🖤kind muscular older-brother type 

🕸️a chemy that can grant any wish

[t/n: 🕸️a chemy that can grant any wish -> that's just Doraemon right.... re: relay interview]

🖤��Kaku: a kind muscular older-brother type

no alchemy, just a kind muscular older-brother type. I will be your personal trainer. You all look a bit slim, leave it to me :D

Minato: a monk, who'd fit in Toufu

💜 Renge: Moffun

Renge: It got a lot of cheers from the audience, so it must be very popular.

Yzy: It'd be interesting to see a Kansai-dialect Moffun.

Renge: [kansai dialect] "Why do you hide your eye? mofu~"

Yzy: Hired!

❤️ Taisei: a manly man chemy

Taisei: I want to become muscular too, after watching Kaku-san the past year. (straight face) Even his naked body, in the main series.

Kaku/Yzy: Hey!

Taisei: (straight face) I'm quite envious of his physique. I want to try working out in the future

Kaku: Okay, I can teach you...

Taisei: Thank you ^_^

(conversation starting to get lost...)

Kaku: Gotcha! [sharp cut keyword]

Spanner: What will your manly-man chemy sound like?

Taisei: ...

Taisei: Gotcha! \(^o^)/

🕸️Sabi: Pet (Jeramie's)

Masashi: So you want to be my pet?

Sabi: Woof!

Masashi: Hired!

💙 Aoto: Evil Rider [proceed to solo-act his oc's story]

Aoto: I want to henshin as a villain. At the very end, he redeemed himself and died protecting the hero, "Remember... something something..." and I die.

Hiroya: That'd be a challenging role.

Host 2: We've seen your Royal Arms, how will your evil rider henshin?

Erica: Don't you always talk about this😂? With the rain.

Aoto: ahhh. Yep, I've got the scene set. At first he was a good guy, then we flashback to his past, a rainy day, the old man who's been taking care of him died in his arms. "AHHHHH", I scream, and the belt materialises "churn churn churn". With blood all over my face, "HENSHIN!! ARGHHHHHH". Like this.

Host 2: A Henshin powered by screams, I see. Minato-sensei, you were an evil rider, what do you think?

Minato: That's more like the hero's backstory. A little like... Spider-man?

Kaku: It's too cool, isn't it?

Aoto: I will henshin with a fried pork chop chemy.

🕶️ Houtarou: King Gotchard

Houtarou: I want to go to King-Ohger's world just as I am, and see what kind of people will follow me if I become the king of gotcha

Host 2: You can take today as an opportunity to ask the kings for advice. What quality does a good king need?

Houtarou: Yes, please. Charisma for sure, what else?

Kaku: If I have to say... aura, perhaps.

Hiroya: You are not answering "muscles" for once?

Houtarou: Honshin? Honkaku? 本心？本格？Genuine? Authenticity?

Kaku: Honkakuha chuuka 本格派中華？Authentic Chinese restaurant?

*laughs* [t/n: treat it as a dad joke 😅...]

Houtarou: No no no, what's that word that means the very base of something.

Spanner: The core. (核心 kakushinn)

Houtarou: Yes, I meant to say "at the core".

Masashi: What kind of kingdom do you want to build?

Houtarou: A bright country! Where everyone can get creative and invent their own recipes like Houtarou.

Kaku: Just like Toufu!

___

The round up is just more pep talk. The talk show is filmed a few hours before CEYS.

___

t/n: I wrote this because of an request. At the very least I want to sub Aoto and Yuzuki's segments. The talk is too funny but quite long and no few jokes. If I end up getting around to it will def be November. Also the op of the video is absent for asking permission...

[horizon-verizon]

I was thinking today about how the canonical Targaryen lineage makes no sense with the Velaryon race change. Jaehaerys is as white as a white man can be in the first episode even though his mother was a Velaryon. And all of his children and grandchildren are of course also the whitest people ever (they couldn’t even cast a mixed/Black actress to play Alyssa even though she’s just a hallucination). Go back even further the Conquerors’ mother was also a Velaryon. I know genes can be funny things and don’t always follow math, I know white-passing exists, but if Baela and Rhaena can be Black Targaryens, there is absolutely no reason why the rest of the Targs we see aren’t mixed/Black, actually.

And not just Jaehaerys either, as Boremund Baratheon (the man who swears fealty to Rhaenyra in episode 1 and later hosts her during her suitor progress in episode 4) is Jaehaerys’ younger half-brother from the same mother, as is Rhaenys’ mother Jocelyn Baratheon.

Ryan Condal literally said, “Well, Valyria was this enormous continent, a very diverse and well-populated nation that fell into the sea. Why couldn’t there have been a line of Black Velaryons in that story ?”, meaning there were Black people indigenous to Valyria and that Corlys’ brown skin doesn’t come from his mother.

Yeah...one thing about this show is that the changes are made sporadically, according to their marketing needs, and are not truly story forward.

Ryan is the same man who said Aegon I lived in and at the same time Old Valyria existed & erased every trace of ladies in waiting for Rhaenicent to make any modicum of sense. He or Hess or soemone they approved came up woth the idea that Rhaenyra, the Queen Consort, would face or even tolerate the same kind of disrespect from a council of men as Alicent, when these two women have completely different positions and in the bk, rhaeyra wouldn't even allow that shit to happen. Rhaenyra is a Queen regnant, Alicent was a Consort and then a Dowager. It makes much more sense for Alicent to into be able to do shit AND for the men to even try to speak over her or dismiss her. Nor would Rhaenyra castellan be a man who got a seat at the table, much less argue with her in front of others without facing some severe consequences. We have the raping, betraying Huh Hammer become a family man to be the PoV/inside look of the smallfolk instead of say Sylvenna Sand, Essie, Nettles, that girl Mysaria had as a messenger, Gaemon Palehair. Or you know just some random. Baela and Rhaena's relationship w/Daemon and his own personal arc is fraught with stuff that either never should have existed or is a rehash of what was "solved" back in season 2 for the whole "fix a toxic man" arc instead of just developing Baela and Jace's romance, the social effects of kinslaying at KL's court, Corlys being more active and the shifting tensions b/t him and Rhaenyra done both indirectly or directly, etc., etc.

We're not dealing with straight shooters here. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[thelaurenshippen]

When you write your characters, do they have specific, locked-in physical appearances? Does that only come once you get the characters cast/does it match what the VAs look like irl? I was thinking about how, when I listen to TBS I picture the characters different than you probably do or how other listeners do.

For me, I usually only picture things like height/build and hair color/length, but even that is different from other interpretations I see in fanart. What’s it like to see fanart of characters who don’t have faces?

great question!!! no, absolutely not, pretty much never. I have a hard time coming up with character appearances even in books--I am just not a visual person! in writing prose, I of course do have to determine what they look like, but it's not usually the first thing that comes to mind.

when I wrote TBS, I had absolutely no thoughts about what the characters looked like beyond certain vibes (mark: handsome, agent green: beanpole, damien: exceptionally average, etc.) but that said, I'm not sure I necessarily picture every single character looking like their actor. and that's largely because we have so much incredible fanart for the show, that every time I see a new version of a character, I'm like "that's it!". so, to answer the last question in your ask, it RULES

but it's a little different depending on how the casting went. with the exception of Chloe and Sam, almost all the original roles in TBS (so, the first four seasons), were written without a specific actor in mind okay, I started to write a long paragraph about each of the characters and then realized it might be fun to go through the whole original cast and talk about how each actor ended up in that role--

(my god this got long I'M SO SORRY I feel like I've hijacked your really nice and straightforward question)

Sam - easy; she was written for me, she is me, and yet I never picture her looking like me

Chloe - I knew I wanted to get Anna to be a part of the show, so I wrote Chloe with her in mind. but I also don't really picture Chloe looking like her!

Dr. Bright - the hidden lore of TBS is that I thought about playing this role for about half a second, instead of playing Sam (thank GOD I wised up). I don't remember the thought process of casting Julia at all because I'm pretty sure I was just sitting in acting class one day as she was doing a scene and was like "oh, there she is"

Caleb - god, it's so weird to try and remember when these people were strangers to me - Briggon was so big-hearted in acting class, that I knew he'd bring so much to Caleb. but it was watching him do a gruffer scene in class that made me ask him - I wanted Caleb's big heart to make itself known more slowly. Briggon has an essence that I picture with Caleb, but I don't picture Briggon as Caleb, if that makes sense.

Adam - in lots of ways, Briggon cast Adam! he and Alex had been buds for ages and when I wrote the episode in which Adam first appears, I needed someone to do a few quick lines and Briggon suggested Alex. and that was supposed to be that - I had no plans to ever have Adam appear in the show again. but then, of course, we recorded with Alex and I simply had to make him a presence in the show. ditto here in terms of essence vs. appearance.

Damien - I remember the moment I (mentally) cast Charlie so vividly. I'd already shared the season 2 script where Damien first appears with Julia and she was very eager to know who I was going to cast - I think we were talking about it before class, because we both knew that we needed someone very specific and very good. and I'm like "idk! I haven't thought about it in depth yet!". and then Charlie was doing some scene or other in class and Julia and I literally leaned forward in our chairs so that we could look down the row at each other because we had the exact same thought at the exact same time. and we shared this look and that was that. I've never pictured Damien as looking like Charlie, because Charlie is way too good looking.

Mark - these next two were really hard to cast. mostly because I had such a specific idea in my head of a vocal tone/vibe, and I didn't know any actors who fit that perfectly. and it took several weeks of sunday classes with Andrew before I asked if he wanted to get coffee and talk about it. and it took that long because Andrew has this very annoying thing about him where he's literally so versatile and so grounded and real and fucking good in every role he does, that every time I'd watch him perform, all I could see is what he was doing in the moment and nothing else. I would get totally lost in what he was doing and, of course, it is that exact quality that makes him such a compelling Mark. I picture Andrew as Mark about...32% of the time.

Agent Green - an insurmountable task. no one in my acting class was right for it. no friends of friends were right for it and I asked around a lot, got sent a lot of voice memos. and then I was doing a short film with Anna and Ian was there - I'd met him once before when he was in a Rocky Horror production with Anna - and I really dug his energy. and he wasn't right at all for what I was imagining Agent Green to be, but I was like "you know what, I want to work with this actor, and it's one small-ish role in two episodes" and then we got Ian in with Julia and all of a sudden I was like "WELL I GUESS I HAVE TO WRITE A WHOLE AGENT GREEN STORYLINE NOW" (this has happened to me several times. goddamn actors). I think the Green in my head is like...the combination of Ian and his common fan art representation.

Wadsworth - I met Alex doing the same short film - she was in it and also doing fight choreographer and was just incredibly competent and cool. I knew I wanted Wadsworth to be someone who could really boss people around but, like.....in a hot way. it helped that Alex and Ian knew each other pretty well, because obviously that dynamic is central to both those characters. and I think, similarly, Wadsworth is half Alex, half fan art in my head

Frank - I hadn't really planned on bringing Frank into the show itself - kind of an Adam situation - but I saw Phillip do a very interesting intense scene in class and just....couldn't stop thinking about it. despite writing the role into the show more or less for Phillip, I don't really picture Frank as looking that much like him.

Rose - this one was pretty straightforward - I wrote Rose, thought through actresses I knew who had a particular energy and could also sing and Alana popped into my head right away! (the only other actress that came close was Helen, who plays Helen in TAMA which, as you can guess, was written for her. she's got an incredible singing voice like Alana does, but Alana was the better fit, and I got to have Helen villain it up, which was so fun, and have a fucked up thing with Wadsworth (Alex and Helen are irl besties)). but I don't picture Rose in any particular way, other than the cover art for SFP!

Charlie - I loved Ars Paradoxica, I loved Reyn in Ars Paradoxica, and it just felt right. I do think I picture Charlie as Reyn actually.

honorable mentions from the spin-offs:

Mags - I knew pretty much immediately that I wanted to get Bryce in the mix of TAMA and wrote Mags for her in the same way I wrote Chloe for Anna. Bryce and I met doing a production of Spring Awakening years and years previously (she was Martha, I was Wendla) and she's such a talent! I don't really picture Mags like Bryce though - I think I picture Mags as being much nerdier.

Beck - Jason "Marley" Beck has a very specific description in the books. he's a tall, hulking white guy with a buzz cut and a kind of frankenstein's monster energy to him. he's pale as shit. when I wrote him into TCT, I looked for actors like that (and found some truly great ones!) but I'd left the role open and when I heard Chris's audition I was like "welp. that's Beck. I guess Beck is going to be Black in podcast canon!" and that's what we did. podcast canon and book canon are technically two slightly different versions running on parallel tracks, and I wanted to go with the actor that I felt best fit the role, regardless of the fact that the book had already been published. so the image of Beck in my head is different for the book and the podcast.

Oliver - ah, Oliver. the surprising fan favorite. or, really, not that surprising, because I had the exact same reaction to Kristian when I first met him. he auditioned for a role in Passenger List and, while I was of course already a fan of his from Orphan Black, I was still shocked at just how much fun the audition was. and to be clear: auditions suck so so so so so bad. and for PL, they were full 6 hour days of watching actor after actor after actor and, well, it's my least favorite part of the process always. but for the, like, 5 minutes Kristian was in the room, I was having a genuinely good time. so of course we cast him and he was as lovely to direct as he'd been in his audition. when Caitlin came up with Oliver, I think we both had something very different in mind. but there was a mad scientist energy to him that made me think of Kristian so I pitched him to her and she liked the idea and the rest is history. and then, of course, he and Andrew's chemistry was a wild lovely surprise, so we brought him back. gun to my head, I could not tell you what I think Oliver looks like.

[waywardnewcomer]

Bridgerton Season 3 part 2 spoilers below the cut!

WHAT CAN I SAY? I loved it! Polin’s love story is so sweet and infuriating at times, but the way Colin accepts her as LW at the end warms my heart. One thing I’m majorly disappointed with is the lack of a sex montage post wedding at the end - which had been (incorrectly) spoiled on twitter so I was really sad just to see the one scene! I feel like Benedict had more sex than Colin this season 🫠 (although I did love that we finally have canonically bi!benedict!!!) I was hoping for a little more from the mirror scene in particular more spice but it was more romance - which was lovely don’t get me wrong, I loved how he continuously asked for consent!!!! I was also sad we didn’t get Colin upset with Pen about what she’d wrote about herself too!

However!!!! I’m very happy Polin won their heir race! Although all the babies look similar ages so was it the pre wedding sex that knocked her up👀👀 I also can’t wait to see kanthonys child!! Was happily surprised they made Michael Michaela, and the way Fran was literally lost for words when meeting her! And another special mention for bi!benedict (especially during pride month!🏳️‍🌈) as him realising he could have both was so beautiful, I hope we see more of him exploring before he settles down with Sophie.. do we think Benedict is next season?? I hope he is, but who knows.

I’m also so happy Elouise and pen made up, made my heart so happy. What are your hopes and predictions for next season? I’m full on Bridgerton brain rot atm. Hoping for more marital bliss between kanthony and polin, and lots more spicy scenes! Hoping Cressida pays for what she wrote about the Bridgertons (although I do feel slightly sorry for her - but if the rumours are true about Sophie’s step mother she will soon be part of the Bridgerton family by marriage). Hoping for scenes with the cousins playing together!!! And I’m really looking forwards to seeing how pen’s writing and Colin’s book progresses.

Anyway I have to get ready for my night shift which I did not nap for in favour of Bridgerton, so please indulge in my brain rot below whilst I’m at work. And a massive well done and thank you to the cast, especially Luke and Nic on a great season!

[rebeccalouisaferguson]

Rebecca Ferguson had no qualms about leading her own TV show. In fact, she relished the opportunity to set the tone for the Apple TV+ series “Silo” from the top down with a “no bulls–t” attitude. “I’m not worried about the consequence of speaking up or saying no or coming forward,” she told TheWrap over Zoom, sitting comfortably on her bedroom floor, draped in a blanket and fiddling with a caffeinated toothpick as her passion for the acclaimed drama manifested physically — like an excitable friend waxing poetic in the wee hours of the night during a sleepover.

“There is no book of how you lead. You listen and you follow,” Ferguson said, speaking not just about her role as the star and executive producer of the dystopian sci-fi series but also about her character Juliet, who is unexpectedly thrust into the role of sheriff — a job she decidedly does not want. 

Based on a trilogy of novels by author Hugh Howey, “Silo” takes place entirely within the confines of a community living inside a giant silo that burrows hundreds of stories into the Earth. Life on the surface is uninhabitable, but Ferguson’s Juliet — an engineer with a tragic past — begins to question the basic tenets that hold the fabric of this community together in a sprawling and emotional storyline.

“She doesn’t want to be sheriff because the idea of human connection and leading people f–king terrifies her,” Ferguson said. “But by questioning, by being a rebel in some form of unchosen way, she changes the status quo of something that has been a structure and shakes it up. And that’s really fascinating, I love it.”

When “Silo” came her way, Ferguson was able to be picky about what projects she took on. She’d become a fan favorite in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise and was earning acclaim for her role in the Oscar-winning “Dune.” So when she was pitched “Silo” and she had some issues with the script, she turned it down. “They came back and said, ‘What was it you didn’t like?’ and I was like, ‘Well this and this,’ and then they came back and they had changed it,” Ferguson recalled. 

“The whole script came to life for me and then (creator) Graham Yost offered me the executive producer credit and — and this is not a joke — I literally grabbed my phone and under my computer screen I was Googling, ’What’s the difference between executive producer and producer?’” she said with a laugh.

Ferguson said she put in a lot of work to prepare for the show’s first season, which she described as “like Indiana Jones underground,” but the key to finding her take on Juliet was in the character’s movement. 

“I wanted to not walk the same way that I always walk,” Ferguson said. “I thought, what happens if I go completely introvert? What if she’s uncomfortable with people and environments?” That meant carrying trauma in Juliet’s shoulders, looking stiff and conveying discomfort when talking to others. “It’s fun!”

When asked if the responsibility she carries as No. 1 on the call sheet is ever daunting, without hesitation Ferguson said no: “I don’t feel that, ever.” She arrives on set early each morning, and she compared her giggly excitement upon seeing the rest of the cast and crew to that of a teacher greeting students each day.

“It’s a weird dynamic but I think the point is, I see you. You know in relationships when someone says, ‘I see you?’ That’s what I feel with these people.”

And she’s eager to see “Silo” through to the end. The show has only been renewed through Season 2, which wrapped filming earlier this year, but Ferguson said she’s under contract for four seasons total and hopes to finish the story. She even knows how it all ends.

“Season 2 is dark. It’s a bonkers exciting season,” Ferguson said of what’s to come. “It is huge, man.”

This story first appeared in the Drama Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine