#there are two reasons i don’t wanna watch s2 if it is filmed as part 2

[teenbiology]

i don’t know what i’m going to do the day we have to see bella’s ellie go from silly, open hearted kid, telling jokes about diarrhea running in your genes to a standoffish, angry young woman violently seeking revenge

[liesoverthec]

OG 911 Character Details from Canon Pt 2

Hi y’all I’m back! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reblogged the last details post - I sort of just thought people would like it and it would die, so to see it travel and hopefully reach more writers was so great so thank you again!

Details under the cut since I went a little crazy 😅 and if this is your first time seeing this, the first part, and any future parts, can be found under this tag here!

Quick note before I get to the details - always, ALWAYS take details from dialogue or plot over details from the set or props if they contradict each other. The writers have the ultimate say over what happens on the show/for the characters, so whatever they say goes, even if it goes against something props has already laid down (eg, Chim’s birthday, sorry Libra crew. He’s an Aries or a Pisces). So keep that in mind for the future in case some of these details I have which are from props/set are changed in the future, or if you’ve noticed something yourself!

Also if you have questions, I am MORE than happy to answer them, although if you leave them in the tags on this post I’m probably gonna lose them, so if it’s something you’d genuinely like an answer to, drop it in my inbox! Besides my standard “ask” tags, I’m also tagging asks about canon details with this tag here. Every time I make a big post like this, I’m going to link all the asks I’ve gotten since the last post, but if you’re looking for more info in the mean time, that’s the other spot to look!

Buck has a grill on his patio.

Eddie doesn’t hang Christopher’s art on the fridge - instead it is either hung on the corkboard in Chris’ room to the left of the door, or Eddie puts it in an actual frame and hangs it using a hammer/nails in Christopher’s room. All the Diaz family has on their fridge is a bunch of bendy people magnets. (I absolutely ADORE him putting all this effort into treating Christopher’s art like it’s something you’d buy from a professional artist).

Info on everyone’s ages can be found here. (Little more discussion of Chim’s situation here).

Albert has a bachelor’s degree! I don’t know in what though, except that it’s some field for which is a Master’s is useful.

Athena was in a sorority in college, Delta Sigma Theta. Their website describes them as “ ...a sisterhood comprised primarily of Black, college-educated women ... [that] considers the issues impacting the Black community and boldly confronts the challenges of African Americans and, hence, all Americans ”, which I love for Athena, and feel is very in-character for her at that time in her life!

Chim is an aviators dude. When he wears sunglasses, they’re always aviators.

Athena also wears nothing but aviators.

Bobby wears square aviators.

Eddie, on the other hand, always wears Wayfarers.

Buck either doesn’t really like sunglasses or he constantly forgets he owns them, since we’ve only seen him wear them once in 60 eps, in a move I’m pretty sure was ONLY for dramatic effect.

Hen’s sunglasses change style over the seasons like her regular glasses do, but she tends to like browline sunglasses.

Info on Christopher’s school can be found here!

There are two colors of dispatch polo, and there doesn’t seem to be any rhythm or reason for who wears what. Maroon - Maddie and Linda. Blue - Josh and May. Jamal has actually worn both maroon and blue, so it doesn’t seem to be TOTALLY set in stone although I’ve never seen anyone else switch. Sue is too badass to wear a dispatch shirt.

Both Bobby and Eddie drive 4 door pickups. Bobby’s is navy. Eddie specifically has a black, 2020 GMC Denali 1500 pickup truck (in case you want to specifically look up what the inside of it looks like or what features it has 😂)

Info on the 118’s medical certifications can be found here.

Correction to Eddie’s living situation from last post: no next door neighbors, but instead UPSTAIRS neighbors. (Pointed out by Abigail in this ask). Also since someone else was wondering the notes of the last post - no, there is absolutely no discussion on the show of whether or not Eddie rents the apartment or owns it. But based on the fact that it’s 1) LA and 2) an apartment, my guess would be he rents it.

When Maddie isn’t feeling like herself, she tends to straighten her hair rather than curl it. It seems to be more when she’s uncertain about her place in her own and other people’s lives, rather than just when she’s simply worried - eg it’s straight in 2B, when she’s uncertain if she wants to continue working as a dispatcher/is unsure about her relationship with Chim.

For work, Chim, Eddie and Buck all use black duffel bags with a LAFD patch on the top. Hen uses several different cute bags, and Bobby seems to have a plain black duffel bag.

Watches - Bobby, Athena, Chim, Hen and Buck all wear their watch on their left wrist (but Athena ONLY wears hers for work, she takes it off at home.) Eddie wears his on his right wrist, and Maddie doesn’t wear one.

Chim (and Maddie by default) literally still have the exact same couch as in the pilot. (Which means that Chim has cuddled Tatiana on that couch, AND Albert has had sex on it. TIME TO GET A NEW ONE, BUCKLEY-HANS 😂)

The 118 has five different rigs - the engine (E118), the ladder truck (T118), two ambulances and the captain’s truck. 95% of the time, when the team is chilling in the cab of a rig and chatting (eg the ‘stuck under a live telephone pole’ scene in Jinx), they’re in the engine, not the truck. (Which I personally learned recently are NOT interchangeable terms!)

Athena and Michael got married when Athena was 37.

If you’d like to give Maddie a full name beyond “Maddie”, you should use Madeline. (I know, I know, in 4x04 she says Maddie is the name on her birth certificate, and that you should never use props details if they contradict script details, but I always thought that was a super weird exchange in 4x04 which could be explained by Maddie getting a nickname since she was born when Margaret and Phillip, you know, actually loved their kids and showed it, so of course Buck doesn’t get one, and in 4x04, Maddie was trying to avoid the entire issue of why she got one and Buck didn’t. But! Do what you want, and use Madeline as the full version of Maddie if you’d like, since that’s what’s on the BOLO in 2x13 😂)

Athena’s call sign is 727 L30, but she doesn’t have a specific squad car - the number changes throughout the series.

Chim really likes chewing gum, but he’s the only one out of the entire family!

The station has an Xbox One S, and it’s white.

In the real LAFD, there are stations 1 through 114. To avoid confusion while filming on the streets (I’m assuming), our fictional LAFD never uses the number of a real station. So if you want another station for a fic, and you want something that would be real in OUR universe, use the numbers 115 and above. They’ve gone as high as 221 in our universe.

Battalions - station 118 is in Battalion 7, which is also not a battalion in real Los Angeles. The 118 has interacted w/ Battalion 1, which is a real battalion, but other ‘non-real which makes them more likely for our universe’ battalions include numbers: 3, 8, 13, 16, 19 and above.

S1 Buck knew the term Jedi, but based on context, didn’t understand AT ALL the context provided by Star Wars, so there’s another edge of his pop culture limits for you.

Chim is the most tech-savvy out of everyone, hands down.

Athena has a VERY active Twitter account.

Abuela’s house number is 8902. I don’t have a street name for you unfortunately though. :/

Athena’s favorite flowers are white roses. None of the other women are really flower people.

Michael likes to wear purple.

When they’re at a call, Buck does pretty much all of the stuff with the hammer and the saw. Eddie does all the work needed with the drill.

Harry goes to Meadowbrook Elementary.

Buck lives on the fourth floor of his apartment building, across the hall from Apt. 416. The lovely @lovelessmotel found this listing for what is more or less the apartment. What happened was: the set crew rented this apartment for the one episode at the end of s2 when Buck moved in, and then over the summer before s3 built their own set of it, and changed some things - eg giving him an island, and moving the sink to a second counter against the far wall, you can see the changes here in this amazing gif set by the awesome Austen, but the listing should let you click around a little more upstairs and figure out dimensions better than what the show provides!

When Athena and Hen go out to eat together, it’s always fast food burgers and fries.

Waffles are Athena’s favorite food, and tiramisu is her favorite dessert.

Every takeout we’ve seen Buck eat has always been in a Chinese food takeout container, and we know he likes Thai food the best. EXCEPT! The one time we see him eat takeout with Eddie and Christopher, they have pizza. So take from that what you will......

Eddie has a cell phone and a landline.

Chim is a shameless multiple texter.

Chim and Bobby sleep closest to the door in their respective bedrooms (both right side of the bed if you are standing at the foot, facing the headboard), and Athena and Maddie sleep furthest away from the door (left side).

Some canon last names for other firefighters at the station in case you wanna add more people to a fic - Mitchell, Sanchez, Serrano (woman), Porter, Meyers (woman), Maxwell, Voyta

Hen and Karen really love decorating their house with dark/red wood.

Karen is Mommy and Hen is Mama.

Bobby has a brother, and a grandmother, and that’s literally ALL we know about his family outside of Marcy and the kids.

Evidence points to Eddie being the oldest child in his family.

Karen has multiple brothers (no sisters), but no idea how many - just that one of them is named Trey, and one of them lives in LA and has kids. They might be the same brother and they might not be.

Both Hen and Athena are only children.

Athena has been on the police force for 30 years.

Christopher and Denny are the same age (born in 2011), and Harry is two years older than them.

Michael lives in apartment 308.

The bank in this universe is CalAm.

Hen and Karen have a picture of Denny, May and Harry on their fireplace mantel.

Eddie having a black thumb + a lot of plants in his living room = him buying fake plants bc he likes the aesthetic ™ or someone (cough Carla cough) is taking care of them for him.

The COVID timeline in OG’s universe is fucked up compared to the real world’s, so it shouldn’t be used as a way to measure time! They just throw it in wherever it makes sense for the story they want to tell (eg the vaccines in s4 ep 8), since s3 was both done before COVID hit but also airing while it was happening. It makes absolutely no sense for May to graduate in March nor for Chris to be going to what is specifically labeled summer camp, and the vaccine plotline was INCREDIBLY early, even for real life, so don’t use anything from that as a measure of time. I’ve found except in specific examples, eg the two tsunami episodes, it’s very safe to say every episode covers a week - fall holidays on the show line up with their real life counterparts, indicating about the same amount of time is passing for us and them.

On that note - Jee-Yun was born in late January, early February 2021. (Conceived in Pinned, which was end of March/beginning of April, meaning Maddie was around a month along at May’s graduation in May ➡ 42 weeks + 3 days from then = late Jan/early Feb. Which unfortunately means we most likely won’t see her birthday celebrated on screen. If we assume she was conceived on the date Pinned aired, aka the very sexy hotel scene, then January 21st or 22nd would be Jee’s birthday, depending on if she was born after midnight or not.

Buck has had at least one other Jeep between the one Maddie gave him, and the one he has now, which means that when he needs a new car, he is purposefully choosing Jeeps.

I hope this was all as interesting/enjoyable to you as it was to me! And just to repeat - I love answering questions so pls let me know if you have any at all ❤

🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

Tagging: @buckbuckley

[christinesficrecs]

This trainwreck of a post is dedicated to oodball-faerietales for being a kind and generous soul. You are appreciated always. 💖

Every single one of these fics is a gift which I have opened multiple times and enjoyed them every time! I did not include any fics I’ve already mentioned this year and it was SUPER hard! But you can find more favorites here. 

Wait by cutloosemcgoose | 23.4K | Explicit

Sitting on his couch, staring at the wall, it feels like Derek is watching his whole, miserable, lonely life flash before his eyes. He’s twenty four and he’s alone. No family, no friends, no real pack. He’s six days away from spending one of the most family-oriented holidays of the year trying to avoid any human interaction. If anyone could see him right now, they would tell him he looks pathetic. If Laura could see him right now, she would probably beat the crap of him and then tell him he’s a loser.

I am a HUGE fan of the woke up married trope but this fic is so much more than that!!! I should probably say that I wasn’t that impressed with the movie The Family Man but this AU is 20 times better!!! So even if you don’t care for Nick Cage or kid fics, this fic is still worth a read. Why you say?!?!! Stiles is THE perfect husband through and through. He is EVERYTHING Derek deserves and so much more! Also, I was just chatting up @dearericbittle about how much I love a great epilogue:

“Are you ready?”

“Jesus, Derek,” Stiles says, turning around so quickly that his foot catches on the rug and he almost goes flying. “You’re not supposed to see me before the wedding, it’s bad luck.”

Derek rolls his eyes at Stiles and they stare at each other for a second, wordless, before Stiles cracks up.

“Yeah, I know,” he says. Derek used to think that Stiles was mildly psychic, maybe an empath or something because of the spark, but he’s since realized that Stiles just knows him—knows all of them—so well that’s it scary and a little out-of-this-world.

“Are you ready?” he asks again. Stiles straightens the lapels of his tux, frowns down at it.

“I feel really silly wearing something so fancy to be married by an Elvis impersonator, I’d just like to say.”

“Write your congressman,” Derek advises. “Come on, we gotta go.”

Big Days by crazyassmurdererwall ( smartalli) | 9.6K

It’s an impulse really, inviting Derek to spend Thanksgiving with him and his dad. The Sheriff. Who once arrested him. It’ll be fine. Stiles is sure it’ll be fine.

This is pure gold. EVERY single thing about this fic is a gift! 

“I might have invited someone to spend Thanksgiving with us.”

He lifts one eyebrow. “You might have?”

“Yeah, no. I absolutely did.”

He may as well own up to it. Besides he’s not sorry he did, he’s just sorry he has to have this decidedly awkward conversation.

“Okay…” John says slowly. “And do I know this person?”

“You do.” Stiles nods back, slowly. “Sort of.”

“Sort of.” His hand grasps the edge of the counter as he says, with a saintly patience born only out of years of being Stiles’ dad, “Does this person have a name?”

“They do.”

“Excellent. And their name would be…?”

Saturday Night At The Movies by aussiebee | 7.3K | Explicit

After running into Stiles at the late night movies, Derek realises just how badly Stiles is handling the post-nogitsune fallout. He knows the feeling.

Derek healing post-nogitsune Stiles with saturday night movie dates is perfect! 

Derek didn’t see much of Stiles in the days after that, but it was hard to be disappointed about it when he drove past the café on Fourth St and saw Stiles and Scott sitting inside, talking over coffee, or when he came out of the bank diagonally opposite the sheriff’s station to see Stiles and his dad sitting on the bench beneath the tree outside of it eating lunch together, both of them looking lighter than they had in months.

But then Saturday arrived again, and Stiles was letting himself into the loft, settling in against Derek’s side in his customary spot, bogarting the remote. “Spaceballs is on in twenty minutes,” he said, smelling of nerves and hope.

“I’m so excited I couldn’t hold my oil,” Derek quoted, making Stiles chuckle, the sound light and at ease.

“May the Schwartz be with you,” he responded gravely, then leaned into Derek and snuggled up close when Derek lifted an arm to drape around his shoulders.

A Walk in the Clouds by Dexterous_Sinistrous | 13.9K

The one set during WWII where Stiles is a pregnant grad student and Derek is a PTSD riddled soldier, both of them looking for a better life.

I love crossovers and AUs. Jill did such a great job with this film reboot!! 

Mieczysław couldn’t help the small smile on his lips. “You can call me Stiles,” he offered.

Derek sighed. “Stiles is certainly different than Mischief,” he stated.

“A nickname,” Stiles replied.

“Well, Stiles,” Derek started. “What if you brought home a husband?”

Stiles looked confused by Derek’s suggestion. “How could I do that? There is no one—”

“There’s me,” Derek replied.

“I— I couldn’t ask that of you,” Stiles began. “I already ruined your trip to San Francisco.”

“Maybe I was meant to be here,” Derek offered. “There seems to be a reason for me bumping into you on the train—exchanging our tickets. Getting kicked off the bus.”

“Those were all my fault,” Stiles dejectedly replied.

Derek shook his head. “Or it was fate knowing that you needed a husband for a day.”

Call Me (Cliché) by SomewheresSword | 84.6K | Mature

When the sheriff's sister ends up in a wheelchair for the duration of summer, Stiles' dreams of three months full of pack bonding, late-night video games and bro-time with Scott come crashing down. He's temporarily relocated to Redford, a three hour drive away, and he can already tell he won't be getting many visitors.

Sure the pack will forget about him while he's gone, Stiles is determined to make the most of his summer of isolation, training his body and mind - and his magic - so he can come back with a bang, and maybe catch a certain Sourwolf's eye.

Then Derek shows up at his window one night with a flimsy excuse about needing research done. Suddenly, his summer away is looking a whole lot more interesting.

When I was a young fangirl there was a series called Ever Fallen In Love With Someone. This is not that fic but the initial plot is similiar especially with the S2 vibe which gives me all the feels! 

“So, there’s this guy,” he began, anxiously reaching for a cookie and nibbling at the edge. Hannah nodded in a wordless ‘go on’ motion. “He’s… older. Dad wouldn’t like it. Or him.” Very firmly didn’t like him, as a matter of fact. Hannah’s grin widened.

“Ooh, a bad boy?” Stiles nodded — that was a bit of an understatement. “Sexy. Tell me about him.”

“He’s got these really dumb, scowly eyebrows that are about ninety percent of his facial expressions and at least fifty percent of those expressions threaten murder,” he said, the words coming before he could think to stop himself. “But he’s such a marshmallow and he doesn’t seem to realise that I can’t take him seriously anymore because I know he’s got all of the emotions. He’s so damn overprotective and sweet and he pretends like he doesn’t care about anything but it’s all lies and I just wanna give him a hug so bad because I honestly don’t know the last time someone hugged him for real.”

Tell Me, So I Know by TroubleIWant | 7.4K | Mature

It took years for Derek to finally confront the way he felt about Stiles, and even after he figured it out he could only explain in Spanish. It took them two years more to get to where they were now. Only with neither of them quite willing to commit, where exactly is that, anyways?

Well, for Stiles it’s a deserted stretch of road behind the Hale house, half trapped in a car wreck after being abducted by hunters. Frankly, he could really use Derek’s help if he’s going to get out of this alive. Mates are supposed to be able to tell when the other is in pain, right? As Derek would probably say, 'querido, no.'

Or, a love story in two parts... and two languages.

I love everything about this fic. It’s hot and beautiful with mates and polyglot Derek. So perfect! 

He trails off, knowing he can’t say amor in the next line without Stiles realizing exactly the sort of thing he’s being told.

“Holy hell,” Stiles rasps, his voice heavy with lust. Even in the low light Derek can see the pulse in his neck, the rabbit-fast tick confirming exactly how attractive Stiles finds his bilingual skills. “What was that?”

Derek shrugs. “Just something I memorized once. It reminds me of you.”

“What’s it mean?”

“It’s a parable about a sheep who pesters a wolf with too many questions and gets eaten for being so annoying.”

“Liar,” Stiles says with a smirk, but he leans back in his chair and doesn’t press the issue for the rest of the meal.

[evergreen-dryad]

7,19 and 30 for the ask thing? Akskdmfl I kinda wanna ask them all tho lmao ~✒️

Anyway sorry for the really late reply anon(s)! I procrastinated on this for quite a while since I’d mostly answered all those before (and I was like ok let’s just ans them all anyway) and I really needed to think for some of these, or just didn’t have an answer for them. Also lol was lazy to look up which books had so-and-so no. of pages.

👀 👀 👀 is the pen nib a hint My favourite-- wow everyone really be asking me for quotes huh. 

Anyway, here’s what I answered previously for 7, 8, 15, 19, and 4,5,7,25

1 - season: winter. because I’ve always lived in the tropics winter is just fascinating and beautiful. Frost patterns??? Also because for literary reasons, winter is the time for hmm how did they put it, transformation? and plot/emotional tension

2 - classic film: err. What counts as one. And I’m really not a movie-watcher I’ve never even watched Home Alone. Can I just go for an animated Disney princess movie lmao Snow White should be the oldest I’ve watched

3 - nostalgia-inducing possession: hands-down my pink rabbit plushie I received for my 10th birthday. (Also got real rabbits at the same time!) Have had to sew back on his ears once.

6 - hour of the night: err hmm 10pm feels good? That’s usually the hour I’ll have washed up and feeling clean and cozy, and the night ahead feels sparkling and quiet.

9 - happy song: lmao jokes on y’all I think most of my music is either the calm type (lofi/art/dreampop makes me happy!!) or the emotional type, don’t really have upbeat types??

my first thought was Animal by AURORA but that’s prob not a happy song for most lol. maybe cathartic is more like it

let’s say Hand in Hand (Magical Mirai ver.)  by kz(livetune)/Hatsune Miku for now.

10 - sad song: hoooo boi which is it. Let’s say Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) by AURORA.

11 - character from a book: hmmmmmmm. Faith Sunderly in The Lie Tree (I really, really loved her character development throughout the book -- she got more feral/more true to herself as an aspiring female scientist). Artemis Fowl keeps popping up in my head as well because over the series he develops to have a heart instead of being a bastard. And Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot. Honestly impossible to not like those two.

12 - creative medium: prose writing. if i art i like using oil pastels. generally, pretty colourful things.

13 - memory: it’s my birthday, and I am a loved child. My father surprises me with two rabbits for pets on my 10th, or having a birthday party, or being surprised with a gift that I grow to love much over the years. Opening Christmas gifts with friends for the first time in a cafe, one on vidcall in 2019.

14 - aspect of a person’s face: eyes. windows to the soul~

16 - band: angela

17 - animated film/tv show: HOO BOI I WATCH SO MUCH ANIME UM. for anime!! Mob Psycho 100!! It’s the only anime so far I bother to rewatch. (Bonus mention: Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!, if they don’t do S2 I’m likely to rewatch it. Never have I experienced an anime with my heart so full of peace and feeling completely there as well.)

(For story, Hunter x Hunter and FMA:B)

For film? PMMM Rebellion. It’s so beautiful, every frame is chock-full of detail I SWEAR.  And I wept rewatching it. (Bonus: Koe no Katachi!!)

what’s new i find myself weeping more for fictional characs over the years

18 - constellation: Ursa Minor for Polaris. This is sad but I don’t know enough about the stars to say otherwise, it’s usually very cloudy here.

20 - album: errrrrrrr one of AURORA’s... or in love with a ghost? I’d say the latter’s let’s go

21 - ending in fictional media: *cricket chirps* oh dear, this will take a while. I’m standing by PMMM Rebellion. I never saw it coming, but in hindsight it really is the logical outcome for what Homura has to do to continue to protect Madoka, and I love it. I just love it. I love good stories that don’t ignore reality for the best ending, but lolol in this case Homura bent and shaped reality to her will.

22 - shade of blue: ocean. deep blues.

23 - part of being alive: going outside. nature. the world is huge and mindbogglingly there are a thousand million more things to discover. also, eating I suppose. Immersion into anything. I love that feeling. Having created something.

24 - holiday: Christmassssssss I love gift prep and carolssss

26 - person you know: um. @bradburymeinfire yeah really. first thought, not taking it back after much consideration. fellow fandom/science/writing person!!!

27 - musical movie: don’t watch these, perhaps the only ones are like... high school musical and disney. So if disney counts then possibly Frozen 2 because I cried in the theatre what even. Twice?? (and the above person was with me LMAO)

28 - superhero: don’t really have one. How about just the future Deku in BNHA, or the future Wonder Trio that’s also Bakugou? & Shouto.

29 - book longer than 500 pages: The Collected Short Stories by Roald Dahl, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I just love Dahl. I adore him, I would read anything by him, he’s brilliant. I would love to buy his entire collection. Same with Agatha Christie, and I’m currently reading her Autobiography lol, maybe it’ll be added to the Absolute Favourites list.

30 - book shorter than 300 pages: The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K Le Guin! It just broke something in me because it covers a topic that I’m personally invested in so I don’t remember any other book having arrested me like that before. Can honestly say this is a book that doesn’t waste a word.

[toddandersvn]

I see a lot of people don’t liking skam italia S3 I didn’t watch it live so I don’t know what was being said during the season but why do a lot of people think it didn’t live up to the potential?

hey anon!

quick disclaimer: i liked season 3, but it’s definitely not my fave out of all of the ‘noora’ seasons, like season 2 was for the ‘isak’ season.

quick disclaimer bis.: this is my opinion. If any of you are reading this and want to add your opinion in the replies or reblogs or tell me why you think i’m wrong, feel free:)

and i’m a blabble mouth so it’s all under the cut because i dont wanna clog the tag and feeds🌻

basically, i loved incantava in s1, i loved the banter they had. If you remember Besse changed edo’s line after ele said ‘what a nice person you are’. In the og he said ‘who are you’ or something along those lines, but besse made him say ‘thank you’ and ele bounced right ofg that line into her perfect roast. Even the ‘sei bellissima cazzo’ clip had the same level of banter and chemistry. ‘you haven’t answered my texts’ ‘yeah’, but also the way she kept sayin ‘ahhh’ when he was talking. What I think changed the most in their dynamic for me was the long wait and how nervous edo looked before saying it, like you could feel the nerves and that he really meant it and by that point they had everything I had and I was hyped.

Then came the summer, i’m setting the scene here: i log on to twitter, to see there are rumours that skamit may have decided to swap s2 and s3, cue the_best_of_both_worlds_hannahmontana.mp3 because it was. It, for one, meant that i would get martino’s season sooner (but that’s not what you asked) and two, that incantava’s dynamic would be different. It meant that when the season would start they would have known each other for a year, grown together, talked more, their friendship or banter would have evolved. perfection. i kept imagining scenarios in my head even though i knew i probably wouldn’t see much as it was a boysquad season but still, i was hyped and my imagination was going wild.

Then came season two, such a good season, yes you can ask antis and they would tell you otherwise but i can tell you what i know, this season did so much for me, and it means so much to me. It helped me through so much and i’m really glad i watched it live. Besse did some minor changes that in the end changed the story but still made sense and made me want to walk through fire if it meant any of the characters would never be hurting again.

And even though ele essentially wasn’t in s2 i think that her talk with edo during the first clip again showed how well they worked together and how great they could have been

Then s3. In my opinion too many changes happened at once so it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where things sorta fell through but, just a reminder, timvision (the production company) changed ceo or ceo-equivalent to a greedy money hungry guy who didn’t want to produce anything for free (aka a show like skam) so skamit became private and only for people who paid for a specific italian streaming service and besse was too busy editing and working on s2 so he hired ludovico di martino aka ludo 2.0 to direct on s3. And he did great, honestly props to the man because artistically s3 is amazing. but it’s not a skam.

For s3 most of the episodes were under 16 minutes, probably due to money hungry McGee (but maybe not) but different directors have different views so having the show be seen from someone else’s point of view, the outcome was bound to be different from besse’s. We don’t know exactly how much besse worked on s3, we know he edited some of it, but maybe he wrote it and did the storyboard and s3 would have had the same outcome if he shot it himself, but that is still a mystery.

As far as scenario goes, because the episodes were so short, and t*mvision gave up on the transmedia entirely and we barely got chats, the show (at least to me) felt empty. It felt like nothing really happened because we got like 4 minutes of clips during the week and a longer one on fridays, but since so many seasons were going at the same time, 6 epsiodes dropped on fridays and skamit sort of got lost under the pile because it just wasn’t really exciting? i dont know if that’s the right word but yeah. ALSO i have to say i have not done a full rewatch of s3 yet, i have only rewatched clips and parts i really liked, but i’ve heard it does better as a tv show than as a “skam format” which makes sense to me when i look at the way season three has been filmed. Basically a mutual of mine (hi elle if you’re reading this!!) has said that it actually works when you watch it as episodes as a whole and don’t wait for clips. So that, anon, is probably why you don’t see what we saw watching it live.

To conclude (yes i’m writing a conclusion, it feels appropriate), i think the reason why we live-watchers were disappointed and thought it didn’t live up to its potential was because they were set up so well in season one and two, but also we saw season one and two and how good those were so our expectations were so high, and maybe that’s where we fell through. If we didn’t have expectations we probably would have *loved* this season, but we expected martino, but dude this ain’t it. Also ele was like one of my favourite skamverse characters because i see so much of myself in her and i think i just wanted the best for her because i was projecting?

so yeah anyways that’s my very long take on it, i never wrote anything about it before but it felt good to write:) if you have anymore follow up questions or things weren’t clear feel free to drop by my ask, i’d be so happy to answer🌻

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hello! I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but have you watched the Alita Battle Angel movie? If not, the synopsys is that an old doctor finds a cyborg bust in a scrapyard of trash that is dumped everyday by the floating city above, called Zalem. In your latest musing you mentioned something about trash being dumped from Atlas. What would you think if Upper Atlas were similar and it would dump trash in a scapyard, in Lower Atlas? And the workers there making use of it however they can?

‘SupYellow.Always a pleasure to hear from you so no worries there fam. Unfortunately I have notseen Alita.But I definitely want to since I’ve heard positive things about it; both themanga and the recent film adaptation. Despite knowing jack about the series, Ido like the idea you present here. 

It wouldn’t surpriseme if something like that were possible with Atlas. It’s funny. Folks keepreferring to Atlas by Upper and Lower. Wouldn't Upper Atlas technically be just Atlas while the lower sector is the remnants of Mantle?

That’swhat I assumed it was. The lower city being Mantle below, unless I am deeplymistaken. I like the idea of Atlas dumping their trashinto Mantle with the People of Mantle living the life of scavengers;only managing to survive due to their resourceful nature by crafting workingmachinery and equipment from whatever scraps of and parts they managed tosalvage and/or pilfer from the junkyards dumped from Atlas.

It’dbe interesting if Atlas has become rather snobbish and discriminatory towardtheir Mantlese brethren over the years to the point that they don’t even donate their broken or unused materials to Mantle’scitadel, only granting them use of whatever they can scavenge from the massivepiles of junk they dump into their kingdom periodically. Like the rich andelite only granting charity to the poor by allowing them to take what they canfrom their trash bins for the week and considering that an act of generosity.

Imagine if … the Atlesians are the typeswho have grown so spoilt from their riches that they no longer see worth in their products anymore. To Atlas, it’s allabout advancement.Forwardever, backward never and when theold outdates the new, the old is disposed of so that the new can rise up andthrive. Take over even and lead them successfully towards a bright future. Itwouldn’t surprise if that is the mantra of Atlas because that is precisely whathappened with Atlas and Mantle’s history. Atlas rose up to the point that it overshadowed Mantle and rather than aid those left behind intheir predecessor kingdom, it seems that Atlas has lost all touch with itsroots.

Allthe more reason why I’m digging the concept of the People of Mantle being scavengers—thegood kind who see worth ineverything around them, since their generations have been forced to survive onso little for so long and thus become more adaptive and more appreciative ofwhat they have and cherish.  And becauseof that, they are able to make wonders with what bit they can use from the UpperWorld.

Thisalso makes me think of a really cool hunch I have concerning Penny Polendina’sfather/creator. For the sake of my musings, I’m going to refer to him as Dr. Japheth Polendina until his official canon name is revealed. If mymemory serves correctly, Gepetto isthe Italian form of the name Japheth whichis a name of Hebrew origin meaning ‘expansion’.  

I think Japheth is afitting pseudo-name for Dr. Polendina since my assumption is that he is a greatand well-renowned scientist and inventor in Atlas whose inventions hascontributed towards the kingdoms’ advancement. Makes sense, right? Beyond that,another theory I have is Dr. Polendina is unlike a lot of Atlesians . Itwouldn’t surprise me if Dr. Polendina, like many from his generation (MariaCalavera and Nicholas Schnee) was born after the Great War and contributedtowards Atlas taking over from Mantle.

Howeverunlike other Atlesians who seem to have discarded theirMantlese heritage and traditions, Dr. Polendina still holds stubbornly onto his.I like the irony of Dr. Polendina being old-fashioned despite being the inventor of so many creationsthat helped Atlas move forward. I think that could be a cool contrast to hischaracter. I like the idea of Dr. Polendina being a smart yet modest and humbleold man (maybe even a lil cuckoo for coco puffs), who doesn’t just create foradvancement but rather help humanity because he genuinely sees wonder and value in everything around him. Despite it being a traditionhis younger associates don’t understand and have tried to beat out of him foryears, y’know since they all mostly consider him a fossil and only keep himaround for his unique genius. Nonetheless Dr. Polendina sees worth in everything—includinga lifeless robotic husk he treated and loved like a daughter. That’s my theoryfor Dr. Polendina if you or anyone who were ever curious.

Ithink an anon-ninja once asked me what elements of Gepetto/Pinocchio I think will be incorporated in V7. Well I thinkthat’s one of them. I’d love to think that Japheth also shares a history with Arthur Watts.I can’t help this nagging hunch I have that Arthur Watts was probably the formerapprentice of Dr. Polendina who he loved like a son.

Inthe Pinocchio tale, Geppetto was an elderly woodcarver whoseemed to not have any former children of his own hence why he createdPinocchio and wished for him to be a real boy.

Imagine if it was the same for Dr.Polendina. Whatif… Japheth was a man who had dedicated his life so much toadvancing Atlas that he never got the chance to have the thing he wanted morethan anything—a family or at least someone to love him like one. Picture Japheth living a depressing life where he losttouch with his former family in Mantle and the closest thing to a family he hadin Atlas was a former apprentice who he cherished like the child he never had whoended up betrayinghim before disappearing entirely,believed to be dead (i.e. Dr. Arthur Watts) and lastly, Penny—the android heloved like a daughter but also ultimately lost.

Ican go on and on about my theories for Dr. Polendina but that’s the theory Imainly wish to share here. As you brought up Alita, it made me think ofsomething interesting. I have this Penny-centric theorywhere as soon as our heroes arrive in Atlas, they soon discover, much toRuby’s shock and disgust that Penny was made into a line of sentient service androidswho was being mass produced and sold to the People of Atlas.

Picture Detroit Become Human but with just Penny asthe sole android series. RWBY Chibi S2 kindof teased the concept of Penny being sold as a doll. So what ifthat will be the case for V7? What if…in current Atlas, Penny is now a popular brand of service androiddolls sold to the Atlesian public to perform many different roles insociety. Picture Penny being like the Barbie Doll of Atlas exceptthat she’s a life-sized sentient machine. Picture all kinds of Penny models beingsold each programmed with a series of different functions tailor made to fitwhatever role her user/buyer bought her to perform.

Imagine Ruby standing in acity populated with different Pennies—-Waitress Penny, Nurse Penny, Traffic Cop Penny, TourGuide Penny, etc.—who all look and sound just like Ruby’s Pennybut isn’t her. And what’s even more horrifying to Ruby is what Penny’s legacyhas dissolved into. Back in V3 I believe, Penny told Ruby that she wasoriginally made to protect Remnant. She was made to be a hero. The first of her kind tobe used to protect humanity.

Imagine howmuch of an insult it would be if this is what Ruby finds out Atlasdid to her friend after she was murdered. Not remember her as a hero butbasically a living toy to beused and abused as her consumers feel.

That’sinsane!Which is all the more reason why I want this theory to come true. I was askedlong ago by a FNDM fam about how Ruby would feel if she saw Penny locked away insidesome pod inside a laboratory. I never got around to actually answering that questionbecause Tumblr buried the original response post I was going to edit. If thatuser happens to read all of my answer posts, here is my answer to your questionnow.

Rubyreacting to a rebuilt Penny being locked safely inside a pod? Ahahaa! How about I giveyou something grimmer?

Ontop of Atlas mass producing Penny and treating her like a plaything rather than the heroshe was meant to be, you wanna know my theory for what they did with originalPenny?

Myhunch is that originalPenny is put in the trash. Meaningthat after her body was returned to Atlas, there was a meeting between themembers of the Atlas Council debating on whether or not the military projectPenny was born from should be terminated or not. Even though Ironwood is the mainauthoritarian from Atlas that we’ve met so far, I’d like to think there is another topleader calling the shots whoIronwood actually serves under.

Ifthe Atlas Council is anything like Vale’s, then there are at least threemembers on the council governing the Kingdom. From what I remember back in V4,Ironwood says he holds two seats on the council. This leaves the third and lastseat and it’s here where I think we’ll have a new authoritarian character who Ironwoodlistens to.

Basicallyit was this Atlas Council Member introduced and signed off on the idea ofturning Penny into a doll to be sold to the public.  I don’t know of any puppet masters in any knownfairy tales but perhaps this Councilman, as I’ll refer to him in mymusings, could be based off of the Coachman from Pinocchio. In the 1883 book TheAdventures of Pinocchio, the Coachman was a villain who kidnapped children tobring them to Toy Island in which the bad children turned into donkeys.

IfFNDM fam thought General Ironwood was a cross due to his deep authoritarian waysand leadership then imagine someone worse than Ironwoodbut lacking the compassion. Picture… the Councilman being the type to make ajackass out of the General Ironwood since Ironwood generally has torun everything by him and the Councilman has Ironwood wrapped around his pinkie,especially now that he hasn’t been well—psychologically. I actually kinda digthis idea.

Sothe Councilman convinces Ironwood that the best way to dissolve the mess the Vytalescapade left on the military and the People of Atlas following Beacon is to turnPenny into a doll series—allowing her to fulfil the purpose she was made for.Serving humanity by serving humanity as a service doll. There are even Penniesbeing used by the military.

WhileDr. Polendina wouldn’t sign off on something like this—imagine it being oneof those uncomfortable scenarios where one’s hand is forced because they arebacked into a corner by people trying to either bullyor manipulate them. In the case of Japheth, it was both theCouncilman trying to bully him into doing his job for the military and Ironwood,though sympathetic towards the doctor and his loss, still trying to somewhatemotionally manipulate the man into doing as he and the Councilman ordered byusing Penny and the reasons she was made in the first place as his motive.

It’snot a nice game but in the end, against his wishes, Dr. Polendina had no choicebut to hand over his research and the original body of Penny and concur as themilitary—mainly the Councilman did what they pleased with her.

Andin the end, once they were done, they didn’t even have the common courtesy toreturn Penny to her father. Instead, like many things in Atlas, Penny wasdiscarded and her remains ended up in the junkyards near Mantle. I even have away RWBY canincorporate Monstro into the Atlas Arc. You know how in Pinocchio,Gepetto got swallowed by the giant whale?

Wellwhat if…at some point, the heroes visit Lower Atlas on their voyage towards Mantle. Mytheory is that at some point during the Schnee Family Affairsstoryline of the Atlas Arc, Weiss will go in search of her missing grandfatherNicholas Schnee and her searches will take her and her friends down from Atlasinto Mantle’s depth. During their voyage, the group end up in the junkyardsbelow.

Apparently,people aren’t allowed to go in the junkyards. Part of it is due to Atlas being stingy towards Mantle even with their junk and anotheris for the reason that there is a massive Grimm known to roam the junkyards.That monster is GrimmMonstro—a colossal land whale type Grimm that burrows undergroundand swims through the sea of garbage in the junk piles looking for anyunsuspecting victims to rise up and swallow.

I have this idea where Ruby andOscar are swallowed alive by Grimm Monstro and it’s in the belly of the Grimm where Ruby discovers Penny’s originaldestroyed body. Perhaps…as a better alternative, that’s how she and Oscargot swallowed in the first place. Ruby spots OG Penny while in the junkyard.Goes off on her own to retrieve her despite Oscar’s initial warnings that somethingfelt off about the junkyard however Ruby ignores hisadvice. Ruby makes it to Penny’s body in time for Grimm Monstro to rise up.Oscar jumps in to rescue Ruby. The two try their best to outrun the giant Grimmbut end up getting swallowed alive. That could be FREAKING EPIC!

Little Red Riding Hood and PrincessOzma working together to escape Monstroand save themselves plus Pinocchio is a future RWBY episodeI’d love to see for Atlas. YES PLEASE! Sign my ass up!

Andif all that comes true, we could even get Ruby and Oscar working together to revive original Penny.

Ifmy theory about Oscarawakening his inner mechanic and inventor comes to fruition, imagine Ruby begging Oscar to help her revive her formerfriend using his skills. Knowing and fully understanding how much this means toRuby, Oscar accepts and the two rosebuds get to work together. I would lovethis so much!

Ithink this could be really cool especially if after Penny gets successfully restoredthrough Oscar’s know-how, she starts calling Oscar ‘brother’. I’ll give you three veryimportant reasons why I love this idea.

Firstly,I’ve seen some fans comparing Oscar to Penny so me, being the proud Pinehead and Polendiva (Penny Polendina fan) that I amstarted to dig the idea of Penny and Oscar having a brother-sister dynamic.Like after Oscar helps rebuild her, Penny starts treating him like he was her big brother.Not father since Dr. Japheth is her father.

Secondly,I like Penny calling Oscar ‘brother’ because of the obvious, very on the nosecall back to FMA. Come on! You know how much I love those.

Andlastly, I love this idea because it appeals to another Pinehead headcanon I have where Oscar becomes an apprentice under Dr. Polendina anddevelops a father/son bond with the old inventor. I did say I wantedOscar to have a godmother type character who adopts him in Atlas. Perhapsinstead of a fashion designer, it’s an genius inventor who acts as hisgodfather.

Penny andDr. Polendina both adopting Oscar into their family = HELLA FREAKING YES.

You know my mantra. #EverybodyAdoptsOscar

I’dlove to expand more on this idea some more but I think I’ll save it for anothermusing. This response post is long enough. But for what it’s worth, I hope youlike my answer Yellow.Let me know what you think if you can pretty please. Would like to hear yourthoughts on my thoughts.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

[sol1056]

git along little nonnies

Got a whole bunch of you on related themes, so I’m just gonna do this all at once: a bunch of questions about DW, spinoffs, merchandise, business, management, support (and protest) and whatnot. In no particular order.

Ok there are petitions and peaceful boycotts directed at DW but problem is they aren’t addressing the EPs and things they, not DW, did so how are we to sign them, how to handle this when this could at best confuse the situation and not give any results and at worst, make matters even worse about what we want regarding DW addressing things? 

Here’s what companies care about: money. Everything else is gravy.

If you want a corporation to pay attention to your complaints, then you need to figure out their sources of income, and find a way to threaten that. If the social reprobation is high enough, damage to the brand can translate into lost sales, but the tempest required to make that happen must be much, much larger than anything I’ve seen the fandom manage. 

I’ve been saying this all along: voices are far more powerful than signatures. If twenty thousand people wrote or called in, and said what they liked vs what upset them, that would have a far greater impact. Certainly a lot more than a list of names with no emotion beyond a request that may not even be something DW can, or would, fulfill.  

And don’t even get me started on mailing stuff in. Cute, but hardly actionable.  

Do you know what kind of contracts DW sign, as in, are they obligated to air all seasons, can they choose not to air them, do the companies they work with (netflix, wep) have a say or more say than them? Who gets the last word? Is airing all seasons squarely on DW or more? 

As I’m not a corporate lawyer employed by any of the signatories, I can’t tell you what the contract stipulated. What I can tell you is that a contract of the magnitude of the DW-WEP-Netflix agreement probably had a dissertation worth of riders covering the different types of possible defaults or breaches, and the penalties for each. Additionally, the contract also likely covered what constituted ‘satisfactory delivery’ of the product. 

To take it down to a really simple level: you place an order at a restaurant. You expect to get it, eat it, and pay for it. You don’t expect to be told, “hey, we burnt your steak and we’re out of butter for your sweet potatoes, so have some green beans instead,” and then be told you still owe the full amount, anyway. 

Netflix wouldn’t settle for ordering (and paying for) something never delivered, anymore than you would. Sure, any corporation worth their over-inflated stock options would try --- but that’s the point of contracts, to make sure they can’t. 

Netflix paid, DW delivers, end of story.  

 ...do you think ppl in charge didn't think EPs would tell they made changes and also thought they'd manage to bury it? And then they got in trouble and DW is going thru changes for that reason? -waves at DW goings on and silence.

I got lost in all the pronouns, there. Who’s the first ‘they,’ the EPs or DW execs? Is the second ‘they’ referring to the same as the first? So... I’m not really sure what you’re positing, but if the ‘DW is going through changes’ is implying DW’s got a shakeup and/or is promoting its head-of-TV to president and that’s somehow connected to two newbie EPs screwing up?

I’d say the chances are so infinitesimal as to be nearly in the negative. (I should also note, the press release listed successful shows Cohn oversaw, yet oddly did not include VLD.) DW is not a three-person start up; it has stakeholders and a board and a C-suite to satisfy. Cohn got that promotion ‘cause she’s got a track record going back thirty years, most recently growing DW’s TV division from 8 to 800 in five years. 

Most corporations tend to announce their new CEO or President like someone woke up that morning and went, hey, I’ve got a great idea. Truth is, it’s usually in the works for at least a year, sometimes several years, or more. The only thing that has me side-eyeing the announcement is the silence around who’ll fill Cohn’s previous position. 

But that’s again less to do with a single series, and more to do with what it says about DW as a whole, business-wise. 

What meaningful changes could the new president Margie Cohn make that would be different than the last one? Also I'm sorry if your getting a bunch of Voltron/DW questions lately, you just seem to be the most knowledgeable person on this platform.

I’d be willing to bet I’m far from the most knowledgeable person; I’m just someone not bound by an NDA, and curious enough to do a bit of digging and jaded enough to talk about (most) of what I find. 

A president can have immense impact on a company’s direction; that’s kinda why they exist, to set that high-level strategy. That said, Cohn will be bound by all contracts signed by her predecessor. The TV side (barring someone filling the shoes she left) will probably continue as it was. The theatrical side (which she’s taking over) will be where we’ll probably see any major changes. 

And even those aren’t likely to be on films currently in production. Hell, given theatrical animation can take up to five years, I’m not sure that’d show much change, either. Look instead to changes in investors, new deals, and new properties. 

What do you think DW will do about a sequel if there’s really no bible? Theres tons of plot holes & abandoned storylines. VLD will never feel satisfying, and fans already argued with different interpretations based on conflicting content, without a nice satisfying explanation...

I know this is the first of a three-part ask, but I’m skipping the rest because the only answer possible is to your very first question: the bible doesn’t matter. 

Any new series --- even a continuation --- will construct its own bible. Same as we’d do in fandom: they’ll patch together what they can, fill in blanks as they need, and gloss the rest, or retcon it outright. Even if there were a bible, diligently followed, that doesn’t mean the next series is automatically beholden to it. Some franchises would care (ie Star Wars) while others might let a reboot mess with the details (ie Star Trek). 

For every continuation, there’s gradations in between, since otherwise what’s the interest for creative minds, if you’re obligated to follow someone else’s script exactly? So, no. The absence of a story bible doesn’t preclude the next iteration making its own, as it needs, to whatever extent it requires. 

I was wandering around the hot topic online store, and i noticed a shirt that raised a few flags and questions. it's the 'Voltron Location' shirt. it has all the paladins in different places in a star globe chart thing? with what might possibly be planet designations. plus Lance is the only one not inside his blue colored bubble. Keith is in Red and Shiro in Black again. it's interesting at least.

Nearly all the shirts use the same base images, just changed up. It feels a little like someone handed a designer a half-dozen images with a request for forty-something designs --- and now HT is just throwing them all at the wall to see what sticks (or sells). 

HT’s stuff has been pretty consistent, from what I’ve heard: Shiro is Black, Keith is Red, etc. Considering the t-shirts seem to be selling out regularly (along with various other sidelines), I’d say someone is savvy as to the fact that the segment of fandom spending the most money is also the segment that prefers the S1/S2 lineup. 

If that’s what customers want, it’s smart business for DW to provide.

(Yes, that applies on more than one level.)

There are VLD comic books being released by LionForge Comics, are those considered canon? Do LM and JDS have any involvement? They take place before Season 7and8 but I don't wanna support the original EPs.

Every fandom has its own stand on what counts as canon. Sometimes (especially with adaptations) you’ll find fandoms being explicit as to whether they’re book or movie (ie HP and LotR). I expect the same will eventually shake out in VLD’s fandom, too. 

From everything I’ve heard, Hedrick and Iverson were handed the comics and ran with it. I suppose that would argue for seeing the comics as canon, being they were written by people also writing the main series... but from what I can tell, it’s one-way. The show affected the comics, but nothing in the comics ever affected the series.

That said, your purchases have nothing to do with the original EPs. All you’re doing is telling DW you like the VLD-iteration of Voltron.

What are your thoughts on the final vld poster? I feel like it’s missing the end. Allura is randomly staring back into nothing.

It’s a clever idea to do a poster for each season, but it’s not something I’ve ever paid any attention to, really. If it were drawn by the head writer? That might mean the artist had more insight than, say, a storyboarder or animator. But even then... cool picture, still not-canon. I’m only interested in canon.

Do you think that Voltron was rushed purposely by the EP's. [...] Wouldn't this effect the quality of, well, everything? I feel as if they got frustrated with the show at that point and just wanted out.

Dude. There are times I sit here and just stare into space, bewildered yet again not just at the thought of 39 episodes released in one year --- but doing that with 26 as a last-minute cut-and-paste rearrangement. All I can tell you is that what I’ve seen from animation people and aficionados (and friends) is that three full seasons in one calendar year is just bonkers. 

If DW hadn’t wanted the schedule that packed, the EPs aren’t the ones getting the say. That’s a DW-Netflix thing. I really wonder whether DW used VLD as a guinea pig. TH went a year between S1 and S2, and the numbers slumped badly. Perhaps DW wanted to know if more episodes, more often, would keep fan interest high? DW has experienced execs, but they’re all from broadcast; how you arrange and time things in the brave new world of binge-watching is a completely different beast. 

So, it’s possible it was less of a rush job to get the show out, and more from a desire to see what'd happen to release so much, so close together. 

I still think it’s a bonkers schedule, though.

"Relaunch the whole property" sounds like they won't continue expanding the whole vld universe and they'll make a new itineration. Though if they do a spin-off it'd likely be on the vld universe surrounding the new "Legendary Defenders" from the epilogue. And "especially given the response" do you think after the negative response from s8, wouldn't be better for WEP to not keep working with Dreamworks? Or maybe they need to clean their brand from vld fiasco? What can you say about all of this?

I can say you might try re-reading, because boy is that a radical interpretation of the text. Remember, Jeremy was speaking before S8, and all indication is that he was caught off-guard as much as the fans. Re-read in light of Jeremy (at the time) appearing to expect S8 to be a crowd-pleaser.   

...I'm becoming more confident in my belief that DW has something planned for Voltron. I mean they are still heavily promoting the show, LionForge is still publishing Voltron comics, and merchandise is still being made. These don't seem like the actions of a company trying to get people to forget a show. 

You’re not wrong. Up to the last few days of 2018, DW gave every indication they wanted S8 quietly buried. Nothing they’ve done since has fit that pattern --- including the anomaly of failing to announce their 2019 series. Something is going on, that’s for certain. 

Did DW really just throw the VAs to the wolves [for] three days? and there's still no official stance? One panel was enough. They had [the VAs] take the heat for them? But thankfully fans felt sorry for them? Which could also have been the goal, shut the fans up [with] the VAs of the characters who got the worst treatment and who love their characters ... Yes DW this really makes me trust you /sarcasm/

I don’t think that was the original plan. Let’s pretend DW released its 2019 schedule via press release in the first few days of January, and among those was an announcement of a VLD sequel or spinoff, coming late 2019. 

People wouldn’t be fussing over putting the VAs through three panels. They’d be complaining we didn’t get the biggest room for every panel. The majority of the fandom doesn’t trust the EPs, and is wary of DW --- really, the only ones who retain any goodwill, at this point, are the VAs. So who better than to assure a nervous fandom about the goodness of the second iteration than the VAs whose characters were most shafted by the first iteration?

What breaks this is that immediately after S8 dropped, Josh and Kimberly went silent on twitter. AJ slipped into passive-aggressive snarking; Jeremy fell off the radar and usually he’s pretty interactive with his fans. Bex pretty much wiped  VLD from her stream, possibly including deleting older tweets. Neil tried to engage and made a hash of it, bless his heart. 

Josh and Kimberly are consummate professionals who reliably promote the series after every season drop, but their radio silence continued for almost two weeks. This wasn’t the first season that came saddled with controversy; if there was a time to go quiet, it was after S7. Something else was going on. 

I have strong suspicions backed by research, but if I’m right, I’d be stepping on a major legal landmine. In the interest of not getting blown up, I’ll only say that the VAs appearing for those three panels (and their low-key and mostly diplomatic hedging around VLD’s conclusion) was a good sign that all parties involved are willing to work things out.   

[DW was] quick to handle the Season 7 backlash and have stayed mum on what is arguably a much worse reaction to the 8th and final season.

and

I believe the S8 of voltron we got was not the original ending we were supposed to get and highly edited. My question is why? What was the point of changing the original ending? [The] radio silence from DW and the cast is driving me nuts. I wish DW would make a statement.

DW is in an interesting place. Its TV side is barely five years old, but dominated by execs with long-time broadcast experience, predating vibrant interactivity afforded by platforms like twitter, tumblr, or instagram. DW’s background as a theatrical company also seems to incline it away from any ongoing engagement with the audience. It releases a movie and by the time that hits theaters, DW is onto the next thing. 

It’s a strong contrast with production studios like Zagtoon (Miraculous), who penned an open letter to their fandom about production delays. Or little studios like Wonderstorm (The Dragon Prince) whose deft use of twitter and tumblr sets their brand apart. Or Federator (Castlevania), with their witty marketing campaigns and willingness to engage with fans. Even Disney was willing to be open about its errors with Tiana, and to make clear how it was striving to do better --- so there’s no excuse that only small studios do such outreach.

My guess is that DW's core leadership is from the school of business in which admitting a mistake is tantamount to ritual suicide. Don’t blink first, or maybe the rule is never let them see you sweat, but whatever it is, DW is turning into a textbook case of how silence can damage a brand. 

Companies have multiple avenues to reach customers directly, now. Our modern technologies are a two-way street, and good companies leverage that to create not passive fandoms but active communities. It takes work, careful planning, and some level of transparency --- something old-school execs find highly uncomfortable, to be honest --- but in this day and age, those are crucial building-blocks to achieving any kind of audience loyalty.

DW isn’t going to render itself obsolete (at least not overnight), but it's on a track to end up as the studio whose work audiences only watch when there’s nothing better being offered. Unfortunately for DW, there’s a hell of a lot of other studios out there, and they're all offering something better. 

[fba-art]

Just out of curiosity, why don’t you like young justice??

aight, so i knew i was gonna wait to respond to this ‘til i had some time to explain.

and i want to start out by saying that i don’t think Young Justice, as a property, is a bad show. in fact, i think it’s a show that had GREAT potential. i watched every new episode via livestream every saturday lol. and now, i’ll be honest when i say it’s been some time since i’ve rewatched it, and i’m always open to changing opinions. a few years back, i wanted to give it another, fresher perspective and dove in for a rewatch, but ultimately didn’t finish. i don’t remember my reasoning exactly, but i recall being disappointed.and it’s funny i received this ask this week, b/c my friend and i were planning on giving it another rewatch for shits and giggle after finals ( sober or not is tbd ).

but so, here’s where i stand on the show.

i started watching YJ when it was abt 5 episodes into s1. and i binged those first five and stick to my guns that holy SHIT 1-3 are bomb as FUCK. super strong start! Independence Day will never not get me SO HYPE and remind me why i fell in love with DC’s teenage heroes in the first place. it’s so… youthful. a fun conversation for another time.

and now, when i started watching YJ, it was like four months into my making my TT!Kid Flash rp blog, and two months after i’d gotten into reading comics; when i found out Wally was like a biG DC CHARACTER, NOT JUST AN OLD CARTOON ONE-SHOT, i went EVERYWHERE to get my hands on more about Wally West. ironically, the first purchase i ever made from a comic store was a silver age Teen Titans tale, issue #2 of TTY1, and two issues of the old Young Justice comics ( still some of my favorite comics to this day; more on that later ).TL;DRi saw a commercial for YJ, ft. my fave DC char and my fave comic title and went “HOSHIT”.

as the episodes pushed the show’s plot along, it was fun and explorative of a more intense side to the idea of a group of superteens in the DCU. and again, very TEENAGER-Y, which i say in the BEST of ways, considering that was the target audience as well. but, as part of that audience at the time, one of the things that had started to bother me was the character relationships. yeah, i was loving on most of the main cast at the time, but for the first half of the season, the team’s supposedly-close friendships were pushed to the backburner ( EXCEPT for KF and Rob’s, which was one of the only things that got me through the season ). the first season WAS about straining relationships. the social drama was palpable. you NEED conflict in your plots, and char-v-char is especially fun. but i remember feeling like there was little bonding. they were a group of acquaintances, learning to co-habitate the same space- not to say that they didn’t seem like friends, but there was a lack of balance between “teens being professionals in their field” and “teens being immature teens”. both were squeezed in, but both consistently felt forced.

which brings me to the next point: forcing relationships without developing them!i wasn’t sure why i was supposed to care about Roy, like. At all. the team always bringing up that they trained alongside him, grew with the guy, and then??? nada, except when the plot needed edgy tantrumy angst.then there was spitfire. i ship spitfire now, but the ENTIRETY of s1 i was SO FRUSTRATED, because all those two did was bicker. wally was pretty foul to artemis, who was also just plain mean to wally. and i say this with the two of them as my TOP FAVE CHARS.and don’t get me STARTED on the best char on the entire team, KALDUR’AHM!!!! who was shit on by EVERYONE– fandom and plot, alike. actually, i do recall in my last rewatch starting two tallies of everytime kaldur was DISRESPECTED and TREATED LIKE GARBAGE BY TEEN AND ADULT CHARS, versus everytime he was treated respectfully. this boy was BRUTALIZED through s1.m’gann and conner, too– a cute concept, but borderline cringey, even creepy, at times. i was rooting for supermartian. i was. but it was like the writers didn’t know how to write a slowburn. the idea was honestly better on paper than in execution.

the YJ spinoff comics filled in a lot of these gaps, i’ll admit. it explored the chars, their relationships, and their behavior in ways the show seemingly didn’t have time to do, and i LOVE the spinoff series. but i also firmly believe that you shouldn’t need a second media to fix the first. it’s capitalistic and no fun.

through the duration of the show, there were also issues such as the hiatuses. i don’t recall them coming with much warning at a time, nor sticking to much of a schedule. i don’t actually remember what they were for, either. but, before and after each of (three?? was it three?) hiatuses, the showrunners would introduce a new character during a new arc, give said character some liners or plot fodder, and do away with them for the rest of the season ( i.e Rocket, Zatanna, Garth and Tula, etc. ).

i have some other, nitpickier issues– why was wally That Way, why was clark Like That, how come bruce was the ENABLER the entire time, etc– but many can be argued as whether they affected the show as a whole or not.my actual biggest problem was the direction.the director.Greg Weisman.bc idk what the hell he was doing half the time, and i don’t think he knew, either. the writing wasn’t GREAT, but at least it was consistent. Weisman truly had a marketable property, a fan favorite, and one of CN’s best running shows at the time. but between the hiatuses, the writing’s faults, the insufficient character development, and a HUGE ego thanks to his fanbase, Weisman was unable to uphold the integrity of his show. there was both fan-pandering, AS WELL AS consciously going AGAINST fans’ wishes. there was that whole “Ask Greg”-thing, too, where he would get back to a fan once every blue moon and answer background questions about the show’s universe, which became a scene of hot debate. Greg Weisman became the JK Rowling of DC, and lost a lot of my respect with his lack of damage control, and impulse control.

then, with the very inception of the show– and i don’t actually know if i can blame weisman for this or not, but i wanna know who pitched it, otherwise– the show’s CONCEPT. why was Young Justice made with this particular cast of characters, cherrypicked through DC history, aged down or revamped or just cut-and-pasted where they didn’t fit? why was its concept, “COVERT TEAM OF ADOLESCENTS WITH SUPERPOWERS WORKING TOGETHER WITH LACK OF SUPERVISION”? why was the show called “Young Justice” when what they wanted was the TT v3 comics? WHY DID WE NEED TO TURN SUPERMAN INTO THE UNAVAILABLE-FATHER TROPE????? questions that will forever remain unanswered. that’s a lie, i can answer most of them, myself.but all in all, a show with great potential that failed in execution.

season 2, i actually enjoyed more than season 1– it felt like there was more of a handle on the story and cast, alike. did i approve of season 2 and what went down? debatable. but that’s a very subjective view. objectively, season 2 flowed better than season 1, but still didn’t follow through on subplots, nor resolved relationships or even characterization ( m’gann, girl what the fuck?? ). very little team bonding, save for, once again, two chars out of the whole team. again, another season of SO much potential, but one that fell short.

its pros, however– i really enjoyed the darker themes, getting darker as time went on. there was a lot of tragedy in s2, and different perspectives and walks of life to watch through different lenses. a much more diverse cast, and very different conflicts to tackle. i was impressed. i don’t think all the controversies were resolved, but i also wasn’t quite as upset that they weren’t; open-ended conflict is frustrating, but is a great lead-in to another season.

————which, for better or for worse, we weren’t supposed to have.i personally would’ve rather the show ended there, not quite on a high note ( are u fucking kidding me fjaoisdfjoaifio waLLY, this was during the n52, too ), but with a concrete END. of course there was more to explore, the world they’d built was a big one, but we didn’t need to.

i was literally just yesterday chatting w my sis, bc after school lets out, we wanna watch season 3. i really do. i’m upset that there is one, but i do wanna know what happens to my faves. and, on top of that, i’ve been meaning to do one BIG rewatch, anyways, to get me set up for s3. as a student of film, it’s a huge philosophy of mine to rewatch EVERYTHING and go in with the intent of giving it a fresh start and a clean slate– both medias i love, and medias i hate. it’s important to analyze pop culture critically, and even things that aren’t good can still be enjoyable.

for me, Young Justice wasn’t a phenomenal show to begin with, from its technological side to its creative team to its politics, and i stopped enjoying it pretty early on. but, that isn’t to say it didn’t accomplish GREAT things, and isn’t UN-enjoyable; it has its moments. also i would DIE for most of the cast, i fucking love the characters.

i don’t think anyone is wrong for liking Young Justice. i try to stay in the loop about it, and form new opinions based on whatever information is out there until i can get ahold of the source material. and, i do like aspects of the show. but ultimately, it just isn’t my cup of tea. 

[fille-lioncelle]

"can someone come nerd out with me about the use of extreme closeups in og SKAM" YES that's something I noticed too, and I've come to realize that's one of the reasons I like the show so much. It feels like real life without being s reality show, somehow. It feels more... Anthropological, I believe, whereas other remakes (I haven't watched all) are more traditional in the way they tell the story cinematographycally (is that a word lol) (1)

(2) it really makes a HUGHE difference, because you're trying to tell a intimate story, on a very micro level, to follow the lifes if teens from they pov, and very realistic lifes as well. All the terrible thing we were always coming up with while it was ending, they never happened. And you know you need a way of filming I guess that can capture they thing you're trying to tell in the way you're trying to tell it.

(3) some people are saying that skamit has better quality, it's more idk spectacular than ogskam. But I think thatst the charm of ogskam. That it really followed the main characters on a very very micro level. We were always reminding ourselves "be careful about that! You're watching what X character is doing from the Main's pov!! It's a partial perspective", I hardly see that being said about the remakes, and I thing it might be because of that. Lol that was a rant

Haha, yes it was, anon! But I enjoyed it. ;)

I wanna just say that I am neither a person who is knowledgeable in film... anything beyond being a person who likes stories and likes film and likes watching two hour BTS dvd specials lol. So I am by no means an expert on cinematography or anything haha.

But I agree, that the extreme closeups are a technique that invite us into the "subject's" mind a little more. I also think that all the scenes we got/get of the mains alone help with that too. We see them in completely mundane situations, and that helps flesh their characters out as well as, especially in Isak's case with all those late night insomnia clips, highlight how isolated they feel.

The more traditional methods of SKAM ITALIA do make it feel a bit more cinematic and maybe a bit less close, but I also think that the fact that we, the viewers, know vaguely what's going to happen detracts from that intimacy. We're not wondering what Niccolò's deal is as much as we did with Even, because we already know. Even the closest of close-ups couldn't recreate seeing this story play out for the first time.

That's part of why I'm really excited about the timeline change and how it affects the story. That's what pulls me into the story as a story. Because we don't know what's going on with Martino's mum other than that she's having a rough time! We don't know exactly what role Filippo will play for Martino!

I'm really glad og was shot the way it was, because I haven't seen anything (I think?) shot that way before, but I don't think it's better or worse than what Italia is doing. They both have their merits. Getting occasional glimpses of how Nico is feeling (like in the karaoke party clip) creates interesting tension too!

I've seen speculation that while a good part of Isak's struggle was Isak vs internalised homophobia, Martino's might focus more on Martino vs societal expectations. And if that's true, it makes sense to use a slightly more distant style. It makes sense to present his story as more than an individual's story. S2 starts out with all those (apparently real!) queer kids telling their stories and then, we, the audience, society, are invited in to watch one play out. Maybe we're not meant to be inside Martino's head. Maybe we're just meant to be close enough to see the effects societal homophobia can have on individuals, on kids.

Idk. I'm just spitballing and maybe I'm reading way too much into it but thank you for indulging me, anon!

[wolfwhiteflowers]

-why i didn’t quit before / team family /s9-caryl

-big twd filming spoilers, 9x05?

-carick

-au

My thoughts so far.  vvv

I noticed some fans quit TWD early on like in s6 and they mentioned the flaws. They have good points and all. I wondered why I kept watching TWD. I think because it’s just one of the cool shows to watch on Sundays, and just loving the TF. I also think if I’m more critical of the show, I would probably quit the show around s3 or s6 too. Idk if it’s comic story way that made people lose interest or it’s the writing. Like a lot people miss the team family being really close and trying to survive..or on the road and not staying in one place. These comments are like what the comic-fans say too about the comics. So idk. Like it’s just how TWD story goes. Building up to a new world ..arc. (like Falling Skies show?) So, my point is that I didn’t quit back then because I just like the show and I was also was like hoping the show could turn around. I liked s6B. I find it interesting that Carol went to Kingdom and dealing with her issues. Richonne happend and Negan was introduced. (big character in comics) I was curious how it will go and I was curious what Carl will do. I know s7 and s8, the fandom didn’t like those seasons-AOW arc. I kinda don’t like it either. It was so dragged out and less TF. But I still like the show. I still feel hopeful that it will go better.

 When Carl died (and he wasn’t like comic-Carl-y, imo like I hoped for) that was hard, but I was like okay so then it’s Rick’s show and I guess Michonne will live longer. AOW ended in s8. S8B was entertaining to me, imo. But I hated the finale and what they did with Carol. The finale should have been like or even better than the s2 finale and tease us the f*** with what will happen and excite us. (remember Michonne first appearance and prison. s3 also had a time jump) Then we got a new showrunner and news about LC and with the finale being so blah & hard to predict, I was like uhh it’s 50/50 chance of the show being better than before. Maybe more Team Family moments? I was still hopeful. We got those spoiler pics of TWD cast like they’re in a parade and them going to the “museum.” I got so excited again and hopeful but a bit conscious about it because Idk what s9 was. Then suddenly we got the AL news of him leaving ( and then LC). I just felt crushed. We lost Carl and now we’re losing Rick, the two big protagonists of the show. That’s just quick and weird. Also totally seems pointless for the show to keep going,imo. (but hey at least Rick got like 2 years of bliss/timejump). I know he wanted to leave some day (duh actors arnt robots)  but I wasn’t expecting how it goes like that and it’s just not what I want. I wanted this popular show to end where they wanted it to end. Like Lost, Scandal, Fringe, GoT, etc. But no...show business..life happens or whatever, AMC wants more money. So yeah I lost hope on the show - I quit with this show. So this is why I kept going till s9, I guess. It’s whatever whenever is enough for you. Now I look back on it, it’s really around s5-6 when we feel like TWD is Team Family like and good or fun to watch. There’s some things I liked about TWD that other shows don’t have. Like this slow pace..that feels realistic sometimes, the music, and cast. But seeing other shows, I’m like wow ..we know who are the main characters are and they interact a lot throughout the series. It’s sad. I miss TF.

So yeah I just take s9 as an AU story where Rick dies. -_- I hope Caryl goes canon but well the show is like done to me. So Idk. I would watch or care..if Caryl goes canon and everything else is interesting and TF being close again. Like it’s gonna be Carol and Daryl ..Michonne? and rest are Negan, Aaron, Rosita, Eugene and Tara. meh. It’s hard what do with this. In time I know. So far, s9 just sucks. C/E is gonna be or is canon. I just like siiiigh. I wish Carol isn’t with anyone in s9. I want to know who is Carol in the future and have her with TF again. But it’s not that. Carol with Zeke for some reason. Idk  why tease Caryl in s8 and not make C/E canon in s8???? Maybe Carol is just to prop Zeke story and comic death in s9??? That’s another thing. There’s this original TWD show story and characters’ arcs and comic book remixes. I think what we want is balance of those two. But lately s7 and on it’s all super plot-y or super comic book-plot-y. So maybe Zeke dies and then Carol helps Daryl to start the Whisperer war and then ..then what? Will we actually get more TF moments? If Caryl does become canon, will their romance be well written and interesting? (Shipping a non-canon ship to a canon ship changes the shipdom/fandom. People lose interest.)

---filming spoilers and spec in s9

So ep 5 or so, s9 filming spoilers, it’s obvious Rick dies. So right there the show isn’t gonna do a cool happy ending for Rick and the Grimes. No Grimes family off to a boat or Commonwealth. Now, I know. :( Poor Michonne. (writers totally screwed up her character-journey)

 Based on spoilers, there’s a white horse (symbolism), that script paper.., Shane appearances. So yeah there’s some over the top death scene happening. Idc in some ways, because this is all AU to me. (twdspoilers4theprivileged tumblr) Based from the script paper spoiler/rumor, I noticed that Carol is there..actually the main five characters are there. It’s nice ..but once again it’s when something major happens. It seems like Rick takes the other parts of comic-Andrea’s death. He dies by trying to kill all the walkers in the herd ...to save his people(?) like Andrea did. It also seem traumatic too, our main characters are watching it as it goes. Like damn ..who wanna see that  super sad and depressing death of a character in this ep. Like sure ..Rick deserve this kind of death scene and how important and special he is. But ...it’s not a series finale and writers will forget about this in a couple episodes later with Daryl dealing with Negan and Whisperers, I guess. *Also I guess Zeke wasn’t there..and others. So it’s like Zeke isn’t or still not important in the show. So ..maybe he will die from Alpha in msf or finale in s9. I just think if Zeke will be a main character, then he gotta hang out with Daryl  and others,a lot. (so far he’s in ep1. so far Carol in ep 1 and 5..) Idk what Maggie will do / LC’s 6 episodes. There’s some play with time. Maybe Maggie dies in msf?

Yeah Carol so far is in ep 1 and 5. I don’t think she interacts with Rick in s9. I find it important for her to interact with him. It tells me writers remember their bond, care about the character Carol, and what they do with TF. So far, it’s seems like they don’t. This is the part that really upsets me..it’s something also that I was really hoping for in s9 and something to see if it will happen-then the rest s9 will go fine. I love Carick so ..yeah I don’t think there’s good Carick moments in s9 and I think Carol will only react about Rick’s death. Writers ..again don’t care or too lazy to deal with TF moments and Carol and her bonds with other characters. So, it’s like if writers can’t do Carick scenes so then s9/new showrunner doesn’t matter to me anymore. It’s over. Those Carick hopes or Carol hopes were all before AL news, btw. That s8 finale made me doubt.

I might accept TWD s9 and Rick’s death, if like the first 6 episodes or so was treated like a series finale and it was something writers/Gimple have in mind for a long time and that they wanted Rick to die in ‘series finale’. And then the rest be like a spin-off and plus being more character-y..good writing. But  eh. We still see characters dealing with his death and other plots going on. It just won’t work, I guess. But right now, I’m like it’s all AU, idc. TF are close and Grimes family lives on.

So, now that im like ‘whatever’ with the show or try to.., i wanna point out the flaws more lately. But it’s stuff we already know. It’s really crazy to watch TWD s8 and then watch the recent season (s5) of The 100 and how much The 100 flows better, character’s arcs goes naturally well or balanced. It’s not too (comic)plotty. And ofc, there’s girls power, and character interactions. Mains still interact. That stuff that I like and interested in.  I know they’re different shows. I think TWD is probably more like Falling Skies with how the story goes but it’s not really charactery..in story right now.

...Let’s do AU fanarts.

[cuteandtwisted]

reasons why Evak's shippers are fetishizer:1) you'll starting watch Skam after the cuddle scene. 2) writing Henjei fics. 3) were upset for the false rumors of Targei leaving back in March only because you won't get your gay nut. 4) the birthday video was fanservice and disgrace for the LGBT community. 5) only care about the sex part in the hotel scene and not what really important. (1/2)

6) the reason Tareji didn’t win his gullruten for his acting is because it’s wasn’t horny teenage girls with gay fetish who voted, thanks god. 7) even Mari said that all you wanna see is Isak and Even make out8) you make Henrik and Tarjei uncomfortable till the point they can’t interact with each other. 9) you never use season 1+2 isaks gifts, only season 3+4 (2/2). Mic drop.

Hello anon. I heard you’ve been copying/pasting the same message on a number of blogs/ccs, and I’ve been told to leave it alone because you probably just want a reaction out of it. But your 6th point bothered me a little bit so I thought I would answer. I’m not sure why you’re spending so much effort trying to make a claim anonymously, but Isak/Even are too precious for me to just brush off your accusations.

1. I personally started watching Skam while S2 was airing so that’s a fail on your part. S2 spoke to me because it dealt with the reality of sexual assault and how utterly devastating such events can be. How isolation can eat at you and turn you into someone you’re not, making you turn your back on exactly everyone you know, but mostly yourself. How love can turn you into someone you don’t even recognize. S2 wasn’t important to many in the evak fandom, but it was important to me. So alright.Many started watching after the cuddle scene because they had never seen love between two boys being portrayed so innocently and in such a raw manner. It was poignant. It was beautiful. It was butterflies inducing. There was nothing sexual about it. Just two boys with a crush lying on a bed, smoking joints, and talking about parallel universes while brushing each other’s hair. So I don’t know why you’re trying to shame people who started watching because of that.Other people started watching because of representation. I personally had never seen a Moroccan girl portrayed in a tv show before and Sana’s character was a gift to me. Other people were drawn to the show because it tackled bipolar and stigma against mental illness. Because it talked about oppression and privilege and eating disorders and depression and the need to feel like you belong somewhere. Because it tackled issues and mundane things we go through every day and that anyone can relate to without glorifying them or turning them into a cliche. The show rang true with so many. So so many. But go ahead and tell me that it’s because of “our gay nut”.

2. ? Some people wrote a few RPF fics. It’s fiction. You don’t have to read it. And while I’m not a fan myself, I don’t like the idea of shaming some people for their thoughts as long as they don’t harass people in real life and post shameful stuff on their instagrams and bother their friends and family.

3. His name is Tarjei. I personally never believed those rumors because I knew Isak meant too much to him and also because people love to spread rumors when there isn’t much to do. Back then, people had this thing against Tarjei because he wasn’t as close to the fans as other cast members, so rumors flew left and right. Still. If people were upset at the idea of him leaving, it was because Isak was their favorite character, because he resonated with them, because his struggle was real and raw and haunting. Not because of “our gay nut”. But go ahead.

4. Please explain how showing a HAPPY gay couple is a disgrace to the LGBT community, because I think you just lost me here? How is a wonderful boy making his wonderful boyfriend a birthday video with footage from their every day life a disgrace? Do LGBT people not deserve a shot at happy representation? Does everything happy have to be labeled as fanservice? Do we need to live in constant angst and pain? I don’t get it.

5. You lost me here once again. I don’t think ANYONE only cares about the “sex part” in the hotel scene. Fun fact, I couldn’t even rewatch that clip because it was so haunting and powerful and incredibly executed. I had chills and I couldn’t stop crying because that’s how incredibly poignant it was. I had to go take a walk. I couldn’t function for a while. There was nothing but heartbreak and outrage after that clip. The reveal was so heavy although expected, and our hearts bled that night. No one was “nutting” to the hotel scene. Everybody was literally shaken to their core, worried about what would happen. Worried about Even. Worried about Isak. Everybody was worried. That clip was a masterpiece and to have you turn it into this is a bit hurtful. Not to mention that the “sex part”, as you put it, was just so beautiful and touching. Even simply wanted Isak’s first time to be perfect. I don’t see why YOU have to fetishize that.

6. The point that upset me. You’re implying that Tarjei* didn’t deserve a gullruten. Tarjei, the 17 year old boy who got the award show to lower the minimum age just to be able to nominate him. Tarjei, the 17 year old who portrayed the inner struggles of a boy so repressed and so isolated and so so harsh on himself, a boy who wanted nothing but to be loved and feel important and safe, a boy who led the loneliest life before allowing himself to feel and love and accept himself. You’re implying that Tarjei – who gave a performance that touched the hearts of so many and who poured his heart and soul into every line and every scene and every blink while attending school and keeping his private life private and staying humble – didn’t deserve a gullruten. You’re “thanking god” that he didn’t win. You’re reducing his performance and Isak’s entire story to “a gay nut”. You’re reducing Isak’s entire arc and journey of self-acceptance and of falling in love with Even who challenged him to his core and made him see just how wrong he was about mental illness and about the world to “a gay nut”. Okay.

7. Yes, we want to see our favorite couple who’s gone through so much just be happy and hold hands and make out and smile and laugh and be happy. Mari does, too. She was mostly there with them when they made the fanvideo. She released the unused pictures. She loves Isak and Even just as much as we do. Your point? I seem to have missed it again.

8. Henrik and Tarjei are fine. They have nothing but good things to say about each other and they did an incredible job portraying Isak and Even. They spent months filming that fanvideo for Isak and Even and for the fans to whom they’re very thankful. You don’t know how they interact in real life. You don’t know a single thing about them and we don’t either. Stop spreading groundless rumors.

9. Again. Wrong. We love S1!Isak and we use gifs* from that era all the time. Not sure what you’re referring to here.

10. *Picks up your mic* *Drops it again.*

I don’t usually respond to hate and propaganda because I don’t see the point. But many people outside this fandom love to point fingers and label us as fetishizers when all most of us do is literally cry at the beauty of their story. Their story has touched us so deeply that we can’t move on even after all this time. It was just so raw and pure and painful, but so so worth it. Many of us didn’t even believe in the idea of ‘love’ before their story, in the idea of self-love and of finding someone who would just accept you for who you are and turn you into a better person and make you want to live your best life. Many of us didn’t have that and you have no right to reduce all of our feelings to “a gay nut”. I don’t know what you get out of this but why would you want to rob people of something that brings them so much joy and hope?

Alt er love. 💛💛

[weapon13whitefang]

Discussing Skybound’s Magazines [Team Delusional Mega Meta]

Time to have a little fun, Y'all!

Well… This STARTED as a fun project Saturday night and now it’s early Tuesday morning/Monday night [1AM] and I’M STILL fucking working on this thing… I finally finished it though so that’s pretty fun.

But guys… This took me three days and eighteen hours… Eighteen hours! This thing was written up in OpenOffice and it is long long, Y'all. Like I seriously just meant to do a simple break down… Not for it to get THIS fucking huge.

So if you’re going into this, be prepared to sit down and read for awhile…

On another note, while this is longer than I intended and I spent way too much time on it, this was meant to be fun. I enjoy metas and I like doing research and to me, this was a mixture of both and digging around is fun sometimes.

So this is in fun… It’s also a Team Defiance/Team Delusional meta. So a good chunk of things WILL be related to Beth Greene. I also incorporated other characters since other characters are essential to explaining things and can lead to a TD. But this is Beth centered mostly. It’s also centered on speculation of where things are going in the show.

I am aware that these magazines can mean absolutely nothing and were just made to be a gag and wordplay. But as I said, the idea of digging around them was meant for fun. So take what you will outta this LONG AS FUCK Meta.

That said, have fun and message me! Do you agree, do you disagree, do you think I’m a loco (of course I am but you can still ask!), what do you think?

Magazine 1: GQ [Fashion Magazine]

Magazine Topics

Right

Fall fashion guide Keeping an eye on the delicious new trend

12 Hats to add to your style bible

The sexiest zombie couple “alive”

Left

D&G Light Red: Walkers hate it, women can’t get enough of it

Carl Grimes is finally all grown up

How to win the war against the saviors

Stay chic in whichever year it is

Under the Magazine

Upgrade your wardrobe and stay fresh under the harshest and bloodies condition

First off, putting Chandler Riggs – Carl Grimes – as the face for a fashion magazine is interesting… But also hilarious to me. I’m just gonna say that first… That aside, look at the things listed above that this “apocalypse magazine” has labeled as its topics.

You see it? Well first let’s break it down. The first thing that caught my “eye” was the left side. “Fall fashion guide Keeping an eye on the delicious new trends” and “12 Hats to add to your style bible” and “The sexiest zombie couple “alive””. The whole thing about “keeping an eye” was obviously a jab at Carl losing his eye but it’s the fact that they highlight the word eye in red. As if they’re saying “keep a watch” or “pay attention”. The next thing we get is the use of the bible. For those that don’t know what they mean by fashion bible, they’re literally saying “here’s your scripture and law of what to wear in the apocalypse”.

The use of the word bible is odd in that the bible isn’t often used around Carl… But the hat is. And the hat is technically a nudge to Rick. That hat is a symbol of Rick’s past. Carl is literally walking around with one of the few symbols we have left of Rick’s past and who he was; Officer Friendly. And that hat has a history to it, right? Rick got shot, wore the hat when he came back into Atlanta on a horse. Even snatched it up off the street once he lost it. Carl got shot, got to have the hat after waking up in season 2 [CHEROKEE ROSE]. Out of everyone on the show, only three people have ever worn Rick’s hat. Rick himself, Carl, and… Beth.

Cherokee Rose [s02e04]

Carl Grimes: Hey, I’m like you now. We’ve both been shot. Isn’t that weird? Rick Grimes: [Rick smiles] Yeah, I think your mother would rather hear we got the same eyes. So let’s keep that between us. Since you’re in the club now, you get to wear the hat. Didn’t you know? We’ll pad the rim tomorrow so it sits better. Carl Grimes: [Rick hands over the sheriff hat to Carl] Won’t you miss it? Rick Grimes: Maybe you’ll let me borrow it from time to time. Carl Grimes: We can share it.

And

A [s04e16]

Beth Greene: There you go, Judith. There you go. Rick Grimes: Put it in at more of an angle… Whoa! Gonna have to get you a farming hat… [Rick places the sheriff hat on Beth] There’s a new sheriff in town. Beth Greene: [Giggling] How’s it look? Rick Grimes: [Laughing] Looks good. Hershel Greene: It can be like this all the time. Rick Grimes: It’s like this now. That’s enough.

That hat is Rick and Carl’s symbol. It was also made a symbol of “I was shot and survived” to, as stated in S2. Carl and Rick are the main focus of people who were critically shot and lived. Rick in the chest and in a coma. Carl in the stomach and with very few medical supplies from Hershel. Both surviving in practically impossible situations. That leaves Beth open for an impossible survival.

Now, this next part focuses mainly on Carl himself. The next thing it mentions is “The sexiest zombie couple “alive””. The quotation marks around the word alive is obviously a nudge at the whole “living dead” thing; a wordplay. But the thing is – with these magazines being created and presented in 2017 and the new spoiler that the reason we see Rick crying in a flashback like sequence is because Carl is going to be killed by Negan in season 8’s midseason finale – I’m wondering if this was meant to be a nudge to that spoiler of Carl dying this season. Carl was in a relationship with Enid as well (I would never label them as a sexy couple because Ewww they’re like sixteen) but they are a couple and could be a nudge to that. But I’m more focused on the “alive” word and how the main picture is of Carl and the whole spoilers for this season around his possible death… Which sucks. Just saying.

Next, let’s focus on the following

D&G Light Red: Walkers hate it, women can’t get enough of it

Carl Grimes is finally all grown up

How to win the war against the saviors

Stay chic in whichever year it is

First of, in case anyone is wondering, D&G stands for Dolce and Gabbana and there is no Light Red. There is, however, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Eau [Perfume]. The only D&G related thing in red I could come up with was Dolce & Gabbana Eau De Toilette: Natural Spray Vaporisateur [Perfume]. The fun thing about Light Blue is described as “a stunning perfume, overwhelming and irresistible like the joy of living”. D&G Eau De Toilette is described as “an intense and feminine scent for the confident woman.” Two possible nudged perfumes talking about women with one mentioning “joy of living” and the other talking about “confident women”. Let that circle in your head and tell me who that doesn’t make you think of.

The whole “Carl Grimes is finally all grown up” is a touch to the fact that Carl isn’t a kid anymore. He hasn’t technically been a kid in a long time. But Carl is no longer a twelve years old (In the comic he starts out nine and is currently thirteen) but is now going on around late fourteens/early fifteen. He’s a young man now… Which means Carl can be killed off on screen and brutally as opposed to how Sophia died as a walker, Lizzie and Mika had to be put down, and now Carl has a chance of pretty much being able to have a really fucked up death on the show because of the TV trope of how you don’t kill a child on screen. I mean yeah kids die on TV all the time and we see like vague and mortifying images of them dying. In films, I could name like twenty horrible children deaths at the top of my head. But on TV? Not so much… So Carl Grimes is old enough to be on the chopping block now.

“How to win the war against the saviors” is pretty self-explanatory – we’re in All Out War with them right now and this is obviously a nudge to the war. But… My mercy prevails over my wrath. When you let hate and rage and anger rule you, then you lose yourself and you lose your true purpose for living and you lose the purpose for why you are doing what you’re doing. Rick’s wrath is strong. It’s why he’s taking these pictures, why he had a hard time pulling back from Negan, why Father Gabriel got held back and is being held by Negan… His wrath is strong. Wrath can cloud your judgment, make you do stupid shit. Rick has done a lot of irrational shit since S5 (well he’s done that but shit got mad crazy by S5) and now he’s doing shit for the sake of basically assassination elimination. That’s going to bite his ass… Hard. And I’m pretty sure Carl is going to be the price.

“Stay chic in whichever year it is”. The word chic is an interesting word. It means “elegantly and stylishly fashionable” in the basic term… But as a whole, it has multiple meanings. Including “up-to-date” and “up-to-the-minute”. Clocks seem to be of some importance with the TD group and I myself don’t have much thought on them but they have foretold a lot of things and clocks have a lot of meaning in media so with time and date being in play with the wording, it seems to be a calling to keep watching the clocks and date related numbers maybe.

And with the wording of the magazine - Upgrade your wardrobe and stay fresh under the harshest and bloodies condition – I just wanna point out they made a typo but also… Bloodies(t) condition just gives me more hinting fear/sadness at Carl being the one to die in the MSF.

Magazine 2: Cosmopolitan

Magazine Topic

Left Side

21 moves that’ll make her say [Ungh!]

Til death do you part? Not so fast!

69 ways to pull off the swamp queen look.

Right Side

She said “grugh” to the dress

The wedding issue

The hottest mausoleum trends of the year!

How to tell if your husband’s dead on the inside

What’s your dead marriage IQ?

Exclusive! How Helmets can save your life

Under the Magazine

Just because you suffer doesn’t mean your fashion and lifestyle have to

First off, it’s a wedding issue. In season 7, Michonne and Rick had basically a wedding episode [SAY YES] and Rick stopped wearing his wedding band [letting Lori go], Weddings are associated with Churches, and Chapel by Nicole Dollanganger was the song that played after Denise’s death and it’s a song about getting married [Interesting!]

Okay, so I’ll get back to some of that in a minute because they mean something. What I just have to say now is that there are only a few things on this magazine cover that stood out to me. The rest of it is obviously playing off the zombie theme. But here’s the stuff that matters to me:

Til death do you part? Not so fast!

69 ways to pull off the swamp queen look.

The hottest mausoleum trends of the year!

How to tell if your husband’s dead on the inside

Exclusive! How Helmets can save your life

Obviously, I wanna talk about the “Til death to you part? Not so fast!”. Because, obviously, it’s a play on those that die coming back to life as walkers, but the thing that came to mind for me is of course, what you all probably think. There’s this whole centering around Beth returning. That she hasn’t died, right? Well, the saying “til death do us part” means “we’ll be together until the day we die”… But if Beth hasn’t died, then technically she hasn’t truly parted from the group. And in a sense, that’s true.

Beth lives on in small forms like Maggie’s memory or back when Daryl was trying to be good or in religion like Gabriel. Small things keep her alive in spirit, yes. But the adding of “Not so fast!” is saying “Well now hold up, just because I’m dead doesn’t mean we’re parting because I’m still here”. Maybe it’s a play on “You all thought I was dead but think again”. That’s where my mind went TD wise… Otherwise, it’s a nice little nudge to Maggie and Glenn as well and “I’ll look for you” as Glenn said and how he’s gone but he’s never gonna be forgotten by Mags and his family. And how Michonne and Rick are basically married now,

Swamp Queen makes me think of the Okefenokee Swamps that straddle the line between Georgia and Florida. Georgia makes me think of Atlanta and Georgia. Where Morales and Beth and Rick and team family are from…. But I’m also intrigued by the fact it does kind of remind me of this image:

This literally looks like a stereotypical image of the swamp living.

See what I mean? That image fits right into some stereotype swampland.

This could be a purposeful nudge to The Scavengers. It might even be talking about The Boat again. That Boat keeps being brought up… Which is interesting, because these were posted after S7 has finished so is it pointing us back to The Boat or The Scavengers? Or maybe both?

Talking about the topics, “The hottest mausoleum trends of the year!” is kind of a strange one for me to pick, right? Well to me it’s kind of strange that they’re matching hottest with a mausoleum. For those that don’t know what a mausoleum is, it’s a free-standing building that that houses tombs(s). Basically, it’s a giant grave above ground. You place a body in a casket – sometimes not even a casket – and place the body in the mausoleum or the tomb inside (which is a large vault that is typically underground and where you bury the dead). Egyptians did this. In fact, the giant pyramids of Egypt where mausoleums/tombs for the Pharaohs and their organs and belongings. The Taj Mahal in Agra is also another huge and famous one.

Now what’s interesting is the mentioning of “hottest” and the emphasis on it. A tomb/mausoleum is generally dry air – that’s why you get that dead, musky smell when you step into some – and they’re even described as damp. But I’ve never heard of a tomb being hot. That’s mostly because a mausoleum and tomb have to stay cool in order for a body to not decompose as fast. If it gets too hot in a tomb then the body can explode. It’s kinda like when you leave leftover meat in a plastic ben for a long time. If you leave it in the cool, it takes longer for the smell and rot to hit because, in the heat, anaerobic bacteria take over quicker. Obviously, cold or not, rot happens. But in the cool, meat – or a body – doesn’t decompose as fast… So being in a hot, sealed tomb would just cause quick decomposition and would leave a decaying smell sooner… Not exactly idea for something you’d want to “share” in your magazine. Fake or not.

So what does this make me think of? Car trunk. TD likes to mention the idea of Beth’s body having been left in a car or a car trunk. It’s plausible and would explain to me why we see Team Family be so damn reluctant to go near the pile-up of vehicles in TWD s05e10 [THEM]

Look at their faces… In fact, if you can, go back and watch this scene and watch their faces, their body language. They DO NOT want to go near those cars. Yes, I’m sure it’s just them being safe because who knows what they’ll find in those cars… But why have Daryl run off like that? Look how upset he looks? He’s not wanting anything to do with that and bolts.

And who do they focus on in the scene? Maggie. Maggie is the main focus. They don’t show anyone else looking through the cars. They don’t show Carl finding the music box or the group looking around. They show Maggie in this car and then they show her panicking when she shuts the walker in the car… Also why have a scene with her freaking out to get back in? That walker didn’t need to be killed. It could’ve just been left in the car. But Maggie NEEDED to get that open. Glenn had to help her. She was so frazzled and frantic that she had to get back to the walker. And then she couldn’t do the stab. It’s Glenn who does it. And we see his face. He’s crestfallen because he sees Beth to… But the fact it’s a walker that looks like Beth, in a car trunk, and Maggie and everyone are not happy to be around these cars, it just doesn’t scream normal to me. Why have her go back and get the walker out? Why put a walker that looks like Beth in a car trunk? Yes Maggie just lost her sister so maybe it’s a nudge to that. But why focus so long on it?

Read (x)

THEM is also the episode the lovely Music Box theory was born from. So there’s that to soak up if you wanna go digging like I am lol.

“How to tell if your husband’s dead on the inside”. Pretty self-explanatory on the fact of “dead inside” is talking about the state of being in a constant state of depression, lack of pleasure from activities that one usually finds enjoyable, your sleep and appetite are disturbed, and a mixture of the feeling of worthlessness, guilt, and hopelessness.

Basically dead inside is a state of not living from the inside out. You’re moving and getting up and doing what you normally do, but you’re not living in the moment and suffering from lack of joy and appetite and good moods/pleasures.

That pretty much describes Daryl Dixon at this point in the show. He’s just up and going. He’s not feeling. He’s not living. He’s just surviving. He gets up, he shoots down people that get in the way with no thought, and he keeps a constant state of hopelessness that anything is worth anything good. That’s Daryl. That can also be contributed to Morgan in a sense. He’s alive but he’s not living. He’s in a state of being like the dead. He does say “we all come back” and “we’re them” (the dead) so that’s a talk on him as well.

“Exclusive! How Helmets can save your life!”… Come on, I’m not even going to go too deep into that. gain, self-explanatory. Helmets saving a life. A helmet goes over your head. Can keep you from getting shot in the head or bashed in the head. Negan and Beth and Glenn and Abraham come to mind when I read that. Negan swings a bat down on people. Beth took a bullet to the head. Abraham and Glenn got bashed in the head. No protection for the head. Negan goes for the head. I mean come on… Also talking about a protective gear from the head is important to note too.

The text under the magazine just sounds like one of those “just because you’re suffering doesn’t mean others have to” and that’s like “there’s still hope for you” kinda thing.

Magazine 3: Better Homes and Gardens Garbage

Magazine Topic

Left Side

Get your junkyard on the up up up!

Super Tall Followers

Confusing Dialect

Gladiator Ring

Right Side

How one community mastered the art of garbage chic.

Under the Magazine

Need to spruce up your survival community? Look no further!

I don’t have as much to say about this magazine. Mostly I’m interested in the fact they focused on The Scavengers. Especially since we haven’t seen a hint of them since we saw them at the end of season 7. I also wanna point out another use of the word “Chic” in a magazine, which we have nudged at being a nudge to “up-to-date” and “up-to-the-minute”. So we will still get the scavengers to return this season (we should since Jadis is still also a threat to things and her rocky alignment with Negan is not something to brush aside and I’m pretty sure Negan still owes Jadis and the Scavengers their cut of the deal).

Also, the talk of a Gladiator Ring could be the trailer spoiler that Rick is going to be captured by the Scavengers – as evident by when we see Jadis’ Scavenger circle and what looks to be Eugene coming to negotiate with her for Negan. Negan does want Maggie, Ezekial, and Rick caught alive.

Gladiator Rings have always been heavily associated with Rome. Gladiators were slaves that were trained in combat and then armed with a sword or some kind of weapon and forced to fight to the death in the arena for entertainment. But gladiators were also people who didn’t just engage in fights for entertainment. They engaged in battle due to controversy or became a part of controversy due to petty kings or disagreements of lords. Eugene…. I’d be careful being sent into the arena, bro. You’re basically a gladiator for Negan, buddy. You are sacrificial like the gladiators were.

Maybe you all see something more with this cover?

Magazine 4: TIME

Negan is burning faces… Even the doctors!

Magazine Topic

Left Side

NEGAN

His tactics are eye-popping

Right Side

Rick’s next move: Can he free his people from the saviors?

How stressed is your doctor? Check up!

Global alcohol reserves running out: Our new apocalypse

Under the Magazine

Keep up with the latest post-apocalyptic news and trends with ease.

Hello… TIME? Isn’t that a big focus for TD? A giant word - a giant TIME - behind Negan? Come on… What?! That had to be a reason

On a funny note, I’m not a fan of TIME magazine or what it likes to post so the fact they put Negan on the cover makes me kinda laugh because of my dislike for TIME… Clever!

Anyway, the thing that also sticks out to me for this is the double mention of doctors - “Negan is burning faces… Even the doctors!” and “How stressed is your doctor? Check up!” - and the mention of bottom part reading “Keep up with the latest post-apocalyptic news and trends with ease.”

Alexandria and Hilltop are without a doctor. Kingdom is okay doctor wise. The Saviors took Dr.  Harlan Carson – the brother of Emmett Carson, the guy whose face Negan burned off, killing him in 7x11 [HOSTILES AND CALAMITIES] in front of Eugene and the Wives and everyone else. This episode focused heavily on the workings of the Sanctuary and on Eugene and his adaption to “be Negan”.

Doctors have been mentioned in 8x1 when Maggie and Jesus talked about how they would be getting their doctor back after Ezekial offered their doctor… It’s interesting how they mention a doctor with the Negan image because in the comic Harlan Carson saves Rick’s life from a stab wound that had infected blood on it… He’s also the one who saves Negan’s life in the comic after Rick tells him to and right after Rick got his leg broken… This is what causes more damage to Rick’s leg and why his limp is consistent afterward.

I’m focusing on wondering if we’re going to be getting a lot of talk with Doctors this season. It’s not like the last few doctors have turned out well these last few seasons. Pete Anderson went nuts and was put down by Rick. Denise was killed by a stray arrow meant for Daryl by Dwight. Emmett Carson had his face burned off after Dwight framed him for Sherry running off / helping her escape… It’s just interesting to have a focus on doctors. Especially if you wanna think that, back at Grady, they could’ve dragged a doctor along with them and at least had people that had some sense of medical 101, right? If you wanna make some TD out of that, it’s possible.

Another thing is the talk of the whole news and trends being easy to keep up with. The only forms of communication that we have is walkie-talkies and radio tower broadcast (as we saw with Terminus and apparently with the Saviors of their giant satellite home. So this speaks to me of the sense of having a reach out network… Which is what Negan has. He has reach. That’s how he was able to cut off Rick and Team Family in Season 6. He has a large reach. A lot of compounds under his name spread out. Which makes me think back to how Morales mentioned he was found by the Saviors after his attempt to get to Birmingham, Alabama failed. It’s still a wonder… Does Negan have reach all the way to the west of the ravished USA? This is another instance of nudging that he does have some kind of far reach network… How far is the mystery here.

Magazine 5: National Geographic

Counting down the Top 20 gladiator rings.

Magazine Topic

Left Side

The evolution of the Walker

Right Side

Under the Magazine

What’s REALLY out there in the wild? Can anything be a zombie? We’ll tell you in NatGeo, a magazine now revolving around cultures and creatures that have been affected by the global virus.

First off, we got another talk about gladiator rings and another reference to the scavengers. So we are definitely not done with them (duh, lol) and they’re probably gonna step up in the second half of the 8A (considering practically all the images for the season eight trailer have come from the first three episodes so far and we have yet to see the scavengers and the scene where Michonne is with Tara or Rick in the storage shed.

Second, the national geographic primarily contains articles about science, geography, history, and world culture. The under the magazine part explains that in the apocalypse, the magazine now focuses on the effect of the zombies on nature and life. Is it possible for a horse to become a zombie? How has nature itself adapted to the decay of human influence on it? What effect does all the rotting corpse have on the land? And how the mocking remains of society – like Grady, Hilltop, Alexandria, Saviors, and Scavengers – are changed by the change of nature and the introduction of the virus and the dead…

This makes me think of the scientific studies Milton and Jenner were doing. It makes me think of Eugene talking about a cure… It gives me Cure theory vibes. How studying the walkers and nature could lead to a cure or at least a stalling solution. A magazine that focuses on science and history – which is used in cure study; the history of the disease and then using science to combat it – is a fascinating thing to give us.

Now, granted, it is strange they’re including the Scavengers walker and nudging at them again… But perhaps something will come of that… I just find it fascinating how I got “cure theory” vibe outta this magazine.

Magazine 6: Rolling Stones

Magazine Topic

Left Side

Beth Greene

Music After Life

Right Side

Grady Memorial Hospital: Officer Dawn Lerner’s Legacy Still Married

Tupac: The Rap Icon’s Shocking Re-Emergence

100 Songs you must hear before you’re eaten

Morales’ secret podcast reviewed

Under the Magazine

The apocalypse doesn’t have to be quiet – fill it with your own soundtrack!

And now for the fascinating one. Every other magazine has included living characters or walkers. Carl, Negan, and Jadis are alive. The other two have been walker zombies. One a female walker in a dress. The other, the spiky walker from metal shop hell.

This time, we got Beth Greene herself.

Another mention of marriage is being talked about -  Grady Memorial Hospital: Officer Dawn Lerner’s Legacy Still Married - Marriage was mentioned in the Cosmopolitan Magazine. I talked about it a bit before, but this time I went digging around to look into marriage at a more blind level; meaning I went in like I didn’t know what a marriage was and what are some things around marriage that I may have never noticed or heard about… Which was actually a bit tricky since all that kept coming up was “how to keep your marriage alive” and “tips for newlyweds” and stuff like that… But hey, why not look at those and see what’s up as well?

I’m not going to go way too long with this, but digging around in the history of marriage I found that “marriage is a truly ancient institution that predates recorded history. But early marriage was seen as a strategic alliance between families, with the youngsters often having no say in the matter. In some cultures, parents even married one child to the spirit of a deceased child in order to strengthen familial bonds…” (x) Rick tried to bond the Grady folks with Team Family after Beth is shot down. But there was no connection for Grady to use to connect them. Noah didn’t know Team Family, he was just along for the ride after Beth helped him out. Maggie and Daryl bonded – sadly – over Beth in the barn after the fight to keep the barn door closed against walkers. An older sister bonding with a younger brother.

That one kind of stuck out to me for the reason of connecting people. Some TDers believe Beth is with The Scavengers or she’s with The Saviors. One group is run by Jadis and the other by Negan. Beth being able to rally either side – even if it’s just a chunk of them – would give TF vast numbers against Negan… Even bringing in Grady residents would add to the numbers and would help with an expansion (like expanding land agreements, another reason marriage happened).

For fun, here are some superstitions that can be Bethyl centered for the shippers (These are for fun more than anything)

The groom carries the bride across the threshold to bravely protect her from evil spirits lurking below. (Moving too slow, Greene)

Ancient Romans studied pig entrails to determine the luckiest time to marry. (Pig Feet)

Breaking Glass - In Italy, many newlyweds smash a vase or glass at their wedding, and they put a lot of muscle into it, too. The tradition says that however many pieces the glassware breaks into will symbolize how many years they’ll be happily married. (There you go, more breaking glass theory shtuff)

Knives - According to folklore, a knife signifies a broken relationship and is bad luck to give as a wedding present. If knives are on your registry, just give the gift giver a penny. That way, it’s considered a purchase. (Maybe Beth shouldn’t have gotten a knife…)

Crossing a monk or nun’s path - A bride who sees a nun or a monk on the way to her wedding is said to be cursed with a barren life dependent on charity. (Fuck, finding Gabriel before was probably a bad sign then? He’s a priest though… Does that count?!)

Ringing Bells - Bells are traditionally chimed at Irish weddings to keep evil spirits away and to ensure a harmonious family life. Some Irish brides even carry small bells in their bouquets as a reminder of their sacred wedding vows, and they are a common gift for newlyweds. (Wasn’t there some belief that they combined the scene of Andrea surviving a Savior attack in a Belltower to the scene of Beth shoving the Grady jackass cop down the elevator shaft? Eh, I forget, but I found this fascinating because my family has Irish blood and isn’t Beth Irish? Also, I was pointed to a singing bowl – a bell – being seen in multiple episodes lately so hmm.)

(Check these out here! Got a lot of links!) (x) (x) (x) (x)

Now that fun nudges aside, the thing that’s interesting is the talk of Dawn. It talks about Dawn’s Legacy still being Married…  When you talk about a legacy, the definition of legacy is “an amount of money or property left to someone in a will”, but often time the thing that comes to mind for legacy is “what is left behind by someone after they die”. Dawn was shot point blank by Daryl in the Grady hospital hallway. So she’s dead… So who is Dawn’s legacy?

Well, a legacy isn’t always someone who is blood. Sometimes a legacy is who you hand over your title too. For Dawn, she was head of the Grady Group. She ran everything, kept a system going… A system of lies and turning the other cheek and using fear and force to run everyone to do as you please. Not exactly a pretty legacy.

Who has this legacy now?

Well at the end, after Beth is shot and Daryl has killed Dawn, it’s Officer Amanda Shepard who makes a call out. She says “No, hold your fire! It’s over… It was just about her… Stand down”. She’s the one who takes the reigns, calls off the bullet flying and tries to explain that all of this was about Dawn’s choice, not theirs. She’s also the one that tells Team Family that they can stay. She offered a hand to them to have a place to stay… Although a bloody hand, seeing as Beth’s blood was spilled on their exchange.

Basically, Dawn left behind Grady to the less crazy and corrupt people. So… She basically left nothing. Maybe a plan or two that’s effective and the people still use, but… Nothing. Why make it about Dawn leaving something behind to someone who is apparently married? Most of these goofy little tabloid-like headlines have had some sense to them, but this one is just strange. Still married? I don’t believe anyone in the Grady hospital was married…  That’s a weird one.

I was mostly more fascinated by the use of marriage, but the fact it’s marriage and around Dawn and Legacy is just… Bizarre.

Moving on!

“Tupac: The Rap Icon’s Shocking Re-Emergence”… Okay, so unless you live in a completely white out world and have never listened to music or watched any musical documentaries or heard a single song, then you knoowww the story of Tupac Amura Shakur AKA 2Pac. He was a famous American actor and Rapper who was gunned down in Vegas in front of the Maxim Hotel in 1996. With him was Suge Knight, a record producer, music executive, and former football replacement player for the LA Rams. 2Pac was hit four times – twice in the chest, once in the arm, and once in the thigh – while Knight was hit in the head by bullet shrapnel. Tupac eventually died six days later in the hospital due to hemorrhaging – internal bleeding – and respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest in connection with his multiple gunshot wounds.

As for Suge Knight, he was accused by an ex-detective Russell Poole of having been the one to get 2Pac killed before he could leave Knight’s label and that he helped conspire to get Biggie Smalls killed. Fellow rap artist Snoop Dogg later accused knight as well, though many discredit Snoop for his heavy working with marijuana and no evidence. Along with Knight, a rogue cop, a mortgage broker (Amir Muhammad), the chief of police, and the LAPD as a whole were also pointed at as being part of the accusation of causing 2Pac’s and Biggie’s death.

If you wanna know more about it there are a TON of documentaries and even some pretty awesome biographical films to look into.

Since his death, 2Pac has been raised to the level of Martyr - a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs – and in a sense, Beth kinda is that. She was gunned down for her belief against Dawn. Dawn used and hurt Beth and manipulated her for her own gain. And when Dawn demanded Noah back, she went at her. She was gunned down in her attempt – a very strange and bad attempt – to take Dawn down. And to some watchers – TD or otherwise – she has become that symbol of sacrificial lamb.

The thing about them using 2Pac that really fascinated me is that there is a conspiracy theory that 2Pac is still alive. These theories range from the belief that Surge orchestrated Tupac’s death to “he faked his own death”, “he’s hiding in Cuba”, and “he’s being harbored by the government as a witness”.

There are an amazing amount of people who STILL BELIEVE that 2Pac is alive. That he’s being hidden or that he’s tucked himself away to Cuba or that the CIA has him in some kind of hidden prison. The conspiracy theories around 2Pac are on the same level of out there as the Team Defiance/Delusional have going on. What’s interesting about that as well? Beth Greene sings and T2Pac sings, Beth was shot and Pac was shot, 2Pac died in a hospital and Beth seems to have died in a hospital, and there are still speculations on who shot Pac and also on who shot Beth. On Sep 30th, 2016 Emily was featured in the Rolling Stones website two years after her death on the show and 2Pac was featured on Rolling Stones front page a month and seventeen days after his death (not that it means anything, I just found that interesting myself).

There’s been this speculation that 2Pac was going to reemerge and many extreme theorist and fans still believe he’s coming back, which is also something extreme fans and theorist have believed with Beth three years later. It stands at attention that placing this iconic rapper’s name on Beth’s image and talking about his re-emergence – something that is a theory still held strong by a lot of people next to the moon landing being fake – is eye-catching if you take in the story behind 2Pac and the story behind Beth. They’re pretty similar in ways I would’ve never thought of if I hadn’t seen them placed together –  a singer, a gun, an unsolved murder, a supposed friend being framed for the murder, the belief of a return, and a martyr belief left behind – and it seems to similar to be more than a coincidence…

“Morales’ secret podcast reviewed” makes soooo much sense now! When Skybound posted this, S8 hadn’t even posted out the trailer. We didn’t have many clues to who was going to be on the show again… Morales was a secret on the show. The hinting of Morales in these magazines HAD to be purposefully planned out UNLESS it was just a really huge coincidence and even then, holy fuck that’s a big one because of the fact that Morales was a character THAT RICK HAD TO RE-EXPLAIN IN HIS DIALOGUE for people to recall who the fuck he was and placing him in this fake Magazine article THAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO SEE is putting in the belief that the audience is going to know who the fuck they’re talking about. Now I personally did because I remember a lot of random shit about the show, but the majority of the viewers were like “Who the fuck is Morales” when he showed up or if they read this, I’m sure.

Morales was meant to be a nudge to the past. A nudge to Rick and Daryl’s past. Morales was a connection to Atlanta and a proof that the past can come back in startling ways. It certainly is startling for someone like Morales – a simple background character – to be shown still alive and still surviving and having made it out of Georgia to Virginia WHEN HE WAS LAST HEADING FOR ALABAMA. The magazine was a big clue. Morales was a secret to be revealed… Which is very interesting for the rest of the magazine.

Now let’s talk about the big one – the wording on Beth. “Beth Greene Music After Life.” The picture they used of Emily – I must say – is bizarre. They made Beth’s eyes SUPER blue. Like that’s what stands out the most in the photo; the big, electric-like, blue eyes. Kind of like this shot:

All the focus on the eyes. The only other person they do this much eye focus on is Rick. Otherwise they do close up of the face, but still give us the nose and mouth in the shot. This magazine cover made us focus on Beth’s eyes, which they didn’t do for Negan. With Negan we focus on the word TIME and the blurred Lucille bat; like the bat is being held in our face and becoming out of focus for us. And Negan’s eyes aren’t intensified… In fact, his image is pretty simple and dulled by all the black he wears and the black background.

Beth’s background is bright white and her eyes are bright blue and she’s covered in dirt like she needs a bath or went rolling in a dirt pile… Or a grave hole. That’s where my thoughts went when I saw her state of appearance. Beth was pretty clean looking the last time we saw her alive; Dawn and her OCD for clean and neat the reason for that. Now she’s about as dirty as she was in S3 and S4.

The wording of Beth Greene Music After Life is definitely meant to be a play on the whole “dead come back to life” thing… But Beth isn’t a walker. If Beth hadn’t been shot in the head and had been shown reanimating to life before they had to put her down or something, then yeah I’d get that wording… But Beth wasn’t a walker. She’d taken a bullet to the head… So why use that wordplay towards her?

Another thing is that including THAT KIND of title next to the 2Pac thing is like a double saying of “After life and reemerge, pay attention!” And having it also be connected to Morales’ secret podcast – the word SECRET – is also like some kind of sign from the show again.

With all this, I could probably dig down deeper into this magazine cover but I know for a fact that many others have done way more metas on this thing than I have. But maybe if you combine my stuff with their stuff you’ll see something that was missed.

I probably just repeated a whole bunch of shit you all have been hearing since TD started three years ago, but I didn’t go into this with any clear thought. It was more an “oh what does this make me think of” kind of mentality.

It was pretty fun, honestly. I still don’t know whether to believe she’s coming back or not. I can see it play out either way… But these kinds of things flying around make me see WHY TD exists and why you all think like you do.

If you wanna check out the magazines, you can see them here (x) Thanks, Skybound, for that headache!